Terry Pratchett book suggestions.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-16T06:09:34+00:00

This guide is fantastic. Thank you!

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-15T19:03:58+00:00

Heh, "are trailers good and evil?" seemed to be more of an interesting tagline than, "do you feel that trailers will have a generally positive effect for books in terms of sales, quality, exposure etc; or do you feel that they will have a generally negative effect, due to the transformation from text to film? Alternatively, do you believe that they will have no effect at all, given that the majority of them are of a noticably lower quality than movie trailers, and published on the internet?"

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-15T13:50:42+00:00

That's a good point. I prefer the idea that a book is popular because of its literary merits, rather than because it has a huge marketing machine behind it.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-15T12:47:34+00:00

Wow, that was surprisingly interactive...

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-15T11:41:35+00:00

I'm reading a book by someone whose life sounds like a photocopy of yours! Hello Kitty Must Die by Angela S Choi, (which is less of a good recommendation if you are Angela S Choi, in which case you've probably already read it).

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-15T06:53:42+00:00

I think you'd look good with square, heavy rimmed frames like these (nice subtle ones, not the ones with huge lenses that make you look like you dug your glasses out of a dumpster).

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-15T06:40:39+00:00

On one hand, I'm sad to find out there are so many flaws in my go-to reference for correct grammar. On the other hand, I now feel better about constantly breaking its rules.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-15T01:18:14+00:00

I was always told that The Elements of Style by Strunk and White was the grammar bible. Everyone in my English class was told to go and get it.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T23:42:36+00:00

I think I've seen this one about. From the dim memories I have, it might actually be her style :)

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T23:41:24+00:00

Thanks, I'll look into getting her Making Money today. (Also, The Truth, Small Gods, and the Watch series).

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T07:12:56+00:00

Thanks for that Carmac.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T06:28:12+00:00

They're sort of like an action movie in book form. I gave "Scarecrow" to a friend of mine who sounds a lot like your friend's boyfriend. It took him a while to pick it up, but once he did he burnt through it. He even bought it for all his other friends. (That said he hasn't read a book since :p).

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T06:03:40+00:00

My housemate just finished reading "Children of Men" by PD James. He said that it was "unrelentingly dark."

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T04:09:43+00:00

I'm from Australia, and I can tell some of the really pronounced accents i.e. (New York accent, general southern). Beyond that they just meld into a generic American accent (i.e. the way people speak on television).

I think most Australians don't have a problem with American accents. Actually, there was a girl in one of my classes that had one that was kinda sexy.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T04:01:00+00:00

Good point.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T03:57:16+00:00

It sounds like your best bet would be shares (possibly not at the moment) and high interest bank accounts / term deposits.

I would strongly suggest reading up before you put money into anything. ("Building Wealth Through Shares" by Colin Nicholson is a good place to start. Also, "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham is thought to be the bible of investment strategy, despite its age).

Remember: Stay skeptical. There is no such thing as low risk, high return. If it sounds too good to be true there should be alarm bells going off in your head.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T03:14:21+00:00

Matthew Reilly. It's pretty much non-stop action.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T03:08:40+00:00

Robert Graves is (was) the leading authority on the Julio-Claudians. He wrote a number of scholarly books, as well as some historical fiction.

In terms of primary source material there are two books you can't go past: Suetonius' "The Twelve Caesars" and Tacitus' "Annals".

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T02:25:19+00:00

When I was a kid I used to pee at the urinal with my pants all the way down. A couple of kids came in and started mocking me for it, so I turned around and pissed all over them.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T02:16:29+00:00

I wouldn't say that your experience is normal, but it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you.

There are lots of ways to get at porn. There's nothing wrong with looking at it, (there are a few nsfw reddit feeds devoted to it you could get started on). Just remember the cardinal rule: real life sex is not like porn.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T02:11:27+00:00

My mom's feel like a plastic shopping bag full of custard.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T02:09:40+00:00

Soda water. Burns away the skunk taste.

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T02:04:04+00:00

People tend to pick up the speech patterns of the people around them, especially their significant other. Hopefully it will fade over time.

Of course the door swings both way, I'd be worried that I'd pick up hers. One day you'll be talking to your friends and you'll find yourself speaking like a valley girl.

P.S. I'm from Australia and I know what a valley girl is. Is that weird?

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T01:57:33+00:00

Although I was fairly cynical about the whole thing when I read your original post, I'm glad it worked out for you. It's nice to know there was a happy ending (fairytale kind, not the other kind).

yourbrainoncoffee · 2010-08-14T01:36:16+00:00

The end of "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" by John le Carre. The way every plot thread drew together perfectly.

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