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Messages: Related to books
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Looking to trade TitleTrader points for BookMooch points
I'm looking for someone who'd like to trade BookMooch points for TitleTrader.com points. I have 6 TT points on the site, but I can't spend them on anything, as most users there seem to ship only within the US. I'm offering 6 TT points for 12 BM points. If you're interested, just send me your TT profile link, the amount of points you'd like and I'll gift them.
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Dovile
6 years ago
no comments
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| (10 years ago) | Those look nice.
Well, they looked nice. The second one is gone. I hate such stores, who return no explanation for why a product is not available, instead showing off current things.
- automobus |
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Interview Maya Angelou
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22018735 "World-renowned poet, author and activist Maya Angelou has written extensively about her life, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1969. More than 40 years later, she is finally opening up about one of the most important and complex relationships in her life: her relationship with her mother, Vivian Baxter. When Angelou was three years old, Baxter sent her and her brother away to be raised by their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. When Angelou returned to live with Baxter 10 years later, she refused to call her her mother, referring to her only as "Lady". Angelou's seventh autobiography, Mom & Me & Mom, chronicles how Lady eventually became Mom. It was a long journey with many bumps along the way, but as Angelou tells the Michael Maher, it is a story of the healing power of love."
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jacquie
11 years ago
no comments
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| (11 years ago) | A Guide To Fantasy Literature by Philip Martin - Review
Guiding The Imagination
Did your parents read you Grimm’s Fairy Tales when you were a child? Or perhaps they read you A. A. Milne’s Winnie-The-Pooh? Or did you yourself read Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland, or J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, or some other imaginative adventure? If so then you have a start in the ever expanding world of fantasy literature. Philip Martin’s A Guide To Fantasy Literature will appeal to anyone who has an imagination, who can put aside their “disbelief” (as William Wordsworth wrote in his Preface to Lyric Ballads) and allow a story to take them wherever it will.
Martin has peppered his book with quite lengthy quotes from the novels and this serves to very much wet the appetite of those who have not read much fantasy. “That is interesting, and what happens next?” we ask ourselves.
The general reader is also guided to see what to look for in a fantasy book, or indeed any book. We are encouraged, for example, to ask: what is the character’s motivation, and do they change through the book? Thinking about these questions may at first seem a bit deep, but they are things we ask ourselves about the people we know in ordinary life. Thinking about books in this way can help us to see fantasy tales as more than simply adventure stories, to enjoy them even more because they say things about ‘real’ life.
For those who have read a lot of this genre there will be many moments of pleasurable recognition as old favourites are recalled to mind. The seasoned reader may also come away from A Guide To Fantasy Literature liking the novels they have read even more, as Martin has a great knack of bringing out the more subtle details and messages hidden by the authors in their stories.
As well as readers, this book will very much appeal to those who want to write fantasy stories. The first edition of this book was indeed published under the title The Writers Guide To Fantasy Literature. Martin examines the nuts and bolts of the genre and his enthusiasm for the subject makes us think, “I wonder if I could write fantasy?” Many of us do in fact have manuscripts hidden in the back of cupboards and this is just the book to encourage us to get them out and get to work on them again. It is important to note, though, that this is not a ‘how-to’ book, with writing exercises designed to get you writing. The new title is more appropriate as this book really will appeal to a wide variety of readers, but none the less would-be authors will take a special interest.
Martin’s reading on the subject has been very wide and indeed covers everything from the little tales of Beatrix Potter to the writings of Jungian psychology analyst Joseph Campbell. He quotes books as old as Homer’s Odyssey to as contemporary as Harry Potter.
The Guide also contains many quotes from the relevant literary criticism. This may sound off putting, however, you certainly do not have to be a university graduate to understand and enjoy the book. Martin has selected very clear quotations and his own text simply and clearly brings out the meaning in a way that is very easy to understand. Reading the book is more like listening to a widely-read, fan speak, and indeed the Introduction makes clear that Martin is just that. He has read fantasy novels since he was an excited boy. Many fans of Lord Of The Rings, for example, know that its author, Tolkien, was a member of a writing club called The Inklings, along with the other famous authors C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams, but not so many know that one of the origins of the character Gandalf was a postcard bought during an Alpine trek in the author’s youth, in 1911, which depicted “the ‘spirit of the mountain’: an old man with flowing beard, broad-brimmed hat, and long cloak, sitting on a rock under a pine.” (Chapter 2)
Martin has also included quotes from interviews which he himself carried out with several authors. This material is new and unique. For example in Chapter 4 there is a quote from Martin’s interview of Peter Beagle where that author explains: “I will literally walk around the room talking dialogue and description to myself. I’m going for rhythm …” We get an interesting, new insight into exactly how that author writes.
For those who want to read more on the subject of fantasy literature Martin has included a bibliography which is annotated; that is, he gives you a very brief summary of what is in each book.
Very much in brief the main topics covered by the book are:
Are these tales just empty, fanciful entertainments, or do they have a meaning applicable to the ‘real’ world?
The history of fantasy from myth and epic narrative to modern classics like Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain series.
What exactly is fantasy and does it differ from science fiction?
How do authors get their fantastic ideas?
The five ‘types’ of fantasy: high fantasy, adventure fantasy, fairy-tale fiction, magic realism, and dark fantasy.
Particular techniques and elements such as meter, repetition and magic.
The importance of location and geographic description, particularly in making the ‘unreal’ seem real.
Techniques of characterization and the representation of real human struggle, with the aim of placing ‘real’ people in very ‘unusual’ circumstances.
The centrality of plot and why we keep turning the page.
Martin’s A Guide To Fantasy Literature will appeal to a very wide audience ranging from the general reader who has not read much of the genre to university students doing a course in imaginative literature. The book is not at all dull and is written by someone who clearly loves the subject and whose enthusiasm is catching. Martin is very knowledgeable, but does not write in an overly scholarly style. His text is clear, simple and approachable.
- Raymond Mathiesen |
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Info for members at ReadersUnited.com (especially who have unspent RU points)
I've just received an email message from the creator of Readers United book swap site (it must have been set to all the RU members), and there's also a message posted on the site. Apparently, RU is closing down, new requests are no longer allowed. If you have any unspent points at RU, you should reply or email the owner, as he says, if there's a significant demand, he will try to arrange to transfer those points to some other book swap site. It would be great to be able to actually get some books for those points.
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Dovile
11 years ago
no comments
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Reading Pillow recommendation
For those of you who read a lot - check out this reading pillow that deflates for travel. www.wondawedge.com It's available in the U.S., Australia, Korea, U.K., Bahamas..... also makes a great beach lounger, or seat for an outdoor event!
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TXCactusFlower
12 years ago
no comments
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cuecat
I've had a cuecat around for a few months now that I got from my grandmother. I finally decided to open it up today when I wanted to add a bunch of books. Unfortunately, the cuecat driver software doesn't work on windows 7 (or work very well on windows xp for that matter). This isn't a huge deal, however, as the original cuecat driver software phoned home (I wouldn't use it anyways).
I have a ps/2 cuecat, and it doesn't work at all with my dual ps/2 kb/mouse to single usb adapter. I finally got it working by plugging it directly into the back of the computer and plugging the keyboard into it (it has a plug for this).
There's still a couple problems with this, though:
1. the cuecat doesn't send the barcode data straight--it has to be decoded.
2. Bookmooch does not accept UPCs, and the barcodes on books aren't usually the ISBN, though I found a couple that had the whole ISBN inside the upc.
To solve #1, I found several websites and scripts that will decoded the text. Just put the cursor inside the text box, and scan your upc; the when you click the button, it will decode the upc for you, and tell you if its valid (using the check digit).
To solve #2, I found this great site: http://www.kayaker.net/cuecat/upc5.php. It works just like the above solution, only its specialized for books--it gives you both an isbn-10 and an isbn-13 for any valid book upc you scan in.
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Efreak
12 years ago
1 comment
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| (12 years ago) | I do use linux, as a matter of fact. I have Ubuntu, Debian, and a couple other distros installed. I didn't think to boot to them though--I don't keep shared partitions, so I haven't been booting it lately.
I still find it somewhat simpler to use the website I posted--it takes the encoded cuecat output and gives me an ISBN. I highly doubt linux will give you the ISBN number; I find it more likely that it would give me the UPC+5, and then I would need to find a different script to convert those.
- Efreak |
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wishlist
I must have really unusual taste in books becasue those on my wish list are rarely available. Am I doing something wrong?????????
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patricia
13 years ago
2 comments
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| (13 years ago) | A few authors I don't think I've seen in your list (may have missed them, or maybe the places and times don't appeal to you).
• Boris Akounine
• Ellis Peters
• Peter Tremayne
• Robert Van Gulik
• Paul Charles Doherty
...
- Aude | | (13 years ago) | Nothing particularly outlandish about loving historical novels or historical mysteries IMO :D
Many of them seem to be fairly recent releases, unless they have older related editions it may take them a while to trickle down though I'm surprised you haven't had an opportunity to snatch a copy of the Dan Brown yet.
Maybe you could look into critics & reviews blogs that also explore the back catalogue of your favorite genres, or other authors that you may not have read yet so as to widen your wishlist ?
- Aude |
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Satisfaction Survey for one of my classes
Hello, I’m a member of Bookmooch and also a student in Paris-Dauphine University (Paris, France), in Master in Management (http://mastermanagement.dauphine.fr/).
As part of a project in the course “evaluation of information systems”, we decided (me plus 2 classmates) to conduct a satisfaction survey on the website Bookmooch.com.
It would permit us to practice methods we learned in class to a website I use almost everyday and that I like very much. The survey is anonymous. https://spreadsheets0.google.com/viewform?authkey=CIy7xNwM&authkey=CIy7xNwM&hl=en&formkey=dGJyVmtJTGltRlZWVWs5MFEteWdidWc6MQ#gid=0 Thank you for you help!
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LN
13 years ago
3 comments
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| (13 years ago) | Participation is stagnating and we have already 70 persons who answered it!
We'll remove it in a 1 hour, and start to analyze the results.
Thank you all for your participation, we will communicate the results as soon as possible!
- LN | | (13 years ago) | Hello Aude,
thanks for your advice, we will take account of your recommandations (history, feedback,...).
About the survey, we can't edit it anymore, but it was a choice not to have the answer "no opinion" and to minimize the different answers, but thanks for letting us know!
Regards.
Hélène
- LN | | (13 years ago) | Choix de questions et réponses parfois un peu bizarres.
Pas d'option "sans avis / pas contre mais pas intéressé(e) / pas encore utilisé même si je sais que ça existe et que je pourrais m'en servir" concernant certains aspects du site.
Le côté "évaluation d'un système d'information" est aussi franchement léger, vous trouvez la place pour une question sur des pratiques qui sont probablement assez périphériques pour une bonne part des utilisateurs, mais rien sur des éléments sans doute plus centraux et incontournables comme le système d'historique et d'évaluation des transactions ? Sur les renseignements optionnellement saisis par les usagers sur leurs exemplaires de livres ?
- Aude |
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Book resources
I've found three web site that are great for finding new authors and lists of their books. The first is http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk.
This site is based in UK, but has books from America as well. They have have many categories...science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, thriller, romance, western, and mainstream (not sure what that is). You can search by author name or book or by category. When I find a new author, I go there first to find out about them and find lists of their books. The second for cozy mystery lovers.
http://www.cozy-mystery.com/
They have an author index, and lists by theme including states, and suthor interviews. A fun place to browse. The last is for all mystery lovers.
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/
This site has author and character indexes--when was the last time you could remember the character name but not the author--reviews, awards, location, genre, and diversity indexes. YOu can sign up for a twice monthly newsletter so you can find out about new authors and characters, book give-aways and more. I hope you'll find these websites as helpful as I have. Hey, just what we need, more books to wishlist!
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Susan
13 years ago
3 comments
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| (13 years ago) | I use http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk./ all the time!
Thanks for the other links!
- Hercules40 (a.k.a. PapaG) | | (13 years ago) | Thanks for the info on FantasticFiction. I haven't run across that problem, but most of the lists I get are shorter. I use wikipedia for a lot of other searches and have found it to be a great resource. I'm sure there are other sites for specific book genres too.
- Susan | | (13 years ago) | I used to use the Fantasticfiction site quite a lot, but I've discovered that it's not always accurate. While the book lists by author are usually correct, their book-lists for various series can be messed up, with some books not listed and others listed twice under different titles. This is especially true for larger series, like Star Wars or Star Trek books.
For these reasons, I now use http://www.wikipedia.org to make checklists for my favorite authors and series. The information there is much more accurate (as it can be supervised and corrected, if necessary, by lots of people), and also Wikipedia is much faster, ad-free and more eye-friendly.
A few other great sites:
http://www.gatepages.net/ - complete lists of Stargate novels, shorts stories, comics and other publications
http://www.well.com/~sjroby/lcars/ - The Complete Starfleet Library - all Star Trek books, comics, etc. ever published. Fast and easy search feature.
http://www.well.com/~sjroby/lostbooks.html/ - a complete list of unpublished Star Trek books. Very interesting and informative
- Dovile |
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