Roman Totale wrote:Getting laid by reading a book? I tried that when I read some Vladimir Nabokov, but that didn't work out as I expected.The erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey has made grey ties a fashion must for men hoping to emulate the sexy entrepreneur who wears them in the book.
Book mini-reviews
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Re: Book mini-reviews
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- Mr Flibbles
- Posts: 4957
- Joined: August 10th, 2006, 10:58
- Location: belgium
Re: Book mini-reviews
I get laid through books all the time, I just wack them over the head with it till they comply.
Re: Book mini-reviews
Ok the book does have a grey tie in it, but it's not about a grey tie! Those women are nuts. Also, after seeing photo's of most of you guys at some stage of hammered, i don't think just a grey tie would suffice for seduction.
Maybe a blindfold and a grey tie.
How positively caveman of you.Mr. Johnson wrote:I get laid through books all the time, I just wack them over the head with it till they comply.
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- Mr Flibbles
- Posts: 4957
- Joined: August 10th, 2006, 10:58
- Location: belgium
Re: Book mini-reviews
Wifeyberk wrote:
Ok the book does have a grey tie in it, but it's not about a grey tie! Those women are nuts. Also, after seeing photo's of most of you guys at some stage of hammered, i don't think just a grey tie would suffice for seduction.
Maybe a blindfold and a grey tie.
How positively caveman of you.Mr. Johnson wrote:I get laid through books all the time, I just wack them over the head with it till they comply.
Re: Book mini-reviews
lol! I never accused anyone of ugliness!!! I said u were a caveman admittedly, but i meant more in temperament.
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- Morbo
- Posts: 19676
- Joined: December 10th, 2004, 21:53
- Contact:
Re: Book mini-reviews
Hi, have we met?Wifeyberk wrote:lol! I never accused anyone of ugliness!!! I said u were a caveman admittedly, but i meant more in temperament.
Re: Book mini-reviews
I wish we hadn't. And anyway, they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So, kindly give me my speccs back and i'll tell you truthfully what I think, instead of letting Benji the Golden Retriever do it for me.Dr. kitteny berk wrote:Hi, have we met?
Incidentally, why does he cower when you walk into a room?
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- Robotic Bumlord
- Posts: 8475
- Joined: October 24th, 2004, 0:27
- Location: Manchester, UK
Re: Book mini-reviews
I keep forgetting to review the books I've read, so here are a couple of recent ones:
The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson is an investigative journalist that some of you may know from 'The Men Who Stare At Goats' and the time he followed a bunch of extremists around (David Icke, Ian Paisley etc). This book sees him investigate psychopaths - the people themselves, the people who diagnose them, and the people that try to cure them. Along the way he encounters a man locked up in Broadmoor who faked madness in order to get off lightly with a GBH charge (and now can't get out because he was so convincing - every time he demonstrates that he is actually sane the medical staff use it as proof that prison is helping him); a 'corporate psychopath' who seems to really, really enjoy firing people; Robert Hare, developer of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) that is used to diagnose psychopaths; and a mental health pioneer from the 70's who tried to cure a bunch of psychopaths by giving them heroic doses of LSD (spoiler: it didn't work).
Not only is it an interesting subject matter, but it is an incredibly easy read - it's funny, quick, wonderfully observed and you'll find yourself breezing through it in no time. Downside is that, like the author, you may find yourself mentally diagnosing people as psychopaths after you read it.
Getting laid ability: Good but risky - you might be able to pick out the nut job girls (great in bed), but that's not a great long term plan.
A Visit From the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
This book caught my eye because I liked the title and it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. However, even pedigree dogs can bite you in the bollocks.
The plot follows a woman with kleptomania who works in the music industry, and her music executive boss who likes to put flakes of gold in his coffee. The latter detail bugged me instantly, and I found it very difficult to warm to any of the character because they were just so dickish. Not even big time, Patrick Bateman-style dickish - just hipster dickish. About 70 pages or so near the back are also reserved for various graphs and charts about absolute bollocks. It's probably supposed to be clever, but again it just adds to the smug shitness of it all.
Getting laid ability: High, but with the trade off that it would only be with hipsters
Faceless Killers - Henning Mankell
First of the Wallander series of books that became famous in this country after Kenneth Branagh did an English version of the TV series (also starring Tom 'Loki' Hiddleston). Never saw the show but it got good reviews, and I'd not read a crime book for a while so I looked this up.
It's pretty standard police procedural fare really. Tired, cynical detective with a failed marriage, he eats poorly and drinks too much. A crime happens, red herrings are tracked down (that end up solving an entirely unrelated case), but in the end the bad guys are caught. If you liked the 'Touch of Frost' it's very similar to them. Except Swedish.
Getting laid ability: You'd be better off sticking to the TV series and telling women how good an actor you think Tom Hiddleston is.
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
A story of segregation in the 1960's US south, told from the viewpoint of several characters. Turned into a film recently but I've not seen that (tempted though as it stars Bryce Dallas Howard who is bloody gorgeous).
I found this quite difficult to get into a first as the opening chapters are told from the viewpoint of one of the black maids, and it written almost entirely in a "Lawds I is gonna be gettin me brush an sweepin this here rug! Thomas!" style. Then just as you've gotten use to it, the character switches to a Daisy Duke white girl. Once you get into though it's quite an entertaining book. At times it can be a little "How white people ended segregation", but overall it's very enjoyable. Still, I prefer 'To Kill a Mockingbird' for a story highlighting the injustices of how black people were treated.
Getting laid ability: Similar to the last one you're probably better off with the film as it sounds like it could be a good "chick flick". Plus you get to watch Bryce Dallas Howard.
Various novels from 'The Dresden Files' - Jim Butcher
Harry Dresden is a wizard who helps out the Chicago PD when a crime of supernatural nature occur. Imagine Clint Eastwood as Philip Marlowe with magical powers and you're pretty much there. I've only read a few of the books so far (I know Joose read them too), but they're very enjoyable, pulp magic popcorn books. Not taxing, just a good read - very good holiday books.
Getting laid ability: He's a dark, mysterious, hard bitten wizard with a smart mouth - bitches love dark, mysterious, hard bitten wizards with a smart mouth.
The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson is an investigative journalist that some of you may know from 'The Men Who Stare At Goats' and the time he followed a bunch of extremists around (David Icke, Ian Paisley etc). This book sees him investigate psychopaths - the people themselves, the people who diagnose them, and the people that try to cure them. Along the way he encounters a man locked up in Broadmoor who faked madness in order to get off lightly with a GBH charge (and now can't get out because he was so convincing - every time he demonstrates that he is actually sane the medical staff use it as proof that prison is helping him); a 'corporate psychopath' who seems to really, really enjoy firing people; Robert Hare, developer of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) that is used to diagnose psychopaths; and a mental health pioneer from the 70's who tried to cure a bunch of psychopaths by giving them heroic doses of LSD (spoiler: it didn't work).
Not only is it an interesting subject matter, but it is an incredibly easy read - it's funny, quick, wonderfully observed and you'll find yourself breezing through it in no time. Downside is that, like the author, you may find yourself mentally diagnosing people as psychopaths after you read it.
Getting laid ability: Good but risky - you might be able to pick out the nut job girls (great in bed), but that's not a great long term plan.
A Visit From the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
This book caught my eye because I liked the title and it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. However, even pedigree dogs can bite you in the bollocks.
The plot follows a woman with kleptomania who works in the music industry, and her music executive boss who likes to put flakes of gold in his coffee. The latter detail bugged me instantly, and I found it very difficult to warm to any of the character because they were just so dickish. Not even big time, Patrick Bateman-style dickish - just hipster dickish. About 70 pages or so near the back are also reserved for various graphs and charts about absolute bollocks. It's probably supposed to be clever, but again it just adds to the smug shitness of it all.
Getting laid ability: High, but with the trade off that it would only be with hipsters
Faceless Killers - Henning Mankell
First of the Wallander series of books that became famous in this country after Kenneth Branagh did an English version of the TV series (also starring Tom 'Loki' Hiddleston). Never saw the show but it got good reviews, and I'd not read a crime book for a while so I looked this up.
It's pretty standard police procedural fare really. Tired, cynical detective with a failed marriage, he eats poorly and drinks too much. A crime happens, red herrings are tracked down (that end up solving an entirely unrelated case), but in the end the bad guys are caught. If you liked the 'Touch of Frost' it's very similar to them. Except Swedish.
Getting laid ability: You'd be better off sticking to the TV series and telling women how good an actor you think Tom Hiddleston is.
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
A story of segregation in the 1960's US south, told from the viewpoint of several characters. Turned into a film recently but I've not seen that (tempted though as it stars Bryce Dallas Howard who is bloody gorgeous).
I found this quite difficult to get into a first as the opening chapters are told from the viewpoint of one of the black maids, and it written almost entirely in a "Lawds I is gonna be gettin me brush an sweepin this here rug! Thomas!" style. Then just as you've gotten use to it, the character switches to a Daisy Duke white girl. Once you get into though it's quite an entertaining book. At times it can be a little "How white people ended segregation", but overall it's very enjoyable. Still, I prefer 'To Kill a Mockingbird' for a story highlighting the injustices of how black people were treated.
Getting laid ability: Similar to the last one you're probably better off with the film as it sounds like it could be a good "chick flick". Plus you get to watch Bryce Dallas Howard.
Various novels from 'The Dresden Files' - Jim Butcher
Harry Dresden is a wizard who helps out the Chicago PD when a crime of supernatural nature occur. Imagine Clint Eastwood as Philip Marlowe with magical powers and you're pretty much there. I've only read a few of the books so far (I know Joose read them too), but they're very enjoyable, pulp magic popcorn books. Not taxing, just a good read - very good holiday books.
Getting laid ability: He's a dark, mysterious, hard bitten wizard with a smart mouth - bitches love dark, mysterious, hard bitten wizards with a smart mouth.
Re: Book mini-reviews
For the LADIES IN YOUR LIFE
Okay, my very dear school friend Liana Stephenson Burke has just had her first novel published today, It's only on ebook at the moment and is £2.71 on amazon. She's looking for ladies to give her some feedback. Willing to take comments and criticisms, so please pass this onto your lovely ladies and ask them to spare the time (ok and money) on some "mommy porn".
Let me know what you think.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Second-Chances- ... 855&sr=1-1
Okay, my very dear school friend Liana Stephenson Burke has just had her first novel published today, It's only on ebook at the moment and is £2.71 on amazon. She's looking for ladies to give her some feedback. Willing to take comments and criticisms, so please pass this onto your lovely ladies and ask them to spare the time (ok and money) on some "mommy porn".
Let me know what you think.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Second-Chances- ... 855&sr=1-1
Re: Book mini-reviews
I had a read through first few pages on Amazon. I'm no expert on romance novels so the content is lost on me, although the little insight into the potential inner monologue of Mrs Pants was interesting. But my word, she does need a proof reader who knows their grammar.
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- Robotic Bumlord
- Posts: 8475
- Joined: October 24th, 2004, 0:27
- Location: Manchester, UK
Re: Book mini-reviews
Mrs Pants has ordered that. I hadn't made the connection, but if it gets me a few, erm cuddles, then that's fine by me. Apparently all her friends like it.
In other news, Ray Bradbury died today. I hadn't realised he was still alive, admittedly, but I read Fahrenheit 451. It wasn't bad, a little bit too crazy sci-fi but a nice dystopian theme under it all.
Finally, I read a book and keep meaning to review it here.
Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor
This is a companion novel which runs in parallel to the graphic novels (and lately TV series), which as the title suggests tells the tale of how the Governor came to be who he is. I can't go into much detail as to who the Governor is, or why he needed to become him in the first place, but if you've read the books you'll know and if not you're probably not interested unless you're reading this in the future and he's been in the TV series (which he will certainly be if it runs that long).
The story is pretty good zombie fare, pulling a few new tricks and having some interesting character dynamics with the group of rednecks it follows. As per the main Walking Dead books, the interesting parts are the encounters with other people, for better or worse. The novel is only co-written by Kirkman (the author of the main books), by which I think it means he advised to keep things canon, but it's only really telling in a few places. A few jarring points were mainly that the author seems to have based his knowledge of physics on Hollywood movies - a car reversing into a zombie catapults it twenty feet into the air on one occasion, while on another they make molotov cocktails from diesel. On the other hand, I only remember the story falling into the trap of gratuitously referencing the main story once, and even that was pretty forgettable. If only George Lucas was so gracious.
All in all, worth a read if you're a fan of the books and don't mind the diesel in your world being flammable.
In other news, Ray Bradbury died today. I hadn't realised he was still alive, admittedly, but I read Fahrenheit 451. It wasn't bad, a little bit too crazy sci-fi but a nice dystopian theme under it all.
Finally, I read a book and keep meaning to review it here.
Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor
This is a companion novel which runs in parallel to the graphic novels (and lately TV series), which as the title suggests tells the tale of how the Governor came to be who he is. I can't go into much detail as to who the Governor is, or why he needed to become him in the first place, but if you've read the books you'll know and if not you're probably not interested unless you're reading this in the future and he's been in the TV series (which he will certainly be if it runs that long).
The story is pretty good zombie fare, pulling a few new tricks and having some interesting character dynamics with the group of rednecks it follows. As per the main Walking Dead books, the interesting parts are the encounters with other people, for better or worse. The novel is only co-written by Kirkman (the author of the main books), by which I think it means he advised to keep things canon, but it's only really telling in a few places. A few jarring points were mainly that the author seems to have based his knowledge of physics on Hollywood movies - a car reversing into a zombie catapults it twenty feet into the air on one occasion, while on another they make molotov cocktails from diesel. On the other hand, I only remember the story falling into the trap of gratuitously referencing the main story once, and even that was pretty forgettable. If only George Lucas was so gracious.
All in all, worth a read if you're a fan of the books and don't mind the diesel in your world being flammable.
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- Throbbing Cupcake
- Posts: 10249
- Joined: February 17th, 2007, 23:05
- Location: The maleboge
Re: Book mini-reviews
My diesel is inflammable!
Oh, hang on.
Oh, hang on.
Re: Book mini-reviews
READY PLAYER ONE
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... inc3442-20
Stole the blerb from Amazon:
It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.
For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.
And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.
Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life—and love—in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
WOW, just WOW. It's like the Matrix meets Charlie and the Chocolate factory meets Minority Report.
One of the best books I have ever read.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... inc3442-20
Stole the blerb from Amazon:
It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.
For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.
And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.
Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life—and love—in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
WOW, just WOW. It's like the Matrix meets Charlie and the Chocolate factory meets Minority Report.
One of the best books I have ever read.
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- Robotic Bumlord
- Posts: 8475
- Joined: October 24th, 2004, 0:27
- Location: Manchester, UK
Re: Book mini-reviews
That's a lot of Amazon recommendations. Might have to check that out at some point. I notice the main character's alter ego is 'Parzival' - any link to Percival - the perfect fool in the grail quest?
Re: Book mini-reviews
Roman Totale wrote:That's a lot of Amazon recommendations. Might have to check that out at some point. I notice the main character's alter ego is 'Parzival' - any link to Percival - the perfect fool in the grail quest?
I'm sure that was the choice but the protagonist had to l33t speak it.
Re: Book mini-reviews
Aha! never seen this thread before.
FJ I complement you on your damn good taste in Author, I recommend William Gibson also, good luck with the quicksilver series from Neal Stephenson though - there is a lot of it.
Aaand speaking of a lot of it:
A song of Ice and FIre: A Dance with Dragons (AKA A Game Of Thrones)
Can't say much without revealing giving too much away. Typically epic, if you have never read the books I suggest you do - as with anything that is turned into screentime, the book is always better.
FJ I complement you on your damn good taste in Author, I recommend William Gibson also, good luck with the quicksilver series from Neal Stephenson though - there is a lot of it.
Aaand speaking of a lot of it:
A song of Ice and FIre: A Dance with Dragons (AKA A Game Of Thrones)
Can't say much without revealing giving too much away. Typically epic, if you have never read the books I suggest you do - as with anything that is turned into screentime, the book is always better.
Re: Book mini-reviews
The Atrocity Archives
Officer nerd working for an secret branch of the SOE still in existance. Said branch is there to stop the world from being ended by giant mostrosities from "the other side" easier said than done when there are agencies at work in this world trying to let them in.
Magic is real by the way
Oh, and its maths.
Officer nerd working for an secret branch of the SOE still in existance. Said branch is there to stop the world from being ended by giant mostrosities from "the other side" easier said than done when there are agencies at work in this world trying to let them in.
Magic is real by the way
Oh, and its maths.
Re: Book mini-reviews
I like the sound of that.