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Hi guys,
This is the thread for you to recommend interesting books you have just read recently. Fiction and non-fiction books are welcome.
For fiction books, I would prefer sci-fic and fantasy genre. But anythng will do as this thread is for all, not just me.
For non-fiction, maybe some VC or programming books perhaps. But as I said, anything will do.
:D
The book I most enjoyed reading last year was Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose. I must say I wasn't expecting a novel about a 14th century Italian abbey to be that exciting, but once I got into the first chapters, I couldn't put the book down. Besides learning much more about the conflict between Franciscans (and many related sects) and the wealthy papacy (at this time, the French papacy) than I had been aware of, there were labyrinths, murder, cryptography, ancient manuscripts, and a particular thread of theological questioning which ties the whole thing together perfectly. I couldn't explain the plot much without ruining the enjoyment, but if you have ever been interested in the origins of modern science from the "heretical" mystics of the dark ages (like Francis Bacon or Giordano Bruno), then I strongly suggest this book.
I also recently read Italo Calvino's t zero which is kind of a continuation of his cosmicomics and continues with more stories in the adventures of the ever-existing qfwfq. Calvino's style is a lot like Jorge Luis Borge's, full of paradoxes and out-of-time archetypes. I think it a makes a good "light" read, because the stories are short and not necessarily connected.
That's pretty much it for recent reads. My favorite books have always been oriented towards those that break from the traditional narrative style, like James Joyce's Ulysses (unfortunately, I still do not have enough historical background to understand most of Finnegan's Wake...) and Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game (Das Glasperlenspiel). Sci-fi was my first love, starting with Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time when I was real young, but evolved into authors like Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, Robert Anton Wilson, and the more psychologically-oriented sci-fi. I would also put Arthur C. Clarke into that category, though his style is more traditional. Also enjoyable reads I have found from Ian McDonald and James Morrow. Its hard to narrow down the field of authors, though, because there is so much good stuff out there...
I have loads of titles to offer, but it really depends on what you're looking for.
Fiction:
- Black Lotus (Laura Joh Rowland) - a very enthralling murder mystery set in 17th century Japan. I see that this type is not among your favorite genre, but I found it to be excellent.
- Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury) - light reading, short, insanely good. Martians play huge psychological tricks on humans who try to land on Mars...
- Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card) - a young military mastermind is sent to a "battle school" in space to train for an intergalactic war. This is widely known and praised; also the first of a series. The book largely centers around a shooting game played in zero gravity which is very exciting.
Non-Fiction:
- Cosmos (Carl Sagan) - I think I've mentioned this before on CodeGuru some time. It reads like fiction and covers a wide variety of topics, from the universe as a whole to artificial selection to ...
- An Imaginary Tale: The Story of sqrt(-1) (Paul J. Nahin) - for the mathematically inclined, this book follows "preposterous ideas" in mathematics, such as i, throughout time.
If you specify more about what you wish to read, I could make some more offers that may be in your taste.
As for books I don't recommend, please refer to what will be Simon's first post in this thread. Just kidding!
How mathematically inclined?Quote:
An Imaginary Tale: The Story of sqrt(-1) (Paul J. Nahin) - for the mathematically inclined, this book follows "preposterous ideas" in mathematics, such as i, throughout time.
I'm interested in this one. Can you tell me more? I'm not very mathematically inclined, I wondered if I can read. I know + - * / and some algebra and complex numbers. Those suffice?
Well, some of the math is a bit more than that. But I find that any two given people will usually have different opinions on something, especially something like a book. So instead of giving you my thoughts, I'll offer you something a bit more professional.Quote:
Originally posted by CBasicNet
How mathematically inclined?
I'm interested in this one. Can you tell me more? I'm not very mathematically inclined, I wondered if I can read. I know + - * / and some algebra and complex numbers. Those suffice?
If you want something that is math oriented but not as mathematically based (more history, more variety, more explanation, etc.) I would recommend The Mathematical Universe (William Dunham).