Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Don't know. Obviously he'd have to be tall, young and blond (Sorry Tom Cruise, you need not apply).

Reminds me of Tom Selleck playing a 39 year old detective at 70 in the Jesse Stone movies. Still he did a pretty good job

Helen

[JLius]

Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir: very entertaining, the ending was quite abrupt though.
Now reading: Endymion by Dan Simmons and I can already tell it's gonna be great - Hyperion was also great.

Other recommendation: Vernor Vinge: Zones of thought. Only read the first two (Fire upon the deep/A deepness in the sky), but they were among the best sf I've ever read (and I read a lot)

[WT Sharpe]

I just finished "Enoch Soames," a short story by Max Beerbohm in which he tells of the fate of his friend, an unsuccessful author he knew, who made a deal with the devil. The use of time travel and a nice twist ending make this one a pleasure to read. BenG uploaded an LRF version to our Patricia Clark Memorial Library under that title, and Madam Broshkina uploaded an LRF version of the book, Seven Men, in which this story is included, and I just finished converting their efforts to ePubs and Kindle formats and uploaded them, if anyone's interested.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Next up, Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb. I've tried to read her before, and given up, but maybe this time will be different. And it's a Library book, so nothing lost except my time if I don't like it. This is the first in a series, so if I like it, all to the good.
Meanwhile, I have the first of the Inspector Banks books by Peter Robinson on my Kindle if the Robin Hobb doesn't work. I tried to read this series years ago, since my DW likes them a lot. Somehow, the didn't work for me at the time. But I think it's time to re-visit that.

Hmmm. Got sidetracked. I started to read Shaman's Crossing, but then another book on my TBR caught my eye, and I abandoned Ms. Hobb after about 20 pages. But I might go back, I think it was the desire for something a bit different. IAC, I ended up reading Imager, by L.E. Modesitt Jr. I've read this before, as an audio book, but never as a regular book, but decided I wanted to re-read it now that so much of the back story is known. I'm enjoying it, though I just skip over the too frequent faux-religious crap. Finished it, and had started on the second in the series, Imager's Challenge, but that's going to have to go on hold for a day or two. Rosemary Kirstein's fourth (and final so far) book in the Steerswoman series, The Language of Power is out on Kindle (DRM-Free), and that comes first.

[Stitchawl]

Reading 'Outlander' and listening to 'Ender's Game.' Enjoying both!
Funny thing about listening to this one. I'm finding the same situation I had with the first of the Dresden series... I tried 'reading' them, but couldn't get past the first chapter. But 'listening' to an audio book of them drew me right into the stories. It's possible that it was the reader doing such a great job 'acting' the voices that does it, but what ever, I an thoroughly enjoying the audio version!

Stitchawl

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Reading 'Outlander' and listening to 'Ender's Game.' Enjoying both!
Funny thing about listening to this one. I'm finding the same situation I had with the first of the Dresden series... I tried 'reading' them, but couldn't get past the first chapter. But 'listening' to an audio book of them drew me right into the stories. It's possible that it was the reader doing such a great job 'acting' the voices that does it, but what ever, I an thoroughly enjoying the audio version!

Stitchawl

On my semi-daily walks with Norton I'm currently listening to Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, and it's every bit as enjoyable as sitting down and reading the book on my Kindle.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

On my semi-daily walks with Norton I'm currently listening to Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, and it's every bit as enjoyable as sitting down and reading the book on my Kindle.

As long as you understand the bit about the apperception of the manifold you'll be alright.

I have allegedly studied The Critique of Pure Reason for my degree, but honestly, I didn't read a lot of it and didn't follow it very well. I did come away with the impression that he was quite smart.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Now for The Complete Lythande by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Bought from Book View Cafe in a sale in December last year.

A nice collection of fantasy short stories, and there was some interesting overlap (in terms of secondary characters) with my calibre-created omnibus from earlier this year.

Next up: Grand Central Arena by Ryk Spoor. It seems to be a super-science grand space opera, reminiscent in some ways of EE 'Doc' Smith's works. There's also a name or two that are obviously taken from his works deliberately. Fun so far.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

As long as you understand the bit about the apperception of the manifold you'll be alright.

Oh, I don't know anything about automotive repair.

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I have allegedly studied The Critique of Pure Reason for my degree, but honestly, I didn't read a lot of it and didn't follow it very well. I did come away with the impression that he was quite smart.

He was undoubtedly intelligent, but appears to me to be deliberately difficult to understand. It's not just the highly technical language he uses, but he seems to exemplify the modern philosopher's propensity to shroud his ideas in an unnecessary web of verbosity.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Oh, I don't know anything about automotive repair.



He was undoubtedly intelligent, but appears to me to be deliberately difficult to understand. It's not just the highly technical language he uses, but he seems to exemplify the modern philosopher's propensity to shroud his ideas in an unnecessary web of verbosity.

My lecturer told us two possibly apocryphal things about Kant:

1. He was a great, entertaining lecturer, who used a lot of analogies and so on to explain his points, but didn't believe in using the same tools in the written version.

2. German students often read the English translation because it's easier to follow.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

My lecturer told us two possibly apocryphal things about Kant:

1. He was a great, entertaining lecturer, who used a lot of analogies and so on to explain his points, but didn't believe in using the same tools in the written version.

2. German students often read the English translation because it's easier to follow.

Oddly, I'm beginning to feel I might get more out of hearing the book in German. And I don't speak a word of German.

[JLius]

I'm not ashamed to say I didn't understand the critique at all - and I studied philosophy, cum laude .
The only thing I remember of Kant until this day is his categorical imperative.

Sartre's Nausea was a lot more fun to read

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by JLius

I'm not ashamed to say I didn't understand the critique at all - and I studied philosophy, cum laude .
The only thing I remember of Kant until this day is his categorical imperative....

Pretty much the same here; and the various formulations of his categorical imperative always struck my simple mind as re-phrasings of the Golden Rule into more obscure and enigmatic language.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

On my semi-daily walks with Norton I'm currently listening to Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, and it's every bit as enjoyable as sitting down and reading the book on my Kindle.

Ouch. I've tried to read it three times and given up each time. I never got past synthetic a priori propositions and I still don't understand what it means...

Just finished Dorian Gray (must post my book club review soon) and now reading Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley - Objectivism brought to life!

[benham]

Just starting Black, by Russell Blake.