Posted: 10th August 2017 18:10
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Quote (Death Penalty @ 10th August 2017 11:10) You know, I've never actually read any Murakami - despite having heard similar praise of his work from a number of people for quite a while. I don't often read fiction that I don't study, heh, but if you've got one of his that you prefer I'd be interested to hear it! I finished Colorless last weekend, and I ended up preferring it to the more famous Norwegian Wood. I expect that I'm going to try to grab 1Q84 at some point, but it's close to a thousand pages, and that's going to be a complicated read given his writing style. I also found out that a friend's brother even did a reading from 1Q84 at his wedding, so that has me intrigued as to what could be contained within. Colorless plays out almost as a mystery novel, with an initial mystery laid out right away, then a secondary mystery within the unraveling of the first, all while the protagonist tries to work out some mysteries about himself and his relationship too. I think it's the more layered and nuanced of the two I've read, and it ends up being more of a pageturner even as it is elliptical and meandering. It's also set in a more modern time, so it's easier to parse for a non-Japanese reader, I think. -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #213212
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Posted: 12th August 2017 10:26
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Palace Guard Posts: 2,591 Joined: 17/1/2001 Awards: |
Ha, I started this topic back in 2005.
I see that you guys were talking about Murakami, I'm also a fan of his. I've read Colorless, Norwegian Wood, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and Sputnik Sweetheart. I think my favourite was Hard-Boiled Wonderland. I find all of his books follow the same pattern, so I wait a while in between books before reading another one. Right now, I just finished a really good book called "Johannes Cabal the Necromancer" by Jonathan L. Howard. It's the first in a series. It's sort of steam-punk, sort of dark, and quite funny. -------------------- I had an old signature. Now I've changed it. |
Post #213224
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Posted: 19th December 2017 20:15
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Engineer Posts: 383 Joined: 2/12/2009 Awards: |
I'm about a third of the way through Edith Hamilton's Mythology. It's a big panoramic of Greek mythology so far, which has been fun. It certainly serves as a "teaser" for a lot of the stories in the sense that there are many excerpts that make me want to read them in their entirety.
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Post #214260
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Posted: 20th December 2017 00:07
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Quote (finalalias @ 19th December 2017 14:15) I'm about a third of the way through Edith Hamilton's Mythology. It's a big panoramic of Greek mythology so far, which has been fun. It certainly serves as a "teaser" for a lot of the stories in the sense that there are many excerpts that make me want to read them in their entirety. Wow, that's a flashback. I think that was on my reading list for one year in high school. -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #214262
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Posted: 20th December 2017 12:13
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SOLDIER Posts: 730 Joined: 23/2/2005 Awards: |
Ready Player One is worth a read if you're a big fan of the 80s and video games in the 80s. Although worth pointing out it actually take place in the future. Fun story.
-------------------- 'Let that be a lesson to all oppressive vegetable sellers.' |
Post #214265
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Posted: 20th December 2017 12:53
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Quote (fatman @ 20th December 2017 06:13) Ready Player One is worth a read if you're a big fan of the 80s and video games in the 80s. Although worth pointing out it actually take place in the future. Fun story. Yeah, I bet a lot of people will check that out with the movie coming. I know a few of us read it when it was fairly new a few years back, so if you really want, you can probably scan this very thread for more thoughts on it, heh. -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #214266
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Posted: 24th December 2017 13:32
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SOLDIER Posts: 730 Joined: 23/2/2005 Awards: |
Quote (Rangers51 @ 20th December 2017 12:53) Quote (fatman @ 20th December 2017 06:13) Ready Player One is worth a read if you're a big fan of the 80s and video games in the 80s. Although worth pointing out it actually take place in the future. Fun story. Yeah, I bet a lot of people will check that out with the movie coming. I know a few of us read it when it was fairly new a few years back, so if you really want, you can probably scan this very thread for more thoughts on it, heh. I thought the book was newer than that, but then it's rare for me to get a book on its release. Recently got round to checking out two of the sci-fi classics, Dune and Hyperion. Both very good but I must admit Ready Player One really had me hooked, really good fun. Looking forward to the sequel, fingers crossed it's just as entertaining and the author finds a way to keep us interested. -------------------- 'Let that be a lesson to all oppressive vegetable sellers.' |
Post #214303
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Posted: 1st February 2018 15:41
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Quote (Elena99 @ 12th August 2017 04:26) I see that you guys were talking about Murakami, I'm also a fan of his. I've read Colorless, Norwegian Wood, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and Sputnik Sweetheart. I think my favourite was Hard-Boiled Wonderland. I find all of his books follow the same pattern, so I wait a while in between books before reading another one. I think your comment about the pattern is why I had Wind-up Bird from the library for a full month (and had to renew it) before I started to read it. That said, I started it on Sunday when I was flying for work, read half of it on the plane, and then finished the second half on the plane back last night. I'd say it's probably my favorite of the three I've read so far, but again, the pattern starts to emerge and as brilliant as his language is, it does all start to become a little samey when you're a few books in. The emotional thrust of Wind-up Bird is probably the one that has hit closest to home for me, and it did make parts of the story kind of difficult to read. But it's such an interesting story, with the big chunks of historical fiction intermixed with the kind of standard Murakami paranormal/dreamworld aspects that it was a surprising page-turner. I've also either become more accustomed to his desire for leaving loose ends, or he managed to do it in a less-infuriating way in Wind-Up Bird. -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #214482
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Posted: 12th February 2018 13:49
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Returner Posts: 1 Joined: 12/2/2018 |
Well, you know, I’m reading Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Great best-selling book that received a lot of prizes such as the book of the year on The New York Times Book Review. Also, Its author received Nobel Prize in Economics.
Thanks all for recommendations! I’ll add some items to my must-read list -------------------- "The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible" |
Post #214518
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Posted: 21st February 2018 15:58
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Chocobo Knight Posts: 150 Joined: 18/3/2006 Awards: |
Watership Down by Richard Adams
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Post #214546
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Posted: 22nd February 2018 06:37
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Magitek Soldier Posts: 341 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards: |
Watership Down is really good! I need to reread that some time.
I currently have an eBook of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None out from the library. I've read it before, but it's been years so it should be pretty fresh for me. -------------------- Watch me play games on Twitch! Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy VII -Rebirth- Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Side Quests (or maybe more Rebirth, we'll see!) 7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts |
Post #214547
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Posted: 23rd February 2018 17:23
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Onion Knight Posts: 40 Joined: 16/5/2017 Awards: |
I am reading The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov
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Post #214549
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Posted: 16th March 2018 23:27
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Palace Guard Posts: 2,591 Joined: 17/1/2001 Awards: |
I'm reading Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy. It's pretty good! It's about a group of teenagers in Ireland who are just starting university in the 60s.
I'm doing the Popsugar 2018 reading challenge, where you read 50 books in a year and choose the books based on certain prompts. This prompt was "read a book that was made into a movie you've already seen" (something like that, anyway). Usually I've read the book first, but I happened to see this movie in the 90s, so when I saw it on a list I went for it. I don't remember anything about the movie aside from one scene where two characters are dancing, which is nice. I don't like reading something when I already know what's going to happen. -------------------- I had an old signature. Now I've changed it. |
Post #214613
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Posted: 18th March 2018 20:11
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Magitek Soldier Posts: 341 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards: |
I actually have attention span problems that make reading books difficult. I only got halfway through And Then There Were None before my loan expired, boo.
Currently attempting to read Ready Player One. I've got three more days left to read it and my Kindle says it will take another 7 hours to read, so I'd better get to it! -------------------- Watch me play games on Twitch! Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy VII -Rebirth- Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Side Quests (or maybe more Rebirth, we'll see!) 7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts |
Post #214623
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Posted: 20th March 2018 02:46
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Red Wing Pilot Posts: 543 Joined: 5/7/2005 Awards: |
For years, I did very little reading out of books, as opposed to story-based video games/wikipedia articles/what have you. But, in the last couple of months, I've been into nonfiction again. I recently read The Prince by Machiavelli, and followed it up with The Plantagenets by Dan Jones (an NY Times bestseller, believe it or not). Now I'm reading the latter's followup: The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors. I honestly had forgotten how much I liked reading, and how into history I am. Feels good to be doing that instead of sitting on Reddit (quite as much).
-------------------- Squenix games completed: FFIII FFIV FFVI FFVII FFIX FFX FF Tactics: Advance 2 Chrono Trigger Dragon Quest 8 Dragon Quest 11 Super Mario RPG |
Post #214630
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Posted: 20th March 2018 21:57
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Magitek Soldier Posts: 341 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards: |
I actually finished Ready Player One before its rental expired! This included a five hour marathon reading session, the longest I have done in years.
I feel like the book was made for me. I'm a geeky, introverted woman who grew up in the 80s and spends all her time on the Internet. The protagonist, Wade, is a geeky, introverted teen obsessed with the 80s who spends all his time in the OASIS. I really resonated with him. I loved the whole premise of the book and all the pop culture references. The one difference between me and Wade is that he has a LOT more drive to reach his goals; it's amazing what all he did to succeed. Very glad I read the book, and would recommend to others. -------------------- Watch me play games on Twitch! Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy VII -Rebirth- Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Side Quests (or maybe more Rebirth, we'll see!) 7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts |
Post #214634
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Posted: 22nd March 2018 14:08
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SOLDIER Posts: 730 Joined: 23/2/2005 Awards: |
Quote (AltheaValara @ 20th March 2018 21:57) I actually finished Ready Player One before its rental expired! This included a five hour marathon reading session, the longest I have done in years. I feel like the book was made for me. I'm a geeky, introverted woman who grew up in the 80s and spends all her time on the Internet. The protagonist, Wade, is a geeky, introverted teen obsessed with the 80s who spends all his time in the OASIS. I really resonated with him. I loved the whole premise of the book and all the pop culture references. The one difference between me and Wade is that he has a LOT more drive to reach his goals; it's amazing what all he did to succeed. Very glad I read the book, and would recommend to others. Nice work! Definitely a book that is hard to put down. The film is out next week in the UK, I expect a lot of changes but hopefully it will be good fun. -------------------- 'Let that be a lesson to all oppressive vegetable sellers.' |
Post #214636
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Posted: 30th March 2018 10:36
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Palace Guard Posts: 2,591 Joined: 17/1/2001 Awards: |
I just finished reading "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. I did not read this as a child, so I was reading it for the first time as an adult.
In my opinion, it wasn't very good, even after taking into consideration that this is a children's book. There are no reasons for anything that happens in the book, no explanations. This book is the equivalent of a parent telling a child to do something "because I said so" with no further explanation. Children are smart, they deserve explanations. The characters are also very poorly developed, or not developed at all. I don't understand why there is a movie about this. Has anyone else read this as an adult and felt this way? -------------------- I had an old signature. Now I've changed it. |
Post #214665
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Posted: 30th June 2018 22:16
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SOLDIER Posts: 730 Joined: 23/2/2005 Awards: |
I recently read Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames. Fantasy with a nice bit of comedy woven into the narrative. I've always had my comedy fantasy via the legendary Terry Pratchett with his Discworld novels until now so it's interesting to see a different take on it. Very entertaining and well recommended if you want some fun characters and a good story that's not too silly but makes you laugh occasionally.
This one is about a famous band of legendary heroes now retired who consider going on one last adventure due to circumstances. Not quite as tough as they once we're but experienced. -------------------- 'Let that be a lesson to all oppressive vegetable sellers.' |
Post #215032
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Posted: 1st July 2018 00:02
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Black Waltz Posts: 900 Joined: 12/7/2011 Awards: |
I've decided to learn Japanese.
"Sake onegashimasu" was the one I wrote down the other day... never hurts to be polite. I like sweets a whole fuckton by the way. Demon Kunoichi nightmares, and all. This post has been edited by Spooniest on 1st July 2018 00:02 -------------------- X is blue. |
Post #215036
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Posted: 1st July 2018 23:08
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Magitek Soldier Posts: 341 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards: |
My library is doing its annual Summer Reading Program. If you read at least three books, you get a free t-shirt and an entry into a drawing for prizes. I'm a sucker for free stuff_so I'm taking part even though I struggle with reading books these days.
My first book is John Scalzi's "Lock In", which I've read before (there are no rules that the books you read have to be new to you). The premise is this: there was a global pandemic that caused many people to suffer lock in syndrome, where the body is paralyzed but the mind is still active. As one of the victims turns out to be the resident's wife, the United States funds research into helping sufferers lead a more normal life. With the use of a neural net in the brain, they can use "threeps" (robotic bodies) to get around. The book is fascinating in its explorations of disability and morality, and is a really good fead. I dated it 4 out of 5 stars the first time I read it, and I'm enjoying my re-read. -------------------- Watch me play games on Twitch! Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy VII -Rebirth- Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Side Quests (or maybe more Rebirth, we'll see!) 7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts |
Post #215040
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Posted: 30th July 2018 00:57
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Magitek Soldier Posts: 341 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards: |
I finished my three books for the summer reading program! Picked up my t-shirt today.
Along with John Scalzi's "Lock in", I reread two romance novels by Johanna Lindsey. They've been recently retrieved from my storage unit, where they were out of reach for five years, so it's been a while since i 've read them. The first was "Gentle Rogue". Lindsey excels at writing banter between the main characters, and this novel was full of it. The premise is a little farfetched: the heroine has a random encounter with the hero, and later just happens to sign on to work as a cabin boy on his ship. Coincidence much? The fun in this novel is whether or not she can keep her disguise as a boy, or if she will be found out. It's a fun novel that I rate 4 out of 5.first The other romance I read was "The Magic of You". While I enjoyed the book, there are things I didn't like about it. The age difference between the main characters was too extreme for my tastes. Also, the heroine is SO SURE that the hero will fall in love with her that she doesn't take his feelings into account. Which she does realize, but way too late in the story for my liking. Also, I wasn't too thrilled with the depiction of the Chinese characters. Still, despite these flaws there was plenty of fun banter to enjoy. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. -------------------- Watch me play games on Twitch! Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy VII -Rebirth- Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Side Quests (or maybe more Rebirth, we'll see!) 7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts |
Post #215086
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Posted: 5th June 2019 12:26
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My daughter wanted to hit the library during her time off between school and summer camp last week, so I took her. I wasn't really planning on getting anything, as I just hadn't been in a reading mood for quite a while, but on the way out I noticed that they had just gotten a new copy of Ready Player One, which I hadn't read since it was first out like eight years ago, so I decided to grab it.
Next to it was a book that I totally judged by its cover, as the cover was comprised of pixel art of a number of figures, a couple of which appeared robotic and were crossed out. It's The Obsoletes, a new book that was just released last month. It's a relatively short novel about an alternate timeline in which robots live among humans but in many places have to do so incognito, so it's got some parallels to civil rights movements both in our history and our present. But it's mainly about two teenage robots trying to navigate the coming-of-age problems of adolescence, and as such it's got a lot of humor and emotion around social awkwardness, struggles with cliques, and pubescent-style body horror but applied to androids. I tore through it in about two days. This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 5th June 2019 12:27 -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #215794
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Posted: 5th June 2019 16:39
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Current reading Rebel (the second Reboot book). I enjoyed the first one so I'm hoping this one will be just as good.
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Post #215796
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Posted: 5th June 2019 21:17
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Palace Guard Posts: 2,591 Joined: 17/1/2001 Awards: |
Quote (Rangers51 @ 5th June 2019 09:26) Next to it was a book that I totally judged by its cover, as the cover was comprised of pixel art of a number of figures, a couple of which appeared robotic and were crossed out. It's The Obsoletes, a new book that was just released last month. It's a relatively short novel about an alternate timeline in which robots live among humans but in many places have to do so incognito, so it's got some parallels to civil rights movements both in our history and our present. But it's mainly about two teenage robots trying to navigate the coming-of-age problems of adolescence, and as such it's got a lot of humor and emotion around social awkwardness, struggles with cliques, and pubescent-style body horror but applied to androids. I tore through it in about two days. That sounds really interesting, I'll have to look for that. I think I would have picked it up for it's cover, too. -------------------- I had an old signature. Now I've changed it. |
Post #215799
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Posted: 5th June 2019 21:20
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Palace Guard Posts: 2,591 Joined: 17/1/2001 Awards: |
I'm reading Vicious by V.E. Schwab, and I'm really enjoying it. It's about these two university students who figure out that ExtraOrdinaries (basically mutants) can be created when a person has a near-death experience, and it goes from there. Really interesting.
-------------------- I had an old signature. Now I've changed it. |
Post #215800
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Posted: 5th June 2019 21:51
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Magitek Soldier Posts: 341 Joined: 25/1/2014 Awards: |
The Obsoletes sounds like my kind of book. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for telling us about it!
I signed up for the Summer Reading Program today. This year the theme is film, and it just occurred to me I can re-read Ready Player One for extra credit, as it was made into a movie. Yay! I also just checked out the ebook of Hidden Figures. I wanted to read it for the Summer program two years ago, when the theme was design, but I couldn't obtain a copy at the time. I've seen the movie and really enjoyed it, so should enjoy the book as well. -------------------- Watch me play games on Twitch! Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy VII -Rebirth- Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Side Quests (or maybe more Rebirth, we'll see!) 7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts |
Post #215801
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Posted: 11th December 2019 22:25
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Palace Guard Posts: 2,591 Joined: 17/1/2001 Awards: |
Has anyone read The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern? I finished it recently and it's really good!
-------------------- I had an old signature. Now I've changed it. |
Post #215926
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Posted: 13th December 2019 19:47
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Quote (Elena99 @ 11th December 2019 16:25) Has anyone read The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern? I finished it recently and it's really good! I didn't know she'd put out any more books. I recently got a second-hand copy of The Night Circus for fifty cents, as I'd really loved it when I read it when it first came out. I'll have to take a look for that! I'm currently binge-reading through Discworld, as Hanyou finally pushed me far enough to find them at the library. I'm in the middle of Mort at the moment. -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #215930
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Posted: 14th December 2019 04:05
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Cactuar Posts: 230 Joined: 19/6/2012 Awards: |
A friend lent me the source material for a genre I heavily favor and now I'm elbow deep in Neuromancer. Beyond that I'm paused in The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman and I'm waiting to get a copy of Starflight by Brandon Sanderson. I've got a lot of reading to do.
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Post #215931
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