What was the last good book you read?

[astrokahn]

I made a deal with myself to read 40 books this year bc I turned 40. So far here’s my stack of books I’ve completed. I’m HECKA PROUD

[astrokahn]

Especially proud of Scruffy the Tuesday dog. That was the first book I ever read as a kid so I made it the first on the list in January. It’s like Old Yeller. But England 1978.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by astrokahn

I made a deal with myself to read 40 books this year bc I turned 40. So far here’s my stack of books I’ve completed. I’m HECKA PROUD

You have to score them 1 to 10. C'mon naw...

[astrokahn]

Originally Posted by Keith

You have to score them 1 to 10. C'mon naw...

1 being the greatest, 15 being horrible shit. As there are 15, a few will be books that I know deep down are really cool but I didn't understand a fucken thing. (DUAFT)

15. The Observer Effect (thought it was gonna be about the double slit experiment, it was about manifesting your reality in the dumbest shitty way possible.)

14.Attached Are all self help books this dumb? It's about different types of personality styles in relationships and how we all suck. (But mostly me apparently)

13. The Little Book of String Theory I thought I was ready. DUAFT

12.A Mind for Numbers It's alright. It teaches you how to learn math and science for college, but in one of those "Christ you could've put this whole book into one chapter" kinda ways.

11. The Fabric of Reality really really liked this book, it talks about a unified theory of mechanical physics and quantum physics and gravity and the forces we know about and virtual reality, but I just mostly... DUAFT

10. Spectrums- a book about the scale of the universe, teeny to huge and how to think about giant and small numbers

9. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry- Neil Degrass Tyson writes for normal people. Also he's funny. Also he may have sexually assaulted someone? Goddamnit.

8. Welcome to the Universe- Neil Degrasse and two other astrophysicists explain the entire universe in ways that are sometimes really hard to understand but you know if you understand the book you know enough to have a conversation with NDeGT. I learned A LOT... but At least 1/2 of the book... DUAFT

7. The Illustrated A Brief History of Time- Stephen Hawking's famous shit, Jesus man I wanna be able to understand it all but... When you do get something after you read it six times you're like. WHOOOOOAAAAAA mind blowing! and then the next thing you completely fail to understand, so most of it, DUAFT

6. The Universe in a Nutshell- basically the above book but worded differently. Authors love to repeat themselves I'm like, yo, I bought your other book, silly.

5. Alice in Quantumland- This book is so cool! It's the story of Alice in Wonderland but in a way that makes you understand Quantum Physics! It was suuuuuuper interesting and helpful.

4. The Selfish Gene- Richard Dawkins explains the evolution of the gene and argues that Darwin wasn't quite right about survival of the group, but instead that the gene itself is what is fighting to stay around. I learned a fuckton about birds.


3. The Salmon of Doubt- Dis fuggen guy. Douglas Adams is dead but he would have been so awesome to hang out with. I wish I could write like him. This is a collection of short stories combed from his personal computer after his death.

2. The Gift of Fear- read it twice! EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOOOOK. The author is a professional violent threat assessor (?) and talks about how to use fear to your advantage and pick apart peoples behavior to stay safe and not let fear rule your life.

1. Death by Black Hole- Another one by Neil Degrasse Tyson. It actually made me feel all wondery and special about the universe. Mid sex after reading this book I got all teary eyed like "THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND RAAAAAAARE."

You asked for it, you got it.... Toyoooooota


Funny story, The Douglas Adams book was the first (non Scruffy) book I read, so I was like wow this dude is awesome! I'm gonna write him a letter! (I do this.) Turns out he's been dead for years.

Three times in a row I did this, and all three authors were already dead. Stephen Hawking died WHILE I WAS READING HIS BOOK ON A PLANE. I'm just saying I have powers.

[SpareBen]

Buying one Star Trek book this weekend. Any input? So far, this is the mostly likely.

[porky2468]

I've got at least 20 books waiting to be read so this thread could be dangerous!

I recently finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K Dick. I'm about 50 years behind, but I really liked it. Thought it was much better than Blade Runner.

[LoopyLou79]

I’m currently reading Homo Deus A brief history of tomorrow

So far very good.

[theycallmepyro]

Originally Posted by porky2468

I recently finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K Dick. I'm about 50 years behind, but I really liked it. Thought it was much better than Blade Runner.

That's a good one, and it's very different to Blade Runner. I like that they sort of captured its abandoned and decayed aesthetic in the Blade Runner sequel film.

[porky2468]

Originally Posted by theycallmepyro

That's a good one, and it's very different to Blade Runner. I like that they sort of captured its abandoned and decayed aesthetic in the Blade Runner sequel film.

I agree. They turned it into a gritty cop movie and the book didn't feel like that for me. I might try the sequel at some point.

This is my third Philip K Dick book and I really like his ideas. I think I'll try Electric Dreams next (when I get through my backlog).

I'm currently reading Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. He's another really interesting storyteller.

[theycallmepyro]

Originally Posted by porky2468

This is my third Philip K Dick book and I really like his ideas. I think I'll try Electric Dreams next (when I get through my backlog).

Give The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch a read if you want to seriously twist your melon. A Scanner Darkly is also a good read - not sure if you've seen the film of that but it doesn't do a bad job. Dick has so many books worth reading - he and Iain Banks are probably my favourite author in terms of volume and consistency.

The Blade Runner sequel film isn't bad, but you could have taken at least two of the main characters out without affecting the story, while also shaving 30+ minutes off the bloated running time.