Pompeii, by Robert Harris. A pretty good yarn about an aqueduct engineer who suspects something bad is about to happen...
At least twice, I have purchased books based entirely on recomendations I saw in this thread, which, technical details aside, is the very definition of word of mouth. Do you feel that makes me less of a man?
No not at all. I don't find that to be any different than reading an author, then finding who that author was influenced by, to ensure reading pleasure. The statement I made was in relation to the book industry, target markets, ect. I'm not against reading widely. But men are not building upon common ideas for improvement. Or, upon what should/could be improved. Too many choices? Not enough focus? I don't know. Men like non-fiction. Non-fiction is a subject based on conflicting concepts. No conflict, no book buying public. So I ask for some solutions . . . ? Even a well informed individual doesn't feel he can do much alone.
Honestly no trick. But one gender is winning the war over what stories are told, how they end, ect. Because they buy these stories in multiple formats. And they gather to talk about the sentimental issues in the story. Men are truly fascinated by books that go out of print. My favorite non-fiction book is out of print. Even if it was in print, would we really talk about why or why not the subject is important for future action? You could say no, and be cool with that, but that book is gone.
This is one of the most bizarre things I've ever read on the Big Soccer forums. Men are truly fascinated by books that go out of print. I'm going to start tossing that into as many conversations as I can to see if I can make it "a thing".
I'm starting to work on a rap. "Are you down with o.o.p?" Yeah you know me! Who's down with o.o.p? Every last homey! You down with o.o.p.? Yeah you know me! Who's down with o.o.p? All the readin' homies! I have a ways to go.
To be clear, funny as that sounds, they don't know these books won't exist long enough to collect shelf dust. There too many other obscure topics to master in the moment. Then forget.
Wordwatching: How to Break Into the Dictionary by English comic Alex Horne. He enlists the aid of a few friends, "invents" five words, and tries to get into the OED (or whatever dictionary he can. Interesting and pretty funny.
On the recommendation of one of y'all. Unfortunately, no copies in the library and just this one at the used book store, but a nice intro to the Matthew Shardlake novels.