American Express-Savings
Buzz Out Loud Lounge: BOL Book Club - suggestions
BOL Book Club - suggestions
by cyndymcc - 12/1/06 8:52 AMI highly recommend GEEK LOVE by Katherine Dunn.
Not just because the title is a riot (as well as an homage to all the fab BOL fans), but because it's a great book.
Here's the editor's blurb:
"A wild, often horrifying, novel about freaks, geeks and other aberrancies of the human condition who travel together (a whole family of them) as a circus."
I recommend...
by gomer43 - 12/1/06 9:29 AM In reply to: BOL Book Club - suggestions by cyndymccWell, a lot of books. Just a couple though for now.
Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer - Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine. It's actually a great story about the clash between Microsoft and Apple in the beginning of the PC days. Was the basis for the film "The Pirates of Silicon Valley".
My Tiny Life - Julian Dibble. More of an esoteric title, but an enjoyable foray into the world of the first MOO, a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), Object-Oriented. This world was (and still is) LambdaMOO, and spawned a phenomenon of user interaction and sociability not seen like it online before. Lambda is now a dying world, and though many citizens of Lambda panned this book, I felt it representative of how I experienced this world.
Ooh! Ooh! Mistah Kottah! Mistah Kottah!
by abe-tolentino - 12/1/06 9:29 AM In reply to: BOL Book Club - suggestions by cyndymccI propose Tom's NaNoWriMo book. Providing he hit the 50K word mark.
Sadly, I crapped out shy of 44K words. Dang life got int the way...
he did finish: http://www.subbrilliant.com/blog/
by shawnlin - 12/1/06 2:33 PM In reply to: Ooh! Ooh! Mistah Kottah! Mistah Kottah! by abe-tolentinohe did finish: http://www.subbrilliant.com/blog/
neat ideas in the book too!
(NT) The Cyberiad - Stanislaw Lem
by Jasmes - 12/1/06 2:12 PM In reply to: BOL Book Club - suggestions by cyndymccMy geek holy trinity
by gogomama - 12/1/06 2:31 PM In reply to: BOL Book Club - suggestions by cyndymccSnow Crash - Neil Stephenson
Neuromancer - William Gibson
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
I know these aren't exactly obscure titles, but for those who haven't read them or heard of them they're in the "must read" list. I'm usually amused to visit the abode of another computer science student, because you can always find at least one of these 3 books on their book shelf.
I actually like Cryptonomicon better than Snow Crash (because it has a Randy), but I still think Snow Crash is the more necessary read. Actually all Stephenson is good.
Guess I must be a geek. I have all 3.
by Owyn - 12/1/06 8:09 PM In reply to: My geek holy trinity by gogomamaIn fact I have HHG in book, audio and video.
I also enjoy almost anything by Spider Robinson or Robert Asprin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_Robinson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Asprin
Next up on my reading queue are the books for Canada Reads.
http://www.cbc.ca/canadareads/books.html
Great book
by cnetter001 - 12/1/06 2:36 PM In reply to: BOL Book Club - suggestions by cyndymccHard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami:
http://www.amazon.com/Hardboiled-Wonderland-World-Haruki-Murakami/dp/0099448785/sr=8-2/qid=1165011882/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-3949067-0124917?ie=UTF8&s=books
If you like sci-fi, fantasy, or literature...this is the book.
book recommendations
by bonsaitree - 12/1/06 5:27 PM In reply to: Great book by cnetter001The first book should be something "approachable" by the bulk of the BOL audience and, ideally, relevant to many of the topics raised on BOL.
It's important to establish the necessary level of community feedback as a control mechanism.
I recommend "Free Culture" by Laurence Lessig (http://www.free-culture.cc/get-it/).
I agree....approachable
by dwaynej16 - 12/1/06 6:13 PM In reply to: book recommendations by bonsaitreeWe do need a book that is approachable.
My geek book suggestion for the bol crowd:
"Micorserfs" by Douglas Coupland
"The Long Tail"
by Dr Juice phD - 12/2/06 11:37 AM In reply to: I agree....approachable by dwaynej16I just finished Chris Anderson's "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More" and it's fascinating. I think the Buzz audience would dig it. Now I'm reading Siva Vaidhyanathan's "The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash Between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System," which compares p2p technology to the Anarchist political movements throughout history. It's a little dense and a little dry, but it's pretty interesting. Bonus: I got it for 35 *cents* on Amazon. In the fiction department Dan Brown's "Deception Point" or Michael Crichton's "Prey" which has, I believe, been optioned for a film.
For the higher-level geeks I'd recommend Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon." The paperback clocks in at 1,130 pages (not counting the Appendix describing an encryption system based on Solitaire) but it's a great book about World War II gold, cryptography, UNIX, and other geeky-goodness.
Finally, for the super-mega-ultra geeks. Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory" about the radical and controversial String Theory and M Theory in physics. It's rather complex but thoroughly fascinating read, also available as a Nova special on DVD.
Thanks. Just reserved this at my library.
by Owyn - 12/1/06 7:53 PM In reply to: Great book by cnetter001They have 14 of his books, so if I like it I will have lots more to read.
Best idea...
by Wilf_Brim - 12/3/06 7:24 PM In reply to: BOL Book Club - suggestions by cyndymccI was thinking about this, and there is an obvious choice. I can't remember if Corey Doctorow has been on BOL yet (think he was), if not, he should be. His novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, is
a) a great book and
b) available as a free download in eBook format, or you can buy the physical product. This way everybody can read it and participate.
(link to book)
http://craphound.com/?p=147
(Amazon page to buy)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076530953X/downandoutint-20
Snowcrash
by snackdog - 12/4/06 9:43 AM In reply to: Best idea... by Wilf_BrimI think this might be good, especially as Second Life gains popularity.
Doctorow eBook
by cyndymcc - 1/4/07 8:09 AM In reply to: Best idea... by Wilf_BrimGreat idea
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
