what are you reading?

toxibunny · Post by **toxibunny** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:34 pm 0

I'm on 'the difference engine' by william gibson and bruce sterling? is that the guy who did the outer limits and stuff?

it's what steampunk is, so it seems. thoroughly enjoying it.

grue · Post by **grue** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:21 pm 0

toxibunny wrote:it's what steampunk is, so it seems. thoroughly enjoying it.

If you like steampunk get Perdido Street Station by China Mieville (fanboy alert)

Mouldy Bob · Post by **Mouldy Bob** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:45 pm 0

london born - the biography of an ordinary working class bloke called Sid Day who struggled to survive in North London before, during and after the war years....puts modern life into perspective a bit that's for sure!

limb_clock · Post by **limb_clock** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:18 am 0

HGFB wrote:
limb_clock wrote:some Isaac Asimov
Which ones?

the "Robots" novel collection but at the moment, i'm reading the first part of Foundation. I'm thinking that i'll get parts 2 and 3 today.

offyoutoddle · Post by **offyoutoddle** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:31 am 0

just started on hunters of Dune. Read the prequels, so though what the hell.....

Kronos · Post by **Kronos** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 12:54 pm 0

Reading Great Expectations. Found a really great site with loads of free PDF books of classics from Wells/Verne/Dickens/Darwin etc so will be busy for a while

bumblebee · Post by **bumblebee** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:31 pm 0

The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker. And about one million other things online.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:23 pm 0

Currently reading Rainbows End by Venor Vinge. Also available by kind permission of the author in net form.

http://vrinimi.org/rainbowsend.html

Gorecki · Post by **Gorecki** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:47 pm 0

Just finished reading The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks and I'm really sad to have finished it. A truly fabulous book. His most recent contemporary (non-'M' books) have been enjoyable but seemed to be treading water, as if he didn't know where to go. But with this book he seems to have settled for just telling a wonderful story, wonderfully well.

I now have that post-coital, melancholic glow that only a really good fuck and a really fucking good book can give you.

I'm also wondering whether to read No Country for Old Men and then see the film, or see the film and then read the book. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Saint Sandy · Post by **Saint Sandy** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 3:50 pm 0

[url=http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/books/downandout.htm]Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (online edition)
[/url]
In chapter 4, the author writes:
"I remember, however, how surprised she was at my asking her instead of removing the clothes on the sly, shooting the moon being a common trick in our quarter."

'shooting the moon', however, I'm not familiar with. Does it mean to lie or to decieve?

Saint Sandy · Post by **Saint Sandy** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 3:51 pm 0

silent_unicorn wrote:Reading Great Expectations. Found a really great site with loads of free PDF books of classics from Wells/Verne/Dickens/Darwin etc so will be busy for a while

Which site is that, then, please?

Surfr · Post by **Surfr** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 3:54 pm 0

Saint Sandy wrote:
silent_unicorn wrote:Reading Great Expectations. Found a really great site with loads of free PDF books of classics from Wells/Verne/Dickens/Darwin etc so will be busy for a while
Which site is that, then, please?

http://www.gutenberg.org probably

Saint Sandy · Post by **Saint Sandy** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:07 pm 0

Surfr wrote:
Saint Sandy wrote:
silent_unicorn wrote:Reading Great Expectations. Found a really great site with loads of free PDF books of classics from Wells/Verne/Dickens/Darwin etc so will be busy for a while
Which site is that, then, please?
http://www.gutenberg.org probably

Oh, right-o, cheers

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:17 pm 0

Just finished Cryptonomicon and looking around for something new. I've got Stephen King's last one, Lisey's Story, sat on a shelf looking at me but I just can't find the motivation for it for some reason...

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:23 pm 0

Just started "He Always Puts It To The Right - A History of the Penalty Kick" by Clark Miller. I learnt last night that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries football penalty areas were breast-shaped.

This is the best photo I could find online which only shows one half (the book has a better pic):

This diagram shows it more clearly though, with the lines being marked 6 yards from each post: