Apart from philosophical stuff, what have people on here been reading lately, or what do they recommend?

No Jinksy, manga of aliens attacking Japanese highschool girls does not count as proper reading....

I've just finished reading "The Fanatic" by James Robertson. I thought it was a very well read introduction to an aspect of Scottish history that I had very little knowledge about, the Covenanters and just after. I also enjoyed the writers gradual usage of more and more Scots throughout the text, even though my partner had no idea what I was talking about when I'd accidently let words like 'muckle' into everyday speach. Oddly, the historical characters read with greater depth than the contemporary characters, and there were certainly aspects of the plot that felt forced. However as I reached the end I still wanted more, and I certainly felt that if I was more familiar with Edinburgh and Scottish history it would have even more meaning. The fact that I then went out and read more myself on those aspects proves it's worth in drawing the reader into the world it created.

I've just finished A Prayer For Owen Meany, which I've read several times, but is always worth a re-read, and I'm now about forty pages into Until I Find You - John Irving is one of the greatest living writers, imho. Only Nick Hornby comes close.
I have many, many books on my to-read list; too many to list them all, but Atlas Shrugged, Trainspotting and Porno, Ulysses, and a few older classics [e.g. the picture of Dorian Gray, Bleak House] are perhaps the most pressing. Maddeningly, I've bought and read some of Dorian Gray and Trainspotting, but left both on trains by mistake. Go me.

redcarded wrote:No Jinksy, manga of aliens attacking Japanese highschool girls does not count as proper reading....

That's educational!

Don't read much fiction these days. I'm slowly working my way through the Master and Commander series which I recommend, if a meticulously researched swashbuckling historical story of life in the English navy sounds at all appealing.

Is the Master and Commander series what the Hornblower TV series based on? I saw some of the series and thought it all very swashbuckling, but at the same time a little silly. Reminded me a bit of R.L Stevenson books I read as a kid, like Kidnapped.

Dorian Grey is good, I'd recommend it. Trainspotting, I've been wanting to read that for ages and ages... I also can't wait, a work mate is going to give me a Phillip K. Dick omnibus type of thing next week, if she remembers. I've only read one of his, the Galactic Pot-healer, and was really impressed, so am looking forward to reading more.

I'm not sure if these count as 'philosophical'. I've just been reading some neurology (brain science).

I read the book The Emerging Mind by V S Ramachandran . He considered why art is appealing. He discussed synesthesia, phantom limbs, and a range of other areas of his research. He talked about how he works in neuroscience because it is one of few scientific domains in which one can play detective and exercise one's creativity. He is a captivating speaker and writer and I'm full of admiration for the man.

I found that at my friend's house was An Anthropologist on Mars, a book written about similar themes. This one was by Oliver Sacks and it told the stories of around 6 of Sacks' patients. I only had time to read two but they were very fascinating.
1) A prominent artist who experienced sudden loss of perception of colour. This one followed the adaption of this man's mental and emotional state to the change in his perception.
2) A man who lost the ability to store new memory around 1970, causing him to become stuck in the 60s.

Some recommendations: The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, The Armchair Economist by Steven Landsburg

steven0461 wrote:Some recommendations: The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, The Armchair Economist by Steven Landsburg

Or anything else by Steven Landsburg. The man is like God, only better.