Sunday Morning Book Thread 05-07-2017

Library of Lurker SteveOReno

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, where men are men, all the 'ettes are gorgeous, safe spaces are underneath your house and are used as protection against actual dangers, like natural disasters, or Literally Hitler, and special snowflakes do not last. 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, I know flying the flag is a good thing, but I mean, come on, really?

Pic Note

This looks like a very nice library. I'd like to spend lots of time in it. There are some interesting items that you can see by clicking on it to see the larger version. I think the pinball machine is a great addition.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

ANILITY is the quality of being an old woman.

Usage: "Hillary Clinton's fleshy jowls jiggled with anility."

Eating Their Own

Last week I made the claim that there was only one book I could find that dealt with the subject of fake hate crimes. But there are books on the subject of fake rape crimes, which are like fake hate crimes in that they are used to promote an item or items on the progressive agenda. And what's interesting about these books is that they're written not by conservatives, but by liberals who have managed to retain their sense of justice and fair play.

Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus by Laura Kipnis, who, even though she had bona fide progressive cred, nevertheless found herself cast into the outer darkness because of WrongThink™ violations:

A committed feminist, Kipnis was surprised to find herself the object of a protest march by student activists at her university for writing an essay about sexual paranoia on campus. Next she was brought up on Title IX complaints for creating a "hostile environment." Defying confidentiality strictures, she wrote a whistleblowing essay about the ensuing seventy-two-day investigation, which propelled her to the center of national debates over free speech, "safe spaces," and the vast federal overreach of Title IX.

In the process she uncovered an astonishing netherworld of accused professors and students, campus witch hunts, rigged investigations, and Title IX officers run amuck.

More details of Kipnis' thought crimes are in Cathy Young's review of the book.

Also here, in an article she wrote entitled My Title IX Inqusition.

I feel sorry for her feeling like she's in a Kafka novel, but on the other hand, as a "committed feminst", she bears at least partial responsibilty for unleashing the nightmare forces that are now threatening to eat her alive.

The second book, The Campus Rape Frenzy: The Attack on Due Process at America's Universitiesis by K C Johnson, the blogger who did yeoman's work reporting on another famous rape hoax, Duke Lacrosse case. He believes that

The frenzy about campus rape has helped stimulate—and has been fanned by—ideologically skewed campus sexual assault policies and lawless commands issued by federal bureaucrats to force the nation’s all-too-compliant colleges and universities essentially to presume the guilt of accused students. The result has been a widespread disregard of such bedrock American principles as the presumption of innocence and the need for fair play.

Clearly, the Title IX star chambers ought to be dismantled. Actually, the whole DOE ought to be dismantled, but that unfortunately is not going to happen.

I would like to think that all of this fake rape crap is going to go the way of the panic over satanic ritual abuse. But then again, SRA did not have the weight of progressive ideology behind it. If it had, it might be still with us. That's a frightening thought.

High Tech In The Old Days

Here is something that is a must for every library: eighteenth-century rotating table allowing readers to view multiple volumes at once. If it had a name, I don't know what it is.

This actually might be useful even today. For example, if you're working on a research project, or maybe doing some translation work, where you have to go back and forth between multiple volumes rapidly, this might be just the thing to make the job a bit easier.

And being a fan of "retro-tech" I think I might like it more than keeping multiple tabs open in a browser.

After looking at a bit more, it actually looks kind of dangerous. But if you're a cat owner, think of the fun they'll have on it!

Thomas Jefferson had a less intricate revolving book thing in his man-cave at Monticello, and I'll show that one next week.

Pic stolen from here.

(and thanks to Dinah, a lurking 'ette and one of my book peeps from Twitter, for bringing this to my attention)

Moron Recommendation

I'm going to post these recommendations from comment threads and let the recommenders speak for themselves, because lazy. Also, because I can't improve anything. First up, zombie likes one particular book by political scientist (and libertarian) Charles Murray:

I only own one book of his, called Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950, and it is one of the greatest books ever written. Truly mind-blowing.

In the book, he quantifies the "accomplishments" of every scientist/inventor/artist in history, and also every culture/tribe/nation in history. With absolute unimpeachable impartiality.

Aside from the intensely fascinating factoids and stats littering every page, the book's unadvertised crushing conclusion is that 99.9% of "the modern world" was created by "Western civilization," and that the liberal "multicultural" fantasy is pure garbage. Literally every single thing we as humans think, do and have of any value on Earth today is due to the efforts and genius and advancement of Western civilization; and these advancements are not by chance, but by conscious design.

Posted by: zombie at May 02, 2017 02:45 PM (DQ4Fv)

Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950 is available on Kindle for $12.49.

___________

I'm reading a book "Paris In the Terror" right now which is quite riveting. There were plenty of French like Lafayette who admired the American revolution and thought that that is what they were getting. Lafayette hero-worshipped Washington and probably wanted to be the French Washington himself. The radicals - Marat and Robespierre - kept pulling the Revolution further and further to the left, so yesterday's revolutionaries became today's reactionaries. There were Girondians who wanted a fair trial for Louis XVI and a public referendum on whether he should be executed. The Jacobins nixed it because they knew the French people as a whole would not vote for the King's execution - and might even conceivably want him restored to the throne.

Charlotte Corday initially welcomed the Revolution. Her horror of the bloodshed that came after, much of it caused by Marat, made her a "traitor to the Revolution."

All subsequent leftwing revolutions have followed the French one.

Posted by: Donna and V. (sans ampersands at the present time) at May 03, 2017 12:25 PM (s7vJs)

Paris in the Terror: June 1793 - July 1794 appears to be out of print, but used copies are available for as low as $1.50.

Books By Morons

I didn't know author Sarah Hoyt was an 'ette who lurked here. But she is, and she does. She also has released a new novel, the next entry in her Darkship series, Darkship Revenge:

After winning the civil war in Eden, Athena returns to her calling, collecting powerpods with her husband Kit. Now weeks away from Earth, she goes into labor. To make matters worse, a strange ship attacks Athena and Kit’s Cathouse and kidnaps Athena’s husband. That ship is called Je Reviens. It’s a named steeped in history—and not the good kind of history.

I asked Sarah if there was anything she wished to add that's not in the Amazon blurb and she said:

The only thing I can think to add is that this is a book about parenting. The book about parenting with the most explosions, pitched battles and spaceships you'll ever read.

And, as an extra bonus, in order to promote her new book, Sarah put a free short story up on her blog, which you can read here.

___________

'Ette Anna Puma has just published a new story, Pinch of Larceny (A Tanya Winters Adventure Book 1):

Tanya Winters is a specialist, a High Value Asset Retrieval Expert. The CIA called Tanya a cat-burglar and immediately recruited her.

Now an independent contractor hired to retrieve for a museum the legendary sapphire called the Tear of Poseidon which was stolen twelve years ago.

Can Tanya and her cat-spirit companion Kucinta sink their claws into this job and return with the jewel?

Available on Kindle for 99 cents.

___________

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 09:03 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle lege

Posted by: Skip at May 07, 2017 09:03 AM (Ot7+c)

2 Good morning.

Posted by: HH at May 07, 2017 09:03 AM (DrCtv)

3 Nothing exciting. I've been reading DIY books and appliance manuals, since I needed to install a replacement dishwasher and refrigerator this week. PITA.

There has to be a market for DIY books that are interesting to read, in the vein of How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot.

Posted by: WitchDoktor, AKA VA GOP Sucks at May 07, 2017 09:08 AM (2VN2E)

4 I am still working on Thomas Carlyle's History of Frederick II and onto book 7. But I had a problem getting book 5, seems I downloaded it but tablet or book kept going back to book 4, finally had to delete book 5 to get rid of it.
Book 6 wasmore about the demise of the double marrage between Prussia and England and introduced Lt. Katte who soon will be a major player. It also tells of the beginning of the turmoil between a young Fredrick and his father.

Posted by: Skip at May 07, 2017 09:08 AM (Ot7+c)

5 Aw gee, I didn't mean it.

Posted by: Seymour Krelboyne at May 07, 2017 09:10 AM (vRcUp)

6 Will there be a French Election thread?

Posted by: paladin at May 07, 2017 09:12 AM (Ltd6h)

7 Steve forgot to get his cat in the picture

Posted by: Skip at May 07, 2017 09:13 AM (Ot7+c)

8 Now that looks like a comfy library!!

Posted by: Lizzy at May 07, 2017 09:13 AM (NOIQH)

9
*sings*

He's a pinball wizard
He didn't read the book
A pinball wizard
Don't need Tolkien's gobbledygook

What do think of Gandalf?
He lights up!
And he makes bells ring!

Posted by: In which naturalfake replaces Roger Daltrey at May 07, 2017 09:13 AM (9q7Dl)

10 Gotta stop reading the content!

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 09:13 AM (gwPgz)

11 Nice lyberry SOR!

Audrey Hepburn was a little minx......

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 09:14 AM (5VlCp)

12 Here is something that is a must for every library: eighteenth-century rotating table allowing readers to view multiple volumes at once. If it had a name, I don't know what it is.

*ponders*

Posted by: George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. at May 07, 2017 09:14 AM (sdi6R)

13 Here is something that is a must for every library: eighteenth-century rotating table allowing readers to view multiple volumes at once. If it had a name, I don't know what it is.

The 'Pending Lawsuit?'

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 09:15 AM (oVJmc)

14 Nothing much going on this week with me, bookwise - working on various projects for the Teeny Publishing Bidness, and adding a last bit of polish to Luna City IV. Otherwise, outside in the garden most mornings.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at May 07, 2017 09:16 AM (xnmPy)

15 Posted by: George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. at May 07, 2017 09:14 AM (sdi6R)

Where have you been Jenny?

Posted by: Tim in Illinois at May 07, 2017 09:16 AM (d76uN)

16 13 Here is something that is a must for every library: eighteenth-century rotating table allowing readers to view multiple volumes at once. If it had a name, I don't know what it is.

The 'Pending Lawsuit?'
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 09:15 AM (oVJmc)

The "Ow, dammit, my head! Ow, dammit, my head!"

Posted by: Insomniac, Lord Hurlingbone, Earl of Melancholy at May 07, 2017 09:17 AM (0mRoj)

17 Good morning my fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a chance to do some fun and informative reading this week.

I won't read those books about fake rape as the topic enrages me. Aside from the injustice towards the falsely accused, these selfish, unthinking, and uncaring scrunts and their allies in the press and academia make it all the more difficult to prosecute the real thing. I don't just want these evil creatures sued, I want them to have serious jail time as well.

Okay, on to more pleasant matters.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 09:18 AM (V+03K)

18 Le sigh.

Posted by: Henri, le Chat Noir at May 07, 2017 09:18 AM (LTHVh)

19
I love the idea of Audrey Hepburn as Spirit Librarian.

Posted by: naturalfake at May 07, 2017 09:19 AM (9q7Dl)

20 The pen is mightier than the sword. But the mattress is mightier than the pen.

Posted by: Emma Sulkowicz at May 07, 2017 09:19 AM (vRcUp)

21 I feel sorry for her feeling like she's in a Kafka novel, but on the other hand, as a "committed feminst", she bears at least partial responsibilty for unleashing the nightmare forces that are now threatening to eat her alive.

Sort of how Bill Clinton signed a sexual harassment bill and got caught in its web. No sympathy.

He ended up lying like a summa bitch, got caught In his lies, was impeached, and lost his license to practice law.

Then sold usa manufacturing to China and ended up half a billion dollars wealthier in a little over a decade.

If there's a moral to his story I'm waiting for it.

Posted by: E Depluribus Unum at May 07, 2017 09:21 AM (HTdUD)

22 Posted by: WitchDoktor, AKA VA GOP Sucks at May 07, 2017 09:08 AM (2VN2E)

Along the DIY line, I'll just throw out that in my opinion, 'The Furniture Doctor' by George Grotz is an excellent book for the beginning furniture refinishing adventurer!

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 09:22 AM (gwPgz)

23 That rotating table is awesome. I know a few people who could use one, including yours truly. I can also imagine getting up from my chair and whacking my head on it, but, eh, suffering for the sake of knowledge, right? Odin would have loved to get by with only a headache instead of a missing eye.

I finished Jonathon Shay's Achilles in Vietnam this week. I think it came Horde-recommended, and it was quite good. I didn't agree with the author's remarks on the dehumanization of the enemy as a Judeo-Christian worldview- I think every culture does that- but it had good information about psychological combat trauma and why it occurs.

There has been some writing, but not a lot. I'm working on polishing my entry for the Amazon UK storyteller contest- thank you to April for beta-reading!- and picking at a few other projects.

Posted by: right wing yankee at May 07, 2017 09:22 AM (26lkV)

24 21
If there's a moral to his story I'm waiting for it.
Posted by: E Depluribus Unum at May 07, 2017 09:21 AM (HTdUD)

"Morality is for chumps"?

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:24 AM (sdi6R)

25 Still reading The Frontiersmen by Allan Eckert. Daniel Boone and his pals had balls of steel, if anybody should ever ask about that. I mean... damn. The Shawnee burned captives at the stake & made it last 2 hours.

I'll re-post this because it's new & interesting:

A new Landmark poll has Handel (R) up by 2.6% on Ossoff (D) in the GA-6 special election. MOE is +/-4%.

You will recall that this election is where the DEM 2018 wave is supposed to start, right?

However... the DEMs have found a federal judge to order that voter registration be re-opened.

Posted by: mnw at May 07, 2017 09:24 AM (qifx9)

26 Good Sunday morning, 'horde!

After last week's thread, I reserved a couple of Sarah A. Hoyt's books at the library. I picked them up yesterday, so that's my reading for this week. I have Darkship Thieves and Dipped, Stripped, and Dead.

It takes a lot for me to read space fiction--I generally don't like the setting, but if the story is good enough, or the humor, I'm in.

I appreciate all the authors who hang out with us here!

Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 09:24 AM (e8PP1)

27 Everything I need to know about revolutions, I learned from the Bolsheviks and the National Socialists.

Is there really anything to gain from reading about the Fwench?

/s - kind of

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 07, 2017 09:26 AM (EZebt)

28 The 'Pending Lawsuit?'
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 09:15 AM (oVJmc)

I LOL'd.

Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 09:27 AM (e8PP1)

29 I like reading cookbooks. Was reading a Nigella Lawson one yesterday, and they are so fun to read. Not only full of wacky British words, but she writes like you're chatting with her in the kitchen. Now I'll have to try out some of these recipes, such a burden!

Posted by: Lizzy at May 07, 2017 09:30 AM (NOIQH)

30 Is there really anything to gain from reading about the Fwench?
/s - kind of
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 07, 2017 09:26 AM (EZebt)

Ummmm....No.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 09:31 AM (5VlCp)

31 Oh my, what a comfy library..When we move, a reading room is going to be a must. As for me, still reading the Seven Stirey Mountain - Merton's autobiography. It's full of little gems that I find myself pondering over. Quite a book.

Posted by: IC at May 07, 2017 09:31 AM (gcme+)

32 On the Kindle, I read the disappointing dystopian novel Apocalypse by Kyle West. It is the first volume in his Wasteland Chronicles series. A large meteor hit drives selected people to government bunkers where they have lived for thirty years as the book opens. No radiation to cause mutations, so West uses a xenovirus to create his monsters. The bunkers fall one by one and the hero, Alex Keener, is the sole survivor of Bunker 108. To survive, he must battle Raiders, giant spiders and infected people who die and come back to life three times bigger and infinitely meaner. The whole thing was too far-fetched for me.

Also on the Kindle, I read Anthem, the short, early work of Ayn Rand. Rand explores freedom, the individual and the collective. It's a future world where the hero is named Equality 7-2521. It's a world in which the individual is entirely lost to the collective. Even singular pronouns are lost as people refer to themselves as "we" and to another individuals as "they". In the forest, after escaping this society, Equality ponders how people who knew the word "I" could give it up and not know what they had lost. This is an engaging novella. While reading it, I thought of how far we have gone down this path, not to the individual, but to the collective when leaders of one of our major political parties told us time and again, "You didn't build your business. Government built it."

Finally, I enjoyed the previously recommended The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney. Rictus, a young soldier joins a mercenary army, The Macht, after his home city is defeated in battle and is razed. The Macht swells to ten thousand and is hired by Arkamenes to help overthrow his brother who heads the Askur Empire. The war scenes and the march to escape and return home were interesting. Also in the series: Corvus and Kings of Morning.

Posted by: Zoltan at May 07, 2017 09:32 AM (er9fQ)

33 21: there is no moral to that story. other than, crime pays, and be a commie democrat. pretty simple really.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 09:32 AM (KP5rU)

34 However... the DEMs have found a federal judge to order that voter registration be re-opened.

Posted by: mnw at May 07, 2017 09:24 AM (qifx9)

I'm confidently predicting massive (and unprosecuted) voter fraud in GA-6 as the dead arise to make their wishes known.

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 09:33 AM (gwPgz)

35 I bought a bunch of books a couple weeks ago at the Kentucky Rifle Show in Knoxville: Michael Briggs book on longrifles built in Mecklenberg County, NC; Dennis Glazener's book on the Gillespie family of gunsmiths and the products (the Gillespie shop was about twenty miles from where I live and I knew, not well, some people of that name growing up), two books on Tennessee rifles by David Byrd; a booklet giving dimensions of mountings and barrels for Tennessee rifles by Dale Johnson (rifle barrels were commonly swamped, thick at the breech and tapering down to a point about 2/3 down the barrel and then flaring out again at the muzzle. The amount and degree of the taper changed over time, but is seldom measured in gun books, so I collect any data I can find); and a book that is basically a collection of original sources on the settlement of the Cumberland area of Tennessee - 500-700 pages of original material.

I haven't looked at any of them yet. I hate my life.

Posted by: Grey Fox at May 07, 2017 09:34 AM (bZ7mE)

36 It has been one of those weeks where I read a lot of short pieces in a lot of different books.

"Tolkien: Author of the Century" and "Tolkien Man and Myth" both provide some biography but more essays on how and why Tolkien developed his approach to writing and to literature and philology, usually against the tide of current fashion. The most delicious parts dealt with several polls in the UK that found Tolkien was the most important author of the 20th century (by a wide margin) and the howls of protests and despair of the literati. The public utterances of these self-anointed judges of 'correct' taste and understanding at these polls is delicious. They show every bit of the arrogance and sneering at the public, even raging about and despairing of education, of the progressive left. And these exercises of outrage were ignored or derided by the public. Loved it.

In a similar vein, I started "Shattered Light" by Verlyn Flieger. It's a series of essays she has written about Tolkien's development as an author and academic. The lady knows her subject and writes well.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 09:34 AM (V+03K)

37 crime pays, and be a commie democrat. pretty simple really.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 09:32 AM (KP5rU)

I think it is more like
'Crime pays, especially if you're a Commie/Socialist/Democrat!'

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 09:36 AM (gwPgz)

38 I read The Sea Peoples of the Bronze Age Mediterranean c. 1400BC - 1000BC by Raffael D'Amato. It is part of the Osprey "Elite" series. A significant portion of the book discusses where the "Sea Peoples" came from and I had not realized that there were several different tribes and there is a strong case to be made that some were pre-Homeric Aegeans. There is quite a bit of information about their weapons and armor based primarily of Egyptian depictions. Not all of the artwork by Andrea Salimbeti is up to the usual Osprey standards: a couple are a bit crude and feel cartoonish to me - on the bright side you get to see some Sea People wench boobehs. Overall. I give the book a rating of 4/5.

I've been meaning to give a review of a sci-fi trilogy by Eric Flint and Ryk E. Spoor I read some months ago. Boundary involves a paleontologist finding an extra-terrestrial fossil and winds up on Mars: lots of fun - rating 5/5. Threshold involves skullduggery in space and is still pretty good - rating 4.5/5. In Portal, the survivors from Threshold crash-land on Europa and make a YUUUGE discovery; this book sucked and, other than wrapping up the trilogy, doesn't have much to recommend it - rating is 2.5/5 (just read the first couple and last few chapters and save yourself the tedium of the middle 2/3rds of the book).

Posted by: Retired Buckey Cop is now an engineer at May 07, 2017 09:37 AM (5Yee7)

39 I'm out of reading material. Just finished "Hell's Gate" (I believe it was a Moron recommend book) after an interlude with "Bridge at Andau" while in Budapest. Now I'm awaiting Stephen Hunter's "G Men". But in the interim, the WC shelf is bare. C'mon, Horde, I need recommendations, Stat!

Posted by: That Deplorable SOB Van Owen at May 07, 2017 09:37 AM (IJX6l)

40 I've just read Tribe by Sebastian Junger, the guy who wrote The Perfect Storm.
I have no doubt he's a leftie but it's a good book, which makes me think about what binds societies together or rips them apart.

Related to an earlier comment it seems to me that the most serious dehumanizing going on the left's attempts to dehumanize the right and deny them a legitimate part in the body politic. That also relate to some things Junger comments on in his book.

Posted by: Northernlurker, Phillips screwdriver of the gods at May 07, 2017 09:38 AM (nBr1j)

41 37; that works too.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 09:39 AM (KP5rU)

42 And I love that library.

Posted by: Northernlurker, Phillips screwdriver of the gods at May 07, 2017 09:39 AM (nBr1j)

43 I love that library! Great selection of books, a chess board, and other comforts. But that LOTR pinball machine is the bee's knees. Hope it works cause it would be some serious fun.

The only change would be to make the chairs taller. The image of trying to pry my lard butt out of seats that low, with my creaky knees and long legs, would be neither pretty nor graceful.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 09:41 AM (V+03K)

44 Still reading The Frontiersmen by Allan Eckert. Daniel Boone and his pals had balls of steel, if anybody should ever ask about that. I mean... damn. The Shawnee burned captives at the stake & made it last 2 hours.

The Iroquois made it last for days. The death of Colonel Crawford (I assume that is what you are referring to) was comparatively pleasant compared to some of the stuff the Iroquois pulled.

Posted by: Grey Fox at May 07, 2017 09:41 AM (bZ7mE)

45 37; we both forgot lying. lying is cool.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 09:41 AM (KP5rU)

46 "Tolle lege" = you can have the legs, but you need to pay the toll.

Posted by: ZZ Tops at May 07, 2017 09:42 AM (vRcUp)

47 I'm confidently predicting massive (and unprosecuted) voter fraud in GA-6 as the dead arise to make their wishes known.

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 09:33 AM (gwPgz)

( *ponders* )

You know what TV series is filmed in Georgia?

'The Walking Dead'.

Coincidence? I think not.

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at May 07, 2017 09:42 AM (R5XcD)

48 I just finished Tuchman's "The Zimmermann Telegram" & have started my next book in the Star Wars EU timeline, "Outbound Flight" by Timothy Zahn.

I went to the Frick Collection yesterday - now he had a marvelous leather-bound library (no photos allowed, unfortunately). I bought the exhibition catalog of the previous exhbit, "Watteau's Soldiers" for half-price. Hopefully I can go visit the Strand my next time in NY

Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 09:42 AM (ANIFC)

49 I just finished reading Flashforward by canuck Robert Sawyer. I liked the tv show, wanted to see how the book was. Show was better, by a fair margin. Kind of plods around, feeling sorry for itself. Show was crisp and quick, with an actual plot.

Next on deck is the first in the Doc Savage series, Man of Bronze. I've got a pulp detective series I want to write so it's 'research.' Plus a darn fun book, if memory serves. Robeson (Louis Dent) wrote the book series at a rate of one per month for better than a decade. Incredible output.

Posted by: Long Running Fool at May 07, 2017 09:43 AM (kFxkl)

50 44: but, but, noble, native american, warriors. just wanted to be left alone, dragging two sticks behind their horses, man.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 09:43 AM (KP5rU)

51 Reading Sarah Hoyt's murder mystery "Dipped, Stripped, and Dead" and so far, so good. And I have started Robert Penn Warren's "The Legacy of the Civil War." I'm not normally a Civil War buff, chiefly because of my very annoying oldest sister and her endless discussions with favorite brother-in-law, but this was recommended by the proprietor of BookwormRoom.com, and as a misplaced southerner, it sounded worth the read.

Would y'all please stop reading. You're a bad influence and I am pretty sure I already have more books than I can read in this lifetime.

Posted by: Tonestaple at May 07, 2017 09:43 AM (STkEV)

52 I downloaded Anna Puma's new book last night but haven't started it yet. Definitely on the list for this week. I enjoyed the heck out of her "Golden Isis" and this new one should be fun as well. Report next book thread.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 09:44 AM (V+03K)

53 If there's a moral to his story I'm waiting for it.
Posted by: E Depluribus Unum at May 07, 2017 09:21 AM (HTdUD)

"Ethics are for little people."

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at May 07, 2017 09:44 AM (R5XcD)

54 Finished reading the first three 'Horus Heresy' books. Its a trilogy about a band of noble warriors who turn to the dark side and ruin a galactic empire. So, yeah, a lot like the Star Wars prequels. Except much better. For instance, in this series the villains are presented as actual heroes before the fall. The first book made it feel like the turn would be a slow, drawn out affair, but the second and third book really escalate things. Fun read.

Posted by: Castle Guy at May 07, 2017 09:44 AM (7aeqx)

55 Here if you are an unafilliated voter you can't vote in the primary. One of the options the powers that be suggested that those voters be sent 1 of each ballot and told to only return one. *head meet desk*

Posted by: Infidel at May 07, 2017 09:45 AM (6SPcP)

56 C'mon, Horde, I need recommendations, Stat!

Posted by: That Deplorable SOB Van Owen at May 07, 2017 09:37 AM (IJX6l)

First, curses for letting me know there's a new Bob Lee book, and second, look for George Pelecanos' books, 'The Cut (Spero Lucas Book 1)' for example.

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 09:45 AM (gwPgz)

57 If there's a moral to his story I'm waiting for it.

Posted by: E Depluribus Unum

Be Democrat!

Posted by: Bill Clinton at May 07, 2017 09:47 AM (vRcUp)

58 53 If there's a moral to his story I'm waiting for it.
Posted by: E Depluribus Unum at May 07, 2017 09:21 AM (HTdUD)

"Ethics are for little people."
Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at May 07, 2017 09:44 AM (R5XcD)

Honest hardworking people are fools and chumps.

Posted by: Insomniac, Lord Hurlingbone, Earl of Melancholy at May 07, 2017 09:50 AM (0mRoj)

59 Posted by: Infidel at May 07, 2017 09:45 AM (6SPcP)

Nice shot on Twitter of pre-torn Le Pen ballots which can immediately be discarded as being defaced and thus invalid!

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 09:51 AM (gwPgz)

60 Always nice to get a front page mention, OM, thanks!

A quote from "Paris in the Terror":

"It is ironic that of all countries in Europe, France was the only one that could have had a revolution - not because she groaned under the lash of tyranny, but on the contrary, because she tolerated and even invited every conceivable dissension and heresy. Restlessness, a passion for novelty and the pursuit of excitement were everywhere in the air. They were the fruits of idleness and leisure, not poverty."

Posted by: Donna&&&&&V loves Eric Thames madly at May 07, 2017 09:52 AM (P8951)

61 A few weeks ago someone suggested I read Kipling's "Just So Stories" aloud to fully enjoy them. Absolutely correct! In fact I've been reading each of them three times. Once just for fun. Next to arrange the pacing and stresses of the word s in my mind. Lastly, to read them out loud. Reminds me of when I was preparing for dramatic readings in college (which I enjoyed) or reciting Beowulf in Old English to the class. It is fun and the possible variations in approach reveals so much about the words and the authors' skill.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 09:52 AM (V+03K)

62 " To survive, he must battle Raiders, giant spiders and infected people who die and come back to life three times bigger and infinitely meaner."

Sounds like he copied Fallout, with just enough variations to keep Bethesda from suing his ass.

Posted by: Insomniac, Lord Hurlingbone, Earl of Melancholy at May 07, 2017 09:52 AM (0mRoj)

63 I'm out of reading material. Posted by: That Deplorable SOB Van Owen at May 07, 2017 09:37 AM (IJX6l)

LOL, whut?

Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 09:52 AM (e8PP1)

64 In the book Human Accomplishment does he rank any of the inventions in accordance to importance?

I've read multiple opinions that the Whippletree ranks up there as one of the most important in regards to allowing the continued advances of the human race. Even if not one of the most important, it's one that I would not have recognized as very important unless told so.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 09:54 AM (IDPbH)

65 Thanks a million, Robespierre.

Posted by: Marie Antoinette at May 07, 2017 09:56 AM (vRcUp)

66 Started The Gargoyle and have Lost City of the Monkey God waiting on kindle, both book thread recommendations. You people are going g to bankrupt me.

Posted by: Miss Sippi at May 07, 2017 09:59 AM (Tcfj+)

67 I just finished Shattered. We all know Frau Gruppencankles was tone deaf but the whole friggin' campaign? The only one who saw the train wreck coming was ignored.

I'm now reading Batavia's Graveyard. Bit of a slight but interesting.

Posted by: mpfs, Deplorable Pirate Wench at May 07, 2017 10:00 AM (2yeW7)

68 Been writing the new novel, so haven't been reading so much-

I've been dipping into

"Death and the Flower", a book of short stories by Koji Suzuki.

Suzuki is the author of "The Ring" ("Ringu") and it's assorted follow ups.

Though I haven't read all of the stories yet, this collection doesn't seem to involve the supernatural or science fiction at all.

Mostly, the stories involve attacks on or tensions within the family, the place of a person within his/her family or society or both.

I'm being vague because though most of the stories are longish, they are simple in terms of plot. Even some of the descriptions on the book sleeve give away too much IMO.

So far, the stories are all competently written, as you would expect. But, I haven't been grabbed so far in any memorable way.

As with any translation, I don't know if the stories themselves are good but not great or if the translation is good but not great. Or both.

That zing, which made "Ringu" so great is missing. Perhaps it's simply the domestic setting of the stories, which make them seem kinda of familiar.

I don't know, maybe a supernatural or sic-fi setting is what Suzuki requires to make his writing and imagination really sing.

Good, competent, well-plotted short stories so far. Nothing spectacular though.

If I change my mind in reading the rest, I'll do a follow up.

Posted by: naturalfake at May 07, 2017 10:00 AM (9q7Dl)

69 29 I like reading cookbooks. Was reading a Nigella Lawson one yesterday, and they are so fun to read. Not only full of wacky British words, but she writes like you're chatting with her in the kitchen. Now I'll have to try out some of these recipes, such a burden!
Posted by: Lizzy at May 07, 2017 09:30 AM (NOIQH)

Another fun one is Mary and Vincent Price's "A Treasury of Great Recipes" most of which come from the great chefs of restaurants the Prices had dined in all over the world. The actual dinner menus from those restaurants are reproduced in the book and it's interesting to see what the Beautiful People were dining on back in the mid-60's.

Not that Price was a food snob. His book also contains a recipe for Dodger dogs!

Posted by: Donna&&&&&&V sez the Brewers bullpen sucks at May 07, 2017 10:00 AM (P8951)

70 Papa Smurf is a bigoted reactionary who wants to drag us into the pre-Middle Ages. Vote for Gargamel. He has progressive ideas on how we should advance our civilization. Trust me, I'm an intellectual

Posted by: Brainy Smurf at May 07, 2017 10:01 AM (vRcUp)

71 Basic Electric Circuit Theory isn't the lighthearted romp through the ages I'd hoped it would be.

Posted by: Weasel at May 07, 2017 10:01 AM (Sfs6o)

72 I'm now reading Batavia's Graveyard. Bit of a slight but interesting.
Posted by: mpfs, Deplorable Pirate Wench at May 07, 2017 10:00 AM (2yeW7)

I read that recently, it was very interesting.

Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 10:02 AM (ANIFC)

73 Given how I've been switching back and forth among books this week, that rotating book holder would be handy. I've seen the one Thomas Jefferson designed at Monticello. IIRC, Roy Underhill had an episode of The Woodwright's Shop where he builds a copy of it.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 10:05 AM (V+03K)

74 josephistan,

All the variations of the names make me cross eyed!

I meant it's a bit of a slog in some places but interesting. I'm amazed anyone made it back alive from those voyages.

Posted by: mpfs, Deplorable Pirate Wench at May 07, 2017 10:05 AM (2yeW7)

75 Don't forget, Book Threadists, book reviews on Amazon are like gold to authors! (and free for you!) And it doesn't have to be a book report like you struggled with in third grade. The kind of stuff you write right here will do quite nicely. "Fun read" counts. And, frankly, so does "didn't work for me, because I like x and it had y." It will help someone who ADORES y. Seriously, I find books with reviews like "interesting characters but they never talk about their feelings" and I am all over it

So, if you like Sarah Hoyt's books, or Anna Puma's, or OldSailor'sPoet(the pixy-banned) or, y'know, mine, even if you found them in the library or a used bookstore or behind a dumpster when scrounging for Val-u-rite, put up a review!

The collective Moron Authorship thanks you.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at May 07, 2017 10:05 AM (mDjbp)

76 32
I read Anthem, the short, early work of Ayn Rand. Rand explores freedom, the individual and the collective. It's a future world where the hero is named Equality 7-2521. It's a world in which the individual is entirely lost to the collective. Even singular pronouns are lost as people refer to themselves as "we" and to another individuals as "they". In the forest, after escaping this society, Equality ponders how people who knew the word "I" could give it up and not know what they had lost.
Posted by: Zoltan at May 07, 2017 09:32 AM (er9fQ)

I read "Anthem" years ago. The theme of words and concepts lost to the language was an eerie harbinger of Orwell's Newspeak in "1984". Rand's book was published about a decade earlier, but I have never seen any suggestion that Orwell read it. She was hardly a household name at the time.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 10:07 AM (sdi6R)

77 Always nice to get a front page mention, OM, thanks!

A quote from "Paris in the Terror":

"It is ironic that of all countries in Europe, France was the only one that could have had a revolution - not because she groaned under the lash of tyranny, but on the contrary, because she tolerated and even invited every conceivable dissension and heresy. Restlessness, a passion for novelty and the pursuit of excitement were everywhere in the air. They were the fruits of idleness and leisure, not poverty."

Posted by: Donna&&&&&V loves Eric Thames madly at May 07, 2017 09:52 AM (P8951)

The "Silly Revolution" returns!

I don't think they're gonna enjoy how

"The Silly Revolution 2: Electric Islamification"

works out for them though.

Posted by: naturalfake at May 07, 2017 10:08 AM (9q7Dl)

78 Basic Electric Circuit Theory isn't the lighthearted romp through the ages I'd hoped it would be.

Posted by: Weasel at May 07, 2017 10:01 AM (Sfs6o)

Believe me, you'll be shocked by the ending!

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 10:09 AM (gwPgz)

79 Retired Buckeye Cop, Aren Maeir is excavating Gath, at Tell Es-Safi which was a Philistine town.
The Philistines, as you know, were the successor Iron-age culture that followed the Late Bronze-age Canaanites, and by Egyptian accounts were the sea-people who settled down there.

Maeir's lectures on YouTube are full of discussion of the artifacts and what cultures they drew from, and how they changed.

Lycos, Mycenae, Cyprus and possibly Libya and Crete seem to be the major roots for the Philistines, and he talks about material culture, analysis of building materials, cooking utensils, plants remains, and even goes on to discuss genotypes of the pig bones found.

reading about the Sea People's made me interested in the Hittites

Posted by: Kindltot at May 07, 2017 10:09 AM (mkDpn)

80 "Literally every single thing we as humans think, do and have of any value on Earth today is due to the efforts and genius and advancement of Western civilization; and these advancements are not by chance, but by conscious design." Posted by: zombie

All the dystopian sci-fi is good as warning, but there is nothing like real history for a forensic lab of what works and what doesn't in society.

All that "enlightenment" revolved around freedom for the individual. Society advanced as strong men did not demand total subservience but allowed autonomy to the individual.

PC (political correctness) for fifty years has been squelching that (communism for even longer), but the other PC (personal computer) and the internet has broken much of the MSM's network stranglehold. In anticipation of being exposed, the globalists attempt to silence the critics by bringing in the "fake news police" who just happen to be leftists that produce fake news.

The instant mega-billionaire CEOs of internet "survivor" fame "just happen" to nearly all go extreme left, as they make deals with Merkel or China to help silence "wrong think". Wikileaks is confirming as true many Macron leaks, but France is making it illegal to communicate those revelations. And Soros is always marginalizing major players with his loans and manipulation. (Kuchner, Thiel, Clinton, etc.)

War. It is always war. No safe spaces except for the submissive.

Posted by: illiniwek at May 07, 2017 10:10 AM (TmCOq)

81 All the variations of the names make me cross eyed!

-------

The Dutch names made the Dutch cross-eyed, too - that's why they abbreviated everyone's name!

Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 10:10 AM (ANIFC)

82 22 ... "Along the DIY line, I'll just throw out that in my opinion, 'The Furniture Doctor' by George Grotz is an excellent book for the beginning furniture refinishing adventurer!"

OMG Hrothgar! I thought I was the only one left who used that book. My dad used it and I got my own copy as an adult. Some of it predates newer materials but most of it is still good and the writing is a hoot. Thanks for mentioning it.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 10:11 AM (V+03K)

83 Anyone read the Harry Bosch mysteries? I binged viewed all 3 seasons of the series on Amazon Prime this week and wondered if the books were worth reading?

Posted by: Tuna at May 07, 2017 10:12 AM (jm1YL)

84 @63 (LOL, whut?)
Yeah, I know. I've got unread books out the ying yang, but nothing floating my boat. Think I'll go back to some Alastair McLean.

Or try Pelecanos as Hrothgar suggests.

Posted by: That Deplorable SOB Van Owen at May 07, 2017 10:13 AM (IJX6l)

85 83 Anyone read the Harry Bosch mysteries? I binged viewed all 3 seasons of the series on Amazon Prime this week and wondered if the books were worth reading?
Posted by: Tuna at May 07, 2017 10:12 AM (jm1YL)

I haven't, but my mom likes them - she made me get Amazon Prime just so she could come over to watch the series. She reads a lot of that genre.

Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 10:13 AM (ANIFC)

86 Got through Volume 4 of Night Shade's five-volume anthology of Clark Ashton Smith, "Maze of the Enchanter". Smith was at the peak of his game here; not a single dud in this book. Except that they're almost all scary as hell.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 10:14 AM (6FqZa)

87 Oh, nice library SteveOReno - nice leather chairs is what's missing from my life.

Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 10:14 AM (ANIFC)

88 Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 10:11 AM (V+03K)

I refinished an old desk decades ago following his directions to the letter and the results were outstanding, the darn desk glowed and you felt you could see into the depths of the wood.

Sadly, I've never had the time or patience to do another project like that again to his exacting standards, but it's still a great book!

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 10:15 AM (gwPgz)

89 Anthem used to be required reading.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 10:17 AM (vRcUp)

90 I read "The Correct Way to Fill Out Form PCR-103-u" a short story by Sabrina Chase. This is an interesting sci-fi premise that is also seriously funny. It is in line with the clever humor in her "Bureau of Substandards" book. Definitely fun reading.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 10:18 AM (V+03K)

91 Anyone read the Harry Bosch mysteries? I binged viewed all 3 seasons of the series on Amazon Prime this week and wondered if the books were worth reading?

Posted by: Tuna at May 07, 2017 10:12 AM (jm1YL)

I enjoyed the Bosch mysteries and read them all once hooked. Somewhere along the line though, I forget which book, after Harry quits the LAPD I lost interest. The stakes didn't seem as high or something.

Same thing happened with Ian Rankin's Rebus series for almost the exact same reasons.

For what it's worth, I think "The Poet" is Michael Connelly's best work.

Not a Bosch book, but seriously creepy and very well-written.

Posted by: naturalfake at May 07, 2017 10:18 AM (9q7Dl)

92 "The Silly Revolution 2: Electric Islamification"

works out for them though.

Posted by: naturalfake at May 07, 2017 10:08 AM (9q7Dl)

Was just going to write something similar. I've said for a couple of years that islamic revolution isn't born of poverty and despair but of *educated* muslims with too much free time to sit at cafes drinking and pontificating on how much better the world would be if they were in charge.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at May 07, 2017 10:19 AM (sEDyY)

93 Where is the "before (or after) the book thread open thread"?? The EMT died a sudden death over an hour ago. I don' wanna read 'bout no dang musty old boooks. I cut that cable. I wanna talk sociopolitical memes, pop media, and boobies. Print is dead. Even digital print. Except blog posts and comments, of course.

Speaking of boobies...

... flying the flag is a good thing, but I mean, come on, really?

Preferred flag-wearing:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=flag+bikini&t=opera&iax=1&ia=images

(hope that won't expand the margins)

Okay, okay, I'll hush up now and let the page-turners chat safely in their little intellectual stratosphere library.

Thanks for the post, OM.

Have a day, y'all.

Posted by: mindful webworker - grump gripe grouse at May 07, 2017 10:19 AM (l/Pix)

94 Finished "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. This led to an interesting conversation with my dad about the black housekeeper/nanny he had growing up and her daughter who was his housekeeper/nanny when my brother was a baby.

My daughter bought the latest Trials of Apollo book by Rick Riordan but stopped reading it. Apparently Riordan is trying for a Hugo by beating people over the head with SJW/LGBT crap.

Haven't decided what to read next, waffling between "Yaqui Gold" and "The Hidden Truth", both recommended here.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at May 07, 2017 10:19 AM (THS4q)

95 There has to be a market for DIY books that are interesting to read, in the vein of How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot.

These days that's usually handled via youtube video.

Posted by: JEM at May 07, 2017 10:20 AM (TppKb)

96 Posted by: Tuna at May 07, 2017 10:12 AM (jm1YL)

Posted by: That Deplorable SOB Van Owen at May 07, 2017 10:13 AM (IJX6l)

Michael Connolly writes the Harry Bosch books which are framed in a bit of a dark police procedural venue, but I find them excellent reading. He also wrote "The Lincoln Lawyer", a pretty good book which was made into a better movie than I thought it would be!

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 10:20 AM (gwPgz)

97 Basic Electric Circuit Theory isn't the lighthearted romp through the ages I'd hoped it would be.
Posted by: Weasel at May 07, 2017 10:01 AM (Sfs6o)

Thanks for taking one for the team!

Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 10:25 AM (e8PP1)

98 If there's a moral to his story I'm waiting for it.
Posted by: E Depluribus Unum at May 07, 2017 09:21 AM (HTdUD)
*************
The world is a very noisy place.

Posted by: torabora at May 07, 2017 10:28 AM (4uhxV)

99 88 ... Hrothgar, Like you I haven't used the book in a long time although it got plenty of use in my youth and early adulthood. We have a huge dining room table made of solid Honduran mahogany. It was our family's when I was a kid and it was an antique then. (I inherited it because I was the only one in the family that could lift and carry the thing.) Following Grotz's instructions I refinished it and that beautiful wood just glows (as you said) even thirty years later.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 10:28 AM (V+03K)

100 The Philistines, as you know, were the successor Iron-age culture that followed the Late Bronze-age Canaanites, and by Egyptian accounts were the sea-people who settled down there.

Posted by: Kindltot at May 07, 2017 10:09 AM (mkDpn)

D'Amato also writes that the Philistines were part of the Sea Peoples. But he argues that the Sea Peoples were a diverse group and the Egyptians talk about different "tribes."

Posted by: Retired Buckey Cop is now an engineer at May 07, 2017 10:29 AM (5Yee7)

101 I also branched out to CL Moore, "The Black God's Kiss". She introduces the warrior woman Jirel of Joiry; Joiry being a para-French barony like Smith's Averoigne, except that Moore doesn't care to flesh it out. She cares much more for Jirel.

Best I can tell, Moore is riffing on a common trope of Robert Howard and Arabian-Nights: the alpha male hero bests the Black Knight in combat, finds the knight is female, lustily claims his prize. These days a certain sort of woman on reading this overused silliness will complain that it shouldn't exist, not because it's silly and overused, but because Rape Culture. Moore to her credit renders a substantive response here: she asks, how would the prize react.

Moore's answer is, with a colossal combination of wounded pride and cognitive dissonance, which she illustrates by way of a trip through Freudian hell.

Moore was about Robert Howard's age when she submitted this, and Howard loved it. Howard started writing some warrior-woman stories of his own under its inspiration, "Red Nails" ft. Valeria (with Conan), three others starring Dark Agnes (without).

The bad news: this story just about exhausted Moore's reserves of creativity, and I'm told Jirel has the same damn adventure in several followups. Which is a shame because I suspect Joiry could have hosted many more original riffs on overdone fantasy tropes.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 10:30 AM (6FqZa)

102 Nice library Steve. Comfy, fun, cozy and well stocked. And a pup! Thanks.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 10:31 AM (OU4q6)

103 D'Amato also writes that the Philistines were part of the Sea Peoples. But he argues that the Sea Peoples were a diverse group and the Egyptians talk about different "tribes."

This has been the consensus at least since I was digging in Ashqelon 1993.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 10:31 AM (6FqZa)

104 Why is ace linking to Hanson? Is he a woman after all?

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 10:32 AM (vRcUp)

105 I was under the impression that the Sea Peoples are thought to have been refugees from the volcano eruption of Thera, which pretty much destroyed Bronze Age Aegean civilization. Yes? No?

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 10:33 AM (sdi6R)

106 What's all this talk about Seamen?

Posted by: Shep Smith at May 07, 2017 10:34 AM (ANIFC)

107 Feral House Publishing ("Republican Party Animal") continues its bid to be the most fearless publisher in America: it has published Howard Bloom, "The Muhammad Code". This argues that Islam's problems derive from a founder-effect. Islam's founder was a jerk back then. As a result, the most devout Muslims are jerks today.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 10:37 AM (6FqZa)

108 Anility... Thought that was the quality of being Hope Solo.

Posted by: Moron who don't know words good at May 07, 2017 10:42 AM (6Hrsu)

109 Listened to Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer, romance not my usual genre but gave it a try. Charming, liked it OK but compared to Austen the characters seem dim.

Read The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch #3) by Michael Connelly. Some years earlier Bosch on the trail of a serial killer of women, shoots and kills him. Now in a civil trial for supposedly killing the wrong man and planting incriminating evidence, the killer strikes again. Terrific stuff.

Posted by: waelse1 at May 07, 2017 10:42 AM (OxLFF)

110 Definitely fun reading.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 10:18 AM (V+03K)Thanks, JTB! The inspiration for the story-- I actually found a strange coin in an ancient soda vending machine in a dusty corner of the NRL in DC...but it was just a Belgian 20 centime coin and I didn't want to go to Belgium so I didn't use it

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at May 07, 2017 10:43 AM (mDjbp)

111 For fans of Bernard Cornwell, season two of The Last Kingdom, based on his Saxon series, is out on Netflix.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at May 07, 2017 10:43 AM (kTF2Z)

112 Not reading but book related: Hillsdale College is offering a free series of video lectures about CS Lewis and his various writings. The fifth segment was just posted and they have all been an excellent intro to the man. Highly recommended.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 10:43 AM (V+03K)

113 Read The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch #3) by Michael Connelly. Some years earlier Bosch on the trail of a serial killer of women, shoots and kills him. Now in a civil trial for supposedly killing the wrong man and planting incriminating evidence, the killer strikes again. Terrific stuff.

Posted by: waelse1 at May 07, 2017 10:42 AM (OxLFF)

I think this is pretty much Bosch Season 1, isn't it?

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at May 07, 2017 10:44 AM (R5XcD)

114 I came into a bit of money after a project and bought a Kindle Fire. My main reason was to have something to read on, but I haven't tried it yet. I have several horde authors on there now to read and I hope to get to them soon.

The interface is kind of annoying but I'm getting used to it. This whole swipey finger thing feels idiotic, I much prefer buttons I can command things with.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 10:49 AM (39g3+)

115 I am reading "Homo Deus, A Brief History of the Future" by Noah Yuval Harari.
I am about 5 chapters in.
Non-fiction, pretty deep stuff.
I enjoyed his last book "Sapiens".

Posted by: navybrat at May 07, 2017 10:50 AM (w7KSn)

116 Yeah, i heard Kipnis on Prager. He praised her for being a hero for her position then pushed her pretty hard to say some damming statements about the college administration but she sidestepped it. Most amazing was when he tried to get her to admit that Liberalism was the cause of this fake rape culture she actually said that it was more conservative thinking that was at fault. It was towards the end of the interview and he didn't get a chance to pursue it. She really tried to have it both ways and the blaming of conservatism was ridiculous but of course necessary.

Posted by: Some moron at May 07, 2017 10:50 AM (DdGS0)

117 Sean Martin, "The Cathars" - this is a superficial look at the heresy of the Albigensians, with pretty pictures of southern France. Too many authors are sympathetic to these clowns, who basically made up their own religion and virtue-signalled to appear like they were better than the Catholics. Martin is heir to a long and boring tradition.

Which unfortunately the Catholic Church at the time was making too easy. Faced with the competition with the Cathars and other groups, like the actually-orthodox proto-Protestant group Waldensians, the Church did try to fix their own problems.

Also not helping was the perfidy and cowardice of Raymond VI of Toulouse, who never did figure out what side he was on, until the Church sent a replacement. The replacement the Church found was a brute by name of Simon de Montfort, who just wanted to kill some folk.

Martin is smart enough to know the "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" story is wholly inapplicable to the Cathars, who didn't believe in marriage (virtue-signalling, remember) and could hardly attribute it to Jesus. He is unfortunately not smart enough to figure out that the Cathars owe nothing to Dead Sea Jewish monastic writings like the Damascus Document / Zadokite Fragment.

Anyway - pretty pictures of the South of France.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 10:53 AM (6FqZa)

118 I am gradually going to e-books but right now I have "Homo Deus..." in hardback.
Yes, it does get heavy to lug around...

Posted by: navybrat at May 07, 2017 10:53 AM (w7KSn)

119 3 There has to be a market for DIY books that are interesting to read, in the vein of How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot.

When I was a teen growing up in a large family, we owned five different VW buses, as many as three at the same time -- primarily because Dad could completely rebuild one of the engines over a weekend armed only with this book.

"The wheel hub nut requires 240 ft lbs of torque. Put your biggest wrench on the nut, add a six foot cheater bar, and get three large friends to jump up and down on the end of the cheater. This will produce exactly 240 ft lbs of torque." (It's a paraphrase, but pretty close considering it's been 30 years since I read it.)

When I bought my first car I was pleased to find that there was a matching volume for keeping your Honda alive.

Posted by: chipotle at May 07, 2017 10:54 AM (IY+td)

120 rickl : Thera went off around 1620 BC, and the Sea Peoples were four centuries later, so no.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 10:55 AM (6FqZa)

121 "Anyone read the Harry Bosch mysteries? I binged viewed all 3 seasons of the series on Amazon Prime this week and wondered if the books were worth reading?"

Better than the t.v. series, if you ask me. Bosch was moodier and more complex in the books, less "Jack Webb" which is how I saw him in the t.v. show.

And yes, different mediums, more time to develop characters in books- even allowing for that, thought Bosch was better realized in the novels.

Posted by: Twin Cities Daydrunk, still a Tigers fan at May 07, 2017 10:55 AM (1aMQH)

122 Love the library, steveoreno. The dog at the bottom is probably my favorite part.

I just picked up One Day that Shook the Communist World, by Lendvai, on the 1956 Hungarian Uprising against the Soviets. My former headmaster was part of that uprising, and talked briefly of it. But he made damn sure that everyone of us coming out of his school knew the dangers of Communism. We were thoroughly educated in what happened under Soviet rule.

I think that's probably the biggest problem with today's youth. THey did not grow up with the Red Menace, and it was not taught in schools. They have no comprehension of how evil the Communists were and are, and how miserable life is under Communist rule.

Venezuela should be a lesson for them, but they ignore it, or blame Bush/Trump.

Anyway, thank you for a fabulous book thread!!!

Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 10:55 AM (V+V48)

123 rickl : Thera went off around 1620 BC, and the Sea Peoples were four centuries later, so no.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 10:55 AM (6FqZa)

Know a good book about bronze age collapse?

Posted by: BignJames at May 07, 2017 10:58 AM (x9c8r)

124 Most amazing was when he tried to get her to admit that Liberalism was the cause of this fake rape culture she actually said that it was more conservative thinking that was at fault. It was towards the end of the interview and he didn't get a chance to pursue it. She really tried to have it both ways and the blaming of conservatism was ridiculous but of course necessary.

Posted by: Some moron at May 07, 2017 10:50 AM (DdGS0)

I would guess the reasoning goes something like this: Conservatives are Bad People who believe Bad Things, so these Title IX kangaroo courts fit in better with this Bad Way of thinking. Progressive ideals, on the other hand, is all good and light and Good Thinking for the Greater Good, so this inquisition means that something has gone terribly wrong with Progressive Wonderfulness.

Solzhenitsyn wrote about fools like this bint, i.e. true-believer communists he ran into in the labor camps who wrote letters to Comrade Stalin advising him that their incarceration is a Huge Mistake and could he please fix it?

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at May 07, 2017 10:59 AM (R5XcD)

125 Too many authors are sympathetic to these clowns, who basically made up their own religion and virtue-signalled to appear like they were better than the Catholics.

Yeah I have read more than a few books about heretics that portray them as the grand heroes crushed by an evil oppressor. Guys like Pelagius, Arias, treated as heroes rebelling against the Man! Nonsense. There were some genuine attempts at Biblical reformation in the past but most of those splinter groups were really not Christians, or were gross distortions of Christianity.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 10:59 AM (39g3+)

126 I think that's probably the biggest problem with today's youth. THey did not grow up with the Red Menace,

-
Well, they do have Lizzy Warren.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks and You're Not at May 07, 2017 11:01 AM (Nwg0u)

127 I made a tragic discovery a few days ago. I took my 4th hand paperback copy of the Complete Lewis Carroll off the shelf. It's now over 40 years old and the damn thing is brown and crumbling. By contrast, I got a hardcover book of mysteries recently, printed in 1912, that is in excellent condition. Said to hell with it and ordered a hardcover edition of Carroll's complete works.

I know there are plenty of inexpensive e-book versions out there but Lewis Carroll is one of those writers where I want to hold the words and not rely on ephemeral electronic media.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 11:02 AM (V+03K)

128 126 I think that's probably the biggest problem with today's youth. THey did not grow up with the Red Menace,

-
Well, they do have Lizzy Warren.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks and You're Not at May 07, 2017 11:01 AM (Nwg0u)

Golf Clap!

Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 11:03 AM (V+V48)

129 he tried to get her to admit that Liberalism was the cause of this fake rape culture she actually said that it was more conservative thinking that was at fault.

My guess is she blamed evil right wingers for making Title IX necessary and their horrible oppression is what caused this backlash of well-meaning people who go too far in pursuit of a good cause, etc.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 11:05 AM (39g3+)

130 Just getting into Orlando Figges A People's Tragedy The Russian Revolution 1891 - 1924. Taking the perspective beyond the Lenin/Bolshevik aspects he explores the societal and cultural factors from individuals and groups. That's a lousy description for a really good and very readable history book on the RR.

And a hat tip to Cut.Jib.Newsletter. I was over there and learned about podcasts from Revolutions. com . Award winning History of Rome. Plus French and other revolutions. Podcasts are a new venue for me and am enjoying it.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 11:05 AM (OU4q6)

131 true-believer communists he ran into in the labor camps

-
I wonder about what is happening in Venezuela. How many recognize that the problem is socialism and how many want Maduro replaced by someone who can make socialism work?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks and You're Not at May 07, 2017 11:05 AM (Nwg0u)

132 Posted by: Some moron at May 07, 2017 10:50 AM (DdGS0)

Liberals cannot make this connection. If they do (like I did), they eschew liberalism, which is the logical reaction to understanding.

I've been mulling this situation over in regards to the "stealth sex" that's been in the news lately. Liberals and feminists will not make the connection. They will keep on thinking it's Toxic Masculinity manifest. I am pretty certain that it's toxic feminism and emasculation. Men will dominate, one way or another.

Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 11:06 AM (e8PP1)

133 Know a good book about bronze age collapse?

There has to be a Colossus of Rhodes joke in here somewhere.

Hillsdale is also offering a Victor Hanson course on Athens v.Sparta.
I'm sure you will learn something (spoiler: Sparta won), but take it for the hints and tips on grapevine management. Knowing grapes was Hanson's hot ticket to understanding Greek warfare. It's hard to kill a grapevine, when you're trying. That's the big secret of The Western Way of War.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at May 07, 2017 11:06 AM (H5rtT)

134 Well, they do have Lizzy Warren.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks and You're Not at May 07, 2017 11:01 AM (Nwg0u

*snort

Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 11:07 AM (e8PP1)

135 The "How to Keep Your Volkswagon Alive and Well" was great. It allowed me, one of the least mechanically talented people on the planet, to keep my Beetle functioning.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 11:08 AM (V+03K)

136 26 It takes a lot for me to read space fiction--I generally don't like the setting, but if the story is good enough, or the humor, I'm in.
Posted by: April

I've always loved space settings. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a lad.

What about sea/naval settings?

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at May 07, 2017 11:09 AM (di1hb)

137 When I'm done putting out my massive fantasy RPG setting, I am looking at doing a bronze age low magic setting. The idea of a world where you don't have easy access to fine weapons and armor, where spells are more rituals like "throw salt over your shoulder to prevent bad luck" and "say this charm to prevent the hippo from tipping over your boat" kind of thing intrigues me. More Conan than Lord of the Rings.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 11:10 AM (39g3+)

138 Know a good book about bronze age collapse?

I could tell you some stories, young man...

( *hic* )

Huma, where's my cocktail?

( *shart* )

( *thud* )

( *loses shoe* )

Posted by: Hillary! at May 07, 2017 11:10 AM (R5XcD)

139 What about sea/naval settings?
Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at May 07, 2017 11:09 AM (di1hb)

Hm...not a fan of that, either, necessarily. Especially sea. I think they both make me feel cold and uncomfortable. Weird?

Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 11:12 AM (e8PP1)

140 And I am pleased to report that fanfiction.net has a Barrel. If you edit a document in Word and paste it into their submission form, with italics and bold, it will seem like it works great. Then you go back to edit it, and it is full of "MSO" tag schmutz.

So, edit your submissions in Notepad. Because the Barrel smells of Bill Gates' vomit and shame.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 11:12 AM (6FqZa)

141 Finished "The Beer Geek Handbook: Living a Life Ruled by Beer" by Patrick Dawson. This is a quick lighthearted read about the ABC's of aspects of devotion to craft beer. Some of the people involved make my level of obsession look rational, which would surprise Mrs Hate. So there were parts of the book that were borderline worthless to me in terms of "I'll never do that" but Dawson writes in such an engaging way that it wasn't painful reading through those parts. If you want to see geek meltdowns go to Beer Advocate's forums about beer news and look at the reactions to Asheville, NC's Wicked Weed being bought out by Budweiser's parent company. I get the feeling that Asheville is a transplanted hippie haven because the reactions are over the top. If this results in Wicked Weed being available to me in Ohio at a reasonable price those dicknoses can all go fuck themselves. Back to the book, Dawson has also written a book "Vintage Beer: A Taster's Guide to Brews That Improve Over Time" that is a much more serious and focused read and both books are recommended to any Horde members who enjoy kissing the hops.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 07, 2017 11:12 AM (y7DUB)

142 Preferred flag-wearing:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=flag+bikini&t=opera&iax=1&ia=images

-
I wish they were at half mast.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks and You're Not at May 07, 2017 11:13 AM (Nwg0u)

143 I've been reading through the chapters in "The Singing Wilderness" by Sigurd Olson. Beautiful and evocative writing. It is about the northern Minn. and Ontario areas around Lake Superior in the 1950s. I've never been there but the author makes it very appealing. Pleasant and relaxing reading.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 11:13 AM (V+03K)

144 Good morning all! Steveoreno, nice little library ya got there. Be a shame if something were to happen to it. I am finally getting over my really shameful case of library envy -- how does everyone keep stuff off the floor? -- and am becoming accustomed to the high-end Moron libraries. Still, I must maintain my rants about leather upholstery. Darn it all, there is just no way to relax and enjoy. Similar to satin sheets in that the slightest movement or inattention could slide you right off. For clumsy twits like me, the kiss of death (and sprains and broken bones and major embarrassment).

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 07, 2017 11:14 AM (MIKMs)

145 Diane Feinstein on with Andrea Mitchell, setting up former temp AG Sally Yates Congressional testimony tomorrow, in a last effort to fan the dying flame of Trump's Russian Connections.

Earlier this week, when asked "do you believe, do you have evidence that there was in fact collusion between Trump associates and Russia during the campaign?" her response was "Not at this time."

Yates will say that she had evidence that Flynn was compromised by the Russians and a blackmail risk told the White House this, but didn't act on it until it was leaked. Ergo, Trump is in cahoots with the Russians ans should be impeached.

But how did Yates get this evidence. (My money is on Susan Rice). And who leaked it a;; this to MSM (Rice? Yates?)

Developing ...

Posted by: Ignoramus at May 07, 2017 11:15 AM (bQxkN)

146 Currently I'm reading Two Years before the Mast, which is kind of a master course on merchant clipper ship sailing. Its not a real easy read because its basically a diary but it is incredibly informative and valuable for anyone who might want to write such a book (such as myself)

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 11:15 AM (39g3+)

147 I'm still on Dumas pere because I took a week off to read vol's 2-7 of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series; now that they're making a movie of it I was curious. Idris Elba will play Roland, and I wonder if they'll have him wear blue contacts, since every ten pages or so King would remind you of Roland's eye color, so it must be an important plot point.

Overall, "Dark Tower" is like the little girl with the little curl: when it's good, it's very, very good, and when it's bad it's horrid. (Volume 1 is particularly awful--I read it about 30 years ago, and I'd rather go to the dentist than read it again.). It's ambitious world-building; if you like detailed fantasy, these are for you. It did nothing to change my view that an author who writes himself into his story is out of ideas, but on the other hand, he did try, he did keep pushing along, unlike another fantasist I could name who keeps stringing his fans along, selling subsidiary products to them while refusing to admit he's stuck or has lost interest completely. There were long periods where King was also stuck, but he admitted it. Overall, I give "Dark Tower" 2-7 a B- . It would have been a C but for the taheen, of whom I'd have liked to know more, the harrowing journey beneath Castle Discordia, and the laughter vampire.

Posted by: Pogonip at May 07, 2017 11:16 AM (qmOf1)

148 I noticed in the pic of that rotating table thingy that the wall paper matches the upholstery on the couch. I'm guessing the walls were covered in fabric.

Posted by: Berserker- Dragonheads Division at May 07, 2017 11:16 AM (aMlLZ)

149 139 What about sea/naval settings?
Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at May 07, 2017 11:09 AM (di1hb)

Hm...not a fan of that, either, necessarily. Especially sea. I think they both make me feel cold and uncomfortable. Weird?
Posted by: April

No, it tracks, since it sounds like you don't like the environmental aspect. Both are dangerous and unforgiving to the inattentive.

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at May 07, 2017 11:16 AM (di1hb)

150 The other book I will likely finish up at my mom's today is the first Jack Reacher book, Killing Floor. Frankly I'm surprised it got published, its not terrible but its kind of boring in spots and lacks most of the later Reacher trademarks of detailed analysis, technical information, and Reacher's intellect on display. Mostly its just an angry, disgruntled ex-military guy who wants to be left alone and is reluctantly dragged into the story in an almost absurd series of coincidences.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 11:18 AM (39g3+)

151 Looking for your recommendations for decent cook-books for gluten free diets. Not one that tells you to eat more vegetables but provides simple recipes for substitutes. Family member has become allergic and we need recipes that everyone can and will eat.

Posted by: The Poster Formerly Known as Mr. Barky at May 07, 2017 11:19 AM (qLj10)

152 Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 11:06 AM (e8PP1)

Well, maybe.

I think it's much simpler than that.

Sex with a condom is nowhere near as enjoyable as without. Call it 50% of the pleasure. Still good but not great.

Tinder exists for people who want to have sex, ie. want instant pleasure and gratification, without any personal relationship or repercussions.

So, why should those guys care about what the woman wants, if it interferes with their pleasure?

The guy's justification was that they're both clean. So, no STDs.

And left unsaid was, if you got pregnant, you can just have an abortion. No props.

I think it's just that simple- They want their pleasure now, the way that they want it. And they have zero reason to want to accommodate someone they will probably never see again.

Oh, brave new world, that has such people in it!

Posted by: naturalfake at May 07, 2017 11:19 AM (9q7Dl)

153 Just finished "Malice Aforethought" from a box of books I packed away 30 years ago and recently found. Written in 1930 or 31, a physician who wants to marry his new love kills his wife by giving her a morphine addiction. When his new love marries someone else, he tries killing her with food poisoning. Dr. gets suspected of killing his wife but is cleared in the trial. However he is convicted and hung for killing the husband of his former new love. Except he didn't kill the guy. Pretty good.

Then I was at the dollar store yesterday to pick up some snacks and found "Not for Turning," a bio of Maggie Thatcher by Robin Harris. It was only $1.!

Posted by: Just John at May 07, 2017 11:20 AM (JdPHk)

154 Hi April, what is stealth sex?

Posted by: Pogonip at May 07, 2017 11:20 AM (qmOf1)

155 No, it tracks, since it sounds like you don't like the environmental aspect. Both are dangerous and unforgiving to the inattentive.

Also, they both entail a lot of technical language that I don't really understand or have any familiarity with.

Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 11:20 AM (e8PP1)

156 Posted by: Tuna at May 07, 2017 10:12 AM (jm1YL)

I think so. I went on a little Michael Connelly binge after the series and some discussions here. If you go to Goodreads or elsewhere you can see them in order. I get them from the library but try and read the Bosch series sequentially as he leaves and come back to his job etc. And helps keep the characters straight. Also , there is a Lincoln Lawyer "series" as well. MC is good "relief" reading for me as I tend to read non fiction but I really like detective, mystery etc.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 11:21 AM (OU4q6)

157 Just getting into Orlando Figges A People's Tragedy The Russian Revolution 1891 - 1924. Taking the perspective beyond the Lenin/Bolshevik aspects he explores the societal and cultural factors from individuals and groups. That's a lousy description for a really good and very readable history book on the RR.

I've had that on my bookshelf for over 20 years and when I finish one of the three history books I'm currently reading will finally crack it open. Glad to see the "readable" description because that separates good and bad history imo.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 07, 2017 11:21 AM (y7DUB)

158 Hi April, what is stealth sex?
=====

Marketing.

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 07, 2017 11:22 AM (MIKMs)

159 It's no wonder the diversitards hate Murray.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at May 07, 2017 11:23 AM (IqV8l)

160 82 22 ... "Along the DIY line, I'll just throw out that in my opinion, 'The Furniture Doctor' by George Grotz is an excellent book for the beginning furniture refinishing adventurer!"

OMG Hrothgar! I thought I was the only one left who used that book. My dad used it and I got my own copy as an adult. Some of it predates newer materials but most of it is still good and the writing is a hoot. Thanks for mentioning it.
Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 10:11 AM (V+03K

I have two bedside tables I want to refurbish, so my mom pulled out the Furniture Doctor and gave it to me. She and Dad got it from a retired neighbor in the '80s, when they started getting hand-me-down furniture.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at May 07, 2017 11:23 AM (G8B7r)

161 Oh, brave new world, that has such people in it!

Children for a generation or two have been raised to give the outward appearance of kindness and politeness, but never for any moral or religious cause. They've been taught to do so for entirely selfish reasons: this will make the world a nice place for you, you would want to be treated nice, people will like you and praise you for it. Its all completely self-focused and self-centered.

So we have a strange culture that is very polite and kind outwardly, but incredibly uncaring and harsh inside. People are after what they can get, for themselves, not caring about anyone else other than gestures toward strangers and odd people.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 11:23 AM (39g3+)

162 Just finished "The Red Thumb Mark (The Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries Book 1)," by R. Austin Freeman.

It's a very quick read, and written as sort of a Sherlock Holmes from a "medico-legal" point of view.

Worth the investment in money (it was free) and time...a pleasant diversion.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 07, 2017 11:24 AM (rF0hx)

163 was under the impression that the Sea Peoples are
thought to have been refugees from the volcano eruption of Thera, which
pretty much destroyed Bronze Age Aegean civilization. Yes? No?
Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 10:33 AM (sdi6R)

It is more complicated than that. Part of it was that the two major powers at the time, the Hittites and the Egyptians had fought each other to exhaustion, and in the power vacuum all the smaller kingdoms and hordes started raiding each other and everyone else.

Posted by: Kindltot at May 07, 2017 11:24 AM (mkDpn)

164 Stealth sex is when a man removes a condom sometime during sex, without his partner's knowledge.

Articles I've read indicate that it is a problem in both gay and straight incidents, so naturalfake's theory of pleasure is probably right.

Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 11:24 AM (e8PP1)

165 Reading "The Son" by Philipp Meyer and enjoying it greatly.

Cannot watch the movie because it is on AMC and we cut the cable three years ago.

Have the free sample of his "American Rust" on the Kindle and cannot wait to get into it, but right now, "The Son" has me so hooked I cannot even take a peek.

Posted by: Les Kinetic at May 07, 2017 11:25 AM (U6f54)

166 >>...[Kipnis] really tried to have it both ways and the blaming of conservatism was ridiculous but of course necessary.

I keep going back to Warden's excellent "How losing my political values helped me gain my freedom" post. I support her right to speak but I'm not going to get the least bit outraged on her behalf. Enjoy the bed you made.

Posted by: Lizzy at May 07, 2017 11:25 AM (NOIQH)

167 Hi April, what is stealth sex?

Apparently, it's starting sex with a condom as the girl desires.

But, then slipping it off mid-sex.

Posted by: naturalfake at May 07, 2017 11:25 AM (9q7Dl)

168
For what it's worth, I think "The Poet" is Michael Connelly's best work.

Not a Bosch book, but seriously creepy and very well-written.

Posted by: naturalfake at May 07, 2017 10:18 AM (9q7Dl)
Funny. I try and read them sequentially. Haven't gotten to "The Poet" but because it's library availability I did read "The Narrows" which is a reappearance of The Poet. It was a good read.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 11:28 AM (OU4q6)

169 I'm kind of ambivalent toward the Bosch novels. They are pretty good and I like procedural stuff. But I don't like how every one I've read at least turns into boilerplate cop action movie about 2/3rds of the way through (one was even a near direct ripoff of Taken).

So its a mix of great police drama and silly "Bosch goes rogue cop and takes on the mob" and I never have liked that. But maybe that's just the few I've read.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 11:28 AM (39g3+)

170 I like Steveoreno's library! Good lighting, comfy dog, and lots to peruse. The fatal flaw is the coffee table. I would run into it at least twice a day.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at May 07, 2017 11:31 AM (G8B7r)

171 I feel sorry for her feeling like she's in a Kafka novel, but on the other hand, as a "committed feminst", she bears at least partial responsibilty for unleashing the nightmare forces that are now threatening to eat her alive.
------------------------------
Sort of how Bill Clinton signed a sexual harassment bill and got caught in its web. No sympathy.

He ended up lying like a summa bitch, got caught In his lies, was impeached, and lost his license to practice law.

Then sold usa manufacturing to China and ended up half a billion dollars wealthier in a little over a decade.

If there's a moral to his story I'm waiting for it.
Posted by: E Depluribus Unum at May 07, 2017 09:21 AM (HTdUD)

Yeah, Kafka was a work of fiction.

Seems better parallels are the french revolution and Soviet Russia. These people might not be chopping off each others' heads or putting bullets in them yet, but they might be... maybe, 1 or 2 clicks away from that.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 07, 2017 11:32 AM (Pz4pT)

172 Since preexisting conditions is the new protected class and looks like it has shoved out Muslims and Mexicans for first place honors, I want to put this forth.

Being a conservative, or a libertarian, or a Trump voter for whatever reason, is a preexisting condition.

Not so for the left, as theirs is a condition not life-threatening. For us, though, with the other side wanting us dead, we've got a problem.

Posted by: Les Kinetic at May 07, 2017 11:32 AM (U6f54)

173 I finished off The Beekeeper's Apprentice by the way and I don't recommend it. The girl starts out interesting but becomes a Mary Sue and a stand in for the author's apparent infatuation with Sherlock Holmes. There's literally nothing she puts her hands to that she doesn't either start out at or rapidly become an expert in, even a master. The story is a bit meandering, the author's familiarity with Holmes seems to come more from films and TV than the actual books, and she's not very familiar with Edwardian culture or language.

I give her points for trying, she does use some words that were spelled slightly differently back then like role and some attempts at slang, but she's clearly a Millennial peeking back in time with no real familiarity or study.

Its not an awful book, but not very good, and it really missed a great opportunity. I'm kind of tired of the girl wonderteen from a terrible background as well (although this one's alleged tough life is introduced, then has zero impact on her. In the place of an evil stepmother its an evil aunt but she can do anything at all she wants without restriction and the aunt isn't even in the book).

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 11:32 AM (39g3+)

174 I finished Fredrick Backman's new one. "Beartown". It was pretty good.

I also started listening to "The Nordic Theory of Everything".
I know. I know. I was hoping for some idea of their culture. All I am hearing is how much their free shit makes them more awesome than the United States. If I hear the words "the Nordic theory of love" one more time, I am sticking Q-tips in my ears. It is going to be interesting as more immigrants travel into the Nordic states and change the dynamic.

Posted by: Quirky bookworm at May 07, 2017 11:34 AM (gppsv)

175 This actually might be useful even today.

Give me a table and a chair with little wheels on it so I can scoot along the table

Posted by: t-bird at May 07, 2017 11:34 AM (29QcC)

176 Hi Ho Steveoreno!

Posted by: Zombie Louis Nye at May 07, 2017 11:35 AM (IqV8l)

177
So we have a strange culture that is very polite
and kind outwardly, but incredibly uncaring and harsh inside. People
are after what they can get, for themselves, not caring about anyone
else other than gestures toward strangers and odd people. Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 11:23 AM (39g3+)
=====

Like a group of high school juniors and seniors collecting their college admissions points for 'volunteer' work.

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 07, 2017 11:35 AM (MIKMs)

178 off, anile sock

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at May 07, 2017 11:35 AM (R5XcD)

179 Stealth sex is when a man removes a condom sometime during sex, without his partner's knowledge.

Articles I've read indicate that it is a problem in both gay and straight incidents, so naturalfake's theory of pleasure is probably right.
Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 11:24 AM (e8PP1)

There's got to be another word for that. Sex doesn't seem like the right one.

Finding a convenient receptacle into which to dump your garbage is not the same thing as sex.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 07, 2017 11:36 AM (Pz4pT)

180 Oh, and I haven't been following the comments here, but the problem with equating this campus rape hoax business with the satanic hoaxes is that... well, some of the campus rape stuff is real.

Like it or not, there ARE guys out there who treat other people like pieces of meat, and they are using deceit and force and coercion to get what they want.

If you want to draw a line somewhere else, that's fine, but I think taking a condom off mid-coitus is rape.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 07, 2017 11:39 AM (Pz4pT)

181 About the Sea People and the collapse of the Bronze age civilizations of the Eastern Med, try Eric Kline's 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed

I haven't read it, I've only seen youtube videos of his lectures about it

Posted by: Kindltot at May 07, 2017 11:40 AM (mkDpn)

182 I finished Irwin Shaw's The Young Lions, which is considered among the classic novels of WW-II. Very interesting character depictions, and as a bonus, Noah Ackerman, a young father who has not yet met his newborn son, writes to his wife about how to educate the lad. Homeschool to age 8, and he knocks off the educational theories that give children so much freedom they can't figure out what's flying.
This week, I'm reading The Last Testament, an interview with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The interviewer is pretty boring, but Papa Benedict, as always, is worth reading and pondering. Truly, my favorite intellectual of the 20th century. I would like to know his take on the current Pope, but there is very little chance of ever finding out.

Posted by: Alifa at May 07, 2017 11:40 AM (33RbX)

183 Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 10:55 AM (V+V4

Back in the day when it was worth anything, I was fortunate to have Jan Karski as my professor at Georgetown. Really fortunate. He left a mark. Professor Karski was a member of the Polish WWII Resistance.

Because of all the brave partisans and members of real Resistance movements this faux "Resistance" BS of the American Left now really grates. Like HRC sniper fire BS. Anyway, class with Professor Karski was an honor.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 11:41 AM (OU4q6)

184 *sneaks in during break*

Oregon Muse, thany you so much for mentioning my new short story. It was fun and frentic to write.

To those who have already bought it, thank you. Hope you enjoy the little romp.

Posted by: Anna Puma at May 07, 2017 11:41 AM (cGJ7O)

185 "Children for a generation or two have been raised to give the outward appearance of kindness and politeness, but never for any moral or religious cause."

Which explains the difference between civility and political correctness: civility is based on genuine respect for the "other" as an intellectual equal, and makes genuine discussion of serious issues possible; PC is based on disrespect of the "other" as racist, stupid, oppressive, etc. and makes genuine discussion impossible. In a truly civil debate, people can be on opposite sides and still remain friends; in a PC "debate", they can't.

Posted by: Secret Square at May 07, 2017 11:41 AM (9WuX0)

186 I read a review of "The Son" and it nailed why I am enjoying it so much.

Where so many historical novels fail is in the author's inability to portray figures as having the true mindset of their time. They'll portray kid growing up on a 1750 Virginia plantation as coming to a racial outlook more like a UVA sophomore than a colonial cotton farmer.

Not so in books like "The Son" or in Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian." The characters roll in the milieu of the day, whatever it is.

Posted by: Les Kinetic at May 07, 2017 11:41 AM (U6f54)

187 Formerly Mr. Barky,
I can tell you that the best recipes are ones that are naturally gluten free. Most of our meals consist of foods that just don't have gluten or just need a substitution. Ronzoni makes an excellent pasta that you can substitute in all your pasta dishes. If a recipe requires a bit of flour, just substitute it with an all purpose gf flour.

Now, of you are looking for baked goods, go to glutenfreeonashoestring.com
None of it is cheap, but investing in quality ingredients will give you a great product.

Most gf cookbooks are trendy cookbooks. If you really want a solid cookbook get any of Carol Fenster's cookbooks. She was around before it was trendy and they are good every day recipes.

Posted by: Quirky bookworm at May 07, 2017 11:41 AM (gppsv)

188 Merriam-Webster: "Origin and Etymology of anile
Latin anilis, from anus old woman

First Known Use: 1652"

I guess that makes her the Anus Horribilis, to use proper Latin.

Posted by: t-bird at May 07, 2017 11:43 AM (HwVbl)

189 Posted by: Captain Hate at May 07, 2017 11:21 AM (y7DUB)

Will be curious to know what you think if you read it. I set aside two good history books to just focus on this one. I got it from library so there is some pressure. It is also free on the internet so I downloaded it. I am enjoying it.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 11:45 AM (OU4q6)

190 167 Hi April, what is stealth sex?

Apparently, it's starting sex with a condom as the girl desires.

But, then slipping it off mid-sex.

Posted by: naturalfake at May 07, 2017 11:25 AM (9q7Dl)

I guess it's worse than a girl saying she's on birth control when she is not. It's the disease thing.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 11:49 AM (IDPbH)

191 On the comment above, about how kids today aren't taught how miserable life was under communist/socialist rule and how awesome America is, I have rewatched (for the hundredth time) a few classic 80s cold war movies lately-Hunt for Red October, No Way Out, Russia House, as well as classic 80s teen flicks which could NEVER EVER be made today (Risky Business, Sixteen Candles) and was thinking the same thing. I had a Polish Professor for a Eastern Euro Communist Systems class I took in 1990 and he gave us an earful, as the Iron Curtain was being rolled back in real time. It's amazing and scary how much pop culture has changed and how much has been forgotten.

Posted by: Goldilocks at May 07, 2017 11:52 AM (zz1sH)

192 If you want to draw a line somewhere else, that's fine, but I think taking a condom off mid-coitus is rape.

I don't think I'd equate it with actual rape, but its certainly some level of sexual crime.

so many historical novels fail is in the author's inability to portray figures as having the true mindset of their time.

I agree, or sometimes its even deliberate: this woman is a strong, capable woman who defies the culture! Its annoying to me. A true test of a well-written historical novel is how accurately it depicts people as being the product of their times to me.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 07, 2017 11:52 AM (39g3+)

193 The Aubrey Maturin series about life aboard naval ships during the Napoleonic era is quite good about being true to its times

Posted by: Ignoramus at May 07, 2017 11:55 AM (bQxkN)

194 I liked "The Son", but it was a brutal read, at times. The opposite of PC, which I appreciated.

Posted by: Goldilocks at May 07, 2017 11:55 AM (zz1sH)

195
Since preexisting conditions is the new protected class and looks like
it has shoved out Muslims and Mexicans for first place honors, I want to
put this forth.

=====

For some reason, Ocare did not exempt pregnancies from the preexisting conditions. One of my kids had to meet a new deductible every year because her pregnancies spanned the policy year. I seem to remember that pregnancy was finally treated as an ongoing 'one event' (took quite a while, maybe late 80s?). Stupid meddling by the government.

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 07, 2017 11:56 AM (MIKMs)

196 I finished Irwin Shaw's The Young Lions,

-
I quite liked that novel and was disappointed with the movie. The movie emasculates a powerful novel. One interesting thing about the movie, it features John Banner (Sgt. Schultz from Hogan's Heroes) as an evil Nazi mayor.

I have seen the chapter in which Christian ambushes an Allied detachment presented as a short story entitled, if
I recall correctly, A Perfect Morning.

Incidentally, author Irwin Shaw said, "what I was trying to do in The Young Lions was to show the world at a certain point in its history, its good and evil, and as many people as I could crowd into the book struggling through that world, trying to find some reason for trying to stay alive in it". He described the character of the German soldier Christian: "I wanted to show how a man can start out decent, intelligent, well meaning, as so many people in Germany must have been, even in the greatest days of Nazism - and wind up bestialized, almost bereft of humanity, almost dead to the instincts of survival even, as the Germans finally were, by believing in one false thing, which spreads and spreads and finally corrupts them entirely".

Not entirely irrelevant to our own age. Anyway, the movie presenting Marlon Brando as a repentant Christian kinda destroyed the entire point.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks and You're Not at May 07, 2017 11:59 AM (Nwg0u)

197 Back in the day when it was worth anything, I was fortunate to have Jan Karski as my professor at Georgetown. Really fortunate. He left a mark. Professor Karski was a member of the Polish WWII Resistance.

Because of all the brave partisans and members of real Resistance movements this faux "Resistance" BS of the American Left now really grates. Like HRC sniper fire BS. Anyway, class with Professor Karski was an honor.
Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 11:41 AM (OU4q6)

Have you read Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands? It's excellent overall and one of the best history books I've read but his treatment of the Polish resistance and how they couldn't trust anybody was particularly superb.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 07, 2017 12:00 PM (y7DUB)

198 Nood with gender

Posted by: The Real Bruce at May 07, 2017 12:03 PM (bgs79)

199 LOL @oglaf [nsfw]. "make lovecraft not warcraft"

I need that shirt.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 12:04 PM (6FqZa)

200
Back in the day when it was worth anything, I was fortunate to have Jan Karski as my professor at Georgetown. Really fortunate. He left a mark. Professor Karski was a member of the Polish WWII Resistance.

Because of all the brave partisans and members of real Resistance movements this faux "Resistance" BS of the American Left now really grates. Like HRC sniper fire BS. Anyway, class with Professor Karski was an honor.
Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 11:41 AM (OU4q6)

OH. MY. GOSH.

I am seriously jealous of you. And so very glad you got to have him as a professor. I'm doing research on the beginning of the war in Poland, and he figures prominently. What he did was beyond anything a Marvel superhero could imagine, and how he was ignored should be a source of shame.

I met survivors of the Warsaw Uprising, and Irene Sendler, but to have had a class with him? What a treasure.

Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 12:07 PM (V+V48)

201 190 I guess it's worse than a girl saying she's on birth control when she is not. It's the disease thing.
Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 11:49 AM (IDPbH)

It's the disease thing AND the pregnant thing. Women who are trying to make sure they don't get pregant and these guys are casually thinking "so just have an abortion if I knock you up" so that they can bareback mid-stream? Yeah. Rape.

Posted by: bebe's boobs destroy at May 07, 2017 12:08 PM (hscyr)

202 He's back ..

Obama will get the JFK Library Profile in Courage award tonight, which will be broadcast by MSNBC. His speech will no doubt be Echoed by MSM. It won't be Trump friendly.

Irony is that "Profiles in Courage" refers to a 1957 Pulitzer Prize winning book by JFK, widely thought to have been ghost-written by a JFK speechwriter.

Like Dreams From My Father and Bill Ayers, no?

Posted by: Ignoramus at May 07, 2017 12:09 PM (bQxkN)

203
Have you read Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands? It's
excellent overall and one of the best history books I've read but his
treatment of the Polish resistance and how they couldn't trust anybody
was particularly superb.

Posted by: Captain Hate at May 07, 2017 12:00 PM (y7DUB)
Thanks. I have not, but am putting it on my list.A funny aside. I have a wonderful uncle in Slovakia. Hard working, jovial, great twinkle in his eye. Anyway he has a little "dacha" ( he calls it Canada) outside Dubnica nad Vahom where he lives and in it there is a trap door leading to a room for the "partisans". He loves to tell the stories.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 12:10 PM (OU4q6)

204 Hi 192: grrrrl power has ruined historical fiction, and--

Hey, wait a minute! What's this %#^*^>�<##%#!!! about pants being required? Nobody told me nothing about no pants when I signed on.

Posted by: Pogonip at May 07, 2017 12:12 PM (qmOf1)

205 Thanks. I have not, but am putting it on my list.A funny aside. I have a wonderful uncle in Slovakia. Hard working, jovial, great twinkle in his eye. Anyway he has a little "dacha" ( he calls it Canada) outside Dubnica nad Vahom where he lives and in it there is a trap door leading to a room for the "partisans". He loves to tell the stories.
Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 12:10 PM (OU4q6)''

If you get the chance, write those stories down. There's a significant portion of the Horde who would buy that book. Myself included!

Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 12:12 PM (V+V48)

206 sorry I'm late to the book thread
exhausted

I'm reading Winswept House as recd in a previous book thgread by someone

Posted by: @votermom @vm at May 07, 2017 12:13 PM (hMwEB)

207 123 rickl : Thera went off around 1620 BC, and the Sea Peoples were four centuries later, so no.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 10:55 AM (6FqZa)

Know a good book about bronze age collapse?
Posted by: BignJames at May 07, 2017 10:58 AM (x9c8r)

I'll suggest '1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed' by Eric H Cline. He also has some lectures posted on youtube that cover the same topic.

Its also worth noting that the Exodus is dated to around this time. And the Trojan war possibly to a bit before this. One neat theory...or maybe just speculation...offered by Robert L. Dise Jr. is that the Trojan war destabilized broke the society of Mycanean Greeks who then spilled across the Medeteranean looking for more war, and subsequently broke the rest of the Bronze Age world... A little short on direct evidence, but its a neat idea.

Posted by: Castle Guy at May 07, 2017 12:13 PM (7aeqx)

208 Any room with books, pinball machine, and a picture of Audrey Hepburn is a place I'd want to be!

Posted by: Zogger at May 07, 2017 12:14 PM (SKahJ)

209 Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 12:07 PM (V+V4

Yes, I treasured him. So lucky. That was back in the day when WDC had intellectuals and professors and people of worth, experience and integrity. Don't get me wrong -- they floated along the swamp. But at least they were there for my time.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 12:14 PM (OU4q6)

210 Also, happy National Lemonade Day!

(We have frost warnings for tonight, not exactly lemonade weather.)

Posted by: Pogonip at May 07, 2017 12:15 PM (qmOf1)

211 Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 12:12 PM (V+V4

Unfortunately that time has past. I should have written that and more, but did not. My father, an immigrant from Slovakia, was the family historian and kept the US and the European sides in touch. He hosted many relatives and took them on grand driving tours throughout the US. And they hosted us. I was fortunate to have worked in many EE and CE countries and I got to consider some of these places "home away from home".

Yep, shoulda', woulda', coulda'.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 12:18 PM (OU4q6)

212 Have you read Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands?

-
Caveat: It's bleak. Very bleak. Make sure there are no sharp edges nearby or you may slit your wrists.

It is a good book.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks and You're Not at May 07, 2017 12:23 PM (Nwg0u)

213 Thanks Quirky Bookworm for all the tips. Will check out the Fenster cookbooks.

Posted by: The Poster Formerly Known as Mr. Barky at May 07, 2017 12:23 PM (qLj10)

214 Posted by: Captain Hate at May 07, 2017 12:00 PM (y7DUB)

Running in under the wire.

And also, the memorable (to me) Harrison Salisbury 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 12:28 PM (OU4q6)

215 181 About the Sea People and the collapse of the Bronze age civilizations of the Eastern Med, try Eric Kline's 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed

I haven't read it, I've only seen youtube videos of his lectures about it
Posted by: Kindltot at May 07, 2017 11:40 AM (mkDpn)

That sounds like a very interesting book. I was just reading over at Amazon. The author replied to a somewhat critical review, and they ended up in an extensive back-and-forth discussion. Pretty cool.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 12:34 PM (sdi6R)

216 Poster Formerly Known as Mr. Barky: Looking for your recommendations for decent cook-books for gluten free diets....

Milady, a world-class chef, suggests anything by Bette Hagman. The first book, The Gluten-Free Gourmet, has the easiest recipes, although not necessarily the best.

The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy has many good recipes.

The one between these two (More from the G-F G) is also pretty basic.

After that, she gets into more complicated stuff with various flours. There's one on bread, one on desserts, one on comfort food.

Milady says she's been cooking out of those for more than a decade, and only once found a recipe she thought was a fail.

Gluten-free doesn't have to taste bad - that just seems to be a requirement of nearly every commercial G-F product.

"Be careful about reading health books.
You may die of a misprint."
-Mark Twain

Posted by: mindful webworker - glue-gun free at May 07, 2017 12:37 PM (l/Pix)

217
Unfortunately that time has past. I should have written that and more, but did not. My father, an immigrant from Slovakia, was the family historian and kept the US and the European sides in touch. He hosted many relatives and took them on grand driving tours throughout the US. And they hosted us. I was fortunate to have worked in many EE and CE countries and I got to consider some of these places "home away from home".

Yep, shoulda', woulda', coulda'.
Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 12:18 PM (OU4q6)

Well, you have those amazing experiences, so that would be worth a book right there.

I'd love to chat with you about your work experience in EE/CE. We were in Warsaw for two years, and absolutely loved it. ( Mind you, most of our other tours were in the Middle East or Central America, so this was a tremendous blessing!)

Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 12:37 PM (V+V48)

218 On the final disk of "News of the World, by Paulette Giles, which was a Moron recommendation (thanks!). It's quite excellent and will tickle those "rugged individualists" among the Horde.

Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 12:40 PM (joFoi)

219 I "finished" my first Audible book, 'A Time for Trumpets' by Charles B. MacDonald about the Battle of the Bulge. MacDonald was a company commander during the Battle and wrote an earlier memoir by that name.

The book is comprehensive, unfortunately I fell asleep a few times and probably missed some information so I have to review the paper version to get caught up.

I have found that I really prefer audible poetry, ancient works and mythological stories to regular prose listening.

Also, R.I.P. Robert Pirsig thanks for the courage and insight of your life.

Posted by: whatmeworry? at May 07, 2017 12:43 PM (dZGNV)

220 Started The Gargoyle and have Lost City of the Monkey God waiting on kindle, both book thread recommendations. You people are going g to bankrupt me.
Posted by: Miss Sippi at May 07, 2017 09:59 AM (Tcfj+)

I read the former as a liberry book and liked it so much I bought two hardcover copies, one for me and one for a guy I know who owns a movie production company! You won't be sorry -- at least with The Gargoyle.

Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 12:44 PM (joFoi)

221 I just finished Shattered. We all know Frau Gruppencankles was tone deaf but the whole friggin' campaign? The only one who saw the train wreck coming was ignored.

Posted by: mpfs, Deplorable Pirate Wench at May 07, 2017 10:00 AM (2yeW7)

Who was that?

Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 12:46 PM (joFoi)

222 Yeah, i heard Kipnis on Prager. He praised her for being a hero for her position then pushed her pretty hard to say some damming statements about the college administration but she sidestepped it. Most amazing was when he tried to get her to admit that Liberalism was the cause of this fake rape culture she actually said that it was more conservative thinking that was at fault. It was towards the end of the interview and he didn't get a chance to pursue it. She really tried to have it both ways and the blaming of conservatism was ridiculous but of course necessary.
Posted by: Some moron at May 07, 2017 10:50 AM (DdGS0)

You might like this piece from American Thinker...

"A Professor Looks at the College Racket"

http://bit.ly/2pQv0GY

Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 01:05 PM (joFoi)

223 "Obama will get the JFK Library Profile in Courage award tonight, which will be broadcast by MSNBC. His speech will no doubt be Echoed by MSM. It won't be Trump friendly. "

No need to watch. Rush will probably analyze it for us this week.

Posted by: Tuna at May 07, 2017 01:17 PM (jm1YL)

224 The Cult of the Singing Flame
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12479194/1/

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 07, 2017 01:20 PM (6FqZa)

225 "On the final disk of "News of the World, by Paulette Giles, which was a Moron recommendation (thanks!). It's quite excellent and will tickle those "rugged individualists" among the Horde."

Lovely little relationship the old man and the little girl develop isn't it? Just love that book. The author knows her Texas history.

Posted by: Tuna at May 07, 2017 01:21 PM (jm1YL)

226 Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at May 07, 2017 10:44 AM (R5XcD)

Been awhile since I watched season one, but think you're right.

Posted by: waelse1 at May 07, 2017 01:23 PM (wigC0)

227 This week, I'm reading The Last Testament, an interview with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The interviewer is pretty boring, but Papa Benedict, as always, is worth reading and pondering. Truly, my favorite intellectual of the 20th century. I would like to know his take on the current Pope, but there is very little chance of ever finding out.
Posted by: Alifa at May 07, 2017 11:40 AM (33RbX)

Seems more Catholic bloggers are waking to the fact that Benedict may have been coerced into resigning and therefore, still be THE pope.

Check the links within this piece.

http://bit.ly/2pkcRxz

Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 01:27 PM (joFoi)

228 39 I'm out of reading material
If you like epic fantasy, try the Frostborn series by Jonathan Moeller. He recently finished the series at 15 books. I''m on the next to last and still enjoying them. He's indie so not expensive and his editing isn't any worse than some I've seen traditionally published.

Posted by: gingeroni at May 07, 2017 01:31 PM (GIqnq)

229 Awesome library. The addition of the bottle of Windex pulls it all together.

J/K. Who the hell doesn't have one of those in an odd place in the house? Looks comfy and homey.

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at May 07, 2017 01:33 PM (EUMr7)

230 I met survivors of the Warsaw Uprising, and Irene Sendler, but to have had a class with him? What a treasure.
Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 12:07 PM (V+V4

You met Irene Sendler! Details!

Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 01:36 PM (joFoi)

231 Obama will get the JFK Library Profile in Courage award tonight, which will be broadcast by MSNBC.

Good. Now that we know where he'll be, it'll be easier to arrest him.

Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 01:37 PM (joFoi)

232 Can anybody help me contact Te Oregon Muse?
As an up and coming author I would like to ask Muse a few questions. Any help will be mucho appreciated.

Posted by: jfalcon@yahoo.com at May 07, 2017 01:43 PM (0X23S)

233 Been a few years since I was heavily into the French Revolution, but it is facinating in it was the first major revolution and the interactions of the groups in, then out of power and their demise as well as the next group who follows their predecessors.

Posted by: Skip at May 07, 2017 01:47 PM (Ot7+c)

234 Mrs. JTB had Jan Karski at Georgetown when she was getting her masters degree. She still speaks glowingly about him. Must have been a remarkable man.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 01:54 PM (V+03K)

235 Oh, my! I do love that lurker library, and I agree with OM that the pinball machine is the perfect accessory.
Re-reading the Southern Sisters series of comedic mysteries this past week. They're by Anne George, and they're still sweet and funny as hell. Ladies of a certain age solve murders, and in the process, they make me laugh. I needed a break from the angst of Queen Victoria and her letters to and from her daughter, Vicky.

Posted by: Bookaday at May 07, 2017 01:54 PM (2qDS0)

236 When I went to Amazon to order zombie's Murray recommendation, I noticed that The Bell Curve is Amazon's #1 best seller in demography.

I'd be surprised if that isn't at least partially due to the fascist college attacks on Murray. I hope the commies keep stepping on their collective dicks.

Posted by: stace, too much winning at May 07, 2017 02:01 PM (9J7Sc)

237
You met Irene Sendler! Details!
Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 01:36 PM (joFoi)

It was an Embassy function to give her an award. She spoke about her work in the Ghetto, and her imprisonment, and then how she survived Communism. Since it was a small gathering, we were able to meet her afterwards.

She died shortly after that. And Al Gore got the Peace prize instead of her when they were nominated. Tells you how that particular group votes.

Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 02:08 PM (V+V48)

238 She died shortly after that. And Al Gore got the Peace prize instead of her when they were nominated. Tells you how that particular group votes.
Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 02:08 PM (V+V4

Thank you. I knew the execrable ManBearPig won the now utterly classless Peace prize the same year news of her work came out. That year, Glenn Beck detailed how she got into the ghetto by posing as a social worker concerned with communicable disease spread by the Jewish inmates and how she saved so many little ones by taking them out in her tool box.

The story of how one of the babies in the tool box started crying, causing Sendler to think she was a dead woman, and was miraculously covered by the sound of one of the German guards barking its head off at the same time made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 02:15 PM (joFoi)

239 Can anybody help me contact Te Oregon Muse?
As an up and coming author I would like to ask Muse a few questions. Any help will be mucho appreciated.
Posted by: jfalcon@yahoo.com at May 07, 2017 01:43 PM (0X23S)

The highly esteemed Mr. Muse always posts his contact info on the last paragraph:

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.

Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 02:17 PM (joFoi)

240 220 Started The Gargoyle and have Lost City of the Monkey God waiting on kindle, both book thread recommendations. You people are going g to bankrupt me.
Posted by: Miss Sippi at May 07, 2017 09:59 AM (Tcfj+)

I read the former as a liberry book and liked it so much I bought two hardcover copies, one for me and one for a guy I know who owns a movie production company! You won't be sorry -- at least with The Gargoyle.
Posted by: SandyCheeks at May 07, 2017 12:44 PM (joFoi)
_________________________

I can definitely see The Gargoyle as a movie! On another note, re: young peoples' ignorance of communism: I taught a section of world lit at the local community college a few years ago. Got to a Russian piece and discovered that NONE of my 20+ students - not a single one - knew what the Soviet Union was. Granted we don't have a top-notch educational system here, but somehow I doubt that was the reason.

Posted by: Miss Sippi at May 07, 2017 02:34 PM (Tcfj+)

241 SandyCheeks- she was absolutely lovely. And she actually was a social worker that the Nazis forced to go into the ghetto, to deal with the typhus problem there. (The typhus problem they caused by overcrowding, insufficient infrastructure, lack of food, water and medicine, and their unbelievable cruelty, but whatevs) She said she was terrified at first, but believed it was God's way of using her to help. She saved 2500 children before they discovered what she did. God bless her.

And thank you for the link on Benedict. I always wondered why he resigned, and why Francis was elected. This is helpful.

Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 02:46 PM (V+V48)

242 Some advise for falco. Unsolicited, true enough.

Remove your email address from the name line when posting.

Invent a nickname (a nic) for yourself.

You might be surprised that we have douchebags appear here from time to time who would get off on screwing with you.

Like I said, unsolicited.

Posted by: weirdflunky at May 07, 2017 03:11 PM (Q9HWj)

243 Last week, author Hans Schantz was on the book thread pimping his book "The Hidden Truth".

I ordered it for the Kindle app and read it this past week.

I enjoyed it and am looking forward to a possible next one.

Hello Anna! Same message to you!

Posted by: weirdflunky at May 07, 2017 03:17 PM (Q9HWj)

244 What a gorgeous room. However, I'd have chosen a "Lost In Space" pinball machine, and a poster of Angela Cartwright's face in her role as "Penny".

Posted by: Born Free at May 07, 2017 04:14 PM (XNq1H)

245 Anna! I am most of the way through "Pinch of Larceny" and I found the Horde reference you slipped in. It made me laugh. What a fun little read!

Posted by: pookysgirl at May 07, 2017 04:36 PM (ar2KI)

246 Posted by: moki at May 07, 2017 12:37 PM (V+V4

Sure, would love to chat. I can never get that addy in the nick thing done properly but it you can I can email you and go from there.

Seems wherever we are we would love sometimes to be elsewhere. When I was freezing in Russia, I envied people who got posted like Central and South America etc. Would like to hear your experiences as well, especially ME. I had great plans for that area and they are spoiled now. I did hit Pakistan a few times, in and out. Thankfully. So, proceed as you like.

Like all of us who have done this kind of work , we do have stories and I'd like to hear about yours.

BTW, re. Middle East did you ever read The Passionate Nomad: The Story of Freya Stark? Cheers.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 05:18 PM (OU4q6)

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