What Are You Reading? Check This One Out

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Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 10:01 pm

I just started a new book the other day, and it's quite interesting.

The title is borrowed from Dantes Inferno, and called, "The Last Ring"

(The Last Ring of Hell is reserved for traitors)

I'm only into 200 of the 600 pages, but the book describes how the

"SWIFT and CHIPs" banking funds transfer systems have been hacked.

Yes, the book is primarily about corruption in the US government, but wanders over some tasty tidbits.. Includes Mafia, Wakenuhut, CIA, NSA, etc.

So far, a great read.

Will

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:07 am

Sounds like something I might have to read, but, of course, it would have to be on the e-reader Kindle. Who wrote it? Having trouble finding on amazon

insults and more · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:16 am

I'm plowing through Knuth's Art of Computer Programming, Roger Penrose's "The Road to Reality", Feynman's Lectures on Physics, and Misner's "Gravitation."

This is in addition to a paperback or so a day. Last week I read a few zombie books by Joe McKinney and John Adams, and started rereading Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum."

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:20 am

Currently I am reading several books (on Kindle of course) about Henry VIII and one about history at the time and the castle furnishings. Also reading George Bush's book "Decision Points" Plus several other political type books.

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:52 am

Great great grangfather's anthology of Lord Tennyson (currentley on Ulysses), various PIC textbooks, a PC interfacing book (sadley ommitting USB ports), and re-reading The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut - all of which are made of paper and are variously smelly, dusty and covered in coffee stains.

Wouldn't have it any other way. Smile

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:11 am

I went to my favourite secondhand bookshop last week,

http://www.hardtofind.co.nz/

Frank Herbert The Green Brain

Isaac Asimov Robots and Empire

The Worlds of Frank Herbert

Harry Harrison Prime Number

Arthur C Clarke The Deep Range

Backdrop of Stars edited Harry Harrison

Deathworld #2 Harry Harrison

Deathworld#3 Harry Harrison

All replacements for books "borrowed" by so called friends

insults and more · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:20 am

Woo! Fellow geeks.

Irish, ever get into E.E. Doc Smith's Lensmen series?

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:42 am

Just finished reading Stephen King's latest offering called

Full Dark No Stars

and have just started a book called Horns by Joe Hill (who is SK's son)

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 7:35 am

Last thing I have read, of course on paper, Wink

was "Der Ölprinz" (The oil prince) by Karl May.

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:15 am

A man surrounded by women, I'm succumbing to gentle pressure and with some condescension reading Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, most improving on one's countenance. Emma next. Wink

If I can hijack this thread for a minute. Some useful bookmarks for fellow Kindlers here.

Project Gutenberg in mobile format:
http://m.gutenberg.org/

Google maps in Kindle format. Handy if you have 3G:
http://www.kindlemap.net/

Site for mobile browsing on your Kindle:
http://skweezer.com/

And a hack to reduce the width of the margins on a K3:
http://pokazywarka.pl/k3tricks/

Dont bother about step 5, just alter the margin width as explained at the bottom. I've used it on mine with no problems. If you call up the "Aa" window and scroll down to Words per line, it sets the value back to default. I've found a value of 20 works best. Wink

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:35 pm

The last one i read for fin was Jordans "Towers of midnight".
But since i am a student i tend to read mostly crap.

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:01 pm

Jane Grigson - "Charcuterie and French pork cookery."
Stephen King - "Under the dome"
Also an old Women's Institute book of 700 recipes which is very interesting.

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:52 pm

I tend to read mysteries.
Dick Francis is one of my favorite authors, although I also like Ed McBain, Andrew Vachss, and Daniel Silva. Some John LeCarré books are better than others: Our Game is the best, followed by Single & Single and The Night Manager. The George Smiley ones, in my opinion, are not that great, and The Constant Gardener is that rare species that worked out much better as a movie than as a book.
James Swain can be entertaining (a series about a retired ex-cop who catches casino scammers).
I first learned about 419 and was inspired to join up here by Misha Glenny's book McMafia.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

Currently reading Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indriðason
previous to that it was Dr Yes by Colin Bateman

funnily enough my youngest was asking about the Three Laws of robotics the other day, was able to point him to our well thumbed copies of Asimov's books.

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:49 pm

In my reading pile are Stieg Larsson's 3 millenium trilogy books - started Book 1 (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) a few months ago and want to get back into reading that. Also have in the pile Ken Follett - The Pillars Of The Earth, Jo Nesbo - The Snowman and Michael Connelly - Nine Dragons to read. As soon as it's out in paperback, will be adding The Reversal (another Michael Connelly - one of my fav authors) to the pile too.

Next week I go back to doing reading support with Year 1 & 2 children at school, so will be sumerged once more in the adventures of Biff, Chip, Floppy, Kipper, Wilma & Wilf Laughing

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:41 pm

@windy Is that a Kindle2 or Kindle3? Is is nice there are so many FREE books available to Kindlers. I have a Kindle2 and probably won't upgrade. Wish I would have had the Kindle when I went to Europe instead of taking so many "tree" books. I have about 300-400 on my Kindle.

I am not much of a fan of fiction although I do like historical fiction by some writers who do thorough research. I prefer non-fiction and being a political junky.

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:55 pm

^ Morgain, if you've not already read it, I'd recommend Alison Weir - The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, also, in case you've not read her before, Margaret George writes excellent historical fiction/biographies - Cleopatra/Mary Queen of Scots/Henry VIII etc Smile

Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:01 am

^^ I have Alison Weir books on my Kindle. Will get the Six Wives Of Henry VIII, as I don't have it on there yet.

Just finished reading Margaret George's book The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers At first I did not like it but as I got into it, really liked it.

Thanks.

insults and more · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:12 am

Morgain: You must read Will and Ariel Durant's Story of Civilization, if you haven't already. 11 huge volumes spanning all of history.

The last historical books I've read were Samuel Morrison's "Oxford History of the American People," Martin Gilbert's "The Holocaust," and Cynthia Kelly's "The Manhattan Project." All very good.

A few years ago I managed to pick up in an estate sale a massive amount of 19th century American History books. Shelves of Civil War memoirs, William Leggett and Andrew Jackson, 1850's debates, etc. I for some reason own a collection worthy of a professor emeritus in American history.

You might like Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. It's a scifi-ish trilogy set in the midst of the Calculus Wars between Newton and Leibniz.

You may also like alternate history, such as Rosenfield's "The World Hitler Never Made." or Ian Watson's anthology of alternate history stories.

Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:25 am

leon Only if they are on Kindle e-readers. Don't do regular books anymore. Laughing

Not quite a Newb Joined: 31 Dec 2010 Posts: 59

I feel a little embarrassed, I'm a big reader, but just of fiction...
Trudi Canavan, David Eddings, Stephen Baxter, Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov, and Stephen Donaldson are enough for me!

Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:38 am

I recently bought Ben MacIntyre's Operation Mincemeat - the full story of the WWII deception operation more often referred to as The Man Who Never Was. Its stellar cast includes spymasters, agents, planners, schemers, patriots and traitors - and a sad and lonely soul, born into poverty and dying in squalor, whose mortal remains became a weapon that ensured a key victory and saved thousands of Allied lives. I recommend it to all.

insults and more · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:40 am

^^^ It's all fun and games until the zombie apocalypse happens and your kindle dies.

What then?! You will be sitting there with nothing to distract you from the moans and clawing hands at your door.

I, meanwhile, will have books to escape into. And, depending on how much Danielle Steele or Stephanie Meyer I have near me, both toilet paper and kindling. Depending on how many legal tomes I have, I may be able to barricade my door and windows quite nicely.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 31 Dec 2010 Posts: 59

leonsumbitches wrote:

^^^ It's all fun and games until the zombie apocalypse happens and your kindle dies.

What then?! You will be sitting there with nothing to distract you from the moans and clawing hands at your door.

I, meanwhile, will have books to escape into. And, depending on how much Danielle Steele or Stephanie Meyer I have near me, both toilet paper and kindling. Depending on how many legal tomes I have, I may be able to barricade my door and windows quite nicely.

*Stephenie. There's an 'e'.
(Don't ask how I know that).

Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:50 am

If my Kindle dies, then we will be baiting scammers with snail mail because our computer technology will be dead too. Laughing

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