Book Recommendation

Railith

Masters of Doom is a biography of John Carmack and John Romero. It's one of my favorite books ever.

gomidog

Has anyone here read any Murakami? In general is fine, but specifically The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle?

I've read Umibe no Kafka (Kafka by the shore)

rhinocero

SM Stirling's books are always really entertaining. They're never deep, but they always have at least some ideas in them, and they just have good old-fashioned pulpy action. It does get a little repetitive after a while; for example, I think all of his books have a small, slim, dark-haired woman who is in some way able to see the future or use psychic powers.

Magnum_Opus

I've read Kafka By the Shore as well. That book is the reason why I checked out 'The Trial' today, to read some actual Kafka. Just to see what connection there is other than name.

Sail

I recently finished The Sun Also Rises and I can honestly say it was the best book I've ever read.

Apreche

I recently finishedThe Sun Also Risesand I can honestly say it was the best book I've ever read.

Rym agrees with you. I do not.

HungryJoe

I recently finishedThe Sun Also Risesand I can honestly say it was the best book I've ever read.

Rym agrees with you. I do not.

It was good. However, I think Catch-22 is much better.

Sail

I thinkCatch-22is much better.

Big surprise there. But it's on my desk, so I'll be reading that one soon.

Neito

If you're in the mood for non-fiction, Bad Astronomy is a good book.

kiwi_bird

"The Setting Sun" and "No longer Human" from Osamu Dazai.

Kate Monster

Has anyone here read any Murakami? In general is fine, but specifically The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle?

I read the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle a few years ago. I remember enjoying it, but little else. Maybe I should re-read it this summer.

HungryJoe

If you're in the mood for non-fiction,Bad Astronomyis a good book.

I agree. Have you ever read the blog?

I'm just finishing A People's History of the American Empire by Howard Zinn. This is an excellent book. It's a graphic novel on top of that. Everyone here should read this book.

kiwi_bird

Faust I and II by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. If you claim to be knowledgeable on the subject of literature you should have at least read these 2 classics. I'm not sure how well they are translated into English though, since the "SVO" rule in English might have ruined the book.

Now I have studied philosophy,
medicine and the law,
and unfortunately, theology,
wearily sweating, yet I stand now,
poor fool, no wiser than I was before;
I am called Master, even Doctor,
and for these last ten years have led
my students by the nose--up, down,
crosswise and crooked. Now I see
that we know nothing finally.

chaosof99

If educational books count here I recommend the Remembering the Kanji series and Remember the Kana by James W. Heisig to anyone trying to learn japanese. They are helping me a lot.

Symmetry

I also recently readThe Execution Channel,Halting State, andBaltimore. None of those were very good.

Let me be a dissenting opinion on two of those. Halting State was one of the best books I've read in the last three months. Many of the ideas were really interesting and the chapter where one of the protagonists wakes up in Amsterdam had me laughing out loud. The Execution Channel wasn't as good as MacLeod's Fall Revolution series but I thought it was well worth my time.

Some books recommendations of my own, lets see. I'll stick to non-fiction here since I think I've given fiction recommendations in this forum before:

Shurely You're Joking, Mr Feynman!" is a bunch of stories from the life of everybody's favorite bongo drum playing Nobel prize winning physicist. Its awesome and has important things to say.

The Mystery of Capital informed a lot of my thinking about both challenges to development in poor countries and the importance of a good legal system.

Freakanomics was a fascinating book of odd facts about the world you can deduce by applying economic principles.

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War to learn about the most important military thinker of the second half of the 20th century. His ideas are now used by everyone from the military, to businessmen, to the New England Patriots.

Technology in World Civilization gives a great account of what was invented where, how technology has effected the course of history, and why the industrial revolution didn't start in Ming China.

YoshoKatana

I recently finished The Trial, and found it somewhat lighter than I expected. I think the culture surrounding that book gives it more gravitas than is required. I also read Neil Gaiman's American Gods, Neverwhere, and Anansi Boys. Not sure which one I like the best; all were amazing.

If you're a fan of sci-fi and long series, you might want to check out Otherland, by Tad Williams. It is a nice blend of virtual reality, myths, and mystery. Four books, approx. 3,000 pages total.

On a lighter note, check out Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About (and other novels by Mil Millington), as well as The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Both are a riot.

Luke Burrage

On a lighter note, check outThings My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About(and other novels by Mil Millington),

I read this website years and years ago. Now I, and English man, live with my girlfriend, a German lady. We don't argue much at all, but I recognise some of the examples of different cultures colliding.

As for book recommendations, I keep track of the ratings of recent books I've read as part of one of my podcasts. Any 4 to 5 star book I'd recommend to anyone looking for science fiction books: click here.

Neito

I agree. Have you ever read the blog?

I'm a Phil Plait fanboy. Good god do I love the man's way of explaining things.