any avid readers out there?

maximus

how many books have you read this year? (i'm talking about non-science mainly)

what books did you read?

were they good? (i'm always looking for good recomendations)

Mentat

Well, the years only half-way up, but I've read:

The Bible (which I do every year, at least twice)
The Good Land (which contains a lot of maps, so I don't really count it as a book - it's more of a comprehensive atlas of historical places, with lots of interesting information).
Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett.
The Mind's I by Douglas Hofstadter (I had read this before, but not the whole way through, and I hadn't understood it all, the first time).
The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker.
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear.
Darwin's Children also by Greg Bear (it's the sequel to Darwin's Radio).
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
Le ton beau de Marot : in praise of the music of language by Douglas Hofstadter (actually, I'm still reading it - not quite half-way through).
I'm also reading Freedom Evolves by Daniel Dennett, and the collective works of Descartes.

Altogether that makes about 9 books.

BTW, if you are an SF fan and are looking for an excellent read, I highly recommend "Darwin's Radio" and "Darwin's Children".

Mentat

Alright, who voted that they'd read more than 20 books so far, this year? That's about my yearly average, and I'm generally considered a fast reader (about 530 pages every 35 minutes). I suppose I could do better than I have been, but I struggle to find even 10 straight minutes of reading every few days (very busy with other things - including studying some advanced Math, recently, which I didn't count in my list of books).

Gale

i just put myself in the more than 20 catagory... and i realize this is much after your post... but if your interested..

i've read this year-

The Incarnations of Immortality (7 book series)-Piers Anthony
His Dark Materials (3 book series)- Philip Pullman
23 Mercedes Lackey books
Mists of Avalon- Marion Zimmer Bradley
Order of the Phoenix- JK Rowling
The Celestine Prophecy- James Redfeild
Teachings of Don Juan- Carlos Castaneda
Catcher in the Rye- JD Salinger
Macbeth- Shakespeare
Hamlet- Shakespeare
The Blue Avenger and the Theory of Everything- Norma Howe
The Marvelous Misadeventures of Sebastian- Lloyd Alexander

probably a bunch more... but i tend to read series more often than not and so i forget individual books a lot.

anyways, you're a wicked fast reader... i'm hardly that fast. I just like reading a lot and usually i'd read about 2 books a week (actually i'd read like 5 one week, then take a week break, i'm sporadic like that, but it averages to probaly 2 or 3 a week) I'd sit at home after school and read the whole evening till i went to bed. Also, i was a terrible student this year and i often skipp spanish math and bio to go sit in the library of cafe and read. So it's not that i'm a fast reader... i just devoted a lot of time to reading this year... so far.

maximus

i haven't posted in my own poll, but i also have read more than twenty so far. i'll load them up from my home computer when i get the chance.

and 530 pages every 35 minutes! that's ridiculously fast! (about 15 pages a minute?) i read at a very average rate, but i read quite often (three to four hours a day in the winter).

wonderland

"To die, to sleep - to sleep - perchance to dream..."

Gale17, what did you think of Hamlet? I find it so vastly incredible; people question Shakespeare, but I find no hesitation in calling him a genius. You can pick up the complete works anywhere and find such beautiful verse, his language is transcendant. [8)] The Beatles were bigger than Jesus, Shakespeare's complete works is better than The Bible [8)]

Dagenais

Believe it or not, a large majority of people lie when asked this.

Just as a lot of people lie when asked, "Do you watch TV"? They usually exaggerate and say "barely".

How come? Does it make one's image smarter when they read, instead of watching Television?

I can truthfully say I read excessively, since my English class requires it, but I would much rather spend my time watching Prime Time sitcoms that make me laugh, like Seinfeld , Everybody Loves Raymond or Friends.

Anyways, I couple of the books I've read and enjoyed are Gambler, Crime and Punishment, Mice and Men (again...for school), those are the ones I enjoyed.

Otherwise, I enjoy reading science magazines like Popular Science or PCWorld for technology.

Tail

I've read more than 20, definitely. Why, here's what I read during the last week: I, Robot by Asimov, [don't know how to translate the title] by Stanislaw Lem, a science fiction stories book by Clifford Simak, A Bevy Of Beasts by Gerald Durrell, a science fiction stories book by various authors, How To Shoot An Amateur Naturalist by Durrell, The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. And I continued reading (still haven't finished) a science book. But they were all very short.

I don't usually read so much science fiction, just got interested in it now. Normally I read what could be considered to be classical literature. Bulgakhov, Hesse, those kind of authors. I've got some yet unread Kafka and Dostoevsky lined up to read next.

Tail

I honestly cannot imagine how someone could choose to watch sitcoms instead.

Dagenais

Then you should read more, your imagination needs work. [:D]

Sitcoms are hilarious. There is nothing I enjoy more than a nice Seinfeld episode at night. Seinfeld is my favorite sitcom.

Friends, Frasier and Cheers are pretty good too.

They are very amusing and the characters perform very funny antics.

Anyone who has sat through a Seinfeld episode knows.

Tail

Now that I think of it, TV is obviously addictive, at least judging ny my sister. She has turned into something I can describe as "zombie".

Dagenais

Researches say that TV itself isn't addictive, but the things on TV is addictive.

Things like The Shopping Channel, or SportsCenter.

What is wrong with that anyways? Unless she spends 6 straight hours staring at the TV, there is no real danger.

Tail

Mental degeneration. That's what TV often causes, in my opinion.

Dagenais

That is more of a myth started by grade school teachers and those who want to appear outwardly intelligent (though they are not).

People that say that are usually just ignorant, and haven't really looked at the television.

Tail

I wouldn't go throwing petty insults.

What exactly do you gain / learn from television, more specifically, sitcoms?

Dagenais

Ignorance, is not an insult if it is clearly there.

Mind Degeneration? Are you some kindergarden teacher, teaching kids not to be "Couch Potatoes"? Please.


Sitcoms: Ideas, jokes, writing, creativity, daily knowledge, life, and vernacular english.

Television:

The history channel: History? The whole channel is based on that. Government. A lot more than you'd learn in an American history class. Quite a bit on war too.

TLC: Probably anything taught in school and more.

Discovery: General biology, botany, astronomy, history, marine biology, forensics, technology and CS.

AP: All biology, excluding plant life

PBS: Education for grade school, languages, CS.

QVC: Technology.

CNN: Science and Scientific discoveries.

FoodTV: The science of cooking, and art.

There are many more on things like CS. Lucky for you, I forgot the channels.

Tail

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kenikov

Mind Degeneration? Are you some kindergarden teacher, teaching kids not to be "Couch Potatoes"? Please.

I must say I was surprised to see you're from Canada. I could have sworn you're from America. Hmm, I guess it's spreading.


Sitcoms is what I wanted (obviously, you can get a lot from informational programmes).

Anyway, I see you have quite an imagination. Mind mentioning examples for these (I'm especially interested in how one can gain "writing", and why one from an English-speaking country would need vernacular English).