What is currently on your Night Stand/ What are you reading?

nzilla · Post by **nzilla** » Thu May 08, 2003 12:59 am

I'm reading Stephen King's latest short story collection, Everything's Eventual. It's great so far. I just loved "The Little Sisters of Eluria." Right now I'm reading "L.T.'s Theory of Pets."

Post by **Darb** » Thu May 08, 2003 8:55 am

I've got about 20 books piled up, waiting for me to read.

At the moment, I'm reading Jacques Pepin's "Complete (Culinary) Techniques".

Not sure what's next - guess you could say I'm a bit like a dog with too many food bowls to choose from

Dizzy · Post by **Dizzy** » Thu May 08, 2003 10:25 am

I've got two books on order, "Shadow Puppets" - Orson Scott Card, and "Shadow and Claw" - Gene Wolfe (recommended by Brad_H). Until they arrive, I dig into the occasional D&D manual

bob k. mando · Post by **bob k. mando** » Thu May 08, 2003 10:27 am

rereading bradbury's 'martian chronicles'. hadn't remembered him being such a luddite although i may be over generalizing. the forward to the book was written by a luddite who claimed 'chronicles' as a book adhering to his 'philosophy' and said that it did a great job of expounding upon the key tenets of said 'philosophy', namely that 'technology is bad, mmmkay' and that those sad little humans were too primitive and violent to be trusted with such things as nuclear reactions, space travel and the ic engine.

i'm not so sure about bradbury though. after all, in the book the first three mars missions are murdered to the last man, out of hand by
[1]a jealous martian husband does the first 2 astronauts......before those astronauts ever meet his wife
[2]most disturbing, 4 astronauts are 'euthanized' for 'insanity' by a delusional (is there any other kind) martian psychologist who then commits suicide....because he couldn't conceive of the possibility that someone claiming something outside the normal doctrine accepted by the masses could be sane. i could invoke godwin's law here but i'll see if anyone else understands the parallel
[3]16 astronauts are murdered by the population of a martian town who use their telepathic powers to cause the crew to hallucinate a small american town populated by doppelgangers of their dead loved ones in order to lull them so they can be murdered in their sleep

which society was it that wasn't worthy of surviving again? we've got a race that, at every opportunity, for reasons from the emotional to the institutional, by the individual and the group, murder every newcomer they meet. and the astronauts had never tried to do anything but say 'hi'.

to have the entire martian population then die of chicken pox which sweeps the entire planet in months seems almost karmic. it's very possible that nothing could have been done for them but if they hadn't killed every man they could get their hands on it would have been at least conceivable that the humans could have tried to find a way to inoculate or immunize them.

ummmm, remind me, which civilization was supposed to be 'superior'?

in more current works, i'm reading robin hobb's 'ship of destiny'. do not, do not, do not start reading 'the liveship trader' trilogy anywhere but the first book. i tried and just about sank. on the plus side, hobb seems to be becoming less sexist in her portrayal of inter-gender relations although she still can't resist the feminist canard of 'women can do everything just as well as a man.......except for those things that they can do better'.

i've read vinge's 'a deepness in the sky' and it's very good. read 'a fire upon the deep' first though.

Gazoooo · Post by **Gazoooo** » Fri May 09, 2003 10:20 am

After all the discussion here, I added Heinlein's "Job, A comedy of justice" last night. It's been awhile.

Post by **Darb** » Fri May 09, 2003 10:28 am

Bob: An EXCELLENT and innovative view on Martian Chronicles

Gazoooo: I read "Job" under unnervingly appropriate circumstances ... I was on my honeymoon in Nova Scotia, and was unexpectedly laid up for the entire trip by an excruciating & debilitating lower back injury (it took me several months to recover). I told my wife I was a Heinlein fan, and she made a run to a nearby used bookstore ... and one of the many books she dragged back for me was Job. Since I was feeling a bit persecuted by fate at the time, it was a masterstroke of serendipity on my Wife's part

I also read scads of other books during my enforced honeymoon convalescence - some of them I even picked myself as I slowly regained the ability to walk without agony. Robert Silverberg's "The Face of the Waters" comes to mind (we were staying near the water at the time).

p.s. Just to show what a glutton for punishment I am, I actually read "The Amityville Horror" while working as a security guard back during college ... I pulled 2 consecutive all-night shifts at a large empty/creeply office building that was under construction ... and unlit. They had a turnkey system too, so every hour I had to patrol the entire place on foot, with nothing but echoing shadows, a few rats, my book, a tiny anemic flashlight for company. Ambience is EVERYTHING when reading/watching horror

Beaver · Post by **Beaver** » Fri May 09, 2003 10:19 pm

I finished Tigana by Kay. I liked it.

Now I'm reading Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative.

bob k. mando · Post by **bob k. mando** » Fri May 09, 2003 10:45 pm

brad
thanks but that was just my take on the first 1/4 of the book at most. i had a head of steam up after being antagonized by that marxist-luddite preface.

if we get that review forum i'll see if i've still got the inertia going to expand and clarify that post.....

Post by **KiltanneN** » Mon May 12, 2003 4:33 am

I have not read a "paper" book for quite a while - I am reading most of my books these days on my palm.

Means I don't have to carry a bag while commuting - but I have most of the Wheel of time in there - it is AMAZING how much it holds. Of course - I /*always*/ have at least one Heinlein & I keep the Bible in there too.

This last week I have had a Dick Francis in there as well, A rather good one - "To The Hilt"

the wheel of time - it is LOOOOONG, Long, */LONG/*. But good. I am thouroughly enjoying it - I have to commute an hour each way - and it really helps make that not such a waste...

Kilt

loraxe · Post by **loraxe** » Mon May 12, 2003 11:47 am

But also The Jesus Incident, by Frank Herbert and someone else. Very different. I hope it has a satisfactory conclusion because it is almost all build-up.

Next up: Life of Pi.

S.Jeffery · Post by **S.Jeffery** » Mon May 12, 2003 12:55 pm

Ring of Charon and the entire Sword of Truth series (I read SOT at work until my palm batteries die, then Ring of CHaron).

ChuckEye · Post by **ChuckEye** » Tue May 13, 2003 3:25 am

Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff.

Elongated Man · Post by **Elongated Man** » Tue May 13, 2003 10:10 am

I'm reading The Chaos Engine Trilogy by Steve Roman. They're X-Men novels, and they're mindless dribble, but they're fun. But the novel I read before that was Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That, so I'm allowed

ChuckEye · Post by **ChuckEye** » Tue May 20, 2003 2:32 am

Ok, finished Set this House in Order and have finally begun Good Omens since I had jury duty today. Didn't get selected for a jury but got through the first 250+ pages in one sitting...

darkgray · Post by **darkgray** » Tue May 20, 2003 5:05 am

My shipment of books arrived (all 14 of them!), and I've finally gotten back to reading "Pattern" by K.J. Parker.

Um, and regarding the Illuminatus! trilogy, I'm sort of.. fifty pages into it or so. I had to stop and read the 5 Amber books by Zelazny first, so I could remain sane. Will probably finish Illuminatus! some other century.

Mariko · Post by **Mariko** » Wed May 21, 2003 10:39 pm

Just finished War for the Oaks by Emma Bull and Agyar by Steven Brust; I'd read Freedom & Necessity by the two of them a couple weeks before. I like the pair effort best, mainly because its subject matter is more to my taste; I enjoyed both of the others too but War for the Oaks more. I'm definitely going to seek out more by both authors.

Post by **Darb** » Thu May 22, 2003 11:42 am

Having finished Duncan's "The Guilded Chain" I'm switching momentarily back to the culinary arena: Alton Brown's "I'm just here for the Food".

It's an oddball entry that puts a refreshingly different 'food-science' spin on the increasingly trite celebrity chef cookbook genre.

Elongated Man · Post by **Elongated Man** » Thu May 22, 2003 12:12 pm

What's on my night stand? Well, a half empty bottle of Nyquil, some Good 'n' Plenties, and my teeth in a glass.

Grilka · Post by **Grilka** » Thu May 22, 2003 12:17 pm

A clock radio, phone, two dirty tissues, one This Old House magazine and a gold Barbie shoe.

Post by **Darb** » Thu May 22, 2003 12:22 pm

Grilka: Oh, I think I left my watch on your night table ... could you double check for me ?

Dizzy · Post by **Dizzy** » Fri May 23, 2003 7:07 am

4 cans of lysol (dogs have a habbit of passing gas at night.... Or atleast the wife CLAIMS it's them).
handfull of pocket lint
various computer screws
crumpled receipts.

Grilka · Post by **Grilka** » Fri May 23, 2003 8:17 am

OH! That was yours, Brad? Heh heh... well, um... ::nervously clears throat:: Yeah, I kinda had to pretend that was an early birthday present for Tom... sorry.

Dizzy · Post by **Dizzy** » Fri May 23, 2003 8:41 am

lol.

I suppose he's wearing my boxers too....
*grumble* third pair this week.

darkgray · Post by **darkgray** » Tue May 27, 2003 9:34 am

Just finished the fantastic Scavenger trilogy ( http://www.iblist.com/series.php?id=345 ) by KJ Parker. This is such wonderful fantasy to read. Unfortunately the second book is quite slow, since he describes the work of a smith for a hundred pages or so, but the first and third books are just superb.

Just check the quirky humour in these quotes: http://www.iblist.com/quotes.php?id=7359&type=book

Mind you, this series is very spoilable, so do yourself a favour and take it easy with reading reviews.

Grilka · Post by **Grilka** » Thu May 29, 2003 1:44 pm

The Internet Book Database of Fiction

What is currently on your Night Stand/ What are you reading?

Not exactly a nightstand...

still reading the Irish omnibus

Now Reading...

Night Stand