What I'm Reading
One nice thing about the depths of winter is that you’re quite comfortable staying in, hermiting with a good book. I’ve been reading quite a lot recently - mostly books I’ve bought. Blyss left me £50 worth (!) of book vouchers as a thank-you present when she left at the end of 2003, and so far I’ve gotten round to spending only £25 of them.
Huh, I've just realised it could be a bit tricky writing even brief reviews of these books. They've served well as a means of passing time, but I'm embarrassed to say I probably haven't paid them the attention they deserve as I read them.
- American Gods, Neil Gaiman. I'm still only halfway through this one, but it's entertaining enough. I have yet to grasp the book's central metaphor, if there is one.
- The Other Wind, Ursula Le Guin. A fifth Earthsea story. I'm going to have to reread it, since I was coming down with a cold as I read it the other week.
- The Mystery Of Capital, Hernando De Soto. I'm not sure about the thesis of this one, but it's certainly offering me the occasional little bit of new insight into the economies of the world.
- Zorba The Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis. I started this but (I'm ashamed to say) I got pretty bored. I'll give it another go, though, since Hadyn swears it's fantastic.
- The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie. I've read it before, and absolutely loved it. Second time through is harder, but that could just be my general mood, I suppose.
- Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter. An amazing book. Every time I open it up I see new depths to it. Each time a chapter is reread another layer of meaning becomes clear.
- The Collected Stories Of..., Vernor Vinge. Great science fiction. There's a story called The Blabber in here which ties into the universe invented in Vinge's two major novels, A Fire Upon The Deep and A Deepness In The Sky, both of which I think are fantastic.
- Modern Compiler Implementation In ML, Andrew W. Appel. Readable, concise, practical - it's an excellent resource, summarising current best practice in compiler construction. Since I'm a bit of a fan of the subject, I'd even call it an exciting read for me. Lots of concepts I'd picked up piecemeal over the last ten years have come together more clearly after having read this book (and some of the papers it references).
Once I'm finished with American Gods, I'll probably make a start on Speed of Dark, by Elisabeth Moon, and The Golden Notebook and The Summer Before The Dark, by Doris Lessing. I've still to finish my second read-through of The Satanic Verses, too.</li>