(Original and full-sized here: http://greekmythcomix.wordpress.com/comic/deaths-in-the-iliad-a-classics-infographic/)
(h/t +Yonatan Zunger)
(YouTube home page here: https://www.youtube.com/user/thugnotes)
Reshared post from +Curt Thompson
Via a private share of immaculate taste. 😀
I love this series and I love this analysis of Dune. About as good as you are possibly going to get in 5 minutes.
3 of 5 stars to Teckla by Steven Brust https://t.co/VQ2OaX5su6
3 of 5 stars to The Hunter by Richard Stark https://t.co/WGYIo9Jpor
Generrally speaking, DRM sucks. Usually it just sucks for the consumer. Occasionally it sucks for the folks who insist upon using it.
Reshared post from +Doyce Testerman
DRM Sucks: Big-Five Publishing Edition
"Hachette insisted that Amazon sell its books with "Digital Rights Management" that only Amazon is allowed to remove, and now Hachette can't afford to pull its books from Amazon, because its customers can only read their books with Amazon's technology."
Yep. DRM sucks. Ultimately, and eventually, it sucks for everyone, including the people who asked for it in the first place.
Good thing all the other big publishers didn't ask for DRM on their Amazon ebooks. Oh wait… #wp
By the way: If you hate DRM and want a good audiobook to listen to, I have just the thing… http://doycetesterman.com/index.php/category/podcasts/hidden-things/
How Hachette made the rope that Amazon is hanging it with
In my latest Guardian column, “How Amazon is holding Hachette hostage,” I discuss the petard that the French publishing giant Hachette is being hoisted upon by Amazon.
I got 10 out of 10, but I completely guessed on a couple of them, and made educated guesses on a couple more … though, frankly, some of the map are sub-optimally small.
(via +Ginny Gibbs)
Can you identify the book from its map? – quiz
Leonie Veerman: How well do you know your way around literature? Have a look at these maps and find out if you know which fictional worlds they chart
4 of 5 stars to How Jesus Became God by Bart D. Ehrman https://t.co/bVawxxUOWP
I remember getting into just such a discussion while in college, (mumblety) years ago. It was no more productive, but it sure felt profound. Now — not so much.
Let me throw out this alternative suggestion. I think it's great to recommend what is commonly deemed "good literature." I.e., books that have sophisticated plotlines and characters, that don't necessarily end with neat or happy endings, that use interesting vocabulary and imagery and sentence construction.
It's also great to be able to say, "Y'know, I really don't care for a salmon-quinoa salad with cherry compote and an truffle-avocado creme fraiche demiglaze. I'll have the caesar salad, anchovies on the side" — and not be told that I have an immature palate, or that I'm not supporting the right causes, or that the truffles are fair trade and therefore morally superior to my croutons.
It's wonderful to offer someone a 1953 Chateau-neuf-du-pape, with explanation of the subtle bouquet, the enchanting mouthfeel, and the complex interplay of tannins and fruit that can be attributed to the particularly dry summer after a late, wet winter that year on that side of that particular village. And, in fact, I might even enjoy a taste of it. Or, perhaps, right now, I'll have a beer. Or a Coke. Or a caipiranha.
Enjoy your tastes. Offer to share them with others. And, yes, explore other things. Learn to recognize the differences — not in a judgmental way but in an informed way. But heavy sighing and rolled eyes and tut-tutting makes you sound …
Well, Ms. Graham, whenever you have to start a sentence with "at the risk of sounding snobbish and joyless and old," you might want to reconsider what you are about to say, because it most likely is not just sounding that way.
(h/t +Les Jenkins)
Yes, Adults Should Be Embarrassed to Read Young Adult Books
As The Fault in Our Stars barrels into theaters this weekend virtually guaranteed to become a blockbuster, it can be hard to remember that once upon a time, an adult might have felt embarrassed to be caught reading the novel that inspired it. Not because it is bad—it isn’t—but because…
That moment you realize you just read the last book out (so far) in a series you’re enjoying. #dagnabbit
Secrets of the Stacks
How libraries decide which books to keep—and which don’t stand the test of time
The 9 Agonizing Stages Of Waiting For The Next Book In A Series To Come Out
Book series are a wonderful thing, but the wait time between installments can be agonizing. Some authors and publishers have wised up to how impatient we’ve collectively become, and have applied the binge-watching mentality to books by rolling titles…
2 of 5 stars to Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings http://t.co/ayH6pTgBGo
I kind of understand this — there's something enjoyable about deep immersion in a series, esp. when you come across it years after it debuted and you have multiple volumes to read. Reaching the end of that and knowing you have another year to wait is sort of frustrating, esp. if that year produces only one more volume.
One aspect to this that occurred to me is that this really seems to favor established authors. A publisher isn't going to buy a trilogy from an unknown (cough), so this will only be possible for authors who are a known success.
I have to wonder if some writers who like to mix things up a bit (e.g., Steven Brust) will find this kind of idea a bit more stifling — ignore that idea you have for something new, and grind out X volumes of your Y series. I also wonder how this will work for longer series — bundle up three at a time? That becomes even more of a grind (and a longer interval between them); or does indicate that longer series may be on the way out in favor of more manageable binge sets.
I'll be curious to see how this trend plays out.
Impatience Has Its Reward: Books Are Rolled Out Faster
While the television industry has begun catering to impatient audiences by releasing entire series at once, the book business is upending its traditional timetable by encouraging a kind of binge reading, releasing new works by a single author at an accelerated pace.
3 of 5 stars to The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien http://t.co/KrTHY7ihpS
After that? Well, on the one hand, I've got my daughter reading Eddings' Belgariad, which I feel I should probably do out of solidarity / common discussion.
On the other hand, I have a slough of books recommended to me from my writing group that sound intriguing and useful to my current literary efforts.
And, of course, there are a tonne of other books that I've picked up over the last several months that I want to read as well.
My book-reading life is even more congested than my DVR-watching life is.
4 of 5 stars to Jhereg by Steven Brust http://t.co/k1nIKhpYt9
Finished up “The Hobbit”… I trust Jackson will give us a 4th movie travelog of MULTI-MONTH journey home.
Peter Jackson got at least one thing right: Thorin Oakenshield is a dick.
Have finished 2/3 of Hobbit movie trilogy, a/k/a 80% of Hobbit book. #readtothedriver #OutOfFaerie
***Dave Hill’s bookshelf: text (showing 1-30 of 75) (sorted by: date added) (cover view)
***Dave Hill has 75 books on his text shelf: The Lost Stars: Perilous Shield by Jack Campbell, Homicide Trinity by Rex Stout, If Death Ever Slept: A Nero…
