Sunday Morning Book Thread 12-18-2016: Aftermath

Library of Lurkette 'swim mom'

Good morning, it's another beautiful day at AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread and continual soiree, where men are men, all the 'ettes are impossibly attractive, safe spaces are underneath your house and are used as protection against actual dangers, like tornados, hurricanes, phaque knooze, and Russian hacks, where special snowflakes do not get respect, but instead, belly laughs. And unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these pants, which you can find in the dictionary under the word "gay."

Pic Note

Lurkette swim mom tells me:

As a teacher for 30 years, I've amassed a lot of books. The 2 photos I have here show the reading corner in my rec room and a separate 12x16 square foot outbuilding for approximately 5000 books. These shelves are 2 deep.

There's also books in both bathrooms, the guest room and my daughter's room, not to mention, another 12x16 outbuilding that serves as an office. Too many spots to photograph.

Here is a panoramic wide shot of another section of swim mom's library, just to give you an idea of how yuuge and luxurious it is.

Reading Recommendations from 'Mad Dog' Mattis

I heard from a lurkette last week who wrote:

With the recent news of General James "Mad Dog" Mattis as President-Elect Trump's choice for DOD secretary, and the multiple mentions of the general's 6,000-book library, I started to wonder what the Warrior Monk had read.

Another 'ette, All Hail Eris, suggested I post a pic of Mattis' library (reputed to be over 6,000 volumes, all of which he takes with him from post to post), and I'd love to do so, but unfortunately have not been able to find one.

Lurkette pointed me to this article from the Small Wars Journal site. From 2007, it is then-Lieutenant General Mattis' reading list, for all grades of officers.

Due to the time period, there is an understandable focus on the Middle East and Afghanistan. The list links to some free PDFs, full-price Amazon books, and a few cheap Kindle ebooks. Morons interested in history and particularly military history should have a field day with this list. The one weird name that jumped out at me was Tom Friedman, but I guess if Mattis can read Rommel, he can read Friedman. To paraphrase Bret Easton Ellis, reading a book is not an endorsement.

Also, a site called Military Reading Lists has the same series of books as Small Wars Journal, but with pictures of the book covers: https://militaryreadinglists.com/reading_list/47-lt-gen-james-mattis.

There is also a GoodReads list that includes some classics like The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

So what's on Gen. Mattis' list that might be of general interest. I'm tempted to leave out such narrowly specialized titles such as Small-Unit Leaders' Guide to Counterinsurgency: The Official U.S. Marine Corps Manual and Afghanistan Cave Complexes 1979-2004: Mountain strongholds of the Mujahideen, Taliban & Al Qaeda, but this being the Smart Military Blog that it is, perhaps I shouldn't.

However, there are a couple of fiction books on Gen. Mattis' list. One of them is Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, an historical fiction novel set at Thermopylae in ancient Greece, a narrow pass where 300 Spartan soldiers held off the vast army of the invading Persians, numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Another (non-fiction) item that looked interesting is Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda by John Keegan, the defense editor of The Daily Telegraph (UK):

From the earliest times, commanders have sought knowledge of the enemy, his strengths and weaknesses, his dispositions and intentions. But how much effect, in the 'real time' of a battle or a campaign, can this knowledge have? In this magisterial new study, the author of A History of Warfare goes to the heart of a series of important conflicts to develop a powerful argument about intelligence in war. Keegan's narrative sweep is enthralling, whether portraying the dilemmas of Nelson seeking Napoleon's fleet, Stonewall Jackson in the American Civil War, Bletchley as it seeks to crack Ultra during the Battle of the Atlantic, the realities of the secret war in the Falklands or the numerous intelligence issues in the contemporary fight against terrorism.

Lastly, documentation for what pretty much everyone knows, but is routinely ignored by our government: Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism,

Dore Gold, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. and internationally known Middle East expert, uses previously unpublished intelligence documents to piece together the links between the current wave of global terrorism - from the World Trade Center to Bali, Indonesia - and the ideology of hatred taught in the schools and mosques of Saudi Arabia

The book I just completed, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 says that the reason for this is not that the Saudis are particular fans of jihad, but rather out of fear, i.e. they want to be the ones eaten last. So they fund a lot of Wahabist madrassahs and mosques all over the world. And our gov't sort of looks the other way.

I wonder how this arrangement will suit President Elect Donald Trump?

Lurkette ends with:

This quote in particular from that interview stood out: "... ethical, competent and admired leadership is badly needed nowadays. For young officers, certainly to gain trust and respect from their subordinates. But they also have to be able to gain the affection of their troops. Not popularity - affection." That distinction in itself is insightful if not profound, and seems rife for a long-form Ace essay.

She also mentions that the University of Adelaide runs a site with free ebooks that have a cleaner appearance than what Gutenberg offers.

And Now, A Discussion On What Is Appropriate Socialist Literature

Let's listen in, shall we?

The authoress was just saying impressively to her companion: “—ever know a sincere emotion to express itself in a subordinate clause?” “Joyce has freed us from the superstition of syntax,” agreed the curly man. “Scenes which make emotional history,” said Miss Heath-Warburton, “should ideally be expressed in a series of animal squeals.” “The D.H. Lawrence formula,” said the other. “Or even Dada,” said the authoress. “We need a new notation,” said the curly-haired man, putting both elbows on the table and knocking Wimsey’s bread on to the floor. “Have you heard Robert Snoates recite his own verse to the tom-tom and the penny whistle?”

Dorothy Sayers
Clouds of Witnesses

This reminds me bigly of the stuff Ayn Rand used to write. Like the phrase, "superstition of syntax", used to mark the degeneration of language. It just sounds so Randian (see Rand's brilliant essay on Helen Keller). And WHAT'S FUNNY ABOUT THIS, as Ben R. might tell us, is that two observers, Rand and Sayers are saying pretty much the same thing about post-modernism while they themselves are completely unalike, philosophically and theologically. In fact, if they ever had met, they'd probably have gotten into a fist fight. I think Rand would've won, being an unbalanced angry loon and all, but Sayers would have been charitable enough to bail her out of jail.

And the moral of this story is, post-modernism is never not mock-worthy.

(h/t Anonosaurus Wrecks)

___________

Don't forget the AoSHQ reading group on Goodreads. It's meant to support horde writers and to talk about the great books that come up on the book thread. It's called AoSHQ Moron Horde and the link to it is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/175335-aoshq-moron-horde.

___________

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: OregonMuse at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle lege

Posted by: Skip at December 18, 2016 08:56 AM (5sOEp)

2 Finished Dies The Fire by S. M. Sterling, Radigan by Louis L'Amour, and Podkayne of Mars by Robert Heinlein this week. The last two I picked up on daily sales notified through Book Bub. It was a chance to go back for a re-read of these old classics. The version of Podkayne of Mars was an edited version from the original.

-WARNING- spoiler.

In this edited version the chief subject of the novel is killed in the end. That is the way Heinlein originally wanted it and the publisher wanted him to change it. I agree with the publisher. I read fiction books for entertainment, not "enlightenment" with sad endings. When you reach my age death is an old acquaintance and a reminder in your entertainment is not needed.

Also on a side note I am having a hell of a time getting my new Galaxy Tab A Kindle App to recognize some of my ebooks. If I have it list ALL books they show up, but if I go to add one to a "collection" by a single author some of them do not show up. Anyone else ever have this problem?

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 18, 2016 08:57 AM (mpXpK)

3 During the first Iraq war picked up Inside the Saudi Kingdom. Saw it laying around the other week and wondered if I should read it again, but as I remember it it was a lot to do with the being the last ones standing as well.

Posted by: Skip at December 18, 2016 09:00 AM (5sOEp)

4 " Afghanistan Cave Complexes"

That actually sounds kind of interesting.

Posted by: freaked at December 18, 2016 09:02 AM (BO/km)

5 Finished Desolation Island and am now into The Fortune of War (Book the Sixth). O'Brian's writing skill continues to amaze me.

Also read a Loren Estleman book in his Motor City series and one in the page Murdock series. I thought the Motor City one was meh and the Murdock was OK, but read a note from the author and realized this guy must have been writing like a demon in multiple genres for decades.

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 18, 2016 09:04 AM (wCEn4)

6 Very nice library, swim mom. And outbuildings with books! Be still my heart.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 18, 2016 09:06 AM (u82oZ)

7 During a quiet spot in regards to my current illness managed to sit down and read Frederick Forsyth's The Shepherd again. An RAF pilot trying to get home to Blighty from RAF Germany on Christmas Eve finds himself over the North Sea in a jet fighter that has lost electrical power so radio is dead and is running out of fuel. The story was written as a Christmas present to his wife.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 18, 2016 09:07 AM (Nm5ps)

8 When you reach my age death is an old acquaintance and a reminder in your entertainment is not needed.

...

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 18, 2016 08:57 AM (mpXpK)

Yes! This is the reason I can only read Cameron's {A Dog's Purpose" and "A Dog's Journey" a chapter at a time.

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 18, 2016 09:08 AM (wCEn4)

9 I wonder if Swim Mom ever has the problem, "Okay, I've got that book... but darnnit, where is it?"

Happens to me with regularity.

*mumble, mumble, get organized!, mumble*

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 18, 2016 09:09 AM (ZO497)

10 OM, thanks for the book thread. I presume power is back and drama levels are going to the baseline.

And I have a specific request. Do not, under any circumstances, use any of Zombie's photos for your ugly pants link. Brain bleach can do only so much.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 18, 2016 09:10 AM (u82oZ)

11 Posted by: Anna Puma at December 18, 2016 09:07 AM (Nm5ps)

Darn it Anna, I really didn't need any more good book recommendations, because I am so far behind already, but Winter is coming, so...

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 18, 2016 09:10 AM (wCEn4)

12 Ah, Book Thread, how I've missed you!

The novel has been sent off to the copyeditor and I should have it back by January 1. I've been very lazy about the cover art aspect of things and need to get my butt in gear, but I've been doing a little bit of writing to make up for it.

Reading-wise, I recently finished War Before Civilization by Keeley, and I'm now onto something very different- Trollope's Barchester Chronicles. I needed something nice and relaxing, and I got it. The first book is about the caretaker of a retirement home (referred to as a hospital warden) who gets booted out of his place because they think he's stealing from the hospital. A modern story would have the warden fight to clear his name, but this guy just wanders off into the twilight to live in respectable poverty instead of seeing his name dragged through the mud. Victorians were weird. Interesting, but weird.

Posted by: right wing yankee at December 18, 2016 09:11 AM (uwdBe)

13 I've been reading some Mark Twain short stories. His way with words is well displayed in this remark describing a lady atttending a ball:

"The fine contrast between the sparkling vivacity of her natural optic, and the steadfast attentiveness of her placid glass eye, was the subject of general and enthusiastic remark."

Posted by: freaked at December 18, 2016 09:12 AM (BO/km)

14 Really nice of her to let us see her book collection. Good to know that there are others out there that never throw anything away, as long as there is room to stack just one more thing.

Posted by: goon at December 18, 2016 09:12 AM (EaQ6/)

15 Happens to me with regularity.

*mumble, mumble, get organized!, mumble*

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 18, 2016 09:09 AM (ZO497)

Never bothered me!

Posted by: Zombie Melvil Dewey at December 18, 2016 09:12 AM (wCEn4)

16 I refuse to read or watch 'touching' animal stories. Also would not read or see 'Life With Marley' which everybody was giving me because my old methlab was a Marley type. Just.Can't.Do.It.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 09:12 AM (MIKMs)

17

Don't read much fiction, but finally got around to Tom Wolfe's "Back To Blood." Enjoyable as is all Wolfe and much worth your while.

Posted by: Libra at December 18, 2016 09:12 AM (u0gU9)

18 Yay Book thread!

Wowza swim mom!!!

Posted by: @votermom @vm at December 18, 2016 09:13 AM (Om16U)

19 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. Love the panoramic shot of the partial library. Now I have to figure out how to get ANOTHER out building onto the property.

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 09:14 AM (V+03K)

20 Reading Ryk E. Spoor's Phoenix in Shadow. Not as good as his excellent Grand Central Arena space opera books, but good enough.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 18, 2016 09:14 AM (u82oZ)

21 Posted by: Libra at December 18, 2016 09:12 AM (u0gU9)

Ah and so early in the day as well!

Posted by: The Barrel at December 18, 2016 09:14 AM (wCEn4)

22 Hrothgar, it is a short story all told in the span of a couple hours from the pilot's point of view.

http://astore.amazon.com/aoshq-20/detail/1480437255

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 18, 2016 09:14 AM (Nm5ps)

23 Wow Wordless Longpost.

Posted by: freaked at December 18, 2016 09:15 AM (BO/km)

24 OM, Hope the power outage wasn't too much of a problem yesterday. Guess you got it back by now

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 09:15 AM (V+03K)

25 I read The Just and Unjust by James Gould Cozzens after the recommendation by a member of the Horde. Set in 1939 (published in 1942), the novel is mainly a courtroom drama of a couple of kidnappers charged with the murder of a drug dealer. While I found some of the personal drama tedious, I did find the courtroom / legal parts to be an interesting look at what used to be accepted legal process. I also like the author's conclusion, in the person of the assistant DA's father (a retired judge), that people go about their daily lives relying on other people attempting the impossible.

I give the novel 3.5 out of 5 stars, but the courtroom drama (about two-thirds of the novel) is better than the overall rating. I think the lawyers and police officers in the Horde might find the novel of interest.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 18, 2016 09:16 AM (5Yee7)

26 Thank you for the pointer!

Imma off to church!

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 18, 2016 09:16 AM (wCEn4)

27 Reading-wise, I recently finished War Before Civilization by Keeley, and I'm now onto something very different- Trollope's Barchester Chronicles.
-------------

An entertaining series of reads, the Barchester books. Interestingly, they are so intertwined, that it doesn't seem to matter the order in which they are read. I very much enjoy Victorian/Edwardian era novels.

Anthony Trollope and my family have an unfortunate history, but time heals all wounds, they say.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 18, 2016 09:16 AM (ZO497)

28 Boundless Egomania by John Douglas continues apace, as does "Calico Palace" by Gwen Bristow. "Calico Palace" is a lot longer than I thought it was but I think the author spends way too much time telling rather than showing. It's not her best.

Posted by: Tonestaple at December 18, 2016 09:18 AM (B6m/l)

29 I interrupted my read of 'The Camp of the Saints' in order to finish off 'The Forgotten Man' this last week. So, time to go back to Camp. I mentioned this the other night on the ONT, but the Book Thread is the better place for it.

Every now and then I have experienced what I call 'literary intersection', i.e. when two seemingly topically unrelated books make a common and obscure reference. That happened this week. While I am not a studied Bible reader, I do read the passages every evening that are specified by The Book of Common Prayer.

Now, a more curious person might have conducted a search of the title of 'The Camp of the Saints' to seek a source, but it never crossed my mind that there might be a source. Anyhow, Thursday night's Common Prayer reference included Revelation 20:9, and, there it was:
"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them".

Certainly an appropriate title, and one wonders if it was chosen prior to the penning of the book.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 18, 2016 09:18 AM (ZO497)

30 Oregon Muse, Kia Heavey, the author of Domino, said that she got an inexplicable but big bump in sales rank last Sunday and thought maybe Amazon had done a promo. But when she checked it was the Sunday Book Thread.
You are a man of influence!

(I've encouraged her to come hang out, maybe she will.)

Posted by: @votermom @vm at December 18, 2016 09:18 AM (Om16U)

31 I'm off to Church also.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 18, 2016 09:18 AM (ZO497)

32 So they fund a lot of Wahabist madrassahs and mosques all over the world. And our gov't sort of looks the other way.

I wonder how this arrangement will suit President Elect Donald Trump?

He can end it indirectly by allowing fracking, to bankrupt them. They will no longer afford to be able to do this.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 18, 2016 09:18 AM (mBYZv)

33 I'm too intimidated to comment on such a beautiful display, especially looking at miscellaneous stacks on higher tables that have I grabbed from 2yo grandson who is still in the 'eat this book' stage. Got a notice from my library yesterday that I have a huuuuuge fine and went on a crazy hunt for the books I have out. Found them in a grocery bag on a high stack -- oh well, blame it on the baby, not on my own disorganization.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 09:18 AM (MIKMs)

34 This has been a good week for getting books and reading. I just got what should be a book that will get read and re-read a lot.

I splurged on a gift for myself. It was "Flintlocks: A Practical Guide for their Use and Appreciation" by Eric Bye. At thirty bucks for a paperback it isn't cheap but turns out it is worth it. This is the most comprehensive book about flintlocks I've come across. It covers all types of the guns, the history, loading, maintainance, accessories, DIY projects, various competitions and how to run them, the social aspects of the hobby, even the use of flintlocks in songs, poems, common phrasing, and stories. As a bonus, the writing is top notch: clear, informative, and with a touch of humor. The book is printed on heavy, quality paper with sharp print and excellent photography.

Part of the author's intro to safety uses a quote from Mark Twain.

"Don't meddle with old unloaded firearms. They are the most deadly and unerring things that have ever been created by man. You don't have to take any pains at all with them; you don't have to have a rest, you don't have to have any sights on the gun, you don't have to take aim, even. No, you just pick out a relative and bang away, and you are sure to get him. A youth who can't hit a cathedral at thirty yards with a Gatling gun in three-quarters of an hour, can take up an old empty musket and bag his mother every time at a hundred. Think what Waterloo would have been if one of the armies had been boys armed with old rusty muskets supposed not to be loaded, and the other army had been composed of their female relations. The very thought of it makes me shudder."

Now that is a great way to get people to read the dry but critical safety information.

I've been shooting flintlocks for over thirty years but I learned a lot from Bye's book. This is the kind of volume that calls for a comfy chair, good hot tea (Wild Turkey 101 might also put in an appearance), a pipeful of Virginia tobacco, and a few hours to read and think about the next range session. It's going to be especially pleasant on frigid, overcast winter days.

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 09:19 AM (V+03K)

35 Swim Mom, I'm showing your pics to my wife.

A guy can have hope, because an outbuilding is the solution. I'm running short of walls to put book cases next to.

She will probably mention ILL is a feature of our local library.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 18, 2016 09:19 AM (u82oZ)

36 Now I have to figure out how to get ANOTHER out building onto the property.

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 09:14 AM (V+03K)

This is going to be me someday. For now I have book shelves stacked two deep in every spot I can fit them, but I also know a guy who builds beautiful post-and-beam barns (my dad) and once I get my act together, I'll talk him into making me one.
Might I suggest adding a second story to your outbuildings? Most residential areas are zoned in such a way that you can put a loft on your garden shed, and you should be good as long as it's not too high/ doesn't have windows/ isn't too close to the property line, or whatever hoops the zoning officer like to make people jump through. Instant extra space for more books!

Posted by: right wing yankee at December 18, 2016 09:20 AM (uwdBe)

37 Woke up, fell outa bed, no comb across my head. Looked out the window and saw a yuuuge pile of snow at the end of the driveway. Zero degrees on the F scale, blue skies, and the Book Thread!

Read a 99c kindle edition of "The Point of Honor: A Military Tale" by Joseph Conrad (there are hundreds of editions of this work). The reviews say it is about a duel between two French Cavalry officers in the time of Napoleon, but it is about much more than that.

An interesting tale told in a casual fashion.

Two French cavalry officers find themselves in conflict; one, doing his duty as an aide to a ranking general, the other offended that a lowly lieutenant intrudes into his personal socializing. It isn't until the very end that reader enlightenment takes place. These two characters exhibit behavior that is both modern and ancient. That is when comprehension seeps in.

Published in 1907-1908 about events from Napoleon's time, yet modern politics hovers around the edges. That's when you realize that 'modern' politics isn't modern at all despite broadcast media, telephone, television, the internet, and social media. One whispers a comment to friends, and those friends pass the comment along to their friends, and fifty years later 'He never loved the Emperor,' is an established historical fact.

Saul Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals' isn't some new thing fashioned for modern times. Instead, it is something very old, repackaged

Posted by: Willie Wonte at December 18, 2016 09:21 AM (L1qrd)

38 Wow, that's a hell of a personal library! And if not for stacking books atop, or in front of each other, it could be twice as big! I'm totes jelly.

Posted by: josephistan at December 18, 2016 09:24 AM (7qAYi)

39 In fact, if they ever had met, they'd probably have gotten into a fist fight. I think Rand would've won, being an unbalanced angry loon and all, but Sayers would have been charitable enough to bail her out of jail.

Sayers would have won. You may not be aware, but later in life she became morbidly obese. She had a significant weight advantage.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 18, 2016 09:25 AM (mBYZv)

40 " Afghanistan Cave Complexes"

That actually sounds kind of interesting.

Posted by: freaked at December 18, 2016 09:02 AM (BO/km)

That's a book in the Osprey Publishing "Fortress" series. All those book follow the same format: 8x10 paperbacks, 48 pages, with multiple photographs and some custom color art. A quick check on Amazon shows multiple used copies for about $4 + shipping.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 18, 2016 09:25 AM (5Yee7)

41 I'm too intimidated to comment on such a beautiful display, especially looking at miscellaneous stacks on higher tables that have I grabbed from 2yo grandson who is still in the 'eat this book' stage.

---------

Stage?

Posted by: Joe Biden at December 18, 2016 09:25 AM (7qAYi)

42 Instead, it is something very old, repackaged

Nothing new under the sun.

Posted by: Someguylikea100yearsago at December 18, 2016 09:27 AM (PL/FH)

43 Honor Untarnished: A West Point Graduate's Memoir of World War II

By Donald V. Bennett

"What the bestsellers Flags of Our Fathers was to Iwo Jima and Duty to the mission of the Enola Gay, Honor Untarnished is to the World War II tour of duty of young graduate of a West Point.

Whether it was fighting Rommel's fierce Afrika Korps hitting the beaches of Normandy on D Day, surviving the Battle of the Bulge, or just being in the next room during the infamous "slapping incident" of Blood-n-Guts General George Patton, Donald Bennett experienced the fiery crucible of World War II and survived to tell about it."

Posted by: MachiasPrivateer at December 18, 2016 09:28 AM (EMi53)

44 I have been distracted by the David Hackett Fischer accounts of Paul Revere's ride, and Washington's crossing of the river to attack the Hessians - research for the next novel. I have on on my bedside table, and the other at the Christmas markets my daughter and I are at. So far - very good, thoroughly enjoying both ... do any of the 'rons have any suggestions for memoirs or accounts of Hessian deserters, deciding to stay on, after the end of the American Revolution? That'll be a major plot point, you see.
We're off to the Cowboy Christmas market in Boerne's Town Square, all day today - so I'll be out of pocket.
The print copies of The Golden Road finally arrived - just in time for the last day of the last Christmas market of the season! I've had a bump-up in book sales, too - so all hail the mighty book thread!

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at December 18, 2016 09:28 AM (xnmPy)

45 Also on a side note I am having a hell of a time getting my new Galaxy Tab A Kindle App to recognize some of my ebooks. If I have it list ALL books they show up, but if I go to add one to a "collection" by a single author some of them do not show up. Anyone else ever have this problem?

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 18, 2016 08:57 AM (mpXpK)

I don't have that app. Have you tried sync?

Posted by: @votermom @vm at December 18, 2016 09:29 AM (Om16U)

46 Oh, have fun, Sgt. Mom! I love Boerne.

Posted by: no good deed at December 18, 2016 09:30 AM (hJamr)

47 Instead, it is something very old, repackaged
------------------------------

Nothing new under the sun.

=================

Everything old is new again.

Posted by: Willie Wonte at December 18, 2016 09:30 AM (L1qrd)

48 I don't know who she is
or how she is
or when or why she is,
but as for where she is,
she is where we will go!

To Adelaide! To Adelaide!
Come on and join the Adelaide Parade!

++++

eh. slow morning. taught the kid to flip pancakes.

still off and on with reading Phillip Jenkins non fiction trilogy on global Christianity, the Next Christendom

it's well argued and i can see why it's important although there are some areas I'm less than convinced by. if his thesis is correct a great age in religion has passed and a rebirth is coming, only it won't hardly look the same, with Christianity eventually becoming something perhaps a little exotic.

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 18, 2016 09:30 AM (U0lQa)

49 Rand and Sayers are saying pretty much the same thing about post-modernism while they themselves are completely unalike, philosophically and theologically.

That's not surprising. For people who seriously want to analyze something, even if they disagree with each other, postmodernism is a waste of time, a clown show.

Speaking of theology, listen to Peter Rollins or Doug Pagitt, postmodern theologians. It will drive you nuts.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 18, 2016 09:30 AM (mBYZv)

50 Two Terry Pratchett audiobooks became available on my Overdrive app this week.

I returned Shepherd's Crown after listening for about 15 minutes. It is a Tiffany Aching book and I have generally found them less enjoyable than the "official" Disk World novels although this is the first time I didn't finish one. It may have improved if I'd continued but I didn't care enough to find out.

The other was a Disk World novel starring Moist Limpwig called Raising Steam. It is a big improvement over the previous one Snuff, which dealt with slavery and "Everybody Poops" with all humor reserved solely for the topic of poop. This one deals with technology and an insurgency by a radical Dwarven group that would seem very familiar to readers of an anti-jihad blog. It also regained much of the general humour and insightful background philosophy that has been a standard of Disk World for so long.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 18, 2016 09:31 AM (sEDyY)

51 Books? Bah. Ain't got no pitures noway.

Posted by: weirdflunkyonatablet at December 18, 2016 09:32 AM (PL/FH)

52 Glad you're back online OM. Thanks for the book thread as always.

Still struggling with Pournelle's short story collection "There Will Be War" recommended by some moron on a smart military blog last summer. Jeez I hate fiction.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 18, 2016 09:32 AM (EZebt)

53 Hammer notes Biblical allusion in "Camp of The Saints" title.
I'm continually astounded at the sources of "odd" book titles.
That would make a good post. Or, a good run in this one.

I'll start. Burgess "The Long Day Wanes" is a trilogy. Main title is from Tennyson. Of the three sections, "Beds In The East" is from Julius Caesar, "Time for A Tiger" (the absolute wittiest to me) is a beer ad slogan, and "The Enemy in The Blanket," well, I had to look it up.

I loved that dog named Cough.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 09:34 AM (H5rtT)

54 I'm too intimidated to comment on such a beautiful display, especially looking at miscellaneous stacks on higher tables that have I grabbed from 2yo grandson who is still in the 'eat this book' stage.

---------

Stage?

Posted by: Joe Biden at December 18, 2016 09:25 AM (7qAYi)

Thanks for the laugh

Posted by: TheQuietMan at December 18, 2016 09:35 AM (auHtY)

55 Before I forget, the free book.I mentioned is still free today (I think last day). Stung by Chad Olson is a wacky sf novel with a great pulpy cover of a hot Russian bee woman.

Link in nic, scroll down a bit, can't miss.

Posted by: @votermom @vm at December 18, 2016 09:35 AM (Om16U)

56 @45

"Manage your kindle" on Amazon,
should give you options to send books to your (new) device.

I just did a Google search for 'Manage your kindle' and one of the results returned took me right to my page (after a sign in).

I often have the problem of seeing a book in my kindle, but find that it is not in the kindle library for that device.

I have no idea what causes a particular eBook to be or not to be on a particular device at any one moment in time. Its a mystery.

Posted by: Willie Wonte at December 18, 2016 09:37 AM (L1qrd)

57 "We need a new notation,"said the curly-haired man, putting both elbows on the table and knocking Wimsey's bread on to the floor. "Have you heard Robert Snoates recite his own verse to the tom-tom and the penny whistle?"

It's like the Monty Python skit.

Policeman: What is your name, sir?

Man: My name is [*reaches in pocket* *drops wooden dowell on desk*].

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 18, 2016 09:37 AM (mBYZv)

58 I'm reading the 2500 page Vertigo/DC Comics Sandman at night before bed.

I had a brain burn out recently that lasted a several months and this nightly treat has helped out tremendously.

Posted by: a nerd at December 18, 2016 09:38 AM (ev02w)

59 Every book by Steven Pressfield is worth reading more than once.

My most pleasant surprise about Pressfield came after I had read all of his historic fiction books. I was and am an avid golfer and I had always heard about the book The Legend of Bagger Vance years ago but had no desire to read it . Then by chance I had seen it advertised somewhere and discovered it was written by Pressfield. I immediately went out and bought it and it turned out to be one of my favorite all time reads.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at December 18, 2016 09:38 AM (IDPbH)

60 Don't know if this means anything. I've looked at getting several books from Amazon and B and N lately and they are all out of stock. I know it's gift giving time but most of these are not 'popular' books; they deal with details of colonial and early American life, settling early frontiers, and so forth. Okay, they are a bit esoteric. Another, "Intrepid Sailors", deals with the US war against the Barbary pirates and formation of the traditions of the Navy and Marines. Finally, I tried for "The Revenge of Analog" about a growing push back against digital and virtual living and why. I've run into this with a few other books. The only common thread they share is dealing with the foundation of the country in various ways, a focus on how individuals functioned back then (emphasis on 'individuals') and an interest in some traditional (and still valuable) attitudes and activities. Also, many of the e-book prices are very high, nearly what the paper versions are. Clearly, the publishers are selling e-books at what I consider an exhorbitent price and haven't kept up with demand for the physical editions.

Is this an indication of an increasing interest in American history and living? Are some people (not Hipster fashionable douches) burning out on living according to an always changing and expanding digital life and want to reconnect to reality and living at their own pace? Is this all just a coincidence and I'm sensing something that doesn't exist? Quite possible.

Any opinions on the matter? I would like to think this is a slight repudiation of liberal attitudes by not slavishly following the NYT best seller list or being consumed by fashionable, peer pressure trends. I really don't know.

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 09:38 AM (V+03K)

61 I enjoyed your thoughts on Rand and Sayers.
I read a couple essays in The Whimsical Christian by Sayers. She deserves to be better known.

Posted by: Northernlurker at December 18, 2016 09:40 AM (s7hQ/)

62 Rand was not entirely humorless, unless you, you know, crossed her.
She didn't just "analyze" the literary left, she mercilessly mocked them.
"Toothbrush in the jaw" was her take on Gertrude Stein. It's funny.

Bennett Cerf, her "editor" as it were, respected her even though he found her thinking abhorrent. and was also a famous literary wit. Their meetings were often cool, but I can imagine them having a few giggles over trends of the time. I'll bet they both wrote limericks.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 09:41 AM (H5rtT)

63 37 Willie Wonte

Ridley Scott's first movie, The Duellists was based on the Conrad short story. An excellent movie. I saw it when it came out, not the Blue-Ray version.

FWIW, short stories translate into good movies. Novels, not so much.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 18, 2016 09:41 AM (u82oZ)

64 I'm also trying to read One Second After (again), so I can read the second book One Year After.

But I've had a brain burn out so it's baby steps for me.

By the way that's an incredible library. Love the colors.

Posted by: a nerd at December 18, 2016 09:41 AM (ev02w)

65 Very cool library, there's someone who loves books!

Read The Galactic Whirlpool by David Gerrold, a Star Trek book by the writer of 'The Trouble With Tribbles'. Kirk on deep space patrol finds a huge deserted ship flying at sublight speed. Enjoyable light read.

Currently reading Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos, so far a very entertaining fantasy, unfortunately not available on Kindle.

Posted by: waelse1 at December 18, 2016 09:42 AM (5L8q5)

66 That Conrad story was made into a pretty good movie by Ridley Scott: _The Duellists_.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 18, 2016 09:42 AM (NFN0j)

67 Mattis' quote is from a Military History interview (not the Small Wars link):

http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-general-james-mattis.htm

Posted by: Crowley at December 18, 2016 09:42 AM (kryIL)

68 "Don't meddle with old unloaded firearms. They are the most deadly and unerring things that have ever been created by man. "

Words to live by. I jes luv MT.

Posted by: freaked at December 18, 2016 09:42 AM (BO/km)

69 My son is an avid reader and for Christmas he is getting "American Caesar - Douglas MacArthur" by William Manchester and "Truman" by David McCullough. I think it will be interesting to see how the kerfuffle between the two is treated by biographers from different sides/perspectives.

When the boy is done, I am going to borrow them and read them in tandem along the timeline of events. MacArthur was only 4 years older than Truman and midwestern as well, so it might be fun to read them this way.

Have any 'rons ever tried that with biographies?

Posted by: cfomahm at December 18, 2016 09:43 AM (RfzVr)

70 Why do you need 6000 books? It is a fire hazard. Congress should make a law that you need a whole house dry foam fire fighting system for any book collection over 100. Of course it would need an annual inspection by HUD, Dept of Agriculture, the local code enforcement, and the fire Marshall. Now don't misunderstand. I don't want to make books illegal. But we need common sense library reform to prevent tragedies like the Oakland warehouse fire which sources say had up to 10000 books. I understand that the price of the system might be a little steep, but if it prevents just one child from burning up in an unregulated book fire, it will be worth it. Eventually congress can pass regulations requiring big publishing to pay for these systems, and make it illegal for them to pass the cost to the consumers. This will keep the price of books low, provide free firefighting systems to millions of homes and, importantly, potentially save the lives of millions of children.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at December 18, 2016 09:43 AM (dnWSK)

71 Afghanistan Cave Complexes"

That actually sounds kind of interesting.

Posted by: freaked at December 18, 2016 09:02 AM (BO/km)

We used to have someone here post by the name Tunnel Rat. There was a very interesting book I read long ago by the same name about fighting in the Vietnam Cong's series of tunnels. Scary does not pretend to describe that job.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at December 18, 2016 09:44 AM (IDPbH)

72 A great archive of Field Manuals is available as PDFs at http://stevespages.com/page7c.htm.

Also, in honesty the 300 Spartans had help from 10 thousand other Greeks at Thermopylae. Even on the last day, hundreds of mincing Thespians and boy loving Thebans were present. All dead to a man.

So, on every day of the battle, there were more non-Spartans in the fight, and more non-Spartans died there than Spartans.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 18, 2016 09:45 AM (0F67M)

73 Operation Chaos is a very enjoyable short story collection about the hair raising adventures of a war veteran werewolf and a ginger haired witch who put a stopper on the Caliphate from magically conquering the world. The sequel is called Operation Luna.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 18, 2016 09:45 AM (Nm5ps)

74 @70 Not only an excellent point, but one explored by other writers. Do you happen to know the ignition point of book paper? Hint: not in Centigrade.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 09:45 AM (H5rtT)

75 Posted by: cfomahm at December 18, 2016 09:43 AM (RfzVr)

Manchester didn't particularly like or pull any punches with MacArthur so you get an accurate bio. And it's awesome , both the book and MacArthur.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at December 18, 2016 09:47 AM (IDPbH)

76 Unfortunately, General Mattis' reading list was very unimpressive, something that I addressed with II MEF, adding Robert Spencer, Raymond Ibrahim's al Qaeda Reader and VDH's A War like No Other. I also demanded that Karen Armstrong, John Esposito and Juan Cole books be removed, as well as the fantastic fiction piece the Crusades through the eyes of the Arabs by Maloof which was complete and total garbage.

In Okinawa with III MEF, before we would send analysts down to Mindanao to support the JSOTF-Philippines, I also had the Marines read Ibn Warraq's Why I am not a Muslim, because that is a phenomenal read with a lot of 19th and early 20th century examinations of Islam free of "cultural sensitivity".

Mattis needs to ensure that Doctor Seb Gorka is a key cultural advisor.

Posted by: The Mouse that Roared at December 18, 2016 09:48 AM (7N6ox)

77 45 I don't have that app. Have you tried sync?

Posted by: @votermom @vm at December 18, 2016 09:29 AM (Om16U)

The App is the same app I used on the Gal Tab 2 and it worked fine. Having problems with the "A". Yes, I have tried synch.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 18, 2016 09:49 AM (mpXpK)

78 "Truman" by David McCullough

===

I see some parallels developing between the relationships Truman and Trump have with their daughters.

I think Ivanka is more accomplished than Margaret, but then again, I've never heard Ivanka's singing.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 18, 2016 09:50 AM (EZebt)

79 Going to get the Christmas ads and the lying fish-wrap they travels with. Up the driveway.

Girding the loins seems important at this moment.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 18, 2016 09:51 AM (u82oZ)

80 Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 18, 2016 09:45 AM (0F67M)

It was about 7000 and about 4000 of them died.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at December 18, 2016 09:51 AM (IDPbH)

81 Is this an indication of an increasing interest in American history and living? Are some people (not Hipster fashionable douches) burning out on living according to an always changing and expanding digital life and want to reconnect to reality and living at their own pace? Is this all just a coincidence and I'm sensing something that doesn't exist? Quite possible.

Any opinions on the matter? I would like to think this is a slight repudiation of liberal attitudes by not slavishly following the NYT best seller list or being consumed by fashionable, peer pressure trends. I really don't know.

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 09:38 AM (V+03K)

From your keyboard to God's ears; I certainly hope so. I find the entire digital "book" thing to be disturbing: platform "updates" makes stuff go poof and zero longevity. There is a convenience to the digital versions but you certainly don't own them with the ability to leave them to future readers.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 18, 2016 09:52 AM (5Yee7)

82 Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at December 18, 2016 09:43 AM (dnWSK)

====

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, is that you?

(Yes, her name is actually Libby.)

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 18, 2016 09:53 AM (EZebt)

83 56 "Manage your kindle" on Amazon,

should give you options to send books to your (new) device.

Posted by: Willie Wonte at December 18, 2016 09:37 AM (L1qrd)

I have redown-loaded a few of them using that page on Amazon but still, they will show up under "all items" but not as one available to be added to a "collection.

This is frustrating. In addition, some of my ebooks did not come from Amazon. I have about 10 or 20 that I got direct from the publisher, mostly Baen.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 18, 2016 09:53 AM (mpXpK)

84 My personal library is a little green card that sez "Public Library" on it.

I'm an old man. If I'd bought every book I ever read over the last 50 years, I'd 1) be broke; & 2) not have enuf room for furniture.

Btw, we all know how well new books that are now USED books hold their value, right? And how much fun it is to try to dispose of a loved one's collection?

"A dollar a book," said the NYC. appraisers (I brought in 3 different ones) when my brother died in 1983.

(I don't want to hear zhit about discovering some first edition Jane Austen, either, thanks.)

Posted by: mnw at December 18, 2016 09:55 AM (Iik29)

85 It was about 7000 and about 4000 of them died.

A large number anyway. But the Spartans got all the good press.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 18, 2016 09:56 AM (0F67M)

86 Dunno, Fahrenheit 450-ish?

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at December 18, 2016 09:57 AM (dnWSK)

87 Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 09:45 AM (H5rtT)

I managed to find a local librarian who was unfamiliar with the title of that book. Yes she was youngish but I was under the impression that librarians were almost religiously attached to it.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 18, 2016 09:59 AM (sEDyY)

88 Any opinions on the matter?

++++

I'd been a b and n manager way back when, so looking at it not as an author or publisher but from the third leg of the stool I've often noticed the vast gulf between what people say they read and what they actually read. The digital era has changed a lot of that since my time with the galleys but I'd hazard that they're not carried because they don't sell.

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 18, 2016 10:02 AM (U0lQa)

89 Just for a heads up to the Moron fans of Mercedes Lackey and the Elemental Masters series, Amazon is now flagging those books as not being available for purchase in the US.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 18, 2016 10:04 AM (mpXpK)

90 Mouse: II MEF, III MEF

Could you de-acronymise this for us non-military morons?

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 18, 2016 10:05 AM (6FqZa)

91 Wow Wordless Longpost.

It's the Invisible Chicken !

Posted by: JT at December 18, 2016 10:07 AM (mY1yY)

92 Second that Karen Armstrong, John Esposito and Juan Cole are hacks, Islamist-funded hacks in the case of Esposito. Spencer's book on ISIS is good but incomplete, so should be read alongside McCants' book "ISIS Apocalypse" likewise good but incomplete.

Dunno about Maloof since I'm not a Crusades expert. I did enjoy Catlos's book. Also "Race for Paradise".

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 18, 2016 10:09 AM (6FqZa)

93 I am currently reading Fatherland, a novel by Robert Harris.

Its very good.

Posted by: JT at December 18, 2016 10:09 AM (mY1yY)

94 While going through the cabinet looking for our Christmas CDs, Mrs. JTB found a couple of items I had forgotten having. The first is the BBC dramatization of Lord of the Rings. The second is an unabridged version of Fagles translation of The Odyssey, read by Ian Mckellan. (I know McKellan is a nut job but I love his acting and voice.)

I don't use audio books very much, especially since the CD player in the car went belly up. But I'm going to play these while doing some projects (wood carving attempts, whittling, sketching, etc.) that occupy my hands and eyes. I may become too focused on the project to even hear the words but they may filter through.

Anybody listen to books like that? Do you eventually tune out the sound?

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 10:09 AM (V+03K)

95 to the Moron fans of Mercedes Lackey

Lackey is a SJW, whose books aren't even good, so meh.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 18, 2016 10:10 AM (6FqZa)

96 apparently, there's some buzz about An Anxious Age by Joseph Bottum, which is about how the progressives are essentially post Christian radical Puritans which is really old hat for almost everyone on the right. I think I ran across that same argument by Moldbug back in 2003 or so, which demonstrates a 10-15 year lag between the net and popularization for at least some subjects

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 18, 2016 10:17 AM (U0lQa)

97 Nice library, Swim mom.

Posted by: JT at December 18, 2016 10:18 AM (mY1yY)

98 93 I am currently reading Fatherland, a novel by Robert Harris.

Its very good.
Posted by: JT at December 18, 2016 10:09 AM (mY1yY)

That's been on my to-read list forever.

Back when I as a Dem, I really enjoyed Farthing by Jo Walton, and it's two sequels. It's a police procedural in a post WWII world where Hitler won (no PM Churchill, Chamberlain's separate peace held).

Unfortunately the author is a yuuuge SJW so I'm afraid to re-read the books because it might destroy my pleasant memories of it to find leftist stuff that I was blind to before.

Posted by: Deplorable votermom @vm on Gab at December 18, 2016 10:20 AM (Om16U)

99 Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 10:09 AM (V+03K)

I listen to audiobooks while programming on a computer (audible.com lets you download books into ITunes), sometimes I miss details hearing them that way but it's usually more interesting than hearing music.

Posted by: waelse1 at December 18, 2016 10:23 AM (5L8q5)

100 96 apparently, there's some buzz about An Anxious Age by Joseph Bottum, which is about how the progressives are essentially post Christian radical Puritans which is really old hat for almost everyone on the right. I think I ran across that same argument by Moldbug back in 2003 or so, which demonstrates a 10-15 year lag between the net and popularization for at least some subjects

Well, we are having the Salem Cake Trials...

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at December 18, 2016 10:23 AM (di1hb)

101 95 Lackey is a SJW, whose books aren't even good, so meh.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 18, 2016 10:10 AM (6FqZa)

I haven't noticed that in her books. But, it doesn't matter. It looks like another copyright war.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 18, 2016 10:25 AM (mpXpK)

102 That Conrad story was made into a pretty good movie by Ridley Scott: _The Duellists_.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 18, 2016 09:42 AM (NFN0j)

I like "The Duelists" quite a bit.

I think Scoot's was under the spell of Staney Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" when he filmed it. A lot of similarity to BL framing and film-wise.

"Barry Lyndon" is, of course, an adaptation of a picaresque novel by Thackeray.

It's a good read.

Or if you'd like a modern version of the picaresque novel, you can always read my novel,

"Wearing the Cat'.

It's picaresque, yo!

Posted by: naturalfake at December 18, 2016 10:26 AM (9q7Dl)

103 Nice library, swim mom. Let's hear from you more often.

I find it's easier to read e-books in bed and bound ones in the chair in my study. Conversely, it's harder in reverse.

Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at December 18, 2016 10:28 AM (wkn6F)

104
Just for fun, because I am a nerd of a sort, and because I think it's cool :

I have on my Kindle a .pdf pamphlet of 32 pages titled "Experimental and Theoretical Nuclear astropysics: The quest for the Elements" by William A. Fowler. (Don't even remember where I found it.)

I don't claim to have 'read it', nor to understand it, but I did skim through it because I have a memory that iron is a particular point where fusing (fusion) iron takes much more energy (super nova) that just regular old solar plasma. But what led me to this was the question 'just what is in the solar wind anyway'. (Solar wind being the stream of ions 'boiling off of the sun' the same way that steam rises from a pot of boiling water.)

Because, it seems, that every atom required for carbon based life is present in that solar wind. Therefore, finding amino acids (life), component parts of DNA, on bodies other than earth should not be surprising.

Just one of the ideas I find fascinating.

Oh, and I think it might have been mentioned on the book thread - "The Implication of Knowing in Joyce Carol Oates's Marya: a life" by Josephene T.M. Kealey.

I'm not sure which is the more difficult to understand work; nuclear astrophysics or knowing Marya.

So what I am actually reading is the biography of John Wesley Hardin. 99c on kindle

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 18, 2016 10:29 AM (5pG+k)

105 Kodos, why is it harder to read an E-book in a chair?

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at December 18, 2016 10:30 AM (di1hb)

106 II MEF, III MEF

Could you de-acronymise this for us non-military morons?

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 18, 2016 10:05 AM (6FqZa)

II and II Marine Expeditionary Force.

In the U.S. military, Arabic numerals are used by divisions and smaller units, Roman used by corps and written number by Armies and Army Groups.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 18, 2016 10:30 AM (5Yee7)

107 oops that should be II and III Marine Expeditionary Force

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 18, 2016 10:31 AM (5Yee7)

108 II MEF, III MEF

Could you de-acronymise this for us non-military morons?

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 18, 2016 10:05 AM (6FqZa)

maybe MEF is like a past-tense MILF?

Posted by: josephistan at December 18, 2016 10:33 AM (7qAYi)

109 that should be II and III Marine Expeditionary Force
=====

Is that like 2Corinthians? Two Corinthians walk into a bar . . .

(Sorry for the semi-snark, but I remember some kind of whoopdy-doo with that.)

Sigh, it appears that I have to explain Roman Numbers to a 12yo granddaughter. She still does not 'get' analog clocks. If anything reminds me why I am not a teacher . . .

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 10:37 AM (MIKMs)

110 Sigh, it appears that I have to explain Roman Numbers to a 12yo granddaughter. She still does not 'get' analog clocks. If anything reminds me why I am not a teacher . . .

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 10:37 AM (MIKMs)

Use toothpicks or matchsticks to explain Roman numerals.

And use a pie (pizza, pumpkin, paper plate cut up) to explain analog clocks.

Posted by: Deplorable votermom @vm on Gab at December 18, 2016 10:40 AM (Om16U)

111 Since we are 100 posts, I'm going OT: the Old Man served as an officer in a Navy Sea-Bee (construction battalion) attached to III MEF in Vietnam. I recall as a kid being pretty fascinated that the battalion motto was something like Ne In Me Mingus (Latin for "Don't Piss on Me" !!!}

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 18, 2016 10:42 AM (5Yee7)

112 Finished "Warbound" by Larry Correia, very satisfying ending.

Started "People's Republic" by Kurt Schlichter. California turns into Venezuela run by SJWs. Conversations just like the ONT's progressive echo chamber link. Wow.

Also wow for swim mom's library. Thanks for sharing that.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at December 18, 2016 10:43 AM (THS4q)

113 I see that Mad Dog's reading list includes Achilles in Vietnam. That is an interesting and unusual book. The basic theme is that post traumatic stress disorder is a real thing and has existed since at least the days of Homer so sufferers shouldn't think of themselves as crazy or different. The author compares the experiences of soldiers in Vietnam to the experiences related in The Illiad. One of the interesting things is that he compares the Greek grunts' relationship to the gods to the Vietnam grunts' relationship to the higher officers and politicians. Both gods and the politicians are remote and their ways are unfavorable yet they held the power of life or death over the frontline soldier.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, This Is the Dawning of the Age of the Trumpius! at December 18, 2016 10:44 AM (Nwg0u)

114 Impressive library, swim mom.

Now I want to read all the Wimsey books again.

Posted by: Gem at December 18, 2016 10:46 AM (uaHyk)

115 Picked up a cheap hardback short story collection from Barns and Noble: "King Solomon's Mines and Other Adventure Classics." Just to brush up on my classics outside of Robert E Howard and Harold Lamb. The collection started out with Kiplings "The Man Who Would Be King," which has a funny conceit (Masonic symbols in central Asia?) but is otherwise hard to read because of the outdated language. Still reasonably fun.

Haven't gotten to anything else interesting yet, but I can look forward to an Arthur Conan Doyle story that isn't about Sherlock Holmes, a Tarzan sequel, a story that the introduction promised was the original Zorro story, a Jack London story, and or course, King Solomon's Mines.

On that same trip I picked up a hardback of the complete Beatrix Potter stories and illustrations, so that my nieces will be able to brush up on their classics.

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 18, 2016 10:49 AM (7aeqx)

116 I am currently reading Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. My goodness, with all my reading on the Spanish Civil war, everyone seems to have left out the absolute disorganization of the militias

Posted by: Kindltot at December 18, 2016 10:50 AM (wZCfc)

117 @111 Ne In Me Mingus

Oh, I have that one! It has "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" on it, right?
And "Orange Was The Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk"?

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 10:52 AM (H5rtT)

118 votermom -- A site I have been using over the past few summers is:

https://www.math-drills.com/

Very good; printable with answer keys (because I am not as fast as I used to be). They also have very good analog timekeeping drills. Yes, I have been trying to demonstrate hashmark counting, but the best quick add/sub drills have been playing blackjack (which I did with my own kids).

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 10:52 AM (MIKMs)

119 Ah! A welcome knock on the door. USPS just delivered two books I ordered using the 5 dollar off feature votermom mentioned on her blog. Thanks votermom. "Common Sense 101" about GK Chesterton (can't get enough of him lately) and Joseph Pearce's "Frodo's Journey". They're being added to the ever increasing stack of books I want to read this year.

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 10:54 AM (V+03K)

120 Ordinarily not a safety scold, but the words "two-year-old" and those burdened shelves of Swim mom's give me a little scary feeling. In fact as I examine the warping of some of the shelves, it might not even take a climbing rug rat to bring them down - do you live in quake country Mom? Be careful, Hon.

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at December 18, 2016 10:55 AM (LeUrG)

121 Mornin erudite fappers.

maybe MEF is like a past-tense MILF?
Posted by: josephistan at December 18, 2016 10:33 AM (7qAYi)

Mother Everyone Fcuked

Posted by: Insomniac at December 18, 2016 10:58 AM (0mRoj)

122 And yesterday we got - Enlightened Democracy, the Case for the Electoral College by Tara Ross. Leafed through it. Seems promising. Added to the ever growing pile.

Posted by: Skookumchuk at December 18, 2016 10:59 AM (/WPPJ)

123 @111 Would "minge" or "mingete" ring a bell?
Imperative form of mingo, "I piss." Sorry, Mingo Junction...
(Something I've found sad: current military Latin is all Googlatin).

I'm a-bettin' SeaBees also had the Latin for "my leg and tell me it is raining."
Which you can say in Latin in, like, two words.
Greek in just one, but it's a longun'.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 10:59 AM (H5rtT)

124 111 Since we are 100 posts, I'm going OT: the Old Man served as an officer in a Navy Sea-Bee (construction battalion) attached to III MEF in Vietnam. I recall as a kid being pretty fascinated that the battalion motto was something like Ne In Me Mingus (Latin for "Don't Piss on Me" !!!}
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 18, 2016 10:42 AM (5Yee7)

What's "don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining" in Latin? Seems like a good motto, if somewhat lengthy.

Posted by: Insomniac at December 18, 2016 10:59 AM (0mRoj)

125 I love that scene from "Clouds of Witness." The sad part is that Wimsey's sister Mary had gotten sucked into that nonsense, which is what drives the plot - sort of a flower child of the 20's. By the end of the book it's mostly knocked out of her, though.

Posted by: Dr Alice at December 18, 2016 11:00 AM (LaT54)

126 "The collection started out with Kiplings "The Man Who Would Be King," which has a funny conceit (Masonic symbols in central Asia?) but is otherwise hard to read because of the outdated language. Still reasonably fun."

Have you seen the movie? One of my favorite adventure flicks.

Posted by: Ignoramus at December 18, 2016 11:01 AM (bQxkN)

127 Got SonOfSD some WWII books yesterday.

Trying like hell to fight his Pre Teen Early Onset Dumbass Syndrome. Results are mixed.

Posted by: SD at December 18, 2016 11:03 AM (c04Om)

128 "I am currently reading Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell."

Great book. Scales fall from Orwell's eyes about the Soviets and Communism. Non-fiction prelude to Animal Farm and 1984.

Posted by: Ignoramus at December 18, 2016 11:03 AM (bQxkN)

129
I am currently reading Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. My goodness, with all my reading on the Spanish Civil war, everyone seems to have left out the absolute disorganization of the militias

Posted by: Kindltot at December 18, 2016 10:50 AM (wZCfc)

Same thing runs through Antony Beevor's book on the Spanish Civil War.

Despite all the leftist caterwauling about how horrible Franco and his Nazi allies/supporters were, the Republican forces could have been victorious had they put half the effort into fighting Franco as they did in squabbling amongst themselves.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at December 18, 2016 11:04 AM (LuZz8)

130 I see that Mad Dog's reading list includes Achilles in Vietnam. That is an interesting and unusual book. The basic theme is that post traumatic stress disorder is a real thing and has existed since at least the days of Homer so sufferers shouldn't think of themselves as crazy or different. The author compares the experiences of soldiers in Vietnam to the experiences related in The Illiad. One of the interesting things is that he compares the Greek grunts' relationship to the gods to the Vietnam grunts' relationship to the higher officers and politicians. Both gods and the politicians are remote and their ways are unfavorable yet they held the power of life or death over the frontline soldier.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, This Is the Dawning of the Age of the Trumpius! at December 18, 2016 10:44 AM (Nwg0u)

Interesting. Seems like a similarly themed book to John Keegan's "Face of Battle," which tries to tie together a working theory of how battle has changed, with its effects on the individual soldiers being directly affected by things like length of time in a war zone, the style of battle (i.e. open field with muskets or Greek phalanxes or trench warfare, etc.).

I seem to recall a similar conclusion, that men being men, the mental damage done by going to war doesn't really change over the centuries, just the manner in which they encounter it, and how soon it renders them useless as soldiers, and eventually, civilians.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 18, 2016 11:04 AM (Pz4pT)

131 Nice library, swim mom. I see everything but a Player's Handbook and a DMG.

Posted by: Blacksheep at December 18, 2016 11:06 AM (bS6uW)

132 I see one book in Swim Mom's library that is also in mine - The Holocaust Chronicle. Also see art books, one on Renoir, Stephen King, James Rollins, World War II, D-Day, Civil War, Organized Crime, and a few others.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 18, 2016 11:06 AM (Nm5ps)

133
On Instapundit - great images of waves on the Great Lakes by Dave Sandford.

https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/252135/

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 18, 2016 11:08 AM (5pG+k)

134 99 ... waelse1, I stopped playing music while doing these projects because I start singing along and get distracted or I simply tune out the notes. Hope the words will continue to come through. Figure if I already know the books, I won't concentrate on them and can just let the writing be part of the ambiance.

BTW, It doesn't matter if I'm listening to instrumental music. I do excellent impressions of bassoon and string bass and often add these sounds to 'enhance' Bach or Dave Brubeck. :-)

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 11:09 AM (V+03K)

135 There has been a massive amount of attention paid to whether or not the Russians were responsible for the Podesta email hack...

But virtually none paid to the fact that, in order for the form of government that we are told we possess to succeed, the information that was made public is information that WE SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO US out of hand.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at December 18, 2016 11:10 AM (Gh3fw)

136 VDH's thesis, "The Western Way of War," is a kinda-sorta extended footnote to Keegan's "Face of Battle," properly accredited of course. Hanson is fulsome in his praise of Keegan and his approach.

I can't stop giggling reading "Western Way" because it is full of applications of VDH's first-hand knowledge of how hard it is to uproot grape vines. Hands-on history: you write about what you know about.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 11:12 AM (H5rtT)

137 a separate 12x16 square foot outbuilding for approximately 5000 books.

Ok, this is the mark of a dedicated book-lover.

Posted by: t-bird at December 18, 2016 11:12 AM (k8DTS)

138 in order for the form of government that we are told we possess to succeed

Ever get that sneaking suspicion that we're being fed an incredible line of bullshit ?

Posted by: SD at December 18, 2016 11:13 AM (c04Om)

139 @133 Danger: Insty link is to Buzzfeed. They've discovered the Interior, and none of us are safe. Okay just kidding, they are worth going to see.
Hokusai "Great Wave"-level worth it.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 11:14 AM (H5rtT)

140 90
Mouse: II MEF, III MEF

Could you de-acronymise this for us non-military morons?

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 18, 2016 10:05 AM (6FqZa)

Sorry, the Marine Corps baseline fighting configuration is known as the Marine Air Ground Task Force or MAGTF. It contains a ground combat element, an air combat element, a support and logistics element and a command element. The smallest is known as the MEU or Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is centered around an infantry battalion. The second is the MEB or Marine Expeditionary Brigade centered around a Regiment or 3 infantry battalions, the largest is the MEF or Marine Expeditionary Force, which revolves around a Marine Division.
There are 3 standing MEFs, one in Camp Pendleton, CA or I MEF, one in Camp Lejeune, NC or II MEF and the III MEF in Okinawa, Japan.
General Mattis was the 1st Marine Division Commander, part of I MEF when they deployed to Iraqi Freedom for the invasion and again in late 2003 to mid 2004. I would later deploy with II MEF in early 2005, and was able to get the AQ Reader added to the reading list for the MEF, but Spencer was considered too biased. Ibn Warraq was a book I knew of, but didn't get to read it until I found it at the base library in Okinawa.

Posted by: The Mouse that Roared at December 18, 2016 11:16 AM (7N6ox)

141 Slightly off topic, but I just picked up the fourth 'Mythica' movie on DVD. And since its too cold to go outside, I intend to spend the day binge-watching the complete saga, culminating with my first watch of the new movie. Should be fun.

'Mythica' is a series of direct-to-DVD fantasy movies by some little company called Arrowstorm. Its super-low budget, to the point of benig partially kickstarter-funded, so the cgi is often laughable, and most attempts at epic scenes fall short...But I enjoy it anyhow. Some of the characters are fun, and the ambition of the series is admirable. Plus, the films are shot in Utah, so the scenery is almost familiar! (I'm a Colorado guy)

So, yeah. I may not be spending the day curled up with a book, but this'll be a close second.

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 18, 2016 11:18 AM (7aeqx)

142 On Instapundit - great images of waves on the Great Lakes by Dave Sandford.

https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/252135/
Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 18, 2016 11:08 AM (5pG+k)

Well... the pictures remind me of the "Pillars of Creation" nebula. I'm trying to draw some meaning from that... not sure there is one, but that's what I saw.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 18, 2016 11:18 AM (Pz4pT)

143
BTW, It doesn't matter if I'm listening to
instrumental music. I do excellent impressions of bassoon and string
bass and often add these sounds to 'enhance' Bach or Dave Brubeck. :-) Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 11:09 AM (V+03K)
=====

'I'm all about the bass, no treble . . . ' If you don't know, that was a pop song a while ago and my kids didn't know why I was laughing. Brandenburg #6 FTW!

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 11:19 AM (MIKMs)

144 Fake news.

http://tinyurl.com/jksw87l

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, This Is the Dawning of the Age of the Trumpius! at December 18, 2016 11:19 AM (Nwg0u)

145 I don't think Kipling's short-story language is "outdated." Kipling is about the best recorder of dialect and accent I've ever run into. It's heavy going until you get the lilt of it. Lots of apostrophe''''s, spelt-out aitches, and such. But say it out loud, and in a short time you can do the Northumbrian Nose, a varrry deeficult accent indeed, Sorr.. All attempts to render out Indian "O by golly-jove" accents are based on him. Frowned on these days.

Mark Twain did this all up and down the Mississippi, and it throws some of his readers, too.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 11:21 AM (H5rtT)

146 I am currently reading Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. My goodness, with all my reading on the Spanish Civil war, everyone seems to have left out the absolute disorganization of the militias
Posted by: Kindltot at December 18, 2016 10:50 AM (wZCfc)

Yup....if I remember correctly the Anarchist militias were great fighters but by their very nature by being Anarchists they were never very organized. I think I remember Eric wrote that the leaders in his unit would say "please" and "Comrade, for our cause" when issuing an order or some such always having to plead for the orders to be followed and obeyed.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 18, 2016 11:21 AM (5VlCp)

147 Morning all. Reading for me these days consists of taking notes from my source books, for my 'book' or whatever it will turn out to be, concerning my grandfather's Army service.

I await a box from the National Archives, St. Louis, with a copy of my grandfather's Army Service Record. For those so inclined to order such a record from St. Louis... it can be quite an experience. It is not a simple 'database search' exercise as one might expect. In my case, it took more than a month for them to reach the conclusion that they even HAD his service record (or that he existed...), and another couple weeks to physically locate it. I am sure i do not understand that. I guess i have the mental image of an Indiana Jones-type warehouse, and a record filing system still operated from shoe boxes.

But the good news is.... it should arrive this week, and my grandfather's service in Mexico, WWI, and WWII over a 38-year period will be revealed.

Posted by: deplorablegoatsxchange at December 18, 2016 11:21 AM (gOzTJ)

148 126 Have you seen the movie? One of my favorite adventure flicks.
Posted by: Ignoramus at December 18, 2016 11:01 AM (bQxkN)

I have not seen that movie, but a quick look online tells me it stars Sean Connery and Michael Caine, so I shall have to keep an eye out for it...

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 18, 2016 11:22 AM (7aeqx)

149 Not sure how many here know of "Early Bird Books"

eBooks and you get an email everyday listing about 8 books at usually 1.99.
The list of dealers is Amazon, BN, Apple and others. Usually the daily email has something I want to read....

Probably most here know of this....

Posted by: Colin at December 18, 2016 11:23 AM (ogUTd)

150 Mattis read Friedman because it was on the Marine Corps Reading List. He does not personally curate that lis the. Some political bullshit has influence on some of the titles. HFC has no place on the list, it's propaganda, and the only USMC reading list book I intentionally abandoned after giving it a try. It needs to come off the list.

I failed to finish two other reading list books - Small Wars of Peace and Guns of August - because things got too busy at the time. I'd like to come back to both.

Posted by: SlayBodies at December 18, 2016 11:25 AM (hDDgx)

151 On my blog, just put up a review of Rogue One

Link in nic

Posted by: Deplorable votermom @vm on Gab at December 18, 2016 11:25 AM (Om16U)

152 Kurt Eichenwald's Christmas book recommendation.

http://tinyurl.com/jjadqa6

Yeah, Kurt, I'll snap that up.

Remember, they're smarter than us.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, This Is the Dawning of the Age of the Trumpius! at December 18, 2016 11:25 AM (Nwg0u)

153 On Instapundit - great images of waves on the Great Lakes by Dave Sandford.

https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/252135/

Yeah, that first one is a dead ringer for the nebula. And one further down has a skull in it. Are the Great Lakes all muddy? Black & white might not make them look so filthy.

Posted by: t-bird at December 18, 2016 11:26 AM (eeTCA)

154 currently reading "Violence and Islam"; Adonis's "conversations with Houria Abdelouahed". Adonis is a Lebanese poet who is recommended by Edward Said. So I was steeling myself for a load of Joo hating and pan-Arab bullsh!t. I was pleasantly surprised.

Adonis turns out to be extremely intelligent and non-PC. It's probable he dislikes Israel - but I haven't seen yet where he says as much. He does know that Israel has nothing to do with the mess in Syria and Lebanon. That's on the Muslims and Arabs. And more to the point it's on Islam itself.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 18, 2016 11:26 AM (6FqZa)

155 ...potentially save the lives of millions of children.
Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy

Did you lift that from the Congressional Record? Because that is perfectly done.

Posted by: t-bird at December 18, 2016 11:28 AM (k8DTS)

156 "Zimriel" saw the first Mythica and reviewed it on his blog: http://tinyurl.com/hl8z2lg

I didn't know they'd got as far as #4.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 18, 2016 11:29 AM (6FqZa)

157 Sean Connery and Michael Caine are perfectly cast in The Man Who Would Be King.

Director John Huston tried for decades to make it. His first try was to cast Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart.

Posted by: Ignoramus at December 18, 2016 11:30 AM (bQxkN)

158 All attempts to render out Indian "O by golly-jove" accents are based on him. Frowned on these days. Mark Twain did this all up and down the Mississippi, and it throws some of his readers, too.
=====

'Stalky and Co' was one of the books I wanted to live in.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 11:30 AM (MIKMs)

159 @147 I feel for you. There was a huge fire in that records warehouse 40-some years ago, and many files were lost, no backups at all. Among the many legitimate heartaches this caused, it was the beginning of a lot of Stolen Valor excuses. "My MOH records burned up in that fire...So I wear one anyway..."

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 11:30 AM (H5rtT)

160 I'm reading Beyond Good and Evil, and Tuesday I'll start Mostly Harmless Econometrics which is required reading for my grad program.

Posted by: Colorado Alex In Exile at December 18, 2016 11:31 AM (FYrz1)

161 Morning all. Reading for me these days consists of taking notes from my source books, for my 'book' or whatever it will turn out to be, concerning my grandfather's Army service.

I await a box from the National Archives, St. Louis, with a copy of my grandfather's Army Service Record. For those so inclined to order such a record from St. Louis... it can be quite an experience. It is not a simple 'database search' exercise as one might expect. In my case, it took more than a month for them to reach the conclusion that they even HAD his service record (or that he existed...), and another couple weeks to physically locate it. I am sure i do not understand that. I guess i have the mental image of an Indiana Jones-type warehouse, and a record filing system still operated from shoe boxes.

But the good news is.... it should arrive this week, and my grandfather's service in Mexico, WWI, and WWII over a 38-year period will be revealed.
Posted by: deplorablegoatsxchange at December 18, 2016 11:21 AM (gOzTJ)

You are not fully wrong in your imaginings. The National Archives building is fairly new, and it is massive. They moved everything about 5 or so years ago, from another building here in St. Louis. The old one had a fairly substantial fire, I think sometime in the 70s(?), and lost a significant amount of irretrievable data.

The problem is two-fold, you have a massive amount of information, stored over the decades in obviously different formats, and you have to organize it in a way that anyone who is almost literally looking for a needle in a haystack can find it, and secondly, it's being manned by federal employees. Some of whom could not care less about the quality of preservation of your grandfather's service records.

There was recently one scandal involving records found tossed in the woods behind the building. Presumably stuff that was supposed to get filed/re-filed, and the flunkies they hire to do that figured it was easier to throw it out than it was to figure out where it goes.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 18, 2016 11:31 AM (Pz4pT)

162 Are the Great Lakes all muddy?
--------------

Close into shore, sand being stirred up by the wave action. The Great Lakes are actually quite clear, normally.

Posted by: Willie Wonte at December 18, 2016 11:32 AM (oC9ND)

163 Also, it's Michael Caine's real life wife who plays Roxanne. They're still married.

Posted by: Ignoramus at December 18, 2016 11:32 AM (bQxkN)

164 143 ... I hadn't heard of that song before or the performer. But then my knowledge of popular music becomes sketchy after 1980 or so. OTOH, Brandenburg Concerti are always winners. I've helped Herr Bach with them many times.

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 11:33 AM (V+03K)

165 @147 I feel for you. There was a huge fire in that records warehouse 40-some years ago, and many files were lost, no backups at all. Among the many legitimate heartaches this caused, it was the beginning of a lot of Stolen Valor excuses. "My MOH records burned up in that fire...So I wear one anyway..."
Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 11:30 AM (H5rtT)

Oh! I had not thought of the "stolen valor" aspect of it.

Bastards.

Like our currently service Secretary of the VA.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 18, 2016 11:34 AM (Pz4pT)

166 Like our currently service Secretary of the VA.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 18, 2016 11:34 AM (Pz4pT)

Serving. Currently serving...

Posted by: BurtTC at December 18, 2016 11:35 AM (Pz4pT)

167 @158
"Detriments, you call us? DET-riments? Why it was detriments such as us what built this bloody Empire! Hats on!"

As soon as she said "Deplorables," I felt Rudyard's jaws snap shut on her.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 11:36 AM (H5rtT)

168 OTOH, Brandenburg Concerti are always winners. I've helped Herr Bach with them many times. Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 11:33 AM (V+03K)
=====

As we were there when the world was 'so new and all', is it just legend that Nixon chose the Brandenburgs as a representation of our highest culture to be sent out into space? I don't know if that is urban legend (or should we call it fake news now) or not -- but I have been collecting various interpretations for a few years now. Same six pieces, crazy interpretive differences.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 11:38 AM (MIKMs)

169 119 Ah! A welcome knock on the door. USPS just delivered two books I ordered using the 5 dollar off feature votermom mentioned on her blog. Thanks votermom.

--

You're welcome, JTB! I just used that same coupon yesterday as well.

Posted by: Deplorable votermom @vm on Gab at December 18, 2016 11:40 AM (Om16U)

170 115 ... Castle Guy, I have that adventure collection and it is fun. Some of those inexpensive B and N hardcover editions are great values.

I picked up that hardback edition of Beatrix Potter a few months ago. It doesn't fit the image of a burly old guy but I find the stories, and especially the illustrations, charming. I bet your nieces will love it.

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 11:40 AM (V+03K)

171 Those Great Lakes waves.

They only get bigger further offshore. The ones in the photos were bad enough, but not enough to truly ruffle a 600 ft. cargo ship.

But, their 30 ft. and 40 ft. cousins, out there in the deep water, are proven shipkillers.

The photographer/writer was correct also, in this; that the random nature of those waves is also a hazard unto itself.

Much respect for the Great Lakes sailors, here. Might not be a "salty" bunch, but whatever substitutes for that on freshwater sea, they've got it in spades.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at December 18, 2016 11:40 AM (v5iqM)

172 These days it seems so much easier for me to read about fellow 'Rons and 'Rettes reading than it is to actually read a book through.

I could use some advice on how to get better at concentration and sticking to it.

Posted by: Halfwise at December 18, 2016 11:41 AM (rB/gm)

173 Why do you need 6000 books? It is a fire hazard.

And I'll bet they're all sexist too. Does he even own a copy of "If you were a dinosaur, my love"?

Posted by: John Scalzi at December 18, 2016 11:41 AM (mBYZv)

174 Some of those inexpensive B and N hardcover editions are great values.

Except that most of those are in the public domain on archive.org and google books, where the value is "time taken to download".

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 18, 2016 11:44 AM (6FqZa)

175 172 These days it seems so much easier for me to read about fellow 'Rons and 'Rettes reading than it is to actually read a book through.

I could use some advice on how to get better at concentration and sticking to it.
Posted by: Halfwise at December 18, 2016 11:41 AM (rB/gm)

I got a GREAT remedy for procrastination!

I'll tell you.... later...

Posted by: Don Q. at December 18, 2016 11:45 AM (qf6WZ)

176 I could use some advice on how to get better at concentration and sticking to it.
=====

Collections of essays. Safire, etc. Keep them in the loo. If you start developing hemrroids (no spelling for me), you can blame us.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 11:49 AM (MIKMs)

177 Here is a bootless and fruitless wild-goose chase:
I'm looking for a version of Iliad, Oddysey, and/or Aeneid suitable for reading to a slightly precocious 8-year-old.

There was a children's version, but it's from the English Public School era and about as relevant to young modern ears as Kipling's dialects. And I'm not looking for a comic book, unless it has substantial text, Graphic Novel.
ISTR that we had lengthy evocative transcripts in 8th and 9th grade English, which is so long ago now that essentially Ulysses was still at sea. Vic?

Been through the obvious on Amazon, just not seeing it.
I don't need it for Christmas. I'm, well, "tutoring." Without a license.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 11:50 AM (H5rtT)

178 The fudge is done! Up next, cookies! We are reading recipes today.

Posted by: madamemayhem (goddess of brownies) at December 18, 2016 11:53 AM (yTnCT)

179 177 Here is a bootless and fruitless wild-goose chase:
I'm looking for a version of Iliad, Oddysey, and/or Aeneid suitable for reading to a slightly precocious 8-year-old.

Look for Padraic Colum's The Children's Homer. I read it as a precocious kid.

Posted by: Insomniac at December 18, 2016 11:53 AM (0mRoj)

180 If you start developing hemrroids (no spelling for me)... --mustbequantum

LOL! Obligatory J.Carter joke, and then...
In "Sometimes A Great Notion" Ken Kesey accurately records the dialect of his home country. Calls them "him-wrongs." And once you've heard it, it's so damned hard not to say it!

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 11:53 AM (H5rtT)

181 171 Those Great Lakes waves.

They only get bigger further offshore. The ones in the photos were bad enough, but not enough to truly ruffle a 600 ft. cargo ship.

But, their 30 ft. and 40 ft. cousins, out there in the deep water, are proven shipkillers.

Posted by: Jim at December 18, 2016 11:40 AM (v5iqM)

I've read that experienced sailors on the North Atlantic say that Great Lakes waves are something else again.

Posted by: rickl at December 18, 2016 11:55 AM (sdi6R)

182 168 ... mustbequantum, If you're thinking of the Voyager launch, I believe that was under Carter. I seem to recall the music included Bach and Mozart and a bunch of stuff from cultures around the planet. But the memory is dim about the specifics.

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 11:58 AM (V+03K)

183 The upstairs has been finished and is ready for occupancy.

Posted by: Building Inspector #169-A at December 18, 2016 12:00 PM (d76uN)

184 I'm looking for a version of Iliad, Oddysey, and/or Aeneid suitable for reading to a slightly precocious 8-year-old.
=====

Cartoon version: 'Class of the Titans' (usually on Qubo channel). Rick Riordan 'Percy Jackson' series (very popular, so you won't look odd getting it for the kid).

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 12:01 PM (MIKMs)

185 " Afghanistan Cave Complexes"- I've got to say as someone who loves Osprey series books, that this is the worst title that I ever read from them. For a short book it's obvious the author didn't have enough material to fill it.
If you're really interested in the topic it might be worthwhile at a really cheap price.

Osprey has about 1,000 titles from ALL eras of military history, and I've read and enjoyed a good selection of them. I thought this one was a big outlier as a rare stinker.

Posted by: PA Lurker at December 18, 2016 12:03 PM (qwKJ7)

186 Sean Connery and Michael Caine are perfectly cast in The Man Who Would Be King.

Director John Huston tried for decades to make it. His first try was to cast Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart.
Posted by: Ignoramus

I will have to check that out. The description on wikipedia sounds massively politically incorrect.

The fact that Peachy and Danny tried to dupe primitive Islamists into thinking they are gods makes me think of them as proto-Democrats. May our own Democrats meet with the same fate as those hucksters.

Posted by: Steve andCold Bear at December 18, 2016 12:06 PM (mBYZv)

187 All - yes, thanks. The Fire was 12 July, 1973, in St Louis. I have heard ALL about it in my dealings with St. Louis. approx 17 million records were lost, Army/Air Force combined, including many Army personnel who were discharged between 1912 and 1960. My grandfather, who ironically died that same year, 1973, retired in 1950.

While i generally agree with the observation about clueless and un-motivated government employees who manage the Archives, in my case, it was rather pleasant. ONE person was assigned to my case, and she and i had many phone conversations over the weeks, as progress was either stymied or made. Our last such call was to me a day last week, at 0730, when she proudly told me that she was getting ready to mail the box - before her holiday departure, as she had promised me in October.

So, to Joy: I hope you en'joy' your well-earned holiday. Because of you, i know i will.

Posted by: deplorablegoatsxchange at December 18, 2016 12:07 PM (gOzTJ)

188 Of course, i got willow'd. Nood

Posted by: deplorablegoatsxchange at December 18, 2016 12:11 PM (gOzTJ)

189 176 I could use some advice on how to get better at concentration and sticking to it.
=====

Collections of essays. Safire, etc. Keep them in the loo. If you start developing hemrroids (no spelling for me), you can blame us.
Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 11:49 AM (MIKMs)

For sure my inattention is less when whatever I'm reading is interesting.

But I'm after some kind of self help readings on focus and discipline. Things that will reframe how I view daily tasks.

Posted by: Halfwise at December 18, 2016 12:12 PM (rB/gm)

190 While i generally agree with the observation about
clueless and un-motivated government employees who manage the Archives,
in my case, it was rather pleasant. ONE person was assigned to my case,
and she and i had many phone conversations over the weeks, as progress
was either stymied or made. Our last such call was to me a day last
week, at 0730, when she proudly told me that she was getting ready to
mail the box - before her holiday departure, as she had promised me in
October.
So, to Joy: I hope you en'joy' your well-earned holiday. Because of you, i know i will. Posted by: deplorablegoatsxchange at December 18, 2016 12:07 PM (gOzTJ)
=====

I want to thank you for telling us. Sometimes we get so exercised over the incompetence and outright fraud we are supporting, it gives me hope and 'joy' that there are still people out there, working for us, doing a great job.

To 'joy' -- thank you.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 18, 2016 12:16 PM (MIKMs)

191 Dorothy Sayers was too much a lady to engage in fisticuffs, so she'd lose I agree.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 18, 2016 12:19 PM (39g3+)

192 Thanks to all the lurkers who commented on my library. Those shelves are 2 inches thick and nailed down to everything. I live in AZ, so no earthquakes. Not sure about the comments about a 2-year old, though, my baby is 17 years old and headed off to UMaine next year to get a degree in art history (the usual jokes apply here). I consider all my books to be hers that I am holding in trust.

I just added an additional 200 books this week when my school library was torn apart for more classrooms. We were allowed to take anything we wanted home. When I heard they were recycling any leftover books (blasphemy in my mind), I ran in and saved another 30 or so. Who throws out books?

My collection is varied, although I have gone through a Stephen King phase (hate his politics) when I recently went on a tour of the places he uses in his books. It's pretty great if any one is in the Bangor, Maine area. The guide used to have a bookstore where King would open his book tours from, so he knew the family well.

One of my students asked me the other day what books I had finished reading recently. I told him State of Fear by Michael Crichton, Alive by Piers Paul Read, and The Pious Ones by Joseph Berger. He became interested in Alive.

My libraries don't even include my Kindle books. I have at least 4000 e-books. The Kindle goes with me everywhere.

There is nothing better than hard copy books.

Posted by: swim mom at December 18, 2016 12:21 PM (kgNU3)

193 Get the Illiad by Richmond Lattimore. It's a great translation

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 18, 2016 12:24 PM (LBZrA)

194 There is no Willowing in the Book Thread, it goes on all day.

I finished The Increduilty of Father Brown this week, the third collection of Father Brown short stories. This volume has longer stories in it, which did not benefit the tales very well. They still were well written and thoughtful, but the main focus of the mystery was lost in philosophical discussions and extra details which made the stories longer.

It was clear from the first story that these were an excuse for GK Chesterton to share his ideas and theology through the device of a clever detective, but in the third book, that's almost all they became. I'm not complaining about that per se, one of the stories for example was a demonstration of Chesterton's famous quote

When Man ceases to worship God he does not worship nothing but worships everything.

And he demonstrates it quite well. The problem is I liked the little mysteries and they got lost.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 18, 2016 12:25 PM (39g3+)

195 re 70: yes, emotional logic at work. we have had 8 years. back side is lots of book reading nourishes logic and exposes the mind to diversity of ideas. exactly what is not desired by rule maker/enforcers that dream to be royalty

Posted by: talgus da deplorable at December 18, 2016 12:25 PM (fJQAI)

196 @179 Thanks for the endorsement, Insomniac. I just ordered it.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 18, 2016 12:26 PM (H5rtT)

197 Hokey smokes, Bullwinkle! (Looking at panoramic pic) Lurkette swim mom may actually have more books than we do! And shelves just as neatly arrayed! (Well, a great lot of our books aren't on shelves, but the ones that are look like that.)

"...separate 12x16 square foot outbuilding for approximately 5000 books." - I'm green with envy.

That top photo shows one of the big problems with wraparound shelving: the corner. Need special angled unit to tuck in there. I've got corner shelf designs for our place, if I ever get to build them. Any decade now...

(Milady is the reader in our house - I tried to get back in the habit of reading books, but too many folks kept posting comments on this blog I read....)

Posted by: mindful webworker - one word at a time at December 18, 2016 12:29 PM (UNMPM)

198 Seconded on The Man Who Would Be King. Its an exceptional film with great acting.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 18, 2016 12:29 PM (39g3+)

199 On Instapundit - great images of waves on the Great Lakes by Dave Sandford.

https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/252135/

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at December 18, 2016 11:08 AM (5pG+k)

Warning! Link goes to buzzfeed.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 18, 2016 12:46 PM (MiBfH)

200 Yep -- four comments when I leave for church, nearly 200 when I get back home.

I need advice. Among my continually growing TBR piles are two books by Bill Cosby. Given what we know about the man, should I keep them on the list? Then after I do read them, what should I do with them?

One of the reasons my TBR list is so long is that I gravitate toward books and comics I've already read. Case in point: Right now I'm working through my collection of Legion of Super-Heroes comics starting from the early '80s. Plus, I checked out three books from the library last week. I feel like the donkey that starved to death because it was equidistant between two piles of hay.

Is there a Book Accumulators Anonymous?

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 18, 2016 12:49 PM (zqUhc)

201 I find its best to ignore people's lives and enjoy their work separate from who they are or what they've done. A lot of great composers were pretty awful people in life, but their music lives on.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 18, 2016 01:02 PM (39g3+)

202 I've been reading some Mark Twain short stories. His way with words is well displayed in this remark describing a lady atttending a ball:

"The fine contrast between the sparkling vivacity of her natural optic, and the steadfast attentiveness of her placid glass eye, was the subject of general and enthusiastic remark."
Posted by: freaked
--------------

Back from Church.

The above comment causes me to me to recall some well-turned phrases by various authors. Since I am reading 'A Christmas Carol' right now ( I do so every year) I am reminded of these two from Dickens, emphasis is mine;

"Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. "

And:

"Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn't replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 18, 2016 01:04 PM (ZO497)

203 (Mom): " ... my baby is 17 years old and headed off to UMaine next year to get a degree in art history ..."
Practical; after Law school s/he'll subsist on baguettes, brie, and Chablis while defending the Getty against claims from the Iranian and Greek governments and descendants of dispossessed Austrian Jewish bankers.

I'm slowly reading __The Black Book of Communism__, taking relief with fluffy nonsense (e.g., Lee Child) every few chapters.

Posted by: Malcolm Kirkpatrick at December 18, 2016 01:09 PM (IbUUZ)

204 I have never actually read A Christmas Carol, I really ought to. I'm not a big Dickens fan, mostly because I was forced to read his books as a teenager by mom and resented it. Id probably like them more now.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 18, 2016 01:32 PM (39g3+)

205 Christopher, if you like lots and lots of plot threads (I do), Dickens is your man. I like Nicholas Nickleby, Bleak House and Oliver Twist quite a bit.

Posted by: Dr Alice at December 18, 2016 01:35 PM (LaT54)

206 C. Taylor --

You are so right about some composers being rotten people.

A book I love is "My Favorite Operas" by Victor Borge. Each chapter is a hilarious look at the life of an opera great. Hollywood had nothing on those rakes.

Opera was the movie-making of the days before film. Drunkeness, licentiousness, (can't think of a single word to describe not paying debts) -- they had it all.

And told in the marvelous voice of the Great Dane. Search it out -- you won't be disappointed.

P.S. CT -- are you on Facebook?

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 18, 2016 01:36 PM (zqUhc)

207 Yeah I'm
https://www.facebook.com/christopher.taylor.5680

on facebook My writing page is

https://www.facebook.com/KestrelArts/

I tried reading Oliver Twist but the book was about 2/3rds too long and had too many coincidences for my taste.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 18, 2016 01:43 PM (39g3+)

208 Look for a friend request from a stranger with a long surname.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 18, 2016 01:47 PM (zqUhc)

209 Re Dickens:

"Shoe" strip.

Teacher: "Now, class, after reading this long, descriptive passage by Charles Dickens, what can we conclude?"

Skyler: "He was paid by the word?"

***

I, too, have never read Dickens. Was supposed to read "David Copperfield" for honors English in college. Repeat: "supposed to." You can guess the outcome.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 18, 2016 01:54 PM (zqUhc)

210 204
I have never actually read A Christmas Carol, I really ought to. I'm
not a big Dickens fan, mostly because I was forced to read his books as a
teenager by mom and resented it. Id probably like them more now.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 18, 2016 01:32 PM (39g3+)

I just downloaded from Gutenberg for free. There was one Dickens book we had in English Lit for HS that was readable. Maybe this will be better.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 18, 2016 02:04 PM (mpXpK)

211 Dickens - 'The Pickwick Papers'. Lots of humor, an easy read.

I do think that everyone, with an inclination, ought to read 'A Christmas Carol'.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 18, 2016 02:13 PM (ZO497)

212 Re: 150 I was on mobile and mis-typed a couple things I see now that I'm on my computer.

1. I thought it was referring to Hot, Flat, & Crowded, which is on the general USMC reading list, not Mattis' personal. Still garbage, still shouldn't be on there.

2. I called Savage Wars of Peace "Small Wars of Peace." Typo. I generally like Max Boot.

3. Surprised to see Imperial Grunts on there - I found it to be somewhat condescending and lacking technical accuracy. Kaplan has some interesting theories but he's always struck me as one of these guys who thinks he's way smarter than everyone in uniform.

4. Going to the regular USMC reading list again, it made me a believer in fiction again. Gates of Fire was fantastic, that's my most recent fiction read. I hadn't read fiction in years - you don't need it when you've got books like Last Stand of Fox Company and The Village, wilder than fiction - when a friend convinced me to read Matterhorn. Incredible book, and honestly probably more grounded in Marlantes' actual experience in Vietnam than he wants to admit. Most guys who have been pissed on in the rain for over a week at a time and seen the toll field life privation wreaks on a man's health will immediately appreciate the realism of some of the nasty, non-combat stuff that gets mentioned. It grossed my family out when I encouraged them to read it. Fields of Fire is also great, and I honestly wish Jim Webb would've just exited public life after its publication. He went from rolling with some of the greatest men of his generation to aligning with scum. Sad!

Posted by: SlayBodies at December 18, 2016 02:16 PM (hDDgx)

213 Kodos, why is it harder to read an E-book in a chair?
Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at December 18, 2016 10:30 AM (di1hb)

Sorry, I've spent the last few hours standing in a freezing field yelling at people.

I think that in my most comfortable position in a chair or bed changes the most comfortable focal length of my (old) eyes. What works well in one place doesn't work well in another.

Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at December 18, 2016 02:23 PM (wkn6F)

214 I come back all day on Sunday to see what everyone is reading.

Posted by: Skip at December 18, 2016 02:31 PM (5sOEp)

215 1) Clouds of WITNESS

2) Gates of Fire went against the wall when some character unrolled a blueprint

Posted by: Margaret at December 18, 2016 02:46 PM (Bq9Qj)

216 I literally live around the corner from two large used book stores. If my Millennial son weren't crashing in my designated library room, I'd have nice pictures to share, too. >

Posted by: V the K at December 18, 2016 03:10 PM (jn7FC)

217 Re-read Philip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle" to rev me up for the season premiere on Amazon. Lots of amazing stuff that I thought the TV producers had discarded, but much of that was just held back for Season 2.

The NYC/Nazi storylines in Season 1 marched in like stormtroopers. For Season 2, the restored San Fran/Japanese elements whispered like haiku. Underserved characters deepened as we saw them in a new light in each new scene. And the looming nuclear war adds suspense to every ordinary event. Good TV! The additions and changes were necessary to turn a thin novel into a 20-episode series. (Or 30?)

The book is a much different thing, dreamlike. My literal brain cursed it when I read it as a teen. Each time I reread it, I take it slower. Smaller doses, and longer pauses between chapters. It's not just new data, or new opinions. It's actually a new way to think about what's already kicking around up there.

Posted by: Little Mrs Spellcheck at December 18, 2016 03:22 PM (UfqKz)

218 I do think that everyone, with an inclination, ought to read 'A Christmas Carol'.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 18, 2016 02:13 PM (ZO497)

Seconded. Heck, it's only 50 pages long. Dickens is a brilliant wordsmith, and a master of using both idealized characters and caricatures in the service of making his point. It was G.K. Chesterton who called him "despotic" with people's feelings. And Oscar Wilde didn't like his writing at all, which is definitely a point in Dickens' favor in my book.

An interesting fact is that this story popularized the term 'Merry Christmas', although Victorians and prudes (BIRM) preferred the term 'Happy Christmas' because the word merry could also mean intoxicated.

Posted by: HTL at December 18, 2016 03:26 PM (QaAkH)

219 Lawrence Block wrote about titling:

I was reminded of the Young Novelist who'd written a book and went to his friend, the Old Pro, explaining he was stuck for a title. The Old Pro thought for a moment. "Call it Drums and Bugles," he said. "Stirring, provocative, has a nice cadence to it. Yes, that's what you should call it."

The young novelist was taken aback. "But it's not a war story," he protested. "There's nothing military about it, and nothing musical, either. It's a fine title, but I can't see how it fits the book."

"Ah," said the old pro. "You're quite right, of course. Call it No Drums, No Bugles."

Posted by: Little Mrs Spellcheck at December 18, 2016 03:39 PM (UfqKz)

220 I'm guessing an art teacher because that's a fine collection of art history and individual artist biographies.

Not reading any new books. I told everyone who asked what I wanted for Christmas or my birthday to please buy me a book. I received one about the history and design of lighthouses from my friend the lighthouse junkie. Can't wait to for Christmas!

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 18, 2016 03:42 PM (UwMHj)

221 The Friedman book is 'From Beirut To Jerusalem', and it's a pretty good overview of conditions in the Middle East, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though it is pretty old now. Friedman wrote it before he lost his mind.

Posted by: Paul at December 18, 2016 03:49 PM (Ae4P3)

222 I'm torn about Dickens. His ability to create a mood or an image is wonderful and I can enjoy that. The man could write. But I rarely care about his characters. And he can get sanctimonious with his socialist views which is tiresome. If he had lived a few decades later I suspect he would have been part of the Fabian Society movement.

Posted by: JTB at December 18, 2016 03:54 PM (V+03K)

223 "Tsundoku" (n.) is the condition of acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one's home without reading them. (from Japanese slang)

Posted by: Little Mrs Spellcheck at December 18, 2016 03:54 PM (UfqKz)

224 Speaking of rereading "A Christmas Carol", I will also be rereading "Jacob T. Marley" by R. William Bennett. Pretty sure that was a recommendation here a year or two ago, and I enjoyed it.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at December 18, 2016 04:36 PM (THS4q)

225 I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about the book Creating Christ which proposed that the Christians appropriated the idea of a born again savior from Emperor Domitian who was purported to be the reincarnation of Vespasian or somebody. Now I see a documentary (on PBS so you know it's right) purporting that the Christians appropriated the idea of a savior from Emperor Augustus who saved Rome from a century of turmoil and civil war by instituting the Pax Romana and creating prosperity. So I guess Jesus was a pretend third rate emperor is now a thing

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, This Is the Dawning of the Age of the Trumpius! at December 18, 2016 05:06 PM (Nwg0u)

226 got a PIR in my library too...mine is wireless tho.

Posted by: Passive Infrared Detector at December 18, 2016 05:32 PM (lQqJB)

227 Re book titling:

"Precinct Diary" became "Blood on the Badge."

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 18, 2016 05:36 PM (zqUhc)

228 Speaking of Dickens, I don't think Our Mutual Friend was mentioned, one of my favorites and his last novel. For those in a hurry the BBC TV production from 1998 was excellent.

Posted by: waelse1 at December 18, 2016 06:20 PM (5kYGi)

229 Does anyone know the name of "Rand's brilliant essay on Helen Keller"?

I gloolgled but can not find.

TIA.

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest at December 18, 2016 08:30 PM (LWu6U)

230 Does anyone know the name of "Rand's brilliant essay on Helen Keller"?
I gloolgled but can not find.

TIA.

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest at December 18, 2016 08:30 PM (LWu6U)

Well, I need to put up or shut up. I will track it down and let you know.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at December 18, 2016 09:45 PM (pK/Pa)

231 >> I will track it down and let you know.

It's not a biggie, but I am interested in reading it.
I will check back later, or at next weeks book thread.

Also, well done on this thread - it is something I look forward to each week, although I rarely comment.

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest at December 18, 2016 09:51 PM (LWu6U)

232 So the Ayn Rand essay I was thinking of is called "Kant Versus Sullivan" and it is included in her book "Philosophy: Who Needs It?" The essay is Rand's lament that the idea promulgated by modern philosophy that human language really isn't all that, and she contrasts that careless ignorance with the play The Miracle Worker that showed how Keller, blind and deaf, had to struggle mightily to achieve that capacity for speech what the philosophers want to toss aside.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at December 18, 2016 10:03 PM (pK/Pa)

233 And thank you for your kind words about the book thread.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at December 18, 2016 10:04 PM (pK/Pa)

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