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

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

No. Too old and only have so many breaths left...........

Hey, I'm a smoker

[phenomshel]

I just bought "Cat Deck the Halls" by Shirley Rousseau Murphy from BoB. I'm trying to hold out on reading it until I get my Reader in, though. But I wanted to take advantage of the coupon I got from BoB for registering, so I went ahead and got the book. I thought it'd be cool to have something new that I've been really wanting to read for my first ebook read on my Reader...

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Hey, I'm a smoker

You should quit.

BOb

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

You should quit.

BOb

Yes, I know.

[Dr. Drib]

I'm almost finished with Sputnik Sweetheart, by Haruki Murakami.

I'm a huge fan of his work, and have read almost everything he's written.

Sputnik Sweetheart is very minor Murakami, but thoroughly enjoyable. I also collect his books in First Editions, which is an expensive hobby, considering his popularity. There's talk of his winning a Nobel Prize in Literature sometime in the future.

Don

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I'm almost finished with Sputnik Sweetheart, by Haruki Murakami.

I'm a huge fan of his work, and have read almost everything he's written.
...

He's definitely on my TBR-list, if not yet my TBR-pile. If I was going to alter that, where would you recommend I start?

Cheers,
Marc

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

He's definitely on my TBR-list, if not yet my TBR-pile. If I was going to alter that, where would you recommend I start?

Cheers,
Marc

First, people seem very polarized about him: They either like his writing or they don't. His masterpiece is considered The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but I would avoid that as a first introduction to his work.

I would recommend his first short story collection, titled The Elephant Vanishes, as it it deals with many of the themes in his later, more mature works. The stories are of varying lengths and are quite accessible.

His writing skirts some of the familiar motifs of SF, but doesn't entirely embrace it.

This is just my opinion, of course, but I won't tell you what my drill sergeant said about opinions -; but I will say this: Everyone has one!

Let me know if you enjoy him or not.


Don

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

...
This is just my opinion, of course, but I won't tell you what my drill sergeant said about opinions -; but I will say this: Everyone has one!

Ah, I get it. A toothbrush, right?

Let me know if you enjoy him or not.

I will do. Thanks for that. It has been Evernoted on my "Books to buy" list (I'm just waiting on that trip to Sydney, hopefully sometime this month).

Cheers,
Marc

[astra]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

His masterpiece is considered The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but I would avoid that as a first introduction to his work.

Masterpiece, ineed.

I got it as BD present from my brother.


Since then....................................... I don't read books I get from him.

[pilotbob]

The MobileRead Book Club has selected to read...

Refuge by Richard Herley

...for the month of February. This book is free to d/l and Richard Herley the author and Mobileread member has waved the requirement of payment for this book. However, I still intend to pay for it ($1.50) if I enjoy it per his normal contract with the reader.

Please join us. A discussion thread for this book will be opened in the Reading Recommendations section February 22nd.

BOb

[Dr. Drib]

I finished my last book - the Haruki Murakami title mentioned a few posts back.

Right now, I'm reading an incredible book, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Best Novel a few months ago, a book by Junot Diaz, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao."

This is a wonderful novel, although I'm only about 1/6 into it at this moment. I highly recommend it, especially for those readers who like to keep abreast of modern contemporary literature.


Don

[bbusybookworm]

I've just finished

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

The Description -

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."--Randy Pausch. When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, was asked to give a "last lecture," he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have ... and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

And I have to say that The Book is great. It literary had me choked up at times, and the basic things he talks about are often just Common Sense, but are things you often forget.


I'm also reading

Don't Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff Very Snarky, but Intresting

What Is Your Dangerous Idea?: Today's Leading Thinkers on the Unthinkable by John Brockman Quiet Interesting

Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism by Robert Pape Slow Going, as is quiet Dense.

The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios

Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos by Michio Kaku

[nekokami]

Another friend recommended Pausch. Maybe later this spring.

I finished C.J. Cherryh's Regenesis two nights ago. I thought it was a worthy sequel to Cyteen, which I also liked. She did some interesting universe-building in this one that makes me wonder where she's headed next. This is a part of the "Union/Alliance" history that she hasn't done much with previously. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an ebook version, so I went with paper.

For grad school, I'm reading Biology as Ideology by Lewontin, and Reflections on Gender and Science, by Keller. Those are both for the "human development" course. For the moral philosophy course, I'm reading various works about moral relativism. Eh.

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by nekokami

Another friend recommended Pausch. Maybe later this spring.

Its definitely worth a Read.

That reminds me, I need to track down a copy of the Actual Lecture.

Found it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

[Xenophon]

Randy's Last Lecture is also available as a free download on iTunes. Search for 'carnegie mellon pausch' (without the quotes) and it'll be the first link.

Xenophon (Writing from my office at CMU)