A bit more serious...kind of. They had a big old french dinner in the vault before they left and wrote "sans armes, ni haine, ni violence" (without weapons, nor hatred, nor violence) on the wall.
You've probably heard a lot of this idea, but I'd really like to see Starship Troopers go down in the list of book club books. I'm always amazed to run into self-professed science-fiction fans who don't even know that the Paul Verhoeven movie is based (at least in name) on a book. In my opinion it makes a fascinating essay, even if doesn't hold up very well as a story. It's also pretty short, maybe a few days for the casual reader. What do people think of this?
You've probably heard a lot of this idea, but I'd really like to see Starship Troopers go down in the list of book club books. I'm always amazed to run into self-professed science-fiction fans who don't even know that the Paul Verhoeven movie is based (at least in name) on a book. In my opinion it makes a fascinating essay, even if doesn't hold up very well as a story. It's also pretty short, maybe a few days for the casual reader. What do people think of this?
I'm a fan of the movie and very much aware that it started as a novel, but never read it, so I'd definitely be interested in. Never having read anything by Heinlein does represent a hole in my attempts to become a well-rounded sci-fi reader.
I want to recommend some novels for book club! The Absolutely True Diaries of a Part Time Indian - Sherman Alexie. Part comic, part young adult novel about life on the Rez, this book is a deceptively quick read. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot DÃaz. A young Dominican nerd dreams of love and writing fantasy novels. Idoru - William Gibson. An cyberpunk adventure in future Tokyo, dealing with virtual idols and a runaway teenager. Neuromancer is also a decent choice.
Oh a suggestion thread, a book that would be really interesting to hear you all discuss would be Eastern Standard Tribe. The best part about this book is that it is DRM free on mutilple digital formats or you could buy the physical one yourself.
He died with a Falafel in his hand By John Birmingham is a pretty good book, and amusing. Also, not the usual fare for the book club, so it should be interesting.
Yahtzee Croshaw wrote a novel where the main character is a resurrected corpse in an MMORPG. I have no idea if it's any good or not, but Yahtzee is a pretty funny man, and his geek cred might get non-reading listeners into it.
I want y'all to read The Selfish Gene. It will serve the dual purpose of teaching you a little bit bout genetics and evolutionary biology, and showing you why anyone ever thought Richard Dawkins was a guy worth listening to, back before he became a full-time atheist. It's also actually really readable.
Oh! And another one: you should really read The Double Helix, James Watson's autobiographical account of the race to figure out the structure of DNA. It's... not what you'd expect. I was in equal measures entertained, outraged, and admiring. That guy was a complete and utter douchebag, and he's pretty straightforward about it in the book. It's something else.
Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World is basically THE skeptical book. You already did a Sagan recently, I guess.
One last one: Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos. It is an honest-to-goodness book, but it is also math, and it makes math not scary. It's short, too! And since it's about how motherfuckers don't know math and how that's bad for them, you all get to feel smug for reading it and no longer being afraid of math.
I figure y'all probably have enough fiction suggestions to last a lifetime. Consider some science, though, huh?
Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer is totally awesome. It's about parasites, how they work (they're ingenious motherfucking organisms), and co-evolution. Awesome.
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan is a totally awesome book about co-evolution in four different plants in order to use humans (by way of agriculture) to ensure they proliferate. Apples, Potatoes, Tulips, Marijuana. Damn good book.
I'll have others later. I need to attack my shelves.
Yahtzee Croshaw wrote a novel where the main character is a resurrected corpse in an MMORPG. I have no idea if it's any good or not, but Yahtzee is a pretty funny man, and his geek cred might get non-reading listeners into it.
Mogworld. It's pretty okay, from what I've read of it, which isn't much, admittedly.
I have no problem with reality, but non-fiction tends to bore me to tears. Also for more sci-fi I suggest Left Hand of Darkness by Le Guin. It's enjoyable and has some of that deepness Scrym seems to prefer.
Most likely, yes. Most of what I've read has been fairly dry. The other problem is books like Cosmos that go somewhat into a subject, if it's something I want to read about, rarely go deep enough. I knew too much in reading Cosmos about the material it covered to make it an enjoyable read for me.
He died with a Falafel in his hand By John Birmingham is a pretty good book, and amusing. Also, not the usual fare for the book club, so it should be interesting.
My wife found a movie version of this on Netflix and added it to the queue a while back. We still haven't watched. Wonder if it's worth viewing, or if I should read the book first.
This is the danger with knowing books exist. I always want to read them before the movies/television shows. So little time.
I am looking forward to hearing you guys talk about Hunger Games in your next book club episode.
OK I will definitely join in and read at least the first Hunger Games book. It is a free Kindle rental right now and too many people I trust have enjoyed it for me to ignore it any longer. I have heard that the books decline in quality though. Is there truth to this statement? What you say, fans?!
Comments
The Absolutely True Diaries of a Part Time Indian - Sherman Alexie. Part comic, part young adult novel about life on the Rez, this book is a deceptively quick read.
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot DÃaz. A young Dominican nerd dreams of love and writing fantasy novels.
Idoru - William Gibson. An cyberpunk adventure in future Tokyo, dealing with virtual idols and a runaway teenager. Neuromancer is also a decent choice.
2) There's a graphic novel of it!!
I want y'all to read The Selfish Gene. It will serve the dual purpose of teaching you a little bit bout genetics and evolutionary biology, and showing you why anyone ever thought Richard Dawkins was a guy worth listening to, back before he became a full-time atheist. It's also actually really readable.
Oh! And another one: you should really read The Double Helix, James Watson's autobiographical account of the race to figure out the structure of DNA. It's... not what you'd expect. I was in equal measures entertained, outraged, and admiring. That guy was a complete and utter douchebag, and he's pretty straightforward about it in the book. It's something else.
Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World is basically THE skeptical book. You already did a Sagan recently, I guess.
One last one: Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos. It is an honest-to-goodness book, but it is also math, and it makes math not scary. It's short, too! And since it's about how motherfuckers don't know math and how that's bad for them, you all get to feel smug for reading it and no longer being afraid of math.
I figure y'all probably have enough fiction suggestions to last a lifetime. Consider some science, though, huh?
Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer is totally awesome. It's about parasites, how they work (they're ingenious motherfucking organisms), and co-evolution. Awesome.
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan is a totally awesome book about co-evolution in four different plants in order to use humans (by way of agriculture) to ensure they proliferate. Apples, Potatoes, Tulips, Marijuana. Damn good book.
I'll have others later. I need to attack my shelves.
Also for more sci-fi I suggest Left Hand of Darkness by Le Guin. It's enjoyable and has some of that deepness Scrym seems to prefer.
This is the danger with knowing books exist. I always want to read them before the movies/television shows. So little time.