Unofficial What are you Reading Thread?

[rygD]

Are you saying you already finished reading it?  With just work, edumacation and looking for the best prices on things with which to arm my family before my Commander in Chief takes away our ability to buy them, I currently have almost no time to read.  How the fuck do you find time and money for books like you do?

[Cain]

Well, money-wise, I pirate ebooks, so that is not a problem.

Time-wise, I am an insomniac, which helps (sometimes, when not too exhausted to read) and also, thanks to the recession, work about 20 hours a week, give or take.  Given I'd only be spending any extra money I made on books anyway, most likely, this arrangement works out well.

[The Wizard]

Currently reading:

Illuminatus (well re-reading)

The Eternal Prison by Jeff Somers (good piece of SF noir)

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (also re-reading)

And finally Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson (my personal hero)

[Eater of Clowns]

Comics and Sequential Art - Will Eisner

[Xooxe]

I ordered Wetware: A Computer In Every Living Cell and I can't wait for it to arrive. Here's the product blurb from Amazon:

How does a single-cell creature, such as an amoeba, lead such a sophisticated life? How does it hunt living prey, respond to lights, sounds, and smells, and display complex sequences of movements without the benefit of a nervous system? This book offers a startling and original answer.

In clear, jargon-free language, Dennis Bray taps the findings of the new discipline of systems biology to show that the internal chemistry of living cells is a form of computation. Cells are built out of molecular circuits that perform logical operations, as electronic devices do, but with unique properties. Bray argues that the computational juice of cells provides the basis of all the distinctive properties of living systems: it allows organisms to embody in their internal structure an image of the world, and this accounts for their adaptability, responsiveness, and intelligence.

Guessing it will go into gene expression and protein signaling.

[rygD]

Well, money-wise, I pirate ebooks, so that is not a problem.

Time-wise, I am an insomniac, which helps (sometimes, when not too exhausted to read) and also, thanks to the recession, work about 20 hours a week, give or take.  Given I'd only be spending any extra money I made on books anyway, most likely, this arrangement works out well.

So it is the work thing.  I also steal ebooks, although I frequently purchase many of them.   I also decided to invest in one of the previous generation ebook readers from Sony to make it more convenient to read.  Now if only I had more time to read.

"And the best thing, the very best thing of all, is there's time now.  There's all the time I need and all the time I want.  Time, time, time.  Ahhhh, there's time enough at last!"

[Cainad (dec.)]

How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker

[rygD]

Oh, by the way, sent a message to the gentleman who mentioned ebooks.  Not sure if he saw it or not...

[emu_luver]

Currently reading Moby-Dick......
promised myself I wouldn't read anything else until I was done with it.
Next I'll probably read Breakfast of Champions (Vonnegut) or some Raymond Chandler stuff.

[Prelate Diogenes Shandor]

Lately I've been reading various selections from the biblical Apocrypha. (btw. Has anybody else noticed the paralells between the events of chapter fourteen of the First Infancy gospel of Jesus Christ and the testimony given by David Berkowitz regarding his motives for committing the "Son of Sam" killings?)

[Cain]

Oh, by the way, sent a message to the gentleman who mentioned ebooks.  Not sure if he saw it or not...

Seen and replied.  Hope that was all useful?

I'm going to do a commentary on "First As Tragedy, Then As Farce", with lots of excerpts.  This, along with Nano and another piece of writing for the site, is why I'm not on here too much of late.

[Cain]

BTW, the new Wheel of Time book is a noticeable improvement on, well, every book after the first six of the series.  It actually feels like the plot might be moving somewhere, and he doesn't take entire pages to describe peoples clothing or the expression on their face, or their entire personal history from the day they were born up until the present.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Just read Franny and Zooey, now I'm reading a collection of short stories called "Love is a Four-Letter Word".

[Cainad (dec.)]

Lately I've been trying to keep myself from buying books until I finish a few of the ones I already have, but I read the first three pages of Human Smoke in the bookstore and was compelled to part with $17.

[Dimocritus]

"Watch-men" graphic novel.

"Harrison Bergeron," a real short story by Vonnegut (out of my ethics text-book, no less), but it's freakin' awesome.

And trying to get a friend to lend me "House of Leaves" on the basis of the fucked up format alone.