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Jackarandajam
Maester
Saving Beauty - Byung-Hul Chan
Transformative Experience - L. A. Paul
Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics - Hegel
Transformative Experience - L. A. Paul
Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics - Hegel
Gurkhal
Auror
More books for me. This time two classics: "The Proud Tower" by Barbara W. Tuckman and the first book in the "Flashman" series by George MacDonald Fraser.
Phantasy
Minstrel
Really? I'm just starting to read The Stormlight Archive with The Way of Kings.Sanderson's Wind and Truth. I was disappointed with it, if I'm completely honest, and don't recommend the series anymore to people looking for a new series to read.
Karlin
Sage
I downloaded The Heart of Buddhist Meditation, by Nyanaponika Thera
Rexenm
Maester
I’m awaiting The Floating World - Axie Oh.
The Dark One
Auror
I loved the Flashman books (have reread them several times) but sincerely doubt they'd be published these days.
Gurkhal
Auror
I haven't read it but from reviews it does not sound very PC. Still I had it recommended and given its reviews I hope it will be a good read and I'll read the rest of the series as well.
The Dark One
Auror
It is masterfully written but very, very far from PC. Flashman was a cad and a bully (as depicted in Tom Brown's Schooldays), but also funny and urbane. He's a faithful representation of a C19 English gentleman: privileged, snobbish, a deceitful womaniser, racist, both bully and coward and just thoroughly appalling.
I suppose that's how such people were in the 1840s but some will put it down in disgust. It was written in 1966 when the world was significantly different from today and, despite being brilliantly researched and an absolute masterpiece of storytelling, I doubt any publisher would touch it now without some very fundamental revisions.
I suppose that's how such people were in the 1840s but some will put it down in disgust. It was written in 1966 when the world was significantly different from today and, despite being brilliantly researched and an absolute masterpiece of storytelling, I doubt any publisher would touch it now without some very fundamental revisions.
Gurkhal
Auror
I'll make sure to brace myself before I get into it.
minta
Scribe
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
xena
Scribe
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner.
Quinn_Patrick
Acolyte
I've recently starting reading kindle books in an effort to broaden my exposure to literature. I decided, while looking for my next read, that I would try to find something very contemporary, a book published this year, preferably something obscure.
Scrolling through recent releases in fantasy, most of what you find are romances, but eventually I found something that looked a little more up my alley, A Thief's Gift by James Haddock. Self published, but the author is hugely prolific, and it was bathed in thousands of glowing reviews. I think the average score was around 4.8. I was (and still am) naive about how Amazon reviews work, so I thought "how bad can it be"?
As it turns out, extremely bad! One of the worst things I've ever read, in fact. It probably wouldn't occur to me to be so negative about it if it weren't for all the great reviews, which in hindsight feel like gaslighting. I'm curious about what was going on there. I'm talking 1-3 thousand five star reviews on all this guy's books. Could it be a Robert Stanek situation, or is this a broader problem with Amazon book reviews? Just looking around, its hard to find anything below about 3.5 stars average. Also, the guy doesn't have any Wikipedia page or anything like that. You would think if he was really selling thousands and thousands of books, he would have some notability.
Well, I read it, so I guess the joke's on me.
Scrolling through recent releases in fantasy, most of what you find are romances, but eventually I found something that looked a little more up my alley, A Thief's Gift by James Haddock. Self published, but the author is hugely prolific, and it was bathed in thousands of glowing reviews. I think the average score was around 4.8. I was (and still am) naive about how Amazon reviews work, so I thought "how bad can it be"?
As it turns out, extremely bad! One of the worst things I've ever read, in fact. It probably wouldn't occur to me to be so negative about it if it weren't for all the great reviews, which in hindsight feel like gaslighting. I'm curious about what was going on there. I'm talking 1-3 thousand five star reviews on all this guy's books. Could it be a Robert Stanek situation, or is this a broader problem with Amazon book reviews? Just looking around, its hard to find anything below about 3.5 stars average. Also, the guy doesn't have any Wikipedia page or anything like that. You would think if he was really selling thousands and thousands of books, he would have some notability.
Well, I read it, so I guess the joke's on me.
Rexenm
Maester
Sounds like a gingerbread house scenario, to me.
Karlin
Sage
I picked up Calculating God, Robert Sawyer, 2000. In a street library. A decent read, interesting ideas. He tries to deal with creationism and, to a lesser extent, abortion. I found the characters a bit on the shallow side.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
Most of the books I have bought recently are books I really had no interest in. I just read them to give reviews, so some might review mine. I can see amazon is holding two reviews on my book, cause I think those reciprocating did not really read it, and amazon knows is. What can you do? Some people try to cheat the system. I can assure, l have read every book I've reviewed.
I am about to get four books I have little interest in, cause that's how the review round works. One seems to be a romance with a strong theme of love, another is a book aimed at children, the third is a biography of someone escaping Guadalajara to an adopted family in the US., and the fourth is a biography of Franz Shubert, an 1800's composer.
None of these I would probably read if left on my own, but we'll see what they got. They may all be surprisingly good.
I'd hate to read someone's biography and not like it, and have to say so. That seems excessively mean. I mean...its their life story, who am I to say they got it wrong. That one may be the hardest.
I am about to get four books I have little interest in, cause that's how the review round works. One seems to be a romance with a strong theme of love, another is a book aimed at children, the third is a biography of someone escaping Guadalajara to an adopted family in the US., and the fourth is a biography of Franz Shubert, an 1800's composer.
None of these I would probably read if left on my own, but we'll see what they got. They may all be surprisingly good.
I'd hate to read someone's biography and not like it, and have to say so. That seems excessively mean. I mean...its their life story, who am I to say they got it wrong. That one may be the hardest.
The Dark One
Auror
I'm sure it's possible to have an interesting life but also be a lousy writer.
The opposite is certainly true - plenty of decent memoirs where not much happens but the writing is exquisite.
