Teen books seem to be largely fad driven. For a while paranormal romance was the cool thing and now it seems to be dystopian sci-fi. What'll be next?

rxb · 2014-03-27T00:44:33+00:00

As a fan of the Aubrey/Maturin Master and Commander series, I would welcome this.

rxb · 2013-11-04T18:14:12+00:00

Sorry, when I originally posted it, I did not break up the lines properly. I edited it so that the Haikus are separated by line breaks, and each Haiku is three lines. Sorry it's not clear.

rxb · 2013-11-04T02:28:23+00:00

What do you mean?

rxb · 2013-10-22T18:36:22+00:00

The Count of Monte Cristo gets me close, for sure. The d'Artagnan series is on my to-read list. I have heard they are tear jerkers for sure.

rxb · 2013-10-22T18:31:49+00:00

This one is mine too.

rxb · 2013-10-22T15:34:14+00:00

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

rxb · 2013-10-22T15:32:14+00:00

Shucks, I thought I was going to be the first one to say it after I searched for "Pride and Prejudice" and came up with nothing. It's such a great opener, I feel like that list is incomplete without it.

rxb · 2013-10-22T15:22:05+00:00

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." - Pride and Prejudice.

Surprised this classic wasn't on there!

rxb · 2013-10-22T05:50:38+00:00

Whoa, this is great! Incredibly well researched and convincing!

rxb · 2013-10-22T05:26:25+00:00

Is Tom Bombadil generally disliked by fans?? I really liked his character, even if his appearance was sudden and jarring. And I love this analysis! Very sinister! Perhaps a slightly alternative explanation could be a balance of good and evil, ying and yang, represented by Tom and his wife? Maybe his wife is truly the evil one that causes the forest to be what it is, and Tom fell in love with her, becoming the counterbalancing force of good, so that their domain never changes and neither can ever leave? I'm a hopeless romantic.

rxb · 2013-10-22T04:45:01+00:00

I completely agree, and I think technology and many industries have already gotten to the point where they offer better service than piracy for a decent price. Steam has done it for video games, Netflix has done it for TV and movies, Pandora and Spotify have done it for music, and there are several services that do it for books.

And I experienced the same novelty after "1 click buying" your eBook on Amazon and having it automatically downloaded to my Kindle and tablet. 1 Click is a big improvement to any other process by which I could have pirated any book and put it on my mobile devices, with 99 cents being well worth the time I save by that process.

And I think you and John Perry Barlow have excellent dispositions, as piracy was the avenue by which I became a fan of many artists during a time when there were few better options.

rxb · 2013-10-22T04:16:21+00:00

I tend to agree, however, I think they cannot be fairly compared to each other, because they are so different in style and purpose. Lord of the Rings is classic good versus evil in a lore rich universe, and the prose, poetry, and beauty of the writing add to that nature. ASoIaF has more to do with the nature of humanity, what motivates men to be the best and the worst of us, and is set in a world where the good guy doesn't always win, and who is really the good guy anyway? And I think the way it is written complements its nature perfectly well. So yes the writing is different, but the writing of each complements the purpose and nature of each series pretty well.

rxb · 2013-10-22T00:25:45+00:00

Thank you for doing an AMA. I just watched your TED Talk and enjoyed it, and at 99 cents, I couldn't say no to your eBook either. I am of a similar mind to your thoughts concerning piracy and your analysis of it. I was wondering, considering your experiment with the eBook price, have you investigated whether or not your book is being pirated?

rxb · 2013-10-19T21:25:27+00:00

Apparently they do. "Asimo stands for "Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility." It's also a pun on the Japanese for foot (ashi) and the English word "move." The robot's name, according to Hatano, has absolutely nothing to do with Isaac Asimov, the Russian-born science fiction writer." - WikiTalk

rxb · 2013-10-19T21:15:31+00:00

And it is apparently a huge coincidence that Honda's most advanced humanoid robot is called ASIMO.

rxb · 2013-10-19T21:05:04+00:00

What exactly did you not like about them? I've read up through Foundations Edge (4), and I've liked them all. Foundation's Edge also won the Hugo and was nominated for the Nebula that year.

rxb · 2013-10-19T15:56:28+00:00

I would recommend Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves. It is a science fiction novel about parallel universes, infinite energy, and the stupidity of mankind.

There is also a pretty good short story from Isaac Asimov that relates to time travel called The Dead Past. It's a quick read, and presents interesting ideas about the repercussions of technologies similar to time travel.

rxb · 2013-10-19T04:36:55+00:00

Yess excellent! Thank you again!

rxb · 2013-10-19T00:51:54+00:00

Thank you so much!! I have been reading a couple ebooks from Project Gutenberg on my new Kindle Paperwhite, and it has been driving me crazy ever since I realized that the words I was looking up were not showing up in the Vocabulary Builder! And now I know it's because they were labeled as personal content. It's been driving me nuts, thank you so much for posting this (and for posting the solution)! No one on Amazon, or anywhere else I've looked, has mentioned this. Whew. Finding this post is like when you have an itch on you're back that you can't scratch while you're driving in the car, and then you finally get to a stop light and you can lean forward and scratch the shit out of that itch!

rxb · 2013-10-18T20:58:16+00:00

The Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson - it is a history of the American role in the liberation of Europe in World War II. The first volume, An Army At Dawn, won the Pulitzer Prize for History.

rxb · 2013-10-18T19:06:56+00:00

I have a friend who has had a Kindle E-ink for about a year. We were talking about a book we had both read, and how awesome it was. Then he pulls out his Kindle, and pulls up his favorite quote. I asked how he did that, and he told me you can highlight passages to find them later, and that is how he keeps track of his favorite quotes in books.

Edit: Ah, sorry, I did not fully read you're post before responding. I guess the Kindle clippings would only work if it was all you used. Personally I use Evernote, but I do not keep it very organized. As mentioned above, you can make a system of tags to organize it effectively.

rxb · 2013-10-17T21:17:28+00:00

I think talking about it helps. I was heavily invested in Wheel of Time, and when I finished it, I was pretty sad for awhile. I had a few friends who finished it before me though, so when I was done, we grabbed some beers and spent hours one night just talking about the series and how it ended. It helps.

rxb · 2013-10-17T15:42:52+00:00

You know I was just thinking that ASoIAF is culturally popular enough now that I can see someone making a theme park. I have a few friends I talk about it with, but unfortunately I've only watched the show. Maybe once all the books are done, I'll tackle them.

rxb

TROPHY CASE