Books Saturnfan Read 2012, Plus The Rest Of Us

[Key-Glyph]

I love that so many of you are reading books that spawned movies! I enjoy reading your comparisons of the different mediums.

CCFJR, I'm glad you liked it. The War of the Worlds is one of my favorite books of all time and I love it for so many reasons. I knew the spoiler ending going into it -- there were too many allusions to it in cartoons to ignore -- but the "ulla-ulla" angle was unexpected and brought me to tears.

I wish that movie adaptations would take pains to show the parallels Wells drew between the martians and the earthlings. I also wish they would make the battle a more equal fight in the beginning. In the book you're not sure how it's going to go at first; both sides manage to land a hit or two. But the movies invariably equip the aliens with impenetrable forcefields and blah blah blah.

Op.Wok, your list conjures up images of your reading in an armchair, smoking a pipe and listening to classical music, possibly eating fancy cheeses. So refined!

Update:

1. The Most Human Human: What Talking with Computers Teaches us About What it Means to be Human -- Brian Christian
2. I, Robot -- Isaac Asmiov
3. Seriously... I'm Kidding -- Ellen DeGeneres
4. The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind -- Julian Jaynes
5. Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China -- Jen Lin-Liu

Currently reading:
6. In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise -- George Prochnik

I've had Crichton's Sphere sitting in my pile for weeks but I keep getting distracted by nonfiction! And I'm off to such a slow start this year, too. Wah.

[o.pwuaioc]

Op.Wok, your list conjures up images of your reading in an armchair, smoking a pipe and listening to classical music, possibly eating fancy cheeses. So refined!

Well, I do have those maps, and I like me my Classical music. I did have a cigar and some whiskey while staying up all night talking politics with a friend the other night, but alas, no pipe!

[Key-Glyph]

Op.Wok, your list conjures up images of your reading in an armchair, smoking a pipe and listening to classical music, possibly eating fancy cheeses. So refined!

Well, I do have those maps, and I like me my Classical music. I did have a cigar and some whiskey while staying up all night talking politics with a friend the other night, but alas, no pipe!

Guess we all know what to get you for your birthday then!

[Michi]

1. Too Many Cooks - Rex Stout
2. The Doorbell Rang - Rex Stout
3. Fer-de-Lance - Rex Stout
4. The League of Frightened Men - Rex Stout
5. The Rubber Band - Rex Stout

You know, for someone who doesn't leave the house that much, Nero Wolf sure gets shot a lot

[Michi]

Did everybody stop reading or has no one just bothered to post for a while?

1. Too Many Cooks - Rex Stout
2. The Doorbell Rang - Rex Stout
3. Fer-de-Lance - Rex Stout
4. The League of Frightened Men - Rex Stout
5. The Rubber Band - Rex Stout
6. Champagne for One - Rex Stout

I love reading these books because sometimes they can be a real reflection of their era. The book was released in 1958 and has a major plot point revolving around unwed mothers. I just think it's really interesting to read about how those situations were viewed and handled then. The girls are viewed sympathetically, but it's still presented as a problem. But at the same time it highlights the hypocrisy too, when the father of one of the children talks about expecting his wife-to-be to remain a virgin until their wedding. Not that that's not still a predominate train of thought today, but it really does showcase a serious (and continued) double standard.

[Michi]

Where did everybody go? I guess I'll continue on alone.....

1. Too Many Cooks - Rex Stout
2. The Doorbell Rang - Rex Stout
3. Fer-de-Lance - Rex Stout
4. The League of Frightened Men - Rex Stout
5. The Rubber Band - Rex Stout
6. Champagne for One - Rex Stout
7. Mr. Monster - Dan Wells

Yes. I read something different *shock*. This is the sequel to I Am Not A Serial Killer, which I read last year. Like the first one it's a very quick read and a very fun book. Now I've got to pick up the third one.

[BoringSupreez]

1. Dilbert: A Treasury of Sunday Strips
2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
3. Sin City: The Hard Goodbye
4. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

I've been reading the Sin City books lately, since I watched the movie. So far, I'm surprised to see how closely the movie followed the graphic novels. The stories that were edited out are of course ignored, but The Hard Goodbye is replicated very closely. I'll be reading more of these books.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

I read Sphere when I was 11 years old. Freaked me out. Tell me, how could something like that be in the youth section at a middle school library?

[Key-Glyph]

You're not alone, Michi! I'm just lazy. And what's with Rex Stout? To my knowledge I've never heard of him. What's his deal? Single-spaced, 200 words or fewer. Go!

1. The Most Human Human: What Talking with Computers Teaches us About What it Means to be Human -- Brian Christian
2. I, Robot -- Isaac Asmiov
3. Seriously... I'm Kidding -- Ellen DeGeneres
4. The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind -- Julian Jaynes
5. Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China -- Jen Lin-Liu
6. In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise -- George Prochnik
7. The Journal of Best Practices: a memoir of marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and one man's quest to be a better husband -- David Finch
8. Fullmetal Alchemist vols. 5 & 6 -- Hiromu Arakawa
9. The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight -- Martha Ackmann
10. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food -- Jennifer 8. Lee

Journal of Best Practices and Mercury 13 were awesome and highly recommended.

I read Sphere when I was 11 years old. Freaked me out. Tell me, how could something like that be in the youth section at a middle school library?

No spoilers! Ahhh! *covers ears* I had to take the thing back because it was overdue. I'll get to it eventually. Someday. Maybe.

[Michi]

And what's with Rex Stout? To my knowledge I've never heard of him. What's his deal? Single-spaced, 200 words or fewer. Go!

Maybe you're more familiar with his creation. Rex Stout spent 40 years penning over 70 stories about the cases of Nero Wolfe. He's a very popular fictional mystery detective. A&E adapted several books for television. They're nice little mysteries. I find them very fun and easy to read... or at least they would be if I weren't so lazy myself