Book Lovers's topics - tribe.net

Shane Moore's Abyss Walker

2009-11-26T02:58:47Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZgwatOMrW0&feature=sub

A brief intro to Shane Moore's popular Abyss Walker dark fantasy series published by Skullvines Press.
Musical score by Kevin MacLeod

I have not read any of these. If anyone has please share your opinions? Are they good?

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

First person

2009-11-10T02:10:38Z

I'm finding I really like fiction books written in first person. Any one know some good ones?

Patrick

posted in Book Lovers - 12 replies

Critical MaSS by Carter P. Hydrick

2009-10-24T02:54:07Z

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/atomicbomb/contents.htm

Read the whole book on this link for free. Yay.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Okay, so I did it, I bought the 1st two books...

2009-10-23T15:20:39Z

...in the Twilight series.

I heard tale, they are addictive.
I'll let you know.
I love vampires - books, movies, TV, fashion

posted in Book Lovers - 7 replies

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

2009-10-23T15:18:39Z

I just finished this thought provoking easy read. Yea, I know it has been out for awhile but I'm always behind the times because I have a book obsession. I buy more than I can read and then they sit on the shelf till I can get to them.

At any rate the book really makes you think about what would actually happen if we suffered a planet wide apocolypse. We all think we'd hang onto our compassionate humanity but would we. The bottom line is selfpreservation is one of the most fundemental human characteristics we have. What would you do to protect the lives of yourself and your loved ones in a world gone mad.

posted in Book Lovers - 7 replies

eating shorts

2009-10-19T15:32:05Z

My propensity for reading shorts has me diving through several collections, but one stands out; the new compilation of Ballard shorts is great. Finally re-packaged and published for the American market, this collection includes a couple that weren't included in the "complete" British edition. I missed out on purchasing a copy of that particular edition, and by the time I got to it the price was absorbent. It turned out a fortuitous over site, since this new edition is affordable and more complete (if such is possible). So, the recommendation for 'The Complete
Short Stories of J.G. Ballard" is a two thumbs up, five star thing...

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

You hip to this?

2009-10-19T15:10:52Z

http://www.shelfari.com/

kinda cool

How does your library grow?

posted in Book Lovers - 4 replies

Need Reccomendations

2009-10-17T19:31:18Z

I can't seem to find any interesting books lately and a little help would be greatly appreciated. I'll read pretty much anything but romance, and even then I'll bend if the book has been suggested to me.

I'm kind of in the mood for something dark.

Thanks in advance for any help I get.

posted in Book Lovers - 13 replies

The Biology of Belief

2009-08-26T03:50:19Z

http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Belief-Unleashing-Consciousness-Miracles/dp/1401923119/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251258566&sr=1-1

Bruce Lipton

Anyone finished this one? It's great so far.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

F.Y.I. Si-Fi Horror fans

2009-08-26T01:53:10Z

There is a new book coming out on September 29, 2008.

The Living Dead

It is going to have short stories by: Stephen King (Author), Joe Hill (Author), George R. R. Martin (Author), Clive Barker (Author), Neil Gaiman (Author), Laurell K. Hamilton (Author), Joe R. Lansdale (Author), Poppy Z. Brite (Author), Harlan Ellison (Author), and John Joseph Adams (Editor).

It will be published by Night Shade Books.

ISBN-10: 1597801437
ISBN-13: 978-1597801430

I do not have a web site to offer other than www.laurellkhamilton.org that is where I got my information from.

posted in Book Lovers - 5 replies

BOOK QUIZ - WHAT ABOUT YOU?

2009-08-03T16:06:19Z

SEAN POSTED THIS IN HIS BLOG
I ANSWERED AND THOUGHT YOU ALL MIGHT HAVE SOME INTERESTING ANSWERS.

CHECK IT:
1. Hardback, trade paperback or mass market paperback?
DEPENDS, BOTH, MORE PAPERBACK - CHEAPER

2. Barnes & Noble or Borders?
BARNES & NOBLES

3. Bookmark or dog-ear?
I LIKE BOOKMARKS, MAKE THEM OUT OF THINGS AS WELL
HOWEVER, I WILL, ON OCCASION, DOG EAR A PAGE WITH A GREAT SENTENCE OR PASSAGE IN IT.

4. Amazon or brick and mortar?
B & M I ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BOOK STORE AND BE EXCITED AND SEDUCED BY THE BOOKS, OU, LOOK AT THAT ONE... THIS ONE'S ON SALE, OH WHAT'S THAT...

5. Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
NETHER, JUST GROUPED IN TOPICS
READ SCI FI
UNREAD BOOKS
ART BOOKS
PSYCHIC, SELF-HELP
FASHION
NOVELS
PEOPLE, THINKING, LEARNING
POETRY
SERIES ARE KEPT TOGETHER

6. Keep, throw away, or sell?
KEEP THE GOOD ONES
IF IT WAS A CHORE TO FINISH OR I COULD NOT BRING MYSELF TO FINISH - I DONATE IT TO THE SILENT AUCTION FUND RAISER AT WORK

7. Keep dust jacket or toss it?
JACKETS ARE REQUIRED

8. Read with dust jacket or remove it?
SEE 7. :)

9. Short story or novel?
YES

10. Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
HARRY POTTER!!!

11. Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
TRADITIONALLY, THE END OF A CHAPTER, HOWEVER, SOMETIMES I GET TOO TIRED AND HAVE TO END WHERE I END, GET THE BOOKMARK IN THERE AND REACH OVER AND SET IT ON MY DRESSER

12. “It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
DARK

13. Buy or borrow?
BUY
ALTHOUGH WHEN I DID NOT HAVE MONEY TO BUY, I WAS A REGULAR AT THE LIBRARY
ONE MUST READ!

14. New or used?
NEW

15. Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse?
INTERESTS, WHAT CATCHES MY EYE, ON OCCASION, AN NPR BOOK REVIEW WILL GET ME SEARCHING FOR A BOOK
SADLY, MOST PEOPLE I AM AROUND DO NOT READ SO NO RECOMMENDATIONS

16. Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
EITHER

17. Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?
I READ EVERY NIGHT IN BED FOR PLEASURE, AN ESCAPE TO ANOTHER REALITY, TO DRIFT OFF WITH THE VAMPIRES, OR 1700'S OR IN A SPACE SHIP HEADING FOR PLANET RUBICON...
I JOURNAL FIRST THEN READ

I READ DURING THE DAY TO LEARN THINGS

18. Stand-alone or series?
BOTH

19. Favorite series?
LOVED ANNE RICE TILL SHE GOT TO RELIGIOUS, DAVE DUNCAN'S BLADES WAS FUN

20. Favorite children’s book?
I CAN'T SAID THE ANT, THE 5 CHINESE BROTHERS, TWEET

21. Favorite YA book?
HARRY POTTER?

22. Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
CAPTAIN BLOOD - SABATINI

23. Favorite books read last year?
PARIS TO THE MOON
THE BIG SLEEP - CHANDLER

24. Favorite books of all time?
PANDORA - ANNE RICE
ITALO CALVINO - INVISIBLE CITIES

25. What are you reading right now?
NIGHTWATCH - LUKYANENKO
FEEL IT REAL - DENISE COATES
WEB 2.0 A STRATEGY GUIDE - SHUEN/O'REILLY
FRENCH STYLE AT HOME - FLAMMARION
SAY IT LIKE OBAMA - LEANNE

26. What are you reading next?
ZEN PRESENTATION
RED HARVEST - HAMMET
FRENCH WOMEN DON'T GET FAT - GUILIANO

27. Favorite book to recommend to an eleven-year-old?
UM, NOT SURE WOULD HAVE TO RESEARCH

28. Favorite book to reread?
I DON'T DO THAT
MAYBE IN ANOTHER TIME IN MY LIFE

29. Do you ever smell books?
NOPE

30. Do you ever read Primary source documents, like diaries or letters?
NO

posted in Book Lovers - 2 replies

The Revolution of Everyday Life

2009-06-20T20:35:50Z

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0946061017?tag=tribenet-20&camp=211493&creative=379981&linkCode=op1&creativeASIN=0946061017&adid=0DNYA2P0HJAW80F93F75&

Anyone read this one? I havent and am thinking about getting it but not sure.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Bumper Sticker

2009-05-01T05:05:07Z

I saw one on the way to work this morning that said "My other car is a Pynchon novel." : )

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

April 2009: what yu reedin?!!1111oneoneone

2009-04-29T21:20:36Z

I'm reading 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
and Murikami's Wind Up Bird Chronicles

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

January 2009 - what you reading?

2009-04-25T21:33:25Z

I am reading Brisinger - book 3 of a dragon tail.
I enjoy sci-fi reading before bed.
It moves me from my work mode into another world.

posted in Book Lovers - 34 replies

What do you like to read?

2009-04-25T21:29:42Z

"...but it is frustrating to not be able to find people who like to read what I do. I'm happy to listen to other people share their thoughts, but eyes glaze over when I do it."

This thread was inspired by Palmas post on the "Whos Books Are Better" thread.

What books do you like to read Palma? What books does everyone else like to read? I like all different kinds of books. Self help, cook books, bio and auto biographies, fiction, sci-fi, etc..... But mostly I prefer occult, documentary, non fiction, bio & autobio and my fave is CONSPIRACY / "speculation"!!! So many but off the top of my head some faves are Jim Keith, Joan D'Arc & Al Hidell. Some fave fiction authors are Clive Barker and Anne Rice. Poppy Z Brite. Anything by Robert Anton Wilson. There are still MANY books and authors I want to eventually read. Some of the beats I still havent gotten around to. More of the psychedelic "gurus." More Jean Genet. More Antero Ali & Christopher Hyatt. More Wayne Dyer and Caroline Myss too. : )

posted in Book Lovers - 19 replies

What about the books...

2009-04-25T21:17:29Z

...that you start reading and they bore you or are not interesting, too slow, not clicking with the writing style?

Do you push your self to finish them?
Do you put them away and come back to them later?

How do you handle it?

posted in Book Lovers - 10 replies

OHM?

2009-01-20T01:41:54Z

Did you make it out of there with your brain intact?

( ;

posted in Book Lovers - 3 replies

A S Byatt

2009-01-13T01:39:22Z

Just read a wonderful short "A Stone Woman" from her collection "Little Black Book of Stories and was completely won over. Any suggestions as to which other books by her to pick up?

posted in Book Lovers - 7 replies

New book case set up

2009-01-09T19:01:29Z

I just moved and am setting up a mini library in my bedroom.
I am off today to score another bookcase, that makes three!!!

It is fun to sort my books, organize them...

sci fi series
art books
fashion books
novels
non-fiction
resource materials
vampires
unread
spiritual/self-help
fun/kids/pop up books

How does your library grow?

posted in Book Lovers - 18 replies

Raymond Chandler

2008-12-16T16:12:56Z

Just finished The Big Sleep.
Such a fun, easy style of writing to read.
I plan to read more of his work in 2009.
Read The Long Goodbye as well.

I like him.

Anyone with me on this?

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

Lilith Monographs series

2008-12-12T06:32:38Z

Thousands of years of myth and legend...awakened.

http://www.amazon.com/Lilith-Monographs-1-Immaculata/dp/1419644963/ref=nosim/?tag=leilahpublic-20/

© Joshua Seraphim Leilah Publications, LLC. All rights reserved.

Lilith's erotic cults linger in novenas to Mary Magdalene, from the cremation grounds of Kali, to orgies in Tibetan monasteries, the Carpocratians, Slavic poems to Baba Yaga, abbeys of the Black Madonna, and unnamed covens spilling ritual blood in the American Southwest desert. Her countless epithets in these cults of eros, are damned in print and song. Consequently, as much as Her erotic cults are damned they are celebrated...

Her "cults" now flourish as singsong brothels of culture across the face of the earth. The immensity of the digital global-age washes our cybershrines to Lilith's timeless Order in erotic excess. That which is beauty lies in the blackness. There is no more desire. There is no more bliss. There is no more mercy. There is no more dream.

The Wise Old Serpent-Mother is celebrated as erotic refrain after refrain in a parade of waiflike model-corpses across nightly entertainment, behind the veils of Muslimahs wailing in blood-filled mosques infesting ancient Babylon, She is the face of every frail beauty-Diva prostituted by corporate daddies, in the heroin needles of those who’s only prayer is death, in the deadly vanity of teenagers posing upon their digital and downloadable altars of self-adoration {think Myspace}, Lilith is the face in the bulimic puke of would-be-doll-girls, behind a masochistic society where sex is at once a mania and anesthesia. Over and over. Your hear Her gentle refrain in crumbling bell-tower of Man.

"The Lilith Monographs" is Leilah Publications' signature series. We examine in a series of three volumes sexuality and its relation to spirituality and religion, sex magic, the evolution of ancient goddesses, sexual prototypes, human psychology and sexual 'deviance,' and much more! The Lilith Monographs Volume II and Volume III release in Spring 2009 and 2010 respectively. Volume I Immaculata begins the series exploring the myth of the Virgin Goddess in Greco-Roman, Christian, and Egyptian mythos. It also contains Rites dedicated to Lilith, created by Joshua Seraphim. Volume II Lailah descends into ritual erotic techniques such as Karezza, Tantra, Kali worship, Buddhism & sexuality, and Sufi sex magic. Volume III {title to be announced} looks at the most deranged, grotesque, and "deviant" aspects of human sexuality such as sadomasochism, fetish, rape, bondage, submission & domination, and more.

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

What are your favorite Biographies/Memoirs?

2008-11-30T12:10:28Z

I like Biographies of people who lived interesting lives of all kinds.
Marginally successful people. Reformed degenerates. Criminals. Prison stories.
Respectable folk who have stories to tell.
I know you have read some good ones.
Try these...

"Look me in the eye" by John Elder Robison, funnier than his brother who wrote "Running with Scissors".

"You can't win" by Jack Black - career criminal in SF in the early 1900's

I got more

posted in Book Lovers - 8 replies

DEATH BOOX

2008-11-09T00:42:02Z

http://tribes.tribe.net/rawadvice/thread/371a0ba0-7a19-4bb1-9018-614d30dfb8b7?newpostingid=123da22e-7518-4205-8c04-80f0f8f7cedc#123da22e-7518-4205-8c04-80f0f8f7cedc

Anyone read these and if so what do you think? I want to get them both asap.

BOINK!!!

posted in Book Lovers - 2 replies

Book Lights

2008-11-08T06:00:03Z

Those damned book lights that are supposed to latch on to your headboard NEVER work. The clips always slip and then the hot bulb is in my lap. I need a coal miner's hat.

posted in Book Lovers - 7 replies

Anyone else...

2008-10-24T06:34:33Z

love Wanda Coleman's writing that is? I honestly fell in love with her work years ago.

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bedtime-story-2/

posted in Book Lovers - 3 replies

The Telegraph's Top 50 Books of All Time

2008-10-13T18:39:36Z

from today's MediaBistro:

"The Telegraph just published the results of a poll conducted by Play.com on the "Top 50 Books of All Time." The bulk of the list is not surprising, although Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code shows up at #5."

"The Telegraph goes on to report that "The research also found that the average Briton buys at least one new book a month," whereas the average American buy less than 10 books a year according to a report by Zogby International (that is if I interpret their data correctly)."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2138827/To-Kill-a-Mockingbird-voted-Greatest-Novel-Of-All-Time.html

posted in Book Lovers - 11 replies

Cook Books

2008-10-03T20:07:46Z

My largest library section by far is "Cooking." I have a bookcase in the kitchen for them but for some reason I still don't use them enough. I decided yesterday I'd start leaving one on the counter each month and try to make at least one dish from a book each week.

My favorites are the old cookbooks with recipes like Plum Pudding with Biscuits and "Chicken in a Biscuit with Duck Fat."

posted in Book Lovers - 4 replies

Neglected books

2008-09-26T20:05:07Z

A great list of lists for readers, like myself, who often find themselves enjoying lesser known works:

http://www.neglectedbooks.com/

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

Literary Dealbreakers

2008-09-26T12:25:19Z

some of the comments beneath the short article are fun. and i'm in dead-on agreement with a lot of the deal breakers mentioned.

http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/literary-dealbreakers/

posted in Book Lovers - 27 replies

Who's books are better?

2008-09-16T02:17:23Z

When I was younger and just starting to read, I read anything and everything I could get my grubby little hands on. Books, magazines.......whatever. I still like to read...... anything and everything. So.... if you are trying to talk to someone about books/whatevers you have read, and the person disregards what your saying either because they
1. don't read those kind,
or
2. or don't want to discuss anything other than what THEY want to talk about.

what's up with that?

I guess my question would be: why would someone be a book snob? what give you the right to think some one who doesn't read what YOU read isn't worth talking books with?
Just because you read "classics" and someone else reads science fiction.....?

I dunno, perhaps i am not phrasing this right............

posted in Book Lovers - 17 replies

Attack of the Megalisters

2008-09-15T04:29:09Z

if you've checked out the used book section of amazon lately like i have, you might have found one old book you were looking for selling at 99 cents and another equally mundane book going for $100. what's going on, here ? i found the answer today in the ny times sunday book section :

Attack of the Megalisters

By MICK SUSSMAN Published: September 12, 2008

Like his novels about the Old West, Larry McMurtry’s memoir “Books” is an elegy for a disappearing way of life. For McMurtry, selling used books was a calling, one that attracted eccentric personalities (like the store owner who hid his best books in paper sacks) and demanded esoteric knowledge, “near to alchemy,” of “editions, variants, points, bindings, provenance, cost codes.” McMurtry especially relishes the tactile aspects of the trade most threatened by the Internet. “What fun is there in clicking,” he asks, “compared to the pleasure of handling a fine copy of a rare book?”

Indeed, the state of the art in used-book selling these days seems to be less about connoisseurship than about database management. With the help of software tools, so-called megalisters stock millions of books and sell tens of thousands a week through Amazon, AbeBooks and other online marketplaces. Some sellers don’t even own their wares. They just copy other sellers’ lists and then buy the books as necessary, pocketing the markup (though none acknowledge the practice, since it is banned on most commercial sites).
To small sellers like Joe Orlando of Fenwick Street Used Books and Music in Leonardtown, Md., megalisters treat books as “simply a widget that they can make a few bucks on.” The megalisters — a name originally intended as a term of abuse but now accepted by the accused — don’t quite disagree. “What we’re trying to do is provide cheap books for everybody,” said G. Seth Beal, the president and chief operating officer of Thrift Books, which lists three million books and has 180 employees. Beal says he personally loves handling and collecting old volumes, but his business model is based on achieving economies of scale through automation.

Thrift Books acquires its stock literally by the ton, usually from libraries, secondhand stores and charities. Employees enter each book’s ISBN code into the company’s inventory, then post the book for sale on Amazon and other marketplace Web sites, using software to determine the price in relation to the competition. It isn’t just a matter of beating the lowest price. Sellers can adjust a set of variables — specifying a price floor, for instance, or ignoring competing stores with poor customer ratings — to come up with their own algorithmic “secret sauce,” explained Marc Fournet, the director of business development at FillZ, an inventory and pricing service.
Because of the sophistication of the software, automated pricing doesn’t necessarily lead to a race to the bottom. Still, many popular books can be found on Amazon for a penny — including “The MacGregor Brides,” by Nora Roberts; “The Bourne Ultimatum,” by Robert Ludlum; and six of the other 15 titles on The Times’s paperback fiction best-seller list from a year ago. The trick, according to a recent article in the trade magazine Fine Books & Collections, lies in the shipping allowance ($3.99 at Amazon), which lets an exceptionally efficient seller squeeze about 75 cents out of a transaction. Achieving that efficiency isn’t easy. With 13 employees and an inventory of more than 140,000 books, Harvest Book Company is on the threshold of megalister status, but Eugene Okamoto, the company’s president, says he hasn’t yet pushed costs down enough to make a profit from penny books. “That’s the holy grail,” he said.

Though the rise of the megalisters has hurt many mom-and-pop operations, the toll has been less than catastrophic. A database maintained by Susan Siegel of Book Hunter Press lists 3,968 “open shops” — as brick-and-mortar outlets are known — across the United States today, down from 4,119 in 2002. A 4 percent drop over six years might not be something to cheer about, but it would seem downright enviable to record or video store owners. What method are the smaller used-book sellers using to survive? “Hit ’em where they ain’t” by turning the labor-intensive “hand selling” approach into an advantage, says Gene Alloway, the co-owner of Motte & Bailey, Booksellers, in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The new strategy involves a selective embrace of e-commerce, focused mainly on a category of book that scarcely existed before the Internet — books you might call “rare but not collectible.” These are books sought after not as artifacts or for resale value, but for their content — often concerning subjects with appeal to fervent communities of interest. If you absolutely have to have Joseph C. Lisiewski’s “Kabbalistic Handbook for the Practicing Magician” right away, what else can you do but shell out the $149.50 for the cheapest of the three paperback copies available on Amazon? (The other two are priced at $349.19 and $349.89.) Before the Internet, a magic aficionado would almost certainly not have found that copy of the “Kabbalistic Handbook” in his local store, nor would the seller have known to set the book’s price so high. Attack of the Megalisters

This segment of the market is not insubstantial. A recent search on Amazon, sorting by year, genre and price, turned up 99 biographies with paperback editions published in 2000 selling for over $100, including “Seth Green” ($201.88 and up), Elina and Leah Furman’s “unauthorized biography” of the actor who played Dr. Evil’s son in the “Austin Powers” movies, and “Without You” ($290 and up, with a CD), Dan Matovina’s group portrait of the Welsh power-pop band Badfinger.

In some cases, less obscure used books will also become extravagantly expensive. “Before the Storm,” Rick Perlstein’s 2001 book on Barry Goldwater and the rise of the conservative movement, was selling in July for prices above $130. “The original publisher took the book out of print quite prematurely,” Perlstein explained in a comment to a blog post on the subject.

A hand seller like Joe Orlando of Fenwick Street is doing much of his online business in this mid-to-high range. On Biblio.com, a marketplace devoted to independent sellers and the high-end rare-book trade, 44 percent of the offerings from Orlando’s Fenwick store were selling for $25 or more and 17 percent for $50 or more. When it comes to selling rare books, megalisters may be at a disadvantage, partly because there are fewer benchmarks for their pricing software. And Alloway of Motte & Bailey says he’s able to outwit the megalisters’ computers, provoking price wars and then buying up books at below market value, holding them until prices readjust.

Hand sellers are preserving and circulating this new alchemical trade wisdom in online forums on sites like BookThink and AbeBooks. “This thread is potentially worth thousands of dollars to each and every one of you,” one participant in a discussion board on eBay wrote under the heading “A book that looks like nothing,” where sellers pass along tips on surprisingly valuable books. And the hand sellers have allies in marketplace sites like Biblio, which keeps out the penny sellers with policies like a $1 minimum price. “The meat of our sales tends to fall in the $40 to $125 range,” said Brendan J. Sherar, Biblio’s chairman and chief executive.

After the great wave of creative destruction set off by e-commerce, the more adaptable breed of used-book seller seems to have survived with McMurtrian ideals intact. Chris Volk, a store owner and the vice president of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, says her colleagues are frustrated but undaunted by the megalisters. “In the long run,” she said, “people who know what they’re doing will win out.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/books/review/Sussman-t.html?ref=review

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

The Secret Life of Siegfried & Roy

2008-08-01T09:29:37Z

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Siegfried-Roy-Tiger/dp/1597775606/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213589302&sr=1-1

I saw this in a store today and wondering if anyone has read it and what you think.

posted in Book Lovers - 10 replies

The Return of Desire by Gina Ogden

2008-07-28T16:08:53Z

I love this book: The Return of Desire - A Guide to Rediscovering Your Sexual Passion, by Gina Ogden

I just finished it and plan on reading it again, starting tonight!

Basically, the author polled women and men using a survey she calls an ‘ISIS’ Survey and then meshed their answers with stories, anecdotes and exercises. An awesome read. It talks about everything from monogamy, dogma, spirituality, emotional intimacy, bisexuality, communication, masturbation, polyamory and sex toys. It's great to hear others stories and get to hear private experiences and conversations that we usually only share with our closest friends - plus, since the author is a therapist, she gives a very positive spin on desire.

www.ginaogden.com/promo/

Anyone else have good read recommendations??

I took this from the website:

In this book you will discover innovative ways to:

• Open up to the four energies that spark desire
• Create heart-to-heart communication in your sexual partnerships
• Transcend guilt, shame, and "good-girls-don´t" messages
• Heal the sexual wounds of abuse, addiction, affairs, and low self-esteem
• Enjoy sexual pleasure and joy throughout your lifespan— from new love, to parenthood, and even into your golden years, when desire can ripen, like fine wine.

Gina Ogden – a marriage and family therapist and passionate voice in the field of women’s sexuality - invites readers to look beyond sexual performance and offers engaging ways you can say "yes" to pleasure on your own terms. She suggests wise and lively approaches for overcoming roadblocks to intimacy, and encourages you to expand your capacity for love, creativity, compassion, and sacred union.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Dean Knootz's "The Good Guy".

2008-06-29T16:46:07Z

I just finished this one and it was fast paced edge of your seat reading.

Dean Knootz' novels are very scary simply because many of them are extremely possible.
The villain in the one was evil incarnate and the heros' had great dialog going on making them extremely likable.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

What's your favorite scary book?

2008-06-24T19:02:18Z

I'm looking for a good, scary novel... and boy, are they hard to find, it seems. What's your favorite non-cheestastic thriller? Recommend away!

posted in Book Lovers - 50 replies

Academic Zodiac

2008-06-19T07:18:38Z

First published by Klaudio Zic Publications, 2007, www.lulu.com/astrology. Copyright © 2007 by Klaudio Zic. All Rights Reserved. No part of this abstract may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, for commercial purposes or otherwise, without the written permission of the author, except when permitted by law.

ACADEMIC ZODIAC

KLAUDIO ZIC
Academy for RTRRT and Scientific Astrology

ABSTRACT
The Academy of Scientific Astrology is based on astronomic principles confirming to the IAU convention. The calculations are performed on the HORIZONS integrator by Jon Giorgini of NASA JPL, Pasadena CA.
Subject headings: solar system – Academic Zodiac, astrology – precession of the ascendant, meridian constellations
Online material: www.lulu.com/astrology

Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over empty space, he hangeth the earth upon nothing;

1. INTRODUCTION

Over the years the Academic Zodiac has been published, tested and tried in a variety of situations ranging from Eros landing to the discovery of the WMAP cold spot. It is our intent and duty to give credit while referring to the NASA JPL staff that guided our first steps into the fascinating world that we call universe. Our mission was not only to delineate all the dwarf planets, centaur objects and classes of special objects, but also study the universal horoscope much as the ancients would. Surprisingly, we have everything that is needed for such a study; in a word, we have NASA.

2. OBSERVATIONS

The ancients observed the skies. This matter of fact marks the difference between the ancient and modern. The visionary astronomers saw the exact positions of the stars according to precession as well as other energetic changes in the finer strata. Anyone observing the sky will determine the rising constellations. These change according to epoch and precession. The ascendant set is by no means static. Observation discloses the true nature of the skies: they rotate. As the skies rotate, the set of ascendants is changing. As the set of ascendants is changing, so does the pulse of this little planet, e.g. today we have a small set of ascendants, only 16, accounting for the uniform state of planetary culture.

3. DATA REDUCTION

The Academic Zodiac has been studied and published as based on scientific facts. The introductory study includes the precession of the ascendant, as well a special treatise on the meridian constellations.
The definition under 1) implies that there is a difference between eastern and meridian constellations, much as the local zodiac stands apart as separate system.
The same rules do not apply to ascendants and zodiacal constellations, much as a separate study of the meridian constellations is required in an astrologer.
The astrologer operating within the real sky environment learns to reduce the data to the essential: ascendant, Moon, star gates, WMAP cold spot and major conjunctions.
Data can be extracted by planetocentric analysis, e.g. In a Juno-centric marriage horoscope, Venus conjunct Bellatrix conveys data that were not obtainable by geocentric analysis.
4. MODEL

The Academic Zodiac spawns further models.

The Academic Zodiac with its standard 22 IAU constellations stands apart fro the set of eastern ascendants, whose number is 16.
The Cartesian house system regulates the uniform of stellar information in a given situation, whether during a seaquake (topocentric depression, negative altitude), on spacecraft or alien solar system. The board mainframe already incorporates such a system.
Scanning the local zodiac for travel purpose is executed by a basic program with preprogrammed zodiacs as well as input and correction capabilities. Zodiacs will be determined on the flight.

5. DISCUSSION

It would be beyond our expectations to find a primitive society handling the intricacies of precession and the zodiac. Slaves and primitives are expected to do as they are told, think as it is expected from their primitive culture, and most of all think big of their culture and leaders. The culture one is born into is the greatest of all times, for all practical purposes. One will not question since the experts do their job and one is not to interfere. It is clear that the Indian, Hebrew and Chinese civilizations are in turn the greatest of all. With due respect towards your civilization, mine is slightly greater than yours is.

6. SUMMARY

Neglect and occult reason have reduced the zodiac to speculative game for the masses. Asinine presumptions have Spica Virginis in Libra and soon Scorpius.
People born with Sun in Virgo are already being told that they are “Scorpio”. Soon the error will expand towards 90 degrees without anyone noticing.
Ascendant Pisces is being interpreted as Capricorn, even when Capricornus can not rise at due east for the epoch.
The Sun is in Libra for Sai Baba’s birthday, November 23rd.
Scores of people believe in the most improbable ascendants and zodiacal positions, such as Aries ascending or even “Pluto in Aries”. Apart from being ridiculous, such presumptions are dangerous in many ways. Pluto never enters Aries or Pisces, much as Eris will never enter Taurus at all. The people who handled the zodiac and ascendant set during the years were poorly educated to say the least. There may be even belief in 12 or 13 signs in the academic world, such is the pressure of the unconscious media upon modern daily mind.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Hesse

2008-04-16T06:07:19Z

I'm just approaching the end of Hesse's Demian for the second time. Just hoping someone might like to talk about it...

posted in Book Lovers - 3 replies

Steve Jobs: "People Don't Read Anymore"

2008-04-11T20:15:51Z

nice attitude steve. great way to positively reach out to the new tech generation.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/web_tech/steve_jobs_people_dont_read_anymore_75163.asp

posted in Book Lovers - 13 replies

Fantasy & Romance Author seeks feedback!!!

2008-04-01T19:28:37Z

Hi all! R. Leigh here....

I am the author of The Winds of Asharra, a 600 page combination Fantasy & Romance novel recently published (please check out our site at http://www.thewindsofasharra.com ). We are actively looking for feedback on WOA since it is a crossover product, appealing to both Romance and Fantasy readers (something that has our traditional publishers scratching their heads). We're in the midst of both book launch and site launch time (very hectic) and would like your input.

In keeping with this request for feedback we are now offering the 600 page PDF version of WOA for FREE on our site (sure, we are hoping you will browse it and eventually purchase either the paperback or hardbound version, we admit).

Please check out the FREE pdf version and let us know how we can best market WOA to fantasy and romance readers. We'd really like to help WOA finds its fullest audience. Several bookstores are already getting onboard but we really need some input how to promote this hybrid creature. Consider this as a request to become part of a focus group. We'd really like to know your thoughts about WOA and how to best market it to both Fantasy and Romance fans. Please help the Winds of Asharra reach its audience. Being a crossover product is hard enough as is! Spread the word and show the Big Guys that something new is possible. Help us be carried along by the Winds of Asharra!!!

Thanks for your time!

R. Leigh

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Sally Saffron adventures

2008-03-27T15:07:22Z

This is some sort of serialized fiction blog, with the story determined by readers contributions...

I haven't read it, I actually saw the ad for it on the bottom of the Shakespeare digitization thread, below, and clicked the link.

Anyone familiar with this piece? Any comments about the concept in general?

My initial comment... isn't this how Dickens got started?

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Shakespeare goes digital (X-post)

2008-03-27T04:49:38Z

Why x-posted? It's Shake-freakin-speare!!!

From Reuters via Yahoo news: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080326/tc_nm/britain_shakespeare_digital_dc

A U.S. and British library plan to reproduce online all 75 editions of William Shakespeare's plays printed in the quarto format before the year 1641.

The Bodleian Library in Oxford and Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC have joined forces to download their collections, building on the work of the British Library which digitized its collection of quarto editions in 2004.

In the absence of surviving manuscripts, the quartos -- Shakespeare's earliest printed editions -- offer the closest known evidence of what Shakespeare might actually have written, and what appeared on the early modern English stage.

The project is designed to make all of the quartos, many of which are only accessible to scholars, available to the wider public.

The process of downloading the quartos will begin next month and take a year to complete.

Online visitors will be able to compare images side-by-side, lay one facsimile on top of the other, search plays and mark and tag the texts.

As well as highlighting more minor differences between copies of the same quarto, the digital database will also make it easier to study the often wide discrepancies between quartos, including some of Shakespeare's most famous lines.

"There will be countless new ways for scholars, teachers, and students to examine the quarto texts, particularly of 'Hamlet'," said Folger director Gail Kern Paster.

"You find out all sorts of things -- about how the copies went through the press, and also about the printing process," she added.

Shakespeare wrote at least 37 plays and collaborated on several more between about 1590 and 1613. He died in 1616.

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

RIP Gary Gygax, Co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons (X-posted)

2008-03-05T02:15:43Z

If it weren't for the creative guys at Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) I doubt we'd have the extensive fantasy- and mythology-based literature and games which are so popular and financially successful today.

Rest well, Gary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gygax

Feiruz, a second-generation "gamer"

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

A beautiful mind . . . ?

2008-03-02T19:12:52Z

I am curious how those who saw the movie and are familiar with so-called mental illnesses view the book "A beautiful mind". Especially those who are also scientists.

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

What are you reading?

2008-03-02T15:15:54Z

Why?
How is it?

posted in Book Lovers - 18 replies

It's 2008 baby - what u reading?

2008-02-23T03:50:19Z

Happy New Year all

I am reading an excellent book - Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik
He has an interesting style of writing, takes a bit to get use to, very smart guy, he connects different kinds of things... excellent read!

posted in Book Lovers - 29 replies

Your top read for 2007?

2008-02-14T05:37:31Z

And your winner is...

I know you all read your little heads off to your own delight - good for you.
Some books we finish because we bought them, damn it and are committed to finish it.
Other books we savor and and reflect and look forward to like a good friend chapter, upon chapter.
Now, tell us, what book really did it for you?
Which book you read in 2007 was the best? and why?

posted in Book Lovers - 3 replies

How extensive is your person library, what makes up the largist %

2008-02-09T22:09:15Z

Non-Fiction =
Sci-Fi =
And so on......

posted in Book Lovers - 37 replies

Literary Magazines

2008-02-05T00:37:16Z

What are some of your favorite Literary Magazines?
I used to date the publisher/ founder of Watchword Press magazine (nothing to do with the religious zine), and it was one of my favorites. Its still going strong and you can find it at some of the Bay Area book shops...
www.watchwordpress.org.
I have a few Paris Reviews hanging around but... don't ever seem to have time to read them. Granta as well....
Jeff Ray

posted in Book Lovers - 2 replies

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close By Jonathan Safran Foer

2008-01-22T18:22:34Z

Just finished reading this book. The guy is brilliant. It's a sad but playful novel. I highly recommend it.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Looking for an older Children's book???

2008-01-22T15:24:11Z

I'm looking for an older children's book (I say older....I had a copy in the 70's) called Petroushka. It's based on the ballet, but it's got wildly colorful pictures and a fabulous cover. Has anyone run across this or know a source where I might find one?

thanks!
Shamsi

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

The future of the book.

2008-01-22T14:54:45Z

http://www.futureofthebook.org/blog/books/

And it came to pass, not to say.

posted in Book Lovers - 4 replies

I need a new book

2008-01-03T08:41:15Z

Any suggestions?
I like to read a sci-fi, fantasy before bed - it settles me in to sleep.

fun, fantasy, a good story, interesting characters, space, knights, magic, creative, other worlds, aliens, wizards, power...

posted in Book Lovers - 11 replies

Antique German Cookbook published in 1797

2007-12-29T04:29:06Z

Sorry I'm so late in getting this up, but I've got this up on eBay right now and Nora (perhaps some of you know her, she's a regular) suggested I post the link here for everyone to check out.

I bought the book several years ago and for the longest time couldn't figure out what it was all about. First I thought it was a house manual because of the words "fur junge frauen, haushalterinnen." The script was very difficult to make heads or tails of since it's so old and different than what we have now (Times New Roman, Ariel, etc), so I just kind of set it aside. Recently the semester ended, I ran out of money and I was in a mad dash to pull together money (still am) and found the book again (after two failed attempts at selling it in an antique store). I sat down and spent quite a bit of time studying the print style and remembering my high school german and finally everything clicked into place. It's a cookbook!!! 600 pages of culinary splendor to be exact!!! It's filled with all sorts of hidden gems. I'm going to take a few good pics with my camera so I can try to make a few dishes from the old country.

Anyway, even if you're not interested in buying it, stop over quick before it sells to check out the pics!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290192810319&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=019

Thanks,

Dan Gilbert

ps - check out my other auctions too!!!

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Man Booker Prize/ What's your favorite book prize?

2007-12-25T03:10:10Z

Not too long ago the short list was given out for the Booker prize, as well at the winner. This is my favorite book prize (sorry Oprah book club)and the only one I tend to read every winner....
In the end The Gathering won but I have yet to go out and get it yet.... maybe over Xmas....

The six titles shortlisted are:

Darkmans by Nicola Barker (Fourth Estate)
The Gathering by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape) (winner)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton)
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (John Murray)
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
Animal’s People by Indra Sinha (Simon & Schuster

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

Favorite Children's Book ?

2007-12-24T22:02:42Z

Just in time for the Holidays. This can be childrens books either related to the Holidays or not... I probably like the Children's Books by Chris Van Allsburg best, including Polar Express. Horrible movie though... There is the classic Dr. Seuss books that are still pretty interesting. I also like the Everybody Poos series....

Jeff Ray

posted in Book Lovers - 8 replies

Ayn Rand

2007-12-22T01:32:24Z

http://people.half.ebay.com/Ayn-Rand_W0QQmZbooksQQcidZ1023569624

I was watching lost this afternoon and noticed Sawyer was reading Fountainhead. Hmm.

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

Terry Pratchett

2007-12-17T07:06:01Z

FYI

http://www.paulkidby.com/news/index.html

:(

posted in Book Lovers - 3 replies

canadian litterature

2007-12-11T16:10:53Z

Does anyone on this tribe reads Canadian Literature?
I'm interested in finding out where Canadian Literature stands in the English speaking world community!
Are you interested?
Are you biased?
What have you read?
Sheer curiosity!

posted in Book Lovers - 4 replies

incendiary, loved it

2007-12-08T18:42:43Z

a british housewife loses her husband and son in a bombing and begins a correspondance with osama bin laden. it was sooooo good. her horney dipsy craziness....i could identify with.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Support your local independant book stores!

2007-12-05T23:56:52Z

I'm not much into the Christmas thing, but I know lots of you are, and I would like to encourage, ask or convince you to buy any of the books you are planning on buying as gifts this year from your local independent book store.

Small bookstores have a much smaller buying power than corporations like Walmart etc., therefore to keep their doors open and give they need to be supported by each and everyone of us "readers who love to read" people, .

It's real, soon small book stores won't be able to keep their doors open if we don't consciously support them.
I don't even want to imagine the day when the only choice I'll have to go and buy books will be Walmart or all the other mega, ugly, cold, noisy, chaotic, neon lighted, exploitive, throat cutting @#$# store.

To my small little charming intimate bookstores
love
mcjb

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

animated short

2007-11-29T19:32:52Z

Found this one when digging through the net, enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xta8Feaon2M

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Kindle

2007-11-25T18:09:17Z

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI73MA/ref=amb_link_5892702_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=10M2QFMVSZDY3D0Z11YJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=331269701&pf_rd_i=283155

I swear this is the invention I have been thinking should exist for years now. I have also thought the same type of thing should be available for music. But the iTunes / iPod took care of that right? This looks pretty cool. Anyone here have one yet or planning on getting one? I just discovered it this morning and have to take a closer look. It looks pretty incredible tough so far.

???

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

David Mitchell!

2007-11-23T07:12:57Z

OK: I'm freaking out with enthusiasm right now, and it might be a bit obnoxious, but I'm in the homestretch of 'Cloud Atlas' and would like to sound off on David Mitchell. Also can't rule out the possibility that I have fallen in love with fictional replicant Somni-451...

posted in Book Lovers - 4 replies

The Terror Presidency

2007-11-22T12:58:47Z

http://lessig.org/blog/2007/11/the_terror_presidency_hard_que.html

Has anyone read this book and if so what do you think of it?

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

The End of Mr Y

2007-11-15T20:57:56Z

by Scarlett Thomas..
I'm half way through this.....
Really want to talk to people about it, but can't find anyone who has read it....
I bought it 'cause I was fed up, liked the pretty packageing (SORRY but it happens)
and love all the daft 19th/20th century cusp obsessions with the science spiritualism grey areas that seemed to exist.
Tesla anyone? So far it's filled me with a glorious sense of unease!
Anyone out there read it? Did ya hate it...will it dissapoint at the end????

posted in Book Lovers - 4 replies

Favorite Coffee Table Books?

2007-11-15T03:48:43Z

Any favorite coffee table books? What;s on your coffee table? Taschen books are generally good, The Fruits series on Japanese pop fashion is interesting,Chronicle Books has some decent stuff... Their Cuba photography book, sits on my coffee table, along with The Mathew Barney, Guggenheim book.... Berlin Interiors, Vitamin D (A book of contemporary artists whose medium is drawing...)

posted in Book Lovers - 2 replies

In honor of Halloween: "Capote in Kansas: A Ghost Story"

2007-11-01T16:30:46Z

Was Boo Radley a real person?

Why didn't Harper Lee ever write another book, after TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD?

What did she see in Kansas, when she was with Truman Capote writing IN COLD BLOOD, that changed her life forever?

Did the ghosts of the murdered Clutters ever visit the very people who brought them back to life?

What made Truman Capote pick up the phone, in the final year of his life, and make one last call to his childhood best friend, now his almost bitter enemy? What does he say that sends her to a cemetery in the middle of the night -- where her family -- and their childhood secrets --are buried?

If those questions intrigue you, then you'll want to read the new novel by Kim Powers, CAPOTE IN KANSAS: A GHOST STORY. It's a sort of "fantasia" about two of our greatest and most mysterious writers, and the inescapable memories that bind them together. But more than just a book about Capote and Lee, it's about all our childhoods: when you played barefoot outside, late into the night, or pretended there was a haunted house in the neighborhood, and didn't understand the grown-up world of adults and death -- or understood it all too well.

Entertainment Weekly says: "Powers astutely summons the intense sorrow behind a life-long friendship gone awry."

Publishers Weekly calls it "welcome", "offbeat" and intriguing."

The Advocate calls it "dark and captivating."

Pulitzer Prize winner Oscar Hijuelos writes: “I thought I knew the story of Truman Capote and Harper Lee. I was wrong. Kim Powers brilliantly brings their strange relationship alive in a way a standard-issue biography never could. Weaving together fact, speculation and fantasy, he creates a sort of emotional biography that will haunt you long after the last page...just as the ghosts of the slain Clutters must have haunted them.”

Maybe best of all, Library Journal, in a starred review, has this to say:
"In his exceptional first novel, Emmy and Peabody Award winner Powers presents us with Truman Capote in the last year of his life. Addled by drugs and alcohol and despairing the wreck his shining life has become, he is plagued by the ghosts of the people whose deaths he chronicled in his greatest book, In Cold Blood. The now-old Harper Lee, or Nelle as she calls herself, is the only one who has a shot at understanding Truman—his childhood friend, she served as companion and researcher on the trip to Kansas that produced In Cold Blood. But Nelle has her own ghosts to exorcise having to do with why she never wrote a second book. In Kansas, Powers speculates, Truman exposed Nelle to her own sexuality, which she continues to suppress. And at his famous 1966 Black and White Ball, green with envy over Nelle's having won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Truman spreads the rumor that it was he who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, not she. Powers, whose 2006 memoir, The History of Swimming, was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, succeeds brilliantly in blending fact and fiction to produce a sensitive portrait of two lost souls. Heartily recommended for public collections."

VISIT ME AT KIMPOWERSBOOKS.COM

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Share a sentence form a book you are currently reading.

2007-10-15T02:06:41Z

Love when I am reading and there it is is, the perfect sentence.
It's so good.
Those words moved round just right.
I stop, reread.
And if I still love it, I dog ear the page and make a small black arrow and point to the sentence.
Words rule people!

posted in Book Lovers - 91 replies

RUDY RUCKER

2007-09-30T16:09:20Z

http://tribes.tribe.net/booxtribe/thread/4be5ee31-1be2-4452-9221-33db64e11365

Any fans here? This guy seems mondo brilliant.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

The greatest of pleasures

2007-09-28T16:58:18Z

“To be learning something is the greatest of pleasures, not only to the philosopher but the rest of mankind, however small their capacities.”

Aristotle said that. What does it say about human beings that this is true of them? If you think this is *not* true of human beings, what does it say about them that this is false?

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

Lovers of Levengers

2007-09-13T19:08:13Z

Lovers of Levengers
Lounging in leather chairs
Laughing loud, leering low,
Luring each other upstairs.

(I wrote this in a message to my friend Ann, who also loves Levengers, the store supplying "tools for serious readers.")

www.levenger.com/HOME/RtlHomePage.asp

Check out the version of this poem on my profile to see a picture of such a dreamy leather chair and ottoman, perfect for the serious reader. (Seriously beyond this reader's means, sadly.)

posted in Book Lovers - 15 replies

Do you know about the man that named Hollywood and made it famous???

2007-09-11T01:44:42Z

Hobart Johnstone and Gigi Whitley are considered the patriarchs who presided over the creation of Hollywood. Their city has forever changed the course of history, portraying visions of glamour and romance to a degree unmatched anywhere else. Nestled in hills covered in towering eucalyptus and orange groves, Hollywood was built as part of a grand scheme by visionary developer HJ Whitley, “The Father of Hollywood.” Why did the Los Angeles Times and others in the community give him this title? Whitley Heights was the Beverly Hills of yesteryear, and some of the most impressive homes in Hollywood are located there. Stars like Jean Harlow, Ethel Barrymore, Charlie Chaplin, Marion Davies, W.C. Fields, Harold Lloyd, Carole Lombard, Rudolph Valentino, and many others lived and held legendary parties in the Heights. How did he get them to settle there? What was the magical draw this amazing man possessed? Learn the true story of how Hollywood got its name. More info on wiki, web or at www.TheFatherOfHollywood.com.

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

Grad School/ Any favorite text books/ required reading from College?

2007-09-03T01:46:46Z

I just started Grad School (MFA SF State) and I am buying up text books left and right. Expensive, and pretty dense reading.
First on the list is, "Disfiguring, Art, Architecture and Religion.:
The first line quotes Soren Kierkegaard, "And do you see that the poor in having religous also having the aesthetic, and the rich as so far have nto the religious, have not the aesthetic either?"

This text book is not my favorite so far, but required, and interesting. Not sure which past text books have been my favorite. I mostly enjoyed some of the required reading such as Jean Baudrillard's, "Simulacra and Simulations," and Germinal by Emile Zola.

posted in Book Lovers - 2 replies

A escrava Isaura.

2007-08-31T23:04:48Z

Where can I find an english copie of A escrava Isaura by Bernardo Guimares.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Haruki Murakami

2007-08-31T05:20:26Z

Okay, now that I've got the spelling right and I realize it's a him, not a her...

Any recommendations?

posted in Book Lovers - 15 replies

Library book request - Dynamic Belly Dance

2007-08-24T23:50:20Z

Would you like to read a book about the art of belly dancing filled with beautiful photos and illustrations?

If yes, please ask your public library to add to their collection:

Dynamic Belly Dance, The Joyful Journey of Dancemaking and Performing by Ramona
ISBN 978-0-615-13326-3

This book is available to library distributors. If your librarian has questions about availability or needs further info/excerpt/details, go to www.DynamicBellyDance.com

Thanks so much! I'm the author of this new book, and need your help in getting it into libraries.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Phillip Pullman, author of His Darkest Materials, take on religion, writing, etc...

2007-08-21T07:58:12Z

Phillip Pullman is one of my favorite author's and contemporary thinkers. He is an atheist who believes in a school of morals that you can cull from art, and literature.
Here is an excerpt from his website, http://www.philip-pullman.com, a wonderful resource of his thoughts on various subjects ranging from education to inspirations behind his writings.

Various quotes from his website:

I don`t profess any religion; I don`t think it`s possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words ''spiritual'', or ''spirituality''; but I think I can say something about moral education, and I think it has something to do with the way we understand stories....

Books and stories don't just emerge from nothing in a sort of mental Big Bang. They grow more like plants, from a seed that's nourished by a rich and fertile soil. All my books have come out of the background of my own reading and from the things I've seen, or heard, or done, or thought about...

The religious impulse – which includes the sense of awe and mystery we feel when we look at the universe, the urge to find a meaning and a purpose in our lives, our sense of moral kinship with other human beings – is part of being human, and I value it. I'd be a damn fool not to.
But organised religion is quite another thing. The trouble is that all too often in human history, churches and priesthoods have set themselves up to rule people's lives in the name of some invisible god (and they're all invisible, because they don't exist) – and done terrible damage. In the name of their god, they have burned, hanged, tortured, maimed, robbed, violated, and enslaved millions of their fellow-creatures, and done so with the happy conviction that they were doing the will of God, and they would go to Heaven for it.
That is the religion I hate, and I'm happy to be known as its enemy.

posted in Book Lovers - 8 replies

Ernest Hemingway

2007-08-09T05:44:22Z

I am loving this book, Movable Feast

My first Hemingway book

What else should I read of his?
So easy to read, a flow that meters with me.

posted in Book Lovers - 5 replies

A Wrinkle in Time

2007-08-09T00:00:48Z

my niece is not an avid reader, but she has read some things I have mentioned.

I thought to give this to her for Christmas this year. She is 16, just moved to a new state... I think I read this between 9-12... is she too old for this? anyone remember reading it at 16 and finding it interesting?

posted in Book Lovers - 13 replies

'Good Reads'

2007-08-02T02:15:10Z

I've been on for few weeks and am looking to build my network. Just contact me if you're interested-

Meanwhile, anyone want to sound off pro or con about goodreads.com?

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

reading glasses

2007-07-29T23:49:59Z

after a lifetime of reading, i have come to the age where i require reading glasses....

i have poor vision, can't see much beyond a foot in front of me.

i wear contacts with reading glasses
i wear regular glasses with a bifocal...

and now, because when i read at night in bed, the teensie 1/4" of bifocal is not enough... i have to keep moving thebook up every five lines...

so now my doctor has recommended that i get full time reading glasses for when i read in bed at night... i won't be able to see a thing except the book in my hand....

but isn't that the way when we are reading? heh

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

New JK Rowling book, the end of a series... and dealing with post Potter depression.... Pullman to the rescue....

2007-07-28T20:25:53Z

I am a huge fan of the Potter series. It seems to stir the kid in me. So...I wait like zillions of others for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book 7) as well as the film opening soon. Yes, you may scoff, but Rowling is a talented story teller and I will be very sad when the last page of the last book is read. So, how do you deal with this post Potter depression? I would recommend reading Richard Pullman's His Darkest Materials, series. I have posted about Pullman recently and I cannot stress enough how amazing his books are and they conjur up some of the same fantastical spirits as Rowling does. Pullman's stuff is much more sofisticated, and densely wrtitten. Also a bit darker. All in all a more adult, and deeper experience. I am also curious how The Golden Compass (based on book one of the series) will come out.

Jeff

posted in Book Lovers - 11 replies

Sad news for independent book stores

2007-07-17T23:03:55Z

Cody's Books will shutter its only store in San Francisco after 18 months of trying to survive in a cutthroat environment for independent booksellers.

The 22,000-square-foot store on Stockton Street, between Union Square and Market Street, will close on April 20. It will send 20 percent of its inventory to the last remaining Cody's location, on Fourth Street in Berkeley.

Cody's President Andrew Ross, who mortgaged his house to open the San Francisco store, said it has been losing $70,000 a month. He expressed disappointment in its failure.

"It wasn't like it almost didn't work -- it just didn't work," he said. "To make it work, we would have had a long, long way to go."

The store had always been considered a risk, with its 34-foot bright yellow sign straining to stand out amid such chain retailers as the Apple Store across the street and Borders Books just a few blocks away. The street-level entrance, which leads to a large, quiet basement of books, never drew large crowds despite its high-profile location -- something that still baffles Ross.

"I bet the bank on that store," he said. "In spite of the location and the size, it just didn't work. I can't interview the customers who didn't come. The customers who did come liked the store."

Nick Setka, board president of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association, said it is almost impossible for any independent bookseller to open such a large store going head-to-head with chains such as Barnes and Nobles and Borders, as well as Internet retailers.

"In this economic environment, it's unrealistic to have those grand ambitions," he said. "I admire someone (who tries to) do it but it's overly ambitious."

Cody's could have been a hero among the independents had it triumphed over the chains.

"If it had been a success, it would have been the stuff of myth and legend in the independent bookstores," Setka said. "Alas, things are different now than they were 10 years ago."

Setka said independent booksellers must realize that as the landscape changes, they too must change.

"The larger lesson is that in this new financial reality for bookstores, you have to be efficiently run, have a good inventory control system, a lean staff and go smaller," he said. "You have to fill the niche your community needs to have filled."

Ross said one of Cody's problems was construction on the Barneys clothing store at Stockton and O'Farrell streets, which started last summer and made it difficult for the bookstore to attract shoppers. Business declined by 40 percent.

In September, a Japanese book distributor, Yohan Inc., bought Cody's from Ross and kept him as president. The deal allowed the company to stay afloat.

"It put some money into our business and it gave us some breathing space, but not enough," he said.

Ross had hoped the San Francisco store could weather the construction of Barneys, set to be completed in September. But in the final assessment, it did not make sense to keep it open.

"We didn't have time to wait," he said. "We didn't have confidence that it'd make a big enough difference."

Last May, Ross was forced to close the Cody's store on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley after 43 years because of declining sales and a changing neighborhood. The Fourth Street location is thriving and Ross said he plans to keep it going.

"The Cody's brand lives strong in the East Bay, and that's what we're going to focus on," he said.

Still, Ross said he cannot help but reflect on the Stockton Street store with regrets. His house is now up for sale.

"This is the second store I've had to close in two years," he said. "This is not what I wanted to do in my life. I wanted to open stores."

posted in Book Lovers - 8 replies

Moments I live for...

2007-06-26T05:01:56Z

In the Bookstore (an amusing true story).

A kid at the local bookstore asks for a copy of “Great Expectations”. The clerk goes and gets the book, and upon his return the following exchange occurs:

Kid: (dejectedly eyeing the book) Gee, that’s a really thick book.

Clerk: (wryly) Well perhaps you just wanted “Expectations?”

Kid: Is it thinner?

Clerk: (tongue in cheek) Uh huh…

Kid: (naively takes the bait) Yeah that’s it! I’ll take that one.

posted in Book Lovers - 4 replies

This Bookshelf is My Altar

2007-06-19T15:24:00Z

This bookshelf is my altar,
Whose consecrated pages
Keep fresh all I’ve ordained
Most lasting from past ages.

posted in Book Lovers - 4 replies

FictionDB.com

2007-06-17T05:14:18Z

Some friends of mine operate this... it is really ramping up. Thought I would give them a plug here, as the site is really maturing and is now a pretty good tool. Try it yourself. Let me know if you try it. Or do you use other similar websites?

http://www.fictiondb.com/

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posted in Book Lovers - 2 replies

What Cops Know

2007-06-14T01:48:26Z

http://www.amazon.com/What-Cops-Know-Connie-Fletcher/dp/0671750402/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5099184-4525469?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181785356&sr=1-1

Has anyone read this book? I saw it in a magazine and it looks interesting.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

How fast can you find delete?

2007-06-13T19:14:57Z

So I'm over on MySpace (yeah well, yes I do know it sucks compared to tribe), get a friends invite, and go to check the person out. In her interest column I note, " Don't like books". Good God, I couldn't find the delete button fast enough. Can you imagine someone not liking books and being that willing to share such blasphemy? I've still got chills. : o

posted in Book Lovers - 15 replies

Books bound with human skin? I've never heard of such a thing.

2007-06-09T16:55:15Z

Book Bound in Human Skin? Profile Pm Email Search Buddy IP

LONDON - A 300-year-old book that appears to be bound in human skin has been found in northern England, police said Saturday.

The macabre discovery was made on a central street in Leeds, and officers said the ledger may have been dumped following a burglary.

Detectives were trying to trace its rightful owner and believe it may have been taken from a dwelling in the area.

Much of the text is in French, and it was not uncommon around the time of the French Revolution for books to be covered in human skin.

The practice, known as anthropodermic bibliopegy, was sometimes used in the 18th and 19th centuries when accounts of murder trials were bound in the killer's skin.

Anatomy books also were sometimes bound in the skin of a dissected cadaver. In World War II, Nazis were accused of using the skin from Holocaust victims to bind books.

In a brief statement, West Yorkshire police said the ledger, which contained handwriting in black ink, appears to date back to the 1700s, and they appealed to anyone who may be able to help identify the owners of the item to contact authorities.

West Yorkshire Police put two photographs of the book on their Web site, but officers were unable on Saturday to answer any questions about it, including the book's subject matter.

posted in Book Lovers - 7 replies

Cormac McCarthy does Oprah interview!

2007-06-06T12:57:43Z

...as the world turns upside down, ash rains from the sky and cannibalistic hordes search the wasteland for children to eat...

The two most inane moments that made me feel that she didn't understand the first thing about his work: when she tried to throw "3 marriages later" in his face, which he completely disolved by claiming to not understand the first thing about women.

And when she wanted to prattle on about "what an unusual sort of writer" he was by taking a non-materialistic stance - read it or don't.

Obviously I don't have much respect for Oprah, but encouraging modern people to read isn't something I'm going to mock. Any theories on what else went on behind the scenes to convince him to do this? Anyway, despite the venue, I was pleased to see him, find him essentially what I expected.

posted in Book Lovers - 2 replies

W Somerset Maugham

2007-06-05T02:28:15Z

I love him!

I scored this 10 CD set of W Somerset Maugham's short stories from donating to the public radio station in LA,CA - KCRW.
I love the terms, the Britishness of it all, the delightful sense of awareness and deep thought, the humor, the story, the details... so, so, so good!

"She plunged into a sea of platitudes, and with the powerful breast stroke of a channel swimmer made her confident way towards the white cliffs of the obvious."

One story has a funny female character who calls herself "Fank." "I haven;t eaten potatoes in over 25 years," Frank.

I intend to read more of his work, there is a spy book, which supposedly influced Ian Fleming and his most infamous, Of Human Bondage.

posted in Book Lovers - 5 replies

The Glasscastle

2007-06-03T19:37:31Z

I finished it and it's awesome!!

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

Cora Daniels

2007-06-03T19:27:10Z

http://www.coradaniels.com/

Has anyone here read Ghettonation or Black Power Inc.? I have been reading about Coras books online and am interested in reading her books now. Just wondering if anyone here has read them and if so what you think.

posted in Book Lovers - 1 reply

Eat, pray, love

2007-06-03T19:14:26Z

where is everybody??
I love this book!!!!

posted in Book Lovers - 3 replies

When do you read?

2007-05-22T18:10:23Z

I read in bed.
My prelude to sleep.

posted in Book Lovers - 16 replies

Aragon: another disappointing film adaptation of a book.

2007-05-22T16:22:28Z

Just saw "Aragon", and yet again the book proved much better than the movie. In this case, the characters so vividly fleshed out in Paolini's work has been voided to the point of non-existence in the film. It's a shame, because if the film had been better it may have encouraged those who'd not otherwise read the book to pick it up. Par for the course I fear.

I wonder when the last of the series (tentatively he's called it “Empire”) is due out, has anyone here heard anything?

posted in Book Lovers - 8 replies

New books...

2007-04-30T05:12:08Z

I just bought 9 books!!!!!!!!!

2 for my friend
2 for my mom
and 5 for me:
Vampire Stories from The American South
The Divided Crown
Mercury by Ben Bova - anyone read this series? I have been curious and this hardcover was on sale...
A Room of My Own - Virginia Woolf
Whole Body Beauty Wisdom

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

New belly dancing book

2007-04-25T16:08:54Z

Info at www.DynamicBellyDance.com includes the "I love bellydancing" commercial, author reading an excerpt, reader comments and info.The book has lots of photos, and discusses the relationship of dance and nonverbal communication, plus techniques for dancemaking, dance psychology, understanding how music is created, and more. Readers who are actresses, psychologists, dancers, and theatre-lovers say this book gives them a lot of food for thought. Autographed copies available via the website.

posted in Book Lovers - 0 replies

Rawlings not to be confused with Rowling.

2007-04-21T19:47:35Z

Just spent an hour plus a few minutes watching “The Yearling” in tears, and recalling now how wonderful and magical the book was. It’s been years since I’ve read the book, but I remember how it touched me as a child and think a re-thinking it believe a rereading is in order.

Does anyone know if of the other M. K. Rawlings books are as good? She did win the Pulitzer Prize for her famous one, but I wonder about her other writings.

posted in Book Lovers - 2 replies