December Posting Meme
Dec. 6th, 2014 01:16 pmthe top five books that have stuck with you, for ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tassosss
I've been thinking about this one ever since the question was first asked, and I'm still not entirely sure of my answers.
1. Hitchhiker's Guide. Automatically my first. I make a point to either read or audiobook the entire series at least once a year. And it's not so much the story either, but just the lore of how it came about that I really love. It's a book which is based on a television show, which itself was based on a radio show. And that book spawned videogame, movie, stage, and further radio adaptations. I love how the story is never told the same way twice, because Douglas Adams just couldn't be bothered to keep any notes on the massive universe he created.
I've always adored Ford most, and how he just moves through life without much planning. I used to be the sort of person who wanted to make sure everything was planned, and had goals set years into the future. I discovered the Guide while I was in college, crashing hard and burning out, and being told by those I tried to go to for help to grow up. So I left, and I took buses and hitchhiked and couch surfed and just forgot everything. And it wasn't the end of the world. I realised that I was happier just being the sort of person who goes through life with a few contingency plans in place, but otherwise just taking it as it comes, and cutting the unfavourable stuff out. I think if I hadn't got bit by the travel bug through such a strange source, I probably would not have survived college.
2. Physics of the Impossible - Michio Kaku. It was never specified that the books have to be fiction. This is a theoretical physics book about science fiction. It talks about the science of lightsabres and cloaking devices. Interstellar travel and parallel universes. I've bought this book three times, because I keep loaning it out and never getting it back. This is the book that turned me into a raging pedant when I write scifi. I don't care if it's just fanfic; there are actual scientific principles behind this idea, and damn straight I'm going to represent them as realistically as possible. Principles from this book have leeched into more of my fics than I dare count. I love science and the universe and how irritatingly close we are to not quite knowing all the answers.
3. Green River Killer - Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case. Okay, it's a graphic novel, but shut up. The monochrome artwork really helps give the story its oppressive, surreal feel, about one of this areas worst crime sprees (published by Dark Horse, which is just 20 minutes away from where I'm sittig). It's not the story about the murders themselves, but about the detective who came out of retirement to see the case finished off. It's written by Detective Tom Jensen's son, and documents the absolute strangeness of how the case was handled. I don't read a lot of local fiction, and even less local actual events, but I'm glad I picked this one up.
4. Sideways - Rex Pickett. This book fucked me up. I have never in my life related so much to a fictional character, and the fact that I even have the same first name as him just threw me into a downward spiral and self-loathing and hopelessness. Robin Hood actually threw it away to keep me from reading it again, which was kinda not cool, but also probably the best thing he could have done. Because I adore the movie, and it's a rare instance where I think it was better than the book. And aside from being short and kind of stout, I don't look like Paul Giamatti at all, so there's a bit more separation there. But I would have sworn when reading it that the book was about me. Which is not a good thing when the book is about a suicidally depressed alcoholic with too many ideas in his head and not enough outlets.
5. Bears in the Night - Stan and Jan Berenstain. You know, I don't even think I could really tell you what happened in this book, beyond a bunch of bears sneaking out at night, and I think at one point they get frightened by an owl. But according to my mother, I could recite this entire book by the time I was two. It's always kind of there, in the back of my mind. Lately, I've been thinking about trying to find a copy for my neice, for Christmas. I'm surprised my mum doesn't still have my old copy lying around somewhere. I'm sure she'd have shown it to me by now if she did.
tassosssI've been thinking about this one ever since the question was first asked, and I'm still not entirely sure of my answers.
1. Hitchhiker's Guide. Automatically my first. I make a point to either read or audiobook the entire series at least once a year. And it's not so much the story either, but just the lore of how it came about that I really love. It's a book which is based on a television show, which itself was based on a radio show. And that book spawned videogame, movie, stage, and further radio adaptations. I love how the story is never told the same way twice, because Douglas Adams just couldn't be bothered to keep any notes on the massive universe he created.
I've always adored Ford most, and how he just moves through life without much planning. I used to be the sort of person who wanted to make sure everything was planned, and had goals set years into the future. I discovered the Guide while I was in college, crashing hard and burning out, and being told by those I tried to go to for help to grow up. So I left, and I took buses and hitchhiked and couch surfed and just forgot everything. And it wasn't the end of the world. I realised that I was happier just being the sort of person who goes through life with a few contingency plans in place, but otherwise just taking it as it comes, and cutting the unfavourable stuff out. I think if I hadn't got bit by the travel bug through such a strange source, I probably would not have survived college.
2. Physics of the Impossible - Michio Kaku. It was never specified that the books have to be fiction. This is a theoretical physics book about science fiction. It talks about the science of lightsabres and cloaking devices. Interstellar travel and parallel universes. I've bought this book three times, because I keep loaning it out and never getting it back. This is the book that turned me into a raging pedant when I write scifi. I don't care if it's just fanfic; there are actual scientific principles behind this idea, and damn straight I'm going to represent them as realistically as possible. Principles from this book have leeched into more of my fics than I dare count. I love science and the universe and how irritatingly close we are to not quite knowing all the answers.
3. Green River Killer - Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case. Okay, it's a graphic novel, but shut up. The monochrome artwork really helps give the story its oppressive, surreal feel, about one of this areas worst crime sprees (published by Dark Horse, which is just 20 minutes away from where I'm sittig). It's not the story about the murders themselves, but about the detective who came out of retirement to see the case finished off. It's written by Detective Tom Jensen's son, and documents the absolute strangeness of how the case was handled. I don't read a lot of local fiction, and even less local actual events, but I'm glad I picked this one up.
4. Sideways - Rex Pickett. This book fucked me up. I have never in my life related so much to a fictional character, and the fact that I even have the same first name as him just threw me into a downward spiral and self-loathing and hopelessness. Robin Hood actually threw it away to keep me from reading it again, which was kinda not cool, but also probably the best thing he could have done. Because I adore the movie, and it's a rare instance where I think it was better than the book. And aside from being short and kind of stout, I don't look like Paul Giamatti at all, so there's a bit more separation there. But I would have sworn when reading it that the book was about me. Which is not a good thing when the book is about a suicidally depressed alcoholic with too many ideas in his head and not enough outlets.
5. Bears in the Night - Stan and Jan Berenstain. You know, I don't even think I could really tell you what happened in this book, beyond a bunch of bears sneaking out at night, and I think at one point they get frightened by an owl. But according to my mother, I could recite this entire book by the time I was two. It's always kind of there, in the back of my mind. Lately, I've been thinking about trying to find a copy for my neice, for Christmas. I'm surprised my mum doesn't still have my old copy lying around somewhere. I'm sure she'd have shown it to me by now if she did.
