Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

SignUp Now!

Books

DurhamSon said:
Topher said:
Started Dune yesterday. No idea what is going on.
Click to expand...

A Royal family just moved to a new planet formally inhabited by their hated dynastic rivals. What could go wrong?

Ou, and don't bother reading any of the sequels.
Click to expand...
I really liked the three immediately after. Been a long time since I read them though. But the massive time jumps were inspiring for me when it came to thinking about how to structure a series.
 
deeyoukayeee said:
BTW, I'm sure you've heard of 'The Ultra Secret', the first book about Bletchley Park when it was declassified. Great book about the decryption effort. Also great is 'Cryptonomicon' by Neal Stephenson, a fictionalized account of the code braking with a cool plot bringing into the modern day. Awesome read.
Click to expand...

I've read some book about that, but I don't think it was 'The Ultra Secret.' I'm really enamored with the Enigma decryption and have a hero crush on Turing, though. I'll have to check that out! Vaguely similar idea but in a totally different context - I loved The Riddle of the Labyrinth, which describes the decipherment of Linear B.

Cryptonomicon I picked up at a used bookstore a few months ago. I might have to move it up my list! Is Stephenson worth getting into beyond that? I also grabbed Anathem. I know generally nothing about his work, though; his name (and Cryptonomicon in particular) has just been on my radar.

Edit: Just saw your following post - I guess I do need to check out more of Stephenson!
 
Ultra Secret was put out in 1974, I believe right after Bletchley Park was declassified, so it may be a bit long in the tooth w/r/t details that were revealed over the years. I read my Dad's copy.

I love Stephenson. Snow Crash and Diamond Age are the other two I've read other than Cryptonomicon. Wild shit, but an enormous amount of interesting ideas.
 
Just purchased the following books to read during quarantine:

Do-The-Work-Summary.png


31e29RsXH6L._BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


431898.jpg


41QNOiAzBrL.jpg


51M3M9FvKKL._SX348_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
 
Gates of Fire is a really entertaining book, even though everyone knows the story. 2-day read can't put down sort of thing.

War of Art is really short. Basically a 'go follow your dream' sort of thing. Didn't really apply to my life, so I can't say I loved it, but for someone younger with a wide field of options I imagine it would be pretty energizing.
 
It makes you wonder when the last kid was born, named Richard, and referred to as Dick. Has to have been at least a few decades. I knew only a single peer growing up that was even named Richard. I did have a friend's mom whose name was Dorcus, which apparently was not super uncommon back in the day (even a character in 'Stranger in a Strange Land' with the name). And apparently there is still a school in the midwest whose mascot is the 'Fighting Nimrod' after the ancient king. What will be the name 20 years from now that goes wildly out of fashion? Which becomes the next Britney?
 
I read pretty slow. I'm not sure what is considered a "fast reader" but I'm definitely not one of them.
 
Topher said:
Dune is fucking great. Just got to the twist at the end of Book 1.
Click to expand...
Use spoiler tags if you talk about it. I have it on audible but haven't gotten around to listening to it yet.
 
The Wax Pack is great for any 40s year old here that collected baseball cards. Guy got a pack of 1986 Topps and then traveled the country by beat-up car to meet the players in the pack. He also talks a lot about dads. I did tear up a couple of times thinking of my dad. If you collected baseball cards, you'll like this book. I found out about 200 pages in that the guy went to Duke. Also, very fast read.

On to the 3600 tome by Edward Gibbon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Chat users

  • No one is chatting at the moment.

Chat rooms

  • General chit-chat 0

Forum statistics

Threads
1,067
Messages
425,029
Members
624
Latest member
Bluegrass Blue Devil
Back
Top Bottom