Just finished This Book is Full of Spiders from David Wong who also wrote John Dies at The End. Awesome scifi horror comedy book. The movie for John Dies is even pretty good. I recommend it to anyone that likes a book about invisible mind controlling spiders lol.
read both thought they were greta books better then the movie in my opinoin...
The books are always better than the tv show or movie they are based on. Still thought it was pretty good though. Cant wait to see if he will write another book.
Not what I am currently reading but I was wondering if anyone has read Malcolm Gladwells' stuff; Outliers, Blink, Dave and Goliath, etc? Looking for reviews before deciding.
Not what I am currently reading but I was wondering if anyone has read Malcolm Gladwells' stuff; Outliers, Blink, Dave and Goliath, etc? Looking for reviews before deciding.
I liked Blink. Been awhile since I read it though lol.
I'm on the 4th book in the Piers Anthony series, "Bio of a Space Tyrant." It's a fantastic read and not anything like the Xanth or other fantasy books he wrote. This is the 3rd time going through this series.
I was recently given the latest Dan Brown novel, Inferno. Can't bring myself to start reading it because I know I won't stop until I'm done and I'm just not quite ready for the commitment. Maybe over Christmas break.
just finished I SAW ZOMBIES EATING SANTA CLAUSE.its kinda a comedy zombie thing.was funny and a quick read..
Fated and Breathers were good reads if you haven't read any of Browne's other stuff. Christopher Moore's "Stupidest Angel" is my new favorite holiday book.
JSaint:
Just finished This Book is Full of Spiders from David Wong who also wrote John Dies at The End. Awesome scifi horror comedy book. The movie for John Dies is even pretty good. I recommend it to anyone that likes a book about invisible mind controlling spiders lol.
I finished "Spiders" in a couple days and just started "John" after you posted this, great books.
Never finished "Devil Said Bang" (4th book of Sandman Slim series).... gave up about half way through, right around Thanksgiving. The book was just dragging IMO.
But I picked up "Kill City Blues" (5th book of the series) and wow! This is the Sandman Slim I'm used to....damn good read. I'm getting towards the end, have about 80 pages left .... wanted to finish it last night because there was so much going on but I couldn't stay awake. Hope I have a chance to finish it tonight.
Not what I am currently reading but I was wondering if anyone has read Malcolm Gladwells' stuff; Outliers, Blink, Dave and Goliath, etc? Looking for reviews before deciding.
To me, Gladwell is the King of Junk Research. He comes to his conclusions based on selecting case studies and "experts" that affirm his thesis, and doesn't use any kind of scientific approach to test the claims he's made, which are easily disproven.
Two examples: In Blink he profiled a psychiatrist who "claimed" he could tell couples were going to divorce within a year or so based on videos of their couple counseling sessions. Gladwell didn't attempt to actually see where the shrink's claims were right by looking over divorce records of these subjects--he took the doc's claim at face value and used it to support his argument that "experienced based intuition" is better than deep consideration. What he also failed to consider is that probably when couples are going to couple therapy the marriage is probably over anyway. So it's quite easy to predict that marriages will fail.
Another stupid claim. He uses the examples of Bill Gates, the Beatles and other individuals to claim that you need "10,000 hours of doing something" to become a qualified expert and success in your field. For the Beatles he suggests that all the time they spent playing crappy gigs in Hamburg and London made them fantastic musicians who were bound for success. Yet, countless other bands put in those same hours and never got famous. What made the Beatles different wasn't that they were fabulous musicians, but that Lennon and McCartney wrote their own songs--that's what enabled them to stick out from all the other bands that played songs written by others. Likewise, Bill Gates may have spend 10,000 programming in his school's computer labs, but that alone didn't make him a great businessman (Paul Allen ended up doing most of the programming). There were plenty of other programmers who spent just as much time in the computer lab and never became billionaires. Just as there were plenty of high school athletes who played 10,000 hours of tennis and never became Venus and Serena Williams. It's not just the practice--at some point you need to have talent and drive.
Dude! G.K. Chesterton... Thomas Sowell... Milton Friedman... Zig Ziglar. Love your taste in books!
"When I have found intense pain relieved, a weary brain soothed, and calm, refreshing sleep obtained by a cigar, I have felt grateful to God, and have blessed His name." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
After reading the discussion on RBeckom's atheist thread....I think a few of you guys would enjoy the Sandman Slim series.
If you like suspense/fantasy fiction at all --- give this a shot, really a unique twist on god vs the devil, and how the "universe" works. Start with Sandman Slim, the 1st of 5 in the series, (6th is supposed to be out this summer). Fantastic urban fantasy starring angels, the devil, god, and monsters, etc.
I think I posted this description before...but here you go if you missed it:
"From Publishers Weekly:
(Richard) Kadrey provides biting humor, an over-the-top antihero and a rich stew of metaphoric language in this testosterone- and adrenaline-charged noir thriller. James Stark spent 11 years killing monsters in Lucifer's arena for the entertainment of fallen angels, but now he's back in seedy, magic-riddled L.A., trying to avenge his girlfriend's murder and hunt down Mason Faim, the black magician responsible for getting him sent downtown.
He meets with some initial success, beheading second-rate magician Kasabian (whose head becomes Stark's smart-mouthed sidekick), but he can't find Faim. Instead he encounters Homeland Security agents, a near-psychotic angel and some odd nonhuman, nonangelic beings called the kissi. Darkly atmospheric settings, such as a posh gentlemen's club where angels are tortured in an attempt to bring about Armageddon, bring this violent fantasy into sharp, compelling focus."
jgibv:
Never finished "Devil Said Bang" (4th book of Sandman Slim series).... gave up about half way through, right around Thanksgiving. The book was just dragging IMO.
But I picked up "Kill City Blues" (5th book of the series) and wow! This is the Sandman Slim I'm used to....damn good read. I'm getting towards the end, have about 80 pages left .... wanted to finish it last night because there was so much going on but I couldn't stay awake. Hope I have a chance to finish it tonight.
Don't know what I'll read next though....
The ending of Kill city blues ... wow. Absolutely fantastic.
Still plodding on through the Wheel of Time. It's not that it's bad, I just feel like the last few books have been dragging. Already 9ish books in, and I'm sure once it gets closer to the end it will pick up.I have no idea how this thread gets buried.
Still plodding on through the Wheel of Time. It's not that it's bad, I just feel like the last few books have been dragging. Already 9ish books in, and I'm sure once it gets closer to the end it will pick up.I have no idea how this thread gets buried.
Much like The Dark Tower, I'll be sad when this ends. SK said it best...something like "It should not be the ending that is important, but the journey." He's right, I've gotten to "know" Rand, Mat etc etc and will be sad when the series ends.
About halfway through The Thicket by Joe R Lansdale.
Great story, can hardly put it down. Fast paced and plenty of excitement.
Story takes place in rural Texas around the turn of the 20th century....
Jack Parker, 16 years old, and his younger sister are traveling to visit relatives when his sister gets kidnapped by a gang of outlaws.
Jack teams up with a pair of "bounty hunters" (and their pet hog) to track down the outlaws .... they add a couple others to their group along the way as they kick down doors and give out a$$-whoopin's trying to track down Jack's sister.
Comments
I finished "Spiders" in a couple days and just started "John" after you posted this, great books.
But I picked up "Kill City Blues" (5th book of the series) and wow! This is the Sandman Slim I'm used to....damn good read. I'm getting towards the end, have about 80 pages left .... wanted to finish it last night because there was so much going on but I couldn't stay awake. Hope I have a chance to finish it tonight.
Don't know what I'll read next though....
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
Two examples: In Blink he profiled a psychiatrist who "claimed" he could tell couples were going to divorce within a year or so based on videos of their couple counseling sessions. Gladwell didn't attempt to actually see where the shrink's claims were right by looking over divorce records of these subjects--he took the doc's claim at face value and used it to support his argument that "experienced based intuition" is better than deep consideration. What he also failed to consider is that probably when couples are going to couple therapy the marriage is probably over anyway. So it's quite easy to predict that marriages will fail.
Another stupid claim. He uses the examples of Bill Gates, the Beatles and other individuals to claim that you need "10,000 hours of doing something" to become a qualified expert and success in your field. For the Beatles he suggests that all the time they spent playing crappy gigs in Hamburg and London made them fantastic musicians who were bound for success. Yet, countless other bands put in those same hours and never got famous. What made the Beatles different wasn't that they were fabulous musicians, but that Lennon and McCartney wrote their own songs--that's what enabled them to stick out from all the other bands that played songs written by others. Likewise, Bill Gates may have spend 10,000 programming in his school's computer labs, but that alone didn't make him a great businessman (Paul Allen ended up doing most of the programming). There were plenty of other programmers who spent just as much time in the computer lab and never became billionaires. Just as there were plenty of high school athletes who played 10,000 hours of tennis and never became Venus and Serena Williams. It's not just the practice--at some point you need to have talent and drive.
After reading the discussion on RBeckom's atheist thread....I think a few of you guys would enjoy the Sandman Slim series.
If you like suspense/fantasy fiction at all --- give this a shot, really a unique twist on god vs the devil, and how the "universe" works. Start with Sandman Slim, the 1st of 5 in the series, (6th is supposed to be out this summer). Fantastic urban fantasy starring angels, the devil, god, and monsters, etc.
I think I posted this description before...but here you go if you missed it:
"From Publishers Weekly:
(Richard) Kadrey provides biting humor, an over-the-top antihero and a rich stew of metaphoric language in this testosterone- and adrenaline-charged noir thriller. James Stark spent 11 years killing monsters in Lucifer's arena for the entertainment of fallen angels, but now he's back in seedy, magic-riddled L.A., trying to avenge his girlfriend's murder and hunt down Mason Faim, the black magician responsible for getting him sent downtown.
He meets with some initial success, beheading second-rate magician Kasabian (whose head becomes Stark's smart-mouthed sidekick), but he can't find Faim. Instead he encounters Homeland Security agents, a near-psychotic angel and some odd nonhuman, nonangelic beings called the kissi. Darkly atmospheric settings, such as a posh gentlemen's club where angels are tortured in an attempt to bring about Armageddon, bring this violent fantasy into sharp, compelling focus."
The ending of Kill city blues ... wow. Absolutely fantastic.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
Starting The Wheel of Time book one: "The Eye of the World". I really like this series, but I only have the first three books.
Great story, can hardly put it down. Fast paced and plenty of excitement.
Story takes place in rural Texas around the turn of the 20th century....
Jack Parker, 16 years old, and his younger sister are traveling to visit relatives when his sister gets kidnapped by a gang of outlaws.
Jack teams up with a pair of "bounty hunters" (and their pet hog) to track down the outlaws .... they add a couple others to their group along the way as they kick down doors and give out a$$-whoopin's trying to track down Jack's sister.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *