How 'bout a big bump for this thread?

Recently finished:


Now reading:


Queued up next, though I might change my mind:


Books!

This, enjoyed it a lot:

Currently 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'. Found out we had it .

Currently going through Pratchett's "Making Money" and Françoise Balibar's "Galilée, Newton lus par Einstein". Oh, I also got John Putnam Demos' "Entertaining Satan" as an on-the-toilet-read.

solaris is a good read, whats that schismatrix thing about?

i didnt have time to finish my current book yet.

I'm reading Holes.

Quote from dodo.ger :

solaris is a good read, whats that schismatrix thing about?

Haven't read it yet obviously, but here's a quick review from someone else:

Quote :

I became interested in Bruce Sterling's writing because he co-authored a book with my favorite sci-fi writer, William Gibson, called "The Difference Engine" about an alternative history of Victorian England. Sterling's Schismatrix Plus shows that he is truly Gibson's equal as a science fiction writer, capable of inventing a complete alternate universe.

The Schismatrix novel, and the short stories that accompany it in this edition, take place in the future, where human beings have migrated to space stations and circumlunar colonies within the solar system. The schism at the heart of the universe is between two sects; the Shapers, who are genetic engineers; and the Mechanists, who believe in cybernetics. The Schismatrix novel follows the character Abelard Lindsay through his several hundred years of life, first starting out as a Shaper revolutionary, then after his exile becoming a pirate, and eventually the father of a new sect called Posthumanism. The book is reminiscent of Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love" -- we follow Lindsay through his several re-creations of himself much like we do Lazarus Long in Heinlein's work.


The book has an eerie beauty to it; the posthuman universe, although melancholy, is not without charm. Central to the work is a distrust of ideology -- the blood feuds in the work between the various sects are extremely destructive of the characters' personal relationships; but Sterling's message is still positive -- all narrow sects are doomed in the end by the shock of the new future, and all old revolutionaries are outdone by their descendants.


The short stories that accompany the novel are also very good; and they are helpgul in explaining, in shorthand, the universe of the author. Sterling does not coddle the reader -- his universe is believable in part because he does not explain its cleverness in long narrative passages -- you discover it as you go. This makes the book's many turns seem as shocking as they are to the characters themselves.


An excellent work, a must for any modern sci-fi collection.

I've been picking Sci-Fi and Fantasy authors off the library shelves nearly at random and run across some great authors, well IMO.

Joe Haldeman -
Forever War, Forever Peace, Forever Free, The Guardian, Camoflauge, The Accidental Time Machine. All very enjoyable.

I also found the Fools' Gold trilogy by Jude Fisher (never heard of her before that) to be really well done.

Before that, I did the Foundation series from Asimov. He was way ahead of his contemporaries in terms of scientific understanding.

Jackie Stewart - Winning is not enough

Brilliant auto-biography, he has had an amazing life and achieved so much, but he has lost so many friends along the way. When Max eventually retires Jackie is the man who should replace him. Its amazing how much Jackie has done to improve safety in F1, thanks to his efforts I am sure dozens of drivers have survived when they wouldn't have before.

Quote from Danke :

I've been picking Sci-Fi and Fantasy authors off the library shelves nearly at random and run across some great authors, well IMO.

Joe Haldeman -
Forever War, Forever Peace, Forever Free, The Guardian, Camoflauge, The Accidental Time Machine. All very enjoyable.

Forever War and Forever Peace are fantastic books (Forever War moreso, but few SF novels can match it). Haven't read Forever Free yet, but I'll get around to it soon.

Just finished:



Good, but not as good as Siddhartha.

Not sure what I'll read next, but probably either



or

Book-free at the moment. Can't decide what to start next.

Maybe Willy Russell - The Wrong Boy.

I'm currently reading Making Money.

Though my cover doesn't look anything like that.

Quote from LineR32 :

I'm currently reading Making Money.

I have no idea if I've read that or not, now. Unless it's come out in the last 18 months or so, I've read it. If not, I must get it to read.

It came out last year.

Quote from LineR32 :

I'm currently reading Making Money.

Finished that one about a week ago - excellent entertainment. Currently I've added Henry James' "The wings of the dove" to the incoming "serious" queue and have been reading Pratchett's "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" as a lighter mood alternative which I had somehow missed out on for some time.

Today at the library, got:

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Today at the library, got:

Yeah, so this was weird as hell. Worth reading.

I recently just finished reading The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart. Amazing book. Insanely funny, disturbingly shocking, and makes some very interesting points about current psychiatric practices along with some interesting theories on freeing ones suppressed desires by the roll of a dice; the god of chance.
I normally don't read fiction but this book is certainly on my favorites list now.

Just about to start reading The Divided Self by Dr. Ronald David Laing. A study into existential psychology with the purpose of making madness and the process of going mad comprehensible.

A classic worth the fight is "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig. A love it or hate it book that is worth the read if you like to contemplate the different aspects of humanity

I found "Lila" (his second book) too much when I last tried to read it 15+ years ago. Might give a try again soon now I am in the head space to try it again.

Currently reading "Philosophy in the Bedroom" by Marquis de Sade, written in 1795. Makes you realise how little the taboo and hidden side of humanity has changed in 200+ years lol.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Today at the library, got:

I really liked this book.

Sort of a katamari of literary allusions, aphorisms, and backstabbery that somehow manages to develop genuine emotional impact.

Also it's very, very funny.

Bought this on eBay, haven't read it yet though.

Now:
The Belgariad: Part 1 (Books 1-3 of 5, Belgariad series) by David Eddings (just finished book 1)

Recently:
City of Illusions by Ursula K. LeGuin
(various short stories) by Theodore Sturgeon
Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (yep, not afraid to admit it, read all 7 )

Been meaning to read more of Gibson's work (only read Neuromancer), as well as getting started with Clarkson's.

Sturgeon is the best. I read a short novel of his recently, The Dreaming Jewels. And More Than Human is one of my all-time favorites.

I'm currently reading The Invention of Morel (pictured above). All I can say right now is that it's very messed up and ties in quite a lot with Lost.