Sunday Morning Book Thread 11-09-2014: Meet the New Boss... [OregonMuse]

Not Just Another Pretty Face

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.

G. K. Chesterton, Heretics, (1905)

Ol' G.K. looks mighty annoyed, doesn't he? Like "get out of my study" annoyed.

Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread. The only AoSHQ thread that is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Or kilts. Kilts are OK, too. But not tutus.

Tom Sawyer, Call Your Office

First you write your novel, then you have to edit it. Or at least, someone has to. But author Keith Raffel had a unique idea about how to do this:

A bestselling author via traditional publishers, he invited readers to join him in self-publishing his fifth book, Temple Mount, a thriller in which a Silicon Valley executive finds himself heir to the secret of the lost Ark of the Covenant. Unlike the other 6,149 publishing projects launched via the crowd-funding site in 2013, the Temple Mount initiative offered an "Editor Bundle" to readers willing to invest $80 or more. It included the chance to review the manuscript before publication and make suggestions and edits.

So instead of paying someone to edit his book, he gets others to pay him for the privilege. Looks like he took the "don't work harder, work smarter" advice to heart in a big way.

Of the 57 backers with editing rights, 25 "took advantage," as Raffel puts it, turning in manuscripts marked with two to 3,500 notes. Among those readers were lawyers, venture capitalists, academics, software engineers, a hospital chaplain and a documentary film-maker--but no one who'd edited a novel before.

So how'd it work out?

Crowd-editing proved distinctly advantageous in making choices: "I had two alternate openings, and the readers helped me choose the one used in the book. It's much better when it's not one person's opinion, but fifty people's opinions."

In many counselors, there is wisdom. On the other hand, just because large numbers of people are involved doesn't mean the outcome is going to be good; after all, look who we have as president.

Meow

Here's an amusing article about famous writers and their cats, including:

Dorothy Parker is credited with inventing the phrase 'scaredy-cat', in a short story called 'The Waltz' from 1933 - the Oxford English Dictionary gives her use as the earliest known instance of this feline-themed term.

I did not know that. Also:

Names for Mark Twain's many pet cats included Beelzebub, Blatherskite, Buffalo Bill, Satan, Sour Mash, and Zoroaster.

Heh. I, too, would like to have a cat named "Sour Mash". Most of them drive me to drink, anyway, so, yeah, that'd work.

8 Ways To Thrill

Thanks to moron "CBD" for tipping me to the StoryBundle site that offers a package deal wherein you get eight (count 'em) 8 exhilarating thrillers:

Not sure what kind of thriller you like? This bundle has it all: Conspiracy, legal, military, political, psychological, supernatural and techno. Plus, we've got an extra 9th book that's free for all our newsletter subscribers. Not yet a subscriber? You can sign up here!

So, what's the price? That's the interesting part: it's determined by you, the reader. No, you can't get them for free, but on the checkout page, you can set the slider bar from $3 all the way up to some very large number. So if you want to pay $2 per book, put down $16 and there you go. Or more, if you're feeling generous. And what's more, there is another slider bar that allows you, the reader, to determine what percentage of your purchase goes to the authors and what goes to StoryBundle.

The bundle changes periodically, and features primarily indie authors. However, I see the current bundle, which ends in a little over two weeks contains the classic political thriller Advise and Consent by Allen Drury.

More info about the Storybundle offers here.

A Little Bit of Irony in Your Morning Coffee

Via Bookbub, I see where you can get a book called Fake! for 99 cents. First published in 1969, it's a true account of some extremely successful art forgers. But what's funny is that it's written by Clifford Irving. Yes, that guy, the guy who faked an autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, got caught, and wound up doing serious jail time for it.

And this "autobiography" of Hughes is also available on Kindle, which surprised me, and actually I think it's kind of weird. I mean, how much of it can you trust? Especially the parts where Irving says Hughes wrote to him or he met and interviewed him, we know those are lies, right? Because Hughes claimed never to have met Irving.

But apparently it's a good story and a great read, as are his other novels, and Irving is a very good writer, a skillful craftsman at his trade. Kind of like the Hungarian art forger Elmyr de Hory whom he wrote about in Fake!

Books Of Note

Moronette "Niedermeyer's Dead Horse" mentioned this yesterday already, but the excerpt from George W. Bush's new book, 41: A Portrait of My Father on Drudge is well worth reading. It is very heart-warming to see that W. has a very good and healthy relationship with his father. This is normal life, the way it ought to be. I've had occasion this week to think about what's normal and what isn't (thanks, Lena Dunham!) and how important normal life is to our well-being, not only of ourselves personally, but our civilization in general. Like air, it's not something you think about until you suddenly no longer have it.

And I am becoming more aware of just how much our institutions and culture are in the hands of the amoral, abnormal, and perverse. No, this is not going to end well.

___________

Shigeru Mizuki, the Japanese manga artist, now 92 years old, has written a graphic novel about the history of Japan in the 20th century, 1926-1989, which corresponds to the reign of the emperor Hirohito. According to custom, he was posthumously renamed "Showa":

Like Art Spiegelman's "Maus," the first (and so far only) graphic novel to win the Pulitzer Prize, "Showa" combines history and memoir. The narrative is sweeping, ferrying us through the second Sino-Japanese War, World War II, the Korean War and the Cold War. Yet it's also surprisingly intimate: Mizuki intersperses scenes from history (the careering fighter planes and craggy politicians so finely drawn that they bring to mind etchings) with snapshots of his own life, in a cartoonish style that belies their weight.

The complete work 'Showa' is divided up into one, two, three, four volumes.

also the author of Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, a story of a futile suicide charge by a unit of the Imperial Japanese Army in Papua New Guinea during the latter part of WWII. It sounds horrific:

[A] group of Japanese soldiers have been ordered to perform a blatant suicide charge, but through the fog of war are inexplicably not killed. In the meantime however, their superiors have already announced their deaths 'for the glory of Japan'. Upon learning of the survival of the men, they are not rescued or cared for, but are ordered to attack again for no strategic purpose so as to not bring "dishonor" upon all involved. The message: get it right this time and die. Can't you do anything right? And do the officers who order them back to die join in the suicide charge? No.

Yeesh.

What I'm Reading

I'm getting my first taste of John Ringo, namely his first "Troy Rising" novel Live Free Or Die. An alien race sets up a transport gate in the solar system and so now Earth can be a trading partner, except we don't have anything any other world wants but precious metals, which we don't produce enough of to bother with. And then the main character discovers that at least some aliens can get drunk on maple syrup, which no one has but us, and then the fun begins. Ringo's conservative leanings are on display in certain passages, but they're not suffocating, and in fact they add to the fun. Note: the bad aliens who show up to incinerate Earth cities unless we give them all of our precious metals (and maple syrup) are known as the Horvath, and isn't 'Horvath' the name of Lena Dunham's character in that Girls TV show that nobody watches? Hmmm... what an interesting coincidence.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: 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 you all know, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:38 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 High speed internet has dramatically reduced my novel reading, which is more an indictment of me than of the technology.

Just so many hours in a day.

Posted by: toby928(C) at November 09, 2014 09:36 AM (rwI+c)

2 Early to the thread today! Yeah!

Posted by: Spud girl at November 09, 2014 09:38 AM (QvnEj)

3 Internet killed my reading too [have to blame something...] Still trying to finish "Cooledge" by Amity Shlaes [sp?]. Good Pres - we should try getting one sometime...

Posted by: geezer der mensch at November 09, 2014 09:43 AM (6aFlV)

4 G.K. Chesterton: When man stops believing in God it is not that he believes nothing, it is rather that he'll believe anything."

Posted by: Libra at November 09, 2014 09:44 AM (GblmV)

5 In many counselors, there is wisdom. On the other hand, just because large numbers of people are involved doesn't mean the outcome is going to be good...

***

I see this in my field. We hold a weekly Problem Case Conference for group discussion of challenging or difficult cases. Probably 15-20 cardiologists and CT surgeons involved.

As an example, if you ask ten cardiologists whether a particular additional test should be done and nine of the ten say "no" while one says "yes", the end result will often be deference to the one who says to get the test. It is sometimes an odd dynamic.

Posted by: Seamus M., aka left handed Eddy at November 09, 2014 09:47 AM (NeFrd)

6 304
OK horde, Panthers will lose to Philly Monday night, what game should I watch today?

Posted by: Nip Sip at November 09, 2014 09:47 AM (0FSuD)

7 ...and if you can find them, try the manga series "The Embalmer" - not what you'd think. Japanese man learns Western embalming and tries to introduce it to Japanese volks...more a meditation on life and death and how we deal with both. Mitsukazu Mihara.

Posted by: geezer der mensch at November 09, 2014 09:50 AM (6aFlV)

8 I'm a little less of Chesterton fan than a lot of other conservatives. I like _The Man Who Was Thursday_, but I have to confess the Father Brown mystery stories leave me cold. The mystery puzzles are very ingenious (mostly), but the characters are so unbelievable that they just bounce me right out of the story.

As an Anglo-Catholic conservative in the Edwardian era, Chesterton had some very odd ideas about people: anyone who disagreed with him was somehow part of the same movement. So American millionaires, European Jewish intellectuals, Theosophist cultists, anarchists, and Evangelical protestants are all In It Together somehow.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 09, 2014 09:53 AM (tjZQz)

9 Clifford Irving's Hoax, the story of his fake Hughes book, is well worth reading. Irving claimed he was more-or-less forced to reveal all the gory details (apparently, he would have faced a perjury rap if he tried to sugar-coat it), and did so, in entertaining fashion. I ended up feeling a little bit sorry for the dude: he and his co-writer put a lot of time and effort into it, and you have to admire someone who takes on such an audacious and elaborate fake.

Still on topic, just finished a "biography" of Mark Twain/Sam Clemens, which I returned to the Book Barn because it was awful. College professors (I've already forgotten the writer's name) should be restrained by law when they try to write books; it read like a superheated book report by a somewhat bright 10th grader. He attempted to fit everything Twain wrote into "context," whereas I really wanted to read about the dude's life story.

My current read is the autobiography of Jimmy "the Weasel" Fratianno. He was one bad mofo, and didn't pull too many punches in the book.

Posted by: MrScribbler at November 09, 2014 09:54 AM (PoKIA)

10 A comment to get my user name filled in. Sorry.

Posted by: Null at November 09, 2014 09:55 AM (xjpRj)

11 never read Chesterton - any suggestions as to which book to start with?

Posted by: geezer der mensch at November 09, 2014 09:55 AM (6aFlV)

12 I can't believe that Ebola has disappeared faster than Lena Dunham.

Posted by: t-bird at November 09, 2014 09:58 AM (FcR7P)

13 I thought manga was comic books. Showa and The Embalmer sound much more serious than could or would be done by Marvel.

Also, it seems you need cookies on to save your name/email/url.

Posted by: t-bird at November 09, 2014 10:01 AM (FcR7P)

14 OK - early to the thread! I'm still working on Stein House - a HF about a boarding house keeper and her family in Indianola, Texas, in the 1850s through the destruction of the city by a massive hurricane.

For those who have never heard of Indianola, it is a sort of 'ghost city' on the Texas Gulf Coast. It only lasted for fifty years, but in that time it was a rival to Galveston, as far as shipping and commerce went. The Morgan steamships docked there at an enormous dock that went out into Matagorda Bay - a rail spur went out to the end of the dock to facilitate loading and unloading of cargo ... and then it was all smashed to bits by a hurricane in the mid-1870s. And just as the city finished rebuilding ten years later, another hurricane smashed into it again. At that point, the city fathers regretfully decided against continuing. They chose to rebuild elsewhere, even floating the massive commercial ice-house across the bay and hauling it inland to make a private residence of.

There's nothing at the coast where it was now, save for a small monument, and some holiday homes perched on very tall stilts.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at November 09, 2014 10:01 AM (95iDF)

15 New commenting domain. Ooohhh. New font in the comment box. I know this will make the difference. Be prepared to be dazzled by my new commenting prowess.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at November 09, 2014 10:04 AM (IN7k+)

16 Hrm, I'm still seeing port 1080...

I tried to read a new cozy cat mystery last night (shuddup), and every dozen pages or so the narrator went off on an unrelated screed about "homophobia". And the murderer turned out to be a conservative radio host (painted in the usual unflattering terms throughout the book--"angry at being denied his special place in society by single mothers and minorities" lolwut?) who killed his sexy single neighbor because she had pictures of him with a prostitute (because all conservatives are sexual hypocrites, durp).

I don't know why I read anymore.

Posted by: HR at November 09, 2014 10:04 AM (hO8IJ)

17 So the blog really did get sold, and it's under new ownership?

That's why we have to reset out sock puppets?

Posted by: Cookie Resettie at November 09, 2014 10:04 AM (JUQXy)

18 "because she had pictures of him with a prostitute"

Hell, I'd take the pictures myself.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at November 09, 2014 10:08 AM (1x79m)

19 manga are not really "comic books" in the Western sense. You get everything from Mahou Shoujo [Migical Girls] to very gory and violent [Gantz], all the way to romance, philosophy, yadayada etc. Big field.

Posted by: geezer der mensch at November 09, 2014 10:08 AM (6aFlV)

20
Good early Monday morning from Down Under

It's 2am here and I have work at 9am, however I do enjoy this book thread so I stay up until it appears

My reading this week...in between work and all the other family stuf

"The Complete Works of Suetonius" (or what is left all these centuries later)
I'm absolutely hooked on ancient Roman history..

And on my Kindle

"9/11 Ordinary People : Extraordinary Heroes" by Colonel Will G Merrill

Have a wonderful yesterday everyone!

Posted by: aussie at November 09, 2014 10:09 AM (lOFeH)

21 Re-re-re-reading Barbara Tuchman's "Guns of August"

Still a great read..

Posted by: TexasJew at November 09, 2014 10:09 AM (x4kJD)

22 urg...Magical Girls...keyboard skillz FTW

Posted by: geezer der mensch at November 09, 2014 10:09 AM (6aFlV)

23 "Meet the New Boss..."

So that's what Jay-Z looks like.

Posted by: despair at November 09, 2014 10:12 AM (dcY7v)

24 I read mostly technical books (I'm an oil and gas geologist) but I have Manga books on everything from Biochemistry to Fourier Analysis

Posted by: TexasJew at November 09, 2014 10:12 AM (x4kJD)

25 @21 You probably know, there's a "companion volume," The Proud Tower. I recommend it unreservedly. It's full of cultural surprises. Makes a total mockery (no, lets it do it itself) of the Whirled Peas movement. 'Twas Peace caused WWI.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 09, 2014 10:13 AM (xq1UY)

26 He attempted to fit everything Twain wrote into "context," whereas I really wanted to read about the dude's life story.

You're lucky he didn't claim that Twain was teh gay and hung around with teh gay cowboys eating pudding.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 10:13 AM (yRdR4)

27 MrScribble, try reading Mark Twain's Autobiography. At least to start. He actually had timed releases of new volumes, I think the last one scheduled was in the 1990's. I believe he though that he was avoiding embarrassing people he left behind, but he may have had other reasons. He was concerned about providing for his daughters.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 09, 2014 10:14 AM (t//F+)

28 "I'm an oil and gas geologist"

Really?

Working?

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at November 09, 2014 10:14 AM (1x79m)

29 And g'day to aussie down there at the world's end!

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 10:16 AM (yRdR4)

30 Working on the Asian Sage of books by James Clavell; on Gai Jen now. This one is not one of his best.

And sorry morons, I had morning links ready but went back to sleep, good reason why I should not get keys.

Posted by: Vic at November 09, 2014 10:16 AM (u9gzs)

31 I read "Leningrad: The Epic Siege", by Anna Reid. It was pretty good, although she seemed a bit defensive at times about writing a book on the same topic as a previous Pulitzer winner, Harrison Salisbury's "The 900 Days".

She needn't have worried. There is lots of good anecdotal material, as well as new insights since the end of the Cold War.

The bottom line remains the same, though. Much of the suffering during the war was unnecessary, and stems directly from the brutality, paranoia and incompetence of the Stalinists. But we already knew that.

Now that I've got that done, do NOT read Andy McCarthy's NR article "Amnesty and Impeachment" on the futility of any action other than impeachment for stopping Obama's EA amnesty. It will ruin your day.

Posted by: pep at November 09, 2014 10:16 AM (4nR9/)

32 Manga covers a multitude of genres. Science fiction, war, romance, magical, horror, historical, fantasy, etc.

Osamu Tezuka wrote across multiple genres - Princess in Ribbons, Leo the Lion, Astro Boy, Adolph, and Metropolis to name some.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at November 09, 2014 10:18 AM (jwNlc)

33 Yes
Working away like crazy
The preferred term is Petroleum Geologist, but it's all the sane

Posted by: TexasJew at November 09, 2014 10:18 AM (x4kJD)

34 Back on topic. Tom Sawyer was one of the first book I ever read. I think I was about 5 years old

Posted by: Vic at November 09, 2014 10:19 AM (u9gzs)

35 So far I'm enjoying Lev Grossman's bleakly funny "The Magicians", in which precocious Brooklynite Quentin is admitted to an exclusive college of magic in Upstate New York. Quentin is very acerbic but has harbored secret fantasies of living in realms like Narnia or Oz. When he's given the opportunity to join this school, which exists in its own eddy of time and space, he of course accepts. Now he's just one of many brilliant students slogging through the grunt work and rote memorization and it's nothing like Harry Potter.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 09, 2014 10:20 AM (QBm1P)

36 My father's family owned a mountain in the wilderness, about 20 miles from Hartford. They raised hay and hell, horses and dairy cattle. As a lad my grandfather had a milk route that ran into Hartford, that took a day to run out and a day to run back (team of horses, and delivering to all those maid's entrances was how he got tied up with my grandmother). He sold milk off the front of the wagon and apple-jack off the back. Mark Twain was one of his customers.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 09, 2014 10:20 AM (xq1UY)

37 on my Ereader I am reading the memoirs of Phil Sheridan. The man was a good writer. I'm just to the Yakima war right now.
He was a very good writer, very open and well spoken.

He mentions that while on the Mexico border as a LT they had no access to fresh vegetables most of the year so they had to ferment down maguey juice to pulque and drink a cup a day. He said it tasted horrible and they did it in formation to make sure everyone had some. He'd go first to encourage his troops.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 09, 2014 10:21 AM (t//F+)

38 "What about Martin Tupper NOW?"

geezer, Chesterton wrote a LOT, so it's a little hard to narrow down where to begin. I actually started with Orthodoxy and was hooked, but I'm something of a theology nerd. I definitely recommend reading that before tackling The Man Who Was Thursday, mainly because they were written around the same time and deal with some of the same things. The Club of Queer Trades and the Father Brown mysteries are fun, light reading. So are some of his poetry books, like Greybeards at Play. For other non-fiction, I enjoyed St. Thomas Aquinas and have been reading What I Saw in America off and on. His essays cover a lot of territory--you might want to start with the ones posted on the American Chesterton Society's website, maybe "A Piece of Chalk." For sheer encouragement in the face of the way things are going despite Tuesday's results, though, it's hard to beat The Ballad of the White Horse, which is a highly fictionalized account of Alfred the Great's victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Ethandune.
Most of his major works are available on Project Gutenberg, if you like ebooks.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at November 09, 2014 10:22 AM (iuQS7)

39 And the murderer turned out to be a conservative radio host (painted in the usual unflattering terms throughout the book--"angry at being denied his special place in society by single mothers and minorities" lolwut?) who killed his sexy single neighbor because she had pictures of him with a prostitute (because all conservatives are sexual hypocrites, durp).

Every episode of Law and Order ever.

Posted by: --- at November 09, 2014 10:22 AM (MMC8r)

40 What's a shame about Ringo's series is that the America or Americans) of today wouldn't have the confidence to do the stuff he outlines in the books.

Surprisingly, except for the wormholes and some other engine tech, all of what he describes could actually be done. If we had the spirit and the "can do" attitude we used to have.

Well maybe if we get threatened by Aliens From Space we'll regain some guts but I'm not making any bets about it.

The Hero somehow manages to thwart the bureaucracy and that in itself is a fairy tale that's hard to believe.

Swift knew what he was talking about when he showed how tiny minds can/do and will imprison the "Giants" among us.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at November 09, 2014 10:22 AM (KK+mC)

41
"Working away like crazy"

Permian Basin?

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at November 09, 2014 10:23 AM (1x79m)

42 z

Posted by: dr kill at November 09, 2014 10:25 AM (jRgO6)

43 Osamu Tezuka wrote across multiple genres - Princess in Ribbons, Leo the Lion, Astro Boy, Adolph, and Metropolis to name some.

Astro Boy was a manga? Never knew that. I used to watch the cartoons on TV as a kid, but that's all I ever heard of. Was the animated cartoon based on the manga, or the other way 'round?

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 10:25 AM (yRdR4)

44 Stonewalled by Sharyl Attkisson, book is alot better than the tiny news blurbs.

Posted by: FCF at November 09, 2014 10:28 AM (kejii)

45 Finished "Kali's Children", honestly not sure what I think of it or if I'll read anything else by that author.

Read "One Bright Star to Guide Them" by Wright (?) Hadn't realized it was a short story. Interesting take on "went to Narnia as a kid but now you're a grown-up".

Also read the 10th World's Apart book. Quick, funny read that still needs an editor for spelling.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 09, 2014 10:28 AM (GDulk)

46 Listening to Moby Dick on TTS. Surprised at how funny some of the lines are. Still would never actually *read* it.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 09, 2014 10:30 AM (GDulk)

47 There is a TV show "The Apostle of Common Sense" on EWTN (The Catholic cable channel) devoted to Chesterton. I haven't seen it so I can't really recommend it.

Posted by: zmdavid at November 09, 2014 10:31 AM (YnhJN)

48 You're gonna like the Ringo books. I'd probably move away on the group W bench from anyone who didn't like 'em.

Posted by: West at November 09, 2014 10:32 AM (7MQyr)

49 You're gonna like the Ringo books. I'd probably move away on the group W bench from anyone who didn't like 'em.

Posted by: West at November 09, 2014 10:32 AM (7MQyr)

50 Listening to Moby Dick on TTS. Surprised at how funny some of the lines are. Still would never actually *read* it.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette

Go ahead, you know you want to. Call me.

Posted by: Ishmael at November 09, 2014 10:32 AM (4nR9/)

51 First appearance of Toby, aka Astro Boy, in manga form dates to 1951.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at November 09, 2014 10:33 AM (jwNlc)

52 Comments done changed?

Posted by: I Am the Confused at November 09, 2014 10:35 AM (ZPrif)

53 The cats are named Shorty and Sam but we inherited them already named. The names fit them ok though, so its alright
I used to be a prolific reader until the eyes went south enough that I could no longer read myself to sleep. I have given away boxes of books and magazines to book resellers in the past, and it might be time again.
Even though we NOW have internet connections I still need a quiet room and a book for my mind to escape now and again.

Posted by: Tom_Ohio at November 09, 2014 10:35 AM (Zz48T)

54 The other book I read this week is a Barnes & Noble edition of Sun Tzu. I got it because I thought it had the commentary by other ancient Chinese military scholars, but it doesn't. Instead it looks like they turned the intern loose on Wikipedia one afternoon to come up with a bunch of semi-relevant familiar quotations by western military writers. I'm probably going to dump this copy and look for a better one.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 09, 2014 10:36 AM (tjZQz)

55 I really enjoyed all three *Troy Rising* books, but be warned that they aren't actually a trilogy, but simply the first three books in a series that John Ringo seems to have lost interest in completing. The third book doesn't end on a cliffhanger or anything, but it's very clear that the main plot arc was intended to continue for at least one more book, maybe even two or three.

Posted by: jic at November 09, 2014 10:36 AM (4F9qu)

56 All hail Eris, My wife recommended The Magicians to me a few years ago. I was initially skeptical, but it wasn't bad at all. I definitely recommend it.

Posted by: Lincolntf at November 09, 2014 10:36 AM (2cS/G)

57 Morning all, found an ancient copy of "South Sea Tales " by Jack London at town landfill. Interesting read, I missed this one as a kid. "The Sea Wolf " was a fav of mine years ago

Posted by: NativeNH at November 09, 2014 10:37 AM (RhwlE)

58 With John Ringo, he has freely admitted he will probably never finish all the various story lines he has published books on.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at November 09, 2014 10:38 AM (jwNlc)

59 re "Horvath"
the show debuted in 2012.
the book was published in 2010.

So the connection may be that Durham was looking for a name that represented amoral, greedy, pig-headed, disgusting creatures.

Ringo would never have insulted even the vilest of his protagonists by naming them for Durham.

Posted by: great unknown at November 09, 2014 10:39 AM (VoYJt)

60 Onward to Our Noble Deaths is amazingly funny for its subject matter. It's even more striking when you find out that the whole thing is only lightly fictionalized, and it was about the extermination of Mizuki's battalion, which he only missed because he was hospitalized after he lost his arm and was away from the unit when it was ordered towards its self-demolition.

Posted by: Mitch H. at November 09, 2014 10:39 AM (HFYfi)

61
29 OregonMuse

Hello to you too ! I stay awake on Sunday night/early Monday morning to read this thread

So many great book recommendations from fellow readers here..

GK Chesterton - well I downloaded the complete Father Brown series on Kindle (free) and I have enjoyed reading them - one story every now and then

Posted by: aussie at November 09, 2014 10:41 AM (lOFeH)

62 you know, with the exception of a tech manual I haven't read a book this year
wow

Posted by: navycopjoe with the chicago education at November 09, 2014 10:41 AM (w7ptZ)

63 Or Ringo's Horvath are named for Dale Horvath from The Walking Dead comic and TV series.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at November 09, 2014 10:43 AM (jwNlc)

64 Yes
Permian Basin (Pecos/Reeves County and Eastern Shelf)
and North Dakota

Posted by: TexasJew at November 09, 2014 10:45 AM (x4kJD)

65 Yesterday I read Roz Chast's memoir-in-cartoons about her parents's last years, "Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?" The cartoons are good and it's also a real memoir, which impressed me. We learn a lot about what shaped this artist. But the emphasis is on coping with aging and dying parents. The book is funny in places but largely heartbreaking. Bittersweet, as they say...

I am also about halfway through Justice Hall, the sixth volume of the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King. I am really, really enjoying these books. Russell meets Sherlock Holmes when she is 15 years old and he becomes her mentor and more. In Russell, Sherlock has met his match, and together they have adventures.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00CJLA42C/kindle/ref=sr_bookseriesnull_B00CJLA42C

Posted by: Sarah Rolph at November 09, 2014 10:45 AM (lh+kV)

66 The Structure of Scientific Revolution by Thomas Kuhn - an oldie but a goodie.
If you like philosophy and the sciences.

Posted by: IC at November 09, 2014 10:45 AM (0gm5y)

67 Posted by: navycopjoe with the chicago education at November 09, 2014 10:41 AM (w7ptZ)
-----------
Was it a gripping, I-laughed-I-cried kind of tech manual?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 09, 2014 10:47 AM (QBm1P)

68 Polliwog: "Listening to Moby Dick on TTS. Surprised at how funny some of the lines are. Still would never actually *read* it."

First requiresd to read Moby Dick Summer before 10th grade. Hated it cCouldn't do it.

Picked it up in my thirties and was amazed how much I liked it.

Re-read it years later and kept waking the wife up laughing out loud.

Either it got better or I did.

Posted by: mindful webworker at November 09, 2014 10:48 AM (TIFWI)

69 on the bright side of education now-a-days, nck has to read the divine comedy by dante after the Christmas break
I think I did that as a senior...she's a freshman
tough school

Posted by: navycopjoe with the chicago education at November 09, 2014 10:48 AM (w7ptZ)

70 I probably should print this out and hang it up somewhere.
http://tinyurl.com/mbv7nm6

Need to get back to writing. A few thousand words behind projection for NaNoWriMo am I.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at November 09, 2014 10:49 AM (jwNlc)

71 67 Was it a gripping, I-laughed-I-cried kind of tech manual?

it was for the new taxi dispatch system we are about to switch to named pathfinder, its the system used by most of the big cities in the US

makes it easier to cheat the system

Posted by: navycopjoe with the chicago education at November 09, 2014 10:51 AM (w7ptZ)

72 Have put in a request that the library get 41 on audiobook... just seems like the kind of book I'd rather listen to (and yes, I do miss 43's voice).

Unabashed Twainiac here, but I have to confess that I don't remember having ever actually read Tom Sawyer. Couldn't put Huck Finn down, though, and looooved A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court from the first read when I was a kid.
Interesting (older) bio of Twain: "Our Famous Guest": Mark Twain in Vienna by Carl Dolmetsch. Possibly more interesting to me because I'd previously taken a 19th Century German Lit class focused on turn-of-the-century Vienna, but it really was fascinating to see how Twain fit in that particular place and that particular time and how it in turn affected him at that point in his life. Gave me a completely different understanding of No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger than most critics put forth, too. (Speaking of which, the UCalifornia Press edition is the best--other editions evidently add all kinds of weirdness that the various editors made up out of whole cloth.)

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at November 09, 2014 10:51 AM (iuQS7)

73 In many counselors, there is wisdom. On the other hand, just because large numbers of people are involved doesn't mean the outcome is going to be good...

The definitive book on bad group outcomes is the classic "Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay, which is in the public domain. Because it was published so long ago, critics claim that it is no longer relevant, that we've moved beyond such elementary nonsense. Carl Sagan destroyed that notion in his last book, "Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" in which he devotes an entire chapter to "Memoirs" and the elaborate crop circles ruse in the 70s and 80s.

Posted by: Paul Carter at November 09, 2014 10:53 AM (A9bpy)

74 oh, fun fact
I actually wrote a book about 5 years ago
of course a thriller ala Patterson

I still have my rejection slips

Posted by: navycopjoe with the chicago education at November 09, 2014 10:53 AM (w7ptZ)

75 I listened to Live Free or Die recently and enjoyed it, never expected it to be mostly a comedy with maple syrup driving the plot. Look forward to continuing the series.

Speaking of silly comedies, read The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett, first of his Discworld series. The main character is a wizard named Rincewind, who flunked out of wizard school and knows one spell, but it's a big one with unknown consequences which he's afraid to use. He has various silly adventures including dragons, a hero and a bumbling tourist named Twoflowers with his dangerous luggage. It was entertaining and I'll keep going with the series.

Posted by: waelse1 at November 09, 2014 10:54 AM (hYqQx)

76 so can we copy and paste fancy quote marks and stuff or do we still get the error message?

Posted by: mallfly at November 09, 2014 10:56 AM (zjcTL)

77 Same here. With the filling-in-of-the-name thing.

Posted by: jwpaine at November 09, 2014 10:58 AM (a3NCX)

78 65 Yesterday I read Roz Chast's memoir

And you have managed to blow out the margins. Good job!! Long links blow out the friggen margins. My only data connection is through this iPhone and now this thread is unreadable for me. Thanks a bunch.

Posted by: NativeNH at November 09, 2014 11:01 AM (RhwlE)

79 He has various silly adventures including dragons, a hero and a bumbling tourist named Twoflowers with his dangerous luggage.

I gotta get me some of that sapient pearwood...

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 11:01 AM (yRdR4)

80 I've been reading Robert Kershaw's War Without Garlands.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at November 09, 2014 11:02 AM (BG/uq)

81 ugggggh
no coffee thingies for the k-cup machine, no tuna for the cats, still need to get the AK ready since nck broke my AR yesterday

i'm here reading the Chicago sun times in my drawers

ugggh

Posted by: navycopjoe with the chicago education at November 09, 2014 11:02 AM (w7ptZ)

82 "75 I listened to Live Free or Die recently and enjoyed it, never expected it to be mostly a comedy"

It's a semi-official prequel to the *Schlock Mercenary* webcomic (in that it was done with cartoonist Howard Tayler's knowledge and permission, but nothing in it is canon and species names are different), but if anything the tone is actually slightly more serious than the comics. Great fun, anyway. Oh, and if you haven't read *Schlock Mercenary* yet, do so now. From the beginning. It's fantastic.

Posted by: jic at November 09, 2014 11:02 AM (4F9qu)

83 mallfly, only the url port thing has changed.

Posted by: mindful webworker at November 09, 2014 11:02 AM (TIFWI)

84 G.K. Chesterson looks so............G.K. Chesterson-y.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at November 09, 2014 11:03 AM (X5wGV)

85 Posted by: waelse1 at November 09, 2014 10:54 AM (hYqQx)

There has to be close to thirty books in that series. They range in quality from wallbanger to awesome. Pratchett has Alzheimer's now, and the books are starting to tank, quality-wise. Last really good one was Going Postal.

Posted by: Secundus at November 09, 2014 11:04 AM (9eRfy)

86 With John Ringo, he has freely admitted he will probably never finish all the various story lines he has published books on.

I was expecting much more suffering for the Darhel before they get their entirely deserved obliteration. Ditto the Horvath.

Posted by: DaveA at November 09, 2014 11:04 AM (DL2i+)

87 Another thing about Chesterton, when all of the leading intellectuals of his day were all, like, "yay eugenics, it's teh awesome!", his was pretty much the only dissenting voice saying, "uh, actually, it's not such a good idea". Wrote a book about it, but I forget the title. You can get it at Gutenberg or Kindle, I think.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 11:05 AM (yRdR4)

88 The only AoSHQ thread that is so hoity-toity, pants are required

oooops, guess I should put some pants on then
or because I don't want to hear my teenager talk smack

Posted by: navycopjoe with the chicago education at November 09, 2014 11:05 AM (w7ptZ)

89 Posted by: jic at November 09, 2014 11:02 AM (4F9qu)

Ringo seems to be friends with several webcomic authors. Didn't know about Schlock Mercenaries but had noticed the addition of a heavily armed, homicidal lop rabbit to a couple of series.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 09, 2014 11:06 AM (GDulk)

90 im going to the corner store for coffee for the slave master
anyone want something?

Posted by: navycopjoe with the chicago education at November 09, 2014 11:06 AM (w7ptZ)

91 OT: Putin's Freudian motorcade.

http://tinyurl.com/ktfg6fl

Posted by: The Great White Snark at November 09, 2014 11:08 AM (hxV16)

92 I'm sorry I'm not talking about books, but I had to type my name & email address in. I haven't cleared all my cookies or any other thing that would make me have to do so.

Could it be, that finally Pixy fixed blog after 6 months?

Posted by: Carol at November 09, 2014 11:11 AM (sj3Ax)

93 Posted by: navycopjoe with the chicago education at November 09, 2014 11:06 AM (w7ptZ)
-------
A winning lottery ticket. Rajesh promised my the last one was THE ticket but here I still am without my lair on my private skull-shaped island...

Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 09, 2014 11:13 AM (QBm1P)

94 Good morning.

I just finished David Brin's "The Practice Effect" recommended by some Moron here, but I can't remember who.

I just started Sharyl Attkisson's book on the Kindle. Haven't had much reading time lately though.

Posted by: DangerGirl and her 1.21 gigawatt Sanity Prod (tm) at November 09, 2014 11:15 AM (KuU4f)

95 I have to claim a viable exception to being off-topic on the book thread.

I don't know if any of you had ever seen this, but Jon Gruber, considered the key architect of ObamaCare, admits they lied and used subterfuge to pass the law.

The best part is he said they were able to do it because we, the American people, are stupid..

Enjoy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G790p0LcgbIfeature=youtu.be

Remember, also, he also said that only those on state exchanges qualify for subsidies. If the SCOTUS does not overturn this law, we do not have a legitimate government

Posted by: Albie Damned at November 09, 2014 11:16 AM (nGaMY)

96 I enjoyed Live Free or Die, and keep hoping for a fourth. My understanding is that the climax of the third book got out of hand when he wrote it, and it derailed his plans for what comes after. I'd far rather read more of it than some of his other stories, but since I'm still working on unpublished novel #2 and have notions for many others, I can sympathize with the idea that you can't get to everything.

Posted by: Graves at November 09, 2014 11:16 AM (3MEXB)

97 YAY #twoweeks is here!

TY Pixy!!!

Now all I have to do is go back to work Monday night to test it there, but until then I'm still on vacation and celebrating the ultimate smack down of 'The Won' who lost.

Posted by: Gmac- Pondering...something involving rope and a tree at November 09, 2014 11:17 AM (baiNQ)

98
what is acecomments??

Posted by: Soothsayer at November 09, 2014 11:20 AM (30/T7)

99 That pic is fake. Shadow of a boom microphone in the upper left. Obviously a movie set.

Posted by: Bat Chain Puller, truther-for-a-day at November 09, 2014 11:21 AM (jpc8l)

100 what is acecomments??

Yes, we have no 1080,
We have no 1080 today....

(Yeah, I'm sleep-deprived.)

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at November 09, 2014 11:22 AM (iuQS7)

101 Soothsayer: "what is acecomments??"

You're soaking in it.

Posted by: mindful webworker at November 09, 2014 11:22 AM (TIFWI)

102 It's Brian Dennehy, come to think of it.

Posted by: Bat Chain Puller, truther-for-a-day at November 09, 2014 11:22 AM (jpc8l)

103 I'm sorry I'm not talking about books, but I had to type my name email address in. I haven't cleared all my cookies or any other thing that would make me have to do so.

Carol, look at the address bar in your browser. The URL for ace comments is no longer minx.cc, but now it's acecomments.mu.nu. New domain, so your old cookies won't work, must create new ones.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 11:23 AM (yRdR4)

104
And what of ampersands?

Posted by: Soothsayer at November 09, 2014 11:24 AM (30/T7)

105 And what of ampersands?

& & & & & &

You want 'em, I got 'em!

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 11:26 AM (yRdR4)

106 All Hail Eris:

I also had read Grossman's "The Magicians" series awhile back. It's bleak, to be sure, but a pleasant break from C. S. Lewis and Harry Potter (both of which are brilliant). Of course, that's the entire design for the series: an anti-Narnia, anti-Potter world of magic. I enjoy forays into Opposite Day, so it's fun. And pretty grown up, whereas Narnia and Potter are both for youth and children, even though adults can read and enjoy them.

Posted by: Smallish Bees at November 09, 2014 11:26 AM (YPgXi)

107 Yes, we have no ampersands today!

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 11:26 AM (yRdR4)

108 Testing!

Posted by: Theresa2theD at November 09, 2014 11:27 AM (Ez5Cr)

109 "High speed internet has dramatically reduced my novel reading, which is more an indictment of me than of the technology."

Since I've been a heavy user since not-so-high-speed days back in 1992, I've recently come to the same realization.

Like ace posted awhile back, I've gotten to the point where when I crack open a book, I have a hard time sitting down with it for awhile. I've got so many unfinished books on the shelf that I'd have to start them all over; so there they moulder.

Maybe if they put porn every few pages...

Self indictment indeed.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at November 09, 2014 11:28 AM (xSCb6)

110 I finally decided to read the Bible. Not quite out of the old testament yet. I was raised as a Catholic, and I mean really a Catholic, Catholic grade school, Nuns, the whole enchilada. But never read the bible. Catholics aren't big on reading the Bible, more like just getting snippets of it at Mass on Sundays.

Before I started reading it, I was sorta expecting it to be religeous. I know, Duh. But after getting into it, I was really surprised. There are several things that are really amazing to me, and one is how entertaining it is, for the most part. I mean, the basic plot lines of every story every written is covered somewhere in there.

And the other thing is how it so totally explains the different groups in the Middle East as they are today. I used to work for an Israeli company and I swear that I worked with, and for, a bunch of the people in the bible, from Saul to Solomon, a stiff-necked lot.

Posted by: Last at November 09, 2014 11:28 AM (8HiDF)

111
Ringo's Troy Rising series is hella fun. Having the main character as a scifi writer who's genius ideas for technology innovation come from fiction or film......brilliant.

Reading Ringo's Black Tide Rising zombpocalypse series now. Pretty good stuff, and the explanation of the zombie virus function has is better than most zombie fiction, in my opinion.

But "fast zombies"????? Pfffft!! Everyone knows that zombies are shamblers.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 09, 2014 11:28 AM (OMTVG)

112 IC, regarding Kuhn:

Whenever I hear our betters in the media-warmening industry tell me about how the science is settled, I think they need to read Kuhn. He's the perfect answer to the Cult of the Professional Scientist.

Posted by: Smallish Bees at November 09, 2014 11:28 AM (YPgXi)

113 &&&&&&&&&&&&&

Posted by: --- at November 09, 2014 11:28 AM (MMC8r)

114 Say what now - ampersands?
Test:

Posted by: Lizzy at November 09, 2014 11:31 AM (ABcz/)

115
Author Keith Raffel is a Democrat, so it's no surprise he found others to pay to work for him.

Posted by: Ed Anger at November 09, 2014 11:32 AM (RcpcZ)

116 I did read, several years ago the travelogue of Theodore Winthrop, who spent time in the Oregon territory before the Civil war. He was a prick, but he did learn Chinook and did talk about the area and how the early settlers lived.

He got himself dead in the Civil war and did not manage to grow out of the cooper/hawthorne style of American writing.

I find it odd that I read 19th century travelogues and science fiction by choice.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 09, 2014 11:32 AM (t//F+)

117 I finally decided to read the Bible. Not quite out of the old testament yet. I was raised as a Catholic, and I mean really a Catholic, Catholic grade school, Nuns, the whole enchilada. But never read the bible. Catholics aren't big on reading the Bible, more like just getting snippets of it at Mass on Sundays.

This is exactly my background, too. After that, actually reading the Bible for yourself is quite a revelation (nyuk! nyuk!)

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 11:32 AM (yRdR4)

118 Theodore Winthrop's book was The Canoe and Saddle

Posted by: Kindltot at November 09, 2014 11:33 AM (t//F+)

119 thanks for the Chesterton reccs!

Posted by: geezer der mensch at November 09, 2014 11:35 AM (6aFlV)

120 Like ace posted awhile back, I've gotten to the point where when I crack open a book, I have a hard time sitting down with it for awhile. I've got so many unfinished books on the shelf that I'd have to start them all over; so there they moulder.

Yup. This is me, and I have the attention span of a gnat.

So I am no longer able to

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 11:37 AM (yRdR4)

121 "Author Keith Raffel is a Democrat, so it's no surprise he found others to pay to work for him."

What a great business model for anyone wanting to exploit the SJW crowd. Just come up with characters which barely adhere to any of the standard SJW tropes, then submit to crowd editing, and make money from that instead of the books that aren't going to sell anyway.

The labor shouldn't be too hard since shallow characters acting in completely unrealistic ways aren't hard to write and the story doesn't really matter.

Suggested title for How-To: Making Your NaNoWriMo Project Work for You

Posted by: Burn the Witch at November 09, 2014 11:38 AM (xSCb6)

122 did something happen to the blog? it seems different

Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl 116 days until spring training at November 09, 2014 11:39 AM (u8GsB)

123 *suspicious glare* I still see minx.cc and 1080 in my browser address bar. Maybe it is because of the hoity-toitiness of the Book Thread?

Recently read Bypass Gemini by Joseph Lallo. Funny rogue-in-space tale, complete with insane inventor on salvage planet and an AI named "Ma". Author gets one dopesmack for confusing discrete and discreet, but otherwise OK. Got some other interesting books queued up for the commute.

Now I have to get back to the writing. The good guys are about to unload a dumptruck of whoopass on the bad guys... (don't worry, they *totally* deserve it) and then it is crumpets and medals all around.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at November 09, 2014 11:39 AM (2buaQ)

124 "Yup. This is me, and I have the attention span of a gnat."

It's weird, because in other areas, I've got an abnormally long attention span.

But when it comes to reading or writing, I find

Posted by: Burn the Witch at November 09, 2014 11:40 AM (xSCb6)

125 ok...looked at previous post.....got it

Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl 116 days until spring training at November 09, 2014 11:40 AM (u8GsB)

126 now i have to figure out how to make the print bigger...my old lady eyes can't see the puny type...

Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl 116 days until spring training at November 09, 2014 11:41 AM (u8GsB)

127 *suspicious glare* I still see minx.cc and 1080 in my browser address bar. Maybe it is because of the hoity-toitiness of the Book Thread?

That's weird. Mine says acecomments.mu.nu/?post=353025

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 11:41 AM (yRdR4)

128 Recently read Bypass Gemini by Joseph Lallo.

This one is two back in my queue. Don't know where I got it, though, it may have been a Bookbub freebie.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 11:43 AM (yRdR4)

129 I've always had the opposite problem - if I like a book I want to stay up all night to finish. I have no patience to draw it out over days or weeks. This is why books like README are such a challenge. The video-on-demand where one can now power through a season or series of shows, or a trilogy of movies, just feeds into this impatience.

Posted by: Lizzy at November 09, 2014 11:44 AM (ABcz/)

130 O/T, there is a link to the Angry White Dude in my nic that should be read and shared. It concerns the GOP and their concerns about the Tea Party. With the upcoming vote on Lynch for AG, this is important.

Posted by: Chilling the most at November 09, 2014 11:46 AM (wWs6x)

131 Posted by: Sabrina Chase at November 09, 2014 11:39 AM (2buaQ)

Went over to Amazon to take a look at *Bypass Gemini*, and saw that I already picked it up in August. My Kindle unread pile is at risk of becoming as big as my physical unread pile. Your recommendation might have moved it a bit closer to the top.

Posted by: jic at November 09, 2014 11:46 AM (4F9qu)

132 Re: Ringo -

I think you are misreading the book a bit. It isn't just that Earth currently has nothing worth trading. That is common with newly encountered races It is that the dominant culture in the region, the Glatun. has started to enter a period of decline, so where they once would have helped build up earth's technology base through trade agreements and such, now they no longer wish too. In addition there is a general lowering of civic pride and their warrior culture is dying out because of it and being killed off because of short sighted bureaucratic decions and budget cuts. This leaves a vacuum that the Horvath fill (as slave masters). It's a lot like Japan and Korea in the early 1900s.

That leads to the second point - America wouldn't have the will to resist. That is actually true in the book too. Remember until the first President is killed the official policy is capitulation. It is a private citizen that discovers Maple Syrup as a trade item and then uses the money from that to build up a resistance movement to the Horvath. We are too or three presidents in before the US finally really gets into the fight.

Overall I thought it was a pretty good series except "Comet" Parker is just way too perfect that could have been toned down some. (I don't think that is much of a spoiler especially for the first book).

Posted by: chad at November 09, 2014 11:47 AM (gYowz)

133
#121 . . . Suggested title for How-To: Making Your NaNoWriMo Project Work for You

Posted by: Burn the Witch at November 09, 2014 11:38 AM (xSCb6)

Alternative title: How to Succeed the Arianna Huffington Way

Posted by: Ed Anger at November 09, 2014 11:51 AM (RcpcZ)

134
now i have to figure out how to make the print bigger...my old lady eyes can't see the puny type...

Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl 116 days until spring training at November 09, 2014 11:41 AM (u8GsB)

Ctrl mousewheel or ctrl +

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 09, 2014 11:51 AM (OMTVG)

135 A little bipartisanship from Shlock Mercenary

http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-07-01

Posted by: DaveA at November 09, 2014 11:52 AM (DL2i+)

136 Testing &&&

Posted by: Soona at November 09, 2014 11:53 AM (9td5u)

137 O/T, there is a link to the Angry White Dude in my nic that should be read and shared.

Not meant to be a bash on you, (wWs6x), but why do sites like this one demand (yes, demand) javascript? WaPo does it, too. That really bugs me. If they're that focused on running scripts on my computer, it really kills my interest in their content.

Posted by: --- at November 09, 2014 11:54 AM (MMC8r)

138 In Damon Knight's "The Big Pat Boom," the only thing aliens wanted from our planet was cowpies.

Posted by: TB at November 09, 2014 11:54 AM (8u/5i)

139 Interestingly, when I tried to look at comments on Pixy's thread about comments....I got "The path '/post=353028' was not found."

Being a regular here is like playing Zork -- only it's labeled "Minx 0.7 alpha".

Posted by: cthulhu at November 09, 2014 11:55 AM (T1005)

140 Unable to comment - or not?

Posted by: Ckill Blinton at November 09, 2014 11:55 AM (UreHr)

141 73 Posted by: Paul Carter at November 09, 2014 10:53 AM (A9bpy)

Because it was published so long ago, critics claim that it is no longer relevant,

**************

It has been said if you want old ideas read new books; new ideas, old books.

Posted by: gracepmc at November 09, 2014 11:56 AM (xvd51)

142 Yo, Pixy.

Links to the old posts won't work. I get the error:

The path '/post=353028' was not found.

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/site-packages/cherrypy/_cprequest.py", line 670, in respond
response.body = self.handler()
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/site-packages/cherrypy/lib/encoding.py", line 212, in __call__
self.body = self.oldhandler(*args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/site-packages/cherrypy/_cperror.py", line 411, in __call__
raise self
NotFound: (404, "The path '/post=353028' was not found.")

Posted by: The Political Hat at November 09, 2014 11:59 AM (lN8KC)

143 Posted by: --- at November 09, 2014 11:54 AM (MMC8r)

Agreed. It appears as if I won't be reading the Angry White Dude.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at November 09, 2014 12:00 PM (xSCb6)

144 Fast & Furious. Holy shit!

Posted by: Soona at November 09, 2014 12:01 PM (9td5u)

145 Agreed. It appears as if I won't be reading the Angry White Dude.

Yeah, I went over there, it's got at least one pop up advert, then when I tried to leave the AWD page and come back here, I got redirected to another crap ad site, which hit me with one of those stupid "are you sure you want to leave this page?" crap prompts when I tried to leave.

So, no thanks.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 12:04 PM (yRdR4)

146 A few months ago I got an e-mail from Amazon saying they might use one of my reviews in their book of funny product reviews. A couple of weeks ago, I got a copy of their book, Did you read that review?, in the mail. I have a review (it's on page 17) in the book! It's pointless and yet life-affirming.

Posted by: huerfano at November 09, 2014 12:05 PM (bAGA/)

147 Mmm. Maple syrup.

Posted by: andycanuck at November 09, 2014 12:05 PM (Ld94a)

148 Testing once again.

Posted by: Soona at November 09, 2014 12:05 PM (9td5u)

149 Hey, Pixy read my comment! Now I have acecomments and no evil 1080. Oh boy. Monday is going to be SO nonproductive... heh heh. (sniffle) I missed all youse guys! How can I survive the workday without Morons?

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at November 09, 2014 12:07 PM (2buaQ)

150 And then the main character discovers that at least some aliens can get drunk on maple syrup, which no one has but us, and then the fun begins.

Reminds me of Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series where to the aliens, ginger is like crack.

Posted by: The Political Hat at November 09, 2014 12:11 PM (lN8KC)

151 Am I the only one or are there others who find the NaNoWriMo write-in events time lost to actually writing?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at November 09, 2014 12:11 PM (jwNlc)

152 Be sure to read the excellent essay by Boris Johnson about Winston Churchill that's highlighted in the sidebar.
We could use a Churchill or two today....

Posted by: JoeF. at November 09, 2014 12:12 PM (TCzJ4)

153 "And do the officers who order them back to die join in the suicide charge? No."

Reminds me of the Kamikaze instructor who took off on a lone wolf mission in his plane to die with honor at the end of WWII. He flew away alone. Rumors started about what he did, sank a battleship, killed hundreds, etc. Turned out he landed his plane, changed his name, got married and started a family. Suckers!

Posted by: Dang at November 09, 2014 12:12 PM (MNq6o)

154 Hey Hat, as a workaround, grab the post number, and fit it into this template:

http://minx.cc:1080/?post=xxxxxx

where xxxxxx is 353028 or whatever number it is, and you'll be able to read it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 12:13 PM (yRdR4)

155 test

Posted by: berserker lurker at November 09, 2014 12:17 PM (eSUhh)

156 "Am I the only one or are there others who find the NaNoWriMo write-in events time lost to actually writing?"

You apparently need to spend more time at writeordie.com

Posted by: Burn the Witch at November 09, 2014 12:18 PM (xSCb6)

157 Posted by: OregonMuse at November 09, 2014 12:13 PM (yRdR4)

Starting to work now.

Posted by: The Political Hat at November 09, 2014 12:18 PM (lN8KC)

158 Download Amazing Big Boobs Movies Absolutely Free Now # O911172469 !
Have a nice day !

Posted by: HatAlex at November 09, 2014 12:18 PM (n+rso)

159 Also on the sidebar the vintage camping trailers. It's not THAT old but I still have the family Airstream made in 1976. We wore out a pop-up before that trailer and a couple of tents before that. I lived in a tent two summers when I was on the staff at Camp Urland (BSA). I liked Scout camp better than working cows and hauling hay all summer. Easy decision to take that job.

Posted by: Mr. Dave at November 09, 2014 12:19 PM (tUBqu)

160 Come for the books, stay for the Big Boob Movies.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at November 09, 2014 12:20 PM (xSCb6)

161 Get Amazing Big Boobs Movies Free Today # O724252134 !
Stay tune for next season 123 !

Posted by: HatAlex at November 09, 2014 12:20 PM (n+rso)

162 Re: Chesterton, for those still reading this thread:

His book about eugenics is called, appropriately, "Eugenics and Other Evils."

I actually don't care much for Chesterton's fiction, and much prefer his journalism/essays, though of course a lot of them are covering the hot political topics of a hundred years ago. Good books to start with are his biographies of St. Francis and St. Thomas. They're short, lively and fascinating portraits not only of the men but of the eras in which they lived.

BTW he was not strictly "Anglo-Catholic." He came of a family that believe in nothing in particular, and converted to Catholicism in 1922, though he had been tending that way for some years prior.

Posted by: Annalucia at November 09, 2014 12:20 PM (a5bF3)

163 It's not THAT old but I still have the family Airstream made in 1976.

This is called denial. I know; I'm still in it. Denial, not your trailer.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at November 09, 2014 12:21 PM (xSCb6)

164 *pokes Burn the Witch with a hot needle of inquiry*

The problem with such face to face events as the Write-Ins one ends up spending too much time chatting. And not writing. If one does try to write while all the chatting is going on, well its a miracle to get any words. Assuming the others don't try to engage you in the chatting, which if you ignore them.

Wait a minute, I sense a story of conflict in this. Must resist writing How to Write a Best Seller While Killing or something.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at November 09, 2014 12:22 PM (jwNlc)

165 Anybody watch the mini series Olive Ketteridge? It's based on a popular book. I'm about 10 minutes in and Olive is a real bitch.

Posted by: The Progs at November 09, 2014 12:22 PM (iQIUe)

166 Testing the new comment system.

A lovely schadenfreudelicious week!

Posted by: doug at November 09, 2014 12:23 PM (uS3zW)

167 Yeah, go to writeordie and try kamikaze mode if you haven't already. That oughtta test your commitment to writing.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at November 09, 2014 12:25 PM (xSCb6)

168 With ampersands, we can climb the highest mountain. Fly the limitless sky. Perhaps, touch heaven itself.

&&&&&&&

Posted by: Soona at November 09, 2014 12:30 PM (9td5u)

169 Comment.

Another comment.

A third comment.

Posted by: eman at November 09, 2014 12:32 PM (MQEz6)

170 I read Ivanhoe this week. It was much more of a straight forward adventure story than I was expecting, basically like a good boys book. But it was enjoyable, I'd be interested in reading something about the same era that's a little more complex or maybe just length if anyone has any suggestions.

I started skipping around in a book of collections of Liebnitz I found in a Palmer House around here and am less impressed than I wanted to be. I was hoping for a thoughtful philosophical foundation for science (partly influenced by the anti-philosophy anti-book argument I was having with a friend at the time who supported Science! instead) but I haven't really found anything in there like that yet.

I'm probably going to reread I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist with special attention to those foundational "we can know reality and so we can continue to gain knowledge" sections. Plus, I've started talking some apologetics lately with someone in the department so refreshing on this will help.

Has anyone read Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig? I've read En Guard but haven't taken the plunge and purchased the larger tome.

Posted by: .87c at November 09, 2014 12:32 PM (Syc3P)

171 Anyone read "Cutting For Stone?"

I just started it, and while the period and setting is fascinating, it hasn't grabbed me yet.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 09, 2014 12:34 PM (Zu3d9)

172 "Being a regular here is like playing Zork -- only it's labeled "Minx 0.7 alpha"."

Your flashlight goes out. It is dark.

Posted by: Kristophr at November 09, 2014 12:38 PM (6ROe1)

173 123
Recently read Bypass Gemini by Joseph Lallo. Funny
rogue-in-space tale, complete with insane inventor on salvage planet and
an AI named "Ma". Author gets one dopesmack for confusing discrete and
discreet, but otherwise OK.

And the Kindle edition is free at the moment? You talked me into it.

Posted by: Anachronda at November 09, 2014 12:39 PM (o78gS)

174 The Author of DiscWorld Terry Pratchett is suffering from Alzheimer's, his books are very funny. two have been made into Movies and are very Funny Going Postal is on NetFlix.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at November 09, 2014 12:39 PM (b6koZ)

175 Well, we are starting to get cold nights and cool days, which means it is time for Lord of the Rings. I read it every year about this time and this will be the 49th. (Yeah, I'm one of THOSE people.) Although I can see much of the text with my eyes closed, I find something new each reading. My original paperbacks have long since disintegrated. The hardback 3 volume edition in a slip case was my first such purchase and I mowed a lot of lawns to get it. After so many years and moves they too are wearing out but they remain a treasure. I have a new deluxe leather bound edition coming in a few days which should get me through the next few decades.

This annual reading is the closest thing I have to a childhood tradition. Only now I can settle in with a pipe, my favorite tobacco, tea, and the occasional brandy instead of graham crackers and milk.

Posted by: JTB at November 09, 2014 12:40 PM (FvdPb)

176 Rut Roh... the EMT thread is now getting an Error #404 response when you click on the comments link...

Posted by: CPT. Charles at November 09, 2014 12:43 PM (/mTq0)

177 Lemme try it again...

Posted by: CPT. Charles at November 09, 2014 12:43 PM (/mTq0)

178 I'm reading a book about a woman who married a psychopath - not the Ted Bundy kind, the more usual kind - and the key is, every time your better judgment rears its ugly head, tell it to shut up and go back to sleep. I'm sure we all do this from time to time, but repeatedly, day after day? After he hurts your cat? Are you insane? As a result, I'm not so much reading as skimming.

And I'm inching through "Bloodlands" finally and wondering what in hell is wrong with lefty types who can't see that this sort of thing is the inevitable end product of their ideas.

Posted by: Tonestaple at November 09, 2014 12:44 PM (B7YN4)

179 "This annual reading is the closest thing I have to a childhood tradition. Only now I can settle in with a pipe, my favorite tobacco, tea, and the occasional brandy instead of graham crackers and milk."

As long as you're not pretending you're smoking Old Toby, you're ok. Of course, this is coming from someone in the middle of the very same annual tradition.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at November 09, 2014 12:44 PM (xSCb6)

180 Nope... not my imagination:

404 Not Found
The path '/post=353029' was not found.

Knew it was to good to last...

...somebody kick Pixy... wake his ass up.

Posted by: CPT. Charles at November 09, 2014 12:47 PM (/mTq0)

181 I read an ad on the site theothermccain dot com for a book called "The American Jackal".

The early reviews claimed that the book centered around rather right-wing heroes and that it was the first in a series. Good ratings. Current review are about 4.5 stars.

I really admired the main protagonists, but the writing is kind of clunky. Politics is fine, if occasionally a bit preachy. Not "Atlas Shrugged"-preachy, but too preachy.

While the plot is somewhat implausible in spots and the heroes make use of a secret "warrior" force from the DOD and/or DEA, there are lots of likable subplots. (How conservative is that secret "warrior" force???)

Ultimately, you want to like the book for the main characters, some interesting plot ideas, the idea of having right-wing heroes, and to support the authors and the site advertising the book. OTOH, the authors are not really novelists, the **really** needed an editor, and it is hard to see how they can make a series out of these characters.

In this case, I recommend you read the negative reviews on Amazon before buying. I kind of enjoyed it, but it could have been so much better...

Posted by: doug at November 09, 2014 12:47 PM (uS3zW)

182 Ahhhh! It does say acecomments! I don't know where anything is anymore.

The Chesterton book was called "Eugenics and Other Evils", I have it on my kindle but haven't read too far in it.

I reread The Man Who Was Thursday semiannually. It's a good book. Manalive and Napoleon of Notting Hill are very interesting in a way that made me reevaluate my understanding of life and place and worthwhileness.

Posted by: .87c at November 09, 2014 12:50 PM (Syc3P)

183 Testing: �

Posted by: The Political Hat at November 09, 2014 12:53 PM (lN8KC)

184 175 -- JTB -- Good to know it's not just me...

...I'm the same way; with every re-reading, I find something, that for whatever reason, I didn't see that last time I read LOTR.

Man, if I had half of Professor Tolkien's talent...

...I'd be a hundred times the writer that I think I am.

Posted by: CPT. Charles at November 09, 2014 12:53 PM (/mTq0)

185 Nope, still don't have non-keyboard characters back.

Posted by: The Political Hat at November 09, 2014 12:53 PM (lN8KC)

186 I missed last week's book thread, and almost missed this one, but considering the recent accidents to the Antares rocket and the SpaceShipTwo space plane, I recommend Rand Simberg's "Safe is Not an Option".

https://tinyurl.com/m57vdwc

He argues that NASA's obsession with safety above all paradoxically results in less-safe and more expensive spacecraft, which are rarely flown.

With early ships, trains, and airplanes, accidents happened, people were killed, and we learned lessons that enabled us to build better ships, trains, and airplanes. The same will hold true for rockets and spacecraft.

Statistically, today you're more likely to die in you car on the way to the airport than in the plane. But since plane crashes kill 200 people, they get lots of publicity even though they're rare compared to the number of planes that fly every day.

Posted by: rickl at November 09, 2014 12:54 PM (sdi6R)

187 I made it through all of Moby Dick this week listening to the Librivox version while working. I hate to express my plebeian opinion in front of such an august body but doesn't Melville seem like a bit of a perv? I'm also 25% of the way through River War on Kindle and Winston Churchill's analysis of Egypt's situation at the more nuanced than I expected.

Posted by: alo89 at November 09, 2014 12:55 PM (IacRz)

188 I recommended a few days ago The Profession by Steven Pressfied. It's appears to be prescient.

Posted by: Bob Belcher at November 09, 2014 12:57 PM (woCRW)

189 I hate to express my plebeian opinion in front of such an august body but doesn't Melville seem like a bit of a perv?

I used to sneer at the notion of a gay Melville, but after reading a recent book about him it appears that he may well have been. I think he had an unrequited gay crush on Hawthorne. And if you've reached that conclusion, and reread MD, it does seem that there is a fair amount of homoeroticism in it.

I don't care. The guy could write the pants off most authors. (Perhaps not the best choice of phrase)

Posted by: pep at November 09, 2014 12:59 PM (4nR9/)

190 146 I have a review (it's on page 17) in the book!
Posted by: huerfano at November 09, 2014 12:05 PM (bAGA/)
Congratulations! That's a success.

Posted by: (G891H) at November 09, 2014 12:59 PM (G891H)

191 Somebody commented on my comment! Yay!

Posted by: alo89 at November 09, 2014 01:01 PM (IacRz)

192 A Chesterton column I found just now has an interesting image in it:
http://tinyurl.com/lfu4t9e

"He seemed to have no sense of how he had painted out the whole picture with one sweep of the brush. It is as if he had said, 'How charming is an old English village at evening, when the Muezzin is calling from the shining pinnacle of the Mosque!'"

Interesting, isn't it?

Thanks for the info IC, that looks to be what I was looking for before I even posted about it.

Posted by: .87c at November 09, 2014 01:01 PM (Syc3P)

193 A Chesterton column I found just now has an interesting image in it:
http://tinyurl.com/lfu4t9e

"He seemed to have no sense of how he had painted out the whole picture with one sweep of the brush. It is as if he had said, 'How charming is an old English village at evening, when the Muezzin is calling from the shining pinnacle of the Mosque!'"

Interesting, isn't it?

Thanks for the info IC, that looks to be what I was looking for before I even posted about it.

Posted by: .87c at November 09, 2014 01:01 PM (Syc3P)

194 I am into Audiobooks Lost Regiment (Civil war)and Destroyermen are more or less the same, they transported to a world when people are treated as food and they fight back, both are really good.

A Promise of Blood, has a very French Revolutionary feel, but with magic and powder Mages who when snort or ingest gunpowder become stronger and can manipulate gun powder.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at November 09, 2014 01:01 PM (b6koZ)

195 Hitler Learns About the Midterm Election

http://bit.ly/1zEG5Kd

Posted by: Steiner at November 09, 2014 01:12 PM (lN8KC)

196 I'm reading severals books right now. The first is,
Your Teen Is Crazy! By Michael Bradley which I had read when it first came out in about 2002, but at the time I didn't have a teen and so didn't know who crazy they can be. The author is a therapist who works with teens and their families and he ry discusses how teen brain is wired to be crazy and that you shouldn't take it personally. The subtitle is "Loving Your Kid without Losing your mind." It's really well done with scientific knowledge, empathy, humor and good advice.

The second book is Praying With Christian Mystics edited by Annettta Maguire and contains writings and prayers from Julian of Norwich. Theresa of Avila, St John of the Cross and Meister Eckhart. A nice introduction and some some prayers I was not aware of.

The third book is "Ten Prayers God Always Answers" by Anthony DeSefano who is a RC writer but someone any Christian can appreciate who wants to depend their prayer life and life of discipleship. Quotes from Scripture are used throughout I'm reallly enjoying and now it's not a "Name it and Claim it?" Prosperty Gospel book at All. Very thought provoking.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 09, 2014 01:12 PM (QlprU)

197 Thanks for the Chesterton photo. I love his works and I appreciate of what I know and read of him as a human being and a Christian.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 09, 2014 01:14 PM (QlprU)

198 178 I'm reading a book about a woman who married a psychopath
Posted by: Tonestaple at November 09, 2014 12:44 PM (B7YN4)

What's the book?

Posted by: (G891H) at November 09, 2014 01:17 PM (G891H)

199 HR

I read a mystery called "Jack In The Pu;pit" which takes place on Martha's Vineyard. Two of the people suspected of the murders are clergy people. They and their wives are presented quite unflatteringly and their is a bit of left wing bias, although one the nastier characters is an academic. I didn't think it was well written although the ending was a bit of a surprise,. I think I'll go back to Dorothy. L Sayers and "The Nine Tailors" where the clergyman is presented much more sympathetically. It's not that I think all clergypeiople are either good people and all do their work well, but unrelieved clergy mocking in novels gets to be a bore for me.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 09, 2014 01:25 PM (QlprU)

200 @195 Thanks, "Steiner"! Very funny.

BTW, for anyone who hasn't seen it "Downfall (DER UNTERGANG) (2004)" is an excellent film. Rotten Tomatoes gives it 91/94. Subtitled, but well worth it.

Netflix has it, Amazon sells it but doesn't stream it.

Posted by: doug at November 09, 2014 01:26 PM (uS3zW)

201 I'm currently reading "Crucibles: The Story of Chemistry"

It's an old book I picked up used that is nearly seventy years old, which is why there is no mention of "social justice" or how we are destroying the ozone, climate, or otherwise poisoning Gaia...

Posted by: The Political Crucible at November 09, 2014 01:38 PM (lN8KC)

202 Reading: Yang Jisheng, Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962, a 522 page English language condensation of the 1000+ page Chinese original. Tomorrow, if the UH bookstore has received the copy I ordered, I start Ethan Gutmann, The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China's Secret Solution to its Dissident Problem.

There's not much difference between a dictator who sees himself as the incarnation of vanguard of the proletariat and a President who presumes to read the minds of the two thirds of the population that doesn't vote. Only Mao's death brought relief from China's misery, and as Gutmann indicates, only partial relief.

Posted by: Malcolm Kirkpatrick at November 09, 2014 01:41 PM (uHUBu)

203 Late to the party, but this week I have been reading 'Dam Busters', by James Holland.

It is a 2012 account of the British WWII operations to destroy German Dams. Although the operations are pretty well known, the details of the attacks have not been. Great book, filled with operational and personnel details, memoirs etc.

I had no idea that they lost as many planes in the raid as they did. Amazon reviews : http://tinyurl.com/nv5qteq

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 09, 2014 02:11 PM (l1zOH)

204 Test

Posted by: Y-not at November 09, 2014 03:59 PM (9BRsg)

205 Thanks to Y-not for the secret combination to unlock the comments here.

Posted by: grammie winger at November 09, 2014 04:07 PM (3B+O8)

206 If Ringo had a particular person in mind when he named the Horvath, it may have been Gillian Horvath:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0395741/

She has been around fandom a long time and there is a very good chance they've met. Names of alien races or characters have often been sold in charity auctions at cons, so that is one possibility. Several of the characters in Niven and Pournelle's 'Fallen Angels' were the high bidders in such an auction.

Posted by: Epobirs at November 09, 2014 06:18 PM (IdCqF)

207 TEST!

Posted by: Smallish Bees at November 09, 2014 06:23 PM (VHiG6)

208 Last week I read Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall. Funny book, but I prefer his WWII books - Put Out More Flags, Officers and Gentlemen, Men at Arms.

I'm starting Pox: An American History, about a smallpox outbreak in the late 1800's that led to a civil liberties fight over forced vaccinations. Should be an interesting read in light of today's anti-vaccine crowd.

Posted by: biancaneve at November 09, 2014 06:42 PM (6Turu)

209 I started reading Jim Butcher's Storm Front. It's good but it hasn't exactly set my world on fire yet.

Posted by: BornLib at November 09, 2014 07:36 PM (zpNwC)

210 The book release of my novel Pilot Point at a GUN SHOW yesterday went very well.

I don't think any morons were able to make it, but I guess you can't have everything.

Posted by: WannabeAnglican at November 09, 2014 09:52 PM (vFmT2)

211 138 In Damon Knight's "The Big Pat Boom," the only thing aliens wanted from our planet was cowpies.
Posted by: TB at November 09, 2014 11:54 AM (8u/5i)

As an aside, Damon Knight was apparently quite the douchbag Social Justice Warrior and made a point of trying to destroy A.E. van Vogt's literary carrier because he didn't like his politics.

Posted by: BornLib at November 10, 2014 01:29 PM (zpNwC)

212 3 Internet killed my reading too [have to blame something...] Still trying to finish "Cooledge" by Amity Shlaes [sp?]. Good Pres - we should try getting one sometime...
Posted by: geezer der mensch at November 09, 2014 09:43 AM (6aFlV)

Which is in the running for the Goodreads' Best History & Biography of 2014. If you have a Goodreads account you can vote.

http://tinyurl.com/kyregdv

Posted by: BornLib at November 10, 2014 01:36 PM (zpNwC)

213 Veteran's Day 2014: Gone, but Not Forgotten!

These Military Veteran Authors are Pledging 100% Royalties to Charity on 11 November 2014

http://tinyurl.com/q9upbe7

Posted by: BornLib at November 10, 2014 01:44 PM (zpNwC)

214 BornLib: Jim Butcher's books kind of grow on you, and his characters get better and more interesting as you go through the series.

I had a clever, well-thought-out thing written yesterday, but Pixie ate it, and I'm not going to rewrite it.

Suffice to say, I'm reading "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making," which is wunderbar.

Posted by: Smallish Bees at November 10, 2014 01:56 PM (YPgXi)

215 As for John Ringo, just about every book from every author on Baen's list is worth reading - especially the military space opera ones. John Ringo has also published hardcore BDSM ephebophile stuff (by far his bestselling stuff, or so another Baen author told me), so any of my fellow morons and moronettes who're into that sort of thing might want to take a look (Paladin of Shadows series).

The Bible is not the staid book most people think it is. Remember that it's pretty much the only book you can get anywhere that won't be banned by anything except Muslim authorities (and if you're Christian, they probably won't make too much fuss).

However... the Bible pulls no punches and gives you the full unexpurgated version of everything. You want incest, it's got incest; you want plain sex, it's got plain sex; you want violence, it's got violence; you want horror, man the Bible's got you covered there too.

And Jim Butcher is da bomb.

Posted by: gkong3 at November 11, 2014 01:55 AM (LCRvP)

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