Books

[Eoin McLove]

I loved The Road and No Country for Old Men but struggled with Blood Meridian and the trilogy which I have yet to return to,  as I took a break from the third book and haven't gone back to it in a couple of years.  No doubt he has moments of absolute genius where he gives you two pages of mind blowing insight and wisdom,  but the arid nature of the bones of those books becomes an oppressive experience and a struggle to get through.   Not bad by any means,  but often difficult.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Started All the Pretty Horses when I was 18 and gave up because I couldn't, at the time, hack the syntax. Been meaning to try another for a few years now, since I've travelled the off-beat writing style road a lot more since then.

[kiehozero]

Love Blood Meridian, I've got the Border trilogy as a 700-page anthology so I'm always worried I'll lose my mind reading him for that long.

Just finished Inner City Pressure by Dan Hancox on the history of grime music. I grew up in England so I'd know a lot of people who got in early with this and recognised plenty of names, but never got too deep into the music. It was notorious in England for getting marked out by the likes of the Mail and Express early on, just the same metal did at one time of day. The story itself probably wouldn't be the most remarkable story but the writer is seriously good at teasing out great anecdotes about pirate radio and the whole DIY scene, then linking it all in with a lot of the political and social history of the UK. Hitting up Spotify this week to give some of the music another shot as guys like Skepta, Wiley and Jme come across as really level-headed and entrepreneurial types.

[Caomhaoin]

Blood Meridian is great book, the lack of punctuation and weird syntax aside. Some of the matter of fact brutality is mind bending. I've only read The Crossing from that trilogy. I think I have a few others sitting on the shelf but I've too many impulse bought books ahead in the queue to get through.

[kiehozero]

Yeh I bought so many last year that I've sworn off buying anything until I've checked whether it is in the library. Ireland's library system is actually pretty good and I'm kicking myself for all the cash I've wasted in Easons. Would be good to see if we can get a bookswap going on here instead of handing over more cash to Amazon.

[StoutAndAle]

Yeh I bought so many last year that I've sworn off buying anything until I've checked whether it is in the library. Ireland's library system is actually pretty good and I'm kicking myself for all the cash I've wasted in Easons. Would be good to see if we can get a bookswap going on here instead of handing over more cash to Amazon.

This is a very good idea. I'm not sure how it would work in practical terms but it's a certainly worth thinking about - there's a lot of well-read folks on here. I'm constantly buying books - Christ knows when I'll get to them.

We're looking into doing an extension at home so I need to do a bit of a cull - I don't want to but it is what it is. I popped into a local charity shop and asked if they'd take books and stuff. The only ones they want are celebrity/sports autobiographies and the "Aisling" type books. I had to have the last part explained to me.

"Nothing else sells. We've taken carloads to the dump recently."

The fucking DUMP?!?!?!

[Pedrito]

Yeh I bought so many last year that I've sworn off buying anything until I've checked whether it is in the library. Ireland's library system is actually pretty good and I'm kicking myself for all the cash I've wasted in Easons. Would be good to see if we can get a bookswap going on here instead of handing over more cash to Amazon.

This is a very good idea. I'm not sure how it would work in practical terms but it's a certainly worth thinking about - there's a lot of well-read folks on here. I'm constantly buying books - Christ knows when I'll get to them.

We're looking into doing an extension at home so I need to do a bit of a cull - I don't want to but it is what it is. I popped into a local charity shop and asked if they'd take books and stuff. The only ones they want are celebrity/sports autobiographies and the "Aisling" type books. I had to have the last part explained to me.

"Nothing else sells. We've taken carloads to the dump recently."

The fucking DUMP?!?!?!

Jesus man stick a list up here and I'd easily take a few off you. Cash thru paypal etc.

[nukeabuse]

Thats a good shout with the book swap/straight-up selling them on here.

Also if you must buy them new or online there are so many other sites (that arent Amazon) you can pick them up for the same price or less.

This works for anything you want to buy tbh. No need to be using Amazon these days, unless you absolutely need next day shipping to arrive on a sunday... which noone does.

'give me convenience or give me death' is a motto too many people live by

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Thats a good shout with the book swap/straight-up selling them on here.

Also if you must buy them new or online there are so many other sites (that arent Amazon) you can pick them up for the same price or less.

This works for anything you want to buy tbh. No need to be using Amazon these days, unless you absolutely need next day shipping to arrive on a sunday... which noone does.

'give me convenience or give me death' is a motto too many people live by

If anyone knows a good source for academic books that isn't Amazon or owned by Amazon (lots of sites hide on the surface that they're owned by Amazon because they know some prefer to avoid them, Abebooks, Book Depository, etc.), I'm all ears.

[StoutAndAle]

Jesus man stick a list up here and I'd easily take a few off you. Cash thru paypal etc.

Cool, I might do that when the time comes to boxing them up. 

[kiehozero]

Whoever has the next clear out just start a new thread, it's probably going to be me by the looks of it.

Just about to finish Mortal Engines, a collection of mind-bending short stories from Stanislaw Lem. Really good stuff, very much geared towards robots going off the deep end, and some completely batshit stuff as well. Really rewarding. Goodreads (which I've also learnt is an Amazon vehicle) tells me I'm already through seven books for the year, no idea how that has happened, my target is only 25.

[Emphyrio]

Out of interest, what's the issue ordering from Amazon? Postage or cuntage?

I haven't bought a new book in a coupla years. awesomebooks in the UK is great for second hand stuff and I've filled out my shelves with fantasy stuff for maybe 3 or 4 quid each. Postage very reasonable too.

[Carnage]

How are they (awesomebooks) for quality? I've found buying secondhand online to be very hit & miss, it'd be nice to know a reliable seller.

Re: Amazon - I'd assume the issue is the general cuntishness of the company towards its employees, I've never had a major problem with buying from them. Bought a DVD in December that was the wrong region when it arrived, sent it back and was refunded as soon as the parcel was scanned on collection. My only issue with that was that it was a christmas present, but that was my fault for leaving it so late.

[StoutAndAle]

How are they (awesomebooks) for quality? I've found buying secondhand online to be very hit & miss, it'd be nice to know a reliable seller.

I'd be interested in the answer to this too.

I've mentioned that I've used https://thebookshop.ie/ in the past for 2nd hand books - they're based in Tipperary, I think. Just placed another order with them today (she's going to kill me) - orders over €20 and the shipping is free. Most books are €1.50 to €3. I got 11 books (6 of which were Roald Dahl books for my nephew who has taken a keen interest in reading) and free shipping for €20.

You have to know what you want though or be prepared to trawl for hours.

Quality wise - I've had about 30 or so books from them in the past year since I started using them - all the books have been clean and in good condition. Some of them looked as if they were unread.

[Emphyrio]

They're as described so fair condition wouldn't be great. I'm not overly precious about books unless it's a nice hardback for the collection, and even then most of my Wheel of Time hardbacks came in perfectly acceptable condition.