“And now we come to the interactive portion of the program … “

Now that people have started commenting on the blog, I thought I’d open things up a bit.

You’ve seen the beach reading list I put together. Or if you haven’t, go check it out.

I’m open to suggestions. I love comments. So here’s what we’re going to do.
Leave a comment on this post, recommending a book that isn’t already on the list. Tell me why you like it.

Next Saturday, 20 June, I’m going to randomly select one of the comments. That person will win their choice of one of the following :

Special Topics In Calamity Physics (book club edition softcover) by Marisha Pessl
Rant (book club edition softcover) by Chuck Palahniuk

I haven’t read the books – they were book club selections that wound up getting sent to me because I didn’t get back to the book club in time to tell them not to send them to me. I figured somebody should enjoy them.

Whichever book doesn’t get given away will probably be involved in a future contest, so keep reading

Contest closes at 11:59:59 PM Pacific Time on Friday, June 19, 2009

Good luck!

The other day, C. and I were at a bookstore.  I picked up a book and showed it to her.

“Oh look,” I said.  “Another thousand-page book.”

She told me she thought I should lay off the thousand-pagers for a while, particularly since I just finished reading one, have just started on another one, and still have a third waiting for me after I finish that one.  “I think you should have a look at the beach reading section,” she added.  “Those are probably more your speed.”

I should probably mention here that I’m currently reading The Confusion, which is the second volume of Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle.  I bought the first book, Quicksilver, back in 2003 when it came out in hardcover.  I finally finished reading it on Friday.

In my defense, I started reading Quicksilver about two weeks before I was accepted to business school.  I didn’t get very far before I shelved it in response to other demands on my time.  Classes and the recruiting process can do that.  Then the job search.  Then the job.

As I mentioned in my Kindle Reader first impressions post, I considered buying the Kindle editions of the three volumes, so I could read a page or three during the dribs and drabs of time I spend waiting in line for stuff.  But I’m still not convinced that I would remember what was going on the next time I found myself waiting for something.  So I ruled that out.

Five and a half years later… it’s been quite a slog, but worth it in my opinion.  Hence my going straight away to the second volume.  I recommend it if you’re a math/science/history geek like me.

Otherwise, may I suggest you check out my beach reading list.  There are some good reads on there.

Have you read any of the books on the list?  Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of them.