Request: I will be away next week. Does anyone want to fill in for me?
For those who are new ... we discuss books. I list what I'm reading, and people comment with what they're reading. Sometimes I post a special edition on a particular genre or topic.
Just the usual diary this week. But there's a poll about a possible 2nd edition of WAYR.
cfk has Bookflurries on Wednesday nights, with links to lots of other diaries about books and reading on daily Kos .
UPDATE I am off to work, will check in in a couple hours.
Just finished
Neon Rain by James Lee Burke. The first in the Dave Robichaux series about crime in New Orleans. Noir and good. Reading this on my Kindle
Now reading
Society without God by Phil Zuckerman. How life is lived in two of the least religious countries on Earth: Denmark and Sweden. The first chapter of this book demolishes the argument that societies without God would be hellish, crime-ridden or whatever. Later in the book, he has discussions, or interviews, with many ordinary people about their lives and the role of religion.
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics by Julian Barbour. Barbour's idea is that time does not really exist. Just started it, but it looks very interesting
Foundations of Language: Brain, Meaning, Grammar, Evolution by Ray Jackendoff. All about language; a technical introduction to linguistics for the motivated layperson. Fascinating. And anyone who thought all the geeks were studying math, physics and computer science should have a look.
Just started
Heaven's Prisoners the second in James Lee Burke's Dave Robichaux novels. I am only a few pages into this, so I can't say much about it.
rereading The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett. The incompetent wizard Rincewind is stranded in a strange land where there's no rain, lots of sheep, and everyone has odd ways of speaking English. This is the Discworld, so it can't really be Australia, can it? Still, there's lots of beer, so no worries.
And some technical books for work.