What are you reading?

[tdvance]

I'm up to ch. 16 of Penrose's Road to Reality. A group of signatures is falling out, the spine's busted, and I'm in danger of losing pages. What's worse, it's an autographed copy (it was warn already when a friend of Penrose's borrowed my book to prepare for meeting him in Texas and then surprised me with the autograph), so I think I need to figure a way to repair it. I'm now in a hotel room in Princeton, NJ, book in suitcase since I can't quite put it down for a whole week. I'll try to keep it together for the week, at least.

[Gillianren]

If you can spare the money, you can probably find a bookbinder to fix it for you.

[tdvance]

That might be the way to do it.

[slang]

Just finished the Orion books by Ben Bova. They were ok, not much more than that. Too much "magic" turns in the story, IMHO. Now starting on a couple of Helmsman books.

[Buttercup]

Wanted Persepolis (both volumes in 1 book) in mid-February but reluctant to pay $25.00 for it.

Two days ago while in used bookstore found it! What was especially sweet was I found it by accident; just happened to turn the right corner at the perfect in-direct-line-of-sight angle. And with my trade-in credit paid only $1.41. It's in very good condition...and a very compelling read. Highly recommended.

[LaurelHS]

I got the first Persepolis book as a holiday gift a few years ago and then I bought the second one later. I also think they are compelling and the black and white drawings are an interesting way to tell a story.

[Gillianren]

I recommend the movie as well. Hand-drawn. Lovely. I still think it should have won the Oscar.

[Buttercup]

I got the first Persepolis book as a holiday gift a few years ago and then I bought the second one later. I also think they are compelling and the black and white drawings are an interesting way to tell a story.

Yes. She has a very unique style. It's also given me a better grasp of Iranian culture and history. A friend of ours, Cyrus, immigrated here from Tehran in the early 1980s. He's now probably 60 and we've not seen him since 2004(?). A very gracious and interesting man. I've been curious to know more, besides what Cyrus would share about his homeland.

[Buttercup]

I recommend the movie as well. Hand-drawn. Lovely. I still think it should have won the Oscar.

I want to see it! That's on my immediate to-do list.

[Spoons]

Just yesterday I received my copy of Stephen Colbert and Philosophy: I am Philosophy (And so can you!).

I'm a big fan of anything Colbert, so I thought I'd give it a crack.

[megrfl]

I began and finished Little Children this past Sunday. A six hour read. I like the movie, so I thought I would see what I was missing/or not from the book. The movie has a better ending.

[geonuc]

I recommend the movie as well. Hand-drawn. Lovely. I still think it should have won the Oscar.

Yes, I liked it as well.

[Buttercup]

I've made a return to 18th century "Enlightenment" philosophy and biographies. I absolutely adore that time period.

Currently I'm reading Marie Antoinette by Evelyne Lever [2000] and The Censoring of Diderot's 'Encyclopedie' & the Re-Established Text by Gordon & Torrey [1947]. Wonderful.

[Gillianren]

I've just finished Changes, the latest Dresden, and am still a little overwhelmed. If anyone has read it and wants to discuss the end, PM me!

I will, after taking a moment to breathe, be starting Voodoo Histories: The Role of Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History, by David Aaronovitch.

[Paul Beardsley]

I will, after taking a moment to breathe, be starting Voodoo Histories: The Role of Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History, by David Aaronovitch.

I was looking at that yesterday in a bookshop. The first thing I did was check the index for the Apollo project, and found he was discussing it on the first two pages (but nowhere else). So apparently this is what inspired the book, but the book isn't about the supposed hoax.

Interestingly, because it is obviously impossible to maintain a conspiracy involving thousands of people over several decades, the author doesn't worry about trivial details like the flag fluttering. To his mind, it is clear that the Moon landings happened as reported; the fact that there is a small number of of slightly-hard-to-explain bits does not cast any doubt whatsoever.

I think it is right that people on BAUT (and similar places) continue to address apparent "anomalies", but this is mainly because they are something that many of us find interesting, and I don't think I'm alone in having learnt a lot from the explanations given by Jay, Jason and others. But it is good to be reminded that the weight of evidence comes down so firmly on the side of the mainstream account of Apollo that an intelligent person will favour the truth regardless of the fiddly bits.

[Gillianren]

Honestly, that's about as far as I've gotten. (I'm reading Dilbert to decompress.) It is the one argument you don't really need scientific information for. It does, however, irritate me that he's going with "of course I believe it; I remember the landings!" Because no one arguing, say, 9/11 conspiracies was old enough to remember watching the planes . . . oh, wait.

[Van Rijn]

I've just finished Changes, the latest Dresden, and am still a little overwhelmed. If anyone has read it and wants to discuss the end, PM me!

General question: Did you like the book?

I didn't realize there was a new Dresden book out. I'd been getting tired of the formula, but from the bits I see online it appears he's throwing in some fairly big plot complications to try to freshen things up a bit. The title sounds a bit too obvious, though.

[TJMac]

I started reading Robin Hobb's "The Soldier Son" series. Very quickly, I found a rather marked dislike for the main character. Stuffy, pompous, unimaginative to just name a few. Yet I labor on, hoping things will improve, as I liked some of her previous work.

Maybe if you have to push your way through, its not worth reading?

TJ

[Gillianren]

General question: Did you like the book?

I didn't realize there was a new Dresden book out. I'd been getting tired of the formula, but from the bits I see online it appears he's throwing in some fairly big plot complications to try to freshen things up a bit. The title sounds a bit too obvious, though.

Yes, the plot complications get massive. At the appearance of one character, my response was "Oh, come on!" And for once in my life, I did rather find myself hoping for "all a dream." For all that, though, you should know that I checked it out of my local library at perhaps one in the afternoon yesterday and finished it well before bed, despite the fact that I actually had things to do yesterday, though that did include gushing to my therapist that it had come in. I think she has to wait for her son-in-law to be done with her daughter's copy before she gets to read it.

[Buttercup]

Marie Antoinette by Evelyne Lever.

The Age of Louis XV by Hamlyn Press (1969).

[Parrothead]

Finally finishing the Victor O'Reilly books. Hard to keep up with reading with hockey playoffs and catching up with shows taped during the week. Bought a mix of new and used books over the past week. Next on the to read list is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson. I'll probably get around to seeing the recently released film based on the book, as well.

[uncommonsense]

I'm not much of a reader other than non-fiction. I was glancing at this thread the other day and saw a title that caught my eye in tdvance post: The Road to Reality. So far......amazing! It's written in a style that's kind of "math, physics, and reality for "almost Dummies", and for "not quite Geniuses". Once I start reading it is very hard to stop.

[geonuc]

OK, I admit it; I have a problem. I can't seem to stop buying books. Despite very full 'to be read' shelves, I bought three more today:

The History of the Medieval World, Susan Wise Bauer. I liked her history of the ancient world and couldn't resist.
Carrion Comfort, Dan Simmons
Ilium, Dan Simmons. After reading The Terror, I want more Dan Simmons.

[Spoons]

I think I've stepped on the same dirty needle, geonuc, as I keep getting more books and am struggling to get through them all.

I've been reading very little since I moved into the house I'm currently living in, so when my dad asked if I'd like to come stay with him for a fortnight I jumped at the opportunity - I think the change of scenery will really help me to do more reading and change my recent habits. My hope is that when I get back to the other house I'll continue reading plenty.

Being the optimistic type, I think I'll use my Planet Books voucher I got back on my last birthday to grab a copy of The Road To Reality, since I've been told about it many times recently on here and it does sound like a good read.

I'm currently chewing through The Godfather: The Lost Years by Mark Winegardner. One of my friends dads lent it to me, and I was already reading something else (several other books actually) but I feel obliged to knock it off and get it back to him.

[Gillianren]

To my delight, the conspiracy theorist idiot who penciled a few notations in the margins at the beginning of Voodoo Histories about how the author is an idiot for not buying into Kennedy conspiracism seems to have stopped commenting or else stopped reading. I'm probably halfway or better through the assassinations chapter, and nothing yet.

[Dgennero]

Currently I'm reading the historical novel Sarum.
More than a thousand pages and exhausting in more than one way

[slang]

Just finished the Helmsman Saga up to The Siege. Nice read, but... many things in there of the "irk" category. It's a story of a guy from an unprivileged background, ultimately achieving great things and acquiring high status, as a helmsman, I guess mainly a 'future' fighter pilot.

Here be spoilers! Somewhat.

Some of the 'irks': several times almost everybody dies, except the hero, and his friends. So often that it becomes annoying. Even when he's in his 40's, only the slightest compliment anyone pays him makes his cheeks burn... That's not how fighter pilots are. The pilots I've met fully expected every compliment, and probably in their mind reacted to such as "well, of course it was a good landing, I don't do bad ones!". 40ish years old, and the slightest hint of femininity makes his cheeks burn in embarrassment as well. Right. Capable of defeating fleets of enemies, but a little Nipplegate makes him stammer like a 12 year old adolescent. There's an alien race playing an important role, and they are bears. Well, bears that speak, and are great at engineering. Fine. Nice premise. But... all names and terms and language associated with the bears look suspiciously like Russian. Gah, how cheap! And finally, the author has some kind of urge to think up and assign names to pretty much everything that can be named. Every spaceship gets a name. Every captain is named. Even if those people or ships hardly play any significant role. To name every functioning part of his imagined Hyperdrive. Including the terms on the checklist. Even when it plays no role in the story whatsoever, except to enable the author to show that he can write down the dialogue for spacecraft take off and landing procedures.. that hardly ever matter to the story. Too much detail!

Still... the story was nice enough to read, despite some predictable turns. Still wanted to find out how the story would go, what miracle would happen this time to alleviate the hopeless situation.

[Spoons]

Bears you say? Alien bears? Robots too? Wowsers.

Has anyone here read the Millenium Trilogy books by Stieg Larsson? I'm not usually big on fiction, but my Dad has mentioned them several times in the last few days - I'm interested in a second opinion.

If one person likes something it could be random chance, but if two like it then it must be good. That's how I discovered Aqua (the band).

[SkepticJ]

Rereading The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson.

[LaurelHS]

I just finished reading The Touchstone: Poems New and Selected by Robyn Sarah. But I have to take it back to the library soon or it will be overdue.