What are you reading now?

The second to last Dresden Files book by Jim Butcher....."Cold Days"

They're corny and silly but so much damn fun!  I'm going to be sad when I'm done.

"Riding the Elephant" by comedian Craig Ferguson which is sometimes bust-a-gut funny.   Working on a Chinese Sci-Fi novel called "The Three Body Problem" which is taking a while to get into (it's kinda like Neal Stephenson raised in the PRC) but is highly recommended by a trusted friend. 

Continuing my Neal Stephenson binge with Snow Crash, having just finished Anathem.

Toly's Ghost - BS Levy

I read the first 3 books from him, but thought he was done at that point. Fun story and SO much car & racing info. Very enjoyable. 

Duke said:

Continuing my Neal Stephenson binge with Snow Crash, having just finished Anathem.

It's a good romp, you'll enjoy it.  Also, should be required reading for anyone commenting on spacecadet's Hazmat thread 

Beast, by Jade Gurss

"The top secret Ilmor-Penske engine that shocked the racing world ..."

Just finished "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," for the umpteenth time.

It's been a bunch of years since I last read it and it's still a great read. 

Matthew Crawford's book The world beyond your head

"The Spy and the Traitor" by Ben McIntyre.  It's excellent so far.  

Toyman01 said:

Just finished "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," for the umpteenth time.

It's been a bunch of years since I last read it and it's still a great read. 

Yeah, I may be due for a reread myself.  Stranger In A Strange Land is arguably more popular, but Moon is better.

If you're a Heinlein fan, read the Astounding book by Alec Nevala-Lee that I discussed above.  It will give you some eyebrow-raising insight into that whole era of sf.

I am dragging myself through Death Benefit by Robin Cook.  This is absolute dreck and I hate myself for not being able to walk away from a book that I've started.  I already finished the second (and apparently last) book in the Pia Grazdani series and it was also terrible.

On the other hand, I just finished Garth Stein's A Sudden Light.  I didn't enjoy it as much as I did The Art of Racing in the Rain, but it was still pretty good.

In reply to wae :

For an author who has sold as many books as he has, Robin Cook is terrible.  And not in a cheezy way.  Just not a good writer, either strategically or tactically.

But I share your pain in not being able to skip finishing bad books.

I bought Into Thin Air due to the Everest thread. 

Just started the new Neal Stephenson novel, "Fall"

Currently split between the 3rd Murderbot Diaries book and Adam Savage's "Every Tool's a Hammer." Both are great. If you like light weight Sci Fi with a personal discovery theme, I definitely recommend the Murderbot books. The first is "All Systems Red." An engineered construct has more human parts than the maker wants to admit and starts thinking on it's own. Then it decides the best use of its time is watching trash TV.  

Pride and Prejudice.

There's a lot of humor there, but occasionally I realize I missed some of it in the dense and flowery language.

Currently wrapping up “The Way of Kings”

I am really enjoying it, but it is quite wordy 

In reply to Run_Away :

There's another one likely coming out this year. Butcher had d4elays due to divorce / move and more, but last I heard, he's churning out the pages once more. 

The Cuban Affair

Excellent novel. I love Nelson DeMille. I read this one previously, but now Annie and I are listening to the audio. Scott Brick is the reader (i. e., the audio guy), and is spectacular. He does all of Nelson DeMille's books. Highly recommended ... as is all of DeMille's novels.

Currently finishing Logan's Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, the 1967 novel the 1976 movie is (loosely) based on.  It's interesting, and has a lot of nuance that you might not expect from seeing the movie.

Previously read No Way Down - Life and Death on K2 by Graham Bowley, about August 2008 when 11 climbers died in 3 days on the mountain.  It's not as engrossingly written as Krakauer's Into Thin Air, but that is most likely because Krakauer was on Everest during the 1996 disaster while Bowley was merely reporting after the fact from interviews and research.  Nonetheless, it is very well researched and passably written, with some sense of the drama.

I am more intrigued by K2, the world's second-tallest mountain, than I am by Everest.  It's much harder to get to, and MUCH harder to climb than Everest, while only being about 800 feet shorter.

Karacticus said:

Just started the new Neal Stephenson novel, "Fall"

I'm a few hundred pages in, liking it so far. 

Brett_Murphy said:

Karacticus said:

Just started the new Neal Stephenson novel, "Fall"

I'm a few hundred pages in...

Oh, so like 20% then?

Duke said:

Brett_Murphy said:

Karacticus said:

Just started the new Neal Stephenson novel, "Fall"

I'm a few hundred pages in...

Oh, so like 20% then?

Exactly.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

I had read this book eleven years ago and loved it ... loved Enzo. I knew the movie was coming for a long time, probably since around 2012.  But now that it's here, I thought I'd read the book again before seeing the movie. I'm wondering how the movie will capture the magic of the book.

Too Fast A Life

By Martin Shepherd

"A lightly fictionalized account of the loves and losses of Britain's first motor racing champion - Mike Hawthorn"

So I'm reading this along with re-reading The Art of Racing In the Rain (ref. my previous post). This book caused quite a stir when published a few years ago. It reveals "The Champion's" faults as well as a terminal illness that only a few people knew in 1955. It's written almost like a novel, except all but the narrator are actual people of the era. Despite the terminal illness, he died of accidental causes, as we all know. Fascinating story.