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Unofficial What are you Reading Thread?

Started by Thurnez Isa, December 03, 2006, 04:11:35 PM

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Nephew Twiddleton

Took out my first book from a library in years yesterday. Carl Sagan's Demon-Haunted World. I also ordered Why Evolution Is True, which I'll be taking out today.
Strange and Terrible Organ Laminator of Yesterday's Heavy Scene
Sentence or sentence fragment pending

Soy El Vaquero Peludo de Oro

TIM AM I, PRIMARY OF THE EXTRA-ATMOSPHERIC SIMIANS

Q. G. Pennyworth

So, I know some other folks mentioned upthread they'd read Collapse by Jared Diamond, and this is my second attempt at the dead tree version after doing the audiobook, so who knows if I've mentioned it here before, too, but I fucking love this book. The stories about the vanished civilizations trigger a lot of the feels that visual ruinporn does, and the author does a fantastic job of explaining how a civilization can collapse because of its people's actions without those people being stupid.

Rococo Modem Basilisk

Just finished Seveneves. Stephenson is consistently great, but it's bugging me that every book he's written aside from Zodiac has this huge thematic component of "when is racism OK?", and Seveneves spends 600 pages setting up a premise wherein there are eleven different races of human beings with different cultures and physical features between whom interbreeding is taboo, and then spends the remaining 400 pages setting up the introduction of two more distinct races of humans with distinct cultures and physical features.

I'm now starting on The Cornelius Chronicles, a collection of all 4 of Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius books.

I'm still working my way through the story collection The Weird, edited by Jeff & Ann VanderMeer.


I am not "full of hate" as if I were some passive container. I am a generator of hate, and my rage is a renewable resource, like sunshine.

BeaArthurDent

Quote from: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on May 04, 2015, 04:08:45 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on May 03, 2015, 11:06:37 PM
Just wanted to say your screen name is awesome.

Seconded. That's great.

Let me tell you a quick story. A man got got drunk one day and made an account on an internet forum. Made a couple posts and forgot about it. Ages and eons later he had a rough work week, got drunk again and through some fluke of drunk mind-happenings remembered this site he'd went to once or twice. Pulled it up and saw people were kind enough to compliment the screen name he'd made. He then vowed to remember his password somehow and thank them for it. After 15 minutes of frustration he reset the password and started typing this post, got distracted then came back to his computer and started typing again.

Thanks. It was a Steam user name once-upon-a-time.

And to stay on the topic of this thread, I recently started reading "The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford". I don't know why, somebody mentioned it once and I figured I'd give it a read.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

I'm reading "The Mind's Eye" by Oliver Sacks, and a GRE prep book.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Cain

Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on June 19, 2015, 05:48:45 PM
So, I know some other folks mentioned upthread they'd read Collapse by Jared Diamond, and this is my second attempt at the dead tree version after doing the audiobook, so who knows if I've mentioned it here before, too, but I fucking love this book. The stories about the vanished civilizations trigger a lot of the feels that visual ruinporn does, and the author does a fantastic job of explaining how a civilization can collapse because of its people's actions without those people being stupid.

It's a good book, though I understand a lot of anthropologists have issues with it.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Cain on June 20, 2015, 08:17:21 PM
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on June 19, 2015, 05:48:45 PM
So, I know some other folks mentioned upthread they'd read Collapse by Jared Diamond, and this is my second attempt at the dead tree version after doing the audiobook, so who knows if I've mentioned it here before, too, but I fucking love this book. The stories about the vanished civilizations trigger a lot of the feels that visual ruinporn does, and the author does a fantastic job of explaining how a civilization can collapse because of its people's actions without those people being stupid.

It's a good book, though I understand a lot of anthropologists have issues with it.

A lot of real scientists of various disciplines have issues with everything Jared Diamond writes. He essentially applies evo psych principles to human history, ie. "if I can make up an explanation that sounds convincing, it's probably true!".
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mesozoic Mister Nigel

But I do hear he's an entertaining read.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Q. G. Pennyworth

Quote from: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on June 20, 2015, 09:51:54 PM
But I do hear he's an entertaining read.

He does a very good job being convincing on his points. Is there something else I should be reading to get a more complete picture of these things? I have a really bad habit on building my whole worldview on one or two sources for a given topic.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


LMNO

Quote from: BeaArthurDent on June 20, 2015, 03:25:08 AM
Quote from: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on May 04, 2015, 04:08:45 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on May 03, 2015, 11:06:37 PM
Just wanted to say your screen name is awesome.

Seconded. That's great.

Let me tell you a quick story. A man got got drunk one day and made an account on an internet forum. Made a couple posts and forgot about it. Ages and eons later he had a rough work week, got drunk again and through some fluke of drunk mind-happenings remembered this site he'd went to once or twice. Pulled it up and saw people were kind enough to compliment the screen name he'd made. He then vowed to remember his password somehow and thank them for it. After 15 minutes of frustration he reset the password and started typing this post, got distracted then came back to his computer and started typing again.

Thanks. It was a Steam user name once-upon-a-time.

And to stay on the topic of this thread, I recently started reading "The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford". I don't know why, somebody mentioned it once and I figured I'd give it a read.

That's a very good nuts-and-bolts introduction to the basics of Qabalah.  it almost makes the whole thing coherent, in it's own special way. As in, it has a stable internal logic, whether or not it connects to reality.

zarathud the junger

Quote from: Roko's Modern Basilisk on June 19, 2015, 11:01:07 PM

I'm now starting on The Cornelius Chronicles, a collection of all 4 of Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius books.


I collected as many of the Eternal Champion books as I could find but the only JC stuff in that series was a collection of short stories so the main books passed me by. I'd love to hear a review once your done  :) Moorcock at his best is amazing- Dancers at the End of Time & Elric in particular.

Rococo Modem Basilisk

Quote from: zarathud the junger on June 22, 2015, 10:34:45 AM
Quote from: Roko's Modern Basilisk on June 19, 2015, 11:01:07 PM

I'm now starting on The Cornelius Chronicles, a collection of all 4 of Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius books.


I collected as many of the Eternal Champion books as I could find but the only JC stuff in that series was a collection of short stories so the main books passed me by. I'd love to hear a review once your done  :) Moorcock at his best is amazing- Dancers at the End of Time & Elric in particular.

I've seen this particular collection around before. Amazon has it starting at $0.02 used.


I am not "full of hate" as if I were some passive container. I am a generator of hate, and my rage is a renewable resource, like sunshine.

Bu🤠ns

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on June 21, 2015, 12:37:02 PM
Quote from: BeaArthurDent on June 20, 2015, 03:25:08 AM
Quote from: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on May 04, 2015, 04:08:45 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on May 03, 2015, 11:06:37 PM
Just wanted to say your screen name is awesome.

Seconded. That's great.

Let me tell you a quick story. A man got got drunk one day and made an account on an internet forum. Made a couple posts and forgot about it. Ages and eons later he had a rough work week, got drunk again and through some fluke of drunk mind-happenings remembered this site he'd went to once or twice. Pulled it up and saw people were kind enough to compliment the screen name he'd made. He then vowed to remember his password somehow and thank them for it. After 15 minutes of frustration he reset the password and started typing this post, got distracted then came back to his computer and started typing again.

Thanks. It was a Steam user name once-upon-a-time.

And to stay on the topic of this thread, I recently started reading "The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford". I don't know why, somebody mentioned it once and I figured I'd give it a read.

That's a very good nuts-and-bolts introduction to the basics of Qabalah.  it almost makes the whole thing coherent, in it's own special way. As in, it has a stable internal logic, whether or not it connects to reality.

I imagine that's probably the best you can get with any book of that kind of nature.  Although DuQuette's more lighthearted approach is rather refreshing and preferable, imo.

Freeky

Black Company series by Glen Cook.  Nearly finished.

CAN'T TALK.  MUST READ.