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Old 05-06-2020, 11:23 AM   #3251
UnderwaterOphelia
 
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I'm reading several books for review,(the backlog is getting serious now)... including a rather interesting book on mycelium, and the overall interconnected nature of plants. And yet another "space bullet drama" as my partner calls them, because I apparently don't have self control.
What's the most interesting thing you've learned about mycelium?
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Old 05-06-2020, 11:24 AM   #3252
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I'm reading Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie, and then I'd liiiiike to finally read Persepolis, which a friend lent me like a year ago. I'm terrible at reading recommended books.

I'm also reading David Sedaris' Calypso.
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Old 05-06-2020, 12:55 PM   #3253
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I haven't really read anything in the last few weeks, even Ash is still lingering quite right where I left him last time I was here.
But another book that I'm currently in the middle of, and have been for a while, is Lives of the Necromancers by William Godwin. It's a funny little book with short biographies of a ton of (often just rumored) historical magic users, not at all confined to the realms of necromancy, despite the title.
Some of the stories are familiar, some of them strange, some of them have been downright surprising, like how Pythagoras was said to basically have been a vampire.
It's old, and digital copies are free at gutenberg.org.
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Old 05-07-2020, 10:33 AM   #3254
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Originally Posted by UnderwaterOphelia View Post
I'm reading Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie, and then I'd liiiiike to finally read Persepolis, which a friend lent me like a year ago. I'm terrible at reading recommended books.

I'm also reading David Sedaris' Calypso.
I have just finished Calypso! I am rather fond of Sedaris.

On mycelium, it would be the fact that there seems an active trade between plants and fungi. The fungi gives the plant minerals in a form the plant can use and the plant gives the fungi sugar. This is not a chemical reaction, as neither the plant or fungi have to provide sugar or mineral in order to receive the other... If that makes sense.

Persepolis, the graphic novel? By Satrapi? It's pretty good. It reminded me of my childhood in a way.

Last edited by shadowynne; 05-07-2020 at 10:37 AM. Reason: Forgetfulness
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Old 05-07-2020, 03:15 PM   #3255
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I have just finished Calypso! I am rather fond of Sedaris.

On mycelium, it would be the fact that there seems an active trade between plants and fungi. The fungi gives the plant minerals in a form the plant can use and the plant gives the fungi sugar. This is not a chemical reaction, as neither the plant or fungi have to provide sugar or mineral in order to receive the other... If that makes sense.

Persepolis, the graphic novel? By Satrapi? It's pretty good. It reminded me of my childhood in a way.
Yeah, that does make sense.

And yes, Persepolis. I do want to read it, and your recommendation makes it sliiiightly more likely, but I am gently biased against graphic novels. Like I decided a long time ago they "aren't my thing," and who am I to break the rules? My dad was/is and INSANE comic book collector. Like, extensive. But I read [i]Fun Home or Fun House[i], whichever. I liked that.
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Old 05-07-2020, 03:16 PM   #3256
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I haven't really read anything in the last few weeks, even Ash is still lingering quite right where I left him last time I was here.
But another book that I'm currently in the middle of, and have been for a while, is Lives of the Necromancers by William Godwin. It's a funny little book with short biographies of a ton of (often just rumored) historical magic users, not at all confined to the realms of necromancy, despite the title.
Some of the stories are familiar, some of them strange, some of them have been downright surprising, like how Pythagoras was said to basically have been a vampire.
It's old, and digital copies are free at gutenberg.org.
That sounds cool.
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Old 05-08-2020, 02:03 AM   #3257
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I would say persepolis is a graphic novel by technicality, and not a graphic novel proper. I read it as the material was relevant to me and enjoyed it somewhat. Fairly pleasing artstyle. It's a very quick read, easily done in a day.

It's more of a cultural thing, so if that is not your thing I would leave it.
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Old 07-06-2020, 11:56 PM   #3258
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I'm reading some dummy book called UnHappenings by Edward Aubry. The premise was something a bit more interesting but turned out to be pretty much a standard time travel YA fare.
I sort of hate YA, but on the other hand I'm so retarded that it suits my level.
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Old 08-13-2020, 02:43 PM   #3259
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I recently finished "How to be a Victorian." Now, I'm reading "The Vorrh" by Brian Catling.
I'm planning to read "The Witching Hour" by Anne Rice next.
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Old 08-24-2020, 03:22 AM   #3260
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I recently finished "How to be a Victorian." Now, I'm reading "The Vorrh" by Brian Catling.
I'm planning to read "The Witching Hour" by Anne Rice next.
Hey, Ethereal, how you liking the Vorrh? Any thoughts about it? I took a glance at the description, and the cyclops sounded pretty funny, other than that it sounded a bit humdrum.

Goth points for reading Anne Rice

I've begun the Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. I've always loved Twin Peaks but I've never read any of the books before. I'm only a few toes in yet, so don't really know, but it's been decent so far.
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Old 09-29-2020, 02:38 AM   #3261
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Currently reading Lorna Doone by R.D Blackmore, before that I read The Song Of The Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde...
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Old 11-16-2020, 04:48 AM   #3262
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Just finished "The less you know the sounder you sleep".

I need something very light-hearted to read afterwards because it's very heart breaking. It's about the conjoined twins born in the USSR, and how they were subjected to medical torture.
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Old 11-16-2020, 05:31 AM   #3263
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Just finished "The less you know the sounder you sleep".

I need something very light-hearted to read afterwards because it's very heart breaking. It's about the conjoined twins born in the USSR, and how they were subjected to medical torture.
Sounds pretty brutal!
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Old 12-31-2020, 12:32 PM   #3264
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I'm glad I found this thread. This is my home. I'm also glad to see that most of the rest of you are also unable to constrain yourselves to reading one book at a time!

Shadowynne, your mycelium book sounds bodacious. What's the name of it?

TrivialMorose, I've added your Lives of the Necromancers to my shopping cart. Thanks for the tip!

Molster, Lorna Doone sounds GREAT! I saw the movie as a kid. Classic.

Geoluhread, The Less You Know is also going on my list. That sounds pretty trying. Recently got hold of book (not read it) called The Pleasures of the Torture Chamber. Totally different angle, but as a description of the depths of human cruelty, it sounds like a kindred title.

I just finished two books:
The Question of Animal Awareness by DOnald Griffin - this is the guy who coined the term "echolocation" in his study of bats. A lot of the emphasis is on the variety and complexity of animal communication, and the takeaway seems to be that animals possess a much deeper kind of intelligence than most would assume, but a very different kind than ours. He talks about the kinds of "waggle dances" bees do, and just how much they can communicate. In fact, when one bee finds a new site for a hive, he comes back and waggles a description of it to the other, but if another bee comes and waggles about a BETTER new site for a hive, the bees "discuss" it by exchanging waggles until all the bees are in agreement, they waggle the location of the site they've agreed upon, and then the leader waggles a signal to leave and the all move!

I also just finished "Prince of Darkness" by Jeffrey Burton Russell. It was a history of Satan from ancient through modern times, including the cultural influences that shaped our ideas about the devil. It ends up being much more a history of the evolution and decline of the church and the ways that humanity confronts evil. Bit of a muddled thesis, but very interesting.

I'm also reading Grimoires: A History of Magic Books by Owen Davies. A lot of overlap with the book described above, which is great. It focuses on magic books in the Western tradition and the ways religious ideologies develop and respond to occult practices. Very cool.

I'm reading through my collected Shakespeare. The history plays were my favorites by far but now I'm into the tragedies. Finished COriolanus last night. Coriolanus was an asshole who was really good at war and when Rome drove him out, he allied with its enemies. Just before they sacked Rome together, his wife and mother convinced him to make peace, so Rome's enemies kill him (sorry, spoiler) and it ends very abruptly there.

Lastly I'm reading Only a Poor Old Man by Carl Barks. It's an Uncle Scrooge comic. It's classic American literature.
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Old 12-31-2020, 06:52 PM   #3265
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Danse Macabre by Stephen King. Partly because I’m a basic b***h and partly because I want to get as far away from King’s style and perspective on the genre as I think it casts a far to often imitated shadow that has stunted the genre somewhat. (Coupled with Poe and Lovecraft imitators, Of course)
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Old 01-18-2021, 03:07 PM   #3266
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Danse Macabre by Stephen King. Partly because I’m a basic b***h and partly because I want to get as far away from King’s style and perspective on the genre as I think it casts a far to often imitated shadow that has stunted the genre somewhat. (Coupled with Poe and Lovecraft imitators, Of course)
Nothing wrong with King. Embarrassing confession: I've NEVER read ANYTHING Stephen King...

So any way, do tell about it.
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Old 04-03-2021, 11:43 PM   #3267
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Nothing wrong with King. Embarrassing confession: I've NEVER read ANYTHING Stephen King...

So any way, do tell about it.
So it’s been a while since I finished it but.. meh. The introduction and afterward are fun; and I learned about a few cool bits of media that I didn’t know existed before (like The Night Stalker “franchise” and Dark Shadows ((Of which I’m currently making my way thru on Prime))) But there’s quite a lot of ground covered that I’m sure in pre internet days, was a godsend; but now, um, well, it’s mostly redundant.

Oh. And the chapter on haunted houses is dated to say the least, it focuses a lot on the “new gothic” movement which, in that form anyway, never really took off; and the King’s extensive coke usage in the 80s is perhaps most obvious in that, most long winded of sections.

Overall, interesting as a king fan, a curiosity as a horror fan, but I can’t really say I’d recommend it these days; and definitely not to someone unfamiliar with his work.

————————

I’m currently reading: The White Road by John Connolly
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Old 07-11-2023, 05:59 AM   #3268
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I'm rereading Life Of Pi. One of my favorite books.
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Old 07-13-2023, 07:12 PM   #3269
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not reading anything currently but i'm about to start blood and gold by anne rice, currently waiting for the book to arrive since i online ordered it
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Old 01-17-2024, 12:07 AM   #3270
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What sparked your interest in werewolf books, and do you find that they offer unique insights into human behavior compared to other genres?
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Old 01-29-2024, 07:11 AM   #3271
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Lorna Doone as a read is quite hard work, it's written in the old Somerset Dialect but I'm still persevering with it. Also now reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
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Old 01-31-2024, 08:34 AM   #3272
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Finished Philip Fracassi's Boys in the Valley. Basically it's Lord of the Flies at a turn of the century boy's school. Scared the pee out of me.

Currently reading Bram Stoker's Dracula. Will most likely scare the pee out of me.
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Old 02-22-2024, 08:59 PM   #3273
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What other books by Lemony Snicket do you find enjoyable, and have you explored more of Jane Austen's works beyond the tentative reading?
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Old 02-23-2024, 01:29 AM   #3274
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Finished Anansi Boys and now reading Warriors and Priests: This History of the Clan Maclean 1300 - 1750
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