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Education

What's on Your Summer 2002 Reading List? 172

Posted by Cliff from the sharing-your-book-lists dept.
Quixote asks: "Well, summer is upon us, and I'm wondering: what does Slashdot read? I'm thinking of non-geeky, non-SciFi books. Anything out there that has caught your fancy? Would you like to share your reading list (stuff that you've read and/or plan to read)."
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What's on Your Summer 2002 Reading List? More

What's on Your Summer 2002 Reading List?

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  • Program Python (2nd Ed)
    XML-RPC
    SVG

    that would just about do me

  • Fast Food Nation (Score:3, Interesting)

    by new-black-hand ( 197043 ) <nik@techPLANCKcrunch.com minus physicist> on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @07:00AM (#3678233) Homepage
    Great book about the Fast Food Industry by Eric Schlosser

    See it here.. [amazon.com]

    • Re:Fast Food Nation (Score:2, Interesting)

      by nicedream ( 4923 )
      I didn't think this book was that great.

      A lot of it seemed to ramble on and on, without ever getting to the point. When I was done with it I felt as if he tried to make me hate fast food companies, but didn't present a very convincing case.

  • I'm currently reading the Qu'ran (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ringbarer ( 545020 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @07:02AM (#3678237) Homepage Journal
    No lie. With all the anti-Muslim propaganda currently in the news, I feel it's best to try to understand things from another point of view.

    Because in the end, we're not that different!

    • Supporting Controversial Books... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Chasing Amy ( 450778 ) <asdfijoaisdf@askdfjpasodf.com> on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @07:27AM (#3678283) Homepage
      > With all the anti-Muslim propaganda currently in the news, I feel it's best to try to
      > understand things from another point of view.

      That's how I try to approach everything. Why believe what agenda-driven media and political people claim, when you can get closer to the source and make up your own mind?

      That's why, when I saw Bill O'Reilly screaming his loudest about a recent book release, complaining bitterly that a university press would dare to publish it--I knew I had to read it. :-) Controversial subject matter, but the book he said shouldn't have been published is judith Levine's *Harmful to Minors*:

      http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/081664006 8/ qid=1023794022/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-3562730-02361 48

      So, I pre-ordered it, and I have to say it's a fantastic analysis of the current situation. The author makes a lot of sense, and I feel sad that we (Americans) live in a country where people are so outraged by the simple truths most of the civilized world already takes for granted. We in the U.S. treat 15 year olds the same as 5 year olds. No wonder some kids rebel against that...

      Anyway, I always like to support free speech by buying the books of authors whose books get assailed for silly personal moral reasons. So, go buy that book, or another one in need of support, as a big F-U to those who would censor our right to read.

      • I dunno, from what I hear of that book, they are correct that our culture is somewhat insane regarding children, but the proposed culture is far more insane. I think our current overreaction is simply forming a useful "buffer zone"--there is an age of child before which it is among the most reprhensible things on Earth to engage him or her in sexual acts, but we aren't sure which age, so it makes sense to error on the side of over-prohibition. I also think psychology and science in general are completely incapable of measuring the value and quality of our lives, so any argument along the lines of 'children at age X who had sexual contact with adults show no mental damage discenable to psychologists' carries little weight with me.

        I'd like to read the book, to decide for myself, but if my suspicion of its wrongfulness is correct then I really don't want to find myself supporting it.

        • I hear you. I'm as liberal as the next guy about openness towards sex, but what worries me (judging from good and bad reviews of the book) is the action they want to take. Instead of saying, "Yo, parents, quit repressing your kids!" they want to use the public school system to force sexual knowledge on young peope. It seems to me that the true "liberal" position is to SUGGEST openness, but not impose it.
          • > what worries me (judging from good and bad reviews of the book) is the action they want to take.
            > Instead of saying, "Yo, parents, quit repressing your kids!" they want to use the public
            > school system to force sexual knowledge on young peope.

            The book makes some suggestions, but makes no pretense of claiming that they're the only ones that would solve the problem. But, like it or not, the school systems in all but the most underdeveloped Bible Belt backwaters already teach young people about the basics of sex. The problem is, it's taught as something they're not supposed to do, which naturally makes some really want to do it, and the rest develop unnatural sexual inhibitions which can sometimes become full-blown dysfunctions in later life. All bcause sexuality is taught as something to never do until you'e married, or vaguely old.

            What's more troubling though is that when young people do choose to engage in sexuality, thwey often get severely punished for normal sexual behavior. For example, the 15 year old boy in Michigan who's on the sex offender registryu for the rest of his life for having had consensual sex with his girlfriend who was one grade below him and a year and a half younger. They're peers. Playing together is normal, dating is normal, but sex is a felony. That's a fucked-up system. That's the system we have today.

            That's the system Judith Levine's book is trying to change. So, I support this book fully and without reservation. Despite some reviews, it's an excellent book which exposes this nation's horrible Puritanism and the evils which it imposes.
            • But, like it or not, the school systems in all but the most underdeveloped Bible Belt backwaters already teach young people about the basics of sex. The problem is, it's taught as something they're not supposed to do, which naturally makes some really want to do it, and the rest develop unnatural sexual inhibitions which can sometimes become full-blown dysfunctions in later life.

              My non-Bible belt school district had very minimal sex education, and I'm not aware of any great plague of promiscuity or neurosis from the place. I graduated in '97, though, maybe, just like metal detectors, sex education magic appeared everywhere sometime in the half decade since then...

              That's a fucked-up system. That's the system we have today.

              You condemn your point of view with such strong words. Your example shows the system being slightly flawed in one particular state. It needs slight modification, an increase in the difference between ages, and punishments in proportion to the difference between ages of the partners, perhaps.

              There will always be some variance in the laws among the states, thus if your standard is that no state ever, ever err on the side of prohibition, we will have a drastically more liberalized system, in which many states will err on the side of tolerance. And in this particular issue, most Americans have decided that errors on the side of tolerance are completely unacceptable and horrific--as soon as there is one case of it being legal for a 22 year old man to have sex with a 12 year old anyone, you'll see a rapid switch back to Puritanism immediately.

    • Caleb Carr author of The Alienist has
      written a military history of terrorism
      published after 9-11.
      The NYT reviewer wrote the most vitriolic
      review I have ever seen. Most really be worth
      reading (no seriously).
      • And let's not forget that Carr quickly provided us with one of the most vitriolic responses to a review -- in the form of a letter to Salon [salon.com] -- that most people have ever seen. It included such gems as:

        [L]et's not let facts or a shaky grounding in history keep us from being a bitchy wise-ass -- THAT would get you thrown out of the club that meets at [NYT critic] Michiko's to watch "Sex in the City" and spout a lot of nonsense about things they don't know."

        full text here [salon.com]

        P.S. To quickly bring this post back around to the question at hand, I've got "The Second Rumpole Omnibus" and O'Reilly's "Programming PHP" in my summer bag right now. (Hey, depending on how you look at it, they're both mysteries.)

  • Do you mean like 'romance' novels or 'who-dunnits'... non sci-fi / non geeky? Is there anything else that's real and NOT on the Oprah list?

    'This Alien Shore' --C.S.Friedman

    All about wetware hackers and a genetically derived virus sent out by earth to disable the interstellar travel monopoly of the Guild (a group of mutated humans who alone can navigate the stars effectively).

    My Playboy subscription, /., and a few manuals on JSP.

    That's the list so far.

    • I read 'em in a geeky way (detailed below), but what I read is a broad selection linked from the Online Books Page [upenn.edu]. Recommended:
      • John Lathrop Motley's 3-part history of the early Dutch Republic. Sheds a lot of light on Microsoft vs. everybody else, UnitedLinux, etc. These situations aren't new. The players just have different names--and, fortunately, big corporations don't actually have armies.
      • The novels of George Eliot. This 19th-century writer is head and shoulders above her contemporaries. Again, in these books you will discover that people haven't changed.
      • The novels of Anthony Trollope, especially the Barchester series.
      • Macaulay's History of England from the Accession of James II. Another historical era with big, big similarities to our own. The explosion of activity powered by the sudden end of censorship in England resembles the 1990s in several ways. For instance: Broadsheet = web page.
      • H. Rider Haggard. Classic adventure stories. Anna Katherine Green, Maurice Leblanc, Gaston Leroux--all early detective novelists. William Morris--peculiar, pseudo-medieval language, but good stories.
      I download these in text format, run a macro to take out the extra carriage returns, then convert them through MakeDocW and read them on the PDA.
      • It's SO nice to know I'm not the only person reading classic books on computers. When I tell people I just read The Kreutzer Sonata By Tolstoy last week on my computer, I get strange looks, even from people who are geeks like me.

        But seriously, are the screens on Palms decent enough to do this? When I ask most people, I just get strange looks and questions about where online books come from: When a Mommy book and a Daddy book get married...
    • C++ Primer Plus
      Speaker for the Dead (Orson Scott Card)
      Disappearing Cryptography, Second Edition - Information Hiding: Steganography and Watermarking (Peter Wayner)

      Although I admit that these are all geeky or SciFi books, I have to learn C++ prior to August, the Orson Scott Card book is interesting, and the Steganography book is interesting, too! Sorry. I'm a SciFi geek.

      If I finish these books, next on my list is another book by Kurt Vonnegut (I've only read Cat's Cradle). That's hardly geeky.

      • Vonnegut is incredible. Everything I've read by him is great (and I've read almost all of his stuff).
        • Well, then please recommend my next book for me. Which Vonnegut book should I read next?
          • Slaughterhouse Five, beyond a doubt.

            :Peter
          • "Slaugherhouse-Five" is the one that got me hooked, I must say. But I have special fondness for "Mother Night" and several of the pieces in "Welcome to the Monkey House," a collection of short stories.
          • Which Vonnegut book should I read next?

            Bluebeard. I've read the vast majority of Vonnegut's books, and that one is by far my favorite.

            As for me, I decided to spend some time catching up on my mid-20th century American writers. Norman Mailer, James Cain, James Jones, Mickey Spillane - maybe I'll reread some of my Jim Thompson collection while I'm at it.

            Though I must admit that the parallels between the anti-Communism of Spillane and the anti-foreign message of, say, Dan Rather, is kind of creepy.

            --saint
      • C++ Primer Plus (by Prata) is a damn good book. Much better, IMO, than the plethora of other C++ books out there.
  • Haruki Murakami is a favorite.

    Some Junichiro Tanizaki is always a blast.

    You can't go wrong with Yukio Mishima.

    And right now I'm reading Michio Kaku.
    • hmmm something strikes me as non-Obvious here, or does it?

      Reviews? Please ObviousGuy, be a little more obvious.

      thanks
      • I'm glad you asked!

        Murakami is one of the better fiction writers today. He's not a bad non-fiction writer either as evidenced by his treatment of the Aum Shinrikyo Tokyo subway sarin attack in his book Underground. [amazon.com]

        Murakami's fiction runs the gamut from love stories to fantasy, and his writing style (at least his translator's interpretation of it) is exciting and quite beautiful in its descriptions of surroundings and exposition of his characters. He writes primarily in the first person so it may take a little getting used to, but the stories really come alive as a result of this technique.

        I recommend all his English translations except for Sputnik Sweetheart which felt like a simple rehashing of his older works.

        If you read his stuff in order:

        Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World [amazon.com] Reminiscent of Philip Dick's works. It isn't quite technothriller, it isn't quite fantasy, but it is a blast to read.
        A Wild Sheep Chase [amazon.com] THE Murakami book to read.
        Dance Dance Dance [amazon.com] Sequel to Wild Sheep Chase. Quite a bit darker in tone than Sheep.
        Norwegian Wood [amazon.com] Murakami's first novel. Pure fiction, no fantasy beyond the narrator's imagination.
        The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle [amazon.com] His magnum opus. It draws all of his themes from other books into a single narrative. It's long, but I didn't lose interest at any point.
        South of the Border, West of the Sun [amazon.com] My personal favorite because it touches on a lot of themes of love and infidelity. I won't go into the infidelity, thank you very much.

        The rest of his stuff is short stories, so read those at your leisure.

        Tanizaki is a Japanese writer who has an impish streak running through him. His stories and writing are ebullient and discuss all matters of things from politics to sex. No sci-fi here. I recommend The Makioka Sisters [amazon.com]

        Mishima is another writer who was a contemporary of Tanizaki. His writings are infused with Japanese Nationalist themes. Even his love stories [amazon.com] have nationalist undercurrents. I liked the autobiographical Confessions of a Mask [amazon.com].

        Michio Kaku is an American (as far as I can tell). His main topic is Superstring theory, so he doesn't quite fit with the fiction writers that I listed above, but hey, some people [slashdot.org] think that string theory is fiction.
  • Here's my list:
    Vol. 3 of Knuth's TAOCP (the art of comp. prog.)
    Software Engineering [Ian Sommerville]
    Selected Papers on the Analysis of Algorithms [D. E. Knuth]
    Understanding Agent Systems [Mark D'Inverno and Michael Luck]
    Flatterland [Ian Stewart]
    The Annotated Wizard of Oz [L. Frank Baum]
    Catch 22 [Joseph L. Heller]
    Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment [W. Richard Stevens]

    That's all I can remember right now but I'm sure there are a few missing
    • What's the Annotated Wizard of Oz? I've read pretty much every Oz book Baum wrote (never got to the ones others did after he died) and I think they're some of the best juvenile literature ever. Is the annotated version focused on the perceived political statements?

  • DA (Score:2, Funny)

    by Noodlenose ( 537591 )
    Douglas Adam's "The Salmon of Doubt". And it's Winter down here in NZ, you northern hemispherian.

    Dirk

  • Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen just published the second part of their Science of Discworld science book / fantasy novel mix. Unlike the first part, it focuses on the evolution of the human species and on psychology. A worthwile read - and if you don't know the first part yet, get it, too, and read it first.
  • "The 48 Laws of Power" --Robert Greene, Joost Eiffers

    Really good stuff. Historical case studies of when and how to use power. Of course you have to interpret it for your situation but very interesting reading.

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/014028019 7/ qid=1023794596/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_2/002-0434838-32016 42
    • I read 21 Laws of Leadership [amazon.com] by John Maxwell a while back and was unimpressed. These are not the same authors, of course, but if you see Maxwell's stuff at Barnes&Noble skip it. Perhaps Greene's books are better.

      If you are really interested in how to weild power, there's nothing like going to the source [amazon.com]
  • I'm starting an MSCS grad program at UMBC [umbc.edu], so I'll be reading:

    • Modern Information Retrieval [Baeza-Yates, Ribeiro-Neto]
    • Understanding Search Engines, Berry & Browne
    • myth of paperless office, Sellen and Harper
    • a mathematical theory of communication, C.E. Shannon
    • elementary statistics, some dude

    And then just for fun
    • Instant Messaging in Java, Shigeoka
    • thinking in C#, Eckels
  • Already reading Dostoyevsky's "Notes From The Dead House". Next after that - probably going to re-read "War and Peace". And of course this "Stocks Bonds Options Futures" book for my new job. But Dostoyevsky is better.
  • I think I'll re-read some books this "summer". HHGTG, and Catch-22 are definitely on the list. And I am waiting for some one to make a movie on Asimov's Foundation...
  • Animal Farm (Orwell)
    1984 (Orwell)
    A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana (Haven Kimmel)(really funny)
    The Turk (Tom Standage)
    some of Terry Pratchet's Discworld series
    some of Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who series (crime solving cats)
    some of Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Polifax series (sweet old aunt Emily joins the CIA)
    Take the Canoli (Sarah Vowell)
    • Good to see someone else is reading about crime solving cats.
      My tenative summer reading list:
      Reread the Lord of the Rings, Hobbit and the Silmarillion.
      Actually get around to finishing the 80 gabillion computers books on my shelves.
      Shelters of Stone, I have fond memories of these books from high school when I discovered they had sex and were school approved.
      Finish Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood before I get dragged off to the movie.
      And as always a random selection of fantasy from my shelves.
    • I really enjoyed "Take the Canoli", but as good as Sarah's writing is, it's even better to hear her read her work. Try to catch her on This American Life [thislife.org] or somewhere else on NPR [npr.org].

  • um. . . (Score:3, Funny)

    by oyenstikker ( 536040 ) <slashdot@sb[ ]e.org ['yrn' in gap]> on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @08:08AM (#3678375) Homepage Journal
    Summer 2002 reading list
    Summer 2001 reading list^U
    Summer 2000 reading list^U
    Summer 1999 reading list^U
    AP English summer reading list^U
    Billy Bud
    A Patch of Blue
    1 Shakespear tragedy
  • With my primary interest being the "Help Wanted" section!
  • Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry by John J. Robinson The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time by Douglas Adams Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
  • The Bhagavad Gita Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) Permutation City (G. Egan) Silence of the Lambs etc. (T. Harris) Some more Asimov.
  • I'm usually a big SCI/FI and fantasy reader myself, but this summer I'm reading books on construction of small barns, sheds, etc. I'm looking at building a 16' x 20' workshop behind my garage and want to do a majority, if not all, the work myself.

    Talk about interesting. Factoring Live Load values on the floor, beams, walls, and the dead weight of snow on the roof to prevent problems is fun. Jumping through all the hoops for the local code office is not.
  • haven't seen the film, but someone I know did - so I thought I'd read the book..

    and so half way through, pretty good book..
  • The usual: Noam Chomsky's latest on 9/11, just about any and all bioterror fiction novels, and anything that pisses Bill O'Reilly off (that is always a good choice).

    Read whatever is on the banned book list -- I always try to get a copy of whatever the government doesn't want me to read; there is usually a good reason they don't......

  • The Death Ship: The Story of an American Sailor, by B. Traven. Although I disagree with the anarchist/Libertarian political views of the author, he is nevertheless a magnificent story teller, and every time I read this book, I feel as if I'm living with the characters and know their experiences first-hand.

    Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. I love sea stories, and I find this to be a very powerful tale of human madness and obsession, although many people find it long and boring. A matter of taste, I suppose.

    A Russian Journal, by John Steinbeck. A very interesting historical account of 1948 Soviet Russia. I very much enjoy Steinbeck's narrative style, and if you like Travels with Charley, you'll probably like this one, too.
  • My current plan is to read all of C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower books. I'm halfway through the third, and figure I'll finish all 11 in about a month. After that, I'll reread the Federalist Papers. After that, no telling.
  • My plans for the summer include
    • No Logo, by Naiomi Klein. All about modern multinationals, monopolies, anti-Capitalism, swearshops, and the marketing concept of the Logo; plus, she's good homegrown Canadian talent
    • The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by JRR Tolkien. It may be considered SF, but it's popular/mainstream SF that everybody can read
    • The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy. One of my favouirite books, beats the piss about of the movie and makes a seven-hour flight just fly by
  • Bantam books has just reprinted Voltaire's Candide, available at your locally-owned corner bookstore or at Barnes & Noble [barnesandnoble.com].

    No, it's not a sex book. You're thinking of Justine [barnesandnoble.com] , which couldn't be more different.

    Candide is said to be Voltaire's most important work, yet it's a readable narrative (like Abbott's Flatland [barnesandnoble.com] ) rather than a dry and dusty tome (like James's Pragmatism [barnesandnoble.com] ).

    • And even if you don't read it, don't worry. Everything will work out in the end. Right, Pangloss?
  • Science Books:
    Age of Spiritual Machines (almost done)
    Linked: A New Science Of Networks (almost done)
    Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks
    Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software

    Then the usual computer books (already started):
    Java & XML, 2nd Edition: Solutions to Real-World Problems
    Java in a Nutshell (review, currently reading)
    Enterprise JavaBeans (3rd Edition)
    Java Web Services
    Java & Soap
    Java Enterprise in a Nutshell

    Some math books:

    Handbook of Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics (maybe)

    Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science (2nd Edition)

    Introduction to Graph Theory (2nd Edition)
    by Douglas Brent West
  • Nifty.org

    no kidding.
  • Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra Secret NSA by James Bamford.
    - Cool book on the NSA and the US' signals intelligence capability.

    Stupid White Men by Michael Moore
    - A look at America through the eyes of the director of Roger & Me

    Good to Great by Jim Collins
    - This is a re-read for the summer. Absolutely the most innovative business book ever written. Seek this out!

    Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
    - Its that time again...
  • This book [amazon.com] is written by the guy that created f*ckedcompany.com [fuckedcompany.com]. I read it while killing time in the DFW airport one day.

    Simply put, it was a hilarious account of how stupid some of the .com flameouts were and how miserably they failed. The tone of the book is somewhat unusal, with swear words and a very cynical attitude. When reading it I kept thinking, "if I would ever write a book, it would sound like this".
  • Read Naomi Klein's "No Logo".
    Finished it last night, it is brilliant. About evil marketing/advertising/corporations...

    SAM LEITH, Observer
    'No Logo is fluent, undogmatically alive to its contradictions and omissions and positively seethes with intelligent anger.'
  • One Good Turn: A History of the Screw

    A surprising search for the orgin and inventor of the screw and screwdriver. The Screw is named the most important invention of the past 1000 years.

    Very intresting.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Here's what I plan for the summer (actually, these books and more that I can't remember are sitting beside my desk -- I've put a moritorium on buying book until the pile is at least 10% of its current size)

    • The Last Generation of the Roman Republic; Erich S. Gruen
    • The Punic Wars; Can't remember who wrote it.
    • In Time of War: Ireland, Ulster, and the Price of Neutrality; Robert Fisk
    • Artemis Fowl; Eoin Colfer
    • The Arrogance of Power : The Secret World of Richard Nixon; Anthony Summers
    • The Catcher in the Rye; J.D. Salinger.
    • A Dead Man in Deptford; Anthony Burgess
    • Some Hunter S. Thompson books:
      • The Great Shark Hunt
      • Generation of Swine
      • Songs of the Doomed

    A strange list, I agree. And I suspect there's more beside my bed. The emphasis on recent history is merely my theme for the summer. (Republican Roman history is an on-going interest).

    If anyone knows of a good book to counter Summers' above, giving a favourable history of Nixon's career, can you let me know?

    Éibhear

  • A Prayer for Owen Meany -- John Irving
    My all time favorate, A theodesy.
    Stupid White Men -- Michael Moor
    What's wrong with america today.
    Round the Bend -- Nevile Shute
    Hard to find tale of a Modern day messiah/airplane mechanic (this predates the Jonathon Livingston Seagull sequal with the same idea executed less well) as told by his non-believer boss.
    Cryptonomicon -- Niel Stephenson
    WWII Codebreakers, gung ho marines and globe trotting unix administrators.
    The World's Most Dangerous Places -- Fielding guide
    A travel guide to places you DON'T want to go.
    A Wolverine is eating my leg -- Tim Cahill
    Travel tales of disaster
    Bingo -- Fanny Mae Brown
    Small town life

  • It is summer, between the boat, mowing the lawn, projects, and just playing with the dog, I won't be in very much except for work.

    However I do plan on using some books [lindsaybks.com] as reference materials for various scientific expiriments. (get the full paper catalog, a lot of the good stuff isn't shown online). Someone in my neighborhood should make his own transisters for instance.

    Although every one in a while there is a lazy rainy night when I wish I has some books to read, I do most of my reading in winter.

  • is there a difference between summer reading and year-round reading?;) _We the Living_, Ayn Rand
  • Secrets and Lies by Bruce Schneier. Somewhat geeky but not a purely tech book, fascinating stuff. Don't need a security background to appreciate it.

    Fields of Writing ed. by Comley et al. Short stories and essays. I like collections like this because you can pick it up and read one or two when you have time. Norton Anthologies are good for this too.

    Uplift: The Bra in America by Jane Farrell-Beck. Discusses the bra from social, engineering, and historical viewpoints.

    The Cartoon Guide to Physics and any others of the "Cartoon Guide to..." series, illustrated by Larry Gonick. Very good at distilling tough concepts into digestible but interesting bits.

    The new Harry Potter book was on my list, but it's not coming out for a while yet. Blah.
  • Some random books I've enjoyed recently:
    • The Peshawar Lancers [amazon.com] -- OK, this one is kind of geeky. An alternative history where a comet hitting earth results in a world where the British Empire, transported to India, rules the world.
    • It Rains Fishes [amazon.com] -- Superb Thai cookbook.
    • The Maritime History of Massachusetts [amazon.com] -- The person who recommended it said, "When you hear the title you'll think I'm insane, but it's terrific." It's a fascinating book about world trade in old Massachusetts, when Nantucketers would visit China and Africa before they ever set foot on the US mainland.
  • Well I work at a library so it seems like my reading list changes depending on the books that get checked in when I work, but here it is for now:

    Dragonlance Chronicles (I read this one a few years ago and keep meaning to reread it)

    The Tale of Genji (working on this one now... its two volumes and really slow reading but I hope to get it done by the end of summer)

    Thinking In C++ (trying to refresh my brain for class next fall)

    Redwall (my girlfriend recommended this series so I'm trying it out to see what I think)

    The Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket (another recommendation by my girlfriend)

    The Professional Chef (trying to expand my skills beyond computers)

  • Just in case the shit really hits the fan, I've been reading:

    FM 21-76

    Reprint of Department of the Army Field Manual

    US ARMY SURVIVAL MANUAL

    Here's a quote from Chapter 4, Field Expedient Weapons and Tools:

    "You can make another type of sling club by putting sand or a rock in a sock. This type of weapon, however, is a one-shot deal."

    It'll make for good reading on some foreign beach(head).

  • I'm currently hooked on some of TokyoPop's [tokyopop.com] manga translations. Of specific interest:
    • Cowboy Bebop
    • Love Hina
    • Chobits

    Chobits is incredibly good, especially for the computer geeks. Go check it out!

    Besides that, I'm currently reading Ben Weasel's "Punk is a Four Letter Word" [hopeandnonthings.com]. Very good stuff so far.

    And, hopefully, I'd like to pick up some "Learning Japanese" books this summer, if I get a chance to, as well as going through my Perl books to continue teaching myself that. Good times.
  • I'll be reading the "Hinges of History" books by Thomas Cahill:

    1) How the Irish Saved Civilisation
    2) The Gifts of the Jews
    3) Desire of the Evelasting Hills

    These books give a good history of the Judeo-Christian religions, from a human perspective. Cahill really knows how to bring historical figures to life and make them seem like the humans they were.

    Also,

    4) A New Kind of Science, Stephen Wolfram
    Yeah, it's geeky, but I intend to finish it by 2004.

    5) Japan's War
    A history of the Japanese industrial build up and the Japanese perspective on World War II.

    6) Intermediate Welsh
    A language I've been trying to master for a while.

    7) The Sokal Hoax
    A physicist submits a post-modernist deconstruction of quantum physics as a joke, and it get published. A collection of the essays and editorials that followed.

    Buzx

    Adventavit Asinus Pulcher et Fortissimus
    • 5) Japan's War
      A history of the Japanese industrial build up and the Japanese perspective on World War II.

      This is a great book. A good companion to it is embracing defeat by dowers, which deals with post war japan.

      I guess i should chime in here:

      Hamlet
      King Lear
      Fall of the Roman Empire
      The rise and fall of the third Reich
      Choke
  • What's on Your Summer 2002 TV List?


    What's on Your Summer 2002 Movie List?


    What's on Your Summer 2002 Beer List?


    What's on your Summer 2002 Computer Game list?


    What insects could bight your bottom this summer 2002?


    Will Lyme disease factor in your 2002 Summer reading list?



    C'mon guys, this ain't news, it ain't even newsworthy. Just go to a big bookstore (or even amazon) and wander around. Books are like religions -- they are pretty much all the same anyway.
    peace
    --Pete

  • If anyone in the last hundred years should be told, "no, YOU da man!" it's this guy.

    Impressive and inspiring book so far (I'm 3 chapters into it). This is written in the first person, in his own words (naturally), and was edited after his death.

    here [indigo.ca] and here [amazon.com]
    The links are free of referrals. The Indigo.ca link doesn't have popups and prices are in CAN$.
  • If you'd like to discuss reading, I suggest you join a reading discussion forum. For example:

    SF/Fantasy - http://www.sffworld.org/forums/ [sffworld.org]

    NY Times Book Forums(all sorts of genres) - http://www.nytimes.com/books/forums/ [nytimes.com]

    etc.... I'm sure a Google search can get you in touch with people who'd like to investigate and critique books with you. Slashdot just doesn't seem like the place for good literary discussion.
  • Boudewijn R. Haverkort : Performance of Computer Communication Systems: A Model-Based Approach

    i hate having exam in summer, but its the last ;)
  • ... because I am a geek.

    I recommend:
    • The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
    • The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, by Douglas Adams
    • Life, the Universe and Everything, by Douglas Adams
    • Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
    • Foundation & Empire, by Isaac Asimov
    • Second Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
    • I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
    • The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester
    • The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
    • Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
    • Ubik, by Philip K. Dick
    • The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
    • Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
    • Dune, by Frank Herbert
    • A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller
    • The Mote in God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
    • Hyperion/The Fall Of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
    • A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge
    • A Deepness in the Sky, by Vernor Vinge



    Be sure to take a look at the The Internet Top 100 SF/Fantasy List [clark.net] for more recommendations

    • # Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein

      Because I'm a geek who likes his stories to have a little bite I'd suggest 'Stranger In A Strange Land' above Starship Troopers.

      I'd also add 'Wizards First Rule' + sequels by Terry Goodkind.

      • Because I'm a geek who likes his stories to have a little bite I'd suggest 'Stranger In A Strange Land' above Starship Troopers.



        I haven't read that book, so I can't recommend it. It IS on my "to-read" queue [I have a copy], though.

  • ...is considered classic literature, if I understand correctly. I would never know for sure, so I would appreciate it if some people corrected/verified what I said.

    I take a very right wing, Christian fundementalist view on things. The story is about a Puritan village, and the story probably doesn't potray the Puritan religion very well in the eyes of today's world, however, I felt that it wasn't about the religion as much as it was about how people behave. It almost appears to be about social science.

    Now that I've studied political science and economics on my own, it would be interesting to reread the story to see if I could glean some deeper messages and principles out of it.
  • I'd recommend you scare yourself to death and read Tom Clancy's "Jack Ryan" novels, including 'Rainbow Six'. Especially Rainbow Six. You should definitely read 'The Sum of All Fears', and see why the movie is pathetic in comparison - they chopped out massive parts of the book, and changed what they left almost to the point of unrecognizability. A great book, with an interesting idea on how to actually achieve a workable peace in the Middle East, though it may be too late after 2001-09-11. :(

    Other books - I'd recommend all the 'Spenser' books by Robert B. Parker. These are the books that the tv series and tv movies were based on, and if you liked them, you'll be pleased to know these are the same, only much better. It's interesting to start reading them at the beginning (started in the 70's!), and read them all the way through to the most recent one. Interesting character changes.

    And, what else, oh, Peter Mayle's 'Provence' books - starting with 'A Year in Provence'. He's got some other related books that are enjoyable, too. Don't take them as gospel on what Provence is like (from what I hear), but they're still very enjoyable.

    Sorry, no links today. :)
  • Hello, here is my reading list for the summer:
    Linked: The New Science of Networks [amazon.com]
    Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants,... [amazon.com]
    A New Kind of Science [amazon.com]
    Letters to a Young Contrarian [amazon.com]
    Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will... [amazon.com]
    Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of... [amazon.com]
    I have already read linked. i liked it alot however it gets repeative at times...
  • Alice in Wonderland -- Lewis Carroll
    The Stand -- Stephen King
    Hearts in Atlantis -- Stephen King
    1984 -- George Orwell
    Band of Brothers -- Stephen Ambrose

    I'd like to fit in some more classics, but I'm rather indecisive.
  • Been meaning to read it for a while.
  • Which brings me:
    • The Laughing Sutra by Mark Salzman
    • The Gulag Archipelago by Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn
    • The Road to Joy by Thomas Merton
    • Bread and Wine by Ignazio Silone
    • The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, volume 5
    • The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    • How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
    • Bored of the Rings by Henry Beard et al.


    Well, alright, the last couple I didn't find at the library sale, but I was caught up in that UL. Anyway, there is some heavy stuff and some light stuff in there, some stuff I've been wanting to read for a while, and some stuff that just lept off the table at me. But the point I wanted to bring up is what a great place a library sale is to pick up an ecclectic stack of reading material. I paid like five bucks for everything I got, and what the hey, the library benefits.
  • My summer read is Virtual Machine Design and Implementation (in C/C++) [amazon.com] by Bill Blunden.

    Why? Because I think custom VMs are the next big mealticket, and I want in on the ground floor. Also.. it teaches you how to write compilers, assemblers, and what not.. so it'll be fun anyway.

  • First, hearty agreement with the person who recommended "Fast Food Nation". It's not as much of a gross-out as "The Jungle" was, though there's a bit of that too. It's more about the culture of fast food. Packed with fun trivia! Did you know Willard Scott was the first Ronald McDonald? They didn't keep him because he was too fat.

    I recently finished "War and Peace". It's a *great* book. Took me a *long* time to read, but I really enjoyed every bit of it. Truly a pleasure, and not at all what I expected. Give it a shot!

    I am almost finished with "Guns, Germs and Steel". It describes how different people in different locations on earth came to develop the technologies that they did. The author argues convincingly that more advanced cultures owe their success to location, location, location. Specifically, the availability of domesticable plants and large animals drove the development of agriculture, and agriculture led to more advanced societies.

    I'm listening to "The Orchid Thief" on audio. It's pretty good. The stories of Victorian orchid hunters are more interesting than the modern storyline, IMHO.

    On my "to read" pile are "The Dive from Clausen's Pier" and Ian Rankin's "Dead Souls". "The Dive from Clausen's Pier" is sort of a chick book, I think. It's about a girl who feels suffocated with her life. I've just heard good things about Ian Rankin. I'm not usually into mysteries but i thought I'd give it a try.

  • Non geeky, non SciFi? What does that leave? Jackie Collins?

    Oh, history. If you want a nice blend of popular history and entertainment, try Nathaniel's Nutmeg, a fascinating story about the 17th century spice trade. And no, that's NOT geeky, it says a lot about humanity's ability to commit truly horrendous acts on each other for seemingly trivial things.

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140292608/ qid=1023903130/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-2433064-31240 52 [amazon.com]

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