A well written teen book about hacker culture in the age of terrorism. I still think the assumptions of this form of libertarianism are overly paranoid, but it's rather exciting and inventive. And it's free from the author's website.
A novella from a Scottish crime writer. It's an excellent exploration of motivations, but too "hard-boiled" for me: the lengthy descriptions of violence (though not gory) made me indifferent to the story. YMMV
Thanks for that jazz essays tip - purchased for later.
Now reading:
I had been looking forward to this. Found it by accident last year, was intrigued by the amazon reviews, threw it on my Christmas list, where my family never got to it, then on my birthday list, where it also languished untouched. So I finally bought a kindle copy...and so far (100+ pages in) am pretty disappointed and considering discontinuing. It's ambitious (aiming at a kind of Borges/Eco thing) and the concept is at times interesting, but the constant grammatical errors are distracting (and have the result of making the ambitious style come off as trying too hard and failing), the dialogue is off-key to my ear, and the interesting passages alternate with stuff that's harder to wade through. My ten cents: this badly needed an editor.
@amc2, following up that Monk book you recommended led me to notice that the Thelonious Monk Reader is $2.99 on Kindle at the moment (not sure if it's a short-term offer, but
Digital List Price = $24.99).
@Germanprof. It's inexcusable that Faucher's tome isn't exactly 410 pages. I'm not surprised you've found that the orthographic symbols have been carelessly handled as well.
This was free for Kindle when I got it; it's $2.99 now. At least three quarters of the free things I download for Kindle turn out to be free because they are not worth paying for. This one is excellent. It's very British, with a lot of cultural references that the non-British reader might struggle with. It has a lot of dark humor, and is narrated by a very unreliable and non-chronological child narrator, which is used as a device for keeping the reader in the dark or even outright misinformed about various things as the narrator gradually pieces together dark parts of his family history that have been kept from him. It's very well written (albeit with some slightly overused devices) and has me totally hooked.
ETA: gets a bit gruesome at the end, and some of the misdirects get a bit over the top, but for a free book an unusual and enjoyable read.
Whilst on holiday I read this. It is part biography, part detailed annotated list of recordings. I knew that BS recorded many more tracks than were needed for an LP (35-45 minutes usually) but I hadn't realised the depth of this back history. The Darkness at the Edge of Town sessions lasted a couple of years. So far from those sessions we have had the original LP, The Promise, plus a number of tracks on Tracks and Essential BS Disc 3, equivalent to about 6 LPs, but there is still more in the vaults from that era, plus from other times as well. The book only covers upto the end of the first E Street Band era, so I assume he is still the same, so there may well be much more to release.
Biographical/historical book on Fibonacci (about whom I previously knew nothing beyond his sequence). Very readable and interesting for the non-mathematician, probably very basic for the mathematician, but the latter need not concern me.
This might belong in Amazon Deals, but today Amazon has a new feature called Kindle Match. It's sadly not as generous as their CD rip program, but it offers if available, the kindle version of any past book you've bought from $.99 - 2.99. I only had about 10 books available so far, all for $2.99 but in some cases these were used books bought cheaply. I was pleased to get a poet's new and selected for 2.99 this way. Poetry books and their publishers have been quite so slow to go to eBooks due to ongoing formatting issues.
Very surprised to find that, of the dozens of books I've bought from Amazon over the years, the number for which Kindle Match is available is: 1. (CS Lewis' The Great Divorce) Perhaps more will be added later...Admittedly my book purchases tend toward the academic/arcane.
Admittedly my book purchases tend toward the academic/arcane.
I find the same thing with Kindle...though it is gradually improving in terms of having academic titles (I just did my periodic check and found that many of Bakhtin's works are now on Kindle, meaning I may have to repurchase them just for the search capability.)
I only have three matches, none of which I particularly want now.
You know, if they would let me match books that I own and bought anywhere by scanning the barcode, and then give me some discount but less of a discount than for the ones bought at Amazon, I suspect they would get me to buy some things on Kindle that I already own. It could be win-win. Main problem would be how to stop folk standing in bookstores scanning barcodes to get the discounted Kindle version...
It also strikes me that a large portion of my Amazon physical book purchases, especially academic ones, are from the marketplace. Including marketplace purchases with a lesser discount would avoid the issue of verifying sales, but potentially give publishers income on a sale from which they originally got nothing (because I was buying a used copy).
From what I can tell in the UK most/nearly all of the match books are those out of copyright, which probably means most publishers have yet to sign up, at least here.
I had six, which is remarkable since I have bought hundreds of books via amazon over the years. Two of these I swear I did not buy; one was purchaed on Feb 23, 1999, the early days of Amazon. I would not pay even $3 for a Kindle version of any of the six they offered.
Finally getting back to reading on a regular basis. It's a great feeling to really rip through 2 or 3 books every month after years of just letting them pile up. For example, after buying this one from a favorite author of mine as soon as it came out it only took me 7 years to actually read it.
And I loved it. While not as compelling as American Gods for much of the book, the story was fantastic and got better as it moved along.
Also read my first Cory Doctorow thanks to the Humble Bundle ebook sale a couple months ago:
Really great, even if it is a YA title. I'll be picking up the sequel, and it also pushed me to start another ebook that's been sitting on my tablet:
Parking this little clicky slide-show here for future ref. Pretty much all look interesting, starting with the Ahmet Ertegun.
ETA, Why 'nerds' rather than fans? Are you only a fan if you listen to Lady Antebellum and Dave Matthews Band? Why are not those who sit on the couch watching football all day not 'Sports Nerds'? Also, get off my lawn you kids.
I reserved 'The Last Sultan' at the library...they don't have "Touch and Go,' unfortunately.
Comments
For the trip to the in-laws:
From the library,
AND
in ebook form,
Recently finished:
A well written teen book about hacker culture in the age of terrorism. I still think the assumptions of this form of libertarianism are overly paranoid, but it's rather exciting and inventive. And it's free from the author's website.
A novella from a Scottish crime writer. It's an excellent exploration of motivations, but too "hard-boiled" for me: the lengthy descriptions of violence (though not gory) made me indifferent to the story. YMMV
Numerous essays on important Jazz musicians. $2.49. Highly Recommended.
Now reading:
I had been looking forward to this. Found it by accident last year, was intrigued by the amazon reviews, threw it on my Christmas list, where my family never got to it, then on my birthday list, where it also languished untouched. So I finally bought a kindle copy...and so far (100+ pages in) am pretty disappointed and considering discontinuing. It's ambitious (aiming at a kind of Borges/Eco thing) and the concept is at times interesting, but the constant grammatical errors are distracting (and have the result of making the ambitious style come off as trying too hard and failing), the dialogue is off-key to my ear, and the interesting passages alternate with stuff that's harder to wade through. My ten cents: this badly needed an editor.
Digital List Price = $24.99).
Two books on the go at the moment!
I really enjoy reading Neil Stephenson. Maybe it's a guilty pleasure? It just hooks me in better than most things.
and am half way through
- which is I think the first science fiction novel I have read that references the music of Toumani Diabete...
This was free for Kindle when I got it; it's $2.99 now. At least three quarters of the free things I download for Kindle turn out to be free because they are not worth paying for. This one is excellent. It's very British, with a lot of cultural references that the non-British reader might struggle with. It has a lot of dark humor, and is narrated by a very unreliable and non-chronological child narrator, which is used as a device for keeping the reader in the dark or even outright misinformed about various things as the narrator gradually pieces together dark parts of his family history that have been kept from him. It's very well written (albeit with some slightly overused devices) and has me totally hooked.
ETA: gets a bit gruesome at the end, and some of the misdirects get a bit over the top, but for a free book an unusual and enjoyable read.
Also reading, at a necessarily slower tempo:
Whilst on holiday I read this. It is part biography, part detailed annotated list of recordings. I knew that BS recorded many more tracks than were needed for an LP (35-45 minutes usually) but I hadn't realised the depth of this back history. The Darkness at the Edge of Town sessions lasted a couple of years. So far from those sessions we have had the original LP, The Promise, plus a number of tracks on Tracks and Essential BS Disc 3, equivalent to about 6 LPs, but there is still more in the vaults from that era, plus from other times as well. The book only covers upto the end of the first E Street Band era, so I assume he is still the same, so there may well be much more to release.
The follow up to Wolfs Hall, all about the court of Henry the Eighth, good historic fiction.
Infinite Jest is on hold while I chew on this to up my Javascript game.
Just finished Sledge and going to start soon:
I like most of his poetry, some am interested in trying his fiction.
Biographical/historical book on Fibonacci (about whom I previously knew nothing beyond his sequence). Very readable and interesting for the non-mathematician, probably very basic for the mathematician, but the latter need not concern me.
I only have three matches, none of which I particularly want now.
Craig
Meanwhile, the schemer in me is already thinking about what books I could buy as Xmas gifts, then get for myself on Kindle.
And I loved it. While not as compelling as American Gods for much of the book, the story was fantastic and got better as it moved along.
Also read my first Cory Doctorow thanks to the Humble Bundle ebook sale a couple months ago:
Really great, even if it is a YA title. I'll be picking up the sequel, and it also pushed me to start another ebook that's been sitting on my tablet:
Parking this little clicky slide-show here for future ref. Pretty much all look interesting, starting with the Ahmet Ertegun.
ETA, Why 'nerds' rather than fans? Are you only a fan if you listen to Lady Antebellum and Dave Matthews Band? Why are not those who sit on the couch watching football all day not 'Sports Nerds'? Also, get off my lawn you kids.
I reserved 'The Last Sultan' at the library...they don't have "Touch and Go,' unfortunately.