04-07-2023, 09:34 AM | #1 |
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Books and Literature
Are there any TMNT fans here that have a passion for reading that resides outside of comic books? I've been a reader all my life - I remember loving it as a kid when I'd be reading and just disappeared into that "flow state" while reading books like "The Hobbit", "A Winkle In Time" and sci-fi material like "Voice of the Whirlwind" when I was young.
As I got older I found some enjoyment in actually letting good film adaptations sort of inform material I might like to read. A lot of people find more credibility in the other direction, but I'm a pretty authentic guy so I have no qualms about saying that Francis Ford Coppola encouraged me to read Bram Stoker's Dracula back in 1992, or that Fight Club made me a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan, or that Blade Runner was my catalyst to read "DADOES?" I broke away from "fun reading" for a few years while doing my Master's Degree, but once I got back into it I became interested in acquiring true 1st editions and signed copies of fun books or by intriguing authors became something of a hobby for me. These are 700+ Year Old Copies of "The Illiad" and the Odyssey" Under my Care I'm a big fan of hardcovers - for some reason I'm more inclined to read a hardcover than a paperback any day. It's a nonsense personal virtue, but there's something about the authenticity of a hard cover - especially a true 1st edition that is gratifying. I have a modest collection of "investment worthy" books as true 1sts, most of which I have later print readers of as well. Books multiply like Gremlins and appeal to hoarder-mentality, so it takes discipline to maintain a clean and streamlined library. Of course, hunting true 1st editions in the book world can be maddening. My personal grails - books that I'd love to own True 1sts of would be: To Kill A Mockingbird (one of my favorite books of all-time) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? A Wrinkle In Time My sort of impulsive recommendations would be: Blink - a great book about rapid cognition, no psychology degree needed Hughes - a biography of Howard Hughes Red - Sammy Hagar's amazing biography Altered Carbon - the 1st book is gripping and the world building is amazing Choke - Palahniuk's ongoing, comedic evaluation of society at it's best (runner up would be Lullaby) Two of my buddies joke when they see my "library" that they are surprised that I haven't picked up a true 1st edition of "The Bible" yet, signed by God. Probably won't ever find a copy of that one..... Last edited by IMJ; 04-07-2023 at 09:41 AM. |
04-08-2023, 03:47 PM | #2 |
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Good thread idea although I think the majority of users here are not that much into literature.
I've also always loved reading and studied German and English literature at university (did my Master's thesis on Alexander Pope's An Essay on Man). I also focused on the Romantic movement out of which I enjoyed several novels and novellas - mostly German but Frankenstein is surely one of my favourites. These days I don't get too much time to read apart from children's classics I read to my kids at bedtime (just finished a slightly abridged version of Alice in Wonderland with my 7 year old daughter). But there are always phases where I do read obsessively. I've been reading Paul Auster's Sunset Park for a while now. I've enjoyed most of what I read of him although this one lacks the surrealism I liked about his other books. Maybe that's why I'm having a hard time finishing it. To kill a Mockingbird is a great book that I've worked on with students in school. I still haven't read To set a Watchman which has been collecting dust in my bookshelf for years now. Have you read it? I read Mark Lanegan's biography last year, shortly after he died. I'd definitely recommend it, though it's depressing to the core. Another - albeit very short - book I enjoyed a lot last year was Claire Keegan's novel Small things like these . It deals with the Irish Magdalene Laundries where women who got pregnant out of wedlock were supposedly taken care of. The protagonist, a family father and coal merchant, finds out that the women are abused there and is conflicted about how to deal with this knowledge, fearing the influence of the Catholic church in Ireland. |
04-08-2023, 04:06 PM | #3 |
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I definitely am a fan of Cormac McCarthy’s work! And I have enjoyed biographical works about the founding fathers such as David McCullough’s stuff. And then tons of other books that really amounts to fluff I guess
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04-09-2023, 01:22 AM | #4 |
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I've enjoyed when I have gotten into a good story and it is something I have been meaning to do more often, just got to have that time dicipline, sometimes the days just pass and you don't get around to the extra things. I'm also trying to study (only short courses of interest) but it is a case of organising myself and remembering to start these things.
I still have a pile of Anne Rice books to get through that I inhereted some time back. I also think hard covers are nicer, though if I have bought a series of books and they are in paperback then I like them to be the same, it's not like a big issue if they aren't, just I'd choose that in this case. I know books can take space and pile up but I prefer to buy them than download onto my tablet, I have done that, but I like actual book. Guess it depends how often you buy them. |
04-09-2023, 05:00 PM | #5 | |||||||
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And exactly like you, I bought it upon release and I've been meaning to get to it. In the meantime it sits next to it's sister publication and some Lovecraft... Oddest. Pairing. Ever. Quote:
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But with that said, what you've described, for some reason, generated memories of "The Scarlet Letter" which I don't need to read again. Quote:
Also, again turned to my bookshelf here and snapped this one for you! In so many ways my bookshelves are begging to go digital. But there's just something about holding a book that doesn't translate well for me into a tablet. It's probably psychological - like if I didn't collect true first edition books then I probably would just say "screw it" and become a digital book guy too.... Last edited by IMJ; 04-09-2023 at 05:06 PM. |
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04-09-2023, 10:50 PM | #6 | ||||||
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It looks like A light in the attic didn't get a German translation so that's out of the question for now. But thanks for the recommendations! Quote:
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04-10-2023, 12:30 AM | #7 |
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Once my children were past little kid books and then things like Roald Dhal and David Walliams, I went on to read a lot of tween/teen books them. Some of what I got through was the Disney Villain series, The Wizards of Once, Scarlet and Ivy and 3 of the Tales from the Haunted Mansion books.
I've been thinking about ordering a crime/mysetery type story for myself, there are plenty out there. Last edited by newfan; 04-10-2023 at 12:50 AM. |
04-10-2023, 03:38 AM | #8 | |
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04-10-2023, 04:41 AM | #9 | |
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We never did get volume 4 of the Haunted Mansion series so I'm still going to buy that, my son and I will likely take turns reading it out if we share it. |
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04-10-2023, 10:40 AM | #10 | |
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Since I was a kid, books just made me feel bored. That’s why I absolutely hated reading assignments and would stop every 5 minutes to do something fun, so it would take me forever to complete the book. But I can spend hours reading large graphic novels nonstop.
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Totally Interstellar Last edited by Cowabung-Gal; 04-10-2023 at 10:45 AM. |
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04-10-2023, 11:15 AM | #11 |
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I've read all the Dune books from Frank Herbert and all of the new ones from his son and Kevin J. Anderson. A lot of Arthur C. Clarke, particularly all of the 2001-3001 novels. John Fowles' The Magus. In the 90s/2000s a lot of Star Wars, Wing Commander, Aliens, Predator and Battletech novels. The Leaves of October by Don Sakers was amazing. For a while I read a lot of vampire novels like Bram Stoker's Dracula, Anno Dracula, The Dracula Tapes, and all of the Anne Rice vampire books up until Memnoch the Devil.
Not a lot for a few years now. Mostly I buy them with the intent of reading them later, then never doing so.
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04-27-2023, 03:21 PM | #12 | |
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04-27-2023, 09:24 PM | #13 |
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I used to read years ago, not so much anymore (past Manga and Comics). YEars ago I was a big 'banned' book and political reader. 1984, Animal Farm, A Clockwork Orange and all that.
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04-28-2023, 11:13 AM | #14 |
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It cracks me up when I go into Barnes 'n Noble and they have a table with a sign that says "banned books". There's just this oxymoron, exploitative irony there. The books were "banned". For sale. On a dedicated, marketed table. At Barnes 'n Noble.
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04-28-2023, 11:22 AM | #15 |
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Of course “1984” is under the “banned” category. It’s a prophecy. And our dear friends in the government wouldn’t want us to catch on…
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05-19-2023, 03:07 PM | #16 |
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I wouldn't call myself an avid reader, per se, but I like books, yes.
Some of my favourites: 1984 by George Orwell Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Os Maias by Eça de Queirós (Portuguese novel) SS General by Sven Hassel A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin Bought some books for Christmas last year that I haven't read yet. |
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