Read any good books lately? Rate them here

[Pizza]

Transparency of probabilities is very important. I can't tell you how many times people start with fairly high probabilities when that's what's being called into question.

[Alex K]

Ok I finally got all the way trough Pinker's The Sense of Style, not because it took much effort, but because of other time constraints.



I would rate it very highly for the fact alone that it is a book about grammar and style which is entertaining. Now, I don't think it is the be-all and end-all of style guides (and Pinker certainly doesn't claim that), but I'd say it has definitely helped me see some things more clearly. Since I'm writing two books at the moment (albeit not in English), I catch myself thinking WWPD very, very frequently. He starts with a bunch of examples from newspapers and other literature which are simply witty and insightful in their own right, such that one even learns something about completely unrelated subjects! As I've said in the "books I can't shut up about" thread or somewhere, Pinker advocates a style of nonfic prose which he calls classic style. This is right up my alley of popular science writing, and since I share his taste there, the book speaks to me. Maybe one can gain insights for writing fiction as well, but the emphasis is definitely on non-fiction and science writing.

After outlining what his idea of classic style is, he goes into some more formal grammar, scaring the hell out of me with sentence diagrams. Fortunately, the discussion about sentence structure was comprehensible without the fracking diagrams. And that says I (*), who makes a living working with diagrams. Anyhew. In the end, there's some entertaining (to me at least) commentary on word choices, with some of which I fiercely disagree - for example, he says that one should give up on insisting that Frankenstein is the scientist, not the monster. Nevers! And "presently" totes means "soon", not ever "now".

If I wanted to summarize his attitude towards writing, I'd say he takes a very pragmatic approach in which stylistic rules are undogmatic and instead always purpose-driven for maximum readability, clarity and minimal ambiguity, while his classic style attempts to have the reader see eye-to-eye with the author. And isn't that nice.

(*) lame inside joke for those who have read the book

[Clueless Morgan]

I'm reading The Bonobo and the Atheist right now and confess a large reason I bought this book was the freakin' adorable bonobo on the cover...



The book is set up in every-other-chapter type style. One chapter on animal behavior, one on atheism/religion.
I'd read this for the chapters about animal behavior; I haven't found his chapters about atheism or religion that insightful. He mostly seems to be a "don't rock the boat" combined with "Why you gotta be so mean?" kind of atheist so his non-animal behavior chapters get a little whiny to me, especially the earlier chapters. I've learned quite a bit about Bonobo behavior and social dynamics, though. If it were entirely about that I'd be enjoying it more.

[Ravenshire]

In honour of the passing of the mighty Sir Terry Pratchett, I finally downloaded the Colour of Magic, and absolutely fell in love. Oh my, what a read. I'm fairly inexperienced with fantasy fiction so don't get all the jokes and references, but I still devoured it, and as soon as I get my filthy little paws on some cash I'm downloading the shit outta the rest of his work

Try your local library as well. They often have Terry Pratchett in the e-format section. I use the libraries around Denver extensively for ebooks.

[Ravenshire]

Ok, I finished "The Sandalwood Tree." It turned out slightly better than I thought it would so 5.5/10 instead of my original 5/10. Going back to the Mercy Thompson books for now.

[Clueless Morgan]

Started Dan Dennett's Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking last night.

EDIT:
I also realized when I finished The Bonobo and the Atheist why his chapters on atheism bothered me so much. The author (the atheist, not the bonobo) is Danish, so maybe it's a cultural thing, but he doesn't seem to be aware of the damage that indoctrination does to people, the harm it causes and the way religion can reek havoc on someone's life. He seems to take the approach of "Why bother arguing about something that isn't real?" without ever considering the question of "does this non-existent thing do harm to people?"

That's why his chapters discussing atheism and religion irked me so much. I agree with him in the sense that arguing about gods or religions is silly, just like arguing about the existence of unicorns is silly, but people aren't told they'll be tortured for all eternity in a lake of fire if they don't believe in unicorns.

Anyway, thought I'd share my realization.

[Crossless2.0]

I checked out Johannes Fried's The Middle Ages over a week ago, but I've had so much going on with work and life in general that I've done no more than read the first two chapters. I hope to get a breather this weekend and do some serious reading for a welcome change. I get a little cranky if I don't get regular quiet time to read.

[TristanTeller]

I finished The Great Gatsby a little while ago. Must say it was pretty overrated, although still pretty decent.

[Clueless Morgan]

I finished The Great Gatsby a little while ago. Must say it was pretty overrated, although still pretty decent.

I love the Great Gatsby. 

[Ravenshire]

I've read Gatsby a couple times and I would agree that it's a bit overrated, in this sense: It's a very good book by a great American author and not a great book by a great American author. Seriously, how many books written in the same decade are still on bookstore shelves today?

I hate being unemployed. You'd think the extra time would give me more time to read. Exactly the opposite. I wind up doing all kinds of other crap instead.