Recent comments in /f/books

BiggieCheese184769 t1_j8q9g0u wrote

Reply to Books that made it easier to get up in the morning by NotBorris

So many. I don't know if that's more of a testament to how much I love to read or how unenthused I can sometimes be by all the daily routine stuff.

Right now it's The Brothers K by David James Duncan. A few books before that one I was reading Legends Of The Fall but that's a short collection so that really only got me out of bed one day and then I finished it. I remember feeling that way about The Shining, and I agree with you about Vonnegut OP.

When I first went through all of Vonnegut's stuff I was a dopey 20 year old working a warehouse gig and used to read if I was early to work, on my lunch break and as soon as I got home. I got a lot of reading done but it definitely kept me too distracted to improve my situation for a while. As long as that's not happening to you, there's no greater feeling than waking up excited to get back after whatever it is you're reading.

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TauriesStella t1_j8q8dwu wrote

Reply to comment by steffan182 in Simple Questions: February 14, 2023 by AutoModerator

Oh, my apologies! I think I read over that part. Yeah, I can't think of any that allows for chapter point. I do know Storygraph is very actively getting new and improved features, so something like that may come eventually... But no guarantees. If you'd like the true book club (but online) feel, then I think your best bet might be to try Goodreads for the time being!

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TauriesStella t1_j8q5zps wrote

Reply to comment by steffan182 in Simple Questions: February 14, 2023 by AutoModerator

The only two apps/sites that come to mind are Goodreads and Storygraph. Both offer the features you're looking for, but for both, you'll have to find a group to do a book club with. I know Goodreads has actual book clubs you can join, or even create your own. And Storygraph has "buddy reads" which I believe work very similarly to Goodreads' book clubs, but with a much smaller number of people.

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medusawink t1_j8pxshk wrote

Reply to What is the strangest way you've found a book? by WendellSanders01

One recent strange book experience concerns my one-eyed ambition to purchase an Anthology of Chinese Literature. It was unbelievably expensive brand new...so I haunted 2nd hand book websites for months looking for an affordable copy. Even so it appeared that if the book was affordable it was also pretty trashed. One fine day a copy magically appeared in my search - it was in reputedly in excellent condition, at a ridiculously low price. It is a hefty tome so I knew that the cost of shipping was going to be considerable. It almost doubled the price, but I was determined to have this book so i swallowed the costs and bought it.

Once the book arrived I was delighted with its virtually new condition, and secretly quite gruntled that I had coughed up the money for it. I was even more delighted when I started leafing through the book and discovered a stash of 10 and 20 US dollar notes lying fresh and crisp throughout the pages. It precisely covered the total cost of the book. I really was meant to have it!

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steffan182 t1_j8pw105 wrote

Reply to Simple Questions: February 14, 2023 by AutoModerator

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a book club app I can use which has the following criteria:

  1. Add a book to currently reading

  2. Tracks book progress by chapter rather than pages (for example, you finished chapter 4 so you tap chapter 4 for the book on the app)

  3. push notifications to other members of the club when you've finished a chapter. let's say you finished chapter 4 late at night, you update the progress on the app and the members see a notification on their phones when they wake up that says "steffan182 has read Chapter 4"

I'm not sure if anything like it exists as I've been looking online. My next bet is to create a simple app (first learn how to create apps lol) to get this done. If you can recommend something that meets the above criteria, I'd appreciate it -- thanks!

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CrazyCatLady108 t1_j8pvd5w wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in What is the strangest way you've found a book? by WendellSanders01

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Gezz66 t1_j8pu4yr wrote

Reply to comment by ZeMastor in Cruelty and child abuse in "Oliver Twist" by SamN712

Before an unnecessary argument breaks out, I grew up in the UK, Scotland and Glasgow in particular. So rather more austere in comparison to a middle class US family.

I completely accept that taking the kids out to the pizza/burger joint was probably regular in the US. Interesting, but our perception back then was that US kids were spoilt brats. But I wouldn't now - it's just an indication of how standards changed.

Might also add, I attended a school where corporal punishment was normal, but curiously no one questioned it. We were just urchins that needed fixing, and besides, it toughened you up. Looking back, that value is quite shocking and such practices were banned in 80's (it had to go to the European Court though).

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-iAmAnEnemy- t1_j8pc2r5 wrote

Reply to Simple Questions: February 14, 2023 by AutoModerator

I'm just wondering why this particular book is so hard to find in hardcover. I was under the impression that this genre didn't have as many readers compared to conventional ones so what gives? Do I need to look in better, more obscure places to find it? I have a paperback en route to me but I'm all about hardcovers first and foremost. Can anyone help me out?

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urban_snowshoer t1_j8pbwzq wrote

Reply to Being Mortal by Atul Gawande by moneyforsoy

I read this in the not too distant past and I'll confess it was hard to read at times--end of life is not the easiest topic, whether it be for yourself or facing the realization that you're loved ones, especially if they're older, are going to be faced with the prospect of making those decisions some day.

That being said, it was an excellent read even for someone like myself who is hopefully decades (not years) away from having to get my affairs in order make those decisions.

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belladonna_nectar t1_j8p3ynr wrote

Reply to Being Mortal by Atul Gawande by moneyforsoy

Bought it about an year ago on sale. I had high hopes, thinking it might be the type of book I love, a mix of science, (auto)biography and a bit of poetical style. Maybe I judged it too soon, but ( please don't throw stones at me), it ended up being used as a flower press :/

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ZeMastor t1_j8p17zx wrote

Reply to comment by AccomplishedWasabi54 in Cruelty and child abuse in "Oliver Twist" by SamN712

The statement was NOT quantified as "people living in poverty in the 1960's and 70's..." and poverty did not guarantee child abuse. Most parents of the 1960's and 70's who were poor were not monsters, and it's insulting to a hella lot of good people to imply that they were.

I still challenge the description of how things were in the 1960's and 70's as described by the poster I was replying to.

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