BWTK - What book are you currently reading

[Captain Starfish]

Thanks, Teej - but I know the old man has a copy which he doesn't want and I suspect he has soul music too. I'll just sneak them off his shelf next time I visit

[Barfridge]

The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams. The man was a genius, and a real role model for me. 52 was far far too young for him to die.

Next up is God's Callgirl by Carla Van Raay, which is apparently about a nun turned prostitute. Blame Cilla for this one, she dumped it in my lap.

[Captain Starfish]

SoD - Never heard of it, Barfy. Early or late in the career?

[Barfridge]

CS: late. The novel was unfinished, so the book is half a novel, some short stories, and then heaps of filler articles, transcripts of speeches and interviews.

[Daise]

Just started reading the extended version of The Stand by Stephen King.

Will give a review when I finish it in about 10 months

[TIMBO XX]

Walden - Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau lived at Walden for two years, two months, and two days, but Walden was written so that the stay appears to be a year, with expressed seasonal divisions. Thoreau did not intend to live as a hermit, for he received visitors and returned their visits. Instead, he hoped to isolate himself from society in order to gain a more objective understanding of it. Simplicity and self-reliance were Thoreau's other goals, and the whole project was inspired by Transcendentalist philosophy. As Thoreau made clear in the book, his cabin was not in wilderness but at the edge of town, not far from his family home. (this explanation is straight out of Wikipedia)
Written in America 1854 - still very relevant today.
It seems the same stuff keeps happening!

[Machast]

Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace
by Douglas Rushkoff

Wikipedia:

Cyberia is a book by Douglas Rushkoff, published in 1994. The book discusses many different ideas revolving around technology, drugs and subcultures. Rushkoff takes a Tom Wolfe Electric Kool Aid Acid Test style (or roman à clef), as he actively becomes a part of the people and culture that he is writing about. The books goes with Rushkoff as he discusses topics ranging from online culture, the concept of a global brain as put forth in Gaia theory, and Neoshamanism.

I read it back in 95 - the year after it was published. Being primarily about computer technology, early days of the internet, hacker subculture, electronic music & the rave/party drug scene of the early-mid 90s, it's somewhat outdated now. I'm not much of a reader by any means, but this one has stuck in my mind for the last 13 years itching for a re-read. I've just downloaded a PDF of the whole book, and getting stuck back into it.

This section fascinates me:

One startling example is the growing community of "Mole People,'' who
inhabit the forgotten tunnels of New York's subway system. The New York
City Transit Authority estimates that about five thousand people live on the
first level, but that accounts for only one-third of the tunnel system. Other
officials estimate that closer to twenty-five thousand people live in the entire
system, which goes much farther down than police or transit workers dare
trek, and consists of hundreds of miles of abandoned tunnels built in the
1890s. The ash-colored denizens of the subways elect their own mayors,
furnish their underground apartments, find electricity, and in some cases
install running water. Sounding more like an urban myth than a real
population, mole people claim that their children, born in the tunnels, have
never seen the light of day. Others speak of patrols, organized by mole
leaders to prevent their detection by making sure that outsiders who stray
into their campsites and villages never stray out again. Whether or not this
is an exaggeration, we do know that numerous television news crews who
have attempted to reach the lower tunnels were pelted with rocks and forced
to retreat.
"It's for security,'' explains J.C., who was asked by the mayor of his
Mole community to explain their philosophy of life to Jenny Toth, a New York
journalist who befriended the Mole People in 1990. "Society lives up in a
dome and locks all its doors so it's safe from the outside. We're locked out
down here. They ignore us. They've forgotten what it is to survive. They
value money, we value survival. We take care of each other.'' Alienation,
disorientation, and, most of all, necessity, form new bonds of community
cooperation not experienced above ground.

[Desmo]

A rebus novel.

[mekon]

I read this a while ago, good book. If you liked it you may also like her book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Cheers, I'll check it out. I thought I had a pretty good insight into the whole marketing and branding thing, was a good eye-opener. Currently reading Brett Easton Ellis's Lunar Park then onto Noam Chomsky Failed States.

[Tones]

Scar tissue, anthony keidis bio. Also just read ''who moved my cheese'' great short book on how to adapt to change and just move on.

[Pricey]

Just finished The Alchemist

I'm just waiting around for another book to find me.

[Weapon_X]

Walter Tevis - Mockingbird

just finished it! brilliant book.

[g0zer]

The dark tower series by stephen king... number 4 now, 3 to go

ahh its finally finished then.. i started reading this when it first came out. Then steven king had his accident and it was stuck at the 4th book for years.. will have to check out the finished story.

[Hostilemonk]

Its getting too expensive to read novels - tend to finish them in a day or two.
Finished this last week
The Host, Meyer; The Shakespeare Secret, Carrell; Pharoah, Manfredi; Currently waiting to start - Twighlight, Meyer.

None novels on the go; The great transformation, Armstrong; A species in denial, J. Griffith; Rumi's world, Schimmel;
Poetry - Australian Women poets.

Thankfully I can now read for pleasure and not for 'academia'. Got boxes of text books I gotta get rid of.

[BikerGirl]

Current - The Beijing Conspiracy, by Adrian d'Hage'

Just finished - The Malice Box, by Martin Langfield. Excellent read!
also - The Machiavelli Covenant, by Allan Folsom. Another excellent read.

Hey Hudson, perhaps we could start up our own library exchange thingy. We each bring a selection of books to the next race meet. Whatchya think?

[T-roy]

Matthew Reilly - Temple

its fucking wicked

[BikerGirl]

Matthew Reilly - Temple

its fucking wicked

Yep it sure is - make sure you read the rest of his books, as they're all awesome!

[Fonzy]

^^+1 for that!

Just finished Biggles of 266 - W.E Johns

now re reading the DaVinci Code and at the same time
"Sharp's Triumph" by bernard corwell

[Hostilemonk]

Current - The Beijing Conspiracy, by Adrian d'Hage'

Just finished - The Malice Box, by Martin Langfield. Excellent read!
also - The Machiavelli Covenant, by Allan Folsom. Another excellent read.

Hey Hudson, perhaps we could start up our own library exchange thingy. We each bring a selection of books to the next race meet. Whatchya think?

Hmmm could be a good idea - may bring a few next meet - may end up reading instead of riding!

Started Philosophical Ridings: Motorcycles and the Meaning of Life; Craig Bourne. (which as we all know is a meaningless title as life has no meaning!)

but I luvs me books - can i part wiv dem???

[~starfire~]

Recently finished Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on my Life, Love, and Leading Roles. Kathleen Turners memoirs, she is one tough lady!