Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 1503

bfisher · 07-10-2015, 06:28 PM

Ellenberg did the Hawking Index last year, for most unread book

"The reason I was doing this, you know, I have my own book out. Of course, like any author, I was looking at my own metrics and I looked at the highlights and found that they were all from the first 3 chapters and I was kind of upset. But being a mathematician I started to look at other books too and then I saw that I was actually sort of ahead of the pack."

http://www.npr.org/2014/07/12/330889...t-unread-books

bfisher · 07-10-2015, 09:25 PM

Just finished "The Debs of Bletchley Park" by Michael Smith.

About 2/3 of the people who worked at Bletchley Park during WW2 were women. The book is primarily based on interviews with many of these women, where they described their backgrounds, how they came to Bletchley Park, what they did there, and their lives both on and off duty. After reading this, I felt that I had a much better sense of how Bletchley functioned.

Dngrsone · 07-10-2015, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Will it not cost you more in library fines after a year than the book is worth?

They have an upper limit... I may just pay for the book and then donate it back, if it comes to that, though.

elaysee · 07-10-2015, 11:01 PM

Heh. That Ellenberg interview is fun, and while the style is of course more conversational, it nicely conveys the type of math-in-life he writes about.

HarryT · 07-11-2015, 10:31 AM

Just finished "Look to the Lady", by Margery Allingham. This is the third book in the "Campion" series of detective stories.

Campion is hired by a Suffolk family who have a hereditary duty to protect a state treasure - an ancient chalice - on behalf of the crown. They fear that the chalice will be stolen, a view which is reinforced when a female member of the family is found dead in mysterious circumstances.

A wildly improbable story, but an excellent read. I'm coming to the conclusion that the "Campion" series is more a series of adventure stories than detective stories in the traditional sense, but they're nonetheless extremely enjoyable. Recommended.

pdurrant · 07-11-2015, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Lost Steersman by Rosemary Kirstein. Another recent purchase. I liked the first two, I hope I like the third.

I did indeed. Better than the first two, IMO. Looking forward to the next one, but I'll take a break to read:

Dragon in Exile by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, the latest in their Liaden series.

Hampshire Nanny · 07-11-2015, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Will it not cost you more in library fines after a year than the book is worth?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

They have an upper limit... I may just pay for the book and then donate it back, if it comes to that, though.

My library does the same. The maximum fine is usually less than the price of the book. But they don't usually let you get away with keeping the book for a full year before they declare it lost and assess you for the replacement cost. (Replacement cost is typically more than the price of the book.)

HarryT · 07-12-2015, 08:58 AM

Just finished "The Excalibur Alternative" by David Weber, which I bought from Baen in Jan 2002. A 14th century English army is captured by a galactic trading consortium for use as mercenaries on low-technology planets where high-tech weapons are outlawed. Set in the same universe as David Drake's "Ranks of Bronze". Very good military SF. Recommended.

Dhevi · 07-12-2015, 06:30 PM

Finished "Working For Bigfoot", a collection of short stories from Jim Butcher. Moving on to "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" by Alan Dean Foster.

pdurrant · 07-13-2015, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Dragon in Exile by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, the latest in their Liaden series.

Which was excellent. Although keeping track of who's who is difficult if you haven't read all the others recently. Not one to start with!

Next up: Timebound by Rysa Walker. alanspace recommended this a while back, and it was cheap, I thought I'd give it a try.

Looking OK so far.

pilotbob · 07-13-2015, 09:54 AM

I finished listening/reading 14. This is the first time I really used Whispersync for Audio books. It works really well. Although, at one point something happened and it stopped working. Closing and reopening the book on my kindle seemed to fix it.

Anyway... I really liked 14. I was well paced.

Back to the Isle of Man books now.

CRussel · 07-13-2015, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Which was excellent. Although keeping track of who's who is difficult if you haven't read all the others recently. Not one to start with!

Agreed. Definitely not a gateway book for the series/Universe.

Quote:

Next up: Timebound by Rysa Walker. alanspace recommended this a while back, and it was cheap, I thought I'd give it a try.

Looking OK so far.

Read and enjoyed the first one, and the second one, and then got bogged down and lost interest in the third. Too little actual history, and too many ways they just become more of the same.

pdurrant · 07-14-2015, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Timebound by Rysa Walker. alanspace recommended this a while back, and it was cheap, I thought I'd give it a try.

Looking OK so far.

And it was OK. An interesting look at time travel, but I'm not going to go out of my way to get the next book.

Next up: Into the Maelstrom by David Drake and John Lambshead. A sequel to Into the Hinterlands, set some years after the first book. Looking very good so far.

HarryT · 07-14-2015, 08:06 AM

Just finished "Timescape" by Gregory Benford. A scientist in the world of 1998, which is on the verge of ecological catastrophe, tries to stave off disaster by sending a warning back in time to 1963. Meanwhile, in 1963, another scientist tries to make sense of the extremely puzzling results he's getting in his experiments.

This is one of Benford's early novels, originally published in 1980, and it is a little rough around the edges, but still very good hard SF. Recommended.

Dngrsone · 07-14-2015, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dhevi

Finished "Working For Bigfoot", a collection of short stories from Jim Butcher. Moving on to "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" by Alan Dean Foster.

The first non-Lucas Star Wars novel, and one of my favorites.

I've had to pull my copy out a few times to show people that yes, this is a sequel to Star wars and Lucas did not steal the idea from Foster...

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Hey hey! I found the first Kindle 3 bug!	WilliamG	Amazon Kindle	22	02-14-2012 05:28 PM
Advice on Action	jaxx6166	Writers' Corner	5	06-25-2010 12:29 AM
Hey! From Reading - P.A. that is.	GlenBarrington	Introduce Yourself	3	01-01-2010 09:00 PM
Seriously thoughtful Affirmative Action	Jaime_Astorga	Lounge	39	07-07-2009 06:24 PM

07-10-2015, 06:28 PM	#22531
bfisher Wizard Posts: 1,638 Karma: 28483498 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Ottawa Canada Device: Sony PRS-T3, Galaxy (Aldiko, Kobo app)	Ellenberg did the Hawking Index last year, for most unread book "The reason I was doing this, you know, I have my own book out. Of course, like any author, I was looking at my own metrics and I looked at the highlights and found that they were all from the first 3 chapters and I was kind of upset. But being a mathematician I started to look at other books too and then I saw that I was actually sort of ahead of the pack." http://www.npr.org/2014/07/12/330889...t-unread-books

07-10-2015, 09:25 PM	#22532
bfisher Wizard Posts: 1,638 Karma: 28483498 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Ottawa Canada Device: Sony PRS-T3, Galaxy (Aldiko, Kobo app)	Just finished "The Debs of Bletchley Park" by Michael Smith. About 2/3 of the people who worked at Bletchley Park during WW2 were women. The book is primarily based on interviews with many of these women, where they described their backgrounds, how they came to Bletchley Park, what they did there, and their lives both on and off duty. After reading this, I felt that I had a much better sense of how Bletchley functioned.

07-10-2015, 11:01 PM	#22534
elaysee Groupie Posts: 167 Karma: 1319590 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: iPad/MapleRead	Heh. That Ellenberg interview is fun, and while the style is of course more conversational, it nicely conveys the type of math-in-life he writes about.

07-11-2015, 10:31 AM	#22535
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,556 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Just finished "Look to the Lady", by Margery Allingham. This is the third book in the "Campion" series of detective stories. Campion is hired by a Suffolk family who have a hereditary duty to protect a state treasure - an ancient chalice - on behalf of the crown. They fear that the chalice will be stolen, a view which is reinforced when a female member of the family is found dead in mysterious circumstances. A wildly improbable story, but an excellent read. I'm coming to the conclusion that the "Campion" series is more a series of adventure stories than detective stories in the traditional sense, but they're nonetheless extremely enjoyable. Recommended.

07-12-2015, 08:58 AM	#22538
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,556 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Just finished "The Excalibur Alternative" by David Weber, which I bought from Baen in Jan 2002. A 14th century English army is captured by a galactic trading consortium for use as mercenaries on low-technology planets where high-tech weapons are outlawed. Set in the same universe as David Drake's "Ranks of Bronze". Very good military SF. Recommended.

07-12-2015, 06:30 PM	#22539
Dhevi Zealot Posts: 144 Karma: 2211224 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Ohio Device: Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S3, Nexus 7.2	Finished "Working For Bigfoot", a collection of short stories from Jim Butcher. Moving on to "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" by Alan Dean Foster.

07-13-2015, 09:54 AM	#22541
pilotbob Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,832 Karma: 11844413 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tampa, FL USA Device: Kindle Touch	I finished listening/reading 14. This is the first time I really used Whispersync for Audio books. It works really well. Although, at one point something happened and it stopped working. Closing and reopening the book on my kindle seemed to fix it. Anyway... I really liked 14. I was well paced. Back to the Isle of Man books now.

07-14-2015, 08:06 AM	#22544
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,556 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Just finished "Timescape" by Gregory Benford. A scientist in the world of 1998, which is on the verge of ecological catastrophe, tries to stave off disaster by sending a warning back in time to 1963. Meanwhile, in 1963, another scientist tries to make sense of the extremely puzzling results he's getting in his experiments. This is one of Benford's early novels, originally published in 1980, and it is a little rough around the edges, but still very good hard SF. Recommended.