What are you currently reading?
If Walls Could Talk (Lucy Worsley) for non-fiction, which is pretty fun for light reading.
For fiction: Fever (Mary Beth Keane), which I started reading last week, read half of, and then haven’t picked up since for no apparent reason. It’s interesting, though, because it tries to take the perspective of Mary Mallon, aka Typhoid Mary. I keep meaning to look up some of the details to see how much of it is accurate and how much total fiction. Also The Hollow Hills (Mary Stewart), and The Just City (Jo Walton), but work seems to be coming in sufficient profusion to stop me actually finishing anything at the moment.
What have you recently finished reading?
The Eerie Silence and The Goldilocks Enigma (Paul Davies). He loses me a bit when he goes into string theory and the like, and I know that some smaller aspects are gonna be out of date since it was written before the Large Hadron Collider was up and running, but for the most part I hung in there. The Eerie Silence leaves me very sceptical about the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence, but then The Goldilocks Enigma seemed more positive again… Odd, from the same author!
What will you read next?
I agreed to do a buddy read of The Goblin Emperor (Katherine Addison), this weekend; other than that, I’m not looking beyond the stack of half-read books at my bedside!
Not understanding string theory is fine – it’s not like it’s science.
Ha! Sceptical, then?
Seriously, it’s unable to produce testable predictions and therefore not science. Try Lee Smollin’s The Trouble with Physics for a fairly accessible critique. I have a review of it somewhere…
Oh dear, don’t rec me books… *goes to see if it’s on Kobo*
I am EBIL! Bwahahahahaha!
You are! I don’t have the money! *checks library catalogue instead*
I’d by it for you for Christmas if *I* had any money…
Aw, thanks for the thought. I think I’ll ask for it from my dad — he’s been telling me to come up with more for my list!
Well, that sounds like an eggzellent plan!
I notice you’ve been reading some pop physics books recently – is that a new interest?
I’ll have to think of some more books, though. What a trial… *grin*
Sort of. I’ve always been pretty eclectic about it, but this is the particular section my eyes fell on in the library recently. Besides, I need more of a grounding in physics and chemistry to pass the GAMSAT for medschool (my biology should be okay, since I did AS Level and I’ve done a couple of courses on genetics and biochemistry).
What’s GAMSAT? I mean obviously some kind of exam but what does it cover?
According to my sister, who’s taken it, a bit of everything.
From a preparation site: “GAMSAT is an examination with many layers. In general the examination is looking for many of the skills that will be required in the course of a medical degree and indeed a later medical career, such as
– Speed of thought – General problem solving ability – Scientific knowledge – An affinity with scientific methodology – The ability to analyse data accurately and fast – Good numeracy and mental dexterity with numbers – An ability to communicate on paper – Good verbal and argumentative skills – Genuine empathy ”
On 29 November 2014 at 22:32, Bibliophibian Inc. wrote:
>
Sounds very difficult to prepare for since so vague and general.
Yep! My sister reckons I’m gonna suck at it, but I think she’s forgotten how determined I can be. I’ve got almost another year to prepare!
On 29 November 2014 at 22:39, Bibliophibian Inc. wrote:
>
Flagon gives you an encouraging roar!
Many thanks, Flagon!
On 30 November 2014 at 07:19, Bibliophibian Inc. wrote:
>
Flagon says, roarwelcome!