Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with book

Chicago is no help to me here

luriete — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:29:10 -0800

I'm typesetting a book with some music notation in it. There are several references to 3/4 and 4/4 time, which I had set in nifty opentype fractions; however, the editor and I are unsure of whether or not this refers to "four-four" or "four-fourths" time - and this is one of the few things that Chicago doesn't address. So, designers and readers: what do you think? 4/4, using lining numerals, or a 4/4 fraction?

Book binding service recommendations

jedicus — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:38:18 -0800

Can you recommend a company for an affordable, one-off library binding? I would like to rebind a copy of Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders with a plain library binding. The binding services I've found online seem to deal in bulk orders. Bonus points if it's in the St. Louis area, but I don't mind shipping it.

Speak the speech trippingly. Or pitched low. Or with a mumble.

grumblebee — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:07:15 -0800

Is there a resource that lists and explains the various effects one can use to accessorized speech, such as altering pitch, speeding up, slowing down, etc.? As a director, I often have to help actors make vocal choices. My company regularly employs doubling -- that is using one actor to play multiple parts. So that the audience doesn't get confused, it's great if the actor makes each of his characters sound different.

Some actors are naturally gifted this way. Others need help.

Note: like most modern actors and directors, I take a psychological approach to character work. So I would never simply tell an actor something like "speak more quickly" or "raise your pitch." But once we've done the psychological work, it would be awesome to see an array of choices from which you could pick an appropriate set of effects.

The vocal instrument is flexible but not infinite. There are only so many things one can do while speaking: add gruffness/gravel, change the pitch, change the speed, change the degree of annunciation, try an accent, etc.

I would like a complete list. The perfect list would include effect, example (e.g. an actor who naturally talks with that effect, such as George C. Scott for gravel) and any hints/pitfalls to help create the effect without hurting your voice.

I have a bunch of Voice-For-The-Actor books, but none has the list I'm looking for. If such a list doesn't exist, maybe we could compile one together here.

Book about God & Satan

LauraJ — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:13:31 -0800

A couple of years ago, I read a review of a book that sounded really interesting, but I can't find it now. The book was about a man who found some ancient documents that proved that Satan was good and God was evil (for instance, God denied Adam and Eve access to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil). Apparently many people took this book to be non-fiction, and it caused a bit of hue & cry. Does anyone know the name of the book?? Thank you.

Please tell me what to read!

Janta — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:22:54 -0800

Book-recommendation-filter: Can you help me find something to read? Parameters to follow. I'm desperate for new reading material. I typically read SF/Fantasy and some mysteries (innovative and edgy, I know), and lately I've found myself reading more non-fiction, simply because it seems like most of the SF/F out there has a lot of hackneyed, overblown prose and predictable plots. What I'd really like to find is SF/Fantasy that plays with the genre's conventions a little bit, I think -- actually, I'm interested in any book that twists the conventions of its genre. Additionally, I prefer books with a good deal of action, and absolutely love it when the characters engage in "witty banter" (it should be genuinely smart dialog, though). I'm not super-fond of hard/military SF, though if it focuses on the people more than the science and tech, I'll give it a try.

SF/F that I've enjoyed recently: everything by Terry Pratchett, most of Lois Bujold's books, Scott Lynch, John Scalzi, John Varley, Charles Stross, Guy Kay, George Martin, and Ken Scholes.

Bonus-round: I just re-read Soon I WIll Be Invincible; do you know of any books that mess around with the whole superhero/supervillain/metahuman concept?

Thanks, MeFites!

p.s. -- I've done the usual googling, looked at past questions, tried BookSeer and What Should I Read Next, and haven't had much luck.

Help me find a good exercise book to listen to on my trip.

whoaali — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:00:54 -0800

My exercise routine is not yielding me results. I want a book (preferably one that I can download on audible) that will fill in the many gaps in my excercise/fitness knowledge. For about the past nine months I have been attempting to lose about 15 - 20 pounds and tone up. I'm a 27 year old female. BMI hovers around 25, but basically healthy weight.

I initially did a lot of power yoga (very intense classes which worked me harder than I've ever worked before). They left me starving and sore. After about 4 months of this I had lost no weight and could only see minimal results. I switched to going to the gym and doing primarily cardioand this has been more successful. My appetite is under control and I've lost about 7-9 pounds, but I feel as flabby as ever.

A month and a half ago I sprained my ankle really badly and couldn't exercise at all, however the weight loss continued at the same (possibly faster?) pace as when I was going to the gym. This leads me to believe my current exercise regime is doing nothing for me (I've been losing weight by counting calories) and I want to learn what I'm doing wrong and how I can have a more effective workout. Granted I am not naturally athletic at all, but I still think I could be getting some tangible results from all the hours of exercise I've put in.

I'll be driving about 15 hours over the next week and want to download a book or 2 that will help fill in my exercise knowledge. Here is a rough idea of what I'm hoping to learn.

- How to exercise efficiently.
- Cardio vs Weight Lifting
- Supplements, are they even worth it?
- Eating before and after exercise (and how does this mesh with a low calorie diet approx. 1500 calories a day)
- Is there any point in building muscle if it's covered in fat?
- Weight lifting - reps, weight etc

I'm particularly interested in books that have a practical approach and are aimed at beginners. I'm not looking to become a weight lifter or a world class athlete, I just want to jiggle less!

Recommend some cookbooks that are also history books.

Kurichina — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:32:02 -0800

Recommend some cookbooks that are also history books. A few months ago, I bought Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World by Lilia Zaouali and have been having a ball making, adapting and interpreting the recipes. However, what makes this ten times more interesting for me is all the colour Ms. Zaouali provides about the history, culture and context of the recorded recipes and the fact that they are not re-written in modern recipe format (but they, of course, translated into English). I'd love to repeat this process for other areas of the world/historical timeframes. Do mefites know of other good, historical cookbooks that have additional cultural and culinary notes about the food?

Looking for a seaworthy gift for my dad.

synecdoche — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:41:18 -0800

Book-recommendation-filter: help me choose a book to get for my dad for Christmas. I'm hoping somebody can recommend a book for my dad for Christmas. Growing up, I remember him reading mostly books about naval warfare (he is a former merchant seaman), World War I and II, and British Cold War spy novels. He loves anything to do with ships; his favourite movie is The Cruel Sea and he is a fan of Monsarrat's novels as well, including The Master Mariner. He also LOVES documentaries like Victory at Sea and more modern ones about naval warfare, especially in World War I and II. He's also expressed a fondness for Frederick Forsyth (especially The Shepherd). Lately, however, he's also enjoyed Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men and The Road.

I had originally thought about getting him either Blood Meridian or All the Pretty Horses but I don't think he'd enjoy those as much as the McCarthy he has read. Blood Meridian is too abstract and possibly too violent, and All the Pretty Horses might be too much of a Western and maybe, for lack of a better phrase, too "American." (My dad's Irish.) As much as I love it, I don't think Moby-Dick would be up his alley either, in spite of the nautical material.

Any ideas for books I should consider? I guess it needn't necessarily be a book—interesting DVDs would work, too, but this is a supplement to another main gift so I'm hoping to keep it fairly inexpensive.

Looking for books where a person or people are searching for a long lost person.

reenum — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:41:37 -0800

Looking for books where a person or people are searching for a long lost person. I loved Hunting Eichmann and would like to read more books about a person or a group of people banding together to find a long lost person.

I'd prefer nonfiction, but well written fiction will work too.

Thanks!

Good books about Confucianism?

oracle bone — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:15:54 -0800

I want to learn more about Confucianism. Do you have any book recommendations? I've recently become interested in Confucianism and would like to learn more about it. I started by reading the Analects of Confucius. I'm aware that there's some other texts associated with Confucianism, so I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on any of those?

Original text aside, I'm also looking for a book for a generally intelligent layperson on the subject. Ideally I'd like a book that's a good mixture of...

- original text by Confucius, translated into English
- and annotation/explanation/philosophical musing on the original text.

I've looked through the previous threads on this topic, just wondering if you had any personal recommendations or any other pertinent thoughts? Thanks!

Other historical works like 1776?

kingjoeshmoe — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:13:43 -0800

I'd like to buy a book or books for someone who really liked 1776, by David McCullough, but who now wants to know more about the Revolutionary War. I'm looking for both (a) other books that expand on the time period of the revolutionary war in the same breezy style (the book, as implied by the name, stops at the end of 1776), and (b) books about other historical periods or persons that she might like. She's a fan of biographies and politics as well, and also a fan of Toni Morrison.

I'm not interested in buying other books by David McCullough, because I think someone else might buy her one of those, and I don't want to get the same book.

Last, as this is for a gift, I'm perfectly open if you think there's something else she might like that is not strictly a book. This is not my area of expertise. My books have dragons on the cover. Any help?

Maybe she can avoid my years of blurry pictures of flowers

dreamyshade — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:48:54 -0800

Gift-filter: I'd like to find a book about fun photography projects for a very smart 14-year-old girl. A family friend, a freshman in high school, likes to take photos out on walks around her neighborhood. That's the age I started to get into photography, so I'm really happy for her. What book can I get her for Christmas that would give her some good ideas about how to expand beyond shots of roses? She's brilliant and very artistic, and she has a typical small Canon compact camera.

I found Click: The Ultimate Photography Guide for Generation Now and Digital Photography for Teens, but I don't know if they'd be good. I'm hoping to find a book that would present some principles of interesting photography, samples of styles, and a bunch of good examples -- something encouraging and fun to browse, but not childish, and not focused on DSLRs. It doesn't have to be "digital photography for young people", but an Ansel Adams formal technical book would probably be too serious (I looked at this previous question). What's in between?

Bada Bing Book

Sully — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:45:51 -0800

I've been watching the last season of the Sopranos and am curious about the mob in NYC and NJ today. Can you recommend a book or website that details the modern day Mafia? Or, if power has changed hands to a group other than the Italian one, a book about that group? Thanks.

Title of a book about a woman and a stolen painting conspiracy on September 11?

saileyn — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:08:15 -0800

Do you know the title or author of the book I started reading about a woman and a stolen painting conspiracy on September 11? I started reading this book at a friend's parent's house a year or so ago and got almost half-way through before we had to leave. Stupidly, I didn't think to write down the title or the author. It's been bugging me ever since, I'd like to know how the story ends.

(I've now learned my lesson, and make sure to take a photo of the cover of any book that even remotely interests me on my phone.)

The last time we spoke to our friend's parents, they couldn't remember the book either, aside from that it was most likely borrowed off a friend and they didn't really enjoy it.

From what I can remember:

It was fictional and about a female protagonist, who I think worked for a shipping company or insurance agency in New York. She get's fired just before, or possibly on, September 11. A painting that her company is handling goes missing. She figures out that it's a big conspiracy for the company to steal the painting, or claim it's insurance or something, and heads out to Paris (I think) to intercept it.

I have tried searching the various phrases on Google, Google Books, Amazon, and asking at my local library and bookshop without success.

Can anyone please help me out here, or am I doomed to be haunted by this book forever?

Thanks for reading :)

Book explaining Islam?

edbyford — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:10:41 -0800

What's the best book for obtaining an overview of Islam (and its attitudes towards 'Western' culture)? My girlfriend has recently been reading a book about Muslims and the effects of their westward migration. It's sparked some really interesting debates between us, but I do think that the book she's reading is a little one-sided.

The book in question is Hurra, wir kapitulieren! (my girlfriend is German). The main argument of the author seems to be that we in the west compromise our ideals to suit Islamic beliefs (he cites a German orchestra who had to make their women wear burqas for a concert in Iran) but that Muslims would not compromise theirs if put in a similar situation. He also seems to assert that no Muslim leaders have denounced terrorist attacks. I am not posting this here to incite a discussion, rather to give you an idea of what issues the book raises.

For Christmas I would like to give my girlfriend a better, more balanced book, which could act as counterpoint to the above.

Any suggestions? It would be great if the book were in German (as this makes it less stressful for my gf to read) but all suggestions are gratefully received.

Resume help

anonymous78 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:40:51 -0800

How do I cite a book review that I wrote for an online academic database in my resume?

Curse you, 70s stoner!

le morte de bea arthur — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:15:37 -0800

Oh, Inverted World! Where did your pages go (help me find them)? I found a battered first edition paperback of Christopher Priest's novel 'The Inverted World' at a charity book stall last week, and so far it's been a very enjoyable read. I almost don't want to get to the end and find out what the heck is going on.

Imagine my horror, then, on finding (or rather not finding) two missing pages at the end of Part One of the book!

If you own this book, and could give me a quick summary of the last 3 or 4 pages of Part One of the book, that would be really grand.

Please recommend books similar to Bill Simmons' Book of Basketball

reenum — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:44:05 -0800

I love Bill Simmons' "The Book of Basketball". What should I read next? I'm in the middle of Simmons NBA opus, and it fascinates as to how he's able to pack in so much info, yet have the book remain accessible. I especially love how he makes fun of and injects humor into the various characters and events in the NBA's history.

Are there other books that are basically all encompassing, sprawling accounts of a particular entity, field, event, etc., yet remain fun to read?

I know some folks might suggest Mary Roach, but I just couldn't get into her stuff.

I prefer nonfiction, but well written fiction would work too.

Thanks!

Book about a lab rat who sings and has a fro?

phunniemee — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:23:20 -0800

What is this book? For kids, about a scientist's assistant who breaks into the lab safe one night and finds potions that he feeds to the lab rat. Hilarity and mayhem ensues. It's a children's book, thin paperback, roughly 8.5"x11". Really fun illustrations...on the inside cover there were blueprints of funny Rube Goldberg-type inventions.

The story was (I think) about a lab assistant left to watch the experiments all night when the scientist goes home. He breaks into the scientist's safe and finds mysterious potions that he decides to test on the lab rat before taking himself. One of them makes the rat grow human-sized, another makes the rat grow a big, red 'fro, another gives the rat a beautiful singing voice, etc. Thinking they're safe, the assistant takes them but they all backfire; he's shrunk to rat-size and the rat puts him in a cage and then goes out to party. Or something.

Any idea what this book could be? It would have come out sometime in the 90s. I thought it would be more easily googlable, but I have failed.

usa/ussa science fiction book

quseio — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:45:00 -0800

I am searching for a science fiction book series i read as a kid it was about a world where the us and soviet where still competeing for space. the us starts a huge public drive for this metal found in old fountain pens and stuff ussr eventualy catches on and they race to the colony world theres a kind of flexible robot that extrudes stuff from his body and turns eventually into a persian cat the catbot is instrumental in finding a bomb planted in the ship.

if i recal right when they land there are saurian like race of humanoids

My questtion is this anyone recall the title and or the authors name or the name of the series?

I can't be running low on books already?!

titantoppler — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 23:36:08 -0800

MeFites, help! Need more books to read. /book-recommendation-filter I'm currently about halfway through my to-read list, and want some book recommendations. Help me out here, MeFites!

Books that I've enjoyed thoroughly:
- The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova
- The Hour I First Believed, by Wally Lamb
- Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
- The Cider House Rules, by John Irving
- Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski
- The Conscience of a Liberal, by Paul Krugman
- Freakonomics, by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt
- Hot, Flat and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman

Books on my to-read list:
- Superfreakonomics, by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt
- What the Dog Saw, by Malcolm Gladwell
- Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer
- We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver

There are of course, other books that I've read and liked, but these by far are my favourites. Your input is much appreciated!

Book about living together.

Mickelstiff — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 13:58:17 -0800

Help me remember a large coffee-table style book about marriages or being together. I had it bookmarked on my old computer, and didn't bring it over to my new one. It was a large (coffe table) book of various saying by couples about being together. Young, old, multi national and was written or compiled by a woman. It was about 3-4 years ago if I remember correctly. I kept it on file for when my daughter would get married, and guess, what, she just got engaged.

Sources for good cheap learning literature?

jwells — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:19:40 -0800

What sources exist for good cheap learning literature? I'm thinking of things like AMSOIL's oil case studies and the Chelsea Milling/Jiffy Mix recipe book. Preferably non-digital, and any language is okay. I'm basically looking for the stuff that bypasses "marketing material" and ends up being a good resource. I remember being able to write away for stuff like this in the back of comic books as a kid but don't see much like that anymore, though I'm not reading comic books anymore either.

Help me ID a kid's book about colors

range — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:44:18 -0800

Name-that-book-Filter: Large-format children's book, all about colors Helping a friend find a favorite childhood book, so she can give it to my son. Here's what she remembers:

Big format (compared to a 3-4 year old kid)

It's about colors, with each set of pages dedicated to one color

The drawings were really detailed

There may or may not have been words on the pages (I only remembers the pictures)

I think there was a big paintbrush or something involved

I especially remember the white page

"Color" is one of those ubiquitous words that is useless for google. Parameters this vague scream out, "Help me, hive mind!"

Which four-letter sci-fi novel drives Sol to safety?

CrystalDave — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:38:47 -0800

Bookhunt: What's the name of a sci-fi novel involving giant engines forming in a ring shape around the Earth? I seem to remember the title being a word with four letters in it. I also seem to remember it involving a plan which involved forming a cone-shaped jet firing miniature black holes outward from the Sun in order to move the Solar System somewhere else at relativistic speeds.

It also had a transhuman woman who derived her near-godlike powers from a super-computer made from a ball of self-sustaining plasma and super-cold zero-point energy. She died in the beginning of the novel from a space/skydiving accident.

Thanks in advance!