books you are reading soon.

[smoth]

The Wage Slave's Glossary
- humor, "coffe table" book I will probably put on my desk at work.

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition)
- professional development and perspective.

OpenGL® SuperBible: Comprehensive Tutorial and Reference (4th Edition)
OpenGL Shading Language (3rd Edition)
- openGL reading/reference books since I want to start on shaders or at least be able to understand enough to edit existing ones.

What books are you guys reading?

Anyone read these books? I just picked them up.

[SanadaUjiosan]

I've been reading the second Guild Wars novel, Edge of Destiny, lately but I am honestly going to put it down today. Believe it or not, I feel it started out okay for a fantasy novel based on a computer game, but I think the writing has gone downhill since then. I'm about halfway through and I just can't take the "gamer" language anymore. I don't want my fantasy characters using words like "freaking" or yelling "That's it!" in the middle of a fight to let you know, they've had enough of losing.

I am going to finish Dune Messiah next. I got about halfway through it and was enjoying it for the most part, but my attention got forced elsewhere. I'd love to finish it and move on in the series.

Edge of Destiny: http://www.amazon.com/Guild-Wars-J-Robe ... 219&sr=1-1

Dune Messiah: http://www.amazon.com/Dune-Messiah-Chro ... 487&sr=1-1

[Panda]

Books that I like:

Classics
1. "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy - story about a nice lady who was forced to marry a man who does not love her and who she doesn't love.
2. "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelly - Story about man creating man.
3. "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck - Story about fortune and pearl divers
4. "Lysistrata" by Aristophanes - Story about oppressed women
5. "The Twelve Caesars" by Gaius Suetonius - Most of the Ceasars were freaks
6. "Through The Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll - Alice and Wonderland on drugs
7. "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson - great pirate story
8. "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas - story of love and revenge
9. "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad - story of traveling into the unknown jungles of Africa
10. "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka - story about turning into a creature, is very graphic

Poetry
1. "The Haiku Handbook" b y William J. Higginson - lovely little how to write a haiku book

Science Related
1. "Butterfly Book: The Complete Guide to Butterfly Gardening - Identification and Behavior" by Donald and Lillian Stokes and Ernest Williams - All you need to know to raise and start identifying butterflies
2. "Wicked Plants" by Amy Stewart - all about various poisonous plants and their histories
3. "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas - scientific musings
4. "The Disappearing Spoon" by Sam Kean - interesting history and stories about the elements and the periodic table of elements
5. "Elephants on Acid and Other Bizarre Experiments" by Alex Bose
"Shells" by S. Peter Dance - interesting and true stories about bizarre historical science experiments
6. "Ken Libbrecht's Field Guide to Snowflakes" by Ken Libbrecct - snowflake identification hobbyist book
7. "The Responsible Use of Animals in Biology Classrooms Including Alternatives to Dissection" by the National Association of Biology Teachers - how to properly care for animals and use them for biology
8. "Reef" by Scubazoo - info. about life in the coral reef ecosystem
9. "The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life" by John Daido Loori - book about the Zen arts such as calligraphy, poetry, painting, tea ceremony, and flower arranging and how they are used to unlock creativity

Miscellaneous
"The Gargoyle Book: 572 Examples From Gothic Architecture" by Lester Burbank Bridaham - various examples of gargoyles in architecture and their purpose
"Daughter of Fortune" by Isabel Allende - beautifully written book about a woman coming to America when it was first colonized in search of her love

Science Fiction/Fantasy
"I Robot" by Isaac Asimov - science thriller about robots
"Dune" by Frank Herbert - Paul Atreides is heir to house Atredies who has accepted control of a desert planet, many adventures ensue when things go wrong
"A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle - exciting story focused on the daughter of a government scientists who travels through time and space to try and save her brother

Theater
1. "Carmen" by Prosper Merimee - "Love is like a gypsy child, if I love you beware."
2. "Aida" by Antonio Ghislanzoni - Aïda, an Ethiopian princess, is torn between love of her homeland, family and the man who loves her. Radames, is the man Aïda loves. He is appointed Commander of the Egyptian Army and sent off to fight the Ethiopian invasion. Amneris senses the feelings between Aïda and Radames which angers her for she is also in love with Radames. Radames returns to Egypt victorious along with a group of Ethiopian prisoners. Included in the group is Amonasro, Aïda's father. Amonasro manipulates Aïda into discovering the battle plan of the Egyptian Army from Radames. He is discovered giving the details to Aïda and Amonasro by Amneris and is sentenced to be buried alive.

Books That I Want To Get:

Poetry
1. "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman - This book is notable for its delight in and praise of the senses during a time when such candid displays were considered immoral. Where much previous poetry, especially English, relied on symbolism, allegory, and meditation on the religious and spiritual, Leaves of Grass (particularly the first edition) exalted the body and the material world. Whitman does not diminish the role of the mind or the spirit; rather, he elevates the human form and the human mind, deeming both worthy of poetic praise.

Classics
1. "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes - While mostly a rational man of sound reason, reading Romances in excess, or books of chivalry, has had a profound effect on Don Quixote, leading to the distortion of his perception and the wavering of his mental faculties. In essence, he believes every word of these books of chivalry to be true, though for the most part, the content of these books is clearly false. Otherwise, his wits, in regards to everything other than chivalry, are intact. He goes on a knight errant adventure
2. "The Tale of Genji" by Genji Monogatari - Classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the first novel still to be considered a classic. The work recounts the life of a son of the Japanese emperor, known to readers as Hikaru Genji, or "Shining Genji". For political reasons, Genji is relegated to commoner status (by being given the surname Minamoto) and begins a career as an imperial officer. The tale concentrates on Genji's romantic life and describes the customs of the aristocratic society of the time. Much is made of Genji's good looks.
3. "Journey to the West" by Wu Cheng'en - The novel is a fictionalised account of the legendary pilgrimage to India of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang, and loosely based its source from the historic text Great Tang Records on the Western Regions and traditional folk tales. The monk travelled to the "Western Regions" during the Tang Dynasty, to obtain sacred texts (sūtras). The Bodhisattva Guan Yin, on instruction from the Buddha, gives this task to the monk and his three protectors in the form of disciples — namely Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing — together with a dragon prince who acts as Xuanzang's steed, a white horse. These four characters have agreed to help Xuanzang as an atonement for past sins.
4. "Mathilda" by Mary Shelley - Narrating from her deathbed, Matilda tells the story of her unnamed father's confession of incestuous love for her, followed by his suicide by drowning; her relationship with a gifted young poet called Woodville fails to reverse Matilda's emotional withdrawal or prevent her lonely death.


Miscellaneous
1. "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova - book written by a very intelligent doctor who discovered how to live with her early onset descent into Alzheimer's


Science Related
1. "The Monk in the Garden" by Robin Marantz Henig - book about the life of Gregor Mendel, father of genetics


Books that I'm Currently Reading:
1. "Doctor Faustus" by Christopher Marlow - is a classic, book about talking to a demon
2. "Memnoch the Devil", fifth novel in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles - a demon's hunting the vampire, Lestat

These are all excellent books.

[Panda]

I love to read!

[MileyCyrus]

Doctor faustus?
Why not just read Faust?

[smoth]

behe, this is the book I was talking about:
3D Engine Design for Virtual Globes

[maackey]

I recently was introduced to Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. They are some of the best fiction ever written. That is all.

[knorke]

Discworld ftw. What I noticed too late is that it probally makes sense to read them in some organized order* to get all development/cross references. (*might want to google that)

[KaiserJ]

ATM i'm reading a lovecraft collection...

... and WOW does this dude ever dislike jews. i know it's literature from about 100 years ago, and a lot of the context IS still relevant albiet dated (like reading H G wells) but damn then he hits you from left field with some off-color remarks... reminds me of my grandmother, an intense and irrational feeling of superiority over everyone who isn't from England

once you get past that though, it's great stuff. and damn is there ever a lot of it... available free online too!

[PicassoCT]

started reading discworld in german, realized too late that half the jokes were gone, read them all again in english. Nearly died of laughter.

Anthill inside. Best are the early (watch-books, with the nightwatch.Best one is the timetravell one.) Pratchetts later books tend to be a little to much on the "Teach them right and wrong at the very end with a heavy hand". Disliked how he depicted religious fanatics on the dwarf lateron, where "small gods" said everything much better.


Actually, pratchetts best moments is when he takes the fantasy clichee and the very dark, cynic realistic picture of human nature and slams them together. Remember the dragon over Ankh Morpork?

Remember people running in fear, then in safe distance, turn to stare at what happens to other people running behind them.

[Pxtl]

For me the best bit about the Dragon is where the summoner explains to he dragon how the Dragon should *not* make it compulsory to feed him wealthy virgins... that he should simply imply that it's something his subjects should *want* to do. Initially the people would resist, but eventually they'd get used to it and it would become a moral imperative which they'd actively defend.

The direct-minded and amoral dragon found this incredibly hideous.

edit:

Also, for Pratchett fans, read the book he wrote with Neil Gaiman. "Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch". I still insist that it's the best thing *either* of them wrote. I wish Pratchett would work with Gaiman for ones more book before Alzheimers scrapes the rest of his mind down the storm-drain.

[Sabutai]

PicassoCT, your post is remarkable in every aspect.

[smoth]

before Alzheimers scrapes the rest of his mind down the storm-drain.

I love that he is still writing to the very last.. I respect it, honestly.

[zwzsg]

I tried Pratchett, really, about five years ago, and found it meh: Instead of the fine humor I was promised, I got laborious jokes.

[Panda]

Doctor faustus?
Why not just read Faust?

Simply stated, because I don't have that book.

before Alzheimers scrapes the rest of his mind down the storm-drain.

I love that he is still writing to the very last.. I respect it, honestly.

I find that to be admirable as well.

[zwzsg]

Last week I was reading some late book by Pierre Bordage, and disliked it: as he aged, it seems Bordage became much more obscene and much less imaginative.

Currently I'm reading "La horde du Contrevent", by Alain Damasio, which is much better, though the author has a tendancy to fall a bit too much in love with his own style.

[1v0ry_k1ng]

pratchett was at his best when he wrote Night Watch, I think. He kept it together for a few more books, and now his writing has gone back down the pan (unseen academicals & snuff were poor).

[MileyCyrus]

about to read "Blindsight" by Peter Watts.
Its hard sci-fi, heard its pretty good.

[pintle]

In the middle of White Swans by Jung Chang, which I am really enjoying. Read One Day by David Nicholls before that, managed to overcome prejudice and really really enjoy that too. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates is next.

Prachett has been a staple author for a large part of my life for me. He is incredibly easy to read, and the way he skirts massive cliche with such blunt satire is great imo.

[MileyCyrus]

saw the movie revolutionary road...pretty good.Dont think id ever read the book.