I've been mindbogglingly bored for the last couple months or so. I haven't had much drive to play games, and I've read every book, manga, and comic that I own.

Whenever I go shopping for new books, I tend to ask various other customers what they like so I can get an idea of what new books/series to try since, in my opinion, that's one of the best ways to expand your library. Sometimes I'll come across a movie that I enjoy and look to see if it was based on a book. A book I ordered a couple days ago, for example, is one that I looked into simply because my niece showed me a cartoon that was based from it that I very much enjoyed.

So here I am peeps, tell me, what's something I should read? I typically stay in the Fantasy Genre, but I do enjoy straying into Science Fiction and Mystery from time to time.

EDIT:

If it's not too much trouble, could I also get some recommendations for some good young readers books? My niece loves reading but I'm afraid I have very little age appropriate material.

11 years ago*

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The Night Angel Trilogy. Prepare for the mind-blow of a lifetime. Better than Harry Potter & The Hunger Games combined.

11 years ago
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I haven't actually read The Hunger Games series haha!

11 years ago
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Read that too then. The third one was a disappointment in my opinion, but still decent.

Also the main character's annoying as fuck at moments.

11 years ago
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I'll have to look into it as well. The movie seems to be popular, and if I've learned anything it's that any movie is shit compared to the book it was based on, no matter how good the movie.

11 years ago
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You mentioned manga in your original post. Try Battle Royale instead of Hunger Games (if you haven't already).

11 years ago
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11 years ago
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LEMONY SNICKETT'S BOOKS

They're good for kids and adults, really entertaining with some dark comedy. try any of his books, not necessarily the series of unfortunate event's books.

NOTE: pardon my horrible English please

11 years ago
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yeah but if you're gong to go for battle royale the book is probably tops as opposed to the manga or movies...

11 years ago
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The third was awful! It was so anticlimactic that I had to read the last chapter again like five times to make sure I didn't miss something...

11 years ago
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This^ On so many levels. The first two books were good, but the third seemed to give up after a certain point and was just...crap. And Katniss...Yes, she annoyed me so much.

11 years ago
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I fully and whole-heartedly agree with the Night Angel Trilogy. Along the same lines of that Would be the Robin Hobb's Assassin Series. A solid Epic fantasy would be Tad William's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. Starts with "A Dragonbone Chair". He's easily one of my favorite Fantasy authors.

Child appropriate reading... Growing up one of my favorite authors was Bruce Coville. He does mostly Sci-fi Fantasy stuff. The Space Brat series, The Dragonslayers, and Goblins in the Castle (I still own my original paper back of this)were some of my favorite when I was a youngin...

Sadly I can talk about books for days...

11 years ago
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Night Angel Trilogy = pure epic.
Also The Lightbringer by Weeks Brent is pretty good

11 years ago
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Both of these series are amazing.

11 years ago
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A Song of Ice and Fire

11 years ago
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This series, definitely. You might know it better from the show Game of Thrones.

11 years ago
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You know, I'm probably one of the few people that hasn't actually watched it.

11 years ago
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this. its awesome

11 years ago
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Absolutely. This series would be my first recommendation for sure!

11 years ago
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Book is much,much better then tv series.

11 years ago
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+1

11 years ago
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+infinite

11 years ago
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Excellent Books.

11 years ago
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Fools Die

11 years ago
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The Last Wish by Sapkowski. I ordered it last week. It's not here yet, but I'm extremely excited. If you like The Witcher, get it.

11 years ago
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I was actually planning on getting The Witcher at some point. Didn't get very far into the game since I outrageously sucked at it, but from what little of the story I got to experience I became very interested in the book.

11 years ago
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I started The Witcher, played through the tutorial, then stopped playing for about 6 months. When I came back and finally beat the game, I thought it was one of the best storylines of a game ever. Ever. And I thoroughly enjoyed the fighting system (after I got used to it).

11 years ago
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I'll have to give it another go whenever I finally get out of my "Don't want to play games" hole.

11 years ago
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This so many times this!

The Last Wish is epic.

The Sword of Destiny is even more.

Blood of Elves is good but stop the book at half story!

I still have to get my hands on the rest of the series :(

11 years ago
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I've read every one of the seven books, and i must say if there's a book to reccommend it's this. Also Narrenturm trilogy of the same author is pretty cool.

11 years ago
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Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

11 years ago
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You know, I've actually been recommended that before and I never actually looked into it, I'll need to do that.

11 years ago
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If you do, I suggest you stay chronologically within the groups.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld#Bibliography

But of course you can also enjoy any title without knowledge of previous books in that group ;)

11 years ago
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Discworld Reading Order Guide

If you go this route, I'd suggest you start with Mort or Equal Rites since the author admits that his first two books of Discworld could have been written better.

Terry Pratchett has also written material for children and young adults that is set in the Discworld Universe.

11 years ago
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I second that. There are also fun movies based on the books.

11 years ago
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+1 many people reccommend this series to me. What book should I read first in order to understand the story better?

EDIT: I saw your reply only now

11 years ago
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I agree they are great, read all but the latest of them myself. Remember though, not all books are created equal. From what I can recall the first two books were a little slow, still good, just not his best :)

11 years ago
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+∞

11 years ago
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+1 yeah :)

11 years ago
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+1 I think they are the best books I've ever read

11 years ago
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Anything written by Terry Pratchett is good.

11 years ago
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The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. Any thing by Douglas Adams, actually...

11 years ago
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Haha, now there's a very obvious one :P

11 years ago
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Nice choice!

11 years ago
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A Song of Ice and Fire, inheritance series, The Dark Tower

11 years ago
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Oh The Dark Tower, brilliant series. Though I will admit the ending was a bit of a kick in the nuts.

11 years ago
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also The Foundation series by Asimov

11 years ago
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100 años de soledad, by Gabriel García Márquez. I don't know if there is any english translation, but it's a worth reading book. (Sorry for the shitty english, btw)

11 years ago
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+1 read this.

11 years ago
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+2 Gabriel García Márquez all the way.

11 years ago
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Hmm, I'll see if it's been translated.

11 years ago
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For sure it has! I've read it! "100 Years of Solitude"

11 years ago
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Sounds interesting just from the title alone.

11 years ago
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If it's too hard a start try reading No One Writes to the Colonel by the same author first. And his book about the Chilean tirany is quite good too. Clandestine in Chile: The Adventures of Miguel Littín

11 years ago
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What do you think about Love in the Time of Cholera? I really enjoyed that one too. Maybe a more traditional story than the at times sprawling 100 Years but no less satisfying for the gorgeous prose alone, I thought. (Although I read English translations, but they were very good).

11 years ago
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To be honest I haven't read that one yet. So I do not have a formed opinion.

11 years ago
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"100 Years of Solitude" is an immense book. Gabriel Garcia Marquez received the Nobel Prize for Literature due in no small part to this fantastic work. I would be very surprised if you didn't end up enjoying it, or at least coming away highly impressed.

11 years ago
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Fantastic book.

11 years ago
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u should try dan brown's books

11 years ago
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NO

11 years ago
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+1 for NO to Dan Brown. What a sensationalist little whippersnapper turd.

11 years ago
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I just finished reading Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave, perhaps you should look into that

11 years ago
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Huh, I want to read it just from the name alone.

11 years ago
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It's not new but I think the Dune series is pretty good.

11 years ago
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I've been recommended that one in the past as well! It looks VERY interesting.

11 years ago
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I came to recomend this, but just the ones wrote by Frank Herbert, the other are a bit meh.

11 years ago
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

11 years ago
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Hehe, Cuckoo.

11 years ago
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Lord of the Rings series.

Percy Jackson series.

11 years ago
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Never actually got into the Percy Jackson series.

11 years ago
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i absolutely LOVE the percy jackson series, seriously amazing books!

11 years ago
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Millenium trilogy - from Stieg Larsson... Quo Vadis - Henryk Siekiewicz... Mother Night - Kurt Vonnegut...
Those are my favorite books i guess, but if you want some fantasy but still smart, funny and with satirical elements, try Terry Pratchet's Discworld. It's a series and it doesn't matter which book you start with.

11 years ago
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Yet another recommendation for Discworld, huh, I'll certainly need to hurry and look into it!

11 years ago
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Millenium trilogy -> one of worst books I`ve read lately. If you like good crime book stick with classics - Agatha Christie is one of best authors for me.

11 years ago
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I found Agatha Christie horribly dull and boring. I'd stick to Sir Doyle if I wan't my share of detectivesque narrations.

11 years ago
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Totally agree with you there, Mister C. I sometimes stayed up the whole night gripped by the adventures of Holmes whereas Agatha Christie (literally) put me to sleep. Although it's been a few years (about 15, actually) since I last read either ^^

11 years ago
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I remember picking Doyle for the first time, I found it so boring I put it back down after few paragraphs. On the other hand I read the entire bibliography of Agatha Christie. What I like the most about her works, is that there is no deus ex machina in her novels.

11 years ago
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It really doesn't matter on where to start Discworld? I keep hearing people say that but I can never really believe them and since there's some 50 books or so out there in the world I was never able to bring myself to just jump in anywhere.

11 years ago
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Science fiction: Dune. I would only recommend the first one, the one called Dune.
Foundation: The first one is the best, I would recommend the first trilogy.
Do Androids dream of electric sheep: Blade Runner is based on this short story. The book gives you much more info on this apocalyptic future.
Almost any book written by Philip K. Dick or Isaac Asimov is a good read.
1984 and animal farm are also good dystopia societies books.
Jennifer Government by Max Barry. I read it when I was ~16 and I remember it as an acceptable book.
The first book of the hunger games is acceptable, do not read the other two.

The godfather is not a science fiction book, but it's a masterpiece.

11 years ago
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If he was to read a dystopian themed books I'd suggest he went for either Farenheit 451 by Bradbury, A brave New World by Huxley or We by Yevgeni Zamyatin (I think it was spelled like that)

I consider those books to be better overall than Orwell's works

EDIT: Well, not only that but 1984 is practically a ripoff of We

11 years ago
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Maybe it's the political aspect of Orwell that I enjoy more his books. Being a libertarian myself I consider that his books are a good way to confront totalitarianism.
Farenheit 451 is also a great book, but I don't like Huxley, I read A brave new world when I was too young and it impressed me too much.

11 years ago
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For some reason, the phrase "Impressed me too much" strikes me as hilarious.

11 years ago
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Hmmm I made a direct translation from spanish, I'm not sure if it has other meaning on English.

Could it be said "had a profound effect on me"?

11 years ago
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Oh, it's perfectly fine, it's just an odd sounding phrase.

11 years ago
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Hmm.. not sure I agree with you about Huxley > Orwell. 1984 had a much more profound impact on me than Brave New World, but to each his own :)

11 years ago
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To be honest I don't feel much appealed by Orwell's works, but yeah. Opinions are opinions :)

And well, although I did like Orwell's book my opinion of them has been shaded by the fact that they are annoyingl overpraised most of the time. So I though that suggesting some of the not-so-typical books of the genre was a good idea.

Moreover as I've said I found too many reminicenses with We which also made me had less esteem to 1984.

11 years ago
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I haven't read We but I'll have to check that one out, then.

11 years ago
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I agree with both "1984" and "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". Both great books, I read them this Summer.

11 years ago
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+1 for Dune. I've only read the first, but my dad recommends all of them, especially Chapterhouse: Dune.

I can't vouch for Philip K. Dick, but he's certainly on my to-read list.

11 years ago
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Chapterhouse Dune and Children of Dune are maybe the other two that are high quality books. Dune Messiah (the second one) and Heretics of Dune (fifth) are underwhelming, and God Emperor (fourth) is acceptable, but not great, IMO. Stay away from all the books written by Frank Herbert's son, they are bad.

11 years ago
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yeah honestly I was suprised someone with the handle KynesLiet, or Liet Kynes, would only recommend the first book in the dune series.

I know I'll get bashed for it but some of the son's books for the immediate prequels to Dune were kind of fun, just to revisit Leto and Vladimir and the like after working through the original series, Butlerian Jihad and when they tried to finish up the original series though I completely agree.

11 years ago
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I don't know, if I had read them before his father's books, I would have appreciated them much more, but after the masterpiece that is Dune, I see Brian Herbert books as cashgrabs to ride his father's legacy.

11 years ago
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The Dwarves by Markus Heitz. I think there are 4 books but I don´t know if they are all available in English.
Forgot one: Orcs First Blood by Stan Nicholls.

11 years ago
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A Song of Ice and Fire

Wheel of Time

Discworld Series

Good Omens

H.P Lovecraft

Eternal Champion

11 years ago
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Erich Maria Remarque, his books are awesome. I recomend you to read them.

11 years ago
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I agree, Im Westen Nichts Neues is quite good ("All Quiet on the Western Front", in English I think).

11 years ago
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Witcher series. I finished every single one and all of them were awesome.
EDIT: Keep your niece away from Twilight and she will be fine :P

11 years ago
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+1 Great books, you should start there!

11 years ago
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+11. Some people say that The Witcher game was great. Well... I think so too. But I must add that the book was even better.

11 years ago
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The Alphabet of Manliness

11 years ago
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What have you enjoyed?

I'm afraid that I will just say the same things like everyone here. A Song of Ice and Fire, Lovecraft, Douglas Adams, Issac Asimov.
Other than the common, I very much liked Of Mice and Men.

11 years ago
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Don't feel like listing all of my likes, but one of my favorite books would have to be American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

11 years ago
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American Gods was an interesting read. I didn't enjoy the climax of the story. It was building up to something more.

11 years ago
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I expected it to go in a different way as well, but I think the fact that it didn't go even close helped me enjoy it so much more.

The spinoff book, Anansi Boys, is a very fun read.

11 years ago
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Enders Universe (start with Ender's Game) and the Inheritance Series.

11 years ago
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The City of Dreaming Books /and/ The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers are pretty good.

Very unique & interesting storytelling.

edit: The City of Dreaming Books should also be appropriate for your niece.

11 years ago
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Old Man's War (best war book i read in the last years, it´s sci-fi also)
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One) (fantasy)

And if you like to try series that are not so know
Secret World Chronicle(sci-fi)
Zoo City (sci-fi)

11 years ago
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Sherlock series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

War & Peace or The Death of Ivan Illich by Leo Tolstoi.

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.

I don't know, without you actually saying what are the kind of books you like it's difficult. I tried to cover various thematics and styles with the recommendations.

11 years ago
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+1 all of these

11 years ago
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Closed 11 years ago by Dsc.