Currently reading ....

[TykeMerc]

Been reading the Saxon series of books by Bernard Cornwell. Not bad at all.

[stek]

I'm reading The Great Escaper about Roger Bushell who was Big X and also Richard Attenborough in The Great Escape.

[pjclarke]

Read this very recently and was left with a general feeling of sadness after reading it. The guy was obviously clever, talented, charismatic, charming, rich etc etc etc and he seemed to spend a decade or more trying to find ways to totally self-destruct, eventually with reasonable success. I am not sure how much was just drug fueled paranoia but he seemed to take no responsibility whatsoever for his own downfall

Absolutely, without getting into the amateur psychology too deep, on the one hand he'd made more money by age thirty than I will ever see, not to mention the the drugs, hookers and fast cars. On the other hand the ability to 'live the dream' seemed to require the complete absence of self-awareness, or as I said, any empathy or contrition for those on the losing end of his frauds and mis-selling. By the end my pity was stronger than my envy.

[d000hg]

Have moved onto excession by Iain M Banks now. Only three more to go after that and I'll have managed his entire oeuvre.

You're not reading them in order then? Bothering with his non-M books?

[doodab]

You're not reading them in order then? Bothering with his non-M books?

I'm reading the remainder in order. I read most of them almost in order as they came out, though that was completely by accident. I've read a few of his non-M books as well, I might go for a few more once I'm done with the sci-fi but at the moment I have a 24 week teach myself maths and physics plan to get through which is quite a lot of reading and Murakami's 1Q84 which is a whopper.

[eek]

I'm reading the remainder in order. I read most of them almost in order as they came out, though that was completely by accident. I've read a few of his non-M books as well, I might go for a few more once I'm done with the sci-fi but at the moment I have a 24 week teach myself maths and physics plan to get through which is quite a lot of reading and Murakami's 1Q84 which is a whopper.

Probably best to skip the quarry, I think it may be a bit too close to home.

[OwlHoot]

A Garden of Integrals, by Frank Burk

Pretty readable and informative, despite appearances, and unlike so many maths books one doesn't tend to lose sight of the wood for the trees!

From the review

The audience for the book is undergraduate mathematics students, graduate students, and faculty members, of which even the most experienced are unlikely to be aware of all of the integrals in the Garden of Integrals. Professor Burk's clear and well-motivated exposition makes this book a joy to read. There is no other book like it.

[doodab]

A Garden of Integrals, by Frank Burk

Pretty readable and informative, despite appearances, and unlike so many maths books one doesn't tend to lose sight of the wood for the trees!

From the review

Stop it. I already have more maths books than I can read!

[Gittins Gal]

I'm reading Sir Walter Scott's Heart of Midlothian.

I've found the opening chapters a little bit lugubrius but will stick with it. For now, at least.

[doodab]

I am now on Look to Windward, the last of the culture novels I haven't read.