What's The Last Book You Read?

[Luke Skywalker 1,939]

i like my books in paper

and my cds on their shelves

[bruckhorn 111]

For my birthday, I picked up Ventriloquism for Dummies. Yeah, it was a light read, but the writing was wooden.

[Ollie 1,136]

Seriously though, I used to have a ventriloquist puppet and became decent at performing. It's not as hard as I thought it would be.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,426]

I read "Great Expectations", last week. It wasn't all that I'd hoped for. In fact, it gave me the pip.

[Luke Skywalker 1,939]

Seriously though, I used to have a ventriloquist puppet and became decent at performing. It's not as hard as I thought it would be.

amazing!

[Wojo 2,456]

But you didn't stick with it? Dummy...

[Koray Savas 2,254]

I read "Great Expectations", last week. It wasn't all that I'd hoped for. In fact, it gave me the pip.

[Ollie 1,136]

Seriously though, I used to have a ventriloquist puppet and became decent at performing. It's not as hard as I thought it would be.

amazing!

Like I've said, I have too much shit I like doing, so many hobbies and not enough time.

[Trent Hoyt 13]

Today I finished Too Fat To Fish by Artie Lang.

[artyjeffrey 20]

Seriously though, I used to have a ventriloquist puppet and became decent at performing. It's not as hard as I thought it would be.

I too once had a ventriloquist dummy (it was Howdy Doody, actually). He came with a little instruction 45 record. Yeah, apparently they felt I could learn to be a ventriloquist is roughly about 12 minutes.

I had Howdy for many years, secretly of course. Then we were having a pep rally in high school, and our opponent for our homecoming game had an eagle as their mascot. I got the genius idea of making a cage that would sit atop an old radio flyer cart, and I cut out paper feathers and taped them to Howdy's body, so that he looked like an eagle. I was just going to pull the cart through our parade, but then this one kid named Kyle (who was the original Butthead long before Beavis and Butthead)walked up right before the procession and told me he could make this float "kick ass."

He then removed various illegal fireworks from this paper bag, and began to insert them in various places on the float. I didn't know just how powerful these things were gonna be, thinking they'd just be sparklers. No.

And to the trebly, distorted strains of Conti's Rocky theme being played over the PA, I pulled the cart through the evening crowd, and watched in startled dismay/evil pleasure as Howdy Doody WENT UP. Just like Hitler, all that remained was an orange peel-sized portion of his skull.

Deep breath, looking off into the distance...

[Koray Savas 2,254]

[artyjeffrey 20]

I shouldn't have been tantalized by it, but as I pulled the cart across the broken-up asphalt of the parking lot, it made the flaming Howdy rock back in forth, as if he was in the throes of agony. I thought, "This must be what it felt like to be Walt Disney."

[crocodile 8,520]

While not exactly a book, I read Kraven's Last Hunt yesterday. Now this is a gutsy Spider-Man story with all the superhero convention turned on its head. And scary it is. It feels more like a Batman story.

And is it just me or is there an almost homoerotic edge to Kraven's obsession? Overall, quite unlike anything else in the Spider-Man repertoire. Recommended. The would never dare to make a movie out of it.

I also read another dark, but not so much, comic book tale. Superman: Exile. You the one where Superman banishes himself after killing General Zod (in the pocket universe) and learns something about his Kryptonian heritage in the process. I'd like to see the Eradicator storyline in the movie. That could be interesting.

Ah the 80's.

Karol

[Naïve Old Fart 10,426]

Is it just me or is there an almost homoerotic edge to Kraven's obsession?

They would never dare to make a movie out of it.

Karol

Joel Schumacher might.

[crocodile 8,520]

Karol

[Uni 306]

I'm working through The Complete Works of Mark Twain (99 cents on the Nook, fercryinoutloud). I'm reading books I didn't even know he'd written. Innocents Abroad was the best--Connecticut Yankee all over again, only without the heavy dose of cynicism.

- Uni

[Joe Brausam 218]

I just ordered a copy of the book on horn player Vincent DeRosa, should be an interesting read.

[Koray Savas 2,254]

I'm working through The Complete Works of Mark Twain (99 cents on the Nook, fercryinoutloud). I'm reading books I didn't even know he'd written. Innocents Abroad was the best--Connecticut Yankee all over again, only without the heavy dose of cynicism.

- Uni

Kindle has those types of collections. You can get the complete works of Verne for 99 cents. I was looking for Journey To The Center Of The Earth, but they don't seem to have the complete unabridged version.

[Uni 306]

Does that really count as "complete" then. . . ?

- Uni

[Koray Savas 2,254]

Hmm, seems I misread a review or something. There are versions of his books for free, and then there's the collected works, which has everything as originally written.

[JoeinAR 1,953]

Full Dark No Stars, Stephen King,

sorry Koray that you settled for a Kindle.

[Marian Schedenig 9,042]

I'm working through The Complete Works of Mark Twain (99 cents on the Nook, fercryinoutloud). I'm reading books I didn't even know he'd written. Innocents Abroad was the best--Connecticut Yankee all over again, only without the heavy dose of cynicism.

Connecticut Yankee is the only thing I've read by Mr. Clemens, long ago. I should look into some other works by him someday.

Currently reading Terry Pratchett's Interesting Times, having put Hugo's Hunchback of Notre-Dame on hold for a while.

[Uni 306]

Connecticut Yankee is the only thing I've read by Mr. Clemens, long ago. I should look into some other works by him someday.

The ironic thing about that one for me was the fact that I hated it the first time I read it. I had to do it for school, and that just drains the fun out of everything, y'know? When I picked it up a few years later just to see if I'd missed something interesting, I was blown away by what I found. It's become one of my all-time favorite novels.

Innocents Abroad isn't nearly so heavy. It hardly even has what you could call a "plot" to carry it along--just a premise, more than anything else. It's just an excuse to watch him play on words the way he did so well . . . and what better activity to have an excuse for?

- Uni

[Koray Savas 2,254]

sorry Koray that you settled for a Kindle.

Sorry because you firmly believe paper is the way to go, or sorry because you prefer another eReader?

[Henry B 51]

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

[Luke Skywalker 1,939]

sorry Koray that you settled for a Kindle.

Sorry because you firmly believe paper is the way to go, or sorry because you prefer another eReader?

Joe dislikes amazon.

[Ollie 1,136]

I won't say sorry to Koray but personally I prefer good old fashioned books.

@Mark, I agree with your sentiments. What I hope to see more of though, is textbooks in ePaper. Then I could definitely see devices like these being very useful for students. I have yet to buy most of my textbooks for this semester, but one class has it available on the Kindle. I was nearly going to buy it, but realized that I couldn't sell it back. That's the only problem I could think of with eTextbooks. They're still too expensive.

They offer text books? I would think they are expensive, they have to offset the revenue lost from the physical text books.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,426]

personally I prefer good old fashioned books.

I don't care if books are read on paper, papyrus, Kindle, or bog roll, just as long as people keep reading!

Society is changing, and so is the way that it communicates with itself. The ability to read is not only a need, but can be an absolute pleasure. No art-form, lets us into another's imagination quite like a book.

Like Mark, my preferred method of reading is paper, but, as long as there are ideas being expressed, then it really doesn't matter how one reads them.

[Ollie 1,136]

And you will notice I did mention that I hope the Kindle and Nook do push younger people to read more.

With Barnes & Noble having problems and Borders facing a crisis, good old fashion books stores could be a thing of the past.

[Koray Savas 2,254]

I won't say sorry to Koray but personally I prefer good old fashioned books.

@Mark, I agree with your sentiments. What I hope to see more of though, is textbooks in ePaper. Then I could definitely see devices like these being very useful for students. I have yet to buy most of my textbooks for this semester, but one class has it available on the Kindle. I was nearly going to buy it, but realized that I couldn't sell it back. That's the only problem I could think of with eTextbooks. They're still too expensive.

They offer text books? I would think they are expensive, they have to offset the revenue lost from the physical text books.

They offer some, and they're a good 20% or so cheaper, but then there's no resell factor. I think the one textbook I need is $100 and the Kindle version is $72 or something like that.

[Trent Hoyt 13]

And you will notice I did mention that I hope the Kindle and Nook do push younger people to read more.

With Barnes & Noble having problems and Borders facing a crisis, good old fashion books stores could be a thing of the past.

Those stores might be a thing of the past, but books will never go out of style. Hell, even Captain Picard prefers to read books over ebooks.

[artyjeffrey 20]

Well, Borders has filed for Chap 11 bankruptcy. The death of the bookstore continues.

[Ollie 1,136]

As long as Half Price Books stays in business I'm ok.

[Wojo 2,456]

Ditto. I got $2 for my Varese First Blood. Boo-yeah!

[artyjeffrey 20]

As long as Half Price Books stays in business I'm ok.

Well, as all of these stores (including, inevitably, B&N)fall into the abyss, all of their inventory will have to end up somewhere. Of course, the jobs won't.

[JoeinAR 1,953]

B&N has made a recovery.

Full Dark No Star, great set of stories.

[Koray Savas 2,254]

Plus B&N has the Nook, so the company won't be going away anytime soon.

[indy4 155]

Borders has eBooks.

Borders is way overpriced and the website is constantly not working properly. I only buy there now if I have a gift card. Best thing about Borders is the atmosphere - I love browsing through its products, but I'd very rarely actually make a purchase. Books, like CDs, are best if purchased from the Amazon marketplace.

[Luke Skywalker 1,939]

Are bookstores really closing down in the US?

I didnt knew the ebook format was so popular :/

[Jay 39,428]

I too once had a ventriloquist dummy (it was Howdy Doody, actually). He came with a little instruction 45 record. Yeah, apparently they felt I could learn to be a ventriloquist is roughly about 12 minutes.

I had Howdy for many years, secretly of course. Then we were having a pep rally in high school, and our opponent for our homecoming game had an eagle as their mascot. I got the genius idea of making a cage that would sit atop an old radio flyer cart, and I cut out paper feathers and taped them to Howdy's body, so that he looked like an eagle. I was just going to pull the cart through our parade, but then this one kid named Kyle (who was the original Butthead long before Beavis and Butthead)walked up right before the procession and told me he could make this float "kick ass."

He then removed various illegal fireworks from this paper bag, and began to insert them in various places on the float. I didn't know just how powerful these things were gonna be, thinking they'd just be sparklers. No.

And to the trebly, distorted strains of Conti's Rocky theme being played over the PA, I pulled the cart through the evening crowd, and watched in startled dismay/evil pleasure as Howdy Doody WENT UP. Just like Hitler, all that remained was an orange peel-sized portion of his skull.

Deep breath, looking off into the distance...

I shouldn't have been tantalized by it, but as I pulled the cart across the broken-up asphalt of the parking lot, it made the flaming Howdy rock back in forth, as if he was in the throes of agony. I thought, "This must be what it felt like to be Walt Disney."

Jeff, you should write a book

[Wojo 2,456]

Are bookstores really closing down in the US?

I didnt knew the ebook format was so popular :/

That technology is too new to be having a real impact. The big factor is the online marketplaces. The brick and mortar stores can't keep pace with the online booksellers like Amazon, who don't have the massive overhead expenses of operating actual stores, and can afford to sell books at a huge discount. Even the neighborhood used bookstores are taking a hit.

If I buy anything from a Borders or B&N, it's usually music that I haven't found elsewhere or a compilation volume that bundles several classics into one book. Otherwise, I look online or in used bookstores.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

The hilarious Charlie Brooker's 'Dawn of the Dumb'.

[Wojo 2,456]

Those stores might be a thing of the past, but books will never go out of style. Hell, even Captain Picard prefers to read books over ebooks.

Maybe because ebooks weren't common in the 1980s and 1990s when Captain Picard's 24th century was created?

Much like flip-open cell phones weren't available in the 1960s when Captain Kirk's 23rd century was shown, but ever since the early 2000s they're everywhere, and a lot smaller and more functional to boot.

[Trent Hoyt 13]

Those stores might be a thing of the past, but books will never go out of style. Hell, even Captain Picard prefers to read books over ebooks.

Maybe because ebooks weren't common in the 1980s and 1990s when Captain Picard's 24th century was created?

Much like flip-open cell phones weren't available in the 1960s when Captain Kirk's 23rd century was shown, but ever since the early 2000s they're everywhere, and a lot smaller and more functional to boot.

Haha. Good call my friend. Well for me I would rather read an actual book but I do see the advantages of a Kindle. One of my classes this semester as a lot of reserved readings online and today I saw a girl in class that simply transferred them all over to the Kindle. I was so jealous. We had a 27 page article to read and instead of printing it all out I put 3 pages on a single piece of paper. By the end of class I had a nice headache. I will probably end up with an e-reader someday.

[Wojo 2,456]

Too bad Microsoft Sam is so dull to listen to, or they could make an app that dictates the printed word to you via headphones.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

[Uni 306]

It's funny . . . I swore my loyalty to physical books early on in the digital revolution. I still like having my library, and as long as all those books out there exist on paper there'll always be the corner used bookstore to carry and exchange them (though wouldn't it be the ultimate irony if the mom-and-pop bookstore, snowed under by the retail chains a couple of decades ago, once again resurfaced and thrived as the retail chains go out of business. . . ?).

However, I just got me a Nook fer m'birthday. No kidding. And y'know what? It's good stuff. No kidding.

While there are certain books--or rather, certain types of books--I'll always want to hold in my hands, there are also many books I might never get around to reading if they weren't so dang accessible now with this new technology. It gets old, carrying around two books at a time, one fiction, one non-fic (yes, I do this). It's great to think I can lug around a hundred books with a lot less effort.

I just don't like the thought of them getting rid of bookstores altogether. There's no place in the world better for spending an afternoon sitting, browsing, reading, writing, thinking.

- Uni

[Brónach 1,306]

I just don't like the thought of them getting rid of bookstores altogether. There's no place in the world better for spending an afternoon sitting, browsing, reading, writing, thinking.

- Uni

One of the really few stores where I actually go for no reason and enjoy it.

[Koray Savas 2,254]

Too bad Microsoft Sam is so dull to listen to, or they could make an app that dictates the printed word to you via headphones.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

The Kindle has Text-to-Voice, meaning it reads to you if you want it to. I have yet to try it, but if the text is right in front of my eyes, I don't need someone else to read it for me.

[The Train Station 8,673]

About 8:40 onward.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv7J9LtT95w

[JoeinAR 1,953]

Are bookstores really closing down in the US?

I didnt knew the ebook format was so popular :/

no Luke, stores are closing but not all book stores are going to close. There are alot of bookstores in America. Browsing book covers is still the best way to find a novel to read.