Author Topic: x86 Book Club? (Read 29477 times)

Ender · « **on:** September 06, 2009, 08:08:44 pm »

I would like to start a forum book club. In case you haven't noticed, forum activity is dwindling, and several prominent members are posting a mere once a week or once a month. I think this would be a good way to energize the forums. Also it will be really exciting for me personally to manage a book club =)

Here's how I propose it can run:

We will read a book a month. Members will propose book titles in a certain thread and the week before the new month we will have a vote on what to read. I think the books should be non-technical and should be comprehensible to everyone. Some possible genres we can cover are literary fiction, popular economics and politics, popular books on religion such as those Dawkins books which I despise >_>, popular science (like Stephen Hawking's book etc.), books on history, historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. (So you see there is a diverse range of topics!)

So tell me, who is interested?

Blaze · « **Reply #1 on:** September 07, 2009, 01:54:45 am »

I'd do this, so long as there is a guarantee everyone had access to said book.

Armin · « **Reply #2 on:** September 07, 2009, 02:03:36 am »

I'd do it.

Joe · « **Reply #3 on:** September 07, 2009, 02:28:39 am »

I'd tag along, I guess. Something to do while waiting for hurd to be released.

Ender · « **Reply #4 on:** September 07, 2009, 03:35:25 am »

Awesome. I believe Rule is going to do this, and I can persuade Kaleeko to it as well. Furthermore I may get a few friends of mine IRL to come on here and participate.

So the people I project so far are:

Blaze
Armin
Rule
Kaleeko
Friend or two of mine
Maybe Joe

Not bad. Anyone else?

iago · « **Reply #5 on:** September 07, 2009, 04:10:03 am »

Possibly in the future (after early 2010).. depends on a few things for me

rabbit · « **Reply #6 on:** September 07, 2009, 08:33:29 am »

I'll participate as long as I can afford the books.

Newby · « **Reply #7 on:** September 07, 2009, 03:42:44 pm »

I guess I can participate as long as I can acquire said books online. =P

j/k. I'm down. It seems like a good idea.

Ender · « **Reply #8 on:** September 07, 2009, 03:47:52 pm »

Absolutely the most important thing is that everyone in the book club is interested in the book =) Else it will fall flat on its face if no one reads the book

AntiVirus · « **Reply #9 on:** September 07, 2009, 05:31:59 pm »

I'd participate if you'd let me and if I could get my hands on the book. I don't know how much time I will be able to dedicate to leisurely reading, but I will put forth effort to finish it. School is rather demanding at the moment.

Ender · « **Reply #10 on:** September 07, 2009, 06:08:11 pm »

Quote from: AntiVirus on September 07, 2009, 05:31:59 pm

I'd participate if you'd let me and if I could get my hands on the book. I don't know how much time I will be able to dedicate to leisurely reading, but I will put forth effort to finish it. School is rather demanding at the moment.

No, we don't take people named Brandon

Of course I would let you

Towelie · « **Reply #11 on:** September 07, 2009, 10:26:53 pm »

If I had ample amounts of free time I would.... but I don't!

Armin · « **Reply #12 on:** October 20, 2009, 03:57:16 pm »

lets get this rolling. everyone nominate some books they want to read, then we can make a poll to choose what we read, then make a deadline based on that of a library book checkout period.

Ive wanted to read Keep the Aspidistra Flying (George Orwell) for a while.

iago · « **Reply #13 on:** October 20, 2009, 04:25:45 pm »

I'm going to be spending *a lot* of time on planes the next couple weeks. I vote Burmese Days (also by Orwell) because I was planning on bringing it with me and reading it on the plane anyway.

That being said, Aspidistra is an awesome book. I highly recommend it (though I've read it already)

Newby · « **Reply #14 on:** October 20, 2009, 08:36:03 pm »

I read Aspidistra for English my senior year of high school. It's a great book.

I also have Burmese Days. Good books all around!

Perhaps a different author?

Armin · « **Reply #15 on:** October 20, 2009, 08:51:51 pm »

Quote from: Newby on October 20, 2009, 08:36:03 pm

Perhaps a different author?

If you don't make specific recommendations, this idea will get nowhere.

rabbit · « **Reply #16 on:** October 20, 2009, 10:01:01 pm »

I read Aspidistra too. It's really good, though I don't remember a whole lot of it.

iago · « **Reply #17 on:** October 20, 2009, 10:08:07 pm »

I have 3 books in front of me that I want to read:

Terry Pratchett: Strata
Philip K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
George Orwell: Burmese days

If you guys pick any of those, I'll read it too. If you pick something else, I'm out (I'm trying to clear out my queue a bit

)

Armin · « **Reply #18 on:** October 20, 2009, 11:08:12 pm »

Burmese Days or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep sound good to me.

Newby · « **Reply #19 on:** October 21, 2009, 12:10:05 am »

I recommend the latter. It is probably one of my favorite books of all time. And it made Blade Runner shitty -- that's how good it was. Reading the book first and watching the movie after... wow. Blade Runner lacked.

Rule · « **Reply #20 on:** October 21, 2009, 06:48:39 am »

The movie Blade Runner is quite amazing too. Rutger Hauer is incredible in that, and it's Harrison Ford's best film -- he is quite good at non-verbal acting. There are 3 different versions of it though. Each version has different pros/cons.

I would recommend DADOES first. Although Burmese Days is a damn good book. It's better than Aspidistra. Both Androids.. and Burmese Days are worth reading. Maybe Androids first.

iago · « **Reply #21 on:** October 21, 2009, 08:37:26 am »

Quote from: Rule on October 21, 2009, 06:48:39 am

The movie Blade Runner is quite amazing too. Rutger Hauer is incredible in that, and it's Harrison Ford's best film -- he is quite good at non-verbal acting. There are 3 different versions of it though. Each version has different pros/cons.

I would recommend DADOES first. Although Burmese Days is a damn good book. It's better than Aspidistra. Both Androids.. and Burmese Days are worth reading. Maybe Androids first.

For what it's worth, the only reason I HAVE those books (including Aspidistra) is because of you.

So I'd call that agreement: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, unless anybody is against the idea. Though it may just be me and MM, at least Newby and Rule are familiar with the book too!

rabbit · « **Reply #22 on:** October 21, 2009, 09:09:03 am »

I'm up for it, though I have to go to the library or a book store.

Armin · « **Reply #23 on:** October 21, 2009, 10:20:33 am »

Cool, here's the eBook if anyone wants it. http://www.vaydenband.com/armin/DADOES.pdf

I hate eBooks myself and will be renting it from the library. If anyone wants the abridged audio book, let me know as well.

Rule · « **Reply #24 on:** October 21, 2009, 07:24:07 pm »

Quote from: iago on October 21, 2009, 08:37:26 am

Quote from: Rule on October 21, 2009, 06:48:39 am
The movie Blade Runner is quite amazing too. Rutger Hauer is incredible in that, and it's Harrison Ford's best film -- he is quite good at non-verbal acting. There are 3 different versions of it though. Each version has different pros/cons.

I would recommend DADOES first. Although Burmese Days is a damn good book. It's better than Aspidistra. Both Androids.. and Burmese Days are worth reading. Maybe Androids first.
For what it's worth, the only reason I HAVE those books (including Aspidistra) is because of you.

Hope that's a good thing!

iago · « **Reply #25 on:** October 21, 2009, 08:17:16 pm »

Quote from: Rule on October 21, 2009, 07:24:07 pm

Quote from: iago on October 21, 2009, 08:37:26 am
Quote from: Rule on October 21, 2009, 06:48:39 am
The movie Blade Runner is quite amazing too. Rutger Hauer is incredible in that, and it's Harrison Ford's best film -- he is quite good at non-verbal acting. There are 3 different versions of it though. Each version has different pros/cons.

I would recommend DADOES first. Although Burmese Days is a damn good book. It's better than Aspidistra. Both Androids.. and Burmese Days are worth reading. Maybe Androids first.
For what it's worth, the only reason I HAVE those books (including Aspidistra) is because of you.

Hope that's a good thing!

I'll let you know

Aspidistra was definitely worth it. I sent you an email awhile back (dunno if you got it, or even if I sent it to the right address

) thanking you for recommending it. My friend's band (Talk City (warning: not the greatest recording quality, but I do like their music) has a song called Keep the Aspidistra Flying. Because I'd read the book, we had a cool conversation about it (well, maybe not cool.. and barely a conversation... you know what? shut up

).

In ANY case, Aspidistra is an awesome book

iago · « **Reply #26 on:** October 21, 2009, 09:27:26 pm »

I posted this as a 'news' item, since it's probably the closest thing we have to news (besides random people joining.. borrrrring!

).

We should probably pick a 'deadline'. I'm expecting to finish it by Nov 8, but we're probably better off giving it more time. Jan 1? Feb 1? What's normal?

Armin · « **Reply #27 on:** October 22, 2009, 01:08:05 am »

Let's do December 1st.

iago · « **Reply #28 on:** October 23, 2009, 02:08:09 am »

So, I started and finished the book today. Something about spending a whole day flying helped...

Anyway, I won't comment on it for now.

Armin · « **Reply #29 on:** October 23, 2009, 12:37:11 pm »

Goddamn, I haven't even been to the library yet.

Blaze · « **Reply #30 on:** October 23, 2009, 12:59:20 pm »

[spoiler]Go ahead and post, iago. That's what these are for![/spoiler]

Camel · « **Reply #31 on:** October 26, 2009, 05:33:38 pm »

[spoiler]In a couple of months, you'll probably get a new daddy.[/spoiler]

iago · « **Reply #32 on:** November 18, 2009, 08:41:50 am »

2 weeks to go!

so, is anybody else reading this?

rabbit · « **Reply #33 on:** November 18, 2009, 02:31:31 pm »

I want to but I still haven't had time to get to a library. I was pretty sick last week, and now I have a nasty ear infection and I can't drive because of my meds

Armin · « **Reply #34 on:** November 18, 2009, 02:43:40 pm »

I seriously doubt I'll have the time to read this by December 1st.

iago · « **Reply #35 on:** November 18, 2009, 03:53:26 pm »

Fine, I'll discuss it myself!

Hey Ron, what did you think of the .... bah!

Do you want me to bump up the date? If so, to when? If not, just give up on the idea?

truste1 · « **Reply #36 on:** November 18, 2009, 06:29:47 pm »

Make it New Years since that'll give everyone at least 2 weeks of winter break.

iago · « **Reply #37 on:** November 18, 2009, 06:39:35 pm »

Works for me. Changed.

Rule · « **Reply #38 on:** November 19, 2009, 06:53:19 pm »

The whole thing shouldn't take long to read at all, if you're motivated. iago is one of three people I know who read the whole thing in a day.

iago · « **Reply #39 on:** November 19, 2009, 07:21:25 pm »

Yeah, it's a quick read. But I definitely wouldn't have 1-dayed it if I wasn't on planes a whole day.

For what it's worth, I finished another book I mentioned (Strata by Terry Pratchett) on the way back -- it was way better.

Armin · « **Reply #40 on:** November 20, 2009, 01:27:51 am »

I've just been spending all my time doing music related things, and don't know when that will change. Writing and recording an album while booking, promoting, practicing for, and playing shows is a lot of work.

Hitmen · « **Reply #41 on:** November 20, 2009, 02:11:24 am »

Quote from: Armin on November 20, 2009, 01:27:51 am

I've just been spending all my time doing music related things, and don't know when that will change. Writing and recording an album while booking, promoting, practicing for, and playing shows is a lot of work.

lies. all you musicians do is drink and bang groupies all day and you know it

iago · « **Reply #42 on:** November 20, 2009, 08:33:34 am »

Quote from: Hitmen on November 20, 2009, 02:11:24 am

Quote from: Armin on November 20, 2009, 01:27:51 am
I've just been spending all my time doing music related things, and don't know when that will change. Writing and recording an album while booking, promoting, practicing for, and playing shows is a lot of work.
lies. all you musicians do is drink and bang groupies all day and you know it

You forgot the part where they love suing their fans for downloading their music!

Sidoh · « **Reply #43 on:** November 20, 2009, 12:19:00 pm »

Quote from: iago on November 20, 2009, 08:33:34 am

Quote from: Hitmen on November 20, 2009, 02:11:24 am
Quote from: Armin on November 20, 2009, 01:27:51 am
I've just been spending all my time doing music related things, and don't know when that will change. Writing and recording an album while booking, promoting, practicing for, and playing shows is a lot of work.
lies. all you musicians do is drink and bang groupies all day and you know it
You forgot the part where they love suing their fans for downloading their music!

lmao

rabbit · « **Reply #44 on:** November 20, 2009, 01:44:31 pm »

Quote from: Armin on November 20, 2009, 01:27:51 am

I've just been spending all my time doing music related things, and don't know when that will change. Writing and recording an album while booking, promoting, practicing for, and playing shows is a lot of work.

He hasn't even had time to upload tabs

Rule · « **Reply #45 on:** November 20, 2009, 08:16:44 pm »

Quote from: iago on November 19, 2009, 07:21:25 pm

For what it's worth, I finished another book I mentioned (Strata by Terry Pratchett) on the way back -- it was way better.

Bah! I very seriously doubt it.

iago · « **Reply #46 on:** November 21, 2009, 12:58:11 am »

Quote from: Rule on November 20, 2009, 08:16:44 pm

Quote from: iago on November 19, 2009, 07:21:25 pm
For what it's worth, I finished another book I mentioned (Strata by Terry Pratchett) on the way back -- it was way better.

Bah! I very seriously doubt it.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.. the book didn't really go anywhere or deal with the issues I was hoping it dealt with. It was an interesting story, and had some cool meaning, but ultimately I wasn't satisfied.

Rule · « **Reply #47 on:** November 21, 2009, 07:05:43 am »

Quote from: iago on November 21, 2009, 12:58:11 am

Quote from: Rule on November 20, 2009, 08:16:44 pm
Quote from: iago on November 19, 2009, 07:21:25 pm
For what it's worth, I finished another book I mentioned (Strata by Terry Pratchett) on the way back -- it was way better.

Bah! I very seriously doubt it.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.. the book didn't really go anywhere or deal with the issues I was hoping it dealt with. It was an interesting story, and had some cool meaning, but ultimately I wasn't satisfied.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "the book didn't really go anywhere or deal with the issues I was hoping it dealt with". I think it deals with a ton of issues, but it doesn't resolve them explicitly, which is one of its greatest strengths. Basically everything Philip Dick does, leaves one in an uneasy, depressed, unresolved, thoughtful mood.

iago · « **Reply #48 on:** November 21, 2009, 09:36:23 am »

Quote from: Rule on November 21, 2009, 07:05:43 am

Quote from: iago on November 21, 2009, 12:58:11 am
Quote from: Rule on November 20, 2009, 08:16:44 pm
Quote from: iago on November 19, 2009, 07:21:25 pm
For what it's worth, I finished another book I mentioned (Strata by Terry Pratchett) on the way back -- it was way better.

Bah! I very seriously doubt it.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.. the book didn't really go anywhere or deal with the issues I was hoping it dealt with. It was an interesting story, and had some cool meaning, but ultimately I wasn't satisfied.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "the book didn't really go anywhere or deal with the issues I was hoping it dealt with". I think it deals with a ton of issues, but it doesn't resolve them explicitly, which is one of its greatest strengths. Basically everything Philip Dick does, leaves one in an uneasy, depressed, unresolved, thoughtful mood.

It didn't do it for me.

iago · « **Reply #49 on:** December 31, 2009, 05:42:26 pm »

I'm going to take a shot in the dark and assume that nobody else will have it read by tomorrow, right?

Rule · « **Reply #50 on:** December 31, 2009, 06:08:39 pm »

Quote from: iago on December 31, 2009, 05:42:26 pm

I'm going to take a shot in the dark and assume that nobody else will have it read by tomorrow, right?

Yeah, that's what I figure too.

iago · « **Reply #51 on:** December 31, 2009, 07:30:58 pm »

It's kinda what I said when we first talked about this on AIM. It's hard to get more than one or two people to read a book for no real reason. Ah well, it was worth reading anyways.

Burmese Days is still in my queue, I've read the first two chapters. But it's low priority right now, under stuff I *need* to read.

Newby · « **Reply #52 on:** December 31, 2009, 10:16:36 pm »

I've read it. We can still have a discussion.

News:

Author Topic: x86 Book Club? (Read 29477 times)