I never do #askhubski, but this is always something I like to ask people, especially people I've recently met.
I'm reading Their Finest Hour, by Churchill right now. It's the second of a six book series he wrote about his experience as PM during WWII. It's incredible, and I feel it's a privilege to hear a personal account of such a perspective. Of course, I'm not assuming truth, but it's full of correspondences that are about as significant and unique as you can get in modern history. If you are a fan of history, they are a must read.
Everyone always loves to add to their list. What are you reading?
I'd say start with Foundation if you want a gigantic space epic spanning hundreds of thousands of years and light years but start with I, Robot if you want a series of short stories about his famous 3 laws of robotics. They sort of go in opposite directions, one out into space, the other into the logic or a purely logical being, both good, but very different feeling.
I just finished The Caves of Steel. I read it based on a high recommendation from a coworker that said this is the book to start on with Asimov. In the end, I thought it was a horrible book. It's been a long time since I've ready Hardy Boys, but I kept feeling that it was reminiscent of that series. I thought the story was bland. The environment wasn't interesting. The mystery wasn't complicated in any sense. I would have been OK with those things, if only the characters were interesting. If anything, I disliked the characters, but not enough so that it made me connect with them even on a negative level. The one redeeming value I gave the book was that it was short enough that I didn't feel like I lost a significant part of my life by reading it. I probably won't go on to read any more Asimov, but I am still curious because I see comments like "Greatest science fiction of all time" when Asimov comes up.
Asimov wrote a lot. Extremely prolific. A lot of it isn't worth your time, but Foundation is one of the high points. A lot of his work, like Heinlein's, seems dated since he wrote it so early in the technological revolution (that we're still in).
Cheers, its the best epic story that I know of. Touches upon some great philosophical sentiments and has bits and pieces of everything I wanted in a good series
Absolutely fantastic series. I won't ruin anything for you, but just know that it keeps getting better!
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin, part of the series A Song of Ice and Fire which HBO's Game of Thrones is based on. I am really loving it so far. I'm really just excited to finally start reading things that haven't already happened in the show.
Agreed. I'm still on the first book, but it's so descriptive and amazing. I highly recommend it to everyone
It is way more descriptive, totally worth it. The first one felt really close to the show, but A Clash of Kings actually deviates from the show a bit. That really kept me reading and I can only imagine all the things I'm still missing!
I'm in the middle of the first book after watching the series on tv, brilliant story
I just started re-reading the series after getting through the last released book A Dance With Dragons (ADWD) a few months ago. While I have some issue with how GRRM writes stylistically, I am amazed at his brilliance in weaving plot, position, power, and deep realistic characters together flawlessly. What truly convinces me of his genius on my reread is just how early on he foreshadows and sets things up with little current or historic details or off hand comments that can be read in multiple ways once you know where things are going. I'm sure there are things that's he foreshadowed in the first book that haven't even happened yet as of ADWD. I'm very much looking forward to the last two books.
I think calling you an avid reader would be a bit of an understatement.
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Truth be told, I'm not really that far into it. I'm enjoying it though. There is something about it that I just can't quite... put into words? I don't know. Always been a reader of sci-fi and fantasy and never really touched on classic literature. So I figured I might as well start somewhere.
Crime and Punishment is one of my favorite books (and I also started off my reading ventures as a sci-fi only kid). I tried Karamazov but couldn't really get into it even though I heard it's great. It felt too much like a soap opera to me. So if it's not your thing, I'd still give Dostoevsky a chance with C&P.
I was reading that last year, but then I got busy and put it down for a while. I plan on picking it back up because I really love everything I've read by him. Right now I'm reading The House of the Dead by Dostoevsky, which is based on his time in Siberian labor camps.
Carl Sagan played no small part in my becoming a scientist. Broca's Brain was the book that turned me on to him. I'd highly recommend it. DHW was fantastic as well. I think Cosmos is one of the few books of his that I haven't read. I'll have to pick it up. A denser, but interesting read is Intelligent Life in the Universe, a book where Sagan expands upon a Russian scientist's theories on ET intelligence.
I'm working my way through Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar. It's a challenging book. But I get the sense that it will be a rewarding one too. For those who've read the book or heard about it, I'm currently attempting the linear plot (Book 1). Once I'm done with that, I will make an attempt at the non-linear plot (Book 2). I will probably take a break from this very challenging book for a while and read Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian with the guys over at the Book Club. Looking forward to that as well.
I'm actually doing the opposite, as Hopscotch is next on my list and I have already read Blood Meridian. I love McCarthy and wish I could read BM for the first time with a group, it's absolutely fantastic and brutal. Any suggestions on Hopscotch?
I'm not even close to half-way through, so I don't know if I'm qualified to advise. The only advice I can give is the same I would give anyone who wants to read Cortazar or Joyce or anything similar. You have to be willing to suspend disbelief. Like actively be willing to allow the author to take certain liberties with language and reality. In certain cases, this is easier; like when you are reading something closer to your version of reality. When it comes to this novel, I've had to actively do this. Let's see if there's a reward at the end of it. Suggestions on Blood Meridian would be much appreciated too.
Very well put, I keep finding myself coming back "stream-of-consciousness"-y lit and post modern ramblings all the time, so I am used to it by now. I do as always find myself actively trying to string along a narrative that makes sense in my own headspace, which can be somewhat debilitating for me at times. I have a feeling Hopscotch may similar to The Savage Detectives, which I enjoyed greatly, but I'll find out soon enough. Blood Meridian to me is literally just penultimate McCarthy, everything you've seen before, in a way, done better than you have ever seen. It's so amazingly well executed. There are parts that seem like a chore or mundane, but just soak them in, because they are absolutely vital.
I'm 200 pages into Bill Bryson's Made in America but it's quite difficult to continue as it isn't what I expected. Much more language focused, and while I like some linguistics from time to time, he has parts of the book which feel like he's summing up all the different permutations of American English. The problem is that I adore his storytelling method (it's what hooked me into A Short History Of Nearly Everything) but there's too much stuff around the great stories. I'm having a hard time battling through the boring parts for the good parts. Recently I finished Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr Feynman which is filled with such lovely stories. I'm also reading James Howard Kunstler's Geography of Nowhere which is more relevant to my field of study. It's basically a rant on the demise of public space and the suburbs of America. Very anecdotal but nice to read. When I feel like reading a short essay I grab Hitchens Arguably. I should be reading more of these three books but my free time is spent more with friends and on the Web that I rarely take the time to sit down and read.
Yes, I'm really liking it! I live in the Netherlands and we have a long and interesting history of urban planning. For instance, there is a legal designation plan for every square foot within the nation borders. Every feature of the land has a plan and is thorougly mapped. My favourite example of this is the Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (Recent Height Data Netherlands). The entire country was divided in cells of 1,5ft by 1,5 ft. Using LiDAR lasers, they mapped the height of every cell (8 height points per square meter!). The total dataset contains 135 billion points, effectively mapping the entire country. This is how that looks like in 3d! Because of this dataset, they've been able to find patterns that were hidden before, such as old medieval wall structures buried in a field. I've had the chance to see this data displayed in a large 3D theatre. The level of detail is absolutely breathtaking!
I just finished reading Gore Vidal's 1876. The novel isn't bad, but I personally found it a chore to read through. I guess if you really like novels where a lot of political intrigue and backdoor deals and conspiracies are about, then the novel is for you, but just saying it like that makes it sound more interesting than it is. A good majority is spent on I guess you could say "world-building". He really puts you into the US ca. 1876 with guest appearances from various people of those times like Mark Twain (Who was cast in a less than friendly light by Vidal, although that might have been just the perspective of the protagonist) My issue was probably the fictional characters were not as interesting as the real historical characters (With the exception of Emma, I guess), but the entire story focuses on the fictional characters with the historical characters being a backdrop of sorts to the times. One thing though: If the novel is any way accurate to history, then things haven't changed for the US. Corruption seems to be quite the American tradition. I was going to read Vidal's Burr next, but I got so drained from 1876 that I'm putting that on the backburner for quite a while. I don't hate it, but I wouldn't say I liked it either. It's something I read and oftentimes forced myself to read. The last chapters were really great though, as it was all about the election and the whole mess surrounding it. ... Next on my to-read list is American Gods. I haven't started it yet, but I'm excited, as it's my first foray into his works. Hopefully it doesn't turn out like my foray into Vidal and I end up really liking him.
American Gods will blow your mind. I should read 1876, that sounds right up my alley. Just need to finish reading Team of Rivals first.
Agreed - American Gods is one of those books where, 100 pages in, you just know you're in the hands of a master story-teller. It's a good feeling. The graphic novel series "Sandman" is also worth a look, if you're a Gaiman fan.
The Wool Omnibus series by Hugh Howey. It is everything that science-fiction should be. Attention to every little detail, a sense of realism and connection to a world fundamentally different than ours, and developed characters with believable thoughts and actions. The writing impresses me in part because it was self-published through Amazon Kindle Direct. The story's success could indicate a shift in the way we are exposed to new literature, which is exciting.
I finished The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs earlier this week. Excellent book and I highly recommend it. I was surprised at the emotional response I got from reading it. I'm now going through Catch-22 by Joseph Hellers, and for some reason it's taking me a ridiculous amount of time to get through it. I have no idea how long ago I started reading it, but I'm about 100 pages from the end and it's taking forever. I love Heller (*Something Happened* is one of my favourite books), but I'm just finding it difficult to read Catch-22. When I eventually do finish I'll be moving on to This Book is Full Spiders by David Wong or maybe I'll get back into American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, The Rat-Killer by Alexander Terekhov or The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
I felt the same way about Catch 22. I read it a few years ago, it took much much longer to read through, in my opinion because every chapter tends to build upon another. Also, there is a lot of humor that only is caught if you remember the reference that it is from, which often happens to be from a few chapters back.
That's interesting. For most, I believe it's the reverse. It was for me, anyway. I found Something Happened to be a brutal slog. In that case, you might find Dickens's Bleak House a light read. :) (In all Honesty, it's a good book, but I preferred Great Expectations.)I'm now going through Catch-22 by Joseph Hellers, and for some reason it's taking me a ridiculous amount of time to get through it. I have no idea how long ago I started reading it, but I'm about 100 pages from the end and it's taking forever. I love Heller (*Something Happened* is one of my favourite books), but I'm just finding it difficult to read Catch-22.
I'm currently enjoying with great difficultly The Journal of John Woolman to keep my 5 foot shelf promise I made to myself. Woolman was a Quaker abolitionist in 18th century American colonies. It is his day journal and thoughts. I do not believe in his god, but I do believe I would have been blessed to get a chance to be affected by him. I'm also re-reading out loud The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind with my partner. That is because it is a fun take on The Illiad, and it works my active vocabulary. FYI ... I use this as a common ice-breaker, too!
I'm about one hundred pages into "World War Z." I'm not terribly impressed with the style of story telling or the writing, If you're looking for an incredibly well-written zombie book, I can't over-recommend "Zone One" by Colson Whitehead. I've also just finished Franz Kafka's "Amerika." Reading this has been very educational in that I now feel that I have a very good understanding of what people mean when they say something is "Kafka-esque." It's also a pretty interesting book full of symbolism. While I didn't love it, I appreciate the way it brought forth feelings of stress and anxiety in me as the reader.
What? Really? I loved that book! I guess I should say that I'm personally really quite into supernatural stuff, but zombies come at the very bottom of the list because they don't really have a motivation, if that makes sense? So I'm actually not that much of an authority on zombie books.. BUT WORLD WAR Z WAS SO GOOD! Did you really not like the way it was written? I thought it was a fantastic way to do it! Like I said, zombies themselves can get quite boring and I thought taking the thing from a fake sociological perspective is genius. You get the benefit of having a variety of different perspectives - which makes the whole thing a lot more real in the 'it could happen to me' way, and the way that he examined each country/society individually is brilliant - he obviously did a ton of research and it really paid off. I thought the bit about NK was fucking chilling!
I'm not really into zombie stuff, so it takes a lot to impress me in that vein. I'm really reading it for a book club that I direct at my university. Maybe I'm not far enough into it yet and it just has yet to really grip me. Anyway I'm glad you liked it so much! You're right about the unique appeal of zombies; I think it's interesting to see how engrossed people get in zombie stories. I'm actually attending a lecture soon all about why our culture is so obsessed with them, as well as vampires, and the post-apocalyptic in modern storytelling.
That sounds really interesting! I'd love to go to something like that. I think zombies fall more into the realm of disasters or pandemics and stuff like that. Like, stuff about zombies seems to be more focused on the survivors and how they deal with the collapse of society rather than the ~mindset of the zombie.
I'm one of those people who read a lot of books at once, but I'll narrow it down to the three that I'm reading the most right now. I'm reading a chapter or two of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart every night. It's one of my partner's favorite series and I was curious how effective the sex scenes are since I don't read a lot of books that include lots of sex. I'm only a little over 100 pages into it, but it is holding my interest. So far the political aspect of it is kind of boring, but more from not really knowing the characters the main character is talking about. I'm also reading Lee Smith's short story collection Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with Lee Smith only because she is so good at what she does which is writing about small towns in the south. I got the hell out of my own small hometown (now getting a name for itself as being exceptionally poor, violent and uneducated) so reading her stories can bring back both good and bad memories. I also read a few diary entries each week from the first volume of Virginia Woolf's diaries. I'd like to try and start reading whatever novel she was writing as I'm reading the relevant entries, but either way it is fascinating. You learn a lot about her as much from what she doesn't say in her entries as what she does say. It was put together by the wife of her nephew and I must say she did a fantastic job. She was meticulous with footnotes to explain who everyone is and what events Virginia is mentioning.
I'm one of those people who read more than one book at a time. Currently, I'm reading The Definitive Book of Handwriting Analysis because handwriting fascinates me, as well as Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism because suicide and terrorism are also fascinating. The first one is pretty cool, I've been using it to help me understand/develop different ways of writing in Elian Script, something I am deeply fond of. Elian script emphasizes creativity and expression in developing your own unique version of the script. Studying graphology helps me figure out what I want my writing to portray. The second book is really just more of a filler. I'm not as passionate about suicide terrorism as I am about writing. It has been pretty informative though, it certainly makes a lot of what's happening in the Middle East make more sense.
Man, if I had the money I'd pick up The Definitive Book of Handwriting Analysis. Back in high school, I became really interested in the criminal mind and all the ways the criminal justice system worked. I borrowed every book in my town's small library that had to do with criminal cases, law, criminal profiling, and the one book on handwriting analysis. It's some really interesting stuff.
Currently reading It Starts with Food By Melissa and Dallas Hartwig Incredibly interesting book that makes you feel like shit every chance it gets. I basically can't eat anything I like, but it makes it seem so worth it. With that said, it is a book that makes you (and makes you want to be) very self-motivated. I've been on bullshit food binges many a times. But this book makes the lifestyle approach far more approachable. Worth the read if you are at all interested how various modern foods and their modern production processes interact with non-modern human biology. Next up: Dr. Sleep by Stephen King
That sounds pretty interesting! "Milan Kundera suggests that “the curtain” represents a ready-made perception of the world that each of us has—a pre-interpreted world. The job of the novelist, he argues, is to rip through the curtain and reveal what it hides" I ordered it after reading that part in the Amazon bio. Can't wait until it comes!
Given your other post in this thread, about reading Virginia Woolf's works as you make your way through her diary (which is a really cool idea, in my opinion!) I have to say that after finishing the book last night, I wish that I had done that with The Curtain or at least had read more of the books Kundera references. I still feel that I understood what he was saying, but I think familiarity with the works he references would make it more powerful.
"Deconstructing the Definitive Recording: Elgar’s Cello Concerto and the Influence of Jacqueline du Pré" by some guy named Justin Solomon (it looks like a masters thesis). I found it online, possibly on /r/cello, and it's pretty good so far. it's about 25 pages long, so i'll probably finish tonight. Aside from that, I'm rereading the ASOIAF series, and i keep meaning to restart "Generation X" by Douglas Copland, as it is currently languishing on my bedside table.
Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chompsky. It's disturbing.
Musk, Hashish and Blood by Hector France. It's a autobiographical account of Mr. France's time in the Middle East and North Africa in the late 1800's. He spent several years traveling (Very wealthy) and documenting the different customs and ways of life across the entirety of 'Arabia.' The big surprise is how much I'm learning about my own prejudices by the language he uses to describe his hosts. Also, as a cannabis enthusiast I really want to try the hash he describes because it sounds nothing like the THC concentrates I've experienced here in the states.
i'm reading a couple at a time, lol. i hope i don't sound like a right ass saying that. 1. we need to talk about kevin by lionel shriver 2. here kitty kitty by jardine libaire 3. the pleasure of my company by steve martin 4. the beautiful and damned by f. scott fitzgerald (a short story, i think) i guess all of them are psychological stories. all pretty damn good.
I'm currently reading two different pieces of literature. The first, and the one I spend more time reading, is Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. It's complex, funny, and verbose -- a lot like Neal Stephenson's stuff, who wrote my favorite book (Baroque Cycle). Second is The World of Mathematics by James Newman. This is a collection-and-commentary about a range of things related to mathematics. A lot of it is biographical and historical. A little bit less of it is original research papers by mathematicians. Less so is essays about mathematics, such as Hardy's Apology. I'm digging it. It's a fun, relaxing tour through the strange wilderness that is mathematics, lead by some fantastic tour guides.
Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States by Andrew Coe.
Currently reading the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries - I'm on "Dead in the Family", number 7 or 8 I think? It's fun stuff, but not exactly highbrow.
Currently reading Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons, the fourth book in his Hyperion cantos/series. I've been really impressed with this series. For the first point, it has a really well thought-out mythology. But what I really appreciate is that though the story is gripping, there is still room enough for Simmons to discuss his philosophy and thoughts, making it thought-provoking at times. It looks as if there is an upcoming film adaption of the series, so we'll see how that goes!
Great SF series; Hyperion being better than the Endymion books, imo. Do really enjoy Simmons. Try reading The Terror in the middle of winter. I'm currently reading The Scar by Mieville. Is it good? Yes!
Also trying to make it through Our Mutual Friend, by Dickens. I've been chipping away at it for about a year, and I might just give up...
My hubski review of the series mk, I'm not sure why, but a hubski-search of "hyperion" didn't find this link for me. Surely it should have?
One Giant Leap by Leon Wagner. It's about Neil Armstrong's life, just started it so I can't say yet if I like it or not.
I'm halfway through Delillo's Underworld, and this is the first free time I've had for pleasure reading in a while. Although I'm a pomo fiend, picking another tome while I have so much other stuff waiting to be read makes me feel anxious, so I'm trying to remind myself to chill and enjoy it. And there is a lot to enjoy, Delillo's prose is fantastic and he builds quite the immersive experience, it's just a slow burn sometimes. I also just picked up The Structure of Scientific Revolutions yesterday, so I'm thinking maybe some non-fiction will be a nice break in pace. Godspeed all of you that can read multiple books at a time, I struggle so much with that, but desperately wish I could retain as much as when it's just one thing one my plate.
I'm about 400 pages into the second part of The Kingkiller Chronicle: "Day Two: The Wise Man's Fear". And I love it! I read the first one in about 3 days because I couldn't stop reading. But now I'm reading a bit slower because the last one isn't out yet. But I'm really amazed by how well it's written.
Growing Up by Russel Baker, autobiography of a Baltimore townsmen, a blend of Depression realism and American outlierism, don't mind me if I just pulled the term out of the thin air. Just finished Sherman; Soldier, Realist, American by B H Liddel Hart. Captivating biography. recognizing a true hero in the American Civil War.
Ill fares the Land, my favorite book by Tony Judt. Sorry to hijack, but everyone should read it. Carry on