# Off Topic > The Water Cooler >  >  Books: Favorites and Current reads

## ChemistB

Hi All,

Just wondering what people's favorite books are and what they are currently reading.   I always try be reading one fiction and one nonfiction book.  Currently I'm reading:
*Fiction:* The Chronicles of Thomas Covenent Book 1 (Lord Foul's Bane) by Steven Donaldson.  This is a reread as I now have the 7th and 8th books in the series and I read the first over 20 years ago.
*NonFiction:*A Passion For Mathematics: Numbers, Puzzles, Religion, Reality by Clifford Pickover

*Some Favorites:* The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Steven Donaldson
ShadowMarch by Tad Williams
Ultimate Universe by Brian Greene

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## teylyn

The best non-fiction book that grabbed my attention as a linguist, because Chomsky gets a beating: "Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle" by Daniel Everett
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-The.../dp/0375425020

(also interesting WRT the missionary (who converts whom) angle)

As to fiction, I fluctuate between Phillippa Gregory and Lee Child .... Currently re-reading Ken Follet's "Pillars of the Earth" (this time in German translation, so I get all the technical terms for building (naves, buttresses, etc) without having to whip out the dictionary).

My all-time favourite list is topped by Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". 

I'm always good for a Whodunnit or a can't-put-down thriller. Any suggestions?

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## dominicb

My current read is Meltdown by Ben Elton - it was a Christmas present, so I haven't got very far with that yet.  My last read was Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol which I was very disappointed with - I quite enjoyed his other books, despite the slating they received, in the past they've always been holiday reads (perhaps that's the trouble :Smilie: ).

My last non-fiction read was Six Legged Soldiers by Jeffrey A Lockwood which is all about the rise of biological warfare, starting from the early Romans thousands of years ago launching hornets' nests over castle walls (or buttresses, even :Wink:  (Teylyn - where's that dictionary!)

My fave author is Ken McClure. He writes medical fiction thrillers, usually about events that haven't happened, based on events that have.  He usually takes a recent-ish medical situation and spins it out into the worst case possible scenario, and it is usually scary just how bad things could get with governments making decisions about things they know little about.  He usually teaches you enough through the book to understand entirely what is going on the whole time.  Thoroughly recommended.

DominicB

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## pike

Currently reading 
Fiction Alan Dean Foster "Cachalot" who I didnt realise is one of the biggest sellers of sci-fiction world wide. Well worth a look.
Non-Fiction "The Audacity of hope", Steve Starlings "Fishing with soft plastics" and "Attacking the king" by John Walker.

I was also disappointed with "The Lost Symbol". Browns first novel "Angles and Demons" was the pick of the bunch
"Pillars of the Earth" will always be a classic read and one of my all time favorites
Love my books and they are one of the few thing that will never be completely replaced by electonic mediums

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## darkyam

Not reading anything currently, which is a rarity.  I'm into the classics more than modern books and just finished the complete works of Shakespeare a couple weeks ago.  My favorite book has to be the Count of Monte Cristo.  

Teylyn, if you're ever looking to improve your English vocabulary, pick up anything by Dickens.  Where else are you going to find phrases like "procure a post of profitable pecuniary emolument"?  :Smilie:

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## josephwright

My favorite author is Sidney Sheldon. I like his books
The Stars Shine Down,
Master of the Game, 
Rage of Angels.

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## ChemistB

Teyleyn, I haven't read "Atlas Shrugged" yet but loved "Fountainhead."  

Another favorite non-fiction was "The Genome War: How Craig Venter Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World" by James Shreeve.  Scary look at how politics affect scientific research.  Another favorite Fiction series was "The Sword of Truth" Series (first book "Wizards First Rule") by Terry Goodkind.  In the series (and in interviews) he heavily influenced by Anne Rand's philosophies and objectivism.

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## Ron Coderre

Oh no! You've got me started on books! 
I gravitate to historical fiction and books about human nature. I've read all of these books several times.

All-time favorite book: Shogun (James Clavell)
Runner up: Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry)

*Favorite Fiction:*
James Clavell's Asian series: 
Shogun, 
Tai-Pan, 
Gai-Jin, 
King Rat, 
Noble House, 
Whirlwind

Larry McMurtry:
Lonesome Dove 

J.R.R. Tolkein books:
The Hobbit
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

Colleen McCullough's Roman series:
The First Man in Rome
The Grass Crown
Fortune's Favorites
Caesar's Women
Caesar
The October Horse

Anna Lee Waldo:
Sacajawea

Ken Follett:
The Pillars of the Earth 

Nelson Demille:
The Charm School
The Gold Coast

*Favorite Non-Fiction:*
Jared Diamond books:
Guns, Germs and Steel
The Third Chimpanzee

Stephen Pinker books:
How the Mind Works
The Blank Slate

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## teylyn

Ron, to that one I'd like to add

Stephen Pinker - The Language Instinct
(and after reading all these books by the Chomsky admirer, you gotta do the Everret in my post #2!)

ChemistB, The Fountainhead sets the scene for Atlas Shrugged. If you liked that one, you'll love Atlas!

Darkyam, Dickens gives me the creeps, sorry. Overall not too fond of the Victorians ...

I just learned the other day that "The Pillars of the Earth" flopped when it was first published in Britain. They then brought it out in Germany and it was such a big success that it was re-marketed in Britain and US, and the rest is history ...

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## Ron Coderre

> Ron, to that one I'd like to add
> Stephen Pinker - The Language Instinct
> (and after reading all these books by the Chomsky admirer, you gotta do the Everret in my post #2!)



Hi, teylyn

The Language Instinct is already on my radar.
(I like Pinker's style, generally, although The Stuff of Thought was a 
snooze-fest. He struggled too much to try to get his message across.)
I'll check out the Everret book.

Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)...while very well written and having a compelling story,
is around 300 pages too long and definitely dated (coal 
locomotives, everybody smokes). She goes on political rants (much like Victor Hugo in Les 
Miserable).  I always recommend it, but with those comments. 

If you haven't read it, Lonesome Dove is a wonderful story that appeals to 
both men and women. It's a touching (and sometimes tragic) farewell to the 
American old west. It remains the only book I ever read where I felt like 
the main characters (retired Texas Rangers and young woman) were my 
close friends and I was actually right there with them on their quest to bring 
cattle to Montana from Texas.  Not all survive their trek.  Nobody I know 
makes it through the whole book without fighting back tears (a battle I lost, 
by the way...on the train to Boston!). 

What's interesting about Sacajawea (the native girl who actually LED Lewis 
and Clark across North America) is that it was written by a woman. 
Consequently, Anna Lee Waldo tells the story from a woman's perspective 
concentrating on the journey's difficulties (dwindling supplies, in-fighting) and 
practicalities (cooking, food gathering, substitute diapers for the infant, etc.)
There are none of the typical stories about drunken fights, gorey hunting trips, 
or womanizing. Appropriately, Lewis and Clark are minor characters, since 
they really just financed the trip and tagged along for the credit.

Ok...enough of me gushing over books (...for now).

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## daddylonglegs

Ron, it's interesting what you say about Sacajawea being written from a woman's perspective (sorry I haven't read it....) but I note that you include the well-known Tolkien novels. The standard criticism is that Tolkien couldn't (or didn't) create many interesting female characters.

I read those books when I was young and loved them but if I re-read them today I certainly think they are a little one-dimensional, all plot and no character......

For myself I have far too many books that I keep meaning to start......I like John Le Carre and Iain Banks for fiction (but not Iain M Banks) and I've been reading (on and off) a book called "Understanding Probability" by Henk Tijms, it's excellent but a little short on laughs.....

I like good quality sports books too, although they're rather thin on the ground. "The Damned United" (a fictionalised account of Brian Clough's brief tenure at Leeds United in the 70s) is fantastic.....

....my favorite at the moment though is a biography of Clash frontman Joe Strummer, "Redemption Song" by Chris Salewicz.....you know when they say it's "unputdownable"....still, you probably need to be a fan of the music to appreciate it.

Oh, and I got that "VBA for Dummies" by Walkenback out of the Library a few months back, didn't understand it, though......

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## Ron Coderre

> Ron, it's interesting what you say about Sacajawea being written from a woman's perspective (sorry I haven't read it....) but I note that you include the well-known Tolkien novels. The standard criticism is that Tolkien couldn't (or didn't) create many interesting female characters.
> 
> I read those books when I was young and loved them but if I re-read them today I certainly think they are a little one-dimensional, all plot and no character......



I completely agree about the lack of strong female representation. That being
said, the Tolkien books have a very compelling story that, in many cases, 
overshadows some of the other shortcomings. My guess is that he had no
talent for writing about women and their interaction with men.  Colleen
McCullough had the same problem, which she eventually overcame. You
can actually witness her transformation in her Roman series. In the first books,
the man/woman interactions were contrived and uncomfortable to read. 
Beginning with her Caesar's Women book, she figured out how to add an 
element of passion that was obviously lacking in her previous books.

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## romperstomper

> Iain Banks for fiction (but not Iain M Banks)



Ditto! The Wasp Factory is one of my favourites.
I'm about to start rereading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series as the next volume is now out (the author's death notwithstanding)
For non-fiction, I'm pretty much stuck on programming and Excel books at the moment, sadly...  :Smilie:  (though much of my code is fictional)

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## teylyn

> .  (though much of my code is fictional)



LOL, why don't you write a novel (or maybe a short story) in VBA?  :Smilie:

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## romperstomper

Good idea!  :Smilie: 




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## teylyn

Joseph Heller in an endless loop or Orr flies. Great.  :Smilie: 

Can you do the bit with the guts? I don't want to get into any more detail ....

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## teylyn

Or another of my all-time-favourites:

Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse 5"

=IF(OR(BillyPilgrim=NOW(),BillyPilgrim=YEAR(1945)),"So it goes","Invalid choice")

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## Domski

My current reads are:

Dial M For Merde - Stephen Clarke
Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett
Hippo Eats Dwarf - Alex Boese
Thanks For Nothing - Jack Dee

Favourites would be a long list and would take a bit more thought than I'm capable of at the moment.

Dom

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## daddylonglegs

> I'm about to start rereading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series as the next volume is now out (the author's death notwithstanding)



I don't know those, 'Stomper, should I give them a go?

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## ChemistB

I've been meaning to read the Wheel of Time series.  I have heard some mixed reviews on it, mostly on the later books (e.g. that Jordan know when to end).  I have heard from people who have read both that Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is at least as good as Jordan's Wheel of Time.

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## romperstomper

I like both series. WoT probably just shades it for me, though I'd agree there were a couple of the last ones that weren't as good as the rest.
@daddylonglegs: if you remind me, I'll bring the first one to our next drinking session and you can see how you like it?  :Smilie:

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## DonkeyOte

I don't read much in the way of non-fiction so my favourite reads over the past few years would be (in no particular order):

the five people you meet in heaven - Mitch Albom
Jennifer Government - Max Barry
Generation X - Douglas Coupland
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
I, Lucifer - Andrew Duncan
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
Mr Phillips - John Lancaster
cloud atlas - David Mitchell
the minotaur takes a cigarette break - Steven Sherrill
twelve - nick mcdonell
The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde
e. - Matt Beaumont


"All time great reads" for me are the likes of 1984, Brave New World, the dice man etc....

In terms of the holiday stuff I like a good spy thriller or equivalent thereof, ie: Robert Harris (Fatherland still his best IMO), Martin Cruz-Smith (Gorky Park still his best IMO), Alan Furst, John Twelve-Hawks etc... funny Ron mentioned Nelson DeMille's Charm School - I remember reading that a while back and enjoying it - not my own copy though unfortunately.

I guess my favourite authors overall would be (in no particular order):

Jasper Fforde, Dave Eggers, Douglas Coupland, Kazuo Ishiguro, David Mitchell

obviously some of the above have only written a couple/few novels to date...

in my earlier days I was also a sucker for SciFi and loved Asimov, Heinlein etc... alas all c/o my father's library so I have few myself

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## martindwilson

> I've been meaning to read the Wheel of Time series. I have heard some mixed reviews on it, mostly on the later books (e.g. that Jordan know when to end). I have heard from people who have read both that Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is at least as good as Jordan's Wheel of Time.



i am reading book 12 at the moment of WOT. however since R.Jordan died this is actually written with the notes he left. it was meant to be the last in the series but his notes were so extensive its been split into 3 i.e vols 12,13,14!,
i have also read all of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series a bit childish in places
then i read A lot of fiction/fantasy
lets see!
every thing by:-  alan dean foster, isacc asimov, e doc smith, stephen donaldson (check out the gap series),David Gemmell ,joe abercrombie(newish started around 2006),david eddings,terry brookes, tad williams,piers anthony...............
I'd run our of fingertips typing this list!
i usually have 2 books on the go at anyone time have read 3 a week (not some of the larger tomes tho !)

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## ChemistB

Oh, on my all time favorites list
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy "Trilogy"

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## Domski

> Oh, on my all time favorites list
> Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy "Trilogy"



Definitely!  :Smilie:

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## ChemistB

> stephen donaldson (check out the gap series)



As I said, the Thomas Covenent Series by him is one of my favorites so will definitely check out his gap series.  Thanks! One side perk of reading Donaldson is that he always expands my vocabulary.  I need to keep a dictionary handy when reading his stuff. :Smilie:

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## Paul

Hmm.  I've read two complete books since 1993 when I graduated high school.  One by Al Franken and one by Stephen Colbert.  Books don't do anything for me.  I especially hate most current authors who put out multiple "books" per year (or month) since it's obvious they're just doing it for the money.  And I hate authors who make their chapters less than 3 pages long.  And authors who write books.

Step away from your books.. slowly..

 :Smilie:

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## martindwilson

paul
rd mor bkx

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## Richard Schollar

I recently (well, last couple of years) read Julian May's Saga of the Exiles (sorta-kinda Sci-Fi/Fantasy combined) and they were literally the best books I've ever read.

I'm currently finishing CJ Sansom's Shardlake series (set in Tudor England) which are essentially detective novels.  They're very good and I do like the setting.

Planning on reading Wolf Hall next (the latest Man Booker prize winner).

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## martindwilson

> Julian May's Saga



been there done that! she started of fine but i felt it lost the plot a bit!
i mentioned David gemmel before(sadly demised at an early age) all of his books altho' gritty leave you satisfied at the end!
interestingly most of the regulars on this forum also read books! sadly a dying trend.

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## Paul

It's a dying trend because there's so much more exciting things you can do in the hours or days that it takes to read a book.  Watching ferrets dancing on YouTube, some "Farmville" (?) game on Facebook where you can run a farm (?!?), watching Family Guy 24/7, chasing ambulances, stealing a car in Grand Theft Auto and jumping it off a ramp into a building.. just tons of stuff to do.

 :Smilie:

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## jonebele

Currently I am reading The God Delusion. I like to read this book. This book really stretch you mind. It is wonderful and i think every one to read this book. I learn something new every time to read this book. I read all the Dawkins books but i think God Delusion is really fantastic book.

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## martindwilson

> It's a dying trend because there's so much more exciting things you can do



 there's still time to read tho! ; have people lost the use of their imagination?
and why i'm on it ,"wii fit", is that a joke being played on us or what?

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## ChemistB

Update, currently reading "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman (Fiction)
and "The Strangest Man: the hidden life of Paul Dirac" by Graham Farmelo (Non fiction)

Both excellent reads.  The Princess Bride movie (great source of quotable quotes) is remarkably true to the book.   Paul Dirac, Nobel Prize winner for his contributions to quantum physics is a little less exciting but if you like biographies and physics, it's a must read.   :Smilie:

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## jabryantiii

non-Fiction : "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie..
When taken both out of and in context it is a great source for dealing with people and conversations. 

Fiction : "Dirty Job" by Christopher Moore
Pretty much all of his work is a fun read. The titles of his books alone are enough to spark interest. 

"Island of the Sequined Love Nun"
"Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal"
"Practical Demonkeeping"
"The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove"

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## ChemistB

Currently reading Brian Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos; Space, Time and the Texture of Reality", non-fiction explaining everything from relativity to quantum mechanics for the layman.    Some excellent but very weird stuff.  I recommend this book to anyone with a scientific mind or just people who want to understand reality (or think they already do).

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## davegugg

I've recently moved more into the Non-Fiction realm, but their are a number of great fiction books I've read.

Michael Crichton was a great science-fiction writer, I especially recommend Jurassic Park and Prey for the programmer minded folks.
Many of Dean Koontz's books are very exciting.  He writes mostly supernatural/paranormal thrillers.
I also enjoy war novels:
The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins
Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy

For Non-Fiction:
Mere Christianity by CS Lewis
A Father Who Keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn
Theology of the Body Explained by Christopher West

I'm currently reading Dialogue Concerning Heresies by Sir Thomas More

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## Andrew-R

I'm currently reading Terry Pratchett's "Unseen Academicals", but I'm not finding much pleasure in it.

Catch-22 is in my top 3 fiction books of all time, kudos to Romperstomper for the coded version, although you may want to add...




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George Orwell's 1984 is another favourite and in recent years I've become a real fan of Vonnegut - I think that "Cat's cradle" is the pick of his work.

Most of the non-fiction I read is pretty esoteric, even though I'm an atheist I've got a lot of interest in the history of religion, especially the Roman Catholic church.  I would, however, highly recommend Richard Elliot Friedman's "Who wrote the bible?" - a scholarly, but extremely readable, discussion of the political and social situation in Israel that led to the first written version of the Pentateuch.

However, by a country mile, Simon Singh's "Fermat's last theorem" has to be my favourite non-fiction work, although every time I read it I wish I'd put in a bit more effort at school when it came to understanding pure mathematics.

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## teylyn

On Sunday I stumbled across a copy of a John Irving book, and I nearly burst into tears, so, I'd add to the list:

John Irving
A Prayer for Owen Meany
The World According to Garp
The Ciderhouse Rules

Some of his later work I found harder to digest.

Non-fiction: I'm currently reading "Land of two halves" by Jon Bennet (Brit) who lived and worked in NZ for 16 years and then took a hitch-hiking tour around the country.  Kiwis apparently don't find it very funny (they get a lot of bad rep), but for the immigrant from the developed world it sums up the essence of the NZ lifestyle and the things Europeans find peculiar and/or struggle with. 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-Two-Hal.../dp/074326357X

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## martindwilson

my wife just bought me a Kindle. excellent thing just like reading from   paper. got 30 books on it already! fits nicely into an inside jacket pocket.

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## thorin

Some great authors and books already mentioned (many of which I've read and enjoyed), must admit though every time Terry Pratchett brings out a new discworld novel, I end up reading the whole set through, that's a lot of reading now !!

Am now looking forward to saving my pennies now and also buying a Kindle so I can start creating my own virtual library (not enough space on the old bookshelves anymore!!)..

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## Andrew-R

> must admit though every time Terry Pratchett brings out a new discworld novel, I end up reading the whole set through, that's a lot of reading now !!



Blimey, you're not kidding.  It's been a long time since I went back and re-read the early ones mind, maybe I'll dig them out.  I think that "Guards!  Guards!" has been the earliest one I've re-read recently.

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## royUK

I re-read Going Postal before watching the TV version

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## Andrew-R

_Going Postal_ is the only one of the Discworld series that my wife likes.  I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  Personally I think that _Feet of Clay_ is the high point of the series.

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## Mordred

Reading keeps the mind stimulated better than any TV show, movie, or app on the internet.  No doot aboot it!  My all time favorite series of books is The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.  Right from the first line 



> The Man in Black fled across the Desert, and the Gunslinger followed



 I was hooked on this epic journey.

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## Mordred

> explaining everything from relativity to quantum mechanics for the layman.



 :EEK!: 

Is that really possible :Confused: ?

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## Andrew-R

Sure.

Person A:  Will you time me doing a lap of this playing field?
Person B: Sure
...
Person A: How long did I take?
Person B: I don't know, our frames of reference are different.
Person A: Well how fast did I run?
Person B: It's impossible to say because I know exactly where you are.

Congratulations, you now have a degree in theoretical physics.

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## martindwilson

re The Dark Tower  i somehow expected the end there tho! as an aside just finished "under the dome"

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## Mordred

> The Dark Tower i somehow expected the end there tho



As I think most readers did!  I am one of the rare fans that thinks the ending was superb.  I didn't expect it to end quite like it did though.

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## Mordred

How was Under the Dome by the way?

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## pike

good read is "Great rivals in history" - it a newish release here

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## martindwilson

hmm strange! and slightly weird! well expected really lol.not the best ive read it suposed to be upthere with the stand but i dont think so. lee childs jack reacher gets a mention tho.

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## martindwilson

Great rivals in history first published in the uk 1986 yep would have probably made it there by now lol

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## romperstomper

I thought it was quite good until the end. Not a patch on the Stand though. Or the Bachman books.

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## shg

> lee childs jack reacher



Or, as my sister in law calls him _Jack the Gripper_. Great summer reads.

After throughly enjoying Follett's _Pillars of the Earth_ years ago, I'm looking forward to starting _World Without End_ this evening.

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## ChemistB

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by ChemistB  
> explaining everything from relativity to quantum mechanics for the layman. 
> 
> Is that really possible?



Okay, maybe I exaggerated a bit.    :Wink:    He does use footnotes copiously in which he states "if you wish to know more about this then read this article or book" so if we encompass those references, we're closer.  

So far, some of my favorite parts are "the double slit experiment", probability waves and quantum entanglement but I'm only on chapter 5.  It always blows my mind trying to grasp how photons shot through the double slit will create an interference pattern on a photographic plate (like a wave) unless they are obverved (i.e. measured at a point between the slits and the plate) at which point they act as particles and create simple bands on the plate behind the slits.

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## pike

World Without End  is ok but ,hard to beat pillars of the earth - the poms are a randy lot - the thrid twin is a fav of mine from ken

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## blane245

I am reading the Bible, "The Dark Tower", by Steven King, "The Last Templar", by ?, and "The Elegant Universe", by ? ..... I like to read ....

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