what are you reading?

Inane baanter or words of wisdom - you decide...
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venusian
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by venusian »

Around The World in 10.5 chapters was readable but literary wankery. Talking It Over and He Said, She Said were very good character based page turners. That really doesn't answer the question other than to observe he's a writer of some variety.
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by the2bears »

disciple wrote:Murakami's IQ84 just arrived, it's a tome! It's nearly A4 in size.

It won't be holiday reading though. =( I pre-ordered it before I got my Kindle and this book is too big to be carting around.
Glad to hear, pre-ordered this myself.

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Re: what are you reading?

Post by BlackJedi »

the2bears wrote:
disciple wrote:Murakami's IQ84 just arrived, it's a tome! It's nearly A4 in size.

It won't be holiday reading though. =( I pre-ordered it before I got my Kindle and this book is too big to be carting around.
Glad to hear, pre-ordered this myself.

Bill
Argh. I've ordered the US edition (for some crazy reason the asymmetry of having books 1 and 2 in a single volume, and book 3 on its own annoyed me) but it's 944 pages and weighs in at 2.8 pounds... I could just get the Kindle edition instead and convert it for my Sony reader - books 1 & 2 are £5.59 from Amazon, £16.70 from Waterstone's in epub.

I'm currently reading REAMDE and every time I see the monstrous hardback in a bookshop I'm grateful I bought the ebook version.

Is this trend for enormous, heavy books a conspiracy to make us all buy Kindles or something?

I've convinced myself. US order cancelled, Kindle edition bought.
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by disciple »

Fuggit, there's an epub torrent floating around, given I've bought the hardback I'll download that thus enabling 1Q84 holiday reading. By rights the ebook version should be free for anyone who's bought a physical copy anyway.
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by the2bears »

disciple wrote:Fuggit, there's an epub torrent floating around, given I've bought the hardback I'll download that thus enabling 1Q84 holiday reading. By rights the ebook version should be free for anyone who's bought a physical copy anyway.
I completely agree with this, with perhaps the exception of a slight fee to cover cost of digital conversion and delivery. Of course this goes against the notion of selling and reselling to you multiple copies of the same damn thing.

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Re: what are you reading?

Post by NorthWay »

NorthWay wrote:Terry Pratchett "Snuff" landed in my inbox.

Thinking of saving it for my conference trip week 43.
Trip over, book read. Loved it to bits. (Perhaps I was starved of reading?)
First time I wish I hadn't read the blurb on the back, but it's just a minor point.
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by F-ZeroOne »

Just finished "Retribution Falls" by Chris Wooding; its a rollicking retro-pulp adventure set in a world of magick and airships. Very entertaining, like re-watching a favourite 80s film on TV after you haven't seen it for years.
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by VNVObit »

NorthWay wrote:
NorthWay wrote:Terry Pratchett "Snuff" landed in my inbox.

Thinking of saving it for my conference trip week 43.
Trip over, book read. Loved it to bits. (Perhaps I was starved of reading?)
First time I wish I hadn't read the blurb on the back, but it's just a minor point.

Currently working my way through it on my kindle. I find the ebook version slightly irritating as the footnotes have become endnotes and the method used to flick between both is a bit disruptive from the flow of the book.

As for the book I'm really enjoying it but then it's about Vimes and he is my favourite character in Discworld
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by Gorecki »

VNVObit wrote:I find the ebook version slightly irritating as the footnotes have become endnotes and the method used to flick between both is a bit disruptive from the flow of the book.
Every time I read about ebooks I find yet another reason to hold back until they're done properly.

I finished Alan Clark's Barbarossa (very highly recommended, an utterly superb read) and I'm now reading Antony Beevor's winner of the inaugural Samuel Johnson prize, Stalingrad.
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Because it's focus is narrower than Barbarossa it spends more time on the experience of the individuals involved, in particular the common soldiers and civilians. It's not just the attention to detail that's impressive but the eye for both humour and tragedy.
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by disciple »

Gorecki wrote:
VNVObit wrote:I find the ebook version slightly irritating as the footnotes have become endnotes and the method used to flick between both is a bit disruptive from the flow of the book.
Every time I read about ebooks I find yet another reason to hold back until they're done properly.
That's just one piece of content.

If you like your fiction then grab a Kindle when the Touch variety is released in the UK (or other eBook reader) you won't be disappointed.
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by Orava »

Congo Journey by Redmond O'Hanlon.

If you want to get really depressed about the prospects of post-colonial Africa then this is the book for you. It is like a dive in to the dark ages and not in a good way.
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by everklear »

the2bears wrote:
disciple wrote:Murakami's IQ84 just arrived, it's a tome! It's nearly A4 in size.

It won't be holiday reading though. =( I pre-ordered it before I got my Kindle and this book is too big to be carting around.
Glad to hear, pre-ordered this myself.

Bill
Downloaded the preview of this from Kobo and have finished the first chapter. Intriguing. I can see myself buying it but I'll finish with "Song of Fire and Ice" first.
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by venusian »

Beyond the Corperation by David Erdal - a polemic for employee ownership of companies rather than external ownership.

It's written in the light of the last few years of economic tribulations and has a clear subtext that this is a suggested solution rather than just another complaint about the bloody bankers, which is refreshing.
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by VNVObit »

disciple wrote:
Gorecki wrote:
VNVObit wrote:I find the ebook version slightly irritating as the footnotes have become endnotes and the method used to flick between both is a bit disruptive from the flow of the book.
Every time I read about ebooks I find yet another reason to hold back until they're done properly.
That's just one piece of content.

If you like your fiction then grab a Kindle when the Touch variety is released in the UK (or other eBook reader) you won't be disappointed.
It may seem like a piece of content but in a normal book footnotes are easily glanced at without losing the flow (at least in books by Terry Pratchett & Douglas Adam) and tend to form part of the enjoyment of the book (have now given up on the footnotes sadly)

A better way to do it would be to have a floating bubble with the footnote (like the dictionary definition)
Agree touch would be better than the ordinary kindle for this
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Re: what are you reading?

Post by disciple »

I wonder if .mobi or .epub supports this.

It may actually just be a case of popping off a mail to the publishers (or Amazon) with that suggestion. I know Amazon do feedback to publishers given they have an interest in pushing ebooks.
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