The Book Shelf
- Thread starter Kieran
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From what I've read H.G. Wells didn't only write the sci-fi he is most famous for writing but also romances & textbooks & he wrote The Outline of History when he was in 1 of his factual writing phases. (I'd seen the films "Kipps" & "The History of Mr. Polly" but until I read these notes I didn't know he wrote them.)
Time for more bookish questions:
- What country's literature do you prefer or read the most?
- What's your favourite genre of book?
- How many books do you normally read at once?
- If you read books of a foreign genre to you, do you read it in its original language or a translation or both depending on your mood?
- Do you just read or take notes too or does it depend on what you're reading?
- Do you read just fiction, just non-fiction or a mixture of both?
- Do you read physical books, an e-reader or both depending on your mood, where you are or what version you've got?
- Do you ever listen to audiobooks?
- Have you ever listened to an audiobook?
- Are you in a book-club now or were you ever in a book-club?
I've just ordered both Covid 19 the great reset & lockdown 2020 & look forward to taking a look at them. I should control myself though. I've got lots of books. I'm supposed to be sorting them out but I end up buying more or being given more & re-reading favourites as well as the ones I'm sorting. It's a good job, book-club has taken a break or I'd be reading the B.O.T.M. too. I've got a big T.B.R. & recommendation list which I should be getting through but I get through so many & get more recommendations then go onto something else. (Mind you, some recommendations are too expensive when I 1st see them so I wait until they're a decent price then buy them & read them.) Then I end up getting ideas for poems, short stories & songs so have to write instead. I should be writing about equine history too.
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tented
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Based on recommendations from @Kieran I recently read two books by Jennifer Egan: A Visit from the Goon Squad and Manhattan Beach. The former is an impossible-to-describe modern masterpiece, which won the Pulitzer Prize; the latter is very good, but loses it about 3/4 of the way in.
I'm glad you enjoyed your books.
I hope I didn't scare your little friend away by being too loquacious. Lol. He seems a nice guy.
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FeVerFanRea
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I have just re-read the twilight books and am now reading the newest addition- Midnight Sun.
I’m enjoying it so far- I’ll see how I get on with it.
but I actually really enjoyed re-reading the other 4. It took me back to my childhood and allowed me to escape from adult life for a while. Very nice
I’m enjoying it so far- I’ll see how I get on with it.
but I actually really enjoyed re-reading the other 4. It took me back to my childhood and allowed me to escape from adult life for a while. Very nice
FeVerFanRea
New Member
Hi. Thank you!
This new one is getting better the more I read. I’m enjoying it a lot.
Trying to think of what to read once I’m finished, though.
You're welcome.
I'm glad you're really enjoying your book.
I hope you manage to find something good to read after the book you're reading.
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"Love of my life" is about the life & loves of Freddie Mercury. I reckon the other 2 books are about what the titles say they're about.
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They seem like they could be very interesting and long books - I’d start with Freddy, then into the music, then into the world and how it works. I’d read the important ones first!
Thank you very much. They do sound fascinating. That's why I bought them. (I just hope reading that book about Freddie Mercury doesn't have me asking to borrow both of the books about Freddie Mercury my sister's got & asked me if I want to borrow. She's also asked me if I want to read her book about Meat Loaf & her book about Elton John. I said I will at some point.) :0)They seem like they could be very interesting and long books - I’d start with Freddy, then into the music, then into the world and how it works. I’d read the important ones first!
It makes a nice change from reading books about book-keeping & gives me a nice break.
It's sort of a political and social economic all in one discussion but I though the latest book from the sociologist Matthew Desmond, “Poverty, by America” brings up some interesting points as to why of all the developed first world countries the US has the highest and seemingly entrenched levels of poverty.
From an NPR interview with Desmond:
He presents among other arguments that tax breaks, subsidies and government policies to both the wealthy & the upper middle class actually contribute to keeping others poor. Case in point: the mortgage interest deduction and property tax deduction which subsidizes home owners but accentuates the housing crisis for renters who live from a month to month with rising rents that cannot be deducted despite in many times paying the equivalent of a mortgage but without the residual wealth buildup and the threat of eviction ever present, coupled with the diminishing purchasing power of working class wages.
Again a very provocative read.
From an NPR interview with Desmond:
He presents among other arguments that tax breaks, subsidies and government policies to both the wealthy & the upper middle class actually contribute to keeping others poor. Case in point: the mortgage interest deduction and property tax deduction which subsidizes home owners but accentuates the housing crisis for renters who live from a month to month with rising rents that cannot be deducted despite in many times paying the equivalent of a mortgage but without the residual wealth buildup and the threat of eviction ever present, coupled with the diminishing purchasing power of working class wages.
Again a very provocative read.
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shawnbm
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Well, there are many things to consider in trying to figure out true poverty. At the end of the day, education is a very big part of it. Those with college degrees, regardless of major, tend to be paid quite a bit more over time I have read. Then again, some of the wealthiest people I have known were high school graduates who went into business for themselves and excelled due to their work ethic and people skills. Where one lives is key and even making $80,000 per year in some parts of the nation is basically very little if you are raising a family of five or more kids. In some places half of that would go to the mortgage and property taxes and leave very little to live on--for groceries, gasoline, car insurance and car payments, clothing, etcetera. Sometimes folks need to seriously consider moving to an area where the cost of living is substantially less, but then economic upward mobility in those areas is tougher too.
Amazing to me how some cultures really treasure and inculcate within their communities the import of an education. I look at school honor rolls and a disproportionate number of kids excelling with their notes are of the following groups: Hindi/Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Jewish and Muslim. I find that very interesting. Why? I happen to think mature western democracies have a tendency to get lazy and languid with their affluence and almost expect things to just continue to run smoothly. They are easily distracted by all the gadgets and apparati in their lives and just get by as time goes passing by. But not the groups I have mentioned, especially not those who are first or second generation immigrants to one of these western democracies that are stable and serve as a beacon.
