I like threads about books and it's a slow afternoon at work so I thought I'd start another one.

Although I technically don't have any spare time to read over the summer, I have managed to buy a couple of books lately.

I am currently reading "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", by Milan Kundera, which so far is pretty good. It was a completely random buy (I was looking for a third book to take advantage of a 3 for 2 offer) but it turned out to be an excellent philosophical novel.

Also reading "The Reprieve", by Sartre, I occasionally come across a bit that makes me think "wow yeah, that's like, totally true dude".

Also bought "Ward No. 6 and Other Stories", by Chekhov but haven't started that yet.

What are you reading at the moment and what are you planning to read this summer?

I'm currently embracing my inner 12 year old and reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

The Age of Migration; International Population Movements in the Modern World by Stephen Castles and Mark J. Miller

and

An introduction to Brain and Behaviour by Bryan Kolb and Ian Q. Whishaw.

I am a student, alas of the university kind and it's the summer semesters. Not to say they aren't interesting, but don't have time for my own reading.

I'm re-reading the Iliad at the moment, to be followed by the Odyssey and then Bulfinch's Mythology.

I may also re-read the King James Bible this summer, as it's been years since I've worked all the way through it. (I don't like the newer versions. Only the King James version will do.)

Hmmm, I had never heard about that one before, it sounds excellent.

You can generally find them in your local library.

Think of it as a Mythological Encyclopedia.

Wow, you guys make me feel so unsmart, with your smartyperson books and all.

I'm currently reading the Dresden Files.

I'm waiting for the next Anita Blake book, just finished the lastest Dresden Files, and I'm working through Elizabeth Bear's Promethean Age books.

Don't feel too unsmart! 95% of the books I read for pleasure are "regular people" books, too, I just happen to be on a mythology kick at the moment. I truly enjoy mythology.

There's a story behind that: When I was in grade school, I attended a strict, small-town, fundamentalist Christian private school. My immediate family was Catholic and fairly liberal, but this private school offered a much better education than the local public school system, so there I went. The principal, Mrs. Cyphers, was literally the ultimate embodiment of a classic schoolmarm: strict, whip-thin, extremely conservative, and with a mind like a steel trap. I'm not kidding when I say that the idea of nuns slapping hands with rulers makes me giggle in comparison.

Anyway, this school had a very small library (something like 12' x 12'). I caused a commotion one day during lunch, the details of which I don't remember, and my punishment was to eat lunch in the library alone for a week. This punishment backfired, since I've always loved to read and found (to my great shock) several very old books of mythology on the shelves. To find these books in a fundamentalist Christian library alongside Pilgrim's Progress and the like was almost unthinkable, but there they were. I read through most of one during that week of punishment, finding it much better than the likes of Nancy Drew or The Babysitter's Club, and I haven't stopped loving mythology since.

I mostly read technical books, not because I'm smart but when I start work in three weeks I'll be on probation for 6 months and can be fired without notice. Being competent will help. Right now I'm reading

• Making it Big in Software: Get the Job. Work the Org. Become Great
• The Passionate Programmer
• Accelerated C++
• C++ Primer

For pleasure I like to lurk these forums, read player-written short stories IG and comment on technology news.

I guess you missed how I'm reading the Percy Jackson books. I think my next series might be the Dresden Files though. I've heard good things!

Psh, 90%+ of my book collection is unsmart and several of the "really smart" books I bought are sitting there unread. Like Sartre's "Being and Nothingness". It's been 2 years and I'm still "building up to it".



Sigh, after my degree is done I have to seriously get back into technical reading. I have neglected my IT certs for too long. I have sat and passed 22 different Microsoft and Cisco exams in the last 10 years, and they are all out of date now.

They are fantastic. I'm on the fifth book now, and each one so far has hit the ground running with well constructed plots from the start. There's been no slow points, at least to the point I'm at.

Also just finished reading the Prince of Nothing trilogy by R. Scott Bakker, and I highly recommend it, if anybody's interested.
Good points: Intelligently written, with a completely original, (and very dark) world (although it's constructed with a great many nods to our own (EDIT: that would be Western and Middle Eastern culture, sorry) medieval times, except with magic), no overused elves/dwarves/etc theme. It's got a lot of subtle philosophy throughout the story, about why we, as people do what we do, and about religion and such. There's some sensational things that happen, but presented in a logical, easily believable way. There's a LOT of plot and subplot, but it's so well weaved together that it's one of the few books that I label as true art.

Bad points: There's a distinct lack of female lead characters, although there is one who is a very strong, and very interesting, woman. Altogether too much sex for my liking (not a book you'd give your kids to read!), although it can be argued that it fits with the philosophy of the reasons behind our actions that are prevalent throughout.

It starts with the Darkness That Comes Before. Check it out.

Aww, I swear the only "smarty" book I'm reading for my own enjoyment is Shake Hands with the Devil, and it's a terribly sad account of the 94 Rwanda Genocide.

Rest of the stuff I read is rather kiddish. They just have better stories!

I'm in love with Lee child and the Jack Reacher series

Brave New World by Auldus Huxley
Fight Club by Chuck Palenuek (sp?)
Life of Pi (not sure who the author is)

My favourite gods there are: Apollo, Artemis, Poseidon, and Hades. Oh, Charune, too. I mean Pan.

I just finished the last book in the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix (YA fantasy-ish stuff). The series kind of slumped a little around book 5-6 but the ending was pretty good. His other stuff is great too, I would recommend the Abhorsen series. I like Young Adult fantasy fiction, sue me.

From a more "adult" standpoint, I hope to finally finish Infinite Jest this summer. I read about half of it last summer and ran out of steam. It's awesome, but kind of tiring (and looooooooong). On a similar note I am still in the middle of Anathem.

After I finish all that I might re-read American Gods cause it's my favorite and I haven't in a while. Unless I find something new (which is likely).

Actually I need to get around to House of Leaves again too. And my SO just recommended me Logicomix so there's that...

Oh, I also left off in Gods Behaving Badly, which is fluff, but amusing in a "Greek myth pushed into modern day, with a side of soap opera" kind of way. So I'll probably finish that too.

Not sure how I ended up in the middle of like 5 different books but there it is.

Read Elantris.

Anything by Brandon Sanderson I devour immediately.