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Of all the books you own, what's the one which a) you have never read, and b) is least likely out of all your books to ever be read, but c) you're unlikely to get rid of?
Mine:
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, by Julian Jaynes.
I bumped into the god Apollo this morning and he told me that the book is worth keeping just because it's a kinda cool historical relic. Like my Windows 8 release party t-shirt.
@passenger
My book would be Shadows of the Mind by Roger Penrose. Same theme, consciousness.
It wasn't what I was expecting. Very math-y.
Now might be a good time to take a peek at it again, actually. It's got more relevance than it did 20 years ago. Also, I've experienced some things since then.
You turned it from "unlikely to be read" to "next on my list" as I answered the question.
Honorable mention: A murder mystery written by a customer, who I was talking to as a cashier. I was so happy to meet a published author, I bought his book from him just to show support. Opened it up, religious themes.
Penrose is an astrophysicist and a friend of Hawking so I'm not entirely surprised that his book is hard going - Brief History of Time must be on the all-time list of "books everybody started and nobody finished."
If you do read it, please let us know what you think. I only know Penrose via his scientific writing and presentations, not his long-form prose.
@headfirstonly
I really like the guy. I'm glad he hasn't turned crazy in the times we are living in. The only issue is that I don't understand the math he puts into these books.
I can't bring myself to simply ignore it on the page, that wouldn't be "reading the book" so I put it off until a future date when I understood.
I even bought a calculus textbook to study at home. Never got to start it.
Still, I think I could understand it now.
@passenger
@headfirstonly
Wait a minute.. now I remember how Penrose got on my radar as a teen in highschool! PENROSE TILING!
Wow.. I really have been taken away from my home (in math) by the realities of adulthood. Never once has any employer asked me to do math. 😔
@passenger
@passenger @Scoll Richard Dawkins wrote that the Jaynes book was "one of those books that is either complete rubbish or a work of consummate genius; Nothing in between! Probably the former, but I'm hedging my bets."
Having read it, I think he's probably right.
The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
It's a very difficult read in very small text.
@passenger Weirdly I both own that book and have read it. I have a small collection of books by cranks and crackpots.
For me it's probably The Handbook of Unfulfilled Bible Prophecy by Pastor C. Donald Chrysler. TBH I only bought it because I misread the cover and thought it said Fulfilled Prophecy. Then I realized it was published in my hometown and the author attended a now-defunct Bible college in my old neighborhood. Now I have to keep hauling it from apartment to apartment forever.
Yes. I am sure (as long as it's a single book.)
@passenger Definitely this 1990 Russian edition of a 1985 metallurgy conference's proceedings co-edited by my mother.
Even if I could read Russian, I wouldn't understand the subject matter. Even if I could understand the subject matter, it is likely out of date. Even if the information was still current, I have no use for it.
But it has my mom's name on it, so I keep it.
Yeah, you wouldn't throw out a thing like that.
Passenger
Chris Ford 
Michael Gemar
Me
Scoll
Chris Harris
Floaty Birb
cognitively accessible math
Lord Kelvin
J. R. DePriest 
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Charles A-M
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