Books you're reading now

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Bebop Man
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Bebop Man » 24 Dec 2014, 15:12

Read William Blake's "The Book of Urizen". Awesome stuff.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Volafortis » 25 Dec 2014, 11:16

Just finished Cat's Cradle, now onto The Left Hand of Darkness
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viscomica
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby viscomica » 25 Dec 2014, 19:39

I'm in the middle of 1Q84
So far so good :D
Bebop gave me another book for Xmas so I have plenty to read!
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Bebop Man
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Bebop Man » 28 Dec 2014, 18:17

Read Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Women, Patti Smith's The Coral Sea and Oscar Wilde's Ballad of Reading Gaol.
It's been a good year for reading!
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby korvys » 28 Dec 2014, 18:50

I just re-read Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear, for probably the 5th or 6th time. I'm boring like that.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Lord Chrusher » 29 Dec 2014, 00:56

James reminded me that I wanted to read Eric Schlosser's Command and Control so I asked for and received it for Christmas.

It is one of better books I have read recently. It talks about the (mis)management of the United State's nuclear arsenal though out the Cold War to today and the difficult problem of making sure nuclear weapons are always delivered and go off when you want them to but never when they are lost, stolen or involved in a accident.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Elomin Sha » 30 Dec 2014, 04:35

Hand of Thrawn duology by Timothy Zahn.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Metcarfre » 30 Dec 2014, 08:44

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby plummeting_sloth » 02 Jan 2015, 10:19

Oh... I love that one,Metcarfe!

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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Bratmon » 08 Jan 2015, 16:33

I'm reading Daemon by Daniel Suarez and loving it.

It has the most realistic hacking of any book I've read (except some technical manuals), and I'm always a sucker for a chessmaster that knows everything and leaves the reader to figure out its plans.
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Bebop Man
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Bebop Man » 19 Jan 2015, 07:59

Read Cathedral by Raymond Carver and Extracts From Adam's Diary by Mark Twain. Now I'm reading A Horse's Tale, also by Twain. It's the oldest book (as in copy) I've ever read, printed 1907.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Bebop Man » 28 Jan 2015, 06:04

Reading The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain. So far it's a lot like another novel of his, Double Indemnity: protagonist starts affair with married woman, both plot to kill her husband.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby korvys » 28 Jan 2015, 16:44

I am re-reading (cause who need new things) Neil Stevenson's Anathem, a book featured in the hover text of this XKCD comic: http://xkcd.com/483/

Real words aren't enough for you Neil? You have to make up a dozen new words per page? Sure. If it wasn't really interesting, I'd have given up by now.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby plummeting_sloth » 29 Jan 2015, 11:28

Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy.

It's... a dry read.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Master Gunner » 29 Jan 2015, 11:38

I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora.
It didn't quite live up to the hype of heard from others. It was a decent read, but didn't really strike me as anything special.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby AdmiralMemo » 31 Jan 2015, 03:42

Just finished the penultimate book in the "Star Trek: Vanguard" series and I'm not sure if I should just dive right into the last book or take a break with something else. So I made a Straw Poll to help. :)
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Bebop Man
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Bebop Man » 31 Jan 2015, 06:50

Finished The Postman Always Rings Twice. Fantastic crime novel. I'll be starting Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle one of these days.
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Metcarfre
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Metcarfre » 03 Feb 2015, 15:34

Capital In The Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Darkflame » 03 Feb 2015, 19:44

Just finnished Dave Gorman vs The World.
Pretty fun, but felt a little rushed at the end.

Id rank it above "America Unchained" but below "Are You Dave Gorman?" and "Googlewhack Adventure", (which was my favourite book in his "guy sets himself a pointless challenge" genre).
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Lord Chrusher » 12 Feb 2015, 18:16

In the last month or so I have read:

The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 by Margaret MacMillan

Covering the first years of the twentieth century, this excellent history recounts the environment, the events and above all the flawed figures that led to the outbreak of the First World War.


The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution by Francis Fukuyama

Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy by Francis Fukuyama

These wonderful two volumes chart the rise and fall of political institutions across history and the world. Fukuyama uses a comparative approach to try to understand how the institutions he believes are required for effective government - a strong state bureaucracy, accountable government and the rule of law - developed and why all three only appeared in Western Europe. He also compares countries to try to understand why some states have been successful and others not.
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Bebop Man
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Bebop Man » 13 Feb 2015, 04:49

Finally started Cat's Cradle, which I'm loving. I'm also reading The Carpentered Hen at the same time, an anthology of early light verse and poetry by John Updike, who likes to serenade inanimate objects and spin off witty nonsense from just about anything.
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Metcarfre
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Metcarfre » 13 Feb 2015, 11:12

Lord Chrusher wrote:The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution by Francis Fukuyama

Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy by Francis Fukuyama

These wonderful two volumes chart the rise and fall of political institutions across history and the world. Fukuyama uses a comparative approach to try to understand how the institutions he believes are required for effective government - a strong state bureaucracy, accountable government and the rule of law - developed and why all three only appeared in Western Europe. He also compares countries to try to understand why some states have been successful and others not.

This sounds really, really interesting. Long read? I'm barely 70 pages in to Capital, which is almost 800 long.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Prospero101 » 13 Feb 2015, 11:15

Just started John le Carre's The Night Manager. It's his first post-Cold War novel, and its themes of history repeating and men out of time are excellently presented.

Like most le Carre, however, it's quite dense. This isn't exactly light reading, but it's truly gripping.
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Lord Chrusher
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Lord Chrusher » 13 Feb 2015, 12:09

Metcarfre wrote:
Lord Chrusher wrote:The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution by Francis Fukuyama

Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy by Francis Fukuyama

These wonderful two volumes chart the rise and fall of political institutions across history and the world. Fukuyama uses a comparative approach to try to understand how the institutions he believes are required for effective government - a strong state bureaucracy, accountable government and the rule of law - developed and why all three only appeared in Western Europe. He also compares countries to try to understand why some states have been successful and others not.

This sounds really, really interesting. Long read? I'm barely 70 pages in to Capital, which is almost 800 long.


Yes - both are 600 to 700 pages.

I should mention that they are really well written - the prose is quite engaging.
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Re: Books you're reading now

Postby Darkflame » 15 Feb 2015, 06:12

Just finished Science of Discworld 3: Darwins Watch.
Interesting stuff, even though it was a little repetitive in some of the non-fiction bits. (I am already sold on science, stop preaching it to me ;) )

Not sure if to read the 4th Science of Discworld book now, or something like Dodger instead. Between that and "The long war" its the only Prachett things I haven't yet read.
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