What are you reading - Sep 2017

[megamania]

Still plugging through the Dark Tower series. Almost done with Wolves of Calla. It is becoming a mission to complete the series now.

 

[Richards]

I'm reading Stinger by Robert McCammon. I'm about six chapters in and I've realized I must have read this many years ago, because I distinctly remember the high school boy named Ray (and nicknamed "X-Ray" by his high school bullies because of his thick glasses), even though absolutely nothing else in the book is dredging up anything at all remotely familiar. I'm going to finish it because it might as well be a new book for me. (Although that explains why the cover - a reptilian hand clawing up out of the ground - looked familiar.) But it looks like aliens have crash-landed their cigar-shaped spacecraft in the desert near the crumbling town of Inferno, Texas (named after a prospector's mule), so that's likely where the reptilian hand comes into play. Again, there's nothing else familiar about it - we'll see if that carries forth throughout the full reading of the novel.

Johnathan

 

[trappedslider]

Just started John Grisham's Camino Island check it out from the Library, and reading The Bloodline Feud.

 

[Kaodi]

I am starting to wonder whether I have mistaken these threads as being inclusive of all books types instead of being exclusive to fiction. Maybe you are all reading a lot of non-fiction and just have the sense to not report it, . I started Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century today.

 

[Random Bystander]

Reading note: This post should be read in the voice of Leslie Nelson.

I should probably finish "Sam's Teach Yourself SQL in Ten Minutes", but I ran out of time.

I thought about actually using SQL, but then I had another thought.

"And now we shall do a routine and trivial task on a few million records. Be sure to not make this grammar error, or you will delete the entire database or overwrite it with garbage, like that music that kids listen to these days."

I much prefer systems programming, where the worst you can generally do is crash the user's computer, or make them install Windows.

Or Linux. Or Mac. I'm not picky.

 

[Jhaelen]

I'm currently reading the 'Ashen Stars' RPG core rules. It's a bit like a 'Star Trek' version of the Gumshoe system, except you're not playing members of the 'star-fleet'-equivalent. Instead you're representing a group of 'lasers', a kind of 'mercenary investigators' in a 'post-war' scenario.

I really like how space combat works, although it comes with some basic assumptions that aren't necessarily true of every sci-fi setting: It's mostly about one vs. one combat using medium-sized, non-military space ships. Being outnumbered is rather deadly and definitely to be avoided.

 

[Kramodlog]

I am starting to wonder whether I have mistaken these threads as being inclusive of all books types instead of being exclusive to fiction. Maybe you are all reading a lot of non-fiction and just have the sense to not report it, . I started Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century today.

How is it so far? I've been meaning to read it, but it is very expensive.

 

[Redthistle]

I am starting to wonder whether I have mistaken these threads as being inclusive of all books types instead of being exclusive to fiction. Maybe you are all reading a lot of non-fiction and just have the sense to not report it, . I started Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century today.

An intriguing observation.

When it comes to books, I generally choose fiction. The more serious reading I do comes in the form of magazines: Scientific American, Discover, New Scientist, and Science News being the usual suspects, with occasional dips into Sierra (the Sierra Club) and Stand (ACLU).

On non-fiction books, I've read and re-read and recommend (to the point of giving away a copy or two) Colin Woodard's American Nations, an exploration of the regional identities the US is divided into. It's a fascinating study of how the 11 major, well, let's call them confirmation biases, have developed from colonial times to the present.

If you ever want to get a better understanding of why, especially in politics, we Americans just can't see eye-to-eye on a number of significant issues and continue to just talk at each other rather than with each other, this book is as good as it gets for an explanation.

 

[Redthistle]

Oops. Double-posting.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I just finished the first Wheel of Time book. Enjoyed it, though some of it does feel dated. I long ago swore off any book that begins with an unassuming farmboy with a secret destiny. I am looking forward to reading the rest in the series, though.

Now I’m reading Zoe Quinn’s Crash Override.