What are you reading these days? (printed matter only)

arjunmenon · 2009-10-22T09:15:37+00:00

I know we've discussed what everybody is listening etc etc, but i'd like a sneak peek into what everyone is reading these days. This week,I'm on : 1. A lion's legacy - RJ Patterson (very nice book about lion conservation in northern kenya) 2. A player's guide to chords & harmony - Jim Aikin 3. Guitar Player (Al DiMeola on the cover) 4. Creative recording Vol.1 Effects & processors (Can't remember the author's name and slightly outdated book, but still a good read because it details various effects).

AlanRatcliffe

Squonk wrote Kind of a One Track Mind, but who needs any other tracks? ?

I'm rather fond of 24 tracks meself. ? 18 minimum...

Jack-Flash-Jr

Alan Ratcliffe wrote My recent reading is embarrassingly one sided:
Basic Pickup Winding - Jason Lollar
The Mixing Engineers Handbook - Bobby Owsinski
The Art Of Recording - William Moylan

I'm also reading (or rather, wading through) a few theses:
The Acoustics And Psychoacoustics of the Guitar - Howard Wright
Computational Mechanics of the Classical Guitar - Rolf Bader

I have a book of sci-fi short stories on my nightstand, but am not getting anywhere with it - kinda sad for someone who used to read a fiction book a day.

"Basic Pickup Winding" sounds both brilliant and horrifyingly tedious. It is about scoring lasses in bars by means of woodwinds correct? Plus it might make for a good band name.

AlanRatcliffe

Lol! That's not actually the full title, which is:

For the Guitar Enthusiast, Basic Pickup Winding and Complete Guide to Making Your Own Pickup Winder

Jason Lollar is one of the best and most knowledgeable pickup winders around, but he truly sucks at coming up with book titles. Not a bad read either - certainly far more enjoyable than Computational Mechanics of the Classical Guitar.

WantzChas

I should be reading textbooks, not going to bore you with the names, but instead I'm reading all my old magazines again. Men's Health, National Geographic, Finansies en Tegniek and of course Guitar Techniques.

[deleted]

Computational Mechanics of the Classical Guitar.

Sounds very interesting. Kind of like the link Arjun gave putting musical tuning into mathematical equations.

Manfred-Klose

I really want to get me this book:
http://www.mixingwithyourmind.com/

its book for audio mixing and recording, one of the best out there.

Riaan-Combrink

Explorerlover wrote Finishing off the Diablo Archive and then probably going to read the Sin Wars trilogy again....Anyone know of other Fantasy based books that are good.? Swords, Dragons, Demons etc etc

Stephen Donaldson's The Chronichles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series blew my mind back at varsity. Remember I couldn't put it down. Good fantasy - six volumes. Some new volumes came out recently (which I bought but am yet to read).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Thomas_Covenant,_the_Unbeliever

Gearhead

Competition car suspension - Allan Staniforth. I put it lower on my 2do list than building guitars but I'd like to see if I can design and build a supercar for a grand. Next up would be Competition car aerodynamics of the same series :?

JoEllis

Rather one-sided on my part as well:

The Mixing Engineer's Handbook
Sound On Sound magazine (whenever I'm at a Paper Weight I'll buy a number and read them from thoroughly for weeks).

I must admit that I do a helluva lot of reading on the internet and not so much printed stuff and I don't read much fiction. I have an incredible thirst for knowledge on the subjects that interest me but it's much easier for me to find that I need on the internet.

singemonkey

Interesting what people have been going through. Vicky, that Bryson on Shakespeare was fascinating. Especially about the American couple that spent years in, literally, a salt mine wading through Elizabethan court records looking for any reference to him.

Reading several different things at different paces:

Betrand Russell - Autobiography volume I
Phillip Pullman - The Tiger in the Well (part of the "Sally Lockhart" series)
Charles Darwin - On The Origin Of Species By Natural Selection (trying to finish it in this anniversary year. It's very readable, but also very detailed. Just fascinating his dedication to anticipating his critics through experimentation before he even published the book. A role-model scientist)

I've just realised that these are either written by Victorians or, in the case of the Pullman book, are set in Victorian times. I read an incredible history called "The Victorians" this year, that not only helped me understand that time, but also an enormous amount about things going on now that were set in motion back then.

[deleted]

singemonkey wrote Betrand Russell
Charles Darwin

What amazing guys! Bertrand must have been just about the most interesting person in the history of the world. Oh, and, after that passage about Pythogoreans hankering after beans in the History of Western Philosophy, probably the funniest philosopher of the last two hundred years. ?

singemonkey

Apparently a real dick to his wives though.

arjunmenon

I'm on Gangs by Tony Thompson at the moment. Very very interesting stuff about organised crime in the UK.
And the guy is a bit of a modern day Hunter S Thompson.

aja

The elegant universe; Brian Greene (all about string theory, space-time, relativity theory and the concepts of simultaneity)
Infinity; Brian Clegg (mathematical research on the concept of infinity)
Schrödinger's Kittens; John Gribbin (about the duality nature of light, both particle and wave forms, and other things like space-time)
Super Crunchers; Ian Ayres (predicting things using stats, such as stock markets and weather etc...)
How the Mind works; Steven Pinker (really annoying author. About memory and cognitive functions as well as a sense of consciousness)
The trial and death of Socrates (quite an interesting read)

As well as a whole bunch of other technical books concerning maths and engineering topics. Exams have put my reading on hold though...

Keira-WitherKay

mmm i'm reading jeanette winterson .."written on the body"

AlanRatcliffe

aja wrote The elegant universe; Brian Greene (all about string theory, space-time, relativity theory and the concepts of simultaneity)

What's that like? I need a good book on string theory - I'm still stuck in quantum mechanics and chaos theory and badly need to update my knowledge.

aja

Alan Ratcliffe wrote
aja wrote The elegant universe; Brian Greene (all about string theory, space-time, relativity theory and the concepts of simultaneity)
What's that like? I need a good book on string theory - I'm still stuck in quantum mechanics and chaos theory and badly need to update my knowledge.

I can say with certainty that it is an excellent book. It feels a bit overly summarized in some areas, but that's understandable. I also recommended it to my uncle who is enjoying it too. It even goes further and mentions other theories which makes it a very interesting read.

EDIT: lots more here: (videos corresponding to the book and more)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/

singemonkey

aja wrote The elegant universe; Brian Greene (all about string theory, space-time, relativity theory and the concepts of simultaneity)
Infinity; Brian Clegg (mathematical research on the concept of infinity)
Schrödinger's Kittens; John Gribbin (about the duality nature of light, both particle and wave forms, and other things like space-time)
Super Crunchers; Ian Ayres (predicting things using stats, such as stock markets and weather etc...)
How the Mind works; Steven Pinker (really annoying author. About memory and cognitive functions as well as a sense of consciousness)
The trial and death of Socrates (quite an interesting read)

As well as a whole bunch of other technical books concerning maths and engineering topics. Exams have put my reading on hold though...

That's a nice desert island collection right there ? I'd like to read a few of those - espec. Super Crunchers and The Trial and Death of Socrates.

Ray

Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition - Ed Regis. Again

Jack-Flash-Jr

Um. "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War". Again. It's science people.

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