What are you readioactive now(and other book related stuff)?

[Babbler]

So, what are you reading, now? Here were you can post about anything your reading, or what you recommend people to read.

ME:

The Seashell on the Mountaintop: A biography of Nicholas Steno, 16th century anatomist and proto-geologist.

The Man Who Only Loved Numbers: A biography of Paul Erdos, 20th century mathematician.

[Narsil]

Right now I am reading Xenocide, by Orson Scott Card. It's the third book in the "Ender's Game" series. Just wow, it bleeds awesomeness. I'm almost finished and definitely looking forward to the conclusion, Children of the Mind. While it's not as challenging as something like Dune, the issues it discusses are very similar and just as thought provoking.

By the way, I recommend that anyone with an interest in anything reads Dune. It's the greatest science fiction novel ever written.

[TheTankengine]

I read through these fori.


That and deleting spam bots pretty much consumes my day... so i'm good!

[Verysillyman]

I'm most of the way through Ian Fleming's "The man with the golden gun", also I've just started reading the gospel according to Luke. Maybe I'm reading another book too? I haven't done any reading for a little bit, but I have a few books on the go.

[rachel]

On the Road by Jack Kerouac is what I'm reading right now. It is wonderful. Slow throughout the whole thing like all of Kerouac's writing, but it is one of my favourites.

[Lani]

Things that I am theoretically reading but am taking forever to finish:
The Empty Space by Peter Brook - theatre theory book
Breakfast at the Victory - Buddhism, contentment, and every day life...kind of...
Dress Your Family in Courduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
V for Vendetta - Alan Moore
a handful of plays by various playwrights


Someday I will finish them.

[joeframbach]

On the Road by Jack Kerouac is what I'm reading right now. It is wonderful. Slow throughout the whole thing like all of Kerouac's writing, but it is one of my favourites.

I read that book when I am on long drives. I read it first on a ride from Pennsylvania to Florida. I plan on reading it again next year when I plan on going to Colorado. I love it.

[aldimond]

Slowly making my way through the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhikers' Guide trilogy, and just recently gave up on Martin Heidegger's Being and Time until I've read some other things that will help me make more sense of it.

[Detritus]

Right now? I'm reading Monographs in Primatology, Volume 14: Primate Life History and Evolution, ed. C. Jean DeRousseau. I am not particularly happy about this. It is even less exciting than it sounds.

Once I'm done with that, I'll get to the other books I am reading...

Robert Greene, The 48 Laws Of Power
Alastair Reynolds, Revelation Space
Something by Neil Gaiman, I don't even remember what... probably Neverwhere
George R. R. Martin, A Game Of Thrones

I recommend Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels, if you like things that are awesome and things that are good historical fiction about the Civil War.

[umbrae]

In no particular order, things I've read recently:

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (or something like that)

The Equation that Couldn't be Solved by Mario Livio (nonfiction nerd stuff about group theory)

The Game by Neil Strauss (another nonfiction, but mainly entertainment value. About the ridiculous stuff that some guys used to try to pick up girls.)

The Taking by Dean Koontz

1984 by George Orwell. Re-reading. I love this book.

I loved Enders Game and Enders Shadow, but I had trouble getting into the political plotlines of all of the other Ender's series. Same with Dune. Dune was good, the sequels I had trouble getting into.

[grim4593]

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov.

I read the first book of the series and now halfway through the second... These books are supposed to be pretty good and many people recommend them. I don't like it all that much... It has its good points, but I fail to see why people call it a masterpiece.

After this I have Eon by Greg Bear sitting on my bookshelf. I hope it is better.

On another note, I LOVE Dune. They should get rid of a few romantic period novels from the humanities classes and throw in some good scifi like Dune. Since the teachers won't have pages and pages of lecture notes you'd be able to formulate your own ideas about the book without a teacher saying that you are wrong.

[Detritus]

Yeah, Dune owns. My school had a science-fiction independent-study group last year, and Dune was one of the novels they studied. I regret not doing that, it's been a while since I read the series.

Also, Foundation probably isn't so much a masterpiece as it is a classic. I haven't read that series in a while, either, though, so maybe I shouldn't comment.

[hyperion]

for some reason it's taken me around 8 months to read about 3/4 of 20 thousand leagues by jules verne. it's okay i guess

[paapahparn]

watched a part on this national geographic program that was based on this book. and now i want to read the book! its called guns, germs and steel: the fates of human societies by jared diamond. its actually pretty interesting if you are curious about a different view on the forming of cultures.

oh, and trying to finish up with the first dune prequel trilogy. on house corrino atm. since i agree that dune owns, what does everyone else think about these novels based on notes by frank herbert? im pretty pumped about them, however its more of a feeling of "watch out ___ cuz youre goin to die or something later on!". its the same how i kinda felt when i watched the star wars prequels....just that i like this a way lot more.

[hyperion]

watched a part on this national geographic program that was based on this book. and now i want to read the book! its called guns, germs and steel: the fates of human societies by jared diamond. its actually pretty interesting if you are curious about a different view on the forming of cultures.

i've heard of that, but unfortunately i can't find any copies at my library. it sounds pretty interesting

[Jesse]

Currently going back through Robin Hobb's Liveship Trilogy.

Also going through half of my Neil Gaiman collection (The other half of it is in Kent with a friend). That's every book by Neil Gaiman (Aside from Anansi Boys which just felt like American Gods would have been if written by Tom Holt) as well as the entire series of Sandman (Which is what started me on the path of graphic novels.

[Buton]

I'm reading Le Petit Prince (The original version of The Little Prince) by Antoine de Saint--Exupéry. Had not read it in a while and was in the bookstore yesterday when I saw it for 10$... a masterpiece. It's just so magical!

Buton

[no-genius]

finished yesterday
Idoru by William Gibson

trying to get past the introduction this time
Being and Nothingness by Satre.

had it for over a year now? and no, i am not pretentious!

finished last week
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Elderitch by Philip K Dick

was kindof dissapointed with that one, actually. Also Dune FTW!

[miles01110]

I read Guns Germs and Steel. After the first few chapters (which are mind-numbing) it's pretty good. A little repetitive though- but he definitely makes his case.

At the moment I'm about halfway through Roger Penrose's Road to Reality. But until tomorrow, I'll be reading Daniel Schroeder's Intro to Thermal Physics in order to study for a dumb exam

[Sonic#]

watched a part on this national geographic program that was based on this book. and now i want to read the book! its called guns, germs and steel: the fates of human societies by jared diamond. its actually pretty interesting if you are curious about a different view on the forming of cultures.

oh, and trying to finish up with the first dune prequel trilogy. on house corrino atm. since i agree that dune owns, what does everyone else think about these novels based on notes by frank herbert? im pretty pumped about them, however its more of a feeling of "watch out ___ cuz youre goin to die or something later on!". its the same how i kinda felt when i watched the star wars prequels....just that i like this a way lot more.

Eh, I didn't care for the Dune prequels too much. I suppose the first cycle you're reading was okay... and the Butlerian Jihad ones were okay... but that's just it, there wasn't enough in there to really snag me. Instead I just found myself liking individual characters here and there (Leto, Vorian Atreides, maybe Norma Cenva, a couple of others) and then sighing through the rest.

As for reading, I'm currently delving into some anthologies of the year's best science fiction and fantasy my girlfriend got me for Christmas. Other than that, I'm moving through "Closing Time" by Joseph Heller, and planning to skirt some Middle English poetry.

Also, Foundation probably isn't so much a masterpiece as it is a classic.

Indeed. I enjoyed them, and found them fascinating and intriguing, but admittedly, I do prefer Asimov's Robot books and even his Prelude to Foundation than the earlier Foundation works.

[Detritus]

oh, and trying to finish up with the first dune prequel trilogy. on house corrino atm. since i agree that dune owns, what does everyone else think about these novels based on notes by frank herbert? im pretty pumped about them, however its more of a feeling of "watch out ___ cuz youre goin to die or something later on!". its the same how i kinda felt when i watched the star wars prequels....just that i like this a way lot more.

I honestly don't really consider the prequels to be Dune, if that makes sense. They are completely different in their themes, tone, pace, and all that, and generally not in a good way. Really I found their only value to be the plot (and even that lacked subtlety).

Of course, I still read all of them. What can I say, I'm a junkie

[Oort]

I have to read Bless Me, Ultima for school.

I'm going to read Jurassic Park soon.

I'm halfway through The God Delusion.

Also reading a Bathroom Reader, Vol 17 (or w/e the most recent one is).

[Lani]

Can someone please fix the title to this thread? "What are you read" is driving me crazy.

[aldimond]

Can someone please fix the title to this thread? "What are you read" is driving me crazy.

C'mon, lani, it'll build character!

The thought of all the forum readers with their eyeballs popping out of their heads reading that makes mine less painful!

[Peshmerga]

Right now I am reading Xenocide, by Orson Scott Card. It's the third book in the "Ender's Game" series. Just wow, it bleeds awesomeness. I'm almost finished and definitely looking forward to the conclusion, Children of the Mind. While it's not as challenging as something like Dune, the issues it discusses are very similar and just as thought provoking.

By the way, I recommend that anyone with an interest in anything reads Dune. It's the greatest science fiction novel ever written.

Those books all suck. Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow are the only great books in the series; everything else is redundant drivel.

[paapahparn]

I read Guns Germs and Steel. After the first few chapters (which are mind-numbing) it's pretty good. A little repetitive though- but he definitely makes his case.

hmmm, well so far it seems fairly interesting. though i could see it get repetitive though. since im no scientian, i cant really deny or validate any of his points, thus making this just an informational/fun read for me.

I honestly don't really consider the prequels to be Dune, if that makes sense. They are completely different in their themes, tone, pace, and all that, and generally not in a good way. Really I found their only value to be the plot (and even that lacked subtlety).

Of course, I still read all of them. What can I say, I'm a junkie

yeah that's pretty much how i feel. all hail junkies! its like we dont have a choice!

[Lani]

There is a very cruel moderator out there.

[fjafjan]

(Damn you nice mods )

[Asbestos]

The Fountainhead - Anne Rynd

[aldimond]

:D

(Damn you nice mods )

Change it back!!!

[fjafjan]

:D

(Damn you nice mods )

Change it back!!!

Mwahahaha

[thomasjmaccoll]

On the Road by Jack Kerouac is what I'm reading right now. It is wonderful. Slow throughout the whole thing like all of Kerouac's writing, but it is one of my favourites.

it is one of my all time favourites too, that is an excellent book. i am currently reading 'the picture of dorian gray' by oscar wilde, i am really enjoying it, but i make so little time for reading, i need to do much more...

[Babbler]

:D

(Damn you nice mods )

Change it back!!!

Mwahahaha

I will not fight to mods over this silly issue.
I will not fight to mods over this silly issue.
I will not fight to mods over this silly ...

Anyway, I finished The Seashell on the Mountaintop. It's a good book, recommend to everybody.

[hermaj]

I would if I knew how.

[fjafjan]

I guess I'll have to give it up

[Fuolornis Fire Dragon]

I'm rereading Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series right now. All 11 that are already out. And he's not done with them yet.

I second all recommendations for anything by Frank Herbert or Orson Scott Card.

[OmenPigeon]

I just finished Gravity's Rainbow, the last hundred pages of which made for a great Saturday. It had been far too long since I curled up with a novel and read straight through two meals.

Now G.K. Chesterton is boring me to death, but I've read everything else I own, and don't like buying books so close to Christmas, when my relatives spoil me with mountains of wood pulp.

A question: has anyone here read both Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila, Robert Pirsig's second book? If you have, what did you think of Lila?[/i]

[dragonfrog]

Over breakfast, I'm very gradually reading A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. It's all fairly short essays, so I can remember the stream of argument from one breakfast to the next.

Just lately I was rereading bits of Practical Cryptography by Bruce Schneier, because I wanted to figure out if public key cryptography could be feasible with pen and paper (conclusion - yes, but you'd want to design your protocols to absolutely minimize the need for it).

I'm also reading The Ethical Slut by Dossie Easton and Catherine Liszt, and bits and pieces of The Encyclopedia of County Living by Carla Emery, because I'm a stifled survivalist nerd.

What's somewhat odd in all that is that there isn't any fiction, and I normally do have one or two novels on the go. A few weeks ago I finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and I haven't started on any fiction since.

[Air Gear]

I just finished Gravity's Rainbow, the last hundred pages of which made for a great Saturday. It had been far too long since I curled up with a novel and read straight through two meals.

I've been meaning to read that sometime...well, actually, I've been meaning to read a lot of things, including things I'll most likely NEVER read such as Atlas Shrugged...

...but Gravity's Rainbow is actually one I mean to read and WANT to read...just gotta go over some Woolf and Joyce before going there.

[OmenPigeon]

I've been meaning to read that sometime

It's an excellent book. It has funny and weird and crazy and horrific all mixed up into a fantastic conspiracy. Unfortunately, it's not a very good book to idly pick up. I tried that over thanksgiving break a year ago and never got past the first few sections. Theres a ton of characters and the plot makes no sense until almost a quarter of the way through. It's also very long and incredibly dense, so much so that I actually had to put it down for a couple weeks and read something light and fluffy to clear my head.

Gravity's Rainbow is certainly worth reading, but it's also worth taking seriously.