What book(s) are you reading?

[Cormacaroni]

Yeah, that was Newt's last-ditch attempt to win the Republican nomination with a broadside at Evilbore there.

[Eric P]

I read that as You Are Not So Smart, Eric P and thought, whoa, Eric P has some real enemies.

i accidentally ate a piece of bread and have been excommunicated.

[chronovore]

Just finished Snow Crash and quite liked it. If I were to read another Stephenson book, which should it be?

Zodiac is a free-wheeling eco thriller; plenty good. If you want something clearly SF, move directly to the Diamond Age, which shares Snow Crash's sense of movement and humor.

[chronovore]

i read a buncha pulp horror crap, none of which was really good.

the two best books i read on break were (in order) "blindsight" by peter bates, which is the best piece of hard first contact sf i've read in ages; and "altered carbon", a sci-fi classic i've had sitting around on my nook for some time and never really got around to reading.

i really, really second patel's recommendation of "blindsight". much like "you are not so smart," it makes a compelling case AGAINST sentience as a competitive advantage. MUST READ FOR NEUROPSYCH AND SEMIOTICS/LINGUISTICS NERDS. could we ever actually get along with something intelligent that we don't -- and can't  -- understand, when we can't even get along with the intelligent life forms we slightly understand -- ourselves? it asks.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

no. duh.

[close]

also PLAUSIBLE AND AWESOME SPACE VAMPIRES.

I liked Blindsight a lot. I may have read it at Patel's urging, I can't recall. The vampire thing was tiny, but if he'd stroked himself over it much more, it would have bugged me. The actual alien, otoh, scared the hell out of me.

Next, I went on to read all of his Rifters trilogy, which is also free online. Bleak, bleak, bleak. Jesus. Watts must be quite the conversation killer at any party he attends.

If you liked Altered Carbon, you may want to try Thirteen/Black Man, but give it a little time before doing so. I ran directly from AC to Thirteen, and it was a little too samey.

[Eric P]

I'm currently reading Michael Moorcock's The Black Corridor.

Thomas M Disch called this one of the best horror / sci-fi books in a back issue I have of The Twilight Zone Magazine. As I found myself without anything immediately jumping off my shelf, I grabbed this to read. Don't quite know what to make of it just yet.

I think a guy has fled the Earth to the stars with his family in hypersleep so they can escape a poisonous political climate only to go insane.

This is another super short one (166 pages), so I may finish today or tomorrow.

[Himu]

All She Was Worth was okay.

I'm currently re-reading Lolita and this re-read is a total eye opener. I haven't read it since I was in my late teens/early 20's but it's clear that Dolores was raped, so why does the term "lolita" suggest sexual promiscuity on the woman's part? It's pretty telling about our culture.

[Robo]

The term is supposed to refer to young girls as objects of desire from an older man's point of view, or one that's sexually precocious beyond their years; not that they're necessarily promiscuous.  You're just thinking of the word incorrectly.

[Himu]

Thanks for the clarification.

[D3RANG3D]

I'm currently reading Michael Moorcock's The Black Corridor.

Thomas M Disch called this one of the best horror / sci-fi books in a back issue I have of The Twilight Zone Magazine. As I found myself without anything immediately jumping off my shelf, I grabbed this to read. Don't quite know what to make of it just yet.

I think a guy has fled the Earth to the stars with his family in hypersleep so they can escape a poisonous political climate only to go insane.

This is another super short one (166 pages), so I may finish today or tomorrow.

 

[Joe Molotov]

The term is supposed to refer to young girls as objects of desire from an older man's point of view, or one that's sexually precocious beyond their years; not that they're necessarily promiscuous.  You're just thinking of the word incorrectly.

Yeah, why do you think they call them loli rape sims, himu?

[Himu]

I've never played one so I don't know

[Himu]

Also, robo's explanation still doesn't make the term lolita any less creepy, as Humbert, who finds Delores desirable, is a pedophile. Unless of course, the term predates the novel.

[recursivelyenumerable]

the novel is where it originated afaik.

[fistfulofmetal]

Fuckin' Under the Dome continues to just go and go and go and go and go and go and go and go and go and go and go and go...................................

thankfully i'm enjoying it.

[Phoenix Dark]

Finally finished Marukami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. It was tough to push myself through the last third. Now onto Haldeman's Forever War. Pretty good so far. I like the idea of female soldiers being legally obligated to have sex with their male counterparts.

Man, Swift Posters For Truth are gonna have a field day attacking your future congressional run

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Finished Dune last night. Loved it, but I did think it got a bit weaker closer to the end. Tempted to check out Dune Messiah. What do you guys think of the sequels?

Starting You Are Not So Smart based on the recommendation of the thread. Seems like some solid pop-psych.

[chronovore]

Finished Dune last night. Loved it, but I did think it got a bit weaker closer to the end. Tempted to check out Dune Messiah. What do you guys think of the sequels?

Starting You Are Not So Smart based on the recommendation of the thread. Seems like some solid pop-psych.

Messiah's OK, but call it a day after that.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Cool, ok. Might just go ahead and check that out next while I`m still enthused.

[Narag]

Finished Dune last night. Loved it, but I did think it got a bit weaker closer to the end. Tempted to check out Dune Messiah. What do you guys think of the sequels?

Starting You Are Not So Smart based on the recommendation of the thread. Seems like some solid pop-psych.

Messiah's OK, but call it a day after that.

Sound advice.

[cool breeze]

quick question about eink readers:  if I buy a nook touch, is there a way I can still use the amazon service? I like the nook touch more than the kindle touch, but Amazon seems like a way better seller and all that.

anyone have experience with it?

I ended up buying more physical sherlock books out of habit.  I want to go digital already and save space.

[Robo]

Also, robo's explanation still doesn't make the term lolita any less creepy, as Humbert, who finds Delores desirable, is a pedophile. Unless of course, the term predates the novel.

Oh, it's definitely creepy.

[Eric P]

quick question about eink readers:  if I buy a nook touch, is there a way I can still use the amazon service? I like the nook touch more than the kindle touch, but Amazon seems like a way better seller and all that.

anyone have experience with it?

I ended up buying more physical sherlock books out of habit.  I want to go digital already and save space.

You can't but it isn't easy unfortunately.  You'll need calibre, Amazon for Mac/Win and some plug ins.

http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/ebooks-formats-drm-and-you-%E2%80%94-a-guide-for-the-perplexed/

I have a kindle, so I'm perfectly fine with using Amazon's service, never really found anything exclusive to Nook that I wanted so I haven't tried to cross the platforms like you're discussing so I can't offer any advice as far as that goes.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Finished The Forever War. Found it on the NPR beginners' guide to sci-fi and fantasy that was posted here some time ago. Loved it! Great military sci-fi. Some really interesting concepts and of course a good (if a little simple) allegory. My first thought after reading it (besides "awww" [and how many military sci-fi books can you say that about?]) was that it would make a good movie. And it looks like Ridley Scott is making one! Hurray!

Voices of a Distant Star > The Forever War

[Eric P]

Finished The Germline last night and it's a really fucking bleak military sci-fi book. 

Page after page of horrible things happening to confused people caught in the middle of a shitty war where both sides are losing to varying degrees. Our main character is an embedded war reported who is a junkie. Not an adrenaline junkie, but a flat out "I do too many drugs" junkie who becomes addicted to the chaos of war after convincing himself that he is worthless and is looking for suicide by war. It's a strange book with a strange main character.

It's doesn't devote loving paragraphs to the gear of the warriors, it doesn't pullback into operational overviews. It concentrates on these almost disconnected, horrifying scenes of just wanton death and pain. I don't read a lot of military sci-fi so I don't know if this is common, but it doesn't really mesh with the touchstones of which I am familiar.

I didn't quite like the end because I felt that it was a bit too clean a wrap up for the few hundred pages of chaos which had just come before. The "happy" ending really seems to run counter to the rest of the book and I felt it would have been better if it had been dropped.

There's another book coming in the series next month but I don't think I'll jump into it the day it's released.

From there I moved into Ann and Jeff VanDerMeer's The Weird. I stupidly took this thing on the train today and that was a huge mistake. It's 1125 pages long and it's a bit larger than your average trade and weighs 4 pounds. Each book page is laid out with dual columns to make reading a bit easier but it's just too unweildy. I may keep this one at home to read.

I also toyed around with War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning but once past the introduction I was glad that I had found this on the street for free rather than paid for it.

[Eel O'Brian]

Reading Gone to Texas, which is the book The Outlaw Josey Wales is based on. It's okay. Josey Wales is more of an actual outlaw in the beginning, as opposed to just being wronged by the Redlegs. He's also a lot more talkative.

[Eric P]

I'm not intrigued enough to read the next book in the series.  The thought of genetically enhanced 18 year old killer girls who just want to love is a hair too anime for my tastes.

[chronovore]

Finished The Forever War. Found it on the NPR beginners' guide to sci-fi and fantasy that was posted here some time ago. Loved it! Great military sci-fi. Some really interesting concepts and of course a good (if a little simple) allegory. My first thought after reading it (besides "awww" [and how many military sci-fi books can you say that about?]) was that it would make a good movie. And it looks like Ridley Scott is making one! Hurray!

You should check out Forever Peace, next. Excellent book by the same author.

[Groogrux]

What book(s) are you reading?

My textbooks... 

What book(s) would you like to be reading?

Anything but my textbooks.  I want to finish AFFC and another one of the Primal Blueprint books.

[Cormacaroni]

OMFG why did I wait so long to start reading this

And why are all the lame gamers who read one game/geek media-related book a year (looking at YOU Ready Player One // Hunger Games // Game of Thrones!) not creaming all over this? It's the most interesting exploration of game design I've seen yet.

[Joe Molotov]

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OMFG why did I wait so long to start reading this

And why are all the lame gamers who read one game/geek media-related book a year (looking at YOU Ready Player One // Hunger Games // Game of Thrones!) not creaming all over this? It's the most interesting exploration of game design I've seen yet.

Damn, I just read a synopsis of this, and now I want to read it right now. TO THE NOOKMOBILE!

[Joe Molotov]

My Nook was at home, so I spent about 30 minutes of my lunch break reading on the Nook app for my iPhone.

[Sho Nuff]

Just finished Blindsight, that was fucking awesome, I love me some good hard sci-fi and the way he worked vampires into it 

On to REAMDE

[etiolate]

Le Carre's The Looking Glass War - First Le Carre reading for myself. The constant simile comparisons get on my nerves at times, but I am enjoying it.

[Himu]

Finished re-reading Lolita. I see the novel in a completely different light now that I'm older.

For the last book of January...I'm not sure what I should go for, but I may start...The Hunger Games. *gulp* I hope it's not shit.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Half way through Dune Messiah. I dunno. It's not grabbing me. I'll probably trudge through the rest of it since it's so short, but I'll probably recommend to friends not to bother.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

After this I'm considering either reading some Holmes mysteries or reading Born to Run since I've been getting into running lately and runners treat it like their bible.

[Himu]

The Hunger Games is surprisingly enjoyable. Nothing great but it's not pap either.

[Eric P]

Currently reading A Merrit's The Moon Pool.  I was reading about people who are under appreciated in Genre Fiction and this name popped up. I know the name but don't think I've ever read anything by him even though he was once so famous he had his own magazine (A. Merrit's Fantasy).  This was written in 1919 and it right now reads like a pre-Lovecraftian Mythos books.  Scientists exploring an island in the pacific discover a place with great stone slabs.  A place the locals dare not go on the nights of the full moon.  The scientists scoff and hang out.  Then a door opens and something begins to steal the scientists.

Pretty good so far.

[Inspector Thatcher]

the first ten books of Confucius. It's a small, light (read: in weight) book that fits nicely in my purse for when I encounter subway delays.

Transit Philosophy Reading: Confucius might say "what a way to put the transit jackasses out of mind"

[Himu]

Confucious thought is fantastic. Lemme know what you think about it!

[Madrun Badrun]

just finished consider phelbas.  It was OK.

[chronovore]

just finished consider phelbas.  It was OK.

You should really stop messing around with those cheap eHorseBooks knockoffs, and just read the original Consider Phlebas. It's worth it to spend the extra money just to get the correct spelling.

[Madrun Badrun]

That's the Canadian spelling.

[Narag]

just finished consider phelbas.  It was OK.

I've been trying to read this for a year or two now. Anytime it feels engaging it drops right off for me and I can't bring myself to pick it back up again.  I heard the other Culture books were better at least.

[Madrun Badrun]

Ya, it's very uneven.

[Himu]

I finished The Hunger Games. It was alright, but I'm not sure if it was good enough that I'd actively seek out reading the rest of the trilogy.

I'm in the mood for improving my career chances so I've "purchased" from the  this book internet store. I hate being poor.

http://www.amazon.com/Pick-Me-Breaking-Advertising-Staying/dp/0471715573/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1328234210&sr=8-9

[CajoleJuice]

Did I mention I finished this?



Mother of Christ this book fucking owned. Wish I read it ten years ago. Holy shit.

[Cormacaroni]

ugh, i've had a copy of that for seriously about 15 years now. My high school history teacher sold me on it but it's such a depressing topic I have never gotten around to starting it. Really got to read it now.

[Himu]

What are the best books on WW1?

[Barry Egan]

[Himu]

The best book.  And it's by Martin Gilbert.

http://www.amazon.com/First-World-War-Complete-History/dp/0805047344

Does it cover the aftermath of the war and its effects on us today?

[Cormacaroni]

Finished Reamde. Best thriller ever. Most entertaining book I've read in several years. Go read if you like fun.

[Eric P]

I think I hate the book I'm reading right now.

Meet Dr. Thomas Silkstone, an intriguing addition to the annals of detective fiction.

In eighteenth-century England, the murder of Sir Edward Crick sends a torrent of gossip breezing through Oxfordshire; although, aside from his sister, Lady Lydia Farrell, few mourn the young man. When Lady Farrell's husband becomes the prime suspect in the murder, she enlists the help of Dr. Thomas Silkstone--an anatomist and pioneering forensic detective--to solve the murder and prove his innocence.

Though Dr. Silkstone studied medicine in England under the foremost surgeon in the region, his unconventional methods and unfamiliar field of study have made him an outsider. Still, he agrees to examine Sir Edward's corpse, but the keenest blade he will use is his intellect. He must determine both the cause and motive of this suspicious death in what will be the first of many cases.

It's really blah.

oh hey, both Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner are in this episode of The Man from Uncle.  Wild coincidence.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Did I mention I finished this?

(Image removed from quote.)

Mother of Christ this book fucking owned. Wish I read it ten years ago. Holy shit.

I read it a few years ago.  It was amazing.

Anyway...



I really, really regret buying this.  I'm not a big fan of Jay-Z but there's no substance to be had with this book.  While I do think Jay-Z has some entrepreneurial skills, it seems to be discussed in a surface manner.  I wanted some real in depth shit.  My fault.



Great read and probably the first book about this subject using (limited) archived records, which exposes additional layers of insidious behavior during this time period.  I find Communist history fascinating so naturally, I'll read this even though this is probably the fourth or fifth book I've read about Mao's reign in China.



Another great book.  Having read a lot of stuff about NK (what little information there is that we know of), I didn't get this at first because I've read dozens of various defector testimonials.  I recommend reading it.

[Eric P]

(Image removed from quote.)

I really, really regret buying this.  I'm not a big fan of Jay-Z but there's no substance to be had with this book.  While I do think Jay-Z has some entrepreneurial skills, it seems to be discussed in a surface manner.  I wanted some real in depth shit.  My fault.

Check this book out if you can

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Payback-History-Business-Hip-Hop/dp/0451229290

The Big Payback takes us from the first $15 made by a "rapping DJ" in 1970s New York to the recent multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four-decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were inked, The Big Payback tallies the list of who lost and who won. Read the secret histories of the early long-shot successes of Sugar Hill Records and Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC's crossover breakthrough on MTV, the marketing of gangsta rap, and the rise of artist/ entrepreneurs like Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs.

300 industry veterans-well-known giants like Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, the founders of Def Jam, and key insiders like Gerald Levin, the embattled former Time Warner chief-gave their stories to renowned hip-hop journalist Dan Charnas, who provides a compelling, never-before seen, myth-debunking view into the victories, defeats, corporate clashes, and street battles along the 40-year road to hip-hop's dominance.

The sections on Diddy and Jay-Z are really fascinating reads as is the one on MC Hammer.  Dude had some hustle.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

That is the kind of book I wanted to read.  Got the Kindle version.  Thanks for the recommendation.

[Madrun Badrun]

Exession's ending was sooo dull.  Look to windward up next.

[Sho Nuff]

REAMDE is terrific fun, don't be out off by the length!

Just started ALCHEMISTS OF KUSH by Minister Faust. I'm not sure where it's going, but it seems to combine hip-hop, magic, and jujitsu.

[Boogie]

The best book.  And it's by Martin Gilbert.

http://www.amazon.com/First-World-War-Complete-History/dp/0805047344

Does it cover the aftermath of the war and its effects on us today?

For the aftermath, try Paris 1919 by Margaret Macmillan.

[CajoleJuice]

The best book.  And it's by Martin Gilbert.

http://www.amazon.com/First-World-War-Complete-History/dp/0805047344

thanks man

also, thanks boogie. i've had my eye on that for a while.