The Trading Post -- Where Adventurers Gather

[WolfDreamer]

Thought we could get a post started and pinned where we can gather and share ideas, tips, motivation, stories of our adventures, or just chat about whatever's on your mind. So step up, introduce yourself, and say what's on your mind.

 

[WolfDreamer]

Had to make an "emergency" trip to the library yesterday; I realized at the last minute that a project for one of my graduate classes requires me to read a book from a list of suggested books. I was intrigued by a book titled The Head of the Saint (honestly, I picked it because it was the shortest one on the list). The plan was to do a quick skim and scan, just enough to know enough to do the project. But after skimming and scanning (and finishing the project), I think I want to read...no, I think I have to read the entire thing. Like my brain won't let it go. The author is a Brazilian and was inspired by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and it reads very much like a GGM book.

 

What is everyone else reading?

[Sylvaa]

11 minutes ago, Wolfen said:

What is everyone else reading?

 

Ah books. . . Is this what I tell people I am reading or what I am actually reading?  

 

I'm actually solely on my Tablet these days for reading. I have a few hardback books that are on my list, but I got distracted by A Beautiful Work in Progress when it was available through Prime (pretty sure it was one of the Kindle first books or whatever they call it). It makes me want to run an Ultra. Which, to be fair, isn't that hard because I like to see what I'm capable of. 

 

But, in reality, I keep getting distracted by trashy historical romances. #priorities

[WolfDreamer]

2 minutes ago, Sylvaa said:

I keep getting distracted by trashy historical romances.

 

 

Something tells me you're not talking about Gone With the Wind or Last of the Mohicans. Could be worse; could be trashy supernatural romances. Plenty of those on Amazon for free.

[Sylvaa]

1 minute ago, Wolfen said:

 

 

Something tells me you're not talking about Gone With the Wind or Last of the Mohicans. Could be worse; could be trashy supernatural romances. Plenty of those on Amazon for free.

 

So I actually have qualifications for the free books I pick up - namely that they need to be at least close to 300 pages, which has limited the number of supernatural romances that I'll even think about buying. I can kind of get behind the shifters, but the aliens are definitely too ...different for me.

[WolfDreamer]

1 minute ago, Sylvaa said:

I can kind of get behind the shifters, but the aliens are definitely too ...different for me.

 

As long as they're in human mode when...well...you know... 

[CallunaTook]

I just finished Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" as my on-the-road audio book; it was really cute and inspiring for a young'uns coming-of-age story, deliciously spooky but not overmuch, and it is a special treat to me that Gaiman reads his own audio books.  I'm going to buy the book for my nephew one Halloween, but I think I should wait a couple of years first. I think it would currently overstretch his attention span.

 

I've been very slowly reading through Mark Twain's "A Tramp Abroad" as my bedtime book. A Tramp Abroad was gifted to me just before we visited Germany, and is probably my favorite nonfiction I've read of Twain's so far; some passages are just hilarious (the part about the French duel had me almost crying with glee, I read it three times and then read it aloud to my husband) and the descriptions of 1800s Europe are intriguing... it isn't the author's fault that I usually only get a few pages in before I fall asleep; I'm just like that after 9pm. But that is making getting through the book slooooow. I've been a long time fan of Twain, but I'm really glad that I started reading it after I've been to several of the countries he discusses, and have good friends who grew up in some of those places. It makes it so much more relatable and amusing. I am left with no idea which parts of the story are true and which are not in some cases (Twain is the one who is credited with the quote "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story," and he doesn't), but I hardly think that matters.  I'm more than half through with it now.

 

I am picking through a book of Maya Angelou quotes. It's the current coffee table book. It's 3/4 through, as well.

 

And I also regularly digest food and local living magazines at a rate of 2-4 a month. The food magazines help keep me inspired to eat healthy and try new recipes.

[CallunaTook]

 Ok, I was going to comment on the part about shifting but... well... adult Calluna shut up the college Calluna, and that is probably for the better. 

 

If we are just hanging out at the pub and such... I recently posted in the General Fitness forum for tips and have not had any, so I'd like to throw that out there if any of you want to stop by and look at it. It's ok if you don't have any more tips. Obviously, I don't either. But here is the link.

 

 

[Sylvaa]

33 minutes ago, CallunaTook said:

 Ok, I was going to comment on the part about shifting but... well... adult Calluna shut up the college Calluna, and that is probably for the better.

 

I am very disappointed over this. 

 

Also, I've not got a lot of advice for the aging thing, because I've not encountered any issues like this. But what about something like Tai Chi or swimming / water exercises? 

 

Nerd note: exercise as an RA treatment option is super important! I understand being frustrated over your current decline of fitness level, but I would say don't stop doing yoga! 

[Teros]

8 hours ago, Wolfen said:

What is everyone else reading?

 

I *should* be reading my social work books.

 

But what I'm actually reading is this:

 

 

Finished it last week and I'm writing a report for funsies.  After that, I'll be reading the two books on massage that I rented, and the other 2 books that I forget the names of.

[WolfDreamer]

3 hours ago, CallunaTook said:

I've been a long time fan of Twain

"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is one of my favorite stories to teach because I get to read it aloud. 

 

And I'm a big Neil Gaiman fan, btw.

 

2 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

swimming / water exercises? 

 

I second this suggestion! I also commented on your post. Hope it gets better for you.

[Dagger]

I wanted to say hi here! I'm currently not doing a challenge, I'm on my battle log. But I am still very much an adventurer! I'm a nomad right now and found that the challenge dates didn't fit with how I was traveling and such and it makes more sense to me to choose goals for the time span I spend in a country/city/place instead of arbitrary dates that might see me in three different cities like this challenge is (London, Paris, Barcelona).

 

19 hours ago, Wolfen said:

What is everyone else reading?

I'm reading Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon. So far it is very much interesting, talking about how our bodies work in weight management, whether that is gain or loss or maintenance.

 

For fiction, I am reading Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs. A short story collection. After that I'll probably pick up some anthologies I recently bought plus some I have since before. Oh, and a romance magazine. Most of these are urban fantasy and paranormal romance. I see your mocking and I laugh in your face about my enjoyment of those things.

 

I also have anthologies with mystery, thriller and other genres which I might dip into. Next full length novel will most likely be a mystery novel unless my mood changes before I get there.

 

[WolfDreamer]

4 hours ago, Dagger said:

I wanted to say hi here!

 

Good to see you! Please stay in touch. Those books all sound great. How is the traveling going?

[Dagger]

22 minutes ago, Wolfen said:

Good to see you! Please stay in touch. Those books all sound great. How is the traveling going?

Currently coming towards the end of my time in London and recognize that some things I wanted to do won't happen, but I'm alright with that. Instead I'll spend the weekend with a friend in another awesome place in the UK (Oxford and the cotswolds!). In less than a week, I'll be in Paris! And isn't that exciting!

[Sciread77]

See, I knew that the Adventurers were the right group for me.  We set up a Trading Post and immediately begin to talk about what we're reading.

 

On 9/19/2017 at 7:48 AM, Sylvaa said:

But, in reality, I keep getting distracted by trashy historical romances. #priorities

 

There's nothing wrong with trashy historical romances. One of my friends has published quite a few historical romances.  

 

Twain is awesome, and considered a local in my area.

 

I'm currently reading The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York.  I'm also reading Jurassic Park ("The Dinosaur Book") to my young boys, who LOVE it when the dinosaurs eat people. My tablet book is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in French, with audio. 

 

I don't stick to one book at a time. I usually have a book for every location I read.  I'm severely behind my annual goal due to the last... 6 months? of effectively no book reading.  Over the last week, I've been sneaking in ten minutes here and there and it's been helping my life quite a bit.  I want to get back to reading more fiction, though.  I've been reading an overwhelming number of non-fiction books, and most of them have been practical or business-related.  Not that it's bad to read them, but they're not quite as good for me mentally as some good old sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, adventure, or thriller books.  Or general-hilarity novels like the Stephanie Plum series.  
 

[GregT.]

Popping in as a new member.  Dagger if you end up in Abu Dhabi let me know be happy to show you around. 

 

  I'm reading Level up my Life right now along with The 4 hour workweek by Tim Ferris.  For fun I am reading book 8 of the William Forstchen lost regiment series, Men at War.  I just finished the 23 book series of Eric Flint, 1632 ( and forward) series of Alternate history.

 

  I think the kindle App is one of the greatest inventions of our time.  I love paper books but traveling they can be cumbersome.  

[Dagger]

5 hours ago, GregT. said:

I think the kindle App is one of the greatest inventions of our time.  I love paper books but traveling they can be cumbersome.  

Agreed!

 

5 hours ago, GregT. said:

The 4 hour workweek by Tim Ferris

You'll have to tell me what you think of this. It is on my to-be-read list and have been there for a couple of years. I'll get to it eventually.

 

5 hours ago, GregT. said:

Dagger if you end up in Abu Dhabi let me know be happy to show you around. 

Right-o, thanks!

[WolfDreamer]

14 hours ago, Sciread77 said:

I don't stick to one book at a time. I usually have a book for every location I read.

 

This is exactly how I live my life. Do you ever confuse the books in your head or are you good at remembering the difference?

[WolfDreamer]

8 hours ago, GregT. said:

I think the kindle App is one of the greatest inventions of our time.  I love paper books but traveling they can be cumbersome.

 

Agreed. I definitely own more books on my Kindle than I do in real life (although it is very close).

[GregT.]

44 minutes ago, Wolfen said:

 

Agreed. I definitely own more books on my Kindle than I do in real life (although it is very close).

I know I don't have more books on my kindle than real life.  I was a historical re-enactor and tactics club guy for many years.  I have Hundreds of books on WW2 , and thousands of books on Medieval history.  It is kinda like my VHS collection, I wish they would go ahead and make all of them digital s I could store them, and free up all of that bookshelf space

[WolfDreamer]

2 minutes ago, GregT. said:

I wish they would go ahead and make all of them digital

 

Mind you, I have a lot of "real" books because I'm a high school English/Language Arts teacher, so I basically have a library. But I went a little nuts the first few years I had my Kindle and bought a bunch of stuff, and I downloaded a lot of free stuff, as well. I still check the list of free books every day. Some of them are "Meh...," but a lot of them are pretty good. I got a package deal one day of three free books from one of my favorite authors.

[Dagger]

I'm slowly trying to make a dent in my digital hoarding of books, because my habits was more hoarding than just buying. Lol.

 

I've finally managed to somewhat lower my book buying amount, although if I ever finish my to-be-read pile that I own, I'd be surprised.

[Sciread77]

1 hour ago, Wolfen said:

 

This is exactly how I live my life. Do you ever confuse the books in your head or are you good at remembering the difference?

 

I can't recall ever confusing books in my head.  People do ask that a lot when they find out I read many things at once.  I almost never read two books by the same author or set in the same world at once, so that probably helps.  I'm definitely a visual learner, and I've always been able to remember most of what I read pretty well without much effort.   I rarely even use bookmarks, as I usually know what page I'm on.  I'm freakish that way, so books, IMs, message board threads, and the like work well for me.

 

An actual conversation?  More difficult to remember and keep straight.  Professionally, I take copious notes and concentrate hard.  It's one of the many reasons I avoid bars or other loud places where people expect socialization.  It's difficult and stressful.

 

1 hour ago, Wolfen said:

 

Agreed. I definitely own more books on my Kindle than I do in real life (although it is very close).

 

I have remarkably few books on Kindle/iBooks.  I've got about 60, and most are either electronic copies of books friends have published (to go along with the physical copies)  or copies of old books no longer under copyright.  My wife is a theatre teacher who has previously taught 5th grade and High School English, speech & debate, and theatre.  So we have a lot of books from that too.  When I was teaching math, I still had a classroom library for kids to read when they were done with their math work.

14 minutes ago, Dagger said:

I'm slowly trying to make a dent in my digital hoarding of books, because my habits was more hoarding than just buying. Lol.

 

I've finally managed to somewhat lower my book buying amount, although if I ever finish my to-be-read pile that I own, I'd be surprised.

 

I love buying books, and I read most of the ones that I buy.  There are several in that category that are queued up for the arrival of the baby, though.  Hopefully, being off of work for longer will give me more time to catch up.  I'm definitely leaning on that time to make my annual reading goal.  My digital books are more hoard-like, although many are books like Treasure Island and the Jules Verne books I read as a kid.

 

I know I'll never finish my to-read pile because any time we get close, my wife and I go buy a bunch more.  

 

I also love and regularly use libraries.

[Dagger]

11 minutes ago, Sciread77 said:

I love buying books, and I read most of the ones that I buy.  There are several in that category that are queued up for the arrival of the baby, though.  Hopefully, being off of work for longer will give me more time to catch up.  I'm definitely leaning on that time to make my annual reading goal.  My digital books are more hoard-like, although many are books like Treasure Island and the Jules Verne books I read as a kid.

 

I know I'll never finish my to-read pile because any time we get close, my wife and I go buy a bunch more.  

 

I also love and regularly use libraries.

I have probably more than 100 kindle books I haven't read yet. I tend to buy a lot of bundles because so many good books for such a good price, and so many of them are series and... Yeah... so many books, so little time.

[WolfDreamer]

56 minutes ago, Sciread77 said:

I almost never read two books by the same author or set in the same world at once, so that probably helps.

 

I'm almost never reading books of the same genre at the same time. So if I'm reading three books, it's usually 1 fiction, 1 self-help/motivational/spiritual, and 1 nonfiction (autobiography, history, etc.). And yeah, never from the same author.