Topic: Books for 2011 - Discussion Thread

[pandamonium]

Books: talk about them.

I've got a pretty backlog of books, but I'm looking for something I can get for the Kindle app I now have on my iPod - and, if I do eventually get a Kindle (which I might), I should be able to put these books on my Kindle, if I've understood correctly.

Anyway, I'm looking for something sci-fi or fantasy, I think. I currently have about ten non-fiction books I want to read, but very little in the way of fiction. My tastes in books has changed in the last few years without me realizing it, as I've read more and more non-fiction over fiction. I do know that I like character driven stories, however. I think I'd like something that 'has something to say' and isn't just telling a story.

[Tatyana]

High-brow or low-brow sci-fi and fantasy?

High brown fantasy: Mervyn Peake and the Gormenghast trilogy

Low Brow fantasy: Charlaine Harris and the Sookie Stackhouse or Harper Connelly series

I am half way through Bad Science, and I think it is freaking awesome.

I think I would recommend it before Demon Haunted World to a newb.

One of our young scientists in the lab is reading it as well, she found it by accident.

Her boyfriend bought it for her as he said 'You like that science stuff'.

Bless

[Jack R.]

Try Off Armageddon Reef, by David Weber.  For quasi military sci fi, its very character driven.  Its the first book of a series with strong science vs religion overtones.

Also, if you want a lighter steampunkish fantasy, try The Peshawar Lancers by SM Stirling.

[pandamonium]

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll check those out.

The great thing about the Kindle app is that I can sample a chapter. I really really like that feature.

[branico]

Calculating God - Robert J. Sawyer
Mindscan - Robert J. Sawyer
Flashforward - Robert J. Sawyer

He's a great philosophical futurist author...

[pandamonium]

4. No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women, Estelle Friedman.

Any relation to Betty Friedman?

[kb]

The current pile of books. I've started reading four of these, finished none so far. Will transfer list to the list thread as I finish them.

Richard Feynman - Q.E.D
Lillienfeld, Lynn, Ruscio, Beyerstein - 50 Great Myths of popular Psychology
Massimo Piggliucci - Nonsense on Stilts
Mary Beard - Pompeji (Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town)
Grundberg - Kvantfysik (Quantum physics textbook)
Gamow & Stern - Puzzle-math
Allan Gut - Sant eller Sannolikt ("True or probable")
Luke Rhinehart - The Dice Man
Henry David Thoreau - Walden
Ian Srewart - Taming rhe Infinite
Lee Smolin - The Trouble With Physics
David Hume - Om Religion ("On Religion" Collection of Hume's writings on religion: The Natural History of Religion, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, Of Miracles, Of a particular Providence and of a future State, Of Superstition and Enthusiasm, On Suicide, On the Immortality of the Soul)
Plato - Skrifter, Bok 1 (Collection of Platonic dialogues: Apology, Crito, Euthyphro, Laches, Hippias minor, Symposium, Phaedo, Gorgias)

[pandamonium]

I've finished the first two books of Mike Resnick's Starship series. It's pretty good. I'm finding it similar to Firefly in a lot of ways. Not superficial ones like setting, but the tone and the characters remind me of the Firefly 'verse. The books are well-paced and entertaining, to boot.

[whitedevilbrewing]

4. No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women, Estelle Friedman.

Any relation to Betty Friedman?

Not that I know of.

http://ebf.stanford.edu/

Also I spelled her name wrong

[pandamonium]

4. No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women, Estelle Friedman.

Any relation to Betty Friedman?

Not that I know of.

http://ebf.stanford.edu/

Also I spelled her name wrong

I thought that would be too good to be true.

[whitedevilbrewing]

How are you liking Howard Zinn?

[pandamonium]

How are you liking Howard Zinn?

so far so good. i've been reading hitch-22 and my homework more, though. zinn's gonna take me a while. 

[KarenX]

For Christmas my brother gave me the book Blindsight because he loved reading it. I'm about a hundred pages in, and the premise is pretty interesting. It's a first contact story with an interesting ship and quite a bit of hard science in it. I am intrigued. Normally I would be angry to have aliens and vampires in a single story, but these vampires are perfectly biological and used in an interesting way and it's working for me.

[kb]

Crap, had to return a few books to the library without having finished them.

[whitedevilbrewing]

You can like check em out again, you know