still bitter i see



great, great book that i think even those in the field of statistical learning should read to better understand the model biases/faults that are so often abstracted away or not thought about. pretty much every judge and police commissioner and politician should be required to read this. imho.

In an interview the author mentioned how she suggested the title and was ready to fight the publishers if they wanted to change it, but they liked it too.

She uses the term WMD throughout the book.

I don't mind the title. I was already aware of some of these ideas from some blog posts made by the author in mathbabe.org, but the book was worth reading.

Is this series finished now? Wheel of Time and Game of Thrones have put an end to my starting series' that aren't completed.

You are going to start at the beginning I hope. The Prince of nothing series, while quite dark, is done very, very well. Pulling off the main characters POV was very impressive imo.

I'm reading the Partner by John Grisham. Nothing close to Runaway jury or The firm, but a solid enough novel I guess.

yeah will definitely start at the beginning.

One of my goals for 2017 is to read more.

Just finished A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - the Last Great Battle of the American West - James Donovan

This was a very interesting read. I love reading history much more than novels and this was a particular piece of history I hadn't really ever studied or read much about. It is very in depth. Goes well beyond the battle itself with deep back ground on Custer and his officers and soldiers and the events leading up to the event. It also gets into the political mood about the Indian situation. A good portion of the book also deals with the aftermath.

It is a fairly long book but constantly held my interest. If you like history and want to learn more about this battle or the times and politics of the situation you will probably enjoy this one. It is very well written, informative and interesting.

Currently reading Station Eleven and Hero of the Ages (book 3 mistborn)

Like both so far, about half way through S11, and 2 chapters into the Mistborn book.


On deck
---------------
5's and 25's (Iraq war book)
Number9Dream (finally)

I read multiple books at a time and my current non-poker book reading is three Grisham books, Gray Mountain, Rogue Lawyer, and The Whistler.

Finished A Kings Ransom which is Sharon Kay penmans last novel about Richard the lionheart. It covers his time after he leaves the holy land until his death. Penman is amazing as always. The cast of characters is great and the politics is fun.

I'll definitely be reading her welsh series soon and also planning to pick up Bernard Cromwells series on her and grrms recommendation. Also because I really enjoyed the BBCs The Last Kingdom a lot.

So much good historical fiction out there.

any recs for humorous novels in the vein of baked by mark haskell smith, syrup by max barry, dave barry novels, or christopher moore books?

I just got the art of racing in the rain but haven't started it yet.

anyone read any hiaasen or tim dorsey?

I thought The stench of Honolulu by Jack Handey was hilarious.

Updike could never "Resist the Urge to Explain". Editors write R.U.E. in margins to indicate this problem. He needed to show how smart he was (which was brilliant); parade his unique insights, and offer tidbits of wisdom. Thank you, Daddy!

The first Rabbit book and his early short stories were excellent.

I just finished The Rum Diary, by Hunter S. Thompson. I read Fear and Loathing some years ago and have enjoyed reading about HST ever since, particularly his thoughts on 'finding your purpose'.

The Rum Diary was excellent. Highly enjoyable, and the first novel for a while that I had looked forward to getting home from work, in order to read. Paul, the protagonist, is entertaining with some incisive observations and quips and the plot never really pauses - it's a very easy, enjoyable read.

A favourite description:
“Disgusting as he usually was, on rare occasions he showed flashes of a stagnant intelligence. But his brain was so rotted with drink and dissolute living that whenever he put it to work it behaved like an old engine that had gone haywire from being dipped in lard.”

Next up is The Four Agreements, on Bill Perkins' recommendation! I'm also going to order The Third Policemen and At Swim-Two-Birds, and Bryson's A Walk In The Woods, upon thread recs.

Started reading The Life of Samuel Johnson, by James Boswell.

Quite a character that Sam was............

You're a closet Anglophile.

I've started reading 1984, a novel by George Orwell. I read the book back in the '70s. It was required reading when I was in high school. I read it again about ten or maybe fifteen years ago. I saw recently that the book is on Amazon’s best-seller list because of Kellyanne Conway's claims of "alternative facts" regarding the size of inaugural crowds. So I decided I'd read it again.

Looking forward to reading 1984 again as well; I read it in 8th Grade. It was this time of year too.

Changed a lot for me in terms of art appreciation. "This novel has given me a depressed feeling. That's never happened to me before. I like this. Unhappy endings FTW!"

I read it every few years. It's such a magnificent book of ideas.

sweet added to my queue ty.

more recs welcome.

I haven't read any of those you listed, so not sure about a comparison.

It's been many years since I read it but I recall The Choirboys by Joseph Wambaugh being very funny to teenage me. I'm going to have to reread it now just to see how bad my taste was back then.

ya don't necessarily need them to be similar was just listing a few books I found funny, I'm open to all suggestions for books ppl found humorous.

The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ is full of scary facts and lays it all out there well. Not a huge fan of the authors style, but def a solid read and worth digging into.

Pretty much anything by Richard Brautigan but especially:
Dreaming of Babylon
Sombrero Fallout
Willard and His Bowling Trophies

These 3 are in my top 5 novels ever written. Then again I have peculiar tastes Also pretty much all Vonnegut and an honorable mention for Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins.

Though not a humor book by genre, Alice in Wonderland is ****ing hilarious. Like, had me unexpectedly laughing hysterically, especially in the tea party sequence.