What are you reading?

[bogeyman]

I am currently working on The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose, Herman Hesse's The Glass Bead Game, a Will Self book, and a couple of technical books.

All very technical. Do you not read fiction?

I only ask because I find more and more that people do not read much fiction.

As for Will Self - if I was compelled to murder someone, and had the choice of victim, Will Self would be pretty fecking high on the list.

[MarillionFan]

That's on my "unread" shelf, next to Getting Things Done

I tried that one with Finishing to the End but only got half way through it.

[doodab]

All very technical. Do you not read fiction?

I only ask because I find more and more that people do not read much fiction.

As for Will Self - if I was compelled to murder someone, and had the choice of victim, Will Self would be pretty fliping high on the list.

The glass bead game is fiction, as is Will Self. I only have one or two works of fiction on the go at once, but I have a whole pile of them next to my bed waiting their turn.

The Penrose book I have been chipping away at for a while. I tend to get diverted from it by background reading.

[bogeyman]

Currently A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin; also dipping into What a Word! by A. P. Herbert now and again for light relief.

Recently finished: Strange Days Indeed by Francis Wheen; Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh; Strange Angel by George Pendle; and Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, all of which (except Wheen) I'd had sitting on the "unread" shelf for ages.

Next up: re-read of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon; re-read of Where Are the Customers' Yachts? by Fred Schwed Jr.; finish The Periodic Table by Primo Levi; and start The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell.

There's also a clutch of iPhone, Cocoa, and Objective C books littering the side of my chair, and I really must have a proper look through Algorithms in a Nutshell at some point.

Some interesting stuff Nick (Cocoa and Objective C aside).

I'm struggling to re-read a lot of H.P. Lovecraft but it seems so dull now. I loved it 20 years ago, but I can't seem to connect with it now. It seems quite tawdry.

[sasguru]

We know Sasguru is reading Spivak, but what are you all reading for entertainment?

.

Actually finished Spivak and moved on to Apostol. Yes I do read maths for pleasure - i find it elegant and beautiful on the whole. And I like the growing mathematical maturity that enables you to read interesting papers and understand them.

For light reading I have the Penguin reissues of Eric Ambler which I'm working through.

[bogeyman]

Actually finished Spivak and moved on to Apostol. Yes I do read maths for pleasure - i find it elegant and beautiful on the whole. And I like the growing mathematical maturity that enables you to read interesting papers and understand them.

For light reading I have the Penguin reissues of Eric Ambler which I'm working through.

I've read Journey into Fear (my Dad's tattered old copy), which was pretty entertaining, but otherwise I'm pretty ignorant of Ambler's works. Any recommendations?

[sasguru]

Hi al_cam. I keep hearing this a lot: People have stopped reading fiction.

I think what happens is you read less fiction as you get older as you've already read the best and new writers don't keep coming

I find it quite disturbing. Reading fiction was one of the things that got me through some of the more difficult passages of my life. I can't imagine going through life without the occasional escape that a well-crafted novel provides.

Agreed. I feel sorry for people who don't ahve the reading habit.

[doodab]

Actually finished Spivak and moved on to Apostol. Yes I do read maths for pleasure - i find it elegant and beautiful on the whole. And I like the growing mathematical maturity that enables you to read interesting papers and understand them.

I agree. I have the collected works of John Nash next to my bed to dip into now and then. Dover press books can be good too, they republish some classics.

Godel

Cohen

[Sysman]

I think what happens is you read less fiction as you get older as you've already read the best and new writers don't keep coming

I long ago got tired of the selection you get in airports. My local library has a limited English section and I'm trying authors I probably wouldn't have looked at before, with some pleasant surprises in there.

[bogeyman]

I long ago got tired of the selection you get in airports. My local library has a limited English section and I'm trying authors I probably wouldn't have looked at before, with some pleasant surprises in there.

Do tell.