So, indeed, what are you reading? This wall asks the question at the LA Times Festival of Books, and I enjoy looking at what people have written, humourous remarks and all. (Click it for quite large version with readable scribbles.)
Oh, me? What am I reading right now? Actually, I’m re-reading Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Excellent. Loving the witches even more this time around. Just in case we find dark matter candidates at the LHC some time soon, I’m preparing myself for what we might need to do… So how about your current reading?
-cvj
“American Prometheus” – the triumph and tragedy of J Robert Oppenheim.
One incident belongs in the ‘you couldn’t make it up’ category – JRO’s attempt to murder his Cambridge PhD supervisor, Blackett, with an apple laced with cyanide – the Snow White/Turing resonances would strain one’s credulity if this were a work of fiction.
Mark Thomas – The People’s Manifesto.
Just finished Game Change. A rush to the last 436th page. Fascinating to listen in on conference calls and watch the implosions up close and in slow-mo. Also just read Journey Through the Night, the first memoir about the Holocaust originally published as fiction, recommended by the wonderful, late Arnold Heidsieck of USC.
Particularly enjoying The Cat in the Hat Comes back with my four year old son – reading it with him after first coming across it more then 30 years ago is a treat. This is joined by The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham – a nice way to end the day. cmj+
Two worth sharing-
“The Wrong Way Home” by an Aussie travel writer named Peter Moore, who travels overland from London to Sydney. Just got over the border from Iran to Pakistan!
Rounding this off with a re-read of “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by Orwell- I was at home this weekend and found a very old copy that belonged to a grandfather I’ve never met. He underlined passages in books, so half the enjoyment is learning a little about his personality along the way.
So Matt….have you decided on the basis of the book if Astrophysics easy?
-cvj
Ah, yes, good ol’ Miss Havisham….
-cvj
I wrote on that wall! I had a hard time finding a little spot where I scribbled: “Madame Secretary” by Madeleine Albright.
Tyson – I am a HUGE Dickens fan. My favorite is Bleak House.
Clifford, excellent choice with the Pullman trilogy! That’s some good stuff. I’m reading Great Expectations (part of my Year of Dickens). Oddly enough, just this week came across two references to a main character in it (Miss Havisham, name-dropped in an LA Times review of a Courtney Love concert and in the 1950 movie Sunset Boulevard).
In the 30 seconds that I get before I fall asleep I am currently reading the essays in this month’s Piecework – a magazine that focuses on historical achievements in various crafts.
I’m currently in the process of reading “Astrophysics is easy” by Mike Inglis. Also I’m on the 3rd volume of the Zohar.
I am reading “The Pursuit of Other Interests”. It is a novel by Jim Kokoris. Very well written and humorous. Pick it up. You won’t be disappointed.
e.
In between things, but just finished re-reading The Blind Assassin (Margaret Atwood, stunning as usual) and looking to pick up something by Connie Willis, who was recommended to me by a friend.
David Grann, “The Lost City of Z”
Adam Frank’s The Constant Fire
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