Monday, December 31, 2012

Intentions for early 2013

Books already in the house which I intend to read or finish reading in the first part of 2013:
  • Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent (history, about 3/4 done)
  • Sacre Blue by Christopher Moore (novel, about 1/4 done)
  • ReamDe by Neal Stephenson (novel, about 10% done)
  • Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman (novel, not started)
  • Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday (graphic novel, about 1/2 done)
  • Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone by Ian McDonald
  • I Am A Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter (science, philosophy, about 20% done)
  • Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon (novel, not started)
  • 1861: The Civil War Reawakening by Adam Goodheart (history, not started)
  • Mathematics - The Loss of Certainty by Morris Klein (science, not started)
  • Hounded by Kevin Hearne (novel)
Books not yet purchased but intended for this year:
  • The Last Lion, Volume 3: William Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm by William Manchester and Paul Reid (biography)
  • The Twelve by Justin Cronin (novel, sequel to The Passage)
  • The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde (novel, Thursday Next series)
  • The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks (novel, Culture series)
Re-reads tentatively planned:
  • Anathem by Neal Stephenson

3 comments:

scizen9 said...

Great idea, Steve. I will be following this with pleasure. If you are looking for suggestions, I'd be curious of your opinion on the following: "John Dies at the End" by David Wong, the Game of Thrones series by G. R. R. Martin, "Strange Angel" by G. Pendle, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by R. Rhodes and "The Sleepwalkers" by Arthur Koestler. Heavy on science with a dose of fantasy and horror.

Steve Simmons said...

"John Dies" is wonderful, the film should be released in a few weeks. I look forward to it.

Game of Thrones is also tremendous. I have all in first-edition hardcovers, mostly signed. Write faster, George.

Rhodes; book is excellent. He did a sequel of sorts, "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb." It's not quite the home run the first one was, but still pretty interesting.

The other two are unknown to me, but it sounds like you're recommending them.

scizen9 said...

Strange Angel is a fun read about the wacky guy who basically founded the Jet Propulsion Lab. He was a very unique guy who was friends with L. Ron Hubbard, Aleister Crowley and Ray Bradbury. Sleepwalkers is science history written by an accomplished novelist. He has some axes to grind, but gives a unique perspective on Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler. All the science historians complained about his book, not because of any accuracy problems, but because his book was actually widely read (at the time) compared to most science history books. Two of my favorite non-fiction reads.