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Author Topic: Books  (Read 36316 times)

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Da_Beerman

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Re: Books
« Reply #220 on: November 02, 2011, 07:08:34 PM »

If Ann Rice is cremated after she dies birds will explode due to an increase of lousy books that spawned a movie where Rosie O'Donnell dresses in dominatrix and of course Rice.

I bought and read Destination: Void on kindle and it's an interesting read if you can take heavy technical jargon and a somewhat outdated interpretation of computers. I'm surprised that I read it all on an iPod touch.

I've actually been doing a lot of reading on my iPhone lately simply because I always have the damn thing on me.  I'm looking forward to actually getting my Hot New Kindle later this month so I have something easier on the eyes for the evenings though.

It's fine on my eyes with the words zoomed in, I like that I can get obscure out of print books though kindle but I'm not sure I'd spend 79$ on a device made specifically for it.
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Zaratustra

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Re: Books
« Reply #221 on: November 02, 2011, 07:55:21 PM »

Last I checked, Anne Rice vampires turn into -porcelain- after a long period of time.

Burrito Al Pastor

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Re: Books
« Reply #222 on: November 02, 2011, 09:49:11 PM »

It's fine on my eyes with the words zoomed in, I like that I can get obscure out of print books though kindle but I'm not sure I'd spend 79$ on a device made specifically for it.

I started thinkin about the Kindle when I saw the new Neal Stephenson novel at the bookstore; it's like $40 and about six inches thick. Even if I was going to shell out that much money, I'd never read it, because I do all my reading on the bus or at school or during lunch, and I just won't carry around a book that big. (That's why I never got around to reading my copy of Anathem.)

But the Kindle version is $15. Four books like that, and it's paid for itself.
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Niku

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Re: Books
« Reply #223 on: November 03, 2011, 01:06:40 AM »

It's also a matter of sheer convenience.  I've bought a lot of books I probably never would have gotten around to reading due to the ability to just go "oh, that sounds interesting, let me download the sample of the first chapter".  And then when it gets to END OF SAMPLE I am all like goddamnit gotta see what happens next.

Sure, you can also do this in a bookstore but I am not a massive tool and the fucking chairs are always occupied anyway.
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Defenestration

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Re: Books
« Reply #224 on: November 03, 2011, 02:26:07 AM »

John Dies at the End was a fantastic read. I recommend, it just went back into print. The reviews stating how weird it was to be horrified and laughing at the same time sound like marketing going wild, but it's actually not that far from the truth.
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Thad

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Re: Books
« Reply #225 on: November 03, 2011, 06:45:39 AM »

I started thinkin about the Kindle when I saw the new Neal Stephenson novel at the bookstore; it's like $40 and about six inches thick. Even if I was going to shell out that much money, I'd never read it, because I do all my reading on the bus or at school or during lunch, and I just won't carry around a book that big. (That's why I never got around to reading my copy of Anathem.)

But the Kindle version is $15. Four books like that, and it's paid for itself.

My girlfriend's talked about getting a Kindle so she doesn't have to lug around her textbooks, but from what she's seen even the ones that are available in the format are on a "rent" basis and expire after you're done with the class.  She is not interested in that model and wants to own her textbooks.

I'm so proud.
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sei

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Re: Books
« Reply #226 on: November 03, 2011, 01:00:08 PM »

  • Buy a physical copy.
  • search([book title], [pdf|epub|mobi|whatever]);
  • Hopefully be protected under digital backup law.

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Cthulhu-chan

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Re: Books
« Reply #227 on: November 04, 2011, 02:25:03 AM »

John Dies at the End was a fantastic read. I recommend, it just went back into print. The reviews stating how weird it was to be horrified and laughing at the same time sound like marketing going wild, but it's actually not that far from the truth.

I second this.  A genuinely good read.

A few months ago somebody mentioned an asian author and their series of books, but I can't for the life of me find the post or even remember anything about it other than I'd intended to pick one of them up and give them a read.  If any of you mooks know what the shit I'm referring to, please tell me!  Author may have been female, but I'm not sure.
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Mongrel

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Re: Books
« Reply #228 on: November 04, 2011, 08:09:05 AM »

It might've been www.olimu.com/Notes/ChinaBooklist.htm, but that link no longer appears to be working?
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Bongo Bill

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Re: Books
« Reply #229 on: November 04, 2011, 09:35:08 AM »

I bought my Kindle since it was cheaper than purchasing (in four or more enormous physical volumes) the single public-domain book that I wanted to read at the time. Everything else has been gravy.
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François

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Re: Books
« Reply #230 on: November 04, 2011, 09:48:11 AM »

Ouch. Was it the Mahabharata?
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Thad

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Re: Books
« Reply #231 on: November 04, 2011, 09:52:42 AM »

Water Margin?
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Bongo Bill

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Re: Books
« Reply #232 on: November 04, 2011, 11:50:47 AM »

Ouch. Was it the Mahabharata?
Yes. I'm quite liking it so far.
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Brentai

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Re: Books
« Reply #233 on: November 04, 2011, 05:09:48 PM »

Kindle has an app for basically every portable device that grants access to the same library, so I'm not understanding all these comments of "I need a Kindle to read <x>."
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Thad

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Re: Books
« Reply #234 on: November 04, 2011, 10:12:20 PM »

Well, if your portable device is in fact a dedicated ebook reader and not, say, a tablet, then Amazon is pretty much going out of its way to lock its competitors out.  Or if you've got a (non-Android) Linux machine, you're pretty well screwed there, too.

Also, this "library" deal they're doing now only works on Kindles, not on the Kindle reader on other platforms.
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Bongo Bill

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Re: Books
« Reply #235 on: November 04, 2011, 10:51:25 PM »

Kindle has an app for basically every portable device that grants access to the same library, so I'm not understanding all these comments of "I need a Kindle to read <x>."
A nice 6-inch e-ink device is much more comfortable for recreational long-form reading than a phone-size LCD or stationary monitor.
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Niku

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Re: Books
« Reply #236 on: November 05, 2011, 05:09:05 AM »

Yeah, that.  The fact that Kindle is the e-ink device that I'm getting is a factor of my having used the app up until now so that I retain the library I have built up.

Well that and my sister tried a Kobo and a Sony reader, both of which ended up being buggy pieces of shit for her until she finally returned both, got a Kindle, and has never had a problem since.

Oh yeah, books.  I'm currently reading Robocalypse which is basically World War Z for the war against Skynet.  It's pretty good so far!
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Brentai

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Re: Books
« Reply #237 on: November 06, 2011, 12:38:41 AM »

Well it seemed like you guys considered the Kindle to be a prerequisite to reading Kindle books, instead of having a number of amazing technical qualities that I have talked about at length.  I was wondering if one of us had missed something.
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Thad

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Re: Books
« Reply #238 on: December 02, 2011, 09:01:23 AM »

So Neil Gaiman's been pushing Amazon's Audiobook Creation Exchange quite a bit lately.

Here's the idea: we're now living in a world where audiobooks can be packaged, sold, delivered, and carried on the cheap.  Damn near everybody in the first world has a mechanism for transmitting ten hours of audio directly from the seller onto a device that fits in their pocket.  Audiobooks may still be a niche market, but the overhead of the twentieth century is completely gone.  All you need is somebody with a book and some recording equipment, and a website to sell the finished product.

There are also a hell of a lot of books in the world, and most of them don't have audiobooks.  Moreover, there are a hell of a lot of people who could be making those audiobooks and turning a profit at it.

So ACX is a pretty straightforward solution -- rightsholder puts book on list soliciting an audio recording, reader auditions for it.

I'm quite enamored of the whole idea and think I'll put some auditions in.  I've already found a book listed that happens to be sitting on my shelf unread; may as well give it a read and see what happens.
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Brentai

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Re: Books
« Reply #239 on: December 02, 2011, 09:35:08 AM »

Arc for reader of every book ever.
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