Topic: Books?

[Schlotzky5]

Is this the place to discuss books? I feel like that goes right along with movies and music.

More to the point, has anyone read any of Stephen Hawking's books? He's got an older book called A Brief History of the Universe. Then he did A Briefer History of the Universe. Is one better than the other?

I've been reading a lot of food politics books and they get depressing. I want something to fuck with my mind hole.

[scottws]

Food politics?  Nevermind, I don't want to know.

I've always thought about reading a Stephen Hawking book, but I just feel like it will be too far over my head and I won't really be able to get into it.  I'm a pretty crappy reader in the sense all I really read are thrillers like the stuff from Tom Clancy and Dan Brown.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Is this the place to discuss books? I feel like that goes right along with movies and music.

More to the point, has anyone read any of Stephen Hawking's books? He's got an older book called A Brief History of the Universe. Then he did A Briefer History of the Universe. Is one better than the other?

I've been reading a lot of food politics books and they get depressing. I want something to fuck with my mind hole.

I've read several of Hawking's books, including both A Brief History of the Universe and A Briefer History of the Universe.  Both are good reads but A Briefer History is more updated and a little bit of a better read in my opinion, especially for people who have never read any of his books.  There are also a few nice illustrated versions of his books like On The Shoulders of Giants and The Universe In A Nutshell.  Other good non-fiction cosmology books to consider are Carl Sagan's Cosmos and Charles Seife's Alpha and Omega.

I read a lot of non-fiction, especially cosmology, theoretical physics, and mythology books.  When I'm not reading non-fiction, I'm usually reading sci-fi.  Right now I'm reading William Gibson's Count Zero which is the second book in the cyberpunk Sprawl Trilogy which is good so far.  The first book in the series, Neuromancer is a great read as well.  I finished up Frank Herbert's Dune series a few months ago and I loved it.  If you're looking for some hard sci-fi, Arthur C Clarke is the way to go.  If you don't want sci-fi, any of Chuck Palahniuk's books are great to read, like Fight Club or Rant.

[Schlotzky5]

I'll start with a Briefer History and let you know how it goes. It shouldnt be too hard of a read for someone who has had a few college level physics classes right?

I have trouble reading fiction. I just feel like time would be better spent watching a movie. I read some Arthur C. Clarke a while ago and I briefly got into Philip K. Dick more recently(whats not to love about time travel drugs?). I enjoy non-fiction more because I'm actually learning stuff.

The books I call food politics books are non fiction books about how fucked up everything we eat is. Theyre depressing because the message is, "unless you live on a farm and grow your own food, you are going to get every degenerative disease there is by 45"

[Cobra951]

I never lived on a farm; I hate dealing with dirt, worms and bugs; I've eaten every form of junk food there is; my favorite drink for years was Coke; I love burgers and canned chili; I turn 56 later this month; and I am as healthy as your average 35-year-old.

Just saying . . .

[Pugnate]

I really think we need a separate board for books like we do for movies.