Nowadays I'm reading a lot, problem is I rapidly run out of books I'm interested in reading.

At the moment I have a thing for sci-fi, but I'm very particular about what storylines I'll actually enjoy, so I find myself ruling out a lot of 'classics', and modern sci-fi is extremely hit and miss (The Posleen War series is supposed to be brilliant, but I find it barely comprehensible. On the other hand, the Old Man's War series was absolutely fantastic and makes everything else I read pretty crap in comparison :/ ).

Anywho, I'm currently working my way through Asimov's Foundation series. It's not that amazing, but I'm enjoying it enough to want to read the whole series, which gives me about another 8 or so books to go before I'll need to find something else.


Recommendations are more than welcome ^^

i liked the first Hitchhiker book, but feel they go downhill after it...i didnt even finish whichever was the last one i was reading (fourth or fifth)

Wouldn't Quantum Physics for Dummies or Explaining "Quantum Physiscs for Dummies" be a more appropriate introduction into the field?

Anyways, you can learn something from fiction too. It's just not gonna be something explicit. You're gonna have to interpret the text on a superior level, rather than just taking the actions that go on in the book at face value. I think that every (good) fiction author tries to communicate something to the reader, something that's more than just the sum of all the words that make up the text, and more than the actions that make up the narrative.

I also don't get why someone who's not religious would want to read a religious text? What would be the point?

I think introductions to a topic aren't monopolised by "*insert topic here* for dummies", and those ones aren't always the most suitable any way.

I know what you mean about taking the learning from the book by interpreting the story, but that's not what I want. I can read fiction and interpret the text, it's not hard, but I don't enjoy that. I like a book to be non-fiction discussing a single topic, I enjoy the process of learning about a subject which is structured in a way to actually teach you about it.

I've already stated the reasons why I'm reading the Qu'ran in my previous post. I was given a copy by a Muslim at Uni, and I thought I might as well give it a read out of interest and to get rid of some of my ignorance. I have been quite sceptical when reading it so far, don't worry I don't there's any chance of me being converted lol.

I read Hitchhiker's Guide years and years ago. Like MrB, I enjoyed the first (though not as much as most people), but then it went rapidly downhill.

I read the synopsis for Neuromancer on Wiki just now and the plot doesn't grab me. Doesn't sound like my kind of sci-fi genre either ('Cyberpunk plots often center on a conflict among hackers, artificial intelligences, and megacorporations, and tend to be set in a near-future Earth, rather than the far-future settings or galactic vistas found in novels such as Isaac Asimov's Foundation or Frank Herbert's Dune.') I guess I could give Dune a shot, but if it's anything like the film or tv series adaptations I'll lose interest half way through.

I read Hitchhiker's Guide years and years ago. Like MrB, I enjoyed the first (though not as much as most people), but then it went rapidly downhill.

I read the synopsis for Neuromancer on Wiki just now and the plot doesn't grab me. Doesn't sound like my kind of sci-fi genre either ('Cyberpunk plots often center on a conflict among hackers, artificial intelligences, and megacorporations, and tend to be set in a near-future Earth, rather than the far-future settings or galactic vistas found in novels such as Isaac Asimov's Foundation or Frank Herbert's Dune.') I guess I could give Dune a shot, but if it's anything like the film or tv series adaptations I'll lose interest half way through.

I don't really read fiction I'm afraid, as far as fiction goes I'm mostly Discworld oriented.

I like books about science and nature though, I think I like to learn when I read, it's a big part of my enjoyment. At the moment I'm reading a book called "Quantum theory cannot hurt you", it's not the best book I've ever read if I'm being honest, but it's a nice introduction I suppose.

I'm also reading the Qu'ran, mostly out of interest and partly to get rid of some of my ignorance about Islam. But I've broken it down into smaller portions. I'm not reading it all at once, I'm reading chapters inbetween other books.

i liked the first Hitchhiker book, but feel they go downhill after it...i didnt even finish whichever was the last one i was reading (fourth or fifth)