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Crighton’s best works are where he sticks to areas he understands, like medicine and bio-science. With other stuff he ends up out of his elements. Still can be good stories, but decidedly less speculative fiction and more simply fiction.

marurun wrote:Crighton’s best works are where he sticks to areas he understands, like medicine and bio-science. With other stuff he ends up out of his elements. Still can be good stories, but decidedly less speculative fiction and more simply fiction.

Counterpoint: The Great Train Robbery is one of his best books.

The only Crighton book I've read is Sphere... which was great - until the lame ending... I need to read his other works to give him a fair shake.

Does anyone have a good way to get that horrible basement smell out of a book? I could Google it, but I'd like to hear first hand from someone that's tried it.

marurun wrote:You know, there’s this thing called a library. They’re pretty awesome.

LOL, I know. But I've read almost 2 books from Crichton and liked his writing style enough that I feel more than comfortable gambling $1 on a book. As for renting something instead of buying, sure, but recently I've been buying books the same way I have in the past for movies or video games. It's not just getting it to read/watch/play it. It's also building up a collection. I would love to one day have a spare room that I can dedicated to being a library / study. And $1 books is a great way to get there! I'm also a "when the mood strikes" kind of guy, so I like having things on hand. If I get the urge to read the next Crichton book or Bond novel on my list, it might be days before I can get to the library during open hours. At that point I might have lost the motivation.

It might be worth noting that I've completely slowed down on my video game collecting, and have parted with a good chunk of it (and will perhaps part with more of it). Video games are expensive, but books are cheap. Perhaps I'm subconsciously using books to replace that "collecting urge" that I use to have for video games. At least it's better for my wallet.

That said, I DO like libraries. Although I don't visit my local library as often as I'd like. Although these days, I'd be less likely to borrow a book. I'm actually more interested in other media that my library carries, like CDs and DVDs. They even have video games, too. And if my library ever gets a 3D printer, I'll be there a lot more often. I've also thought about looking into what it takes to instruct a class. At least, I've had ideas for classes that are not currently offered.

My local library takes two hours by bike each way. It's a local library in a small town in the south, so I learned the hard way that more often than not I should stick to buying books. But then again I haven't been in YEARS. Which reminds me, I have a big box of DVDs that I wish to donate.

REPO Man wrote:My local library takes two hours by bike each way. It's a local library in a small town in the south, so I learned the hard way that more often than not I should stick to buying books. But then again I haven't been in YEARS. Which reminds me, I have a big box of DVDs that I wish to donate.

A lot of library systems now offer a lot of ebook and audiobook resources for remote access without a trip to the library. It looks like your library does.

https://www.darenc.com/departments/libr ... as-library

Inter-library loan also expands the range of materials they have considerably.

It might be worth another look if you haven't in several years. Then again, it might not. It doesn't cost a lot to check.

Yeah, the library is part of a larger system which includes the much better stocked one in Manteo I went to years ago.

Personally none of these issues of things being too far would be an issue if we had a bus system. I mean, if the ride is thrice as long by bus than by car I could learn to deal with that.

Recently finished Junji Ito's Deserter, a compilation of short horror manga stories that caps off with the collection's namesake. Definitely a recommendation.

A recommendation to whom? Based on what? You didn’t say anything about it. How can you recommend it without providing any information about it?

A recommendation to horror fans, manga fans, horror manga fans, fans of bizarre shit, fans of Junji Ito, fans of World of Horror...