Books you're currently reading???

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Sundae, have you ever read Joe Abercrombie's books? If it grabs you let me know and I'll post you the trilogy

Ooh, it grabs me, it grabs me!

One of my presents this year has been a certain amount to spend on Amazon. Well, me being me, I wasn't going to say no. Also, me being me I wanted to get as much value as possible from the deal and ended up buying second hand books (it wasn't a voucher, just a personal agreement).

I am now the proud owner of the whole True Game series (9 short books or 3 decent length ones) by Sheri S Tepper. They were my first introduction to this wonderful author, and I really regretted lending/ losing/ donating them over the years. I won't tell you how much it cost to track them down, except that it was within the budget. I'd have paid twice as much if I'd been in a position to.

Just waiting for Jinian Star Eye to arrive - I have the 3 Jinian books separately as I did originally. I have Mavin's book in the same imprint I had, but Peter's books are in a much nicer paperback - soft pages, very easy to turn. Which may sound silly, but I like it when a book doesn't fight against me.

So if you want a book exchange Dana, just let me know.
I will be wallowing in them over Christmas though. It's like being a child again, sneaking off to read my Christmas books

[DanaC]

Ohhhh. Mavin Manyshaped! God I loved the True Game series!

I'll post out the Abercrombie books, they'll likely get to you after New Year

[wolf]

Wicca for One - Raymond Buckland

Inherit the Earth - Gary North

[wolf]

Killing Time - Caleb Carr
(not worth the time I spent reading it, think Stephen Hawking as Captain Nemo with a cooler version of the Nautilus, and twice as much costly wood paneling on the interior. Thin plot, stilted dialogue. Shame, really, because I had enjoyed two of his other novels, The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness)

The Copper Scroll - Joel Rosenberg
(one more and I'm caught up with the series)

Valkyrie - Hans Berndt Gisevius
(not impressed so far. He was a minor functionary in the German Embassy or something in Switzerland, claimed to have involvement in Operation Valkyrie, seems more like a self-serving memoir designed to make his role appear far more important than it was. Seems I picked the wrong book, but as it contains more fluff than stuff, shouldn't take me long to read.)

[Trilby]

I'm not going to listen to wolf anymore: RE: books. coz I'm spending too much money at Amazon.

[Cicero]

More Tolstoy. I have a mental aberation.

[Perry Winkle]

Here are a few of the non-technical ones I have finished recently (in the last two weeks) or are in-progress (and actively being read) at the moment:
The World Is Flat -- Geeze, Thomas Friedman repeats himself a lot.
Necronomicon: Collected Lovecraft -- A lot of fun stories. A lot of bad stories. Lovecraft likes semicolons almost as much as I.
Here Comes Everybody -- Too soon to tell.
Scratch Beginnings -- Inspiring once you get past the intermittent hubris.
The Chronicles of Narnia -- I've only read the first "book" so far. Boring except for one section that tickled me.
Putt's Law -- Most of the conclusions are "common knowledge" at this point, but it's nice to see the reasoning explicated.
My Job Went to India -- Good advice for increasing the value of your contributions and keeping your job.

The tech books I'm actively studying:
Programming Erlang (along with the Pragmatic screencasts)
Pragmatic Programmer
Making Things Happen (project managment)

I also found that you can download a copy of The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs for free. That made my day yesterday.

[Perry Winkle]

Oh, and Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers, is even better than the first two.

[rockerreds]

Philip K. Dick-Now Wait For Last Year

[wolf]

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle

The Chronicles of Narnia -- I've only read the first "book" so far. Boring except for one section that tickled me.

Not sure what the experience of Narnia is when you read it for the first time as an adult, but I do know that there's a lot of difference in the experience based on the order in which you read the books.

I take the position that you have to read them in the order of original publication (which means The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first). By starting in the middle of the story it's a better experience for me ... there are many things about the world that are left unsaid, and the mysteries remain mysteries for a little longer. If you start reading at the Magician's Nephew, you get the background first, and it's nowhere near as much fun.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by wolf

Not sure what the experience of Narnia is when you read it for the first time as an adult, but I do know that there's a lot of difference in the experience based on the order in which you read the books.

I take the position that you have to read them in the order of original publication (which means The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first). By starting in the middle of the story it's a better experience for me ... there are many things about the world that are left unsaid, and the mysteries remain mysteries for a little longer. If you start reading at the Magician's Nephew, you get the background first, and it's nowhere near as much fun.

I'd agree with that. I loved the Narnia books as a kid. Nothing in the world of books has ever quite compared with that world and that wardrobe.

[classicman]

Not even JRR Tolkien?

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by classicman

Not even JRR Tolkien?

Not even close!

[OnyxCougar]

I'm reading several at the same time:

The Middle Ages by Morris Bishop
The Heritage Guide to the Constitution edited by Meece
Indoctrination U by David Horowitz
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
An Incomplete Education by Jones and Wilson

[OnyxCougar]

Originally Posted by DanaC

My Dad's just bought my 10 year old niece the complete Belgariad. God I loved that sequence! I wish I'd never read it so I could borrow it and read it again for the first time lol.

I read the Belgariad and Mallorean (and Belgarth and Polagara) a few years ago, and I read it once every other year or so just to enjoy it. I introduced my son to them and he reads them once a year. Exceptional fantasy.