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What are you reading?

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

I'm reading Rage by Stephen King.
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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
 
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.
 
uneasy said:
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
hgc said:
I'm glad you asked.

I have been reading The Magus, by John Fowles. It's quite good.
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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...
 
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!!
 
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.
 
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.
 
"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).
 
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.
 
El Greco said:
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).
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I suggest you trust your instinct or the opinion of somebody you have common interests with. What would you like to read? :)
 
Chaos said:
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.
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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.
 
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

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


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