The unofficial Book Thread which doesn't look as good but was here first

[redarmi]

Yeah I do this although they tend to be of diffierent types ie fiction and non fiction.

[AndrewT]

How many people read multiple books at once? I cant do it, but I guess its just a bit like watching a schedule of TV shows in a week instead of a film or someink

I do - particularly if a book I'm reading is really hard-going and a real slog to get through.

There's one I'm reading at the moment which is like this - it's called The Mental Game of something or other, can't remember exactly what.

[Bongo]

If the book I'm reading is good I just want to read more of it so don't read two at once.

Having said that I have been reading a book of essays called "the next 50 years" for so long now it should more accurately be named "the next 39 years" and I still haven't found the essay I bought the book to read...

[vegaslover]

How many people read multiple books at once? I cant do it, but I guess its just a bit like watching a schedule of TV shows in a week instead of a film or someink

Yeah, always do this. Sometimes have 4 or 5 on the go.
I'm too impatient, probs have about 100 books at home that are unread.
Books are sooo cheap, I can't resist buying more, unfortunately family life, career and ahem the internet all burn too much of my time!!!

[DaveShoelace]

bump

Just finished 'The Power of Habit' and it was pretty decent.

Also went through most of the biographies of the dragons from dragons den, and James Caan and Duncan Bannatynes were both quite good.

What is everyone else reading? Im at a loss what to read next.

[Jon MW]

Good bump.

I bought a kindle a couple of weeks ago, and despite thinking I'd mainly save it for when I was travelling it has boosted the amount of reading I've done just because of the convenience.

The 2 weeks before I bought it I read Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes - it's not worth really talking about what the book is about, the main draw of a Julian Barnes book is that he just writes so well that it doesn't matter what he's actually writing about. And I read a good history of the Spanish Armada (The Confident Hope Of A Miracle) - which stood out from the normal history books because it actually had new facts in it rather than just new opinions (the "new" facts might already have been known - they were just ignored quite a lot).

The 2 weeks since I bought the Kindle I read the 7 Harry Potter books plus a couple of spin-off novelty books. Taken individually they are exactly as expected which is they're not very demanding - but that doesn't mean they're bad; they're just okay. Taken as a whole though they have a beautifully structured over-arching story arc with rock solid integrity in it's characterization and plotting. But I would have to say you do have to be a pretty committed bibliophile to read all 7 books just so you can appreciate the structure of them rather than the actual story.

[mondatoo]

bump

Just finished 'The Power of Habit' and it was pretty decent.

Also went through most of the biographies of the dragons from dragons den, and James Caan and Duncan Bannatynes were both quite good.

What is everyone else reading? Im at a loss what to read next.

Currently reading Chris Evans' book, both are really good.

[Simon Galloway]

Finishing off Keith Richards' book atm.  Very readable, colourful (ldo) life.  But not one that is likely going to have much influence on the way you live your life...

[Hairydude]

Reading the people's history of the united states by Howard zinn. Pretty interesting perspective of how history was written

[rex008]

I've read a few popular science books recently.

"The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform The World" by David Deutsch - fairly mind-blowing mixture of philosophy and science. Really really enjoyed it. Not for the faint-hearted though.

"Seventeen Equations that Changed the World" by Ian Stewart - quite interesting ramble through mathematical history, starting with Pythagoras, and finishing with the Black-Scholes equation (financial modelling), via Thermodynamics, relativity, and quantum theory. As much about history as maths, you don't need to be particularly nerdy to understand it.

"Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements" by Hugh Aldersey-Williams - again, more a history book than a chemistry text. He writes about the discovery and uses of each element. Skips all over the periodic table, partly depending on discovery dates, but also by arbitrarily grouping the elements by usage. Some interesting stuff, although maybe loses some focus as he gets going.

Also read "The Long Earth" - new sci-fi Pratchett/Baxter collaboration. The first 75% was pretty good, but then it didn't really go anywhere. Ending was weak. Setting up for a series maybe.

[Tal]

Along similar lines, the last two I read were: "The Infinite Book" by John D. Barrow (Essentially a book about infinity) and "Why does e=mc^2?" By Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw. Both cerebral but worth a read.

I like a 200ish page book to read on the train to and from work, as I can get through a few pages each way.

Less sciency was "How I escaped my certain fate" by the comedian Stewart Lee, which is a riot; a brilliant piece of writing, charming and endearing, with some of his more famous routines included verbatim.

One from perhaps leftier field is "Captain Scott" by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. It's the conclusion of one of our greatest explorers' extensive research on another of our greatest explorers. The race to the South Pole fascinated me as a child and this was an enthralling read. Fiennes is someone who knows what it takes to reach the pole but he writes with such sincerity that you appreciate just how much harder it was 80 years earlier, without the technology available to the modern polar explorer. This was a submarine officer, taking on an heroic task, with tragic consequences.

Any and all worth an investment.

[rex008]

"Why does e=mc^2?" By Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw.

Read this last year. Probably the most accessible book on relativity I've read. I used to think I vaguely understood it, but having read that I realised there were lots of gaps in my understanding. Although of course that means there are probably loads more gaps that I don't even know about.

Known unknowns, and unknown unknowns...

[Kev B]

I used to read at least a book a week but less now.


Probably my favourite book is To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. Another great read is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. The Hobbit is a book I've read several times including to my kids.

The best autobiography I've read Bob Geldof's Is that it. From the great Boomtownt Rats to putting together of Live Aid. Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis autobiogs I enjoyed, being from a much different era.

Phillip Pullmans Dark materials trilogy are fantastic.

[Tal]

"Why does e=mc^2?" By Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw.

Read this last year. Probably the most accessible book on relativity I've read. I used to think I vaguely understood it, but having read that I realised there were lots of gaps in my understanding. Although of course that means there are probably loads more gaps that I don't even know about.

Known unknowns, and unknown unknowns...

From Brian Cox to Donald Rumsfeld. Quite a link, that!

[flushthemout]

read John Daly the golfers auto Biography on Holiday, 2 days and finished, Amazing Book, espically when he won the British open and what he did with the winnings!!!! Vegas Baby