|
Post by mummifiedstalin on Jun 15, 2015 22:35:13 GMT -5
Michael Cisco. Look him up. Be changed.
|
|
|
Post by SoCalChevy on Jun 21, 2015 22:26:07 GMT -5
Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember", which is a classic for people interested in the Titanic. Though some parts of the book have been disproven after the discovery of the wreck.
|
|
|
Post by mitchell33 on Jun 26, 2015 3:00:24 GMT -5
'Deja Dead' by Kathy Reichs' or however ya spell her name? sorry if i spell her last name right. anyways it's the 1st book in the "Temperance Brennan' series that the show "Bones' is based off. it's a really slow starting book but it's so far got i guess you could say a goose in the ass story wise. it's not a terrible book at all from what i've read so far. i'm only 142 pages into and so i can't really complain to much about it just yet. has anyone ever read that series?
|
|
|
Post by Mod City on Jul 21, 2015 10:35:06 GMT -5
The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell.
The title says it all, the actor who played Mark from The Room recounts the story of his friendship with Tommy Wiseau and the production of the film in this book co-written with writer Tom Bissell. If you've seen The Room, and if you're a fan of Rifftrax I'm guessing you have, this is a must-read story of an incredibly weird guy and his very weird relationship with a young up-and-coming actor trying to make it in Los Angeles.
The recounting of making The Room is equal parts hilarious, frustrating and maddening. Anyone with a basic knowledge of film craft will understand just how ludicrous Wieasu's approach to making a movie is. Sestero gives a nice look at the reactions from both cast and crew as Wiseau - the producer, director, writer and sole financier of the film - tries to realize his vision. There are several interesting bits that were news to me, and I consider myself a big fan of The Room.
The story of the making of the film is interlaced by chapters with the story of how Sestero met Wiseau and they became friends. This is probably the most interesting part of the book, as it takes you much deeper into Tommy Wieasu's world. One of the better parts of it is that Sestero writes Wiseau's lines in a style that mimics his accent. After a particularly unhinged monologue at an acting class, the teacher asks Wiseau "what was that?" Wiseau answers "I was in zone." You can hear Wiseau himself speaking, which I love. I'm curious what Sestero does on the audiobook with Tommy's lines.
Either way, it's a surprisingly moving story by the end. It may add almost too much depth to the story of The Room, but that's alright. This book was apparently optioned for a feature film version by James Franco and Seth Rogan. If it comes to pass, hopefully it will be good.
|
|
|
Post by mitchell33 on Aug 1, 2015 20:33:46 GMT -5
two books actually, the 1st one is "London Bridges' which is the 10th Alex Cross novel out of i think 23, this is an old one from (2004) by James Patterson a really damn good book in fact, and the 2nd one i'm currently reading is called A Spell For Chameleon from (1977) it's the very 1st Xanth book by Piers Anthony and i haven't read this book in years so this is actually is only my 2nd time reading it. the 1st time i read it i didn't much care for it to be honest, and no i didn't read this one 1st in the series but the 10th book i read 1st actually. anyways, so who knows i may like it more this time around! anyone read these yet? and if so what did they think about it?
|
|
|
Post by crowschmo on Dec 6, 2016 16:07:11 GMT -5
I was binge watching Black Sails to prepare for the new season in January, so I thought I'd revisit Treasure Island. I remembered the characters' names of course, as they are all iconic, but I hadn't read the story since middle school and I kind of forgot what happened.
I know it's a classic and all, but I really don't get why. NOTHING really happened. I hate those kinds of stories where you feel you're being told something that's already happened and is over and done with and you know the characters come through, 'cause, well, they're telling you the story as if it's all been written down and they even address "the reader".
It was all a lot of nothing, really. Just Jim or the doctor describing the island, or the ship or some pirate or other. Not much of a plot. With all the movie versions out there, I don't know, I just thought it had more substance than it actually did. When I was finished, I was just thinking, "This is IT? Wasn't there MORE?" Guess not.
Don't know why Long John Silver has such a reputation when he did practically nothing in the story.
Well, that was a disappointment.
I actually like the versions of the characters in Black Sails better, they have more meat on their bones, more of a story. I wonder if Starz will continue the story after this final season and do a Treasure Island series. Kind of hoping not, unless they can improve upon the original.
This is kind of the way one feels when reading Frankenstein. When you are so used to movie versions, or hyped up retellings, you read the actual book and think, "Man, that's not what happened at ALL. Who the frig are these other characters they added?". Although, Frankenstein actually does have some substance to it, it's just different from what early Hollywood did with it.
Treasure Island is just - blah.
|
|
|
Post by Grievous on Jun 28, 2018 4:30:38 GMT -5
I have recently read: The Rats by James Herbert Lair by James Herbert MEG (Anniversary Edition) by Steve Alten The Trench by Steve Alten
& I'm currently reading MEG: Primal Waters by Steve Alten
|
|
|
Post by Mod City on Aug 7, 2018 11:58:46 GMT -5
Macroscope by Piers Anthony I first read this when I was probably 12 or 13. I'm only a few chapters in, and I remember a great deal of it, but there is a ton here that I know I missed the first time around. I never read his Xanth series, which I know some people like, but I did try to read the first Bio of a Space Tyrant book and could never get past the first 50 pages. I just hated it. This one I'm really enjoying again. Written in 1969, it is a little dated, but surprisingly it's not as bad as you might think. There is some language in there I wouldn't necessarily use today, but I guess things change over the course of nearly 50 years. This is more hard sci-fi than I'm usually into, but it works for me. Cool concept. It was up for a Hugo Award for best novel in 1970, but lost to The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Also losing to Le Guin in that category that year? Kurt Vonnegut for Slaughterhouse Five. So, Anthony is not in bad company, at least at the time it came out. I have the paperback with the blueish cover (included below) - probably drawn in the 80s? When you do an image search for the book, that cover almost never comes up. I prefer it to a lot of the ones you see on other printings. And if anyone is actually reading this, what are your thoughts on pronouncing the title? In the book, this "telescope" reads "macrons." To me, that looks like it should be pronounced "may-crons," thus, it would be pronounced "may-cro-scope." But for some reason it seems reasonable that it could be pronounced with a short "a." I could probably find this out for myself but I'd rather bother the boardmembers here Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by Mod City on Dec 27, 2018 13:59:16 GMT -5
Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson Continuing my process of reading books I haven't read since high school, recently I've been edging my way through Lord Foul's Bane, the first book of the Thomas Covenant trilogies. I don't really know how these books sit with fantasy fans in general, but I know there is some controversy because Covenant is pretty much an asshole throughout much of the series. Really, he's hard to like at all at times, and he's supposed to be the hero. One scene early in this book is really difficult to read and may have you quitting the series before you get started - you've been warned. Now, it makes sense in context of who he is and his situation, but it's still a bit of a shock to read a character like this in a fantasy setting. Once you're past that, however, it becomes a hell of a tale. There are three trilogies and one book that wraps it up, I believe. I read the first two trilogies 30 years ago, but never the third or the final book. I'm picking up a ton that I didn't on my first pass, so hopefully I'll stick with this and see where it goes. If I make it through all six of the first two, I'm going to have to read the last few installments. Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by Mod City on Mar 6, 2019 13:36:28 GMT -5
The Illearth War by Stephen R. Donaldson OK, I finally made it through the second installment of the first trilogy of Thomas Covenant. While I don't overly look forward to sitting down with these, once I do, it's usually a two or three hour sitting before I put it down. Once it has its hooks in you, it's really a challenging, entertaining read. The second book in the series, I liked it quite a bit more than the first. There's a great character introduced by the name of Hile Troy, who is a wonderful counterpoint to our main character, Thomas Covenant. I had forgotten all about him, having only read this series once 30 years ago when I was in junior high. I found myself more enthralled with his tale than that of Thomas Covenant. This series gets praise for breaking out of the Lord of the Rings series of plot points, but to be honest, I think it lifts about as much from those books as any other. I mean, the McGuffin is a freaking ring, for crying out loud. And while I generally like Donaldson's writing, I never knew how many things could groan, and in how many ways. He groaned, the wind groaned, the group groaned, the water groaned, the ropes groaned. Seriously, taking a shot every time you read the word groan/groaned would have you sh*tfaced in 20 pages. Luckily the story holds up through it. I've gone this far, I have to see how this thing ends up. I honestly don't remember. On to book three! Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by crowschmo on Mar 6, 2019 18:49:45 GMT -5
^^^^^ Oohh. I remember seeing that cover, but I've never read it.
|
|
|
Post by crowschmo on Jun 8, 2022 16:20:27 GMT -5
The city I live in, and the next one over, have little library kiosks about here and there; it's a take a free book, leave a book, kind of thing. I opened one up and saw "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" in there, so I took it and read it.
Meh. I don't get why it was a best-seller. It was boring to me. Don't think McMurphy was likable or anything special. (Just that he challenged Nurse Ratched). I really didn't like the story at all.
I don't remember the movie version, I saw bits and pieces when I was a kid, but don't remember ever seeing the whole thing through.
Anywho, I didn't like it.
|
|
|
Post by crowschmo on Feb 24, 2024 17:14:29 GMT -5
Rereading some of my posts, it seems I don't like much of anything, heh. One gets hopeful, then one reads, and one is left wanting. I had received a gift card for Barnes & Noble for Christmas, so I went there hoping to find something. I was thinking some kind of fantasy story - wish I now wish I had gotten. But there were just so many books, I really couldn't read the back blurbs to so many to see which one stuck out and would seem interesting. Then I saw on a shelf "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury. I had never read it, though it's referenced a lot in many things (MST3K included), and I vaguely remembered the film adaptation from the 80's. I couldn't recall much about it except that it was boys at a fair that was just a dark carnival of the souls really, but couldn't remember what happened. Even though the film didn't stick out in memory too much, I thought surely the book had more meat to it and that the film had been just a pale iteration. So, you know, surely, with so many referencing it and the fact it was some groundbreaking iconic tale, that I would have a good read. Alas, no. Maybe for it's time it was something to write home about and I know it has influenced a lot of later writing by others, so maybe it's hard to judge now a-days because then it was fresh, and now it's like, "seen it." But anyway, I just thought it was dumb. (Big surprise). Disappointment number one. Number two: I also got a book entitled "Favorite Folktales From Around the World." Ah. The heart and soul of what storytelling of modern times takes its cues from. The archetypes. NOPE. Just very short, horrible little tales that seem like they were written by eight-year-olds. I truly don't know why people found these entertaining. They're stupid as all get out. * sigh *
|
|