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Books I loved reading this year

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Re: Books I loved reading this year

#11

Post by joconde »

tjader wrote: post #8
joconde wrote: post #7

So I was excited about Project Hail Mary and went to the Wikipedia page [1]. Can someone who has read the book tell me if the current intro is a spoiler, or something we learn in the book's first third? ("He gradually remembers that...") I know Wikipedia doesn't put spoiler tags, but they are usually confined to the "Plot" section. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project_Hail_Mary...

That is revealed in the first third of the book. I would prefer not having that info before reading, but it is part of the basic premise.

Okay thanks. That's on me for being too impatient I guess.

Re: Books I loved reading this year

#12

Post by joconde »

gwbas1c wrote: post #9
joconde wrote: post #7

So I was excited about Project Hail Mary and went to the Wikipedia page [1]. Can someone who has read the book tell me if the current intro is a spoiler, or something we learn in the book's first third? ("He gradually remembers that...") I know Wikipedia doesn't put spoiler tags, but they are usually confined to the "Plot" section. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project_Hail_Mary...

It's not a major spoiler. He remembers that within the first few chapters, well before you're a third into the book.

Thank you!

Re: Books I loved reading this year

#13

Post by gwbas1c »

I partially liked Hail Mary. Most of the book was good, but I found Eva's character too hard to suspend my disbelief.

IMO, I found her character "lazy" on Weir's part. I wish he tried a little harder to make her easier to believe as a real person.

Re: Books I loved reading this year

#14

Post by localhost »

I was disappointed by A Thousand Brains. The last part of the book veered into ... I don't really know. On the other hand, I loved Jeff Hawkins' earlier book on this topic: On Intelligence [1]. It's easily one of the top 5 books that I've read and the first part of A Thousand Brains recaps much of that work, so still relevant today according to the author.

[1] https://numenta.com/resources/on-intelligence/

Re: Books I loved reading this year

#16

Post by bluesquared »

joconde wrote: post #7

So I was excited about Project Hail Mary and went to the Wikipedia page [1]. Can someone who has read the book tell me if the current intro is a spoiler, or something we learn in the book's first third? ("He gradually remembers that...") I know Wikipedia doesn't put spoiler tags, but they are usually confined to the "Plot" section. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project_Hail_Mary...

Yes, very slight spoilers but probably not much more than you'd deduce from reading the jacket of the book. Certainly something that you find out from the first few chapters. Basic progression without too much spoilers is main character wakes up and deduces that:

1. He is not on earth 2. He is on a spaceship 3. He is not in our solar system 4. He is there for a reason

Re: Books I loved reading this year

#17

Post by [deleted] »

alphabettsy wrote: post #6
qwertyuiop_ wrote: post #4

He should add this book Perversion-Justice-Jeffrey-Epstein-Story to his collection and make this a "required reading". Because [0] https://www.amazon.com/Perversion-Justice-Jeffrey-Epstein-St... [0] https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/inside-...

The source is The Sun, equivalent to National Enquirer.

[deleted]

Re: Books I loved reading this year

#19

Post by briga »

Uhhrrr wrote: post #15

I read Hawkins's "On Intelligence" a few years ago and enjoyed it. For anyone here who's read both that and "New Theory of Intelligence", what's the relation between the two?

Basically it’s his updated thoughts along with some new research his company has done on cortical columns being the basis for human intelligence. It’s a good read but perhaps a bit over-ambitious in trying to propose a unified theory of cognition.

Re: Books I loved reading this year

#20

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

I've mislaid my copy of Bill's "How I put a computer on every desk while totally fucking up everyone's idea of what software is, how it could be developed and how it might be used". To be honest, it was a riveting read but I don't really want to get into the sequel "How I became a nice guy and everyone forgot about the terrible things I did in business".
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