What are you reading now?

[gh]

given the weight of the average issue of NG, we're talking blackholes squared.

[lonewolf]

They are in six issue pre-labeled file boxes, designated Xmas gift from my sister-in-law, and only occupy four 48", six shelf book cases. Haven't weighed them but they are in a 2nd floor guest room and the floor hasn't collapsed. Yet.

[lapsus]

The C Programming Language, ANSI C Edition by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie.

Ritchie and the C language seemed like equally eternal elder statesmen of the technology world to the young student. Now only one of them remains.

The book is one of the rare breed that you can read at any level of experience and competence in the subject and still benefit from it.

[bambam]

Steve Jobs bio by Walter Issacson - book is great. Explains well what a genius Jobs really was, but does not pull any punches and pictures him as a complete jerk with almost no people skills.

Also Mickey Mantle bio by Jane Leavy - one of the great lines ever in there - "Mickey Mantle's aura had an aura."

Also Knocking on Heaven's Door by Lisa Randall

[gh]

Rereading Kon-Tiki, which I haven't read since junior high (or maybe even elementary school; it's a hardback dated 1951). Some of the science/anthropology is a bit laughable now, but it's nonetheless a compelling read. (The K-T is gone, of course, but did get to see Heyerdahl's subsequent Ra in the museum in Oslo a couple of years back)

[Marlow]

They are in six issue pre-labeled file boxes, designated Xmas gift from my sister-in-law, and only occupy four 48", six shelf book cases. Haven't weighed them but they are in a 2nd floor guest room and the floor hasn't collapsed. Yet.

My parents got NG from further back than my memory goes (54, on a good day) and I remember they occupied many feet of our den's wall-length shelves (at least 6'-x12' of bookcase). I have no idea what happened to them all after my parents' deaths in the 80s.

[jules]

Money Ball. A friend gave it to me a few years and I put it on the shelf. The buzz about the movie made me read it. Really enjoying it.

[bambam]

Rereading Kon-Tiki, which I haven't read since junior high (or maybe even elementary school; it's a hardback dated 1951). Some of the science/anthropology is a bit laughable now, but it's nonetheless a compelling read. (The K-T is gone, of course, but did get to see Heyerdahl's subsequent Ra in the museum in Oslo a couple of years back)

What a great choice to read. Should be fun. Couple years ago I re-read Alice in Wonderland and loved it.

[Avante]

Am about to read in order the life stories of...

Paul McCartney
James Dean
Marlon Brando
Robert Mitchum
Janis Joplin
James Cagney
George Raft
Willie Nelson

[odelltrclan]

Rereading the long version of The Count of Monte Cristo. It is VERY LONG, but good. Always loved the story. The book, beyond the imprisonment, has very little to do with the most recent theatrical version.

[gh]

Has long been a dream of mine to get my French skills up to the point where I could read Monte Cristo in the original, but alas....

I'll not be rereading the copy I have, that's for sure. Hardback published in London, I believe in the 1890s, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it's in 5-point type. Nearly blinded me even when I was a lad with 20-20.

[Pego]

Monte Cristo is Mrs Pego's alltime favorite book, for me Dumas' best, better than the Three musketeers. While dating, we saw a movie version with Jean Marais in the leading role (made in the 50ies, IIRC) . I think, it followed the book fairly well.

[odelltrclan]

Has long been a dream of mine to get my French skills up to the point where I could read Monte Cristo in the original, but alas....

I'll not be rereading the copy I have, that's for sure. Hardback published in London, I believe in the 1890s, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it's in 5-point type. Nearly blinded me even when I was a lad with 20-20.

Get an e-reader. You can adjust the font size as fits your needs. Plus, you can get a copy of that book very cheap.

[26mi235]

Picked up A Beautiful Mind by Nasar (made into the movie by the same name). The people that show up in one five-page sequence was amazing. It was interesting to read that he was only a close also-ran in the Putnam competition (he was not a pure problem solver of 'short' problems.

Just after I read that section I got a shock when I talked with a women my wife and I know reasonably well. Her son went to West about 5 years ago (graduated), although he took most of his classes at the University of Wisconsin. Turns out he won the Putnam in his first year at MIT.... and then he won it again the next year.... and then he won it again the next year.... and then he won it again the next year. One of six or seven that have done that feat. I would be interested in hearing what people like Conor Dary think, since they have a better background for assessment.

I just finished reading Paradigms Lost: Images of Man in the Mirror of Science by Casti (1989). Interesting if a little bit of an unusual book. He brings in Noam Chomsky and grammar, origins of life, intelligent life in the universe, AI, ...

I also read

The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Rhodes), probably the best/most interesting book I have read in several years

The Canon (Angier), worth the 280 pages

Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos (Overbye) on Astronomers/Cosmologists [Good]

Black Holes & Time Warps (Kip Thorne) [very good, long but worth it, and he knew a number of the Soviet scientists and has things to tell from that source]

This is your Brain on Music (Levitan), which I recommend to the numerous posters interested in music and the mind

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Morris), a bit dated now but quite good,

and something completely different, for those of you with talented kids:

The Overachievers (Robbins), a bit more popular culture but woven well by one from a few years past her own high school years.

[DoubleRBar]

I'm almost finished with David McCullough's "The Greater Journey". David McCullough is an excellent writer and I love history (you might have guessed). This book follows various famous Americans in Paris from the 1820's to the 20th Century. Many Americans came to Paris to study art, history, medicine, etc. because Paris was the best place to learn at that time. A good example is Samuel F.B. Morse who went to Paris to work on his painting. Morse was an excellent artist who loved to paint. Later (to make money) he "invented" the telegraph. Many interesting stories in this work.

[gh]

Has long been a dream of mine to get my French skills up to the point where I could read Monte Cristo in the original, but alas....

I'll not be rereading the copy I have, that's for sure. Hardback published in London, I believe in the 1890s, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it's in 5-point type. Nearly blinded me even when I was a lad with 20-20.

Get an e-reader. You can adjust the font size as fits your needs. Plus, you can get a copy of that book very cheap.

I'm guessing I'm gonna be a Luddite when it comes to e-readers. There's nothing quite like the smell and feel of book.

[lonewolf]

[I'm guessing I'm gonna be a Luddite when it comes to e-readers. There's nothing quite like the smell and feel of book.

Second the luddite movement.

[dj]

I'm guessing I'm gonna be a Luddite when it comes to e-readers. There's nothing quite like the smell and feel of book.

C'mon, GH. Can't you go another step and rid yourself of just one more e-gadget?

[odelltrclan]

Has long been a dream of mine to get my French skills up to the point where I could read Monte Cristo in the original, but alas....

I'll not be rereading the copy I have, that's for sure. Hardback published in London, I believe in the 1890s, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it's in 5-point type. Nearly blinded me even when I was a lad with 20-20.

Get an e-reader. You can adjust the font size as fits your needs. Plus, you can get a copy of that book very cheap.

I'm guessing I'm gonna be a Luddite when it comes to e-readers. There's nothing quite like the smell and feel of book.

While I agree that the look and feel of a book is desired and comforting at times, I enjoy having an e-reader (NOOK) as I can take an almost unlimited number of books anywhere I want to go, not to mention being able to change the way it reads (font, point size, etc.) if I so choose. That comes in handy frequently, though I still do by some books in paper form as well.

[bambam]

The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Rhodes), probably the best/most interesting book I have read in several years

One of the great books I have ever read. It was followed by a sequel called Dark Sun - or effectively the Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. That was also great, but still not quite as good as the original.

[bambam]

[I'm guessing I'm gonna be a Luddite when it comes to e-readers. There's nothing quite like the smell and feel of book.

Second the luddite movement.

Until 1 month ago, I agreed with you. Then I got both an iPad and a Kindle. They are amazingly easy to use (prefer the iPad), and I'm not sure now I'll ever read another "popular" book in hardcopy form. Some of the arcane Olympic and track and sports stuff I get is not available in those formats so will still get hardcopies of those.

[kuha]

The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Rhodes), probably the best/most interesting book I have read in several years

One of the great books I have ever read. It was followed by a sequel called Dark Sun - or effectively the Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. That was also great, but still not quite as good as the original.

I met Rhodes when he had just begun this book & it was interesting getting a sense of his excitement about the subject. He lived 2 blocks from me at the time and his wife was a close friend of my wife's. It IS a real classic of history writing.

[bad hammy]

I'm guessing I'm gonna be a Luddite when it comes to e-readers. There's nothing quite like the smell and feel of book.

That was me before I developed a number of hand/wrist problems two years ago. Managing books with my mitts is now a problem, whereas the use of the Kindle could not be much easier.

In anticipation of the upcoming publication of volume four, my current read is volume three of Robert Caro's seriously epic and most-excellent bio of LBJ, easily the best written bio I've come across. Note that I thought pretty much the same thing about Taylor Branch's three-volume MLK bio, until I got to volume three. That last volume was unreadable.

[Marlow]

That last volume was unreadable.

Speaking of which, has anyone else tried to read the Autobiography of Mark Twain that just got published last year? Samuel Clemens was an AWESOME writer, humorist, and social philosopher, but Holy Mackerel, his autobio is absolutely unreadable. It's just random remembrances and misanthropic rants. I will not be getting the next volume of it.

[26mi235]

The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Rhodes), probably the best/most interesting book I have read in several years

One of the great books I have ever read. It was followed by a sequel called Dark Sun - or effectively the Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. That was also great, but still not quite as good as the original.

I met Rhodes when he had just begun this book & it was interesting getting a sense of his excitement about the subject. He lived 2 blocks from me at the time and his wife was a close friend of my wife's. It IS a real classic of history writing.

I have Dark Sun on the bookshelf to read in the not-too-distant future. Unfortunately I read too slowly and get waylaid by wasting too much time on the computer (getting better at that even though my presence here would indicate the contrary (I am leaving more thread unread these days).

This thread is by far my favorite, at least in the Things Not T&F (although there are so many T&F ones, not sure which I would list ahead of this one). One of the reasons is probably that I get to see other sides of posters that provide different perspectives on the people behind the nyms.

[bad hammy]

That last volume was unreadable.

Speaking of which, has anyone else tried to read the Autobiography of Mark Twain that just got published last year? Samuel Clemens was an AWESOME writer, humorist, and social philosopher, but Holy Mackerel, his autobio is absolutely unreadable. It's just random remembrances and misanthropic rants. I will not be getting the next volume of it.

I'd been warned about that by early reviewers and passed.

[gh]

How The Cows Turned Mad by Maxime Schwartz of the Pasteur Institute. Not sure I'd recommend it to anybody without a decent grounding in bio-sci (or the desire to pick up some elevated knowledge along the way), but was a great "detective mystery" spanning centuries of development.

[gm]

How The Cows Turned Mad by Maxime Schwartz of the Pasteur Institute. Not sure I'd recommend it to anybody without a decent grounding in bio-sci (or the desire to pick up some elevated knowledge along the way), but was a great "detective mystery" spanning centuries of development.

Interesting to me in that the fear of CJD transmission is why I cannot donate blood, according to those who make such decisions.

[Pego]

How The Cows Turned Mad by Maxime Schwartz of the Pasteur Institute. Not sure I'd recommend it to anybody without a decent grounding in bio-sci (or the desire to pick up some elevated knowledge along the way), but was a great "detective mystery" spanning centuries of development.

Interesting to me in that the fear of CJD transmission is why I cannot donate blood, according to those who make such decisions.

What is their listed reason for you being high risk? Living in UK?

[Daisy]

What is their listed reason for you being high risk? Living in UK?

Living in the UK when the 'tainted' meat was in general circulation. For the same reason I cannot give blood here either.

[gh]

And after having read the book, I definitely don't want your blood! (seriously)

[26mi235]

The book will give me a much better handle on the issues and the facts. However, the subsequent distribution of cases has made the more dire set of possibilities less likely.

In Wisconsin we have the idiocy that 'hunting farms' helped cause and worsen the spread of related disease (CWD) in deer. Daisy probably knows more about this than I do.

[gh]

The book will give me a much better handle on the issues and the facts. However, the subsequent distribution of cases has made the more dire set of possibilities less likely.....

Thanks for reminding me: I did fail to mention that the book is now almost a decade old, and there have certainly been other developments (like possibilities playing out), so my sourcing certainly not perfect. But I did do some surfing after finishing the book, and I see nothing to dissuade me from thinking that there could still be nasty surprises waiting in the blood supply.

[26mi235]

The book will give me a much better handle on the issues and the facts. However, the subsequent distribution of cases has made the more dire set of possibilities less likely.....

Thanks for reminding me: I did fail to mention that the book is now almost a decade old, and there have certainly been other developments (like possibilities playing out), so my sourcing certainly not perfect. But I did do some surfing after finishing the book, and I see nothing to dissuade me from thinking that there could still be nasty surprises waiting in the blood supply.

Boy, am I glad to see your response because I was afraid I would have to significantly revise my assessment of the level of risk. I seem to recall that they had models of the expected number of cases given certain assumptions. The number has been so much at the low end that there has been little additional 'news' on this front that I have seen. I pay some attention because my wife is in Risk Analysis/Bayesian Statistics and some of her colleagues know some of this stuff etc.

[gm]

What is their listed reason for you being high risk? Living in UK?

Living in the UK when the 'tainted' meat was in general circulation. For the same reason I cannot give blood here either.

Spot on. The last time I tried to donate, the lady looked at me like Satan incarnate when she read that I had lived in the UK during the height of the issue. And I ate more beef, probably, than any 20 normal people in Britain.