What ya reading? Version 425108

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

REAmDe by Neal Stephenson

Could you recommend some stuff for me by Neal Stephenson? So far I've read two (or tried to at least). Snow Crash is one of my favorite books ever, could hardly put it down. But when I tried to get into Cryptonomicon I found it extremely hard to follow what was going on and eventually lost interest completely. Are there other books of his that don't bounce around so much and don't get so deeply involved in technical jargon?

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

I'm also a fan of the Ender's Game series as well, and I agree the sequels aren't in the fantasy realm, although they are starkly different that the first. The first one is pretty well pure military/dystopian sci-fi where the sequels deal much less with the military and much more with religion, politics, sociology and philosophy.

For those that don't know, Ender's Game started out as a prologue to Speaker for the Dead, but Card got pretty carried away writing and realized it was enough material for it's own book.

Spoiler!

When they got into Philotes the books completely left the realm of sci-fi and wandered into fantasy, at least IMO. The Ender series really got sappy towards the end too with all the love stuff (Miro may be my least favorite book character ever). I was hoping Card would delve deeper into the alien race that created the descolada but that never happened

[SportsJunky]

I read Stephenson's Anathem based on a recommendation here on CP. It was way over my head in terms of much of the detail but I loved it. I know it won at least one major award the year it came out too.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2845024-anathem

[annasuave]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Could you recommend some stuff for me by Neal Stephenson? So far I've read two (or tried to at least). Snow Crash is one of my favorite books ever, could hardly put it down. But when I tried to get into Cryptonomicon I found it extremely hard to follow what was going on and eventually lost interest completely. Are there other books of his that don't bounce around so much and don't get so deeply involved in technical jargon?

Anathem and Cryptonomicon were over my head too.

If you liked Snow Crash, try The Diamond Age. If you pay very close attention, you might recognize one of the characters from Snow Crash.

I also enjoyed REAMDE.

[puffnstuff]

It's funny, the first one of his I read was Cryptonomicom (and my fav)
Anathem was good as well...but I didn't like the ending all that much.

I haven't read Snow Crash or Diamond Age. But his Baroque Cycle trilogy was enjoyable...and is definitely less technical than the others and you'll recognize the names. I saw it as kind of a prequel to the Cryptonomicom.

And I've only read about 50 pages of REAmDe so far.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Also, Scott Lynch's The Republic of Thieves came out this week. Looking forward to that one, as the first in the series, The Lies of Locke Lamora was absolutely brilliant. The follow-up less so.

I just finished TROT and it a very very good read, if you have not read it yet you are in for a treat.

[Nandric]

If there is any non-fiction fans out there, Ive been reading the Wars of Afhganistan by Peter Tomsen. Its gives a pretty good view into Afghanistan over the last century and how the foreign policy of countries surrounding it and the world powers cant seem to get it right when it comes to it.

[troutman]

Just picked this up. Seems to be right up my alley:



http://www.sfsite.com/10b/yz378.htm

The aliens have heard our music, and they like it. Actually, they love it to the point where the first time they heard human music it caused all listeners to become comatose with rhapsody, disrupting entire societies to the point where, after recovering from the shock, calendars were re-numbered, with all dates now measured by whether they are Pre or Post K.

What the K stands for is one of the underlying jokes of Rob Reid's hilarious first novel, Year Zero. Intergalactic society, it turns out, revolves around cultural competition. Species are not allowed in until showing they aren't a threat to blow up themselves or their neighbors, which so far has kept the human race out. In all of the other cultural pursuits, from theatrical drama to indoor decorating, the aliens are so far beyond us as to create the same kind of overwhelming awe in us as our music does to them. Music is the one thing we do better than anybody else, and we're so much better at it that it isn't even funny.

[troutman]

Blog - Best Books of 2013 Lists:

http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/...est_of_13.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...ticle15567921/

[cral12]

I'm currently reading:
Non-fiction: Checklist Manifesto

Fiction: Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

[Coys1882]

Seems like Conn Igguldens next job is to tackle War of the Roses now he's done with genghis khan and Caesar.

Picked it up for our holiday - looking forward to it.

[Boblobla]

I just finished Gardens of the Moon: Book One of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. It was quite entertaining and I just ordered the second book of the series.

I am also reading "The Dresden Files" series, which is awesome light reading for when I travel. I have a hard time reading anything that takes too much attention when I am at the airport or on a short flight.

[Puppet Guy]

I'm re-reading Dune, and should be done it by tomorrow. I've read it a few times, but probably not in 15-20 years, and I'm finding a whole lot that I either missed or it went over my head. It really is a masterpiece.

[troutman]

http://margaretatwood.ca/maddaddam-trilogy/

[Bobblehead]

I'm reading Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Series. I'm about half way through The Hero of Ages

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

I'm reading Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Series. I'm about half way through The Hero of Ages

How is it? I really enjoyed the books he did at the end of Wheel of Time but he was following a pretty detailed roadmap from what I understand.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

I'm reading Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Series. I'm about half way through The Hero of Ages

Is it good? I've read the first two in The Stormlight Archive and enjoyed them, though I tried to read Warbreaker and couldn't really get into it.

[habernac]

Jonah Keri's book on the Montreal Expos. It's excellent.

[octothorp]

I don't read a lot of non-fiction but just read the new Michael Lewis book, Flash Boys. He does a great job of making a relatively arcane topic (high frequency trading) understandable, and the characters are all fascinating. It seems inevitable that it'll become a movie at some point, and there's a lot of commonality with the movie version of Moneyball (although I never read that book).

[troutman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_at...nson_Mysteries
The underlying thread is "Ronson’s desire to report on and attempt to explain human dysfunction in its various, colorful forms."