Bookish

Today is World Book Day, so its just as well the only thing I've really unpacked so far are books. This is what's on my to-read list:

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Matter, Iain M Banks. Its slow going, like peddling through humous.

The Emperor's New Mind, Roger Penrose. Arguing that "strong" AI will never be able to replicate consciousness; seems quite interesting but is filled with lots of scary equations.

The Double, Dostoevsky. Jose Saramago's The Double is very good, so I'm interested in this never having read any Fyodor before.

The Fabric of Reality, David Deutsch. Some more daunting physics; quantum mechanics, anyone? I think I'll leave this 'til last.

Almost Transparent Blue, Ryu Murakami (not that Murakami, the other one). Supposedly the Japanese Trainspotting.

The Unconsoled, Kazuo Ishiguro. Similarly themed to Metropole (Ferenc Karinthy), one of my favourite books.

We, Yevgeny Zamytin. I'm not normally one for "futuristic dystopia" novels, but this comes recommended so I'll give it a try.

The Interrogation, J.M.G. Le Clezio. Another dual-personality / double scenario.

Freedom Evolves, Dan Dennett. I liked Darwin's Dangerous Idea so I'll give this a shot.

Pompeii, Mary Beard. Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Science: A Four Thousand Year History, Patricia Fara. Could this get much more geektastic..?

The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Science Writing, Richard Dawkins. Yup, it can. This is a collection of great scientific essays and papers from the last 100 years. Crick, Turing, Pinker, Feynmann, Sagan...pure genius really. I'll be lucky if I understand a fraction of it.

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I did a quick tally of the total pages in that lot; 3800, or about 1.5 million words. Ouch.