For those who are new ... we discuss books. I list what I'm reading, and people comment with what they're reading. Sometimes, on Sundays, I post a special edition on a particular genre or topic.
cfk has Bookflurries on Wednesday nights, with links to lots of other diaries about books and reading on daily Kos .
If you like to trade books, try bookmooch
Just finished
Stiff: The curious lives of human cadavers by Mary Roach. What happens (and has happened) to dead people. Fascinating and very well written, with some humor. Not for the squeamish.
The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville. A wonderfully written but very dark thriller set in contemporary Northern Ireland. full review
Demolition Angel by Robert Crais. Taking a break from his Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series, Crais portrays a battle between a bomber known as Mr. Red and a bomb squad expert named Carol Starkey. I didn't like this one quite as much as the Cole/Pike books, but it's still very good. full review
Protector by Larry Niven. A SF novel set in the Known Space universe, this one portrays the life of a Pak, another of Niven's wonderful alien species, and his interaction with humans.
Now reading
The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the dark ages by Chris Wickham. A really good history of Europe and western Asia, from 400 to 1000 AD.
This one is more or less on hold. I need to pay more attention to it to keep track of all the unfamiliar names.
The Great SF stories volume 1: 1939 ed. by Isaac Asimov and Martin Greenberg. I have this whole series on my shelf and I think I will re-read them
The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton. Far future science fiction of the space opera variety. Just started.
Just started
Infinity Beach by Jack McDevitt. SF. I have only read a few pages.
Best Writing on Mathematics 2010 by Mircea Picci. A collection of articles about mathematics. Most of them are really great. Math lovers will want this one.
Seeing Further: The story of science, discovery and genius at the Royal Society ed. by Bill Bryson. A collection of essays about the Royal Society. Bryson wrote brief introductions to each.
And some technical books for work:
Professional SAS programming secrets by Rick Aster.
Introduction to Statistical Mediation Analysis by David MacKinnon
and
Foundations of Factor Analysis by Stanley Mulaik