A smart Venezuelan acquaintance is looking for fiction to help improve his understanding of current American idioms and slang.
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posted by mediareport
on Jun 5, 2005 -
11 answers
There's certainly no shortage of books written about the 2004 Red Sox season, but are any of them any good? I do love some baseball reading in the summer, but don't want to waste my time with schlock. What's the
"Boys of Summer," or
"Summer of '49" for the 2004 Sox? Or are we still waiting for one to be published?
posted by .kobayashi.
on Jun 1, 2005 -
9 answers
Does anyone know if W.H.Audens "Orators an English Study" has been published as part of the larger collections of his work? The only editions I can find are out of my price range.
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posted by thatwhichfalls
on May 28, 2005 -
2 answers
All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia--and soon I will be. Please share your recommendations for used book stores, record stores, and vegetarian food (cheap to moderate, with moderate being entrees under $20).
Also, as a bonus, if you know if any yummy restaurants near the Jersey Turnpike that would allow one to avoid the nastiness of the rest stop, that would be totally awesome.
posted by dame
on May 25, 2005 -
40 answers
I'm putting together an on-line version of an old book as a personal project, but in my copy of it a few words are illegible: I wonder is there anyone out there who owns a copy of the book in question—Isaac D’Israeli’s
Curiosities of Literature—or a librarian who has access to a copy, who could help me fill in the blanks? I live in provincial Sweden, so my local library are unlikely to have what I need. Alternatively, if you know of another on-line forum (or newsgroup) where a question like this might be readily answered, then please point me in that direction.
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posted by misteraitch
on May 18, 2005 -
16 answers
My step-mom (who doesn't normally read sci-fi/fantasy) recently read "The Fifth Sacred Thing" by Starhawk and is looking for more similar books. Specifically she is wanting to read about post-apocalyptic societies. Anyone have any ideas?
posted by arcticwoman
on May 17, 2005 -
31 answers
"When Irish eyes are smiling... you've probably been ripped off" was a repeated refrain in a science fiction novel about virtual reality and perception. It's been at least six years since publication since it was over that long ago I read it.
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posted by phearlez
on May 16, 2005 -
26 answers
Trying to remember the name(s) of a series of books I read, ooh, 10-15 years ago (ouch). Scifi/fantasy genre, female author. Susan something? Anyhoo, there were these big fortresses, and it was completely dark inside and all the people hid inside them while the big flappy things ruled the land outside. Your typical three-volume fallen from grace to rise again with the strength of our courage and sweat of our brows kind of thing, but (with a precious few moments) set entirely in these dark fortresses.
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posted by 5MeoCMP
on May 15, 2005 -
8 answers
Cleaning house, looking to sell books, CDs, toys etc., and I'm LOST. Need advice both specific and general. Is eBay best for books and CDs, or are there other places to get better value? With the 'Net awash in Star Wars paraphernalia, how do I find a price for this elaborate
1998 14" talking Darth Vader? (I've checked books and they're mostly about "vintage" SW toys.) How do I value odd things for my uncle, like this
pipe from Germany circa 1890 or earlier, or some
Xmas cards circa WWII made by Chinese Xtian nuns in Tsing Tao? Is there a market for historical magazines and newspapers, for example with headlines about the first moon walk?
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posted by Shane
on May 14, 2005 -
19 answers
I'm looking for books that can give me a new perspective on our modern world and culture.
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posted by davebush
on May 13, 2005 -
28 answers
Where can I find an on-line checklist (sorted by month) of Marvel comics released in the 1970s? I've run out of google ideas. I found a
fantastic silver age checklist,
more detailed than I actually need for the seventies, but can't find information for 1972 and beyond. (Only
this chronology, which is informative, but not what I'm after.)
posted by jdroth
on May 12, 2005 -
2 answers
Did you ever stay in bed all day reading a particularly compelling book? What titles have made you completely anti-social, shunning the outside world until you finish them - books that leave you almost jetlagged after you're through with them? I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy and have been placed on bedrest for the next few weeks, and the novelty has worn off. I need suggestions for titles that will make staying in bed 24/7 much more tolerable.
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posted by bibliowench
on May 3, 2005 -
93 answers
I need a paperweight to hold down my cookbooks while I cook and the books I'm reading while I multitask. I have never shopped for a paperweight, so I don't even know where to start.
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posted by scazza
on May 3, 2005 -
12 answers
To all Philip K. Dick fans: Dick seems to have published a formidable amount of work, and rather than trying to read all of his novels/short stories, I'm wondering if any MeFites are familiar with his books and could recommend his best 5 or so.
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posted by Malachi Constant
on Apr 28, 2005 -
38 answers
Two questions about sites for individual books: What are some great examples of book sites (i.e. sites that promote and have info on a specific book that has been published recently)? And: What do you look for in such a site (i.e. excerpts? message board?)
posted by gwint
on Apr 27, 2005 -
6 answers
Which two or three books are in your opinion the most important in your collection. Im talking about books that had you not read them, you would be different today. Rank the reality shattering literature.
posted by pwally
on Apr 26, 2005 -
99 answers
I remember reading a book about a young girl living in an underground city. She decides to escape for some reason, and ends up taking a young boy with her too. They journey up to the surface, evading capture by some sort of authority figure. Help me! I want my daughter to read this. (It's a young adult book)
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posted by cosmicbandito
on Apr 25, 2005 -
14 answers
Have the film rights to Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon been sold? In general how does one discover the answer to such a question (what the kids call google-fu is weak with me)?
posted by OmieWise
on Apr 23, 2005 -
22 answers
In the 1980s I came across a slim book about people with language-related mental disorders, such as a person who had a phobia of English and chose to speak French for the rest of his life. This book was NOT
Lunatic Lovers of Language by Marina Yaguello. Can you identify it?
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posted by rwhe
on Apr 22, 2005 -
5 answers
Back when I was in gradeschool in the late 60's early 70's, I found this book in our school library that I think was called "Puzzles" (maybe more, maybe not). It not only had puzzles but other things like rhymes (Biddy Bodder bought bum butter. Blah said she, bum butter bitter, but it's blended with my batter. Maybe if I get some better butter, blend it with my bitter batter, it'll make my bitter batter better....etc., etc.). There were also these little cartoons in the margins that were very interesting. There were optical illusions and magical tricks and it seemed like each page had something different and interesting. I remember signing that book out all time.
Now I have kids of my own and would really love to get my hands on a copy of that book. I know this is a reach but, has anyone ever heard of this? Or, anyone know where there is a repository of old books that I could look? Doing a search for "puzzle books" is very ugly indeed.
posted by SparkyPine
on Apr 13, 2005 -
8 answers
I once saw a catalog for a store/mail-order company that sells items for people who read: clip-lights, lap boards, book holders, pedestals, etc.. but I can't find it. Any ideas?
posted by stbalbach
on Apr 12, 2005 -
9 answers
Bookfilter: I'm looking for books about the US written by non-USians for a non-USian audience. I'd like to learn how non-USians see the US and how US society is described to non-USians. I'm especially interested in fiction, but travelogues, memoirs, and cultural anthropology would be fine. Even well-written blogs would be ok.
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posted by luneray
on Apr 11, 2005 -
16 answers
I have a number of favourite authors - who I would buy books from - on spec - so I'm keen to know when their next work is coming out. Is there a site that tracks 'forthcoming' books...so I can plan ahead?
posted by mattr
on Apr 10, 2005 -
5 answers
A literary agent friend of mine says that publishers dislike publishing funny novels because "humor is subjective". Certainly I have stumped bookstore clerks by asking them to recommend a funny novel. Not "Humor", which includes Garfield the Cat, Dave Barry, and Jokes for the John, but honest to God novels, with characters and plots and such. I have a little list of authors and if anyone can add to it, I will be in her or his debt.
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posted by IndigoJones
on Apr 6, 2005 -
101 answers
German scholars, historians, copyeditors, and anyone else: Can someone explain to me why an author whose book I'm editing has cited Hitler's Mein Kampf as "Mien Kemp"? Google doesn't elicit much in English, and I'm unilingual, alas. As far as I know, American English is my author's native language. Is he just a lousy speller? (Looks like it could be Dutch, but that's just a guess.)
posted by scratch
on Apr 4, 2005 -
13 answers
I've recently gotten very interested the science-fiction/horror-with-a-religious-tint genre. Can you think of any good books that could fit that description?
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posted by honeydew
on Mar 31, 2005 -
46 answers
BOOKS. In 1988, Frederic Raphael published "List of Books" -- a guide to essential reading on a variety of topics (economics, history, philosophy). But it's almost 20 years old. Does anyone know of a similar updated list (equally trustworthy and well researched), either on-line or in book form?
posted by nancoix
on Mar 24, 2005 -
4 answers
Where's the best place to sell "vintage" books, and how do I find out about pricing them?
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posted by tommyc
on Mar 24, 2005 -
9 answers
I would really like to locate a hardback picture book I loved as a child. It has to do with 3 children who find this whole fantasy world up a tree. Different areas on each stretch of branch, and the tree is hollow so they can slide down it's centre to get to the ground.
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posted by aclevername
on Mar 22, 2005 -
4 answers
Do you know of a page or project that will show a list of Amazon's
statistcally improbable phrases, live-linked to the Amazon content the are found in? Options for sorting by source date, title, author, subject, or other classes are what my inner librarian really wants.
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posted by Mo Nickels
on Mar 21, 2005 -
5 answers
Has anyone compiled a list of books promoted on the Daily Show?
posted by krisjohn
on Mar 19, 2005 -
1 answer
Anyone know of any good books, plays, or other material about
Suzanne Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau, a.k.a. "Mademoiselle Nation"? She was an eleven-year-old girl adopted by the French revolutionaries after her father's murder by a royalist. Her portrait by
Jacques-Louis David is currently on display at the Getty in Los Angeles, and as the book blog
Romancing the Tome says the story of her life would make for excellent reading. Surely she's found her way into print by now?
posted by Asparagirl
on Mar 18, 2005 -
3 answers
I remember reading a "young adult" type of novel, probably in the late seventies or possibly early eighties, that I could swear was called "The Mark of Conti." However, no amount of googling has turned it up. It's about a high school student ("Mark Conti"?) who reprograms his school's computer. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
posted by JeffL
on Mar 18, 2005 -
5 answers
