Libraries
I’m rediscovering the joy of visiting the library. I’m not talking about academic libraries (I visit them a lot) but public libraries, and borrowing fiction books. I used to be a frequent visitor when I first moved to Oxford, but at some point I lost my library card, and couldn’t be bothered to get a new one. Mr. Bsag had one, and he used to sometimes get me books, but somehow that wasn’t quite the same. Now I’ve joined the Birmingham library system, and I wander around like a kid in a sweetshop and emerge with an armful of books.
I do a lot of my reading during my commute, so about half of the books I get have to paperback and fairly small so that I don’t injure my back hefting them around every day (lugging a PowerBook is bad enough). These commuting books also need to be reasonably ‘light’ in content as wellâdense plots are hard to follow when you can only read small chunks at a time and you get distracted. Also, if it’s too gripping, you tend to miss your stop.
Books that I read at home (usually in bed) can be any size and any subject matter. I try to pick books that are as diverse as possible to add a bit of variety to the experience. I look on it like creating a menu with different tastes and textures. I went though a stage as an adolescent when I read nothing but science fiction and fantasy, but thankfully I’m over that now.
Here’s what’s on my book pile at the moment:
- Microserfs by Douglas Coupland (commuting, current). I’ve been meaning to read this for ages, but now that I’ve actually got around to it, I find that it’s amusingly dated (computing-related novels must be the fastest-ageing fiction around). The words ‘information superhighway’ (remember that?) are bandied around a lot, and Apple employs as many people as Microsoft. Still, I’m enjoying it enormously for the geek nostalgia factor. It also has train-friendly short chapters.
- Carnevale by M. R. Lovric (home, current). I’ve got a bit of a thing about 18th Century Venice at the moment, so this immediately appealed. It’s a wonderful, sensuous book, full of evocative descriptions of food, rich fabrics and the city itself. Entertaining, educational (Casanova plays a major role, so very educational), and rather like savouring a couple of squares of 80% cocoa solids dark chocolate at bed time.
- The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (home, pending). The blurb intrigued me. It’s a science fiction book (OK, I know what I said…) about SETI, religion and human nature. The Times described it as “One of the year’s most powerful and disturbing books.”
- The Fencing Master by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (commuting, pending). A thriller set in 19th Century Spain with enigmatic women and fencing. You can’t go wrong with that.
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Let me just put in a plug for The Sparrow. It's the book that got my non-scifi-reading wife into scifi. And it's darned good, besides.----- Let me second that -- one of my all-time favorites.
by SB @ 22/11/2004 11:12 pm • Permalink •
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i'm an ardent agreer-with of sturgeon's law re science fiction vs "literature" -- "90% of EVERYTHING is crap." good modern scifi: kim stanley robinson's Mars trilogy; cj cherryh's space novels (i find her fantasy stuff too slow)
Smollett's expedition of humphrey clinker is a must.
by Saltation @ 23/11/2004 1:11 am • Permalink •
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oh, and compulsory for all mac-heads: "Apple" by Jim Carlton -- the only decently accurate + readable book re how apple destroyed mac.
by Saltation @ 23/11/2004 1:11 am • Permalink •
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We are a library family--have been for many years. My wife is the President of our Library Board.
I find books from time to time by simply wandering down an aisle, slowly, with my eyes closed, moving my arm up & down the racks, and then grabbing a book randomly. I may not finish it, but it opens my mind to topics and genres I never would have tried.
I enjoy your site very much (though some of the technical stuff, and some of the British references are beyond me.) Still it's been like a book I've picked at random and found interesting.
by Tony Iovino @ 23/11/2004 5:12 am • Permalink •
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I'm such an ardent fan of my local library that the staff there liken me to someone let out with the credit card shopping for the day!
I tend to get through about 9-11 books every 3 weeks time permitting. I only get to read at lunchtime or at home after the kids (and the missus) have gone to bed.
I too have moved on from the purely sci-fi novel; but only because of the library - it has encouraged me to branch out in ways I never thought feasiable and keep costs to a minimum - I've only bought a few books in the last year or so - its just so easy to get them at the library.
Here's a few I've currently got:
Helen Fielding - Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination - absolutley silly and escapist & not exactly taxing
[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345406087/ref=pdbxgytext2cp/026-9028395-2971607" ]Greg Keyes - A Calculus of Angels[/url] - an excellent read and book 2 of a good alternative history series
Mac OS X for Dummies - need to pick it up for work as a long term PC user
Sams Teach Yourself Perl in 24 Hours - likewise
[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/1840460598/customer-reviews/026-9028395-2971607" ]Introducing psychology<a > - an excellent intro
Yesterday's Britain: The Illustrated Story of How We Lived, Worked and Played in This Century
GCSE Spanish Revise Study Guide[/url]</a>
by Dave @ 23/11/2004 10:12 am • Permalink •
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It's a late addition, but I'd also recommend The Sparrow, as well as it's follow-up (Sequel is a bit of a misnomer) Children of God. The cover of Sparrow put me off for ages, as did the blurb, but I finally got to a point where it was the only one I kept going back to, so I got it, and it's well worth the effort.
In similar(ish) veins I'd also recommend Earth by David Brin, and Mother of Storms by John Barnes. Most of the stuff by Peter Hamilton is good, although his "Nights Dawn" trilogy are fairly weighty. Fallen Dragon or Misspent youth are worth a go though.
In lighter vein, I always find myself coming back to anything by Mike Ripley or Christopher Brookmyre. Dick Francis' stuff is formulaic after a while, but still easy bus-reading.
I think that'll do for starters!
by Lyle @ 23/11/2004 11:12 am • Permalink •
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If you do happen to be into psychology (Number One daughter's studying it, so I have a 'vested' interest) Dr Robert Hare's "Without conscience" is a great layman's guide to spotting psychos - and is definitely not all blood and gore stuff, either.
by Mr.D. @ 24/11/2004 1:11 pm • Permalink •
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Thanks for all the suggestionsâthat should keep me busy for a while! I'm particularly looking forward to starting The Sparrow now that it's got such rave reviews.
by bsag @ 24/11/2004 7:11 pm • Permalink •
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