Fall: What Are You Reading? (Recommend a Good Book!)

[ethics]

Well, I am coming closer to finishing my Robin Hobb series and need something after. While I have a stack of books waiting to be read, I'd like to hear what everyone is reading/recommending.

[AmeritecTech]

Just finished Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk (50% chance I spelled his last name right). I enjoyed it. Before that was the Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter (again, a 50% chance), which I like to savor in very small bites so as to have constant entertainment. I'm about halfway through it and still loving it. Highly recommend.

Looking for something new.

[joseftu]

At the moment I'm in the beginning of Neal Stephenson's The System of the World (volume three of his Baroque cycle--I liked the first, loved the second, and the jury's still out on this one).

[Copzilla]

I just finished Interview With The Vampire, by Ann Rice. Very entertaining, and am planning on picking up the next in The Vampire Chronicles, The Vampire LeStat.

Certainly different than the movie, although I did enjoy the film as well.

[Frodo Lives]

I never learned to read.... :cry:

[Copzilla]

I never learned to read.... :cry:
You just come here to look at the smilies, right? Here's a few to mesmerize you...

:kissmy: :kissmy: :kissmy: :kissmy: :kissmy: :kissmy:

[Steve]

Just finishing up the third book in a trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. The trilogy is "Red Mars", "Green Mars", and "Blue Mars", in that order.

Saying it's about the colonization and terraforming of Mars is like saying the sun is warm on a sunny day. This is hard science fiction like you rarely run across. It's full of geology, areology, geography, asronomy, biology, chemistry, astrophysics, social theory, economic theory, advanced physics....first book in a long time I kept running across words I had to look up!

Plot, story, characters, all excellent, all well-developed. Plus, it's a positive vision of the future, not Utopian; in fact, there's quite a bit of Malthus in the trilogy, but humanity manages to work through it all.

A bit slow-paced in sections, sometimes the technical material is dry, but the story always comes back to the characters, whom you really feel for as you read.

[Sacchiridites]

Honestly? An herbal dictionary of sorts. It's actually very informative. While I learn about the plants on this earth, I get all kinds of interjections as to how the plant was used through generations and/or cultures for all types of things. Slow reading. It's been able to answer some of my weird cravings for things like ginger, sassafras and molasses, though. Hmmmm.

'Cricket in Times Square' if you want the answer otherwise, as in a novel. I'm really re-reading a lot lately for some odd reason. Yah, it's elementary grade level.

Cie

Oh? Recommended reading? Ellery Queen. Brainteasers are cool.

[ethics]

At the moment I'm in the beginning of Neal Stephenson's The System of the World (volume three of his Baroque cycle--I liked the first, loved the second, and the jury's still out on this one).

Ah HA! So you are a secret fan of Glen Reynolds (AKA Instapundit)!!! I knew you were a closet centrist. :P

In all seriousness, I think this series looks really interesting. You still have the first two books? Want to swap something? If not, no biggie. :)

[ethics]

I just finished Interview With The Vampire, by Ann Rice. Very entertaining, and am planning on picking up the next in The Vampire Chronicles, The Vampire LeStat.

Certainly different than the movie, although I did enjoy the film as well.

OH man. Don't get me started with all of this. When Cruise was first introduced in to the whole theme, Anne Rice was livid. She said that there's no way he will be what she wants the character he played to be.

Then, all of a sudden, poof, and she is all for it. Someone either slipped her a mil or the tongue.

[ethics]

Just finishing up the third book in a trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. The trilogy is "Red Mars", "Green Mars", and "Blue Mars", in that order.

Highly recommend this series. He won three years in a row, I believe, for all three of those books.

Saying it's about the colonization and terraforming of Mars is like saying the sun is warm on a sunny day. This is hard science fiction like you rarely run across. It's full of geology, areology, geography, asronomy, biology, chemistry, astrophysics, social theory, economic theory, advanced physics....first book in a long time I kept running across words I had to look up!


I felt it was more about sociology and psychology. I was comparing the personalities to those of this forum and it was pretty much matching. :P

[ethics]

Herbal books are great IF (and this is only mho) you are going to grow your own and utilize what you grow. I did that for about a year, actually, but it's tough to do in an apartment like mine.

[mikeky]

Haven't had a whole lot of time for reading, but have listened to a couple of interesting books form Audible, particularly the <a href="http://www.audible.com/adbl/store/product.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0487582756.1096773678@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccccadcmjddigmfcefecegedfhfdhfm.0&uniqueKey=1096773705160&pageType=preliminaryResults&productID=BK_SANS_000061">What If</a> series. Unfortunate these are not in print as well.

[Sacchiridites]

Herbal books are great IF (and this is only mho) you are going to grow your own and utilize what you grow. I did that for about a year, actually, but it's tough to do in an apartment like mine.
I'm not growing my own for danged sure, although that's a nice thought. Agriculture is expensive. Maybe this knowledge will come in handy someday when I'm out on my arse, scrounging the countryside for food. Powers that be forbid I get a tummy ache or something.

[wapu]

I just finished:
PHP for the World Wide Web
by Larry Ullman

I Have a couple if PHP Projects under my belt and decided that I should probable pick up a book to see if there was anything I was missing. This book confirmed much that I did know, and help with a couple of minor issues I didn't.

I just picked up:

Essential PHP Tools: Modules, Extensions, and Accelerators
by David Sklar

and

Retail Success!
by George Whalin

Retail Success! Will be my bathroom book. That is where I do most of my reading. I read the whole Bible and the Book of Mormon in there.;)


As for casual reading, I plan on reading the 12th Left Behind book this fall. I also started Bleachers by John Grisham. However, I am not sure that counts as a book. I read to page 85 standing in the book store waiting for my wife to get her Mocha. It is only 260 pages long.

[ethics]

I'm not growing my own for danged sure, although that's a nice thought. Agriculture is expensive. Maybe this knowledge will come in handy someday when I'm out on my arse, scrounging the countryside for food. Powers that be forbid I get a tummy ache or something.


Mike that link times out... Is this Turtledove "what if" series?

[ethics]

I'm not growing my own for danged sure, although that's a nice thought. Agriculture is expensive. Maybe this knowledge will come in handy someday when I'm out on my arse, scrounging the countryside for food. Powers that be forbid I get a tummy ache or something.

Oh, I am not saying grow everything you read about, heck no. I just felt (this is going to sound so friggin lame) more "in touch" with what I was doing if that makes sense. I started out with something that I could cook with, Basil was one of my favorites.

[ethics]

I just finished:
PHP for the World Wide Web
by Larry Ullman


As you probably know, this board runs on PHP (as many other sites). As someone who had to learn before the books came out (literally for me), I have to say looking from the outside, PHP is one horrendous programming language!!! ;)

This is from someone who loved Perl before my employer found out and wanted me to make real production applications.

Out of all of the scripting languages, I loved the structure of Python.

But if you get a chance, if you really want to better your career, you have to go over the darkside, Microsoft's VS.net, specifically C#. Incredible power.

Retail Success!
by George Whalin

Retail Success! Will be my bathroom book. That is where I do most of my reading. I read the whole Bible and the Book of Mormon in there.;)


Is this sales?

As for casual reading, I plan on reading the 12th Left Behind book this fall.

You never stroke me as the religious type. I hear the writing is horrid but the plot and theme is what moves the series.

[wapu]

As you probably know, this board runs on PHP (as many other sites). As someone who had to learn before the books came out (literally for me), I have to say looking from the outside, PHP is one horrendous programming language!!! ;)


I like it. Of course that is because I have no experience with PERL or PYTHON.;) I come from a JAVA and, don't laugh, sorry Midranger, RPG background. Not JS, but stand alone desktop applications written in JAVA using SWING and now SWT. PHP is what the CMS I started with was written in. I needed to mod it and went on from there to write my companies Intranet and a couple of smaller sites for people I know. Now I am working on a web based reporting/Call management/asset tracking system for our retail stores. That is partly where the Retail Success! book comes in. We are making a major move to expand our retail stores(100+ new stores in the next 2 years). The original Point of Sale software we used is what I wrote and supported in JAVA. We are moving to an off the shelf solution, and I will be heading up the mini IT department that will be responsible for all of the software, hardware, connectivity, modifaction, and training for all the stores, old and new. For some reason I find the retail side immensely fascinating. More so than coding all day. Maybe it is the interaction with people, I don't know. So, hopefully I can get a better understaind of retail and some new perspectives and ideas that can help me make better decisions about our IT needs.


The Left Behind books are a great read. They are easy to read, and yes, the writing could be better, but the plot and characters more than make up for the writing. I got hooked quick and had the advantage of 10 of them being out so I got read them all one right after the other. The waiting has been excruciating for the rest though. Not sure how those of you who started when 1 was first published made it.

If you are leary of them because of their religious setting, think of it like watching Star Wars. Just accept the fact, that for this story, the galaxy far far away is real.

[ethics]

Best of luck in your career with that.

As for the Left Behind... Nah, I am never discouraged by religious works, many times I am forced to read it to understand a certain issue. :)

[wapu]

Best of luck in your career with that.

As for the Left Behind... Nah, I am never discouraged by religious works, many times I am forced to read it to understand a certain issue. :)


Sorry, I was thinking of "you" in the general sense, not you specifically leon.:) Your views on Iraq not withstanding;), I think of you as a tremendously open minded person who wouldn't shy away from a subject because of a preconceived notion about it. What is odd about those books is that they don't feel religious. It is hard to explain. I read "mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis and that felt religious. These don't, if that makes any sense?

[ethics]

I read "mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis and that felt religious. These don't, if that makes any sense?

Actually, having read Orson Scott Card's earthbound (http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=review&id=152) series, I know exactly what you mean.

[wapu]

Actually, having read Orson Scott Card's earthbound (http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=review&id=152) series, I know exactly what you mean.

My first response was "holy crap I have been trying to remember the name that series for years." But I wasn't sure if holy crap was good or bad pun.

In any case, I may be amending my list of books for the winter.

[Copzilla]

OH man. Don't get me started with all of this. When Cruise was first introduced in to the whole theme, Anne Rice was livid. She said that there's no way he will be what she wants the character he played to be.

Then, all of a sudden, poof, and she is all for it. Someone either slipped her a mil or the tongue.
After reading the book, I concur, although I think Antonio Banderas was also a fairly large disparity. Brad Pitt was not a bad choice - Louis was supposed to carry extreme charisma and radiate human emotion many vamps had lost, and he accomplished that. I can't think of another actor who would have been better.

Guarantee Ann Rice BANKED on the movie, but the movie only vaguely carried her plotline on many occasions.

Did you know how old Claudia was at the time of her vampire death? Do you know why her new vampire surrogate mother was killed with her, when killing a vampire was forbidden? Read the book, it's a trip.

[ditch]

I'm enjoying The Clash of Civilisations, Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington. I dont agree with all of the conclusions he draws but it's an interesting analysis and relevant to the global changes taking place despite being a little dated.

[joseftu]

Ah HA! So you are a secret fan of Glen Reynolds (AKA Instapundit)!!! I knew you were a closet centrist. :P???? I don't get it? I've been a fan of Neal Stephenson for a long time--since Snow Crash, although I'm very familiar with his flaws. But I'm no fan of Glen Reynolds! ("Centrist"? Sir, I resent that remark! :))

In all seriousness, I think this series looks really interesting. You still have the first two books? Want to swap something? If not, no biggie. :)It's extremely interesting, really. Not SF (although Stephenson has written some fine SF), but historical fiction. I think you'd love it (although the first one is a bit of a struggle)--really about the intersection between the evolution of information science, physical science, mathematics, and money. I posted about it on my blog recently.

I do have the first book, <i>Quicksilver</i>, and I'd be happy to let you borrow. The second and third I bought as ebooks to read on my Palm Pilot. Do you have a Palm?

[mikeky]

Mike that link times out... Is this Turtledove "what if" series?
Sorry, didn't realize that it would time out like that. It's not Turtledove, but based on a series of what if's by historians published in <a href="http://www.historynet.com/mhq/">MHQ</a> in the 90s. Full title info for Vol 1 is

What If? Part 1: Reshaping the 20th Century
Author: Stephen E. Ambrose, John Keegan, and more...

[joseftu]

Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series is excellent. I enjoyed it tremendously. He's a long-time favorite of mine.

But you know, if you like hard SF, let me make a few recommendations--
Robert Reed is wonderful. For some reason he gets very little attention, but he's an incredibly talented writer.

And some of the best current SF seems to be coming out of Great Britain. I'm very much impressed by Alastair Reynolds and Iain Banks.

I also just finished Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon and Broken Angels--both are great fun--sort of noir hard-boiled detective/mercenary in a very well-developed and internally consistent and unique future interplanetary society--but that doesn't even begin to do them justice, and I should also mention that there's plenty of very graphic sex and violence.

Also (although the religious and spiritual stuff is not always to everyone's taste), I would recommend Peter Hamilton's Naked God series--it's a massive, epic, series--thousands of pages when you add all the books--and the religous element is subtle and very much available for criticism, not at all the same as Left Behind (and Hamilton can actually write, unlike the Left Behind)--and it's real, intelligent, SF.

[Sierra Mike]

I'm currently wading through Lustbader's The Miko, the sequel to his bloated and overly-coddling potboiler, The Ninja. I'm not sure what Japan he writes about, because it doesn't really mirror the one I know. :)

Previously, read another truly shitty book called Amazonia. Newest acquisition is Tommy Franks' American Soldier. I'm interested in contrasting it with Schwarzkopf's It Doesn't Take a Hero. My initial feeling is that Franks' tome will be less self-congratulatory than The Bear's.

And if all goes well, by this time next year, I might be reading a first edition of a book called City of the Damned, by some talentless hack named Moore. If you'll forgive the shameless advance plug...

SM

[ethics]

I do have the first book, <i>Quicksilver</i>, and I'd be happy to let you borrow. The second and third I bought as ebooks to read on my Palm Pilot. Do you have a Palm?

Lit format? Funny you should ask. My brother bought the whole series in lit form. He didn't want to tell me till I was done with the first set, but I told him I might be getting them so he burst out, don't!

Thanks for the suggestion and the offer. I think I am good. :)

[ethics]

And if all goes well, by this time next year, I might be reading a first edition of a book called City of the Damned, by some talentless hack named Moore. If you'll forgive the shameless advance plug...

SM


Well, count me in as a fan already. :)

Finally doing it, huh? I need to get my ass in gear.

[Sierra Mike]

Doing it? I've done it. Of course, waiting for feedback from you on The Peacekeepers reminds me a lot of my sex life when I was married--always on my mind, but never on my agenda.

For a real laugh, I should send you a copy of Gunships, currently languishing in development hell in Hollywood.

SM

[ethics]

I have it, I promise to get some serious work done on it (if any) this week.

[Sierra Mike]

Sure, sure. My doctor tells me I only have 40 years left to live, so make it snappy, pappy!

SM

[joseftu]

Previously, read another truly shitty book called Amazonia. Hey! We actually agree on something!
Amazonia was a major stinkeroo--I couldn't even finish it, and that's very rare for me, no matter how shitty the book.

[Sierra Mike]

The premise was intriguing, but the cardboard characters and general lassitude in presentation killed it for me.

SM

[AmeritecTech]

Actually, having read Orson Scott Card's earthbound (http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=review&id=152) series, I know exactly what you mean.
Read the Ender series? I've read Ender's Game, Children of the Mind and Xenocide. The latter two are nothing compared to Ender's Game, but I wanted to see where Ender and the rest of the characters went, so from that perspective, they were interesting. I'm going to start Ender's Shadow soon, which I hear is awesome, and a return to the intensity of Ender's Game. I sure hope so.

[AmeritecTech]

Sorry, didn't realize that it would time out like that. It's not Turtledove, but based on a series of what if's by historians published in <a href="http://www.historynet.com/mhq/">MHQ</a> in the 90s. Full title info for Vol 1 is

What If? Part 1: Reshaping the 20th Century
Author: Stephen E. Ambrose, John Keegan, and more...
Wasn't there some plagiarism controversy shortly after Ambrose published the Deep Blue book about the fighting fortresses? I seem to remember something like that...

[ethics]

Read the Ender series? I've read Ender's Game, Children of the Mind and Xenocide. The latter two are nothing compared to Ender's Game, but I wanted to see where Ender and the rest of the characters went, so from that perspective, they were interesting. I'm going to start Ender's Shadow soon, which I hear is awesome, and a return to the intensity of Ender's Game. I sure hope so.


Yep, read them all. I actually reviewed a few with Bean as the main character.

[joseftu]

Read the Ender series? I've read Ender's Game, Children of the Mind and Xenocide. The latter two are nothing compared to Ender's Game, but I wanted to see where Ender and the rest of the characters went, so from that perspective, they were interesting. I'm going to start Ender's Shadow soon, which I hear is awesome, and a return to the intensity of Ender's Game. I sure hope so.I disagree with Orson Scott Card on a lot of issues, and I find him very unpleasant as a person, but he's a terrific writer. Personally, I like Xenocide better than any of the other books in the series, but they're all excellent.

[AmeritecTech]

I disagree with Orson Scott Card on a lot of issues, and I find him very unpleasant as a person, but he's a terrific writer. Personally, I like Xenocide better than any of the other books in the series, but they're all excellent.
Yes, upon further review of my memories, I did enjoy Xenocide, but it was certainly a departure from the type of story telling in Ender's Game, so it threw me off-balance. Xenocide was a story of redemption, and it did a good job of analyzing social interactions by removing the human mask we see things through (that is, by showing us the customs and such of the "piggies".) I think it probably deserves a re-read.

[EricaZ98]

I am currently reading a book called "Night Sins" by Tami Hoag:

from back of book:

A peaceful Minnesota town, where crime is something that just doesnt happen, is about to face its worst nightmare. A young boy disappears. There are no witnesses, no clues- only a note, cleverly taunting, casually cruel. Has a cold-blooded kidnapper stuck? Or is this a reawakening of a long lost serial killer? A tough-minded investigator on her first, make-or-break case...A local cop who fears that big city evils have come back to stalk his small-town home... Together they are hunting for a madman who knows no bounds, to protect the town that may never feel safe again.

Although I am only on Cpt. 7 its really good.

I also recently picked up "The Resort" by Bentley Little. Its plot is semi-similiar to that of "The Shinning" but it has a Great Read Quarentee on the book. If you are not satisfied with the story, you receive 100% money back. I have no started this one yet

On back of book:

The Reata is an exculsive spa isolated in the Arizona desert- a perfect getaway from the city for people like Lowell Thurman and his family, booked for a relaxing five day retreat. But what unfolds is anything but tranquil: unnerving encounters with strange employees, wild parties in empty rooms, something unspeakable in the pool. Then, one by one, quests start disappearing. The Thurmans are afraid because out in the middle of nowhere, with no escape and no one to hear them scream, they're left with only one terrifying choice: unlock the dark secrets of the Reata themselves before the real carnage begins.

[MorWired]

Just finishing up the third book in a trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. The trilogy is "Red Mars", "Green Mars", and "Blue Mars", in that order.

Saying it's about the colonization and terraforming of Mars is like saying the sun is warm on a sunny day. This is hard science fiction like you rarely run across. It's full of geology, areology, geography, asronomy, biology, chemistry, astrophysics, social theory, economic theory, advanced physics....first book in a long time I kept running across words I had to look up!

Plot, story, characters, all excellent, all well-developed. Plus, it's a positive vision of the future, not Utopian; in fact, there's quite a bit of Malthus in the trilogy, but humanity manages to work through it all.

A bit slow-paced in sections, sometimes the technical material is dry, but the story always comes back to the characters, whom you really feel for as you read.Sounds like an excellent read, I'll have to look into it.

You know, joseftu and I had this discussion a long time ago:
technically, is it really possible to terraform Mars? ;)

[Frodo Lives]

I highly recommend a little known series, 'The Lord of the Rings.' :lol:


But seriously, I am reading the book 'A Game of Thrones' by George R. R. Martin. It is the first in the series 'A Song of Ice and Fire'.

It's pretty good so far. Good enough to recommend it to people.

[joseftu]

OMG--I love that series, Frodo!
But be warned, he's being <b>extremely</b> slow about finishing the last one!

[ethics]

OMG--I love that series, Frodo!
But be warned, he's being <b>extremely</b> slow about finishing the last one!


I have the first book but haven't touched it since I heard there will be like 7 of them? I despised Robert Jordan for that and won't read a series until the last book is out.

[Aria]

I am currently reading "The Song of Susannah", by Stephen King. It's part of his Dark Tower series.

[Frodo Lives]

OMG, Aria. Where have you been?

[Frodo Lives]

OMG--I love that series, Frodo!
But be warned, he's being <b>extremely</b> slow about finishing the last one!

I haven't even finished the first in the series, so I am not to worried about it.

A question, are there any books that are prequels to that series?

[Aria]

OMG, Aria. Where have you been?

Here, there, everywhere. Reading, writing, losing my mind. You know, the usual stuff. :)

[mers2]

I am currently reading "The Song of Susannah", by Stephen King. It's part of his Dark Tower series. I will be picking up the last of the Dark Tower series tomorrow. Talk about taking a long time to finish a series. Just when I was wondering if he'd ever do another Dark Tower book he cranks out the last 3 all in one year.

[joseftu]

I haven't even finished the first in the series, so I am not to worried about it.

A question, are there any books that are prequels to that series?No, no prequels--and I intentionally didn't start the series until the SF Book Club had the last one available for pre-order...so I pre-ordered it, and he missed his deadline, my pre-order was cancelled, and I'm waiting and waiting and waiting :(.

I read Song of Susannah recently, too. I won't give any spoilers!