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  • Showing only topics in ~books with the tag "ask.recommendations". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. If you were to recommend up to three books to read up on your niche (or any subject), what would they be?

      as in the title. Be it textbooks, bios or anything else. Somewhere I've heard that a couple of books in a given subject can give you quite a good understanding of it. It does not have to be a...

      as in the title. Be it textbooks, bios or anything else. Somewhere I've heard that a couple of books in a given subject can give you quite a good understanding of it.
      It does not have to be a niche either; I am interested in hearing about your favourite general psychology or biotechnology books just as well; I hope we can exchange recommendations about how to dive into a given field.

      For me, I'd say that to get a taste of Computer Science from the metal to high level concepts, I'd go with:

      • Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen et al. - for many it's bible of algorithms designs, I also enjoyed it very much (and I like to think that it was not only because of widespread aclaim)
      • CODE by Petzhold - for people who like to understand every part of the system they build; it goes through the process of building a computer, starting with logic gates and ending with fully working Turing machine.
      21 votes
    2. Has anyone used a book scanning/digitization service?

      I ask because I have several physical books that I would love to have digital copies of. Most of the services out there are destructive, so you lose the book when you send it in to scan. I'm fine...

      I ask because I have several physical books that I would love to have digital copies of.

      Most of the services out there are destructive, so you lose the book when you send it in to scan. I'm fine with this in theory, except for the fact that I'd hate to lose the physical book and have it replaced with a crappy digital copy. I've not had terribly great luck with my own attempts at OCR with documents (but I'm also not a professional).

      Additionally, some of the books I want to scan have extensive footnotes. The ideal would be that the book gets scanned and edited to have these footnotes hyperlinked in the resulting ebook, but I don't know if anyone offers that kind of service. I'd even be okay with the footnotes just being eliminated if it's too much trouble. What I don't want is them just being flowed into the main text of the document.

      There are a lot of different options out there, and I'm more than willing to pay for a good job. Has anyone used one of these services and can speak to their quality?

      7 votes
    3. Any literary translators here? What programs do you use?

      I've started doing this amateurishly a few months ago, translating a novel slowly, and nowadays I'm thinking of going to a few publishers and asking for actual contracts. Currently, I'm using an...

      I've started doing this amateurishly a few months ago, translating a novel slowly, and nowadays I'm thinking of going to a few publishers and asking for actual contracts. Currently, I'm using an Org mode file in Emacs to do the translation, but I'm not sure that this is the most optimal way to do it. I was doing it using paper for a while, but editing and commenting is more flexible in Org mode. Yet it is also rather cumbersome the way I do it:

      <<pageNo.paragraphNo.sentenceNo>> Text, text text
      #
      some text with a comment
      # comment about the part between this comment and the above empty one
      more text, more text. <<...>> Another sentence
      

      I'm thinking of adding some code to make this a bit prettier, though.

      But are there anything that's better out there already. My preference hierarchy: Emacs mode, yayyy! > Open source app, that's fine > Proprietary app, shit! but better than nothing.

      I'm not sure if this should go under ~comp, ~tech or here (~books).

      8 votes
    4. Good whodunnit/crime investigation books?

      What are for you the best modern whodunnit/criminal investigation books? I'm interested in books like Sherlock Holmes where there are clever deductions but also books where everybody knows who the...

      What are for you the best modern whodunnit/criminal investigation books? I'm interested in books like Sherlock Holmes where there are clever deductions but also books where everybody knows who the criminal is but they need to find evidence and the bad guy seems to always be two steps ahead (kind of like Daredevil season 3 with Wilson Fisk).

      10 votes
    5. China Miéville

      Is anyone here familiar with his work? Perhaps you could recommend a starting point for someone more inclined towards exploring darker urban / sociopolitical realist "fantasy"; not so interested...

      Is anyone here familiar with his work? Perhaps you could recommend a starting point for someone more inclined towards exploring darker urban / sociopolitical realist "fantasy"; not so interested in escapism for the sake of escapism. LeGuin over Tolkien, etc.

      10 votes
    6. Web serial recommendations

      Is anyone else here into web serials or serial fiction more generally? I was first introduced to the medium through Worm, probably the most well-known web serial out there at this point, and I...

      Is anyone else here into web serials or serial fiction more generally? I was first introduced to the medium through Worm, probably the most well-known web serial out there at this point, and I loved it. (Well, okay, if we're getting technical I was probably first introduced to it through fanfiction, but it didn't register to me then that this was a medium used by original works as well.) I've worked my way through a few other serials since reading Worm, and I've continued to enjoy the format. Does anyone have recommendations for web serials (or printed serials!) they like?

      For me, I'm currently reading Hate Would Suffice, a story about a teenager and a world frozen in ice. It updates almost daily with chapters around a thousand words long, and while it's a pretty new one I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far.

      6 votes
    7. What's the Best Horror book you've read in the past year?

      I finished The Little Stranger last week. While I found the pacing very compelling, I felt some pretty palpable dissatisfaction in how everything ended. I can't quite put my finger on it...

      I finished The Little Stranger last week. While I found the pacing very compelling, I felt some pretty palpable dissatisfaction in how everything ended. I can't quite put my finger on it...

      9 votes
    8. Books about social housing & architecture

      I read the book 'Municipal Dreams' a few weeks ago and really enjoyed the history of social housing presented in it. I picked up 'Living in Cities' by Ralph Tubbs which is like a modernist new...

      I read the book 'Municipal Dreams' a few weeks ago and really enjoyed the history of social housing presented in it. I picked up 'Living in Cities' by Ralph Tubbs which is like a modernist new town pamphlet style book about the futures of cities & towns. I also have 'Post-Modern Buildings in Britain' which is quite nice for a flip through and some history of these buildings.

      I'd definitely reccomend Municipal Dreams for anyone even slightly intrested in UK social housing (and more) and I think the way it is presented is really nice.

      I was wondering if anyone knew any particularly good books about architecture (specifically about social housing's architecture), I realise this is quite hard as little has been recorded around some of this stuff.

      Further any books surrounding modernist ideals that lead to this would be nice to discuss as well as I've not seen much in the way of primary sources here.

      8 votes
    9. SF recommendations

      Not exactly an original first post, but as a life long avid SF fan, I'm always on the lookout for recommendations. According to Google Play, my reading (and re-reading) this year has been ... Iain...

      Not exactly an original first post, but as a life long avid SF fan, I'm always on the lookout for recommendations.

      According to Google Play, my reading (and re-reading) this year has been ...

      Iain M Banks, Alastair Reynolds, John Scalzi, Dan Simmons, Neal Stephenson, Charles Stross, China Miéville, Vernor Vinge, Peter Watts, Neal Asher, Richard K Morgan, Corey Doctorow, C.J. Cherryh, Karl Schroeder, Ann Leckie, Hannu Rajaniemi, Yoon Ha Lee, Greg Bear and James S.A. Corey.

      So I guess that sums up my current taste, which would seem to tilt towards space opera and "hard" SF.

      11 votes
    10. The Paper Bag Princess for all children

      The Paper Bag Princess was an awesome book for little girls that I read when I was a little girl. And now that a lot of family and friends are having kids of their own, I was wondering anyone have...

      The Paper Bag Princess was an awesome book for little girls that I read when I was a little girl. And now that a lot of family and friends are having kids of their own, I was wondering anyone have any recommendations for similar books but for both genders?

      7 votes
    11. In need of a recommendation.

      I'm looking for something challenging to read that is sort of on the fringe of philosophy and makes some interesting arguments. I would like to read classical philosophy but the girl I'm reading...

      I'm looking for something challenging to read that is sort of on the fringe of philosophy and makes some interesting arguments. I would like to read classical philosophy but the girl I'm reading it with just finished a philosophy major and doesn't want to, so I guess I'm looking for something a little "softer".

      4 votes
    12. Favorite non-fiction subjects and recommendations

      Non-fictions lovers, what are your favorite subjects to read about, and what are your recommended readings for them? My personal areas of interest are: American Civil War Battle Cry of Freedom by...

      Non-fictions lovers, what are your favorite subjects to read about, and what are your recommended readings for them? My personal areas of interest are:

      American Civil War

      • Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson - Perhaps the definitive overview of the Civil War
      • The Confederate War by Gary Gallagher - A look at the war from the perspective of the Confederacy
      • A Short History of Reconstruction by Eric Foner - A relatively brief but complete analysis of the years following the war

      Custer

      • Cavalier in Buckskin by Robert Utley - A very balanced, comprehensive study of Custer’s life (there is a large hardcover version available that also contains a lot of interesting pictures)
      • A Terrible Glory by James Donovan - Well researched and covers more of the aftermath of Custer’s Last Stand than the typical Custer book
      • Custer Victorious by Gregory J.W. Urwin - An extensive examination of Custer’s distinguished Civil War career

      OJ Simpson

      • Without a Doubt by Marcia Clark - A fascinating, detailed read written by the lead prosecutor herself
      • The Run of His Life by Jeffrey Toobin - The best book written about the case by someone not directly involved in it
      • Murder in Brentwood by Mark Fuhrman - Despite what reservations people may have about Mark Fuhrman, his account of the trial is thorough and eye-opening

      The Atomic Bomb

      • The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes - A long-winded history of the creation of the bomb, including the physics behind it
      • Hiroshima in History and Memory by Michael J. Hogan - A collection of essays detailing the decision to drop the bomb, and the effects it had on Japan and American afterward
      • In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Richard Polenberg - Contains the transcripts of the J. Robert Oppenheimer trial, “father of the atomic bomb,” who was put on trial several years after the end of World War II for being a suspected Soviet spy
      5 votes
    13. New sci-fi book recommendations?

      Whenever I hear sci-fi being discussed it’s usually in the context of the classic titles, and there’s nothing wrong with that but I wanna read sci-fi of the now! One series I just picked up is the...

      Whenever I hear sci-fi being discussed it’s usually in the context of the classic titles, and there’s nothing wrong with that but I wanna read sci-fi of the now! One series I just picked up is the Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer - the first book is called Too Like The Lightning, it’s a really rich and dense text that - and it’s hard to describe without spoiling anything - manages to discuss a lot about human nature in the past, present and perhaps in the future through a really well told narrative. It’s mysterious and a thrilling read as more and more of the world is revealed to you.

      Does anyone have any cool sci-fi published recently that they’re reading?

      21 votes
    14. What are some good young adult fiction books that are somewhat contemporary?

      I really like Young Adult fiction. I am a big fan of contemporary/realistic fiction in general. Fante is probably my favorite author. Favorite YA author is Robert Cormier. Does anyone have any...

      I really like Young Adult fiction. I am a big fan of contemporary/realistic fiction in general. Fante is probably my favorite author. Favorite YA author is Robert Cormier.

      Does anyone have any suggestions on some good YA novels?

      7 votes
    15. June Book of the Month Suggestions

      What book are you reading currently? What's your favourite book of all time? Suggest books for us to read this month and maybe a short blurb as to why we should read it. I'm currently reading The...

      What book are you reading currently? What's your favourite book of all time? Suggest books for us to read this month and maybe a short blurb as to why we should read it.

      I'm currently reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, a book that is widely regarded as one of the best recently-released motivational tools for cleaning up and sorting your life and living areas. Ms Kondo puts forward a method of sorting possessions to keep vs ones to discard, one that appears to work for a decent number of people based on discussions I've seen.

      8 votes