Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2012 13:59:48 GMT -8
What it says on the tin. Feel free to go into detail.
I'm currently reading "Ewig Dein" (Forever Yours) by Daniel Glattauer, one of my favourite authors. He used to be write for an Austrian newspaper I read.
The book may sound like a romance at first, but it's actually more of a thriller. I'm half-way through and just can't put it down. (Except for making this thread, obviously.) At times, I wonder if it is a very subtle Twilight parody.
The main character is Judith, a thirty-something year old woman who owns a lamp store. While shopping, an attractive guy steps on her foot. She meets him again by coincidence, and after another coincidental meeting, they have coffee together. A relationship develops. "Hannes" immediately charms all her friends and her family, but he doesn't leave her much space. He wants to be with her all the time because he loves her so so so much. She can't bear it anymore and breaks up with him. Everything goes downhill from there.
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shiko
Persistent Member
Turn me to ash and give me back to nature. After all, to the universe we are specks of dust.
Posts: 2,029
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Post by shiko on Feb 26, 2012 14:11:10 GMT -8
Fanfiction XD
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MeghanJH
Persistent Member
[Mo0:1]
Posts: 2,175
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Post by MeghanJH on Feb 26, 2012 15:48:23 GMT -8
An Empire for Slavery: The Peculiar Institution in Texas by Randolph B. Campbell I actually have to finish writing an essay over this for my Texas History class. It is actually a pretty interesting book.
Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan I have to admit, I have really started to dislike this series because of this book. The plot is moving a snail's pace and I am having to force myself to read it.
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Post by Jean-Thomas Renault on Feb 26, 2012 20:21:27 GMT -8
The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith
For thousands of years man had a very limited understanding of one of the most important elements of the human experience: the production of wealth. Aristotle and Aquinas both developed their respective schools of ethics surrounding wealth creation, but there was no systematic understanding of the laws of economics. That changed when a professor of philosophy made detailed observations of the daily interactions of individuals, firms, and governments. From this was born modern economics, and the world has never been the same since. If we were to compile a list of the most consequential works in human history which changed the destinies of men and nations, this would certainly be among them.
Reviled and worshiped, like Karl Marx, Adam Smith proved to be a powerful force in Western thought, whose works remain with us today as part of a legacy as a person driven by a passion to improve the lives of the masses. Contrary to popular opinion, The Wealth of Nations was not written as a manual for the exploitation of the poor by the rich. On the contary, it was a manifesto for the common man on how he might improve his life, and beat back the mercantilist oppressors and their imperial schemes.
Like Marx, Smith wanted to see a revolution of the masses--albeit a revolution wholly different in character than the socialist cause championed by Marx and his followers. Far from being a reactionary who wanted to turn back the clock, Smith wrote his thousand page book precisely because he was an enemy of the status quo. No doubt, he misunderstood certain concepts which only history has demonstrated in hindsight. But his work has inspired advocates of the Free Market Order for centuries, and is the foundation for the economic defense of Natural Liberty.
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Post by Corporal Flashback on Feb 27, 2012 4:43:01 GMT -8
I'm reading the autobiogaphy of a British politician from the 50s who was forced to resign because he was gay, but that whole part of the book is dull, it's just "I had sex with a man and the prime minister found out and now my career is ruined", the most interesting bits are his insane political beliefs which are really stereotypical 50s conservative crap, still crying over Attlee's decolonisation and the NHS, but there's also mad little things like he thinks socialism is great, but for every other country in the world, which just doesn't make any sense. I don't think he genuinely believes that but I can't work out his motivations for thinking that, but then I'm not a closeted gay Tory from the 1950s.
I like the bits where he talks about Ted Heath in really pointed terms, he must have been so jealous he got caught and Heath didn't and then became PM.
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Post by Ozymandias II on Feb 27, 2012 22:35:37 GMT -8
No Go the Bogeyman: Scaring, Lulling and Making Mock. How people use bogeymen and creepy lullabies to deal with fears. It's really fascinating and occasionally really funny. Or creepy. Seriously, why are so many lullabies creepy? You'd think they'd make the poor kid stay awake rather than go to sleep.
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Post by writer wannabe on Feb 28, 2012 8:07:46 GMT -8
Currently going through the Qu'ran for school, The Princess Bride when I'm not being lazy, and have House of Many ways on hold. Other than that, articles from antishur'tugal and fanfiction.
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Post by annoyed on Feb 28, 2012 14:41:14 GMT -8
Currently going through the Qu'ran for school What country is your school in?
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shiko
Persistent Member
Turn me to ash and give me back to nature. After all, to the universe we are specks of dust.
Posts: 2,029
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Post by shiko on Feb 29, 2012 18:27:10 GMT -8
Of Mice And Men.
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Post by annabellamy on Mar 1, 2012 9:00:52 GMT -8
American Science Fiction and the Cold War by David Seed. Started out reading it for History, turned out to be a page-turner.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2012 23:29:33 GMT -8
The Portable Jack Kerouac.
They didn't have On the Road when I went to the library last. Hmph.
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Post by Lord Lovrina on Mar 8, 2012 8:06:01 GMT -8
I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale and Wind in the Willows for my blog.
I just finished Torn by Amanda Hocking, and I really liked that book as a guilty pleasure. I'm eagerly waiting for the third Trylle book to come out in paperback. >.<'
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Post by Lady of Himring on Mar 9, 2012 15:51:15 GMT -8
The Labyrinth of Solitud by Octavio Paz.
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Post by Anya the Purple on Mar 11, 2012 12:29:42 GMT -8
I just started Sapphique, sequel to Incarceron. Of COURSE it starts with the POV of the character I hate. XP
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Story Keeper
Persistent Member
There's a wild wind blowin', down the corner of my street[Mo0:1]
Posts: 1,129
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Post by Story Keeper on Apr 22, 2012 23:09:51 GMT -8
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. It's interesting so far.
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shiko
Persistent Member
Turn me to ash and give me back to nature. After all, to the universe we are specks of dust.
Posts: 2,029
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Post by shiko on Apr 23, 2012 16:58:16 GMT -8
The Giver
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speedymakac
New Member
?I may die young, but at least I'll die smart.? - John Green, Looking for Alaska[Mo0:10]
Posts: 33
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Post by speedymakac on Apr 24, 2012 19:30:14 GMT -8
I'm currently reading "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" by Douglas Adams. It's the sequel of "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and it's pretty funny so far (but I've only read the first chapter >.<). The book sums up my feelings of airports perfectly.
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Post by Anya the Purple on Apr 26, 2012 19:53:35 GMT -8
About halfway through The House of the Spirits right now and I love it, despite how creepy most of the men are.
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Post by Admin on May 1, 2012 17:23:05 GMT -8
The Establishment in Texas Politics by George Norris Green.
Its a pretty interesting read about the extreme conservationism that held power in Texas from 1938 to 1957.
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Post by Jean-Thomas Renault on May 2, 2012 10:06:39 GMT -8
Eugenics and Other Evils by GK Chesterton. At a time when Progressives in the West were exalting in the psuedoscience of eugenics in the early 20th century, writer Chesterton recognized the dangers of this folly. He even vaguely predicted the horrors of massing killings that would occur in the 20th century as a result of the "madness of modernity." This review here states it best. I have summerized it, but the full text can be found here: www.amazon.com/Eugenics-Other-Evils-Scientifically-Organized/dp/1587420023At the time, eugenists (among both the Social Darwinist "Right" and the Socialist Left) proposed various methods for interfering with human breeding to promote a social agenda and impact the human population. One form of eugenics, referred to as "positive eugenics", sought to increase the birthrate of the "fit" (mainly the upper, educated classes) through incentive programs. Another form of eugenics, referred to as "negative eugenics", sought to decrease the birthrate of the "unfit" (mainly the lower classes, the "mentally feeble", and chronically ill populations) through birth control (or even more diabolical means, later on, such as abortion or euthanasia). As Chesterton notes, many of those in the highest class have swung full spectrum from the Socialist Left to the extreme "Right" as they accumulate wealth and advance plutocracy. In America, robber barons such as Rockefeller notoriously funded the eugenics movement, in an attempt to further his power and as Chesterton cynically notes to provide workers for his business. While many of those who supported eugenics (and especially birth control) consisted of those among the Socialist Left, Chesterton notes that these individuals remain largely dupes to their elite controllers. Among those used are radical feminists who fail to understand the true virtues of womanhood. Certainly these radical feminists (almost entirely composed of women from the upper classes, coincidentally) do not represent the vast majority of females. This essay of Chesterton reveals him as a champion of liberty and individualism against the encroaching influence of a maleficent state, under the control of elite plutocrats, as well as a compassionate individual who truly cares for the human person.
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Post by Corporal Flashback on May 2, 2012 10:32:16 GMT -8
Kill Your Friends. It's a bit like American Psycho only with less murder and with Britpop instead of banking
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2012 14:22:22 GMT -8
Recently finished "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green and moving on to "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
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Post by Anya the Purple on May 12, 2012 8:25:08 GMT -8
^TFIOS! So awesome!
Just finished The House of the Spirits b Isabel Allende a few minutes ago. I really liked it, although almost every male in the whole thing acts really creepy at some point and I wasn't a fan of the epilogue. Still a really good book.
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Post by Lady of Himring on May 12, 2012 19:19:48 GMT -8
^TFIOS! So awesome!
Just finished The House of the Spirits b Isabel Allende a few minutes ago. I really liked it, although almost every male in the whole thing acts really creepy at some point and I wasn't a fan of the epilogue. Still a really good book. Allende is a great writer, and the book is fantastic. Watch the movie if you're able, it has a great cast and it's fantastic.
Anyway, I'm reading Twenty Years Later by Dumas.
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Post by Jean-Thomas Renault on May 14, 2012 13:10:12 GMT -8
Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens
In a globe dominated by more pinheaded lackeys on the Left and Right than ever before, the passing of Christopher Hitchens is a blow to the world of letters, philosophy, and history. Fortunately, his works remain for the eager soul interested in that dying thing called literary leisure. But if Hitchens is a pleasure to read because of his fine command of the English language, the leisure in this book (in various chapters) is accompanied by essays in other chapters which tend to be thought provoking to the extent that the material sometimes goes above my head. But then, the joys of reading a good writer seem to be those of the pleasure of understanding all too well some things, while having to reach to grasp other things.
This work contains almost 800 pages of brief biographical sketches of his friends, reflections on the 20th century, his strange defense of his being pro-war in the case of Iraq and parting from Chomsky, etc. Covered is everything from feminism and Mother Teresa to Lebanon and Harry Potter. A must read for anyone looking for some of the latest and best reflections of a keen, insightful, and unappreciated social critic and man of letters unfortunate enough to have lived in our time.
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makoeyes
Member
I AM LUCIFER GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD AND I WANT YOUR SOUL!
Posts: 896
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Post by makoeyes on May 18, 2012 19:21:55 GMT -8
Currentky re-reading the entire HP series. I skipped GoF at first, since my copy is falling apart, so I've already read OotP, and now mostly through with GoF.
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Revan
New Member
In my little white padded cell.... O_o
Posts: 24
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Post by Revan on May 26, 2012 21:31:36 GMT -8
Currently going through Halo Cryptum. It's the first book in the Forerunner saga.
...Does this show how much of a Halo nerd I am yet? O.o
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Post by Bright on May 27, 2012 8:40:18 GMT -8
Sherlock Holmes: A Study In Scarlet
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Madaraki
Member
Three years, still plundering.[Mo0:1]
Posts: 217
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Post by Madaraki on May 27, 2012 16:10:24 GMT -8
Taking a break from the Redwall re-read.
Man, Michael Corleone's a jerk....
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