Does anyone on Sup Forums read actual books anymore...

Does anyone on Sup Forums read actual books anymore? I'm not talking about shit you're forced to read for some class or a textbook but actual, physical books that you choose to read?

GIve us a title and synopsis so we can guess your age.

The Circus Fire by O'Nan.
It's about this big fire that happened in the 1940s where a big top caught on fire and killed a whole bunch of people.

Damn actually sounds pretty interesting I'll have to check it out, happened in the US?

Hitchens posited that organised religion is "violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children" and sectarian, and that accordingly it "ought to have a great deal on its conscience." He supports his position with a mixture of personal stories, documented historical anecdotes and critical analysis of religious texts. His commentary focuses mainly on the Abrahamic religions, although it also touches on other religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. The book received mixed reviews, but sold well.

Hitchens posited that organised religion is "violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children" and sectarian, and that accordingly it "ought to have a great deal on its conscience." He supports his position with a mixture of personal stories, documented historical anecdotes and critical analysis of religious texts. His commentary focuses mainly on the Abrahamic religions, although it also touches on other religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. The book received mixed reviews, but sold well.

Green Eggs and Gubment Cheese

The Knights of the Cross by Henryk Sienkiewicz

The Knights of the Cross tells the story of a young nobleman, Zbyszko of Bogdaniec, who together with his uncle Maćko of Bogdaniec returns from the war against the Order (Knights of the Cross) in nearby Lithuania. In a tavern inn Zbyszko falls in love with the lovely Danusia, who is traveling with the court of the Duchess Anna. He swears to her his knight's oath and promises to bring her "three trophies" from the Teutonic Knights.

While I disagree that all religions are violent (at least i the 21st centure) this still sounds like one I'll look for next time I go to the bookstore too.

Not much of a romance fan but if it's mixed with enough historical background I'd probably dig it too. Thanks guys.

Have fun, it's quite a big trilogy.

Trafalgar: The Biography of a Battle - Roy Adkins

I like a lot of philosophy even if I don't agree with some here and there I still enjoy seeing other perspectives and why they feel the way they do, already got it tucked away on my amazon wish list now.

Yeah, the political conflicts are quite interesting to read and as you said, it's fascinating to read about different perspectives.

History I can get behind for sure especially when the underdog wins. Thanks for that one

The Expanse
Amos fucks dudes up.

It's fun and weird at the same time because both sides historically always think they're correct (and a lot of times they both have valid reasons to feel that way) but it always ends up with massive amounts of damage and death before any resolution ever occurs. Humans are strange that way I guess. Definitely not as "civilized" as we like to think we are sometimes

I have just readed books from games that I've played

like World of warcraft series

Stephen kings The Talisman

Tell me about it. Conflict is mostly between the government and most reasons is resource, land, religion, money. If only it was up to them and not the military to do so, it'd be much more civilized.

Always down for some good sci-fi too. Anyone have any good suggestions for post-apocalyptic, dystopian, or cyber-punk stuff? Aside from the obvious like Huxley, Orwell, etc.?

The Global Minotaur
by Yanis Varoufakis

About the new economical paradigm in the US after WWII and how it lead to the crashes that have happened before, giving special emphasis to 2008

My favourite book is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess :)

happened after*

Hunger, by Knut Hamsun.

It's about a hobo writer in late 19th Century Christania that wanders around, trying to write something worth some money to get by.

Loving every bit of it

Any of you guys ever read leaves of grass?
I've always really liked that book. Feel like the people of our government ought to give it a listen

Talisman wasn't one of my favorite's but still good. When it comes to King, I prefer his short stories. Just finished Eveything's Eventual and Bizarre of Bad Dreams. I'd recommend them both if you don't want to commit to an entire novel and don't just want a "jump scare" but some character and plot development, etc. Usually only like $3-4 bucks when you can find them too but plenty of good short stories (30-ish pages)

Sure, started reading Kipling's unabridged short stories collection on Wednesday. It's pretty good, his depictions of colonial India are very vivid. Only thing is that some of the words he uses have gone out of use making it hard to follow without continually looking up archaic horseracing and colonial India terminology.

Read "The Man Who Would Be King" earlier, about two larger-than-life adventurers who go on an expedition to northern Afghanistan to carve out their own kingdom at the start of the 20th century. Kipling describes it as the last place in the world untouched by civilization, tucked away and barbaric. After seeing it in 2010 on deployment, it seems not much has changed

The Terranauts by T.C. Boyle

I guess your age is 16.

At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft

Some niggers go exploring Antarctica and discover T E R R O R

starring kurt russell

Naked lunch by William Burroughs.
Fahrenheit 451 and 1984.

That's around the time we gave up on the gold-standard and started printing money en masse, right? Sounds good

I always see this on a ton of top ten lists but I haven't got around to reading it yet unfortunately

I like the sound of this one, also going on my list, thanks

Who's the author and do you mind giving a quick snapshot on what it's about please? I'd really appreciate it.

I feel like I've collected most of the classics at this point and I just find myself wandering the shelves of stores to find anything that might interest me and a lot of time in big-chain places it's all full of recipe books or self-help bullshit or Dr Phil or Oprahs newest bullshit

A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
We - Yevgeny Zamyatin
Anthem - Ayn Rand

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
>inb4 hurry bioshock

that looks very interesting. I'm getting the impression it's written by a man with deep insight on the topic, who finds himself uninhibited to speak the truth by the gravitas of his public career following the events of recent years

I've read pdfs because I'm too poor and gay to buy actual books but lets do it.

I am Legend. Former military guy lives day by day in his house in a world where he is the only human left. Each night "vampires" come to his house, one of which being his neighbour. He gets curious about their condition, and begins to study and speculate instead of wallowing in self-pity day in and day out. He discovers that there are two varieties of the vampires, live and dead ones, with the virus acting differently for each. Later on, he encounters a woman. He takes her back to his house, shows her his research, and then pieces it together she's actually a vampire. She knocks him out, and later on comes back with other vampires who imprison him. In his final moments, he realizes that he is actually their Vampire. That he is, in fact, Legend.

>naked lunch
saw the movie, I imagine it's even better as a book about the writing process

If ever, you find yourself better served listening to an audiobook, such as while driving, it is available thus. Plus, you get to listen to the authors eloquent accent.

HP Lovecraft also a pretty cool one in my book, just finished Neil Gaiman's "Lovecrafts Mosnters" and it was a fun read. Speaking of which, it might seem a bit childish but I really enjoyed Neverwhere and the Sandman series just because it was a bit more creative and new than most of the stuff I was reading at the time. Trying to get through American Gods before I check out the TV show coming up. I've seen my share of book-to-TV shit that was so terrible it totally turned me off of even reading the book after seeing the episodes

That and Hemingway's biography is up on my top 5 to read in the near future

never heard of it, is it a Victorian vampire romp?

Yeah, exactly.
He wrote it before his political career and if you are judging him based only on his role as finance minister in a doomed administration, you are probably wrong, give it a try.

aaaand we've got our meme-tier pretentious answer
noticed you didn't have anything to say about it, that's all the same

>unholy consult - trash dark fantasy
>joe abercromie - more trash dark fantasy

Books I've been reading for a while but always end up on Sup Forums instead of finishing:

Against the Gods: The story of risk. Super fucking interesting history of risk analysis, insurance, probability. It has very little math - just some basic concepts, but I struggle with those. It is a super interesting read about how insurance was started for shipping industry ... well before that even. read it.

Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator - byu some douche bag who was the creative director for American Apparel.

He is annoying as fuck, and constantly sucking his own dick, but it is interesting to see how ( he claims ) to have gamed the blog system. He seems like a "Self help" author kind of bullshitter - but his understanding of how blogging / social media "news" and "journalism" works is insightful.

History of Japan by R.H.P. Mason

and

No Mean City by A McArthur and H Kingsley-Long

Yeah OP, I'm reading The Stand right now. Pretty freaky book

I love Amazon for this reason, a ton of their books you can get in brand new condition for $2-4 depending on the title including shipping. My goal's to fill my 5th bookcase by the end of the summer/early fall in preparation for the winter, so I really do appreciate the suggestions.

Also already read and probably give I am Legend 7/10 just because I saw the movie before I read it and it took some of the suspense out of it for me.

16? because? perhaps you could elaborate.

>I really enjoyed Neverwhere and the Sandman series

That is because sandman was fucking brilliant. Neverwhere was ok, but I don't like his books for some reason.

I can't guess how old you are. Sandman / Neverwhere are definitely older - gonna guess you are mid 20s

great book. I'm guessing you are in highschool, but that was b/c I read that book in highschool

alright I will, I read Capital by Piketty last year and found it fascinating (I always thought economics would be terribly try and uninteresting)

>any rand

You better be under 30 is all I gotta say.

It's by walt Whitman and it's arranged as a poem, quick synopsis: southern man's life, in no chronological order, arranged that way to show refinement of thinking. It's a transcendentalist piece so it's a lot about individualism and self improvement. It's a wonderful, wonderful read. I'm only 19 btw and it's my favorite book

oh funny - for some reason I got Yanis and Milo confused in my head. was very confused.

it's fiction

If I remember right it was more of a zombie-esque venture. They had discovered the cure for cancer finally but the anti-virus mutated all the regular people into humanoid creatures who couldn't go out in sunlight so they stuck to buildings, sewers, etc. until nightfall. Kind of like 28 days later where they had a "rage-type" virus mutation from the cancer vaccination they all took and wanted to destroy everyone.

Most people read. The only people who don't are retards. The only people who don't know that other people still read either have no friends or hang out only with other retards.

Dan Simmons, Fall Of Hyperion

Not really. You don't really get any insight on the cultures of the living vampires. The dead ones are basically zombies and thats the bulk of the ones mentioned during the story. Its basically all of a suspense/psychological story.

I'm guessing 16 is the age you discovered atheism, and you've since gone full contrarian simply because you're annoyed that so many people jumped on the bandwagon long after you and nobody acknowledges that you were tipping your fedora before it was cool.

sorry about that, I saw the movie and wanted to tease you for explaining it. I thought everyone was familiar with the movie

>Water Margin

Chinese dudes running around getting drunk and fighting people.

One of the four classics in Chinese literature, so if you're into that kind of stuff it's pretty sweet.

The American Apparel guy's the same one that got caught with all kinds of hookers and blow and ran the company in the ground with sexist shit in his ads or hiring or something, right? He's probably got a pretty funny/interesting/retarded biography if I'd have to guess.

Laughter in the Dark
Man leaves his wife for a whore, he goes blind, whore laughs and fucks other guys in front of him

Mountains of Madness. Lovecraft.

Mostly reading it for inspiration to write equally depressing shit soley for the purpose of bumming out a really obnoxiously chipper professor.

That is the CEO. This guy was like his art/marketing director. But yeah that charney guy is interesting as fuck. mostly just a shitbag, but yeah I'd read that book.

pic related - dov charney

Spot on with the guess bud, 28 in July Sadman and Neverwhere just seemed pretty timeless to me for some reason I'll probably be giving them a once over again when I'm 35-40 if not before then.

>Atlas Shrugged
>ib4 hurry bioshock

I'm guessing 19-23

you just described like 85% of all teenagers, so....

30?

Told Status: TOldBLEROwNEd

I always thought the same about economics, until very recently, that is. Haven't read anything from Piketty, I'm worried he may be too much of an ideologue to read anything from him, what would you say about that?

I switched them up in my mind for a second and it was indeed hilarious

I agree they are timeless - but I'm older ( 40 ) so I'm not always sure what stuff ages well.

Like Dark Knight ( Frank Miller ) was edgy as fuck when I read it in 8th grade. Now having a "dark/tormented" superhero is cliche. Plus we were living with the constant spectre of nuclear war + reagan USSR etc. So not sure how that shit holds up.

Yea, but it's mixed. Some are novels, some non fiction, and others are academic because I'm out of college but sometimes look up classes my old college or an ivy league is offering and find out the reading list to look into on my own.

Right now I'm reading a few different books when I get bored and have free time.

-A book on Metabolist architecture as it developed in post-war Japan based on interviews with the remaining living forerunners of the movement before modernism swept the globe

- War of the Worlds, because that wasn't required reading when I was in school but I feel like it's one of those books everyone should have read

- Just ordered the first English translation of a collection of dissident stories from a writer currently still employed by the North Korean state writer's association. I studied NK in college so I'm interested in things like this, first time something like this has leaked and been disseminated from a secret author still in the country.

Reading this right now.
Some dudes go to an alien planet kill some dragons then kill some other bad dudes and save the world.

>I switched them up in my mind for a second and it was indeed hilarious

Especially after reading this part:

"I'm getting the impression it's written by a man with deep insight on the topic, who finds himself uninhibited to speak the truth by the gravitas of his public career following the events of recent years"

any good sex scenes?

I have plenty of friends and I wouldn't consider myself a retard. I should've phrased my question better. What I meant is do people still read/collect physical books for a personal library because I see so many people with their face just jammed into electronics whether reading news or bullshit on their phone or thumbing through a kindle. Personally, and I know tastes vary, I love having a physical softcover/hardcover in my hand when I'm reading.

Specially relevant now, yeah. Never been a Milo fan nor a fan of anything close to his political ideas but I think it was unmerited what happened to him in the end, let trolls be trolls.

Ok, thanks for the reply. very bizarre, though. I've been contemplating life, gods and are existence for some 58 years now. atheism = 16, that's just odd. and religions continue to fuck up everything.

Third year of university. Considered reading it in HS but didn't

Only one. Some elf chick whose family just died fucks a human knight.
She gets knocked up. Stupid bitch.

I'm a 22 year old bearded male, so I'm reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac

I had just finished "Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy from Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and Then Turned 16", by Moshe Kasher. Good read about a fucked up kid.

July 6, 1944, Hartford, CT.
Killed 167, injured more than 700.
It's an interesting, if gruesome, read.

Just started American Gods today, neverwhere was alright and I really liked Stardust

Whoa, that original for sure kek

War of the Worlds will never go out of style

Well at least the cover is colorful and fun looking

>What I meant is do people still read/collect physical books for a personal library because I see so many people with their face just jammed into electronics whether reading news or bullshit on their phone or thumbing through a kindle.


I do , but I'm an elderlyfag

You live by the troll, you die by the troll.

it was required reading in one of my highschool classes. It's such a good book, that many things in there have been ripped off and moved into popular culture. Sort of like seeing the godfather movie/.

Just read "No, They Can't" by John Stossel.

Otherwise have a few magazines. "Reason" "Scientific American" and "Cato" report. Interesting stuff.

I love to read, don't have as much time to anymore

I tried reading that book but I couldn't empathize at all with the protagonist (Which is also the narrator, and that made it even harder) What do you like the most about the book?

(Not OP, btw, I'm just interested)

Five seconds with Google would have told you otherwise, you incredibly dimwitted fuck.

29 nice guess

you're right, he's very ideologically driven, but his points are very well reasoned and smack of objective assessment. Seriously recommend Capital in the 21st Century, it explains a lot about why wages have stagnated in the US for over 50 years, why capital returns have outpaced economic growth, and takes a critical look at the rapid expansion of the financial sector (and how this type of economic growth doesn't translate into positive externalities for the rest of the economy).

It's very academic without being too thick to read leisurely, and it's not preachy

Yeah, that's a good point about Milo. Not like I ever thought he was worth much, anyway.

started this shortly before his death the other week.

Fat autistic neckbeard who wants to fuck his dead dog keeps fucking up and slowly having to deal with the real world while driving everyone around him insane.

Reading Gravity's Rainbow right now, I have about 50 pages left. Very good, lots of fun.

Pretty disgusted by the amount of ya-tier genre trash ITT. Also Rand. Why every Rand?

Stardust I haven't read because (again) I saw the movie first and it kinda ruined it for me I think but that and Anansi Boys is still on my to-do list sounds like a pretty cool, if weird, plot to it. Got a copy of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and the Collected Works of O. Henry earlier in the week so I'm hoping they were good purchases.

I like it of course, but I always thought, because of it's esteem, that it had more substance. I didn't think WotW would be such a straight forward diary narrative. Still good, though.


I forgot to put the names of the other two

architecture book - Project Japan

NK dissident Writer - The Accusation


Another suggestion for non fiction, Among the Thugs. American writer living in London around the 80's purposely gets involved in football/hooligan culture and participates in riots, meets neo nazis, etc. Interesting look into working class culture at the time.

Anyone else read The Road? Now that's a depressing novel.

>The spit-roasted baby

"The Telephone Concession" ("La concessione del telefono", by Andrea Camilleri)
It's about a man in Sicily in the late 19th century requesting a government concession for a private telephone line, and all the side stories unfolding around this simple event, ranging from erroneous political implications to marital cheating.

Bring and Nothingness
Sartre
Self consciousness and freewill. It's interesting... not for his arguments as much as the parallels one can draw from oneself

Heresy: a history of defending the truth (about heresy and orthodoxy in the early Christian church) by Alistair McGrath

Probably a book every 2 weeks

>Why every Rand?
its like standard 18-24 year old reading. everyone fucking reads it, 1/4 the people think it is fucking amazing brilliant and won't shut up about it, then they spend some time in the real world and forgot they ever read it. A few people cling to it through adulthood, where they mostly think they are libertarians but are actually just annoying faggots.

Unless you are Alan Greenspan. Did you know he fucked Ayn Rand? That dude is awesome.

I've only read through about 1/3 of this but it was pretty funny I'll have to finish this one day.

This guy
Have you ever read anything "non-fiction" that wasn't in your ideological conform zone?