Reddit mentions: The best classic literature & fiction books
We found 8,298 Reddit comments discussing the best classic literature & fiction books. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 2,453 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.
1. Meditations: A New Translation
- Modern Library, A nice option for a Book Lover
- Great one for reading
- It's a great choice for a book person
Features:
Specs:
Color | Black |
Height | 7.9 Inches |
Length | 5.1 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | May 2003 |
Weight | 0.39903669422 Pounds |
Width | 0.56 Inches |
2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
- Great product!
Features:
Specs:
Color | Red |
Height | 7.95 Inches |
Length | 5.21 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | May 2004 |
Weight | 0.57 Pounds |
Width | 0.71 Inches |
3. Kushiel's Dart
- Tor Fantasy
Features:
Specs:
Height | 6.74 Inches |
Length | 4.1799129 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | March 2002 |
Weight | 0.95239697184 Pounds |
Width | 1.499997 Inches |
4. Dune
- Ace, A great option for a Book Lover
- Easy To Read
- Comes with Proper Binding
Features:
Specs:
Color | Multicolor |
Height | 7.5 Inches |
Length | 4.25 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | September 1990 |
Weight | 1.0251495183 Pounds |
Width | 1.95 Inches |
5. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (Dover Thrift Editions)
- Dover Publications
Features:
Specs:
Color | Yellow |
Height | 5 Inches |
Length | 7.8 Inches |
Number of items | 6 |
Release date | September 1992 |
Weight | 0.21164377152 Pounds |
Width | 0.3 Inches |
6. The Sagas of Icelanders: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
- World Music / World
Features:
Specs:
Color | Black |
Height | 2.23 Inches |
Length | 8.44 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | March 2001 |
Weight | 1.99077422586 Pounds |
Width | 5.7 Inches |
7. Atlas Shrugged
- Signet
- It comes in a proper packaging.
- It ensures you get the best usage for a longer period
Features:
Specs:
Color | Brown |
Height | 6.87 Inches |
Length | 4.18 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | September 1996 |
Weight | 0.95680621708 Pounds |
Width | 1.53 Inches |
8. The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary Edition
Houghton Mifflin
Specs:
Height | 9.25 Inches |
Length | 6.125 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | October 2004 |
Weight | 4.61 Pounds |
Width | 2.992 Inches |
9. The Brothers Karamazov
Great product!
Specs:
Height | 8.25 Inches |
Length | 5.5 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | June 2002 |
Weight | 1.38 Pounds |
Width | 2.06 Inches |
10. The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics)
- Penguin Classics
Features:
Specs:
Color | Tan |
Height | 0.55 Inches |
Length | 7.74 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | January 2006 |
Weight | 0.37037660016 pounds |
Width | 5.2 Inches |
11. The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
Penguin Classics
Specs:
Color | Black |
Height | 7.67 Inches |
Length | 4.99 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | October 1999 |
Weight | 0.67461452172 Pounds |
Width | 0.77 Inches |
12. Flowers for Algernon
Mariner Books
Specs:
Height | 0.9 Inches |
Length | 8 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | May 2005 |
Weight | 0.6 Pounds |
Width | 5.3 Inches |
13. The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics)
Penguin Books
Specs:
Color | Grey |
Height | 7.78 Inches |
Length | 5.08 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | May 2003 |
Weight | 1.94888639608 Pounds |
Width | 2.26 Inches |
14. Collected Fictions
- For the first time in English, all the fiction by the writer who has been called “the greatest Spanish-language writer of our century” collected in a single volume
Features:
Specs:
Color | Multicolor |
Height | 1.5 Inches |
Length | 8.37 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | September 1999 |
Weight | 1.33820593034 Pounds |
Width | 5.78 Inches |
15. Calculus Made Easy
Specs:
Height | 8.65 Inches |
Length | 5.9499881 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | September 1998 |
Weight | 0.9 Pounds |
Width | 1.4 Inches |
16. 1984 (Signet Classics)
- UV 400 Protection
- Frame measure 6" in length and 2.5" in height
- Comes in Three Colors of White , Black or Red
- Brand new
- Free Shipping
Features:
Specs:
Color | Red |
Height | 7.5 inches |
Length | 4.19 inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | July 1950 |
Weight | 0.45 Pounds |
Width | 0.93 inches |
17. A Confederacy of Dunces
Great product!
Specs:
Color | Multicolor |
Height | 8.2 Inches |
Length | 5.4 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 1.0031032921 Pounds |
Width | 1.2 Inches |
18. The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft (Chartwell Classics)
- Chartwell Books
Features:
Specs:
Height | 9.65 Inches |
Length | 7.15 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | July 2016 |
Weight | 3.85 Pounds |
Width | 2.3 Inches |
19. The Master and Margarita
Great product!
Specs:
Color | Black |
Height | 7.97 Inches |
Length | 5.11 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | March 1996 |
Weight | 0.65 pounds |
Width | 0.96 Inches |
20. Mythology
- Used Book in Good Condition
Features:
Specs:
Height | 8.25 Inches |
Length | 5.5 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | September 1998 |
Weight | 1.0141264052 Pounds |
Width | 1.5 Inches |
🎓 Reddit experts on classic literature & fiction books
The comments and opinions expressed on this page are written exclusively by redditors. To provide you with the most relevant data, we sourced opinions from the most knowledgeable Reddit users based the total number of upvotes and downvotes received across comments on subreddits where classic literature & fiction books are discussed. For your reference and for the sake of transparency, here are the specialists whose opinions mattered the most in our ranking.
I take it from Harry Potter and Divergent he likes strong, morally-white protagonists on journeys to save the world. I don't know his exact reading level or interests, so I will make the following suggestions by category. I ranked books in each category by difficulty.
 
Teen Fantasy:
 
Dealing with Dragons: Funny, easy to read, dragons, magic, and sarcasm.
The Lioness Series, Immortal Series, or The Magic Circle Series: Strong female leads and interesting to read with great stories (Think Mulan). My brother loved them.
Artemis Fowl: Strong, morally ambiguous but ultimately altruistic, sarcastic, and smart protagonist against the world.
User Unfriendly: Dudes get sucked into a video/rpg and try to get out without dying. Like Tron, but less sci-fi and more fantasy.
Halo: One of my brothers who HATES reading -- or at least is incredibly picky actually stayed up all night to finish four of Halo books. He also really likes the games. I don't know which one is the first or the best but this one had the best reviews. I dunno if it is dark either -- I haven't read it :'(.
The Dark Elf Trilogy: Darker than anything else I have on here (or can be) hero vs world type fantasy. Drizzit = my brothers' hero growing up. Kinda WOW-esque? Having played both, I understand how much of WOW is inspired by DnD. I personally didn't like this.
Redwall: Harder to read, talking animals save the world from other talking animals. I personally hated this series, but my brothers read every single book in the series at the time.
 
Adult Fantasy:
 
Magician: Magic, totally badass protagonist, BORING first couple chapters, but ultimately the most OP hero I have ever read. Amazing, truly amazing. I think it is two-three books in the first series.
Harper Hall: Dragons, music, strong, but lost protagonist. Deals with sexism and gender biased. The other books in the cycle range from sci-fi to political fantasy.
Dragonbone Chair: Strong, badass hero vs a dragon. What happens? He becomes more badass. It is a lighter verison of LOTR/Sword of Shanara (which is probably too much politics/genetics/enviromental commentary -- generally boring-- for him right now) --
An even lighter alternative, more teen book is Eragon. That being said, I absolutely DETESTED these books. I don't care if he was 16, he didn't coming up with any of his own material. But -- a lot of people really like it, so your brother might!
 
Sci-fi:
 
Ender's game: Amazing ending, especially if he likes videogames. I haven't seen the movie, but my Dad said it was "loosely inspired" from the book. All I know is the book was world-changing. It has some legitimately dark points (like gouging out a giants eye or drowning puppies).
Johnny Maxwell Trilogy: This dude is cool. I didn't know until I linked it that it is hard to get a copy >.<.
Dune: This, like LOTR, is VERY political and can be very easily boring. It might also be too adult or hard for him. There is mental illness and just crazy people in the later books.
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Mature Humor:
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He should be ready for some British humor, which is a little more mature than American humor (sorry) and much more sarcastic. You also have to be in the mood for it, especially if you aren't expecting it.
Sourcery: Really, really funny.
Hitchhiker's Guide: Also funny.
Magic Kingdom for Sale -- Sold: American. Funny take on fantasy books.
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I kept away from darker books where the protagonist is morally grey (Artemis fowl and Drizzit being exceptions -- though they are both still definitely heros), sex, questionable themes, or general mental derangement.
I also stayed away from more modern books, which I have read a lot of if you would like recommendations for those instead. I read a lot in general, so if you have a questions about a book in particular, I can try to help.
Edit: Links
So, I guess he's not super famous, but I did meet the lead singer of my favorite band, Moving Mountains! I was waiting outside of the venue (second in line, mind you, after my boyfriend), when he came outside to take a walk around the block. He was SUPER cool. Ridiculously nice and down to earth. Was more than happy to take a photo with me.
I ended up being right up in front for their performance- the drummer's ride was a mere two inches from my face- it was amazing to say the least. They weren't headlining, so once the headliner's went on, my boyfriend and I went back to where all the merch was. We ran into the singer again, and he talked to us a bit and signed our set lists(!) and personally thanked us and hugged us. Super awesome.
Awesome people, awesome music. Definitely one of the highlights of my life. =D
EDIT: I forgot to say how I acted! I was super excited, but he was so darn nice and cool that I wasn't nervous or anything. Just really happy, haha. =) Oh, also, just in case, a link to an awesome book that I'd like if I won! Thanks for the fun contest! =D
Most of these recommendations are sort of peripherally queer, so they may not be exactly what you're looking for, but I figured I'd throw them out there in case you're interested.
I admit I'm not a big fan of it, but Virginia Woolf's Orlando is definitely a queer text. The titular character changes from male to female, and the book itself is often read as a love letter to Vita Sackville-West, the woman with whom Woolf had a love affair. I had trouble getting engaged in it myself, but your mileage may vary.
Santa Olivia (and the sequel, Saints Astray) by Jacqueline Carey features a lesbian romance. Not super heavy, but they're fairly quick, fun reads. Carey's Kushiel series (beginning with Kushiel's Dart) might qualify as queer, in that it embraces and celebrates all types of relationships and sexualities (they are set in a society where the gods' most sacred precept is "Love as thou wilt," and bisexuality and open relationships are typical). The primary love stories are heterosexual, but the characters also often engage in same-sex relationships (both sexually and emotionally), and there are supporting characters of various sexual persuasions.
The Tamir Trilogy by Lynn Flewelling is about the rightful heir to the throne in a troubled kingdom. Born female, she was magically disguised as a boy in order to protect her (the usurper king has been making noblewomen disappear in order to protect the succession of his own son). It maybe doesn't explore the consequences of Tobin/Tamir being essentially transgendered as deeply as it could, but it's an interesting and enjoyable read.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin is a sci-fi classic that plays with gender and sexuality. The basic concept is that, on the planet of Winter, everyone is hermaphroditic. Le Guin's thoughtful exploration of this world was incredibly groundbreaking at the time it was written, and it remains a really enjoyable and thought-provoking read.
Octavia Butler's work also often embraces feminist and queer themes, playing with sexuality and gender. Fledgling and the Xenogenesis Trilogy are some you might find interesting.
The Female Man by Joanna Russ is an explicitly feminist book with some queer themes. It follows women from four alternate realities (one of which is a utopia populated entirely by women) as they cross over into each others' worlds. It's not always an easy read--it can be very fragmetary--but it's totally worth it.
I also just stumbled across this self-proclaimed Gay Fiction Booklist That Doesn't Suck. Some of the above books are listed, and there are a bunch more sci-fi/fantasy titles that might be of interest.
Happy reading!
There is a lot of crap erotica out there, for sure. Finding good ones are hit or miss.
I tried a regency romance once. Super cheesy and cliche. Not for me.
I like Literotica because there are lots of stories to browse. There good stories and there are a lot of bad stories. Sometimes I will open a story, read a paragraph or two, and go right back to searching for a new one.
I've been trying to find good erotica books and series. Every other book is a Shades of grey clone. There are times in most of them where I end up rolling my eyes at some of the dialogue and descriptions. Sometimes, I will skip over parts if I'm just not into it.
A lot of erotica on Amazon for the kindle is free. It will often be the first book in a series to try to convince you to continue reading the rest. I read lots of these free ones and if I like the author/style then I will consider reading more. I haven't found any I like enough yet but I keep trying. Sometimes I can read enough of a bad erotica to do the trick. There are definitely some that I just quit reading.
Not erotica but I will also /r/gonewildstories. Nothing like stories that can actually happen.
The best erotica I have read is the Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A. N. Roquelaure, which is a pseudonym for for Anne Rice. But be warned, this is very, very heavy BDSM. It might be too much for many and at times it was a little heavy for me and I consider myself to be relatively kinky.
The best romance novel I have read was Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It is a time-travel, historical romance to be exact. From what I remember it was actually a pretty good read. If you are going to read a romance, I think this is a good one to start with.
Though not erotica, Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey is a fantasy novel with some romance/erotic elements. I read it several years ago before my libido bottomed out but I'm pretty sure it turned me on. Interesting read as well. Definitely has a theme of sado-masochism, but compared to the Sleeping Beauty Trilogy it is nothing. If you already enjoy fantasy novels you should give it a go.
Hope that helps. You really have to dig to find anything good. That being said, often the act of searching alone is enough to get my engines revving.
This is an incredibly standard case. I see a lot of people giving you sympathy and talking about their similar situation, but you aren't going to get better until you take a step back and actually analyze the situation.
Do you "love" this girl because she has all of the virtues that you value in a person, or is it because she is the first and only female that has let you have sex with her? Clearly, if there is some random bro that she would rather fuck than you, you were mistaken about something. This is the "Halo Effect." You projected all of your illusions upon her. You've always dreamed of what it's like to have a girlfriend and you simply believed that the first girl who gave you a passing interest was the perfect one. This is not the case.
Now let's be realistic. This girl probably thinks you're a nice guy, easy to talk to, etc. However, she probably finds you mostly unattractive, or at the very least an embarrassment to be seen publicly with. I don't know how you ended up as friends with benefits, but clearly she doesn't see you fit enough for a relationship. She probably knew that she would end up cheating you and devastating you more than she did by breaking it off early.
That being said, you can NOT continue to be friends with this girl. It is impossible. You will only prolong your torture. Delete her number, remove her as a Facebook friend, get rid of any way of contacting her. Once you do that, you'll be free. Once she doesn't make any effort to make amends, you'll realize how little your friendship means to her and HOPEFULLY you'll realize that you were wrong about her the entire time.
Finally, in order to really remedy this situation, you need to get some self respect. Get a sense of life. It seems as if you put your entire self worth, your whole life, and your happiness squarely on the shoulders of another person. Learn to appreciate that YOU are the sole justification for your existence. Learn to be happy with who you are on your own. Love yourself, because if you don't why would anyone else want to love you?
Sure Katherine is a shitty person for leading you on as much as she did, probably fueled by her guilt of your eventual heartbreak and the desire to maintain the outlet for her emotional spewings. HOWEVER, this situation is NOT her fault. It's YOURS for not seeing her for who she truly was. It's YOURS for valuing her as much as you did. It's YOURS for making her the sole key to your own happiness. If you can fully comprehend and accept that, you will feel infinitely better.
My recommendation? Never speak to her again (even if she reaches out to you), partake in your favorite hobbies (or start a new one), and read Atlas Shrugged. It will change your life.
This book by Marcus Aurelius has transformed my life from one crippled by generalized anxiety into one that is still troubled, but with a definite method to press on. It is easily the most important book I've ever read. (Make sure you check out the Hays translation, the others are quite stiff. This is normally $10 so it's on sale on Amazon.)
What you are talking about is more properly called mindfulness, which was the first tool I tried. I had some success, in particular with Full Catastrophe Living, and if you find mindfulness effective then I would recommend simple mindfulness meditation (just sitting and letting thoughts pass through you--noticing that you have them and not responding to them or labeling them as good or bad, just resting in the moment and accepting that you have certain thoughts or feelings but also watching them pass by).
However, stoicism takes these ideas further and embues an element of self-trust that was much more effective for me. While mindfulness emphasizes the importance of the present and minimizing your immedate negative emotional responses, stoicism includes these elements but also says: there is nothing that can harm you. All I can do is act best I can, and not worry about the rest. Control what you can, but accept what you can't control. External events are uncontrollable and with practice you can remain completly resilent to them--metnally and emotionally accepting that you are in a certain situation but retaining the ability to deal with it in the best way you can.
It is difficult at first, but your everyday difficulties with anxiety are a perfect opportunity to practice. When you face situations and get through them, you hold the realization in your mind that that situation did not harm you--while it may have been unpleasant, you survived and moved straight through it. The unpleasantness was bearable, and you are no worse a person for dealing with it, in fact you are much the better. You can trust in this realization as you look forward toward future events. These little successes can accumulate in a big way if you take the first big step to accept your current limitations and trust in your current ability.
A fantastic example of the will's ability to persevere in impossible situations is Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Frankl faces this daily horrors without anxiety because of his complete trust in his ability to face it squarely and overcome it.
So a stoic isn't someone who is passive or emotionless, but someone who is resilent and extremely proactive in response to difficulty. In terms of specific negative emotions like anxiety, anger, or fear, it's important to remember that you are not trying to ignore or not feel these things. That is a misconception about stoicism. These feeling are natural and in fact necessary for life. However, you want to domesticate these negative emotions and remain in control in spite of them, as much as you can. Everyone is overcome by anxiety at times, but the Stoic bounces back that much quicker.
tl;dr I have recommended a lot of books but everything I wrote is firmly based on the many times I have read Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. It is truly worth your time.
Alright I hope you get this. Sounds like you are a lot like I was growing up. I would read a book a week and listen to two. haha. these were books i had to grow into a lot of times. so don't get discouraged. some of these are tough but they'll help you in the long run. promise.
anyways.. here's my list.
Foreign Policy
-Dying to Win- Science and strategy behind suicide terrorism
-Imperial Hubris- good book by a CIA vet on what to expect because of US foreign policy
-Blowback- Same type of book as above, but better.
-The Looming Tower- a good history and account for Sept 11
Economics and Money
-Freakonomics- Ever wonder about he economics of drug dealing, including the surprisingly low earnings and abject working conditions of crack cocaine dealers? This book is fantastic.
-Outliers- Gladwell is a master of minute detail. This book helps you focus on the future.
-Blink-Great book on intuitive judgement
-The Age of Uncertainty- the best book I've ever read on the fight between Capitalism and Communism
Biology and Science
-Why Do Men Have Nipples- a general Q&A book. Good for info you can use at a party or to impress somebody. really random stuff.
-A Short History of Nearly Everything- Humorous take on some heavy heavy science. Easier to read than people think.
-The Ancestors Tale- It was hard picking just one Dawkins book, so I gave you two.
-The Greatest Show on Earth- Dawkins is the world-standard for books on biology and evolution in layman's terms.
Good Novels
-1984-Hopefully no explanation needed
-A Brave New World- a different type of dystopian universe compared to 1984. read both back to back.
-The Brothers Karamazov- My favorite piece of Russian Literature. It made me think more than any other book on this list honestly. I can't recommend it enough.
-Catch-22- There are so many layers to this book. So much symbolism, so much allusion. You must pay attention to get the full affect of this book. Great satire. Masterfully written.
-Alas Babylon- Yet another dystopian novel. This time about what would happen after a world wide nuclear war.
-Slaughterhouse-5 Vonnegut is a badass. And that's really all there is to know. I read this book in one day. It was that good. Satire on WW2.
Philosophy
-Sophies World- Good intro to a lot of basic principles of the major philosophers
-Beyond Good and Evil- Nietzche can get REALLY depressing because he is a nihilist but this book is extremely quotable and will give fresh perspective on a lot of things.
-Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand's masthead. Its a novel, but its also a commentary on her precious objectivism.
So there you have it. My short list of books to read. I can get deeper into certain subjects if you want me to. Just PM me.
Adult Dystopian Recommendations:
YA-ish Dystopian Recommendations:
Other Dystopias:
mommyanddaddynon-biological guardians shouldn’t say no. Also, it sucks to have a guidance counselor Make A Schedule for you in order to prepare you for an office job equivalent that’s full of busywork but one of the few respectable positions left. The horror! Seriously, in what world is that rebelling against socialism? You know, that thing that promotes trade schools and equal rights for everyone, even the people you don’t personally like?I’d also be curious to hear what /u/bethrevis has to say about the societies on Godspeed and elsewhere and where they fit into this opinion piece.
Guys, I think I just wrote an English essay. And probably put more work into it than I did in high school. And I won’t even get an A because it’s the internet and we deal solely in lolcats.
But tl;dr: Adult dystopias (that I’ve read) tend to be about the futility of existence or the necessity of self-sacrifice to get a result. The YA dystopias I liked were a little more hopeful (usually) and didn’t support this opinion piece’s thesis. The ones I didn’t like made me understand the hate for dystopias.
If she was just diagnosed, I'm thinking it's probably more likely that she's high-functioning since you probably would've noticed earlier on if she was low-functioning. And the fact that she doesn't resist affection is a really wonderful sign! My brother wasn't very affectionate when he was her age but he did have some of those same behaviours - not responding to commands, self-focused etc. The word Autism itself comes from 'auto', so naturally a huge component of Autism is a focus on oneself rather than others which makes for more difficulties in social situations. Like I said, our situations are very different because my brother is 3 years older than me but going back to my 5 year old mindset, how I managed to communicate with my brother was through his common interest which is music. He'd play piano and I'd sit with him, we'd talk about our favourite artists etc. Since your sister is still pretty young, it might be difficult to establish a common interest right now but my advice would be interest yourself in whatever she finds interesting, getting her to talk about what she's doing, what she likes. And I hope that as she gets older, she's put in 'typical' child environments so that she doesn't miss out. I'm really happy to say that my brother had a lot of support when he was younger and now he's 23 and extremely well-adjusted and living in his own apartment and has a job that he loves. I wish I could offer you some reference books or something but all of the ones that I read were for younger siblings of Autistic children. If you're interested though here are a few that helped me:
Freaks, Geeks & Asperger Syndrome <-- it's about Aspergers but a lot of the characteristics are similar and more importantly, it provides a lot of information for siblings
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime <-- fictional but takes place completely inside the mind of an Autistic person! And it's an amazing read!
The Reason I Jump
Hi! I've heard this is a good collection with a good quality translation, but being Mexican I've always read his work in Spanish. I'll ask a friend and let you know if she comes up with anything better.
I would recommend Ficciones (I think it is named the same in English) as a Borges starting point. It has some of his best stories (Tlön, my personal favorite by him, among them). Also without spoiling anything, I'll just say his themes are, most of the times, related with truth, existence, loops, time, and the universe.
Let me know what you decide and what you think of him.
If you want specific titles from his short stories that I would recommend:
Tlön Uqbar Orbis Tertius if you love fantastic worlds and have a soft spot for linguistics.
"There are more things" (that's the original title, yeah, in English). Won't say anything else about it.
The book of sand is actually a great story.
The Garden of Forking Paths is a bit of a thriller and a puzzle.
Happy reading!
I actually think The Call of Cthulhu is the worst introduction to his works. It's actually pretty boring and rambly without context.
I think The Shadow Over Innsmouth is probably the best place to start. It's easy to be interested in even if you're not already a Lovecraft fan. Shadow is what got my wife completely enthralled with Lovecraft but The Call of Cthulhu still bores her to tears as a narrative.
I think The Dunwich Horror is also pretty good, but it peaks early and goes downhill. This is one of the biggest showings of the Necronomicon in Lovecraft's works.
I think At the Moutains of Madness should be read later once you have a better grasp of the mythos. It's slow to pick up and is almost too broad to grasp without understanding HP Lovecraft's universe.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is pretty good as a stand alone, but it quite long and dry, but the build up leads to a pretty decent pay off.
I think The Colour Out of Space isn't a bad starting place either, though it's mostly separated from the general mythos, but still a very fun read.
The Statement of Randolph Carter is a great short piece dripping with atmosphere in the earlier Lovecraft style where he leaves almost too much to the imagination, but it really works with this story.
The Outsider is another great short with an introspective angle.
The Whisperer in the Darkness is another great option for interesting stuff within the main mythos.
If you want to read these online you can find virtually all of Lovecraft's works here as most of them of public domain.
If you want to read them in paperback I would suggest The Penguin Classic versions (2 3). They have light annotations by S. T. Joshi which are great for getting a better context, but not as overkill as some of the more extremely deep annotated versions.
I second reading the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card, but I'd finish that first before I started reading the Ender's Shadow series (even though they technically occur in the same universe and feature many of the same characters).
But that's science fiction (with some interesting ethical/religious elements in later books in the series). I really think you'd enjoy Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (please don't judge it by its cover; you also read paranormal romance, so I think you could be willing to look past that).
From Library Journal:
>Trained from childhood to a life of servitude and espionage, Ph?dre n? Delaunay serves her master, Anafiel, as a courtesan and spy, ferreting out the dangerous secrets of the noble houses of Terre d'Ange. When she uncovers a treasonous conspiracy, however, her life takes on a new and deadly purpose. Set in a world reminiscent of late medieval and early Renaissance Europe, Carey's first novel portrays a society based upon political and sexual intrigue. The author's sensual prose, suitable for adult readers, should appeal to fans of Tanith Lee, Storm Constantine, and Terry Goodkind. Recommended for adult fantasy collections.
From Publishers Weekly:
>This brilliant and daring debut, set in a skewed Renaissance world (people worship Jesus-like "Blessed Elua" but also demigods), catapults Carey immediately into the top rank of fantasy novelists. In the character of Phedre ne Delaunay, "a whore's unwanted get" sold into indentured servitude in opulent Night Court, the author has created a particularly strong and memorable female lead, and has surrounded her with a large and varied cast, from nobles and priests to soldiers and peasants. An engrossing plot focuses first on court intrigue and treachery, then, in a surprising shift, on high adventure, travel in barbarian lands including Alba (England) and war. Two demigods rule Phedre: Naamah, for sensual love; and Kushiel, for sado-masochistic pain, his "dart" being a blood spot in Phedre's eye. Not everyone will go for Phedre's graphic if elegantly described sexual encounters, which usually involve the infliction of pain, whether from lashing, branding or even cutting. Phedre, however, is no cliched sexpot but a complex character motivated by religious zeal. At the end, the heroine reminds one of an equally strong-minded sister whose home was Tara. No mere feminist novel, this is an assured and magnificent book that will appeal to both male and female readers.
It is book one in a trilogy, so there's plenty to read if you enjoy this one.
I enjoy reading paranormal romance novels occasionally. Would you recommend any that you've read recently?
I'm sure you've read it before, because (at least here) everybody has to read it in school multiple times, but To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite novel ever, and one of the only books I have read more than twice.
Also, Sarah Dessen is my favorite author. All of her books are YA and most include some sort of summer romance. They're total chick-flick-esque though. So if you're not into that, then steer clear.
I can't really think of much else because lately I have been reading much longer, denser, novels that take me a while to chew through and really digest because I have so much free time, otherwise I can just pick over those little things in a matter of hours. So, it's been a while since I've read a fun, light, book. && I have an awful memory anyways. lol
It looks like you have gotten a TON of suggestions on here. I'm going to bookmark this page for myself, because I am always looking for more reading material. So thanks for that :P "I love reading books!"
Thanks for the contest! If I win, I have a "books" wishlist. Surprise me :)
Edit: I was reading through some of the replies, and something somebody else mentioned reminded me of a book I have sitting on my bookshelf at home. It is dog-eared, stained from drops of coffee spilled on it, folded into a curve (you know, how a good paperback book gets so that it's kind of rounded and doesn't sit flat/closed). It's probably one of the most well-written novels I've ever read, and it's very short, although not necessarily light. But SO GOOD. It's called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and it's written in first person perspective of a 15 year old boy with Asperger Syndrome. I HIGHLY suggest checking it out!!
I really enjoyed Vikings! by Magnus Magnusson. It's all English, despite the name he worked in Britain, and he takes you through the archaeology of the Vikings when the book was written (it was published in the early 1980s). This one's a bit longer than the others I'm reccomending, but it's not overly long, it's exceptionally readable, and it gives you a great feel for the sort of things we know about the time period: also, it teaches you what sort of things won't be known, which is equally important.
Another short book I'd reccomend is the Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings. This one is much shorter, and it's presented in the form of a group of double pages, with a map on one side and text on the other. I found it useful for getting a sense about where the vikings had been and when: it's also a good starting point for further research.
A final book I'm very enthusiastic about is the Penguin Classics version of the Prose Edda. I say Penguin Classics for a reason: different publishers will do their editions differently, the translation varies, how it's presented changes, and so on. This is a great example of a 'source' for the vikings: it's a translation of a 13th century Icelandic nobleman's attempt to record his ancestors' mythology and put it into the context of his own life and beliefs. Contrary to how it might sound, this is really quite short, very easy to read and understand, and highly enjoyable. If you want to know about norse mythology, I can't think of a better place to start (mind you, I'm an enthusiastic amateur, not a professional).
These aren't the world's most comprehensive texts, but hopefully they should be a great place to start, and understand what about the vikings you might want to research further.
I'm not an expert, but I don't like 2 of your covers. Tales from a Dead Planet is cool, with a sweet title, but the other two don't make me interested at all.
I would say you need to focus on getting reviews firstly. You really need at least 10 - 20 on each title before they mean a whole lot and can drive sales. To start, harass everyone you know who has read the books. Make them leave reviews, even if they don't like them. Bad reviews are honestly better than no reviews.
Do you have a call to action in the back of your books? Something at the end like, "if you enjoyed this journey, you can leave a review on Amazon and find book 2 there as well," can go a long way toward garnering reviews. Also, you can try submitting to review blogs (like mine) to get some large, editorial reviews which you can put in the editorial section on Amazon.
The $2.99 price point sucks. Almost every indie book / small time author sets there. If you want to stand apart, go higher. It might sound weird, but it works. Looking quickly at the best sci-fi novel ever written, it has a price way higher than yours. Like /u/arkelias says, look at the successful books in your genre and mimic them. Even price point. That also encourages people to actually read the book after they buy it, and it encourages them to leave a review since it is more of an investment.
When I sell books at conventions, I always tell customers to email me when they finished the book whether they like it or not. Many of them do. If they like the book, I email back asking for a review on Amazon. They typically do. If they don't like the book, I thank them for reading it and offer them another book for free. That usually discourages them from leaving really bad reviews.
Try a giveaway on Goodreads. They are easy to run and the readers are obligated to leave a review. Just make sure you confirm the winning accounts aren't spam bots before you mail your book into the abyss.
To the writing: I opened the sample for the Tales book. My editor would have made me rewrite the first paragraph entirely. When you use 'here' so much instead of 'there', it makes me think you're trying to use first or second person instead of third. Am I there too? Are we both there having a chat? In the second paragraph, I closed the sample. "Scientists fought to figure out why this was happening..." That sentence is a huge red flag. Check out this article on using terms like 'here' and 'this' in fiction.
Do you have a professional editor and some proofreaders? Also, do you have a dedicated author website and a twitter?
I hope this helps.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books and A Confederacy of Dunces.
It was easy for me to discover the classics of literature, but the concept of a funny book made my eyes roll a bit. I read writers who were being clever and cute and I could recognize that something was humorous, but nothing came close to making me guffaw like an exceptional comedy film could.
I was wrong. I would end up laughing like a maniac at passages in both of these books while riding the subway. With Hitchhiker's I'd have to force myself to re-read some of the more hilarious passages the way you'd rewind your favorite scene in a movie.
Up until then a book hadn't really made me laugh, and here I was smiling and laughing at these books. It felt amazing.
Every time questions similar to this pop up, people recommend Neil Gaimen. Well, his book is not bad (I own it), but recommending it to a person asking for a detailed recount of the original myths is downright silly. It's a pretty short collection of myths retold into short-stories by Gaimen. They're well written and absolutely closely based on the original myths, but he still invents new stuff, and again, it's a novel-like retelling, not a detailed account of the actual myths. Here are some further suggestions:
Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by H.R. Ellis Davidson is a great and thorough description of Nose myth and religion by an acclaimed specialist in the field. It's also laymen-friendly.
The Poetic Edda is arguably the single most important source of Norse myths. It's a collection of poems, written down in Christian times but many dating to well into the Pagan era. I've linked the new translation by Jackson Crawford (whose channel is great for learning about Norse myth, btw), but there are others.
Then there's the Prose Edda, which is likewise a very important original source. Whereas the Poetic Edda is a collection of poetry, the Prose Edda sees many of them retold into more consistent prose narrative (hence the title). As a source, however, the Prose Edda is less reliable than the Poetic, since the latter is a collection of actual Pagan myths, while the former is a compilation and retelling by an (early medieval Icelandic) Christian.
The Sagas of Icelanders important sources to Norse myth and particularly religious practice. The Sagas are actual prose stories (and good ones, too), written in the first few centuries after conversion. Figures from Norse mythology, particularly Odin, are often prominent, but the narratives tend not to primarily concern the mythology.
A notable exception is the Saga of the Volsungs, which is one of the most important narratives in Norse myth. Wagner's Ring Cycle and Tolkien's works were both heavily influenced by it. The Volsunga Saga features Norse gods, viking raids, dragon-slaying and much more.
There are more good books, but those ought to be a decent start.
My favorite SF short story writers (in no special order):
EDIT--added Amazon links
EDIT2--Also Gardner Dozois' "The Year's Best Science Fiction" is always ridiculously good. I haven't read this year's collection, but I am sure it's excellent.
This is a really great question, and I was hoping it might have attracted the attention of some of our better qualified respondents. Alas, my recent focus has been mostly on 8-9c archaeology, which means I'm not terribly current with the sagas and other Old Norse literature, most of which wasn't written until late in the Viking Age or even shortly thereafter. But I can point you in a few good directions!
First off, I'd recommend the short and sweet blog post by Marianne Moen on Dangerous Women. Since we actually have very few surviving stories from a Norse perspective during the Viking Age, Moen does a good job bringing archaeological evidence to bear for demonstrating how powerful Viking Age women could be—as well as discussing why at least some archaeologists have been reluctant to do so.
Among the sagas, two characters who I can think of offhand are Aud the Deepminded and Melkorka. As I recall, you can read about them both in the Laxdæla Saga. It's available free online although it might be worth paying for a modern and more readable translation. There's an edition out by Penguin, which should be easy to find or order, and I think the same translation got used for the robust collection Sagas of the Icelanders (sorry: Amazon link).
And if you're up for a bit more, check out Nancy Marie Brown's The Far Traveler (also Amazon) about Brown's pursuit of information about the Viking Age woman Gudrid. Gudrid's story is exciting, and Brown's research techniques are interesting, so they make a useful pairing in this book. I think it does a good job bridging the textual and archaeological evidence for what life was like for women in the Viking Age.
Classics: Tristram Shandy, Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, The Grapes of Wrath. All wonderful in their own ways. Tristram Shandy is very 'post-modern' in feel depite being from the 1700's
I'm also rather fond of 'classic' short stories, so I can reccommend various collections like this or this or this - all collections I've read and enjoyed. Cheever, O'Hara, Chekov, Carver are all well worth your time.
Borges is fascinating and strange - a great conversation starter.
Mystery/Thrillers: James Ellroy's LA Quartet, George V. Higgins (The Friends of Eddie Coyle, etc.), Chandler's The Long Goodbye, Ross MacDonald's The Chill, Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me...
There's loads of great sci-fi out there - start with a Gardner Dozois "Best of" and branch out. Philip K Dick (Ubik is a good start). Charles Stross Accelerando. William Gibson. Collections of short stories are great: Rewired, Mirrorshades, various 'best of' collections. Swanwick, Sterling, Egan.
As mentioned Douglas R Hofstadter's stuff is great non-fiction (philosophy? linguistics? cogsci? AI?) with a decidedly playfull streak that makes it a joy to read.
Robert Graves' 2 volume The Greek Myths is comprehensive, but there's a catch: Graves has arranged and chosen his version of the myths in order to facilitate a kind of narrative continuity that's not particularly true to the way that the Greeks understood their myths. Karl Kerenyi and Carl Kerenyi's The Greek Gods and The Greek Heroes are closer to the source material, and will give you a better sense of the variety and disagreements involved. Ultimately, though, it's a matter of preference: Do you want narrative sweep, or fidelity to tradition?
Alternately, you could go back to the sources themselves. Ovid's Metamorphoses is basically a treasury of Greco-Roman myth. Again, there's a catch: Ovid's theme is that of things transforming into something else (hence the title), so there's a definite bias in favor of myths that suit that motif. That said, Ovid is also as close as you're going to get to the original form of a lot of Greco-Roman myths, so it's hard to go wrong there.
If you really want to do some heavy lifting on the Greco-Roman myths, get a copy of Pausanius' Guide to Greece, Vol. I and Vol. II. This is basically a travelogue of Greece, written for the Roman Emperor, and it lists in detail most of the locations associated with Greek myths and legends, and gives some detail on most of the lesser known ones. There's a lot to sift through here, and you'll probably want to have an Atlas of the Ancient World on hand to get a sense of where he's talking about at any given time, so I definitely don't recommend starting out here, but if you're looking for really in-depth source material, this is the place to go.
For the Norse myths, there's the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, as well as a slew of sagas that are worth looking into. On of the most famous is certainly The Nibelungenlied, on which Wagner based his [Ring Cycle]() (you know, "Ride of the Valkyries," and all that), which was the basis for much of Lord of the Rings. Personally, my favorite of the sagas I've read so far is the Volsungs.
For the Sumerians, the obvious starting point is Gilgamesh. Our sources are pretty fragmented, and there are editions that reflect that fragmentation, but for pure readability, I suggest the Herbert Mason retelling. Or, if you're really into it, get both and compare. The go-to author for Sumerian myth and religion in general is Samuel Noah Kramer; his book Sumerian Mythology is as good a general survey as you're likely to find, particularly if you're interested in the archeological method behind our knowledge of the Sumerians.
What else? For the Egyptians, E. A. Budge is your man. Dover Books in general has a good series of older, public domain works on mythology, including books on Japanese and Chinese mythology. I wish I had some sources to give you on meso-American or African myth, but those are areas of inquiry I'm just delving into myself. But then, you're probably overwhelmed as it is.
Good luck.
And on vikings - primary sources though not all of battles - here’s a quick overview of sources https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/professions/education/viking-knowledge/archaeology-and-history/written-sources-for-the-viking-age/
They may be found around the web but here are links to a few to buy
I can recommend the
Icelandic sagas, personally I find them great fun lots of skull bashings - you may have to buy them.
at least some are here https://sagadb.org Or here https://archive.org/details/sagalibrarydonei01snoriala
Icelandic sagas
https://www.amazon.com/Sagas-Icelanders-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0141000031/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=icelandic+saga&amp;qid=1559118780&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1
Saxo gramattucus or Saco’s saga (13th century danish ‘history’ of kings
https://www.amazon.com/Saxo-Grammaticus-History-English-Commentary/dp/0859915026
Snorris saga
https://www.amazon.com/Sagas-Norse-Kings-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/8209101730 - not sure if there is a newer more comprehensive translation as I read in original language
and the Eddas
Younger Edda
https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Illustrated-Snorri-Sturluson-ebook/dp/B00NCCEJ6O/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=edda+saga&amp;qid=1559118593&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-6
Elder Edda
https://www.amazon.com/Elder-Edda-Viking-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140435859/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?keywords=edda+saga&amp;qid=1559118649&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-11
And on vikings - primary sources though not all of battles
I can recommend the
Icelandic sagas, personally I find them great fun lots of skull bashings - you may have to buy them.
at least some are here https://sagadb.org Or here https://archive.org/details/sagalibrarydonei01snoriala
Icelandic sagas
https://www.amazon.com/Sagas-Icelanders-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0141000031/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=icelandic+saga&amp;qid=1559118780&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1
Saxo gramattucus or Saco’s saga (13th century danish ‘history’ of kings
https://www.amazon.com/Saxo-Grammaticus-History-English-Commentary/dp/0859915026
Snorris saga
https://www.amazon.com/Sagas-Norse-Kings-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/8209101730 - not sure if there is a newer more comprehensive translation as I read in original language
and the Eddas
Younger Edda
https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Illustrated-Snorri-Sturluson-ebook/dp/B00NCCEJ6O/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=edda+saga&amp;qid=1559118593&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-6
Elder Edda
https://www.amazon.com/Elder-Edda-Viking-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140435859/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?keywords=edda+saga&amp;qid=1559118649&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-11
[Kushiel's Dart] (http://www.amazon.com/Kushiels-Dart-Jacqueline-Carey/dp/0765342987/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1411100580&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=jacqueline+carey).
Excerpt from synopsis:
>"Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair...and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear. "
Through Wolf's Eyes.
Excerpt from synopsis:
>"Firekeeper only vaguely remembers a time when she didn't live with her "family," a pack of "royal wolves"-bigger, stronger, and smarter than normal wolves. Now her pack leaders are sending her back to live among the humans, as they promised her mother years ago.
>Some of the humans think she may be the lost heir to their throne. This could be good-and it could be very, very dangerous. In the months to come, learning to behave like a human will turn out to be more complicated than she'd ever imagined.
>But though human ways might be stranger than anything found in the forest, the infighting in the human's pack is nothing Firekeeper hasn't seen before. That, she understands just fine. She's not your standard-issue princess-and this is not your standard-issue fairy tale."
I've been exploring this recently. I'm not an expert, but I'll do my best to explain it.
The shape or object represented in the gif you posted is called a tesseract or a hypercube. You can search for these terms for more information.
To explain this, some basics about 2D and 3D must first be established to understand how to continue the explanation to 4D.
A super-brief explanation of the gif above as the four dimension object (spatially) is that it is a representation or projection of viewing a 4D object/shape in a 2D view. (That gif as displayed on our computer screens is 2D because our screens are 2D and it's not encoded as 3D to be viewed with 3D glasses) and a 4-D object or shape actually appears to us to be 3D objects inside of 3D objects, just as if we look at a 2D object - say a square drawn on a piece of paper - we are able to see inside of the 2D object and see additional objects drawn inside of it and just as we are only able to draw a 3D object on a piece of paper if it is drawn as a transparent outline, this gif shows the 4D object drawn as a transparent outline in which we only see the many sides folding in and outside of itself. A being that is capable of seeing four spatial dimensions would be able to look at you and see inside of you. The following demonstrates this concept pretty well:
Fourth Spatial Dimension 101 (video, 6:27)
To better understand the concept of the fourth dimension, read on. I also included more videos below, including an excellent one by Carl Sagan.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
First, some facts / definitions:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Conceptualizing the limitations and advantages of dimensional perception:
We are able to perceive objects spatially in 3 dimensions (3D). By spatially, we mean that we're interpreting the environment or world's space, and not considering the fourth dimension as something other than space, such as time. (The gif linked above is of a four-dimensional object of which the fourth dimension is also space.) When we look at a drawing of a square on a piece of paper, we are able to see not only its length and width, but also inside of it because we are viewing it from above - from height. If we look down at it and draw a triangle inside of it, we can see both at the same time. We are able to see inside of 2D objects. A 3D object is comprised of several layers of 2D objects stacked upon one another. So imagine the 2D drawing, and stacking many papers on top of each other until it's several inches or centimeters tall. That's a 3D object now. Then, shape it into a square at each sheet of paper (so cut through all sheets) and you will end up with a cube of paper. Shape it into a triangle and it will be a triangular, pie-like shape. Angle it more narrow on the way up and it will be a pyramid-like shape. With any of these shapes, we cannot see inside of it. But now imagine this: just as we in the 3rd dimension looking at a shape in the 2nd dimension can see inside of it, a being in the 4th dimension looking at a shape in the 3rd dimension can see inside of the 3D object. That is because just like there is only length and width in the 2nd dimension, but no height; in the third dimension we have length width and height, but no __. I'm unaware of whether there is a name for the additional direction that would exist in the fourth dimension.
I also don't know whether a 4th spatial dimension actually exists or is just an abstract concept, nor do I know whether it is possible or known to be possible to detect. As far as I am aware, the fourth spacial dimension is only known of abstractly, meaning that there is no evidence for it actually existing.
------------------------------------
These videos explain how to understand what the 4th dimension would look like:
Dr. Quantum explains the 4th dimension (video, 5:09)
An oversimplified explanation from the movie "What the bleep do we know: down the rabbit hole" in which the character, Dr.Quantum, first explains what an (imagined) 2D world (flatland) would look like to us - who are able to see the 3D world, as a way of understanding (or extrapolating) how a being that could see in the 4D world would be able to see through and inside of 3D objects. (note: I've been warned that this is part of a video that goes on to some cult-like recruiting, so please be forewarned about the video's conclusion and entirety.)
Cosmos - Carl Sagan - 4th Dimension (video, 7:24)
Carl Sagan explains how to imagine what the 4th dimension looks if we were able to see it and how it would allow us to see inside 3D objects. An important part of this video is explaining and showing exactly how and why we can only see a distorted version of 4D objects since we only see in 3D
4th Dimension Explained By A High-School Student (video, 9:05)
An excellent description of the first through fourth dimension and how we can perceive them.
Unwrapping a tesseract (4d cube aka hypercube) (video, 1:39)
Hypercube (video, 3:18)
Watch the above two videos to see how we can conceptualize a 4D object in 3D space.
Videos mentioned elsewhere in this comment:
Fourth Spatial Dimension 101 (video, 6:27)
Flatland (video, 1:39:56)
--------------------------------------
Videos, Books and Links mentioned by other redditors:
Flatland: a romance of many dimensions (Illustrated) by Edwin Abbott Abbott (book, free, ~230kb)
Amazon description & reviews
hat-tip to /u/X3TIT
"Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions" by Lisa Randall (Amazon book page)"
Looks interesting.
hat-tip to /u/karoyamaro
-----------------------------------
(Edited: 1- to add video lengths; 2- added book links, 3 - readability more videos, 4 - a warning about the Dr. Quantum video.)
Shantaram. Rich, marvelous book.
Also Auntie Mame. FYI the movie with Rosalind Russell may change your life. At the very least it could become your favorite movie ever.
The books by Hornby that everyone mentions are good.
Motherless Brooklyn is really good. So is Ghostwritten by David Mitchell. Not so much that they're happy, but that they're engrossing. And they're not, like, Atonement.
Oh! Duh! Happiest book ever maybe: A Confederacy of Dunces. The story behind its publication is tragic, but the book, pretty much everyone who's read it says, is the funniest ever.
Catch-22 also is really, really good. And funny! If you're into irony anyway.
MOTD #1: “If it doesn’t harm your character, how can it harm your life?”
Being the first one, I find it suiting to have some sort of an introduction. MOTD, “Meditation of the Day,” as you can tell by the title, is a stoic quote from really any book, as long as it has some sort of "stoic wisdom", but mostly from the big three—which comes out, if all goes well, daily.
If you have any suggestions, please feel free to message me. And, if you have a favorite part of Meditations or want to see any other stoic passage in a future posts, again please feel free to message me or comment anytime :D
If you don’t have it I would highly recommend you get one; the Gregory Hays translation of Meditations. Amazon Link
Want to read more books on Stoicism? checkout these lists: r/Stoicism’s the Stoic Reading List | Ryan Holliday’s Lists 1 & 2 | Goodreads
Anyways, have a nice day/night, where every you happen to be… All the best, Chris.
I detest religion and all its bullshit too, but it seems like you are pretty set in your beliefs just like all those religious people are. Almost like you are a gnostic atheist, not an agnostic atheist. It also seems like you are lumping together all conjecture and unknowable/unprovable hypotheses with religion, like you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
You don't have to believe in a thought in order to entertain it. Is it not possible to simply think about things without chiseling them in stone within your belief system?
Also, belief in life-after-death or spirits or whatever isn't really a prerequisite for believing that something is going on here that is greater than what the human mind can possibly comprehend. I think it has more to do with the mathematics and physics of spacetime and the universe itself.
To me, it's a dimensional thing. Almost as if one enters a higher dimension that our simple minds aren't equipped to process. It reminds me of the book Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott. I would definitely recommend reading that book (it's only 96 pages) if you are interested in hearing a nonreligious perspective on what it could be.
It's literally called 'Flatland': https://www.amazon.com/Flatland-Romance-Dimensions-Thrift-Editions/dp/048627263X. It had a sequel too, about higher dimensions. It illustrates the way in which one might comprehend things at are not directly observable from your current presepective- obviously using geometry- but it isn't really a math book, it's a story. Carl is paraphrasing the central plot in this video.
Edit: for the lazy: "This masterpiece of science (and mathematical) fiction is a delightfully unique and highly entertaining satire that has charmed readers for more than 100 years. The work of English clergyman, educator and Shakespearean scholar Edwin A. Abbott (1838-1926), it describes the journeys of A. Square, a mathematician and resident of the two-dimensional Flatland, where women-thin, straight lines-are the lowliest of shapes, and where men may have any number of sides, depending on their social status.
Through strange occurrences that bring him into contact with a host of geometric forms, Square has adventures in Spaceland (three dimensions), Lineland (one dimension) and Pointland (no dimensions) and ultimately entertains thoughts of visiting a land of four dimensions—a revolutionary idea for which he is returned to his two-dimensional world. Charmingly illustrated by the author, Flatland is not only fascinating reading, it is still a first-rate fictional introduction to the concept of the multiple dimensions of space. "Instructive, entertaining, and stimulating to the imagination." — Mathematics Teacher."
Milk all you want! I'm happy to provide. If you would like to do your own investigations, I highly recommend either purchasing The Prose Edda or The Poetic Edda. Another option is downloading The Uppsala Edda for free. :D
As for Tyr...
> High replies: ‘Then there is also an Áss that is called Týr. He is the bravest and changeable in his mind and he has a lot of control over victory in battles. It is good for men of action to pray to him. There is a saying that a man is týr-valiant who surpasses others. And it is one proof of his valour
and bravery, when the Æsir were luring Fenriswolf so as to get the fetter
Gleifnir on him, then he did not trust them that they would let him go until they placed Týr’s hand in his mouth as a pledge. And when the Æsir refused to let him go, then he bit off his hand at the place that is now called the wolf joint, and he is one-handed. He is so intelligent that it is also said that so-and-so is týr-wise.
(The Uppsala Edda 43-45)
> 'How should Tyr be referred to?'
> 'By calling him the one-handed god, the foster-father of the wolf, the god of battles and the son of Odin.'
(The Prose Edda 110)
I would argue that he is God of War, Justice, and Law. As we know, almost all things that have to do with the law is a battlefield. Same with justice. As seen above, we know him as the god of battle. So you are definitely correct, I think, in saying that he is also strongly associated with justice and law!
I feel like if your daughter and I were the same age we would be best friends, she sounds exactly like how I was at her age.
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen is wonderful, I read it at about her age. No sex.
John Green's books are amazing, but Looking For Alaska has a blow job part, and The Fault In Our Stars has sex. They are in no way explicit however, and I really would recommend that she read them, at least eventually, maybe at 12, because they're beautifully written and, I think, teach really valuable lessons (in fact, the blow job scene is awkward and uncomfortable and juxtaposed with a conversation that is emotionally intimate to demonstrate that you don't need sex and physical contact for emotional connection.)
I also remember reading Artemis Fowl when I was her age.
Other recommendations:
A Face in Every Window by Han Nolan
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Cul de Sac Moon by Kimberley Clarke (my high school English Lit, Creative Writing and English AP teacher)
And when I was your daughter's age I was really, REALLY into The Royal Diaries series, my favourite being The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo and Elizabeth I.
EDIT: OH! And if she liked The Hunger Games I think she will LOVE The Giver series by Lois Lowry. And Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events might keep her occupied for a week or two, as well as the Chronicles of Narnia.
When I started watching this show a few years ago I ended up buying quite a few books about Norse Mythology and Asatru (the reconstruction religion that is becoming more popular).
Here are a few good ones
The Norse Myths This is a good basic breakdown of the stories in the Sagas/Eddas and is easy to read.
Viking Age: Everyday Life During the Extraordinary Era of the Norsemen This is a fantastic book that really isn't related to the myths (there is a religion section) but this is a great book that goes over the everyday lives of Vikings and their families. Everything from political structure down to what they ate and how they dressed. It also has great illustrations.
The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics) - one of the source materials of the myths.
The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok - I dont have this one personally but it is on my list to buy.
If you want to read about the reconstruction religion that has gained in popularity since the 70s check this book out. Essential Asatru: Walking the Path of Norse Paganism - This is another easy to read book that not only goes over the basics of the Myths/Gods but also goes over the ceremonies and rituals of those who choose to practice today what the Vikings practiced. Minus the live sacrifices... those have been replaced with food and drink thankfully.
If you are just wanting to dip your toes into learning about the myths I cannot recommend the first link more than enough. It is far easier to read than the Eddas/Sagas and from what I understand from other subs is a widely regarded starting point.
Also check out /r/norse and /r/asatru.
I'm sticking to short books that may be slightly above her reading level, but to be honest I think most kids read "up" anyways, and if she's bored she might like the challenge. These are all fast-moving, narrated by a first-person narrator with a great voice that hooks you, and they all have that "what happens next?" quality I think is really valuable in keeping you turning pages.
True Grit - yes, it's a Western, but it's a fast, funny book that is narrated by a 14-year-old girl who is a total badass. I didn't expect much from it and it hooked me like heroin.
Kamikaze Girls - a translation of a Japanese book about a super-high-fashion girl stuck in the sticks and her biker gang best friend. Really mean, really funny, and totally different from what you'd expect. The world it takes place in is so real, so detailed, but so alien to the US (but also kind of familiar - we all sometimes hate our hometowns) that it sucks you in.
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - I agree with the other poster who says this is a good one. It's really sad, but the story sucks you in.
The Fault In Our Stars - great YA book that is funny and sad and all about cancer which feels Very Important to read about when you're 12. But super-gripping and the narrator has a great voice.
White male desires in US media get precedence over anything else. For the most part they are the ones in executive positions presiding over popular media such as television shows and movies. I think you can probably find some more diversity in literature if you know where to look. I'm not sure if you're into fantasy, but Kushiel's Dart is a good look at a woman who uses her sexuality in a way that serves the plot, the character, and can be sexy. No male gaze BS.
Also do some research for erotica or adult literature written by women. You'll find much more interesting things regarding sexuality from a woman's POV. Also lesbian porn is probably the closest you can get to seeing women actually enjoy another partner sexually pleasing them, rather than some gnarly-looking dude smashing his dick in her vagina, then cumming all over her face. Of course a lot of lesbian porn is made for straight guys, so be careful of that.
I agree with you, though. There needs to be more media that shows how healthy and happy sexuality can be for women, and how it's not just about trying to get a guy off. I think as time goes on things are getting more progressive, though!
Sure! I know exactly what you mean. So, I will say that a lot of the most interesting stuff in Fantasy is (and has for a while) being done in YA fantasy, and I don't mean stuff like Twilight.
Garth Nix's Abhorsen series (starting with Sabriel) is excellent. Melina Marchetta's Finnikin of the Rock is kind of along the lines of what you're talking about, but is really well done.
Just about anything by Dianna Wynne Jones is great, I will call out specifically Howl's Moving Castle (the inspiration for the Miyazaki film of the same name) and also her 6 part [Chronicles of Chrestomanci] (http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Chrestomanci-Charmed-Lives-Christopher/dp/006447268X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1417629757&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=chronicles+of+chrestomanci).
If you're in the mood for something more adult, I really enjoyed Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, starting with Kushiel's Dart, but that gets into some S&M stuff, which, YMMV.
And then Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Which is just fantastic.
I'm not sure about an article per se, but maybe some excerpts from Flatland (or the whole thing, since it's less than 100 pages) might fit the bill.
It's a pity they don't know any calculus; my old professor Carolyn Gordon's article "You Can't Hear the Shape of a Drum" is a fantastic read, and a wonderfully intuitive introduction to the ideas of spectral geometry.
My suggestion, if you need a true article, is to paw around online for a while for something on basic graph theory. Little tidbits like the Seven Bridges of Konigsberg are fun; or maybe an article about the four-color theorem. Graph theory is great for people with no formal math training, since it's easily visualized.
On thing is the legal framework and another is the means that make stuff possible.
Take the "war on drugs". There are very stringent laws forbidding drug use, how are we doing on that front? The place to win that "war" is not on the streets and the border crossings, it's the core of society, the family. You win that war at the dinner table, on the minor league baseball fields, at bedside telling goodnight stories. That's what's going to take to win that "war".
Child labor was necessary for the most part of history. What made it unnecessary? Tractors, enhanced seed, pesticides, washing machines, assembly lines, cars, vaccines, sewers, all the stuff product of brilliant minds operating in freedom and hard work, these people are the real heroes of western civilization. If we didn't have that, we would need children to work. And, believe me, no parent wants that.
We want the same thing, it's just that we have different visions. You concentrate it what is good and looks good whereas I focus in what does good. And my main focus is Freedom. No one, not the state or anything else, should stand between the voluntary interaction of two people.
I'd happily accept and read your book if you do the same with my book:
https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191145/ref=sr_1_1
Deal?
Try the first Kushiel trilogy by Jacqueline Carey, plenty of romance, suspense, and political intrigue. The cover and description put me off from reading the series for years (silly, I know), but I absolutely loved the first three books.
Malazan doesn't have a lot of satisfactory romance, and while I still have a soft spot in my heart for WOT the romance is just not believable.
I'll also suggest books on Stoicism and Philosophy. However, before you jump right into the ancient/classical wisdom I'd recommend a modern introduction to introduce and help digest the principles.
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William Irvine.
Then - Move onto Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and the rest. A great way to embrace stoic ideas daily is The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
Also, strong recommendations for:
The 3 Penguin classics are great because they've got annotations from S.T. Joshi and also have the corrected text by him. They're also cheap. Since they aren't huge volumes they are also easy to read and carry.
http://www.amazon.ca/Call-Cthulhu-Other-Weird-Stories/dp/0141182342/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1335790731&amp;sr=8-7
http://www.amazon.ca/Penguin-Classics-Dreams-Witch-Stories/dp/0142437956/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1335790731&amp;sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.ca/Thing-Doorstep-Other-Weird-Stories/dp/0142180033/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1335790731&amp;sr=8-9
The Necronomicon (listed in the comments below) is nice as well, but it lacks footnotes and has errors. Also nice is the companion to this - Eldritch Tales which has some stuff the Necronomicon doesn't.
http://www.amazon.ca/Eldritch-Tales-H-P-Lovecraft/dp/0575099356/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1335790861&amp;sr=1-1
The Barnes and Noble edition seems like a good buy.
I recommend having a look at this page over at hplovecraft.com. It has a good overview of the various sources you can choose from.
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/sources/
The Arkham house editions seem like the definitive ones, however they are a bit harder to come by than some of the others.
"The Complete Fiction" has all the fiction Lovecraft wrote in his lifetime, minus the commissioned works and collaborations with other writers. Also, the texts are edited by S.T. Joshi, who's the foremost Lovecraft scholar. "The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft" has some analysis for some of his works, but I don't know about the editing of the text. I own this one, which I'm pretty sure has the same contents as the Knickerbocker Classics edition.
If you want annotations AND complete texts, Penguin Classics' three paperback collections are a good choice, because the texts are those edited by Joshi, plus they have a ton of annotations for basically every bit of extra info regarding the particular story, influential element, etc... Yes, they are softcover books, but the good side is they have annotations. Here they are:
"The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories" also has a special edition with Cthulhu with a monocle, mustache and tuxedo on the front cover.
I share the opinion of /u/leafyhouse, who says "Buy The Complete Fiction" first. You can read all of his official stories in a chronological order and see how he grew up as a writer. Later you can check out Penguin Classics or The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft and sink deep in what influenced Lovecraft to write all this gorgeous work.
EDIT: Forgot to put links to the Penguin Classics collections.
EDIT número dos: In this other thread, /u/IndispensableNobody points out the differences between the Knickerbocker Classics "Complete Fiction" and the Barnes & Noble one. Check it out.
This is a very good video introduction to Stoicism.
The main ancient Stoic books that have survived are Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, Epictetus's Discourses and Enchiridion, which is basically a summary of the Discourses, and Seneca's Letters to Lucilius and Essays. All these editions are relatively new translations and, in Seneca's case, abridged, but they will give you an idea of what Stoicism is about. I suggest you first read the Enchiridion (it is no longer than 40 pages) and then the Meditations (around 150-200 pages), and then dig deeper if you get interested.
There are other ancient sources, and quite a lot of modern work is being done currently, but those are the ones I suggest you begin with.
Then there are very active modern Stoic communities, like /r/Stoicism, the Facebook group, and NewStoa, with its College of Stoic Philosophers, that lets you take a very good four month long course by email.
The great thing about Stoicism as a way of life is that it has neither the blind dogmatism of organized religion nor the ardent skepticism of atheism. It puts the soul back in the universe, in a way, and, on the personal level, empowers you to take responsibility for your actions and to take it easy with what you cannot control.
I haven't really played Gears or Mass Effect much and so am in no place to comment but here's what I'd suggest for the other two.
As a series Assassins Creed is amazing but be warned the first game, while inventive and exciting gets a bit repetitive towards the later third. But after that ACII and its counterparts 'Brotherhood' & 'Revelations' are astounding and with the news on ACIII the series is going to pan out/close on a real high.
For a revelation and in-depth story Bioshock is my personal go-to on all cylinders. The first game dig deep into Randian objectivism and once you read the blogs and opinions you realise that it is a game about the very nature of gaming. I would suggest reading 'Atlas Shrugged' as you play through to get the full depth of the first game.
The sequel is good if you really get into the story of the city of Rapture but doesn't come with the depth of philosophy that the first does.
But if Rapture is your thing it's worth a play to see how it panned out, also get hold of John Shirley's adaptation of the story Bioshock: Rapture.
Again the upcoming Bioshock: Infinite is going to take the series to new heights (pun intended!) and will be a worthy addition to the franchise.
I understand completely. Sometimes the book itself just has an intrinsic value that transcends the information on it's pages. One of my prized possessions is a copy of the Elder Edda published around 1870, and it's written in Old Danish. I can't read Danish of any age, but that doesn't stop the book from having great value to me.
That said, if I were looking for reasonably priced physical copies of the Sagas and Eddas, I'd go with Sagas of the Icelanders published by Penguin, The Poetic Edda translated by Lee M. Hollander and maybe The Prose Edda By Snorri Sturlusson translated by Jesse L. Byock. Good translations, good editions.
How to Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci is my favorite, and the first book I read on it.
The Guide To The Good Life by William Irvine is also pretty good.
Ryan Holiday's books are good too; I just finished Ego is The Enemy, and while not strictly Stoic, it has Stoic values. He also has a daily devotion type book called The Daily Stoic.
You can also get this version of [Meditations] (https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=9780812968255&amp;qid=1557954528&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1). I haven't finished it, but I think it's safe to recommend Meditations without having read it entirely.
The main key to Stoicism is to learn the basic ideas, and just be deliberate and conscious in life with the ideas; it's hard to change how you view things and react to events. You have to be conscious of it. A good amount of introspection helps a lot too. You can catch yourself doing something and correct yourself instead of letting your emotions and impressions lead you. Try to reflect every day on what you did a good job of and what you did a poor job of; thinking about these things makes it more likely that you'll do better the next day
My area of particular interest is Old Norse stuff, and as far as I know there's little about band of criminals there, probably because of how their justice system worked. The sagas, though, represent a treasure trove of legal ideas, especially concerning what is to be an outlaw, and have all kinds of exciting juicy fighting bits. I'm going to link to to a few relevant sagas, but the translations are all from the 19th century (and thus in the public domain,) so they frequently are translated differently than they would be now. If you're interested enough, I recommend you buy The Sagas of Icelanders for some really top-notch modern translations.
On the other hand, you're unlikely to get much of any value regarding the actual mechanics of sword combat from these or other literary sources. For that, you should take a look at fechtbucher, or fighting manuals. Most of them post-date the medieval period, but there's still lots of valuable instruction in there. The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts hosts some manuals here, and if you care to poke around a bit more the "Wiktenauer" wiki has some great resources. There's a subculture of people who study these books and train from them, and let me tell you, their combat looks very little like the stereotypical bashing match people think of. If I had to liken it to something, I'd say it most reminds me of an MMA match combined with fencing, though that doesn't do justice to it. Here are a few different videos of people using these techniques:
Duel with renaissance longswords, by (quite probably) the best European-style swordsmen alive today
A less technically-skilled but still entertaining match with longswords
More of the same
Another longsword match, demonstrating the somewhat different techniques used to work around armor
Much the same as above, demonstrating individual techniques
A selection of medieval weapons being used
"Battle of the Nations," competitive fights between national teams, fought with steel weaponry
And remember, this kind of trick probably decided many fights.
Overall: Fast, brutal, deadly. Most fights would be over after a few blows - one misstep and you're quite dead. Long, climactic battles, as shown in Hollywood and even lots of medieval literature, makes for excellent drama, but is unlikely to reflect reality.
http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/its_more_than_a_job
Read that.
Now read it again, and focus on the significance of the essays.
Being well-read gives you a common connection or foundation with others who are similarly well-read.
Being well-read helps you develop stronger language context skills, and a more broad vocabulary which will be useful to you when you have to describe deeply meaningful topics about yourself and your dreams in 400 words or less.
Search A2C for how many interviewers or application essays asked the applicant to discuss their favorite book, or something they recently read. It's a common theme.
Ask Google how many books Bill Gates and James Mattis read in an average month.
You say you're interested in STEM. Ok, here are two books IMMENSLY popular with the nerd-crowd:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Dune
Please, don't say or think "But, I've already seen those movies..."
No movie has ever been as detailed in conveying a story as the book.
And if robots & robotics are seriously among your interests, Asimov is pretty much required reading.
I, Robot
poe was one of lovecraft's heroes as well. if you enjoy the stories in that book, i highly recommend picking up an anthology edited by S.T. Joshi, who's pretty much the most expert authority on lovecraft in the world. joshi's research and notes at the end add a whole new dimension to the stories
also, awesome knives and bead! you have good taste
love the maliwan mousepad too
Watch The Rubin Report on YouTube. Dave Rubin interviewed both Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson, as well as MANY of the other names I see posted by others here. He interviews people from different political, social, and economic philosophies. I even fund him on Patreon because his channel is great (and important).
&nbsp;
If I had to pick three people that made the most dramatic impact on my life in terms of how I think, seek and evaluate evidence, and use reason, these people would be at the top. While the people on my list did not always agree on everything, I do believe that they are/were intellectually honest:
&nbsp;
Thomas Sowell
Carl Sagan (Science-related things aside, he wrote a bit on Philosophy of thought)
Ayn Rand
I hope that helps! :)
The best FREE online source (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ice/)
The most important works on the subject are the EDDAS, the poetic and prose and your collection cannot be called complete without them (http://www.amazon.ca/The-Prose-Edda-Mythology-Classics-ebook/dp/B002RI9HRU/ref=pd_sim_kinc_8?ie=UTF8&amp;refRID=0M032MEETG0CVXAT539W) (http://www.amazon.ca/Poetic-Edda-Oxford-Worlds-Classics-ebook/dp/B00LKGBK1Q/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1?ie=UTF8&amp;refRID=1CGS5F6Q2WWB3HR2DKFR)
Sagas of the Icelanders is a pretty comprehensive book and an easier than scholarly text read (http://www.amazon.ca/Sagas-Icelanders-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0141000031/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425947217&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=sagas+of+the+icelanders)
A great historical (a little mythology) view of the Vikings in John Clements the Vikings (http://www.amazon.ca/Brief-History-Vikings-Jonathan-Clements-ebook/dp/B00AJN9KHC/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=digital-text&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425947425&amp;sr=1-1-fkmr0&amp;keywords=the+vikings+john+clements)
A great dictionary/listing of Viking myths can be found in Cassell's Dictionary of Norse Myth & Legend (http://www.amazon.ca/Cassells-Dictionary-Norse-Myth-Legend/dp/0304363855/ref=sr_1_cc_8?s=aps&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425947500&amp;sr=1-8-catcorr&amp;keywords=dictionary+of+norse+myths+and+legend)
A great source for the kings of Norway and their (mis)adventuires would be the Heimskringla but there isn't as much mythology in there, more historical (http://www.amazon.ca/Heimskringla-History-Norway-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/0292730616/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425947617&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=heimskringla)
There's a bunch of other sagas you may want to sink your teeth into: Njal's, Grettir's, etc... If you want to listen about some Viking sagas via podcast, I'd recommend Saga thing, both entertaining and informative (https://sagathingpodcast.wordpress.com/)
Here's two off the top of my head that are pretty great:
Viking Age Iceland is a GREAT primer on, well, Viking Age Iceland :)
The Sagas of Icelanders is a nice entry level compilation of sagas and thaettir (excluding the amazing Njal's Saga unfortunately) that got me into the Icelandic sagas.
This is the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-50th-Anniversary/dp/0618517650/ref=asc_df_0618517650/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=353656609841&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14182880527356322287&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-420804731972&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=79768475228&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=353656609841&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14182880527356322287&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-420804731972
I have the Harper Collins Silmarillion Deluxe edition. It was printed in China but honestly they are still pretty nice. But I like this Houghton Mifflin version better than the LOTR deluxe by Harper Collins.
Edit: I changed the link to one that is better priced!
In order of impact:
1 - The War of Art - https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/1936891026/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1549035419&amp;sr=1-3&amp;keywords=war+of+art
The most important book I've ever read. If you are pursuing any creative endeavor, I would say this is required reading. It's a super quick read, with every page or two covering a quick idea or example. I read it a bit of it every day before starting work on my music. It's like my bible.
2 - Atlas Shrugged - https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191145/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1549035527&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=atlas+shrugged
Taught me the value of hard work. Gave me the confidence that if I put the work in, I could achieve great things.
3 - How I found Freedom in an Unfree World - http://metaphysicspirit.com/books/How%20I%20Found%20Freedom%20in%20an%20Unfree%20World.pdf
Even if you don't agree with all of it, it definitely helps put some new ideas out there that can change how you view things.
I'm very interested in your copies of Your Inner Fish, Anatomy of an Epidemic, and Evil Genes. I would love to be able to take all three off your hands. I have several books that I can offer you in exchange, all of which I've read and highly recommend! What I have that might match your interests are:
And seeing that you had a Steve Berry novel up for trade, I also have these two excellent Brad Meltzer thriller novels:
If any of my books peak your interests, I'd love to make a trade!
So, I'm not sure if you're anything into BDSM... but this book/series is great. It's a little dark, but is also a great fiction, almost fantasy, and great romance.
As am absolutely massive fan of lovecraft, I've owned most of his books/collections.
If you want his ENTIRE collection of stories/collaborations I'd recommend my favorite collection, the slip cased cover 5 book collection: https://www.amazon.com/H-P-Lovecraft-Collection-Slip-cased/dp/1784288608/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?keywords=lovecraft&amp;qid=1562246373&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=lovec&amp;sr=8-12
These are 5 books adding up to over a thousand pages. Easily my favorite.
If you don't want to spend 50 bucks and you don't really care about owning every book, my suggestion is the neconomicon collection: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Fiction-H-P-Lovecraft/dp/0785834206/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=lovecraft&amp;qid=1562246373&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=lovec&amp;sr=8-1
It's definitely not the "complete" collection as it claims, but it's got a decent number of his stories.
If you're into audio books, the Neconomicon audio book is good.
But maybe you aren't so sure you'll love his stories? Here's "Dagon" so you can dip your toes on the water: http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/d.aspx
Hope this helps!
That's a good question.
So special needs is the blanket term. For specific mental retardation the proper name is now intellectual disability.
A really good book that is a short read I would recommend on this is Flowers for Algernon. This book really gives you perspective on what it is like to be special needs.
I have been a special needs counselor for a camp for six years.
It's not about feel-goodery. It's about showing respect to others.
I second this. By all means do everything you described such as quitting substances and getting plenty of sleep. But if you are doing everything right and it still doesn't work (or if you fall apart and revert to old behaviors) then definitely consider meds and therapy. Humans are imperfectly designed and usually need a little customization.
Also, I was really happy reading your story because I was depressed for many years and recently got out of it with a combination of meds, lifestyle changes (mostly good sleep), a new job, and my new daughter. It's always great to hear about someone being good to himself like you are.
Here's my reading recommendation: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0812968255?psc=1&amp;ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
Hopefully someone will have good advice about interacting with the moms, since that sounds like the hardest part. Do you have quality legal counsel?
And some people spend millions of dollars on cars. The question is more 'is the base game a good game and a good value' and 'are the expansion packs a good value'. Looking at what it costs to get all the possible content is irrelevant to whether the game itself is good.
It's like saying you wouldn't buy Dune because "if I buy the whole series, it will cost hundreds of dollars". No, you buy Dune because it's a great book, and you buy the others if you think they are good and will add to your experience of that universe. (My friends have told me they aren't, so I've stayed away)
Just because someone out there spent hundreds of dollars to buy the whole series, doesn't devalue the individual elements.
Dune by Frank Herbert.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. You have probably read it, but if you haven't, it's superbly funny sci-fi comedy.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. A book that I re-read once every few years, and every time I find something new in it.
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon. A gripping, heartbreaking non-fiction book about police detectives. It inspired the acclaimed TV series "Homicide: Life on the Street." Simon would go on to create "The Wire."
The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy. Noir-ish procedural crime fiction. If you enjoy "Homicide," you may well like this.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, "a philosophical novel about two men, two women, a dog and their lives in the Prague Spring of the Czechoslovak Communist period in 1968," according to Wikipedia. One of my favorite books.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. Detective novel meets sci-fi in one mind-bending existential work. If you watch "Fringe," well, this book is Fringe-y... and more.
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Time travel. Victorian England. A tea cozy mystery of sorts.
Graphic novels! Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman. Love And Rockets by The Hernandez brothers. The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki. Elektra: Assassin by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz. And of course, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. To discover yet more great comic books, check out the Comics College series.
For your calculus brush-up, I would wholeheartedly recommend Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompson. Available as pdf here or a newer, revised edition from Amazon here in which Martin Gardner has updated terminology, notation and such, as well as adding some excellent introductory chapters that help with the intuition. It is a deceptively small book with around 300 A5 sized pages, but it delivers most everything you need to know about calculus, including many handy tricks, in a intuitive down to earth style. Each chapter has a bunch of problems of varying degree along with solutions in the appendix. To top it off, Richard Feynmann was introduced to calculus from this book too...
In my opinion, a solid and intuitive understanding of calculus is one of the most important aspect of understanding much of physics, and the book has certainly helped me a great deal.
Another important aspect is of course vectors, for which I enjoyed the slightly unusual treatment in About Vectors by Banesh Hoffmann, although I'm unsure if it is fitting for revisiting.
I'm gonna forego all the other threads about good books and best books because, on reddit, the list always seems to be the same. Not knocking it, as I've contributed to it, and because I agree with most of the choices I find each time. But I'm going to list a few books I read in the past ten years of so that don't fit the reddit norm, and because they struck a chord with me.
A great drunk writer.
I've been working to cook from scratch, and this book has helped me understand the beauty and satisfaction to be had in working all day to create one meal.
As a teacher, this has been instrumental to my work. Learning how we learn and learning how to teach others to learn is succinctly broken down into necessary parts.
By far the best book I've read in ten years.
Just plain, good storytelling, and with a narrator who'll question your capacity to understand other narrators.
I just read a few pages and compared them, and let me tell you - Pevear & Volkhonsky will be a big upgrade! You can see them side by side below.
https://imgur.com/a/H2f8JfW
I remember when Pevear and Volkhonsky first started with their translations in the 90's, how highly acclaimed they were - and how much they improved on the fusty 19th century translations that preceded them. I kind of get that vibe from the Macduff translation too, honestly. P&V are much more accessible in their language and interest level, if you ask me - I know I'd be much more motivated to read the latter. If you continue with the reading preview on Amazon, you'll see it builds with each paragraph.
Even if you already have the Macduff translation, I strongly recommend you replace it with the P&V one, linked below. After all, considering the amount of days it's going to take you to read it and the price per day, it's worth the 11 bucks or so it will cost you, for 3+ solid months of entertainment.
https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Karamazov-Fyodor-Dostoevsky/dp/0374528373
I've read The Book Thief! I really liked it. Here are some books that are similar to the Book Thief, and have changing/growing characters:
If you have any questions at all or want any more book recommendations, feel free to message me!
puedo hablar un poco español, despues de seis años de clas
es. tu ingles es mucho mejor que mi español. quiza leo unos libros, jaja
If she's into something a bit more intense and darkly romantic, the Kushiel series by Jaqueline Carey are a great read. I love them, and I read everything you said your wife enjoyed, so logic dictates she might be interested :D. It is definetly made for a more mature (NOTE: NOT TEENAGE) reader, as it does get intense. This is the first book.
Thanks for the kind words. I always think I come across as a cynic so it's encouraging to know there's some good mixed in with it all, lol.
And also super excited to share Dostoevsky! I didn't encounter him until my late-20s, and was just blown away. Definitely had a lot of similar thoughts as you when I first started reading him.
Here are the two I mentioned:
Brothers Karamazov
The Idiot
Have fun with your literary explorations! :D
From an economics perspective:
From a social perspective:
From a moral perspective:
There's many more than just these, and there's a lot of underlying philosophy that modern conservationism is based on. I'd also categorize these books as a basis for "intellectual conservatism" as opposed to say "cultural conservatism". Something to note is that little of the conservative mindset is focused on policy and politics, per se. There is instead a strong emphasis on personal action and collective culture, the value of morals, and a focus on introspection. So while these books will perhaps help you understand a conservative perspective better, they will not likely provide a good basis for engaging in political debate. For that maybe you want a book by Ben Shapiro or something.
So... what exactly are you looking for?
Websites/books to teach you? For us to just tell you what you want to learn? Questions like this are hard to answer because they're so broad, and you'll have to keep that in mind as you get answers or whatever.
First off, look through /r/mythology. They discuss all kinds of mythology over there, and seems like a pretty good resource.
Greek and Roman Mythology
These are intertwined. They are not the same, or competing. They are much more complementary than you might think.
I can tell you that Bulfinch's Mythology and Hamilton's Mythology are pretty much the standard as far as Ancient Greek Mythology goes.
Going through old IWTL posts, I found Beren's Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome. It's free!
Egyptian
I admit, I know pretty much nothing about this other than Ra, Set, Anubis and the Sphinx.
But, http://www.egyptianmyths.net/ seems like a pretty good resource.
Celtic Mythology
First check out this introduction. Then, check out the Celtic Myth Podshow if you like podcasts!
Mesopotamian
The Epic of Gilgamesh.
I'd like to continue this, as it's been a lot of fun, but I gotta go do a thing. I'll come back to this later, maybe
Actually I am quite familiar with Le Comte de Monte-Cristo! At least that it was originally written in an older dialect and published serially. I first read the unabridged English translation by Penguin Classics a few years ago. It's still to this day my favorite book of all time. Les Miserables was a more difficult read that I did not finish- because of the "digressions"- but maybe a (slightly) more mature version of myself can revisit it.
Saw the film version of Count with
JesusJim Caviezel and wasn't really impressed but it stoked my curiosity at least. Haven't seen the musical or the film adaptation of Les Mis solely because I don't want to break my rule of thumb of reading the book and then seeing the movie. Big Tolkien fan and I've missed all of the Peter Jackson films for Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit on the big screen for this very reason. The movies don't live up to the books at all. --I am digressing haha.Surprised those movies didn't come up at all. I always liked the books especially for the ideas of brotherhood and a common cause. I was also probably the last generation before the digital age hit everyone above the age of 2. My wild imagination is one of the things I'm most thankful for but I don't let it disrupt reality.
A lot of people will suggest The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which is a fine book, but the author didn't do enough research and was just writing a novel.
I'd recommend John Elder Robison's books. He has wrote multiple memoirs and lives a very vivid life; he, his son, and possibly (don't remember if she was diagnosed) his son's mother are all autistic. I loved the books, and I've never seen myself or connected with a book like I did with his. His books aren't hard to read and I believe there are four in total.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time:
https://www.amazon.com/Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-Time/dp/1400032717
Look Me in the Eye:
https://www.amazon.com/Look-Me-Eye-Life-Aspergers/dp/0307396185
I've read several versions of this novel and the unabridged Penguin classics version is the best. Here's some things I like about the unabridged story that I feel compelled to discuss.
1.) It's so common in shorter versions and TV or Movie remakes to see Edmond escape the Chateau d'If and immediately begin enacting his revenge on his enemies. In the full story Edmond took quite some time to locate the treasure. Then after doing some quick acts of kindness he disappeared for twenty years. Lived various lives, sailed all over the world, played pirate, educated himself. It was only by years of experience, exploration, and experimentation that he was able to develop the traits necessary to sell the eccentric, cosmopolitan Count of Monte Cristo persona to the Parisian nobility. He is a well rounded individual who languishes in his wealth and freedom but at the core of it all is his unfaltering desire for vengeance that he carries for decades. And it's true, revenge is a dish best served cold.
2.) We don't see this much in film adaptations but The Count of Monte Cristo is just one of many personas that Edmond adopts to complete his righteous mission. For some of his enemies he appears before them as both the Count and the Abbot Busoni and they can't tell the difference. Not only is Edmond a master of disguise but maybe one of the greatest actors ever.
3.) Edmond Dantes smokes weed regularly and this is mentioned several times in the unabridged version. As a potential role model, I advocate for this.
4.) The most powerful part of the novel that I recall is when Edmond's vengeance results in the death of a child. He has a moment of doubt with Villefort screaming at him, "Are you fully avenged?". He questions whether or not he is really doing God's will. And then decides that, yes he is and he will continue to enact his revenge. This part, more than anything else, show just how much Edmond is motivated by vengeance.
I could talk about this novel all day but these are just some parts that really convince me to stick with the unabridged version
I am on chapter 4 of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It is amazing how this novel from 1957 is coming true.
How can a state government require that a female be on every publicly traded board of Public Company! Is this America land of the free??? This has to be unconstitutional.
I have nothing against women, I would be just as concerned if it was "every board has to have a Italian, or Canadian on the board. This is government over stepping itself into the private sector. Yes we need laws to protect the environment or making sure people are not hurt on the job. To just say you need one women just because she is female?
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Link to the book
https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191145
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Sorry I have to add to my rant.
I think the crab fishing industry is under represented by women also, So lets make a law that 20% of all crab fishing boats crews need to be female. Also the LGTB is under represented on public boards and crab fishing boats so we need to have one LGTB person on each crab boat and publicly traded board??
As I stated above, Laws for environment, health and safety of employees should be in place. This is pure 100% social engineering.
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Hey no problem glad I could help. The resources you can get from this sub are fantastic so use the hell out of this sub.
A couple other things you might be interested in.
Have fun!
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Amazing fictional novel about imagining dimensions in a funny way. The main character is named "A Square". I want a copy for the purposes of lending to my friends! :)
There are actually several reasons more security cameras would be a bad idea. Here are some reasons from the ACLU. In addition to that, security cameras are reactive and not proactive. In other words, they do not prevent crime, they only make it easier to catch the criminal (sometimes). They might make you feel safer causing you to let your guard down thereby making you ironically more vulnerable. Security cameras also create an environment of mistrust which divides not only the University from the surrounding community (already a huge issue in Chambana) but also students from the administration which is always watching (George Orwell wrote a great book on this called 1984.) And finally, to expand on a point made by the ACLU, UI already has a surprising number of security cameras (1028 as of 2014, Source) and monitoring all of that video is tedious work which requires hiring new staff and expanding an already bloated administration and/or police force, which is scarcely something the University can afford, especially without a state budget.
I know I must be missing some, but these are all that I can think of at the moment.
Fiction:
Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
White Noise by Don Delilo
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot
Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by DFW
Infinite Jest by DFW
Of these, you can't go wrong with Infinite Jest and the Collected Fictions of Borges. His Dark Materials is an easy and classic read, probably the lightest fare on this list.
Non-Fiction:
The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy
Chaos by James Gleick
How to be Gay by David Halperin
Barrel Fever by David Sedaris
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
Secret Historian by Justin Spring
Of these, Secret Historian was definitely the most interesting, though How to be Gay was a good intro to queer theory.
Heard on this week's episode of Chapo (Don't judge me).
Couple of excerpts from the WaPo article:
>In 2012, he helped three other Americans found a libertarian compound in the mountains, Galt’s Gulch, named for the fictional capitalist haven in Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.” Cobin quickly split and founded a competing sustainable farm and libertarian compound, called Freedom Orchard.
>
>A brochure for the mountainside compound advertised an idyllic 400-unit paradise, where “liberty-loving people from all over the world” could enjoy low taxes, organic produce, and freedom from “intrusive and abusive government meddling.” One group, however, was not welcome on his orchard: liberals from the United States.
and
>In an undated video circulating on social media, Cobin had even spoken about eliminating the “communist plague."
>
>“When they show off machetes, we’ll have the most massive firearms legally allowed in this country, and shoot to kill,” he said. “Not shoot at their legs, [but] straight in the heart so no witnesses are left.”
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There was also a Mother Jones profile written of him in 2014.
I got a couple more. Dune is awesome. It's really difficult to describe this book, since a lot of it is told from a third-person perspective wherein the reader gets the thoughts and all the micro-details of different characters' feelings and observations. It's not your usual novel. There is a film version directed by David Lynch from 1984 that completely sucks.
On the topic of Dune, Alejandro Jodorowsky, whom I respect on some levels and really hate on others (his sexism is particularly bothersome), was going to make a film adaptation of Dune but it was shut down before it reached production. There is a great documentary on that project, one of the most inspiring documentaries I've seen. Jodorowsky also made some really experimental movies back in the 70s, including The Holy Mountain. Trailer here. Warning: this movie will probably offend you in some way or another. NSFW. There is nudity, there is death, there are questionable filmmaking practices, and there's a turd that gets turned into gold. Movie here.
Then there's this Japanese Star Wars ripoff from the 70s called Message From Space that reminds me of Final Fantasy 1 in some ways. Instead of warriors of light carrying crystals, it's a bunch of space jockeys with glowing walnuts. It's entertaining to watch, and quite ambitious for what it is. Is it a good movie? Well, like I said, it's entertaining.
When I was 17, my two favorite books were 'The Catcher in the Rye' and 'Cat's Cradle'. But as you've been reading since you were three, you've probably read them both.
If you want to have a lot of laughs, I highly recommend 'Youth in Revolt' by C.D. Payne.
http://www.amazon.com/Youth-Revolt-Journals-Nick-Twisp/dp/0385481969
It's by far the funniest book I've ever read.
And if you want to read the very best piece of storytelling ever, then 'The Count of Monte Cristo', Robin Buss translation, Penguin Classics is for you.
http://www.amazon.com/Count-Monte-Cristo-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140449264/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1333655060&amp;sr=1-1
If you'd chose Ayn then you aren't a very critical thinker. Even basic game theory destroys Rand's laissez-faire capitalism reasoning. Heck, the Prisoners Dilemma alone shows the difference between proximate best interests and ultimate best interests, and is solved via mandatory compliance enforced by a collectively represented agency (aka, a democratic government). Without it, the rich get richer and use their wealth to keep competitors down. It's the same story we've see throughout history where personal private interests take over control of a country for personal gain.
That there are still people convinced by Rand's economic immaturity just tells me that we need to move basic economics (including strategy and game theory) into high schools.
Edit: I cede the rest of my time to this book review (halfway down the page titled "Literary worthlessness only exceeded by its philosophical vapidness") (I don't see a way to link to a specific review.)
UW robbed me of my love for reading for fun.
A ~year after graduating, I was recommended Look Who's Back, which is a funny book about Hitler waking up in 2011, with no recollection on what happened.
It turned into a movie, and is a good/short read.
After that, I read:
I forgot how much I like spending an afternoon sipping coffee and reading a great book.
You've likely read most of these, but here are a few suggestions:
I can recommend others if you've already hit all of those already.
It's available free online, but I've def got a hard cover copy on my bookshelf. I can't really deal with digital versions of things, I need physical books.
I am doing this very thing. I found some fantastic books that might help get you (re)started. They certainly helped me get back into math in my 30s. Be warned, a couple of these books are "cute-ish", but sometimes a little sugar helps the medicine go down:
I wish you all the best!
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Fiction-H-P-Lovecraft/dp/0785834206/ref=nodl_
I know this isn’t what you are looking for, but this book is absolutely perfect for a complete Lovecraft beginner! The stories are in order by publication date so it starts at the very beginning of his career. If you feel like really getting into his world, I highly recommend giving this book a read!
I'd pick:
You might think this is supposed to be a funny post. It's not. I'm very serious, these books will help you navigate most situations. The technical part is just a footnote tbh.
A great book that expresses this topic a bit is 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime'. It's written from the point of view of an autistic boy and it really gives you some insight into how people with autism experience love and caring and how it effects their relationship with others.
Link to amazon for the interested: http://www.amazon.com/The-Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-Time/dp/1400032717
This one is a little bit more advanced
http://www.amazon.com/curioso-incidente-medianoche-Letras-Bolsillo/dp/8498383730
But I still thinking is a good reading for an adult. It's like is written by a child with Asperger so everything is extremely well explained and I think it's easy to understand. But the concept and the story is quite profound and interesting to keep an adult hooked. It's not a book for children.
You can find the original version in English as well
http://www.amazon.com/Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-Time/dp/1400032717/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Joking aside (some really funny ones in this thread!), Vader likely defecates and urinates like any other multiple-amputee. In regards to when and where, I addressed this two days ago in this thread ...
> In real life, to tackle the challenge of "how do I poop while wearing a full-body suit without removing said suit," a lot of time and effort has been expended. One solution already in use in meat life is quite simple, although it is arguably pretty gross. Astronauts use something called a maximum absorbency garment (MAG) to take care of immediate needs.
>
> Looking to other science fiction, numerous examples exist of solutions to this question. My favorite is the stillsuit of the Fremen in Dune by Frank Herbert.
>
> Then, of course, there is the use of The Force to regulate biology. Time and time again, examples have been provided in the movies, books, games and role playing of both light- and dark-side users using their connection to The Force in order to control pain, go into a mediative coma, expand sensory awareness, heal oneself and others, etc. It isn't much further of a suspension of one's disbelief to accept that Vader used The Force to suspend his biological needs.
>
> TL;DR -- Simply put: Vader did not shit or piss whilst in his armor.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Kushiel's Legacy series. It's set in an alternate history France (called Terre d'Ange) and it's primarily about a courtesan/spy who also derives pleasure from pain. There's lots of BDSM in it, so it may not be your cup of tea, but it's a great series.
If you'd rather go for something more light, try Men in Kilts or The Corset Diaries by Katie McAlister. I'm not one for purely romance genre, but I read this one several years ago and liked it.
Nice to see Deutsch on the list (among all the other great ideas, of course). Happy Birthday and enjoy that papery knowledge.
If you wanna mix it up with a bit of fiction then I would highly recommend picking up this version of A Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
I would recommend seeing the total picture of Objectivism, and seeing it is a superior ideology than libertarianism (or that Objectivism is in a way libertarianism, plus much, much, much more). Objectivism focuses on ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics which freedom absolutely depends on.
Atlas Shrugged
http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191145
The Virtue of Selfishness
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_nonfiction_the_virtue_of_selfishness
Capitalism The Unknown Ideal
http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Unknown-Ideal-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451147952
Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand
http://www.amazon.com/Objectivism-Philosophy-Rand-Library-Volume/dp/0452011019
There is a significant difference between libertarianism and Objectivism, and people need to look hard at both sides and choose.
Reading Arno Schmidt's - Collected Stories and really enjoying them so far. It's my first dip into his writing and I am loving his playful prose and extreme use of punctuation. I have just gotten to the more experimental "Country Matters" section and love it so far. I'm curious to once I'm done check out his novels to see how he tackles more long form stories. Anyone else read Arno Schmidt?
Interspersed with this I am reading Borges' - Collected Fictions and I am not enjoying them quite as much. I'm wondering is it just the nature of the chronology of them? seeing how everyone fawns over ficciones but not necessarily his whole oeuvre of short stories. Will the later ones get better? I'm interested in Borges because I know Italo Calvino was basically obsessed with him.
Have you read any classical Russian satire and comedy, like Nikolai Gogol or Mikhail Bulgakov? Both are absolutely fantastic. Try either a collection of short stories including ones like Diary of a Madman, the Overcoat, and the Nose or Dead Souls by Gogol, and Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita is absolutely hilarious as well.
I remember really liking Lies My Teacher Told Me, which debunks common misinformation found in U.S. History text books. Though it might be not be as intellectual as he likes. Check it out, though.
There is another one my father-in-law gave great reviews, but I can't remember the title. I'll ask and edit if I figure it out.
Edit: Guns, Germs, and Steel!!! I haven't read it myself but it sounded interesting.
I also thought of The Master and Margarita, if he hasn't read it already. I bought this version, and a lot of the footnotes go into how the Russian political climate at the time influenced the novel. I thought it was very interesting.
For the love of... we had to take tests. I'm jealous. You wouldn't be able to really appreciate most of them without some mathematical training, though. I'd go for the Monty Hall problem or "Set theory and different 'size' infinities". Flatland is certainly still worth reading, though, and there are fun videos about the type of person who sells Klein bottles.
If you're honestly interested in the Set Theory stuff, I'll try to find you some better resources. The Wikipedia articles are probably far too technical.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind: This is the best book I have read in a very long time. This is about how our cultures, religions, and values were formed based on biology and psychology theories. I know that sounds boring but it is very interesting.
A Higher Loyalty: If you believe Comey your opinion will not change and if you do not believe Comey your opinion will not change. Meh, skip it.
[Dune] (https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert/dp/0441172717/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1524527285&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=dune) I do not read a lot of Sci-Fi but with the expected move coming u in a few years I thought I might get ahead if it. It was interesting but not exactly action-packed.
Leonardo Da Vinci The Walter Isaacson biographies about "geniuses" Steve Jobs, Ben Franklin, Albert Einstein are all interesting.
As Used On the Famous Nelson Mandela
Edit: Oops, just saw you wanted great literature. In that case, try The Master and Margerita A story about love and power set in Moscow, featuring a writer, his lover, some Communist party stooges, Satan, his minions, and a demonic cat named Behemoth.
All right, here's my best effort at trying to tie together all these threads with some recommendations. Two different routes to take.
1. Get some polish poets. My recommendations of three volumes would be Zbigniew Herbert's Elegy For The Departure, Czesław Miłosz's New and Collected Poems: 1931-2001, and Wisława Szymborska's Map: Collected and Last Poems. In mid-to-late 20th c., Polish poets were at the top of their game. They were confront a lot of issues like morality, politics, oppression, society. Herbert is a personal favorite of mine. Miłosz is just a towering figure. And Szymborska was a master at language. Miłosz and Szymborska both won the Nobel Prize, and Hebert was nominated several times but (controversially) never won.
2. Get some novels by Erskine Caldwell. Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre are the natural starting points for him. If you're into Percy and O'Connor, he's a natural fit. Personally, he has some controversial views, but he was a master at presenting the struggling, impoverished South.
Edited Addendum:
3. Get a collection of short stories from Jorge Luis Borges. Ficciones and The Aleph (as published by him) and Labyrinths (as first published in English) are the collections you see most often, but I'd reccomend something all-encompassing, like the more modern Collected Fictions.
Out of the books I read, these were my favorite.
I suppose these focus less on "leadership" so much as management. But they are all helpful when it comes to thinking about being a leader.
I also can't stress enough the importance of being introspective, and taking the time for self reflection. It's crucial that you be able to take a look at yourself, and see how your actions affect others. How you make others feel. Things like that. I know that's not particularly helpful, but I guess all I can say is do whatever makes the most sense for you to make yourself a more empathetic human being.
books that i have read that you may enjoy.
"The Children of Odin"
"Myths of the Norsemen"
"The Poetic Edda"
"The Younger Edda"
also the AFA has some great recommendations on the Website
Enjoy! :)
I highly recommend making sure you read a good translation - there are many bad ones out there.
Check out the publication section of the wikipedia entry for more details.
There's a good translation by Robin Buss, published by Penguin. I've read both it and the free one on Gutenberg, and there's no comparison, Buss's is much better. From the section in Wikipedia linked to above:
> Buss's translation updated the language, is more accessible to modern readers, and restored content that was modified in the 1846 translation because of Victorian English social restrictions (for example, references to Eugénie's lesbian traits and behaviour) to reflect Dumas' original version
Most of the versions out there are based on the 1846 translation cited above, including the Modern Library and Oxford World's Classics editions.
Not a pagan, but I have read the Poetic Edda (Hollander's edition) after being inspired by the works of JRR Tolkien and his son Christopher's excellent commentaries on them. The Edda is really awesome.
There is also the Prose Edda, and I would recommend The Sagas of Icelanders
I would really love The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time! It looks so awesome and I really, really want to read it. So many people have recommended it to me and I'd love to follow through with the recommendation! Plus, really, it has 2222 reviews right now and that's just awesome. Thank you so much for this contest!! I love used books!
Buying a book is not about obtaining a possession, but about securing a portal.
Hey Bean! I love that you want to honor your mom this way, and not just because of the gifting. I also love that my mom, whilst hating my father more than she'll admit, tries so hard to help my sister and I. plus, she's taking me to disney world with my girlfriend.
Link!
Now even though you have emphasis to seek a mathematical inclination, I should state that if you go into a CS program, it is not inherently going to force you into a mathematics heavy career. My CS program was very heavy into mathematics, and my job is as well. But many of my cohorts went on to do JS web development or UI/UX design which may use little to know mathematical constructs.
Just my two cents, happy to share anything you need.
It was originally a novella, but it was expanded to a 324-page novel in 1966. The novella won the Hugo and the novel won the Nebula.
I'd just buy the excellent Collected Fictions and then, if you want, Selected Non-Fictions. They're nice, inexpensive volumes you may be able to find in a used book store. The non-fiction work is, to my mind anyway, less interesting than the other (which is often fiction pretending to be non-fiction anyway).
If you want specific books, just read Ficciones or The Garden of Forking Paths first, though there's at least a few great stories in every book.
There's always Vilya(the prettiest of the Great Rings in my opinion), although rings could be misinterpreted ;)
Also, if she doesn't have it, may I recommend this gorgeous tome?
Anything by Simon Singh is worth reading. In addition to what others have recommended, these books are good:
[The man who loved only numbers](http://www.amazon.com/MAN-WHO-LOVED-ONLY-NUMBERS/dp/0786884061/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1254333710&amp;sr=8-1
)
Flatland
Prisoner's Dilemma
A mathematician reads the newspaper
A mathematician plays the stock market
Innumeracy: mathematical illiteracy and its consequences
Also, while not exactly about Maths:
Surely you are joking, Mr Feynman
What do you care what other people think?
The Art of Computer Programming
Some of my favorites:
I'm guessing you're looking at the books available from all sellers? In which case sort by price+shipping+tax to get an idea of how much the book will actually cost. A book that's $5.99 with free shipping is cheaper than a book listed at $0.01 + $6.99 shipping. Then just find the cheapest option that is in a condition that you will find acceptable. If you only want new, there is a way to filter for that. Here is a description of what the different conditions mean
For example, here is a link to the book 1984 as available from all sellers. Off to the left you'll see the filters for shipping options ("Prime" or "Free Shipping") as well as the filters for condition. Then just above the listings is the button to sort either by "price + shipping" or "price + shipping + tax." Select the latter to get the true final cost.
The Catcher in the Rye is a pretty good gateway book for more literary fiction.
1984 and Animal Farm will probably appeal to your SF tendencies.
If you want something more contemporary, maybe try The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It has to do with comic books...
Well it follows an interpretation of compounded tales, mentions and claimed relations of Ragnar Lodbrok. In terms of accuracy we don’t actually know if he even existed at all with any certainty.. and if he did, we equally have no idea how much or any of the original tales, legend and documented record would actually refer to him or to each other, so go from there.
It’s very likely to be more accurate than any Robin Hood or King Arthur show basically.
But they’ve done a good job I think in making a show that’s entertaining, revived interest in the old Norse sagas (instead of just focusing on a few bits of Norse mythology as was common before), history and awareness of the period, and has a good portrayal of some aspects of life at the time, even if in a very HBO kind of way.
For the actual history of the times, history text books, the history channel are really the place to go, but if you want to know more of the Saga’s this book is great place to start:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0141000031
Agree
I think a society that encouraged/mandated exercise and had no stigma for therapy would be much healthier one. In some cases, I think "freedom of ideas" make people lonely and therefore depressed. But that could easily be fixed by teaching more tolerance for those who have different ideas than yours.
Disagree
I'm interested to know how old you are. Not to judge your thoughts, but to judge your experiences. As an adult, have you ever sat on your kitchen floor attempting to eat an entire cake just because you could? That's freedom. And yeah, it's not necessarily healthy, but if you only do it once a year, it's not necessarily unhealthy either.
The problem with regulations is - humans are complicated. You will never be able to write a set of rules that encompasses the whole of human complexity. Many people would be severely stressed out by having to follow all the rules. Mandatory anything for people with disabilities would be borderline impossible. Have you read 1984? Or ever read To Kill a Mockingbird how the one family was allowed to not go to school?
Plus, what we learn continues to change. Did you know that organic food is no different chemically from GMOs? You could say coffee and wine serves no nourishing purpose and should be banned, however it's been shown that having a stress-relieving substance like wine can help you live longer when had in moderation.
What about religion? Some people believe the belief in such a delusion is harmful to brains, thought processes, and society. While others take great comfort in their god(s) and it helps them navigate life with less stress. Who gets to make the decision on which is allowed? China's plan isn't working out too well.
We should enable citizens live healthy lives - healthcare, healthy food, mental health services, paid time off for mental health (naps, etc), community centers, limit access to harmful substances. But I do not agree in any way that it would be possible to create a utopia under such strict guidelines.
Thanks for hosting!!
The best books in my opinion are the 3 Penguin Classics editions with his major works in their corrected state and explanatory notes by S.T. Joshi (the foremost scholar of Lovecraft).
Another option with corrected texts and all of his fiction (excluding revisions and collaborations) is the Barnes and Noble edition: The Complete Fiction (make sure it's the corrected 2nd edition which you can see by its purple ribbon marker and silver gilt on the edges) .
edit: There are also a lot of his stories that are in the Free Domain and you can read some of them here and this site has also a bibliography which you can consult when you ask yourself which edition(s) you should purchase.
I just finished Good Omens, coauthored by Pratchett and Gaiman; it was a lot of fun.
Do you read any graphic novels? The League of Extraordinary Gentleman is a great set.
I also highly recommend the novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.
If you are ok with a single volume edition, then this is the best one I've personally owned.
http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-50th-Anniversary/dp/0618517650/
Apparently there are two different versions floating around, one dark grey and the other dark blue.
I bought mine from Amazon about a year ago and mine looked like this one.
http://www.tolkienshop.com/contents/media/l_0618517650.jpg
Seems like there's a chance you could end up with this one though.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sDyVK11tleE/TluXdELWPZI/AAAAAAAACNc/OmTCQqFsJ54/s1600/1.png
Great! I have, elsewhere: this one is the best that I know of. It's recent, has helpful notes, and preserves the humorous tone admirably.
Discourses by Epictetus
A truly amazing book by a slave-turned-philosopher on having a mindset to face any challenges one might face.
Fun fact: The teachings of this philosopher bore a significant influence on Marcus Aurelius and his writings in The Meditations; as well as further Christian scholars down the ages as they adapted Epictetus' teachings to their own by replacing Epictetus' view of "fate" or "destiny" with one of "God".
The Carl Sagan video below is also pretty good. In fact, he and I used the same reference Edwin Abbott's Flatland, a book written in 1884. When Sagan cuts the apple, that's the same as the cheese slicing conveyor belt.
You can pick up a copy of Abbott's Flatland for pretty cheap. It's easy to read and is pretty short.
https://www.amazon.com/Flatland-Romance-Dimensions-Thrift-Editions/dp/048627263X
I've read it and it's pretty good, if you like romantic comedies.
Try this.
https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191145
If she likes that kind of book, tell her to pick up Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey, as well as the rest of the Kushiel's Legacy series. It's literotica, no doubt about that, but it's also some of the best writing and storytelling I've ever had the pleasure of reading.
Here is a book written in 1910.
Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompson
Best. Damned. Calculus. Book. Ever.
My aunt went back to school to get her degree. She was struggling
with the Calculus and was looking for a book. I recommend this book to her, she bought a copy and with it's help passed with a B. Good luck.
http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Made-Easy-Silvanus-Thompson/dp/0312185480
Ash and Huntress by Malinda Lo are nice books with lesbian characters, and the best part is, it's pretty normally treated. One of my favorite books of all time though is Written on the Body, by Jeanette Winterson. It has some really beautiful prose. To be honest for that one, it's not explicitly lesbian and the gender of the narrator is never revealed, but I'm always like 99.999% sure it was intended to another woman. Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey has a lesbian relationship that is completely normal as well. It's a bit weird sci-fi kind of novel though. If you've read other things by Jacqueline Carey and are not looking for a lesbian-centric relationship, in her Kushiel series, the main character and the main antagonist have a lot of sexual tension (real, not imagined!).
Does this appear to be the same book to you?
Same main title, and guy - but a different subtitle, this looks more like the older one you linked, but if I can save a buck or two... d=
Yeah, that's the one I have. I like it. For basic physics, it tells you basically what you need to do. You may need to study calculus if you haven't taken it yet. Basic integrals and derivatives is a good place to start and then you can look up what you come across later.
Calculus Made Easy is pretty good, too.
Just read this:
https://www.amazon.com/Flatland-Romance-Dimensions-Thrift-Editions/dp/048627263X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1474906134&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=flatland
and extrapolate to 3 dimensions. You'll have a great understanding, I promise, and it's fun to read. I'm assuming here you're wanting an expression of a 4th SPACIAL dimension, and not an exposition on "time as a 4th dimension of spacetime."
Think of a safe in 2 dimensions...a 3 dimensional person can hover OVER the safe and see everything that's in it. That same person could pluck an item out of the safe with ease. The 2 dimensional person would crap themselves when they opened the safe only to find that object mysteriously missing.
I doubt there are 4 dimensional people who can look into our safes and steal stuff, because, well, they haven't so far. Unless you count my socks that are constantly being stolen out of my dryer.
He writes reports and you can see his intelligence increasing on the way he writes - from full of errors and simple phrases to nicely constructed phrases and better vocabulary.
It's sad, but adorable, and if you are interested in the problems of the mind, this is probably an interesting read.
For those of you who don’t know, this is a passage from A Confederacy of Dunces. Its protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly is the original neckbeard. He is the perfect mix of /r/lewronggeneration, /r/justneckbeardthings, and /r/iamverysmart.
If you enjoy this subreddit, you will probably enjoy this book.
I also just enjoy typesetting stuff! (Figures, since I am a graphic design major.)
Project Gutenberg has been a great resource, lots and lots of examples/books that require different styles of organization. I am currently working on a LaTeX version of Beowulf, the fun part of this for me has been trying to create a page layout that does the poem justice and treats all the footnotes and sidenotes nicely. I've also made my own copies of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in similar fashion.
Another thing I am working on is Marcus Aurelius' meditations. I bought a copy of Gregory Hays Translation, which I used as an exercise in creating a "journal" format in LaTeX. Now, I am playing around with showing several translations of Meditations (a number are on the internet) and putting them in LaTeX so that the same passages, but translated into English differently, are side-by-sde.
I have a number of these little projects. Only a few of them have been finished.
The Kushiel Saga was like that for me. One of the best fantasy series I've ever read, and the cover makes it out to be a romance novel.
The romance is there, but also deep psychological rivalries, alternative history, political intrigues, compelling world building and a tremendous cast of distinct characters.
I also recommend this timeless classic, Calculus Made Easy by Sylvanus P. Thompson. It's really great for developing intuition.
Source: I learned calc while doing precalc, just like OP is planning.
If you're in for some fiction I recommend The Brothers Karamazov which is a classic read and highly influenced by Dostoevsky's faith. Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin is a short, modern work and also a great work of fiction influenced by faith.
This is where I usually send people looking into the Sagas for the first time. It is a compilation of the more popular Sagas, and the translation is in a moder, easy to understand format. The only downside is that the book is like 5 inches thick! So it's not really the best for bed time reading.
The Sagas occasionally reference one another, or overlap in their details, but they are not linear, and can be read in any order.
Good luck!
>Should I maybe do a bit of research before reading it? Or do you think someone could appreciate the story without that sort of knowledge?
I read the Burgin-O'Connor translation which, while being considered an excellent translation, also contains detailed annotations by Bulgakov's biographer, Ellendea Proffer.
I'd highly recommend this version because it provides the kind of background and context via the footnotes that you're looking for. Like you, I had no idea about the huge numbers of references and allusions to life in 1920-30s Moscow and the Biblical life of Jesus.
Get those kids some books!
oh lawd, this is going to be LONG
for advanced readers,
Enders Game
The Giver
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
The Harry Potter Series
The Heir Apparent
Farenheit 451
A lot of these books can be read young and then reread when older to get more meaning
For younger beginning readers
Dr Seuss, I really remember Green Eggs and Ham, Go Dog go, and One Fish two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
Oh and surprise me, i really like SciFi/Fantasy and have read the Dune Series and ASoIaF, but the Modern High Power Rocketry Book would be very very appreciated.
Lol fair. Is there a difference between these editions? The first one seems like it might be different. I like the cover better though.
Meditations: A New Translation https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812968255/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_IvIqDbG5KGHR2
Meditations https://www.amazon.com/dp/1503280462/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_7wIqDb37KF6SV
I always recommend starting with the Penguin Classics collection The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories, which is a handsome, accessible edition of his best short fiction. My favorites are "The Call of Cthulhu," "The Rats in the Walls," and "The Color From Out of Space."
> On my way to school I watch the cars going past the bus and remember their colours.
> 3 red cars in a row mean that it is going to be a Quite Good Day. 4 red cars mean that it is going to be a Good Day. 5 red cars mean that it is going to be a Super Good Day. And 4 yellow cars in a row mean that it is going to be a Black Day, which is a day when I don't speak to anyone and don't eat my lunch and Take No Risks, because yellow is the colour of custard and double yellow lines and Yellow Fever which is a deadly disease.
from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey (first book is amazing - called Kushiel's Dart). Seriously... Read a the synopsis - it's truly awesome.
Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompson. I read this book 10 years after college and I felt like I finally really understood what calculus is all about. Kind of rekindled my interest in math.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People
If you want to merge classics with philosophy then I strongly recommend The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I also would suggest using this translation of the book.
Dune is a classic science fiction book that really incorporates a great deal. It's I've if the most fully realized universes I've ever encountered including elements if political intrigue, religion, action, philosophy, romance, and science -- especially ecology. It's the story of a desert world that has only one benefit, the spice. Spice is a substance that makes interstellar space travel possible and therefore whoever controls the planet controls the universe. It's the story if fighting over the planet and how one boy, Paul Atredies (Maud'Dib) comes if age and unites the native population to attempt to claim the planet for their own to throw off the chains of imperialism.
I've recommended it often to people who say they hate science fiction and they always find something they love in it. I've read it more times than I can think if and always find so ethnic new.
Give Gregory Hays' 'The Meditations' a try. While its still far from an exciting read, I found that its much more reasonable to work through. Probably best read in doses and re-reading honestly.
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=R1HETVTN8THB4MS6QPQ2
If i may suggest something.
Elderly people need to make peace with their ageing process (both physical and mental) and a study of philosophy is the only way. This gives you the big picture in the "grand scheme" of things and you realize that everything is just natural and as they should be. Thus one learns to adapt themselves to the situation instead of being miserable over it. Obviously, this is easier said then done and hence the need for life lessons from a teacher via philosophical study. I have found the following books helpful in this regard;
I know, I love the translation too, that's why I always look for this specific picture for this passage!
I saved the picture from this tweet here. The author includes a picture of the book cover, however I'm not sure if that is the cover of the book the picture was taken from. The book is here on Amazon and has the ISBN 9381841934 and is published by Grapevine India Publishers. Again, I'm not sure if this would be the version this page is from, but it is my best guess without DMing the author of the tweet directly.
ETA: This is the Gregory Hays translation, link to Amazon book can be found here.