>> I just can't imagine programming things morning, noon and night. It's 
>> just my default state of being. ;-)
> 
> "...can't imagine *not* programming..."?

GAAAAAH! >_<

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Orchid XP v8 wrote:

> Worrying fact: This almost compiles, actually...

Actually, scrub that. Worrying fact: I knew it would compile without 
trying it. :-.

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Gilles Tran wrote:

>> The difficulty is finding books which are actually enjoyable to read. 
>> Don't get me wrong, I do *enjoy* reading good fiction. The difficulty is 
>> finding it.
> 
> So difficult that you couldn't find a single fiction book to read in the 
> past 3 years? Is that even possible?
> Do you mean that you've already exausted a couple of millenia of world 
> literature and can't find anything left to read, or that you have literary 
> tastes so bizarre (Haskell-themed BDSM?) that books that suit you just don't 
> exist?

I very much doubt that I've read all the good fiction already! ;-) 
There's probably an ample supply of suitable stuff out there. As I say, 
the problem is locating it. Obviously I don't have time to try reading 
every book ever written on the off-chance that it might be good, so I 
need a more efficient strategy.

Actually, come to think of it, if I *did* want to read something, our 
house already contains several suitable books. I just don't have the 
several months spare that it would take to read any of them...

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Gail Shaw wrote:

> To give you an idea, if I'm not swamped with deadlines, I usually get
> through 2 or 3 books a week. Those are 500-800 page books.
> For a week holiday I'll often pack 6 to 8 books, and finish all of them

Yeah, I've met people like that.

[Indeed, where I work there's a guy who every day has a different 
brick-thick tome in his hand. Usually with lots of dragons and fairies 
on the cover. Weird stuff...]

My question to you would be: how the hell do you read that fast?

I'm just trying to recall the last fiction book I read... You know I 
think it might even have been the Duncton Chronicles... No, wait. I 
remember what the last fiction I read was. And I am *not* admitting to 
it in public! ;-) But anyway, getting back to my original point... when 
I read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it took about 8 months to 
finish it. And that's back when I was at school and had absurd amounts 
of free time available for reading.

>> The difficulty is finding books which are actually enjoyable to read.
>> Don't get me wrong, I do *enjoy* reading good fiction. The difficulty is
>> finding it.
> 
> If you're going to a library, ask a librarian. They're more likely than
> anyone to know a good book in a specific genre that the library has.

In my experience, librarians tend not to be very happy to see you. But I 
suppose it could be worth a go...

> What kind of fiction do you enjoy?

Erm... no idea.

> Besides, if you're just borrowing the books, what do you lose by taking
> something you're not sure of? Perhaps an hour of your time.

True. I wonder where the hell my library card is? Actually, I wonder if 
it's still valid after all these years. I think the last time I used it 
was in 1997 or so...

>>> You might even make a couple acquaintances at the library
>> I've heard this gem before. However, given that talking is strictly
>> prohibited, I fail to comprehend how this one works...
> 
> It's not prohibited in any library I've been in. Making loud noises is
> prohibited, but a soft conversation with another patron on the merits of a
> particular book isn't a problem.

Mmm, OK. I generally find the only other people in *my* local library 
are stressed teenagers frantically cramming for their GCSEs... ;-)

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"Orchid XP v8" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
news:480f8082$1@news.povray.org...

> [Indeed, where I work there's a guy who every day has a different
> brick-thick tome in his hand. Usually with lots of dragons and fairies
> on the cover. Weird stuff...]

Sounds like my type of stories.... <g>

> My question to you would be: how the hell do you read that fast?

Practice.

Let's see, in the last week and a half, I've reread Daughter of the Empire,
Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire (by Raymond E Feist and Janny
Wurts) and 3/4 reread Magician (Raymond E Feist)

> > If you're going to a library, ask a librarian. They're more likely than
> > anyone to know a good book in a specific genre that the library has.
>
> In my experience, librarians tend not to be very happy to see you. But I
> suppose it could be worth a go...

Strange. All the ones in my local library are friendly and hapy to talk
about books. Often for too long....

> True. I wonder where the hell my library card is? Actually, I wonder if
> it's still valid after all these years. I think the last time I used it
> was in 1997 or so...

Probably not, but in general they're easy to renew

> > It's not prohibited in any library I've been in. Making loud noises is
> > prohibited, but a soft conversation with another patron on the merits of
a
> > particular book isn't a problem.
>
> Mmm, OK. I generally find the only other people in *my* local library
> are stressed teenagers frantically cramming for their GCSEs... ;-)

That sounds like the last time I visited the university library. It didn't
help that I was wearing shoes that squeeked on the floor.

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>> [Indeed, where I work there's a guy who every day has a different
>> brick-thick tome in his hand. Usually with lots of dragons and fairies
>> on the cover. Weird stuff...]
> 
> Sounds like my type of stories.... <g>

Heh. I see...

>> My question to you would be: how the hell do you read that fast?
> 
> Practice.

Damn. Hot Sales Girl lent me a book at work [not fiction, I might add], 
and so far I've been reading it for a couple of months now. And I'm 
barely half-way through. And it's quite a small book. Admittedly I'm 
only reading it in my lunch break... I guess the real problem is that 
the book scares me too much. She assures me it has a happy ending, but 
hey...

> Let's see, in the last week and a half, I've reread Daughter of the Empire,
> Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire (by Raymond E Feist and Janny
> Wurts) and 3/4 reread Magician (Raymond E Feist)

OK, very weird thing: All of the books you just meantioned are in my 
mum's bookshelf. [Even though nobody in this household has ever read them.]

Gail, you're scaring me...

>> In my experience, librarians tend not to be very happy to see you. But I
>> suppose it could be worth a go...
> 
> Strange. All the ones in my local library are friendly and hapy to talk
> about books. Often for too long....

They always look so busy - and so harrassed at being so busy...

>> Mmm, OK. I generally find the only other people in *my* local library
>> are stressed teenagers frantically cramming for their GCSEs... ;-)
> 
> That sounds like the last time I visited the university library. It didn't
> help that I was wearing shoes that squeeked on the floor.

Heh. I never really had that problem at university... usually the place 
was empty. [Background reading? What's that then?]

I'm talking about the local public library. ;-)

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"Orchid XP v8" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
news:480f8c42$1@news.povray.org...
>
> OK, very weird thing: All of the books you just meantioned are in my
> mum's bookshelf. [Even though nobody in this household has ever read
them.]

They're good. Read Magician. Seriously. It's an excellent book. Technically
it's the first of a trilogy, but it stands alone quite well.

> I'm talking about the local public library. ;-)

I've never seen students at my local library. Most of the people I see there
are twice my age or more.

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>> OK, very weird thing: All of the books you just meantioned are in my
>> mum's bookshelf. [Even though nobody in this household has ever read
>> them.]
> 
> They're good. Read Magician. Seriously. It's an excellent book. Technically
> it's the first of a trilogy, but it stands alone quite well.

Actually, I was thinking if anything I'm likely to try reading the Harry 
Potter books [which are also reputed to be well-written]. I know a 
person who is a very big HP addict. Apparently she "resents" me having 
an opinion about the films when I haven't read the books. (Er, hello? 
It's a story, not a religion...)

>> I'm talking about the local public library. ;-)
> 
> I've never seen students at my local library. Most of the people I see there
> are twice my age or more.

Oh, those are there too, but there usually in the "Computing" section. 
(I'm usually in the Mathematics section. The Computing section contains 
nothing of interest - unless you *wanted* to learn how to upgrade your 
PC beyond 640 KB of RAM? I gather this used to be difficult in some way...)

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Gail Shaw wrote:

> They're good. Read Magician. Seriously. It's an excellent book. Technically
> it's the first of a trilogy, but it stands alone quite well.

Actually, I recall a number of people urging me to read The Hobbit. 
After a chapter or two I was bored stupid. Watching paint dry would have 
been more fun.

Oddly, the LotR films are really quite good. I don't know how they 
managed to get so much excitement out of such a dull series of books...

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On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:16:45 +0200, Gail Shaw wrote:

> Let's see, in the last week and a half, I've reread Daughter of the
> Empire, Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire (by Raymond E
> Feist and Janny Wurts) and 3/4 reread Magician (Raymond E Feist)

I need to reread those again - have you read Fairie Tale?  Very well 
written, but also quite scary (particularly if you have kids the age of 
the kids in the book).  I think that one is one of Feist's best.

Jim

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