The Book thread...

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CoB
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by CoB »

dirk gently just came in the mail today (i think probably yesterday)
though i have seen the movie so cant be bothered reading, but want to read it!!
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

not sure who here reccomended "The end of Mr Y" but im liking it!
loving the otherworldliness of it.

i got through 'the post birthday world' in the end but found it pretty drawn out and all the characters pretty annoying hehehe
reasonably well written though!
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by quiet roar »

^^ It's cool, isn't it (end of mr y)?

Try "bad monkeys" by matt ruff, if you haven't already. You'll finish it in a day but it's a lot of fun.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

i still have a big stack by my bed for now rob ;)

did you end up coming to the gallery show on wednesday? it was packed!
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by Lizkins »

just finished Rock Star babylon - lots of little stories about rock stars and what they get up, like apparently Mike Patton shitting into a hair dryer in a hotel that annoyed him. Was okay, but i had heard most of the stories, so wasn't too shocked. Cept that one actually lol

now reading: Friends of the Family. Story about the cops who worked for the mafia in New York: Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa. So far its pretty interesting reading
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by gnat »

i'm reading life by keith richards

keith is an even cooler cat than i thought

GEEEEEZER
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by Brain »

Loved 'Life' by Keith. Jeez he took a lot of drugs. The ironic thing is, he hasn't written a good song since he stopped taking them...Hmmmmmm
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by Lizkins »

gnat wrote:i'm reading life by keith richards

keith is an even cooler cat than i thought

GEEEEEZER

want to read that one for sure. are there crazy stories?
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by Brain »

Lizkins wrote:
gnat wrote:i'm reading life by keith richards

keith is an even cooler cat than i thought

GEEEEEZER

want to read that one for sure. are there crazy stories?
Lots of crazy stories as you'd expect from someone who would regularly stay up for five days without sleep.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by Lizkins »

sweet! getting that one for shizzle
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by youthful_implants »

I'm pretty devastated by the news that Borders and Angus and Robertson have gone into liquidation. I dont want want to buy books online, I love browsing in a real bookshop.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by retzie »

Deatttthhhhh to Borders :twisted:

Get a real book shop up ya!
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by youthful_implants »

:lol:
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by C.I.A. »

retzie wrote:Deatttthhhhh to Borders :twisted:

Get a real book shop up ya!
Yep, Wot she said.

From what I understand, these booksellers were using aggressive tactics much like Woolworths and Coles (i.e. screw your suppliers).

I'm sure that there are some good independent booksellers that would welcome you into their stores, YI :wink:
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by CoB »

there was some thing on the news yesterday about the price of books
lots of people going to lose their jobs because peple are just buying books overseas cos they wont decrease the prices of books.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

C.I.A. wrote:
retzie wrote:Deatttthhhhh to Borders :twisted:

Get a real book shop up ya!
Yep, Wot she said.

From what I understand, these booksellers were using aggressive tactics much like Woolworths and Coles (i.e. screw your suppliers).

I'm sure that there are some good independent booksellers that would welcome you into their stores, YI :wink:
totally.

a friend of mine was manager there for almost 10 years, and got treated like absolute shit.
fuck the bigwigs, they don't often have the niche stuff im looking for and I dont read things on oprah's book club list...
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by quiet roar »

CoB wrote:lots of people going to lose their jobs because peple are just buying books overseas cos they wont decrease the prices of books.
morons
Not true.


Borders' demise has been on the cards for a while now, and although it's an indication of the overall state of the industry (i.e. fucked), I can't help but feel happy they are gone, for all the reasons mentioned above, and a few more.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by FoundationStepper »

I don't want to be adversarial, but it doesn't seem clear that border's demise is wholly to do with mismanagement. how can you write off this [edit: i.e. overseas buying and web] as a factor with such certainty? the issue of parallel importation has again been raised around this, and while it might be just an excuse to divert from mismanagement, it's not clear to me. how can we totally ignore online buying as a pressure on the industry?

anyway it seemed looking at some analysis from authors/publishers that its not great news for independents and australian authors - whether just in boding ill for the industry or the direct impact on volumes sold.

Again, I'm genuinely curious about the argument against removing the parallel import restrictions - as in spelling it out clearly, which I haven't seen. there seemed to be something about australian authors getting a fairer commission under this arrangement than in foreign cases, which seems a fair factor?

If this collapse is a signal of the future (rather than just poor corporate decisions) it could be read to be that any protectionist measures are just staving off the inevitable
Last edited by FoundationStepper on Sun Feb 20, 2011 2:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by apophenian »

FoundationStepper wrote:I don't want to be adversarial, but it doesn't seem clear that border's demise is wholly to do with mismanagement. how can you write off this as a factor with such certainty? the issue of parallel importation has again been raised around this, and while it might be just an excuse to divert from mismanagement, it's not clear to me. how can we totally ignore online buying as a pressure on the industry?
Agree completely. I sort of understand the removal of most of their dvd items, but to replace them with homewares and toys mystifies me. also removing the business/computing sections seems sort of weird to me as well. Hopefully the demise of these types of stores actually helps independent/niche booksellers somewhat.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by CoB »

quiet roar wrote:
CoB wrote:lots of people going to lose their jobs because peple are just buying books overseas cos they wont decrease the prices of books.
morons
Not true.


Borders' demise has been on the cards for a while now, and although it's an indication of the overall state of the industry (i.e. fucked), I can't help but feel happy they are gone, for all the reasons mentioned above, and a few more.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by Kaiproject »

just bought Against All Things Ending (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Book 3) [HARDBACK]
on amazon: $17 for a hardcover, a buck or so more converted to AUD, probably about $5 shipping (when combined with other items).

that's less than half Border's crazy in-store price of $50.

even with their coupon business which you always have to wait for, it sucks


browsing bookshops can be fun, definitely independents like Readings the most fun. can stumble upon some great stuff you wouldn't otherwise. i find it best for Art/Design/Architecture that kind of thing though - big books heavy on imagery which you need to see on the page before you commit to buy. for fiction i tend to know what authors i like and so much easier to shop online if the prices are hugely cheaper which they usually are....
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by youthful_implants »

C.I.A. wrote:
retzie wrote:Deatttthhhhh to Borders :twisted:

Get a real book shop up ya!
Yep, Wot she said.

From what I understand, these booksellers were using aggressive tactics much like Woolworths and Coles (i.e. screw your suppliers).

I'm sure that there are some good independent booksellers that would welcome you into their stores, YI :wink:
maybe but I like the range in Borders and imported books are already ridiculously expensive in Oz. I'd rather not pay even more tbh.

plus Fitzroy isn't exactly convenient for me.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

there's loads of independant bookstores that arent just in fitzroy!!!

I have spent most of today reading "Hearts & Minds" by Amanda Craig.

Amazing read. Fantastic characters, great style, and the second half each chapter ended with a line that kept me turning pages. It was a little like the movie Crash about racism, and lots of different peoples lives affecting each other, but set in London. could not put it down.

highly recommend.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by youthful_implants »

ghetto kitty wrote:there's loads of independant bookstores that arent just in fitzroy!!!

I have spent most of today reading "Hearts & Minds" by Amanda Craig.

Amazing read. Fantastic characters, great style, and the second half each chapter ended with a line that kept me turning pages. It was a little like the movie Crash about racism, and lots of different peoples lives affecting each other, but set in London. could not put it down.

highly recommend.
if you like that you'd probably like White Teeth by Zadie Smith.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Teeth
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Re: The Book thread...

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Re: The Book thread...

Post by retzie »

youthful_implants wrote:maybe but I like the range in Borders and imported books are already ridiculously expensive in Oz. I'd rather not pay even more tbh.

plus Fitzroy isn't exactly convenient for me.
How'd you know the indies don't have an even better range ;). Readings headquarters is in Carlton (directly across the road from which Borders opened a gigantic store - cunts.) There are many other branches (all further south):

* Carlton
* Hawthorn
* Malvern
* Port Melbourne
* St Kilda
* State Library

Oh, a good one for foodies is Books for Cooks on Gertrude St.

Never having set foot in a Borders in Oz, I don't know what their prices are like. I thought everyone was bound by manufacturers' prices anyway? That's why there is such a problem with people shipping from OS (rather than just playing the local competition card.)

Either way, I heartily recommend checking out an independent book shop. If you like the Borders experience YI, it is only going to get better with less evil :)
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

youthful_implants wrote:
ghetto kitty wrote:there's loads of independant bookstores that arent just in fitzroy!!!

I have spent most of today reading "Hearts & Minds" by Amanda Craig.

Amazing read. Fantastic characters, great style, and the second half each chapter ended with a line that kept me turning pages. It was a little like the movie Crash about racism, and lots of different peoples lives affecting each other, but set in London. could not put it down.

highly recommend.
if you like that you'd probably like White Teeth by Zadie Smith.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Teeth
yup, read it. ;)
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by youthful_implants »

retzie wrote:
youthful_implants wrote:maybe but I like the range in Borders and imported books are already ridiculously expensive in Oz. I'd rather not pay even more tbh.

plus Fitzroy isn't exactly convenient for me.
How'd you know the indies don't have an even better range ;). Readings headquarters is in Carlton (directly across the road from which Borders opened a gigantic store - cunts.) There are many other branches (all further south):

* Carlton
* Hawthorn
* Malvern
* Port Melbourne
* St Kilda
* State Library

Oh, a good one for foodies is Books for Cooks on Gertrude St.

Never having set foot in a Borders in Oz, I don't know what their prices are like. I thought everyone was bound by manufacturers' prices anyway? That's why there is such a problem with people shipping from OS (rather than just playing the local competition card.)

Either way, I heartily recommend checking out an independent book shop. If you like the Borders experience YI, it is only going to get better with less evil :)
lol you really hate them dont you?
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by apophenian »

I agree - go the independants!

Polyester on Brunswick Street is great for weird/fringe items, and I finally made it to the Haunted bookstore in the city which has all sorts of nice occult/weird items.

I also love a good second hand book store.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by retzie »

youthful_implants wrote:lol you really hate them dont you?
Yesss :angel11:

I have been going to Readings since I was a little kid and completely imprinted on it. It is what gave me the <3 for bookshops in the first place. I remember when it was in an old terrace house on the other side of Lygon and the kids books lived upstairs. I was even the work experience kid there for a bit :mistyeyes:

Then Borders-cunts opened up right across the road. It was like when fucken Starbucks opened on Lygon St. Except it has taken way longer for their incredibly gratifying failure :twisted:

It's one thing to open a branch of a chain in fucken Chadstone or something, but right across the road from a beloved local independent? Get fucked.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

totally agree with Retzie.

Borders no better than nike - oh wait, everyone here wears nike too :lol:
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by Lizkins »

little insider info here - the reason Borders is going down is because: high cost on locations of stores (they have all their stores in the most expensive spots around Melbourne); over staffing; and too much product on floor not moving.


i think its always sad when a business goes down, loss of money and jobs is never good. I do love independent book shops, but i tend to find A&R pretty handy on locations around CBD when i am out on my lunchbreak and i can get to one and buy a new book

at any rate, they ain't over yet, there is still a possibility of someone coming in and buying/taking them over and fixing the above issues.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by lilstormer »

I'm with Retzie on the Borders thing. Just to add to that, they have an anti-union policy for staff... not good.

On the subject of local independent bookstores... my fave is Brunswick Bound (361 Sydney Road) awesome selection and you'll be supporting a melbourne beater if you go there ;) They also stock a great selection of music, on Vinyl and cd.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by deviant »

lilstormer wrote:they have an anti-union policy for staff... not good.
isn't that illegal?
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by lilstormer »

deviant wrote:
lilstormer wrote:they have an anti-union policy for staff... not good.
isn't that illegal?
Not sure... they have training booklets for their managers about discouraging Union membership for staff and how to do this... not good really.

nice bike you got btw ;)
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by FoundationStepper »

heres an argument for the parallel importing restrictions, on a right wing blog no less

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andr ... importing/

basically, that publishers and distributors set prices to reflect the best return they can get in local markets. (sell cheaper in india as you need to to sell volumes, sell more expensive in australia as you don't need to sell cheaper to get the same volume...) and that importing across markets erodes these agreements

hmmm ... but if consumers regardless avoid these barriers (online buying) then does it achieve anything?
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by quick »

CoB wrote:dirk gently just came in the mail today (i think probably yesterday)
every time i read that, i think you are telling us that a guy called Dirk Gently came in your mail... which would be pretty gross
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by witty_pseudonym »

A good friend writes a weekly column in The Statesman newspaper in India. His latest is on the joys of the second hand book and very timely with what's happening here. Enjoy. :)
Something that never fails to bring a smile to my face is discovering second-hand books that I’ve been hunting for. Most of the books in my collection have been picked up from stalls and bazaars; only rarely do I buy them from stores. I completely agree with Virginia Woolf when she says that ‘second hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.’

There are several charms to used books which makes treasure hunting for them a vivid experience. First of all there is the smell which is an otherworldly whiff that has roots in aging pulp and for me is the olfactory equivalent of a museum trip. At times, I simply walk down the aisles of libraries sniffing their stock of old books (onlookers often look at me like I’m a bit mental). I also love the yellowed colour of the pages which indicates a tenderness that must be handled with care.

Another reason why I love buying second-hand books is for the scribbles. So many of these books contain heartfelt dedications from the senders to the receivers. Sometimes it’s a poem from one lover to another, sometimes an inside joke between friends. The most memorable of these was a scribble by a daughter wishing happy birthday to her father that I found in a used copy of Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov). It made me wonder what the dynamic of their relationship was and if either of them had ever heard of the book and its infamous plot. Then there was the ‘get well soon’ greeting from one friend to another, put rather ironically in a copy of Nausea (Jean Paul Sartre). Such idiosyncrasies of human interaction can only be found in used books because a lot of times when people gift each other books, the personal emotion shared is perceptible and naked.

Some other gems I find from time to time in used books are bookmarks left over by the previous owner. I often find boarding-cards left inside which makes me wonder about the journeys made by the previous readers and what was going through their minds as they read the same books that I now hold in my hands. Another thing I regularly find being used as bookmarks are flower petals but the best bookmark I ever found was a 100 rupee note that an absentminded reader had left behind in a book I bought.

In Calcutta, people always think of College street as the destination for books but as any reader would tell you, these days most of the bookshops there only deal with academic books. Those looking for a wider range of fiction and non-fiction would do well to venture to Free school street or Gariahat market (under the flyover). Books there are very cheap and the sellers are usually quite knowledgeable about their stock. London is the city with the most availability of used books with Camden and Portobello road being particularly famous. I remember when once, while studying in UK, I went shopping for books with an empty suitcase and carried it around for the whole day. This was after the July, 1995 bombings in London so the police were understandably unnerved by a bearded young man roaming around the city with baggage. They stopped and searched me but imagine their surprise when instead of RDX, they only found existentialist novels! The cops grinned and told me to get a shave... and of them even suggested that I read The Plague by Albert Camus. Such is life.

Some people insist that the arrival of the e-book and devices such as Kindle and iPad spells doom for the physical book. However, I beg to differ. For a serious reader there can be no substitute for the real thing which needs no battery, can be dropped about, shared freely and can even be used as a weapon (if in hardback format). Also, there is no such thing as a second-hand e-book which for a collector like me is a deal breaker. So in parting, I leave you with a quote by Leigh Hunt: “The second-hand bookseller is second to none in the worth of the treasures he dispenses.”
...
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by quiet roar »

No time, at the moment, to write my own thoughts/experiences but here are 2 articles that are pretty spot on.


http://www.theage.com.au/national/scary ... 1azqb.html


http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/societ ... 1b41y.html


And YI, even apart from readings, there are independent bookshops in most areas of melbourne: give 'em a go.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

BU quiet roar being on the front cover of Melb times weekly today.

rob - since reading the article and thinking more about my book consumption, i have this to say. Yes, the nature of retail is changing. Yes, the smaller independant booksellers are up against a big challenge with the power of amazon etc. Yes, if we love books we need to support them more.
if i read a book a month, I would spend a sunday browsing your store and buying something you reccomended, and savour it.

but i read two books a week! and i srsly dont have time to browse.

however, I am going to visit Brunswick bound soon and chat with you, and buy my next round of novels from you direct. I am currently reading 'The Passage" which is huge, but after that I'm heading your way. (mecka did you reccommend that one? - cannot put it down apart from the fact its so huge it is knocking me out in bed and giving me hand cramps :lol:)

:)

also - Peter Hoeg "The quiet girl" - HATED this. did not even finish. boooooring, terrible narrative, really dissapointed as I loved "Smillas sense of snow"
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by system »

ghetto kitty wrote:Peter Hoeg "The quiet girl" - HATED this. did not even finish. boooooring, terrible narrative, really dissapointed as I loved "Smillas sense of snow"
i had the converse experience tbh - i loved "the quiet girl" equally to "miss smilla's feeling for snow". there was a lot of controversy around the release of the novel at the time of its original release, which is noted on the wikipedia page for høeg.

that's the nature of a creative work though, opinion is totally subjective.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by Hardy »

quick wrote:
CoB wrote:dirk gently just came in the mail today (i think probably yesterday)
every time i read that, i think you are telling us that a guy called Dirk Gently came in your mail... which would be pretty gross
The fact that it says "gently" makes it even creepier.
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by quick »

soft and gently... with a slight whimper...
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

system wrote:
ghetto kitty wrote:Peter Hoeg "The quiet girl" - HATED this. did not even finish. boooooring, terrible narrative, really dissapointed as I loved "Smillas sense of snow"
i had the converse experience tbh - i loved "the quiet girl" equally to "miss smilla's feeling for snow". there was a lot of controversy around the release of the novel at the time of its original release, which is noted on the wikipedia page for høeg.

that's the nature of a creative work though, opinion is totally subjective.
interesting. tbh i was really looking forward to it...but the narrative was my main problem with it, each night when i picked it up i just had nfi what was going on.
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quiet roar
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by quiet roar »

Come visit me, 'kitty, and you'll walk away with twice as many books as you buy :)
The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well
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ghetto kitty
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

oh weallllly :D

do you guys take secondhand books too for credit etc?
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ghetto kitty
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

i finished 'The Passage" last week.
it is hands down the BEST zombie/apocalypse book I have EVER read.
it is the size of half a yellow pages, and i literally tore through it.
great narrative, great characters, 9 out of 10 (i think i wanted more from the ending)

now i totally need new reccomendations, and i need to go visit brunswick bound! (i was gonna but wasnt sure when you guys were open over the weekend)
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witty_pseudonym
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by witty_pseudonym »

some really interesting books coming out at the moment challenging traditional economic models and and theories of development. probs sounds totes boring to youse, but i had a $200 wish list going when i started on the slippery slope of internet shopping this morning. restraint was the order of the day.
Last edited by witty_pseudonym on Wed Apr 27, 2011 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ghetto kitty
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by ghetto kitty »

:lol:

so they are non fiction studies?
i has non fiction books on the go - need novels!
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witty_pseudonym
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Re: The Book thread...

Post by witty_pseudonym »

yup. like this one - http://www.pooreconomics.com/
amazing how exciting i get by this stuff. :oops:
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