A Conversation for Ask h2g2

(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8621

Mol - on the new tablet

Husband rates them. He does dip in and out though.

I will reach the final Swallows and Amazons book, Great Northern?, tomorrow. So I need to choose my next series re-read. Decisions, decisions ...

Mol


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8622

Bagpuss

On Numbers and Games by John Conway. I was reading about surreal numbers online and decided it was worth getting the book that introduced them. I've reached page 9 and he's already proved that 1+1=2.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8623

Cheerful Dragon

Does it, though?

When I was at college a lecturer told us about a visit by Jehovah's Witnesses. After arguing for a while one said, 'Well, you agree that 1+1=2.' The lecturer said, 'Not always,' and went into the differences between adding scalar and vector values. The Jehovah's Witnesses beat a hasty retreat.smiley - smiley


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8624

U14993989

>> he's already proved that 1+1=2 <<

That may well have been the case but did he prove 1 smiley - shrug


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8625

U14993989

DOn't knock Jehovah Witnesses smiley - grr

I consider myself to be a grandmaster as I am the Witness of Jehovah Witnesses. smiley - shrug

Yeh it's over.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8626

Bagpuss

The Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks. The third Culture novel. I read the second, The Player of Games, recently. Must get around to the first. He's doing a lot of that clever literary non-linear stuff. I'm sure it'll make sense in the end.

Still working my way through Conway's book by the way - haven't finished already.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8627

Pastey

Use of Weapons is an amazing book! I love the Culture stuff, but that's probably one of the best!


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8628

hygienicdispenser


Use Of Weapons is my favourite Banks SF book, and second only to The Crow Road out of all his books.

I've just finished The Periodic Table by Primo Levi, and just started Byzantium Endures by Michael Moorcock, two more books on my sitting-around-unread-for-ages list. The Levi was excellent. I honestly don't know why I never got further than one or two pages before.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8629

Pastey

I'm currently (proof)reading 30Shorts, yes, it's another one of mine.

I did 30 short stories in April, one a day, and posted them online unedited, and sometimes unfinished. They stood as stories, but weren't the full stories that I wanted them to be. So I've since been rewriting, filling out and editing, and am now getting them ready for publishing.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8630

Sho - employed again!

Finished Pies & Predjudice and moved swiftly on to Through the Language Glass by Guy Deutscher. So far so brilliant, it's a subject close to my heart and I can see me researching it more in the futurel.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8631

Dave D'Agostino

Funny how it sometimes takes a long interval and a second attempt to enjoy a book. Same thing happened to me with 'Solaris' by Stanislaw Lem - tried reading it years ago and never got past he first few pages. This time I really enjoyed it.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8632

Dave D'Agostino

Reading 'The Cyberiad' by Stanislaw Lem at the mo.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8633

Cheerful Dragon

I've slipped into my old bad habits and now have five books on the go at the same time. The extra two are Into Africa by Martin Dugard, and Plague, Pox and Pestilence by Kenneth Kiple, which is an easier read than it sounds.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8634

Secretly Not Here Any More

Just started "Promise of Blood" by Brian McClellan. It's a "flintlock fantasy novel" - which is a term I've never heard of before. In practise, it has wizards who snort gunpowder like 80s Ad Execs snort cocaine.

Interesting premise, but the opening chapters have been a bit stilted.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8635

Secretly Not Here Any More

"The Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks. The third Culture novel. I read the second, The Player of Games, recently. Must get around to the first."

Don't bother. The first book put me off Culture books for a while. Player of Games and Use of Weapons are far, far superior.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8636

Cheerful Dragon

I have my old problem. I have five tree books on the go, plus two on Kindle, and I can't settle with any of them. I don't really want to start another book, but I may have to. I'm even having trouble deciding whether to start another tree book or e-book, never mind which one I'll pick out of the dozens available.smiley - ermsmiley - sadface


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8637

Sho - employed again!

Are you a "finisher" CD? just put them all down and start one new one. Only go back to the ones that really grab you.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8638

Cheerful Dragon

I suppose you could call me a "finisher". The reason I had problems yesterday was my mood, rather than how interesting (or not) the books were. In fact, all the books are interesting in their own way, I just wasn't able to settle to anything mentally.

Actually, Amazon.co.uk is doing a 'Remember '66' promotion. I had a look at The Godfather, a book I've been tempted by for some time. Read the sample, bought the book. Now that is a book I found it easy to settle with. (I also bought Shout at the Devil by Wilbur Smith, but that's replacing a tree book I know is good.)


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8639

Bagpuss

"The first book put me off Culture books for a while. Player of Games and Use of Weapons are far, far superior."

I've heard that, which is partly why I haven't worried too much about getting the first. That and the different books have so little to do with each other that reading them out of order scarcely matters.

Now reading The Private Patient by PD James.


(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?

Post 8640

Cheerful Dragon

I suppose I have to admit that my attempt to reduce the number of books I have on the go at once has failed. I was pretty successful while I was on holiday, managing to have no more than two e-books on the go at once. Since I got back, it's all gone wrong. Right now I have 5 tree-books on the go (Letters from a Lost Generation; History of the Middle Ages; Plague, Pox and Pestilence; Into Africa; The Adversary by Julian May), and 4 e-books (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Lady Penelope by Sally Varlow; The Godfather by Mario Puzo; The Horologicon by Mark Forsyth).

I'm thinking of doing a book blog. If anybody has done one, I'd be grateful for hints and tips.


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