Entertainment & Music Books.

Discussion in 'Living Room' started by Bayview, 22nd Jun, 2015.

Join Australia's most dynamic and respected property investment community
  1. Bayview

    Bayview Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    22nd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    4,144
    Location:
    Inside your device
    Did you ever read his book; "The Stand"?

    Good read.
     
  2. Mombius Hibachi

    Mombius Hibachi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    483
    Read this recently, it's the funniest book I have read in a very long time. So lulzy. The picture is a taxidermied mouse dressed as Hamlet.

    She also has a blog, http://thebloggess.com, which is also incredibly funny.

    [​IMG]

    There's another book coming out very very soon, which I am keen as mustard to read.
     
  3. GreatPig

    GreatPig Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    157
    Location:
    Sydney
    Too busy to read much right now, but am into the second book of Gene Wolfe's Wizard Knight series (which is just two books). Wolfe is a great writer, but this is not the most compelling story I've ever read.

    A few of my all-time favourites:
    • The Remains Of The Day (Kazuo Ishiguro, literary)
    • The Book Of The Long Sun (Gene Wolfe, SF)
    • The Lymond Chronicles (Dorothy Dunnett, historical)
    • Gamache (Louise Penny, mystery)
    • The Sparrow (Mary Doria Russell, SF)
    • Kafka On The Shore (Haruki Murakami, literary)
    • The Sarantine Mosaic (Guy Gavriel Kay, fantasy)
    • Lord Of The Rings (Tolkien, fantasy)
    Plus children's books Winnie-The-Pooh and Alice In Wonderland of course...

    Couldn't stand Game Of Thrones. Only finished it because I'd already bought the second, but didn't get more than a chapter or two into that.

    GP
     
  4. Mombius Hibachi

    Mombius Hibachi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    483
    Just finished this:

    [​IMG]

    Not recommended reading for squares.

    About to bury my head in some Bukowski. Also not for squares. Love me some Chinaski.
     
  5. Angel

    Angel Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    5,813
    Location:
    Paradise, Brisbane
    Last week I read Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman, sequel of To Kill a Mockingbird. When It was released there were gasps around the Twitterdome that a good man Atticus Finch, loved by high school students across the western world, is a racist. Well I had to find out for myself.
     
  6. JenW

    JenW Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    422
    Location:
    Perth, WA
    The only gasps I was aware of, were related to how ordinary the writing was. I only managed to read the first chapter (which was released for free) and couldn't bring myself to part with any money to buy the rest. The two books sound like they've been written by two different authors.
     
  7. Bran

    Bran Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    20th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    3,626
    Location:
    At work
    I just found out there is an app for this. You just mark where you are at in the book.
     
  8. Mombius Hibachi

    Mombius Hibachi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    483
  9. Travelbug

    Travelbug Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    963
    Location:
    Gold Coast (from Sydney)
    I'm halfway through "Quiet- the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking." Susan Cain

    It's a fantastic read.
     
    Toon likes this.
  10. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    12,394
    Location:
    Sydney
    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

    Significant plot elements were changed by the screenwriters so that the story actually made sense - the book struggled with that (stick to fantasy JK - don't meddle with time travel!).

    Doesn't apply to the other books/movies in the series though - always more detail in the book with too many shortcuts in the movies. I did really enjoy both the books and the movies though.

    I've recently finished re-reading The Lord of the Rings (last read the series about 20 years ago). As much as the movies take certain liberties with the story to make it work better in movie format - and there is a lot of detail they simply couldn't fit into the time they had available - I think that in their own right, the movies are brilliant and tell the tale really well.

    While I was reading, I constantly found myself thinking about how they could have incorporated this or that part into the movies - or how the movie would have changed it they had stuck closer to the book in other parts. I can see the difficult decisions that the screenwriters (and editors!) had to make to come up with a coherent story that worked in movie format. It simply wouldn't have worked if they had stuck closely to the books.

    I did find some parts of the books to be overly boring and cumbersome - especially when Tolkien insists on every character launching into song or verse every few pages. Just get on with the story already - if I wanted to read poetry, I'll buy a book on poetry!!
     
    Tom Rivera likes this.
  11. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    27,786
    Location:
    My World
  12. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    41,670
    Location:
    Australia wide
    Yes I have read it. Gladwell's books are nice little stories, but they tend to me dragged out to fill up a book. I would suggest audiobooks for his stuff. Still worth reading or listening to I think.
     
    MTR likes this.
  13. Tom Rivera

    Tom Rivera Property Manager Business Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    2,718
    Location:
    South East Queensland
    Has anyone read Angela's Ashes, 'Tis and Teacher Man?
     
  14. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    15th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    11,654
    Location:
    Newcastle
    Yes, I liked them. From memory I saw the movie first, then read the trilogy- but that was quite a while ago, when I used to buy printed paper books.

    Angela's Ashes (1999) - IMDb
     
  15. Tom Rivera

    Tom Rivera Property Manager Business Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    2,718
    Location:
    South East Queensland
    I did not even know there was a movie, wow, I'll have to watch it! Angela's Ashes was absolutely riveting and I regularly think back to it to feel appreciative for my life. The second two books weren't quite as amazing, but still exceptional in their own right.
     
    geoffw likes this.
  16. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    15th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    11,654
    Location:
    Newcastle
    It's not on Netflix. I hired a DVD, which shows how long since I saw it. It can be bought on ebay for around $11 by the look.
     
    Tom Rivera likes this.
  17. mazwegian

    mazwegian Member

    Joined:
    6th Jan, 2016
    Posts:
    14
    Location:
    Melbourne
    Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures (opened our book club with this and still a fave) - don't be fooled by title - it's about 3 friends working at the UN .... true story

    Papillion - oldy but great
     
  18. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    15th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    11,654
    Location:
    Newcastle
    The Chrysler Charger never meant the same thing after reading Papillon.

    (For those who haven't read the book. A charger was a small hollow object used to hide things in an internal body cavity).