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BOOK LOVERS CLUB

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by Future role model, Apr 6, 2018.

How often do you read books?

  1. All the time

    62 vote(s)
    29.0%
  2. Often

    110 vote(s)
    51.4%
  3. Rarely

    37 vote(s)
    17.3%
  4. I don't read at all

    5 vote(s)
    2.3%
  1. MidnightOil

    MidnightOil Fapstronaut

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    I used to read books all the time, especially in the summer. Then, starting in 8th grade, we were given assigned reading. I could never read for fun when I knew I should be reading those books instead. As a result, I probably read 90% less than I did before (I'm a sophomore in college now). This seemed to be the norm among other kids at least in my honors English classes. At least some of my classes allowed you to chose your own books from a list of classics. I'm a political junkie who enjoys drawing parallels between aspects of today's society and dystopian novels. I loved 1984, Brave New World, and Lord of The Flies. I just recently bought Camp of The Saints, which will be the first novel I've read outside of a class in years. Just by reading and exercising instead of wasting time on porn when I'm bored, I think I'll see a lot of self improvement.
     
  2. Ugh, I hate that. I remember when I went to a Christian school in 3rd grade and my teacher wouldn't let me read a freaking Nancy Drew book because there are boys and girls kissing or some crap in "those kind of books." Nothing kills the joy of reading more than telling kids they can't read the things they want to because they don't fit your guidelines.
     
  3. Duellant

    Duellant Fapstronaut

    @Dane17 learn a new language! The ealier to start the better! Then you have the whole literature of a new language to discover.
    [what about German? ;)]

    But also try some authors from your own country now and then :p
     
    Future role model likes this.
  4. Thanks for suggestion. I've already tried learning German via Duolingo, but I really don't like the way that app teaches you. I'm thinking about singing up for a course, but it's too expensive for me right now.
     
  5. Sight

    Sight Fapstronaut

    BOOK THREAD? BOOK THREAD.

    So - current fiction goals -
    Read Elantris, everything Mistborn related, and non-Cosmere series by Brandon Sanderson. (NEW RECKONERS SEQUEL WOO)
    Read through Wheel of Time.
    Read Atlas Shrugged.
    Read Fahrenheit 451.
    Read Brave New World.
    Read the Man Who Was Thursday.
    Read...something I am probably forgetting. THERE BE SO MUCH BREHS.

    Non-fiction goals -
    Re-read On Writing by Stephen King. And No Plot No Problem.
    Read Gotham Writer's Workshop.
    Read Elements of Style and actually probably redo everything on English grammar in general because I never actually finished studying it and I think it might be important if I want to actually edit my would-be novels.
    Read Homo Sapiens and Homo Deus.
    Read Archetypes of Writers.
    Read Subtle Art of Not Giving a F%%%.
    Read Hiding in the Bathroom.
    Read anything by Murakami that's actually clean and not triggering. ...It doesn't exist does it. DAMN IT MURAKAMI.
    Read Kazuo Ishiguro with the same hopes. Did I get the author right? Ah, whatevs.
    Finally finish You Are Not Your Brain and actually do the exercises maybe??

    What I am actually currently managing to read at a snails pace -
    Gotham Writer's Workshop. I think I should re-read On Writing instead or maybe just...IDK, anything, like Slight Edge, or Power of Habits.

    THERE BE A BOOK THREAD HERE AAAAAAA

    -----

    @Castielle Name change? Tangential thought, moving on - you are an author?! Or did I horribly misunderstand your post? Assuming you wish to stay private about that - what genres do you like writing in?
    Also also
    would you say Jenna Moreci is a clean read? As in, nuffink too titillating in her works?
     
    Mirach and Future role model like this.
  6. Lol yeah, I was a little concerned about anonymity, because my old name was the same username I use for all kinds of stuff.

    And yes, I am an author :p I don't know that I have a specific genre I enjoy most, but the romantic subplot is always my favorite part of any story. Favorite part to read and to write.

    And yeah, so far Jenna is great in that. I don't like writers who are overly fluffy with their words. She is a good writer, but not in a pretentious way at all. Some authors, particularly some indie authors, can be really bad at that, for sure. But she's not one of them. :)
     
    Sight and Future role model like this.
  7. Her book, The Savior's Champion, is a bit reminiscent of The Hunger Games, in my opinion. So if that's your thing, you'll probably like it.
     
    Sight and Future role model like this.
  8. Sight

    Sight Fapstronaut

    Ah man, that's glorious. If I may - how long did it take you to get published? Or did you go the self-publishing route? Feel free to ignore that question entirely, that's aight. May thee haveth a long and blessed career!

    Gah, romance used to be my bane(talking a long time), definitely more at ease with it now, though I have yet to try reading one fully romance oriented.
    I blame CW(the channel, yus), both for getting used to it and for elongating the getting used to and enjoying it process in the first place lol.
    Maybe I should try reading Fault in Our Stars or something, IDK.

    If I may, one more - any personal preferences on how you yourself approach writing romance? Or editing it, if you are more of a freestyling writer who sits down, shuts the old noggin off and lets the words fly and goes over it all again later. Because down with procrastination yo! Or something.
    Feel free to ignore that one too lol.

    Eeeek, more clean authors, huzzah! And yeah, something slightly Hunger Games like sounds right up my alley, I basically eat up anything fantasy/sci-fi/modern fantasy/crime/alternate history, so yeah :3

    ----
    @oneaffidavit

    This is a bit of a toughie, but you can always start with the classic How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carneige.
    Another one, though I haven't read it, its apparently just been chilling in my library lol - The Art of Talking to Anyone by Rosalie Maggio.

    Nothing will replace real life socializing however. If you have family members/cousins you haven't talked to in a long time, start there maybe? If they are good/good-ish people anywho.
    Find people who will be comfortable with your initial awkwardness, they do exist. Don't put either gender or other people on a pedestal in general, no matter your life or how it has gone so far, you matter just as much as them, alright?

    ----

    @phantomforce_2123
    Oh man, Animal Farm...that one was chilling. Read it two years ago, still remember quite a bit.
    Funnily enough, I didn't realize it was meant to be allegorical to early 90's Russian history until I finished it and looked it up.
    I know, I know, fo' shame Sight, fo' shame. I need to brush up on muh history too, aight?! ;_;

    DUDE DUDE, THE ENDING WAS PERFECT THO. What would you even change it too?! Its so gloriously chilling.
     
    Future role model likes this.
  9. Self published :) I queried some agents for a while, but the more I read about it the more I didn't like the idea of waiting that long, or of having an agent at all anyway.

    Lol well if you're interested, my book is called Keep No Record, on Amazon. ;) I haven't read the fault in our stars, but paper towns is one of my favorites. My favorite romance author though is probably Sarah Dessen. I can never remember which book of hers is my favorite though, since they're all kind of similar. I definitely know I liked Saint Anything and The Truth About Forever.

    Haha no problem, I'm happy to answer. I generally daydream a lot and then write whatever is currently flowing in my mind the most. I write all of those "scenes" that I'm most excited about first, and then I go back and start at the beginning and connect everything. I'm not sure if that answers your question or not? Lol it was a tad confusing.

    It just occurred to me that I might have misunderstood your previous question. Did you mean "clean" as in, like, no sex or swearing or something? Because that I can't really answer yet, for Jenna Moreci. There's definitely already been quite a bit of swearing (I'm on chapter 3), but no sex yet. Lol although it's still super early, and I know she isn't opposed to writing sex scenes.

    Sorry, I totally read that question completely differently the first time around. Lol Sarah Dessen is usually pretty clean though, if you're interested in romance at all. I don't think I've ever read a sex scene in any of her books, and I've read a lot of them. And of course my books will always be pretty safe :)
     
    Sight and Future role model like this.
  10. CBook

    CBook Fapstronaut

    Not sure if you're actually asking but The Remains of the Day is clean and worth your time!
     
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  11. Sight

    Sight Fapstronaut

    Makes sense, makes sense. I gotta ask though, how do you manage your deadlines and such or self-accountability/discipline? If you keep them I mean, everyone has their own process in the end and deadlines don't suit everyone so...

    Paper Towns is by the same author yeah? I actually got the ending of the movie spoiled to me lol, still, maybe something worth visiting even knowing that.
    I-I make no promises lol(hate even accidental false expectations, doesn't even matter how well I know someone to me, which is silly I guess), plusI keep a very restricted internet setup as is and literally don't have Amazon access at the moment.
    On the other hand, new book. By someone who's #woke and part of this site and knows what's up.
    ....so has anyone built a time machine yet or wut, will also take pocket dimension where time is stopped or slowed down.


    Tad confusing basically describes every writer's process lol.
    Or that's what I like to think anyways ahaha ;_; kinda why On Writing is one of my favorites on the subject of writing.
    ...oh wait crap nvm I haven't actually read that many books about writing, which is why its my favorite. WELP.
    But nah, I get it, that did answer the question. Thanks! :3

    Have you ever tried NaNoWriMo BTW? If I am getting how you write, it might be up your alley to try once, go in with a vague concept or literally nothing and blitz 50000 words in one month!
    Could be a fun challenge!

    Oh also also if you write via software - Cold Turkey Writer is great for discipline/procrastsination reasons. If you've ever run into problems like that anywho. I have routinely run into them so I kinda have a tendency to just recommend this to any writer I run across at this point, feel free to ignore this bit.

    Oh, that's my B, I often forget to clarify that. In that I never do.

    Just no sex, or more specifically no describing any acts. If it like most Brandon Sanderson novels fades to black and then goes "and then they chortled in the bed together and considered sleeping five more hours because yay its a Sunday" or something then it's perfectly fine in my books.
    Just...yeah, basically no sex or objectification/creepy gaze stuff.

    Thanks for answering, guess its something to check before I actually try to get into it, and yeah, gonna chuck Sarah Dessen onto that ever-growing list lol.
    In my defense, the romance authors list I got is very small so chances are I will read something lol.

    Spoiler'd for scrolling ease.


    @CBook
    Confession?
    I don't actually know which books he has written, just that I know I am often recommended to follow him.
    Ergo, thanks for the suggestion and the assurance! I appreciate it :3
    Any Japanese authors you have read perchance, if I may ask? Or an Ishiguro fan in general?

    ----

    What authors do you guys follow actually? I have only really started following Sanderson in the last two years, otherwise I just tend to read random things pretty much.
    Any writers that get their works translated to English perchance?
     
    CBook and Future role model like this.
  12. I don't really do deadlines. The minute I put pressure on my writing, it completely kills my passion, so I just don't do it. I would like to get this new book out by Christmas, but I don't know if that's going to happen. If it doesn't, I'm not too worried about it. I'm more concerned about making something really good and enjoying the process.

    Yes, John Green. He's an incredible author. Some of the best first person narrative and dialog I've ever read. I loved that book.

    Lol no worries. I don't ever want people to feel pressured to read my stuff. It's not for everybody, anyway, but most people who have read it enjoyed it.

    I actually just heard of this for the first time recently, and I don't really think it's the best idea. As I said above, deadlines really kill my creative passion and instantly make everything feel like work and not fun anymore. Since I'm not a professional author full time or anything, I try to just do what I find to be the most fun. :) it does sound somewhat like a fun challenge, but idk, there are a lot of cons. Jenna Moreci actually did a video about the cons of it that I agree with.

    Huh, interesting. I haven't heard of that. I do procrastinate sometimes and get blocked, but again, I tend to just wait it out until I feel better about what I'm writing. Most of the time when I work in that state anyway I just feel like it all sucks and end up more discouraged. But sometimes it's good to push through.

    Yeah, Sarah Dessen is safe then for sure. Jenna Moreci I'm not sure about yet. I'll let you know whenever I finally read the book. Lol I'm a slow reader.

    I don't really follow anyone, except sort of Sarah Dessen. I don't hardcore follow her, but whenever I see something new of hers I always want it. And Jenna Moreci I follow because of her YouTube channel. She has a lot of great writing advice there, and she's super funny.
     
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  13. ele7ven

    ele7ven Fapstronaut

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    I worked in a bookstore for 3 years but paradoxically I had probably the least time to read... Working in such a place, somehow you absorb the content of books and about authors even without reading, only interacting with books and readers.

    I see you are a fan of Bayern, @Dane17. When I was a kid, I supported them very much and I knew everything about the club. Today only supporting my compatriot - you have to admit that Robert Lewandowski is an amazing player :) Greetings from Poland!
     
    Future role model likes this.
  14. CBook

    CBook Fapstronaut

    Glad to be of service! Unfortunately I can't offer you more advice - I can't recall having read anything else by Japanese authors. I decided to read something by Ishiguro when he won the Nobel prize in literature last year.
     
    Sight likes this.
  15. Yes he is! :)
    Sadly he will probably leave the club at the end of this season. His performance in last two games against Real weren't the best and many club legends and fans are kinda disappointed... Anyways I always liked Lewy, he is one of the best, if not the best striker in the world!
     
    ele7ven likes this.
  16. Bucklord

    Bucklord Fapstronaut

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    Is that by Walter Isaacson?

    I have his biography of Jobs on my shelf waiting to be read.
    It's hard to find time to read for fun, but when I can i've been consuming biographies. Right now i'm reading a biography about Alexander Von Humboldt. Just finished one on Voltaire, John Muir, and another on Seneca.

    My most recommended books would be As a Man Thinketh, Antifragile, and A man's search for meaning.
     
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  17. No, it's his own autobiography. Some people recommended me reading Walter Isaacsons biographies, they said they are great. I really consider reading his "Steve Jobs" book. If you read it before me tell me your thoughts.I'm pretty sure it's worth reading.
     
  18. ele7ven

    ele7ven Fapstronaut

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    I was listening to some part of the audiobook and really liked it.
    Unfortunately, I did not have time to listen to the whole book. Certainly, you're right - it's worth reading.
     
    Future role model likes this.
  19. iñaki

    iñaki Fapstronaut

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    I just started "Your erroneous zones" by Wayne Dyer, a friend of mine recommended it for me.

    This is my first self-help book ever (I've always thought they where rubbish), surprisingly I'm enjoying the reading so far.
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2018
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  20. Bucklord

    Bucklord Fapstronaut

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    I definitely will. He has a wonderful style of writing that keeps you connected to the character.

    What are your main take-away's from Franklin's autobiography so far? I love the brilliant minds that were born of post-enlightenment like Humboldt, Goethe, and Thomas Jefferson. It seemed that being a renaissance man was the fashion of the day, I wish it were like that now.

    Is Franklin's autobiography like poor Richard's almanac where its filled with maxims and short stories of wisdom? Or does he expand deeper into his life, his short comings and successes and how he got there? Does it feel honest? I see it was written for his Son to read in particular.
     

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