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Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?
- Thread starter Huntn
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Ascension by Christie Golden. Part of the Star Wars Fate of the Jedi series. I pretty much only read Star Wars novels these days. I'm such a geek!
Heads in Beds
About the hotel industry........I travel a lot and it definitely has changed the way I do some things in a hotel room and how I check in haha
Oh and if you are 1 of those people who uses hotwire or those deal sites for hotels, I'd suggest never reading this!
About the hotel industry........I travel a lot and it definitely has changed the way I do some things in a hotel room and how I check in haha
Oh and if you are 1 of those people who uses hotwire or those deal sites for hotels, I'd suggest never reading this!
Just talks about where hotels put guests who book those kind of rooms and what kind of condition they're in and how much care is put towards them.
aaaaahhh.... and the beds are covered in bodily fluids....?
Ah, yes. That sort of place.....hmmm. Happy memories.
Some years ago, in the Caucasus, I remember encountering hotels which - although seemingly empty - proved extraordinarily difficult to book into for anything other than lunch. A long lunch. Inexplicably, our western passports, diplomatic status and evident solvency all counted for nothing.
The bedrooms, when inspected, proved to have large - nay, commodious - double beds, but were strangely lacking in bedroom furniture (mundane stuff like desks, and wardrobes, and the like). As I had to write detailed, analytical reports, I said that desks were really a good idea in a hotel bedroom where I might have to spend some time (like a few weeks). My male colleagues, (already a little uneasy) agreed with me and we inspected the place. Rather, they inspected, energetically, while I strolled in their wake.
Mattresses, it must be said, transpired to be less than arid. A drawback, in the circumstances. My male colleagues - with an admirably proactive and delightfully protective air - dived to the (strangely un-vacuumed) carpets, rummaging under the beds, and blushed to disclose their discovered treasures. "Um," one of my colleagues began in a low voice; the man, a colonel in his 60s, then stalled, as he tried to explain in polite terms (to a woman 20 years younger than him) why the only hotel in that town might not be a suitable accommodation for (female) political analysts from an international mission, "I think that this might be the sort of place where you pay by the hour". I see.
aaaaahhh.... and the beds are covered in bodily fluids....?
Not so much that because all the hotels have some kind of laundry service......but like the glasses you might be drinking out of, might not have been washed in awhile
things like that......good book, but really changes how you look at hotels!
I just purchased Pandora's Star (The Commonwealth Saga) [Kindle Edition] by Peter F. Hamilton for my Paperwhite. I'll get started on it today. At over 900 pages, it's going to be a long read!
I'm actually shocked that no one else has mentioned this but I just finished reading A Memory of Light, by Brandon Sanderson. It's (FINALLY) the last book in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Jordan died several years ago but left extensive notes on how he envisioned the series going on, and his widow and Tor Books hired Sanderson to finish it off. It took three more books (bringing the grand total to 14 massive novels) but I think he did a great job, and even though this book was just one massive battle, it was deservedly epic and somehow managed to tie up the vast majority of strings that had been made previously.
Just finished "Manhunt" by Peter Bergen
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/manhunt/id468748488?mt=11
I found this and Mark Bowden's "The Finish" to be great reads on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Each went into detail about aspects the other glossed over.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/manhunt/id468748488?mt=11
I found this and Mark Bowden's "The Finish" to be great reads on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Each went into detail about aspects the other glossed over.
That's Chatterton's story about U-Who? isn't it? We like to think we're rufty tufty diving types over here but he's got to be a cool as a cucumber...
I suspect the reason that no one else has mentioned it is that most people have struggled to finish Robert Jordan's epic series. I know I did. While I am a book lover, and an avid reader, (reading quite a bit of fantasy for relaxation), I must admit that I gave up after the fifth or sixth book. To my mind, the whole series was too bloated and overwrought and, sad to relate, I more or less lost interest in what happened.
Now, having read (and really liked) Brandon Sanderson's own Mistborn series, I've come to the heretical (from the perspective of Jordan fans) conclusion that Brandon Sanderson himself is actually a far better writer than was Robert Jordan.
That's understandable. The first time I read the series I only got through the first 7 or 8 books. The second time I made it through 10 but I was on a cross-country bicycle ride, and so had lots of free time and had them all on my nook. A few months ago I found out the last book was coming out and so determined to finish off the series, starting with book 11. I really do like Brandon Sanderson's writing, and he may be a better writer than Jordan- he definitely is less prone to getting sidetracked for hundreds of pages than Jordan was.
Also, about Mistborn, I loved that series, although I kind of felt like each book he had planned to stop at and then fabricated some reason to continue the story. Worked out well though.
Currently.. The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared. Really enjoyable book, and only £0.20 on my Kindle!!
Killing the Hidden Waters, by Charles Bowden
The Desert Smells like Rain, by Gary Nabhan
The Savage Detectives, by Roberto Bolaño.
And, two rereads:
The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman
and
Cadillac Desert, by Marc Reisner
The Desert Smells like Rain, by Gary Nabhan
The Savage Detectives, by Roberto Bolaño.
And, two rereads:
The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman
and
Cadillac Desert, by Marc Reisner
It is old, but it is still a very good and thought-provoking book. However, I remain astonished at the unthinking and un-interrogated male assumptions which inform an awful lot of published work, not least in the physical sciences which should know a lot better.
A more nuanced approach would be welcome, but this is one of the areas where Dawkins's work shows its age.
Nonetheless, any well written work which serves to make scientific material more accessible - and readable - is to be welcomed. Personally, I love reading well written scientific books, and have promised myself to take out a subscription to 'Scientific American' (an excellent publication) sometime in the future.