What are you reading?

[TruthSeeker]

Not for work!

And how are you liking it?

I am just starting "Seeking the Heart of Wisdom" by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield. I've only read the first 22 pages, but so far so good.


Do you know what you will read next?

Over the holidays, I will read "Love" by Toni Morrison.

[frisian]

Probably "Brave New World" again, as I haven't read it in some time and is one of my favorites.

[shemp]

The back of a box of Froot Loops.

[TruthSeeker]

Originally posted by shemp
The back of a box of Froot Loops.


aaaahhhh...the Classics.

Such fine taste.

[TruthSeeker]

Originally posted by frisian
Probably "Brave New World" again, as I haven't read it in some time and is one of my favorites.

I read it as a teen and loved it. I should reread it, too.
It's always interesting to revisit a book after many years. New eyes, almost.

[roger]

River Town by Peter Hessler - wonderful story about a peace corps volunteer teaching english in Fuling China. He does a good job of explaining the view of the average person in China, and makes it understandable why so many like communism, support their leaders, etc (not that I agree with their positions, but know I understand how they arrived at them)

The Founding Fish by McPhee - good, but my interest is petering out, as I often do with his books. I am fascinated to learn about new things, but sometimes there seems to be a lot of facts regurgitated - I can research facts, I read a writer to synthasize them. Oh, its a book about shad fishing in America.

[volant]

Comedy Writing, Step by Step - Gene Perret. So far, not the best book on comedy writing...

[Mr Manifesto]

I'm reading Rage by Stephen King. It's been pulled from publication (http://portlandme.about.com/library/weekly/aa042299.htm) now (so you'll have to get a second-hand copy or find a pirate site that has it printed) because of some school violence episodes that were supposedly 'linked' to it. The worst kind of censorship is self-censorship.

[Brown]

I am usually in the middle of reading about three or four books, along with various magazines. I recently finished a book on mathematics and probability, and I would like to find time to write a computer program to simulate one of the illustrations in the book.

I am also still slogging my way through "Lord of the Rings." I'm in the middle of "Two Towers" and still see no sign of a plot.

[fsol]

Unfortunately I was an only Twin - A collection of Peter Cook scripts/sketches.

[mummymonkey]

Dawkins' The Selfish Gene.
Not exactly a page-turner.

[Marc]

A huge stack of comics.


Also a book on massage, maybe can get some practice in at TAM 2 ;)

[Chaos]

I´ve just finished "Domain" by Steve Alten, and as soon as I find the time, I´ll start "Grunts! A fantasy with attitudes" by Mary Gentle.

[Bikewer]

I tend to alternate fiction and non-fiction; just finished THe Blank Slate by Steven Pinker, and I'm reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville at the moment.

[hgc]

I'm glad you asked.

I have been reading The Magus, by John Fowles. It's quite good.

I've interrupted it though, so that I can read Those Bones Are Not My Child, by Toni Cade Bambara. It's a novel about the Atlanta child murders of 1981-2. Wow, what a powerful story. I'll start a thread on it in a week or so.

[Iconoclast]

Originally posted by frisian
Probably "Brave New World" again, as I haven't read it in some time and is one of my favorites.
And when are we finally going to get the Feelies?

[Marc]

Originally posted by Chaos
I´ve just finished "Domain" by Steve Alten, and as soon as I find the time, I´ll start "Grunts! A fantasy with attitudes" by Mary Gentle.

I read Grunts. Certainly not the kind of story one would expect from a cute little lady named 'Gentle'. http://members.cox.net/draft2/Smileys/devil-naughty.gif

I liked it. And if you want a book that does to Sci-Fi what that one does to Fantasy then I would suggest Illegal Aliens (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1587157969/qid=1071850889/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6113194-2092055?v=glance&s=books)

[Iconoclast]

- "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes. This book is a monster but I've never read a Pulitzer Prize winner so it seemed like a good place to start.

- I'm halfway through Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi", an autobiographical work of his experiences as a riverboat pilot. This book is fascinating, I would never have guessed those pilots had to be so intimate with every feature of the river. I've also got Twain's "Roughing It" for when I finish Life on the Mississippi, another autobiography from his time as a gold prospector. That guy lived a life and a half.

- Roger Penrose's "The Emperor's New Clothes". I know this book is a classic, but this author's writing style just puts me to sleep, his style is to my mind far too flowery for a popular science piece.

- I also have Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" and Nelson Mandela's autogiography "Long Walk to Freedom" for when I finish all of the above books.

Lately I've been buying books faster than I can read them. Brisbane's first Borders Bookstore opened a few months ago and I just can't help myself, I've never seen a bookshop that covered three floors of a building before so I'm drawn to it every time I go into the city.

- Finally there's the massive biography of Werner Heisenberg "Uncertainty" by Divid Cassidy still sitting on my bookshel unopened after over a year.

[Nyarlathotep]

I finally found a copy of "Hell House" by Richard Matheson and am enjoying it immensely.

After I am done with it, I think I am going to re-read "Dune".

[uneasy]

Originally posted by Iconoclast
- "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes. This book is a monster but I've never read a Pulitzer Prize winner so it seemed like a good place to start.

That is one of my favorites. I have to admit, I cheated and listened to it on tape. I liked it so much I bought a copy, but I haven't put a dent in it yet. I still greatly enjoyed listening to it, and it's probably on my top 10 list. The follow up is Dark Sun, about the H-bomb.

I'm also reading LoTR, Return of the King. My plan is to read it before seeing the movie. I did this before the other 2 as sort of an exercise in screenplay adaptation analysis, but I'm loosing interest. It was never one of my favorites when I was a kid, and I was genuinely surprised to find it was such a popular set of books. Heresy! :)

[Boo]

I just finished 'Desperation' by Stephen King and now I am starting 'The Regulators' by Bachman/King.

I'm reading Rage by Stephen King.

Mr. M,

I have a copy that is in a collection called the 'The Bachman Books'. In the forward King talks about the decision that was made to pull it from print and then why he decided to re-publish it. Personally, I think it should be required reading in Freshman Lit for students and teachers.


Boo

[Wile E. Coyote]

Year of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is an alternate history novel about what might have happened if the black plague had wiped out 99% of Europe as opposed to 25%. Christianity is just a memory.

It has some interesting views on the impact of religion on our history. I am almost done, so I will have to reserve judgement for a little while.

[Iconoclast]

Originally posted by uneasy
That is one of my favorites. I have to admit, I cheated and listened to it on tape. I liked it so much I bought a copy, but I haven't put a dent in it yet. I still greatly enjoyed listening to it, and it's probably on my top 10 list. The follow up is Dark Sun, about the H-bomb.
Yep, I devour books, and I'm not put off by a large one, but that particular book just seems to take forever. I've cheated twice so far and skipped ahead to the account of the first test firing at Trinity and the masses of stories from people on the ground at Hiroshima when they dropped the first bomb, pretty astonishing stuff.

[edited to fix type and add:]

And Dark Sun is on my list of books to read. I don't know much about the story of the Super except that Edward Teller went a little... well... nuts.

[Deadbeat]

I just finished reading The Ten Thousand (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312980329/ref=pd_sim_art_elt/104-8916400-8094343?v=glance) by Michael Curtis Ford and I'm about to start Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear.

[Hutch]

Benjamin Franklin, An American Life, by Walter Issacson. Very interesting history of a man who played a number of roles in the development of the United States. Wonder what his opinion of America--and this site--would have been.

[bignickel]

Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson.

Ever read a book where the author seems to have written it just for you? It's like being plugged into a brain socket.

Wow.

Nothing like it. Fantastic book.

[Cleopatra]

Originally posted by hgc
I'm glad you asked.

I have been reading The Magus, by John Fowles. It's quite good.

Ahhhh The Magus, you must start a thread when you finish it :)

I am like Brown I read 3-4 books simultaneously depending on my mood.

I am finishing the Biography of Iris Murduch that is composed by Peter Conradi.

"The True History of Chocolate" by Sophie and Michael Coe.It's a book about History of Food.

Also, I am reading the most strange Law book I have ever read. It explores how the evolution of our legal systems and of the basic legal concepts reflect on Literature and Language!! It's an excellent and original work.

Melanie Williams, Empty Justice.100 years of Law, Literature and Philosophy.Excellent but really difficult I can't read it fast.

Of course, if I posted less I'd read more...

[Chanileslie]

I am on a reading hiatus currently. I get this way every so often. I read, read, read, and then suddenly for few months nothing is of interest to me. Of course maybe that is when I get stuck in the rut of reading the same authors over and over again. Maybe, I just need so reading suggestions.

Currently, I have started several books:

The Skies of Pern by Anne McCafferey (I admit that I am a pern fanatic. I loved the books and cried inconsolably when Robinton the Masterharper died.)

I have been working on the last book in the Wheel of Time series for about 3 years now, but I just can't seem to get into it. I think Robert Jordan needs to just move the series along and cut out some unnecessary characters like Perin and his idiot wife - boring.

I have also being trying to read the last book in Maggie Furey's series which has so impressed me that I can't recall the name. :rolleyes:

And a few more that I just don't recall the name or author.

I need reading suggestions!!! I will read anything most of the time although I don't like alternative history books nor do I car for cyber punk all that much, but anything else. I would love to hear about some good Science Fiction.

Of course I am getting desperate here. I was trying to remember yesterday where my college chemistry, physics, biochem and genetics books were so I could read them, and I really don't like text books. They are written to be boring. Hey, I could pull out my organic chem book and start trying to mess with chemical formulas and............I need HELP!!

[Chanileslie]

Originally posted by shemp
The back of a box of Froot Loops.


So is it any good? How are the characters? The plot????? Anything???? I need some new reading material!!

[Chaos]

Well, Chani,

try "Domain" by Steve Alten (yes, I repeat myself - it´s real that good), or probably anything else this guy wrote.

If you like space opera, try the "Honor Harrington" novels by David Weber, starting with "On Basilisk Station". (11 novels by now - this should last for some time)

Also, anything by Isaac Asimov is worth reading. For a stand-alone novel, try "Nemesis". (wrote at least 20 SF novels)

Ben Bova is also good, starting with "Mars" and moving on from then, although he tends to be a little heavy on the scientific/technical side. (about 8 novels, I think)

For thriller/techno-thriller/near-future, try Eric L. Harry (3 big novels), starting with "Arc Light", and James Cobb (4 novels), starting with "Choosers of the Slain".

This should keeping you from getting bored for some time.

[ceptimus]

This month, I have to read 'Leading the Cheers' by Justin Cartwright for a book club that I'm a member of.

Then a friend has loaned me the Northern Lights trilogy by Phillip Pullman.

Yesterday, Phil Plait's 'Bad Astronomy' book arrived - I ordered it from Amazon.

And I'm also still reading, "Darwin's dangerous Idea" by Daniel Dennet. So I will be reading busily over the Christmas holiday.

[El Greco]

"Exercise Physiology" (Brooks, Fahey et al) and Hawking's "The universe in a nutshell".

I'm afraid to read a novel, I don't trust critics and there's been a loooong time since I read something that served as something more than a passtime ("The Unbearable Lightness of Being" being the last novel I really liked).

[Terry]

I just finished reading "The Eudaemonic Pie" by Thomas A. Bass. It is a really cool book about physics geeks trying to beat casino roulette by building wearable computers into shoes. State of the art at the time was a 6502 with 4k of memory... On the fiction front, I've just finished "Chasm City", by Alastair Reynolds. A reasonably good science-fiction work about identity and memories (and revenge).

I just started "The Elegant Universe", by Brian Greene. It's about string theory. I'm only on chapter 2, so no real opinion yet.

In the queue are "Metaplanetary" (science fiction), "Orlando" (Virginia Woolfe classic), "The Blank Slate" (Stephen Pinker), "Musashi" (Japanese shogun-era novel), a few computer books mainly for work, and some material about touring Europe by bicycle (planning for next year's vacation). After that, I'll have to hit Amazon again :)

--Terry.

[Cleopatra]

Originally posted by El Greco
I'm afraid to read a novel, I don't trust critics and there's been a loooong time since I read something that served as something more than a passtime ("The Unbearable Lightness of Being" being the last novel I really liked).

I suggest you trust your instinct or the opinion of somebody you have common interests with. What would you like to read? :)

[Chanileslie]

Originally posted by Chaos
Well, Chani,

try "Domain" by Steve Alten (yes, I repeat myself - it´s real that good), or probably anything else this guy wrote.

If you like space opera, try the "Honor Harrington" novels by David Weber, starting with "On Basilisk Station". (11 novels by now - this should last for some time)

Also, anything by Isaac Asimov is worth reading. For a stand-alone novel, try "Nemesis". (wrote at least 20 SF novels)

Ben Bova is also good, starting with "Mars" and moving on from then, although he tends to be a little heavy on the scientific/technical side. (about 8 novels, I think)

For thriller/techno-thriller/near-future, try Eric L. Harry (3 big novels), starting with "Arc Light", and James Cobb (4 novels), starting with "Choosers of the Slain".

This should keeping you from getting bored for some time.

Thank you! I shall have to look up these books. Although I have already read some fo Asimov, I have been meaning to read more.

I will have to look, but I think I may have read Mars already. I will have to check my bookshelves. If I have, I don't recall it, so it won't hurt to read it again. :-)

I really appreciate the suggestions because although Nyarlathotep and I are both voracious readers, we often times have very different tastes.

[bug_girl]

i had a tough year, so i've been sticking to lighter stuff. just finished Pratchett's newest, Monsterous Regiment. I liked it--but it is nothing like his earlier work.

Last week i finally got around to reading all the Acorna novels. One of the nice things about getting behind is you can read 4 series novels in quick succession. Not a stupendous work, but very good for escapism. (oh, yeah, i read really, really fast:))
Right now i am getting very annoyed with Brust's In the Paths of the Dead. his narrative style of a mock historical novel is really a neat creation--and is extremely irritating after about 50 pages. I'm not sure i will finish. I did enjoy the latest in the Keeper series from Tanya Huff (again, fluff).
For non fiction, i am half way through A Distant Mirror, which is a history of the 14th century. very nicely done, and the author has a real sense of humor too.
Are any of you fans of History House? they seem to have not posted much lately, but their book reviews and short essays are a scream.
History House (http://www.historyhouse.com/)

oh, and the salmon of doubt--Douglas Adams' posthumous essay collection. a sad loss!

[El Greco]

Originally posted by Cleopatra


I suggest you trust your instinct or the opinion of somebody you have common interests with. What would you like to read? :)

I've tried both your suggestions with disappointing results :(

What's "unique" with me is that I don't need to "escape" from any thoughts of mine, nor need I kill my time. I want to read something that when I finish it I can think it over without saying "so what ?" I'm also not very much impressed by stylistic mannerisms and talented writers (anymore). I want the novel to convey a meaning that can affect the way I think about something.

When I am alone at home, I have many ways to pass my time with things I know I will enjoy: I can play the guitar, do some programming, surf the net, turn off all lights and listen to the piles of my CDs, play computer games, watch a documentary etc. If I decide to read something, there are lots of interesting scientific or history books that make me feel I learn something. So, when I have so many guaranteed choices, why risk reading a novel - especially since most of them seem to me no more deep than adventure computer games or ordinary movies ? I wish I could have someone to select novels I would enjoy, but I'm afraid it is not possible.

[bug_girl]

i found it! Those of you reading the making of the atomic bomb should consider:
The Plutonium Files: America's secret medical experiments in the cold war.
Eileen Welsome

Amazing, amazing book about the early experiments with radioactivity, and how it could be used both as a weapon and medically.

Some of the experiments were not unlike the Tuskegee Experiments:(

See, i do read non-fluff stuff too.....

[Boo]

A book I enjoyed recently for those looking for some light fantasy is "Sir Apropos of Nothing" by Peter David and the sequel " The Woad to Wuin". You need a strong tolerance for puns, but on the whole they are quite funny.

Another suggestion would be the "Callahan" books by Spider Robinson.


If it's been awhile since you visited 'Ender's Game' that is always a good one to go back to.


Enjoy.


Boo

[Yahweh]

At the moment, I'm reading "River Out of Eden" by Richard Dawkins.

[bug_girl]

also, if you haven't read it yet:
Lamb : The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

very, very funny, and also some philosophical spots. i read that one over thanksgiving.

I really like Christopher Moore's books, although his most recent, Fluke, was......freaky. he can do dialogue like no one else though. His Rasta kid cracked me up non stop.

[Armi Shanks]

'The Human Mind' - Robert Winston. When I've finished it I shall be embarking on an extensive study of the Mr Men books.

[sorgoth]

The Story of Philosophy, by Brian Magee.

It's good light reading, illustrated. Gives you a good idea of what each of the major philosophers thought, without being boring.

[Hexxenhammer]

Lots of people reading books I like. Cool.

I'm in the middle of Quicksilver. Still. Having a baby (my wife, not me) took the steam out of my reading.

I see someone's reading Perdido Street Station. I finished it just before starting Quicksilver. Best book I've read in a long time by FAR. I just got The Scar and King Rat so I'm looking forward to reading more China Mieville.

Also reading various roleplaying books, Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed and Wizard's Complete Warrior.

[Ossai]

Hexxenhammer
Also reading various roleplaying books, Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed and Wizard's Complete Warrior. How is the Complete Warrior?
I've got Sword and Fist. Is the Complete Warrior just a regurgitation of the same material or has anything new actually been added?

For comedy I recommend Good Omens by Neil Gaimon (of Sandman fame) and Terry Pratchett ( of Discworld fame). Overall a very fun romp through the apocalypse.

I'll also throw my vote in for the Honor Harrington as well as recommend Sten.

And for those interested, the new Laurell K. Hamilton book, Seduced By Moonlight is due out on February 3, 2004. The third in the Faiery series not a new Anita Blake.

Ossai

[Hexxenhammer]

Originally posted by Ossai
Hexxenhammer
How is the Complete Warrior?
I've got Sword and Fist. Is the Complete Warrior just a regurgitation of the same material or has anything new actually been added?
Ossai I think it's quite good. It's got 3 new core (20 level) classes: The Hexblade, the Samurai, and the Swashbuckler.
The Hexblade is the arcane magic answer to the ranger and paladin. Their main power is to curse their opponents and give them penalties to their rolls. They can cast a few arcane spells after 4th level (comparable to the ranger or paladin). This is my favorite thing from the book.
The Samurai is a generic samurai, not as customizable as the one in Oriental Adventures, but still ok.
The swashbuckler is just what it sounds. I love swashbuckler type characters and I never thought you could really do it well in D&D without being a fighter/rogue. This version ain't that great in my opinion. I'd still be a fighter rogue.
The prestige classes are mostly taken from other sources, but tweaked more balanced. Some like the spellsword are better, some are weaker. There are more than just fighter classes though, there are some good ones for most character types.
There are a ton of new feats, including a new type called tactical feats that require more setup to execute but you can use them in more than 1 situation. Pretty cool. There are also weapon style feats that are good.
I'd give it a 4 out of 5. If you like Sword and Fist, pick this up. You won't be disappointed.

[sparklecat]

Let's see... I just finished Nightwatch, by Pratchett, and am currently in the middle of Bachelors Anonymous, by Wodehouse. Though I really only make any sort of progress there when my internet connection cuts out and I'm waiting for it to return.

I'm also making another attempt at getting through Pilgrim's Progress, but I think its been about 2 months since I last read any of that.

Once the Wodehouse book is done, I want to read Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco, and Dante's Purgatorio and Paradisio. English translations ;)

[bug_girl]

Originally posted by Ossai
And for those interested, the new Laurell K. Hamilton book, Seduced By Moonlight is due out on February 3, 2004. The third in the Faiery series not a new Anita Blake.

oh, excellent!!!
thanks for the tip!
When the first one in that series came out, i stayed up all night reading it.

[volant]

The Professional Chef - Written by the CIA... Culinary Institute of America. Really comprehensive.

[Keneke]

"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. But seeing as how I already read "Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul" by Douglas Adams, I am seeing a lot of repeating plot points...and Adams does it better IMO.

[sorgoth]

"Stupid White Men", by Micheal Moore. Pretty good, but over-the-top. This man has GOT to be exagerating.

[Hypnagogiac]

posted by TruthSeeker
I read it ["Brave New World"] as a teen and loved it. I should reread it, too
I read this when I was 16 and loved it - I've been meaning to reread it for awhile now, but never seem to get around to it.

Right now I'm reading Schrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0316328197/qid=1072416703/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/002-6632370-8690433?v=glance&s=books) by John Gribbin, which I'm definitely enjoying. Also I got The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond & Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey as christmas gifts and plan on reading them next. Once again, Huxley will have to wait for his reread- I find myself saying that a lot though.

[Foofer]

I am reading "The Violent Bear it Away" by Flannery O'Connor for about the zillionth time.

[J Coplen]

Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson.

[toad]

I too tend to be reading several books at any one time. I generally lean toward one as my "main" read.

At the moment I'm working on Michael Moorcock's re-released Elric collection "Song of the Black Sword". It was well past due that he ordered these books.

I'm also, at my mother's behest, reading "My Name is Asher Lev". I've just started that, but apparently it's a wonderful insight to the artistic mind. (Or that's what my mom claims anyway.)

My background reading includes Joe Kelly's run on JLA, again friend recommended. I'm still stunned I've been suckered into the DC world.

My most immediate non-fiction read is "The History of Western Psychology". Unfortunately it's mostly a greatest hits of philosophers and psychologists, not as informative as one might hope.

[volant]

I'm re-reading the Art of Astonishment series, by Paul Harris. The best magic books ever, IMO. :)

[Ossai]

Hexxenhammer
I picked up the Complete Warrior. I wasn't impressed with the Samurai but the Hexblade has some possibilities. The Swashbuckler should have been a prestige class. The tactical and style feats add a bit to the game but should be more tightly controlled (limited # per character level or similar)

I also picked up the Charlaine Harris series and finished the first one, Dead Until Dark, very light reading.

Ossai

[bug_girl]

i really like the Dead until Dark Series. it may be that as someone raised southern, i love the idea of alternate rednecks.
(and as i mentioned earlier, i'm in a light reading phase:))

[DrMatt]

A friend got me a book on begnning astronomy, one that requires no equipment and shows how to find things using your hand at arms length as a protractor. It also has cultural histories and physical synopses of various phenomena like planetary retrogrades, tides, eclipses, etc., and a 2003-2010 almanac of things to see, as well as visibility maps for eclipses (anybody wanna make a trip out to the south Pacific or Ghana to catch a total eclipse?)

[Soapy Sam]

"The Day of the Triffids", for about the twentieth time.
Astonishing how socially dated the context of SF can be, while the ideas remain futuristic.

[Dylab]

I just started reading Eight Little Piggies from the series of books by Stephen Jay Gould. I really like his style of writing and I wonder why I haven't herd his writings mentioned more often on the forum.

Before I came home from college I was reading one of the books out of the Hitch hikers trilogy. I fergot the name but it is the one where the tv anchor goes to help the aliens with their astrology.

[Bikewer]

I have read virtually everything of Gould's except for his big Theory of Evolution, which is geared towards the "community".

An excellent writer, and a staunch defender of Evolution.

[corplinx]

Reading Quicksilver by Stephenson, great novel for a skeptic.

[Wudang]

While at my brothers over Xmas I got halfway through a book called I think "The strange case of the dog that barked in the night" written from the viewpoint of a kid with Aspergers syndrome (which my nephew has and who thinks the book is good too) so I have to find my own copy. Really good book but I can't find it on Amazon.

Systems Programmer’s Guide to:z/OS System Logger - IBM Redbook- not a fun book but about time I got a better grip on this.

Chris Brookmyre's "One fine day in the middle of the night"

And after finishing "Fools fate" I've been re-reading Robin Hobbs assassin books.

[voidx]

Finished Dune: The Machine Crusade not too long ago. A decent new set of prequels to Dune, althought they do not compare in scope with the original series obviously. Am also just finishing up The Fall of Berlin 1945, by Anthony Beevor, very good book so far. Also have a series of books concentrating on old military tactics such as Roman Warfare all of them general edited by John Keegan (my fave military author). Anything by Orson Scott Card is good, finished up his Shadow of the Hegemon sometime back. I have his latest Ender book Shadow Puppets, but I can't remember if I've read it or not. Heh the story is so familiar to me that I just can't tell.

I have the latest Wheel of Time book but I've not made any attempt to pick it up so far. I agree that Jordon is starting to wear his welcome a little thin. With every book he opens up more plotlines than he does in attempting to wrap up the zillion he already has going. He's a good writer thankfully and so I never have a problem reading his books, but at the end I'm often frustrated lately that the end still seems to be no where in sight. A good alternative if you like the Wheel of Time books is the RuneLord series by David Farland, it has quiet an interesting system for how its magic works that I've not really seen before.

Also looking forward to glancing through Achtung Panzer by Heinz Guderian. A small book relating to his proposed tactics of Blitzkrieg.

[Ossai]

bug_girl
i really like the Dead until Dark Series. it may be that as someone raised southern, i love the idea of alternate rednecks. I didn't say it was bad, just light reading. I'll probably read the second book this weekend and finish the third next week before going on to something different.

I'm looking for a good book about Sir Richard Burton.

Ossai

[Wudang]

Correction - the book is "The curious incident of the dog in the night time" by Mark Haddon. I throughly recommend this book.

[Wire]

The Thurber Carnival by J. Thurber and Baudolino by U. Eco. Both are pretty pleasant books..

[ASRomatifoso]

Just finished these recently. All very good to great!

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
Oranges by John McPhee
Idlewild by Nick Sagan (Carl Sagan's son-his first novel)
Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle (dated but still veyr good)

Reading My Turf by William Nack right now. Pieces he published in SI on horse racing, boxing, baseball, etc.

[Soapy Sam]

Among my Christmas presents was Stephen J. Gould's last book, "The Hedgehog, the Fox and the Magister's Pox". As with all Gould's longer works I find it heavy going, overloaded with asides of purely academic interest and stuffed with references which conceal the point rather than illustrate it.

I have always felt Gould was master of the essay, whether on baseball, Mickey Mouse or Natural History. His longer works are as needlessly ornate as the gothic cathedrals he loved.

I think he needed a hard hearted editor, but by the end of his life he had so much authority in the field of popular science writing that he was allowed to get away with murder. Which is a pity, because he was a superb teacher when he was constrained by space to stick to the point.

Right now I'm back to the greatest British short story writer of either the 19th or the 20th century. Kipling. Just for fun.

[bug_girl]

i'm reading Stiff. I'm only 1/4 of the way through, and i'm ready to recommend it.
very funny, and very interesting.

it's about cadavers, of course.

[Jeff Corey]

Just finished Harry Turtledove's "In The Presence Of Mine Enemys", in which he dicks with the theme of "The Man In The High Tower".
Deuschland wins WWII and III.
Now suppose you were a jew in ein jeudenfrei society.

[BillyTK]

Originally posted by Hexxenhammer
I see someone's reading Perdido Street Station. I finished it just before starting Quicksilver. Best book I've read in a long time by FAR. I just got The Scar and King Rat so I'm looking forward to reading more China Mieville.
I picked up Perdido Street Station as my Christmas book (because it was big, and because I couldn't remember the name of the author or title of the book I wanted to buy, which is about a kid growing up in the outback whose best friend is the spirit of an aboriginal girl, if anyone can help here?).

I found his prose style rather turgid and over-egged—so New Crobuzon is a sh!tty place to live, got that in the first chapter!—and the inventiveness seemed too often plot-driven and occasionally ludicrous—I was practically wetting myself with laughter at the handlings episode—I got hooked somewhere around page 300, and found the ending to be satisfyingly Dickensian.

I'm going to read The Scar, but right now I need to get New Crobuzon's grime off my skin (metaphorically speaking), which is why I've just finished Ken Macleod's Cosmonaut Keep, just started Kathleen Anne Goonan's Light Music and once again moved Gidden's critique of the classic sociologists to the bottom of the pile (his prose style is dense, if illuminating, but he doesn't really do much in the character and plot development departments ;) ).

It took me a while to get to Cosmonaut Keep, because though I loved the four books in Macleod's Fall Revolution future history trilogy (he he he), I don't go a bundle on Space Opera/Alien stuff, which this book is full of, and to be honest Macleod has a Dickian way of making his human societies and technologies seem kind of freaky anyway; introducing aliens seems unnecessary. But Cosmonaut Keep has got more than enough of Macleod's usual concerns about (left-wing) political ideology and the impact of new technology, but the novel felt rushed, with people and settings only sketched out, and the plot too dependent on co-incidence and circumstance. I'm guessing that as this book is the first in a trilogy, it's all about scene-setting and laying out future teasers.

At the heart of the book though is a groovy twist on the old Arthur C. Clarke adage about advanced technology—in this case, there are gods, and these gods are microbe-sized aliens who seem to have more than a healthy preoccupation with Earth—as well as some timely jabs at both US and European society, and also at capitalism, communism, (state) socialism and computer project management.

I carnt say much about Goonan's Light Music because I've only read the first chapter so far, except that it's the conclusion of a loose quadrology (?) set in the near future after a cataclysmic event which simultaneously destroyed all electronic communication, turned all the children into human homing pigeons and precipitated the development of nanotechnology which rendered parts of the US even more bizarre than <del>they are now</del> any alien vista.

[Hexxenhammer]

Valid criticism of Perdido Street Station Billy. Personally I liked the handlingers and all the other really wacky stuff.

For those of you who dig alternate history, I just finished reading a graphic novel written by David Brin called "The Life Eaters". Imagine that on D-day the Allied invasion was stopped by the Norse Gods who had been summoned by the Nazi's. And that Loki decided to side with the Allies. But the Allies aren't sure if they're really gods or something else entirely. Touches on all of Brin's usual themes of optimism in the face of overwhelming odds, human cleverness, and science as ally instead of enemy. Great read with great art. You won't find it at Barnes and Noble though, you'll need a good comic book store.

[BillyTK]

Originally posted by Chanileslie
I need reading suggestions!!! I will read anything most of the time although I don't like alternative history books nor do I car for cyber punk all that much, but anything else. I would love to hear about some good Science Fiction.
I'll try and help, but a lot of SF stuff I like is kind of cyberpunk influenced, although I've got to admit that out of the "first wave" stuff, apart from William Gibson's stuff, I never really got into any of the other cyberpunk authors.

I'm not a big fan of space alien stuff, but I'd recommend John Varley's Gaiea trilogy (Titan, Wizard and Demon), which is about a group of space explorers who discover that one of the moons of Saturn is inhabited, is also alive and is quite possibly insane.

A bit newer is M. John Harrison's Light, which uses a bonkers take on the whole space opera theme to evoke the weirdness of quantum physics. It's set in the 25th century in an area of the galaxy known as The Beach, and concerns a woman who has turned into a pirate spaceship and a man who lived in virtual reality, mysterious alien artefacts, black hole surfing and a couple of oddball physicists in 1999 London who somehow become the fathers of interstellar flight despite being pursued by a spectral horse's head.

Quite the opposite is Paradox by John Meaney, which is set on a human-colonised world in the far future, in which our hero, who has a stutter for a surname, loses his mum, dad, and his left arm, and then proceeds to wander through this feudal world, gets involved with the technological elite who rule it, talks a lot of (possibly pseudo-)scientific jargon and that's it really. I didn't particularly enjoy it because I found the characters to be one-dimensional, the setting forced and clumsy (for instance, the colonists live underground in caverns, so it's a society which is both physically and socially stratified; one's a metaphor for the other, see? :rolleyes: ), but I mention it because if you like hard SF, you'll probably like this.

Totally not SF, but highly recommended is David Mitchell's number9dream, which is about a kid who goes to look for his father in Tokyo, and whose exploits are enlivened by a rather active imagination. It's an exhilarating, touching, amusing and enfuriating journey which covers the hero's entire life and more besides.

Originally posted by Hexxenhammer
Valid criticism of Perdido Street Station Billy. Personally I liked the handlingers and all the other really wacky stuff.
Thanks! In regards to the handlingers (and without spoiling the book too much for anyone currently reading it), it was their rather abrupt (and South Park-esque) appearance that amused me, but didn't seem to git in with the other stuff going on. But I loved the Weaver, and I still carnt look at a moth without feeling a shiver go down my spine... ;)

[Soapy Sam]

Billy. You won't like "The Scar" either.

[Bikewer]

I read The Scar first (got it for a present) and just finished Perdido street.

I like Miehville's rather dense prose (see the Worm Ororborous thread) and he uses it to good effect. Interesting to see what the guy comes up with next.

I loved the Varley trilogy too, read it the first time years ago.

[BillyTK]

Originally posted by Soapy Sam
Billy. You won't like "The Scar" either.
Overall, I did like Perdido Street Station. Or perhaps more accurately, I found it particularly addictive in an appalled-but-captivated kind of way :)

Originally posted by Bikewer
I read The Scar first (got it for a present) and just finished Perdido street.

I like Miehville's rather dense prose (see the Worm Ororborous thread) and he uses it to good effect. Interesting to see what the guy comes up with next.
From what I heard, he's got another Bas-Leg (my wife went to Bassleg school in Newport; I wonder if there's a connection?) novel up his sleeve, then he's going to write something less fantastical. But I could be wrong :)

I loved the Varley trilogy too, read it the first time years ago.
The first book I read by Varley was The Ophiuchi Hotline, and it was a real antidote to both the New Wave stuff (Moorcock, Delaney, Zelazny, Ellison et al) I was into and the hard science SF my brother tried to get me to read. I can see why some people consider Varley to be a godfather of Gibson et al. But oh, where is he now?!!

[volant]

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky - Just started it, no real opinion yet...

[Bikewer]

The last thing I read of Varley's was Red Thunder; entertaining and seemingly written with a movie contract in mind.

Prior to that, The Golden Globe. Wonderful stuff, with clever tie-ins to the world-of-entertainment stuff, set in his storyline where mankind has been kicked off the Earth, and the remnants have set up shop on the moon.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441005586/qid=1073886936//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i6_xgl14/103-2810236-3449438?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[Ruby]

I am currently reading;
Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice
The demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Blackwood farm is fantastic....very scary...realistic...sensual....crossing all boundaries. Naturally, I don't believe in Vampires, or witches that can truly cast magic spells, or ghosts or spirits...but this book is chock full, and written in such a way to give me the willies...for a moment!! :D

[ca3799]

I like to read several books at the same time, also. Right now I'm reading

"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. The main character, Ignatious, is so ridiculous with his misplaced "world view" and his bad "valve". It's set in New Orleans, a city that I don't really care for but have family ties to, so I can relate to the crazy characters. I've heard a rumor that this book will be made into a movie soon. I've read this one a couple of times already.(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802130208/qid=1074208712/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-3688479-3517542)

and "Nickle and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich in which the author takes a series of menial and very low paying jobs, and examines how very poor people 'get by'. I've worked 'those jobs' myself as a pup and some of my friends still work them. Life can be hard for poor people.

and I recently read "Sophies World" which I could not follow well, and "A Widow for One Year" by John Irving which was o.k. I'm also perusing two biology textbooks that I got at the used book store (where I get most of my books!).

and "The Medical Detectives" by Roueche, which is old, but fun.

and "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" which I'm reading at the bookstore cuz I'm too cheap/poor to buy it.

I don't care for sci-fi much and like science and medical books most.

[DVFinn]

Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk. Good stuff so far. A little like Vonegut, a little like Chris Moore. Very twisted.

[chapka]

Originally posted by El Greco


I've tried both your suggestions with disappointing results :(

What's "unique" with me is that I don't need to "escape" from any thoughts of mine, nor need I kill my time. I want to read something that when I finish it I can think it over without saying "so what ?" I'm also not very much impressed by stylistic mannerisms and talented writers (anymore). I want the novel to convey a meaning that can affect the way I think about something.

Read:

Umberto Eco, Focault's Pendulum (especially if you're interested in semiotics)
Martin Amis, The Rachel Papers (especially if you are or were an adolescent male)
Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (especially if you think you're a rational person)

[hawkins_anderson]

Kierkegaard's Fear and Tremblin

Foucault's Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason

Derrida's Limited Inc.

no dribble allowed. :)

[Skeptic]

I would love to hear about some good Science Fiction.

If you want something slightly off the beaten path...

For a good book with a horror theme, try "The Long Afternoon on Earth" by Brian Aldiss. I Read it as a young teenager. There is a description there of the gradual decline of the main character due to a parasitical infection (I won't say any more) that chilled my blood. I was literally afraid to turn the page, sometimes.

For a fantasy novel that examines the very interesting question--"what would REALLY happen if we had proof of life after death?"--try Sheckley's "Immortality, Inc." Extremely original, interesting, and well written.

I, for one, think that Asimov's novels are overrated. He was VERY good at creating interesting plots, but his characters, for the most part, are merely two dimensional.

[JesFine]

I can't believe I missed this thread... Many of the books I have read over the last few months were chosen due to recommendations from this board. I get through about 5-8 books a month nowadays due to my 30 minute bus ride to and from work. Works out pretty well.

Right now it is:
Sleeping with the Devil by Robert Baer -- due to a recommendation on this board... can't remember who...
A Pocket Full of Stars, Damon Knight (editor) -- a collection of short stories by SF writers, all chosen for their involvement in the Milford Writers' Conference. This also due to someone on here mentioning a story by Harlan Ellison called "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream". (PS If anyone has any clue what the story "Unclear Call for Lee" by Robert McKenna is about, give me a jingle wouldja?)

and a cookbook:
Simple to Spectacular by Jean-Gorges Vongerichten & Mark Bittman

Last month I read four good books:
The Man in the High Castle and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
White Noise by Don DeLillo
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J Adler and Charles Van Doren

Oh and I read one really good book back in October that I've been reccommending to everyone:
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban -- this is one of the most inventive novels I've ever read. The whole thing is written in a pseudo-english that can sometimes be tough to understand, but it is worth the effort. Here's a typical passage --Lorna said to me, 'You know Riddley theres some thing in us it dont have no name.'
I said, 'What thing is that?'
She said, 'Its some kind of thing it aint us but yet its in us. Its looking out thru our eye hoals. May be you dont take no noatis of it only some times. Say you get woak up suddn in the middl of the nite. 1 minim youre a sleap and the nex youre on your feet with a spear in your han. Wel it wernt you put that spear in your han it wer that other thing whats looking out thru your eye hoals. It aint you nor it don't even know your name. Its in us lorn and loan and sheltering how it can.'
I said, 'If its in every 1 of us theres moren 1 of it theres got to be a manying theres got to be a millying and mor.'
Lorna said, 'Wel there is a millying and mor.'
I said, 'Wel if theres such a manying of it whys it lorn then whys it loan?'
She said, 'Becaws the manying and the millying its all 1 thing it dont have nothing to gether with. You look at lykens on a stoan its all them tiny manyings of it and may be each part of it myt think its sepert only we can see its all 1 thing. Thats how it is with what we are its all 1 girt big thing and divvyt up amongst the many. Its all 1 girt thing bigger nor the worl and lorn and loan and oansome. Tremmering it is and feart. It puts us on like we put on our cloes. Some times we dont fit. Some times it cant fynd the arm hoals and it tears us a part.' Cool stuff, not for everyone, but I liked it.

whew!

[Kilted_Canuck]

For school (grade 12 english, world lit.) I'm reading Catcher in the Rye, I really like it so far, though our english teacher is "dumber than a sack of hammers" and she doesn't get some of Houlden's underlying cynicism.

Outside of school, i'm reading 4 books depending on my mood-

Apollo: The epic journey to the moon by David West Renyolds, so far an awesome description of the Apollo program with interesting tidbits that aren't in more mainstream books

Evolution: The origin of an idea A good book about Darwin's synthesis of the Origin of species, from his infuence as a child to the Beagle voyage. (based on the PBS series)

Fighter Aircraft by Francis Crosby, curator of the Imperial War Museum Duxford. An interesting and well-illustrated of aviation as a weapon of war...one of my aviation interests.

Radar, Hoola Hoops, and Playful Pigs: The Chemistry of Everyday life By Dr. Joe Schwarcz. Probably my personal favourite science writer, Schwarcz uses chemistry to expose the underlying...coolness....of normal everyday objects and foods.

[Frankie]

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Author Lynne Truss.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Lynne Truss takes the famously dry subject of punctuation, and transforms it with warmth, wit and infectious enthusiasm.

She has a seemingly endless supply of illustrations of what terrible things can happen through badly placed commas and apostrophes, and shares them, sometimes with a barely suppressed giggle. Then there are the less consequential, but more irritating grammatical howlers. She talks about these sometimes in a whisper of embarrassed conspiracy, at others with a blaze of indignant energy. However she doesn't just score points for humour. Far from it. She also manages to present a nice and clear road map of good punctuation that would serve any English student well. Not that she beats you round the head with it or anything, more that she kind of slips the rules in as an afterthought.

I sincerely hope that through word of mouth recommendation this book finds its way into the hands of as many people as possible. I have always enjoyed Lynne Truss's contributions to the radio, and this book will be a treasured possession.


It is funny to read about those who are obsessive with correct punctuations.

Next I have to read another 2 recommended books;
Between You and I: A Little Book of Bad English
James Cochrane, John Humphrys and Mind the Gaffe" by R L Trask

[Nyarlathotep]

Right now I am reading Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War by TJ Stiles. I have to read it for one of my classes, it's an interesting book, though, so I don't mind.

[Bottle or the Gun]

A Feast Unknown - Phil J. Farmer

[Bottle or the Gun]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Skeptic
[B]I would love to hear about some good Science Fiction.

My Brothers' Keeper - Charles Sheffield

[Skeptic]

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Author Lynne Truss.

Between You and I: A Little Book of Bad English

"James Cochrane, John Humphrys and Mind the Gaffe" by R L Trask

The grandaddy of all such books is Strunk and White's "A Manual of Style". Excellent book for those who want to improve their written English; worth reading for their humorous exposition of common mistakes alone.

Examples:

"nauseous. nauseated. 'Nauseous' means 'causing or contributing to nausea', as opposed to 'nauseated', which means 'suffering from nausea'. Therefore, don't write 'I feel nauseous', unless you're sure you have that effect on others."

"Sentences that violate this rule are often ludicrous: 'Sitting was sitting around and wondering what to do, the clock struck twelve'; 'Being in a dilapidated condition, I was able to buy the house very cheap'."

[tim]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kilted_Canuck

Fighter Aircraft by Francis Crosby, curator of the Imperial War Museum Duxford. An interesting and well-illustrated of aviation as a weapon of war...one of my aviation interests.

K_C, I live about 25 minutes from Duxford. If you get over here it's well worth a visit. About 2 miles from me is the Shuttleworth collection - see this - http://www.shuttleworth.org/default.htm
Also worth a visit, especially on the days they fly the aircraft!

[Underemployed]

Life Of Pi by Yann Martel. A wonderful charming book, although a little God-heavy for us heathen types. Also contains foolproof survival tips and a step-by-step guide to Tiger taming.

[Kilted_Canuck]

Originally posted by tim

K_C, I live about 25 minutes from Duxford. If you get over here it's well worth a visit. About 2 miles from me is the Shuttleworth collection - see this - http://www.shuttleworth.org/default.htm
Also worth a visit, especially on the days they fly the aircraft!

Yeah, I'm going over the pond this summer, so I'll try and convince my parents to make it south to Cambridgeshire and pop in (my dad's a much bigger war buff than I am, so convincing him won't be hard).


I just polished off a holocaust narritive called To Life by Ruth Minsky Sender. We read the prequel to this The Cage in Grade 10 english, and these two are some of my favourite novels. They tell the story of Ruth (Riva) as a child surviving the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz, and hard labour camps. 'To Life' tells her story immediately after she is liberated from the labour camp, and the years it takes to finally reach America.

These books are in the 'juvinile'* section in the library, but probably shouldn't be passed off as kids books. I read 'To life' in one sitting today as I couldn't put it down.


*this was the first time in my 12 years of using the library that I ventured into the juvenille section...an odd feeling for a 17 year old.

[Soapy Sam]

The Imperial War Museum at Duxford is well worth a visit, I concur.
The new US museum alone is an afternoon's worth. They have whole aircraft hanging from the ceiling the way I had Airfix models as a kid. There's a B52 in there for Pete's sake. And a Blackbird and...(staggers off, dribbling.)

Oh yeah..reading.. The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes and The Journey of Man by Spenser Wells- about what has been learned of human migration since we left Africa, from mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome studies.

Fascinating stuff.

[Skeptic]

Originally posted by Underemployed
Life Of Pi by Yann Martel. A wonderful charming book, although a little God-heavy for us heathen types. Also contains foolproof survival tips and a step-by-step guide to Tiger taming.

...AND the new miracle diet that will slim you for life!

[kevinsbikes]

I am reading a pile of books that I got at TAM 2. So far, I am really into Michael Shermer's, In Darwin's Shadow. I do like it, but I also realize how stupid I have become over the last 10 years. How T.V. has damaged my brain.

[toad]

okay, so i'll admit it...i sometimes have burnout. i write too much too often or edit...oh editing...bah! when i find myself in these situations, i tend to change my reading to something lighter and more distracting. nothing to learn...just interesting words on a page. now, granted, i'm always reading several things but my "main" book is currently "savage love". now if you don't know and you promise that you're an adult (and i don't mean of the proper age) go check it out. it's clever and sometimes mean but interesting and distracting regardless.

http://www.thestranger.com/current/savage.html

[PygmyPlaidGiraffe]

Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: a search for who we are


A lot of speculation contained within but a good read. The speculation is understandable as the disciplines the writers draw on are relatively new disciplines.

[Bikewer]

I'll just tack this on; heard the guy on NPR a couple of weeks ago.

Greg Nagan, "The 5-Minute Illiad" (and other instant classics)

Nagan sends up many of the great classics, including the title work, Dante (rendered in limericks) Moby Dick, Dracula, Ulysses, and so forth. All hilariously done; his take on Wilde (Dorian Gray) is terrific.

"Another thing that happened to Western Civilization during this period was the discovery of the first completely Christian country, Hell."

A quick read (as the title implies) and good for a lot of laughs.

[Brown]

I read Julia Sweeney's "God Said Ha!" on the flight back from Las Vegas. I have just finished "Who Wrote the Gospels?" by Randall Helms and "Prey" by Michael Crichton. I'm nearly through "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. I am working my way through Ian Rowland's "Cold Reading." I am also slowly plodding through the "Two Towers," but I regret that I find it to be rather dull. After Ian Rowland's book come Phil Plait's "Bad Astronomy" and Michael Shermer's "How We Believe."

[Bottle or the Gun]

Gateways - F. Paul Wilson

Repairman Jack rules! My only complaint with the Adversary Cycle is that Wilson wrote the finale to the story line back in the 80's or 90's (Nightworld) and every Repairman Jack story since then are about the events leading up to the big ending.

[bug_girl]

last night i checked out, and read in one sitting, lauryl hamilton's latest book, seduced by moonlight. radically different from the anita blake books.
and yes, i'm still in the "light reading" phase. i won't be taking on any nonfiction until the days are at least 14 hours long.

[Jaan]

Originally posted by frisian
Probably "Brave New World" again, as I haven't read it in some time and is one of my favorites.

I just re-read it too ... it's available on-line:

Brave New World (http://www.huxley.net/bnw/index.html)

I also just downloaded the BBC audio books version for my friend (her work is boring and that's all she listens too) and listened to that and now that I think about it, I just re-watched the made for TV movie the other night. Leonard Nimoy makes a great world controller.

I'm in the middle of "The War of the Flowers" by Tad Williams, and "The Dream Master" by Roger Zelazny. They're my two favorite authors so I have to give them props (yo). Good books.

[varwoche]

Originally posted by hgc
I have been reading The Magus, by John Fowles. It's quite good.
One of my all time faves.
I spent some time on the real island (Spetse), unaware it was the basis. (Unique and beautiful.) I remember walking by the schoolhouse and telling my buddy "this looks like in The Magus" and he said I was hallucinating.

varwoche

[Cleopatra]

Originally posted by varwoche
One of my all time faves.
I spent some time on the real island (Spetse), unaware it was the basis. (Unique and beautiful.) I remember walking by the schoolhouse and telling my buddy "this looks like in The Magus" and he said I was hallucinating.

varwoche

You are the first person I meet that says that "Magus" is one of his favorites. This book is one of my favorites too because I consider it an example of what the word " honest writing" means. You cannot compare Fowles with Hemingway and yet the later takes all the glory. "The Magus" made me stop talking badly of Spetses, not that I will ever like this place...

[El Greco]

Originally posted by Cleopatra
"The Magus" made me stop talking badly of Spetses, not that I will ever like this place...

What's wrong with this place ?

[Cleopatra]

Originally posted by El Greco


What's wrong with this place ?

I don't wish to derail the thread but I don't like at all, I find that it lacks local color, also, too many people of those that I am obliged to socialize with in my everyday professional life go there, so, this is a good reason for me to avoid the place.

[varwoche]

Originally posted by Cleopatra
"The Magus" made me stop talking badly of Spetses, not that I will ever like this place...
Cleo, I was on Spetses as a teenager, forever ago, and was hugely enchanted. Especially in contrast to the atrocious tourist destinations like Mikinos (sp?). I'm curious why you don't like Spetses?

varwoche

[varwoche]

Re-reading The Fermata by Baker. AWESOME!

I wonder if it's possible for a woman not to find this book offensive...

varwoche

[Cleopatra]

Originally posted by varwoche

Cleo, I was on Spetses as a teenager, forever ago, and was hugely enchanted. Especially in contrast to the atrocious tourist destinations like Mikinos (sp?). I'm curious why you don't like Spetses?

varwoche

Mykonos. I like Mykonos just because I follow the opposite program the masses do. I wake up when they go to bed and I am alone in one of the 12 different amazing beaches it has. I don't know why I don't like Spetses,maybe because it's too flat. Go figure.

Why did you like "The Magus"? :) Do you like the books of Lawrence Durrel as well? Are you American? Sorry for the questions that you might ignore but you don't find many people who have read such books. I just got home and the first thing I did was to find the book. I will start reading it again in bed and for a while I will leave aside the book I am reading .

[El Greco]

Originally posted by Cleopatra
I find that it lacks local color

In fact it is a lordly place with picturesque houses, especially if you walk to the right of the harbor, all the way up to the hill. Granted, not an island with beautiful beaches, but its style is completely different. Here (http://www.spetses.gr/index4_en.html) is one particularly good web site among the many ones about Spetses.

[varwoche]

Originally posted by Cleopatra
Why did you like "The Magus"? :) Do you like the books of Lawrence Durrel as well? Are you American? Sorry for the questions that you might ignore but you don't find many people who have read such books. I just got home and the first thing I did was to find the book. I will start reading it again in bed and for a while I will leave aside the book I am reading .
Cleo, you're gonna get me to pick it up again and I don't have time! ;)

Brilliant writing, totally captivating, all those fun twists, and deals with the topic of free will in a most powerful way.

Not familiar w/Durrel. Yes, I'm American.

varwoche

[Cleopatra]

varwoche Thanks for replying to my questions, while I was posting you have already posted that you read this book of N.Baker. I realized that you must be an American. Sometimes, somebody mentions a book that finds AWESOME! and you feel like you have read his half bio. :)

El Greco, this is a great site but you know, some times there is no reason for not liking something.

[ASRomatifoso]

Originally posted by Nyarlathotep
Right now I am reading Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War by TJ Stiles. I have to read it for one of my classes, it's an interesting book, though, so I don't mind.

It's very good. I finished it about 6 months ago. I thought it was very well-researched. I love anything that debunks myths about historical figures. I wish we could see all historical figures as they really were, not how they appear to us now, with all the accretion of myth, conjecture, and apochrypha clinging to them.

[sorgoth]

Right now, I'm reading Stupid White Men, by Micheal Moore.

It's good, but a little over-the-top.

I haven't read any good fiction for a while :(.

[Sandy M]

Constantine's Sword (The Church and the Jews) by James Carroll. Heh! Odd that I chose to pick it up and start it just as The Passion of the Christ was released (A movie I have no intention of seeing, nor any desire to see).

I'm finding it interesting, but a bit slow going. Also, since Mr. Carroll writes from a believer's point of view, I have to adjust MY (non-believer's) attitude to grasp some of his points (and I have had 14 years of parochial school! LOL) I believe I expected something a bit more straight-forwardly historical and objective, but considering the subject, that probably is neither possible nor likely.

[Brown]

I'm in the final pages of "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson, and will shortly start Michael Shermer's "How We Believe." I am still working my way through Ian Rowland's "Cold Reading," but I am reading Phil Plait's "Bad Astronomy" at the same time.

In the course of reading "Bad Astronomy," I wondered whether or not it might have some bad astronomy in it. So far I have flagged two items that are questionable, and I might drop Phil Plait a line about them.

[Oleron]

Just finished Robert Jordan's 'Crossroads of Twilight' the tenth?! book in the Wheel of time series. Great stuff, though I wish he'd finish the series soon - some of the later novels have an overpadded feel about them. Of course he can't finish on 11 (whoever heard of a series of 11 books?) so my moneys on him finishing at 12.

Also just finished Randi's 'The Faith Healers' , Dawkins 'River out of Eden' and am currently reading Martin Gardners 'Did Adam and Eve have Navels?'.

[JAR]

I recently finished "Ripley Under Ground" by Patricia Highsmith and am now reading "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain.[Edited to add: And I am about to read the last seven pages.]

[asthmatic camel]

Currently re-reading "Vurt" by Jeff Noon. Weird but brilliant.

[Nyarlathotep]

I just started a book called " 'What if?s of American History" where various historians examine what might have happened had certain events in US history gone differntly, i.e What if the Mayflower hadn't made it to Plymouth Rock, What if Watergate had never happened, etc.

[Melissa Johnson]

Demon-Haunted World, for the first time (yes, I am a piker!)
Just finished DaVinci Code...interesting and feh at the same time. Quick read, though. Also working on some Charles de Lint.

[hgc]

I just read The Golden Spur, by Dawn Powell.

She was a popular author in the 30's and 40's, who was then mostly forgotten. This book was her last, written shortly before her death in 1962. Powell was pretty much "rediscovered" in the last 10 years.

I really recommend the book. She was pretty unhappy about her faded standing when she wrote this book. It is cynical, bitter and biting. It is also optimistic, sweet and incredibly funny. All those things at once!

[Oregon_Skeptic]

Finishing _Whale Rider_ today (it's not a long read). Also in the midst of Bryson's _A Short History of Nearly Everything_ (what fun stuff) and Jon Krakauer's _Under the Banner of Heaven_.

On a side note to Brown: I am hoping you could maybe tell us what were the items you questioned in _Bad Astronomy_? I read that about a year or so ago and enjoyed it, but I am no astronomer.

[TriangleMan]

Phil has a separate forum at the Bad Astronomy Site specifically for errors you find in his book:

http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=9

Back to the topic at hand. I've recently re-read Demon Haunted World and am currently reading Ugetsu, a book of Japanese ghost-stories.

[sorgoth]

"New Brunswick Driver's Handbook"

:D

[Outcast]

Originally posted by frisian
Probably "Brave New World" again, as I haven't read it in some time and is one of my favorites.
Who do you think was the best prophet Huxley or Orwell?

[ASRomatifoso]

Reading:
Battle Royale
The Food of Italy (again)

Recently finished:
Cod (again)
Souls in the Great Machine

Pretending to read:
Flesh in the Age of Reason

[Kopji]

Reading Joseph Campbell's "The Hero With a Thousand Faces". A 1948 book being republished.

The basic concept is that the rituals and belief structures of the world serve to support various stages of 'passages' of our lives. Birth, puberty, marriage, death are all supported by various myths throughout history and culture.

I'll be impossible to live with for a while after reading this... ;)

[Nigel]

Currently re-reading "Days of Grace" by Arthur Ashe, written when he was dying of AIDS after a blood transfusion. Man, was Ashe was a class act. Growing up in Richmond Va as a black man in a white man's world (tennis), he certainly could have been bitter and resentful. Instead, he showed what humanity is really capable of. (It's a difficult read for me because I look at myself in comparison, and frankly, there is none. I feel as though I'm so much less than he was.)
It's a thoughtful, inspiring book without being preachy. And the final chapter, an open letter to his daughter, always makes me cry. There, I said it.

Nigel

[Wyvern]

Just recently finished reading Empire Falls by Richard Russo. A work of fiction for fun and entertaining reading. Humor and drama in a small town.

Also finished The Noonday Demon - An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon. This fat non-fiction work is actually easy to read and great for the layperson. It covers topics ranging from breakdowns, treatments, and suicide to history, politics and poverty - all as they relate to clinical depression. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is attempting to understand clinical depression.

I also started to read Stupid White Men by Michael Moore but stopped because it was just "too out there". I will attempt to read it again. :D

I am now looking forward to reading Running with Scissors, a memoir by Augusten Burroughs.

I have also started reading Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World for the first time. I've barely begun, and already I love it! How can that be?? :D

[deBergerac]

Currently reading ‘The Pythons autobiography by the Pythons’.
This information will be subject to change in the future.

[BillyTK]

Originally posted by asthmatic camel
Currently re-reading "Vurt" by Jeff Noon. Weird but brilliant.
I love that book! It's like a British b-movie take on Blade Runner as scripted by Louis Carrol. After reading it I tore through Pollen (weird and brilliant, but not quite so brilliant) and Nymphomation (weird and brilliant and weird). I really enjoyed Needle in the Groove (the one written in the style of song lyrics), and I was really looking forward to Falling Out of Cars, but found it very remote and difficult, although from reviews and interviews I've read, this was intended. But even Noon being obtuse still beats the pants off other stuff on the bookshelves currently.

[rikzilla]

I just finished Sharon Kay Penman's: "The Sunne in Splendour" A wonderfully intricate novel of the wars of the Roses. She effectively skewers the old Tudor libels of Richard III, and shows how the Duke of Buckingham was likely the culprit responsible for the deaths of Richard's nephews in the Tower.

Now reading: "Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam"

-z

[asthmatic camel]

Originally posted by BillyTK

I love that book! It's like a British b-movie take on Blade Runner as scripted by Louis Carrol. After reading it I tore through Pollen (weird and brilliant, but not quite so brilliant) and Nymphomation (weird and brilliant and weird). I really enjoyed Needle in the Groove (the one written in the style of song lyrics), and I was really looking forward to Falling Out of Cars, but found it very remote and difficult, although from reviews and interviews I've read, this was intended. But even Noon being obtuse still beats the pants off other stuff on the bookshelves currently.

Signed paperback copy of "Pollen" is available for a small or large donation to JREF.

PM if interested.

[BillyTK]

Originally posted by asthmatic camel


Signed paperback copy of "Pollen" is available for a small or large donation to JREF.

PM if interested.

You've got one too? And there was I thinking mine was a rare and lucky find ;) :D

[asthmatic camel]

Originally posted by BillyTK


You've got one too? And there was I thinking mine was a rare and lucky find ;) :D

Hah ! This copy is special. It is dedicated to camels. Not to any specific camel but to camels anywhere and everywhere. Could somebody rub my twin peaks ? I'm upset again.

[Frostbite]

Dreams of Steel, book six (I believe) of the Black Company series

[HarryKeogh]

last week I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Al Franken's Lies and Lying Liars who tell them. Two quick reads.

I'm currently reading Unweaving the Rainbow by Richard Dawkins and Atheism: the Case against God by George Smith. Loving both of them,especially the latter because it is exposing me to some excellent philosophical concepts that I was pretty clueless about.

[IllegalArgument]

Latest issue of "The Atlantic" and Economist.

I'm also reading a book on Aglie software developement.

[Cleopatra]

bug_girl what do you think about that (http://www.drtatiana.com/book.shtml) book?

This is what I am reading anyway and I find it great

"DR. TATIANA'S
SEX ADVICE
TO ALL CREATION
The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex "

[headscratcher4]

Reading: "Reading Lolita in Terhan" -- a very interesting and depressing story of life under the Iranian revolution.

[Scott]

Texas Govt.

The American Pageant (US History)

Beginning Programming for Dummies

DOT guide for EMS Instructor Training Program

This summer I get a piece of paper that says I'm a recognized liberal artist!

And I just finished Stossel's book "Give Me A Break"

[TriangleMan]

I just finished reading Arabian Nights. I couldn't believe how bawdy it was at first, I suppose I was used to the "rated-G" Disney versions of the tales.

[headscratcher4]

Originally posted by TriangleMan
I just finished reading Arabian Nights. I couldn't believe how bawdy it was at first, I suppose I was used to the "rated-G" Disney versions of the tales.

Yep, it is a bawdy read...Osama and his crew would ban it for being indecent (as would Pat and Jerry and the Xian crew here, I suspect), but it is a fun read, some wonderful stories.

Just finished "Touching the Void." Another very good read...along the lines of the Pefect Storm and Into Thin Air. Wow, what the human body can survive, it is truly amazing.

[headscratcher4]

Originally posted by rikzilla
I just finished Sharon Kay Penman's: "The Sunne in Splendour" A wonderfully intricate novel of the wars of the Roses. She effectively skewers the old Tudor libels of Richard III, and shows how the Duke of Buckingham was likely the culprit responsible for the deaths of Richard's nephews in the Tower.

Now reading: "Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam"

-z

Z -- if you enjoyed the Sunne in Splendour, try the Nicolo novels (starts with Nicolo Rising) of the late Scotish author Dorthy Donnet, also her book "And King Hereafter" a retelling/revisionist history novel of MacBeth, great fun.

And, also, see my recommendation above -- Reading Lolita in Terhan -- an excellent book about the toll of fundumentalist Islam in Iran on freedom (women especially -- kind of reminds me of a real life version of the HandMaiden's Tale).

[BillyTK]

At the moment I'm unable to concentrate on any single book for more than thirty or so pages so as a result I am currently reading:

Ghostwritten by David Mitchell; it's the first novel by the author of The Cloud Atlas (an absolutely astonishing book, imo) and Ghostwritten reads as a dry run for it; it's ostensibly a collection of stories from across the world, albeit linked together by co-incidence, recurring characters and common themes.

Reefer Madness: ...and Other Tales from the American Underground by Eric Schlosser which is not, as a number of people discovered to their dismay in the record shop where I bought it, a DIY manual for soft drug use but an investigation into the relationship between drugs, pornography and migrant labour with US society and its economy (and by extension, the global economy).

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, which is about a 15 year old boy called Christopher who decides to investigate the death of his neighbour's dog, and documents his adventures in the form of a journal. The twist is that Christopher has a form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome; he has an amazing understanding of maths but no idea how to read facial expressions or hold a conversation, and as a result we get to see a view of the world which is radically different from that which we're used to.

[rikzilla]

Originally posted by headscratcher4


Z -- if you enjoyed the Sunne in Splendour, try the Nicolo novels (starts with Nicolo Rising) of the late Scotish author Dorthy Donnet, also her book "And King Hereafter" a retelling/revisionist history novel of MacBeth, great fun.

And, also, see my recommendation above -- Reading Lolita in Terhan -- an excellent book about the toll of fundumentalist Islam in Iran on freedom (women especially -- kind of reminds me of a real life version of the HandMaiden's Tale).

Thanks Grady I'll try and find a copy at the library. I've just about read all of SKP's historical novels..the Welsh trilogy was her best.

Thanks for the suggestions.

-z

[chrisberez]

"Hitchhiker: A Biography of Doglous Adams" by M. J. Simpson. Very good.

[hgc]

The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, by Jacques Pépin.

[Bikewer]

Just finished "The Knight" by Gene Wolfe. First in the series....The Wizard Knight.

Wolfe's first venture into pure fantasy, as far as I know. Quite good, Wolfe takes many of the standard fantasy elements and gives them his unique twist, resulting in an interesting read.