What are you Reading right now?

[PhoenixMaster00]

Since there is a music post I thought a book thread would make a nice companion.

I just finished reading the Jason Wander series by Robert Buettner (Until Orphans Triumph is out)

But at the moment I am reading the Dreaming Void by Peter F Hamilton and I highly recommend it to anyone.

[squaregoldfish]

The End of Faith - Sam Harris

[Keithhed]

Antimatter by Frank Close. Not a hard read, but a background in particle physics will help with comprehension.

[t0p]

This thread!

:p

[KegHead]

Wsj

[doas777]

right now, I'm reading a thread from a guy whose asking what i'm reading.

other than on the train daily, I don't get as much time to read for fun as i would like. certification study guides are not what i would call absorbing.

my transit book is "Domes of Fire" by David/Leigh Eddings. an old favorite series, that I've wanted to reread for some time now.

just picked up paperbacks of the first 4 Harry potters. everyone says their a great read!

have fun

[dragos240]

Multiple things, a book on java, one on linux, and a copy of inkheart that is on the edge of it's binding falling apart.

[drawkcab]

what am i not reading?

:p

[Chemical Imbalance]

The Art of War -- Sun Tzu

[bashveank]

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

[divague]

The collector - John Fowles

[Tipped OuT]

This thread.

[doas777]

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
that one was recently recomended to me. how is it?

[gnomeuser]

I read books to my fiancée and currently we are enjoying Phillip Pullmans His Dark Materials series, Volume 2: The Subtle Knife.

She seems to enjoy my voice performance, at least I get a giggle out of her every once in a while. Not as much as when I read Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic though so I look forward to reading more Discworld books to her.

For my own pleasure I currently have in the actively reading pile:
Trudi Canavan's The Magicians Guild
Richard Dawkins' Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder
Phil Zuckerman' Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment
Stephen King' The Dark Tower
Robert Ludlum' The Bourne Supremecy.
And a collection of novels set in White Wolf' Mage universe called Truth untill Paradox.

There's also a pile of technical books but that tends to be very much so on the backburner right now. Probably more than it should be.

I tend to get lots of book started at once, I am a bit of a junkie when it comes to ordering new ones. I can't keep my hands off them when they are all crisp, new and innocent so the pile tends to get a bit large.

I just finished Stephen and Lucy Hawking' George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt. I have to admit even as a grown man I like those books, I know they are for children but I can't help but to order one whenever a new one is released. I think it's a wonderful little distraction that takes only a few hours to read, it gives children real science, pretty pictures from space, a somewhat compelling and sweet story and hopefully a thirst to find out more.

[gnomeuser]

The End of Faith - Sam Harris

That one is good, I would also recommend his short followup "Letter to a Christian Nation", it's a quick read.

If you want more in the same genre I personally enjoyed Christopher Hitchens' god is not great: How religion poisons everything.

Sam tends to have the best formulated and most well thought out examples and reasoning. He constantly manages to impress me and has I admit changed my mind on a number of issues such as pacifism.

He gave an excellent talk at the Aspen Ideas Festival recently calledBelieving the Unbelievable: The Clash Between Faith and Reason in the Modern World (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6734321991450996691) which is also recommended.

I hope he will do another book soon.

[powerpleb]

A few books. In order of priority:
Leon Trotsky - History of the Russian Revolution
Michael Tanner - Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction
Raymond Williams - Culture and Materialism

I really need to get back into fiction.

[TheNosh]

the silicon boys and their valley of dreams

[Mr-Biscuit]

Last read:
Lysistrata by Aristophanes, and World of a Thousand Colors by Robert Silverberg about three weeks ago.

[Tux Aubrey]

The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein

Scariest darn book I've read in a long time.

before that it was The Lump of Coal - Lemony Snicket

It is just silly. Here's the openng:

"The holiday season is a time for storytelling, and whether you are hearing the story of a candelabra staying lit for more than a week, or a baby born in a barn without proper medical supervision, these stories often feature miracles. Miracles are like pimples, because once you start looking for them you find more than you ever dreamed you'd see, and this holiday story features any number of miracles, depending on your point of view."

[Orlsend]

Last thing I was reading was "Dune by Frank Herbert"

[malspa]

The Eight Day, Thornton Wilder.

[Toffeeapple]

A Piece of Cake - Cupcake Brown.

What an amazing book, I've nearly finished it, it's been one of those can't put down must read books for me, I only come across a few a year and this is most definitely one.

Wow!

[mobilediesel]

Recently I finished The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Before that was The Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.

I recommend both books and all three authors!

[squaregoldfish]

That one is good, I would also recommend his short followup "Letter to a Christian Nation", it's a quick read.

If you want more in the same genre I personally enjoyed Christopher Hitchens' god is not great: How religion poisons everything.

Sam tends to have the best formulated and most well thought out examples and reasoning. He constantly manages to impress me and has I admit changed my mind on a number of issues such as pacifism.

He gave an excellent talk at the Aspen Ideas Festival recently calledBelieving the Unbelievable: The Clash Between Faith and Reason in the Modern World (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6734321991450996691) which is also recommended.

I hope he will do another book soon.

I bought this book (End of Faith) on the back of a lecture he did for the Long Now Foundation. It could be much the same talk as you mention, but you may want to check it out anyway. It's on the Long Now site (http://www.longnow.org/projects/seminars/) - there's a ton of good stuff there on all sorts of subjects.

Thanks for the pointers to further reading too!

Steve.

[Name change]

I've just (few hours ago) read:
Plato: Kratilos.
The next book will gonna be:
Georg Wilchelm Friderich Hegel: Phenomenolgy of spirit (that will be my second reading of it)
Then I plan on reading:
Gaston Bachelard: La formation de l'esprit scientifique: contribution à une psychanalyse de la connaissance objective (but not in French :D)
Stephen Hawking: Universe in a nutshell,
Michel Foucalt: Discipline and Punish: Birth of a prison.

[fifth]

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (http://craphound.com/down/download.php) by Cory Doctorow

[ukripper]

I am reading - The Painted Man (Demon Trilogy 1) by Peter V. Brett.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Painted-Man-Demon-Trilogy/dp/0007276133

my next book is lined up as :
I Am Legend (S.F. Masterworks) by Richard Matheson
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/1857988094/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

[DrHackenbush]

Currently:

* Guilty by Ann Coulter

* If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans by Ann Coulter

* Field Notes by Fred Bear

* The Dark Knight collection by Frank Miller (does that count? lots of pictures)

* OCA Oracle Database 11g SQL Fundamentals I Exam Guide by Watson and Ramklass

* The Complete Stores by Franz Kafka (may never finish this one - heh)

* Expert Oracle Database Architecture by Tom Kyte

Will probably re-read Virtual Light by William Gibson in a week or two. After that, I'm not sure.

[jomiolto]

1984 by George Orwell
Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel
And a random book on Islam that caught my eye in the library

[DrHackenbush]

1984 by George Orwell


That one is as relevant as it ever was. I need to re-read that yet again.

[bashveank]

that one was recently recomended to me. how is it?

Well I love it, Stephenson is a great writer, and the story's good. The book really shines once you get past the half-way mark, so keep that in mind.

[InfernalNeutrino]

Lucifer's Hammer (http://www.amazon.com/Lucifers-Hammer-Larry-Niven/dp/0449208133/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242998101&sr=8-1) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

My rate of leisure reading has slowed considerably since entering grad school...

[elianthony]

Back issues (around issue 105) of JLA, from DC Comics.;)

[Maheriano]

This.

http://www.visiblevoicebooks.com/phoebe/uploaded_images/year-of-living-biblically-762889.jpg

[Muffinabus]

Junky by William S. Burroughs and
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

[Chemical Imbalance]

Well I love it, Stephenson is a great writer, and the story's good. The book really shines once you get past the half-way mark, so keep that in mind.

It's a great book.

The characters really stand out; a modern samurai and a crazy cyber-punk skater chick.

Very entertaining.

[deep.tinker77]

A Feast for Crows, George R. R. Martin
The 4th book in the Fire and Ice series. Pretty darn good.:D

[PhoenixMaster00]

This.

http://www.visiblevoicebooks.com/phoebe/uploaded_images/year-of-living-biblically-762889.jpg

Looks quite interesting. Just how literal do they take it?

[urosg3]

Borislav Pekic Rabies, novel about Rabie epidemic at the London's Heathrow Airport.

[Maheriano]

Looks quite interesting. Just how literal do they take it?
To the extreme. It's a comedic book so he realizes a lot of the stuff in the bible is metaphoric but he takes everything way to the extreme and does it exactly as it's written. He goes by the Old Testament, New Testament, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and every book or magazine article he finds about religion on the way. So basically he:
- no clothes of mixed fibers
- no contact with impure women (menstruating)
- ties the commandments to his hands and forehead
- tries not to covet
- tithes
- doesn't shave his beard
- doesn't cut hair from his temples
and on and on and on.....

Very funny book. He has another one called The Know-It-All where he read all 44,000 entries in the entire Encyclopedia Britannica series, then went on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, then applied for Jeopardy.

[Neheb]

got a few pages left of H.P.Lovecraft Omnibus 1 At the Mountains Of Madness.

Probably going to read nr.2 again when I finish.

Also reading Paradise Lost, though it's going slow, and OpenGL Programming Guide 6th edition.

[Saint Angeles]

To the extreme. It's a comedic book so he realizes a lot of the stuff in the bible is metaphoric ...
my parents would disagree

im kind of reading a collection of the x-men classic issues (old original x-men)

sure its reading! its a graphic novel!!

[powerpleb]

my parents would disagree
No shell fish at your family dinner table then.

[LookTJ]

Crazy Love - Francis Chan

[Einsamkeit]

I've just finished A.R.Damasio's Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain.
Thinking about what to read next, might drift towards Plato and his Republic.

[gn2]

Winning Is Not Enough, the autobiography of Jackie Stewart.

[powerpleb]

I'm bringing this thread back from the dead...

Reading now: Henry James - The Portrait of a Lady

[Sean Moran]

Triumph of the Sun, by Wilbur Smith.
(finale tonight)

[Dobbie03]

A Pink Floyd biography, very interesting to read how bizzare and difficult Syd Barrett was.

[Sean Moran]

A Pink Floyd biography, very interesting to read how bizzare and difficult Syd Barrett was.
On that note if you don't mind elaborating briefly, any Celtic components in that aspect?

[Elfy]

Transition - Iain Banks

[powerpleb]

A Pink Floyd biography
Is it Inside Out by Nick Mason?
That book is great.

[Dobbie03]

Is it Inside Out by Nick Mason?
That book is great.

No its not but I have read that and yes it is a great book. I don't have it in front of me right now but I think it is called Pigs Might Fly.

Edit: I just googled and yes it is Pigs Might Fly by Mark Blake. I recommend it.

[Dobbie03]

On that note if you don't mind elaborating briefly, any Celtic components in that aspect?

Celtic components?

Anyway Syd became pretty violent (behind closed doors) to his girlfriends. He was most unimpressed with David Gilmours addition to Floyd, when Syd first left Floyd he used to go to the shows stand in the front row opposite Dave and just glare at him all night.

He used to sometimes sing songs when they played live, he attempted to play guitar when he could be bothered and when the band was writing new music for Saucerful of Secrets he would come in with a new song, show it to the band and would get frustrated with them because they couldn't seem to learn the song. Problem was every time Syd played it, it would be completely different. Read the book to get a full understanding.

I am looking forward to the Wish You Were Here part as I heard a funny story years ago about Syd randomly appearing in the studio and the story goes along the lines of something like this:

Dave Gilmour is talking to Syd asking what he has been doing for the last few years and Syd's reply was "Well, I have been eating a lot of pork chops lately, I bought a new fridge and it is full of pork chops" supposedly he vanished not long after that insightful tale. I hope it is repeated in this book I am reading now.

[Sean Moran]

Thanks Mr Dobson. I suppose I asked because Waters and Gilmore have long been heroes of mine, although I would probably veer slightly towards with Waters apart from the guitar, and yet much of my own personality is made up of Celtic/Spanish roots, and apart from the girlfriend violence, from what you just mentioned, Syd reminds a little more of myself than even Waters did when I was only 14 and learning guitar.

Anyway, back to the thread and I won't ask too much more but thanks for enlightening my understanding of Floyd.

---o0o---

Also sorry for the authentic spelling error on Gilmour.

[Странник]

The singularity is near by Raymond Kurzweil

[ukripper]

Stephen King's - THE STAND

[chrisjsmith]

I'm reading "Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools"

I got the short straw at work so I need to write a macro language akin to Excel's formulas for our project. Fun :(

[spupy]

"Metamagical Themas" by Douglas Hofstadter. Interesting stuff. Next is "Gödel, Escher, Bach".

[dmsynck]

"The House of Sand and Fog" by Andre Dubus III

[eragon100]

The great, cool, action manga series "Devil and Devil".

It's awesome :popcorn:

As for reading books: Fundamentals of computer science.

The last entertaining book with letters I read was "Japanese myths and legends". Yes I know, I am obsessed lol! :) I am even going to study the language and culture at uni next year :cool:

[Starlight]

"Time's Eye" by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It's incredibly awesome :D

[Jesus_Valdez]

This forum, well this answer.

And some Dostoyevsky and some Proust, just for the lulz.

[Bachstelze]

Jayne Anne Phillips - Lark & Termite

[nubimax]

An Incomplete Education, by Judy Jones and William Wilson

[powerpleb]

Herman Melville - Billy Budd

[TombKing]

Herman Melville - Moby ****

Rafael Sabatini - The Sea Hawk

Jules Verne - Around the World In 80 Days

And this forum.

[jpmelos]

I'm reading:

The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring
(begun a week ago)

Reading Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs too.

And studying for college, so I'm always reading chapters of different books as well.

Then, I'm going to The Two Towers and The Return of the King of TLoTR when I'm done with the first, of course, and to The Art of Computer Programming when I'm done with SICP.

I always try to read a fiction and a non-fiction (usually professionally oriented) book, that way I can keep a balance that I find important to keep the ball rolling...

[madhi19]

I don't read book anymore mainly because am too busy reading things like this thread! :evil: But I do listen to audio book all the time it the best tool for multi tasking.
Lately I been listening to the whole Harry Potter saga.

[Grifulkin]

I don't read books, never have, always been way into technology to ever stop using it to read. Also I read slow so it isn't very enjoyable. But I read the forums everyday and read basically anything that I am interested in I have probably read more pages worth of Wikipedia than I care to admit. Also I read man pages alot.

[nmccrina]

Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous With Rama

I've been on a SF binge lately. Read Ringworld, Foundation (vol. 1), and Snow Crash all in about two weeks. I was particularly impressed with Snow Crash. I was going along, reading about the Metaverse and thinking "Big deal, sounds like Second Life or even World of Warcraft", when I decided to look at the publication date. 1992. How's that for prescience? :)

[cariboo]

The Scourge of God, by S.M. Sterling

[powerpleb]

Peter Ustinov - Krumnagel

[JDShu]

The Count of Monte Cristo (late I know :D)

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

[running_rabbit07]

Network Fundamentals: CCNA Exploration Companion Guide

[edin9]

This thread.

[OmegaAI]

This forum

[JUSTINBEAIRD]

2 books off and on Mario Puzo - The Godfather and Hemingway - for whom the bell tolls

both i have already read re reading :)

Wish i had an ebook reader or a mini netbook that the screen rotated completely around :(

[Megrimn]

I just finished "The Google Story". Now I am working on "Microsoft Rising . . . and Other Tales of Silicon Valley".

Microsoft rising is a little dated (1999), but it explains a lot of the events in The Google Story.

[Starlight]

I've recently finished reading Firstborn, the last book of the Time Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It was very good, but ended with a cliffhanger, so I really hope Stephen Baxter decides to write the next book in the series.

And today I've started reading The Night Watch by a Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko. It seems that it's going to be quite interesting. :)

[cmay]

This thread!

:p

Same here .....btw I like the avatar. I even remember that it is a picture of your dog. great picture , say hi from me :)

[tacantara]

I'm bouncing between Ubuntu Kung Fu and my daughter's math homework. At this point, I've learned more about working with fractions (and I hope she has, too) than I've learned about the many uses for the CLI.

:lolflag:

[Marti68]

Just finished
http://www.amazon.com/Official-Ubuntu-Book-Benjamin-Mako/dp/0137021208/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255983150&sr=8-1

A good start for a newby. Lots of interesting history as well as pointers for apps and resources.

If it has any faults, it completely skips Linux weaknesses / omissions but so would any decent XP manual and a Vista manual listing weaknesses would need a small forest for paper.

[Jimleko211]

Just started reading The Canterbury Tales by Geoffery Chaucer.

[gunashekar]

i have 4 old books beside me
1. karma yoga by swami vivekananda
2. what do you say after you say hello - Dr. eric berne
3. Maverick! - ricardo semler
4. The seven day weekend - ricardo semler

while i read many new books these four are the only ones i keep. has influenced me a lot.

[chrispche]

PIHKAL By Alexander Shulgin.

[gunashekar]

sorry

[powerpleb]

The Origins of Postmodernity by Perry Anderson

[fenian]

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Adventures_of_Kavalier_&_Clay)

[Groucho Marxist]

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

[gnomeuser]

The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America (http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Factory-Ultra-Secret-Eavesdropping-America/dp/0385521324).

I've only just picked it up so I have no impression yet.

[Velvet_Man]

As always, I've got a few books on the go.

After discovering the comic genius of Christopher Moore a few months ago, I've been working my way through his library. I've ready Practical Demon Keeping, Coyote Blue, You Suck: A Love Story, and Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Now I'm reading Island of the Sequined Love Nun. The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror 2.0 is on deck.

I'm also working my way through Asimov's Foundation trilogy and the Watchman graphic novel, which I never knew existed until the movie came out (never been into comics).

On a side note, only one more week until the next Wheel of Time novel hits the stores. I can't wait!

[markbuntu]

City at the End of Time -- Greg Bear

[whoop]

Logicomix, by Apostolos Doxiadis & Christos H. Papadimitriou
http://www.logicomix.com/en/

[powerpleb]

Fredric Jameson - The Cultural Turn

[PhoenixMaster00]

Haha didnt realise this thread was still going.

Just finished reading Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds which was amazingly detailed but will definitely need another read. Really like him as an author (probably my favourite atm) so i am going to jump straight into Redemption Ark then Absolution Gap.

Also littered around me is Flood by Stephen Baxter, Rendezvous With Rama and Jack Dees autobiography.

With all my University work its a mystery when ill get time to read anything decent

[Joe_Strummer]

Speaker For The Dead - Orson Scott Card

[Bezmotivnik]

The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America (http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Factory-Ultra-Secret-Eavesdropping-America/dp/0385521324).

I've only just picked it up so I have no impression yet.
It's good. Bamford is The Man when it comes to the Cookie Factory. I read it a few months back, and I think I've read all of his books on the subject.

[Bezmotivnik]

Reheated Cabbage by Irvine Welsh.

http://img.infibeam.com/img/d838562a/027/8/9780393338027.jpg

...and

Richard Bessel's Germany 1945 : From War to Peace

http://images.indiebound.com/364/540/9780060540364.jpg

...and

Colin Cotterill's The Merry Mysogynist

http://images.indiebound.com/560/475/9781569475560.jpg

[futz]

Hyperion (http://www.amazon.com/Hyperion-Dan-Simmons/dp/0553283685/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258471168&sr=8-1) - Dan Simmons

Just finished Ilium and wanted more Dan Simmons, so I started the Hyperion series. Will have to buy the Ilium sequel (Olympos) too. Great stuff. We may see some movies made of these books soon.

[starcannon]

Code Complete Second Edition.

[ratcheer]

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell.

Tim

[epictete]

AYN RAND - The Virtue of Selfishness

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1e/The_Virtue_of_Selfishness_(centennial_cover).jpg

[bonfire89]

nearly just about done Richard Dawkins The God Delusion.

[NuclearStr1der]

The Divine Comedy.

A cult classic - got it for free from Project Gutenberg on my iPod Touch.

[PuddingKnife]

A Presidential Energy Policy: Twenty Five Points Addressing the Siamese Twins of Energy and Money

http://www.amazon.com/Presidential-Energy-Policy-Michael-Ruppert/dp/0578021560

Excellent book, looking forward to the new documentary based on it.

[drawkcab]

The Divine Comedy.

A cult classic - got it for free from Project Gutenberg on my iPod Touch.

I don't know if I would call one of the most influential masterpieces of Western literature a "cult classic."

[NuclearStr1der]

I don't know if I would call one of the most influential masterpieces of Western literature a "cult classic."

Okay... true.

But I thoroughly enjoy it.

[Crunchy the Headcrab]

Just finished The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson.

It's Book 12 of the Wheel of Time series, the greatest work of fantasy ever. :popcorn:

[The Real Dave]

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

A nice read, I'd usually read something more...challenging, but its nice to have something thats easily entertaining every now and then :)

[Bezmotivnik]

I don't know if I would call one of the most influential masterpieces of Western literature a "cult classic."


Okay... true.

But I thoroughly enjoy it.
I truly wish that the many valuable texts the various free libraries like Gutenberg have accumulated could be viewed on a decent and economic interface. It's murder to read for a long time on a computer screen, and that Kindle thing is breathtakingly overpriced.

Maybe some adaptation of a small netbook? I dunno. :(

[futz]

It's murder to read for a long time on a computer screen,
I hear that all the time and I don't understand it. Is your monitor that bad? If you're still running a CRT, dump it. Buy a decent LCD (they're SO much nicer than CRT), and a comfy chair. I read books on my 22" LCD (Samsung 225BW) all the time.

I use Tomboy Notes for bookmarking. Love that program.

[Bezmotivnik]

I hear that all the time and I don't understand it. Is your monitor that bad?
No, the whole backlit concept is tough on the eyes for anyone trying to read lots of tightly-spaced text, but especially for people with vision problems. It's a recognized issue of long standing. Actually, the old phosphor-green on black is "supposed" to produce less eyestrain than the current black on bright white light.

If they produced some shell to change contrast, intensity and background color to an ergonomic light green or something, it might help, but still it's just awful, no matter what you're using for a monitor, though a TFT is certainly better, all things considered. The inability to scale text size for comfort is also a problem.

The worst problem I have is in my recording studio where my big dual monitors make the text and control labels in user interfaces on my VSTs absolutely invisible. I've had to dump functionally good VSTs because I simply couldn't read the interfaces in the monitors' native resolutions, and they won't scale. :(

[Exodist]

What are you Reading right now?

This thread, duh!! :rolleyes:

[halovivek]

English Grammar - A university Course book

[Bezmotivnik]

Oh, and Robert Graysmith's The Laughing Gorilla:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_41PY6RT0bU0/StSOJbvRQrI/AAAAAAAABIY/M7Z2KWsWNlA/s320/38876327.JPG

You may remember Graysmith as the author of Zodiac and the subject of the excellent movie

http://www.soundonsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/zodiac_movie_dvd_lancastria1.jpg

...based on his obsessive experience chasing this mysterious killer.

[alphaniner]

No, the whole backlit concept is tough on the eyes for anyone trying to read lots of tightly-spaced text, but especially for people with vision problems. It's a recognized issue of long standing. Actually, the old phosphor-green on black is "supposed" to produce less eyestrain than the current black on bright white light.

This. My primary issue is unusually high photo-sensitivity. On bright websites I often CTRL+A to make things more comfortable. I configure my x-terms to light text on a dark background, and I hate PDFs because AFAI can tell, they can't be inverted.

[powerpleb]

No, the whole backlit concept is tough on the eyes for anyone trying to read lots of tightly-spaced text, but especially for people with vision problems.

I have to agree with this. Even the most recent, well made monitors are much more uncomfortable to read off than a paper book. I don't know what it is but I just find the experience of reading anything lengthy off a computer monitor more straining, less enjoyable and a lot harder to properly concentrate on.

BTW book I'm reading is Alex Callinicos - Against Postmodernism

[forrestcupp]

This thread!

:p

Good job. It only took 3 posts to get this response. :)

[ctyc]

Once a Runner by John L Parker Jr

The best novel erver written about running.

[K.Mandla]

What are you Reading right now?
This thread. ;)

[powerpleb]

AYN RAND - The Virtue of Selfishness
The picture says it all.

[Bezmotivnik]

Of the thousands (yes, many thousands) of books I've read in my life only three or four gave me nightmares. This was one:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9f/IrvineWelshFilth.jpg/175px-IrvineWelshFilth.jpg

This is a brilliantly written book, the story of a murder investigation seen through the eyes of a corrupt, sadistic and psychopathic Edinburgh police inspector on the case.

[mmix]

The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God? [Paperback]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0609807986/

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VT25N28AL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

[gnomeuser]

The Fifth Elephant, which I read to my fiancée
The Art of Possibility and Circle's End, which I read for my own pleasure.

[cascade9]

Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West by John Ralston Saul.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ralston_Saul

One of the most scathing books I've ever read. Well thought out, very dense, and a great book IMO.

In hardback, it would make a great weapon both physically and intellectually. I might have to buy the hardcover for just that reason (reading a copy from the library).

[Swagman]

My Mums second book
Going under the pseudonym "Joni Havel" (Hovell being our surname, Joan being mums middle name) it all started via a weird pm I received from a Linux forum. (This one)

Can anyone remember me posting about my mums first book ? Well someone was querying how to publish stuff and I mentioned about my mum... Google spiders did their thing and apparently some unknown guy sent me a pm asking if my mum was related to...so and so. (He joined the forum just to post the pm to me)

The so and so was 100% correct so I told him I would forward his pm to my mum.

Essentially... This guys dad was an unknown (to us) step brother of my Mums.

And he really is !! (Nanny been naughty !!)

Mums spiced it up a bit but basically it's truth.

The book is called http://www.abook2read.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/150x/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/t/r/truth-will-out.jpg (http://www.abook2read.com/truth-will-out.html) <---Click me

[malspa]

Shell Game, Carol O'Connell.

[Breambutt]

The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake, but I don't know if that counts since I like to read snippets of it on a regular basis.

[simpleblue]

I went through the entire thread and I had not read any of those books. I was hoping to comment on them...


I have recently read:

Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman
The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel by Margaret George
The Lady Elizabeth: A Novel by Alison Weir

and currently,

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

[handy]

"The Tibetan Book of the Dead" Evans-Wentz, 3rd Edition (with Carl Jung's psychological commentary).

[linuxforartists]

This has been a cool thread!

My picks:

Delivering Happiness (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxursecvI-s) by Tony Hsieh - the CEO of online shoe retailer Zappos talks about the company's rise. Half biography, half business book. I'm trying to get into web design, and it's been tough. This is an inspiring read, so I pick it up whenever I need a jolt of encouragement. The final chapter on happiness alone is worth the price of the book.

I'm a big fan of private-eye novels. I re-read The Travis McGee series (http://home.earthlink.net/%7Erufener/) a lot. He's a beach-bum private eye who untangles financial conspiracies and has witty commentary on the state of the world.

The Ben Perkins (http://www.thrillingdetective.com/perkins.html) novels, about a Detroit P.I., are also really fun. My favorite comfort reading. The reason I like the Perkins stories is because the main character subverts so many clichés about private eyes: he's not an alcoholic ex-cop who got kicked off the force, he doesn't have an office with a sassy secretary, etc. Highly recommended, but a little hard to find. Have to buy them secondhand online.

[Dry Lips]

Here are a couple of the books I'm reading:

Thinking and Speech, by L. S. Vygotsky

I'm also reading a retranslation of Aún by Pablo Neruda,
plus also a collection of some his best poems.

[cptrohn]

HA! compTIA A+ cert book.... on the wonderful world of the history and implementing Hard Drives... Needed a damn study break so checked in at the cafe... lol

[Antarctica32]

The wealth of Nations- Adam Smith

[mamamia88]

nothing right now but just finished "zombie spaceship wasteland" by patton oswalt and "in 50 years we'll all be chicks" by adam carolla. both good books.

[rg4w]

I feel like a fanboy cliche: I just put down "The Official Ubuntu Server Book" by Kyle Rankin when I logged in here....

[cblnchat]

Im currently reading Brisinger by Christopher Paolini. The third book in the Eragon series. I LOVE those books so much. Does anyone know when the last book is coming out?
But im reading some bleach manga on the side. Manga isnt really my thing, but bleach is awesome!

[sanderella]

Leading from the Front: An autobiography. General Sir Richard Dannatt.
Excellent!

[scouser73]

The Ferris Conspiracy by Reg McKay & Paul Ferris. ISBN: 1840183888

[Wood Prof]

For The Win by Cory Doctorow

[teward]

I, good sir, am reading a few non-fiction books, geared towards advanced Python coding tips. :P

Oh, and i'm reading this thread :cool:

[andras artois]

Currently I'm rereading The Shining by Stephen King, before that I was reading Milo's Marauders and Milo's Run by Danny King. Started collecting and reading The Dark Tower comics as well.

[malspa]

Currently I'm rereading The Shining by Stephen King

I don't think I've read that one, but I remember back when my sister and I were in high school she was reading it and she came out into the living room and told me she was too scared to read it alone in her bedroom!

[scouser73]

The Guardian Tech Weekly podcast

[madmax75]

Alastair Reynolds - Redemption Ark.

I highly recommend his Revelation Space books for everyone, superb stuff!

I also like Terry Pratchett, Iain M. Banks and pretty much every kind of sci-fi there is. Not so much of a fantasy fan, though.

[t0p]

How To Think Like A Computer Scientist - Learning with Python by Allen Downey, Jeffery Elkner and Chris Meyers. It's required reading for the MIT course "Introduction to Computer Science and Programming", which is available from the MIT website: videos of all the lectures, hand-out notes for the lectures, problems, exam questions... and, of course, the required reading books in pdf form. I think it's wonderful - I'm learning computer science and programming with an actual MIT course! Okay, lecture videos and no tutors are not a proper substitute for the real thing. But it's still pretty damn good. I certainly feel that I'm learning a heck of a lot more than I have from other online courses.

"MIT." Say it out loud. Bleeping A!

[Antarctica32]

The Divine Comedy.

A cult classic - got it for free from Project Gutenberg on my iPod Touch.

Great book, just finished it.

[andras artois]

I don't think I've read that one, but I remember back when my sister and I were in high school she was reading it and she came out into the living room and told me she was too scared to read it alone in her bedroom!

Haha, I first read it when I was 14 and it was scary/disturbing enough not to read it just before going to sleep!

Once I've finished The Shining I'll probably reread The Game by Neil Strauss.

[Antarctica32]

Communist Manifesto- Marx

It is very interesting reading a book that says that all Jews should be killed......
Not that I support it, I hate the idea of a communist revolution; I am reading it to better understand how things like the Holodomore and Holocaust happened.

[Gerontion]

Communist Manifesto- Marx

It is very interesting reading a book that says that all Jews should be killed......

If you're reading a book that says that all Jews should be killed, you'll probably find that it's not a copy of the Communist Manifesto.

[Antarctica32]

without getting too much into politics, it is a genuine copy.
"The chief mission of all Jews and other races large and small is to perish in the revolutionary holocaust"- Marx
When he says "other" races he is speaking not of other races besides the Jews, he is speaking of other races besides the Germans, the race he believed was destined to rule along with the Russians after his revolution.

[flaak_monkey]

Peter And Max FABLES, great book.

[matty-guy]

A selection of poems by Robert Browning, the final Dark Tower book, and the Monk by Matthew Lewis. Going to get started on 20,000 leagues under the sea when I finish all those books, and also the Thomas Covenant books.

[malspa]

Just starting Gulag: A History, Anne Applebaum.

[rich52x]

Just finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell

Great book

[johntaylor1887]

My monitor.

[sisco311]

Just started Crime and Punishment by F.M. Dostoevsky

[Antarctica32]

Just finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell

Great book

I agree, I had to read it for school.

[spupy]

Douglas Hofstadter - Gödel, Escher, Bach.

Just started reading it. I really liked Metamagical Themas, apart from a couple of things I didn't find interesting.

[Gerontion]

"The chief mission of all Jews and other races large and small is to perish in the revolutionary holocaust"- Marx

Could you provide a complete reference for that?


When he says "other" races he is speaking not of other races besides the Jews, he is speaking of other races besides the Germans, the race he believed was destined to rule along with the Russians after his revolution.

Apologies but that's utter bollocks.

[malspa]

Check this out:

http://marxwords.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_marxwords_archive.html


In January 1849, months before he migrated to London, Karl Marx published an article by Friedrich Engels in Die Neue Rheinische Zeitung announcing that in Central Europe only Germans, Hungarians and Poles counted as bearers of progress. The rest must go. "The chief mission of all other races and peoples, large and small, is to perish in the revolutionary holocaust."

Looks to me as if the quote should be attributed to Engels, not Marx, or am I reading that wrong? But the word "jews" isn't in there; if you Google it like below, you'll get a lot of hits to check out:


"The chief mission of all other races and peoples, large and small, is to perish in the revolutionary holocaust."

[Dracona]

This post

[rich52x]

@Antarctica32 - I had to read 1984 for school, liked it at first. but came to hate it what with all the analysis and essays it became synonymous with ¬_¬

[mamamia88]

An Idiot Abroad The Travel Diary of Karl Pilkington

[Gerontion]

Just to clear this up, the quotation - which is indeed from Engels, not Marx - in full is:

“All the earlier history of Austria up to the present day is proof of this and 1848 confirmed it. Among all the large and small nations of Austria, only three standard-bearers of progress took an active part in history, and still retain their vitality — the Germans, Poles and Magyars. Hence they are now revolutionary. All the other large and small nationalities and peoples are destined to perish before long in the revolutionary world storm. For that reason they are now counter-revolutionary.”
(“The Magyar Struggle,” Neue Rheinische Zeitung, January 13, 1849, from http://www.improvisedrevolution.com/?p=18)

Despite the bizarre scribblings on Glen Beck's blackboard, it's not about Jews and it's not advocating mass murder. Marx certainly wasn't free of 19th century anti-Semitism but inventing quotations to paint him as some kind of proto-Nazi is just ridiculous.

[sanderella]

Communist Manifesto- Marx

It is very interesting reading a book that says that all Jews should be killed......
Not that I support it, I hate the idea of a communist revolution; I am reading it to better understand how things like the Holodomore and Holocaust happened.

I never heard of the Holodomore before, thanks for mentioning it. I learn such a lot from Ubuntu forums.

[or3x]

And Another Thing - Eoin Colfer (The sequal to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)

[mmix]

Think Samsung

Korean: 삼성을 생각한다
http://www.yes24.com/24/goods/3684352

http://image.yes24.com/momo/TopCate80/MidCate05/7948073.jpg

For background
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/technology/26samsung.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[KingYaba]

Ah, like many others I'm reading Game of Thrones by George Martin. I am loving this book.

[handy]

Still the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Evans-Wentz 3rd edition.

A constant companion these days.

[malspa]

Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution, Salman Ahmad.

[Oxwivi]

"What are you Reading right now?" Ubuntu Forums thread.

[polardude1983]

"What are you Reading right now?" Ubuntu Forums thread.

I figured someone would of said this already. because I am also reading the "what are you reading right now" thread.

[mips]

Just finished Bangkok Haunts & Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Burdett)


The Sonchai Jitpleecheep Series
A series of crime novels, mainly set in Bangkok; they consist of 4 books so far: Bangkok 8, Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts, The Godfather of Kathmandu and the forthcoming Vulture Peak. They centre on the philosophical Thai Buddhist detective, Sonchai Jitpleecheep, and his meditative internal dialogues. Sonchai is a "leuk krung" or half-caste. He is the son of a former "rented-wife" (a type of prostitute) and a "farang." His father, a U.S. military officer, he has never known. Sonchai has spent much of his childhood in Europe and USA, and has acquired cultural insights. A born "outsider," he is also seemingly unbribeable, which only increases his alienation from his colleagues.
The novels involve Thailand's sex industry and the red-light districts of Bangkok. Sexual matters are part of the narrative, including the juxtaposition of often conflicting Thai and Western norms and mores.
They contain larger-than-life characters interwined with a wry sense of humour, and bizarre crimes. The crimes include execution by the release of a container full of cobra snakes, into a car where the driver is forcibly prevented from escaping (Bangkok 8), the theft of valuable tattoos (and their associated human skin) off the backs' of murder victims (Bangkok Tattoo), and homicide related to the production of a snuff video (Bangkok Haunts). Juxtaposed is the investigative nonchalance and Buddhist acceptance of an "arhat" detective who can earnestly meditate even in a Bangkok traffic-jam. Many popular shamanistic superstitions that have carried over into Buddhism in Thailand are explored. Past lives (reincarnation) and hungry ghosts also contribute to the atmosphere and texture.
Burdett has expressed interest in moving beyond the crime/detective genre once his Bangkok series is complete.




Still the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Evans-Wentz 3rd edition.

A constant companion these days.

What's it like?

[Chronon]

Cosmic Trigger, Volume 1: Final Secret Of The Illuminati by Robert Anton Wilson

[Wobblybob]

I've just bought a kindle 3 wifi version and am reading The Dreaming Void, Book 1 by Peter F Hamilton it's very good as is the Kindle which work well with Ubuntu 11.04 and Calibre.

[tumbes2000]

Reading Ubuntu Unleashed 2011 trying to learn

Just finished "Leningrad" about the Nazi siege of city of Leningrad during WWII. I have read a lot of books about Stalingard, but nothing about Leningrad. Just brutal story of survival and how so much suffering could have been avoided it the Russians had had proper military leadership at the outset of the war.

[fontis]

Radiology...

[Sam White]

Well, I don't read books as such very often. Do Arduino tutorials count? :P:lolflag:

[Brian0312]

I'm reading Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson. One of my favourite books.

[Phoenixie]

The C Programming Language by K&R.

[8_Bit]

I am currently reading:


Children of the Future by Wilhelm Reich
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

This thread reminded me that I have to go renew them at the library in a couple of days. :)

[MBybee]

Moses and Monotheism
Sigmund Freud

OpenVMS Alpha Internals and Data Structures: Memory Management
Ruth Goldenberg

[nzjethro]

Introduction to Econometrics by Damodar Gujarati and Dawn Porter.
(It's exam time for us Uni students down under). :p

[ve4cib]

Just started re-reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy a few days ago. Almost done the first book.

I've also got Robert W Chambers' "The King in Yellow" and the complete Chronicles of Conan on the go.

[Zlatan]

The Road Of The Ancient Lithuanian Religion- that was before Christians killed our priests

[leg]

Just finished the lovely bones by Alice Seabold and started the count of monte cristo Alexander Dumas.

[tomkat3]

Hamiltonian mechanics... did Asimov write a good book about that too? My father had a very readable general physics book by him.

[MBybee]

Just started re-reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy a few days ago. Almost done the first book.

I've also got Robert W Chambers' "The King in Yellow" and the complete Chronicles of Conan on the go.

Chambers and Howard - two of my favorite authors :)
My kids grew up to Solomon Kane, El Borak, and Conan (as well as the horror stuff from Chambers)

[ve4cib]

Chambers and Howard - two of my favorite authors :)
My kids grew up to Solomon Kane, El Borak, and Conan (as well as the horror stuff from Chambers)

I've got to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Howard, based on what I've read so far. Every Conan story seems to be basically the same, and he recycles his descriptions a LOT. Just count how many times the phrase "iron thews" comes up. They're not bad, but he's definitely not my favourite author.

Chambers on the other hand I quite like. I'm a big fan of HP Lovecraft, and he drew a lot of his inspiration from the likes of Chambers and Poe. Once I finish The King in Yellow I'm going to have to go back and re-read my collection of Lovecraft.

[MBybee]

I've got to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Howard, based on what I've read so far. Every Conan story seems to be basically the same, and he recycles his descriptions a LOT. Just count how many times the phrase "iron thews" comes up. They're not bad, but he's definitely not my favourite author.

Chambers on the other hand I quite like. I'm a big fan of HP Lovecraft, and he drew a lot of his inspiration from the likes of Chambers and Poe. Once I finish The King in Yellow I'm going to have to go back and re-read my collection of Lovecraft.

Thing about Howard - he wrote about 300 or so stories, but they often got re-done in other collections (sometimes barely changed). So... I often come across one and I'm like "Didn't I read this already?".
Gent from Bear Creek is the same - most was published in little short story/novella form, then chunks were recycled into other books.

All three of them have a really bad habit of overblown and recycled adjectives. Lots of cliches, too.

[uRock]

Just finished Dean Koontz's "What the Night Knows"