For those who are new ... we discuss books. I list what I'm reading, and people comment with what they're reading. Sometimes I post a special edition on a particular genre or topic.
Just the usual diary this week.
cfk has Bookflurries on Wednesday nights, with links to lots of other diaries about books and reading on daily Kos .
Just finished
Started and finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson. Great mystery novel with a couple of very brutal scenes. Lives up to the hype. Full review to come.
and Bloodsucking Fiends: A love story by Christopher Moore. One day Jody, a beautiful redhead (she thinks she needs to lose 5 pounds) wakes up as a vampire. Now she's a BLOODSUCKING FIEND. with superhuman strength, an allergy to sunlight, and a taste for blood. Worse, she'll never lose those 5 pounds. Needing a daytime helper, she recruits C. Thomas Flood, a wannabe writer from Incontinence, Indiana. Young love can be hard when one is the food source for the other! A vampire novel that only Moore could write.
Now reading
Ideas: A history of thought and invention from fire to Freud by Peter Watson.
Update [2010-6-9 7:33:2 by plf515]:] I have abandoned this series as there was just too little interest.
[Society without God by Phil Zuckerman. How life is lived in two of the least religious countries on Earth: Denmark and Sweden. The first chapter of this book demolishes the argument that societies without God would be hellish, crime-ridden or whatever. Later in the book, he has discussions, or interviews, with many ordinary people about their lives and the role of religion.
The Fellowship by John Gribbin. About the founding of the Royal Society and the scientific revolution. I am fascinated by this period, but am finding this rather slow going. I'll stick with it though. I wish I could find a better book on this. The fact that this book isn't holding my interest is not good.
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics by Julian Barbour. Barbour's idea is that time does not really exist. Just started it, but it looks very interesting
Augustus: The life of Rome's first emperor by Anthony Everitt. Only a few pages into this, but it looks good. I don't know much about Rome.
Just started
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. A father's day gift from my kids. A fantasy novel.
And some technical books for work.