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What are you reading?

Took the day off and spent about two hours in my local today. I walked out with a history of Africa from pre-history to 1800 (a compilation of essays/research), a source-book of Ancient Egyptian writing, and a social history of the Aztecs.

Amazing what I can find in there when I actually give myself some time, rather than rushing through only giving a cursory glance at everything. Also finally got to use some hardcover credit, so got the book on Africa for free.
 
Good Omens, by Neil Gamin and Terry Pratchett.

I read it when it was new, and was disappointed. Now I find every page delightful.
 
I read this book on how to design a LARP. Because a girl I'm seeing now had it. So now I know everything about designing a LARP. It didn't have the most crucial information in it, which is, why on Earth would anybody ever participate in a LARP. Something which still eludes me. I fail to see where the fun is found.

https://nordiclarp.org/wiki/Larp_Design:_Creating_Role-play_Experiences

Still enlightening. Now this cultural phenomena is a bit less mysterious to somebody like me, who have never come even close to that world.
 
DrZoidberg said:
I read this book on how to design a LARP. Because a girl I'm seeing now had it. So now I know everything about designing a LARP. It didn't have the most crucial information in it, which is, why on Earth would anybody ever participate in a LARP. Something which still eludes me. I fail to see where the fun is found.
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I played in a LARP for 10 years. Had lots of fun for the most part. :D
 
DrZoidberg said:
I read this book on how to design a LARP. Because a girl I'm seeing now had it. So now I know everything about designing a LARP. It didn't have the most crucial information in it, which is, why on Earth would anybody ever participate in a LARP.
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Reminds me of a recipe in The Haphazard Gourmet. It ends something like this: "And now you know how to make jellied moose nose, though I can't for the life of me think of why anybody would want to."
 
marc said:
DrZoidberg said:
I read this book on how to design a LARP. Because a girl I'm seeing now had it. So now I know everything about designing a LARP. It didn't have the most crucial information in it, which is, why on Earth would anybody ever participate in a LARP. Something which still eludes me. I fail to see where the fun is found.
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I played in a LARP for 10 years. Had lots of fun for the most part. :D
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Aren't you confusing LARP with just having a job?
 
Recently read Ogilvy on Advertising and The Adweek Copywriting Handbook.

It's research for work rather than for fun, but it's also an insight into human psychology. As a side benefit, it also makes ads something fun to analyse rather than merely tolerate.
 
DrZoidberg said:
marc said:
DrZoidberg said:
I read this book on how to design a LARP. Because a girl I'm seeing now had it. So now I know everything about designing a LARP. It didn't have the most crucial information in it, which is, why on Earth would anybody ever participate in a LARP. Something which still eludes me. I fail to see where the fun is found.
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I played in a LARP for 10 years. Had lots of fun for the most part. :D
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Aren't you confusing LARP with just having a job?
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Naaaa, jobs don't usually let you hit other people with boffer weapons. :poke_with_stick:
 
Cross Creek (1942), by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Often cited as classic regional writing and belles lettres, and that's partly true. But the racial attitude throughout is depressingly predictable given its vintage. Rawlings was a capable writer but in no way rose above the stereotypical thinking of the time.
 
Master and Commander. I can't believe how good it is, even though I've read and listened to it multiple times before.
 
Wiploc said:
Master and Commander. I can't believe how good it is, even though I've read and listened to it multiple times before.
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I'm in the middle of book 8 ATM. I reread them all every couple of years.

The edition I have from the library labels book 7 as The Surgeon's Mate although the storyline doesn't support that.

There are all sorts of printing and editing errors. Does anyone know if the latest edition has been cleaned up?
 
The Way of the Superior Man - David Deida

It's a self help book, I think targeted at New Age men to become more manly. I have read it before. I remember liking it. Since then I've been to workshops based on the book, which I think have been awesome. So I decided to read it again, to freshen up. Now I think it's absolute fucking garbage. There's a core in there which I like. But most of it is swill.

I think the book can be boiled down to:
1) The masculine is the stable, protecting, predictable force
2) The feminine is the creative, wild and unpredictable force
3) Both men and women can be both, but men tend to lean more towards masculine, a women the feminine.
4) If one partner is one thing, the other partner will be the other thing. Because we need polarity in relationships. If we don't get it, it's boring and we break up. Both are needed.
5) Men and women won't understand each other and that's not only fine, but good.

So many pages to write this fairly simple thing. It's full of flowery New Age language. It's frustratingly vague and waffly at times.
 
DrZoidberg said:
The Way of the Superior Man - David Deida

It's a self help book, I think targeted at New Age men to become more manly. I have read it before. I remember liking it. Since then I've been to workshops based on the book, which I think have been awesome. So I decided to read it again, to freshen up. Now I think it's absolute fucking garbage. There's a core in there which I like. But most of it is swill.

I think the book can be boiled down to:
1) The masculine is the stable, protecting, predictable force
2) The feminine is the creative, wild and unpredictable force
3) Both men and women can be both, but men tend to lean more towards masculine, a women the feminine.
4) If one partner is one thing, the other partner will be the other thing. Because we need polarity in relationships. If we don't get it, it's boring and we break up. Both are needed.
5) Men and women won't understand each other and that's not only fine, but good.

So many pages to write this fairly simple thing. It's full of flowery New Age language. It's frustratingly vague and waffly at times.
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It seems like there's a lot of that with popular non-fiction (which is why I tend to avoid it). They lean toward pseudosciency ideas, and spend 200 pages writing mostly noise to flesh out what is an otherwise simple idea that's mostly just useful for selling books. The last book I read like that was Ed Slingerland's 'Trying Not to Try'. Decent concept, but tons of fluff.
 
DrZoidberg said:
The Way of the Superior Man - David Deida

It's a self help book, I think targeted at New Age men to become more manly. I have read it before. I remember liking it. Since then I've been to workshops based on the book, which I think have been awesome. So I decided to read it again, to freshen up. Now I think it's absolute fucking garbage. There's a core in there which I like. But most of it is swill.

I think the book can be boiled down to:
1) The masculine is the stable, protecting, predictable force
2) The feminine is the creative, wild and unpredictable force
3) Both men and women can be both, but men tend to lean more towards masculine, a women the feminine.
4) If one partner is one thing, the other partner will be the other thing. Because we need polarity in relationships. If we don't get it, it's boring and we break up. Both are needed.
5) Men and women won't understand each other and that's not only fine, but good.

So many pages to write this fairly simple thing. It's full of flowery New Age language. It's frustratingly vague and waffly at times.
Click to expand...
Haha, neither of my major relationships would have flown if that were true. But then, we don't read many self-help books either.
 
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