I use goodreads to try to get a sense of what kind of book I'm looking at, when I'm deciding what to buy and what not to buy. So far at least the reviews there seemed to have been pretty accurate, at least in terms of what I'll like and won't like.
I didn't realize that you could track your book library on there too! That's cool. They seem to have more options than the other site, but the other site seems more.. compact. Not sure which of the 2 sites would be better for tracking my books, but I guess either way I've got all my books on the LibraryThing so I'm probably sticking to it.
I went to a used bookstore. Not the one I wanted to go to because it was closed, so the sci-fi selection was not as good as anticipated, but I raided it anyway. Here's the spoils:
Spoiler:
^^ Author suggested by Timsup2nothin, it's the first book in a saga, it got good reviews, and the synopsis makes it sound intriguing. So I had to get it
Spoiler:
Interesting sounding first contact story. Have never heard of the author but the synopsis intrigued me enough to buy it.
Spoiler:
I immediately recognized the author and... This just looks so weird. I looked up reviews and people either seem to hate it or love it. So I took a risk because really.. looking at that cover I want to read this and understand what's going on
Spoiler:
I have read that Larry Niven is best when he writes books with other people. This is about the first interstellar spaceship that travels to another solar system. I think. Looked intriguing enough for me to pick up
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I haven't read anything by this author yet, and I do have Snow Crash, but this got good reviews and I thought I had to have it.
Spoiler:
This just looked too delicious not to pick up
Total cost after taxes $18.50 CDN or something like that
I am very happy with my purchase and can't wait to go and raid another used book store
Alan Dean Foster's fantasy novels are just plain bizarre. I prefer his Pip & Flinx books, which are more adventure/space opera. Warning: If you find houseplants or other kinds of flowering plants even a little creepy, take care when reading Midworld or Mid-Flinx. Those books are one reason why I don't have houseplants (apparently Foster's own houseplants were part of his inspiration to write the books). I can recommend his novel Cyber Way (SF murder mystery in which a detective uses Navajo mythology and computers to solve a murder).
I am, I have read Solaris, The Cyberiad, The Investigation, And the Star Diaries. I gave all of those away though. I also had Summa Technologiae and another one I can't remember, but don't see them anywhere (edit: Found Summia Technologiae, it was there all along). Almost bought a nice edition of The Cyberiad today but I wanted to focus on paperbacks.
Today I raided another bookstore for books for my collection. This is today's haul:
Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter - The Light of Other Days
Poul Anderson - The Avatar - Didn't have any books by Anderson so I picked 3 that came recommended or looked interesting. One of them might be the start of a series, I can't remember
Poul Anderson - Genesis
Poul Anderson - Harvest of Stars
Greg Bear - Eternity
Greg Bear - Queen of Angels - This is the start of a series and people seem to rave about it
Gregory Benford - Cosm - Two books by Benford I picked out that sounded interesting
Gregory Benford - Eater
Michel Parry - Chariots of Fire - This looks to be a book that is about a similar thing as Erich Von Daniken's "Chariots of Fire" book. Novel about Aztec first contact with aliens.
Frederik Pohl - Jem - Didn't have anything by Pohl and this one sounds intriguing
H.G. Wells - The Time Machine & The Invisible Man - two classics in one
Jack Williamson - The Black Sun - Turns out I do have another book by this guy, didn't even realize it until now, picked it up randomly and loved the promise so I had to get it
Robert Charles Wilson - The Chronoliths - Have read Spin by this guy and liked it. This book is about strange things appearing and happening in Bangkok. Sounds good enough to me
My library grows! I think next I might have to go to Toronto and find some bookstores there and bring a larger backpack.
I've met four authors on that list: Poul Anderson, Greg Bear, Frederik Pohl, and Jack Williamson. Fun fact: Greg Bear is married to Poul Anderson's daughter, Astrid.
I've got one shelf just for Poul Anderson books. I've read his Time Patrol books so many times, they literally fell apart.
I checked my own list, and something weird happened; some of the photos for the covers disappeared. I'm gonna have to look into that.
According to my own Library Thing notifications, you and I have four books in common, but I know there's a lot more. I just haven't added them to my list yet (it will be a huge undertaking).
Valka told me about it. I love it, I already bought a lifetime membership ($25 USD / $35 CDN). Mind you I probably wouldn't have if they let me add more than 200 books without paying, but this service has been great to me so far and I can see myself using it quite a bit, so I don't mind giving them some of my hard-earned money.
If you (or anyone else) wants to be friends on that site, let me know and we'll be book buddies. I think all that will do is show me what books you add, I'm not sure what other benefits it might lead to..
There are discussion groups, exchanges, giveaways, and other stuff that goes on there. Some of the activities are geared more for professionals such as writers, librarians, etc. I checked out the May edition of the Early Reviewers' list, and am disgusted as most of the books available to Canadian members are children's books. Or at least that's the case with the print ones. I didn't check the e-books.
I've had a membership for years. It's useful for more than regular books. I finally had to make a list of my craft books, and started on the fanzines, too. Fanzines don't have ISBN numbers, but at least it's a basic list.
I haven't owned less than 10 books since I was younger than age 2. They weren't science fiction, though. I had fewer than 10 of those for about a month back in 1975.
I've spent the past few years living out of a big duffel bag so there isn't much room to spare for books and trinkets. I had to leave behind a hardcover copy of every Calvin & Hobbes strip in Ontario, for example, as it was huge.
As a result, the books I have are ones I've kept all this time or gotten after moving to my current place.
Behold my expansive list of books:
The Traveler (John Twelve Hawks)
Wicked (Gregory Maguire)
The Children of Hamlin (Carmen Carter)
Strike Zone (Peter David)
The Battle For Your Email Inbox (Robby Slaughter) -- I have this as a free copy since I edited the book prior to release. It's for businesses/professionals.
Characters, Emotion, & Viewpoint (Nancy Kress)
Two TNG novels... I approve. Peter David is also one of the authors I've met. He was the GoH at a convention in Calgary around the time A Rock and a Hard Place came out. I bought two copies - one for me and one to use as a prize in our Star Trek club's annual barbecue, when I would run a Star Trek Jeopardy contest. We had a nice chat when I was getting him to autograph them.
Wikipedia is useful for this, as well, especially if you intend to read a lot of Poul Anderson novels. Some of them are subseries of overarching series (similarly to how some Ben Bova subseries are part of the overall Grand Tour series).
Valka, I'll keep those books in mind, thanks! Add me as a friend on the LibraryThing if you'd like, right now I have 0 friends on there and it feels a bit lonely.
It was announced a month or two ago, and I'm not sure I gave it much thought at the time, but the new trailer for this Summer's theatrical re-release of Terminator 2: Judgment Day has me more excited than I would have expected to be. It's a 3D conversion - honestly, I'd prefer to see it on the big screen in 2D than 3D, but alright - but Gizmodo points out that the film has also had its color restored.
Terminator 2 is, I think, the #1 action movie of all time, even alongside recent things like Captain America: Civil War and Edge of Tomorrow. I haven't seen it on the big screen since its initial run. If you haven't ever seen it on the big screen, I'd think it's probably going to be worth the $20, and I don't say that about many movies.
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