current reading:
Choice: The Best of Reason
edited by Nick Gillespie
Issac Newton
by James Gleick
Books
I like to read. Mostly non-fiction, techie books (O'Reilly's are the best), lots of different science subjects, political, or humor.
Once I find a fiction writer I like, I tend to read everything they've written. Those in that group seem to have nothing whatsoever in common, which leads me to think I'd like a lot of other writers if I gave them a chance. Here's a list the ones I've liked:
John Irving - I read The World According to Garp after seeing the movie (book was lots better) and read everything he'd written up to then. The Water Method Man is my favorite of his, with Setting Free the Bears and The 165-Pound Marriage tied for second. I haven't read his latest yet.
Ayn Rand (How do you pronounce 'Ayn?) - Atlas Shrugged is a long read but worth it. She's wordy but nobody can tell a story that illustrates the futility of government interference in society better than someone who snuck out of the Soviet Union after the 1917 revolution. The Fountainhead is pretty good, too.
Ernest Hemingway I forget which one I read first, but the way he tells a story is great. Plus, he (and his characters) are horribly misogynistic, drunk, and often violent. For Whom the Bell Tolls probably stands out the most out of what I've read, but I'm in the middle of a bunch of his short stories that are really great.
There must be a few others, if I remember them I'll put them here.
Non-fiction writers that are among my favorites:
P.J. O'Rourke is the funniest guy I've ever read. Modern Manners (subtitled "An Etiquette Book for Rude People) made me laugh out loud. A lot. Later books, like Holidays in Hell, are informative and insightful as well as hilarious.
Richard Feynman was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who wrote books about his life and some of his physics lectures.
Camille Paglia wrote some interesting books about contemporary culture. She has a lot of progressive views but refuses to march in politically correct lockstep with the rest of the liberal crowd, so she's interesting.
Thomas Sowell
Dinesh Disouza
Magazines:
Linux Journal
Server Workstation Expert
SysAdmin
Scientific American
Discover