Sunday Morning Book Thread 04-27-2014: Twilight in the House of Islam [OregonMuse]

Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to AoSHQ's prestigious Sunday Morning Book Thread.

I Wish I Had Heard About This Before I Did The Easter Thread

As far as the ebb and flow of the culture wars are going, us good guys have lately been taking it in the shorts. It's hard not to get depressed.

That's why it's encouraging to read something like this:

Muslim background believers are leading Muslims to Christ in staggering numbers, but not in the West. They are doing this primarily in Muslim-majority nations almost completely under the radar—of everyone. In the new book, A Wind in the House of Islam: How God is Drawing Muslims Around the World to Faith in Jesus Christ, [author David] Garrison takes the reader on his journey through what he describes as the nine rooms in the Muslim-majority world: Indo-Malaysia, East Africa, North Africa, Eastern South Asia, Western South Asia, Persia, Turkestan, West Africa, and the Arab world. Muslims in each of those regions have created indigenous, voluntary movements to Christ.

I can only hope this is true and not just wishful thinking. We're the big dogs on the planet right now, and even though we've used our tremendous military power to kill lots of terrorists, they just make more terrorists. Bombs and bullets may have their place, but the ultimate solution for jihadist terrorism is the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I get jazzed when I hear reports of Muslim converts to Christianity, and I hope it's a trend that continues and grows.

Unfortunately, there seems to be no electronic version of Garrison's book, but you can get a paperback copy from his website.

I've Always Wished I Could Do This

If you go to Amazon.com, you will get the Amazon store. If you click on Amazon.uk, you will get the British equivalent. Ditto for Amazon.de, which is German. But if you try to go to Amazon.se expecting to find the Amazon Swedish store, you'll be disappointed.

That's because the domain is owned by someone else:

The current owner of the domain, a fifty-seven-year-old small businesswoman, won’t sell it, despite reports of repeated attempts from the retail giant to purchase it.

She's accused of being a squatter who wants to drive up the purchase price before selling, but that's not true:

The domain, purchased in 1997 by a Stockholm-based advertising agency called Amazon AB, doesn’t actually lead to a website, but rather to a landing page that simply states it is under construction.

Reminds me of a case I heard about from the early days of Burger King's national expansion, where they ran into another burger joint called 'Burger King' in Mattoon, Illinois. The resulting federal lawsuit resulted in the national BK being barred from setting up one of their franchises within a 20 mile radius of the local BK.

Men and Books and Things

Says here that men aren't reading like they used to:

Men are giving up on reading books and instead are switching to movies, internet and blogs... OnePoll did a study on behalf of UK based Reading Agency and talked to over 2,000 young and adult men. 63% of men admit they simply don’t read as much as they think they should. Many blamed a lack of time while, a fifth said they find it difficult or don’t enjoy it.

I've been worried about this for some time. It's true; ever since the mid-90s, when the internet became The Internet, I've found I spend more and more time futzing around online, and consequently, my book-reading has declined precipitously. I had to consciously make an effort to walk away from the computer and pick up a book. Getting a Nook, and then a Nexus, helped with that. And so, incidentally, does running this book thread.

The study also drew the interesting conclusion that men are not visiting libraries or bookstores anymore. They tend to shop for more practical things or zone out on a movie on television or Netflix. Women on the other hand tend to loan books to each other and participate in the bookstore scene.

Sounds about right.

The Pulitzers

I guess The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this year. I confess my ignorance - I haven't read it, nor heard of it, until they announced it had won.

Not everyone is enamored with it, though:

“The Goldfinch” is full of delicious-sounding names, girandôle necklaces and majolica pottery, action sequences in Amsterdam and brittle comedies of manners in New York. But for all the details and objects she invokes, in “The Goldfinch,” Tartt’s still running a junk shop, passing rather mundane ideas and [the main character's] justifications off as something rare.

And this from a Washington Post writer. One of these days I should probably do a 'most overrated book' segment. Wonder how many Pulitzer winners there'd be.

The last Pulitzer prize winner I remember reading was Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter, and by "reading" I mean "never finished". A good description of this book is "ambitious" and trying to understand all that he was trying to do became too much work for me, especially the mathematics. GEB is one of those books I've always been meaning to go back and give another shot to, but never have. I think this is one Pulitzer winner that actually deserved to win.

The Hugos

Most of you know that there is a brouhaha going on because the Hugo Awards finalists for this year have been announced and some of The Wrong Sort of People (conservative authors) somehow managed to get on the ballot. This is causing the Gatekeepers of The House of Tolerance to shriek louder than one of Rosanne Barr's elastic waistbands, and hilarity is ensuing.

I have nothing new to add to any of this, so I will simply refer you to Larry ('Monster Hunter') Correia's blog post on the subject. It's as good an explanation as you'd ever want to read.

Note: in the comments to Correia's post, someone refers to Eric ('1632') Flint as a Trotskyite. Tom Kratman responded:

A Trot he may be, but Eric’s love of America oozes from nearly every page. The pages where it doesn’t ooze? That’s because it gushes.

I've learned you regulars on this thread that Flint is a big-time union guy, but a Trotskyite? Really?

A New Shirley Jackson Story

Apparently, there's a number of Shirley ('The Lottery') Jackson stories that have yet to be published.

And one has just been published in the New Yorker:

Jackson’s story is titled “The Man in the Woods” and follows Christopher, who is strolling through a forest when he comes upon a house inhabited by a man and two women who take charge of the household for him.

The new story is here, but you need to be a subscriber to read it.

And more is coming:

More previously unpublished work by Jackson is on the way – Random House is releasing a collection of Jackson’s work titled “Garlic in Fiction” which is being edited by Hyman and another of Jackson’s children, Sarah Hyman DeWitt, according to the New York Times. The collection consists of work by the author from the Library of Congress and will include nonfiction, fiction, drawings, and lectures delivered by the writer.

This one was published last summer, but again, you have to break through a subscription wall to read all of it.

Book Bleg

Not from me this time, but from moron commenter 'Dr. Mabuse', who arrived late in last week's thread:

OK, it was written, I think, in the late 50s or early 60s, when the Cold War was in full swing. It was that period when people were getting fatalistic about communism, and there was a feeling that eventually it would wear down the West and the best we could do was sort of stall its inevitable progress.

It takes place somewhat in the future. The main plot I remember is about a Russian writer who is one of those privileged types who gets to travel in the West. He's in America for some conference and news comes that democratic forces have managed to overthrow the Communists. He gives interviews denouncing communism and welcoming freedom, when an update arrives - the communists have crushed the revolt. He has no choice but to defect to the West now.
Now that he has the chance to really write the truth, he has a complete writer's block. He starts to hang out more and more at a restaurant haunted by other Russian expatriates, and ends up sinking into alcoholism. In the end, a Soviet commissar comes to take him back to the USSR and he doesn't even resist.
There are some other subplots, about an American girl in love with a Soviet agent, but the one about the Russian writer is the one I remember. The story was very fatalistic, the theme being that the Russians were fated to triumph because of their unwavering certainty, even though their cause was rotten.
I had thought it was written by Koestler, but I've looked up his bibliography and nothing there looks likely. Does anyone have any ideas?
Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at April 20, 2014 03:23 PM (FkH4y)

So I hope you morons can help a brother out here.

Hard Boiled

So thanks to BookBub, I picked up this here book at a ridiculous discount and I must say, I don't think anything like this has ever been done before in fiction: the main character is a seedy, failed-at-other-occupations private detective who barely has enough money from week to week to pay the bills, let alone his feisty and attractive office manager/research assistant who rags on him constantly, but is actually very loyal. He is contacted by an old flame who sets him up with his latest client, a sleazy, has-been movie star and his sexy, flirty wife.

Oh, and get this: it's set in the city of Los Angeles. Neat, huh? It's totes unique! I wonder why no one has ever thought of this before?

Yes, it's hard-boiled noir detective fiction and yes, there's not much in here that hasn't been done before, but I'm enjoying the main character and his clueless hippie parents.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as I keep saying, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:07 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I remember from the old days that Krystal, the Southern version of White Castle, had to deal with a cyber squatter before they were able to acquire Krystal.com.

Reading some scifi, The Empire's Corps and followup books by Christopher Nuttall. The guy has a decided right slant to his critique of the future culture. Morons who like scifi may wanna check it.

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 10:13 AM (s/sIv)

2 So, I happened across this:

http://tinyurl.com/kkfeocp

It's an electronic copy of Henry Adams' The History of the United States During the Administration of Thomas Jefferson.

I've been looking for a copy of this for a while. I mean, I have the hard back copy from the Library of America, but I really don't like reading those because they're such good display pieces and you don't want to wear out the pages.

So for 6 bucks? Yeah, I bought it, and the people who put it together even included all of the notations. Worth it.

Posted by: Fluffy Destroyer of Worlds at April 27, 2014 10:13 AM (pGKt9)

3 If that first book isn't blowing smoke, it's the best news I've heard in ages. I've said before the only way that region will ever improve is to ditch the retarding influences of the culture of Islam and let something a little more love and responsibility based into themselves; God willing, at least some are starting to see the light.

Now if we could just get it to happen in the West, we might have a chance...

Posted by: Brother Cavil, Cylon/Cetacian hybrid at April 27, 2014 10:14 AM (m9V0o)

4 Morning all. Reading Awake in the Night Lands by John C. wright. Excellent so far.

Posted by: kalel666 at April 27, 2014 10:14 AM (9xbt0)

5 You know, I've wondered for some time now if Islam is collapsing internally - and the spasms of violence around the edges aren't a symptom of weakness rather than strength.

"What if Islam is not a strong, vibrant and attractive faith, growing
like some sort of theological kudzu, sweeping all before it? What if it
is actually a hollow construct, under stress from a number of
directions, seeming strong but in reality fragile, riven throughout with
tiny cracks, and teetering on the edge of implosion? What if the
frequent explosions of violence at the slightest of critical voices were
not a demonstration of power and strength, but of tamped-down fear –
fear that if the orthodoxy is questioned or defied, then the whole
construct will come crashing down in ruins? What if the whole structure
of Islam is actually shivering on its foundations, and the whole
bloody-handed constellation of imams and ayatollahs, of shaheeds and
jihadists know and fear that, down in the pit of their souls? That the
whole thing is a sham, based on the maunderings of a desert bandit,
pulled from bits of this or that, for his own aggrandizement? What if
the whole jihad against the West is the last spectacular lashing out of
those who know in their hearts that if the roots of Islam are ever
questioned, then doubt will set in, and the whole edifice come crashing
down – and that quietly, here and there, the faithful are slipping
away, and ever more would join them but for the threat of death for
apostasy."

Part one - http://tinyurl.com/n66z5x8
Part two - http://tinyurl.com/lkkyj4d

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 27, 2014 10:15 AM (Asjr7)

6 And in terms of that first book, I'll believe it when I see a poll from Malaysia saying that somewhere close to half believe that suicide bombings are justified. Last time I saw it, the numbers were somewhere in the high seventies.

I want it to be so, but we'll see...

Posted by: Fluffy Destroyer of Worlds at April 27, 2014 10:17 AM (pGKt9)

7 Working on "The Strain" by DelToro. I'm really liking it.

I'm going to start what will be a difficult book for me, only because I'm not hugely interested in military books. It is called, "The Super Sixth: The History of the 6th Armored Division in World War II" by George F. Hofmann. From what I can tell, it's pretty much a day by day movement of the division and the reason I am reading it is because we just found out that my grandfather was in this division when he was killed in WWII. So, I found an old copy of the book and bought it, I'm going to read it and then give it to my dad. It's pretty cool that after such a long time, we're finally getting to learn a bit about our family history which was sort of kept from us by my dad's mom.

Posted by: DangerGirl, who is tired at April 27, 2014 10:19 AM (GrtrJ)

8 I've been reading 1453 -- a book about the fall of Constantinople to the Turks. It's a hell of a story

Constantine, the last Emperor, was trying to hold a city against a foe with twenty times his manpower AND a technology advantage, while his people were more interested in fighting each other.

Meanwhile Sultan Mehmet was a badass, a military genius, and had an obsession with taking that city.

Poor Constantine went down fighting at the gate. The Riders of Rohan did not arrive.

(Ukrainians take note.)

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 27, 2014 10:20 AM (r9ezw)

9 That Muslims being led out of Islam is a good thing. The number of people it could save is incalculable. Unfortuantely, if this really catches wind, there will likely be a global push to outlaw conversion from the cult of death.

Posted by: LoneStarHeeb at April 27, 2014 10:21 AM (BZAd3)

10 People call Eric Flint a Trotskyite because Eric Flint calls himself a Trotskyite. That, and one of his books in which the dominant species of an alien species that had added Earth to its empire were essentially Communists at a genetic level with any individual's role defined at birth, told me pretty much all I needed to know about Eric Flint.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 27, 2014 10:22 AM (Icq+V)

11 Good stuff. I had a squatter that pouched one of my companies names. After congress passed the bill, we wrote him and demanded he give up the site.

I was amazed what he thought I would pay for him to follow the law.

I paid my lawyer $100 to send him a letter. He gave it up.

Stupid redneck,

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 27, 2014 10:23 AM (0FSuD)

12 11 was he a kangaroo?

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 10:25 AM (s/sIv)

13 I thought Flint was an avowed socialist. What particular Saint he worships, I have no idea.

Posted by: --- at April 27, 2014 10:25 AM (MMC8r)

14 Matthew 16:17-18 NIV

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Posted by: sound awake at April 27, 2014 10:25 AM (fKOqs)

15 I'm re-reading The Innocents Abroad as I take Amtrak from Seattle to Vancouver. (Thanks for the low fare, Taxpayers)

Posted by: Mr. Dave at April 27, 2014 10:26 AM (c8Izq)

16 Women on the other hand tend to loan books to each other and participate in the bookstore scene.

Which leads to more female-centric writing, which further alienates male readers.

When I look around at what's dominating the top of the sales, I'm less likely to be interested in any of it.

Posted by: --- at April 27, 2014 10:27 AM (MMC8r)

17 Next book in the queue is Gulp, by Mary Roach. It's a tour of the digestive system in her usual hilarious style. She's kind of like Bill Bryson, only without the vicious little political sniping, and she has a better understanding of the science. Plus she's willing to do pretty much anything for research purposes. Anything.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 27, 2014 10:28 AM (r9ezw)

18 My main read this week is 'The Dictator's Handboook: Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics' by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alistair Smith.

This is the light mainstream version of their doorstop tome aimed more directly at the PoliSci field. It takes its cues from Machiavelli in which the retention of power is the primary qualifier of success rather than good governance.

A very interesting read but not encouraging.

http://tinyurl.com/lgwobz8

Posted by: Epobirs at April 27, 2014 10:30 AM (Icq+V)

19 Have reached the point in Master and Commander when Richard Aubrey has learned that you can capture a much larger and populated ship against all odds, and win the admiration of your peers and superiors; but if you're banging the wife of an admiral, things will not go well for you.

Made some progress in Red Fortress where Catherine the Great has came and went and there was some fantastic plans that were designed for the Kremlin that were admired but rejected as being too damn expensive. This was done in the first place because Peter the Great had let the place fall into such disrepair while he was relocating everything to Saint Petersburg that every time Catherine came to the Kremlin she complained about everything smelling like shit. Catherine was an interesting case because even though her instincts were to be a liberal, the French Revolution's excesses frightened her so much that she dialed back on that significantly, which probably set the stage for things staying repressive in Russia which led to the commies eventually taking over. This was explicated very effectively in Jay Winik's The Great Upheaval, recommended by a fellow moron,

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 27, 2014 10:30 AM (YqrNH)

20 When I lived in Singapore I had two close friends who were Muslim by birth but "bad Muslims" by confession. Zul agreed that bacon was God's perfect food and devoured my Heritage Foundation copy of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Handed it back and said, "Now I understand".

Both agreed that the call of Christ is powerful.

Posted by: Mr. Dave at April 27, 2014 10:33 AM (c8Izq)

21 I recommend all of Mary Roach's works. You will almost certainly learn something interesting you didn't know before and a more interesting account of things you previously learned about.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 27, 2014 10:33 AM (Icq+V)

22 Even so, Lord, quickly come,
Gather up Thy harvest home...

Discovered a new-to-me Jack Prelutsky collection at the library yesterday: I've Lost My Hippopotamus. So far, so cute.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 27, 2014 10:34 AM (Aiwi+)

23 Isn't Neal Stephenson about due? I'm going to the books tort this afternoon, chop-chop.

Posted by: Motionview at April 27, 2014 10:35 AM (e6TyM)

24 It's unrelated to books, but it's still storytelling and also based on a book, so I'm going to ask:

Has anyone been watching Turn on AMC?

The show about spies during the Revolution?

I have. Good stuff. Check it out. It's just nice to have a well produced bit of visual entertainment set during the Revolution. All we seem to have had before this was The Patriot and John Adams. And while I enjoy one and love the other, it's just not enough.

Posted by: Fluffy Destroyer of Worlds at April 27, 2014 10:35 AM (pGKt9)

25
Another flashback to 80s thriller fiction recommendations:

Robert Byrne. Known mostly for his writing and instructional videos on billards. He has written in other areas as well, including tech beat reporting, language -- and fiction.

In the New Wave Era he wrote a series of civil engineering technothrillers. The writing is crisp, the heroes and villains have realistic motivations, and Byrne was a master of the plot head fake. He makes you care about a character that you're sure will make it through, then -- *snikt*.

The books I read were:

The Tunnel, 1977 - An American engineer must overcome the objections of environmentalists as well as the machinations of Irish terrorists to complete a tunnel under the English Channel.

The Dam, 1981 - A young engineer applies innovative analysis to determine that a dam designed by his firm’s most senior engineer is in imminent danger of collapse and then must take matters into his own hands when his findings are ignored.

Skyscraper, 1984 - An engineer discovers that the sixty-six-story Zalian Building is flawed throughout and in danger of collapsing and that some people will do anything to suppress the facts

Mannequin, 1988 - A freight train leaking a paralytic nerve gas hurtles uncontrolled toward San Francisco, and the only woman who can stop the ruthless profiteer behind this...

Thrill, 1995 - When a teenager is fatally injured after being hurled from a high-intensity amusement park roller coaster, the park owner agrees to remodel the ride much to the chagrin of its designer, and when the newly refurbished ride makes its first test, disaster occurs.

http://tinyurl.com/mselp5f

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at April 27, 2014 10:38 AM (kdS6q)

26 I don't know about other men, but I'm personally not going to Barnes and Noble anymore. I tried to do a simple exchange of one book for another and the manager called me a thief. In a world where almost all other book stores have gone out of business, and Amazon.com is the seemingly inevitable future, I wouldn't think that it was good policy to insult the bibliophiles who do darken your door, but B&N apparently thinks otherwise. *shrug* Now I go to local store Greetings and Readings instead. They're nicer anyway, even if they don't have the selection of B&N.

Posted by: Weirddave at April 27, 2014 10:38 AM (N/cFh)

27 Now, everyone who thinks that the pulitzer committee actually finished Godel Escher Bach raise their hands.

My hands are in my pockets.

Posted by: West at April 27, 2014 10:40 AM (Ib1LY)

28 This morning I just finished the Plantation Trilogy by Gwen Bristow. I was slightly agog at the casual racism but I just checked the dates of publication: 1937, 1938, and 1940 so now it's not so surprising. I read this when I was much, much younger and just read it to re-visit it. I found the middle book, The Handsome Road, not nearly as off-putting as I remembered it to be - it's amazing what being a grown-up will do for the reading of a a tale of hardship.

My favorite Gwen Bristow books are "Celia Garth" set during the Revolutionary War and "Jubilee Trail" which is goes from New York City to California before the Gold Rush.

I am in the middle of "I am not a serial killer" by Dan Wells which, I think, was recommended by Larry Correia, maybe one of his monthly book bombs. It's interesting and I will definitely finish it. The concept is seems a little derivative of "Dexter" but the story is definitely different.

I have a million other books around here, too many to know what I have, so I have no idea what might be next. Maybe some history - that "1453" sounds interesting.

Posted by: Tonestaple at April 27, 2014 10:44 AM (B7YN4)

29 Nip Sip, could you email me please? My nic at gmail. I need to ask you a question if I may.

Posted by: Weirddave at April 27, 2014 10:44 AM (N/cFh)

30 I find nearly all Pulitizer and Nobel winning novels to be pathetic dreck and let us not even get into the selections for book clubs. Reading isn't just for girls, no matter how much bookstores act like it is.

I started on Nightlife which is a vampire book and it is very very creepy indeed. It's got an interesting take on vampirism and the vampires are scary and not eroticized at all. So far I like it. If you liked The Strain, you'll like this I think.

That reminds me, I need to reread through The Strain before the series starts. So excited about that. It's interesting, that work started as a pitch for a tv show, the show didn't get picked up so del Toro and Hogan got together and wrote the books and now they're working on the tv series made from the books for something that was supposed to be a tv series in the first place.

Posted by: alexthechick - Oh save us mighty SMOD at April 27, 2014 10:44 AM (dMSj2)

31 That's all well and good, but how do you reach the low-information Muslim?

And still working my way through Michener's Poland, and I just don't quite get it. It's like he *wanted* to write a book named Vienna, but missed.

Posted by: Anachronda at April 27, 2014 10:52 AM (o78gS)

32 I got in hot water with the US embassy in KSA back in the 90s for printing up cards with the Hail Mary in Arabic and giving them to the phillipinos to get to sympathic Muslim women.

Posted by: Jean at April 27, 2014 10:59 AM (Aqvh6)

33
I find nearly all Pulitizer and Nobel winning novels to be pathetic dreck

I agree with this 100% yet some people, *cough*Mrs Hate*cough*, who otherwise have good taste slavishly give them credence as if they're the gold standard in what to waste time on.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 27, 2014 11:00 AM (YqrNH)

34
An in CAC friendly fiction, an updated list of Science Fiction stories with Good Astronomy and Physics, compiled by Andrew Fraknoi

"This is a selective list of some short stories and novels that use more or less accurate science and can be used for teaching or reinforcing astronomy or physics concepts. I include both traditional “science-fiction” and (occasionally) more serious fiction that derives meaning or plot from astronomy or physics ideas."

http://tinyurl.com/n8vy2y2

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at April 27, 2014 11:01 AM (kdS6q)

35 Has anyone read the complete 3- volume Churchill bio by William Manchester? I'm in the middle of the first volume, The Last Lion, and I can't believe how good the writing is-and of course the subject is fascinating. Does the quality hold up for the entire series? I know the last installment was completed by someone else...

Posted by: JoeyBagels at April 27, 2014 11:01 AM (SzG+F)

36 Jean, 32, how brave of you. You could have ended up in prison in that hellhole.

ATC, 30, who is the author of your "Nightlife" - there are four books with that title on amazon, including one labeled "paranormal romance".

Posted by: Tonestaple at April 27, 2014 11:02 AM (B7YN4)

37 Poor Constantine went down fighting at the gate. The Riders of Rohan did not arrive.

The Riders of Rohan, the Romanians and Germans, were working for the Sultan.

Posted by: Jean at April 27, 2014 11:03 AM (Aqvh6)

38 "What if Islam is not a strong, vibrant and attractive faith, growing
like some sort of theological kudzu, sweeping all before it? What if it
is actually a hollow construct, under stress from a number of
directions, seeming strong but in reality fragile, riven throughout with
tiny cracks

Thanks, Sgt. Mom, this is my view of Islam, too. Hard, but brittle

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 11:06 AM (fTJ5O)

39 5
Part one - http://tinyurl.com/n66z5x8
Part two - http://tinyurl.com/lkkyj4d

fwiw, your part two link is broken.

Posted by: Anachronda at April 27, 2014 11:08 AM (o78gS)

40 If there is truly an internal movement to convert Muslims to Christ, I bet its powered by women.

Posted by: tmitsss at April 27, 2014 11:08 AM (7Rx8v)

41 Pulitzer Prize Winner == Pompous twaddle written by a Pompous twat

Well at least these days of Socialist Supremacy and Awards for Showing Up or Being the Correct Hue.

Only the Nobel awards for the Hard Sciences still mean anything and how long before that gets degraded?

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That (Waiting For SMODOT) at April 27, 2014 11:10 AM (JS0vr)

42 Well, when I walk into a bookstore, all I see are displays of the latest book about gay Appalachian cowgirls eating poverty pudding, with notes attached to the front written in the womanly cursive of one the store's 95% female staff proclaiming, "I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!!! Rigorberta N'dakewandale writes with compassion and a quirky wit. You'll never forget her characters (especially Iris Hidalgo, the itinerant Peruvian fishmonger.) A MUST READ!"

When I put my bargain-bin purchases of "The Encyclopedia of Fascist Armored Vehicles of the Second World War" and "Mac Bolan - The Executioner #14: Congo Merc" on the counter I feel like I'm 18 again and buying porn. Which is not a good thing.

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at April 27, 2014 11:10 AM (celt+)

43 Sekrit to Anachronda: book draft is finished. I repeat, book draft is finished. ETA to nitpicking 2 months (editor schedule....) Contains exotic locales, ancient forgotten cities, and much danger and adventure.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 27, 2014 11:11 AM (2buaQ)

44 I'm currently reading-

"Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut,

which i've never read before.

The weird thing about it is the forward, which is a hatery hate-filled spewing of hate for America.

It's not humorous. It's not ironic. It's just a venomous trolling of America as a nation, a concept, a history, and Americans as a people. And it goes on and on for pages.

Unless, it's the literary equivalent of progressive American hating clapper-humor like John Stewart or Colbert.

It's like Vonnegut had to, had to barf out all of his hate before he could make with the funny.

I almost gave up on BoC - cuz who could read a couple of hundred pages of that nonsense - but then the actual story started and so far it's okay.

Vonnegut is a good high concept writer and his novels always center around a story gimmick.

In this case, the gimmick is presenting humans as nothing more than biochemical machines, who only think they have free will.

He gets some pretty good mileage and humor out of this conceit as he does with the childish illustrations he peppers the book with.

For those familiar with Vonnegut's characters, Kilgore Trout shows up and is apparently the catalyst that leads to the climax of the book - as he convinces the protagonist (biochemical machine) that he's the only one in the universe with free will.

That's not a spoiler - Vonnegut tells you this at the beginning. That's part of the whole programmed destiny joke.

I'm about halfway through and so far, if you like Vonnegut, you'll like this.

Except, for the whole hatey trolling forward, this would be a pretty good book to start with if you want to see what Vonnegut's all about. Or, maybe the hatey forward gives you an even better idea of what he's all about.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 27, 2014 11:11 AM (KBvAm)

45 to learn a bit about our family history which was sort of kept from us by my dad's mom.
Posted by: DangerGirl, who is tired at April 27, 2014 10:19 AM (GrtrJ)

Sad, but they have/had their reasons.

I had to dig into my own family history, which entailed bribes, lubricious use of large quantities of alcohol, etc, for the black sheep narratives that were always subdued in our yutes.

Being intent on becoming one, I wished to uphold the most moronic behavior, because family honor.

That's how I found out that, too young for WWII swab-jockey dad, had an older half-brother who was USAAC in WWII. Unfortunately, a lot of the story behind all that went to the grave with Grandma and Grandpa, years ago.

Posted by: 98ZJUSMC Waiting for the Sun at April 27, 2014 11:11 AM (RsS1Z)

46 23 I haven't heard, but I am so ready for a new Neal opus.

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 11:12 AM (s/sIv)

47 40
If there is truly an internal movement to convert Muslims to Christ, I bet its powered by women. tmitsss it would be so great to see Muslim women rise up.

Posted by: Timwi at April 27, 2014 11:12 AM (pdhxN)

48 Over many years I still say 'The Journeyer' by
Gary Jennings is the best read ever.
The first 100 pages are hard to get into, but after that the story will stay with you during your waking hours.

Posted by: doowleb at April 27, 2014 11:13 AM (EoE58)

49 Eden's Hammer by Lloyd Tackitt is free in the Kindle store today. This is the third book in the series. The first two books were worth reading if you are into the doomer future genre.

Posted by: Ben Ghazi at April 27, 2014 11:14 AM (m3Dxy)

50 Muslim background believers are leading Muslims to Christ in staggering numbers, but not in the West. They are doing this primarily in Muslim-majority nations almost completely under the radar—of everyone.

Huh.

Get some, Jesus. Anytime you wish to start in on the leftists here in the USSA, is good for me.

Sooner, the better.

Posted by: 98ZJUSMC Waiting for the Sun at April 27, 2014 11:14 AM (RsS1Z)

51 Been following the Correia dust-up for the last couple of weeks. Writer of great action fic, politically incorrect, former gun dealer, and has given himself the title (in honor of the lib's responses) International Lord of Hate.

If he's not an honorary Moron, he should be made one stat. He's given me one of my new favorite hobbies - playing with the Social Justice Warriors on the book wedsites. If you stay polite, you can get them really frustrated - my favorite tactic is to play dumb (granted, not much of a stretch) and get them to explain themselves again and again. Do it often enough and I eventually get a "because...shut up" response.

Posted by: RightWingPRof at April 27, 2014 11:15 AM (RtR5I)

52 Hard Boiled!

You think that's hard boiled.

You want some hard boiled?

You can't handle the hard boiled.

Here's the mafukin hard boiled. And by a guy who's been boiled himself.

http://byronbales.com/category/byron-bales-news/

He's actually an uncle of this moron and pretty much the inventor of the lifestyle.

Seriously. Check it out.

Posted by: Ronsonic at April 27, 2014 11:15 AM (1qQf+)

53 43
Sekrit to Anachronda

Your sekrit is safe with me (ponders summer reading schedule).

Posted by: Anachronda at April 27, 2014 11:16 AM (o78gS)

54 Has anyone read the complete 3- volume Churchill bio by William Manchester? I'm in the middle of the first volume, The Last Lion, and I can't believe how good the writing is-and of course the subject is fascinating. Does the quality hold up for the entire series? I know the last installment was completed by someone else...

Posted by: JoeyBagels at April 27, 2014 11:01 AM (SzG+F)

Loved "The Last Lion". Just a fantastic book. What a life Churchill led.

The second volume wasn't as good. Maybe Manchester was getting too old at this point.

I didn't read the third volume because while the 2nd volume isn't bad, it just wasn't nearly as good as the 1st.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 27, 2014 11:18 AM (KBvAm)

55 ATC, 30, who is the author of your "Nightlife" - there are four books with that title on amazon, including one labeled "paranormal romance".
Posted by: Tonestaple at April 27, 2014 11:02 AM (B7YN4)

Ah, sorry about that. It's by Matthew Quinn Martin - linky here

http://amzn.to/1pE3c3K

Posted by: alexthechick - Oh save us mighty SMOD at April 27, 2014 11:18 AM (dMSj2)

56 Posted by: DangerGirl, who is tired at April 27, 2014 10:19 AM (GrtrJ)

DangerGirl,

Here's a website for the 6th Armored Division.

www.super6th.org

Find out what you can. I had an uncle in the 28th Inv. Division who fought from France to the Battle of the Bulge where he was captured. He never talked about his WW2 experience, and I now know why he was an angry and bitter man.

Posted by: ExSnipe at April 27, 2014 11:19 AM (hzpoi)

57 35 yes, I've read the first two volumes some twenty years ago but am getting a bit bogged down in the third volume, which for a WWII fan like myself is a little surprising. This is spozed to be the money shot, right?

Maybe there's just some sort of hump I need to get over, or maybe the guy they got to finish the trilogy is good but not great? I dunno. I do know the first two were absolutely wonderful and compelling reads, and that "When's Volume 3 coming out?" was the single most often asked question when Houghton Miflin customer service reps answered their phones.

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 11:20 AM (s/sIv)

58 The Kirkus Review this week on "The Great Liars" by Jerry Jay Carroll:
“A riveting adventure that effectively explores the idea that history is written by the winners.”
That's hardly a new idea and what the reviewer missed was how funny this novel is about FDR's foreknowledge of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Still, “. . . a heady brew of military history and conspiracy theory that will appeal to aficionados of both.”

Posted by: Banjo at April 27, 2014 11:21 AM (59Mmb)

59 It's not humorous. It's not ironic. It's just a venomous trolling of America as a nation, a concept, a history, and Americans as a people. And it goes on and on for pages.

Conspicuous contrarianism. One proves ones intellectual bonafides before the ivy-league tribe by vilifying the Norms of the Mundanes. The conformism of The Learned.

Posted by: --- at April 27, 2014 11:21 AM (MMC8r)

60 Sekrit to Anachronda: book draft is finished. I repeat, book draft is finished. ETA to nitpicking 2 months (editor schedule....) Contains exotic locales, ancient forgotten cities, and much danger and adventure.

Yeah, but what about pastries?

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 11:23 AM (fTJ5O)

61 That's how I found out that, too young for WWII
swab-jockey dad, had an older half-brother who was USAAC in WWII.
Unfortunately, a lot of the story behind all that went to the grave with
Grandma and Grandpa, years ago.

Posted by: 98ZJUSMC Waiting for the Sun at April 27, 2014 11:11 AM (RsS1Z)
My personal guess is that my grandmother and my dad's father were never married, as she claims. After he died, she could pretty much say anything she wanted, considering she never again associated with anyone from my dad's dad's family.We may never figure out a lot about him, but at least we have a start.

Posted by: DangerGirl, who is tired at April 27, 2014 11:23 AM (GrtrJ)

62 Men are giving up on reading books

Do coloring books count?

Posted by: Slow Uncle Joe Biden's Foot at April 27, 2014 11:24 AM (Dwehj)

63 ATC, 30, who is the author of your "Nightlife" - there are four books with that title on amazon, including one labeled "paranormal romance".
Posted by: Tonestaple at April 27, 2014 11:02 AM (B7YN4)

Ah, sorry about that. It's by Matthew Quinn Martin - linky here

http://amzn.to/1pE3c3K
Posted by: alexthechick - Oh save us mighty SMOD at April 27, 2014 11:18 AM (dMSj2)

You mean it's a Quinn Martin Production?

In Color?

Posted by: naturalfake at April 27, 2014 11:24 AM (KBvAm)

64 Rolling through Everett, WA right now and there is a flattop anchored here. Designation is 68. Anybody know who she is?

Posted by: Mr. Dave at April 27, 2014 11:27 AM (c8Izq)

65 The BookbuB link actually goes to bookbuG.com, which is just a site for sale. Try BookbuB.com for the deals.

Posted by: john Pomeroy at April 27, 2014 11:28 AM (lOLTH)

66 Tip: don't forget to put the word so between is and because.

And do not say " The reason is because..."

Sorry for the GN stuff, it grates is all.

Book recommendation: The Slow Burn series by Bobby Adair. Yeah, zombies, but no magic.

Posted by: eman at April 27, 2014 11:28 AM (AO9UG)

67 Manchester was given his pick of terrific writers to hand the baton to but turned them all down for a newspaper feature writer who didn't quite cut the mustard. The two differed over how much importance to put on Churchill's periodic depressions. Manchester, who suffered himself from them, thought they should get bigger play.

Posted by: Banjo at April 27, 2014 11:29 AM (59Mmb)

68
Over many years I still say 'The Journeyer' by Gary Jennings is the best read ever.
Posted by: doowleb

All the novels he wrote before his death, as opposed to the books published afterwards by Gary Jennings Inc, are well worth this time.Manly, I'd say, historical fiction with a kinda Mondo World sensibility. Believable, even when he's probably just making it up.

I'd recommend his Aztec to new readers, that book rocked back in the day. although I'll admit to having a soft spot for Spangle.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at April 27, 2014 11:29 AM (kdS6q)

69 If it is CVN 68 that would be the Nimitz herself.

Posted by: Old Dog at April 27, 2014 11:29 AM (tQYJH)

70 64 That would be the Nimitz.

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 11:30 AM (s/sIv)

71 Posted by: naturalfake at April 27, 2014 11:11 AM (KBvAm)

I ultimately did a 180 on Vonnegut, whom I initially liked a great deal. By the time he died I couldn't stand him or his trite garbage.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 27, 2014 11:30 AM (YqrNH)

72 Does anyone have a link how to join the WorldCon so i can pay $40 for all those nominated works in ebook format?

Posted by: sithkhan at April 27, 2014 11:31 AM (F7qjM)

73 re: vonnegut - I still like "Harrison Bergeron" from the _Welcome to the Monkey House_ collection of short stories.

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 11:32 AM (s/sIv)

74 64, Mr. Dave - that would be the Nimitz. After Mt Vernon you'll follow the shoreline and the scenery gets better. From the CN station in Vanc it's an easy Skytrain ride into downtown.

Posted by: Skookumchuk at April 27, 2014 11:34 AM (OSzB9)

75 Christianity = Islam

There's no difference. Each wages war in the name of a millennia-old fairy tale.

But keep telling yourselves that one (the predominantly white one) is better than the other, if it makes you feel better about yourself. We all gotta get by.

Posted by: KindlyFuckOff at April 27, 2014 11:35 AM (JwLKW)

76 I also came to despise Vonnegut as he aged and revealed himself. I do however use "Foma!" when confronted with hippy-dippy bullshit.

Thanks for the ID of the Nimitz, he was a fellow Texan.

Posted by: Mr. Dave at April 27, 2014 11:36 AM (c8Izq)

77 I still like "Harrison Bergeron" from the _Welcome to the Monkey House_ collection of short stories.

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 11:32 AM (s/sIv)

That collection is probably the best thing he ever did imo. It was the first thing I read by him.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 27, 2014 11:37 AM (YqrNH)

78 Posted by: KindlyFuckOff at April 27, 2014 11:35 AM (JwLKW

Fuck you most sincerely.

Posted by: Mr. Dave at April 27, 2014 11:38 AM (c8Izq)

79 Waaah! They attacked Vonnegut! They hurt my widdle feelings. Waah!

Posted by: KindlyFuckOff at April 27, 2014 11:38 AM (JwLKW)

80 Could somebody who has posting privileges on "Hot Air" and is interested in the canonizations today in Rome consider going over to "Hot Air" r having a word (In the nicest way, of course) with the the guy (Murphy-2nd post) on the canonization thread? After reading a piece about why this is important to many people says, "All Irrelevant." To whom? The 800,000 people who showed up?. The many millions watching around the world or tuning in on radio including non Catholics. That's your militant anti Theist for you. He doesn't even say "to me it's irrelveant" No, he just makes a blanket statement.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 11:38 AM (XyM/Y)

81
Conspicuous contrarianism. One proves ones intellectual bonafides before the ivy-league tribe by vilifying the Norms of the Mundanes. The conformism of The Learned.

Posted by: --- at April 27, 2014 11:21 AM (MMC8r)

Yeah, probably so.

This was the book written after his huge breakout novel "Slaughterhouse 5"-

and the forward is so gratuitous and non-related to the rest of the book, it's like a big coming out of the closet moment for Vonnegut.

As though Vonnegut said to himself - I'm so big now, I'm free. Free to be who I really am.

And who he was free to be, I guess, was the guy who wants to climb on a soapbox to shoot a double bird while screaming "Fuck you, you fucking Americans." to passers-by.

This also conforms to the stereotype of humorists/comedians who are bitter, hateful shits in their private lives.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 27, 2014 11:38 AM (KBvAm)

82 78

My feelings are still hurt, so I'm pouting now.

Posted by: KindlyFuckOff at April 27, 2014 11:39 AM (JwLKW)

83
Does anyone have a link how to join the WorldCon so i can pay $40 for all those nominated works in ebook format?
Posted by: sithkhan

Memberships are pricey, so no way does it make sense to join just for a discount. Anyway, this ham gum is all bones.

http://www.loncon3.org/memberships/

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at April 27, 2014 11:40 AM (kdS6q)

84 No its what we say. Fuck you thoroughly with a stick.

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 11:41 AM (s/sIv)

85 A Vonnegut troll.

Cool.

Posted by: eman at April 27, 2014 11:41 AM (AO9UG)

86 Thanks john Pomeroy, the bookbub link is now fixed.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 11:41 AM (fTJ5O)

87 Alright, who delivered a troll to the book thread? Seriously, the troll was supposed to be for the ONT, somebody fucked up. We got to straighten this out people.

Posted by: Weirddave at April 27, 2014 11:41 AM (N/cFh)

88 worldcon.org
http://www.loncon3.org/memberships/

http://loncon3.org/2014hugos.php

Sponsoring membership if you don't want to be there in person.

Posted by: Let me Goggle That fir yee at April 27, 2014 11:42 AM (aRE3g)

89 87 Alright, who delivered a troll to the book thread? Seriously, the troll was supposed to be for the ONT, somebody fucked up. We got to straighten this out people.
Posted by: Weirddave at April 27, 2014 11:41 AM (N/cFh

I hope we paid the fee for troll tracking.

Posted by: eman at April 27, 2014 11:43 AM (AO9UG)

90 Hey, Kindly-

This is a list of the countries who have the most Catholics?

Nation Percent Number of
baptized
Catholics
Brazil 86.50% 134,818,000
Mexico 95.30 86,305,000
USA 26.00 ~61,000,000
Philippines 83.60 58,735,000
Italy 97.20% 55,599,000
France 82.10 47,773,000
Spain 94.20 36,956,000
Poland 95.40 36,835,000
Colombia 91.90 32,260,000
Argentina 90.70 31,546,000
Germany 34.80 28,403,000

Guess what; There's more than a few people of color there. :^)

P.S. The evangelical church is exploding in China and in Latin America. Are they all white there too.

You are sadly misinformed

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 11:43 AM (XyM/Y)

91
Christianity = Islam There's no difference. Each wages war in the name of a millennia-old fairy tale. But keep telling yourselves that one (the predominantly white one) is better than the other, if it makes you feel better about yourself.
Posted by: KindlyFuckOff

*trolls morning book thread*

*pats self on back, adjusts fedora to rakish angle*

*attempts to fit asthma inhaler thru mouth of Guy Fawkes mask*

*fails and passes out from anoxia*

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at April 27, 2014 11:43 AM (kdS6q)

92 If I'm good, my mommy will let me type on the internets

Posted by: KindlyFuckOff at April 27, 2014 11:44 AM (JwLKW)

93 well, to get back on topic, I'm thinking of picking up a used Diplodocus. Any recommendations, suggestions?

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 11:45 AM (s/sIv)

94 LMAO!!

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 11:46 AM (s/sIv)

95 Sniff. Nobody likes me. Boohoohoo!

Posted by: KindlyFuckOff at April 27, 2014 11:47 AM (JwLKW)

96 Please don't feed the troll.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 11:47 AM (fTJ5O)

97 Here's an article about growth about Evanegelicals in Latin America:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1606671/posts

Are they all pasty white too?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 11:47 AM (XyM/Y)

98 O.K. Sorry.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 11:47 AM (XyM/Y)

99
Re WorldCon:

It's in London this year, and I notice it has this rate structure

Adult membership - aged 26 and over.

Young Adult membership - aged between 16 and 25 years on 14 August 2014.

Probably because YA NEETS on the dole infest the UK and they're trying to appeal to that set.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at April 27, 2014 11:47 AM (kdS6q)

100 Well this is nice to see: I'm from the same area as Mattoon, Illinois. The closest chain Burger King I've been to is about 28 miles to the south in Effingham. As for the Mattoon mom n'pop version, they've got decent burgers. Probably the best part is their bottles on bottles of barbecue sauce.

Posted by: GSain at April 27, 2014 11:48 AM (9L8Hs)

101 my widdle feelings are still hurt. you guys are mean. waaah!

Posted by: KindlyFuckOff at April 27, 2014 11:50 AM (JwLKW)

102 I've got nothing better to do than insult strangers on a book thread.

Posted by: KindaFuckedUp at April 27, 2014 11:51 AM (c8Izq)

103 Vonnegut peed sitting down.

Posted by: eman at April 27, 2014 11:51 AM (AO9UG)

104 Oy vey. Who's got the TB3K? Anybody?

Posted by: Insomniac at April 27, 2014 11:51 AM (mx5oN)

105 As to what Mr. O'Muse wrote above about men not reading more, I agree. I don't. And it's been funny over the last couple of months reading this thread with people mentioning series of books they read growing up. Hell, I read all.the.time. but still had a normal childhood. Always out with my friends, doing whatever, but still constantly reading. Burroughs, Michner, Fleming, all sorts of sci-fi, Tolkien, you name it. Maybe it had to do with not much on TV in those days.

And the other point made, that women buy and loan books, gotta admit most of the recent books I've read have been from my sister. But she has pretty wide tastes, so it's not like she's loaning me just chick lit or anything like that. Oh, and she also belongs to Vine, which I think Sgt. Mom mentioned the other week. Books are sent to you to review. According to my sis, Amazon needs reviewers, so if anyone wants free books...

Posted by: HH at April 27, 2014 11:52 AM (XXwdv)

106 I have been reading a collection of short stories by Guy de Maupassant. Good writer, but good grief so many of his stories are so very grim.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 11:54 AM (XyM/Y)

107 Out go the lights.

Posted by: Mr. Dave at April 27, 2014 11:56 AM (c8Izq)

108 Antique stores are an excellent source for used books. Picked up Robert Massie's Dreadnought for four bucks at an antique store last week.

That story will chill the marrow. When the HMS Dreadnought was christened in 1906, Britain and its Empire was unrivaled in the world.

Fifty years, two world wars, and a heaping dose of socialism later, Britain was but a dried husk of its former self.

If Obama were historically literate, which he is not, I'd be tempted to say he looks at the decline of the British Empire and sees a model for the U.S., not a warning.

Posted by: Caledroski at April 27, 2014 11:58 AM (YBusZ)

109 hhmmmpppfff
Make up a word, make up a name, and google it.

Question for the authors present, when you make up a character name do you google it first to prevent lawsuits over your character description resembling a real human?

Posted by: Pointless in Paduka at April 27, 2014 11:58 AM (aRE3g)

110 Antique stores are an excellent source for used books.

Pussy, too. Best to learn a bit about antiques to up your game, though.

Posted by: garrett at April 27, 2014 12:00 PM (4sqCK)

111 FenelonSpoke, book you might find interesting that crossed my desk when I worked at Baylor Press: The Evangelical Movement in Ethiopia by Tibebe Eshete. He covers a *lot* of historical territory--the roots of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the reasons Catholics are generally reviled (mainly the Jesuits working for the Italian invaders during WWII), the successes and failures of various Protestant missionary efforts, the homegrown Pentecostal movement, and the effects of Communist rule on all of the above. Really fascinating read.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 27, 2014 12:00 PM (Aiwi+)

112 Oy vey. Who's got the TB3K? Anybody?

Meh. More a clown than a troll.

Posted by: --- at April 27, 2014 12:01 PM (MMC8r)

113 Thanks for the recommendation, Elizabeth.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 12:02 PM (XyM/Y)

114 I don't normally read fiction, but I'm working my way through the Longmire books. Almost makes you want to move to Wyoming. Then I remember that I don't like shoveling snow.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 27, 2014 12:03 PM (Lqy/e)

115 I don't normally read fiction, but I'm working my way through the Longmire books. Almost makes you want to move to Wyoming. Then I remember that I don't like shoveling snow

Yeah, and the murder rate in those rural counties is appalling.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 12:04 PM (fTJ5O)

116 "I have been reading a collection of short stories by Guy de Maupassant."

Seems to me I read years ago that his one fear was that he would go insane and wind up in an Asylum.

Guess what happened...

Also, didn't he write "The Horla"? Man, that was a creepy story.

Posted by: HH at April 27, 2014 12:05 PM (XXwdv)

117 Why am I reminded of this bit of dialog when talking of bullets not being a deterrent? From the 1959 Ben-Hur.

Messala, "I tell you how you fight an idea. With another idea!"

May Yeshua become the Saviour of so many more, instead of merely a human teacher in the Qu'ran.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 27, 2014 12:06 PM (bKEDY)

118 Hi all. Oddly enough, my F-I-L was ministering to Muslim areas of the Philippines and SE Asia at the time of his mysterious disappearance. His vision was to establish a course of study in classical religious writings, with commentary added, that would be available to interested individuals in countries that were relatively hostile to Christianity. He called it Thanksgiving Hill College and was working on the curriculum at the time he disappeared. I do not think that is related to his disappearance, other than that the neighbor who we believe killed him had helped him previously with some computer-based aspects of the work Jack was doing and that we think Jack was planning to visit that neighbor the week he disappeared. If anybody is interested, I found an old video of Jack acting out the original character of Seamus Muldoon, which served as the seed nugget for the later tale "The Curious Disappearance of Seamus Muldoon". The distinctly unpolished 6:00 video is linked in my nick. Enjoy.

Posted by: S. Muldoon at April 27, 2014 12:09 PM (MKpBT)

119 Speaking of Churchill, Martin Gilbert is his official biographer in the U.K. and has written many excellent books. The hardest book to get through I've ever read, not because of the writing, which is superb, but the subject matter, his "The Holocaust". This is the single most horrifying book I've ever read, details matters not generally known of the demonic sadism carried out by the Nazis. Elie Wiesel says "overwhelms...must be read and reread". Gilbert tries his best to humanize the victims, gives vignettes of individuals here and there to retrieve them out of the sea of inconceivable numbers. Highly recommended, but a strong stomach is needed.

Posted by: JHW at April 27, 2014 12:09 PM (A4PmA)

120 De Maupassant ha syphillis who contributed to his paranoia, I haven't read "The Horla" yet but it's in the collection. Thanks for the warning. ^) I'll have to find something cheerier as a chaser by another short story writer. It's a beautiful book-an old book in. very good condition with a lovely binding and end papers, left in box outside the church I serve. I don't know why and nobody else knows why either.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 12:11 PM (XyM/Y)

121 12 11 was he a kangaroo?

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 10:25 AM (s/sIv)

Good! Ha Ha!

You know they call VMI graduates Kangaroos?

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 27, 2014 12:12 PM (0FSuD)

122 I'll have to find something cheerier as a chaser by another short story writer.

What about O. Henry?

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 12:12 PM (fTJ5O)

123 @115

Yeah, and the murder rate in those rural counties is appalling.

****

apropos to my #118.

Posted by: S. Muldoon at April 27, 2014 12:13 PM (MKpBT)

124 ...and Costilla County's sheriff is no Longmire.

Posted by: S. Muldoon at April 27, 2014 12:13 PM (MKpBT)

125 I'll have to try that. Thanks. I haven't read too many O. Henry Short stories except for the one about the poor married couple at Christmas.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 12:15 PM (XyM/Y)

126 I haven't read too many O. Henry Short stories except for the one about the poor married couple at Christmas.

Right, which is why I recommended him. I'm thinking maybe he might have others like that.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 12:18 PM (fTJ5O)

127 Part Two of ROP - (sigh) for Anachondra at #39
http://tinyurl.com/mdenwrv

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 27, 2014 12:18 PM (Asjr7)

128 The books of Jack McDevitt were recommended here as a mix of sci-fi and mystery so I picked up 'Seeker', book 3 of the Alex Benedict series, which won the Hugo a few years ago. It's many thousands of years in the future and Alex with his female employee Chase search the galaxy for historical artifacts to sell to the wealthy. They come upon a 9000-year-old cup of a long-ago vanished colony ship which begins their investigation. I liked the story a lot and plan to check out more in the series.

Currently reading 'Slow Getting Up' by Nate Jackson, a biography of what it's like to be an average NFL player which is pretty good, and 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' by Douglas Adams which I'm not liking much but I'm not quitting dammit. I could deal with the surrealistic story but just don't like much of the writing so far.

Posted by: waelse1 at April 27, 2014 12:19 PM (FVt/M)

129 I've been making my way through the Canterbury Tales, among other things. The Wife of Bath - what a woman!

Posted by: biancaneve at April 27, 2014 12:19 PM (2sR50)

130 Find a collection that includes "The Ransom of Red Chief." It. Is. HILARIOUS.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 27, 2014 12:20 PM (Aiwi+)

131 O. Henry was a great short story writer!

Ok gang, looks like it's about time to turn on my weather radio. Things about to get interesting here in the KC area. Wish us Luck...

Posted by: HH at April 27, 2014 12:20 PM (XXwdv)

132 Oh, yes; I did read "The Ransom of Red Chief" too and quite enjoyed it.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 12:23 PM (XyM/Y)

133 I bought and am reading Correia Monster Hunter International pure because it should pass off all the right people. And I don't even like fantasy.

I'm getting bored with Flint and the 1632 series. And no he's not a Trot. He's an old fashioned union guy.

Posted by: Buck Farack, Gentleman Adventurer at April 27, 2014 12:24 PM (y9dfJ)

134 You know, I've wondered for some time now if Islam is collapsing internally - and the spasms of violence around the edges aren't a symptom of weakness rather than strength.

I was thinking the Arab Muslim world was going to get blindsided by thousands of Chinese evangelists coming from the east. Google for "Chinese home church back to Jerusalem" and you'll find some interesting links.

However, an indigenous "Jesus people" movement springing up in the Muslim world is fine by me.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 12:24 PM (fTJ5O)

135 I "borrowed' extensively from The Ransom of Red Chief for one of my chapters.

Posted by: S. Muldoon at April 27, 2014 12:28 PM (MKpBT)

136 Muslim background believers are leading Muslims to Christ in staggering numbers, but not in the West.

This has been a major issue in the Episcopal church for quite a while where the only growth is taking place in Africa and Asia where they're going toe to toe with the rock worshipers. There was a big world wide conference a few years ago where the bishops from the growth areas were demanding that Rowan Williams and his fellow turds dial back on homo marriage and other dipshit ideas that made their task more difficult. Rowan and his toadies fired back by, in not so many words, calling those people a bunch of illiterate savages that needed to STFU when among their betters. This obviously did not go over very well and continues to this day.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 27, 2014 12:29 PM (YqrNH)

137 If there is truly an internal movement to convert Muslims to Christ, I bet its powered by women.

This wouldn't surprise me. When the gospel first hits a culture, those who typically respond first are among the lower castes, the untouchables, the poor, the have-nots of that culture. So a Muslim woman who has been shoved around all her life by first her own family and then her husband and sons would be ripe to hear the good news of liberation and freedom brought by Jesus Christ.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 12:31 PM (fTJ5O)

138 I read somewhere that Flint did have a little of the Marxist in him. If that's the case, he's so old school that he probably doesn't fit into the modern leftard groups anyways. So I can live with that.

Also, I'd like to toss Taylor Anderson's Destroyermen series into the ring as a good read. U.S. Navy WW2 destroyer winds up in an alternate universe, where strange lemur-like creatures are fighting a war for survival against velociraptors? Sure, let's roll with it.

Posted by: Toastrider at April 27, 2014 12:34 PM (68UOB)

139
This has been a major issue in the Episcopal church for quite a while where the only growth is taking place in Africa and Asia where they're going toe to toe with the rock worshipers. There was a big world wide conference a few years ago where the bishops from the growth areas were demanding that Rowan Williams and his fellow turds dial back on homo marriage and other dipshit ideas that made their task more difficult. Rowan and his toadies fired back by, in not so many words, calling those people a bunch of illiterate savages that needed to STFU when among their betters. This obviously did not go over very well and continues to this day.

Yeah, the disintegration of the Anglican Union is truly a sad thing to watch. Rowan Williams and and his merry band of liberal saboteurs are signing that denomination's death warrant.

I recommend Christopher Johnson's blog http://themcj.com that chronicles the decline.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 12:34 PM (fTJ5O)

140 Awww, maaaaannn.

I missed all the Vonnegut Troll action.

*pouts*

That'll teach me to go do something constructive.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 27, 2014 12:35 PM (KBvAm)

141 Re: WorldCon Memberships

I had found the links at the Hugo website as well as the LonCon. What I confused by is a recurring mention in the comment threads of Correia and others in regards to his Voting Slate of a $40 membership that grants you all the nominated stories in ebook format. Considering the entire Wheel Of Time series, yes, all 15 books, will be a part of this, I have some interest in figuring this out.

Thanks to all the help earlier in the thread.

Posted by: sithkhan at April 27, 2014 12:38 PM (F7qjM)

142 I just stumbled across this Kiwi writer's web-site. And the Writing tips section has things for me to ponder.

http://www.chrismarnewick.com/writing-tips/

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 27, 2014 12:39 PM (bKEDY)

143 "I can only hope this is true and not just wishful thinking."

Its true, but not a huge movement. Its a slow and steady trickle that's spreading, as Christianity always has under oppression and persecution. You can see how true it is by the reaction: more and more brutal hate and cruelty to Christians, more laws to silence any faith other than Islam, etc.

The truth cannot be silenced by hate and cruelty or law. Even as Christianity wanes in the west, it grows in the rest of the world, God bless them all. We wasted it here on wars and inquisitions and finally just let it all go to please the world around us.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at April 27, 2014 12:41 PM (zfY+H)

144 30% of South Korea's population is Christian.

Posted by: mrp at April 27, 2014 12:41 PM (JBggj)

145 Canterbury and Rowen Williams lead to the great Iowahawk.

http://tinyurl.com/2sflpx

Posted by: Mr. Dave at April 27, 2014 12:43 PM (c8Izq)

146 Anna Puma Smith,
Thank You!

Posted by: Carol at April 27, 2014 12:44 PM (gjOCp)

147 30% of South Korea's population is Christian.

Is that all? I thought it was a lot higher.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 12:45 PM (fTJ5O)

148 Carol, uh what did I do? And Smith?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 27, 2014 12:46 PM (bKEDY)

149 Yes, Eric Flint is in his own words a Trotskyite, and he populates his fiction with sickeningly stupid stereotypes of "managers" and business owners that make communists squeal in glee.

He's "loves" America only enough to be allowed to plan the forced education and relocation of his enemies like all leftists. One of the only Baen authors and editors I will never purchase new. And since I've read his garbage, never will again purchase used either.

Posted by: Inspector Cussword at April 27, 2014 12:49 PM (Qp0nB)

150 I'd like to strongly recommend a book about "righteous gentiles" who saved Jews during WWII "The Altruistic Personality" by Samuel Oliner.
Oliner, a Polish Jew, was hidden by gentiles when he was a child and as an adult, wondered why some people went out of their way and risked their own lives and the lives of their families to save Jews while others were indifferent or aided the Nazis. He conducted interviews with 700 European rescuers and nonrescuers.

The thing that really stuck me was that you not only had to be brave to be a successful rescuer, you had to be very smart and inventive. A frightened Jewish family turns up on your doorstep and you want to help. Well, OK, where are you going to put them? How will you feed them, when you don't have enough food for yourself and your family because of the war? What sort of hiding places or escape routes will you devise? What stories will you tell neighbors and relatives who might rat on you? Everything had to be very carefully planned and every scenario had to be covered, because one slip-up meant death.

Thereis a story about a woman who was taking a small Jewish boy from one "safe house" to another. They walked down a street and saw Nazis hauling Jews out of a building. The boy said, loudly "We Jews must be very important, everyone is looking for us." Several soldiers and passerbys looked at them. The woman had the presence of mind to laugh and say, "We Jews? Why you silly boy, what a joker you are!" That was the danger of hiding children who were too small to understand what was going on.

It was more dangerous to hide boys (because of circumcision). It was also more difficult to hide Eastern European Jews than it was to hide more assimilated Western Europeans. Many of the Eastern European Jews spoke Polish or Russian or Czech with heavy Yiddish accents, which gave them away.

Posted by: Donna and V. (no ampersand) at April 27, 2014 12:50 PM (+XMAD)

151 I liked the story a lot and plan to check out more in the series.
Posted by: waelse1 at April 27, 2014 12:19 PM (FVt/M)

Hey, glad you liked it. The last of his that I read is called "FIREBIRD".

Interesting thread that runs through the novel is the story of 'ghost' ships. Spacecraft that appear on radar, possibly some communication, but then are gone.

And it's an Alex Benedict Novel.

Posted by: HH at April 27, 2014 12:51 PM (XXwdv)

152 You got Mero for me!

I'm sorry I looked at letters after your name, just like they are after all our posts & it looked like Smith to me for some stupid reason (I can't see w/o my glasses) I need bifocals but can't manage them. I'm going to have to get reading glasses.
Im so sorry.

Posted by: Carol at April 27, 2014 12:51 PM (gjOCp)

153 Trotskyites, Republicans...same difference.

Posted by: Hammerin' Hank Aaron at April 27, 2014 12:51 PM (Dwehj)

154 Posted by: Donna and V. (no ampersand) at April 27, 2014 12:50 PM (+XMAD)

For the perspective of a gentile whose family protected Jews and ended up in a concentration camp for it, read "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom.

Posted by: The Montreal Canadiens at April 27, 2014 12:53 PM (S/Z9J)

155 Are there or have there been any hybrids of Islam and Christianity?

Someone somewhere must have given it a try.

Posted by: eman at April 27, 2014 12:53 PM (AO9UG)

156 Off, yesterday's sock!

Posted by: Vendette at April 27, 2014 12:53 PM (S/Z9J)

157 I love the stuff by "Iowahawk" but I had never read that one before. That was great.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 12:53 PM (XyM/Y)

158 Little Fuzzy anyone?

http://youtu.be/GQcN7lHSD5Y

Posted by: Anachronda at April 27, 2014 12:54 PM (o78gS)

159 Anna, it's that after Puma there is (+SMuD) right after your Nic, before the other letters.
I'm going to try to take a nap.

Thank you,again.

Posted by: Carol at April 27, 2014 12:56 PM (gjOCp)

160 David P. Goldman wrote a book "How Civilizations Die." Islam is dying. They cannot feed themselves. They are not reproducing. The Ayatolas in Iran know they are dying too. When a civilization dies, it tries to take out as many of their enemies as they can.

Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at April 27, 2014 12:57 PM (V70Uh)

161 Carol, oh you are welcome. Twas not a problem. Hope you feeling better.

Anachronda, more of the third book of the original Piper treatment. When Little Fuzzy and that tribe of wild ones got caught in the forest fire. BTW got any hokfusine?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 27, 2014 12:57 PM (bKEDY)

162 off to church worship, thanks to all of you 'rons and 'ettes for making this threat great, bbl

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 27, 2014 01:02 PM (fTJ5O)

163 Upthread some anti-faith bigot claimed Islam and Christianity were the same - showing exactly how ignorant bigotry requires of an adherent. Just for that little hitler's benefit, let me point out that Christianity has a Temporal versus Spritual dichotomy in proscriptions and adherences - in short, some things are left to God because God is in control. Christians do not murder those who question or leave the faith - the apostles themselves admit to questioning and struggle. The ones who leave the faith or- like the upthread bigot - are declaring themselves as the faith's enemies - are left alone for God to sort out.

In Islam, if you disagrree or are questioning - you are murdered. In every country that is majority Islamic, the ones who leave the "faith" are murdered and such murder is justified. There is no split between the spiritual realm and the temporal/political exercise of power.

The difference is that Islam protects itself with murder, force, intimidation, and political power. Christianity responds with prayer.

Posted by: Inspector Cussword at April 27, 2014 01:02 PM (Qp0nB)

164 I read "Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book" by Walker Percy within the last year.

Earlier this week, a thread here discussed a possibly life-sustaining planet 500 light years away.

One of Percy's "thought experiments" was this: Suppose a spaceship of humans arrives at the planet and before they are allowed to land they have to answer the following question: "What is the state of your conscience?"

The Humans reply: What do you mean?

The inhabitants reply: "There are three states. The first one is innocence, like your Adam and Eve before the Fall into sin. The second is after the Fall but before help is sought from the Creator. The third is one of redemption while help is being sought."

Since the humans are in neither state 1 nor 3, they are not permitted to land.

The idea of "self-help" is mocked.

Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at April 27, 2014 01:08 PM (V70Uh)

165 Anyone read George Washington's Secret Six by Kilmead and Yaeger?
Has good reviews, but curious if anyone on the book thread has read it.

Posted by: Charlotte at April 27, 2014 01:09 PM (opWWt)

166 Inspector Cussword at April 27, 2014 01:02 PM (Qp0nB)

Good comment. Christ's statement about rendering onto to Caesar what is Caesar's and onto God what is God's makes a crucial distinction between church and state. Over the next 2000 years, at times the Church and civil authority acted in tandem (and it was under those circumstances that the Church became corrupt), sometimes they were in opposition - but a distinction was always drawn, even during the Middle Ages. Clergymen could have great influence over a monarch - they themselves were not kings or knights.

Unlike Christ, Mohammed commanded an army. No distinction was ever drawn in Islam between the faith and the state.

Posted by: Donna and V. (no ampersand) at April 27, 2014 01:10 PM (+XMAD)

167 Are there or have there been any hybrids of Islam and Christianity?

Posted by: eman at April 27, 2014 12:53 PM (AO9UG)

Islam is Christianity reimagined to fit the needs of the megalomaniac Mohammed.

Mohammed was the Jesse Jackson of his time, in rhyme and cadence, which is why the Koran must be read and spoken in Arabic or it is not authentic.

Posted by: Pointless in Paduka at April 27, 2014 01:11 PM (aRE3g)

168 Charlotte, my parents and I started listening to the audiobook a few weeks back. Unfortunately, we were in the car, and I fell asleep--no fault of the writing, that, just the way of it! But the parts I did hear were interesting enough that I think I'd like to read the whole thing.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 27, 2014 01:12 PM (Aiwi+)

169 161
Anachronda,
more of the third book of the original Piper treatment. When Little
Fuzzy and that tribe of wild ones got caught in the forest fire..

I was thinking more specifically of the scene in the courtroom where one of the fuzzies whips out a pipe and lights it up.

I bought them all in one big book, so I'm a big fuzzy about where the book boundaries lie.

Posted by: Anachronda at April 27, 2014 01:13 PM (o78gS)

170 It was time for an easy read, so I chose a favorite, The Young Lions, by Irwin Shaw. WWII book, as seen from the eyes of two Americans and one German soldier. It's widely considered one of the best WWII novels, for good reason.

Posted by: pep at April 27, 2014 01:16 PM (4nR9/)

171 Vonnegut never got over the fire-bombing of Dresden. A lot of asymetrical moral equivalence.

Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at April 27, 2014 01:17 PM (V70Uh)

172 Mr.Dave - 68 is the USS Ronald Reagan.

Posted by: Bookaday at April 27, 2014 01:17 PM (j3vws)

173 Came across this Monty Python mash up of Othello, the Merchant of Venice, and some of the characters of the Cask of Amontillado, by Christopher Moore, 'the Serpent of Venice,

Posted by: Jeffrey Pelt at April 27, 2014 01:18 PM (Jsiw/)

174 Well, poop - no it's not - it IS the Nimitz.

Posted by: Bookaday at April 27, 2014 01:18 PM (j3vws)

175 As far as persecution, I am reminded of Saeed Abedini, the Iranian American pastor who is currently held in Iran, and some of whose letters I have been posting on the morning thread. He has been tortured and is now in the hospital and the medical personnel are not supposed to touch him because he is considered unclean as a Christian. He was a convert to Christianity. He is always praying for the people who are persecuting him and is very loving. I can't help but think that his example may ove a few minds and hearts to Christianity even amongst his captors

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2014 01:19 PM (XyM/Y)

176 160 David P. Goldman wrote a book "How Civilizations Die." Islam is dying. They cannot feed themselves. They are not reproducing. The Ayatolas in Iran know they are dying too. When a civilization dies, it tries to take out as many of their enemies as they can.
Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at April 27, 2014 12:57 PM (V70Uh)

One thing about Islamic culture is that when they are weak they act as if they're strong and vice versa. It's kind of a Golden Books version of Sun Tzu. Of course, everybody in the Islamic world knows this trick, which leads to lies and deceit being an integral part of the culture.

Anyway, that's Islamic behavior now. False bravado.

Now there's no denying that a guilty post-Christian Western culture is willing to throw away its own purported principles in indulging them, but Muslim leaders are afraid of losing. They think that a whiff of bacon, a Hollywood movie or a preacher speaking forgiveness will make the whole enterprise collapse.

Posted by: AmishDude at April 27, 2014 01:19 PM (1UzRc)

177 Now that I've made myself look even more foolish than I feel at the moment, I shall only remark that I'm enjoying re-reading all the Harry Bosch books, and will move on to Mickey Haller sometime this week.

Posted by: Bookaday at April 27, 2014 01:21 PM (j3vws)

178 The scene you are talking about is when Little Fuzzy and family are reunited with Jack during the dual trial of Jack for killing a hired gunslinger and when CZC's chief scientist murdered Goldilocks. That is the first book. Second book deals with Diamond and the heist of the CZC sunstone vault. Third book is when Hugo Ingerman is trying to get his clients, the Fagins behind the sunstone caper, off and Little Fuzzy gets lost.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 27, 2014 01:23 PM (bKEDY)

179 [Russians win Cold War.] So I hope you morons can help a brother out here.
It was The Barack Obama Story.

Posted by: andycanuck at April 27, 2014 01:23 PM (D+5pt)

180 Bookaday, hull numbers are not for amateurs. Please don't try calling them from home.

Posted by: Buddha at April 27, 2014 01:34 PM (s/sIv)

181 Mmm. O. Henry.

Posted by: homer simpson at April 27, 2014 01:42 PM (D+5pt)

182 35 Has anyone read the complete 3- volume Churchill bio by William Manchester? I'm in the middle of the first volume, The Last Lion, and I can't believe how good the writing is-and of course the subject is fascinating. Does the quality hold up for the entire series? I know the last installment was completed by someone else...

I loved the second volume; it's one of my favorite books ever, because it captures Churchill's lonely struggle with, and eventual victory over, an Establishment that was almost entirely against him. See Cruz, Ted. It makes for a great story. Unfortunately it took a near-catastrophe to give Churchill his vindication, but at least if you've been sounding the alarm all along, there's a decent chance that people will turn to you when the old ways are shown to be wrong.

Posted by: Splunge at April 27, 2014 02:17 PM (qyomX)

183 I've been re-reading Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. It's five books -- what do you call that? trilogy, tetralogy, ???

This series has rewarded rereading more than almost anything I can think of. The first time, it was hard going, because it was so different from anything else I'd ever read. The protagonist-narrator basically talks to you as though you are a person of his time (uncountable thousands of years in our future), and makes assumptions that a lot of things don't need explanation (although the explanations creep out in asides later). There is something very compelling about these books that I find difficult to describe. I remember reading an article recently that suggested that Gene Wolfe may be the greatest living science fiction author. I can believe it.

Posted by: Splunge at April 27, 2014 02:24 PM (qyomX)

184 Bookaday, if it were the USS RR, the entire Puget Sound region would have a conniption fit and possibly all their heads would explode. Except for me and a few others. How soon do you supposed we could get the Ronald Reagan here?

Posted by: Tonestaple at April 27, 2014 02:26 PM (B7YN4)

185 For story identification, you might want to check out the StackExchange web sites. I have mostly been looking at the science fiction one... Lots of stories get identified, even some really obscure ones. There probably is one for general fiction as well.

Posted by: mr_jack at April 27, 2014 02:48 PM (0Kqj/)

186 It's true; ever since the mid-90s, when the internet became The Internet, I've found I spend more and more time futzing around online, and consequently, my book-reading has declined precipitously.

Yeah, that's me all right. I hardly ever find the time to read books any more.

The really hilarious part is that I've been buying them at a furious clip.

I used to buy paperbacks because they were cheaper. Then I discovered Brodart, and ever since then I've sought out hardcovers whenever possible.

It's funny. The voracious readers borrow books from libraries, and seek out bargains on Kindle. I don't own a Kindle or Nook, but pay full price for hardcovers, Brodart the dust jackets, then throw 'em on the "to read" pile.

Actually, I have lots of "to read" piles. I'm about to the point where I need to buy another house to have a place to store all of the books that I keep accumulating.

On Friday I received my copy of "Fortress Rabaul" by Bruce Gamble. As is usually the case, it sounds like an interesting book that I'm sure I'll get around to reading someday. This one interests me because my dad was aboard the USS Lexington at the time, and was an eyewitness to the dogfight for which Butch O'Hare was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Posted by: rickl at April 27, 2014 03:32 PM (sdi6R)

187 I just started Robert Jordan's Eye of the World, which is pretty good but a little feminine for my tastes, which is surprising since Jordan was an Army Vietnam vet and Citadel grad. Anyone read this series? is it worth sticking with?

Posted by: elcid91 at April 27, 2014 03:57 PM (e83Xk)

188 When he was about to resign, Chamberlain told Winston and Halifax one of them would replace him. He preferred Halifax, but the foreign secretary didn't think he wasup to the job. So it went to Churchill. And a good thing, too, for Halifax was cut from the same cloth as Chamberlain and would have rolled over for Hitler.

Posted by: Banjo at April 27, 2014 05:03 PM (59Mmb)

189 El Cid -

Books 1-5 are great, 6-9 are tedious, then 10-14 are off to the races, especially once Sanderson is given the reins.

Posted by: sithkhan at April 27, 2014 05:18 PM (F7qjM)

190 Thanks for the bit about Larry Corriea. Interesting read re: the SFWA. Never heard of the guy, (but then I don't follow contemporary sci-fi/fantasy fiction).

I read his "Detroit Christmas" short story, available free from his publisher, Baen. A nice combination of hard boiled detective fiction and fantasy. Seems like an odd combo, but it works.

Corriea has a series of books in this vein, called Grimnoir, which is a good series title. Am going to buy the first volume, "Hard Magic", in ebook format for my Nook.

Posted by: jbarntt at April 27, 2014 05:37 PM (UNFot)

191 I've been gallivanting around Capital City today so I'm late to the thread, but I wanted to pimp a few good books perfect for fair weather reading:

If you enjoy Crichton, you'll probably dig Warren Fahy's books "Fragment" and "Pandemonium". In Fragment, we are introduced to Hender's Island, a remnant ecology on a rocky outcropping with formidable cliffs that has effectively been cut off from our planet's current ecosphere for about half a billion years. The bizarre flora and fauna are engaged in horrific non-stop "survival of the fittest" and are of such violent temperament and accelerated reproduction that if they were to escape they would dominate our planet in a matter of years. A group from a semi-educational reality show respond to a distress beacon and all hell breaks loose, as it is wont to do in these kinds of Lost World stories.
The sequel, Pandemonium, takes place in another sealed off biosphere from another time, in this case a subterranean stratum in the Urals discovered when Stalin was building an underground city as an escape route in the event of nuclear war. The slave labor was repeated attacked by strange creatures and the project was shut down, until modern times when an oligarch buys the tunnel for a song and refurbishes it into a personal stronghold. But the workers keep getting attacked by weird life forms. All hell breaks loose, as it is wont to do in these kinds of Lost World stories.

Finished Alan Bradley's "The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches", the latest Flavia de Luce mystery. Flavia is one of my favorite literary creations, a gruesome little tweener forensic chemistry fanatic with the mind of a Pasteur and the soul of a Wednesday Addams.

Just started the final volume in Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series, "Fiddlehead", a Civil War era difference engine that can be used for great good or greater evil. In this alternate timeline, the Civil War has been dragging on for two decades. Toss in zombies, zeppelins, and a mysterious drug enslaving both sides of the fight, and you have yourself some primo Steamfunk.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 27, 2014 06:44 PM (QBm1P)

192 Just signed up for BookBub. Got some decent recommendations already. And the one thing I really need is MORE BOOKS!

Posted by: sinalco at April 27, 2014 07:19 PM (V42Jv)

193 Regarding the question about signing up as a Hugo voter, you can get a supporting membership now for about $40, but the Hugo Voter Packet with all of the ebooks isn't available yet. If the timing is the same as the last couple of years, it'll probably be released around the 18th-20th May.

Posted by: RW at April 27, 2014 08:20 PM (JQbnu)

194 I just finished read The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain and man is it a hoot. It was really refreshing to read someone look at a foreign land and culture and tell you what they REALLY think without the slightest need to be PC. What was really telling was his journeys through the Muslim dominated eras; the graphic descriptions of the flies, filth, poverty and ignorance, coupled with an unbelievable arrogance. He goes on for like a paragraph in one village, describing the local's rags and parasites and superstition when his party runs out of water. The locals get mad because they don't want "impure" believers fouling their well. The contrast is unbelievable.

Posted by: Serena at April 27, 2014 09:09 PM (73xYH)

195 Oops that should be "unbelievers"

Posted by: Serena at April 27, 2014 09:41 PM (73xYH)

196 RW - where do we sign up? At the Hugo website? That's the trouble I am having is finding the supporting membership link.

Posted by: sithkhan at April 27, 2014 11:29 PM (F7qjM)

197 You sign up through the Loncon 3 website (that's where Worldcon is being held this year). Go to http://loncon3.org/memberships/ and click "Buy Standard Membership". There'll be a drop down menu as you work your way through after you enter your address to select a supporting membership.

Posted by: RW at April 28, 2014 12:34 AM (JQbnu)

198 Thanks!

Posted by: sithkhan at April 28, 2014 12:53 AM (F7qjM)

199 168
Charlotte, my parents and I started listening to the audiobook a few
weeks back. Unfortunately, we were in the car, and I fell asleep--no
fault of the writing, that, just the way of it! But the parts I did
hear were interesting enough that I think I'd like to read the whole
thing.

Thanks for the info. I'll see if the local library has a copy.

Posted by: Charlotte at April 28, 2014 01:28 AM (opWWt)

200 200!

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 28, 2014 11:18 AM (fTJ5O)

201 The Goldfinch? Meh. A laundry list of how-hip-I-am brand dropping culture-vulture whines. Oh, and the right-wing-domestic-terrorist-bombing-of-a-museum as the plot point. Thanks, author, dear. Make me a sammich - that's panini to you, toots.

Posted by: OK, thanks, bye at April 28, 2014 06:24 PM (uopHF)

202 "13 I thought Flint was an avowed socialist. What particular Saint he worships, I have no idea.
Posted by: --- at April 27, 2014 10:25 AM (MMC8r)"

Apparently one time someone called Flint a "pinko" and he shot back with, "I'm not a pinko, I'm a red!"

I do have a certain level of appreciation for authors like Flint, Mieville, and Brust who don't beat around the bush and openly admit they are Communists.

Posted by: BornLib at April 28, 2014 10:43 PM (zpNwC)

203 190 Thanks for the bit about Larry Corriea. Interesting read re: the SFWA. Never heard of the guy, (but then I don't follow contemporary sci-fi/fantasy fiction).

I read his "Detroit Christmas" short story, available free from his publisher, Baen. A nice combination of hard boiled detective fiction and fantasy. Seems like an odd combo, but it works.

Corriea has a series of books in this vein, called Grimnoir, which is a good series title. Am going to buy the first volume, "Hard Magic", in ebook format for my Nook.

Posted by: jbarntt at April 27, 2014 05:37 PM (UNFot)

I adore the Grimnoir Chronicles. You will not regret your purchase.

Posted by: BornLib at April 28, 2014 10:50 PM (zpNwC)

Processing 0.02, elapsed 0.032 seconds.
14 queries taking 0.0124 seconds, 211 records returned.
Page size 146 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.