Comments on: Nothing but books http://gravitonic.com/2003/09/nothing-but-books Life, technology, and other good things Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:22:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Jon http://zmievski.org/2003/09/nothing-but-books/comment-page-1#comment-49 Jon Wed, 03 Sep 2003 19:52:05 +0000 http://www.gravitonic.com/n/?p=36#comment-49 Joseph Campbell once said something along the lines of, read everything by the authors you like, then read everything that they read, and then everything that those authors read, etc. My system? Recommendations, and thumbing through random likely books at bookstores. Joseph Campbell once said something along the lines of, read everything by the authors you like, then read everything that they read, and then everything that those authors read, etc.

My system? Recommendations, and thumbing through random likely books at bookstores.

]]> By: anand http://zmievski.org/2003/09/nothing-but-books/comment-page-1#comment-48 anand Wed, 03 Sep 2003 08:36:53 +0000 http://www.gravitonic.com/n/?p=36#comment-48 The key to a recommendation is knowing whom to trust. Over the years, I have developed this group of friends ( offline and online ) whom I trust and have found 90% of the time, their recommendation to be a good one for me. As for picking books at a bookstore, I normally stay away from anything that has new york times bestseller written on top of it :-) The key to a recommendation is knowing whom to trust. Over the years, I have developed this group of friends ( offline and online ) whom I trust and have found 90% of the time, their recommendation to be a good one for me.

As for picking books at a bookstore, I normally stay away from anything that has new york times bestseller written on top of it :-)

]]> By: Courtney http://zmievski.org/2003/09/nothing-but-books/comment-page-1#comment-47 Courtney Wed, 03 Sep 2003 05:15:27 +0000 http://www.gravitonic.com/n/?p=36#comment-47 Neal Stephenson kicks ten kinds of ass, btw.... Neal Stephenson kicks ten kinds of ass, btw….

]]> By: Courtney http://zmievski.org/2003/09/nothing-but-books/comment-page-1#comment-46 Courtney Wed, 03 Sep 2003 05:13:53 +0000 http://www.gravitonic.com/n/?p=36#comment-46 I've found that in academia there a few tricks you can use to sort out the good books from the fluff....One is to see how many other books use the book in question as a citation. If the book (or author) has been cited in the literature quite a bit, then the book is probably influential in the field, and therefore worth reading. Another way to sort books is through recommendations - but not friends. Find yourself a person who is in charge of stocking a good, independent bookstore, or who is in charge of buying for a library. This person will know the buzz on books worth reading. Another way is to read books by the same author, or books that a favorite author recommends (and not those throwaway quotes on the book jacket). These are my favorite methods, at any rate.... I’ve found that in academia there a few tricks you can use to sort out the good books from the fluff….One is to see how many other books use the book in question as a citation. If the book (or author) has been cited in the literature quite a bit, then the book is probably influential in the field, and therefore worth reading.

Another way to sort books is through recommendations – but not friends. Find yourself a person who is in charge of stocking a good, independent bookstore, or who is in charge of buying for a library. This person will know the buzz on books worth reading.

Another way is to read books by the same author, or books that a favorite author recommends (and not those throwaway quotes on the book jacket).

These are my favorite methods, at any rate….

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