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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Feb 4, 2017 14:04:21 GMT
Hello, I go by the user name of "Thor-Delta" on IMDb.
I'd like to ask what are you reading in February 2017.
Today, I've been reading a book from 1900 called "The Phonograph and how to use it", which provides a fascinating (though Edison-centric) look into the "cylinder" record players of the era.
How about you? What have you been reading in February 2017?
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TheSowIsMine
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Post by TheSowIsMine on Feb 4, 2017 15:38:42 GMT
I started reading The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss. I saw him on Critical Role and he seems like a very cool dude, so I thought, lets read some of his work.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Feb 7, 2017 21:58:40 GMT
Well I just finished "The Phonograph and how to use it" (1900), not sure what to read next.
Possibly one of the books I mentioned in the "recent purchases" thread, or maybe I might get around to finishing that Eyewitness Guides: Money book I started some time ago.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2017 0:55:32 GMT
The IMBD Books board is almost History.
A little burned out with reading large books, finished 'Bonfire of the Vanities' and 'The Dark Elf' trilogy by R.A. Salvatore (reviews still on the old thread until gone).
Just reading through a pretty cool edition of 'The Readers Digest-Great American Short Stories'
Lot's of excellent authors in there to choose from, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Truman Capote, really a great little bargain if you can track one down.
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mmexis
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Post by mmexis on Feb 8, 2017 3:12:50 GMT
Didn't even know there WAS a books thread on IMDB. Huh, learn something new every day. I didn't post on the IMDB board, can I post here? I just finished reading The Wonder by Emma Donoghue (of Room fame). Very interesting. Am now about halfway through Stranger by David Bergen. I alternate between adult and YA novels (in my job as a teacher librarian) and my book opinions are my own. Do not read reviews from Goodreads now that they've been bought by Amazon. I tend to read a lot and some really random things. Hello to everyone.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2017 4:06:35 GMT
The Books Board on IMBD has been a unique staple for some of it's members over the years, I read a heck of alot during the Winter- very little in the Summer, so it was a great casual forum and did point me into some new directions that I might otherwise overlook- Welcome and hello back to ya! Hilarious librarian story- at the college that I went to, one head librarian was liberal and the other conservative and they wouldn't even talk to one another, if one had to ask the other for some info,,,she sent an assistant to ask the questions,,sure they were quiet but their eyes were always shooting flames and smoldering.....I felt like a yearning flower being crushed between them Then the rabbit said to the bear "No, no, I said Oedipal not edible!"
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mmexis
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Post by mmexis on Feb 9, 2017 2:51:44 GMT
That's very funny. I am not conservative, although the area the school is in is more conservative than I would like. However, nothing like what I hear about schools in some states. I'm presently weeding and keep finding books with little notes in them from previous librarians (pages missing, highlighting) and I keep thinking "why didn't you throw them out?"
My focus is primarily Canadian lit but will read almost everything, including what sounds really boring. Have to say that I haven't read any of the big "hits" (no DaVinci Code, Girl with ..., 100 year old man,). Sometimes go on "binges" and read all of one kind (South American, banned, set in one location)
Look forward to reading and adding to my list.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2017 3:42:53 GMT
Great! Could you recommend a few of your favorite Canadian authors?
I am known to go on the occasional fantasy reading binge myself, that one time they found me wandering the streets with a sword cut out of cardboard and chasing after a squirrel yelling "Smaug,,,I defy ye! base worm! come back and fight" was really weird though....I bet you get a little tired of reading 'Hey Hoser' and 'Like take off-aye' it's a Strange Brew-LOL
Will fight the good fight and keep contributing to these book threads.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Feb 9, 2017 4:35:36 GMT
Today I read over 20 pages of The Pocket Camera Handbook, a 1980 book by Michael Langford. Despite the title, it also covers 126 film and 35mm film cameras, neither of which are really "pocket" cameras (the term "pocket camera" usually applies to 110 film cameras). It is a book on photography (110, 126, 35mm) aimed at the absolute beginner. I am enjoying reading it.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Feb 9, 2017 7:20:04 GMT
I just read "Jinglebook no. 1", a vintage pamphlet from the early 1900s. It promotes Edison Phonographs (cylinder record players). It is public domain (copyright expired) and can be read here: archive.org/details/cihm_57585I also just read a few more pages of the Pocket Camera Handbook mentioned above.
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mmexis
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Post by mmexis on Feb 9, 2017 14:12:46 GMT
Eric, we don't actually use the term "hoser" or maybe they do somewhere I don't know about. The same with "take off, eh". We do say "eh" more than most and are, of course, known for apologizing.
If you haven't read any authors I would suggest Margaret Atwood as the grand dame of Canadian literature. But people either like her or not. Perhaps her most famous outside of Canada book is The Handmaid's tale which was dystopian before dystopia became a thing. Recent prize winners (internatioal) have been Yann Martel (Life of Pi), Madeline Thien (Do not say that we have nothing). An excellent but really large book is A fine balance by Rohinton Mistry and, of course, the recently turned into a tv event The book of negroes. (which was published in the US under the title "someone knows my name")
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Post by ivytempleton on Feb 10, 2017 2:58:50 GMT
I am listening to an Audio Book in my car. They have to be either Haunted House stories or Crime to hold my interest while driving. Not overly thrilled with this one but it could be the narrator's voice. Close to Home by Lisa Jackson
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mmexis
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Post by mmexis on Feb 10, 2017 3:39:07 GMT
Nah, erik, blame it on Wayne's world and SCTV and Bob and Doug Mackenzie. Growing up in Toronto, no one said these things except in fun. Outside of Toronto.... I don't know.
A fine balance is an excellent read, but long almost 700 pages if I remember correctly. It's also a little unrelenting but worth reading. Set in India of the 1950s approximately and a little beyond. It's one of the few books I would read again. The Secret Daughter is also set in modern rural India. And if you haven't read 20 questions (later renamed Slumdog Millionaire) that would work too. That's a much faster read. I used it in my English classes as a literature circle choice (and secret daughter too) and the students who read it really liked it. I started teaching it before the movie came out.
Maybe I'll reread it in the summer and see if it still holds up.
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Squelchy
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Post by Squelchy on Feb 10, 2017 9:38:18 GMT
Been reading Don Quixote for a couple of weeks, should get it finished today though. Was entertained by the first half but been rather underwhelmed by the second half.
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mrdanwest
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Post by mrdanwest on Feb 10, 2017 17:33:50 GMT
1) To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (finished) - 5 of 5 stars - Like Woolf's other stuff that I've read, it took me a day or so to get myself attuned to her stream of consciousness style; but, once I got there, I ended up liking this one better that either Mrs. Dalloway or Orlando. Sad and close to perfect.
2) Ubik by Philip K. Dick - I am a bit over halfway done and still trying to figure out exactly what is happening; but that is about par for the course with Dick. I've like his other stuff and trust that this one will come together for me as well.
3) The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco - Eco is one of my favorite writers but this is really just middle of the pack for me so far. It's an interesting take on language and memory and is keeping me engaged, but it's really wordy (even for Eco) and slow going in stops.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2017 3:39:03 GMT
Started Reading 'The Judas Pair' by Jonathon Gash (it's one of the first Lovejoy mysteries).
Jonathon Gash has a great sense of humor and manages to make Lovejoy both despicable in his greed for antiques and fun to hang around with- I really like the way he is always surprising me and making me laugh. My kind of mystery writing.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Feb 13, 2017 8:47:15 GMT
I am in the mood for old obscure short stories, and came across a 1907 book called Under the Bowdoin Pines, which collects short stories written by some college students. Today I read the story A Foiled Conspirator, written by Henry Smith Chapman, published 1891. Surprisingly it didn't seem that different to a TV sitcom plot! Basically, a frail nerdy student hatches a scheme to get money from his father. The student intends to try out for the football team, and hopes to fail so badly that his father will pay him to stop playing. Needless to say, the scheme backfires, with the student's father delighted to see his son play football, despite his son being badly hurt.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Feb 13, 2017 14:41:08 GMT
I just read another short story from the 1907 book Under the Bowdoin Pines, a book collecting short stories published in a college magazine. This one was titled The Awakening of Colton, 92, was first published in 1901 and is a brief drama about a lawyer. Too brief if anything.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Feb 13, 2017 20:50:00 GMT
I just read the May 1909 edition of the magazine Edison Phonograph Monthly, a magazine published by Edison Records. It was intended for the jobbers and dealers of the company, with many issues including advice for retailers on how to sell the records and record players.
Among other things, this particular issue discusses the fear of some retailers that records were a short-lived "fad" like bicycles(?!), and assures them that records are not a fad. It assures them that the recession going on would end eventually, and that sales would soon improve (see: Panic of 1907).
Elsewhere there is the usual highlight (for me at least) of each issue, a list of new records for the month with descriptions of each record. There's also a sample provided of an Edison advertisement. Pictures are also provided of some of the talent recording for the label.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Feb 15, 2017 7:03:19 GMT
Today I read issue 15 (July 1901) of the magazine The Phonogram, highlights include an article describing the production of a new film, and an article describing records being used as part of advertising. It is public domain and can be read here: archive.org/details/Phonogram15
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