Reading

I know, I know. I haven't written much at all of late. Sorry about that. I've been busy and uninspired -- though the two may well be related.

Anyway, ... In my return to blogging, I figured I'd fall back on an old reliable topic: reading! As always, I have more things to read than time to do so. I did finally finish Neal Stephenson's wonderful Baroque Cycle. I know I've praised him before, but I'm in awe of the man. How did he manage to envision, much less write, a series of 3 (approximately) 1000 page novels that managed to be historically informative and entertaining? Yes, they were slow reads at times, but I enjoyed every page. Now I'm all fired up to read more about that period -- basically the scientific revolution of the late-17th and early-18th centuries.

Specifically, I'd like to read more about the dispute between Newton and Leibniz over "the calculus". I get the impression Stephenson is more sympathetic to the latter, but I'd like to read an accessible, objective treatment of the issue. Do any of you have any expertise or suggestions? I realize it's a stretch, but I thought I'd ask.

Now that I've finished the Baroque Cycle, I'm kind of adrift. I have several books piled up that I've been meaning to read, but none of them call to me. Do any of you have a "hot read" you'd like to recommend? I read pretty much any genre -- history, literature, detective stories, science fiction, etc. -- though I will admit that I find most biographies tedious. I just picked up Singularity Sky, a SciFi book that I'd heard good things about. So far it's okay, but I find that a lot science fiction takes too much effort to read. There are too many invented technologies, terms, etc. that just aren't explained. Hence, I have to concentrate very hard to keep everything straight in my mind. This is one of those books. I haven't given up on it though, so I may change my opinion later.

I also just laid hands on Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty, the latest from Tim Sandlin. As some of you know, Sandlin's debut novel, Sex and Sunsets, is one of my all-time favorite comic novels. I also really liked his GroVont trilogy. Since then, though, I haven't really cared for his books. I found Jimi Hendrix at a cheap book sale, though, and I figured I'd risk $3.99. We'll see.

Okay that's what I'm up to. Any reading suggestions will be most appreciated. I'll try to come up with a more topical post soon.