Spoonie Posted January 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 I've only got experience with friends older Kindles, but the best thing about the Paperwhite compared to those is the backlight. You can adjust the brightness really quickly depending on ligh conditions which makes things like reading in the dark without a light possible (if you're in bed with your significant other and they're trying to sleep, for example). The thing that blows me away about it is just how simple it is to use. Getting books on there from either your hard drive (I've got a massive pile of books on there; plug in, drag and drop into the folder) or if you want something new (assuming you're on wifi, click search, search, one click and it's downloaded in seconds). It means you can be rolling about with a tonne of stuff and whenever someone recommends or you see something you like, you fire it on there and you've always got instant access to something good to read. Go on holiday and you've got one kindle instead of ten tonnes of books. I can't remember, in 31 years, getting a present that has been better than my Kindle. Total game changer! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarmaTsunami Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 6 already?! you're not human! The more I think about it, the more i'm into the idea of giving it a go. I'm ploughing through my current book to make it 2 in 2 What's the advantage of a paperwhite over other kindles/ereaders? I've always been a fast reader. It's not speed reading or anything, since I'm taking it all in. The book I'm currently reading will probably take me a full week to get through, it's brilliant though. 'The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men' by Eric Lichtblau. It's changed my perspective on WWII and Post-War America that's for sure. Some of the atrocities that the central intelligence agencies were willing to overlook is astonishing, and some of the shite that came our of General Patton towards the end is just chilling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted January 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted January 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 That'd work nicely! Get it scanned, now!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarmaTsunami Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 (edited) I posted here to let you know I'd PM'ed you, which seems moot since you'll know when you login anyway. Anyway, anyone looking forward to any new releases this year? Unfortunately, it seems confirmed there'll be no new George R.R. Martin or Patrick Rothfuss book, and I'm keeping my finger crossed for the new Brent Weeks, but that's being optimistic. Quite fancy the new Miranda July though, hopefully it's as good as her short stories. Edited January 15, 2015 by KarmaTsunami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted January 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Got your message - that is immense. I will respond when the system lets me tonight, but for some reason neither my PC at work nor my phone are allowing me! Nothing new I'm looking forward to tbh, I am trying to read a lot of the classics but most of the stuff that I pick up tends to be non-fiction. I've a tonne to keep me going, but recommendations on here are always welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ca_gere Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Ok, so i'm gonna get tucked into this challenge. That's 3 down now and it seems more doable. I'm tempted to do only free, found or $1 books. I've amassed a huge pile that needs attacking. Like I said in another thread, there's a book exchange going on in my building and I work right next to an amazing book shop (The Strand) that has a huge selection of $1 books. Means quality might dip and I'm sure i'll throw in a few new buys in there if I get bored, at the same time it'll make me read stuff I maybe wouldn't normally. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 I love how much Spoonie loves his Kindle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarmaTsunami Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Ok, so i'm gonna get tucked into this challenge. That's 3 down now and it seems more doable. I'm tempted to do only free, found or $1 books. I've amassed a huge pile that needs attacking. Like I said in another thread, there's a book exchange going on in my building and I work right next to an amazing book shop (The Strand) that has a huge selection of $1 books. Means quality might dip and I'm sure i'll throw in a few new buys in there if I get bored, at the same time it'll make me read stuff I maybe wouldn't normally. Both times I've been in NYC I've visited The Strand. It's amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 I'm tempted to try this, fifty sounds hard for me. Maybe a 30 book challenge. Just about finished my first I started last Friday. It's Terry Pratchett though so I'm not exactly making it tough for myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 I'm doing 30 this year. If I go over it all the better. I'm on #6 already so I'm making good progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted January 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 Six down so far, which would put me on target for 75 books this year, so making surprisingly good progress thus far! 1: Ranulph Feinnes - Captain Scott 2: Keith Richards - Life 3: Harry Leslie Smith - Harry's Last Stand: How the world my generation built is falling down, and what we can do about it 4: Richard Moore - Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel 5: Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men 6: George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ca_gere Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 Just away to start no. 5. Last one was a slog but got a wknd away in a log cabin coming up which should bring up my number.I'll post a list later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted January 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 I have, on a number of occasions, turned down lifts to places, in order to get up earlier and travel on public transport to read more. I don;'t know who I am any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyboy Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) I found a Kindle in Poland - I had to go buy it out of some guy's living room down an alleyway somewhere. In the meantime I found out the bookshop near my work has a small shelf full of stuff from a world literature publisher. This is my list so far: Andrew Wells-Dang - Informal Pathbreakers: Civil Society Networks in Vietnam and ChinaLuis Fernando Verissimo - The SpiesJakob Ejersbo - RevolutionJerome Ferrari - Where I Left My SoulCees Nooteboom - The Foxes Come at Midnight 2014's list of books I actually read cover to cover. Obviously some of this was not bedtime pleasure reading but anyway: 1. Joy Zhang & Michael Barr, Green Politics in China2. Jun Morikawa, Whaling in Japan3. Oliver Hensengerth, Regionalism in China-Vietnam Relations4. Lei Xie, Environmental Activism in China5. Robert Weller, Discovering Nature6. Vaclav Smil, China's Past, China's Future7. ZhongXiang Zhang, Energy and Environmental Policy in China8. Brian Tilt, The Struggle for Sustainability in Rural China9. Stefan Al (ed.), Factory Towns of South China10. Hasegawa, Constructing Civil Society in Japan11. Judith Shapiro, Mao's War against Nature.12. Adam minter, Junkyard Planet13. Meadows/Randers/Meadows, Limits to Growth: 30 Year Update14. Francis Fukuyama, The Origins of Political Order15. Evylyn Goh, Developing the Mekong16. Chris Coggins, The Tiger and the Pangolin Clarissa Dickson-Wright, Spilling the Beans Da Chen, Colours of the Mountain Sterling Seagrave, The Soong Dynasty Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty Hawken et al. Natural Capitalism Chris Patten, East and West Hannah Pakula, The Last Empress Evan Osnos, Age of Ambition Steven Berkoff, Gross Intrusion and other Stories Roger Backhouse, Penguin History of Economics Eric Hobsbawm, Age of Empire (sorry about formatting) Edited February 4, 2015 by scottyboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted February 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) Anything stand out from last year's reads that you'd recommend? I don't think there's a single book in that list I've read! Edited February 4, 2015 by Spoonie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyboy Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 The Bono-approved (don't let that put you off...) The End of Poverty (there's also a book written as a response called The White Man's Burden, by William Easterly, which is probably even better). The Origins of Political Order is pretty fascinating, particularly the earlier parts. I'm reading the second volume currently. The Age of Ambition (attempts to capture the zeitgeist of contemporary China) I don't think merited the huge plaudits it got, but is a good read nonetheless. Most of the environmental stuff is pretty specialist and has captive market prices to match. But Mao's War Against Nature just about crosses over to general readership (a mere $33 on Amazon...) and is very worthwhile if interested in Chinese history. The Limits to Growth is another academic tract which crossed over due to it's sheer scariness and is now in it's umpteenth edition. Again, it's.. alarming (or alarmist, if you believe it's detractors). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Read 4 now this year. Read the first 3 Harry Potter's over the last week or so. Haven't read them since they were new. So good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Read 4 now this year. Read the first 3 Harry Potter's over the last week or so. Haven't read them since they were new. So good. I've been reading them recently as well, just finished 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 I've been reading them recently as well, just finished 6. I saw that on the goodreads. They are even better than I remembered them. 6 was my favourite of the entire series when they were new. Lookin forward to getting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted February 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 Ten in for the year so far which is a pretty fast start for me. Got a few different books on the go at the moment too. Really enjoying my reading and with having a fair bit of extra travel out and about with work at the moment, its giving me a tonne of extra time to do it. 1: Ranulph Feinnes - Captain Scott 2: Keith Richards - Life 3: Harry Leslie Smith - Harry's Last Stand: How the world my generation built is falling down, and what we can do about it 4: Richard Moore - Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel 5: Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men 6: George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four 7: Sean Payton - Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life 8: Atul Gawande - The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right 9: Martin Gilbert - Winston Churchill's War Leadership 10: Matt Gemmell - Raw Materials: Collected Essays Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarmaTsunami Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 16 down! 1. Lev Grossman - Magician's Land2. Christina Faust - Fringe: Zodiac Paradox 3. Benjamin Saez - Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe4. Catherynne Valente - The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making5. Suki Kim - Without You There is no Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite6. Roxane Gay - An Untamed State7. Eric Lichtblau - The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men8. Megan Abbott - Dare Me9. Ben Montgomery - Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman who Saved the Appalachian Trail10. Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of London11. Ben Aaronovitch - Moon over Soho12. Ben Aaronovitch - Whispers Underground13. Ben Aaronovitch - Broken Homes14. Ben Aaronovitch - Foxglove Summer15. Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar16. Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird Started with some relatively light fare (not including the Lev Grossman book - highly recommend the series, brilliant stuff), a little non-fiction and then five books about a London constable who becomes a wizard. Third book in the series is a little weak but overall very entertaining and there's a good continuous arc going that's working up to a big endgame. Last two were ones I've been reading to read for AGES but never got round to. Don't know what to read next, but spoiled for choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted February 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 You're flying!!! How did you enjoy Harper Lee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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