Book-Fi

I like books. Been reading more of them digitally lately which kinda makes me sad for some reason.

Just finished 'Kill Decision' by Daniel Suarez, it's about Predator drones and AI.


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Kind of a broad subject. 

My personal reading tastes are all over the map, ranging from mysteries, sci-fi and fantasy to "serious" fiction like Henry James, Ford Maddox Ford, Joseph Conrad, Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino and Cormac McCarthy.  I also read quite a bit of non-fiction, mostly books about science, religion and philosophy although lately I seem to be reading about macro economics and politics, depressing stuff.

 

eBooks are of nearly zero interest to me.  I really like books as physical objects.

 

Wired_Gargoyle, have you read Daniel Suarez's earlier books?  I was sort of interested by a review of Daemon when it came out but I have never read any of his books .

Edited by plantsman - 10/7/12 at 11:15am

My take is that if you read that is a very good thing, regardless of what you read or whether you read old school bound paper books or ebooks.  I think we are in some danger of becoming a post-literate society.  
 

Been reading John Grisham and Harlan Coben for years. Bought and read every single book each has written and enjoyed every bit. Apart from that some popular science stuff by Michio Kaku, Brian Greene and other theoretical physicists. 

I'm a fan of Haruki Murakami books but I can't put my finger on why. Maybe it's his writing style that hooks me. It's pace is slow but hypnotic, it draws you in and you can't put down the book.
I've finished reading Kafka on the Shore and it's truly a masterpiece of a book.

I'm a Murakami fan too but I've heard from several sources that the English editions/translations of his books really don't do them justice.  Any native Japanese readers who can confirm or deny this?

I haven;t read any Murakami in a while, but tore thru a bunch some years ago.  It all started when a book store clerk recommended Wind-Up Bird Chronicle to me.  I put aside for a time, and then read it while i was on involuntary vacation.  I almost got through it in one sitting - i was slapping myself in the face to try to stay awake as i could not put this book down.  i did end up surrendering, and closed my eyes for a while after the allnighter.  

 

Mongo say "Murakami Good".  But so is Terry Pratchett....

I'm reading 1Q84 book 3 at the moment. Murakami has got me hooked. Never read him before, but now I will read them all. Completely addictive, in a strange and magical fashion.

 

 

My all time favorites must be Shantaram and Crime and Punishment. New and old, both timeless.

Edited by milarepa - 11/22/12 at 10:27am

Started reading that a few months back but stopped. Actually I enjoyed it immensely, just got lazy. Have to go back to it. I like the way he builds the tension there between the main protagonist and the prodigy author...haven't got far enough to find out if they ever...

Want to read his others as well.

I split my purchases between paper and ebooks. Depends on the book type primarily...would rather have a photography book in paper for example. A novel is fine as an ebook. I think perhaps the digital form causes the book to lose a bit of its uniqueness, but either way is great in the end.

I've never been much of a book reader - I usually read wikipedia & Allmusic for pleasure - but ever since I got a Kindle 2 weeks ago, I've been able to tear through books very quickly. Dunno if it's excitement, adjustable font size or another factor.

 

I also enjoy buying old books (mainly 70s) just for the sign of the times they carry, in both patina and the cover art. I was very fortunate this year and managed to grab a few Travis McGee novels.

 

I tend to enjoy mystery and very light fare. Not interested in preachy, self-important, much-hyped authors.

I love J.M. Auel and William Sarabande. Some kind of stone-age fantasy novels.