The Books/Reading Thread

[Carcassian]

I recently finished Market Forces by Richard Morgan. A very amusing, darkly satirical sci-fi novel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_forces

Recommended. (Also very cheap to find).

 

[Perdition's Light]

her .

You're aware that J.R.R. Tolkien was a man, right?

 

[AchrisK]

So who writes some good thrillers? Like probably crime thrillers, but maybe also thrillers with weird things like monsters and maybe even some supernatural aspects.

 

[Einherjar86]

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. They write lots of books together. They have a series of novels called the Pendergast novels, some of which are very good.

If you haven't already, check out Michael Crichton.

 

[Carcassian]

So who writes some good thrillers? Like probably crime thrillers, but maybe also thrillers with weird things like monsters and maybe even some supernatural aspects.

Albeit that these are true crime, they are fucking brilliant:


Wicked Beyond Belief,
The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper,
Michael Bilton,
2003, Harper Collins, 512 pp., hardcover

Happy Like Murderers
(The true story of Fred and Rose West).
Gordon Burn.

 

[Death Aflame]

I evidently became pretty enthralled in The Children of Húrin, as I finished it in a day. I would definitely recommend this novel to any Tolkien fan, especially those who have delved into her lesser read texts, but also for the more casual fan as well, because it provides insights into the pre-history of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and isn't presented as a daunting task like The Silmarillion.

I wouldn't hesitate to say that it is best Tolkien work I have read. It is really, really good.

 

[skeptik]

You're aware that J.R.R. Tolkien was a man, right?

Of course, but I was typing that post in a hurry, so I blame it on that.

 

[DarkBliss]

Re-reading Roadside Picnic by the brothers Strugatzky. One of myy favorite sci-fi novels.

 

[Cythraul]

Currently reading Gödel's Proof by Ernest Nagel and James Newman. I'm also reading a bunch of random stuff about formal logic and deductive systems.

 

[tagradh]

Re-reading Roadside Picnic by the brothers Strugatzky. One of myy favorite sci-fi novels.

And I also read Children of Hurin in one sitting / enjoyed it more than LOTR or the Hobbit.

 

[DarkBliss]

I've been on a Strugatzky kick lately.Now reading their Monday begins on Saturday. They're brilliant writers. I got through almost everything I read from them in one sitting.
My other favorite novel of theirs is Definitely Maybe( A Billion Years before the End of the World is the original Russian title).

 

[Zephyrus]

I'm about half way through Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. I'm at the part where he leads an expedition to Britain. For all you Brits out there this is the beginning of your written history as a people.

 

[Zephyrus]

I went to the Harvard Bookstore today and picked up Nietzsche's The Antichrist & Twilight of the Idols. I'm already well into the former and loving every word.

I also bought a book called Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin.

 

[AchrisK]

The Shack was really cool.

Now Reading:

The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware

 

[Thoth-Amon]

I evidently became pretty enthralled in The Children of Húrin, as I finished it in a day. I would definitely recommend this novel to any Tolkien fan, especially those who have delved into his lesser read texts, but also for the more casual fan as well, because it provides insights into the pre-history of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and isn't presented as a daunting task like The Silmarillion.

i'm re-reading The Hobbit for the 4th time. Last time I read it I must have been about 12.

 

[arg]

i got The Hobbit for Christmas but havent started it yet, is it good?

 

[Black Friday]

Well, it's better than any of the other Tolkien books.

 

[panzerfaust666]

well, last book I finished was Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy. Awesome book tbh. Very entertaining. I could barely stop reading it.

atm I am reading Physics of the Impossible, Blood Meridian, and The Watchmen ( INCREDIBLE!!!)

 

[Cythraul]

Currently reading Quintessence which is a collection of W.V. Quine's philosophical work. It just so happens to contain one of the most ridiculous sentences I've ever seen, i.e. 'If if time is money then if time is not money then time is money then if if if time is not money then time is money then time is money then if time is money then time is money.'

 

[DarkBliss]

Ridiculous indeed. Especially with the triple if part(what the hell?)
I haven't done logic in a long time. How do you handle this stuff-- replace the statements with parameters and establish those causal chains?
A--->B----->A------>~B, etc.
Gah, what a mindfuck. Can't believe I used to love this once.