30 Books I’m Glad I Read Before 30 In various ways, these 30 books convey some of the philosophy of how Angel and I live our lives. I honestly credit a fraction of who I am today to each title. Thus, they have indirectly influenced much of what I write about on this site. A medley of both fiction and nonfiction, these great reads challenged my internal status quo, opening my mind to new ideas and opportunities, and together they gave me a basic framework for living, loving, learning and working successfully. If you haven’t read these books yet, I highly recommend doing so. They will enrich your library and your life. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert – Gilbert, a Harvard professor of psychology has studied happiness for decades, and he shares scientific findings that just might change the way you look at the world. What are your favorite books? Photo by: Katie Harris
45 ways to avoid using the word 'very' Three Telling Quotes About ‘Very’ Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain‘Very’ is the most useless word in the English language and can always come out. More than useless, it is treacherous because it invariably weakens what it is intended to strengthen. If you enjoyed this, you will love: If you want to learn how to write a book, join our Writers Write course. by Amanda Patterson © Amanda Patterson
The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit) Recently, someone asked Reddit for a list of the best science fiction books of all time. Being a fan of sci-fi, and wanting to expand my own reading list, I thought it would be helpful to tally the results and preserve them here for future reference. I've also included selected quotes from the comments, as well as my own notes on the books I've already read. PS: All book images in this post are copyright Amazon, and were retrieved using my Big Book Search Engine. So, without further ado, here are the Greatest Sci-Fi Books of All Time, ordered by upvote count: Dune Frank Herbert - 1965 "There's a reason it's the global top selling science fiction book of all time." - NibblyPig If you have a chance, track down the excellent full cast audiobook (unabridged!) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams - 1979 "I really love the cool combination of humor, philosophy, and sheer nuttiness of the entire series." - Scarbrow Ender's Game Orson Scott Card - 1985 Foundation Trilogy Isaac Asimov - 1942
Synonyms for words commonly used in student's writing Amazing- incredible, unbelievable, improbable, fabulous, wonderful, fantastic, astonishing, astounding, extraordinary Anger- enrage, infuriate, arouse, nettle, exasperate, inflame, madden Angry- mad, furious, enraged, excited, wrathful, indignant, exasperated, aroused, inflamed Answer- reply, respond, retort, acknowledge Ask- question, inquire of, seek information from, put a question to, demand, request, expect, inquire, query, interrogate, examine, quiz Awful- dreadful, terrible, abominable, bad, poor, unpleasant Beautiful - pretty, lovely, handsome, attractive, gorgeous, dazzling, splendid, magnificent, comely, fair, ravishing, graceful, elegant, fine, exquisite, aesthetic, pleasing, shapely, delicate, stunning, glorious, heavenly, resplendent, radiant, glowing, blooming, sparkling Begin - start, open, launch, initiate, commence, inaugurate, originate Brave - courageous, fearless, dauntless, intrepid, plucky, daring, heroic, valorous, audacious, bold, gallant, valiant, doughty, mettlesome
Goodreads | Recent Updates SCHOPENHAUER'S 38 STRATAGEMS, OR 38 WAYS TO WIN AN ARGUMENT Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), was a brilliant German philosopher. These 38 Stratagems are excerpts from "The Art of Controversy", first translated into English and published in 1896. Carry your opponent's proposition beyond its natural limits; exaggerate it. The more general your opponent's statement becomes, the more objections you can find against it. The more restricted and narrow his or her propositions remain, the easier they are to defend by him or her. Use different meanings of your opponent's words to refute his or her argument. (abstracted from the book:Numerical Lists You Never Knew or Once Knew and Probably Forget, by: John Boswell and Dan Starer)
The 50 Books Everyone Needs to Read, 1963-2013 The thing about reading is this: it takes a long time. There are innumerable books in the world, and many more good ones than can be read by any mortal in a lifetime. It’s hard to choose — especially if you’re a slow reader. So, to go along with the list of the best albums from 1963-2013, here you will find a single must-read book from each of the last 50 years. Of course, this is by its very nature an absurd undertaking, and many books have gotten the short end of the stick — there’s no other way to do it. 1963 — The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath’s only novel manages to be both elegant and filled with raw, seething emotion – no small feat, and not the least of the reasons the reading world is still obsessed with her. Also recommended: Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak; The Group, Mary McCarthy; V., Thomas Pynchon; Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut; The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan
Top 100 Fiction | Best Books A contemporary list, with an international flavour and a respect for the classics, The Best Books: Top 100 Novels of All Time list contains many of the great works of fiction you'd expect, but with a few surprises to add a little spice to the collection. Which books would you omit and which would you add to our list? Please let us know in the comments section below. 1. Brave New World By Aldous Huxley "Aldous Huxley is the greatest 20th century writer in English." 2. By Fyodor Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment is one of the most important novels of the nineteenth century. 3. By George Orwell Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. 4. By Leo Tolstoy Published to coincide with the centenary of Tolstoy's death, here is an exciting new edition of one of the great literary works of world literature. 5. By J. A modern classic, this early novel by Nobel Laureate J. 6. By Joseph Heller 7. 8. 9.
Japanese Smileys Japanese Smileys Most of us know side-ways smileys like :-) or :D or even 8-]. These were invented by Scott Fahlman in 1982, turn 25 years now and are used almost all over the world. Including in Google applications like Google Talk, which rotate smileys you enter into "normal" direction. The following was Scott's original post where he made his announcement that would change the world... or at least, make parts of it a little more emotional: 19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-) From: Scott E Fahlman Japanese smileys (or "emoticons"/ "facemarks") on the other hand aren't read side-ways, and they are also more stronger focused on the expression of the eyes. Here are some Japanese smileys courtesy of this overview (you will be able to reproduce all of them in UTF-8 character encoding, but not ASCII): (･ｪ-) ... good night ( ^_^) ... hi! [Via Spiegel.] >> More posts Advertisement This site unofficially covers Google™ and more with some rights reserved.
Free Classic AudioBooks. Digital narration for the 21st Century Explore more. Web pages, photos, and videos Having no time doesn’t mean you have to stop reading. Just pick up the shorter book. Half Price Books, one of America’s favorite independent booksellers, asked their customers to recommend books under 200 pages that would be a perfect companion of a book lover. The image below displays top 55 recommendations. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is accompanied by Neil Gaiman’s new book The Ocean at the End of the Lane, or The Girl on the Fridge by Etgar Keret. Check out the original post at Half Price Books Blog for the entire list. What book under 200 pages would you add to your reading list? Click or tap on the image below to see it in full resolution. Top article Best short books you can read in less than three hours. More infographics to check out: About Ola Kowalczyk Collecting bits and pieces about books and libraries in digital age.