[OT] Official Books -|- Literature Thread

Maajid

Extremist
Oct 19, 2007
226
3
24
Peshawar
Please excuse the belated reply.

I will keep it short and succinct. In no particular order,

-A Walk in the Woods. Bill Bryson's hilarious travelogue. Read it a long time ago. Still with me. Second half of the book wasn't as entertaining but the first half makes it worth it.

-The Aquitaine Progression. I have read Ludlum's complete bibliography. This one is from my 'top 5 Ludlum'

-The Way of Kings. No list/rec is complete without this(book/series)

-The War of Art. Listened to Pressfield on Joe Rogan's podcast. Checked out the book. Short/170 pages. Everyone could do with this read(especially myself)

-A Short History of Nearly Everything. I listened to this book on my ipod for 5 years. Go figure.

Apologies if you've read most of them/all of them.
I tried to stay away from fantasy as much as possible.
 
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UltraViolet

Ready Player One
Nov 30, 2009
402
0
21
Oasis
Man now a days got so much stuck in job and all that stuff, very less time for reading. I missed the days when i used to finish four, five book in a month.
Currently reading Painting Sky, normally not my cup of tea, but i am enjoying it.
 

shahbakht

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2008
1,486
0
41


This book delves into World War II from a side that is usually not given the spotlight: Women who survived through the atrocities, not on the frontlines, but the occupied zone, under Nazi rule. This is a very emotional and well written book. The literary world is strife with stories of World War, both the first and the second one, but most of the times the view point is that of the soldiers who fought it, and their fractured lives when they returned. This took a different angle. I recently read All the Light We Cannot See, another WWII novel that was sort of playing with both sides and I was not sure about reading another one so soon after that. But I am glad I did.

Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measures, this book is filled with great characters and a look into a small French village under German rule. Essentially the story of two estranged sisters whose lives are torn apart by WWII, though even before they weren't that close due to different tragedies throughout their lives. But this war brought them together in ways they did not think was possible. The world is falling apart, their lives too, they are separated by miles, but each sister can't stop thinking about the other. It sounds tacky, the pull of love, but it is done well, without being overbearing.

Read it and it might just surprise you as to how involving and gripping a tale this is.
 

UltraViolet

Ready Player One
Nov 30, 2009
402
0
21
Oasis


Finally finished it and didn't like it specially the later half of the book. Its basically chic lit, a genre i mostly avoid but as someone recommended it to me
so have to read it. Story revolves around a girl who finds her love life torn apart when she visits her boyfriend home and where she falls in love with her
boyfriend brother and that's it. The first half of the book is actually good but after that its all boring stuff.
 

UltraViolet

Ready Player One
Nov 30, 2009
402
0
21
Oasis


After a long time read something good. Man this is one hell of a depressing book, it shows brutality of war and what war can do to
the lives of ordinary people, it makes u sad and that's the good thing about it. If you are into historical fiction and all that stuff, a must read.
 

UltraViolet

Ready Player One
Nov 30, 2009
402
0
21
Oasis


Finished UNDONE by Karin Slaughter. This is my first book of Karin and i must say she is good in writing Murder/Mystery stuff.
The first four, five chapters u read and u feel like u are watching some tense serial killer kinda tv series but as soon as investigation kicks in,
its all boring stuff from there on out with too much emphasis on police procedural and all that stuff. The book picks up the pace again in its
final hours as they reveal the killer and all that.

P.s the only character i liked was that of Sara Linton.
 

shahbakht

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2008
1,486
0
41
Haven't had much time to read, job and shit.

Currently Reading: Days That Changed the World: The 50 Defining Events of World History by Hywel Williams

To Read:
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (the creator of Fargo TV Show)
TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Timeby Alan Sepinwall
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King (Book #2 of The Dark Tower)
 

FUEL2009

☠️ Shakedown Artist ☠️
Jun 8, 2012
1,434
0
41
Karach!
Any good sites for downloading Ebooks??

Before i used to download them from Kickass torrents but that site has been blocked so does anyone know of similar sites please share them.
 

shahbakht

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2008
1,486
0
41



A pretty nice overview of world history, but is very much skewed towards the time period after 1300 AD, as well as the Western World. Most of South-East Asia and Africa is only tangentially part of the story. Europe, Far East, and America form most of the chapters.

But still, a very illuminating glimpse at the history of mankind, particularly civilisations and how it is written in blood.
 

UltraViolet

Ready Player One
Nov 30, 2009
402
0
21
Oasis
Any good sites for downloading Ebooks??

Before i used to download them from Kickass torrents but that site has been blocked so does anyone know of similar sites please share them.
Well there is a site VK.com, just write book name+epub along with vk.com and u will get almost every book in epub or pdf and also lot of audiobooks.
 

UltraViolet

Ready Player One
Nov 30, 2009
402
0
21
Oasis


Well to be honest this is my first book of John Gresham and didn't like it at all, i mean first three four chapters were good and that's keep me to go on with the book
but after that it all about the lives of homeless and all that stuff, i was hoping it to be some kind of legal thriller but was nothing near to that, quite boring imo.
 

AchtungPakhtoon

PG Lurker
Jan 22, 2007
562
4
24
Lahore


Well to be honest this is my first book of John Gresham and didn't like it at all, i mean first three four chapters were good and that's keep me to go on with the book
but after that it all about the lives of homeless and all that stuff, i was hoping it to be some kind of legal thriller but was nothing near to that, quite boring imo.
You should have started with 'The Rainmaker'.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk
 

shahbakht

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2008
1,486
0
41


Well to be honest this is my first book of John Gresham and didn't like it at all, i mean first three four chapters were good and that's keep me to go on with the book
but after that it all about the lives of homeless and all that stuff, i was hoping it to be some kind of legal thriller but was nothing near to that, quite boring imo.
Grisham books can be a little one note. I haven’t read this particular one, but I have read almost 12 others, and he is a great “entry” author, someone you should definitely read if you want a fun, breezy, entertaining book to hook you into the habit of reading. But his style varies little from novel to novel and in recent years, he has been having quite a slew of mediocre ones.


But some of his earlier stuff was really good. I would recommend The Firm and A Time to Kill, top of the tier. Then there are other good ones like: The Litigators, Sycamore Row, The Pelican Brief, The Partner, and the one time he drifted away from legal thrillers: A Painted House.
 

shahbakht

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2008
1,486
0
41



Growing up, I had a little aversion to non-fiction. I started off with Jeffrey Archer, and only later, not until I was 14 did I get into Harry Potter and it was love at first sight. Then I explored John Grisham. Suffice it to say, my interest had always been into fiction. Lately, though, I have been balancing my fiction with my non fiction, and it has been a thoroughly rewarding experience. I still love fiction a lot, but now I have started to appreciate the things that a good non-fiction brings to the table: a plethora of knowledge and understanding of how a particular event or thing came about, a glimpse into the past, sort of like a time machine, developing a better understanding of human psychology, etc. While my range isn’t that diverse, I am hoping that it changes in the new future.


So, we come to this book. Modern Romance by stand up comedian Aziz Ansari. He is not a person you would expect to write a book about modern romance, but the great praise showered on this book, plus my admiration for Aziz’s book made me want to read it. I am a huge fan of Parks and Recreation and Aziz’s own show, Master of None.


Not to mention that this topic was right in my interest zone. Modern romance eludes me a little bit, I am hopeless at it. Well, to be honest, I haven’t had real experience of it. I grew up in a sheltered environment, and these opportunities were hard to come by. Now we have Tinder, and Facebook, and what not.


These questions form the crux of this book: how love and marriage has changed dramatically with the advent of technology, specifically internet and smart phones. How, in earlier times, marriage was rarely about love and always about advancing ones own familial ties. How, now, we are concerned with finding a “perfect soul mate” instead of working on our relationships, the unrealistic expectations we form, the infidelity that is pervading monogamous relationships today, and even if monogamy is natural or not. Ansari goes about these questions with very funny and entertaining anecdotes. He partnered with a psychologist and researched these things with focus groups and surveys. His work spanned five countries, three continents and various age groups.


I liked this book a lot. While, on the surface, you may think that these are easy questions to answer, and you don’t need a book to understand these things as we, as millennials, are living it! But, to that I say: think again. The answers may surprise you, you may learn something that you thought was totally right, and be surprised that the opposite was true. It’s a crazy fucking world out there, and never presume anything.


Read this book if you are in love, looking for love, can’t find love, desperate like me to even begin to understand what undergoes in the process. Even if none of this applies to you, read it anyway. It’s a damn entertaining book.
 

shahbakht

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2008
1,486
0
41
I know it is not quite end of the year, but I am reading the last book that I will be reading this year, and I am pretty positive it will last me through 2016, not because it is particularly heavy or anything, but because that is the last book I have with me. I won’t get my hands on a new book until January 2017.


First things first, the entire list of books that I read this year can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/4385549.
34. Not bad, I’d say. I had made a plan this year to be more mindful of the stuff I read, try and retain it, instead of just going through the motions.


Well, here goes the list of my 10 top reads from 2016:



  • All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
By far the best written thing I’ve read all year. It is one of the two amazing World War II books I read this year, and WWII always seem to bring an extra edge to literature: the pool of experiences in that well, plus the stories of human fortitude, resilience, and yes, suffering, and inherently more emphatic than anything else. This book contains two protagonists that are separated from each other throughout the story, but the flow between these two is seamless: a young blind French girl living in a seaside town, with her father who holds a potentially dangerous artefact, and a German boy who is in love with technology but the war makes him use it in terrible ways. It’s a very human story, that stirs all the right parts of your heart. The climax is particularly enthralling when all the characters converge, and all the storylines meet. But the best thing is the lyrical writing. It reads like poetry weaved into prose, the imagery is so damn good. I was floored by the simplicity, yet depth of this book. A must read.


Do I Want to See an Adaptation? Hell yeah, I do! I think a movie would be a good one for this, not a full fledge miniseries (6 episodes or 10, might be stretched a little too thin). With the right director, a three hour movie can be entirely sufficient.



  • Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
I wrote at length about this book when I first read it and it has stayed with me all these months. Franzen does not write lightly. When he picks up the pen, he means business. He likes to delve into a family and dissect it bit by bit. The things we take for granted: that money brings happiness, comfort, that family is the “safest” place, he breaks down these notions. Sometimes there is inherent hurt associated with all this, a person’s own weaknesses or shortcomings may stand in the way of their happiness. It seems a bit depressing, but it is not all sad. There is levity in the book, interspersed with all the heartache, repeated mistakes, and people trying to be better and failing.


Do I Want to See an Adaptation? Not exactly. There isn’t a lot of conflict or action, per se. This is more of a thoughtful kind of book. But I can see HBO tackling this subject in a miniseries, maybe 6 episodes.



  • Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
I recently wrote at length about this book, and not to keep on harping about it, suffice to say that it is a very “in-the-moment” kind of book, captures the confusion and changing mores of romance in the 21st century very well. While it is much more relevant in the Western world, I did find it a fascinating character study about how perceptions change with generations. Not to mention that Aziz infused his trademark humour in the anecdotes and the research and that made it doubly fun.


Do I want to see an adaptation? No, cause the book is sufficient. Besides making a fictional movie out of a non-fiction/research book always ends badly (What to Expect When You’re Expecting, I’m looking at you, kid).



  • The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
One of the funniest books I have ever read. Period.
It doesn’t get better than the dry witty British humour juxtaposed with the scientific mumbo jumbo that is 0% accurate. A fish that acts as intergalactic language translator? A towel that is your best weapon during interstellar transport? Heart of Gold? It’s all so stupid, and it’s all so hilarious. I read two further parts of this series as well, out of 5, and they are funny as hell, but there is something about the original. It’s insanely well written.


Do I want to see an adaptation? There already is one! Starring Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox! Couldn’t have asked for a better casting. Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent! Perfect! Alan Rickman as Marvin the paranoid android! Come on! This is surely a dream. But ’tis all true.



  • The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The second World War II novel that I read this year, and this is also a beautifully written one, and it stays away from the front lines. It was a very refreshing look into how war pervades more than just the violence on the front. It seeps into the daily lives of the women, children and men left behind. Women are oft ignored for their war services. At a time when they were not actively participating in combat, but had to see their husbands, brothers, fathers leave and possibly never come back, and amidst that chaos to go forward with your life, that is courage, a different kind, but courage nonetheless. The book is about two sisters, with vastly different personalities and each faces grim realities of war in Nazi-occupied France. It’s a great story of unsung heroes, of fortitude and the endurance of human spirit. And it has a heart breaking ending, but ultimately it is a story of how life goes on, but our actions echo in eternity, to borrow a line from Gladiator.


Do I want to see an adaptation? There is no shortage of WWII movies, miniseries and documentaries, but this is a facet of war that is usually not given the limelight. Yes, I would love to see a miniseries, 8 episodes, with an all French cast of course, no Americans speaking French, please. I want Melanie Laurent or Audrey Tatou (for the elder sister) and Adele from Blue is the Warmest Colour for the younger sister, she is perfect casting.



  • Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
I read this book in 3 days I think. It is a 400+ page book and the only reason I read it so quickly was that I was stuck in a remote desert location with no internet and not that many movies. But it was not a chore at all to read this. This was a fun, often hilarious, sometimes downright scathing look at suburbia and how civilised society, for the most part, is acting ‘civilised” and when the mask slips, the dirtiness beneath is deplorable. Set in Australia, and the premise is that of a school where different moms conflict over matters trivial and otherwise. But that is not all. The book deals with domestic violence, the nature of truth and rumours, second marriages and how divorce affects children. It’s a pretty thematically full book. And funny as hell.


Do I want to see an adaptation? It doesn’t matter if I want to or not, HBO is making one and with a terrific cast: Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley lead the miniseries, with Adam Scott, Laura Dern and several other in supporting roles. Pretty spot on casting, to be honest. Oh, the setting has shifted from Australia to America, of course.



  • A Perfect Spy by John le Carre
Le Carre is one of my favourite writers of all time and this book proves why. He claimed that this is a book that a therapist might suggest him to write in order to fight his demons from the past, and I can understand that. It has a lot of elements borrowed from le Carre’s personal life, and it paints a very vivid picture of why a person might choose to become a spy, live a double life. It might be a bit slow to start, but the when it picks up, it is worth it. Filled with colourful characters and a relentless insightful look at the precarious relationship between a man and his principles, and how often enough they are not faithful to a country, or a cause, but to a person. And that is an inherent contradiction that spies have to live with every day: when to do when your personal ideals clash with that of your country?


Do I want to see an adaptation? There was a miniseries a couple of decades ago and I have been trying to get my hands on it. Having said that, I wouldn’t say no to a modern adaptation, made by BBC, who seem to be quite adept at making terrific 6 episodes out of literary classics.



  • High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby is a quintessential British guy. How did then this novel work so brilliantly when it was made as a movie and set in Chicago? Because it transcends borders. The book is funny and sad and heartbreaking and heart-affirming, and everything in between. We all know a Rob (hell, we might even be one): self-destructive to a fault, over analysing everything, dumping his problems on others and expecting they would complete him, not caring for their whole complete separate lives, forever stuck in the nostalgia of the past. It’s a very relatable book even if you are, like me, from half the globe away.


Do I want to see an adaptation? There is a superb one already out. See it if you haven’t!



  • Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
This is one of my all time favourite movies. I put off reading this book for a long time, but when finally I did, I was rewarded. This is a beautiful book, much like the movie, and is about second chances, and trying not to fuck up so badly that it may ruin the life of not only you but everyone close to you. But the best thing about this book is the eccentric set of characters: Tripp is a pot smoking lusty slob who happened to hit success when he wrote a book but has not been able to build on that and is now suffering from self doubt, and is looking for anything to distract him; Leer, a possibly suicidal student who is the definition of an “outsider”, and the crown jewel: Crabtree, who just might make Tripp’s life more miserable. Set over a period of hardly three days, a weekend, it has one weird event chained to another, and before you know it, the end is near and you have no idea when the pages flew by. One reason I love this book is because I am fascinated by the writing process or lack thereof it, and this book delves into that.


Do I want to see an adaptation? There is already one and it is perfect with a casting that, much like Hitchhiker’s, seems to be a fan’s wet dream: Michael fuckin’ Douglas, Robert fuckin’ Downey Jr., Frances McDormand, Tobey Maguire, Katie Holmes. Damn perfect, all of them in their roles.



  • World Gone By by Dennis Lehane
Lehane is a master storyteller. If you want to set up a sense of place, the people in that place, how they behaved, how the place is a character itself, you gotta go to Lehane. He did it Boston, and then he moved for this book to Florida. It’s a continuation of his immensely entertaining homage to The Godfather and Boardwalk Empire (he was a consultant on that show), Live by Night. This book tells the story of Joe, as he delves betrayals, threats, gunshots, cops, a politician’s wife he is sleeping with and literally the ghosts of his past. It it tremendously written and for fans of gangster/crime books, it is a must read.


Do I want to see an adaptation? Ben Affleck is already making Live By Night. Who knows, after that, maybe this one? I would like that.


Honourable Mentions:
The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabelle Allende
A Rage for Order by Robert F. Worth
 
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UltraViolet

Ready Player One
Nov 30, 2009
402
0
21
Oasis
I know it is not quite end of the year, but I am reading the last book that I will be reading this year, and I am pretty positive it will last me through 2016, not because it is particularly heavy or anything, but because that is the last book I have with me. I won’t get my hands on a new book until January 2017.


First things first, the entire list of books that I read this year can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/4385549.
34. Not bad, I’d say. I had made a plan this year to be more mindful of the stuff I read, try and retain it, instead of just going through the motions.


Well, here goes the list of my 10 top reads from 2016:



  • All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
By far the best written thing I’ve read all year. It is one of the two amazing World War II books I read this year, and WWII always seem to bring an extra edge to literature: the pool of experiences in that well, plus the stories of human fortitude, resilience, and yes, suffering, and inherently more emphatic than anything else. This book contains two protagonists that are separated from each other throughout the story, but the flow between these two is seamless: a young blind French girl living in a seaside town, with her father who holds a potentially dangerous artefact, and a German boy who is in love with technology but the war makes him use it in terrible ways. It’s a very human story, that stirs all the right parts of your heart. The climax is particularly enthralling when all the characters converge, and all the storylines meet. But the best thing is the lyrical writing. It reads like poetry weaved into prose, the imagery is so damn good. I was floored by the simplicity, yet depth of this book. A must read.


Do I Want to See an Adaptation? Hell yeah, I do! I think a movie would be a good one for this, not a full fledge miniseries (6 episodes or 10, might be stretched a little too thin). With the right director, a three hour movie can be entirely sufficient.



  • Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
I wrote at length about this book when I first read it and it has stayed with me all these months. Franzen does not write lightly. When he picks up the pen, he means business. He likes to delve into a family and dissect it bit by bit. The things we take for granted: that money brings happiness, comfort, that family is the “safest” place, he breaks down these notions. Sometimes there is inherent hurt associated with all this, a person’s own weaknesses or shortcomings may stand in the way of their happiness. It seems a bit depressing, but it is not all sad. There is levity in the book, interspersed with all the heartache, repeated mistakes, and people trying to be better and failing.


Do I Want to See an Adaptation? Not exactly. There isn’t a lot of conflict or action, per se. This is more of a thoughtful kind of book. But I can see HBO tackling this subject in a miniseries, maybe 6 episodes.



  • Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
I recently wrote at length about this book, and not to keep on harping about it, suffice to say that it is a very “in-the-moment” kind of book, captures the confusion and changing mores of romance in the 21st century very well. While it is much more relevant in the Western world, I did find it a fascinating character study about how perceptions change with generations. Not to mention that Aziz infused his trademark humour in the anecdotes and the research and that made it doubly fun.


Do I want to see an adaptation? No, cause the book is sufficient. Besides making a fictional movie out of a non-fiction/research book always ends badly (What to Expect When You’re Expecting, I’m looking at you, kid).



  • The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
One of the funniest books I have ever read. Period.
It doesn’t get better than the dry witty British humour juxtaposed with the scientific mumbo jumbo that is 0% accurate. A fish that acts as intergalactic language translator? A towel that is your best weapon during interstellar transport? Heart of Gold? It’s all so stupid, and it’s all so hilarious. I read two further parts of this series as well, out of 5, and they are funny as hell, but there is something about the original. It’s insanely well written.


Do I want to see an adaptation? There already is one! Starring Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox! Couldn’t have asked for a better casting. Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent! Perfect! Alan Rickman as Marvin the paranoid android! Come on! This is surely a dream. But ’tis all true.



  • The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The second World War II novel that I read this year, and this is also a beautifully written one, and it stays away from the front lines. It was a very refreshing look into how war pervades more than just the violence on the front. It seeps into the daily lives of the women, children and men left behind. Women are oft ignored for their war services. At a time when they were not actively participating in combat, but had to see their husbands, brothers, fathers leave and possibly never come back, and amidst that chaos to go forward with your life, that is courage, a different kind, but courage nonetheless. The book is about two sisters, with vastly different personalities and each faces grim realities of war in Nazi-occupied France. It’s a great story of unsung heroes, of fortitude and the endurance of human spirit. And it has a heart breaking ending, but ultimately it is a story of how life goes on, but our actions echo in eternity, to borrow a line from Gladiator.


Do I want to see an adaptation? There is no shortage of WWII movies, miniseries and documentaries, but this is a facet of war that is usually not given the limelight. Yes, I would love to see a miniseries, 8 episodes, with an all French cast of course, no Americans speaking French, please. I want Melanie Laurent or Audrey Tatou (for the elder sister) and Adele from Blue is the Warmest Colour for the younger sister, she is perfect casting.



  • Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
I read this book in 3 days I think. It is a 400+ page book and the only reason I read it so quickly was that I was stuck in a remote desert location with no internet and not that many movies. But it was not a chore at all to read this. This was a fun, often hilarious, sometimes downright scathing look at suburbia and how civilised society, for the most part, is acting ‘civilised” and when the mask slips, the dirtiness beneath is deplorable. Set in Australia, and the premise is that of a school where different moms conflict over matters trivial and otherwise. But that is not all. The book deals with domestic violence, the nature of truth and rumours, second marriages and how divorce affects children. It’s a pretty thematically full book. And funny as hell.


Do I want to see an adaptation? It doesn’t matter if I want to or not, HBO is making one and with a terrific cast: Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley lead the miniseries, with Adam Scott, Laura Dern and several other in supporting roles. Pretty spot on casting, to be honest. Oh, the setting has shifted from Australia to America, of course.



  • A Perfect Spy by John le Carre
Le Carre is one of my favourite writers of all time and this book proves why. He claimed that this is a book that a therapist might suggest him to write in order to fight his demons from the past, and I can understand that. It has a lot of elements borrowed from le Carre’s personal life, and it paints a very vivid picture of why a person might choose to become a spy, live a double life. It might be a bit slow to start, but the when it picks up, it is worth it. Filled with colourful characters and a relentless insightful look at the precarious relationship between a man and his principles, and how often enough they are not faithful to a country, or a cause, but to a person. And that is an inherent contradiction that spies have to live with every day: when to do when your personal ideals clash with that of your country?


Do I want to see an adaptation? There was a miniseries a couple of decades ago and I have been trying to get my hands on it. Having said that, I wouldn’t say no to a modern adaptation, made by BBC, who seem to be quite adept at making terrific 6 episodes out of literary classics.



  • High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby is a quintessential British guy. How did then this novel work so brilliantly when it was made as a movie and set in Chicago? Because it transcends borders. The book is funny and sad and heartbreaking and heart-affirming, and everything in between. We all know a Rob (hell, we might even be one): self-destructive to a fault, over analysing everything, dumping his problems on others and expecting they would complete him, not caring for their whole complete separate lives, forever stuck in the nostalgia of the past. It’s a very relatable book even if you are, like me, from half the globe away.


Do I want to see an adaptation? There is a superb one already out. See it if you haven’t!



  • Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
This is one of my all time favourite movies. I put off reading this book for a long time, but when finally I did, I was rewarded. This is a beautiful book, much like the movie, and is about second chances, and trying not to fuck up so badly that it may ruin the life of not only you but everyone close to you. But the best thing about this book is the eccentric set of characters: Tripp is a pot smoking lusty slob who happened to hit success when he wrote a book but has not been able to build on that and is now suffering from self doubt, and is looking for anything to distract him; Leer, a possibly suicidal student who is the definition of an “outsider”, and the crown jewel: Crabtree, who just might make Tripp’s life more miserable. Set over a period of hardly three days, a weekend, it has one weird event chained to another, and before you know it, the end is near and you have no idea when the pages flew by. One reason I love this book is because I am fascinated by the writing process or lack thereof it, and this book delves into that.


Do I want to see an adaptation? There is already one and it is perfect with a casting that, much like Hitchhiker’s, seems to be a fan’s wet dream: Michael fuckin’ Douglas, Robert fuckin’ Downey Jr., Frances McDormand, Tobey Maguire, Katie Holmes. Damn perfect, all of them in their roles.



  • World Gone By by Dennis Lehane
Lehane is a master storyteller. If you want to set up a sense of place, the people in that place, how they behaved, how the place is a character itself, you gotta go to Lehane. He did it Boston, and then he moved for this book to Florida. It’s a continuation of his immensely entertaining homage to The Godfather and Boardwalk Empire (he was a consultant on that show), Live by Night. This book tells the story of Joe, as he delves betrayals, threats, gunshots, cops, a politician’s wife he is sleeping with and literally the ghosts of his past. It it tremendously written and for fans of gangster/crime books, it is a must read.


Do I want to see an adaptation? Ben Affleck is already making Live By Night. Who knows, after that, maybe this one? I would like that.


Honourable Mentions:
The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabelle Allende
A Rage for Order by Robert F. Worth
Thts some reading dude, 34 books damn man, i only manage 7 this year bt hopefully will add two, three more till the end of 2016.
 
General chit-chat
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  • faraany3k faraany3k:
    I dont think games have looked any better since 2019 onwards and they are performing worse and worse. Game developers have really dropped the ball.
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
    Consoles can't even catch a break in titles developed exclusively for them 😢
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
    "All of this lends the game distinctly last-gen look at times, which is compounded by image quality and frame-rate issues."
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
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  • Chandoo Chandoo:
    no jokes.
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  • Chandoo Chandoo:
    faraany3k said:
    So while Playing Control, I found a journal which said that a bathroom is missing in Islamabad Beurue of Control. With Alan Wake and Control seems to be connected worlds. Even our city is in the universe as well. No wonder those Trail 5 and Trail 6 are haunted.
    did you know you can see @NaNoW credited in the game too ? :p
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  • faraany3k faraany3k:
    So while Playing Control, I found a journal which said that a bathroom is missing in Islamabad Beurue of Control. With Alan Wake and Control seems to be connected worlds. Even our city is in the universe as well. No wonder those Trail 5 and Trail 6 are haunted.
    Link
  • EternalBlizzard EternalBlizzard:
    faraany3k said:
    What is peoples obsession with Battle Royale genre. 6 minutes to find a match, 3 minutes to setup a match, 2 minutes to land, 10 minutes for scavanging maybe 2 3 gunfigts and its over. Multiplayer landscape is looking absolute dogshit.
    I tried playing Apex Legends once. Couldn't find a gun for 5 minutes straight. If I found a gun, I couldn't find the right ammo for it. Got killed fighting with my fists. Uninstalled it the next day.
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  • faraany3k faraany3k:
    What is peoples obsession with Battle Royale genre. 6 minutes to find a match, 3 minutes to setup a match, 2 minutes to land, 10 minutes for scavanging maybe 2 3 gunfigts and its over. Multiplayer landscape is looking absolute dogshit.
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  • M muneebjahangir:
    skip the villain arc
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  • EternalBlizzard EternalBlizzard:
    iampasha said:
    I usually stay away from animes. Vinland saga changed the way i look at my life, and my experiences within. I recommend every breathing human being to watch this animated masterpiece at least once fromstart to finish.
    After I watched it, I never felt like i watched a show. It was a friggin journey. I got way too attached to Thorfinn and seeing him grow up and find himself and get rid of all the negativity inside of him was just pure bliss.
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  • iampasha iampasha:
    EternalBlizzard said:
    Vinland Saga > Berserk
    I usually stay away from animes. Vinland saga changed the way i look at my life, and my experiences within. I recommend every breathing human being to watch this animated masterpiece at least once fromstart to finish.
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
    Crapcom's RE Engine expose hogaya saaeen. This shit ain't worth experiencing on any platform. 🤷‍♂️
    Link
  • Chandoo Chandoo:
    When a $399 console provides the same experience as a 4090. Yikes indeed saeen :sneaky:
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
    that's a yikes saaaen
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
    " Both PS5 and Series X have an unlocked frame-rate here, with performance that generally lies between 30fps and 45fps. That makes for a stuttering and inconsistent output in general play, no matter what you are doing at any given time."
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  • EternalBlizzard EternalBlizzard:
    Vinland Saga > Berserk
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  • faraany3k faraany3k:
    I absolutely hate parry and Sekiro made me love it, i hate sci fi and Mass Effect made me love it. This is the definition of genre defining experiences.
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
    Forbidden West Complete Edition now available on your fav websites. And Nixxes showed Crapcom how it's done 👍
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
    RE Engine is just utter shit for anything other than corridor design remakes
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
    This is a console first developer. LMAO
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  • faraany3k faraany3k:
    With how great cod warzone has translated onto mobile. Mainstream Consoles have lost its value even further. Maybe console gaming was associated with TVs and how TV is not the primary source of media consumption anymore, consoles will lose its 200 million core audiences even further.
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
    Even VRR can't rescue it 🥲
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    faraany3k faraany3k: I dont think games have looked any better since 2019 onwards and they are performing worse and...