What are you reading now?

I thought we had a thread like this once, but I couldn't find it.

Chances are this one will die a quick death because half our n00bs are plain illiterate and most of the regulars are boring bastards who only read technical manuals.

But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Prove me wrong, for once!

I am currently reading a series by George R. R. Martin called A Song of Ice and Fire.

It's a fantasy tale set in a different world, feudalistic with iron-age technology (pre-gunpowder). To me, it's like the author went to a Renaissance Festival or something and decided to write what the "age of chivalry" was really like-- the knights are rarely virtuous, there are many traps for the unwary, particularly when it comes to politics and 'the game of thrones', and a lot of death.

The characterization is wonderful, the reader starts rooting for even the worst of the characters as we see things from their point of view. The heroes don't escape unscathed, and several of the heroes die throughout the epic.

I am thoroughly enjoying these four books (four more supposed to come out, but there's no knowing if and when that will happen), and I am inspired by the 'life is thoroughly unfair' theme.

Oooh, good thread. Maybe it'll source me some reading material.

Right now I'm reading a short play called Arcadia. I lack the ambition right now to summarize it myself, so I'll make Wikipedia do it for me.

Currently working my way through the Heinlein catalog, now on The Number of the Beast. I have managed to get through (in no particular order)
Stranger in a Strange Land
Time Enough for Love
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
For Us, The Living
The Door Into Summer
Starship Troopers

Next up, To Sail Beyond Sunset.

I'm not finding Heinlein to be enjoyable or entertaining, but certainly thought provoking.

Ben N1NP

I'm currently reading Overclocked, by Core Doctorow, its the summer requirement for Drexel.

It's about the dangers of the control of information and intellectual property rights., etc... So far a good read.

It's been years since I read those, but as I recall, Sunset was an homage to narcissism and The Cat Who Walked Through Walls read more like an ad for Heinlein books than as a novel in its own right.

Shit, that's me.

Oh well, the only non-technical book I'm reading these days is The Alchemy of Love and Lust by Theresa L. Crenshaw.

And the next book I'm about to read is Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. Wiki link: here.

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To get an idea the kind of book I am usually reading, which are not technical books per se, check out this thread.

That thread really needs more new content. Unfortunately, I'm not swimming in free time. That single thread has driven more than 1.5K reads (mostly guests via Google).

Your thread, silly!

But seriously, I'm currently in the fifth part of Terry Goodkind's Sword of truth series. On the whole, it's pretty enjoyable, though I'm getting the feeling Goodkind dragged on the series a bit too long.

It's one of those fantasy books where the hero comes from nothing and turns out to be the guy that could have beaten up superman in high school, getting a new superpower every book.

Fun to read (so far), but not the best literature around.

You know, I've kind of avoided Goodkind... I think it has to do with the sheer volume of work-- looking at the Goodkind section at the bookstore is like looking at Piers Anthony's-- the Xanth series has how many books? You know how much that would cost me to read them all? How many years of my life would be lost trying to do that?

Of course, there were a lot fewer Xanth books when I started reading, and I'm kind of behind... I think the last I read was #23 and he's up to what, 32 or so? Can you imagine trying to buy a Xanth boxed set? It would have to come with its own trailer.

I'm not much of a Novel reader...

But do have plenty of spectacular (and by spectacular I mean wretchedly boring) textbooks I am in the middle of reading for class.

My daily reading generally consists of some news articles.

Time isn't really an issue, I have a large commute into work each day, which gives me enough time to read if I want.

As for money, I bought the series second hand, works for a lot of fantasy and SF...

I just finished The Race for a New Game Machine, about IBM's work on both the PS3 and XBox chips. Talk about a high-pressure environment!

My next book might be Dare to Repair.

Sounds similiar to the 5 book series I am reading (again), 'The Belgariad'.

The hero starts as a farm boy in book 1 and his powers increase through the series. Lots of surprises on the way to him becoming a man and a hero...

At times can be a little slow going (style of the writer), but very enjoyable. Well I wouldn't be reading the series again if I hadnt enjoyed it the first time would I??

I read the Belgariad once... it was a good read once, but I didn't have the fortitude to read beyond that. Of course, this was almost twenty years ago.

Belgariad is also in the enormous pile of books I bought from my roommate when he emigrated... Might get to it someday :-)

Reading a book on 35mm photography from 1974 so that I can understand stuff better.


Also reading the new Star Wars books