What are you reading right now?

[cybercoma]

I've read Ready Player One. It was a lot of fun. An awesomely nostalgic trip down geek-memory lane.

[Bonam]

I know what you mean.

I feel the same way towards scientific paradoxes. I find the attitude of many people who do (many, not all) to be problematic. It is similar to those snooty science folks. There seems to be this line of thinking that unless you think about scientific paradoxes, you are stupid. That those who choose not to think about them, like me, only do so because we are dumb and/or uneducated. I have no desire to associate with these types of people the same as I have no desire to associate with snooty science people.

There's no such thing as a scientific paradox. If two things seem to contradict each other, it's just a lack of our understanding, not something inherently paradoxical in nature. Paradoxes cannot exist in reality, by definition.

The vast majority of the time when people talk about "paradoxes", said paradoxes are already long since resolved, and only remain paradoxes to the mathematically/scientifically illiterate, as illustrated in our discussion about Xeno's paradox here a while back.

Edited February 9, 2013 by Bonam

[Guest American Woman]

Sounds terrific!

Just finished it - and it really is terrific. It gives really good, personal insight into making a living on the streets (in this case, London), and the difficulty of overcoming an addiction (he was a heroin addict) - and the people he comes into contact with really do show the best and the worst of human nature. Through it all, though, it's the love of the cat who happened into his life that makes the biggest difference. Animals really can have a terrific impact on people's lives.

Edited to add:

It might be made into a movie: How Bob the busking cat is heading to Hollywood: The enchanting bestselling story of a stray moggy who saved a man's life is set to be a movie

Edited February 9, 2013 by American Woman

[msj]

There's no such thing as a scientific paradox. If two things seem to contradict each other, it's just a lack of our understanding, not something inherently paradoxical in nature. Paradoxes cannot exist in reality, by definition.

The vast majority of the time when people talk about "paradoxes", said paradoxes are already long since resolved, and only remain paradoxes to the mathematically/scientifically illiterate, as illustrated in our discussion about Xeno's paradox here a while back.

Yes, I am being sarcastic/satirical given that I used the " " and I matched, almost word for word, what newteddy had stated.

That much is obvious.

It should also be obvious that I was referring to his thread which was called "Scientific Paradoxes" by the same poster but, alas, I forgot to put the quotation marks around the term.

So, congratulations on figuring it out, sort of, and on your pedanticalness.

Edited February 9, 2013 by msj

[DogOnPorch]

[ironstone]

I wait till the good books go on sale.Doesn't matter too much if they are the latest or not.

Sahara by Michael Palin

Shakedown by Ezra Levant

The Volunteer(A Canadian's Secret Life In The Mossad) by Michael Ross

Moby Dick(I love classics what can I say?)

[Michael Hardner]

http://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Confusions_of_Pleasure.html?id=YuMcHWWbXqMC&redir_esc=y

The Confusions of Pleasure:

Commerce and Culture in Ming China

Timothy Brook

8 Reviews

University of California Press, 1998 - History - 320 pages

The Ming dynasty was the last great Chinese dynasty before the Manchu conquest in 1644. During that time, China, not Europe, was the center of the world: the European voyages of exploration were searching not just for new lands but also for new trade routes to the Far East. In this book, Timothy Brook eloquently narrates the changing landscape of life over the three centuries of the Ming (1368-1644),

The odd thing about this description of Ming China is that passages could be taken out and used to describe our current time. One thing I found interesting is that in times of change, the powerful and wealthy benefit the most yet are also the first to lament the disappearance of old values. Ming China saw a great acceleration in commerce however ultimately they were too large to focus outward. There was little exploration and exploitation of the world, so China lost out.

[Guest American Woman]

I'm sure more than a few people here grew up with "Goodnight Moon" - this updated version is pretty appropriate for today's kids!

[Melanie_]

My father in law's dementia has gotten to the point that who he was has been lost; for this reason I bought the book "For Alice", but I wasn't sure I would be able to read it. It tells the story of a woman being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease, and how she copes with the knowledge of what will come. It is a quick read, but really good.

[Guest Kenneth]

[kimmy]

This is a subject I've been interested in for a while. Are you finding this book to be helpful? I might order it myself.

-k

[Bryan]

I'm reading this right now:

Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John Sarno

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0446557684/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It sounds like a bunch of woo woo, my BS detector is going overboard. BUT I haven't had much help for my back pain through mainstream medical care, so I'm willing to try anything.

[Guest American Woman]

"And the Mountains Echoed" by Khaled Hosseini. Every bit as good as "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and "The Kite Runner." He's such a gifted writer, and his subject matter so timely, and his characters are so compelling.

Edited June 7, 2013 by American Woman

[Peter F]

Finished 'The Road to Stalingrad' by prof. John Erickson

http://www.amazon.com/The-Road-Stalingrad-Stalin%60s-Germany/dp/0300078129/ref=pd_sim_b_1

A fascinating book. The detail about the operations of the Soviet High Command and soviet operations during those first two years of the war is almost non-existant in my experience. Very enlightening and surprisingly fresh for a book written in the 70's. The author actually did his research in Russia and was given extraordinary access to Soviet archives.

Every other history of the Eastern Front has now become 2nd rate pap.

Maps would be nice, it is not easy trying to figure out the flow of operations working from a modern atlas. This fault makes the book very hard to follow.

The author died in 2002 - from his obituary (see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1384537/Professor-John-Erickson.html)

Erickson had established his expertise with his first book, The Soviet High Command 1918-41 (1962), which was translated into Russian, but he did not actually visit the Soviet Union until 1963, when he went as the research assistant and translator to the American author Cornelius Ryan, for Ryan's book The Last Battle. Erickson's knowledge of Russian and of Soviet military history meant that he knew better than Ryan what questions to ask, and it became apparent that he was directing the discussions.

Sensing that Erickson knew his stuff, the assembled Red Army top brass - who included Marshals Koniev and Zhukov - responded well: "Once we had started, the difficulty was in getting them to stop talking," Erickson recalled. "The interviews went on not merely for hours but for days."

...and I have never heard of this guy...

Edited June 8, 2013 by Peter F

[RB]

The Racketeer by Grisham - I just finished this.

Now reading Rice's Road to Canaan - it is possiable to be divide and human, all at once - a strange take, at first I was shocked at the story telling, but it is a whole new perspective - I would simply regale this to my honey everytime I read a chapter.

I also borrowed Rowling's Casual Vacancy from the library read 2 chapters so far, you have to be in the mood to read this.

I also collected some of Dickens works from the library and will re-read now that I have much more experience in life.

Lastly, I secretly hid from my then strict siblings and read Valley of the Dolls and East of Eden when I was approx. 12 years old, now I have some time to read these again....we shall see what I think now.

I have 3 weeks to go through these then return them to the library

[Traveller]

For Class: "Against Reform" by John Pepall; his arguments against reforming the Canadian Senate. also reading "They Fought For he Motherland: Russia's Women Soldiers in World War One and the Revolution" by Dr Laurie Stoff

For Fun: "America But Better" by Chris Cannon and Brian Calvert. Humourous political manifesto.

For Relaxation: "1356" by Bernard Cornwell; historical fiction concerning the Battle of Poitiers during the Hundred Years War.

With my granddaughter: "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by JK Rowling; because she's old enough now to like them.

Cheers,

[Mighty AC]

I'm a fan of Cornwell and have 1356 but haven't read it yet. I became addicted to the Game of Thrones TVseries so I decided to read the books as well. I'm currently part way through "A Clash of Kings"; the second book. Does anyone know if any of Martin's other works like Dreamsongs, The Hedge Knight, The Ice Dragon, etc act as prequels to or involve any of the characters from the Song of Ice and Fire books?

[workingclasshero]

Funny coincidence, I am reading A Clash of Kings too. I am in the last third of the book, the first third was really bad - too slow with too much fluff, but after that it finally speeded up and something started to happen. I still think tha the first book was better though.

[RB]

I also collected some of Dickens works from the library and will re-read now that I have much more experience in life.

hmmm I did start Great Expectations borrowed from the library wow last year - the expiry date kept coming up - so I gave up. However, I was in AB this week and picked up 3 Dickens and a Thomas Hardy $5.00 at Indigo - it's joyous wow

[Big Guy]

My bride enjoys historical fiction by Steve Berry (you have to read them in the right order) and I enjoy mystery and politics. We recently discovered the Janet Evanovich, Stephane Plum series of about 21 books. I find the Plum series is a very enjoyable light reading that we sample between "serious" reading.

[overthere]

My bride enjoys historical fiction by Steve Berry (you have to read them in the right order) and I enjoy mystery and politics. We recently discovered the Janet Evanovich, Stephane Plum series of about 21 books. I find the Plum series is a very enjoyable light reading that we sample between "serious" reading.

I she likes historical fiction, I can suggest a couple of fine ones.

The first is a pair of longish books about Tudor England called Wolf Hall and Bring out The Bodies by Hilary Mantel. They are sequential and Wolf Hall must be read first. They are both engrossing and finely written, winners of several significant awards.

The second is the 'Master and Commander' series of books aka the 'Aubrey-Maturin' series, by Patrick O Brien, about the Napoleonic wars via a British Navy viewpoint. The (18!) books are all shortish and should again be read in order, starting with the first which is 'Master and Commander'. Wonderful stuuf, very well written with mutiple story lines and as they say " no romantic bilgewater!". It has been described as 'the best historic fiction ever written' and I would not argue with that high praise.

My current read is Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, an extraordinary view of how we have come to how we are now in society. It's an engrossing read, about 1/2 way through

[Mighty AC]

My current read is Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, an extraordinary view of how we have come to how we are now in society. It's an engrossing read, about 1/2 way through

An excellent book! 'Collapse' and 'The World Until Yesterday' are also very interesting reads.

[Mighty AC]

I'm currently reading The Violinist's Thumb by Sam Kean. It's a fascinating and entertaining look into DNA and how it has shaped our lives, our past and how it will affect our future. Kean educates about science topics through interesting stories, sort of like how Dubner and Levitt deal with data in Freakonomics. For instance he discusses a very cool genetic link between crazy cat ladies and motorcycle crashes. Anyway, for those into entertaining science-fact stories, add this one to your wishlist.

[Wilber]

Recently finished the first four books of Maurice Drouin's Accursed Kings fictional history series. The next two English editions are to be released this year with one to go. Martin has called it the original Game of Thrones and it deals with the demise of France's Capet dynasty from Philip the Fair's elimination of the Templars and de Molay's execution, leading up to the Hundred Years War. Right now I have gone back to the first Flashman book. Read a few of them years ago but missed the first. Good entertainment combined with some good history.

Have to agree on O Brian's Aubrey Maturin series. Wonderful characters who continue to develope and he has been compared to Jane Austen when it comes to describing life in the early 19th century and his decription of life on those sail driven wooden warships is without equal.. Many of the incidents in the books are based on the original real life Master and Commander, Thomas Cochrane. Have read the entire 20 book series twice in will probably do so again one day.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Wilber

[mjrr]

Being into Sci-fi my current book is a re-reading of Arthur C Clarkes classic `Rendez-vous with Rama``

Wow this book never gets old..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama