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Sunday Morning Book Thread 09-23-2018
Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes. Oh, and we've got a new category of readers, escaped oafs and oafettes. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, and publishing by people who follow words with their fingers and whose lips move as they read. Unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these pants, and you have to wonder if they were designed by someone who was colorblind. Pic Note I remembered I had this photo on my hard drive after I read this comment in last week's book thread:
244 Looking at the looting picture on Drudge (they don't seem too worried about getting arrested, do they?) and wondering why no one ever seems to loot libraries.The photo, which you can click on to see a larger version of, is entitled 'London Bookstore After Air Raid, Oct., 1940'. Of course, the boy is not looting the bookstore, he's just getting caught up on his reading. When he was finished, I have no doubt he put the book back where he found it and simply walked away. The British back then were very honest. I remember reading some years ago that during WWII, the Germans tried to ruin Britain's economy by flooding the country with counterfeit £5 notes, but it didn't work. And one of the reasons was because the people saw all of this money lying around on the street so they picked it up and turned it in to the authorities.
Posted by: pookysgirl at September 16, 2018 11:09 AM (XKZwp)
It Pays To Increase Your Word Power® DOWNDRINS is an old English dialect word for an afternoon drinking session. Usage: "Next up here on CNN, we're be hearing a report about Trump getting peed on by Russian prostitutes by Bob Downdrins. He'll also be reporting on the all of the cannibalism that broke out in South Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Florence, and what kind of BBQ sauce they used. Remember, we're not fake news, we're CNN."
3 or 6 Mrs. Muse and I are enjoying watching episodes of the TV series Condor (originally broadcast on the AT&T Audience Network), whose main character is a CIA analyst forced to flee for his life after everyone else in his unit is killed and he is blamed for it. The credits say it is based on both the 1975 Sydney Pollack film Three Days of the Condor, and also, this being the book thread and all, the spy novel Six Days of the Condor by James Grady:
Sandwiches are a part of Ronald Malcolm’s every day, but one just saved his life. On the day that gunmen pay a visit to the American Literary Historical Society, he’s out at lunch. The society is actually a backwater of the Central Intelligence Agency, where Malcolm and a few other bookworms comb mystery novels for clues that might unlock real life diplomatic questions. One of his colleagues has learned something he wasn’t meant to know. A sinister conspiracy has penetrated the CIA, and the gunmen are its representatives. They massacre the office, and only learn later of Malcolm—a loose end that needs to be dealt with.The plot has been updated for the 21st century, involving Muslim terrorists somehow acquiring a sophisticated bioweapon, and whose initial attack was thwarted by an algorithm, authored by the main character, that found a previously hidden terrorist who hadn't been on anybody's radar. The Kindle edition of Six Days of the Condor is available for $8.99. Grady has also written a sequel(?), or maybe just another spy novel in the same universe, only post 9/11,Last Days of the Condor. The blurb doesn't give a good indication of anything other than it's a spy novel, but what caught me eye was the last sentence:
Malcolm—codename Condor—calls his handlers at the agency, hoping for a safe haven, instead drawing another attempt on his life. With no one left to trust he goes on the run. But like it or not, Malcolm is the only person who can root out the corruption at the highest levels of the CIA.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.Hmmm... I wonder what the story behind that is?
Moron Recommendation
87 Thanks to a recommendation here several weeks ago, I read the very interesting, eye-opening book Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice by Sidney Powell.Yeah, that sounds pretty depressing. I'm not going to bother quoting the Amazon blurb because it doesn't add anything to Zoltan's excellent review. Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice is available on Kindle for $8.49, not too bad of a price. ___________
Ms. Powell is a brilliant lawyer, an imposing 6' tall, and a ginger. She has written a detailed account of the prosecutorial misconduct in the cases against Sen. Ted Stevens, the Enron case, and its associated cases versus the accounting firm of Arthur Anderson and the brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch. She played a minor role in the Anderson case, but she was the lead appeals lawyer for one of the Merrill defendants, Jim Brown.
She details how prosecutors hid evidence from the defense, suborned perjury from witnesses by threatening them with indictments, and repeatedly lied to the court. The Anderson case eventually went to the Supreme Court where all the convictions were overturned. Of course this was too late for the 85,000 good people who lost their jobs when the firm closed its doors years prior.
After everything was over, and most of the convictions in these cases were overturned, Ms. Powell and her fellow defense attorneys filed ethics charges with the proper boards in Texas, New York and D. C.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, all the charges were dismissed out of hand. Most of these prosecutors had risen to positions of power including White House counsel. The head of the Enron Task Force, Andrew Weissmann is currently the "bulldog" for Robert Mueller. The system is rotten to its core.
Posted by: Zoltan at September 16, 2018 09:41 AM (83Kfl)
119 SPELLMONGERSpellmonger is the first in a 10-book series by Terry Mancour. You can pick this one up on Kindle for $3.99. The others cost more. My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the way through? I guess the answer is yes, otherwise you wouldn't see so many of them published. Me, I don't care how good it is, I just get tired of them after about the 3rd book or so and want to move on to something else. After all, there's only so much character development an author can do. And after awhile, you know the author has just got to be just phoning it in. Like John Norman's Gor series, after about 40 or 50 of them you start seeing titles like "Kinksters of Gor" and "Sleazy BDSM Practitioners of Gor" and you think, yeah, that cow has been milked pretty dry. However, years ago, I did make it through all 8 volumes of John Jakes' Kent Family Chronicles. But the saving grace of that series was the progression of times. Existing characters aged, grew old, and died, and new characters were added to replace them, so things didn't get stale. Plus, America was developing and growing up and you could see it through the eyes of the characters, so there was always something new.
I am really enjoying this book, it's like two books in one, he is a SPELLMONGER in a backwoods village living the quiet life because he was sick of being a War Mage and then the Goblins came to his village. The book does go back and talk about his past and the war he fought.
I haven't seen any SJW crap in the book or series. You don't have the super strong female warriors. I can understand having Female mages. My neighbor was a Grandmaster of fighting and would have his students every Friday fight outside in their full armor and fight it was always fun to watch and their is no way a woman could last hefting those swords hammers shields. I was 20 playing college football and those damn swords were heavy as hell.
Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at September 16, 2018 09:57 AM (dKiJG)
Books By Morons Lurkette author 'artemis' has published her latest mystery, Murder in Spite, the 8th in her 'Doyle and Acton' murder series:
This holiday trip to Dublin had been very hard on Doyle’s husband -- although he was making a monumental effort to disguise this fact -- and unless she very much missed her guess, it was all somehow connected to the grisly murder on the station-house steps. That, and an African cab-driver who wore a jaunty tam o’shanter.The Kindle price is $4.99. ___________ A lurking moron e-mailed me about the novels of Aaron-Michael Hall (which is actually the nom de plume of his wife). The first book in her Kurintor duology is Kurintor Nyusi:
As the gods battle in the heavens, darkness descends on earth.She calls it "epic fantasy with an edge." The $3.95 Kindle price is pretty good. More information about her epic fantasy novels is available on her web page. ___________
The Keepers of Nine guide the primordial Kurintor warriors protecting the mortal world from the demons of Ashemohn. But after a god’s corruption empowered their demon goddess, Sokka, her manipulations have brought the Kurintor to the brink of extinction.
Can the Keepers of Nine awaken the Kurintor descendants in time to defend the Fifth Kingdom, or will the eidolons Sokka has sent forth destroy them?
If you like, you can follow me on Twitter, where I make the occasional snarky comment. ___________ 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.
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
Hey guys, I have a favour to ask...
My book House of War got a fake review: amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RI9FBKX7NDZ7C/
It is clear this 'Larry Dickman' putz did not read this book: it is not a "collection", there are no "rants" in it, and it mentions nothing of the secular sins he adduces to it. He is in short reviewing ME, not the book. And THAT is abuse of Amazon's review system.
I already reported this abuse but Amazon has done nothing. Some might say Amazon is run by snooty white Leftists like Larry The Schmuck but a possibility remains that they simply thought my smooshing that button was self-interested. Well... yeah, because my book was slandered. So I request of you, good readers, who trust Amazon's reviews, to report that review as well.
Also if you have read House of War, I hope you can find the time to post your (honest!) opinion of that book (and not of me, we're agreed I fail as a human) on Amazon's site.
Mange tak for at hjælpe, as the late Dr Crone would say.
My book House of War got a fake review: amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RI9FBKX7NDZ7C/
It is clear this 'Larry Dickman' putz did not read this book: it is not a "collection", there are no "rants" in it, and it mentions nothing of the secular sins he adduces to it. He is in short reviewing ME, not the book. And THAT is abuse of Amazon's review system.
I already reported this abuse but Amazon has done nothing. Some might say Amazon is run by snooty white Leftists like Larry The Schmuck but a possibility remains that they simply thought my smooshing that button was self-interested. Well... yeah, because my book was slandered. So I request of you, good readers, who trust Amazon's reviews, to report that review as well.
Also if you have read House of War, I hope you can find the time to post your (honest!) opinion of that book (and not of me, we're agreed I fail as a human) on Amazon's site.
Mange tak for at hjælpe, as the late Dr Crone would say.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:00 AM (N1ZXu)
2
Also if you have read House of War, I hope you can find the time to post your (honest!) opinion of that book (and not of me, we're agreed I fail as a human) on Amazon's site.
Mange tak for at hjælpe, as the late Dr Crone would say.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:00 AM (N1ZXu)
======
Always review the work off moron authors.
It helps a lot.
Also if you have read House of War, I hope you can find the time to post your (honest!) opinion of that book (and not of me, we're agreed I fail as a human) on Amazon's site.
Mange tak for at hjælpe, as the late Dr Crone would say.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:00 AM (N1ZXu)
======
Always review the work off moron authors.
It helps a lot.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, pre-order The Battle of Lake Erie today! at September 23, 2018 09:01 AM (Jj43a)
3
Currently doing a re-read of The Belgariad series by David Eddings. NION Amazon finally has the Kindle edition available in the US. But the followup book is not available for the Kindle in the US.
Also, David Weber has a new Honor Harrington book out continuing the story line of the corrupt Solarian League. The Kindle book is $9.99 which is not too bad. Its under by $10 limit for a single Kindle book. As soon as I finish the current series I will start on those, maybe the first two or three then moving to the last one about the Solarian League.
Also, David Weber has a new Honor Harrington book out continuing the story line of the corrupt Solarian League. The Kindle book is $9.99 which is not too bad. Its under by $10 limit for a single Kindle book. As soon as I finish the current series I will start on those, maybe the first two or three then moving to the last one about the Solarian League.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:01 AM (mpXpK)
4
Tolle Lege
Halfway through Patrick O'Brien The Commadore.
And brought show and tell, this short video will give you perspective of the size of a frigate such as the HMS Surprise.
https://youtu.be/QoOd1w0NjWI
Halfway through Patrick O'Brien The Commadore.
And brought show and tell, this short video will give you perspective of the size of a frigate such as the HMS Surprise.
https://youtu.be/QoOd1w0NjWI
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 09:03 AM (T4oHT)
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 09:05 AM (kQs4Y)
6
God Morgen horde
Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 23, 2018 09:05 AM (EZebt)
7
I got nothin' this week. All I did was read trash and watch bad sci fi movies.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 09:06 AM (kQs4Y)
8
Hiya
Posted by: JT at September 23, 2018 09:07 AM (mBbsP)
9
My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the
way through? I guess the answer is yes, otherwise you wouldn't see so
many of them published. Me, I don't care how good it is, I just get
tired of them after about the 3rd book or so and want to move on to
something else.
Its not so bad when they first come out because there is usually a year or two between books. But if you are going back to re-read them after you have them all it does get old after about three books. When that happens I just go to another book series and then come back later.
way through? I guess the answer is yes, otherwise you wouldn't see so
many of them published. Me, I don't care how good it is, I just get
tired of them after about the 3rd book or so and want to move on to
something else.
Its not so bad when they first come out because there is usually a year or two between books. But if you are going back to re-read them after you have them all it does get old after about three books. When that happens I just go to another book series and then come back later.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:07 AM (mpXpK)
10
I think fake or at least hateful reviews, and suspect by Leftists if it's political are common sorry to say.
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 09:07 AM (T4oHT)
11
T'hobo, what sort of language would the late Dr. Crone speak were not not late and should he regain the ability of speech?
That's not Kraut or Canals, but has a whiff of the filthy Scandi about it.
That's not Kraut or Canals, but has a whiff of the filthy Scandi about it.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:08 AM (fuK7c)
12
3
Currently doing a re-read of The Belgariad series by David Eddings. NION
Amazon finally has the Kindle edition available in the US. But the
followup book is not available for the Kindle in the US.
Let me rephrase that. They do have the whole series, but not the followup series.
Currently doing a re-read of The Belgariad series by David Eddings. NION
Amazon finally has the Kindle edition available in the US. But the
followup book is not available for the Kindle in the US.
Let me rephrase that. They do have the whole series, but not the followup series.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:09 AM (mpXpK)
13
Read "One Blood" by Sabrina Chase, book 2 of her Argonauts of Space trilogy. Book 1 was hard to put down, and so much happened in book 2 it was near impossible to put down.
In her book there's a ships cat. A space ship cat named Messier Object #102 whose behavior (normal cat behavior) confuses the ships AI brain and truly aggravates the kinda-sorta "aliens" who are also onboard (it won't obey them).
Some head music.
Ciwana Black - Industrial Dance
https://youtu.be/RtGKpgFCc1I
The Soundcarriers - Let It Ride
https://youtu.be/XIzBMzPzx-Q
Savages - You're My Chocolate
https://youtu.be/vwwkjI65Q0A
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
https://youtu.be/vmDDOFXSgAs
In her book there's a ships cat. A space ship cat named Messier Object #102 whose behavior (normal cat behavior) confuses the ships AI brain and truly aggravates the kinda-sorta "aliens" who are also onboard (it won't obey them).
Some head music.
Ciwana Black - Industrial Dance
https://youtu.be/RtGKpgFCc1I
The Soundcarriers - Let It Ride
https://youtu.be/XIzBMzPzx-Q
Savages - You're My Chocolate
https://youtu.be/vwwkjI65Q0A
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
https://youtu.be/vmDDOFXSgAs
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at September 23, 2018 09:09 AM (5jAa5)
14
"were he not late"...so much for my ability to speak the King's.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:10 AM (fuK7c)
Posted by: JT at September 23, 2018 09:11 AM (mBbsP)
Posted by: JuJuBee, just generally being shamey at September 23, 2018 09:11 AM (2NqXo)
17
4 cont
http://3decks.pbworks.com/w/page/915789/Rates
This was the other link I thought was very informative kinship rate sizes which to compare to the frigate video
http://3decks.pbworks.com/w/page/915789/Rates
This was the other link I thought was very informative kinship rate sizes which to compare to the frigate video
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 09:11 AM (T4oHT)
18
I read The Russian Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hilliary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump by Gregg Jarrett. Jarrett does an excellent job of telling the detailed, step-by-step story of how they let Clinton slide while trying to do a bloodless coup on Trump. I knew almost all of the information before reading this book, but it was very helpful to read it all in such an organized manner. An excellent book.
Posted by: Zoltan at September 23, 2018 09:12 AM (IWXAZ)
19
The Life mag cover looks like Princess Diana.
Posted by: JT at September 23, 2018 09:12 AM (mBbsP)
20
"Next up here on CNN, we're be hearing a report about Trump getting peed on by Russian prostitutes by Bob Downdrins. He'll also be reporting on the all of the cannibalism that broke out in South Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Florence, and what kind of BBQ sauce they used. Remember, we're not fake news, we're CNN."
Also, I'll be reporting on the situation in Texas with their mohels and their bris kits.
Also, I'll be reporting on the situation in Texas with their mohels and their bris kits.
Posted by: Bob Downdrins at September 23, 2018 09:12 AM (DMUuz)
21
Hic...
They got a name for mornin drinkin?
They got a name for mornin drinkin?
Posted by: Otis at September 23, 2018 09:13 AM (24tKv)
22
The Lurker - a limerick
That mustachioed bowler hat guy
Known for copping his feels on the sly
If you'll notice his bearing
You'll see he's preparing
To sneak up and grope Princess Di
You can find more limericks like this one, (only funny) at A Limerick A Day at the link in my nick
That mustachioed bowler hat guy
Known for copping his feels on the sly
If you'll notice his bearing
You'll see he's preparing
To sneak up and grope Princess Di
You can find more limericks like this one, (only funny) at A Limerick A Day at the link in my nick
Posted by: Muldoon at September 23, 2018 09:13 AM (m45I2)
23
I thought the kid in the bookstore was a young Burgess Meredith.
Posted by: JT at September 23, 2018 09:14 AM (mBbsP)
24
Greetings, all! I'm back from oppressively hot Alabama into the cool, relaxing fall air of Michigan.
While traveling I finally finished A Distant Mirror and don't have much to add from my previous observations. Overall, it's pretty interesting but you could cut out maybe 10 percent of its length by excising Barbara Tuchman's inane editorializing. She's clearly anti-clerical, and is of the now-dated "if women only had a decent shot they'd should they are just as good as men" school of thought.
In short, she's just as much a creature of her time and place as the people she looks down on in her book.
Regarding David Eddings, I spent many hours reading through the amiable but generally unremarkable book series' he cranked out. Good time-wasters, but not much else. Not sure I'd go ahead and re-read them, but your mileage may vary.
While traveling I finally finished A Distant Mirror and don't have much to add from my previous observations. Overall, it's pretty interesting but you could cut out maybe 10 percent of its length by excising Barbara Tuchman's inane editorializing. She's clearly anti-clerical, and is of the now-dated "if women only had a decent shot they'd should they are just as good as men" school of thought.
In short, she's just as much a creature of her time and place as the people she looks down on in her book.
Regarding David Eddings, I spent many hours reading through the amiable but generally unremarkable book series' he cranked out. Good time-wasters, but not much else. Not sure I'd go ahead and re-read them, but your mileage may vary.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:14 AM (cfSRQ)
25
Doesn't the cartoon Brit lady look like Princess Diana?
Posted by: CN at September 23, 2018 09:14 AM (r97UP)
26
The Life mag cover looks like Princess Diana.
The guy behind Di looks sinister. He's not even starting at her but, he's just leering over as if he's on a mission from the supervillain.
The guy behind Di looks sinister. He's not even starting at her but, he's just leering over as if he's on a mission from the supervillain.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:15 AM (fuK7c)
27
Morning readers!
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 09:15 AM (MVjcR)
28
"staring at her butt"...I may have to punish my fingers today, they're not at all typing with my brain is saying.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:16 AM (fuK7c)
29
I don't think the guy in the picture is even looking at the woman - he seems to be glaring at the artist, who probably caught him looking at a naughty book.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:18 AM (cfSRQ)
30
Halfway through Patrick O'Brien The Commadore.
And brought show and tell, this short video will give you perspective of the size of a frigate such as the HMS Surprise.
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 09:03 AM
Wooden ships and iron men, indeed. That is amazing.
And brought show and tell, this short video will give you perspective of the size of a frigate such as the HMS Surprise.
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 09:03 AM
Wooden ships and iron men, indeed. That is amazing.
Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at September 23, 2018 09:20 AM (NDcnw)
Posted by: JT at September 23, 2018 09:20 AM (mBbsP)
32
Good morning.
Currently reading "Lethal in Old Lace," a murder mystery by Duffy Brown. It's the latest in a series known as the Consignment Shop mysteries, set in Savannah. Definitely falls into the cozy category.
It's fun and well written, but I have to agree with OM's comments on series. Part of me is thinking "Get the two main characters married off and bring this story to an end already!"
Currently reading "Lethal in Old Lace," a murder mystery by Duffy Brown. It's the latest in a series known as the Consignment Shop mysteries, set in Savannah. Definitely falls into the cozy category.
It's fun and well written, but I have to agree with OM's comments on series. Part of me is thinking "Get the two main characters married off and bring this story to an end already!"
Posted by: Dr Alice at September 23, 2018 09:20 AM (LaT54)
Posted by: JT at September 23, 2018 09:21 AM (mBbsP)
34
just reading junk books lately. The Mark Stone Coastal Justice Book 7 was OK. A little to stretched on plot.
Forgotten Coast Dawn Lee Mckenna has a new book out book 10. In the cue!
Forgotten Coast Dawn Lee Mckenna has a new book out book 10. In the cue!
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 09:22 AM (wU/T1)
35
Looks like Maddow made a mess of somebody's library.
Posted by: Burger Chef at September 23, 2018 09:22 AM (RuIsu)
36
It's not books, but is writing; (is this where you use a semi-colon? I never did figure that out in school) what is up with Cass Sunstein? His last couple articles linked by Instapundit have all been about the need for truly free speech as well as intellectual and political diversity.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (uquGJ)
37
I have a fair amount of bookish content this week, so I'll begin to unfurl it.
I finished "The Wind in the Willows". Utterly charming. I had mentioned before how Grandmama hat attempted to foist it on me in my youth. I'm wondering now if she ever read it or if it were meant for children in the first place.
Now I have a question which intrigues me enough that I saved it up to ask the Book Thread instead of resorting to easy answers on the intertubes:
We first meet a mole whitewashing his burrow. Then we meet a succession of critters living above and below ground, all in the manner of the folk of the English countryside. They all have larders and enjoy good meals, and in their displays of personality the represent or mock different expressions of countrified Britons.
In short, they are Hobbits.
Do we know, has anyone speculated, whether Tolkien were inspired by or borrowed from Wind in the Willow?
I finished "The Wind in the Willows". Utterly charming. I had mentioned before how Grandmama hat attempted to foist it on me in my youth. I'm wondering now if she ever read it or if it were meant for children in the first place.
Now I have a question which intrigues me enough that I saved it up to ask the Book Thread instead of resorting to easy answers on the intertubes:
We first meet a mole whitewashing his burrow. Then we meet a succession of critters living above and below ground, all in the manner of the folk of the English countryside. They all have larders and enjoy good meals, and in their displays of personality the represent or mock different expressions of countrified Britons.
In short, they are Hobbits.
Do we know, has anyone speculated, whether Tolkien were inspired by or borrowed from Wind in the Willow?
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (fuK7c)
38
Good morning to aficionados of the well crafted printed word.
Among my reading this week I came across some interesting passages by Orlando Figes's chronicles of the Rooski Revolution, A People's Tragedy. It's still in background material but this is an interesting, at least to me, part where the severe censorship under the Tsars, maintained by the first secret police, kept the radicals pretty well isolated. An result of this was that radical political thoughts, all of which were imported from Europe, just fermented by themselves with no counterbalancing input by which to moderate things. As a result the early commies were all particularly doctrinaire dickweeds as flexible as crowbars when it came to any deviation from their shithook policies and didn't give a flying fuck how many people suffered. Figes uses Isaiah Berlin as a source of this insight and I was wondering if any Morons or 'Ettes had read anything by him dealing with this or if he should be a future Moron book group choice. I've long thought, rightly or otherwise, that his work was as dry as Rodham's cooter but maybe that's an error on my part.
Figes also points out how Rooski literature, even the classics, was always more political in nature strictly by taking place in a repressive country in which you couldn't help noticing that the social setting sucked maximum cock. That sent the radicals to writing about it in highly politicized journals, similar to the fuckheads in wacademia here. It also gave rise to some absolutely wretched dogshit fiction, with Chernyshevsky's What Is To Be Done singled out as a particularly rancid turd which the censors fucked up by allowing to be published.
Among my reading this week I came across some interesting passages by Orlando Figes's chronicles of the Rooski Revolution, A People's Tragedy. It's still in background material but this is an interesting, at least to me, part where the severe censorship under the Tsars, maintained by the first secret police, kept the radicals pretty well isolated. An result of this was that radical political thoughts, all of which were imported from Europe, just fermented by themselves with no counterbalancing input by which to moderate things. As a result the early commies were all particularly doctrinaire dickweeds as flexible as crowbars when it came to any deviation from their shithook policies and didn't give a flying fuck how many people suffered. Figes uses Isaiah Berlin as a source of this insight and I was wondering if any Morons or 'Ettes had read anything by him dealing with this or if he should be a future Moron book group choice. I've long thought, rightly or otherwise, that his work was as dry as Rodham's cooter but maybe that's an error on my part.
Figes also points out how Rooski literature, even the classics, was always more political in nature strictly by taking place in a repressive country in which you couldn't help noticing that the social setting sucked maximum cock. That sent the radicals to writing about it in highly politicized journals, similar to the fuckheads in wacademia here. It also gave rise to some absolutely wretched dogshit fiction, with Chernyshevsky's What Is To Be Done singled out as a particularly rancid turd which the censors fucked up by allowing to be published.
Posted by: Captain Hate at September 23, 2018 09:25 AM (y7DUB)
39
So Ford has named 5 witnesses of the event
4 denied under penalty
1 will not talk and denies all knowledge
curiousor and curiousor
4 denied under penalty
1 will not talk and denies all knowledge
curiousor and curiousor
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 09:25 AM (wU/T1)
40
*I've got noting, just gonna sit here quietly, with me jug of coffee, listen to what smart people are saying...
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:25 AM (9lCXX)
41
36: probably senses a crackdown against loons like himself and that bitch wife
Posted by: CN at September 23, 2018 09:26 AM (r97UP)
42
39: Probably know she's a pathological, liar
Posted by: CN at September 23, 2018 09:27 AM (r97UP)
43
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:00 AM (N1ZXu)
Good luck, BTH.
I've had four people over the last year tell me they wrote positive reviews (4-5 stars) after reading "Wearing the Cat", which were never published by Amazon.
I think there's some shadow banning going on there.
The only review apparently permitted is a 2 star by numbskull who said she couldn't understand what she was reading.
So....yeah.
Anyway, working on the next novel. Fingers crossed.
Good luck, BTH.
I've had four people over the last year tell me they wrote positive reviews (4-5 stars) after reading "Wearing the Cat", which were never published by Amazon.
I think there's some shadow banning going on there.
The only review apparently permitted is a 2 star by numbskull who said she couldn't understand what she was reading.
So....yeah.
Anyway, working on the next novel. Fingers crossed.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 09:27 AM (CRRq9)
44
Greg Jarrett is doing the speaker series on 1210am Philadelphia not sure when or if just passed.
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 09:28 AM (T4oHT)
45
> My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the way through?
Most of them start dragging after a while -- it becomes clear that the author is just cranking them out for a paycheck.
One exception is the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. I've reread all 20 (and the partial 21st) multiple times, and always find something new in there.
Recommended if you like stories of the Napoleonic Wars, sea stories, the British Regency period, or just fine, fine writing in general
If Jane Austen had had a set of testicles, she would have written these.
Most of them start dragging after a while -- it becomes clear that the author is just cranking them out for a paycheck.
One exception is the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. I've reread all 20 (and the partial 21st) multiple times, and always find something new in there.
Recommended if you like stories of the Napoleonic Wars, sea stories, the British Regency period, or just fine, fine writing in general
If Jane Austen had had a set of testicles, she would have written these.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 09:28 AM (TM5Iv)
46
Prof. Patricia Crone (people pronounced it, Kro-Nah) was a Dane.
Posted by: Boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:29 AM (SULSF)
47
> what is up with Cass Sunstein?
He's finally realized that the lynch mob will come for him sooner or later.
He's finally realized that the lynch mob will come for him sooner or later.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 09:29 AM (TM5Iv)
48
good luck naturalfake and thank you JuJuBee.
Posted by: Boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:30 AM (SULSF)
49
artemis' Acton & Doyle series is quite popular at the local library.
Congrats to Ann Cleeland on the new book!
Congrats to Ann Cleeland on the new book!
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at September 23, 2018 09:31 AM (CE6iV)
50
Hobbits? From The Shire? No kidding.
Posted by: JAS at September 23, 2018 09:31 AM (3HNOQ)
51
> The guy behind Di looks sinister. He's not even starting at her but, he's just leering over as if he's on a mission from the supervillain.
He looks like he might be the grandfather of Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange. You need to be a little more subtle with the eye makeup, dude.
He looks like he might be the grandfather of Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange. You need to be a little more subtle with the eye makeup, dude.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 09:31 AM (TM5Iv)
52
Don't worry, there was no cannibalism in South Carolina. Once you put that nasty mustard-laced barbecue sauce on, everything becomes inedible.
Posted by: Grouchy Dino at September 23, 2018 09:32 AM (dEnig)
53
That Life cover was more than likely painted with just four colors.
And is a wonderful representative of the Illustrator style prevalent on magazine covers of that time period.
And is a wonderful representative of the Illustrator style prevalent on magazine covers of that time period.
Posted by: Kreplach at September 23, 2018 09:32 AM (kT3/m)
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:32 AM (fuK7c)
55
In short, they are Hobbits.
Do we know, has anyone speculated, whether Tolkien were inspired by or borrowed from Wind in the Willow?
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (fuK7c)|
---
I suppose I could also look it up, but my sense is that there is a sub-genre in Brit Lit where they idealize the country life. Winnie the Pooh fits in this category.
Tolkien himself noted that the countryside where he grew up was being shabbily destroyed by the forces of modernity and so he turned against it.
Evelyn Waugh did a send-up of country life in "Scoop," and he too lamented its disappearance.
So I'd say its a generalized thing. People saw how society was changing and wrote fantasies about it. Kind of like how Westerns became a thing over here.
Do we know, has anyone speculated, whether Tolkien were inspired by or borrowed from Wind in the Willow?
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (fuK7c)|
---
I suppose I could also look it up, but my sense is that there is a sub-genre in Brit Lit where they idealize the country life. Winnie the Pooh fits in this category.
Tolkien himself noted that the countryside where he grew up was being shabbily destroyed by the forces of modernity and so he turned against it.
Evelyn Waugh did a send-up of country life in "Scoop," and he too lamented its disappearance.
So I'd say its a generalized thing. People saw how society was changing and wrote fantasies about it. Kind of like how Westerns became a thing over here.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:33 AM (cfSRQ)
56
It's not fair. There was time now..
Posted by: Grump928(C) Native Texan and Alabama Alumn, Twice as Smug as You at September 23, 2018 09:33 AM (yQpMk)
57
I loved the Wheel of Time series but then it got insanely long and drawn out so I quit at around book 6. Same with Outlander---that one could have been a perfect 3 or 4 book series. OTOH, I can't wait for book 7 and onwards in the Frontline series of military sci fi by Markos Kloos, and I would have read any number of Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz if he'd kept going.
Posted by: RigelDog at September 23, 2018 09:33 AM (wvieg)
58
It's not books, but is writing; (is this where you use a semi-colon? I never did figure that out in school) what is up with Cass Sunstein?
Yes, it's a stand alone sentence but you're providing a brief context for it.
Yes, it's a stand alone sentence but you're providing a brief context for it.
Posted by: Captain Hate at September 23, 2018 09:34 AM (y7DUB)
59
Should have dubbed it dar al harb.
Posted by: Admiral marcus at September 23, 2018 09:34 AM (zbZ0x)
60
Reading : Manhattan Beach.
A Novel of Brooklyn.
A Novel of Brooklyn.
Posted by: firefirefire at September 23, 2018 09:34 AM (LVVMh)
61
Libraries were looted. By the nazis. If fact, they made a point of looting the best libraries. Many privately owned by the Jews in countries that were run over by the Fritz. Books, manuscripts. Irreplaceable treasures. There's even a good book about it - "The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance " . I mentioned it a while back, right in this very forum when it first came out.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:34 AM (9lCXX)
62
My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the
way through? I guess the answer is yes, otherwise you wouldn't see so
many of them published. Me, I don't care how good it is, I just get
tired of them after about the 3rd book or so and want to move on to
something else.
I'm midway through V5 (of
of Gibbon's Decline and Fall. I suppose that's different than reading fiction, though. His writing is pretty prolix and opaque, so you have to pay attention. I reckon it'll be about a year from start to finish for the series, because I read them intermittently rather than straight through, as I would do with a good novel. They haven't gotten old yet, and are excellent bedtime reading. I usually nod right off.
way through? I guess the answer is yes, otherwise you wouldn't see so
many of them published. Me, I don't care how good it is, I just get
tired of them after about the 3rd book or so and want to move on to
something else.
I'm midway through V5 (of
of Gibbon's Decline and Fall. I suppose that's different than reading fiction, though. His writing is pretty prolix and opaque, so you have to pay attention. I reckon it'll be about a year from start to finish for the series, because I read them intermittently rather than straight through, as I would do with a good novel. They haven't gotten old yet, and are excellent bedtime reading. I usually nod right off.Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 09:34 AM (T6t7i)
63
Tolkien supposedly had many influences when he wrote the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but Wind in the Willows was not one of them.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:35 AM (mpXpK)
64
Speaking of "Licensed to Lie," I had wanted to purchase it, but the cheapest one I could find was around $40.00, and Amazon wasn't even carrying it.
But now the paperback is due out Oct. 2, and Amazon has it for pre-order at $19.16
But now the paperback is due out Oct. 2, and Amazon has it for pre-order at $19.16
Posted by: IrishEi at September 23, 2018 09:35 AM (Ri0Ku)
65
36 It's not books, but is writing; (is this where you use a semi-colon? I never did figure that out in school) what is up with Cass Sunstein? His last couple articles linked by Instapundit have all been about the need for truly free speech as well as intellectual and political diversity.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (uquGJ)
Maybe just maybe he sees the worm turning! Intellectualism and Technocrats have gotten so so so many things wrong since 9/11/2001 they know no one is eating their dog food except the moonbat leftists.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (uquGJ)
Maybe just maybe he sees the worm turning! Intellectualism and Technocrats have gotten so so so many things wrong since 9/11/2001 they know no one is eating their dog food except the moonbat leftists.
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 09:35 AM (wU/T1)
66
(sheepish grin) I'm back. Got sucked into bed again for a couple of hours.
I finally...FINALLY finished MP4's "The News From Whitechapel". It was slow to start and I was slow to figure out how to read it. I was a third of the way through it before it started to coalesce. Then it was difficult to put down.
I have no more idea who Jack the Ripper was than I did when I started. This isn't about solving the murders but about life and the legal system in England in the 1880's. It's a fascinating look at the underbelly of London.
The book was incredibly well-researched. Editing was stellar. I think I found one typo in the entire book.
My tablet's on the fritz so I'm reduced to hardcopy books. Every so often I find myself tapping the edge of a page to turn it. How quickly we adjust!
I finally...FINALLY finished MP4's "The News From Whitechapel". It was slow to start and I was slow to figure out how to read it. I was a third of the way through it before it started to coalesce. Then it was difficult to put down.
I have no more idea who Jack the Ripper was than I did when I started. This isn't about solving the murders but about life and the legal system in England in the 1880's. It's a fascinating look at the underbelly of London.
The book was incredibly well-researched. Editing was stellar. I think I found one typo in the entire book.
My tablet's on the fritz so I'm reduced to hardcopy books. Every so often I find myself tapping the edge of a page to turn it. How quickly we adjust!
Posted by: creeper at September 23, 2018 09:35 AM (AzV8L)
67
Bandersnatch, I understand. Alice in Wonderland also had animals that behaved like Englishmen. A not-too-uncommon thing.
Posted by: JAS at September 23, 2018 09:36 AM (3HNOQ)
68
Can't testify Thursday--I just started The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and I have see how it turns out.
I should be done by mid-November.
I should be done by mid-November.
Posted by: Professor Doctor Lawyer Christine '58 Plymouth-Ford at September 23, 2018 09:37 AM (Ndje9)
69
Good morning!
Let's smile and be happy and strike fear in the heart of killjoy leftists everywhere.
Let's smile and be happy and strike fear in the heart of killjoy leftists everywhere.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 09:37 AM (hyuyC)
70
The first Condor novel was pretty good, and of course the film was great (even if Redford turned it into a stupid leftist fantasy about Peak Oil). The second Condor novel started out pretty gawdawful, to the point that I tossed it aside before getting 1/4 of the way through. Didn't bother starting the third one.
The first Condor novel was pretty good, and of course the film was great (even if Redford turned it into a stupid leftist fantasy about Peak Oil). The second Condor novel started out pretty gawdawful, to the point that I tossed it aside before getting 1/4 of the way through. Didn't bother starting the third one.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at September 23, 2018 09:37 AM (eXA4G)
71
Most of them start dragging after a while -- it becomes clear that the author is just cranking them out for a paycheck.
.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 09:28 AM (TM5Iv)
---
This applies to David Eddings in particular. Both of his big fantasy books have a map in the front and then the characters proceed to go through everything on it. The journey doesn't even make sense, but on they go! Gotta showcase the world-building skills of the author and make extra bucks with the series.
As the author of a series, I will say that sometimes you just need that much room to get the full thing in. In fact, my fourth book was written because my proof-readers said the story didn't feel complete.
.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 09:28 AM (TM5Iv)
---
This applies to David Eddings in particular. Both of his big fantasy books have a map in the front and then the characters proceed to go through everything on it. The journey doesn't even make sense, but on they go! Gotta showcase the world-building skills of the author and make extra bucks with the series.
As the author of a series, I will say that sometimes you just need that much room to get the full thing in. In fact, my fourth book was written because my proof-readers said the story didn't feel complete.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:37 AM (cfSRQ)
72
According to the research in the book, the public book "executions", burning - were done for show. To rile up the masses. The were keen on stealing and preserving the real treasures. Like illustrated manuscripts, unique collections, first editions. Many are now lost.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:38 AM (9lCXX)
73
@37
Everything is built on a foundation of what came before so it's not shocking that there are similarities.
Everything is built on a foundation of what came before so it's not shocking that there are similarities.
Posted by: Kreplach at September 23, 2018 09:38 AM (kT3/m)
74
Been up for hours. Computer access problems since the Safari upgrade. Apple engineers are not what they used to be under Jobs.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 09:38 AM (hyuyC)
75
Years ago I found a book at a used bookstore. Nice little paperback book called The Black Eagles, about a fictional elite fighting unit in Vietnam war. I loved the book but realized in just one chapter, doh, it was part of a series. So then I went searching for the rest of the series, bookstore to bookstore. Found most of them except for the second in the series. The first one I read was the 3rd in the set
I never found book 2. When I finally got bored with my fave characters being killed (war is hell) and stopped reading them, I was on book 16 or 17. I believe there were many more. I sometimes think I should have continued the series.
I never found book 2. When I finally got bored with my fave characters being killed (war is hell) and stopped reading them, I was on book 16 or 17. I believe there were many more. I sometimes think I should have continued the series.
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 09:39 AM (myjNJ)
76
57
I loved the Wheel of Time series but then it got insanely long and drawn
out so I quit at around book 6. Same with Outlander---that one could
have been a perfect 3 or 4 book series. OTOH, I can't wait for book 7
and onwards in the Frontline series of military sci fi by Markos Kloos,
and I would have read any number of Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz if
he'd kept going.
Posted by: RigelDog at September 23, 2018 09:33 AM (wvieg)
Yes, the wheel of Time was insanely long and far too many characters with side plots. when I started that series they only had four books out and the first three were paper backs. As they came out I struggled with the rest. I wish I had waited on the paperback versions after the first ones. Then I would have seen where he was headed and waited on the three end books that somebody else had to write from his notes.
I loved the Wheel of Time series but then it got insanely long and drawn
out so I quit at around book 6. Same with Outlander---that one could
have been a perfect 3 or 4 book series. OTOH, I can't wait for book 7
and onwards in the Frontline series of military sci fi by Markos Kloos,
and I would have read any number of Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz if
he'd kept going.
Posted by: RigelDog at September 23, 2018 09:33 AM (wvieg)
Yes, the wheel of Time was insanely long and far too many characters with side plots. when I started that series they only had four books out and the first three were paper backs. As they came out I struggled with the rest. I wish I had waited on the paperback versions after the first ones. Then I would have seen where he was headed and waited on the three end books that somebody else had to write from his notes.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:39 AM (mpXpK)
77
OT but good point by Devin Nunes:
How come the Brits and Australians know what's in the 302s and FISA warrants?
How come the Brits and Australians know what's in the 302s and FISA warrants?
Posted by: IrishEi at September 23, 2018 09:39 AM (Ri0Ku)
78
OM, those pants were likely worn by a Redskins football fan for a Kwanza celebration. And I will pre-denounce myself now.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 09:39 AM (hyuyC)
79
Yup. That lady is a dead ringer for Princess Diana.
Posted by: creeper at September 23, 2018 09:41 AM (AzV8L)
80
I upgraded to 12 and not seeing problems..interesting...maybe somebody is running weird software alongside (like Linux) that interferes...
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:41 AM (9lCXX)
81
Posted by: RigelDog at September 23, 2018 09:33 AM (wvieg)
I can't believe that the lesson Brandon Sanderson got from finishing the Wheel of Time series after Jordan's death was 'Series with 10+ doorstop tomes are awesome'. Unless the total he's threatening includes all the other novels that he is pulling into the Stormlight Archives universe. I don't think I like the way he's doing that, to be honest. The different worlds were fine in their separate universes.
I can't believe that the lesson Brandon Sanderson got from finishing the Wheel of Time series after Jordan's death was 'Series with 10+ doorstop tomes are awesome'. Unless the total he's threatening includes all the other novels that he is pulling into the Stormlight Archives universe. I don't think I like the way he's doing that, to be honest. The different worlds were fine in their separate universes.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 23, 2018 09:41 AM (uquGJ)
82
Don't worry, there was no cannibalism in South Carolina. Once you put that nasty mustard-laced barbecue sauce on, everything becomes inedible.
Posted by: Grouchy Dino at September 23, 2018 09:32 AM (dEnig)
That's a foul midlands/low country concoction.....civilized folk here in the Upstate don't eat that stuff.
Posted by: Grouchy Dino at September 23, 2018 09:32 AM (dEnig)
That's a foul midlands/low country concoction.....civilized folk here in the Upstate don't eat that stuff.
Posted by: BignJames at September 23, 2018 09:41 AM (0+nbW)
83
@77
Because the FBI/DOJ/CIA was using them as proxies to spy on Americans so it makes sense that they would be asked to look at the 302's for inconsistencies and traps so that they could charge the targets with.
This shit is many, many levels deep.
Because the FBI/DOJ/CIA was using them as proxies to spy on Americans so it makes sense that they would be asked to look at the 302's for inconsistencies and traps so that they could charge the targets with.
This shit is many, many levels deep.
Posted by: Kreplach at September 23, 2018 09:42 AM (kT3/m)
84
John Mortimer addressed Topic K decades ago throiugh Rumpole.
Scene: Rumpole is in debate with son's girlfriend, who has seen him cross-examine the accuser in a rape case that morning:
"It's like she's getting punished, isn't it?"
"Aren't you rather rushing things? I mean, who's saying a rape took place?"
"Well, isn't she?"
"Oh, I see. You think it's enough if she says it? It's a different sort of crime, is it? I mean, not like murder or shoplifting, or forging checks. They still have to be proved in the old-fashioned way. But rape ... Some dotty girl only has to say you did it and you trot off to chokey without asking embarrassing questions. ...
"You're asking for women witnesses to be more equal than any other witnesses!"
-- John Mortimer, "Rumpole and the Honorable Member"
Scene: Rumpole is in debate with son's girlfriend, who has seen him cross-examine the accuser in a rape case that morning:
"It's like she's getting punished, isn't it?"
"Aren't you rather rushing things? I mean, who's saying a rape took place?"
"Well, isn't she?"
"Oh, I see. You think it's enough if she says it? It's a different sort of crime, is it? I mean, not like murder or shoplifting, or forging checks. They still have to be proved in the old-fashioned way. But rape ... Some dotty girl only has to say you did it and you trot off to chokey without asking embarrassing questions. ...
"You're asking for women witnesses to be more equal than any other witnesses!"
-- John Mortimer, "Rumpole and the Honorable Member"
Posted by: Week Geek at September 23, 2018 09:42 AM (Fi5v8)
85
71 As the author of a series, I will say that
sometimes you just need that much room to get the full thing in. In
fact, my fourth book was written because my proof-readers said the story
didn't feel complete.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:37 AM (cfSRQ)
The problem with Eddings books is the plot is nearly the same for every book. Terry Brooks is the same way.
sometimes you just need that much room to get the full thing in. In
fact, my fourth book was written because my proof-readers said the story
didn't feel complete.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:37 AM (cfSRQ)
The problem with Eddings books is the plot is nearly the same for every book. Terry Brooks is the same way.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:42 AM (mpXpK)
86
> Apple engineers are not what they used to be under Jobs.
Some guys on the Internet:
Guy #1: "I'm tired of hearing about how much better things were under Steve. Steve wasn't magical."
Guy #2: "It's not that Steve was 'magical'. It's that he was fucking terrifying."
Some guys on the Internet:
Guy #1: "I'm tired of hearing about how much better things were under Steve. Steve wasn't magical."
Guy #2: "It's not that Steve was 'magical'. It's that he was fucking terrifying."
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 09:43 AM (TM5Iv)
87
Cover girl looks like Diana because of the way she looks up at you while her head is bent forward.
Di did that a lot.
It's a look that conveys secrecy
the creepy guy behind her is doing the same
Di did that a lot.
It's a look that conveys secrecy
the creepy guy behind her is doing the same
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at September 23, 2018 09:43 AM (CE6iV)
88
68
Can't testify Thursday--I just started The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and I have see how it turns out.
I should be done by mid-November.
Posted by: Professor Doctor Lawyer Christine '58 Plymouth-Ford
I don't care what you say, I was not at that party with you, and I did not attempt to grab your sweater puppies. No proper Englishman would do such a thing.
Can't testify Thursday--I just started The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and I have see how it turns out.
I should be done by mid-November.
Posted by: Professor Doctor Lawyer Christine '58 Plymouth-Ford
I don't care what you say, I was not at that party with you, and I did not attempt to grab your sweater puppies. No proper Englishman would do such a thing.
Posted by: Edward Gibbon at September 23, 2018 09:44 AM (T6t7i)
89
@83
And it's becoming abundantly clear why a lot of people want to keep the lid on all of this...
If everything we know or speculate became publicly known, it would litterally bring down the LE and IC apparatus of the US.
And it's becoming abundantly clear why a lot of people want to keep the lid on all of this...
If everything we know or speculate became publicly known, it would litterally bring down the LE and IC apparatus of the US.
Posted by: Kreplach at September 23, 2018 09:44 AM (kT3/m)
90
Hey guys, I have a favour to ask...
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:00 AM (N1ZXu)
-----------
Done, my dear boho.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:00 AM (N1ZXu)
-----------
Done, my dear boho.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 09:45 AM (C1PQi)
91
I'm midway through V5 (of of Gibbon's Decline and Fall. I suppose that's different than reading fiction, though. His writing is pretty prolix and opaque, so you have to pay attention. I reckon it'll be about a year from start to finish for the series, because I read them intermittently rather than straight through, as I would do with a good novel. They haven't gotten old yet, and are excellent bedtime reading. I usually nod right off.
Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 09:34 AM (T6t7i)
I'm midway through volume 6 as part of a really long, multi year, journey and find his writing unnecessarily dense and constipated. He also illustrates the perils of the autodidact as he plunged into so many foreign texts in which he got almost everything wrong, particularly to advance his animosity toward Christianity.
Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 09:34 AM (T6t7i)
I'm midway through volume 6 as part of a really long, multi year, journey and find his writing unnecessarily dense and constipated. He also illustrates the perils of the autodidact as he plunged into so many foreign texts in which he got almost everything wrong, particularly to advance his animosity toward Christianity.
Posted by: Captain Hate at September 23, 2018 09:45 AM (y7DUB)
92
Week Geek, Excellent. The golden thread. Innocent until proven guilty.
Posted by: JAS at September 23, 2018 09:45 AM (3HNOQ)
93
*looks at Life pic above Hey, she does look like princess Diana. Why is the guy creepy ? He's just conjuring up a good pick up line in his head, that's all.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:46 AM (9lCXX)
94
Yes, the wheel of Time was insanely long and far too
many characters with side plots. when I started that series they only
had four books out and the first three were paper backs. As they came
out I struggled with the rest. I wish I had waited on the paperback
versions after the first ones. Then I would have seen where he was
headed and waited on the three end books that somebody else had to write
from his notes.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:39 AM (mpXpK)
---
Some friends of mine were reading it and I was intrigued but just couldn't commit to that much reading without knowing how it ends. It's the same reason I never started the Game of Throne books and abandoned the show after season 1.
I don't mean I want the spoilers, btw, I just want to know if people feel the ending was worth the writing. I've noticed a lot of modern authors fail to "stick the landing" and end up pissing people off.
I figured I'd avoid heartache by waiting until the whole thing is done.
BTW, that's why I also waited until I was finished with the draft of The Imperial Rebellion before publishing A Man of Destiny. I wanted to make sure it lived up to the promise of the first book, was consistent, etc.
many characters with side plots. when I started that series they only
had four books out and the first three were paper backs. As they came
out I struggled with the rest. I wish I had waited on the paperback
versions after the first ones. Then I would have seen where he was
headed and waited on the three end books that somebody else had to write
from his notes.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:39 AM (mpXpK)
---
Some friends of mine were reading it and I was intrigued but just couldn't commit to that much reading without knowing how it ends. It's the same reason I never started the Game of Throne books and abandoned the show after season 1.
I don't mean I want the spoilers, btw, I just want to know if people feel the ending was worth the writing. I've noticed a lot of modern authors fail to "stick the landing" and end up pissing people off.
I figured I'd avoid heartache by waiting until the whole thing is done.
BTW, that's why I also waited until I was finished with the draft of The Imperial Rebellion before publishing A Man of Destiny. I wanted to make sure it lived up to the promise of the first book, was consistent, etc.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:46 AM (cfSRQ)
95
Cover girl looks like Diana because of the way she looks up at you while her head is bent forward.
Di did that a lot.
It's a look that conveys secrecy
the creepy guy behind her is doing the same
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at September 23, 2018 09:43 AM (CE6iV)
The Kubrickian "gaze through your eyebrows" visual trope.
Cover girl looks like Diana because of the way she looks up at you while her head is bent forward.
Di did that a lot.
It's a look that conveys secrecy
the creepy guy behind her is doing the same
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at September 23, 2018 09:43 AM (CE6iV)
The Kubrickian "gaze through your eyebrows" visual trope.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at September 23, 2018 09:47 AM (eXA4G)
96
Bluebell !! Have you seen that total outrage, across the pond ?
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:47 AM (9lCXX)
97
I mean, the nerve !
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:48 AM (9lCXX)
98
They want to talk to each other but cannot. They have not been formally introduced.
Posted by: JAS at September 23, 2018 09:48 AM (3HNOQ)
99
That newly minted duchess stole yours and Weasel's recipe book idea !
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (9lCXX)
100
Missed the movie thread last night, so a quickie review of "Mandy", the Nicholas Cage "horror" movie.
It is very much an "art" movie by director/writer Panos Cosmatos.
Though I was never bored the first half is slow, the second half is almost pure cinema with very little dialogue until the final confrontation and is mostly violent revenge.
Nicholas Cage is great here. Good acting and great charisma.
I think the story is based around the Rape of Persephone or perhaps Orpheus descent into Hell to retrieve Eurydice.
Sort of like a psychedelic David Lynch movie.
More next movie thread.
Can't really generally recommend it, but if it sound like something you'd like, you probably will.
It is very much an "art" movie by director/writer Panos Cosmatos.
Though I was never bored the first half is slow, the second half is almost pure cinema with very little dialogue until the final confrontation and is mostly violent revenge.
Nicholas Cage is great here. Good acting and great charisma.
I think the story is based around the Rape of Persephone or perhaps Orpheus descent into Hell to retrieve Eurydice.
Sort of like a psychedelic David Lynch movie.
More next movie thread.
Can't really generally recommend it, but if it sound like something you'd like, you probably will.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (CRRq9)
101
Edward Gibbon...Edward Gibbon...Now I remember! He was at the pool party, too!
Go ahead--ask him!
Go ahead--ask him!
Posted by: The Gipper Lives at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (Ndje9)
102
I'm midway through volume 6 as part of a really long, multi year,
journey and find his writing unnecessarily dense and constipated. He
also illustrates the perils of the autodidact as he plunged into so many
foreign texts in which he got almost everything wrong, particularly to
advance his animosity toward Christianity.
Agreed about his writing, although I'm fonder of that style than most. Interestingly, I asked my minister (a PhD in ancient languages) about one of the more obscure points (homoousian vs homoiousian), and he was quite hostile to the books. I guess he didn't care for Gibbon's take on the Church.
journey and find his writing unnecessarily dense and constipated. He
also illustrates the perils of the autodidact as he plunged into so many
foreign texts in which he got almost everything wrong, particularly to
advance his animosity toward Christianity.
Agreed about his writing, although I'm fonder of that style than most. Interestingly, I asked my minister (a PhD in ancient languages) about one of the more obscure points (homoousian vs homoiousian), and he was quite hostile to the books. I guess he didn't care for Gibbon's take on the Church.
Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 09:50 AM (T6t7i)
103
I've noticed a lot of modern authors fail to "stick the landing" and end up pissing people off.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:46 AM (cfSRQ)
Luckily, those of us who write video game plots would NEVER do something like that. Perish the thought.
I've noticed a lot of modern authors fail to "stick the landing" and end up pissing people off.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:46 AM (cfSRQ)
Luckily, those of us who write video game plots would NEVER do something like that. Perish the thought.
Posted by: The writers for Mass Effect 3 at September 23, 2018 09:50 AM (eXA4G)
104
Sort of like a psychedelic David Lynch movie.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (CRRq9)
Is that redundant?
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (CRRq9)
Is that redundant?
Posted by: BignJames at September 23, 2018 09:51 AM (0+nbW)
105
If done right extended series books are OK. They need to have a plot that is mostly independent of the rest of the series to be good. For example that new Honor Harrington book I referenced up thread is the 19th book in the Honor Harrington series. But every book has a different plot and you don't really have to read all the books in front of it to understand the plot.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:51 AM (mpXpK)
106
That newly minted duchess stole yours and Weasel's recipe book idea !
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (9lCXX)
--------
What? She put together a book of Moron recipes too? Well, ours is better, because it's full of recipes from real, authentic Morons. Can't say fairer than that.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (9lCXX)
--------
What? She put together a book of Moron recipes too? Well, ours is better, because it's full of recipes from real, authentic Morons. Can't say fairer than that.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 09:51 AM (C1PQi)
107
I've noticed a lot of modern authors fail to "stick the landing" and end up pissing people off.
I think the problem is that they've written themselves into such a corner that by the end there simply is no way to make it all make sense. It's a strong argument for having the general multi-book arc plotted out beforehand.
I think the problem is that they've written themselves into such a corner that by the end there simply is no way to make it all make sense. It's a strong argument for having the general multi-book arc plotted out beforehand.
Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 09:52 AM (T6t7i)
108
Well, ours is better, because it's full of recipes from real, authentic Morons.
Better drawings, too.
Better drawings, too.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:53 AM (fuK7c)
109
I finished "The Wind in the Willows". Utterly charming....
Now I have a question which intrigues me enough that I saved it up to ask the Book Thread instead of resorting to easy answers on the intertubes:
We first meet a mole whitewashing his burrow. Then we meet a succession of critters living above and below ground, all in the manner of the folk of the English countryside. They all have larders and enjoy good meals, and in their displays of personality the represent or mock different expressions of countrified Britons.
In short, they are Hobbits.
Do we know, has anyone speculated, whether Tolkien were inspired by or borrowed from Wind in the Willow?
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (fuK7c)
I don't know about Tolkien, but I do know that C.S. Lewis thought that Wind in the Willows was a great book. You can see the influence in the Narnia book. In fact, if you read Lewis's description of Mr. Badger's burrow in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, it's obviously a rip-off (or, more politely, borrowing) of WitW.
Now I have a question which intrigues me enough that I saved it up to ask the Book Thread instead of resorting to easy answers on the intertubes:
We first meet a mole whitewashing his burrow. Then we meet a succession of critters living above and below ground, all in the manner of the folk of the English countryside. They all have larders and enjoy good meals, and in their displays of personality the represent or mock different expressions of countrified Britons.
In short, they are Hobbits.
Do we know, has anyone speculated, whether Tolkien were inspired by or borrowed from Wind in the Willow?
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (fuK7c)
I don't know about Tolkien, but I do know that C.S. Lewis thought that Wind in the Willows was a great book. You can see the influence in the Narnia book. In fact, if you read Lewis's description of Mr. Badger's burrow in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, it's obviously a rip-off (or, more politely, borrowing) of WitW.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 09:53 AM (aGFaW)
110
94 Some friends of mine were reading it and I was
intrigued but just couldn't commit to that much reading without knowing
how it ends. It's the same reason I never started the Game of Throne
books and abandoned the show after season 1.
I don't mean I want
the spoilers, btw, I just want to know if people feel the ending was
worth the writing. I've noticed a lot of modern authors fail to "stick
the landing" and end up pissing people off.
I figured I'd avoid heartache by waiting until the whole thing is done.
BTW,
that's why I also waited until I was finished with the draft of The
Imperial Rebellion before publishing A Man of Destiny. I wanted to make
sure it lived up to the promise of the first book, was consistent, etc.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:46 AM (cfSRQ)
My wife got me the first two books of Game of Thrones in hardcover. I tried reading the first one twice and never could get in to it. I wound up giving both books to the library and never even cracked the second book.
intrigued but just couldn't commit to that much reading without knowing
how it ends. It's the same reason I never started the Game of Throne
books and abandoned the show after season 1.
I don't mean I want
the spoilers, btw, I just want to know if people feel the ending was
worth the writing. I've noticed a lot of modern authors fail to "stick
the landing" and end up pissing people off.
I figured I'd avoid heartache by waiting until the whole thing is done.
BTW,
that's why I also waited until I was finished with the draft of The
Imperial Rebellion before publishing A Man of Destiny. I wanted to make
sure it lived up to the promise of the first book, was consistent, etc.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:46 AM (cfSRQ)
My wife got me the first two books of Game of Thrones in hardcover. I tried reading the first one twice and never could get in to it. I wound up giving both books to the library and never even cracked the second book.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:54 AM (mpXpK)
111
Better drawings, too.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:53 AM (fuK7c)
---------
True. As you say, it's more of an art book with a few recipes sprinkled throughout.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:53 AM (fuK7c)
---------
True. As you say, it's more of an art book with a few recipes sprinkled throughout.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 09:55 AM (C1PQi)
112
105
If done right extended series books are OK. They need to have a plot
that is mostly independent of the rest of the series to be good. For
example that new Honor Harrington book I referenced up thread is the
19th book in the Honor Harrington series. But every book has a different
plot and you don't really have to read all the books in front of it to
understand the plot.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:51 AM (mpXpK)
---
I think the series falls into three categories.
You have the actual "book 1 of X" type, often trilogy, that tell a single story arc.
Then there are the ones you refer to above, where there isn't an overall arc, just a series of adventures.
The final group is a loose series that takes place in a shared universe but don't necessarily relate and don't even tell the same story. Evelyn Waugh did that and had characters pop in and out of various interlinked books, all of which were technically standalone.
If done right extended series books are OK. They need to have a plot
that is mostly independent of the rest of the series to be good. For
example that new Honor Harrington book I referenced up thread is the
19th book in the Honor Harrington series. But every book has a different
plot and you don't really have to read all the books in front of it to
understand the plot.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:51 AM (mpXpK)
---
I think the series falls into three categories.
You have the actual "book 1 of X" type, often trilogy, that tell a single story arc.
Then there are the ones you refer to above, where there isn't an overall arc, just a series of adventures.
The final group is a loose series that takes place in a shared universe but don't necessarily relate and don't even tell the same story. Evelyn Waugh did that and had characters pop in and out of various interlinked books, all of which were technically standalone.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:55 AM (cfSRQ)
113
1 Hey guys, I have a favour to ask...
My book House of War got a fake review: amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RI9FBKX7NDZ7C/
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:00 AM (N1ZXu)
***
Abuse reported.
"Dickman", indeed!
My book House of War got a fake review: amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RI9FBKX7NDZ7C/
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:00 AM (N1ZXu)
***
Abuse reported.
"Dickman", indeed!
Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at September 23, 2018 09:56 AM (NqQAS)
114
102 Agreed about his writing, although I'm fonder of
that style than most. Interestingly, I asked my minister (a PhD in
ancient languages) about one of the more obscure points (homoousian vs
homoiousian), and he was quite hostile to the books. I guess he didn't
care for Gibbon's take on the Church.
Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 09:50 AM (T6t7i)
My take on Gibbons was he blamed the Roman Catholic church for the fall of Rome. After the first two or three chapters I took it back to the library.
that style than most. Interestingly, I asked my minister (a PhD in
ancient languages) about one of the more obscure points (homoousian vs
homoiousian), and he was quite hostile to the books. I guess he didn't
care for Gibbon's take on the Church.
Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 09:50 AM (T6t7i)
My take on Gibbons was he blamed the Roman Catholic church for the fall of Rome. After the first two or three chapters I took it back to the library.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:56 AM (mpXpK)
115
Sort of like a psychedelic David Lynch movie.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (CRRq9)
Is that redundant?
Posted by: BignJames at September 23, 2018 09:51 AM (0+nbW)
Surprisingly, no.
His visuals are more concerned with the mechanics and look of an acid trip or perspective of madness rather than the off-kilter logic of a Lynch movie.
If you see what I mean,
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (CRRq9)
Is that redundant?
Posted by: BignJames at September 23, 2018 09:51 AM (0+nbW)
Surprisingly, no.
His visuals are more concerned with the mechanics and look of an acid trip or perspective of madness rather than the off-kilter logic of a Lynch movie.
If you see what I mean,
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 09:57 AM (CRRq9)
Posted by: Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh at September 23, 2018 09:58 AM (TM5Iv)
117
@Bluebell, it was a charity thing, compilation of recipes from residents of a ghetto (?) that had a fire. They all contributed (what a novel idea !), as did she, and HRH also wrote a forward.
@Bandersnatch - totally agree about the drawings !
@Bluebell, it was a charity thing, compilation of recipes from residents of a ghetto (?) that had a fire. They all contributed (what a novel idea !), as did she, and HRH also wrote a forward.
@Bandersnatch - totally agree about the drawings !
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:58 AM (9lCXX)
118
My wife got me the first two books of Game of
Thrones in hardcover. I tried reading the first one twice and never
could get in to it. I wound up giving both books to the library and
never even cracked the second book.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:54 AM (mpXpK)
---
The first season of the show convinced me to take a hard pass on the books. I know some folks love them (like my wife) but I couldn't really get into a bunch of awful people doing awful things to each other. Described in agonizing detail over thousands of pages.
I just want the ice zombies to come and kill them all.
Thrones in hardcover. I tried reading the first one twice and never
could get in to it. I wound up giving both books to the library and
never even cracked the second book.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:54 AM (mpXpK)
---
The first season of the show convinced me to take a hard pass on the books. I know some folks love them (like my wife) but I couldn't really get into a bunch of awful people doing awful things to each other. Described in agonizing detail over thousands of pages.
I just want the ice zombies to come and kill them all.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:58 AM (cfSRQ)
119
Late to the thread, dammit!
Good morning to my fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. Mine has been eclectic but enjoyable.
And welcome to autumn. After the steam bath summer this year, it's about damn time.
Good morning to my fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. Mine has been eclectic but enjoyable.
And welcome to autumn. After the steam bath summer this year, it's about damn time.
Posted by: JTB at September 23, 2018 09:58 AM (V+03K)
120
Gibbon was a great historian, but I much prefer his works on foraging wild plants, and his later musical work with ZZ Top.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 09:59 AM (TM5Iv)
121
Posted by: creeper at September 23, 2018 09:35 AM (AzV8L)
-------
Howdy creeper! Was it you who mentioned (a week or two ago) getting a tree farm bumper sticker for a certified tree farm? Well mine came in the mail the very next day. I ordered a couple of signs to put on the property, too.
-------
Howdy creeper! Was it you who mentioned (a week or two ago) getting a tree farm bumper sticker for a certified tree farm? Well mine came in the mail the very next day. I ordered a couple of signs to put on the property, too.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 09:59 AM (MVjcR)
122
Actually there was a lot of crime that flourished during the Blitz. Criminals and psychos never miss an opportunity. There are a number of books on this . The most obvious is Crimes During WW II.
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at September 23, 2018 10:00 AM (2DOZq)
123
Tolkien himself noted that the countryside where he grew up was being shabbily destroyed by the forces of modernity and so he turned against it.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:33 AM (cfSRQ)
Which is why the LotR bad guys are all about building horrible things and destroying trees and wildlife. I'll have more to say on this topic in a future book thread.
Same with Lewis' novel 'That Hideous Strength'. It was all "country life good, machines bad". Used to very good effect.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 09:33 AM (cfSRQ)
Which is why the LotR bad guys are all about building horrible things and destroying trees and wildlife. I'll have more to say on this topic in a future book thread.
Same with Lewis' novel 'That Hideous Strength'. It was all "country life good, machines bad". Used to very good effect.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 10:00 AM (aGFaW)
124
I've noticed a lot of modern authors fail to "stick the landing" and end up pissing people off.
-
Two words: Dean Koontz
-
Two words: Dean Koontz
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at September 23, 2018 10:01 AM (+y/Ru)
125
My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the way through?
Depends on what you mean by "like this". I know I've read the entire Aubrey series, thrice. And the Basset cycle of Jeeves stories several times.
And I have read all the Judge Dee series in chronological order. (The list at the end of Judge Dee At Work.) I suspect it's really common among mystery readers. Since I'm not really a sci-fi/fantasy/horror addict, I'm not sure. But I think some friends of mine who are have done so.
But then, does Narnia count? Or the Oz books?
Depends on what you mean by "like this". I know I've read the entire Aubrey series, thrice. And the Basset cycle of Jeeves stories several times.
And I have read all the Judge Dee series in chronological order. (The list at the end of Judge Dee At Work.) I suspect it's really common among mystery readers. Since I'm not really a sci-fi/fantasy/horror addict, I'm not sure. But I think some friends of mine who are have done so.
But then, does Narnia count? Or the Oz books?
Posted by: Eeyore, fomerly George LeS at September 23, 2018 10:01 AM (59GGI)
126
Ok, runner, if she did it for charity, I guess it's ok, although she stole that idea from us too. Undoubtedly she saw the 194 reviews we have on Amazon and said "these Morons have got it going on.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 10:01 AM (C1PQi)
127
Oh, t'hobo, the premise of your book looks utterly fascinating.
I'm always amazed at what people will delve into when they get the bug and decide to dive as deep as possible.
I also reported the abuse, of course.
I'm always amazed at what people will delve into when they get the bug and decide to dive as deep as possible.
I also reported the abuse, of course.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:02 AM (fuK7c)
128
Oh! Oh! I almost forgot.
Whilst grocery shopping on Tuesday I scored a copy of Carl Hiassen's "Sick Puppy". It kept me sane for three days.
Whilst grocery shopping on Tuesday I scored a copy of Carl Hiassen's "Sick Puppy". It kept me sane for three days.
Posted by: creeper at September 23, 2018 10:02 AM (AzV8L)
129
Gibbon was a great historian, but I much prefer his works on foraging wild plants, and his later musical work with ZZ Top.
-
He's got legions and knows how to use them!
-
He's got legions and knows how to use them!
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at September 23, 2018 10:03 AM (+y/Ru)
130
My take on Gibbons was he blamed the Roman Catholic
church for the fall of Rome. After the first two or three chapters I
took it back to the library.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:56 AM (mpXpK)
---
That sells him short. The anti-Christian stuff gets tedious, but his account of early empire is well done and arguably remains the authoritative work on the topic.
The core issue with Gibbon is that on a long enough timeline, everything is in decline. To claim that loss of virtue, or the spread of Christianity was what brought down the Empire would first require someone to have a control case of a massive multi-national empire that somehow never fell.
I stalled out at Volume IV but I intend to finish it. I will say that he compares very unfavorably to Winston Churchill. I took all six volumes of the Second World War in one go.
church for the fall of Rome. After the first two or three chapters I
took it back to the library.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 09:56 AM (mpXpK)
---
That sells him short. The anti-Christian stuff gets tedious, but his account of early empire is well done and arguably remains the authoritative work on the topic.
The core issue with Gibbon is that on a long enough timeline, everything is in decline. To claim that loss of virtue, or the spread of Christianity was what brought down the Empire would first require someone to have a control case of a massive multi-national empire that somehow never fell.
I stalled out at Volume IV but I intend to finish it. I will say that he compares very unfavorably to Winston Churchill. I took all six volumes of the Second World War in one go.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 10:03 AM (cfSRQ)
131
Howdy creeper! Was it you who mentioned (a week or
two ago) getting a tree farm bumper sticker for a certified tree farm?
Well mine came in the mail the very next day. I ordered a couple of
signs to put on the property, too.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 09:59 AM (MVjcR)
Wasn't me, Weasel. But it sound like something I ought to look into.
two ago) getting a tree farm bumper sticker for a certified tree farm?
Well mine came in the mail the very next day. I ordered a couple of
signs to put on the property, too.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 09:59 AM (MVjcR)
Wasn't me, Weasel. But it sound like something I ought to look into.
Posted by: creeper at September 23, 2018 10:04 AM (AzV8L)
132
Love the two photos. The book store one is a wonderful example of what good black and white photography can do. The exposure and sharpness is excellent.
The 1910 magazine cover is such a pleasant mixture of the times, fashions, and the subtle humor of the 'dedicated' bibliophiles.
The 1910 magazine cover is such a pleasant mixture of the times, fashions, and the subtle humor of the 'dedicated' bibliophiles.
Posted by: JTB at September 23, 2018 10:05 AM (V+03K)
133
Wasn't me, Weasel. But it sound like something I ought to look into.
Posted by: creeper at September 23, 2018 10:04 AM (AzV8L)
------
Ah, geez. Sorry!
Wasn't me, Weasel. But it sound like something I ought to look into.
Posted by: creeper at September 23, 2018 10:04 AM (AzV8L)
------
Ah, geez. Sorry!
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 10:06 AM (MVjcR)
134
The problem with Gibbon is that people call it an ape, but it doesn't look human the way a gorilla or a bonobo does.
I think it's just a sneaky monkey that lost its tail.
I think it's just a sneaky monkey that lost its tail.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:06 AM (fuK7c)
135
The big book I'm almost finished with is Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War 1941-1945 by Leo Marks. This hits an area I know a lot about.
All Hail Eris gets the nod for recommending it to me.
The author was 23 in the events he wrote about, as the chief code-maker in SOE during WWII. I wanted to smack him a number of times for being a nerd out of managerial waters. And he was smacked around regularly by his bosses.
He cared deeply about protecting the W/T traffic from agents in Occupied Europe, and later the world. So he worked his rear off getting better coding materials, and trying to get fool-proof systems and unbreakable codes approved.
He worked so hard trying to get his superiors to figure out the Holland SOE agents were turned. He tried time and time again to warn his bosses. Eventually, over 50 agents in Holland were killed by the Nazis. As were a large number of French agents, including beautiful UK SOE women, some of whom were awarded the George Cross, posthumously.
Leo Marks was completely unaware of the massive strategic deception plan the British had in place. But his bosses knew. They sacrificed all those agents to make D-Day a success.
SOE was a major channel of the cover stories for invading France. That is why Leo was never able to warn his superiors. They did not want unbreakable codes. It was part of their deeply secret plan, and his efforts could single-handedly destroy the deception plan, endangering many thousands of UK, Canadian and American soldier's lives during the invasion.
All Hail Eris gets the nod for recommending it to me.
The author was 23 in the events he wrote about, as the chief code-maker in SOE during WWII. I wanted to smack him a number of times for being a nerd out of managerial waters. And he was smacked around regularly by his bosses.
He cared deeply about protecting the W/T traffic from agents in Occupied Europe, and later the world. So he worked his rear off getting better coding materials, and trying to get fool-proof systems and unbreakable codes approved.
He worked so hard trying to get his superiors to figure out the Holland SOE agents were turned. He tried time and time again to warn his bosses. Eventually, over 50 agents in Holland were killed by the Nazis. As were a large number of French agents, including beautiful UK SOE women, some of whom were awarded the George Cross, posthumously.
Leo Marks was completely unaware of the massive strategic deception plan the British had in place. But his bosses knew. They sacrificed all those agents to make D-Day a success.
SOE was a major channel of the cover stories for invading France. That is why Leo was never able to warn his superiors. They did not want unbreakable codes. It was part of their deeply secret plan, and his efforts could single-handedly destroy the deception plan, endangering many thousands of UK, Canadian and American soldier's lives during the invasion.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 10:07 AM (hyuyC)
136
He's just conjuring up a good pick up line in his head, that's all.
*******
Like this one?
"Excuse me miss. Can I ask your opinion? Do you think this handkerchief smells like chloroform?"
*******
Like this one?
"Excuse me miss. Can I ask your opinion? Do you think this handkerchief smells like chloroform?"
Posted by: Muldoon at September 23, 2018 10:08 AM (m45I2)
137
Can't really generally recommend it, but if it sound like something you'd like, you probably will.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (CRRq9)
---
It sounds like something I very much would enjoy, harkening back to the batsh*t bugnutz grindhouse films yet also being arty and beautiful. I liked the dreamlike scenes of Mandy with her melancholic madonna face, filmed in lurid purples and reds. And Nick Cage doing his patented meltdowns, wielding his hand-forged ax against LSD-soaked biker Jesus freaks? Yeah, I'm there.
Jay from Red Letter Media really liked it.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 09:49 AM (CRRq9)
---
It sounds like something I very much would enjoy, harkening back to the batsh*t bugnutz grindhouse films yet also being arty and beautiful. I liked the dreamlike scenes of Mandy with her melancholic madonna face, filmed in lurid purples and reds. And Nick Cage doing his patented meltdowns, wielding his hand-forged ax against LSD-soaked biker Jesus freaks? Yeah, I'm there.
Jay from Red Letter Media really liked it.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 10:09 AM (kQs4Y)
138
>>>during WWII, the Germans tried to ruin Britain's economy by flooding the country with counterfeit £5 notes
So Ben Bernanke was a Nazi? Color me shocked.
So Ben Bernanke was a Nazi? Color me shocked.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at September 23, 2018 10:10 AM (/qEW2)
139
Not to worry, Weasel. As much whining as I've done about the new plantings it's not surprising you thought it was me.
Posted by: creeper at September 23, 2018 10:11 AM (AzV8L)
140
he big book I'm almost finished with is Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War 1941-1945 by Leo Marks. This hits an area I know a lot about.
All Hail Eris gets the nod for recommending it to me.
-----
I've never read this book!
Was it somebody else?
All Hail Eris gets the nod for recommending it to me.
-----
I've never read this book!
Was it somebody else?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 10:12 AM (kQs4Y)
141
My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the way through?
For the most part, no. I gave up on Sue Grafton after D. Gave up on the Wheel of Time series halfway through the 3rd book (or maybe it was the 3rd edition of the 1st book, same thing). I did read all of the Dresden Chronicles but it seems that Butcher has lost interest in the series and I guess I have too. I was semi-anxiously waiting for the next one but now I'll probably skip it when/if it comes out.
For the most part, no. I gave up on Sue Grafton after D. Gave up on the Wheel of Time series halfway through the 3rd book (or maybe it was the 3rd edition of the 1st book, same thing). I did read all of the Dresden Chronicles but it seems that Butcher has lost interest in the series and I guess I have too. I was semi-anxiously waiting for the next one but now I'll probably skip it when/if it comes out.
Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at September 23, 2018 10:12 AM (cTajt)
142
That sells him short. The anti-Christian stuff gets tedious, but his account of early empire is well done and arguably remains the authoritative work on the topic.
The core issue with Gibbon is that on a long enough timeline, everything is in decline. To claim that loss of virtue, or the spread of Christianity was what brought down the Empire would first require someone to have a control case of a massive multi-national empire that somehow never fell.
I stalled out at Volume IV but I intend to finish it. I will say that he compares very unfavorably to Winston Churchill. I took all six volumes of the Second World War in one go.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 10:03 AM (cfSRQ)
Yes to all of this. If I thought that he was just an anti God Squad hack I'd have never invested as much time as I continue to do. He does get some things hilariously wrong, which some commenters gleefully point out, but it was a mammoth undertaking at the time to seek out as many contemporaneous sources in different languages as possible and deserves some slack for that.
The core issue with Gibbon is that on a long enough timeline, everything is in decline. To claim that loss of virtue, or the spread of Christianity was what brought down the Empire would first require someone to have a control case of a massive multi-national empire that somehow never fell.
I stalled out at Volume IV but I intend to finish it. I will say that he compares very unfavorably to Winston Churchill. I took all six volumes of the Second World War in one go.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 10:03 AM (cfSRQ)
Yes to all of this. If I thought that he was just an anti God Squad hack I'd have never invested as much time as I continue to do. He does get some things hilariously wrong, which some commenters gleefully point out, but it was a mammoth undertaking at the time to seek out as many contemporaneous sources in different languages as possible and deserves some slack for that.
Posted by: Captain Hate at September 23, 2018 10:12 AM (y7DUB)
143
He followed me from the bookstore to the party.
Posted by: DOCTOR Ford at September 23, 2018 10:12 AM (FhO+a)
144
I'm always pimping Steven Pressfield's books but two of his books are perfect for the times.
Tides of War is about the Peloponnesian War and it mirrors a lot of what is going on today. The main antagonist, Alcibiades is somewhat like Trump.
The Profession takes place in 2032 . Wars are basically fought by mercenaries hired by the super powers . Mostly set in the Middle East. It takes place in the future but it's not really sci fi in that it does not make up outrageous tech.
Tides of War is about the Peloponnesian War and it mirrors a lot of what is going on today. The main antagonist, Alcibiades is somewhat like Trump.
The Profession takes place in 2032 . Wars are basically fought by mercenaries hired by the super powers . Mostly set in the Middle East. It takes place in the future but it's not really sci fi in that it does not make up outrageous tech.
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at September 23, 2018 10:12 AM (2DOZq)
145
Do we know, has anyone speculated, whether Tolkien were inspired by or borrowed from Wind in the Willow?
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (fuK7c)
C S Lewis said that no one could influence Tolkien. "You might as well try to influence a bandersnatch." (Really.)
Wind in the Willows looms VERY large in Lewis's mind. He's constantly referring to it in his criticism, and often when NOT talking about children's books.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (fuK7c)
C S Lewis said that no one could influence Tolkien. "You might as well try to influence a bandersnatch." (Really.)
Wind in the Willows looms VERY large in Lewis's mind. He's constantly referring to it in his criticism, and often when NOT talking about children's books.
Posted by: Eeyore, fomerly George LeS at September 23, 2018 10:13 AM (59GGI)
146
his name was Gibbon because he flung a lot of poo.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 10:13 AM (Xk4Hx)
147
"...the saving grace of that series was the progression of times. Existing characters aged, grew old, and died, and new characters were added to replace them, so things didn't get stale."
That's what I did in the Adelsverein Trilogy, and the other five books that are part of that cycle: follows four families over seventy years: who is a major character in one or two books is a minor one in the next, and merely a mention in the one after that. It made sense to me - people resolve their issues, settle down ... and their descendants move to front and center with their own challenges.
I'm finishing up the next Luna City book, BTW - do any Book Threadists want to alpha-read and critique? My email is clyahhayes-at-gee-mail-dot-com.
Finished up an exhausting day yesterday at the San Marcos Mermaid Splash, helping out my daughter as a vendor in the art show. We rather like San Marcos, as it's laid-back and artistic, and not so nutso as Austin. It's where Austin was about thirty years ago.
That's what I did in the Adelsverein Trilogy, and the other five books that are part of that cycle: follows four families over seventy years: who is a major character in one or two books is a minor one in the next, and merely a mention in the one after that. It made sense to me - people resolve their issues, settle down ... and their descendants move to front and center with their own challenges.
I'm finishing up the next Luna City book, BTW - do any Book Threadists want to alpha-read and critique? My email is clyahhayes-at-gee-mail-dot-com.
Finished up an exhausting day yesterday at the San Marcos Mermaid Splash, helping out my daughter as a vendor in the art show. We rather like San Marcos, as it's laid-back and artistic, and not so nutso as Austin. It's where Austin was about thirty years ago.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at September 23, 2018 10:14 AM (xnmPy)
148
Well, time to get ready for mass. Until next week!
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 10:15 AM (cfSRQ)
149
C S Lewis said that no one could influence Tolkien. "You might as well try to influence a bandersnatch." (Really.)
My day is made.
My day is made.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:15 AM (fuK7c)
150
"people saw all of this money lying around on the street so they picked it up and turned it in to the authorities. "
=
Maybe german intelligence had a goof, and it was like flooding with $3 bills ?
=
Maybe german intelligence had a goof, and it was like flooding with $3 bills ?
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:16 AM (9lCXX)
151
his name was Gibbon because he flung a lot of poo.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 10:13 AM (Xk4Hx)
Sounds like the opening line of a great country-western song.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 10:13 AM (Xk4Hx)
Sounds like the opening line of a great country-western song.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 10:16 AM (CRRq9)
152
36 It's not books, but is writing; (is this where you use a semi-colon? I never did figure that out in school) what is up with Cass Sunstein? His last couple articles linked by Instapundit have all been about the need for truly free speech as well as intellectual and political diversity.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (uquGJ)
Yes. Also, I've noticed the same thing about Glenn Greenwald. For example, on Twitter this morning he remarks:
"Even after everything we've seen, NYT columnists still mistake their highly insular homogenized friends' views for pervasive sentiment."
Going after his erstwhile buddies for living in a bubble is not going to get him invited to their parties.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (uquGJ)
Yes. Also, I've noticed the same thing about Glenn Greenwald. For example, on Twitter this morning he remarks:
"Even after everything we've seen, NYT columnists still mistake their highly insular homogenized friends' views for pervasive sentiment."
Going after his erstwhile buddies for living in a bubble is not going to get him invited to their parties.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 10:16 AM (aGFaW)
153
*looks at Life pic above Hey, she does look like
princess Diana. Why is the guy creepy ? He's just conjuring up a good
pick up line in his head, that's all.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:46 AM (9lCXX)
Looks like Captain Darling doing counter-espionage.
princess Diana. Why is the guy creepy ? He's just conjuring up a good
pick up line in his head, that's all.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 09:46 AM (9lCXX)
Looks like Captain Darling doing counter-espionage.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 23, 2018 10:17 AM (mUa7G)
154
The core issue with Gibbon is that on a long enough timeline, everything
is in decline. To claim that loss of virtue, or the spread of
Christianity was what brought down the Empire would first require
someone to have a control case of a massive multi-national empire that
somehow never fell.
True, scientifically speaking, but since it's impossible to do, the next best thing is trying to suss out the things that probably caused Rome's fall. I think he's done a good job of that, and am astonished at what he was able to do given the technological constraints on research at the time, to say nothing of writing with a quill pen.
While he does seem to view the church with a rather jaundiced eye, there are passages where he speaks favorably of it. He really seems to hate monks, though.
Finally, there is a school of thought that holds that the Roman Empire actually retarded progress, and that its dissolution was necessary for civilization to advance. I'm not saying I agree completely, but there is merit to that position. Any civilization that becomes static and ossified resists progress. Think China before the 20th century.
is in decline. To claim that loss of virtue, or the spread of
Christianity was what brought down the Empire would first require
someone to have a control case of a massive multi-national empire that
somehow never fell.
True, scientifically speaking, but since it's impossible to do, the next best thing is trying to suss out the things that probably caused Rome's fall. I think he's done a good job of that, and am astonished at what he was able to do given the technological constraints on research at the time, to say nothing of writing with a quill pen.
While he does seem to view the church with a rather jaundiced eye, there are passages where he speaks favorably of it. He really seems to hate monks, though.
Finally, there is a school of thought that holds that the Roman Empire actually retarded progress, and that its dissolution was necessary for civilization to advance. I'm not saying I agree completely, but there is merit to that position. Any civilization that becomes static and ossified resists progress. Think China before the 20th century.
Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 10:17 AM (T6t7i)
155
those 5-quid notes with King Edward VIII in natty Hugo Boss wear were kind of a tipoff.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 10:17 AM (Xk4Hx)
156
TBH, I have also flagged the review you linked.
As a curiosity, I went looked up a book I had left a critical review for. I was a pre-Algebra book for adults that seemed written to convince students that only super-smart people can do algebra (the forward specifically said the purpose of the book was to disorient the reader) while ridiculously inserting politics with chapter titles like "Separate but Equal" and exercises where you were supposed to conclude some leftist or SJW bromide.
My review is nowhere to be found.
As a curiosity, I went looked up a book I had left a critical review for. I was a pre-Algebra book for adults that seemed written to convince students that only super-smart people can do algebra (the forward specifically said the purpose of the book was to disorient the reader) while ridiculously inserting politics with chapter titles like "Separate but Equal" and exercises where you were supposed to conclude some leftist or SJW bromide.
My review is nowhere to be found.
Posted by: Emmie at September 23, 2018 10:18 AM (4HMW8)
157
I look at the kid reading the book and, from my own personal experience, nothing like diving into a book and forgetting about the world around one for a while.
Considering it was wartime Britain, have to figure the kid was hungry and afraid and, through reading, was able to forget all that for a bit.
Considering it was wartime Britain, have to figure the kid was hungry and afraid and, through reading, was able to forget all that for a bit.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at September 23, 2018 10:19 AM (WEBkv)
158
I've been trying to avoid paying too much attention to the news and reading is the best way to do so.
Among other material I brought out my copies of the various MASH books. I never cared for the first one that got things started but the follow-on books: 'MASH Goes to Maine' and 'MASH Mania' are delightful. They are basically vignettes and combine humor with tear making poignant moments. These are the books written only by Hooker.
I also read a couple of the 'MASH Goes to ...' which are completely silly but still fun. I had forgotten the attitudes of the characters and their mistrust of politicians, journalists, and women's libbers. They were 40 years ahead of their time.
Among other material I brought out my copies of the various MASH books. I never cared for the first one that got things started but the follow-on books: 'MASH Goes to Maine' and 'MASH Mania' are delightful. They are basically vignettes and combine humor with tear making poignant moments. These are the books written only by Hooker.
I also read a couple of the 'MASH Goes to ...' which are completely silly but still fun. I had forgotten the attitudes of the characters and their mistrust of politicians, journalists, and women's libbers. They were 40 years ahead of their time.
Posted by: JTB at September 23, 2018 10:20 AM (V+03K)
159
I don't know about Tolkien, but I do know that C.S. Lewis thought that Wind in the Willows was a great book. You can see the influence in the Narnia book. In fact, if you read Lewis's description of Mr. Badger's burrow in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, it's obviously a rip-off (or, more politely, borrowing) of WitW.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 09:53 AM (aGFaW)
True, but you mean Mr & Mrs Beaver.
Lewis's attitude toward "rip offs" in lit was not the modern one. He once wrote that, if you'd asked Chaucer or any other medieval writer "Why don't you make up your own stories?", the reply would be "Surely we're not reduced to that yet!"
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 09:53 AM (aGFaW)
True, but you mean Mr & Mrs Beaver.
Lewis's attitude toward "rip offs" in lit was not the modern one. He once wrote that, if you'd asked Chaucer or any other medieval writer "Why don't you make up your own stories?", the reply would be "Surely we're not reduced to that yet!"
Posted by: Eeyore, fomerly George LeS at September 23, 2018 10:20 AM (59GGI)
160
I've read many series. A few are:
The Hornblower series, the Narnia series, the Oz series, all the Edgar Rice Burroughs books, including the Tarzan, Barsoom, Venus, Pellucidar, Moon, and Beatrice, Nebraska series, the LOTR books, Honorverse books, and the never ending Orson Scott Card Ender's Game books.
Ender's Game and the first sequel, Speaker for the Dead are great. The books on Ender's Shadow, about Bean, are pretty good. Just went through a comfort re-reading of them.
The co-authored ones on the first and second Formic War blow chunks. Not recommended unless you need fire-starter in the Yukon. There are better books out there.
The Hornblower series, the Narnia series, the Oz series, all the Edgar Rice Burroughs books, including the Tarzan, Barsoom, Venus, Pellucidar, Moon, and Beatrice, Nebraska series, the LOTR books, Honorverse books, and the never ending Orson Scott Card Ender's Game books.
Ender's Game and the first sequel, Speaker for the Dead are great. The books on Ender's Shadow, about Bean, are pretty good. Just went through a comfort re-reading of them.
The co-authored ones on the first and second Formic War blow chunks. Not recommended unless you need fire-starter in the Yukon. There are better books out there.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 10:21 AM (hyuyC)
161
Greenwald burned a lot of bridges, and had an opportunity top see things from a unique, shall we say, perspective when he became a conduit for Snowden.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:21 AM (9lCXX)
162
If Kavanaugh has the pussy-brain, why does Ford have the hat?
Posted by: The Gipper Lives at September 23, 2018 10:21 AM (Ndje9)
163
> My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the way through?
Mystery/Thriller series seem to hold up better in the later volumes.
I've read SF/Fantasy series past 8 novels and enjoyed them but haven't read any *recent* ones (last 10 years or so).
Mystery/Thriller series seem to hold up better in the later volumes.
I've read SF/Fantasy series past 8 novels and enjoyed them but haven't read any *recent* ones (last 10 years or so).
Posted by: ArthurK at September 23, 2018 10:22 AM (24wOG)
164
There is potentially a different 'take' on the boy in the bombed out bookstore.
Perhaps he was there before the bomb hit and was so engrossed in the book that he didn't even realize what had happened.
Perhaps he was there before the bomb hit and was so engrossed in the book that he didn't even realize what had happened.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 23, 2018 10:22 AM (m45I2)
165
One other thing of consideration is that modern historians are now taking the position that Rome "did not fall". The empire collapsed as a single entity but individual city-states persisted and went on to form new countries in the middle ages. .
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 10:22 AM (mpXpK)
166
"Yeah, I'm coming Ma! Let me just finish this chapter!"
Posted by: Muldoon at September 23, 2018 10:23 AM (m45I2)
167
There is a book entitled Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings by Diana Glyer:
https://tinyurl.com/y98ptojp
Tolkien didn't like the Chronicles of Narnia and was not shy in telling Lewis so!
https://tinyurl.com/y98ptojp
Tolkien didn't like the Chronicles of Narnia and was not shy in telling Lewis so!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 10:23 AM (kQs4Y)
168
... His last couple articles linked by Instapundit have all been about the need for truly free speech as well as intellectual and political diversity.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (uquGJ)
Yes. Also, I've noticed the same thing about Glenn Greenwald. For example, on Twitter this morning he remarks:
"Even after everything we've seen, NYT columnists still mistake their highly insular homogenized friends' views for pervasive sentiment."
Going after his erstwhile buddies for living in a bubble is not going to get him invited to their parties.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 10:16 AM (aGFaW)
Greenwald's probably historically literate enough, so he knows where this eventually leads, once a Leftard Revolution gets going.
The guillotine, the gulag, the killing fields, are always, always hungry for more.
He, I think, is gay too. So, he's got to be aware of that bodes in all leftist or leftist inspired revolutions (Nazis, Commies, Muslim).
Camps and roof tops are always hungry for more as well.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 23, 2018 09:24 AM (uquGJ)
Yes. Also, I've noticed the same thing about Glenn Greenwald. For example, on Twitter this morning he remarks:
"Even after everything we've seen, NYT columnists still mistake their highly insular homogenized friends' views for pervasive sentiment."
Going after his erstwhile buddies for living in a bubble is not going to get him invited to their parties.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 10:16 AM (aGFaW)
Greenwald's probably historically literate enough, so he knows where this eventually leads, once a Leftard Revolution gets going.
The guillotine, the gulag, the killing fields, are always, always hungry for more.
He, I think, is gay too. So, he's got to be aware of that bodes in all leftist or leftist inspired revolutions (Nazis, Commies, Muslim).
Camps and roof tops are always hungry for more as well.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 10:23 AM (CRRq9)
169
I've never read this book!
Was it somebody else?
Posted by: All Hail Eris,
Mebbe there's another Book Thread in another dimension and they use our names.
And we can only view it when the streams get crossed inadvertently.
Was it somebody else?
Posted by: All Hail Eris,
Mebbe there's another Book Thread in another dimension and they use our names.
And we can only view it when the streams get crossed inadvertently.
Posted by: JT at September 23, 2018 10:24 AM (mBbsP)
170
Regarding long series -
I once heard Orson Scott Card say he doesn't do them because there's a definite hit to the number of sales with each additional book in the series. On the other hand, Robert Jordan doesn't appear to have suffered from it. And Brandon Sanderson has a long-running series that just hit book three.
So... who knows these days.
I once heard Orson Scott Card say he doesn't do them because there's a definite hit to the number of sales with each additional book in the series. On the other hand, Robert Jordan doesn't appear to have suffered from it. And Brandon Sanderson has a long-running series that just hit book three.
So... who knows these days.
Posted by: junior at September 23, 2018 10:25 AM (4ZkmO)
171
The co-authored ones on the first and second
Formic War blow chunks. Not recommended unless you need fire-starter in
the Yukon. There are better books out there.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 10:21 AM (hyuyC
And that reminds me. I've got five pounds of scrap candle wax, a couple of gallon ziploc bags full of lint, and sixteen egg cartons. It's getting chilly and the fireplace is looking better every day. Time to make fire-starters.
Have a great Sunday, 'rons and 'ettes.
The co-authored ones on the first and second
Formic War blow chunks. Not recommended unless you need fire-starter in
the Yukon. There are better books out there.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 10:21 AM (hyuyC
And that reminds me. I've got five pounds of scrap candle wax, a couple of gallon ziploc bags full of lint, and sixteen egg cartons. It's getting chilly and the fireplace is looking better every day. Time to make fire-starters.
Have a great Sunday, 'rons and 'ettes.
Posted by: creeper at September 23, 2018 10:25 AM (AzV8L)
172
Perhaps he was there before the bomb hit and was so engrossed in the book that he didn't even realize what had happened.
The building around him succumbed
As did many about which were bombed
Scant noticed the boy
Enthralled in the joy
Of immersion in the book that he thumbed
The building around him succumbed
As did many about which were bombed
Scant noticed the boy
Enthralled in the joy
Of immersion in the book that he thumbed
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:26 AM (fuK7c)
173
There are a few series I've read (and re-read) over the years. The Lensman books and Skylark series by EE Smith, the Martha's Vineyard mysteries by Philip Craig, the Liturgical mystery series I've mentioned here several times, and the MASH books I mentioned above.
I expect to add the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey books and anything written by Cornwell over the next few years.
I expect to add the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey books and anything written by Cornwell over the next few years.
Posted by: JTB at September 23, 2018 10:26 AM (V+03K)
174
One other thing of consideration is that modern historians are now
taking the position that Rome "did not fall". The empire collapsed as a
single entity but individual city-states persisted and went on to form
new countries in the middle ages.
Say what? You know what I call an empire that consists of individual city-states? Not an empire.
taking the position that Rome "did not fall". The empire collapsed as a
single entity but individual city-states persisted and went on to form
new countries in the middle ages.
Say what? You know what I call an empire that consists of individual city-states? Not an empire.
Posted by: Odoacer at September 23, 2018 10:26 AM (T6t7i)
175
One other thing of consideration is that modern historians are now taking the position that Rome "did not fall". The empire collapsed as a single entity but individual city-states persisted and went on to form new countries in the middle ages. Posted by: Vic We Have No Party
Spoiler Alert, please!
Now I'll have to start War and Peace. Can't possibly testify 'til December now.
Spoiler Alert, please!
Now I'll have to start War and Peace. Can't possibly testify 'til December now.
Posted by: Professor Doctor Lawyer Christine '58 Plymouth-Ford at September 23, 2018 10:28 AM (Ndje9)
176
All Hail Eris,
Pretty sure you mentioned it. Take a bow.
I pay attention to your likes and dislikes in Intel and SF, since there is some overlap. That book had been on my radar screen for several year, but I got it after you brought it up.
I'm not going to search the ace.mu archives. Got to get to some outdoor chores soon.
Pretty sure you mentioned it. Take a bow.
I pay attention to your likes and dislikes in Intel and SF, since there is some overlap. That book had been on my radar screen for several year, but I got it after you brought it up.
I'm not going to search the ace.mu archives. Got to get to some outdoor chores soon.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 10:28 AM (hyuyC)
177
Maybe german intelligence had a goof, and it was like flooding with $3 bills ?
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:16 AM (9lCXX)
Malcolm Muggeridge tells a story of a great German intel goof in WWII. They decided to use Wodehouse as a guide to what a Brit should be like. So they landed an agent complete with spats and monocle. Naturally, he was picked up at once. He compares it to what would happen if the Brits had parachuted in an agent smoking a giant meerschaum pipe, and wearing lederhosen.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:16 AM (9lCXX)
Malcolm Muggeridge tells a story of a great German intel goof in WWII. They decided to use Wodehouse as a guide to what a Brit should be like. So they landed an agent complete with spats and monocle. Naturally, he was picked up at once. He compares it to what would happen if the Brits had parachuted in an agent smoking a giant meerschaum pipe, and wearing lederhosen.
Posted by: Eeyore, fomerly George LeS at September 23, 2018 10:28 AM (59GGI)
178
Muldoon, I just tried to comment on your limerick blog again. I can't see it, but maybe you're moderating comments? I seem to have bad luck with this - I tried to leave votermom a birthday message on her blog once and that never made it either.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 10:29 AM (C1PQi)
179
modern historians are now taking the position that Rome "did not fall"
nah, it did. Peter Heather's Restoration of Rome is good on this question. Several successor states made claim to be Rome and/or to carry on the Roman legacy, but it was all propaganda. Even the freakin' Ottomans claimed to be the next Rome.
nah, it did. Peter Heather's Restoration of Rome is good on this question. Several successor states made claim to be Rome and/or to carry on the Roman legacy, but it was all propaganda. Even the freakin' Ottomans claimed to be the next Rome.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 10:29 AM (Xk4Hx)
180
this is almost as exciting as watching piss wallace showing the country his sagging ass on national tv.
fox, the network of shep smith, piss wallace, and juan williams. i'm sure colon krapperdick is on their short list for a new look at life in the hood. or, the barber shop.
fox, the network of shep smith, piss wallace, and juan williams. i'm sure colon krapperdick is on their short list for a new look at life in the hood. or, the barber shop.
Posted by: dr. chavez THE hugo md, phd. at September 23, 2018 10:29 AM (KP5rU)
181
> his name was Gibbon because he flung a lot of poo.
He's got poo. He knows how to fling it.
The stinkeroo. He knows how to bring it.
He's got poo. He knows how to fling it.
The stinkeroo. He knows how to bring it.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 10:30 AM (TM5Iv)
182
As we try to keep the book thread focused on books, and not go off topic, I encourage you to return to the Morning Thread where I just posted a link concerning the Dr Ford letter.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 23, 2018 10:30 AM (wldC6)
183
There is potentially a different 'take' on the boy in the bombed out bookstore.
Young Burgess Meredith before he needed glasses.
There is potentially a different 'take' on the boy in the bombed out bookstore.
Young Burgess Meredith before he needed glasses.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 23, 2018 10:31 AM (IqV8l)
184
Of immersion in the book that he thumbed
By a buzz bomb the building was scrapped
In the rubble the boy had been trapped
But although he was bleeding
He just kept on reading
Like a Christmas gift, he was well-rapt
By a buzz bomb the building was scrapped
In the rubble the boy had been trapped
But although he was bleeding
He just kept on reading
Like a Christmas gift, he was well-rapt
Posted by: Muldoon at September 23, 2018 10:32 AM (m45I2)
185
Since I am a fan of the series of books by CJ Box with the main character of Joe Pickett, who is a game warden (mostly), I thought I would try The Poachers Son by Paul Doiron. It is the first in a series of books with the main character of Mike Bowditch and managed to be nominated for an Edgar award for Best First Novel. Bowditch is a young game warden in Maine and a major part of the novel hinges upon characters he knew as a child and his dad (see title of Poachers Son). It is well written and the mystery holds together, but I just was not sold that Mike Bowditch would go to such lengths for his father (who he does not have a good relationship with). I am open to trying one of the later books to see if I warm to them a bit more.
Posted by: Charlotte at September 23, 2018 10:32 AM (mt65F)
186
Regarding long series -
I once heard Orson Scott Card say he doesn't do them because there's a definite hit to the number of sales with each additional book in the series. On the other hand, Robert Jordan doesn't appear to have suffered from it. And Brandon Sanderson has a long-running series that just hit book three.
So... who knows these days.
Posted by: junior at September 23, 2018 10:25 AM (4ZkmO)
I haven't noticed that. Usually if they read my first one, they buy all five. Sometimes all at once. What aggravates me is they will write a review for the first, maybe the second but that trails off around the third.
I once heard Orson Scott Card say he doesn't do them because there's a definite hit to the number of sales with each additional book in the series. On the other hand, Robert Jordan doesn't appear to have suffered from it. And Brandon Sanderson has a long-running series that just hit book three.
So... who knows these days.
Posted by: junior at September 23, 2018 10:25 AM (4ZkmO)
I haven't noticed that. Usually if they read my first one, they buy all five. Sometimes all at once. What aggravates me is they will write a review for the first, maybe the second but that trails off around the third.
Posted by: Oldsailors poet at September 23, 2018 10:32 AM (rGYKJ)
187
SOE was a major channel of the cover stories for invading France. That is why Leo was never able to warn his superiors. They did not want unbreakable codes. It was part of their deeply secret plan, and his efforts could single-handedly destroy the deception plan, endangering many thousands of UK, Canadian and American soldier's lives during the invasion.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 10:07 AM (hyuyC)
---------------------
Wow. That blurb gives new meaning to the word, "ruthless."
Letting your own agents be killed "for the greater good."
Uggh.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 10:07 AM (hyuyC)
---------------------
Wow. That blurb gives new meaning to the word, "ruthless."
Letting your own agents be killed "for the greater good."
Uggh.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at September 23, 2018 10:33 AM (WEBkv)
188
As we try to keep the book thread focused on books, and not go off topic, I encourage you to return to the Morning Thread where I just posted a link concerning the Dr Ford letter.
Thank you for that, VIA. I like it when book and art threads are mostly about books and art and the politics has its own place.
Thank you for that, VIA. I like it when book and art threads are mostly about books and art and the politics has its own place.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:33 AM (fuK7c)
189
To complete the eclectic reading for this week I've been enjoying are Montaigne's Essays (but no more than two in a day), a new biography of Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, The Muzzle-loading Cap Lock Rifle by Ned Roberts and books about black powder shooting accessories like pouches and powder horns.
All this weird combination of reading matter distracted me from most of the news and kept me from posting bannable comments on AoSHQ. I expect more of the same this week.
All this weird combination of reading matter distracted me from most of the news and kept me from posting bannable comments on AoSHQ. I expect more of the same this week.
Posted by: JTB at September 23, 2018 10:33 AM (V+03K)
190
About 20 years ago I went to library sale and bought about 50 classics. Hemingway, Twain, McCollugh, etc. Real books, not paperbacks. Carried 1 or 2 with me everywhere and when I finished it handed it to person on beach or plane seat, or whatever. May do that again.
Pics of MIL (died in 12) and FIL (died this year and I knew longer than my own Dad!) Library in Rogers Ar.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9r8RpoZySXPYGqr88
https://photos.app.goo.gl/sZn1MZuTcohpanc9A
PS House is for sale if anyone looking.
Pics of MIL (died in 12) and FIL (died this year and I knew longer than my own Dad!) Library in Rogers Ar.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9r8RpoZySXPYGqr88
https://photos.app.goo.gl/sZn1MZuTcohpanc9A
PS House is for sale if anyone looking.
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 10:33 AM (wU/T1)
191
Except for being here and watching Tucker I've avoided the news and been listening to classical music. I did however, read a neat little book, 145 pages, by Ben K Green.
A Thousand Miles of Mustangi'. He tells his story of when, in the 1920's, he rode from the Big Bend area of Texas into Mexico and back north into Arizona gathering mustangs and any other decent unbranded horse available. It's paced like a long story told over a campfire with some bourbon. He meets Mexicans, duh, but also has some very positive dealings with the Yaqui. Light and enjoyable. Don't let the PETA people see it.
A Thousand Miles of Mustangi'. He tells his story of when, in the 1920's, he rode from the Big Bend area of Texas into Mexico and back north into Arizona gathering mustangs and any other decent unbranded horse available. It's paced like a long story told over a campfire with some bourbon. He meets Mexicans, duh, but also has some very positive dealings with the Yaqui. Light and enjoyable. Don't let the PETA people see it.
Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at September 23, 2018 10:34 AM (wgCUV)
192
I finished reading Harm's Way by James Bassett, (not In Harm's Way as I reported last week,)
It was a very well - written book.
I just started reading Matchup - a collection of short stories written by male - female thriller writers.
The first story - written by Sandra Brown and C.J. Box entitled Honor & was VERY good.
It was a very well - written book.
I just started reading Matchup - a collection of short stories written by male - female thriller writers.
The first story - written by Sandra Brown and C.J. Box entitled Honor & was VERY good.
Posted by: JT at September 23, 2018 10:34 AM (mBbsP)
193
Malcolm Muggeridge tells a story of a great German intel goof in WWII. They decided to use Wodehouse as a guide to what a Brit should be like. So they landed an agent complete with spats and monocle. Naturally, he was picked up at once. He compares it to what would happen if the Brits had parachuted in an agent smoking a giant meerschaum pipe, and wearing lederhosen.
Posted by: Eeyore, fomerly George LeS at September 23, 2018 10:28 AM (59GGI)
That is very funny ! Also, very hard to believe. Many top echelon Brits were intertwined with the Germans. Many agents, including the likes of Ribbentrop were imbedded into the Brit society. Familiarity in the extreme with Brit way of life.
Posted by: Eeyore, fomerly George LeS at September 23, 2018 10:28 AM (59GGI)
That is very funny ! Also, very hard to believe. Many top echelon Brits were intertwined with the Germans. Many agents, including the likes of Ribbentrop were imbedded into the Brit society. Familiarity in the extreme with Brit way of life.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:34 AM (9lCXX)
194
Muldoon, I just tried to comment on your limerick blog again. I can't see it, but maybe you're moderating comments?
*******
It must be something on your end. Browser perhaps?
I haven't turned on any comment filtering or altered any comments.
Yet.
*******
It must be something on your end. Browser perhaps?
I haven't turned on any comment filtering or altered any comments.
Yet.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 23, 2018 10:34 AM (m45I2)
195
Good morning rons and Ettes. Parked in Houston today, leaving for Louisville Kentucky at 2 am then off to Morgantown WV.
Posted by: Oldsailors poet at September 23, 2018 10:34 AM (rGYKJ)
196
185 Since I am a fan of the series of books by CJ Box with the main character of Joe Pickett, who is a game warden (mostly)
Try Blanco County series by Rheder
Try Blanco County series by Rheder
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 10:34 AM (wU/T1)
197
Rome fell for the same reason Sparta fell. They contracted out the wet work and scrub work to non romans and non Spartans until those people.
Sure hope history isn't repeating itself.
Sure hope history isn't repeating itself.
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at September 23, 2018 10:34 AM (2DOZq)
198
Hi... never been to the book thread before.... I started sneezing immediately....
Posted by: kraken at September 23, 2018 10:35 AM (ffWPP)
199
I have a 12 year old girl who loves to read. She always asks for books for Christmas usually part of a series. The problem we have is that so many, actually almost all of the books for her age and skill are series. You simply cannot find a stand alone book for this age group. That isn't really new though, think Little House books, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Harry Potter. But now these series are 20 books and connected to at least one other series that has 20 books. I'm looking at you, Rick Riordan. It's great that the girl spawn loves the books and wants to read more of them but dear lord, save me from the endless $20 paperback book collections.
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:35 AM (myjNJ)
200
17 4 cont
http://3decks.pbworks.com/w/page/915789/Rates
This was the other link I thought was very informative kinship rate sizes which to compare to the frigate video
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 09:11 AM (T4oHT)
A couple of things about the rating system:
1. The sizes described grew over time. When it was established under Charles I, a 40-gun ship could be a First Rate. And by the end of the sailing era, a 91 was a 2nd. What everyone uses, usually (as does that site) is that prevailing during the 7-Years, Am Revolution, and Napoleonic period.
2. The rate determined the pay rates. So Royal Yachts were officially First Rates, though they were small and (mostly) not suitable for war.
I got woke too early today. So I'll quote a Secretary of the Admiralty: And so to bed.
http://3decks.pbworks.com/w/page/915789/Rates
This was the other link I thought was very informative kinship rate sizes which to compare to the frigate video
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 09:11 AM (T4oHT)
A couple of things about the rating system:
1. The sizes described grew over time. When it was established under Charles I, a 40-gun ship could be a First Rate. And by the end of the sailing era, a 91 was a 2nd. What everyone uses, usually (as does that site) is that prevailing during the 7-Years, Am Revolution, and Napoleonic period.
2. The rate determined the pay rates. So Royal Yachts were officially First Rates, though they were small and (mostly) not suitable for war.
I got woke too early today. So I'll quote a Secretary of the Admiralty: And so to bed.
Posted by: Eeyore, fomerly George LeS at September 23, 2018 10:36 AM (59GGI)
201
SOE was a major channel of the cover stories for invading France. That is why Leo was never able to warn his superiors.
MFW I thought you were talking about Pope Leo, and Attila at Chlons.
MFW I thought you were talking about Pope Leo, and Attila at Chlons.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 10:36 AM (Xk4Hx)
202
174 One other thing of consideration is that modern historians are now
taking the position that Rome "did not fall". The empire collapsed as a
single entity but individual city-states persisted and went on to form
new countries in the middle ages.
Say what? You know what I call an empire that consists of individual city-states? Not an empire.
Posted by: Odoacer at September 23, 2018 10:26 AM (T6t7i)
---------------------
"I appeal to Carthage" doesn't quite have the same ring as "I appeal to Caeser" does it?
Anyway, heh.
taking the position that Rome "did not fall". The empire collapsed as a
single entity but individual city-states persisted and went on to form
new countries in the middle ages.
Say what? You know what I call an empire that consists of individual city-states? Not an empire.
Posted by: Odoacer at September 23, 2018 10:26 AM (T6t7i)
---------------------
"I appeal to Carthage" doesn't quite have the same ring as "I appeal to Caeser" does it?
Anyway, heh.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at September 23, 2018 10:36 AM (WEBkv)
203
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:35 AM (myjNJ)
Underlake by Kia Heavey is pretty good and age appropriate.
Underlake by Kia Heavey is pretty good and age appropriate.
Posted by: Oldsailors poet at September 23, 2018 10:36 AM (rGYKJ)
204
Rome fell because of debauchery and degeneracy.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:36 AM (9lCXX)
205
How could I forget the Lensman series and the modern homage series by Ryk. E .Spoor? Those rollicking books are Grand Central Arena, Spheres of Influence and Challenges of the Deep.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 10:37 AM (hyuyC)
206
"Thank you for that, VIA"
I share the same thoughts concerning specific threads, ie Book, gum, pet, gardening...etc.
Yet the Corgi Force is strong in the Horde.
But, I try.
I share the same thoughts concerning specific threads, ie Book, gum, pet, gardening...etc.
Yet the Corgi Force is strong in the Horde.
But, I try.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 23, 2018 10:37 AM (wldC6)
207
204 Rome fell because of debauchery and degeneracy.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:36 AM (9lCXX)
And long division issues....
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:36 AM (9lCXX)
And long division issues....
Posted by: kraken at September 23, 2018 10:38 AM (ffWPP)
208
Since I am a fan of the series of books by CJ Box with the main character of Joe Pickett, who is a game warden (mostly)
He is a fave of mine as well, Charlotte.
He is a fave of mine as well, Charlotte.
Posted by: JT at September 23, 2018 10:39 AM (mBbsP)
209
As we try to keep the book thread focused on books, and not go off
topic, I encourage you to return to the Morning Thread where I just
posted a link concerning the Dr Ford letter.
Wow. I encourage everyone to take a look. It's comment 326.
topic, I encourage you to return to the Morning Thread where I just
posted a link concerning the Dr Ford letter.
Wow. I encourage everyone to take a look. It's comment 326.
Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (T6t7i)
210
199 I have a 12 year old girl who loves to read.
Get her a 50 dollar kindle and a library card. Many ebooks to read for free. Also can get to https://www.gutenberg.org/ for 57k free books.
much content!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/%3Fsort_order%3Ddownloads
Get her a 50 dollar kindle and a library card. Many ebooks to read for free. Also can get to https://www.gutenberg.org/ for 57k free books.
much content!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/%3Fsort_order%3Ddownloads
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (wU/T1)
211
Eric Flint's 1632 series has >20 novels now. Lot's of co-authors.
Posted by: DaveA at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (FhXTo)
212
Well, I have tractor wheel repairs and a lot of outdoor maintenance to do.
Thank you OM, for yet another scintillating book thread, with so much goodness in the comments.
Have a blessed day, and may every traffic light turn green on your way home.
Thank you OM, for yet another scintillating book thread, with so much goodness in the comments.
Have a blessed day, and may every traffic light turn green on your way home.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (hyuyC)
213
It's great that the girl spawn loves the books and wants to read more of them but dear lord, save me from the endless $20 paperback book collections.
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:35 AM (myjNJ)
-----------
madamemayhem, I mention this author whenever the subject of kiddie lit is brought up: Elizabeth Enright. Wonderful, wonderful books.
Bonus: she's been dead a long time, so no more are forthcoming.
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:35 AM (myjNJ)
-----------
madamemayhem, I mention this author whenever the subject of kiddie lit is brought up: Elizabeth Enright. Wonderful, wonderful books.
Bonus: she's been dead a long time, so no more are forthcoming.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (C1PQi)
214
Kyle Harper`s Fate of Rome says it fell to disease, since the medical system was more full of quacks than a Louisiana lake, and the Mediterranean system was a lot less good at responding to plague than it was at spreading it.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 10:41 AM (Xk4Hx)
215
OK I am eating my own dog food. From last post to try Gutenberg I am going to go get 10 books and read.
any request?
any request?
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 10:41 AM (wU/T1)
216
That sells him short. The anti-Christian stuff gets
tedious, but his account of early empire is well done and arguably
remains the authoritative work on the topic.
The core issue with
Gibbon is that on a long enough timeline, everything is in decline. To
claim that loss of virtue, or the spread of Christianity was what
brought down the Empire would first require someone to have a control
case of a massive multi-national empire that somehow never fell.
[ . . . ]
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 10:03 AM (cfSRQ)
Kevin Gutzman is a biographer of Jefferson and Madison and writes on the Constitution and the early independence period, but he was on a podcast where they were discussing whether economic failure and mismanagement was sufficient in itself to destroy a country, and he argued that technically the catastrophic distortions brought on by Constantine's economic reforms could be blamed for the the collapse of the Byzantine empire in 1453, but he implied that he considered that a bit of a stretch.
Gutzman has a book just out called Thomas Jefferson, Revolutionary, which I haven't even gotten around to buying yet.
tedious, but his account of early empire is well done and arguably
remains the authoritative work on the topic.
The core issue with
Gibbon is that on a long enough timeline, everything is in decline. To
claim that loss of virtue, or the spread of Christianity was what
brought down the Empire would first require someone to have a control
case of a massive multi-national empire that somehow never fell.
[ . . . ]
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at September 23, 2018 10:03 AM (cfSRQ)
Kevin Gutzman is a biographer of Jefferson and Madison and writes on the Constitution and the early independence period, but he was on a podcast where they were discussing whether economic failure and mismanagement was sufficient in itself to destroy a country, and he argued that technically the catastrophic distortions brought on by Constantine's economic reforms could be blamed for the the collapse of the Byzantine empire in 1453, but he implied that he considered that a bit of a stretch.
Gutzman has a book just out called Thomas Jefferson, Revolutionary, which I haven't even gotten around to buying yet.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 23, 2018 10:41 AM (mUa7G)
217
And long division issues....
Posted by: kraken at September 23, 2018 10:38 AM (ffWPP)
thought they used cohorts and legions, not divisions ...
Posted by: kraken at September 23, 2018 10:38 AM (ffWPP)
thought they used cohorts and legions, not divisions ...
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:41 AM (9lCXX)
218
But, I try.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice
Well, good on you. And I did go back and read your politics thing in its politics place.
(Also, I just got Bowie's "Modern Love" as an earworm. But I try....
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice
Well, good on you. And I did go back and read your politics thing in its politics place.
(Also, I just got Bowie's "Modern Love" as an earworm. But I try....
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:42 AM (fuK7c)
219
Thank you bluebell And OSP. Will take a closer look at those.
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:42 AM (myjNJ)
220
any request?
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 10:41 AM (wU/T1)
---------
Summa Theologica, by St. Thomas Aquinas.
See you in about a decade.
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 10:41 AM (wU/T1)
---------
Summa Theologica, by St. Thomas Aquinas.
See you in about a decade.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 10:43 AM (C1PQi)
221
Posted by: Emmie at September 23, 2018 10:18 AM (4HMW
How cruel to want to "disorient" people on a subject they are already struggling with. I tell my kids that *basic* algebra is used all the time, because it's true.
My observation is that math is another language, something I saw another Hordling say recently, and there are many more bad translations out there than good translations.
How cruel to want to "disorient" people on a subject they are already struggling with. I tell my kids that *basic* algebra is used all the time, because it's true.
My observation is that math is another language, something I saw another Hordling say recently, and there are many more bad translations out there than good translations.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 23, 2018 10:43 AM (uquGJ)
222
174 Say what? You know what I call an empire that consists of individual city-states? Not an empire.
Posted by: Odoacer at September 23, 2018 10:26 AM (T6t7i)
When most people talk about the fall of Rome they are talking about collapse in to general anarchy. That did not occur. The general discussion also talks about collapse in to the dark ages. There were no 'dark ages' as such.
Posted by: Odoacer at September 23, 2018 10:26 AM (T6t7i)
When most people talk about the fall of Rome they are talking about collapse in to general anarchy. That did not occur. The general discussion also talks about collapse in to the dark ages. There were no 'dark ages' as such.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 10:44 AM (mpXpK)
223
220 any request?
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 10:41 AM (wU/T1)
---------
Summa Theologica, by St. Thomas Aquinas.
See you in about a decade.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 10:43 AM (C1PQi)
"Confessions" St. Augustine... and all of his other works.....
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 10:41 AM (wU/T1)
---------
Summa Theologica, by St. Thomas Aquinas.
See you in about a decade.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 10:43 AM (C1PQi)
"Confessions" St. Augustine... and all of his other works.....
Posted by: kraken at September 23, 2018 10:44 AM (ffWPP)
224
Eric Flint's 1632 series has >20 novels now.
IMO, another series where the second book didn't present anything (or at least enough) new to earn its keep.
Something in the Dresden series and also in the Easy Rawlins series (that I stopped after 3 or 4) is that the author seems to feel the need to make the character and the circumstances darker and darker. After a while, the "ick" factor pushes me away.
IMO, another series where the second book didn't present anything (or at least enough) new to earn its keep.
Something in the Dresden series and also in the Easy Rawlins series (that I stopped after 3 or 4) is that the author seems to feel the need to make the character and the circumstances darker and darker. After a while, the "ick" factor pushes me away.
Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at September 23, 2018 10:46 AM (cTajt)
Posted by: henri pirenne, bryan ward-perkins, and peter heather at September 23, 2018 10:47 AM (Xk4Hx)
226
There were no 'dark ages' as such.
Of course not. There were just several hundred years that went by without significant advancement in arts and culture, where there was no new statuary exploring the human form, where no historians chronicled events, and no one got around to discovering perspective in painting.
Of course not. There were just several hundred years that went by without significant advancement in arts and culture, where there was no new statuary exploring the human form, where no historians chronicled events, and no one got around to discovering perspective in painting.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:47 AM (fuK7c)
227
And before I go off to be productive,
Roman empire fell because someone divided by zero. That's what my history teacher told us in high school. No shit. Someone asked what caused the fall of the Roman empire, teacher said" Long answer.. there were a variety of reasons, some very simple, some more complicated, and historians tend to disagree. Short answer.. Someone probably divided by zero!"
Roman empire fell because someone divided by zero. That's what my history teacher told us in high school. No shit. Someone asked what caused the fall of the Roman empire, teacher said" Long answer.. there were a variety of reasons, some very simple, some more complicated, and historians tend to disagree. Short answer.. Someone probably divided by zero!"
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:48 AM (myjNJ)
228
Posted by: Professor Doctor Lawyer Christine '58 Plymouth-Ford at September 23, 2018 10:28 AM (Ndje9)
OK, this nic is funny.
OK, this nic is funny.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 10:48 AM (aGFaW)
229
186
Regarding long series -
I once heard Orson Scott Card say he doesn't do them because there's
a definite hit to the number of sales with each additional book in the
series. On the other hand, Robert Jordan doesn't appear to have suffered
from it. And Brandon Sanderson has a long-running series that just hit
book three.
So... who knows these days.
Posted by: junior at September 23, 2018 10:25 AM (4ZkmO)
He is a fine one to talk. His Ender series and The Call of Earth are both many volume series.
Regarding long series -
I once heard Orson Scott Card say he doesn't do them because there's
a definite hit to the number of sales with each additional book in the
series. On the other hand, Robert Jordan doesn't appear to have suffered
from it. And Brandon Sanderson has a long-running series that just hit
book three.
So... who knows these days.
Posted by: junior at September 23, 2018 10:25 AM (4ZkmO)
He is a fine one to talk. His Ender series and The Call of Earth are both many volume series.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 10:48 AM (mpXpK)
230
Thank you bluebell And OSP. Will take a closer look at those.
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:42 AM (myjNJ)
Oh, and Kia Heavey wrote another book. A very entertaining book about a farm cat that teaches about the evils of socialism and communism called Domino.
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:42 AM (myjNJ)
Oh, and Kia Heavey wrote another book. A very entertaining book about a farm cat that teaches about the evils of socialism and communism called Domino.
Posted by: Oldsailors poet at September 23, 2018 10:50 AM (rGYKJ)
231
Also, Michael Decker thought the Byzantine Empire suffered hard 600s-700s, from the Persian War to the Iconoclasm; and Abdolhossein Zarinkoob wrote about the dark age in Iran. "The Byzantine Dark Age" and "Two Centuries Of Silence" respectively.
I could say whom they blame for this two century long era of chaos and bloodshed, but if you guess right you become a pariah these days
I could say whom they blame for this two century long era of chaos and bloodshed, but if you guess right you become a pariah these days
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 10:52 AM (Xk4Hx)
232
211
Eric Flint's 1632 series has >20 novels now. Lot's of co-authors.
Posted by: DaveA at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (FhXTo)
I abandoned that series after it became evident he was never going to finish it.
Eric Flint's 1632 series has >20 novels now. Lot's of co-authors.
Posted by: DaveA at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (FhXTo)
I abandoned that series after it became evident he was never going to finish it.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 10:52 AM (mpXpK)
233
I read the entire Brother Cadfael Mystery series by Ellis Peter (nom de plume of Edith Pargeter) in the '90s, and that was about 20 books.
I kept all the paperbacks and re-read them a while back.
I think they are in a box in the attic now. I might pull them out again. They are hideously expensive (IMH) on Kindle now with prices for each title ranging from a low of $4.53 to $10.49 with most tending to the higher range of $8.99 or $9.99. I wouldn't pay that much now to read a 20-book series!
I would, however, recommend them as a series for those who could afford them or find library or used copies.
I kept all the paperbacks and re-read them a while back.
I think they are in a box in the attic now. I might pull them out again. They are hideously expensive (IMH) on Kindle now with prices for each title ranging from a low of $4.53 to $10.49 with most tending to the higher range of $8.99 or $9.99. I wouldn't pay that much now to read a 20-book series!
I would, however, recommend them as a series for those who could afford them or find library or used copies.
Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at September 23, 2018 10:53 AM (NqQAS)
234
So, I've started "The American" by Henry James.
It's annoying so far. It was on somebody's list of good stuff, possibly even Twain's list, so I thought I should give it a shot.
There was a one-two punch in which American language emerged from imitation British, and that was a left jab from Twain and a right cross from Hemingway.
James is still writing European and it bothers me. Also, he's completely above the "limited omniscience" thing, so his narrator can know everything. I'd have some hope for it if I thought our protagonist was going to bone Tristram's wife, but I doubt it.
It's annoying so far. It was on somebody's list of good stuff, possibly even Twain's list, so I thought I should give it a shot.
There was a one-two punch in which American language emerged from imitation British, and that was a left jab from Twain and a right cross from Hemingway.
James is still writing European and it bothers me. Also, he's completely above the "limited omniscience" thing, so his narrator can know everything. I'd have some hope for it if I thought our protagonist was going to bone Tristram's wife, but I doubt it.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:58 AM (fuK7c)
235
Churchill- A Man For The Times - a limerick
He was reading "The Sum Of All Fears"
When the building came down 'bout his ears
Like the rest of the nation
He sought inspiration
And found it in "Blood, Sweat and Tears
Churchill- A Man For The Times - a limerick
He was reading "The Sum Of All Fears"
When the building came down 'bout his ears
Like the rest of the nation
He sought inspiration
And found it in "Blood, Sweat and Tears
Posted by: Muldoon at September 23, 2018 10:59 AM (m45I2)
236
As a human, you only fail if you fail to learn from the fail, and fail to get up and risk failure again.
Posted by: Duncanthrax at September 23, 2018 10:59 AM (E3okE)
237
Alt. title: "Jack the Ripper Sizes Up His Next Victim"
It looks more like both the mustachioed gent and the winsome lass are looking askance at the artist, who has obviously just let out a book-rattling fart.
It looks more like both the mustachioed gent and the winsome lass are looking askance at the artist, who has obviously just let out a book-rattling fart.
Posted by: art cricket at September 23, 2018 11:00 AM (kSECq)
238
Bonus: she's been dead a long time, so no more are forthcoming.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (C1PQi)
"Ooh, this is one of my favorites, check this one out. It's abou-"
"The author. Is the author stone dead?"
"N-n-no-"
"Ain't interested." *flings book back*
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (C1PQi)
"Ooh, this is one of my favorites, check this one out. It's abou-"
"The author. Is the author stone dead?"
"N-n-no-"
"Ain't interested." *flings book back*
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:00 AM (y87Qq)
239
I'd have some hope for it if I thought our protagonist was going to bone Tristram's wife, but I doubt it.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:58 AM
So Tristram's a cuck?
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:58 AM
So Tristram's a cuck?
Posted by: Billy the K at September 23, 2018 11:01 AM (E3okE)
240
"The author. Is the author stone dead?"
"N-n-no-"
"Ain't interested." *flings book back*
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:00 AM
So, no John McCain books for a while, eh?
"N-n-no-"
"Ain't interested." *flings book back*
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:00 AM
So, no John McCain books for a while, eh?
Posted by: Doncanthrax at September 23, 2018 11:03 AM (E3okE)
241
And found it in "Blood, Sweat and Tears
Posted by: Muldoon
My troubles are many, they're as deep as a well
I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell
And found it in "Blood, Sweat and Tears
Posted by: Muldoon
My troubles are many, they're as deep as a well
I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 23, 2018 11:03 AM (IqV8l)
242
Pic needs more Burgess Meredith.
Posted by: Rusty Nail at September 23, 2018 11:04 AM (55orB)
243
> Eric Flint's 1632 series has >20 novels now.
Those are really uneven, IMO. A lot depends on who comes after the "and" in "by Eric Flint and..."
I gave up on them a while ago. Flint needs to become way more selective about choosing his collaborators.
Those are really uneven, IMO. A lot depends on who comes after the "and" in "by Eric Flint and..."
I gave up on them a while ago. Flint needs to become way more selective about choosing his collaborators.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 11:04 AM (TM5Iv)
244
> I abandoned that series after it became evident he was never going to finish it.
Q. How could you "finish" a series of historical novels, other than perhaps with the Second Coming of Christ?
But yeah, I gave up on them as well.
Q. How could you "finish" a series of historical novels, other than perhaps with the Second Coming of Christ?
But yeah, I gave up on them as well.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 11:06 AM (TM5Iv)
245
Blood, sweat, toil, and tears
Dwelt more kindly in history's ears
Than that bit of a hash
With sodomy and lash
From Churchill's rakishly earlier years
Dwelt more kindly in history's ears
Than that bit of a hash
With sodomy and lash
From Churchill's rakishly earlier years
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 11:06 AM (fuK7c)
246
Of course not. There were just several hundred years that went by without significant advancement in arts and culture, where there was no new statuary exploring the human form, where no historians chronicled events, and no one got around to discovering perspective in painting.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:47 AM (fuK7c)
Maybe Stagnant Ages would be a better term. But that would apply to pretty much the rest of the world, and for a longer time period.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at September 23, 2018 10:47 AM (fuK7c)
Maybe Stagnant Ages would be a better term. But that would apply to pretty much the rest of the world, and for a longer time period.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at September 23, 2018 11:08 AM (/qEW2)
247
Toil was the original drummer but the band dropped him after their first successful album.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 23, 2018 11:09 AM (m45I2)
248
Toil was the original drummer but the band dropped him after their first successful album.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 23, 2018 11:09 AM (m45I2)
It was for the best.
Posted by: Muldoon at September 23, 2018 11:09 AM (m45I2)
It was for the best.
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at September 23, 2018 11:10 AM (2DOZq)
249
The very 1970's plot twist of Three Day if the Condor is that the CIA plans for taking over other countries oil supplies was accidently read by that station which is why they all need to be murdered.This was of course the era of OPEC embargoes,gas lines and "oh no we are running out of everything!"
Posted by: steevy at September 23, 2018 11:12 AM (mCMQ5)
250
That is very funny ! Also, very hard to believe.
Many top echelon Brits were intertwined with the Germans. Many agents,
including the likes of Ribbentrop were imbedded into the Brit society.
Familiarity in the extreme with Brit way of life.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:34 AM (9lCXX)
The Reich and it's myriad bureaus, offices and special groups were very divided and compartmentalized. There was deep mistrust between the old Army and nobility that reached back to the Kaiser and the ideals of the original Pan German unification, and the new Nazi elite.
Part of the problem came from both sides despising each other, being engaged in bureaucratic empire building, and planning each others' destruction or subjugation, but the other part was the wonderful habit of the elite in the government realizing that they wanted something done, but the people who did it could not be trusted to do it the way they wanted it done, so they started their own department or operations group to do it -- with the added benefit that when there is an eventual conflict over who does what and who gets funding for it, the matter would be referred to the central government and ministries, and the right people would given the plums.
The new Nazi elite were not tied into the old families and traditions, and tended to be arrogant enough to think they knew better and were smarter than anyone else.
Many top echelon Brits were intertwined with the Germans. Many agents,
including the likes of Ribbentrop were imbedded into the Brit society.
Familiarity in the extreme with Brit way of life.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 10:34 AM (9lCXX)
The Reich and it's myriad bureaus, offices and special groups were very divided and compartmentalized. There was deep mistrust between the old Army and nobility that reached back to the Kaiser and the ideals of the original Pan German unification, and the new Nazi elite.
Part of the problem came from both sides despising each other, being engaged in bureaucratic empire building, and planning each others' destruction or subjugation, but the other part was the wonderful habit of the elite in the government realizing that they wanted something done, but the people who did it could not be trusted to do it the way they wanted it done, so they started their own department or operations group to do it -- with the added benefit that when there is an eventual conflict over who does what and who gets funding for it, the matter would be referred to the central government and ministries, and the right people would given the plums.
The new Nazi elite were not tied into the old families and traditions, and tended to be arrogant enough to think they knew better and were smarter than anyone else.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 23, 2018 11:13 AM (mUa7G)
251
For those of us coping with the long term deadly decline of a loved one, please read Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. It is about hospice. Please read this. It give another perspective and it gives you a choice. Much love and prayers for anyone going through the process of losing a loved one.
Posted by: Nurse ratched at September 23, 2018 11:14 AM (PkVlr)
252
Eric Flint's 1632 series has >20 novels now.
Posted by: DaveA at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (FhXTo)
Around 2000 some guy subscribed to the cruffler.com Curio & Relic collectors' email list and asked some questions about what sort of stockpile of reloading components one could expect the average modern Appalachian mining town to have. I just searched the archives and it turns out it wasn't Eric Flint, but Tom V, who wrote what looks like fanfic that got included in one of the 1632 anthologies at Baen.
Anyway, I can't remember if I replied but I was a list subscriber at the time so the upshot is I guess I'm basically famous now, if anyone wants to have their picture taken with me. Am I supposed to hire a publicist or something? I don't know how any of this works.
Posted by: DaveA at September 23, 2018 10:40 AM (FhXTo)
Around 2000 some guy subscribed to the cruffler.com Curio & Relic collectors' email list and asked some questions about what sort of stockpile of reloading components one could expect the average modern Appalachian mining town to have. I just searched the archives and it turns out it wasn't Eric Flint, but Tom V, who wrote what looks like fanfic that got included in one of the 1632 anthologies at Baen.
Anyway, I can't remember if I replied but I was a list subscriber at the time so the upshot is I guess I'm basically famous now, if anyone wants to have their picture taken with me. Am I supposed to hire a publicist or something? I don't know how any of this works.
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:15 AM (y87Qq)
253
"My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the way through? "
----
I started reading Michael Connelly's Bosch series, because the tv show is so good. I'm on the third book. So far so good, but I'm asking that question as well.
There are 20 books in the series, and he has other series with other characters, and apparently drags them in when he needs to spice things up a bit.
I can see myself asking the question at the end of this one, and don't yet know the answer. Then if I read the next, the question will come up again. Right now it seems damn near impossible I'm going to read all 20... and there's another one about to be published, so he ain't stoppin' as long as the cash is flowin'.
----
I started reading Michael Connelly's Bosch series, because the tv show is so good. I'm on the third book. So far so good, but I'm asking that question as well.
There are 20 books in the series, and he has other series with other characters, and apparently drags them in when he needs to spice things up a bit.
I can see myself asking the question at the end of this one, and don't yet know the answer. Then if I read the next, the question will come up again. Right now it seems damn near impossible I'm going to read all 20... and there's another one about to be published, so he ain't stoppin' as long as the cash is flowin'.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:16 AM (cY3LT)
254
Kind of funny how the James Bond movies introduced so many outlandish gadgets while in the book it is made very clear how small a budget the intelligence service has.He uses a few pieces of gear but nothing like the movies.
Posted by: steevy at September 23, 2018 11:16 AM (mCMQ5)
255
I don't have to read The Decline and Fall. I'm living it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at September 23, 2018 11:16 AM (+y/Ru)
256
251 For those of us coping with the long term deadly decline of a loved one, please read Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. It is about hospice. Please read this. It give another perspective and it gives you a choice. Much love and prayers for anyone going through the process of losing a loved one.
Posted by: Nurse ratched at September 23, 2018 11:14 AM (PkVlr)
------
When my Dad died, slowly and unpleasantly, the hospice people were amazing. Not only to him, but to me also. Thanks for the recommendation.
Posted by: Nurse ratched at September 23, 2018 11:14 AM (PkVlr)
------
When my Dad died, slowly and unpleasantly, the hospice people were amazing. Not only to him, but to me also. Thanks for the recommendation.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 11:17 AM (MVjcR)
257
" Long answer.. there were a variety of reasons,
some very simple, some more complicated, and historians tend to
disagree. Short answer.. Someone probably divided by zero!"
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:48 AM (myjNJ)
#DIV/0!
some very simple, some more complicated, and historians tend to
disagree. Short answer.. Someone probably divided by zero!"
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:48 AM (myjNJ)
#DIV/0!
Posted by: Kindltot -who has spent far too long with Excel at September 23, 2018 11:18 AM (mUa7G)
258
I see that book three of the Kinksters of Gore Trilogy has been released detailing the inner workings of the climate change community.
It's like the jolly green giant with a insatiable lust and a raging hard-on discovers a sperm whale and a colossal squid locked into a death embrace on an isolated beach on a remote island.
It's like the jolly green giant with a insatiable lust and a raging hard-on discovers a sperm whale and a colossal squid locked into a death embrace on an isolated beach on a remote island.
Posted by: Fritz at September 23, 2018 11:22 AM (Z9C5C)
259
I finished the Aubrey/Maturin series and was sad that it ended. Had he lived O'Brian had at least a couple of good books left about the fading of the light.
Posted by: Ignoramus at September 23, 2018 11:22 AM (1UZdv)
260
Also if you have read House of War, I hope you can find the time to post your (honest!) opinion of that book (and not of me, we're agreed I fail as a human) on Amazon's site.
You don't fail as a human. You stepped up to serve your community, and that it worthy of respect. Yeah, you probably should have scrubbed some of that stuff a little harder from the internet, but the CO GOP are cowards and idiots. There are ways to handle bad information in a politician's past.
You don't fail as a human. You stepped up to serve your community, and that it worthy of respect. Yeah, you probably should have scrubbed some of that stuff a little harder from the internet, but the CO GOP are cowards and idiots. There are ways to handle bad information in a politician's past.
Posted by: Colorado Alex In Exile at September 23, 2018 11:23 AM (SgjGX)
261
And before I go off to be productive,
Roman empire fell because someone divided by zero. That's what my history teacher told us in high school. No shit. Someone asked what caused the fall of the Roman empire, teacher said" Long answer.. there were a variety of reasons, some very simple, some more complicated, and historians tend to disagree. Short answer.. Someone probably divided by zero!"
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:48 AM (myjNJ)
I've always heard it was one guy, who caused it all to collapse.
A guy named Hubris. Chet Hubris.
Roman empire fell because someone divided by zero. That's what my history teacher told us in high school. No shit. Someone asked what caused the fall of the Roman empire, teacher said" Long answer.. there were a variety of reasons, some very simple, some more complicated, and historians tend to disagree. Short answer.. Someone probably divided by zero!"
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 10:48 AM (myjNJ)
I've always heard it was one guy, who caused it all to collapse.
A guy named Hubris. Chet Hubris.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:23 AM (cY3LT)
262
I've been reading Master of Defense, by Paul Wagner, which is his reprint of George Silver's Paradoxes of Defence along with essays by modern scholars. I've also been reading The Intelligent Investor, since I'm way behind on my retirement funding.
Posted by: Colorado Alex In Exile at September 23, 2018 11:24 AM (SgjGX)
263
A guy named Hubris. Chet Hubris.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:23 AM (cY3LT)
Leo. Leo Hubris. He was Greek. As Greek as spanakopita. Or Spanaway, maybe. I forget.
A guy named Hubris. Chet Hubris.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:23 AM (cY3LT)
Leo. Leo Hubris. He was Greek. As Greek as spanakopita. Or Spanaway, maybe. I forget.
Posted by: Kindltot -who has spent far too long with Excel at September 23, 2018 11:26 AM (mUa7G)
264
New legal theory bouncing around: Ford delivered her letter to Anna Eschoo and not Feinstein directly because arcane legalese states that "evidence" presented to a Senate committee from another Congressional office does not have any risk of perjury attached to it.
Which is not something Ford would have known without help. The same helpers who scrubbed her entire digital footprint, no doubt.
Which is not something Ford would have known without help. The same helpers who scrubbed her entire digital footprint, no doubt.
Posted by: Rusty Nail at September 23, 2018 11:26 AM (55orB)
265
Author Lee Child -
"Both Reacher and I are tall. So back in the '90's , while writing Killing Floor and grocery shopping, my wife remarked "if the writing didn't work out I could always be a reacher in a supermarket."
"Both Reacher and I are tall. So back in the '90's , while writing Killing Floor and grocery shopping, my wife remarked "if the writing didn't work out I could always be a reacher in a supermarket."
Posted by: JT at September 23, 2018 11:27 AM (mBbsP)
266
Now browsing "The Brown Derby Cookbook", a compilation of recipes from the famous restaurants in LA. Hollywood hangout. At their height in the 30s-50s.
Hungarian Veal Cutlets with Spaetzels Polonaise...
Hungarian Veal Cutlets with Spaetzels Polonaise...
Posted by: Skookumchuk at September 23, 2018 11:27 AM (CeJUf)
267
@261
Could that be Earl?
I ask because I blame everything on some really dumb, really stoned, totally fictional idiot named Earl. No matter what it is, if it goes wrong, Earl said that's how it was supposed to be done.
Could that be Earl?
I ask because I blame everything on some really dumb, really stoned, totally fictional idiot named Earl. No matter what it is, if it goes wrong, Earl said that's how it was supposed to be done.
Posted by: madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 23, 2018 11:28 AM (myjNJ)
268
Ms. Powell is indeed brilliant. Too bad Hannity interrupts when she's a guest on her show.
Posted by: kallisto at September 23, 2018 11:29 AM (CWvyb)
269
Most bizarre thing happened to me about hour and half ago. Yesterday when leaving work noticed a yellow jacket flying in My truck so rolled windows down while driving and didn't see it for a while, rolled windows up and thought nothing of it. Went to grocery store, didn't get indoor 10 feet and got stung right on my knee. I am sure it was that yellow jacket but didn't see it. Sohadtowalk around store for a hour,came home put groceries away before taking Benadryl and have ice pack on my knee.
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 11:29 AM (T4oHT)
270
before taking Benadryl and have ice pack on my knee.
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 11:29 AM (T4oHT)
You aren't by any chance from Alabama en route to Louisiana?
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 11:29 AM (T4oHT)
You aren't by any chance from Alabama en route to Louisiana?
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:31 AM (y87Qq)
Posted by: Kindltot at September 23, 2018 11:31 AM (mUa7G)
272
I'm convinced that the yellow jacket performs no role in any ecosystem that some other insect could manage. Extinct them. Make them something you have to read about, like smallpox.
Posted by: Rusty Nail at September 23, 2018 11:31 AM (55orB)
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 11:32 AM (bUjCl)
274
Buzzbombs, they simply bored him
Explosions he always ignored them
He never got antsy
When reading his fancy
That began "Dear Penthouse Forum..."
Buzzbombs, they simply bored him
Explosions he always ignored them
He never got antsy
When reading his fancy
That began "Dear Penthouse Forum..."
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 11:34 AM (CRRq9)
Posted by: rickl at September 23, 2018 11:34 AM (sdi6R)
276
> I finished the Aubrey/Maturin series and was sad that it ended. Had he lived O'Brian had at least a couple of good books left about the fading of the light.
I was really glad that in the (unfinished) 21st novel, Maturin finally appeared to be with someone who could make him genuinely happy. Diana had borderline personality disorder, IMO.
I was really glad that in the (unfinished) 21st novel, Maturin finally appeared to be with someone who could make him genuinely happy. Diana had borderline personality disorder, IMO.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 11:34 AM (TM5Iv)
277
3 Days of the Condor seemed like a spy thriller at the time. Now we recognize it as real life.
Posted by: kallisto at September 23, 2018 11:34 AM (CWvyb)
278
273, runner - veal cutlets, butter, paprika, chopped onion, pastry cream, brown gravy, salt, and pepper. Then on to the spaetzels. Imma gonna try this one.
Posted by: Skookumchuk at September 23, 2018 11:35 AM (CeJUf)
279
A guy named Hubris. Chet Hubris.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:23 AM (cY3LT)
Leo. Leo Hubris. He was Greek. As Greek as spanakopita. Or Spanaway, maybe. I forget.
Posted by: Kindltot -who has spent far too long with Excel at September 23, 2018 11:26 AM (mUa7G)
Sure sure sure, Leo. His given name was Leo, but his friends knew him as Chet.
Which obviously you weren't.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:23 AM (cY3LT)
Leo. Leo Hubris. He was Greek. As Greek as spanakopita. Or Spanaway, maybe. I forget.
Posted by: Kindltot -who has spent far too long with Excel at September 23, 2018 11:26 AM (mUa7G)
Sure sure sure, Leo. His given name was Leo, but his friends knew him as Chet.
Which obviously you weren't.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:36 AM (cY3LT)
280
if we're talking about hubris leading to the final fall of the Roman system, I nominate the first Justinian.
The second Justinian was an arrogant tool too.
The second Justinian was an arrogant tool too.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 11:36 AM (Xk4Hx)
281
Yellow jackets are the a-holes of the insect world.
Posted by: bananadream at September 23, 2018 11:36 AM (YR7aL)
282
"My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the way through? "
----
I started reading Michael Connelly's Bosch series, because the tv show is so good. I'm on the third book. So far so good, but I'm asking that question as well.
There are 20 books in the series, and he has other series with other characters, and apparently drags them in when he needs to spice things up a bit.
I can see myself asking the question at the end of this one, and don't yet know the answer. Then if I read the next, the question will come up again. Right now it seems damn near impossible I'm going to read all 20... and there's another one about to be published, so he ain't stoppin' as long as the cash is flowin'.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:16 AM (cY3LT)
i stopped reading shortly after he left the force.
I thought the quality fell.
Still, every series has it's slump. Rebus is a good example.
----
I started reading Michael Connelly's Bosch series, because the tv show is so good. I'm on the third book. So far so good, but I'm asking that question as well.
There are 20 books in the series, and he has other series with other characters, and apparently drags them in when he needs to spice things up a bit.
I can see myself asking the question at the end of this one, and don't yet know the answer. Then if I read the next, the question will come up again. Right now it seems damn near impossible I'm going to read all 20... and there's another one about to be published, so he ain't stoppin' as long as the cash is flowin'.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:16 AM (cY3LT)
i stopped reading shortly after he left the force.
I thought the quality fell.
Still, every series has it's slump. Rebus is a good example.
Posted by: naturalfake at September 23, 2018 11:37 AM (CRRq9)
Posted by: Ignoramus at September 23, 2018 11:37 AM (1UZdv)
284
Imma gonna try this one
@Skookumchuk,
If you need a taste taster... I am right here ! No charge.
@Skookumchuk,
If you need a taste taster... I am right here ! No charge.
Posted by: runner at September 23, 2018 11:38 AM (bUjCl)
285
The mosquito is high on my Animals We Don't Need list. I am pretty sure that Rachel Carson's real motive wasn't in saving birds but in killing Africans
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 11:38 AM (Xk4Hx)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at September 23, 2018 11:39 AM (+y/Ru)
287
Luckily been getting my Aubrey/Maturin series at used book store but am at mercy of what is there when I get to them, missed Nutmeg of Consolention. I keep looking for Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series (have 1 on E-book) but they never seem to get there.
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 11:40 AM (T4oHT)
288
The new Nazi elite were not tied into the old families and traditions, and tended to be arrogant enough to think they knew better and were smarter than anyone else.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 23, 2018 11:13 AM (mUa7G)
Gee, I'm glad we have nobody like that in this country nowadays.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 23, 2018 11:13 AM (mUa7G)
Gee, I'm glad we have nobody like that in this country nowadays.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 11:41 AM (aGFaW)
289
Bath time for kitties.
https://bit.ly/2xJmNXU
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at September 23, 2018 11:39 AM (+y/Ru)
Are the cats being bathed, or is the person being punished?
https://bit.ly/2xJmNXU
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at September 23, 2018 11:39 AM (+y/Ru)
Are the cats being bathed, or is the person being punished?
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:42 AM (y87Qq)
290
285 Dennis Prager thanks Leftists for ending DDT use.
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 11:42 AM (T4oHT)
Posted by: Bats at September 23, 2018 11:42 AM (T6t7i)
292
"Ooh, this is one of my favorites, check this one out. It's abou-"
"The author. Is the author stone dead?"
"N-n-no-"
"Ain't interested." *flings book back*
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:00 AM (y87Qq)
----------
Now, now. You're taking that out of context. Poor madamemayhem was lamenting that most kids' books come in wicked long series and she was tired of shelling out big bucks.
I wish, oh how I wish, that Elizabeth Enright had lived longer and written more books.
"The author. Is the author stone dead?"
"N-n-no-"
"Ain't interested." *flings book back*
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:00 AM (y87Qq)
----------
Now, now. You're taking that out of context. Poor madamemayhem was lamenting that most kids' books come in wicked long series and she was tired of shelling out big bucks.
I wish, oh how I wish, that Elizabeth Enright had lived longer and written more books.
Posted by: bluebell at September 23, 2018 11:43 AM (C1PQi)
293
290 Cont for keeping the mosquito on the planet. They have killed and sicked millions.
Posted by: Skip at September 23, 2018 11:44 AM (T4oHT)
294
There's a scientist named Schmidt who created a scale of pain for insect bites, many he self-inflicted.
Yellow jackets are a 2, above the ordinary, Which he described as "hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W. C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue."
Yellow jackets are a 2, above the ordinary, Which he described as "hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W. C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue."
Posted by: Ignoramus at September 23, 2018 11:44 AM (1UZdv)
295
254 Kind of funny how the James Bond movies introduced so many outlandish gadgets while in the book it is made very clear how small a budget the intelligence service has.He uses a few pieces of gear but nothing like the movies.
Posted by: steevy at September 23, 2018 11:16 AM (mCMQ5)
----
This is a constant bitch in the excellent series "The Sandbaggers". One of the agents says to Hell with it, I'm joining the CIA!".
Posted by: steevy at September 23, 2018 11:16 AM (mCMQ5)
----
This is a constant bitch in the excellent series "The Sandbaggers". One of the agents says to Hell with it, I'm joining the CIA!".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 11:47 AM (kQs4Y)
296
". I remember reading some years ago that during WWII, the Germans tried to ruin Britain's economy by flooding the country with counterfeit £5 notes, but it didn't work. And one of the reasons was because the people saw all of this money lying around on the street so they picked it up and turned it in to the authorities."
Catch the movie "The Counterfeiters" if you can.
Catch the movie "The Counterfeiters" if you can.
Posted by: I M Simpleton at September 23, 2018 11:47 AM (jQBOW)
297
Princess Diana went out of the way to visit the ickiest scabbiest people and actually touched them.
Posted by: I Cried at September 23, 2018 11:47 AM (loZXu)
298
294 There's a scientist named Schmidt who created a scale of pain for insect bites, many he self-inflicted.
Posted by: Ignoramus at September 23, 2018 11:44 AM (1UZdv)
Most peoples' kinks have to do with sex, but whatevs.
Posted by: Ignoramus at September 23, 2018 11:44 AM (1UZdv)
Most peoples' kinks have to do with sex, but whatevs.
Posted by: rickl at September 23, 2018 11:48 AM (sdi6R)
299
Yes. Also, I've noticed the same thing about Glenn Greenwald. For example, on Twitter this morning he remarks:
"Even
after everything we've seen, NYT columnists still mistake their highly
insular homogenized friends' views for pervasive sentiment."
Going after his erstwhile buddies for living in a bubble is not going to get him invited to their parties.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 10:16 AM (aGFaW)
I wonder if we are witnessing the start of a preference cascade?
"Even
after everything we've seen, NYT columnists still mistake their highly
insular homogenized friends' views for pervasive sentiment."
Going after his erstwhile buddies for living in a bubble is not going to get him invited to their parties.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair Magazine at September 23, 2018 10:16 AM (aGFaW)
I wonder if we are witnessing the start of a preference cascade?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 23, 2018 11:50 AM (iwUO9)
Posted by: TheQuietMan at September 23, 2018 11:53 AM (SiINZ)
301
(29 Publish or Perish.
Publish or Perish.Posted by: ro-man at September 23, 2018 11:55 AM (RuIsu)
302
There's a scientist named Schmidt who created a scale of pain for insect bites, many he self-inflicted.
Posted by: Ignoramus at September 23, 2018 11:44 AM (1UZdv)
Also in the annals of "hold my beer for science", a toxinolgist tested irukandji jellyfish stings on his 9 year old son and a lifeguard (presumably they volunteered, I guess, sure, let's say that). Irukandji stings cause severe headache, backache, muscle pains, chest and abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, sweating, anxiety, hypertension, tachycardia, pulmonary edema, and a feeling of "impending doom". Patients have been reported as being so certain they are going to die, they beg their doctors to kill them to get it over with. Usually they just wait it out, it takes about a day or so (in some cases a few weeks).
Irukandji jellyfish are about the size of a pea and are completely transparent, so they're really hard to see. Guess where they live? Go on, guess.
Posted by: Ignoramus at September 23, 2018 11:44 AM (1UZdv)
Also in the annals of "hold my beer for science", a toxinolgist tested irukandji jellyfish stings on his 9 year old son and a lifeguard (presumably they volunteered, I guess, sure, let's say that). Irukandji stings cause severe headache, backache, muscle pains, chest and abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, sweating, anxiety, hypertension, tachycardia, pulmonary edema, and a feeling of "impending doom". Patients have been reported as being so certain they are going to die, they beg their doctors to kill them to get it over with. Usually they just wait it out, it takes about a day or so (in some cases a few weeks).
Irukandji jellyfish are about the size of a pea and are completely transparent, so they're really hard to see. Guess where they live? Go on, guess.
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:59 AM (y87Qq)
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 23, 2018 12:00 PM (LsBY9)
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 23, 2018 12:02 PM (LsBY9)
305
Irukandji jellyfish are about the size of a pea and are completely transparent, so they're really hard to see. Guess where they live? Go on, guess.
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:59 AM (y87Qq)
In the ocean?
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:59 AM (y87Qq)
In the ocean?
Posted by: rickl at September 23, 2018 12:03 PM (sdi6R)
306
Irukandji jellyfish are about the size of a pea and are completely
transparent, so they're really hard to see. Guess where they live?
Congress? They'll blend right in.
transparent, so they're really hard to see. Guess where they live?
Congress? They'll blend right in.
Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 12:04 PM (T6t7i)
307
C-Span2 has about an hour of Coulter mingling at a cocktail party for her book, hanging with Alex Marlow (host and editor in chief at Breitbart).
She's smart, quick, fun ... and seems to know everybody. And Ann has said how she hangs with so many liberals ... which is apparently essential to being a mover and shaker, yet she manages to maintain (what I'd call) one of the most practical conservative postures (overall).
the more formal intro starts at 38 minutes.
youtube.com/watch?v=0OCjIOsU_pM
She's smart, quick, fun ... and seems to know everybody. And Ann has said how she hangs with so many liberals ... which is apparently essential to being a mover and shaker, yet she manages to maintain (what I'd call) one of the most practical conservative postures (overall).
the more formal intro starts at 38 minutes.
youtube.com/watch?v=0OCjIOsU_pM
Posted by: illiniwek at September 23, 2018 12:06 PM (Cus5s)
308
"My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the way through? "
Sharpe's Rifles... all... Honor Harrington... new one out next month, all up to now. David Drakes Cinnibar stuff, yes..
Dorsai series? yes... all the original Tarzans and Conans (although not some of those follow on written by other authors...
Yes, I read enough that I LIKE long series.
Sharpe's Rifles... all... Honor Harrington... new one out next month, all up to now. David Drakes Cinnibar stuff, yes..
Dorsai series? yes... all the original Tarzans and Conans (although not some of those follow on written by other authors...
Yes, I read enough that I LIKE long series.
Posted by: Don Quixote, Neanderthal of LaMunchies at September 23, 2018 12:06 PM (NgKpN)
309
In the ocean off the coast of Irukandji?
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (MVjcR)
310
"Irukandji jellyfish inhabit the northern marine waters of Australia."
Because of course they do.
Because of course they do.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (kQs4Y)
311
Also in the annals of "hold my beer for science", a toxinolgist tested irukandji jellyfish stings on his 9 year old son and a lifeguard (presumably they volunteered, I guess, sure, let's say that). Irukandji stings cause severe headache, backache, muscle pains, chest and abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, sweating, anxiety, hypertension, tachycardia, pulmonary edema, and a feeling of "impending doom". Patients have been reported as being so certain they are going to die, they beg their doctors to kill them to get it over with. Usually they just wait it out, it takes about a day or so (in some cases a few weeks).
Irukandji jellyfish are about the size of a pea and are completely transparent, so they're really hard to see. Guess where they live? Go on, guess.
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:59 AM (y87Qq)
Hmmm.... second look at interrogation methods?
Irukandji jellyfish are about the size of a pea and are completely transparent, so they're really hard to see. Guess where they live? Go on, guess.
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 11:59 AM (y87Qq)
Hmmm.... second look at interrogation methods?
Posted by: Don Quixote, Neanderthal of LaMunchies at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (NgKpN)
312
According to wikipedia, yellowjackets prey on other insect species, so they are beneficial to agriculture.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at September 23, 2018 12:11 PM (/qEW2)
313
Book nerds!
Posted by: Ogre at September 23, 2018 12:12 PM (5jVnA)
314
Yellowjackets might be beneficial somehow, but they're still assholes.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 12:13 PM (MVjcR)
315
"Irukandji jellyfish inhabit the northern marine waters of Australia."
Because of course they do.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (kQs4Y)
If there were natural justice in this world, they would inhabit Chrissy Edsel's swimming pool.
"Irukandji jellyfish inhabit the northern marine waters of Australia."
Because of course they do.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (kQs4Y)
If there were natural justice in this world, they would inhabit Chrissy Edsel's swimming pool.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 23, 2018 12:13 PM (iwUO9)
316
Wow. Just found some ancient road flares (60's?) Pa stored in the back of a cabinet in the shop. Any guesses on the probability of combustion after a half century of storage?
Books good. Tarzan read. Gibbon bad.
Books good. Tarzan read. Gibbon bad.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at September 23, 2018 12:14 PM (e1mEI)
317
"Irukandji jellyfish inhabit the northern marine waters of Australia."
Because of course they do.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (kQs4Y)
And on the sixth day, God piled up all the leftover murder and, when nobody was looking, put it all in Australia.
Because of course they do.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (kQs4Y)
And on the sixth day, God piled up all the leftover murder and, when nobody was looking, put it all in Australia.
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 12:16 PM (y87Qq)
318
Yellowjackets might be beneficial somehow, but they're still assholes.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 12:13 PM (MVjcR)
With yellowjackets and other insect pests, perhaps the answer will be not to extinct them, but to alter their genome such that they fear and avoid humans at all costs.
Except roaches. Extinct them.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 12:13 PM (MVjcR)
With yellowjackets and other insect pests, perhaps the answer will be not to extinct them, but to alter their genome such that they fear and avoid humans at all costs.
Except roaches. Extinct them.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 23, 2018 12:16 PM (iwUO9)
Posted by: In Vino Veritits at September 23, 2018 12:16 PM (UFLLM)
320
316 Wow. Just found some ancient road flares (60's?) Pa stored in the back of a cabinet in the shop. Any guesses on the probability of combustion after a half century of storage?
Books good. Tarzan read. Gibbon bad.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at September 23, 2018 12:14 PM (e1mEI)
--------
Have anyone handy to hold your beer?
Books good. Tarzan read. Gibbon bad.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at September 23, 2018 12:14 PM (e1mEI)
--------
Have anyone handy to hold your beer?
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 12:16 PM (MVjcR)
321
317 "Irukandji jellyfish inhabit the northern marine waters of Australia."
Because of course they do.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (kQs4Y)
And on the sixth day, God piled up all the leftover murder and, when nobody was looking, put it all in Australia.
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 12:16 PM (y87Qq)
So that's where Cain ended up?
Because of course they do.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (kQs4Y)
And on the sixth day, God piled up all the leftover murder and, when nobody was looking, put it all in Australia.
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 12:16 PM (y87Qq)
So that's where Cain ended up?
Posted by: Don Quixote, Neanderthal of LaMunchies at September 23, 2018 12:17 PM (NgKpN)
322
"Irukandji jellyfish inhabit the northern marine waters of Australia."
Because of course they do.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (kQs4Y)
Why, it's almost as if the continent doesn't want people living there.
Almost.
Because of course they do.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 12:08 PM (kQs4Y)
Why, it's almost as if the continent doesn't want people living there.
Almost.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 12:17 PM (cY3LT)
323
My Truth: How I Learned About Rape Through Recovered Memory by Dr. Christine Crazy-Ford
Posted by: Super Thin Books at September 23, 2018 12:18 PM (v1udk)
324
Wow. Just found some ancient road flares (60's?) Pa
stored in the back of a cabinet in the shop. Any guesses on the
probability of combustion after a half century of storage?
Books good. Tarzan read. Gibbon bad.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at September 23, 2018 12:14 PM (e1mEI)
Probably still good. The manufacturers put a heavy, heavy coating of wax on them.
stored in the back of a cabinet in the shop. Any guesses on the
probability of combustion after a half century of storage?
Books good. Tarzan read. Gibbon bad.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at September 23, 2018 12:14 PM (e1mEI)
Probably still good. The manufacturers put a heavy, heavy coating of wax on them.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 23, 2018 12:18 PM (iwUO9)
325
has anyone written a book on a heist using drones? you know, like "the doberman gang", only the crooks send drones to a bank (depository, 7/11, wtvr), that demand money be put in attached bags and off they fly. option to hollywood in 3,2,1...
Posted by: mjc, the very, at September 23, 2018 12:18 PM (Pg+x7)
326
These pants.
Deep in the murky recesses of my memory I recall seeing a very similar pair of pants. And I do mean pair. As in two. Yes. Someone actually made two of them. And moreover, convinced two people to buy and wear them.
Mid 80's it was. In the Middle East.
Deep in the murky recesses of my memory I recall seeing a very similar pair of pants. And I do mean pair. As in two. Yes. Someone actually made two of them. And moreover, convinced two people to buy and wear them.
Mid 80's it was. In the Middle East.
Posted by: Diogenes at September 23, 2018 12:18 PM (0tfLf)
327
Ya'll need to go to Amazon per #1 above and address that... nobody had done so until I went a few minutes ago...
Posted by: In Vino Veritits at September 23, 2018 12:18 PM (UFLLM)
328
nood
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 12:19 PM (mpXpK)
329
Yellowjackets might be beneficial somehow, but they're still assholes.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 12:13 PM (MVjcR)
Same with spiders. I know you kill all sorts of things I don't want around, but you look like you came out of hell.
Please go back there.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 12:13 PM (MVjcR)
Same with spiders. I know you kill all sorts of things I don't want around, but you look like you came out of hell.
Please go back there.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 12:19 PM (cY3LT)
330
Madame -- Age appropriate, but not insulting to a kid's intelligence --
Cornelia Funke (quite a few), James Patterson and co-authors for the Maximum Ride series, Butcher's Chicago Wizard, Odom and his 'library' trilogy, the Paolini Eragon series, Jinks Evil Genius series --
All are literate and action-filled and not much weirdness for younger people and the ones my 12yo (now 21) enjoyed. How about earlier Pratchett, as well?
Cornelia Funke (quite a few), James Patterson and co-authors for the Maximum Ride series, Butcher's Chicago Wizard, Odom and his 'library' trilogy, the Paolini Eragon series, Jinks Evil Genius series --
All are literate and action-filled and not much weirdness for younger people and the ones my 12yo (now 21) enjoyed. How about earlier Pratchett, as well?
Posted by: mustbequantum at September 23, 2018 12:20 PM (MIKMs)
331
> And on the sixth day, God piled up all the leftover murder and, when nobody was looking, put it all in Australia.
In most places in the world, venomous snakes are not the norm. The vast majority of snake species are non-venomous and thus totally harmless.
Australia, by contrast, has only one species of non-venomous snake.
In most places in the world, venomous snakes are not the norm. The vast majority of snake species are non-venomous and thus totally harmless.
Australia, by contrast, has only one species of non-venomous snake.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 12:20 PM (TM5Iv)
332
313 Book nerds!
Posted by: Ogre at September 23, 2018 12:12 PM (5jVnA)
/looks a the collection a Fencing Manuals, sitting under his crossed Rapiers...
/sniffs..
Yes, so effete...
313 Book nerds!
Posted by: Ogre at September 23, 2018 12:12 PM (5jVnA)
/looks a the collection a Fencing Manuals, sitting under his crossed Rapiers...
/sniffs..
Yes, so effete...
Posted by: Don Quixote, Neanderthal of LaMunchies at September 23, 2018 12:20 PM (NgKpN)
333
Australia, by contrast, has only one species of non-venomous snake.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 12:20 PM (TM5Iv)
Probably constantly getting its lunch money taken by the other snakes.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 12:20 PM (TM5Iv)
Probably constantly getting its lunch money taken by the other snakes.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 12:21 PM (cY3LT)
334
Downdrins.
I shall endeavor to use this word in conversation at least five times today.
Excellent word!
I shall endeavor to use this word in conversation at least five times today.
Excellent word!
Posted by: Diogenes at September 23, 2018 12:22 PM (0tfLf)
335
Australia, by contrast, has only one species of non-venomous snake.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 12:20 PM (TM5Iv)
I didn't know that, but it seems so right. How could it be otherwise?
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 12:20 PM (TM5Iv)
I didn't know that, but it seems so right. How could it be otherwise?
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 12:22 PM (y87Qq)
336
287 ... Skip, I had the same problem with the Aubrey series, Horation Hornblower books and Cornwell books. Just keep looking or check your local library. I managed to find almost all the O'Brian books at one tme a couple of years ago. Same with the Hornblower and Sharpes series recently. Most were under two bucks. I was in the right place at the right time.
What I haven't found yet is that Beatrix Potter Tales series by Susan Albert. I managed to get the first two but haven't seen any of the others at all and they are not especially cheap even on Amazon. Sooner or later I'll luck out. But there are some series that just don't get traded at the used book stores very often.
What I haven't found yet is that Beatrix Potter Tales series by Susan Albert. I managed to get the first two but haven't seen any of the others at all and they are not especially cheap even on Amazon. Sooner or later I'll luck out. But there are some series that just don't get traded at the used book stores very often.
Posted by: JTB at September 23, 2018 12:23 PM (V+03K)
337
Yellowjackets might be beneficial somehow, but they're still assholes.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 12:13 PM (MVjcR)
Totally this.
Posted by: Weasel at September 23, 2018 12:13 PM (MVjcR)
Totally this.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at September 23, 2018 12:23 PM (9Om/r)
338
316 Wow. Just found some ancient road flares (60's?) Pa stored in the back of a cabinet in the shop. Any guesses on the probability of combustion after a half century of storage?
Books good. Tarzan read. Gibbon bad.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at September 23, 2018 12:14 PM (e1mEI)
----------------
Are you sure they are road flares? Back in the sixties, explosives were much easier to get a hold of from what I understand.
Books good. Tarzan read. Gibbon bad.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at September 23, 2018 12:14 PM (e1mEI)
----------------
Are you sure they are road flares? Back in the sixties, explosives were much easier to get a hold of from what I understand.
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at September 23, 2018 12:23 PM (WEBkv)
339
> I didn't know that, but it seems so right. How could it be otherwise?
That's what I'd heard, but on checking it's apparently not true. The Northern Territory (i.e., jungly almost-New Guinea) has several species of python and other snakes that are non-venomous.
It does appear to be true of the red deserty regions of Australia, though.
That's what I'd heard, but on checking it's apparently not true. The Northern Territory (i.e., jungly almost-New Guinea) has several species of python and other snakes that are non-venomous.
It does appear to be true of the red deserty regions of Australia, though.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 12:31 PM (TM5Iv)
340
Are you sure they are road flares? Back in the sixties, explosives were much easier to get a hold of from what I understand.
Is it crescent-shaped, with "Front Towards Enemy" printed on it? If so, yes, that's a flare.
Is it crescent-shaped, with "Front Towards Enemy" printed on it? If so, yes, that's a flare.
Posted by: pep at September 23, 2018 12:34 PM (T6t7i)
341
That's what I'd heard, but on checking it's apparently not true.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 12:31 PM (TM5Iv)
And now I'm disappointed in Australia.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 12:31 PM (TM5Iv)
And now I'm disappointed in Australia.
Posted by: hogmartin at September 23, 2018 12:35 PM (y87Qq)
342
"Front Towards Enemy" would make a great t-shirt.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at September 23, 2018 12:38 PM (kQs4Y)
343
338
316 Wow. Just found some ancient road flares (60's?) Pa stored in the
back of a cabinet in the shop. Any guesses on the probability of
combustion after a half century of storage?
Books good. Tarzan read. Gibbon bad.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at September 23, 2018 12:14 PM (e1mEI)
Flambos should still be good as long as you can get fuel for them. Kerosene I think. I don't know about those flares that have stakes on the bottom that you hammer in.
316 Wow. Just found some ancient road flares (60's?) Pa stored in the
back of a cabinet in the shop. Any guesses on the probability of
combustion after a half century of storage?
Books good. Tarzan read. Gibbon bad.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at September 23, 2018 12:14 PM (e1mEI)
Flambos should still be good as long as you can get fuel for them. Kerosene I think. I don't know about those flares that have stakes on the bottom that you hammer in.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 12:39 PM (mpXpK)
344
The past couple of weeks I've been reading science fiction short story anthologies rather than novels. I just finished one called Galactic Empires, edited by Neil Clarke (of Clarkesworld magazine fame). The stories are all original to this collection (I think), and it's an attempt to update the classic sci-fi trope. Lots of slower-than-light empires and people "uploading" themselves across interstellar distances.
The stories are mostly pretty good. None really knocked it out of the park, but they were all solid work. Not a lot of liberal seat-kicking, which is good.
The worst offender was about a Woman Anthropologist studying a long-isolated world who uncovers the Powerful Truths about the local human society that her Male Chauvinist Boss overlooked. It would have been ground-breaking stuff about fifty years ago.
The stories are mostly pretty good. None really knocked it out of the park, but they were all solid work. Not a lot of liberal seat-kicking, which is good.
The worst offender was about a Woman Anthropologist studying a long-isolated world who uncovers the Powerful Truths about the local human society that her Male Chauvinist Boss overlooked. It would have been ground-breaking stuff about fifty years ago.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 23, 2018 12:41 PM (4mD7U)
345
It's an appropriate photo at the top.
We could provide similar in Ottawa this weekend, after the two tornadoes passed through Friday afternoon.
It was surreal driving to Costco this morning, traffic lights still out, all the other stores around it closed, but they are up and running on generator power.
We were lucky, one started a run a couple miles from our house, but we were without power for 22 hours, and you can hear the chainsaws running as uprooted trees are being cleared.
We could provide similar in Ottawa this weekend, after the two tornadoes passed through Friday afternoon.
It was surreal driving to Costco this morning, traffic lights still out, all the other stores around it closed, but they are up and running on generator power.
We were lucky, one started a run a couple miles from our house, but we were without power for 22 hours, and you can hear the chainsaws running as uprooted trees are being cleared.
Posted by: Asko at September 23, 2018 12:51 PM (AaSf0)
346
After reading the squib from the "law professor" who believes "credible allegations" are disqualifying, I've decided to re-read To Kill a Mockingbird with that in mind.
At a function a lib guest brought up the "credible allegations" theory and I said "you mean like the credible allegations against Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird? So you're into old time southern justice? I did not expect that."
Curious silence.
At a function a lib guest brought up the "credible allegations" theory and I said "you mean like the credible allegations against Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird? So you're into old time southern justice? I did not expect that."
Curious silence.
Posted by: The Poster Formerly Known as Mr. Barky at September 23, 2018 12:57 PM (fYr5Q)
347
@158 --
JTB, I agree with you on the "M*A*S*H Goes" books. Loved those, although I think the series was sputtering with "Montreal" and "Moscow."
However, I also love Hornberger's original "M*A*S*H." The TV series was in full Alda mode when I got the book, and I found it to be quite a change to read about the doctors shooting out the tires on Shaking Sammy's Jeep.
Shame that Duke was written out of the show.
JTB, I agree with you on the "M*A*S*H Goes" books. Loved those, although I think the series was sputtering with "Montreal" and "Moscow."
However, I also love Hornberger's original "M*A*S*H." The TV series was in full Alda mode when I got the book, and I found it to be quite a change to read about the doctors shooting out the tires on Shaking Sammy's Jeep.
Shame that Duke was written out of the show.
Posted by: Weak Geek at September 23, 2018 01:01 PM (P0CqY)
348
Sure sure sure, Leo. His given name was Leo, but his friends knew him as Chet.
Which obviously you weren't.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:36 AM (cY3LT)
Well. I am completely unacquainted with Hubris.
*preens*
Which obviously you weren't.
Posted by: BurtTC at September 23, 2018 11:36 AM (cY3LT)
Well. I am completely unacquainted with Hubris.
*preens*
Posted by: Kindltot at September 23, 2018 01:01 PM (mUa7G)
349
Maybe late to this party but I have some thoughts on long series novels.
They aren't about character development. In fact, character development (or drift as fans sometimes call it) is death to a series.
People go back to read long series because the characters do NOT change. Think Rex Stout, Agatha Christie, Robert E. Howard...hell, even Don Pendleton.
Iconic characters who do not mutate are comforting. They're reliable. They're a known quantity. You go back to read about their adventures.
Lois McMaster Bujold is a great example of the problem with character development. Her space opera series (starting with Shards of Honor and really getting going with The Vor Game) was extremely popular. You had good bad guys, complex and frankly tortured protagonist, sex, shooting, space battles....and then it began to change.
The character of Miles began to change, to grow up certainly, but he changed, the society changed, the bad guys changed and...it fell apart.
The writing was still good, Lois Bujold is a damn fine writer, I own most of her stuff, but it wasn't sci fi or fantasy anymore. It was, more or less, a simulation of real life.
And a lot of readers don't read Sci Fi and Fantasy for realism. We wanted Miles to go on having space adventures, outwitting the bad guys and dealing with an active but fraught love life. We wanted to have that epic romance intact that his parents had.
But instead Miles...quit. He stopped having space adventures. He settled down, got a job, stopped being the main character of the series, really. And his parents were killed and then their relationship was revealed to have devloved into an ugly bisexual menage with a rando character introduced in the last Miles novel.
Mutation and change. You can keep it.
Give me a interesting character and give him interesting problems WITHOUT him changing or having important point of view or lifestyle changes.
They aren't about character development. In fact, character development (or drift as fans sometimes call it) is death to a series.
People go back to read long series because the characters do NOT change. Think Rex Stout, Agatha Christie, Robert E. Howard...hell, even Don Pendleton.
Iconic characters who do not mutate are comforting. They're reliable. They're a known quantity. You go back to read about their adventures.
Lois McMaster Bujold is a great example of the problem with character development. Her space opera series (starting with Shards of Honor and really getting going with The Vor Game) was extremely popular. You had good bad guys, complex and frankly tortured protagonist, sex, shooting, space battles....and then it began to change.
The character of Miles began to change, to grow up certainly, but he changed, the society changed, the bad guys changed and...it fell apart.
The writing was still good, Lois Bujold is a damn fine writer, I own most of her stuff, but it wasn't sci fi or fantasy anymore. It was, more or less, a simulation of real life.
And a lot of readers don't read Sci Fi and Fantasy for realism. We wanted Miles to go on having space adventures, outwitting the bad guys and dealing with an active but fraught love life. We wanted to have that epic romance intact that his parents had.
But instead Miles...quit. He stopped having space adventures. He settled down, got a job, stopped being the main character of the series, really. And his parents were killed and then their relationship was revealed to have devloved into an ugly bisexual menage with a rando character introduced in the last Miles novel.
Mutation and change. You can keep it.
Give me a interesting character and give him interesting problems WITHOUT him changing or having important point of view or lifestyle changes.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, well-armed dreg of society at September 23, 2018 01:08 PM (xJa6I)
350
As for books, I got some Doug TenNapel graphic novels.
He's a damn fine writer, a bit of an asshole, a committed Christian...two of which are rare in comic book artists/writers.
I also bought the first Goshawk novel, on moron rec from last week!
He's a damn fine writer, a bit of an asshole, a committed Christian...two of which are rare in comic book artists/writers.
I also bought the first Goshawk novel, on moron rec from last week!
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, well-armed dreg of society at September 23, 2018 01:11 PM (xJa6I)
351
[i[Give me a interesting character and give him
interesting problems WITHOUT him changing or having important point of
view or lifestyle changes.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, well-armed dreg of society at September 23, 2018 01:08 PM (xJa6I)
Pratchett got around that by bringing in secondary characters and make subsequent books about them.
Ponder Stibbons was pretty much a throw away student in Moving Pictures, for example.
Have to admit that the Rincewind arc was getting silly by the third or fourth book, and Granny Weatherwax could get a bit much too.
interesting problems WITHOUT him changing or having important point of
view or lifestyle changes.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, well-armed dreg of society at September 23, 2018 01:08 PM (xJa6I)
Pratchett got around that by bringing in secondary characters and make subsequent books about them.
Ponder Stibbons was pretty much a throw away student in Moving Pictures, for example.
Have to admit that the Rincewind arc was getting silly by the third or fourth book, and Granny Weatherwax could get a bit much too.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 23, 2018 01:15 PM (mUa7G)
352
249 ... "People go back to read long series because the characters do NOT change. Think Rex Stout, Agatha Christie, Robert E. Howard...hell, even Don Pendleton."
Oh yeah. I would add the Matt Helm series. The circumstances for the characters may change, such as getting married or having kids, but the attitudes and approach of the characters shouldn't change. While not a requirement, a regular setting can be part of that. The New York brownstone, the sitting room at Baker street, even the familiar home and settings on Martha's Vineyard can add to the appeal.
Oh yeah. I would add the Matt Helm series. The circumstances for the characters may change, such as getting married or having kids, but the attitudes and approach of the characters shouldn't change. While not a requirement, a regular setting can be part of that. The New York brownstone, the sitting room at Baker street, even the familiar home and settings on Martha's Vineyard can add to the appeal.
Posted by: JTB at September 23, 2018 01:31 PM (V+03K)
353
I was glad to see the new Doyle & Acton book mentioned -I've read all the books in this series, and I "follow" this author on Amazon so they will send me notice of new titles. But I've gotten NO notice of this one. I can't figure the point of the Amazon author "follow" feature if they aren't going to send me notice of new titles. pfft.
Posted by: Reine at September 23, 2018 01:32 PM (MfStn)
354
Pratchett got around that by bringing in secondary characters and make subsequent books about them.
Ponder Stibbons was pretty much a throw away student in Moving Pictures, for example.
Have to admit that the Rincewind arc was getting silly by the third or fourth book, and Granny Weatherwax could get a bit much too.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 23, 2018 01:15 PM (mUa7G)
Yeah, that kept the series going, but it kinda killed the characters.
You know who didn't change and is a favorite because of that? Lord Vetinari.
There is a place for characters that change, but it's not series genre novels.
Ponder Stibbons was pretty much a throw away student in Moving Pictures, for example.
Have to admit that the Rincewind arc was getting silly by the third or fourth book, and Granny Weatherwax could get a bit much too.
Posted by: Kindltot at September 23, 2018 01:15 PM (mUa7G)
Yeah, that kept the series going, but it kinda killed the characters.
You know who didn't change and is a favorite because of that? Lord Vetinari.
There is a place for characters that change, but it's not series genre novels.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, well-armed dreg of society at September 23, 2018 01:37 PM (xJa6I)
355
sorry this is late
what you can do for boulder t'hobo in #1 is click Not Helpful on the review
a review gets enough downvotes then it disappears
what you can do for boulder t'hobo in #1 is click Not Helpful on the review
a review gets enough downvotes then it disappears
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at September 23, 2018 01:49 PM (CE6iV)
356
323
My Truth: How I Learned About Rape Through Recovered Memory by Dr. Christine Crazy-Ford
Posted by: Super Thin Books at September 23, 2018 12:18 PM (v1udk)
------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------
My wife's best-friend during grade school, high school, and comm. college wend to some kind of an analyst to get "straightened out." (This was maybe 30 years ago.)
The friend managed to remember being at an occult, satanist ceremony where a girl from the local high school was tortured and abused and killed and buried.
Apparently there was no investigation by law enforcement when the victim disappeared because she was still alive and it never happened. And someone went and checked on every girl from the school a year younger, the same age, and a year older and everyone was accounted for.
This caused much mental distress for the friend who had "remembered" watching the event.
My Truth: How I Learned About Rape Through Recovered Memory by Dr. Christine Crazy-Ford
Posted by: Super Thin Books at September 23, 2018 12:18 PM (v1udk)
------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------
My wife's best-friend during grade school, high school, and comm. college wend to some kind of an analyst to get "straightened out." (This was maybe 30 years ago.)
The friend managed to remember being at an occult, satanist ceremony where a girl from the local high school was tortured and abused and killed and buried.
Apparently there was no investigation by law enforcement when the victim disappeared because she was still alive and it never happened. And someone went and checked on every girl from the school a year younger, the same age, and a year older and everyone was accounted for.
This caused much mental distress for the friend who had "remembered" watching the event.
Posted by: Three and One at September 23, 2018 01:53 PM (j/Fcv)
357
My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the way through?
Looks like it's Patrick O'Brian for the win.
(BTW, does Sherlock Holmes count?)
Looks like it's Patrick O'Brian for the win.
(BTW, does Sherlock Holmes count?)
Posted by: Eeyore, fomerly George LeS at September 23, 2018 01:53 PM (59GGI)
358
@353
If you contact the author's webpage (which is her name) you can be put on a notifications list.
If you contact the author's webpage (which is her name) you can be put on a notifications list.
Posted by: artemis at September 23, 2018 01:54 PM (AwPyG)
359
Maybe just maybe he sees the worm turning! Intellectualism and Technocrats have gotten so so so many things wrong since 9/11/2001 they know no one is eating their dog food except the moonbat leftists.
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 09:35 AM (wU/T1)
IIANM, Mooch's school lunch overhaul was the product of Cass Sunstein's "nudge" theories. There was some other guy who was credited with her garbage psychology and he has just been discredited. but I refuse to believe it. Zero and Mr. Samantha Power were tight into totalitarianism.
I have a friend who pulled a stint as a lunch lady in a local high school and she said the food that's wasted both in the kitchen and in the cafeteria garbage cans could feed a Third-World nation easily.
Posted by: rhennigantx at September 23, 2018 09:35 AM (wU/T1)
IIANM, Mooch's school lunch overhaul was the product of Cass Sunstein's "nudge" theories. There was some other guy who was credited with her garbage psychology and he has just been discredited. but I refuse to believe it. Zero and Mr. Samantha Power were tight into totalitarianism.
I have a friend who pulled a stint as a lunch lady in a local high school and she said the food that's wasted both in the kitchen and in the cafeteria garbage cans could feed a Third-World nation easily.
Posted by: SandyCheeks at September 23, 2018 02:15 PM (ihzOe)
360
Ha, I hijack the book thread once again! 
Was busy diving into Lapland architecture. Did you know it's nearly impossible to find pictures, drawings, or descriptions of domestic medieval Finnish architecture, mainly due to wooden construction and the fires that would result? Which is a problem if the Tolkien-inspired story you're writing was in turn inspired by medieval Finnish sagas. It also doesn't help that the Sami are nomads.
How do I get myself into these messes?
Was busy diving into Lapland architecture. Did you know it's nearly impossible to find pictures, drawings, or descriptions of domestic medieval Finnish architecture, mainly due to wooden construction and the fires that would result? Which is a problem if the Tolkien-inspired story you're writing was in turn inspired by medieval Finnish sagas. It also doesn't help that the Sami are nomads.
How do I get myself into these messes?
Posted by: pookysgirl at September 23, 2018 02:17 PM (XKZwp)
361
259 IIANM, Mooch's school lunch overhaul was the product
of Cass Sunstein's "nudge" theories. There was some other guy who was
credited with her garbage psychology and he has just been discredited.
but I refuse to believe it. Zero and Mr. Samantha Power were tight into
totalitarianism.
I have a friend who pulled a stint as a lunch lady in a local high
school and she said the food that's wasted both in the kitchen and in
the cafeteria garbage cans could feed a Third-World nation easily.
Posted by: SandyCheeks at September 23, 2018 02:15 PM (ihzOe)
I posted a link a few days ago to an article that said the federal school lunch program has been severely discredited as fake science and Trump has killed it.
of Cass Sunstein's "nudge" theories. There was some other guy who was
credited with her garbage psychology and he has just been discredited.
but I refuse to believe it. Zero and Mr. Samantha Power were tight into
totalitarianism.
I have a friend who pulled a stint as a lunch lady in a local high
school and she said the food that's wasted both in the kitchen and in
the cafeteria garbage cans could feed a Third-World nation easily.
Posted by: SandyCheeks at September 23, 2018 02:15 PM (ihzOe)
I posted a link a few days ago to an article that said the federal school lunch program has been severely discredited as fake science and Trump has killed it.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 23, 2018 02:38 PM (mpXpK)
362
360 ... Pookysgirl, try searching on medieval Norwegian houses. The terrain and resources should be similar. Also, Tolkien described and drew a picture of Beorn's house in The Hobbit. That might give you some leads.
This is just a guess but I suspect images of early colonial log cabins, especially in the northern states, would be suggestive of the style.
Hope this helps.
This is just a guess but I suspect images of early colonial log cabins, especially in the northern states, would be suggestive of the style.
Hope this helps.
Posted by: JTB at September 23, 2018 02:45 PM (V+03K)
363
Um....that appears to me to be a young woman with breasts, not a boy.
Posted by: Your Friendly Neighborhood Witch at September 23, 2018 02:52 PM (HLTe8)
364
Be sure to tweet to Kristol re his Senatorial aspirations. Ask him if he knows what purell is for.
Posted by: torabora at September 23, 2018 02:54 PM (dNNMT)
365
My question is, does anyone really read a long series like this all the way through?
#125 And I have read all the Judge Dee series in chronological order. (The list at the end of Judge Dee At Work.)
Yes! I reread these occasionally.
#141 I did read all of the Dresden Chronicles but it seems that Butcher has lost interest in the series and I guess I have too. I was semi-anxiously waiting for the next one but now I'll probably skip it when/if it comes out.
Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at September 23, 2018 10:12 AM (cTajt)
Last I heard, Butcher does have a plan for finishing the series BUT real life got in the way (divorce? new house? something stressful). At one point David Weber got derailed by a broken wrist. He went to something like DragonVoice and it really changed the pacing of his stories.
Not already mentioned, Jonathan Moeller does large books in long series that do end. I've read all 15 Frostborn (complete), 9 Sevenfold Sword (ongoing), 7 Demonsouled (complete), 4 of 12 Cloak Games (ongoing) and several of his "short" series. If I'm late to a series, I'll read 3 or 4 then switch to something else for a while.
#1 Also if you have read House of War, I hope you can find the time to post your (honest!) opinion of that book (and not of me, we're agreed I fail as a human) on Amazon's site.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:00 AM (N1ZXu)
Do you have an ebook edition? I'm finding paper harder and harder to read.
This week currently reading "Spellmonger", rereading "Bubba and the Curious Cadaver" by Bevill.
Finished Alma TC Boykin "Imperial Magic", "Daughter of the Pearl", Jon del Arroz "Knight Training", Moeller "Sevenfold Sword: Serpent", "Duel", Bevill "Bubba and the Wacky Wedding Wickedness"
Next up Anne Cleeland "Murder in Spite" (as soon as I buy it!), Donna Andrews "How the Finch Stole Christmas", Kristine Kathryn Rusch "FantasyLife"
#125 And I have read all the Judge Dee series in chronological order. (The list at the end of Judge Dee At Work.)
Yes! I reread these occasionally.
#141 I did read all of the Dresden Chronicles but it seems that Butcher has lost interest in the series and I guess I have too. I was semi-anxiously waiting for the next one but now I'll probably skip it when/if it comes out.
Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at September 23, 2018 10:12 AM (cTajt)
Last I heard, Butcher does have a plan for finishing the series BUT real life got in the way (divorce? new house? something stressful). At one point David Weber got derailed by a broken wrist. He went to something like DragonVoice and it really changed the pacing of his stories.
Not already mentioned, Jonathan Moeller does large books in long series that do end. I've read all 15 Frostborn (complete), 9 Sevenfold Sword (ongoing), 7 Demonsouled (complete), 4 of 12 Cloak Games (ongoing) and several of his "short" series. If I'm late to a series, I'll read 3 or 4 then switch to something else for a while.
#1 Also if you have read House of War, I hope you can find the time to post your (honest!) opinion of that book (and not of me, we're agreed I fail as a human) on Amazon's site.
Posted by: boulder t'hobo at September 23, 2018 09:00 AM (N1ZXu)
Do you have an ebook edition? I'm finding paper harder and harder to read.
This week currently reading "Spellmonger", rereading "Bubba and the Curious Cadaver" by Bevill.
Finished Alma TC Boykin "Imperial Magic", "Daughter of the Pearl", Jon del Arroz "Knight Training", Moeller "Sevenfold Sword: Serpent", "Duel", Bevill "Bubba and the Wacky Wedding Wickedness"
Next up Anne Cleeland "Murder in Spite" (as soon as I buy it!), Donna Andrews "How the Finch Stole Christmas", Kristine Kathryn Rusch "FantasyLife"
Posted by: gingeroni at September 23, 2018 02:57 PM (GIqnq)
366
I was really glad that in the (unfinished) 21st novel, Maturin finally appeared to be with someone who could make him genuinely happy. Diana had borderline personality disorder, IMO.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 11:34 AM (TM5Iv)
Diana was an intriguing character. Drop dead gorgeous and capable of making horrendous decisions, including the risky one which ended her life. She was drawn so vividly and ended so abruptly I wonder if she was based on someone in O'Brian's real life.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at September 23, 2018 11:34 AM (TM5Iv)
Diana was an intriguing character. Drop dead gorgeous and capable of making horrendous decisions, including the risky one which ended her life. She was drawn so vividly and ended so abruptly I wonder if she was based on someone in O'Brian's real life.
Posted by: Captain Hate at September 23, 2018 03:09 PM (y7DUB)
367
353 I was glad to see the new Doyle & Acton book mentioned -I've read all the books in this series, and I "follow" this author on Amazon so they will send me notice of new titles. But I've gotten NO notice of this one. I can't figure the point of the Amazon author "follow" feature if they aren't going to send me notice of new titles. pfft.
Posted by: Reine at September 23, 2018 01:32 PM (MfStn)
I've had the same problem with Amazon. They hide author updates in with reviewer updates so I have to go to their site to find what I'm missing. Even then they miss new books.
The best "follow" this author is from Smashwords. They send out notices promptly and with little cruft. I wish more authors would use them.
Posted by: Reine at September 23, 2018 01:32 PM (MfStn)
I've had the same problem with Amazon. They hide author updates in with reviewer updates so I have to go to their site to find what I'm missing. Even then they miss new books.
The best "follow" this author is from Smashwords. They send out notices promptly and with little cruft. I wish more authors would use them.
Posted by: gingeroni at September 23, 2018 03:12 PM (GIqnq)
368
Rachel Maddow can READ!!!! and princess die better watch her back.
Posted by: saf at September 23, 2018 03:46 PM (5IHGB)
369
Late to the book thread as usual, alas.
One comment I will make in response to Rodrigo Borgia @45 above on Patrick O'Brian and Jane Austen.
Patrick O'Brian was a great admirer of Jane Austen. Back in the 90s I was lucky enough to hear O'Brian speak (he was doing a book tour). During the Q & A part of the program someone asked him what he thought of woman writers. He promptly replied "If not for them, we would have no Jane Austen!"
Two of Jane Austen's six brothers were career Royal Navy officers (Charles and Frank). They both attained the rank of Admiral. They outlived Jane by fifty years or more.
One comment I will make in response to Rodrigo Borgia @45 above on Patrick O'Brian and Jane Austen.
Patrick O'Brian was a great admirer of Jane Austen. Back in the 90s I was lucky enough to hear O'Brian speak (he was doing a book tour). During the Q & A part of the program someone asked him what he thought of woman writers. He promptly replied "If not for them, we would have no Jane Austen!"
Two of Jane Austen's six brothers were career Royal Navy officers (Charles and Frank). They both attained the rank of Admiral. They outlived Jane by fifty years or more.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at September 23, 2018 06:16 PM (iuRR5)
370
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at September 23, 2018 06:16 PM (iuRR5)
Mrs Williams is obviously originally based on Mrs Bennett. Later she turns out more like Mrs Norris.
BTW, Francis (Frank) Austen just missed Trafalgar. His ship, with several others, was a Gibraltar replenishing.
Mrs Williams is obviously originally based on Mrs Bennett. Later she turns out more like Mrs Norris.
BTW, Francis (Frank) Austen just missed Trafalgar. His ship, with several others, was a Gibraltar replenishing.
Posted by: Eeyore, fomerly George LeS at September 23, 2018 06:26 PM (59GGI)
371
The biggest problem I have with the Spellmonger series is that the next book isn't out yet.
Posted by: Matt Harris at September 23, 2018 08:29 PM (dJUXM)
372
196
185 Since I am a fan of the series of books by CJ Box with the main character of Joe Pickett, who is a game warden (mostly)
Try Blanco County series by Rheder
rhennigantx
Well I am open to giving it a shot- sounds interesting and right now the Kindle version is free for the first one (Buck Fever). Thanks for the suggestion.
185 Since I am a fan of the series of books by CJ Box with the main character of Joe Pickett, who is a game warden (mostly)
Try Blanco County series by Rheder
rhennigantx
Well I am open to giving it a shot- sounds interesting and right now the Kindle version is free for the first one (Buck Fever). Thanks for the suggestion.
Posted by: Charlotte at September 23, 2018 11:54 PM (mt65F)
373
And now for some scary stories on this windy rainy night
Posted by: Spurwing Plover at September 24, 2018 01:48 AM (FLiOE)
374
Conservative icon Bill Cosby will be sentenced today
Posted by: Comrade at September 24, 2018 08:06 AM (ItxTZ)
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