What are you reading?

Wait-a-minute. You read actual paper books? That is great, real books present the material in such a different way. I went full digital books many years ago out of necessity. I assumed (wrongly) that all you crazy kids are digital too. However, when it comes to music most here are all digital, right? This is hard for me to wrap my head around because I see how the consumption of music and books are very similar. I miss actual books, but with a Kindle (e-ink) or Audible it is so convenient to read digitally. Hmmm.

 

I'm a digital music guy (sorry) and read ebooks, but I opt for actual, physical books when I can. Part of it is nostalgia, part of it is effectively infinite battery life, but it's mostly because I'm addicted to the satisfaction that comes with interacting with a physical medium. There are times when I like closing books and slowly building settings in my mind— this can easily be achieved by locking and unlocking an ereader or phone, but it's hardly as satisfying.

Music is different, sight and touch aren't engaged so much as listening is, whereas the former two senses are more involved in reading. While I do appreciate CDs, lingering over album art and inserts, for the most part I'm set-and-forget when it comes to them. I suppose the process need be more involved with proper vinyl (and I'd honestly love to build a good analogue rig some day), but the price is very much prohibitive— not so the case with books, where I often pick up enough thicc paperbacks in used book stores to keep me occupied for a long time for less than 500 pesos (under USD10).

Granted used books often smell of death just as much as they do that awesome "old book smell", but it does fade... eventually.

There's also the sentimental aspect of it, which is a big draw for me. I have at least one paperback with me wherever I go, they've been with me through some shit (thankfully not literal). Getting back to them after a few years is like coming across an old best friend, telling the same stories you both went through before but you notice new things every now and again so it never becomes boring.

 

There came a time in my life where downsizing was absolutely necessary, and continuing to have thousands (literally) of books appended to my life was just no longer tenable. I had already been kindleized (tm) by then, and I pulled out 100 or so books that were of value to me (mostly sentimental, but some otherwise) and gave the rest away to a bookmobile drive. Don't really miss them. They are just a bitch to move of course.

The number of books that I want to read a second time is pretty limited anyway, and those I have since purchased as ebooks. Have kindle, have dap, will travel I guess. I actually prefer the experience of carrying around a kindle to carrying around a backpack w/ three or four books in it. Notwithstanding my advanced years, I have no sentimental attachment to paper books as a format. My whole library on a device that weighs less than a lb? I am all in.

 

Crikey, just went through the past page here and it's my Sci Fi reading list through the years (Stephenson- can't write endings, but the middle bits are great, Banks, Reynolds, Hamilton). Anyone who likes these authors would be well served by Neil Asher's books as well- also in the dark sci-fi, tending slightly towards space opera, vein.

I tried the Wheel of Time stuff, but just glancing through the first book convinced me that I'd never be able to get through it. The writing was just so slow.

On a different note though, I've just finished reading this: Designing, Building, and Testing Your Own Speaker System by David Weems. It is very dated, but charmingly so (contains pages of BASIC code that you can type into your DOS computer!) and still useful for a complete beginner- it explained crossovers at a level than I could finally understand.

And it was the paper version. There's something very different about informational books when it comes to paper vs ebook. Part of it is the ability to quickly flip through to refer to different pages, and part of it (I have read) is that the brain can remember information better when it's presented contextually, in terms of position. i.e. "that bit about crossovers was about a third of the way through, and had some good diagrams on the upper left page." Dead trees provide this kind of contextual information, ebooks can't.

 

A couple of the paper books I kept are reference books (motorcycle chassis design) for the very reasons you outline. Weird and divergent hobbies I guess.

 

I ordered Trigger Warning, one of the more recent short story collections from Neil Gaiman. If I like it I'll order some of his older stuff. There is so much good fiction out there I'm still reading stuff from the 80s and 90s anyway.

Have not made the switch to an e-reader yet, but have considered it. Have an app on my tablet that works well, but I still like the traditional format (especially for technical references as mentioned above). I usually only read one fiction book at a time so I don't find myself lugging books around much. I mostly buy them used, and pass them on when I am done - another reason I prefer them to e-books. I just can't get into the whatever as a service model where you rent but never really own. I prefer to have physical copies of my music as well.

I forgot to mention, for the SK fans here, also recommend checking out Castle Rock the series. So many allusions to so much of his work wrapped up into an interesting package. Season one is done, and a second season has been ordered. A bit slow getting going, but definitely worth checking out (probably should have posted this in the TV show thread).

 

So many good SF/Fantasy recommendations the past few pages, thanks for those. There's enough SK I haven't read yet to keep me occupied for years.

Moby Dick up next for me (hadn't read it before) followed by this:



I can do ebook for technical/programming content, but gotta have the dead trees in my hands for everything else.

 

Anathem was a wild read.

Now reading Andy Weir's Artemis. This is some really bad writing. I've been tempted to put it down several times but I don't like not finishing a book once I've started. I think I remember not being too impressed with the writing of The Martian but this is a different level of bad.

 

Currently reading Grokking Bitcoin (I read pretty much every bitcoin book I can get my hands on).

 

Saw this on a coworker's desk, piqued my curiosity, so I checked it out from the library:



Could not finish it. Haven't read any of Meltzer's fiction/thriller books, but his repetitive style and attempt at building up the plot "tension" was a huge turn off. Also seems like it's based upon liberal interpretation of bits & pieces of correspondence as opposed to documented & vetted research.

 

I just finished "The Dragon's Path" by Daniel Abraham, the same author of the Expanse series (the digital copy I got has an added eBook of "Leviathan Wakes"). The world building is top notch and he has plot points from angles you wouldn't necessarily expect to enjoy, such as banking & finance, but for me it worked beautifully. Rich believable complex characters interwoven with an intricately thought out world, Highly recommended.

 

Currently reading

The Magus by John Fowles

Very wild book. Highly recommend. Reminds me of Donna Tartt

 

I would strongly recommend this book for anyone crazy about Brahms his times and music, for all others it would be torture.

The only reason I mention it here is that the chapter "The pianos of Johannes Brahms" by Bozarth and Brady reminded me about SBAF, because it reads almost like @purr1n or @Torq reviews of DACs..
It would be no surprise that grand pianos from different makers sounded different, but how similar terms are being used, and that both listeners and performers had clear preferences. For example:

1. ""Errard pianos were distinctive for their range of tonal shadings or colors,which changed the dynamic level, and for unusual clarity of their tone, particularly in rapid passages"
   This is the language that could be used by @Torq to describe Yggdrasil )
2. Vienesse" pianos by Srtryker and Bessendorfer required light touch offered a quick repetition, with fast attack and fast decay of notes.
3. As a teenager Brahms discovered that a square piano by Baumgarten and Heinz was the most musical, his termwas "had a songul tone"

And why am I telling you all of this? Because I retired last Monday and have nothing better to do.

 

Congrats on retiring!

 

Stepping up my game

 

Wow, that brings back memories. My circle of nerdy friends read Book of the New Sun decades ago, and we were just talking about it again the other month. There are many very tripped-out ideas in it.

I seem to recall that Gene Wolfe said that he didn't invent any of the obscure sounding names in the book- they are simply existant words that have fallen out of common usage.

 

I grew up as an only child in the 70's and so I became an avid reader. I loved Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie and a variety of other authors. Then I discovered Stephen King.

Anyway, decades letter I had lost the love of reading books. I buy one every two years and struggle to stay at it. I am a slave to my phone. We had a blackout recently (Hurricane Dorian) and I walked over to my library. I decided to re-read the Dark Tower series.

Originally I made it as far as book 3 and then lost interest. A couple of years ago I was in a used book store and bought a couple of more in the series meaning to get to it some day. During Hurricane Dorian I started The Gunslinger and finished it today. On my table now is the Drawing of the Three.

Still can't go more than 60 to 90 minutes without checking my damn phone!

For some reason (noob?), I can't attach a pic.