Lummel Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Bad Science by Ben Goldacre, its a readable romp through the misuse and abuse of health related science in the media. The analysis of homeopathy, mrs McKeith and the brain gym seemed like shooting fish in a barrel, but then I remember that people make a lot of money marketing that kind of nonsense. Bad Science soothes the parts that quakery can't reach.The great crash 1929 by JK Galbraith. This is a golden oldie, easy to read with nice turns of phrase. Starts in the mid 1920s with the Florida land speculation and ends after the wall street crash. Worth reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Adder Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen. A hilarious polemic against the thoughtlessness and greed of man, Twilly Spree is now my hero. Now going to find his other books and get them.Now reading The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoneliestMonk Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Reading abraham's shadow in summer, bradbury's the Martian chronicles, and chiang's stories of your life and others along with whatever looks interesting in some "year's best sf and/or fantasy"I think I'm going to like the long price book, but the names have been confusing me. It's hard to get absorbed when it takes a couple pages of each chapter to figure out who It's about. The Martian chronicles is funny. I don't remember it being funny, but this time I laughed aloud more than once reading the fourth story "the earth men" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biter Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane. I didn't like Sacred, the third Kenzie/Gennaro book, much so I took a rest from those books for a while before picking this up. I thought this was on par with most of his other novels - the characters feel somewhat cartoonish at times but there's plenty of humour to be found, especially in the dialogue.I just started on The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. In the Swedish version that I found the novel has been split in two so I guess that technically I'm reading The Blade Itself part I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
True Blue Mug Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Rereading Some Sherlock Holmes as I watch the new TV series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valarr Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Just finished Codex Alera and wanted to start I, Lucifer but couldn't find it, so I started with Ciaphas Cain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoneliestMonk Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Just finished Codex Alera and wanted to start I, Lucifer but couldn't find it, so I started with Ciaphas Cain How was codex alara? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Ian McDonald signed a copy of The Dervish House for me today, so I know what I'll be reading tonight :read: FYI: A TV series of the book is being planned... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Ian McDonald signed a copy of The Dervish House for me today, so I know what I'll be reading tonight :read: FYI: A TV series of the book is being planned...Really? Now thats...unusual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneeye Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 I am continuing my reread of Feists old stuff, up to Serpentwar Saga now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valarr Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 How was codex alara?First book was so-so but rest were much better.I enjoyed the series, didn't like Isana and Amara, but a lot of smaller characters were really great, especially Sextus and High Lord Aquitane. Felt sorry for the poor sods at the end.And politics were done nicely, having your enemy at your mercy but you can't kill him because you need him, betrayal all around etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Headless Ned Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Finished Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks. An improvement over the other Culture novel I've read (Consider Phelbas)with better characterisation and a more interesting, less linear story. Does take a while to get going and the prose is a little bit more dour than Phelbas. Great ending though!Onwards with Suldrun's Garden by Jack Vance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Toblerone Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Started The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever today.And a little of The Boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lummel Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell, not what I was expecting, no Hardy-style wife selling, or Dostoevsky-style pushing daughter into prostitution to earn some hard cash, less searing than Boys from the Blackstuff, maybe it's too english and mild mannered, I mean only one three deaths and only one couple forced into the workhouse - what kind of indictment of capitalism is this!Maybe that is the book's secret strength, it's not a picture of extreme hardship but it's working class characters are boxed in a trap from which there will only be one escape (or two if you include socialism).It read like the bastard son of Hard Times with some great names of the Bodgit and Scarper type and a pernicious philosophy that keeps people down.Nice to see that some familiar stories like pushing a sheet of paper into a room to check for fleas and the misappropriation of the tea fund have a long pedigree. The bitterness of the story comes from how much is still the same today, like the children sent to school without any breakfast. It's good to know that we haven't abandoned all our ancient traditions in this modern age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Really? Now thats...unusual.Really. The contract arrived yesterday, apparently. Horse's mouth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eponine Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Finished The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang. It wasn't as good as some of his short stories, but was still well worth reading. The entire novella can be read online. I've seen a few reviews saying that it should have been fleshed out more into a full novel, and I'm not sure that's the case. While there were a number of interesting things that were barely touched upon and then left hanging, the resolution that I wanted was mostly in the form of technical explanations (Derek's emotional state was NOT one of those interesting things, and I'm not sure that the story could have gotten longer without more character exposition, which was the least interesting thing to me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I am about 3/4 into The Girl Who Played with Fire [Millennium #2] by Stieg Larsson. This book is more fun than The Girl with the Dragoon tattoo. A lot more action. In hindsight the first book looks more like an introduction to the main characters.After that.....I might start The Malazan Book of the Fallen.....*shiver* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashiara Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I finished The Cardinal's Blades by Pierre Pavel and I found it very enjoyable. I'll definitely read the rest of the series.I also reread The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I liked it as much as the first time, even more actually. It was very satisfying to see a story flow so easily. Could it be told in fewer words? Perhaps it could, but this wasn't really an issue for me.Today I started reading The Wise Man's Fear, also by Rotfuss. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcf Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I got a little bit closer to ending my quest to catch up on all my reviews. Today I posted a review of The Dark Griffin by K.J. Taylor. It's mediocre at best.I still owe reviews for The Fallen Blade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Never Knew Another by J.M. McDermott, and Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch. I'm currently reading Embassytown by China Mieville - it's interesting to see him write science fiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinevere Seaworth Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Just add me to the mulitudes that finished The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. I liked it and I found it to be a more thoughtful novel that usual. Before They are Hanged is still my favorite book by Abercrombie.The Good Earth by Pearl Buck is next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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