h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Jack the Bodiless" by Julian May, about man's eventual evolution into telepathically aware beings and acceptance into a larger galactic community.

Rama

The grapes of Wrath - john steinbeck

"The roof of Africa" (can't remember the author)
"Visual basic .NET - Programming with the public Beta" by Billy Hollis and Rockford Lhotka

Stuff from Avantgo on my PDA - Economist, WSJ (Europe), new media press etc etc


oh and The Erie Times - so I know what is going on in Erie, Pennsylvania... not that I have ever been there or know anyone there but it is kinda nice to know what is going on in the environs of Lake Erie. I hope I get to go there one day!

Hrmpf - my Palm died recently, so I'm envious... Can't do Avantgo with a paper calendar...

SG V

I've been looking for a conversation like this for ages - I was just about to start one of my own when I found it.

Anyway, I've just finished Which Lie Did I Tell? by William Goldman, his follow up to Adventures in the Screen Trade, which was excellent.

I am currently reading When We Were Orhans by Kazuo Ishiguro which is even better than I had hoped, and my book in the bathroom is Martin Amis's Experience, his autobiography/biography of his father.

In common with lots of you I'm reading a few at once...

Sea of Silver Light (Otherland Volume 4) by Tad Williams

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

The City and the Stars (again ) by Arthur C. Clarke


Help!

*notes - will I ever learn to finish a book before starting a new one - doubtful*

The trouble is they're all really good.

Aurian, by Maggie Furey.. pretty good for the first half, but I haven't read the rest of the series.

Just finished William Goldman's "The Princess Bride" (one of my fav's)

Plan to read McCaffrey's Freedom Trilogy next.

Last few pages of Lord of the Rings, in preparation for the film.
Wasp Factory, although I know the ending.
Valis and The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick. Not a good choice for those who fret.
Reaper Man and Mort, because you can never have enough Death.

Unmentionable Marauding Pillowcase- you're writing a book? Snap! If you don't mind me asking, what's it about?
Perhaps this is the place to start a new conversation (what book are you writing at this time?)

the guns of avalon-- robert zelazny(finaly getting around to reading the cronicles)
she is the darkness-- glen cook (the next in a sieres i'm reading)
just finished children of the mind, orson scott card, and am waiting for the next to be out in paperback.
the fellowship of the ring, tolkien, and i'm surprised at anyone not knowing that.
there would be more only i just finished a couple and am actually trying to finish the 3 mentioned since i've been reading them forever.

Last few pages of Bored of the Rings, a parody
and Red As Blood by Tanith Lee. It's out of print in Britain which is an awful shame as it should be required reading for everyone who likes gruesome fairy tales.

Reading this one at the moment - absolutely excellent, should be required reading for everybody interested in social, political or religious causes:

'Gandhi, A Study in Revolution', by Geoffrey Ashe.

i'm re-reading all the Sandman comic books Neil Gaiman,
and The long dark tea time of the soul, Timeout guide to Amsterdam and
siblings without rivalry.
Fantastic. <{{><

had to do it again!

Jenny Diski: 'only human : a comedy' (Virago Press, London, 2000; 1-86049-839-6)

the story's about Abraham, Sarah and God - but please DON'T get put off by that - the book actually is about 'life, the universe and everything' - at least for me.

BRILLANTLY written.

I'm at her older novels now (I don't read fiction usually) - her style is SUCH a treat!

Helen DeWitt: the last Samurai [: a novel for anyone who has ever learned an alphabet and never wanted to eat an insect]

On the last few pages of Phillip Pullman's 'Shadow in the North'...

not sure what I am going to read next but I will let you know.

Ash : A Secret History, by Mary Gentle - An interesting alternate history of Europe during the 15th Century, from the viewpoint of a female mercanary captain. Really seems to bring out the dirty, superstitious Middle-Ages well. Woven in with it is the story of the 'author' of the secret history and the trials and tribulations of getting his book published. Well impressed. Until later....
BCNU - Crescent

Just finished 'Here I Stand' by Roland Bainton (I think) - a biography of Martin Luther. I'm part of the way through 'Madame Bovary' by Gustave Flaubert (Were women really such drips in those days?) and 'Maia' by Richard Adams.

The Language of the Genes by Steve Jones. Packed full of anecdotes, such as the fact that the Y chromosome appears to contain mostly junk DNA. Not a quick read - I have been trawling through it for 6 weeks now.

Also read "Journey beyond Selene", "FLU" and something about Mendel and peas.

CR