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Books, books and more books
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nyanchan
Posts: 2,408
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Joined: Sep 2006
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RE: Books, books and more books
Mind you, I did like me a bit of John Wyndham (Midwich Cuckoos, Day of the Triffids, Chocky, and the like...) If his characters didn't go on so much then his books would just be brilliant.
NyanChan
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"It wasn't me. It was my inner monkey."
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| 11-10-2008 09:39 AM |
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micgrace
Activist
Posts: 5,876
Group: Activists
Joined: Jun 2008
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RE: Books, books and more books
I do have a rather weird liking for historical wars combined with science fiction. If anyone can figure out that genre it basically is someone conducts a time experiment, goes back in time to change the outcome of say, WWII and gets stuck with all the technology of today.
Rule 1. Never, ever, give up (mind blanks excepted)
Rule 2. Refer to rule 1.
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| 11-10-2008 10:58 AM |
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Saft
Unregistered
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RE: Books, books and more books
You'll have to tell us how the second two were. I read Sabriel a while back (before Lirael came out) and it was quite good but I also heard that the rest of the trilogy isn't as good. I think if I were to get them it would take me a while to get around to reading them, though.
Too many books, not enough time...
I apologize for not responding to you. I didn't see your post. When I first read the trilogy I started with Lirael, but I didn't understand it. I prefer the first book of the trilogy; Sabriel, however saying that Lirael wasn't that bad nor was Abhorsen. Yet I think I'm slightly biased since I love Mogget. I do recommend it though if you are interested in what the trilogy is like but borrow the books from the library.
Whilst on the trilogy subject has anyone read Johnathan Stroud's The Bartimaeus Trilogy? It's fantasy.
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| 11-10-2008 11:30 PM |
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nyanchan
Posts: 2,408
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RE: Books, books and more books
^ That's all right to be honest I forgot writing that post. I have read "Sabriel" but not the others. I guess you may have been somewhat confused because of being introduced to the second book of a trilogy (generally the least stand-alone because it doesn't REALLY begin or REALLY end.) before the first.
Although I can't say for sure because I never read it.
At the moment I'm reading the third book of a trilogy and I have the first on audio, but not the second. Which makes for interesting reading, but I'm glad I found Book Three in the 2nd hand book shop.
NyanChan
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"It wasn't me. It was my inner monkey."
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| 11-12-2008 10:32 AM |
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grizeldatee
Posts: 1,268
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Joined: Jul 2007
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RE: Books, books and more books
I am finally reading Thinking in Pictures and Other Reports from My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin. I take issue with the way things are worded at times, such that attributes adequately described as "different" are discussed in a negative way, but there has also been a lot I found fascinating. For example, I am intrigued by the hearing test she describes that was developed by Joan Burleigh over a decade ago to assess autism-related hearing issues. I intend to research this further because I feel certain that it might benefit my middle child, and perhaps all of them. I was also intrigued by the notion that autistics create their own symbols rather than readily adapting symbols that already have societal currency. She does not explicitly state that, but it is what I drew from her descriptions. I am about half-way finished, but recommend the book on just the first half.
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| 11-13-2008 01:57 AM |
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Aeolienne
Posts: 3,284
Group: Registered
Joined: Jul 2004
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RE: Books, books and more books
I'm currently reading Prospect Negotiator's Guide to Disability Equality which (unlike Greening the Workplace, see http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthre...pid248977*) is only available to download by members. And no mention of ASDs so far...
* page 23 of "What are you Reading?" in the General forum
As the player's breath warms the fipple the tone clears.
It is time to consider how Domenico Scarlatti
condensed so much music into so few bars
with never a crabbed turn or congested cadence,
never a boast or a see-here; and stars and lakes
echo him and the copse drums out his measure,
snow peaks are lifted up in moonlight and twilight
and the sun rises on an acknowledged land.
Basil Bunting, Briggflatts
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| 11-17-2008 01:53 AM |
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Dorian Gray
Posts: 191
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Joined: Aug 2008
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RE: Books, books and more books
I just finished some autobiographies by Ronnie spektor and Marianne faithfull and now I'm reading a collection of stories by jean rhys.
You will never understand
how it feels to live your life
with no meaning or control
and with nowhere left to go
You are amazed that they exist
and they burn so bright
whilst you can only wonder why...
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| 06-23-2009 04:05 AM |
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Aeolienne
Posts: 3,284
Group: Registered
Joined: Jul 2004
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RE: Books, books and more books
I'm currently reading Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray. Am I the only one who suspects Capt Dobbin may be an Aspie?
As the player's breath warms the fipple the tone clears.
It is time to consider how Domenico Scarlatti
condensed so much music into so few bars
with never a crabbed turn or congested cadence,
never a boast or a see-here; and stars and lakes
echo him and the copse drums out his measure,
snow peaks are lifted up in moonlight and twilight
and the sun rises on an acknowledged land.
Basil Bunting, Briggflatts
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| 06-23-2009 03:09 PM |
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richie
Posts: 141
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Joined: Jan 2007
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RE: Books, books and more books
I just finished reading this little gem...
The Alchemy of Air byThomas Hager
Our civilizations addiction to oil is common knowledge and seems like old news, but
our dependence on "fixed" nitrogen via the Haber-Bosch synthesis has some pretty
hefty consequences...
From Publishers Weekly
Fixed nitrogen (which is immediately usable to plants) is essential in agriculture. Its rarity, as science writer Hager (The Demon Under the Microscope) shows, dramatically shaped the world and its politics. But by 1905, as Hager details, German chemist Fritz Haber discovered a process for transforming abundant air-borne nitrogen into ammonia, and Carl Bosch's ingenious engineering scaled Haber's benchtop chemistry into industrial processes to make fertilizer. But Hager's story is not only one of triumph, of how Haber and Bosch invented a way to turn air into bread, earning a Nobel Prize and saving millions from starvation. This is also a story of irony and tragedy. First, life-saving nitrogen is also the main ingredient in explosives, and Hager cogently summarizes the Haber-Bosch process's critical role in both world wars. In addition, Hager illustrates Haber's extreme German patriotism and desperate wish to assimilate; shattered by the rise of Hitler, he became an outcast, abandoned even by his onetime colleague Bosch. It's unfortunate that Hager ends his fine book with only a brief look at the deleterious role of nitrogen on the environment. (Sept.)
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| 06-27-2009 11:37 PM |
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Chair
Banned
Posts: 398
Group: Banned
Joined: Apr 2009
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RE: Books, books and more books
Right now I'm reading 'Tower of Glass' by Robert Silverberg:
I'm fussy when it comes to books, but Robert Silverberg is a great author.
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| 06-27-2009 11:49 PM |
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Chair
Banned
Posts: 398
Group: Banned
Joined: Apr 2009
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RE: Books, books and more books
Here's the plot summary for 'Tower of Glass':
Plot summary
The plot involves a 24th century entrepreneur-tycoon-scientist, Simeon Krug, who has created a race of androids to serve humanity. Krug, probably Earth's wealthiest man, directs the construction of an immense tower of glass in the Canadian tundra. The edifice is not a monument, however, but a way to communicate with a distant planetary nebula, NGC 7293, from which an intelligent (though indecipherable) message has been received. Krug is also building a starship to send there, which is to be crewed by androids in hibernation.
The tower construction is directed by Krug's most faithful android, Alpha Thor Watchman. Thor and other leading androids have invented a secret religion for androids, based on the vision that their creator, Krug, intends to eventually make them equal to humans. Krug is unaware of the religion. Thor's dream is to convince him through indirect means, including the manipulation of his weak-willed son and heir, Manuel, through a sexual relationship with a female android, Alpha Lilith Meson. Thor eventually falls in love with her, as does Manuel.
Krug eventually learns of the android religion, and is appalled. After a mind-transfer between Krug and Thor, the former declares that he will never give freedom to androids. Thor despairs, loses his faith and announces Krug's true nature to androids worldwide. He causes the fall of the nearly-complete, 1,200-meter-tall tower. With the collapse of their religion, androids across all of Earth rebel. Many walk off their jobs, others take control of key Earth installations, and some even kill humans in their long-suppressed rage.
Krug and Thor confront each other. The latter, unable to fight his creator, is pushed against an unprogrammed teleporter and annihilated. Krug, his empire crashing down around him and humanity in grave danger, flees in his starship, alone, towards the star system from which the alien message was sent.
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| 06-27-2009 11:51 PM |
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Unknown
Unregistered
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RE: Books, books and more books
I definently don't mind reading text books, I love to read them.
Its fiction stories i am uninterested in.
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| 06-28-2009 12:36 AM |
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Aeolienne
Posts: 3,284
Group: Registered
Joined: Jul 2004
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RE: Books, books and more books
I'm currently reading British as a Second Language: Travels among the English by David Bennum.
As the player's breath warms the fipple the tone clears.
It is time to consider how Domenico Scarlatti
condensed so much music into so few bars
with never a crabbed turn or congested cadence,
never a boast or a see-here; and stars and lakes
echo him and the copse drums out his measure,
snow peaks are lifted up in moonlight and twilight
and the sun rises on an acknowledged land.
Basil Bunting, Briggflatts
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| 07-24-2009 11:22 PM |
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