BookList

Some of us thought it would be nice to have a collection of books that we have read and recommend to others - so here it is--msd30

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Life of Pi, Yann Martel. A nice read about a boy on a boat with a tiger, no greek letters in sight! --msd30

The Road to Reality, Roger Penrose. Lots of Greek characters here. But I really enjoy reading (and working through the exercises - yes, there are a lot!) this book. Penrose starts with basic ideas in Mathematics and goes all the way to Fibre bundles. Then starts the physics (no chemistry here). One of the questions Penrose raises is an old one: Why do concepts in pure mathematics, that appear to talk of ideals never realised in the real world, so successful in describing this world? Some of the more fascinating idea in Quantum Mechanics are beautifully described. A good read for a quite evening. --am592

The Don Camillo books by Giovanni Guareschi. There are a few of these. All short stories of the daily life in a little village in the Po valley. In this village live a priest---Don Camillo---and a very communist mayor---Peppone. And they disagree---with wonderful consequences---on many things, but, on what's essntial, they are, grudgingly, of one mind. The stories are beautiful and warm. --am592

Planet of Exile, Ursula K Le Guin. On a similar theme to Brian Aldiss' Heliconia Trilogy, this book is set in a world in which one orbit around the sun is roughly the length of a lifetime. It's much shorter and more readable than Aldiss' epic, but covers many of the same ideas. An interesting and enjoyable read.-- Matthew

The Three Musketeers, Alexander Dumas. Good swashbuckling fun, and lots of it. The sequels are great too. --cen1001

Various collections of short stories by the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. There is a huge variety in these miniatures. My favourite is The Library of Babel, which describes a very large indeed (though not infinite) library composed of books that contain all possible sequences of letters. A dwindling race of inhabitants tries to make sense of it all, and the librarian (who has never been seen) takes on the status of God. The Library is a type of labyrinth, a recurring theme amongst these stories. Other items are entertainingly ironic, such as reviews of imaginary books and critiques of literary critiques. --mam1000