The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What are you reading?
Writing comes in spurts for me (well aside from all the posts that I write on this and other message boards). Most of the time it takes something like vacation for me to be interested enough to actually write anything from beginning to end, I keep all of my stories stored in Google documents so that I can access them from wherever I happen to be (that, and I have lost too many files to corrupted hard-drives in the past). The past few weeks, though, have been fantastic motivators for finishing several short stories.I worked at a Borders in Northern California for a little over a year a while back. The most telling thing and the thing that leaves the worst taste in my mouth about the store even after all of these years is that during the morning meetings when we were supposed to discuss what we were reading and recommendations that we had for others, it was always only myself and the General Manager that had anything to say. Out of a staff of about 30 people there were only five that read regularly and took advantage of the opportunities that Borders provided for checking out books. It was painful. Compared to Antigone Books, a local "only new" bookstore here in Tucson, that has a staff of ten- all of whom have never failed to provide me with great recommendations when I come in.
Tisha,I would love to know what you think of The Queen of Subtelties...I have had that on my shelf and just haven't picked it up yet.
Jeremy - if you are looking for books online, check out www.abebooks.com. I haven't used it in some time, but they have dirt cheap books and a huge selection.
My biggest peeve about chain book retailers is that I can't find anything in their stores. They have all kinds of dumb categories and stacks and displays that make no sense. They rarely have the books ON the shelves...so if you're looking for a title that they have in stock, you have to track down which 'display' it is on. Would it kill them to throw a few copies on the shelves??Don't even get me started on their knowledge (or lack thereof) of the actual books. They've either never heard of a particular book/author, or they pretend that they know exactly who you're talking about all the while butchering the author's name...'Oh! Of course, the book by Flaubert (pronounced 'Flo-Bert' by the employee). He writes good stuff.'
Wow Logan. You have personal experience, so that beats my reading their website career options page! I really wanted to apply there but I am too stuck with family size to start off entry level there and weekends, so I never did. And engineering doesn't translate into business easily. That is disappointing to hear that the employees weren't reading. Usually when I check out the person is telling me they liked the book or making some comment like that, but I haven't noticed that recently.
Alright, I'm off to lunchtime reading. Until then...
I usually go to a bookstore with somewhat of a mission and not asking too many questions. But I do like the mom and pop stores when they put out all of the employee suggestions.
I usually go to a bookstore with somewhat of a mission and not asking too many questions. But I do like the mom and pop stores when they put out all of the employee suggestions.
Jeremy, I loved Borders when I lived in Dallas. It was my personal defense from B&N..haha. There was another biggie called BookStop that is no longer in existence. There are several mom&pop bookstores in the city, but Half-Price pretty much owns the market. And it's a great bookstore.
Of course I live in Las Cruces, which means I get a choice of B&N and a used bookstore called Coas, which actually surprises me with their selections now and then. They get a lot of books back from the university students so I'm able to get some really choice "literary" reads.
Of course I live in Las Cruces, which means I get a choice of B&N and a used bookstore called Coas, which actually surprises me with their selections now and then. They get a lot of books back from the university students so I'm able to get some really choice "literary" reads.
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I have applied twice at my Borders online, but never heard back. I even asked at the main desk once but nothing doing. Either they are way overstaffed or I fail to be what they are looking for. I have over 10 years of retail warehousing\supervising under my belt..... What the hey!!! I want to work there just as PT b/c it would be a dream to walk those shelves everyday and get that damn discount!!
Do you read books Lori?? Then you are overqualified to work there. End of interview.
I just finished The Devil's Highway by Luis Urrea and I loved it. I'm normally not a non-fic reader but this book was really well written and the topic (illegal aliens and border control) is one that has always interested me. I highly recommend this book.
What sucks about my current town is that getting even a p/t job there is impossible. I'd work at the dreaded B&N just so that I could be surrounded by books all day..haha. But the full-time college kids own the place. As a full time worker bee with a family, p/t on nights and weekends are my only options. Oh well.
I once asked a question of where to find the display for the award winners in Chapters(they're always moving things around,it's very annoying)anyways 15 minutes later the woman had my arms piled high with Piccault books that I never asked for but apparently she just loooovvveddd!I had to discreetly put them all back as I didn't want to hurt her feelings.I know now I'm on my own when going in.
I don't know how Logan managed to sneak in there undetected. The manager must have been drunk or something.
Oh hey,I actually have something to post in this thread pertaining to what I'm actually reading...:)I started Girl Interrupted this morning.Couldn't find the Stephen King one I started.I guess i needed a break anyway.
It was a new store that was just opening up, so they needed to hire a lot of people all at once. If not for that I'd still be slinging beans at a cafe somewhere.
There were probably more employees at the coffee house that read books than at the bookstore, huh?Baristas are usually book geeks.
Too true in that regard. Working in cafes was almost as bad for my to-read list as Goodreads is now. Plus you get all the neo-bohemians passing through with their DIY art and slam poetry- they're always good for a recommendation or two. I love coffee culture, it's a big part of my life.
Finally!!!!!!!! NonZero is done (ok, so I am cheating a little, there are two short appendices but I couldn't take it anymore.) I do have to look up 2 words which I should probably know. Nihilism and ennui.
8 pages into Haunted but I do like how it has started. There are some very clever sentences.
Based on all this talk, I should stick with my original plan of starting and indie bookshop slash coffee house. Oh yeah, and I'll home brew beer, but it isn't as easy to read after 3 steins of beer....or 3 cups of coffee for that matter.
Lori, if you can't get in with your credentials, I'm all done. Or I could pretend that I don't read. "Hunh? What's a book?"
8 pages into Haunted but I do like how it has started. There are some very clever sentences.
Based on all this talk, I should stick with my original plan of starting and indie bookshop slash coffee house. Oh yeah, and I'll home brew beer, but it isn't as easy to read after 3 steins of beer....or 3 cups of coffee for that matter.
Lori, if you can't get in with your credentials, I'm all done. Or I could pretend that I don't read. "Hunh? What's a book?"
I'd say that to understand nihilism you just need to keep reading Palahniuk. He tends to embody it rather well. As a teen my mother's nickname for me was le pauvre ennui. I'm really glad she gave that one up.
Oh yeah, I have a question. I have never paid much attention to editions, but thanks to TNBBC (may it live forever) I looked at the inside cover of Haunted (hardcover) and it appears to be 1st edition. Not that I think this is the biggest deal, but do I take this at face value?
Congrats Jeremy! I'll be slowly slaving away at Modern Mind for some time to come.
At least you are doing it the smart way and not leting it get in the way of fiction!!
Pap warn't in a good humor -- so he was his natural self.There are so many great lines like this that you forget about. Wow! The more I read and remember, the more I'm nervous about picking up another book about Pap.
I actually read Huck Finn for the very first time this past spring. And I think it lived up to its billing as a seminal American novel. I had read Tom Sawyer in my youth and thought it was a fantastic read. But Huck Finn is certainly on an entirely different level. I'm glad I read it as an adult as I'm better able to deal with some of Twain's more troubling themes.
Curses! It looks like I have another to reread. I haven't picked up either Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn since I was under ten so have next to no memory of the writing and only a hazy recollection of the plot. This group is evil (and I love it).
Finished Synners by Pat Cadigan earlier today. It was decent. I have no idea what I'm going to move on to next. So so many books in my to-read stack.
One of my few memories is a chapter called Mind Your Ps and Qs...I think? Not sure how y'all are doing italics.
Jeremy, when you start a comment, there should be a box with Formatting Tips on the right-side of the screen.
Well, to be specific, if you click on New Topic, you'll see what I'm talking about.
To use italics: YOUR WORDS HERE< /i> (remove the space)To use bold: YOUR WORDS HERE< /b> (remove the space)
To use underline: YOUR WORDS HERE< /u> (remove the space)
To use
To post a link : YOUR TITLE HERE (keep all spacing the same)
To post directly to a book: TITLE OF BOOK...then add end bracket
Resulting in - [book: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
To post directly to an author: AUTHOR'S NAME...then add end bracket
Resulting in - [author: Mark Twain
or in the comment box where you see the phrase "(some html is ok)" you can click on that and it pops up the formatting tips. It has everything from how to put things in italics to how to add a link.
thanks!
Did that work (I'm a slow learner having too much fun)?
Did that work (I'm a slow learner having too much fun)?
You have to use a backslash on the second b.
That's good to know
Way to go! I have just gave you the tools to make your time on GR last even longer. :-)
Thanks guys,I've always wondered how you did those kewl things with your posts.
Yay finally I know how to usetricks. I was always curious how you guys did the 
112 posts later...I learn that I can never leave this group again! LOL!!! I'm almost finished with Eliza Stanhope and plan to read The Last Lecture next.
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The Next Best Book Club
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I did add A Thousand Spendid Suns to my TBR list. I am taking a short hiatus with other books and then I do plan to read Hosseini's 2nd book.
I also decided to read The Queen of Subleties: A Novel of Anne Boleyn in addition to Harry Potter. I don't usually co-read, but I couldnt make up my mind and figured since I am diving into a 7 book series, i might want to break it up.
I'm sure one will end up getting all the love in the end and become the chosen one I carry around though, while the other sits on my nightstand. :)