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Book 27 for 2016: The Vital Question

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Another book suggestion from Bill Gates, but this time it is a science book, rather than a rom-com (The Rosie Project). I had noticed this title come up a few times in lists of the best science books of 2015, so when I spotted it at the local book shop I couldn’t help myself.
This is one of those books that has got me excited to read, not because it is based on a subject I know a lot about, but because it is based on a subject I feel I don’t now enough about; and that has me excited.
Seriously, I can’t wait to learn not only the scientific mysteries that it describes (why is life the way it is?), but also the answers it proposes to them (apparently it is all down to the way life can extract energy). Looks like a pretty technical read though, so I guess I had better stop typing, and get reading!#2016inBooks #BillGatesKnowsWhereItsAt #TimeToGetMyScienceOn from Instagram: http://ift.tt/2aBg6Km

Book 15 for 2016: A Calculated Life

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I worry that Amazon’s predictive algorithms, and my tendency to end my nights with a read in bed (particularly nights after a beer or six), will slowly deprive me of all my savings.
This week’s read is A Calculated Life. What is it about? I don’t really know.
This isn’t one of those books that I have heard a lot about over the years like Old Man’s War. This isn’t an acclaimed book by an international author that has finally been translated into English like the Three Body Problem. This isn’t a book that I researched in order to enlighten my understanding of certain parts of my life, like the Compassionate Carnivore.
No. This is one of those books where my late night, beer-addled, brain clicked Buy Now, for reasons that baffle my current sober mind.
What is it about? I cant say beyond the simple blurb that Amazon targeted me with late that night. But hey, life isn’t just about doing what you plan to do, sometimes surprises come along the way. So I shall give it a go, and hope that Mathew after a few beers knows what Mathew before a few beers likes.
‪#‎2016inbooks‬ ‪#‎ifyoudrinkandbuyyoureabloodyidiot‬ ‪#‎MysteryBook‬‪#‎drunkMathewOwesMeALotOfMoneyYetICantBreakHisLegsToGetItBack‬

Book 14 for 2016: The Dark Forest

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Busy times these past few weeks, what with my son’s eye surgery and
kitchen renovations underway, I have found myself knocked out of my
regular routines, and often out of my regular bed. This has meant
less chance for reading, but like all true book addicts know, you
can read anywhere. So while I haven’t been posting, rest assured I
have been reading.

And this is what I finished reading last week, the middle book in
Liu Cixin’ Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy: The Dark Forest.
Getting into Liu’s previous book I wasn’t even aware that this
constituted the start of a trilogy, but once I had made it to the
end I was thrilled to hear that here were two more installments on
the way (Now I just have to wait till September for the finale to
be released in English; damn my monoglottism!). This is one of those cool science fiction stories where they come
up with an initial premise that seems like a basic and simple to
begin with, but as the author slowly teases out all the
consequences that you hadn’t quite thought of, they end up building
a fascinating and complex world that really draws you
in.

Can’t wait to see how the trilogy pans out!
#2016inbooks
#AlwaysTimeToRead #ChineseSciFi
#SomeoneTeachMeMandarin

Book 13 for 2016: The Rosie Effect

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Book 13 for 2016: The Rosie Effect

The Superintelligence book I started last month is proving to be quite a slog, so it is time for my brain to take a bit of a break. But by a break, of course I just mean a different book! I have been doing well this year in my goal to read a bunch of books, so I don’t want to start slowing down now.

Therefore, I have chosen The Rosie Effect, the sequel to The Rosie Project, as my next read. I tore through the original book in a couple of nights and, as I had hoped, I was pleasantly surprised to find this seemingly unfitting novel to be right up my alley. I can’t wait to get back into the intriguing world of Professor Don Tillman, and am interested in seeing how his singular mind approaches the challenges of potential parenthood.

Note that this doesn’t mean I am giving up on Superintelligence; it is a fascinating book, and the ideas and problems it deals with are engaging, but I can only take so much philosophising and hypothetical musings of possible AI doomsdays before my mind wants to sit down with a bit of entertaining fiction (though I also hope that much of what I read in Superintelligence remains fiction, and doesn’t become fact!). #2016inbooks #TheRosieEffect #Takingabreakfromabookaboutrobotsthinkingtoreadabookaboutamanwhothinksabitlikearobot #readingtotakeabreakfromreading from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1V3Gn8m