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I was helping someone yesterday who said they really enjoyed fantasy, really like the Inheritance Cycle, Rangers Apprentice, Ender's Game (not the compromised Shadow series though) etc. Did not like Harry Potter. what he wanted was a good fantasy that didnt involve wizards or magic... there could be wizards just not as part of the major action... had already read the Pern books,
eventually i was able to get Fever Crumb into his hands and he thought that looked interesting but literally nothing else i gave him worked for him...

does anyone have any suggestions in case something like this comes up again?

when will we get our fabled 'general electronic mobile device'?!

IPAAAD

I work for a publisher and sit next to an incredibly expensive and high powered printer which I have unlimited access to. so I generally print out an entire book, toss it in a 3-ring binder, and read it that way.

Eff! That's ... awesome.  Do you use pre-punched paper, or do you have to feed the whole thing through a hole puncher or something?

I don't do it much. Though, I read Transmetropolitan that way. But not in Foxit PDF but in CDisplay, a specialized comic book reading application.

I've used CDisplay to read graphic novels on my computer, and was able to enjoy that.

Maybe with text it's a contrast thing. I'll play around with darker backgrounds/lighter text.

So today I discovered/downloaded the Stanza app for my iPhone. It's an e-reader/media manager for digital books. I like the look and feel and features of it. It's owned by Amazon so has many of the features (if none of the interface) of the Kindle.  It was on the list of suggested software on gutenberg. I've downloaded a couple Edgar Rice Burroughs novels and am enjoying it.

One of the reasons I didn't finish reading Poker w/o Cards is that I don't like reading lengthy documents on my computer screen. (I really like the way the Kindle feels on the eyes and in the hands, but I don't wanna buy Yet Another Gadget.)

So, public poll:

Do yall read books on your computers? Do use any kind of desktop e-reader or special software, or do you just, say, scroll through a PDF in Acrobat Reader?

How do you read "books" on your hardware?

HOLY CRAP

MY PENIS IS AWESOME

I'm a huge effin fan of the Eels. I'll spare you the pages of lyrics I could quote.

E's most current album, End Times, is not as fucking awesome as the previous Hombre Lobo.

Anyway. What I mean to say here is that his autobiography is called Things The Grandchildren Should Know. It's a quick read, and it's friggin awesome.

Eff.

I've had eleven or eight too many martinis tonight and posted this in the wrong thread:

http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=18201.0

I am currently reading The Big Necessity. It is eye-opening and personal in a way that only shit can be.

Hate to bump a dead thread, but I'm reading this book right now and I find it fascinating in the sense that it is making me think seriously about something which, as J. Biden would say, is a Big Fucking Deal, but to which I have heretofore been oblivious.

For the first time ever in my life, I felt compelled to go look at my toilet and see what it's make and model is.

I'll post some snippets, comments, and insights later on. But go ahead and note that this book will appeal to those of you who enjoy becoming aware of things that are big and serious and, while largely unacknowledged, are in plain sight.

I think whatever misgivings you have about Mortenson may be misdirected at his co-author, who I believe did most of the writing for Three Cups of Tea.

I suspect you may be right about that. That's one reason I look forward to picking up his new one.

I admire the fuck out his work.  I didn't enjoy the book all that much.

I felt that there were just a few too many hokey, gee-golly, aw-shucks moments where he awoke with his eyes frozen shut and then ho-ho-hoed it off. And there were too many instances of him taking personal, vindictive pot-shots at his ex-girlfriend.  It's all moot though because you're right. He is a fucking saint, and so I forgive him these transgressions.

And, his second book just came out not too long ago, and I will certainly read it. (I have not yet read Leaving Microsoft To Change The World, but expect it to be in the same vein, and look forward to reading it.)

TCoT was the One Book One San Diego selection that followed Enriques Journey, which was another fan-fucking-tastic work about international relations, prejudice, oppression, and human spirit. (I recommend it HIGHLY.) After enjoying the hell out these two novels, I moved to Denver where the One Book program is a sick, sad joke. We were assigned The Thin Man, which granted I found interesting because I had never read a hard-boiled prohibition-era detective novel before, but which had fuck all to do with modern politics or modern life. That was followed by To Kill A Mockingbird, which is a classic, but which everybody has already read at least twice.

Since moving here, I have bitched more and written more letters about our One Book program than I have about actually important things like traffic, schools, gangs, graffiti, etc, etc. Because the city is calling all of its citizens to read and discuss a thing that could be as poignant and relevant and vital and important as Three Cups Of Tea but instead we're supposed to discuss Nick and fucking Nora and Asta.

The only thing fucking Asta is good for is appearing the odd crossword puzzle.

The only thing Mortenson is good for is breaking down stereotypes, fostering peace and understanding, quelling racism and hatred, bringing opportunity and education to the impoverished and discouraged, inspiring the downtrodden, motivating the complacent, being an excessively large man, and taking the time to point out the differences between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In the land of the blind, Mortenson is fucking Argus.

He unfortunately happens to be a lackluster writer.

I'd like my 5 minutes back, please.

And I'd like to know what the gibbering fuck that has to do with PD.

Well it obviously doesn't touch on anything philosophical. Or even sensible.

But it has a high fnord quotient and lots of Laff. Which is probably what I shoulda said in the first place.

And the series of Marsden wrastling a chicken is high hilarity!

http://caterercomic.blogspot.com/

Somehow, it reminds me of the Majesty Of Colors game.
http://www.flasharcade.com/adventure-games/play-6546/majesty-of-colors-game.html

Isn't good.  Isn't bad.

Just is.

Okay, tell me if I still dont get "it", but Watchmen is considered to be so great because it was the very first comic to have its characters deal with real human problems, or have anti heroes, or criticize society and/or human behaviour by caricature?

It was also the first comic I read that made heavy use of classic literary techniques and gimmicks. For example, the "play-within-a-play" situation with the pirate story.

It also did a good job of acknowledging and incorporating the spandex-nazi-lazer-vampire era of comics by including the "costumed hero" origins of the characters. Just the costume changes of the Comedian over the course of the book are interesting in that regard.

I'm on a big Built To Spill kick lately.

From "Center Of The Universe," off Keep It Like A Secret:

I don't like this air. Doesn't mean I'll stop breathing it.

And from "Goin Against Your Mind," off You In Reverse:

When I was a child I saw a light
High above the trees one night.
Thought it was an alien.
Turned out to be just God.

Also, first post. Hello!