what are you reading?

[everklear]

Just finished book 4 of Song of Ice and Fire.
Still enjoying the series.
Surprisingly large number of main characters slaughtered toward the end of book 3.
I don't think that's specific enough to be considered a spoiler....

[Portland]

Given the way they get bumped off in the first couple, I don't think that's a spoiler

[spinlizard]

Currently on the Kindle is "Wagons West: The Epic Story of America's Overland Trails". A tour through fascinating firsthand accounts of the wagon train migrations of the 1840s era of America.

There is actually a problem with the book - Amazon removed it from sale after I complained about it and confirmed that their mastercopy was borked - the font is hard to read (it looks like a paperback left out in the rain) and there are a few other kindle glitches but I'm enjoying it so much that I turned down the offer of a refund.

Also reading "Hot and Cold Connections for Jewellers" and "The Complete Metalsmith" by Tim McCreight. If you have any interest in making jewellery or working with metal on a minature scale, these two books are great. No fancy photographs or waffle, just notes on what you need to know and simple illustrations.

Now if I could find something similar on how to learn basic breadboard electronics I would offer up a prayer of thanks to the gods of dummies who never got the chance to learn electronics at school but would love to have a go now in their spare time...

[disciple]

Has anyone seen an epub/mobi version of the Richard Pevear translation of Crime and Punishment by any chance, struggling to find one. =(

[Jonesey]

Well it's on Amazon.com. The last time I wanted an ebook not available in the UK I managed to download it via a Googled forum link...you know - for nowt, like.

[disciple]

I can't see it on there, only ebook versions I can see aren't the Pevear ones. =(

I am not against getting it from other sources that are not Amazon, a mobi or epub would be nice.

[Jonesey]

I'm not sure what you mean. The link I gave in my previous post is sound. In fact from the book's information I managed to find it as a torrent, download it, convert & metadata it (cover and all) in Calibre and now it's sitting in my Kindle.

I'll deffo read it again, though - I really like Crime & Punishment...except for the ending, perhaps.

[Mark]

I've started reading Around the World in Eighty Days on my Kindle. We've just reached Bombay, and I like how Phileas Fogg has absolutely no interest whatsoever in the countries he's passing through, and spends all his time in his cabin, or playing whist if he can find other players.

[Gorecki]

and I like how Phileas Fogg has absolutely no interest whatsoever in the countries he's passing through,

The first ever package holiday.

Currently reading Barbarossa by Alan Clark. Completely mind boggling stuff. I'm struggling to follow all the army movements as I can't find any maps to fit on my iPod that simultaneously show the level of detail needed whilst still showing enough of the front so that the battles relate to each other. The shear scale of the conflict is bewildering.

[NorthWay]

Terry Pratchett "Snuff" landed in my inbox.

Thinking of saving it for my conference trip week 43.

[Mat]

I've got Snuff lined up next on my Kindle, but I'm currently reading Catch 22 on it. I last read it a VERY long time ago as a kid, and I definitely wasn't old enough to understand some of the concepts. Reading it now has me openly chuckling on the train, and I didn't appreciate how strong a presence the eponymous catch has throughout the book. Almost every page drills it home. A gloriously funny book, and well deserving of classic status.

Prior to Catch 22, I'd re-read Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas; I think I currently have a thing for a particular type of American author. I may very well have to pick up Vonnegut's Deadeye Dick or Slaughterhouse 5 after finishing Snuff.

[F-ZeroOne]

Currently reading The Departure, by Neal Asher.

I've heard that Neal Asher tends to vote to the right, and that appears to be coming through in this latest work of his. Its set in a near-future Earth that is basically screwed. Its the Earth that secretly (and I say this as an optimist) we all know we're leaving to our kids - resourced out, overpopulated, diseased and starving to death. As someone once sang, if the creature doesn't kill us, then the radiation surely will. The teeming masses are ruled over by the type of world government the Daily Express thinks the EU currently is, one thats not afraid to nuke the odd slum for misbehaving and which is secretly drawing up plans to deal with the population problem via killsat-induced birth control. Its not uncommon to have bleak futures in SF, but its rare to encounter one that is properly depressing.

The "hero" - and I use the term loosely - is a man called Saul, who the authorities tried to dispose of by throwing in an incinerator, and is therefore someone who harbours a bit of a grudge. Theres also a parallel plot-line involving humanitys Mars base (also screwed). It says something about how stark this setting is that Saul basically murders - brutally - several people within the first couple of chapters and still comes across as the guy to root for.

I understand this is the first of a series, so presumably things are going to get, if not exactly better, slightly less worse.

[disciple]

Murakami's IQ84 just arrived, it's a tome! It's nearly A4 in size.

It won't be holiday reading though. =( I pre-ordered it before I got my Kindle and this book is too big to be carting around.

[Gorecki]

So, that Julian Barnes thingy wot won the Booker. Anyone read it? Any good?

The only book of his I've read is England, England which I absolutely loathed.

[Surfr]

So, that Julian Barnes thingy wot won the Booker. Anyone read it? Any good?

Just had my copy arrive from Amazon. I was expecting something a little thicker for a Booker Prize winner. Shouldn't take long to get through it anyway.