What are you currently reading?

[franznietzsche]

Dostoevsky, Kafka, Camus, and Nietzsche all the way. I have my own library from which other people borrow books.

 

[0TheSwerve0]

I've put down Quincunx for now and picked up Dean Koontz's Watchers. Sooooooo scary! I started it last night and am half way through it now. I even missed my first class because I stayed up so late reading it. Great book, easy to read, and a suspenseful page-turner.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Now reading Greg Bear's Eon. Only a few chapters in.
An asteroid suddenly apears in the solar system and takes up orbit around Earth. Tensions are up between the US and the Soviets since the Cold War became a bit warmer after a nuclear attack that somehow did not turn into WWIII. The way that the Stone apeared in the solar system and neatly placed itself in orbit immediately set theories of aliens into circulation and both the US and the Soviets wanted to be the first to reach it. The US did in fact get there first and were startled at just what it was they found. Not only was the asteroid hollowed out and being used as a sort of spaceship but there were vast cities inside this asteroid aswell. Upon inspection of these cities it is very obvious that they were at one time inhabited by humans but all signs of life in the Stone seem to have disapeared over five hundred years ago.
The tensions between the US and the Soviets have taken a different turn. The Soviets still want the Stone and just might try to take it.

It's rather interesting and I'm still leaving bits out but it won't spoil the story really since I have already read all of this in just the first few chapters. Note also that this was originally published in the 80s, hence the conflict between the US and the Soviets.

 

[JamesU]

us finished the Da Vinci Code...very good. Angels and Demons was much better though

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I just spent too much money buying books on Amazon and there are still more that I want but they're REALLY expensive.

I ordered The Dancing Gods One, The Dancing Gods Two, and Horror of the Dancing Gods by Jack Chalker.
Each of the first two are two books in one reprinted. I heard about these a long time ago and forgot the name but fortunately Bystander knew which books I was referring to and told me the title of the series.
They're about two people from our reality that are sweep into another fantasy reality which is very much a spoof on the fantasy genre in general. The creation of our world had the effect of a 'counter world' being created that wasn't exactly finished and god had apparently left for his angels to complete. The world being incomplete there were loopholes in the natural laws which certain people figured out how to exploit and whom were called 'wizards' and 'sorcerors'. Apparently the chaos led a committee to form and try to close the loopholes with a bureaucracy of new laws which turn out to be rather absurd.

I also ordered The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers. I had previously posted about this book in another thread but I had confused it's title with another.
The main character in this book accidentally places the wedding ring he had bought for his wife to be on a statue and forgets about it there. Later he returns for the ring and finds the statue is not there so he buys a new ring and gets married. Soon after the marriage the wife is murdered by someone unknown. The man finds himself being stalked and pursued by the Lamia (Vampire, succubus, ect ect). In attampting to figure out what to do he learns that Lord Byron and Shelly both had similar experiences and seeks out Byron for help.

I absolutely love Tim Powers books. He is probably one of the very best authors I have ever read. His are the books that I want to get my hands on which are much too expensive. There are several of his older works which are only available in special limited prints which cost at least $40 some starting at $100. I just don't have the money to be buying collectors editions of books. Especially when I just want them so I can read them.

Other Authors I looked into were James Blaylock who is a good friend of Tim Powers and Robert Shea who co-wrote the Illuminatus Trilogy wiuth Robert Anton Wilson. I've never read anything by Blaylock. I have read two books by Shea called The Saracen which were quite good. He seems to have a knack for books set in true historical settings and events. The only others I found were a set called Shike set in fuedal Japan. They're quite old and long out of print though so a bit pricey. Shea never became as popular as Wilson did.

By the way Swerve Tim Powers and James Blaylock were friends of Dean Koontz. They were all a part of circle that included Philip K Dick aswell.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

us finished the Da Vinci Code...very good. Angels and Demons was much better though

Hmmm... Maybe I won't read that then. I read Angels and Demons but didn't care for it much.

 

[JamesU]

I picked up digital fortress, since my teacher wants me to read all the time...

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I picked up digital fortress, since my teacher wants me to read all the time...

You should read Tim Powers. Try out Anubis Gates first. If you like that then move on to Last Call then Expiration Date and then Earthquake Weather. It's almost a trilogy but doesn't really say on the covers so if you do read them that would be the proper order. I accidentally didn't read them in order.

 

[Azael]

just finished Space by Stephen Baxter and next I am going to read Absolution Gap by Alistair Reynolds

 

[Hootenanny]

us finished the Da Vinci Code...very good. Angels and Demons was much better though

I think that Angel's and demon's was the better book. The final 'twist' in angel's and demons was more concealed, I thought than the da Vinci code. Still can't wait till the da Vinci code film comes out though

I'm currently reading Chadwick's biography.

 

[JamesU]

I think that Angel's and demon's was the better book. The final 'twist' in angel's and demons was more concealed, I thought than the da Vinci code. Still can't wait till the da Vinci code film comes out though

I'm currently reading Chadwick's biography.

which twist? There were like 10

 

[Hootenanny]

which twist? There were like 10

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Severe spoilers posted in white;

Well, in the Da Vinci code, as soon as we met the prof (Teabing is it?) I have a feeling that he was the mastermind behind the murderous monk and that he wanted the Holy Grail and I'd read before the theory that the holy grail was actually Magdelene.

In angels and demons I actually had no idea who was behind the illuminati and that Moriati was actually a deranged psycopath trying to save the catholic church

 

[heartless]

I'm currently deciphering and studying works of Arthur Schopenhauser. Doing Counsels and Maxims now.

 

[JamesU]

I read Digital Fortress---stupid
I read Les Misérables(abridged) for school---Good

now...nothing

 

[heartless]

oh Yomamma... stupid tv shows, stupid books, stupid Pengwuino, what else? :)

 

[Pyrrhus]

Soil Mechanics Vol I by Juarez Badillo and Rico Rodriguez

Meh, i only read books about Engineering (mainly civil).

Althought the last recreational read i did was "Nombre de Torero" by Luis Sepulveda. It was interesting, but historically inaccurate.

 

[scott1]

I'am currently reading books about physics.

 

[fourier jr]

working on
2 textbooks which are both outstanding/classic

just finished
how to achieve true greatness -- baldasarre castiglione (ho-hum)
the revolt of the masses -- jose ortega y gasset (somewhat elitist in tone but otherwise outstanding)
a pocket mirror for heroes -- baltasar gracian (good but not as good as the art of worldly wisdom)
he who thinks he can -- orison swett marden (excellent, as to be expected from marden)

just arrived/ordered/started
meditations -- marcus aurelius
the miracle of right thought -- orison marden
the rebel -- Albert camus
the art of living -- epictetus
another textbook

 

[mattmns]

Almost finished with How To Solve It by Polya.

 

[HMS]

Discovery of Subatomic particles - Steven Weinberg

 

[J77]

I have just finished:

Never Let Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Which, although I enjoyed it , I thought it lacked something...

There were some good ideas about society and ethics, but it only scratched the surface; nothing was explored in any real detail.

Worth the read, but if you're after a more modern twist on the likes of Golding and Orwell, I'd look to Atwood.

The Handmaid's Tale & Oryx and Crake both fit the genre of Never Let Go, but do it so much better!

 

[jimmy p]

I have just finished reading Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls by Robert Rankin.

Funny stuff.

 

[Andy]

Have been reading all of the tom clancy books, and as much michael crichton and frederick forsyth as possible. Love thos kinda stories.

 

[Danger]

I am currently reading my monitor, specifically this reply as I type it. By the time you see it, I'll be reading something else.

 

[arildno]

I am currently reading my monitor, specifically this reply as I type it. By the time you see it, I'll be reading something else.

Damn. I thought of a reply like that just 5 seconds ago. Thief.

 

[Evo]

I'm re-reading "In Search of the Dark Ages" by Michael Wood.

 

[Danger]

Thief.

:tongue:
Ya snooze, you lose.

 

[arildno]

:tongue:
Ya snooze, you lose.

If you want to preen and strut about, you're welcome.

 

[Danger]

Thank you. I believe that I will... right after I finish my lunch. (Well, after I finish my post-lunch smoke.)

 

[meteor]

Dan Brown's "Digital fortress", about an unbreakable code able to resist the so-called "brute force attack"

I took up this book after I finished "The Da vinci code". Great ending! Who was to imagine that the skeleton of Mary Magdalena was buried in the Louvre. Maybe I'll watch the film, though some countries are pressing to ban it, for example India and South Korea

 

[Hootenanny]

Dan Brown's "Digital fortress", about an unbreakable code able to resist the so-called "brute force attack"

I took up this book after I finished "The Da vinci code". Great ending! Who was to imagine that the skeleton of Mary Magdalena was buried in the Louvre. Maybe I'll watch the film, though some countries are pressing to ban it, for example India and South Korea

Just spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet . I'm going to see the movie on Friday, can't wait!

~H

 

[Geographer]

I'm waiting on a physical geography book I bought off eBay to arrive. I wish I was blessed with patience.

 

[mattmns]

Just finished How to Solve It. Next up is An Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning.

 

[Astronuc]

Da Vinci Code is one of those books I will never read, nor will I read Dan Brown's other books.

I am currently reading "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" to my son, which is a re-read for myself.

Otherwise, I have a list of non-fiction and technical books that I am reading and a list of fiction books as well. I generally read books on history, human behavior, thought, philosophy and religion, as well as scientific and technical books.

 

[JamesU]

Why is everyone saying that they'll never read the Da Vinci Code...?