What are you all reading?

[Slacker_Assassin]

Amazon.com: Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other eBook: Sherry Turkle: Kindle Store@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51y1h3rVEML.@@AMEPARAM@@51y1h3rVEML
Amazon.com: Religious Literacy eBook: Stephen Prothero: Kindle Store@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41kWmF8HSGL.@@AMEPARAM@@41kWmF8HSGL
Amazon.com: Parable of the Sower eBook: Octavia E. Butler: Kindle Store@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513WZ46o3PL.@@AMEPARAM@@513WZ46o3PL
This Far by Faith: Stories from the African American Religious Experience: Juan Williams, Quinton Hosford Dixie: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51P4Q0EMGEL.@@AMEPARAM@@51P4Q0EMGEL

 

[BloodCountess88]

Dead Souls by Gogol, I'm halfway through.

 

[Vict]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

It bugs me that people peg it as a philosophy book. It's more of a preachy novel. Fiction.

 

[BluePantsMcgee]

Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery.

 

[BigApplePi]

Prime Obsession*. I sit down with this book when I'm tired and read a few pages. I feel greatly relaxed ... puts me at peace with a neglected topic. This is great! But it's math. Now I'm not sure I will have to remember what it is saying to go on. So far so good. Good writer but will I be able to handle it?

*Bernard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics

I am still reading this book. Dip into it every once in a while. When I at first returned to it, I couldn't follow what he was saying and realized I had forgotten his derivations. So I went back and concluded, "Got that." After following for a while I realized he was cheating by leaving out explanations. He couldn't help it. Things were getting too advanced. Still he's a good writer and I am going to continue. I hope to post more on my progress.

Questions?

 

[Aeroflot]

I'm reading It, but I might put it on hold because Hunt for the Red October is sitting on my desk.

 

[Lostwitheal]

I was just skimming through posts and misread the title of this thread as "What are you all wearing?".

"Bit pervy, isn't it?" I thought.

 

[Hawkeye]

books

 

[TimeAsylums]

Rereading some of these again: (form meh lame bookshelf)

 

[Absurdity]

Moseying through "This Side of Paradise" by F. Scott Fitzgerald and "The Possibility of an Island" by Michel Houellebecq.

Have a copy of Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose" that I've been meaning to start.

G. K. Chesterton's "Orthodoxy" and David P. Goldman's "How Civilizations Die" are on the list.

 

[Brontosaurie]

"the pale king" by david foster wallace

i'm about half-way through. it picks up mad serious after a while. goes all meta on yo ass.

worthwhile read so far.

 

[Alex_]

Started to read Kafka again. I wanted to finish Farewell to Arms first, but I just couldn't. I mean, I like the author's style, but the narrative... It's just boring.

 

[Puffy]

Christopher Alexander's 'The Timeless Way of Building'
Stephen Wolfram's 'A New Kind of Science'
Jane Jacobs' 'The Death and Life of Great American Cities'
Burroughs & Gysin's 'The Third Mind'
Jung's 'Synchronicity: an acausal connecting principle'

Funnily enough, all for the same dissertation work. It has been an odd year.

 

[Cavallier]

I've been in a bad place lately with lots of stress and whatnot so I've been plowing through Brain Candy such as the first three novels in the Dresden series by Jim butcher.

I am now ready to move on to something with more chew to it. I am reading Dubliners by Joyce. I like to read the digital version and then flip between it and google so I can pick up on all the references. It's been a good read.

I think those two very different genres are starting to mess with my head though.

 

[kvothe27]

The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov

 

[JimJambones]

Founders, by James Wesley Rawles

and

Freedom Evolves, by Daniel Dennett

 

[redbaron]

Stephen Prothero, 'God is Not One'
Daniel Mason, 'The Piano Tuner'

 

[r4ch3l]

The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick: Selected Literary and Philosophical Writings: Philip K. Dick, Lawrence Sutin: 9780679747871: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Wpxc7PBHL.@@AMEPARAM@@51Wpxc7PBHL

and

The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick: Philip K. Dick, Pamela Jackson, Jonathan Lethem: 8580001267562: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41-HgT1Ur3L.@@AMEPARAM@@41-HgT1Ur3L

I'm starting up on an abandoned project with an artist/screenwriter friend of mine. Sort of a metaphysical comic book/story panel involving technology and eschatology. PKD is obviously a huge influence for both of us.

Now my question is if I should start reading Alan Moore or avoid being influenced by people who have similar influences... not a big comic book person but I did read some of The Sandman series a long time ago.

 

[Puffy]

The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick: Selected Literary and Philosophical Writings: Philip K. Dick, Lawrence Sutin: 9780679747871: Amazon.com: Books

and

The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick: Philip K. Dick, Pamela Jackson, Jonathan Lethem: 8580001267562: Amazon.com: Books

I'm starting up on an abandoned project with an artist/screenwriter friend of mine. Sort of a metaphysical comic book/story panel involving technology and eschatology. PKD is obviously a huge influence for both of us.

Now my question is if I should start reading Alan Moore or avoid being influenced by people who have similar influences... not a big comic book person but I did read some of The Sandman series a long time ago.

I'd say it depends on how close you feel to his writing -- there's nothing wrong with expanding on other's ideas, it's only a problem if you become a Moore clone. (It's a problem I have with Moore...)

I think some of the best comic creators have typically been inspired by artists outside their medium, and have found inventive ways of applying their ideas specifically to comics from the ground up. Their conception in comic form is then their own, rather than imitative of another's. That's just one approach though.

edit: I'd recommend Will Eisner's 'Comics and Sequential Art' and Scott McCloud's 'Understanding Comics' to anyone interested in creating any...

 

[kvothe27]

The Face by Dean Koontz

 

[Valentas]

At uni from September, they teach linear algebra and they assume we know quite a lot already. Well, I don't. So I have to brush up.

3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development, 2nd Edition: Fletcher Dunn, Ian Parberry: 9781568817231: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dF1a-coOL.@@AMEPARAM@@51dF1a-coOL

 

[kvothe27]

Rereading

Adjusted American: Normal Neuroses in the Individual and Society: Snell Putney, Gail J. Putney: 9780060900953: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41eV9xwmc-L.@@AMEPARAM@@41eV9xwmc-L

 

[Cherry Cola]

Interesting, love the trickster archetype that they mold good ol' Uncle Sam in, he's hilariously mesmerizing.

 

[JimJambones]

Founders, by James Wesley Rawles

Couldn't get into this one.

Don't read this book unless you love right wing, libertarian propaganda with survivalist underpinnings.

 

[BigApplePi]

I am still reading this book. Dip into it every once in a while. When I at first returned to it, I couldn't follow what he was saying and realized I had forgotten his derivations. So I went back and concluded, "Got that." After following for a while I realized he was cheating by leaving out explanations. He couldn't help it. Things were getting too advanced. Still he's a good writer and I am going to continue. I hope to post more on my progress. Questions?

About half-way through. Am enjoying it. He is mapping two dimensions into two dimensions making four dimensions. I don't have an intuitive grasp of the graphs meaning either I never will or will have to reread the book after I finish ... assuming I finish.

 

[Wolf18]

Keats. Endymion and other stuff. And Discworld. And The Night Circus.

SW

 

[kvothe27]

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach by Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig

 

[Anling]

I am reading The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, The Golden Bough by James Frazer, and The White Goddess by Robert Graves.
Frazer and Graves I only read a bit at a time. And Graves isn't historically accurate. But it's still somewhat interesting. Frazer is interesting, but his multiplicity of examples can be somewhat tiring to get through to the next premise. But I suppose it is necessary to support his argument that religion world wide follows the same patterns and developments.

And fanfiction. Lots and lots of fanfiction.

 

[crippli]

Been reading a bunch of schizophrenia books this last week. For unknown reasons(or I won't tell, or you people may think I have it as well, note, not been diagnosed, but getting worried, as they put me through a sort of one month test recently, and I got stressed, and suspect it didn't go so well..and their behavior was/is beyond weird, and I more or less freaked out, or they fake it or ).

Anyway, I'm on the last pages of Jonathan Metzl’s The Protest Psychosis: How schizophrenia became a black disease. Was a seriously good read. It proves a historical perspective on the matter of social injustice. Or the bigger picture if one like, more importantly, it's all very well researched and documented. It's research material is based off the history of the Ionia State Hospital for the Criminally Insane

 

[Smiley]

I recently finished reading Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow which has helped me bring myself out of my ennui state. I just picked up his sequel, The Evolving Self, from the library.

 

[AzuriteCat]

The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything

I realized that I don't really read novels... Well...only a few of them caught my fancy...I guess? Most of the books I read are non-fiction and filled with facts. Maybe that's why I'm not so good at writing poetic words and stuff? xD

 

[Ink]

Finished the two free chapter of fifty shades of grey on kindle, I liked it. For some reason I envisioned Christian Grey as Snoop Dogg.

 

[Steven Gerrard]

I am reading The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, The Golden Bough by James Frazer, and The White Goddess by Robert Graves.
Frazer and Graves I only read a bit at a time. And Graves isn't historically accurate. But it's still somewhat interesting. Frazer is interesting, but his multiplicity of examples can be somewhat tiring to get through to the next premise. But I suppose it is necessary to support his argument that religion world wide follows the same patterns and developments.

And fanfiction. Lots and lots of fanfiction.

Where do you find good fanfiction?

I would dig reading that.

 

[r4ch3l]

Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution, Second Edition: Ken Wilber: 9781570627446: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41UqDA7MKhL.@@AMEPARAM@@41UqDA7MKhL

 

[nearfantastica]

I'm reading The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams. It's actually quite funny, and the main character is pretty much the epitome of INTP. As I'll have finished it by the end of the night, the next book in line is the long put off Great Gatsby...

 

[Absurdity]

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

 

[C.Hecker88]

I am currently reading Les Misérables and re-reading Frank Herbert's Dune. Both are very entertaining and enlightening reads. I highly recommend them.

 

[The Introvert]

LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring ^_^

Can't believe this is the first time... This book was MEANT for me.

 

[Hadoblado]

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

Complete free version: here

I've never really been into fanfiction, but this is written very well, I'd argue it's a vast improvement on the original.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

Avesta translations
Zoroastrian myths and religion

 

[QuickTwist]

http://www.the16types.info/vbulletin/list.php/category/63-Enneagram

 

[bpgoll]

Journey Into The Past by Stefan Zweig

 

[akeybreakey]

Eight Pieces of Empire: A 20-Year Journey Through the Soviet Collapse

Awesome read, half-way through

 

[Pemi_g]

The Awakening by Kate Chopin and How to Create a Mind by Ray Kurzweil

 

[grayskies]

Moseying through "This Side of Paradise" by F. Scott Fitzgerald and "The Possibility of an Island" by Michel Houellebecq.

Have a copy of Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose" that I've been meaning to start.

G. K. Chesterton's "Orthodoxy" and David P. Goldman's "How Civilizations Die" are on the list.

I want to read Orthodoxy! Please share what you think about the book once you've read it. I really like G.K. Chesterton.

 

[grayskies]

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

 

[dark+matters]

I'm reading Bill Nye the Science Guy's new book, Undeniable: evolution and the science of creation. It's actually really fun.

 

[DrSketchpad]

Re-reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.
One of my favorite quotes:

“‘There is no believing in God,’ he declared, smiling again. ‘We either know God, or we do not.’

‘Well,” I laughed, ‘I certainly don’t know God, and frankly I’m inclined to think that God is impossible to believe in, at least most of the notions of God that I’ve come across.’

‘Oh, of course, naturally, God is impossible. That is the first proof that He exists.’

He was staring at me intently, his hand still resting warm on my arm. Be careful, I thought. You’re getting into a philosophical discussion with a man who’s famous for them. He’s testing you. It’s a test, and the water’s deep.

‘Let me get this straight — you’re saying that because something is impossible, it exists?’ I asked, pushing a canoe of thought out into the uncharted water of his ideas.

‘That is correct.’

‘Well, wouldn’t that mean that all the possible things don’t exist?’

‘Precisely!’ he said, smiling more widely. ‘I am delighted that you understand.’”


— Shantaram (Gregory David Roberts)

I'm going to risk sounding naive by saying:

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to gather from that

 

[dark+matters]

Ayn Rand's Night of January 16th.

 

[JPS]

Let's see.

The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, by Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall. It's about the man who went insane in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, lying about his progress with the use of intricately constructed false logs and then killing himself.

The Gay Science, by Friedrich Nietzsche.