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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Amph What book are you reading right now?

Discussion in 'Community' started by droideka27, Aug 31, 2005.

  1. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Think I'll attempt to get back into SOFAI.
     
  2. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    Into the Darkness by Harry Turtledove. Basically a mashup of DnD and WW2. It's an interesting premise, but told from so many points of view that none of the characters are very deep.
     
  3. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    Tales of Mystery & Imagination - Edgar Allan Poe

    [​IMG]

    This title has been used on countless Poe books, but I read the collection of stories assembled by Padraic Colum and published by Everyman. I enjoyed the book immensely and even enjoyed some stories I've previously disliked quite a bit. William Wilson, for instance, was wonderful this time round. At his best, Poe surely needs no defense. Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, The Telltale Heart, Berenice, The Fall of the House of Usher . . . these are all among the best short stories ever written, horror or not. I enjoyed some that I'd never even heard of, like Tale of the Ragged Mountains. There are a lot of essays that don't really deserve to be called fiction, but they're sporadically interesting. It's very strange to read Poe's humorous stories (X-ing a Paragrab is genuinely hilarious) and see a Poe that doesn't fit the stereotype we have of him at all. On the whole, though there are duds scattered here and there, the collection is fantastic and beautifully written and deeply evocative at its best. I'd say you ought to read it. Recommended. *** 1/2 stars.
     
  4. VadersLaMent

    VadersLaMent Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 3, 2002
    The Redemption Engine by James Sutter
     
  5. SWpants

    SWpants Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2004
    Star Wars: Omnibus "Early Victories"
     
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  6. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    The Shepherd, by Frederick Forsyth. A pilot is flying home on Christmas eve when his plane's electrical system fails, leaving him without radio or navigation equipment at night and in fog. I read this once as a teen and was impressed. Coming back to it after 6 years as a flight engineer and getting my pilot's license, I'm more impressed. Forsyth was a pilot and is clearly writing about what he knows. And his ability to create a creepy atmosphere with just a few words is remarkable.
     
  7. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    Started Jack Whyte's Excalibur last night. I've read his Arthur the Son series and liked it. This is the first book of Arthur the Hero.
     
  8. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000

    Welcome to Harry PotterTurtledove.
     
  9. VadersLaMent

    VadersLaMent Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 3, 2002
    Just out of curiosity, anyone care to tell or find out their reading speed and comprehension? I grabbed the first thing that came up in a google search HERE

    I am at 257 and 91%. That I think that's an average page of a paperback per minute. It's just a normal attempt as the test asks for. I can in fact read much faster as I demonstarted once in a class that required each persont o read aloud and I went OFF. They let me finish everyone else's turn. Not sure what my comprehension is reading that fast though. Whatever, my average for a typical 300 page book then is 5 hours. After I finish the 40 pager I'm on I am looking at a 700+ page book that is the first in a trilogy. Ugh.
     
  10. SWpants

    SWpants Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2004
    I know my comprehension is fail, but I read quickly.
    For this it was 73% but a lot of the questions were self-explanatory. I had like 1496 wpm reading but I skimmed through.

    That is very cool though! Some neat facts(that I'll forget in half an hour)
     
  11. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    403 wpm, 82% comprehension (I think it's hilarious that there's a "calculate" button, incidentally).

    I'm mostly left wondering what the point was, since they never really spell out why I should care outside of sheer curiosity. Especially odd considering they're attempting to sell me on speed reading.
     
  12. VadersLaMent

    VadersLaMent Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 3, 2002
    Uh yeah, I just grabbed it because it came up first an jives with a couple of other times I did such a thing. Just curiosity.
     
  13. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    No, I understand your rationale; theirs has me baffled.
     
  14. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    256 wpm without effort, and 100%. I attribute that to studying flight engineer material; comprehension is important when your life and others depend on your knowledge.
     
  15. Frank T.

    Frank T. Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    173 wpm on my small tablet screen and 100%. Where does that put me?
     
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  16. heels1785

    heels1785 Skywalker Saga + JCC Manager / Finally Won A Draft star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 10, 2003
    357 and 82% for me. My reading comprehension has always something I struggled with, always rushed through assignments.
     
  17. SWpants

    SWpants Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2004
    Going to start Chaos by Ted Dekker tonight
     
  18. AmazingB

    AmazingB Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 12, 2001
    According to that site, I'm at about 620 wpm and 82% comprehension. That seems excessive.

    Amazing.
     
  19. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    I often consciously force myself to read slower than I can. You know, sink in and savor the experience of a good book.
     
  20. thebadge

    thebadge Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 15, 2002
    The Pinnacle of Glory: Napoleon and his Guard by Greenhill Books.
    Man what a publishing house.
     
  21. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy, by Peter Wilson. This is what I look for in a history, a giant, comprehensive tome that seeks to be a one-stop shop on the subject. In that respect, it's excellent, and Wilson does a fairly good job of rounding up all the information and offering a good analysis of it. I'm especially impressed by the extensive time he spends establishing context for the war. Unfortunately, Wilson just isn't that good a writer. His style is academic and dry; he can churn out a lot of information, but he's not very good at explaining it and communicating it in an accessible way. To handle a massive history like this requires a certain writerly touch in distinguishing personalities, reintroducing information, expressing the facts in a way that's easily graspable and memorable, and Wilson doesn't have it. He tends to get lost in a fog of names and troop movements and references and loses clarity as a result. He's very good at writing chapters and chapters of background and context for the war, but he's much worse at contextualizing his sentences and paragraphs in a way that will appeal to a non-academic reader. I found the history of the war interesting, and appreciated the density of its data, but I can't recommend it as it's simply not a good enough read and tends to be very ineffective in communicating that data.
     
  22. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    They want to know how fast you read and therefore how easily they can slip subliminal kill JFK messages into kill JFK your books of kill JFK choice, because the higher your kill JFK reading speed and the lower your kill JFK comprehension the easier the kill JFK message will get in there.
     
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  23. SWpants

    SWpants Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2004
    Rereading "A Memory of Light"
     
  24. Isotope217

    Isotope217 Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 24, 2002
    Drive: The Story of My Life, Larry Bird



     
  25. Chancellor_Ewok

    Chancellor_Ewok Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004
    Finished Last Man on the Moon by Gene Cernan, which was an excellent Apollo memoir and started Buzz Aldrin's Magnificent Desolation (great title), which recounts his life after Apollo 11. Also a very good book so far.