In an effort to keep Off-Topic off-topic (Mike is doing a good job of this with his chicken thread!), I’ve two questions for you:
What was the last (non-programming) book you read?
What (non-programming) book are you reading now, if any?
I guess I’ll go first!
The last book I read was A Study In Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. When I was a teenager, I loved the Sherlock Holmes short stories and recently decided to re-read them all again (they’re all out of copyright, of course, so they’re available on the iBooks store for free and many other eBook collections). While it’s a little too long to be a short story, it’s the first Sherlock Holmes story to be published so I thought I’d start there. I was in 221b Baker Street in London with my wife a few months ago.
I’m currently reading Anthem by Ayn Rand. I want to read Atlas Shrugged but it’s huge and I don’t get much time for reading so Anthem is a nice novella on a similar theme.
A Natural History of Ghosts - 500 years of hunting for proof, by Roger Clarke.
Paranormal - My Life in Pursuit of the Afterlife, by Raymond Moody.
If anyone is interested in the afterlife and ghosts etc. - look on youtube for “The Scole Experiment” - it is an EXCELLENT documentary!
I have also recently just finished Norman Wisdom’s biography, I thought it was fantastic.
Atlas Shrugged is okay. When a character starts one of their speeches/rants read the first couple of pages. After that you can skim until it stops. It really makes the book smaller and easier to read.
Seriously, I’ve never read a book where the characters deliver speeches for 30 or 40 pages with zero interruption. In the real world someone would just walk away or tell them the STFU. Otherwise (politics aside), it was an interesting story.
Last book read: Influx by Daniel Suarez. Interesting storyline: What if a government agency was purposely hindering technological advancement in the name of societal stability?
Current Book: The first book of the Confederation series (Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained) by Peter F Hamilton. Very good hard SF series (read it before). Huge, massive, lots of characters and divergent story lines that come together later.
Could never read them as they are told as a history rather than an narrative like the movies turned into.
Last book I read was literally called “Slow Death By Rubber Duck” - scary stuff
Atlas Shrugged is abible to me and ahould be to any hard working, self employed person. You definitely should give it a try. The pagelong monologues of the main character could be tiresome though
The last non-programming book I read was Akif Pirinci “Deutschland von Sinnen, der irre Kult umFrauen, Homosexuelle und Zuwanderer” (Germany out of mind, the crazy cult of women, homosexuals and immigrants) ? a controversial book which about the crazyness of modern western political correctness.
Currently I’m reading the second novel of the witcher-cycle, a polish fantasy series ? there were two rather good computer games based on these novels.
I hate books and movies where things happen without reason. Or where people are simply bad people without good motives for their behaviour. I don’t mind violence when the story demands it, but violence for violence’ sake is just poor writing.
That being said:
Patricia A. McKillip: The Riddle-Master if Hed (part 1 of the Riddle-Master Trilogy). Absolutely love it - first book EVER where absolutely everything fits. Great story-telling, lots of riddles, and everyone has a deeper agenda.
Perry Rhodan. Longest running SF series in the World, continous storyline, now reading number 2744, and it is currently very gripping.
P.S. Perry Rhodan: currently dealing with a superior invasion force which accused, put him on trial, and condemned him for crimes he was going to commit in the future.
“Er ist wieder da” from Timur Vermes (written in German). About Adolf Hitler who wakes up in Berlin in 2011. Very funny story that tells us how easy a new Hitler could become popular again.
Global Available-to-Promise with SAP® - Functionality and Configuration - recommended for insomniacs
short track speed skating rules and procedures documents for referees and starters (Quebec-specific) - recommended, period. Short track speed skating is just unbelievably exciting when you are on-site. With beginners, it is the intensity and energy that the kids (and their parents in the stands) have. With elite skaters, it is the incredible exploits they do with every lap, every turn, every move. It is also strategy and tactics on the longer distances. ( I am sold on the sport. in case it was not already clear)
I comment on all the books I read (Z/Web) and movies I watch (Z/Web) on my personal blog…
I don’t include programming books!
So weird you mention this: I was listening to the audiobook version of that on the plane on the way to XDC! It’s the Complete Sherlock Holmes, so it’s all the stories and novels, so I’ve a long way to go to get through the whole thing. But that was an interesting story I hadn’t read before.
