favorite books
- Thread starter nalani
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Ardsgaine
New Member
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel. It's the story of Galileo, but with special emphasis on his relationship with his illegitimate daughter, Suor Maria Celeste, who was a cloistered nun.
Prior to that I read Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time, also by Dava Sobel. Guess I'm on a History of Science kick.
Prior to that I read Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time, also by Dava Sobel. Guess I'm on a History of Science kick.
Ardsgaine
New Member
nalani said:Ards, just out of curiosity, is it a rule of yours to read books that have more than five words in the title, or a title that is seperated by a colon?
Nah, but apparently it's Sobel's rule to give her books long-winded titles.
Fortunately, she writes better than her titles would suggest. Galileo's Daughter is particularly interesting for the glimpse it gives of a nun's life in the 17th century. The daughters of noblemen were often put into convents. If a husband could be found for them, great. If not, then they stayed there for life. The rules of some orders prevented them from ever stepping outside the convent. Because she was illegitimate, Suor Maria didn't have a chance to marry well. From the time she stepped into her convent, she never left it.
She wrote many letters to her father, and he also wrote to her. Apparently, the letters he wrote to her were destroyed after her death. The letters she wrote to him, though, were preserved, and Sobel uses them to illustrate the close relationship the two had, and how Galileo's troubles with the church affected his daughter.
It's an interesting book.
Aunty Em
Well-Known Member
I've just started reading "The Robot Builders Bonanza" - 99 inexpensive robotics projects.
I'm partway through Wrox "Professional VB6 Databases", "Javascript Weekend Crash Course", "SQL A Beginners Guide", "Designing Web Interfaces, Interactive Workbook", "PCOverclocking, Optimisation and Tuning" and "Advanced PC Architecture".
And if I ever finish reading them "Chocolat", "My Year of Meat", the Harry Potter books and several others in various states of partly read.
Still got to start that philosophy book. The robotics is just for fun.
I'm partway through Wrox "Professional VB6 Databases", "Javascript Weekend Crash Course", "SQL A Beginners Guide", "Designing Web Interfaces, Interactive Workbook", "PCOverclocking, Optimisation and Tuning" and "Advanced PC Architecture".
And if I ever finish reading them "Chocolat", "My Year of Meat", the Harry Potter books and several others in various states of partly read.
Still got to start that philosophy book. The robotics is just for fun.
Ardsgaine
New Member
freako104 said:
I can only take so much of Lovecraft before I start wanting to slash my wrists. If you like spooky, though, I highly recommend M.R. James. He was one of those Oxford guys, like Tolkien, but he liked writing creepy ghost stories for his friends. Among the most well known are Casting the Runes and The Ash Tree. Some of his stories can be found on the web... go here to check them out.
greenfreak
New Member
I'm not reading anything, haven't been to the bookstore in weeks. But my sister told me that she got me a gift certificate to Border's bookstore so I'll be making a visit next weekend.
Which reminds me, I have to find out if our local library will take donations of some of our books. We have too many, between Rusty and I reading all the time.
Which reminds me, I have to find out if our local library will take donations of some of our books. We have too many, between Rusty and I reading all the time.
