Sunday Morning Book Thread 11-21-2021

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, and crétins sans pantalon (who are technically breaking the rules). Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, snark, witty repartee, hilarious bon mots, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, spending way too much money on books, writing books, and publishing books by escaped oafs and oafettes 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 these pants, new this fall, from the Jordan Peterson™ Collection.

Pic Note:

I'm always suspicious of "free" libraries, which generally means they're paid by taxpayers, but at least ths Philadelphia system was originally seeded by a private donation:

The Free Library of Philadelphia was chartered in 1891 as "a general library which shall be free to all", through efforts led by Dr. William Pepper, who secured initial funding through a $225,000 bequest from his wealthy uncle, George S. Pepper...Today, the Free Library of Philadelphia system, comprising 54 neighborhood library locations...with millions of digital and physical materials.

The Free Library of Philadelphia's Children's Literature Research Collection houses an extensive research collection of children's literature published after 1836.

The Rare Book Department features one of the world's most renowned Charles Dickens collections, with first editions, personal letters, and Dickens' stuffed pet raven, Grip, as well as extensive collections of illuminated manuscripts, Americana, Beatrix Potter, early children's books, Edgar Allan Poe, Pennsylvania German folk art, and more.

Many of the 54 regional libraries in this system were funded by rapacious greedy capitalist robber baron Andrew Carnegie who donated $1.5 million to the library in 1903.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

GET WOKE, GO... BROKE?

Mouse 1: That cat's killing us. I haven't had a bite to eat in days.
Mouse 2: We need to do something
Mouse 3: I have an idea.
All the mice: What?
Mouse 3: Let's tie a bell around his neck. That way, we'll always know when he's coming.
All the mice: Yay! That's a GREAT idea!
Mouse 4: Yeah, but who is going to get close enough to put it on him?
All the mice: ( *silence* )

86 I read Woke, Inc., by Vivek Ramaswamy. He's a Harvard and Yale Law-educated biotech CEO / lawyer, a former Goldman-Sachs guy, a first gen POC, and all around very bright guy. This book is his analysis of why companies go woke. Hint: it isn't because they really, really care. It's because they enhance their power by partnering with the Fed government. He names names, and provides brief histories that you'll remember, because the things he describes happened recently, and continue to happen now...I meant to highlight his analysis of this "partnership". In essence, woke entities, be they companies or the media, function as the government's backdoor to censorship and other actions they're forbidden from doing by law. Together, they form a monolith that Stalin could only envy. It's in this way that they are exceptionally dangerous...The real power of this book is that it's written by an insider who knows first hand how things work. This, of course, infuriates the left, as apostates always do. I highly recommend it.

Posted by: pep at November 14, 2021 09:45 AM (ZsR3z)

I don't think very many elected officials really want to what Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam prescribes: ending Big Tech's immunity from prosecution by removing their CDA 230 exemption. It's really an open scandal, not much different than in medieval times when popes had mistresses and even wives openly, church offices were bought and sold, priests partied down, and shut up, peasant, how dare you question men of God who are better than you?

I probably should actually read the book and find out how Mr. Ramaswamy proposes to put the bell on this particular cat. From his qualifications and experience, he sounds like a smart guy. But despite this, I sense that the political will for this is tepid at best.

Who Dis:

Last week's who dis was the incomparable Ginger Rogers.

Moron Recommendations

Way back last August, redc1c4 told me about a book that might appeal to many of you on this Smart Miltary Blog, a new biography of John Moses Browning, The Guns of John Moses Browning: The Remarkable Story of the Inventor Whose Firearms Changed the World, who produced his first gun at the age of 10 from leftover parts in his father’s gunsmith/blacksmith shop:

Few people are aware that John Moses Browning—a tall, humble, cerebral man born in 1855 and raised as a Mormon in the American West—was the mind behind many of the world-changing firearms that dominated more than a century of conflict. He invented the design used in virtually all modern pistols, created the most popular hunting rifles and shotguns, and conceived the machine guns that proved decisive not just in World Wars I and II but nearly every major military action since. Yet few in America knew his name until he was into his sixties.

Embodying the tradition of self-made, self-educated geniuses (like Lincoln and Edison), Browning was able to think in three dimensions (he never used blueprints) and his gifted mind produced everything from the famous Winchester “30-30” hunting rifle to the awesomely effective machine guns used by every American aircraft and infantry unit in World War II. The British credited Browning’s guns with helping to win the Battle of Britain.

Browning's impact on history ranks with that of the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford.

It's a new book, so the Kindle edition is priced high at $14.99.

___________

69 Finished the excellent WWII novel "The Deep Six" by Martin Dibner (1953). Highly recommended.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 14, 2021 09:38 AM (Dc2NZ)

This novel made the NY Times best-sellers list, but it is OOP now.

The Deep Six is a 1953 novel by Martin Dibner (1911-1992) describing the experiences of a group of U.S. Navy sailors fighting in the Aleutian Islands Campaign in 1943 during World War II. The novel, based on the author's experiences serving in the light cruiser USS Richmond during the same campaign, is written in a terse Hemingwayesque style and was a contemporary of Nicholas Monsarrat's novel The Cruel Sea and The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk.

There are a number of used copies on Abebooks.

Dibner is also the author of Ransom Run, The Trouble With Heroes, and The Admiral, all OOP but available on Abebooks.

___________

In unrelated books there's one called The Rithmatist, set in an alternate reality U.S., that I like. Sanderson seems to have forgotten it though and never written any others in that universe.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 14, 2021 10:50 AM (MXdMt)

I'm currently in book 2 of Sanderson's Stormlight series. Good story, but slow going.

I never knew he wrote a YA novel, though:

More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity's only defense against the Wild Chalklings—merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles.

As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing—kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery—one that will change Rithmatics—and their world—forever.

The Kindle edition is $9.99. As Polliwog says, this appears to be a one-off novel. But Sanderson has written the 5-part Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians for YA audiences, too.

___________

Books By Morons

Moron author Paul Clayton tells me that the time is ripe for his short (174 pp.) 2CW novel, Crossing Over:

Published in 2018, the book is proving to be somewhat prophetic on the macro level (contested election, two presidents claiming victory, street violence), and on the micro, the story of an ordinary American family, is intimate and riveting, in my biased opinion. Some of the readers of the first edition wanted a more conclusive ending so I did a revision, just published ten days or so ago, and added another last chapter, chapter X, about 24 pages. The ending is shocking, but realistic.

According to an Amazon review, the book "does not focus on the politics, but instead focuses on regular Americans who not long before led totally normal lives, and who are quickly turned into refugees as they try to escape the crime and violence taking over the country."

The Kindle edition is $2.99.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, insults, threats, ugly pants pics and moron library submissions may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

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

Posted by: OregonMuse at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 09:02 AM (2JoB8)

2 Who Dis? Ima guessin Sharon Stone.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at November 21, 2021 09:02 AM (PiwSw)

3 hiya

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 09:03 AM (arJlL)

4 If current events were not hot and heavy would have got further on Molly Hemingway's Rigged
JJ's is on the waiting deck

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 09:03 AM (2JoB8)

5 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.

Posted by: JTB at November 21, 2021 09:03 AM (7EjX1)

6 Good Morning!

Who dis is a very young....oh never mind someone will get it in a snap. The face is the same as ever

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:03 AM (ONvIw)

7 Wonder how many homeless live in that library

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 09:04 AM (2JoB8)

8 Those pants.
I suspect they smell like low tide in an estuary.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 21, 2021 09:04 AM (GZn+5)

9 2 Who Dis? Ima guessin Sharon Stone.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at November 21, 2021 09:02 AM (PiwSw)

That's what I think

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:04 AM (ONvIw)

10 Hey OM. Prezint.

https://tinyurl.com/mx5kp5x4

Firouzja vs Mamedyarov live from Euro Team Champ.

If he wins, Alireza will break 2800.

Posted by: You Really Don't Want to Know at November 21, 2021 09:05 AM (nLrWw)

11 Morning, Horde...how goes it? Watched the Amazon Prime version of The Wheel of Time yesterday. It's a VERY loose adaptation of the series...Basically it's someone's fan fiction of what THEY think the series should have been. It's not horrible, but you can see a fair amount of wokeness from time to time. Weirdly, it does work within the universe of the Wheel of Time because it could just be an alternate version of events from one of the "worlds of if" contained in the original series.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 21, 2021 09:05 AM (K5n5d)

12 The pants guy doesn't own a weedwhacker (if you catch my drift)

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 09:05 AM (arJlL)

13 I want that t-shirt.

Posted by: runner at November 21, 2021 09:05 AM (V13WU)

14 {{{CN}}}

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at November 21, 2021 09:05 AM (PiwSw)

15 Anyway, finished the Ford Madox Ford bio, The Saddest Story.
Interesting and scattered man, but I'm grateful to him as his inability to finish projects of his own let him help other authors bloom.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:05 AM (ONvIw)

16 Sharon Stone

Posted by: Tonypete at November 21, 2021 09:06 AM (pTr2w)

17 14. It's her before she hit the peroxide. LOL

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:07 AM (ONvIw)

18 and Dickens' stuffed pet raven, Grip

That right there is worth the trip.

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 09:07 AM (Rbu5d)

19 I accidentally saw the pants once years ago, but think from comments %99 don't own weedwackers

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 09:07 AM (2JoB8)

20
"Your 'woke' shirt triggers me!"

"As it was intended to, putz."

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at November 21, 2021 09:08 AM (Fk34/)

21 Not long ago saw a early movie of Sharon Stone, with Don Johnson maybe.

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 09:08 AM (2JoB8)

22 Has anyone plowed through Sienkiewicz' Polish Trilogy? I bought the first book very cheaply, but haven't started it yet. It's second on my list after I read one more Ford related book.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:09 AM (ONvIw)

23 LOL @ pants ... work beckons.

Posted by: You Really Don't Want to Know at November 21, 2021 09:09 AM (nLrWw)

24 "This book is his analysis of why companies go woke. Hint: it isn't because they really, really care. It's because they enhance their power by partnering with the Fed government."

Call it the fascism drift. Along the lines of Huxley's premise that modern totalitarianism would not come about through brute power or terror but through seduction and self-interest (or the illusion of self interest).

Posted by: Ordinary American at November 21, 2021 09:10 AM (H8QX8)

25 I read A Hunter Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life by Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein. These evolutionary biologists look at why in this most prosperous age we are listless, divided, and miserable; and why rates of suicide, loneliness, and chronic illness continue to skyrocket. They believe that the rate of change in our modern world is outstripping the capacity of our brains and bodies to adapt. The critique of our education system is particularly interesting.

Posted by: Zoltan at November 21, 2021 09:11 AM (+z3aO)

26 Is that Sharon Stone?

Anyway, good morning, grey-box people.

I haven't had time to read, it's Harvest Time, with the concomitant preserving, putting up, and putting the farm to bed.

I can recommend the Massie's "Land of the Firebird." It's a love letter to pre-revolutionary Russian Culture. You've probably all read it already, because you read a LOT, but it's one of the few books I've read more than once.

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 09:11 AM (Rbu5d)

27 Anyway, finished the Ford Madox Ford bio, The Saddest Story.
Interesting and scattered man, but I'm grateful to him as his inability to finish projects of his own let him help other authors bloom.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:05 AM (ONvIw)
---
So is that the definitive one? Worth reading?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:11 AM (llXky)

28 Nice Lieberry!

Those pants.......why not.

The Who Dis is I have no idea.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 21, 2021 09:12 AM (R/m4+)

29 Posted by: pep at November 14, 2021 09:45 AM (ZsR3z)

IOW they take the fascist catnip. This is why Go Fund Me pays for Riot food, but bans cops looking to take ivermectin, while PubMed has articles demonstrating its effectiveness. It's all about money laundering to the donks.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:12 AM (ONvIw)

30 I love that floor in the Philly Free Library.

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 09:12 AM (Rbu5d)

31 Crossing Over was only 0.99 so i got it. i also finished The Sharp Kid by David Vining (TJM?). Well written but not a particularly uplifting ending.

Posted by: yara at November 21, 2021 09:13 AM (N7mou)

32 Those pants are fine. I'd wear them to a backyard lobster boil.

Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 09:14 AM (m45I2)

33 Not long ago saw a early movie of Sharon Stone, with Don Johnson maybe.

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 09:08 AM (2JoB

---
Sharon Stone was a guest star on Magnum, p.i. in the early 80s. I'm watching the whole series and it's fun seeing people who later hit it big doing bit parts when no one knew who they were.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:14 AM (llXky)

34 Posted this yesterday. Joe Goldberg ("You")-style murder van.

Patricia Correll
at_Author_PCorrell

Me: No serial killer will ever lure me into their murder van. I'm too smart for that.

Murderer:

5:53 PM - Nov 19, 2021 - https://bit.ly/3nyt4Rk

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at November 21, 2021 09:14 AM (Do5/p)

35 The Who Dis is I have no idea.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 21, 2021 09:12 AM (R/m4+)
---
Joan Collins. Obviously.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:14 AM (llXky)

36 I'm continuing with the 100 Days of Dante, now up to Canto 33 of The Inferno. Glad I started. The work has proven more interesting, entertaining, and applicable than I expected.

Posted by: JTB at November 21, 2021 09:15 AM (7EjX1)

37 Who Dis is a spine wrecker.

Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 09:15 AM (m45I2)

38 Free Library.

Do you have a Louis Vuitton aisle?

Posted by: Biden's Dog at November 21, 2021 09:16 AM (OS25d)

39 I recently discovered that there is now a Kindle edition of Russell Kirk's novel "A Creature of the Twilight" (which had been long out of print). It introduces the character of Manfred Arcane, a suave and sinister gentleman who can kiss a lady's hand or cut a man's throat with equal elegance.

Arcane is also featured in another novel by Kirk ("Lord of the Hollow Dark") and, I think, two short stories. I recommend them.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at November 21, 2021 09:16 AM (rxWzH)

40 Book Morning Mouth Breathers

Posted by: weirdflunky at November 21, 2021 09:16 AM (cknjq)

41 Mornin' book people. Smooches, OM.

So, did you know that Thomas Jefferson wanted to establish a democracy in the Pacific Northwest? Well, it was news to me, and little known today, but at the beginning of the 19th Century it was all the talk. I'm reading Peter Stark's "Astoria: Astor and Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire". The Astoria Expedition, financed by fur freak John Jacob Astor, followed closely on the heels of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. But unlike that famous venture, almost everything on this trip went wrong.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 21, 2021 09:16 AM (Dc2NZ)

42 I apologize for draging this in from previous thread but...

++
they wanted Rittenhouse found guilty. he was cleared on all charges. they are not omnipotent. very far from it.
Posted by: runner

They turned a not-guilty verdict for George Zimmerman into the Black-Lives-Matter movement. They turned a career criminal OD'ing on multiple drugs into pushing that Black-Lives-Matter movement into every industry and corporation in the world.
This is not over. Not even close.

Rittenhouse was acquitted. Best to take the advice of Han Solo: "Great kid, don't get cocky".
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at November 21, 2021 09:07 AM (Do5/p)

It's over - for this particular hill they wanted to die on. BLM is the old Black Panthers fueled by occupy wall street, and Cindy Sheehan doors. Nothing new there.

Posted by: runner at November 21, 2021 09:17 AM (V13WU)

43 36 I'm continuing with the 100 Days of Dante, now up to Canto 33 of The Inferno. Glad I started. The work has proven more interesting, entertaining, and applicable than I expected.
Posted by: JTB at November 21, 2021 09:15 AM (7EjX1)

Canto 33 Line 9.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at November 21, 2021 09:17 AM (PiwSw)

44 So is that the definitive one? Worth reading?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:11 AM (llXky)

I don't know if there's a definitive one, but it was the better of the two. I enjoyed it, and it gave me more insight as to what he did well and the reasons he stalled on other levels.

It's probably just me, but I would love to read more about how his kids dealt with having Ford as a daddy, and their upbringing in an artsy family. This book touches on the siblings and cousins a bit more, so you can see how Olivia Rosetti veered off into political craziness with the Ezra Pound faction.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:17 AM (ONvIw)

45 Diane Lane?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 21, 2021 09:17 AM (Dc2NZ)

46 On the literary front, I cannot recommend Dean Ing's Harv Rackham trilogy highly enough.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/602929.The_Rackham_Files

Funny, and in spots informative.

Posted by: sven at November 21, 2021 09:17 AM (Lzpvj)

47 I'm continuing with the 100 Days of Dante, now up to Canto 33 of The Inferno. Glad I started. The work has proven more interesting, entertaining, and applicable than I expected.

I'm enjoying it so much that I actually look forward to opening my email.

Posted by: pep at November 21, 2021 09:17 AM (ZsR3z)

48 Doing a lot of reading these days. I somehow lost my copy of G.K. Chesterton's Heretics. I think I left at at the hospital when I was visiting someone. Oh well, hopefully the staff will enjoy it.

I'm finishing up Lorenzo Scupoli's The Spiritual Combat and Treatise on Peace of the Soul. It's taken a little over 2 months because I only read a chapter a day. Good stuff, though. Very helpful in the present situation.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:18 AM (llXky)

49
Those pants boldly declare, "I am in seine!"

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at November 21, 2021 09:18 AM (Fk34/)

50 I loved Magnum, sole reason I had to have a 1911

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 09:19 AM (2JoB8)

51 A bong that plugs in to the wall might be too complicated. Not sure at all when or where I learned that fact.

Posted by: klaftern at November 21, 2021 09:19 AM (taPSh)

52 49
Those pants boldly declare, "I am in seine!"

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at November 21, 2021 09:18 AM (Fk34/)

Net or River ?

Posted by: You Really Don't Want to Know at November 21, 2021 09:19 AM (nLrWw)

53 I finished Buddenbrooks and don't plan on reading another work by Mann. His tendency to describe not very interesting and dysfunctional characters using the identical fucking terms may have been considered an edgy literary device when he wrote it but my reaction was severe irritation. The only interesting character was Hanno, a sickly not very smart brat who happened to have inherited his mother's musical aptitude. The descriptions of his improvising on piano was the only part of the book written in a moving manner. Every other dolt had no willingness, or ability, to run the family business with the same acumen as the founder so everything turned to shit. I could have shrunk it to two pages and saved readers time and irritation. If anyone thinks I was unfair to it, feel free to weigh in.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:19 AM (y7DUB)

54 Having finished "The Egyptian Cross Mystery" by Ellery Queen -- I identified the killer but fell short on the surrounding circumstances -- I'm at a loss on what to start next. So many options in this house!

And with my wife out of town for the week, the TV will be mine, so more reading is iffy at best. Besides, the leaves are dropping.

I am going through a collection of comics adaptations of Ray Bradbury short stories. I've never read any Bradbury, not even "Fahrenheit 451." I need to remedy that someday, but not this week.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 21, 2021 09:20 AM (Om/di)

55 48. I'll look into this one, as I tend to like your recommendations.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:21 AM (ONvIw)

56 I picked up Spartacus by Aldo Schiavone. Supposedly it will "challenge the lore". We shall see.

Posted by: runner at November 21, 2021 09:21 AM (V13WU)

57 11...Basically it's someone's fan fiction of what THEY think the series should have been. It's not horrible, but you can see a fair amount of wokeness from time to time. ...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 21, 2021 09:05 AM (K5n5d)

I watched 2.5 episodes last evening. If I remember, a woman adapted it "for the screen" so, yeah, grrl power/men are bad was a bit heavy handed at times.
I kept saying to myself "I don't remember that".
The mole on Egwene's lip is distracting.

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 09:22 AM (Rbu5d)

58 *Not a very thick book, which is perfect for me these days...

Posted by: runner at November 21, 2021 09:22 AM (V13WU)

59 47

Loving the 100 Days of Dante! Just got to the frozen bottom of Hell two days ago. Dante is beating up a guy who will not share his name. Virgil is all like, Bruh, do it again.

Posted by: Jmel at November 21, 2021 09:23 AM (bVhJi)

60 "Nancy Drew Visits the Scottish High Lands"

Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 09:23 AM (m45I2)

61 I am going through a collection of comics adaptations of Ray Bradbury short stories. I've never read any Bradbury, not even "Fahrenheit 451." I need to remedy that someday, but not this week.
Posted by: Weak Geek at November 21, 2021 09:20 AM (Om/di)
----
I wouldn't start with Fahrenheit 451. Instead, start with The Martian Chronicles. Very easy reading, but also moving and thought provoking.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 21, 2021 09:23 AM (K5n5d)

62 I probably should actually read the book and find out how Mr. Ramaswamy proposes to put the bell on this particular cat.

I'd say that's the weakest part of the book. He doesn't favor breaking up Big Tech, because he thinks then you'll just have a bunch of smaller outfits with the same problem. (I don't agree.) Rather, he says change 230, not by forcing BT to be one or the other, but by giving them the choice: you can be either a publisher or a platform, but not both. You choose. This has much to recommend it.

He also cites existing laws which makes it illegal for companies to collude with the government in the way they currently do, i.e., by doing things as proxies for the government, which it is not allowed to do. He thinks that could be a relatively easy win in court.

However, as OM says, it's not clear that the political will exists to make any of this happen.

Posted by: pep at November 21, 2021 09:24 AM (ZsR3z)

63 Some good news on the writing front: my daughter and the grandkids finally moved out. They're not far, and we visit with them frequently, but it's sure nice not having an infant and a toddler wandering around our house and waking up a 3 a.m.

With that distraction removed, I'm able to write long-form stuff again. I've decided my next book will be a concise military history of China through the present and beyond. I've not written much, but the plan of the work is clear to me - which is the really important part.

It is modeled on Long Live Death - short and to the point.

No title yet, but I think it has to have "dragon" in it because all the books on China do. So my working title is "Something Something Dragon: A Military Study of China's Past and Future."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:24 AM (llXky)

64 I watched 2.5 episodes last evening. If I remember, a woman adapted it "for the screen" so, yeah, grrl power/men are bad was a bit heavy handed at times.
I kept saying to myself "I don't remember that".
The mole on Egwene's lip is distracting.
Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 09:22 AM (Rbu5d)
---
The bit that annoyed me was Nynaeve's story about how the Wisdom who trained her was rejected from the White Tower because she was a peasant girl. This completely contradicts Jordan's White Tower, who willing accepted ANY woman who wanted to be trained, regardless of class. Most women failed, of course, but the White Tower wanted ALL women with even the remotest potential to channel to be trained by them.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 21, 2021 09:25 AM (K5n5d)

65 Today, i am a Proud American.

My parents showed up this morning for Thanksgiving week, and -
those bastards crossed state lines to get here. Multiple times.

Well, I just grabbed my AR-15 and started firing. Drove those criminals right back where they belong!

Like I'd even think of entertaining criminals like that!
If they wanted to be here in Texas, they can damn well move here.
*struts about, chest out* *stops*

...though how they'd do that without crossing state lines...huh.. Welp, not my problem.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 21, 2021 09:25 AM (5NkmN)

66 25 I read A Hunter Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life by Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein. ...
Posted by: Zoltan at November 21, 2021 09:11 AM (+z3aO)

I enjoy their podcasts. It's nice to listen to intelligent people speak intelligently.

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 09:25 AM (Rbu5d)

67 I finished the Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery, "Legacy of the Dead" - it was on-sale for under $5. (All the others in the series after book 1 are so expensive even in Kindle versions that I adamantly refuse to purchase.) Good mystery, well-developed ... and then the resolution is wrapped up in about a chapter and a half. A lot of plot and characters left dangling. It's as if the author had to rush to finish, and had no interest in writing about them. Good book, disappointing ending.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at November 21, 2021 09:25 AM (xnmPy)

68 Has anyone here read The Pilgrims Progress? Recommend?

Posted by: LASue at November 21, 2021 09:26 AM (Ed8Zd)

69 Reading For Whom the Bell Tolls I was starting to think maybe Hemingway isn't for me. But then about a hundred pages in when Pilar describes the massacre of a bunch of fascists in her village it really picked up. Blood and gore FTW.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:27 AM (y7DUB)

70 I thought I read Crossing Over. Is there a way to look at your Kindle history?

Posted by: rhennigantx at November 21, 2021 09:27 AM (yrol0)

71 I'm continuing with the 100 Days of Dante, now up to Canto 33 of The Inferno. Glad I started. The work has proven more interesting, entertaining, and applicable than I expected.

I'm enjoying it so much that I actually look forward to opening my email.
Posted by: pep at November 21, 2021 09:17 AM (ZsR3z)

Me three

Posted by: LASue at November 21, 2021 09:28 AM (Ed8Zd)

72 Who dis looks like Sharon Stone.
Awesome nose

Posted by: LASue at November 21, 2021 09:30 AM (Ed8Zd)

73 Who dis is Helen Thomas, no?

Posted by: dantesed at November 21, 2021 09:30 AM (88xKn)

74 My latest book is one that I sort of wandered off in the weeds a bit, but it turned out to be very interesting.

"Infamy" by John Toland

The book deals with the Pearl Harbor attack Dec. 7, 1941. And it examines, quite in depth, how no one in military intelligence and in political circles in DC believed it was a surprise attack. In fact, there was much discussion of it as early as August 1941.
The attack had been war gamed by both sides as early as 1938.
The reputation of Admiral Kimmel was rendered asunder needlessly according to the author.
The "Maguffin", if you will, is the existence of a document I previously had never heard of, called WINDS Execute, which was a warning to Kimmel about an imminent attack, which he never got, and is still missing to this day. Such a warning would have allowed Kimmel to disperse his aircraft and ships at harbor.
Mr. Toland, without directly saying it, lays the case that FDR needed an excuse to get in the war, due to the fact that he had campaigned on keeping the US out of them.
The later parts of the book deal with persons who wanted this knowledge to come out, officially, as late as 1980, but died before any such revelations.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 09:31 AM (jTmQV)

75 I could have written more, but ran up to the character limit.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 09:32 AM (jTmQV)

76 Who dis? looks like the Who's the Boss chick all growed up but not totally insane yet.

What do I win?

Posted by: naturalfake at November 21, 2021 09:33 AM (5NkmN)

77 I think the approach they took with Dante is perfect. I usually have no patience for droning lit professors, but the poem is obscure enough that the commentary really helps the reader see the point. Also, using different profs for each canto was inspired. You don't get tired of any one prof; their styles are different enough that they don't get old and stale.

Posted by: pep at November 21, 2021 09:33 AM (ZsR3z)

78 "Something Something Dragon: A Military Study of China's Past and Future."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:24 AM (llXky)
----

Go gonzo! "Chasing the Dragon: a Cocaine-Fueled Study of China's Bars and Flesh Pots".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 21, 2021 09:33 AM (Dc2NZ)

79 Speaking of overly complicated bongs, a discussion several days ago centered on the hallucinogenic properties of platypi, and whether they are smoked or licked or whatever. Johnny Horton came to mind:

♪ ♫
Well, we smoked our hookahs 'til the bottle melted down
Then we grabbed ourselves a platypus and passed him all around
We filled his head with cannabis and lit up his behind
When we smoked up the platypus it really blew our mind!

Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 09:33 AM (m45I2)

80 Has anyone read Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor? It was the latest selection by the book group and has already piqued my interest.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:33 AM (y7DUB)

81 Pants guy is a piker.I remember a video a while back of some redneck with crawdads clamped on both nipples. He sure was a'hollarin.

Posted by: f'd at November 21, 2021 09:33 AM (Tnijr)

82 @61 --

Thanks, Perfessor. I'll keep that in mind.

Rereading my original post, I see that I forgot to say that I'm enjoying the stories.

Also want to mention that with my wife away, our dog is now sporting the bandanna that I got at the MoMe.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 21, 2021 09:34 AM (Om/di)

83 Just fiinished C.J.Cherryh's "Heavy Time", a historical prequel to "Downbelow Station", in which two asteroid miners rescue a pilot from a wrecked ship. Did this pilot kill his partner? He claims a Company driveship plowed right into them and stole their huge asteroid claim. But logs indicate there was no driveship in that area, and the Company is never wrong.

This is an interesting transitional period where Earth governments are nominally in charge but the corporations are beginning to call all the shots, narrowing opportunities for free enterprise, limiting or cutting off association between independent miners, and monitoring communications and movement. They are trying to do away with cash money. They are behind the slanted media and dumbed-down entertainment. And, they have their own private security forces. It feels very familiar.

The story also masterfully illustrates the cultural divide between the older miner, raised on Earth with its free air and water and abundant resources, and the younger guy from the Belt raised in the zero-sum life where everything is by necessity a tradeoff and a transaction. Planet-raised people say things like "Good morning".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 21, 2021 09:35 AM (Dc2NZ)

84 I've decided my next book will be a concise military history of China through the present and beyond.

==

That's ....kinda ambitious.

Posted by: runner at November 21, 2021 09:36 AM (V13WU)

85 I'll look into this one, as I tend to like your recommendations.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:21 AM (ONvIw)
---
I'm honored. Things have been rough here over the last couple of months (doing fine now, thanks for asking) and this book has been extremely helpful to me.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:36 AM (llXky)

86 It feels very familiar.

==

Indeed.

Posted by: runner at November 21, 2021 09:37 AM (V13WU)

87 I think I need to find a Farming for Dummies book.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:37 AM (mbFEM)

88 I've decided my next book will be a concise military history of China through the present and beyond.
==
That's ....kinda ambitious.

Especially the highly challenging 1970s kung-fu period.

Posted by: pep at November 21, 2021 09:38 AM (ZsR3z)

89 Go gonzo! "Chasing the Dragon: a Cocaine-Fueled Study of China's Bars and Flesh Pots".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 21, 2021 09:33 AM (Dc2NZ)
---
I'll have to enlist Insomniac as a co-author/researcher.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:38 AM (llXky)

90 I'm still looking for "Chicken Soup for the Vegetarian Soul"

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at November 21, 2021 09:38 AM (PiwSw)

91 You (or at least I) have to be careful about casual mentions of authors when reading other books. It was such a toss off line when Dr. Watson mentioned reading a Rider Haggard story while he and Holmes were on a train journey. That mention while I was in grade school led to years of enjoyable reading with "King Solomon's Mines", "She", and many other stories. Recently I came across a similar situation with Watson casually mentioning he was reading some sea stories by William Clark Russell while he and Holmes were in their sitting room on a cold, stormy night.

Turns out the writer and books are real. Not only real but, judging by the part I just read, is a fine teller of sea tales. Now the search is on at the used book store.

Be careful. The piles of 'to be acquired' and 'to be read' just got bigger.

Posted by: JTB at November 21, 2021 09:38 AM (7EjX1)

92 Has anybody said that guy is rockin that lobster?

Posted by: f'd at November 21, 2021 09:38 AM (Tnijr)

93 Good morning Eris !

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 09:38 AM (arJlL)

94 I'm honored. Things have been rough here over the last couple of months (doing fine now, thanks for asking) and this book has been extremely helpful to me.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:36 AM (llXky)

I could use some help. I've become quite disillusioned.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:38 AM (ONvIw)

95 "These evolutionary biologists look at why in this most prosperous age we are listless, divided, and miserable; and why rates of suicide, loneliness, and chronic illness continue to skyrocket."

For many with too much time on their hands, this void is filled with Woke Leftism as an ersatz religion.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 09:39 AM (ZHVt1)

96 I am glad to say that Lobster Dickie man is not on either the Human Reliability Program (HRP) or the Personal Reliability Program (PRP).

Posted by: Fox2! at November 21, 2021 09:40 AM (qyH+l)

97 "Chasing the Dragon: a Cocaine-Fueled Study of China's Bars and Flesh Pots".

And I know just the Son of POTUS to pursue this.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 09:40 AM (ZHVt1)

98 95 "These evolutionary biologists look at why in this most prosperous age we are listless, divided, and miserable; and why rates of suicide, loneliness, and chronic illness continue to skyrocket."

For many with too much time on their hands, this void is filled with Woke Leftism as an ersatz religion.
Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 09:39 AM (ZHVt1)

Yes! And leftism, maybe via federal financing, has overtaken actual religions.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:40 AM (ONvIw)

99 Be careful. The piles of 'to be acquired' and 'to be read' just got bigger.
Posted by: JTB at November 21, 2021 09:38 AM (7EjX1)
---
That does seem to be the story of my own life these days...As much as I've whittled down my TBR pile this year, somehow it seems to keep growing...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (K5n5d)

100 While I yield to no one in despising FDR, I can't quite bring myself to believe the Pearl Harbor conspiracy theories -- that he "allowed" the attack to get the US into the war. Much more plausible that he (like pretty much everyone else) didn't think the Japanese would or could attack Hawaii.

Because an attack on an alert, ready fleet which can defend itself is just as good a pretext for war as an attack on an unready fleet, and means you have more battleships left when it's over.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (QZxDR)

101 I watched 2.5 episodes last evening. If I remember, a woman adapted it "for the screen" so, yeah, grrl power/men are bad was a bit heavy handed at times.
I kept saying to myself "I don't remember that".
The mole on Egwene's lip is distracting.

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 09:22 AM (Rbu5d)
---
I remember when the books were coming out and some of my friends liked 'em so I borrowed the first one and just could not get into it.

When I heard they were making a show about it, I knew it would be woke garbage.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (llXky)

102 @87 --

That reminds me of a joke.

Book salesman on the road, trying to make a sale to a farmer: "Well, how about this? 'Farming for Profit'. That should appeal --"

Farmer, interrupting: "I got no time for science fiction."

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (Om/di)

103 I am in a Zoom book club and we have just gotten to the last Frank Herbert Dune book Chapterhouse.

For all the praise of Herbert for "world building" he was making it up as he went along. I mean, it's fiction, that is how it works. But he contradicts his world, he retcons stuff, he introduces all new stuff that you would think "well if this was that big a deal it would have shown up before."

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (mbFEM)

104 &129315#;

Posted by: runner at November 21, 2021 09:43 AM (V13WU)

105 99. I have decided to let go of any worry around TBR or related acquisitions. Kid2 will soon be moving out lots of stuff including my MIL's dining room and bedroom sets which we saved for this day. I will soon have much more free space.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:43 AM (ONvIw)

106 The story also masterfully illustrates the cultural divide between the older miner, raised on Earth with its free air and water and abundant resources, and the younger guy from the Belt raised in the zero-sum life where everything is by necessity a tradeoff and a transaction. Planet-raised people say things like "Good morning".

That sounds like a similar backdrop to James SA Corey's Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1)

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:43 AM (y7DUB)

107 Is that an arthropod in your pants or are you just hung like a lobster?

Posted by: Dr. Bone at November 21, 2021 09:43 AM (BPuaD)

108 57The mole on Egwene's lip is distracting.
Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 09:22 AM (Rbu5d)

It'son her nose. Second cuppa cleared the cobwebs...

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 09:43 AM (Rbu5d)

109 fail...

Posted by: runner at November 21, 2021 09:43 AM (V13WU)

110 Hot Coffee!!! Stormlight series top notch stuff...

Posted by: Qmark at November 21, 2021 09:44 AM (emnp2)

111 Book salesman on the road, trying to make a sale to a farmer: "Well, how about this? 'Farming for Profit'. That should appeal --"

Farmer, interrupting: "I got no time for science fiction."
Posted by: Weak Geek at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (Om/di)

I watched Clarksons Farm on Amazon. Yes it's "reality TV" and a lot of unique circumstances like COVID but a lot of work to make not a lot of money.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:44 AM (mbFEM)

112 There was mention of Roy Underhill and "The Woodwright's Shop" last night. He has a couple of books that some may be interested in, "The Woodwright's Shop" and "The Woodwright's Companion". Both parallel programs in the TV series. All of the fun of the shows, but less bloodshed.

Posted by: f'd at November 21, 2021 09:44 AM (Tnijr)

113 Blaster: I agree that Herbert was much more slapdash a writer than his fans will admit. They put huge effort into explaining why he uses real star names for many of the worlds in the series, then later says those worlds orbit different stars. Or why the Emperor of the Known Universe only seems to rule stars in one part of the Orion Arm of our Galaxy -- yet later on someone refers to a "multigalactic" empire. There's all kinds of fan theories and rationalizations but it's pretty obvious that Herbert just forgot.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 21, 2021 09:44 AM (QZxDR)

114 Because an attack on an alert, ready fleet which can defend itself is just as good a pretext for war as an attack on an unready fleet, and means you have more battleships left when it's over.
Posted by: Trimegistus at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (QZxDR)

Or did he "see it coming", called their bluff, and it turned out to not be a bluff? Maybe?

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 21, 2021 09:45 AM (6FeV1)

115 How did the term "broads " come to be applied to women ?

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 09:46 AM (arJlL)

116 I could use some help. I've become quite disillusioned.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:38 AM (ONvIw)
---
Dom Lorenzo may be right what you need. He sees the spiritual struggle as paramount and there can be no surrender. You must never give up - your soul depends on it.

Happily, God is there for you, and the more you fully admit your powerlessness and submit completely to His will, the more He will give you the strength you need. It's been working for me.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:46 AM (llXky)

117 I watched Clarksons Farm on Amazon. Yes it's "reality TV" and a lot of unique circumstances like COVID but a lot of work to make not a lot of money.
Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:44 AM (mbFEM)

If you break even on year one in any business after paying everyone their salaries and buying all the equipment you need, that's a pretty massive success, really.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 21, 2021 09:47 AM (6FeV1)

118 How did the term "broads " come to be applied to women ?

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 09:46 AM (arJlL)
---
Short for 'broad-chested' is what I've heard.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:47 AM (llXky)

119 In Mr. Toland's book "Infamy" he documents the attack games and the various treatises explaining how it would unfold, always on a Sunday morning, always while the aircraft were bunched up, concentrated, due to rumors of sabotage created by spies on Oahu.
Like I said, the book represents a wander off in to the weeds for me, but I enjoyed it.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 09:47 AM (jTmQV)

120 I have mentioned Chris Skaife's "The Ravenmaster" before on this thread but one of the things he devotes some space to is pet ravens including Dickens's pet, Grip.

Eris, my husband read "Astoria" and said it was very good but grim and harrowing. Not my cup of tea at all but if you like adventure and exploring books, you might give it a try.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at November 21, 2021 09:48 AM (fTtFy)

121 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - Michael Byrd MURDERED Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:48 AM (Zz0t1)

122 The definition of woke is absolutely friggin' perfect.

Posted by: Sponge - Michael Byrd MURDERED Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:49 AM (Zz0t1)

123 @91 --

JTB, I first heard of H.R. Haggard in a Matt Helm book. I have a copy of "King Solomon's Mines," borrowed (swiped?) from Dad long ago. Maybe it's time to start it?

When you realize that authors are people and not just bylines, you wonder how many aspects of their lives get folded into their novels.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 21, 2021 09:49 AM (Om/di)

124 @113 the legend of Herbert says he had it all mapped out decades ahead of time. Like George Lucas. But what I really think is that he had different books he wanted to write and he got kind of typecast in Dune so his other ideas became Dune books.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:49 AM (mbFEM)

125 For all the praise of Herbert for "world building" he was making it up as he went along. I mean, it's fiction, that is how it works. But he contradicts his world, he retcons stuff, he introduces all new stuff that you would think "well if this was that big a deal it would have shown up before."

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (mbFEM)
---
Yes, I binge-read the series when deployed to Germany and the continuity errors are pretty obvious.

For one thing, the first three books were supposed to be the end of it. It was "the Dune trilogy" and then Herbert decided he needed more money so kept writing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:49 AM (llXky)

126 in medieval times when popes had mistresses and even wives openly, church offices were bought and sold, priests partied down
_________

I'm always curious about the mental tic that comes out with that: things that, while they did happen in the Middle Ages*, were really characteristic of the Renaissance. But people just don't want to think that.

It's odd, and one more example of how rotten our education system has been for a very long time.

*Since we're talking about 1000 years, there aren't many that didn't.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 21, 2021 09:50 AM (7X3UV)

127 ---
Short for 'broad-chested' is what I've heard.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:47 AM (llXky)

Broad-chested. Breasted. The large breasted American female prances around in her natural habitat.

Posted by: Sponge - Michael Byrd MURDERED Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:50 AM (Zz0t1)

128 "How did the term "broads " come to be applied to women ?"

I'm guessing hips.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 09:50 AM (ZHVt1)

129 Has anyone here read The Pilgrims Progress? Recommend?
Posted by: LASue at November 21, 2021 09:26 AM (Ed8Zd)
-------
It was about a feller who left home, it didn't say why. I read considerable in it from time to time. The statements was interesting, but tough.

Posted by: Huckleberry Finn at November 21, 2021 09:50 AM (AlkyK)

130 So my working title is "Something Something Dragon: A Military Study of China's Past and Future."
=====

From my admittedly spotty recollection, five toes depicted on a Chinese dragon indicates an 'Imperial' Dragon.

Five Toes of the Dragon: A Military Study of . . .

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 21, 2021 09:51 AM (MIKMs)

131 Looks like no makeup Sharon Stone, or very very little. Natural beauty she is, or was.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at November 21, 2021 09:51 AM (VwHCD)

132 woke, is a paradigm of marxist false consciousness, this is why until recently, people in venezuela didn't mind about the shortages of toilet paper and food, well that was three stolen elections and at least one mass protest ago,

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 09:51 AM (hMlTh)

133 Sponge - First Twenty First
A double first

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 09:51 AM (2JoB8)

134 Sponge - First Twenty First
A double first
Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 09:51 AM (2JoB8

I take my wins where I can get them.

Posted by: Sponge - Michael Byrd MURDERED Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:52 AM (Zz0t1)

135 Because an attack on an alert, ready fleet which can defend itself is just as good a pretext for war as an attack on an unready fleet, and means you have more battleships left when it's over.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (QZxDR)
---
Not only that, thwarting an attack starts the war with a victory, not a humiliating defeat.

People have dug into this for decades and there were so many blunders that no one could have planned it that way. Recall also that the raid on Taranto was widely looked on as something only the Italians would be stupid enough to let happen to them.

Americans were just too smart.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:52 AM (llXky)

136 A positive thing that came out of kid2's wedding was that my in-laws showed up despite wuflu and politics. I think they, too, are becoming very disillusioned with ObamaBiden and said they did not like the communist dictators in power. When my husband reminded them that they voted for these people they fell back on the "we had no idea" argument. Are people really this naive or is it trust in the media, and they very much do trust the media.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:52 AM (ONvIw)

137 No one used the word "Broad" better than Frank Sinatra.

See also "Dame" and or "Chickee".

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 21, 2021 09:54 AM (R/m4+)

138 How did the term "broads " come to be applied to women ?
=====

Birthing hips.

(Ignoramus was first)

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 21, 2021 09:54 AM (MIKMs)

139 we had no idea" argument. Are people really this naive or is it trust in the media, and they very much do trust the media.
Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:52 AM (ONvIw)

"We had no idea" is the polite way of saying "we figured you were lying".

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 21, 2021 09:54 AM (6FeV1)

140 When my husband reminded them that they voted for these people they fell back on the "we had no idea" argument. Are people really this naive or is it trust in the media, and they very much do trust the media.
Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:52 AM (ONvIw)

Yes. Their ignorance on what's around them and what they believe is astonishing.

Posted by: Sponge - Michael Byrd MURDERED Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:54 AM (Zz0t1)

141 I wonder what the history books will say about our time. Will the hysteria caused by the media be recognized and dissected, or will it be the history?

And since history is written by the winners, what does it say about the past.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:54 AM (mbFEM)

142 And since history is written by the winners, what does it say about the past.
Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:54 AM (mbFEM)

Don't forget your passport.

Posted by: Heinlein at November 21, 2021 09:55 AM (6FeV1)

143 While I yield to no one in despising FDR, I can't quite bring myself to believe the Pearl Harbor conspiracy theories -- that he "allowed" the attack to get the US into the war. Much more plausible that he (like pretty much everyone else) didn't think the Japanese would or could attack Hawaii.

I remember reading an article in my Father's American Legion Magazine about that and thought "Holy shit". So I asked him about it and he said "you can't believe everything you read". Since he lived through the Depression he regarded Saint Delano more favorably than I thought the Campobello gimp deserved; but since he served in Italy I deferred to him.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:55 AM (y7DUB)

144 I decided to try the Sienkiewicz trilogy due to my admiration for Eastern Europe's refusal to submit to wokeism and the adoration of migrants.

While Quo Vadis is his best known work, the trilogy is most admired by Poles.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:56 AM (ONvIw)

145 " I can't quite bring myself to believe the Pearl Harbor conspiracy theories "

Most plausible is that FDR expected an attack on the Phillipines in response to our oil embargo but not an attack on Pearl with aircraft.

Finding things like war gaming after the fact don't prove anything. FFS we have war games to attack Canada (and Freedonia).

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 09:56 AM (ZHVt1)

146 gourmand, I just finished reading Joe Rochefort's War. He was in charge of Hypo Station in Pearl leading up to Pearl Harbor. There were many who were listening for that message, but no one ever heard it. After the war, Japan said that no "winds" messages were ever sent.

Posted by: Old Blue at November 21, 2021 09:56 AM (VNmG1)

147 Yes. Their ignorance on what's around them and what they believe is astonishing.
Posted by: Sponge - Michael Byrd MURDERED Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:54 AM (Zz0t1)

What's worse is that they are led by people who have to pretend not to know things. The media is just now starting to reveal that the Steele dossier was total fabrication but they didn't know that, they were fooled by a conman.

Yeah, right.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:57 AM (mbFEM)

148 Still on Coolidge by Amity Schlaes. There's a depressing amount of information I didn't know. Public education in the 80s and 90s has a lot to answer for. It's not grabbing me, like The Forgotten Man did, even with the new info. Not sure why.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 21, 2021 09:57 AM (MXdMt)

149 Will the hysteria caused by the media be recognized and dissected, or will it be the history?
=====

Hystoria. Thinking of the term 'hysteria' as hormonal.

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 21, 2021 09:57 AM (MIKMs)

150 For many with too much time on their hands, this void is filled with Woke Leftism as an ersatz religion.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 09:39 AM (ZHVt1)
---
The secular educated class has always assumed that once people had a belly full of food and a warm place to sleep, they'd be happy.

But without faith, life has no meaning and no amount of gadgets will fill that void. This leads to anger and despair, which is then channeled at others who you blame for your unhappiness. Hate feels good, but the rush soon fades, guilt returns, so you need to amp up the dosage. Eventually it consumes you entirely.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:58 AM (llXky)

151 cuba an exception among most countries in latin america, had a middle class in the 50s. in the 30s during the depression, probably with the nudge of fdr's state department batista who had included two communists in his cabinet, commissioned a green nude eel, called the 1940 constitution, it called for free education, free healthcare, rivers of milk and honey, of course it was unfeasable, that didn't mean that the former university president grau didn't try to push for it, the revolt against the previous dictator, machado had empowered the university students, and they had autonomy, so much so that gangs formed on campus, this was the prologue to what would happen later, the subsequent president prio was fairly corrupt, the chaos was such that batista was welcomed back to cancel his ticket, this is where fidel came into the picture, offering to fullfill the constitution of 1940,

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 09:59 AM (hMlTh)

152 OM, keep at the Sanderson books. I'm on book IV now, about 700 pages in. They all seem to build slowly but then reach an I just have to finish and see what happens point. I have never read a series that takes me this long to read but so worth it.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 21, 2021 09:59 AM (Y+l9t)

153 Door stop and paperweight emporium.

Posted by: Boss Moss at November 21, 2021 09:59 AM (KOlLu)

154 Yes. Their ignorance on what's around them and what they believe is astonishing.
Posted by: Sponge - Michael Byrd MURDERED Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 09:54 AM (Zz0t1)

This could very well be. My ophthalmologist nephew was pretty surprised when I forwarded a PubMed link dealing with the effectiveness of ivermectin on wuflu. Even he, my favorite nephew, has been in the bubble created by the media.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 09:59 AM (ONvIw)

155 Thank you for highlighting my comment from last week OM. I wanted to add the bit about Alcatraz, but couldn't remember his name, so I'm glad you added it.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 21, 2021 10:00 AM (MXdMt)

156 Those pants boldly declare, "I am in seine!"
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot:

****

The model's contract had a mental incapacity claws.

Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 10:00 AM (m45I2)

157 87 I think I need to find a Farming for Dummies book.
Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:37 AM (mbFEM)

David the Good's books.
https://tinyurl.com/26utmz8j

Gardening when it Counts, Steve Solomon.

IMO, forget Square foot gardening. Too many inputs.

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 10:00 AM (Rbu5d)

158 And since history is written by the winners, what does it say about the past.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:54 AM (mbFEM)
---
Not always. See also the Spanish Civil War.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:01 AM (llXky)

159 It's no secret FDR wanted a pretext to go to war. The problem was, WWI was such a debacle nobody (meaning Americans) wanted anything to do with it. This was reasonable as far as that goes. So they had to do something.

I think they knew an attack was imminent, but they perhaps thought Hawaii was a bit too far, and a Sunday morning surprise attack while diplomatic negotiations were going on might not have been part of the plan.

It does seem strange they would have all the battleships all tied up in a nice row like that?

Posted by: Common Tater at November 21, 2021 10:01 AM (1Zi6N)

160 My feet are more rounded.

Posted by: Boss Moss at November 21, 2021 10:01 AM (KOlLu)

161 yes coolidge was a progressive republican, in the 10s, till the reaction to the boston police strike, made him take the red pill, like reagan who was an fdr democrat, until his experience with the screen actors guild,

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 10:02 AM (hMlTh)

162 But without faith, life has no meaning and no amount of gadgets will fill that void. This leads to anger and despair, which is then channeled at others who you blame for your unhappiness. Hate feels good, but the rush soon fades, guilt returns, so you need to amp up the dosage. Eventually it consumes you entirely.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:58 AM (llXky)

Many people I know have "faith" in the prophet Obama and they are rushing down this path. Some never needed gadgets, but had a genuine "faith", until God became optional and wokeism prevailed.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:03 AM (ONvIw)

163 What's worse is that they are led by people who have to pretend not to know things. The media is just now starting to reveal that the Steele dossier was total fabrication but they didn't know that, they were fooled by a conman.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:57 AM (mbFEM)
---
It has been hard to talk about events with my father because his faith in Rachel Maddow is invincible. I keep asking why he continued to believe people who lie to him all the time, but I guess it's comforting.

His parents were people of deep faith, profoundly religious, but my father rebelled against this and has never backed off of that. This now fills that space where God should be, and no amount of truth will convince him to give up his idol worship.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:04 AM (llXky)

164 Someone above pointed out that they didn't read as much this week due to events unfolding, and I'm the same--I was glued, mainly to this blog.

And I think reading is a retreat, so when everything seems grim, I tend to read more, and when things seem not so grim, I'm more interested in the news.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:04 AM (AwPyG)

165 yes well but homer lea's scenario, spelled out exactly how japan would strike, so 'failure of imagination' doesn't work here,

in the newest iteration of midway, they have edwin layton and yamamoto, meeting in 1937, where he warns him of what would happen if the us cut off japan's oil supply

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 10:05 AM (hMlTh)

166 Did the Leftists not even take Psych 101 and Maslows hierarchy of needs? Full belly and shelter is only level one.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 10:05 AM (mbFEM)

167 Not always. See also the Spanish Civil War.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:01 AM (llXky)
-------
And our own Civil War. Cf. Southern Historical Society.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:05 AM (AlkyK)

168 Having lived to a ripe old age of 29 and never read anything that differed from the narrative of "dastardly, surprise attack", Infamy was like getting a bucket of ice water to the face.
Just making a simple phone call to Oahu was a big deal in those days, no satellites, etc.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 10:05 AM (jTmQV)

169
His parents were people of deep faith, profoundly religious, but my father rebelled against this and has never backed off of that. This now fills that space where God should be, and no amount of truth will convince him to give up his idol worship.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:04 AM (llXky)

This, except substitute Obama for Maddow, and half the people I know for your father. Obama is a charismatic demagogue for communism, but they adore him. A few are waking up to the horrors of woke, but not enough.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:06 AM (ONvIw)

170 Yes. Their ignorance on what's around them and what they believe is astonishing.
Posted by: Sponge

See Jesse Kelly's The Sky is Green theory on his Twitter feed. It is spot on.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 21, 2021 10:07 AM (Y+l9t)

171 fdr hated japan, perhaps because of his opium trading father, one of the leading figures, at state, stanley hornbeck, was son of missionaries in china, then you have soviet agents like laughlin currie behind the american volunteer group,

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 10:07 AM (hMlTh)

172 Still on Coolidge by Amity Schlaes. There's a depressing amount of information I didn't know. Public education in the 80s and 90s has a lot to answer for. It's not grabbing me, like The Forgotten Man did, even with the new info. Not sure why.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 21, 2021 09:57 AM (MXdMt)

I really admired the research Schlaes did for The Forgotten Man; her ability to write a compelling narration not so much.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at November 21, 2021 10:07 AM (y7DUB)

173 166 Did the Leftists not even take Psych 101 and Maslows hierarchy of needs? Full belly and shelter is only level one.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 10:05 AM (mbFEM)

Academics/"elites" in general have decided that most people do not have the intellectual capability to think beyond the very lower stages of this hierarchy.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:08 AM (ONvIw)

174 @163

Yeah, I suggest to my liberal relatives that maybe every once in a while they take a peek at the bias news, or the national file, or some other conservative news aggregator, and compare it with what Rachel Maddow is telling them.

At least they are less and less scornful, so there's that.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:08 AM (AwPyG)

175 103...For all the praise of Herbert for "world building" he was making it up as he went along. I mean, it's fiction, that is how it works. But he contradicts his world, he retcons stuff, he introduces all new stuff that you would think "well if this was that big a deal it would have shown up before."
Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (mbFEM)

Yeah, first book is the best. Next (very few) pretty good. The remainder, a bunch of "I got bills to pay."

But I read them maybe 30-40 years ago, so my memories about them may to be the best.

I have not watched any of the Dune films or TV. I liked what I built in my brain, so I didn't want to see a committee's idea. But I saw the latest, on recommendation of my husband. It was visually interesting. The actress cast as Jessica is awful. Paul is good.

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 10:08 AM (Rbu5d)

176 It does seem strange they would have all the battleships all tied up in a nice row like that?

Posted by: Common Tater at November 21, 2021 10:01 AM (1Zi6N)
---
Not if you understand the naval tactics of the time. While carrier operations were the new hotness "battleship admirals" still had a lot of pull. One of the war plans assumed that the Philippines would be attacked and invaded and that the Pacific Fleet would sortie to relieve them.

The carriers would serve as scouts for the main ship-to-ship engagement ala Jutland took place.

The first step in war readiness was therefore to "concentrate the fleet." Doing so put a strain on your logistics, which is why it was only done if conflict was expected.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:08 AM (llXky)

177 I wish Van Jones would stop blacksplaning what crackers think

Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 10:09 AM (us2H3)

178 Btw, if one reads Churchill's The World Crisis, one of the steps of deterrence was to concentrate the fleet.

In The Second World War, Churchill wrote of his fears that Japan would hit the Far East while Britain was fighting for its life and that FDR pointed to the concentration of the US fleet as a deterrent.

I will add that the US was not ready for war, so the idea that we wanted to be hit before we even had decent tanks in production is pretty dim.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:11 AM (llXky)

179 For all the praise of Herbert for "world building" he was making it up as he went along. I mean, it's fiction, that is how it works. But he contradicts his world, he retcons stuff, he introduces all new stuff that you would think "well if this was that big a deal it would have shown up before."
Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM (mbFEM)

Sounds like I missed nothing by stopping at the first novel.

Posted by: Snake Spirit at November 21, 2021 10:11 AM (CdZ4i)

180 I wish Van Jones would stop blacksplaning what crackers think
Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 10:09 AM (us2H3)
--------
"Everything's better when it sits on a Ritz."

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:12 AM (AlkyK)

181 123 ... "I have a copy of "King Solomon's Mines," borrowed (swiped?) from Dad long ago. Maybe it's time to start it?"

Weak Geek,
Give it a try. The book is hugely better than any of the movie adaptations, most of which sucked. It has adventure, humor, and great pacing. (This applies to Haggard's other books as well.)

One helpful thing I found is to try to get into the mindset of a late Victorian era reader where Africa is largely unknown and there is still room for surprise in the world. Of course the same can be said for Jules Verne, Kipling, and others of that period.

Posted by: JTB at November 21, 2021 10:12 AM (7EjX1)

182 Van Jones could be a formidable Leftie politican. He could out Obama Obama, and has a touch of Mandingo for the ladies so inclined.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 10:12 AM (ZHVt1)

183 I seem to remember reading a comment some time ago that in a way, the attack on the Pacific Fleet in port was sort of a good thing. Many of the ships damaged in the attack were salvaged and went to play important roles in future campaigns. If the fleet had sortied and been at sea when they were attacked, those same ships would have been at the bottom of the Pacific. And the thinking in Washington at the time was that Japan was going to attack the Philippines. Pearl Harbor was a failure of imagination on the US side.

Posted by: Old Blue at November 21, 2021 10:12 AM (VNmG1)

184 "Yeah, I suggest to my liberal relatives that maybe every once in a while they take a peek at the bias news, or the national file, or some other conservative news aggregator, and compare it with what Rachel Maddow is telling them. "

If only there were a place on the internet where news has been aggregated, sorted and commented on daily, Monday through Friday.
And posted around 7:30-7:45AM.

One could become much better informed.

If a place like that existed.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice. Asymptomatic raycist at November 21, 2021 10:12 AM (3D/fK)

185 For heads in the sand see somewhere Maria Shriver trying to explain the Rittenhouse trial outcome to her son, who is 27.
As been said many places now, if your shocked at that outcome, find another news source.

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 10:12 AM (2JoB8)

186 45 Diane Lane?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 21, 2021 09:17 AM (Dc2NZ)

Correct answer is at #2. I thought it would go fast this morning.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at November 21, 2021 10:13 AM (a/MYv)

187 @67

It will be interesting to see what happens to the Ian Rutledge series now that Caroline Todd has passed away.

I think she was always the laboring oar with the two Charles Todd series

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:13 AM (AwPyG)

188 Did the Leftists not even take Psych 101 and Maslows hierarchy of needs? Full belly and shelter is only level one.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 10:05 AM (mbFEM)
---
The core conceit of the left is that they are super-smart and people who work with their hands are total idiots.

Which is why they have to call someone in to unclog their toilet.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:14 AM (llXky)

189 Browning's M2 .50 cal machine gun (the "Ma Deuce") was produced without major revision for nearly 100 years. We've only recently made improvements to it to create the M2A2 version, and those are mostly to make it easier to replace barrels without having to do complicated headspace and timing adjustments. (Each gun used to have to have it's own dedicated set of replacement barrels that were painstakingly tested on each gun to make sure they fit properly).

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at November 21, 2021 10:14 AM (yJDo5)

190 Posted by: Old Blue at November 21, 2021 10:12 AM (VNmG1)
------
It also forced us to rely on carrier combat in a big way, which proved decisive on the long run.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:15 AM (AlkyK)

191 I don't think the US wanted to get in the war, certainly not. The book addresses the mental blindness that occurs when uncomfortable facts can no longer be ignored.
Much like the run up to the 911 attack in year 2001, there was a lot of "hey, no one saw THAT coming..." talk, but yes, signs were there of that attack as well.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 10:15 AM (jTmQV)

192 "Sounds like I missed nothing by stopping at the first novel."

Same here. I read and like the first 40 years ago. I'm told that each succeeding novel in the infinite series is half as good as the one before.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 10:16 AM (ZHVt1)

193 The Pilgrims Progress - has been among the "classic"
reading I've done recently.

I liked it, I believe there are also multiple versions available with 'updated' language. I'd listened to the original version, it fell into the, "I'm very glad I read it category"
At some point I'll probably re-read or listen.
I did not feel the need to read a 'newer' version, but they could be helpful.

From my out of the blue "classic" reads
~10% Great & I end up exploring much more
~65% Very Good, I'm very glad I read it
~20% I finished it, should this really be considered great?
~5% I'm out (ie: Gravity's Rainbow)
Of course I try to avoid things I don't expect to like, it's best when expectations get blown away (Tristam Shandy - & it's a book definitely not for everyone)

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at November 21, 2021 10:16 AM (C/fpg)

194 "Everything's better when it sits on a Ritz."

Titz !

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 10:16 AM (arJlL)

195 Asking for Horde help because I need some suggestions for pre-K books about death. As you may know, my grandson died suddenly earlier this month (we do not know, and may never know why) and my other grandchildren are having real difficulty because their own parents are having even more problems dealing with the tragedy.

Are there any books for pre-K (and parents) using simple language and concepts? None of them are religious now, but they were all raised with faith.

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 21, 2021 10:16 AM (MIKMs)

196 thats because they didn't hit the fuel depots and the carriers were not there, as with september 11th, if flight 93 had a full crew of hijackers, todd beamer might have not been able to prevent from crashing into dc, how might have events turned out then,

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 10:17 AM (hMlTh)

197 182 Van Jones could be a formidable Leftie politican. He could out Obama Obama, and has a touch of Mandingo for the ladies so inclined.
Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 10:12 AM (ZHVt1)

gotta a feeling Van is more on the Fandingo side than the Mandingo

Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 10:17 AM (us2H3)

198 "Everything's better when it sits on a Ritz."
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:12 AM (AlkyK)

sitzing at the Ritz

Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 10:19 AM (us2H3)

199 126...It's odd, and one more example of how rotten our education system has been for a very long time.

*Since we're talking about 1000 years, there aren't many that didn't.
Posted by: Eeyore at November 21, 2021 09:50 AM (7X3UV)

It's a part of the "dark ages" and "everything about Christianity is bad bad bad" propaganda.

The Enlightenment and Humanist Way is the only way, dontcha know.

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 10:19 AM (Rbu5d)

200 @197

Van Jones was a Valerie Jarrett project. Which says it all.

He's trying to moderate his image, now.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:19 AM (AwPyG)

201 Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 10:00 AM (Rbu5d)

I like the concept of permaculture gardening. Have yet to put it into practice though.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 21, 2021 10:19 AM (MXdMt)

202 Blaster, that is what I find so compelling about the Sanderson books. He always seems to know where he is going. The books are 1000+ pages but the story progresses, details fall into place, maps actually work.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 21, 2021 10:19 AM (Y+l9t)

203 The core conceit of the left is that they are super-smart and people who work with their hands are total idiots.

Which is why they have to call someone in to unclog their toilet.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:14 AM (llXky)

I would not exempt the pseudo-right from this. They were in on the destruction of the manufacturing segment and the distaste for the "white working class" (see Cap'n Kristol, et al). They took away opportunity from people they thought were below striving, and I'll include minorities in that group.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:20 AM (ONvIw)

204 Didn't Bezos give Van 100 million bucks ??

Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 10:20 AM (us2H3)

205 herbert had a whole series of notions, there was desertification from his studies of southern oregon, there was the lawrence trope of liberating westerner, there are aspects that he was paralleling the russian/caucasus conflict as well as the mohammed/byzantine clash, all sorts of elements,

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 10:20 AM (hMlTh)

206 Don't see a early film of Sharon with Don Johnson, born 1958 and first (3rd really) named roll is Deadly Blessing from 1981

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 10:20 AM (2JoB8)

207 Methods used in Teaching English As A Second Language should be used in all classes but not all the time.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at November 21, 2021 10:22 AM (tPUfk)

208 Sharon always looks like she's drinking her own pee

Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 10:22 AM (us2H3)

209 @AaronSiriSG

FDA produces first 91+ pages of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine documents. It reveals that Pfizer, after just 2 ½ months of vaccine use, received 25,957 reports of "Nervous system disorders." Only 54 years, 11 months to go for the remaining pages...

https://tinyurl.com/yz3skgfm

Twitter being twits put a warning on the tweet and won't allow anyone to reply, like or share it. You can quote tweet it but that also carries the twits warning.

Posted by: Tami at November 21, 2021 10:23 AM (cF8AT)

210 you certainly get that notion from manchesters account of the renaissance, a fire lightening or something, we have replaced religion with pseudo science self affirmation and paganism,

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 10:23 AM (hMlTh)

211 It is ironical that at the time, FDR had his panties in a wad over what the Japs were doing in China, yet by 1948 China became Red China.

Which has bitten us in the ass ever since. First in Korea, than Vietnam and now with the present mess we find ourselves in.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 21, 2021 10:24 AM (R/m4+)

212 The final thing I will write about "Infamy" is that the vast majority of the book is about the official aftermath of the attack. Congressional hearings, demotions, courts martial, etc. These largely occurred while the war itself was being fought, so I rarely read anything about these events, being in the shadows of the larger battles.
What a sheet storm.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 10:24 AM (jTmQV)

213 "The core conceit of the left is that they are super-smart and people who work with their hands are total idiots."

So true.

Elitism expands on this. Relatively few people believe they can run things without practical experience and blindness as to facts on the ground.

POTUS-in fact Ron Klain is a great example.

In the HBO movie about the Bush-Gore election fight, Klain is played by Kevin Spacey (who looks nothing like him). Spacey only plays sociopaths. Therefore ... QED.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 10:24 AM (ZHVt1)

214 Sharon always looks like she's drinking her own pee
Posted by: REDACTED

Does she get an enema every day, too ?

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 10:25 AM (arJlL)

215 Even when young, Sharon Stone had extreme Resting Bitch Face, no?

Still a one.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 10:25 AM (ZHVt1)

216 so I am really into the Fantasy series SPELLMONGER which is on book 13, these books are better on Audio and the Author plans on 30 books and he writes not like KingKiller or Game Of Thrones who can't be bothered to write.

Spellmonger (think of him as a blue collar) is a Former Warmage that is tired of War and just wants to be a village Spellmonger, keeping rats out grain with spells, bees to stay healthy and ward bears from the Hives, everyday stuff, When in the night he gets awaken or is no longer passed out from drinking to find his village under attack by Goblins and the Story Kicks off from there

I enjoy the World building, and I think he does a good job their is politics involved to see who will be King. It's funny and the Main Character is Likable and no SJW in the book, it does have it Adult elements of sex in the book.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 21, 2021 10:26 AM (PJya6)

217 I have not watched any of the Dune films or TV. I liked what I built in my brain, so I didn't want to see a committee's idea. But I saw the latest, on recommendation of my husband. It was visually interesting. The actress cast as Jessica is awful. Paul is good.
Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 10:08 AM (Rbu5d)

The new movie looked exactly the way 14 year old me imagined the book to look.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 10:26 AM (mbFEM)

218 Twitter being twits put a warning on the tweet and won't allow anyone to reply, like or share it. You can quote tweet it but that also carries the twits warning.
Posted by: Tami at November 21, 2021 10:23 AM (cF8AT)

Amazes me how the fascists are so invested, maybe literally, in Pfizer and how much they hate "the people". But then, as we just discussed (Maslow), many of them see "the people" as being totally constrained by their animal needs and unable to be as "intellectual" as they are. I beg to differ.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:26 AM (ONvIw)

219 I am reading " Letters and papers from prison " by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. One of the things he wrote to one friend was "God is the beyond in the midst of our lives." God is eternal and truly present. It seemed a good thought as in the church I serve we celebrate Christ the King Sunday.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 21, 2021 10:27 AM (7czVi)

220 215 Even when young, Sharon Stone had extreme Resting Bitch Face, no?

Still a one.
Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 10:25 AM (ZHVt1)

she had an early IQ test and developed the "I'm smarter than you" bitch look

if you don't believe me, just ask Sharon

Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 10:28 AM (us2H3)

221 the japanese control group acted in part against mao, but they had a common enemy in chiang, because nationalist,

mao did not conduct the larger part of the fighting, chiang did, his generals might have done their share of plunder of relief supplies, like the tribal chieftains in afghanistan, the so called warlords,

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 10:29 AM (hMlTh)

222 @213

It's some kind of mass narcissism, maybe--although it's hard to imagine that so many people are so impractical.

If any of you know a hard-core narcissist, they truly and honestly believe they would be a better surgeon than their surgeon; they'd be a better captain than the cruise ship captain, etc, etc.

It's clearly a mental disorder.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:29 AM (AwPyG)

223
Are there any books for pre-K (and parents) using simple language and concepts? None of them are religious now, but they were all raised with faith.

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 21, 2021 10:16 AM

My wife taught K for decades. She suggests, "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. Check out the review, but she says it's a tear jerker.

Posted by: Traitor Joe's Military Surplus at November 21, 2021 10:29 AM (dQvv7)

224 Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 21, 2021 10:26 AM (PJya6)
-----
So all he wanted was the Right to Ward Bears?

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:30 AM (AlkyK)

225 Don't see a early film of Sharon with Don Johnson, born 1958 and first (3rd really) named roll is Deadly Blessing from 1981
Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 10:20 AM (2JoB

Hey! I have a cousin who was in Deadly Blessing.

But more seriously, I tried crosschecking IMDB.com for Stone and Johnson roles and couldn't find one they were both in. However, they each have lengthy CV's and it'd be easy to miss one.

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 21, 2021 10:31 AM (ZSK0i)

226 . It reveals that Pfizer, after just 2 months of vaccine use, received 25,957 reports of "Nervous system disorders."

*******

Pfizer's masthead: Primum Non Veritas

Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 10:31 AM (m45I2)

227 It's clearly a mental disorder.
Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:29 AM (AwPyG)

Personality disorder, but I think a lot of it is learned and not biological.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:32 AM (ONvIw)

228 No title yet, but I think it has to have "dragon" in it because all the books on China do. So my working title is "Something Something Dragon: A Military Study of China's Past and Future."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 09:24 AM (llXky)

I would be interested in your resources on Song dynasty China, because they are supposed to have almost triggered an industrial revolution and "modernity" as defined by urbanization, enhanced property rights, free(ish) trade and agricultural surpluses.
They were overtaken by the Mongols and the Yuan dynasty

the Ming turned away from urbanization to latifundia-style focused economy with an emphasis on small villages and farming, it is thought, because it was a better society for raising infantry

Posted by: Kindltot at November 21, 2021 10:32 AM (P9T5R)

229 Jane Austen knew a few narcissists, obviously; Lady Catherine in Pride and Prejudice admits she doesn't play the piano, but:

"If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient"

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:33 AM (AwPyG)

230 The new movie looked exactly the way 14 year old me imagined the book to look.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 10:26 AM (mbFEM)
---
The problem with making a movie of Dune is that there is so much internal discussion. It's chock full of asides and internal monologues that simply don't translate well to the screen.

One thing I've tried to do in my fiction is eliminate that - I try to have characters either say what they feel or act in such a way that you know what they are thinking in a given situation. It's useful not only for perspective (which I feel is essential in good writing) but also - in the extremely unlikely event I get a screen adaptation offer - it will lose very little in translation.

The Man of Destiny series in particular was written as if it was on a screen because of course it's a fix for Star Wars.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:33 AM (llXky)

231 Pfizer's masthead: Primum Non Veritas
Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 10:31 AM (m45I2)

First in fraud?

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 21, 2021 10:34 AM (ZSK0i)

232
"If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient"
Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:33 AM (AwPyG)

She probably developed that mindset through her parents and her place in the class system.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:34 AM (ONvIw)

233 Recently saw a murder/ crime mystery the young star dies accidentally at end and was thinking it was Sharon but doubt it was now.

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 10:35 AM (2JoB8)

234 I did not do much reading this week except following the Rittenhouse trial on the blog. Someone should make that whole thing into a movie.

Posted by: grammie winger at November 21, 2021 10:35 AM (45fpk)

235 -----
So all he wanted was the Right to Ward Bears?
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:30 AM (AlkyK)

at the beginning Wizards so are over regulated to the point where they can't own any Property because the State is afraid of their potential power, when Wizards use to be in Power and now the State needs them to fight and the Wizards have a Rock that gives them more power and They Created a new Class.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 21, 2021 10:36 AM (PJya6)

236 234 I did not do much reading this week except following the Rittenhouse trial on the blog. Someone should make that whole thing into a movie.
Posted by: grammie winger at November 21, 2021 10:35 AM (45fpk)

Sadly they will, and they'll pollute it with leftist dogma until it's pure fiction.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:36 AM (ONvIw)

237 A lot of talk about the 'to be read' pile this AM. I'm just saying that I'm feeling my mortality and becoming extremely reluctant to add anymore to the stack. The actuarial tables say I only have about 15 more years and the kindle alone has almost enough to fill that time up. I still keep a list, though. Just in case.

Posted by: who knew at November 21, 2021 10:36 AM (4I7VG)

238 If any of you know a hard-core narcissist, they truly and honestly believe they would be a better surgeon than their surgeon; they'd be a better captain than the cruise ship captain, etc, etc.

It's clearly a mental disorder.
Posted by: artemis

Ya think ?

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 10:37 AM (arJlL)

239 Finished reading Captured Yesterday a WWII diary of an American officer captured by Germans during Operation Torch in North Africa. He's very green yet a competent and sharp man and given more time in the field would have served him well.

The first seven chapters are slow and somewhat dull as he describes a sort of garrison duty stateside as well as in the English countryside. The rest of the book offers an interesting account of life in a German Oflag.

Posted by: 13times at November 21, 2021 10:37 AM (9rMWy)

240 Still in book 4 of the re-reading of the Wheel of Time...I'll be in this series for probably the next year unless I lose interest.
Anyone watch the Amazon series yet? Is it worth the time?

Posted by: lin-duh, duh, duh!! at November 21, 2021 10:38 AM (UUBmN)

241 @232

I'm not learned on the subject, but I have known a few narcissists, and I do think there's a wire crossed, somewhere.

I think that's why they don't respond to therapy, or react to negative feedback (see: Meghan Markle, who is running that ship aground)

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:38 AM (AwPyG)

242 13times would be up my alley

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 10:39 AM (2JoB8)

243 124 @113 the legend of Herbert says he had it all mapped out decades ahead of time. Like George Lucas.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:49 AM (mbFEM)

Narrator: George Lucas did not have it all mapped out decades ahead of time.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at November 21, 2021 10:39 AM (a/MYv)

244 is a Former Warmage that is tired of War and just wants to be a village Spellmonger, keeping rats out grain with spells, bees to stay healthy and ward bears from the Hives, everyday stuff,

*****

This story premise sounds really cute.

"The Wizard of Awwwws!"

Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 10:39 AM (m45I2)

245 I think I need to find a Farming for Dummies book.
Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:37 AM (mbFEM)

I would suggest Steve Solomon, he wrote to decent starting books on the subject of small gardening, Gardening Without Irrigation, and Organic Gardeners' Composting.

He has written more advanced books since then, and there is new science but those two are really good starter books. Especially since they are free on Gutenberg.org

Posted by: Kindltot at November 21, 2021 10:41 AM (P9T5R)

246 If any of you know a hard-core narcissist, they truly and honestly believe they would be a better surgeon than their surgeon; they'd be a better captain than the cruise ship captain, etc, etc.
=====

An old Irish saying: He was the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 21, 2021 10:41 AM (MIKMs)

247 Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 21, 2021 10:19 AM (MXdMt)

David the Good's "Grocery Row Gardening" is a very good amalgam of permaculture principals and row gardening.

He has a YT channel which is informative and entertaining.

The problem with permaculture gardening (as I see it, having applied it on our farm) is that it takes a Long Time for perennials to mature and bear results. Also, it's difficult to get in there and take care of the plants, because of the way it's set up. We set up our orchard as permaculture; it's too difficult to take care of. There's a reason our forebears used rows.

We're amending the orchard next year to be in rows, the best we can.

YT: The Survival Gardener.
Blog, same name
Amazon, "David the Good"

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 10:41 AM (Rbu5d)

248 I started the devotional Daily Strength For Daily Needs by Mary Tiletson a month or so ago, which matters since the entries are dated. It has one or two Scripture verses and two or three quotes per day. I've frequently found the entries to be thought provoking, occasionally profound, and (at least once) quite convicting, which is the mark of a good devotional.

Pretty sure I got it free on Kindle as one of the public domain books.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 21, 2021 10:42 AM (MXdMt)

249 @ElectionWiz 46m

Dana Bash asks Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears if she wants to disclose her vax status.

Sears: "The minute that I start telling you about my vaccine status, we're going to be down the bottom of the mountain trying to figure out how we got there..."

https://tinyurl.com/yfwxgxde

Listen to the idiot, Dana Bash, explain why "candidate Biden" said he wouldn't take the 'Trump vaccine'....like Trump was developing the vaccine personally.

Posted by: Tami at November 21, 2021 10:42 AM (cF8AT)

250 Much like the run up to the 911 attack in year 2001, there was a lot of "hey, no one saw THAT coming..

No, no, no, no.

Did I mention "No"? I worked with some pretty high ups in the late 1990s, and they allowed to me one of the, if not THE greatest security concerns were hijacked civilian airliners crashing into Washington landmarks. It must have been an open secret.

Anyone says anything to the contrary is stupid, or lying. The End.

Posted by: Common Tater at November 21, 2021 10:43 AM (1Zi6N)

251 @223 --

Yes, "Love You Forever" will make you cry. I sure did.

But that was an old woman who died. I think the original poster wants something in the lines of kids who cope with the loss of a peer.

And I have no idea what that would be.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 21, 2021 10:43 AM (Om/di)

252 Dibner's ""The Trouble With Heroes" borrows a bit from the real Vietnam controversy of Marcus Aurelius Arnheiter and his despotic command of USS Vance.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 21, 2021 10:44 AM (6F7G3)

253 you know the story behind klaus schwab, his father was a manager at esch wyss one of the little known contractors of third reich labor, he managed operations which involved selling nuclear technology to south africa, this is where he came from before his set up the world economic forum,

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 10:44 AM (hMlTh)

254 LOL at the Nancy Drew cover.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 21, 2021 10:44 AM (P3gRi)

255 Posted by: 13times at November 21, 2021 10:37 AM (9rMWy)
------
You probably would enjoy Pat Reid's books on Colditz - Oflag IVc.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:45 AM (AlkyK)

256 Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 21, 2021 10:42 AM (MXdMt)]

You just reminded me that I have a copy of C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters and I need to get back to it.

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 21, 2021 10:45 AM (ZSK0i)

257 I think that's why they don't respond to therapy, or react to negative feedback (see: Meghan Markle, who is running that ship aground)
Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:38 AM (AwPyG)

From what I've seen and heard it's a "taught" sort of thing. If the wires are crossed, it was done by someone and not innate. Just as victimhood is taught a sense of grandiosity is also taught and modeled. A child who lives in a self-centered family, sees that as normal, and a child deemed a prodigy or superior in any way will have a very hard time letting go of that despite all evidence to the contrary.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:45 AM (ONvIw)

258 I would be interested in your resources on Song dynasty China,

Posted by: Kindltot at November 21, 2021 10:32 AM (P9T5R)
---
As with Long Live Death, I am leaning heavily on the Osprey publishing monographs and references in other military history sources.

Each period is only going to get a chapter since this is for people with a general interest in the topic.

For example, I'm not going to get into the machinations of the Warring States - just discover the strategic and tactical environment and the evolution of the military art that took place. If I start getting into Ch'in, Chou, Wu, Shu, etc. it will only confuse people.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:46 AM (llXky)

259 I read the first 'Brigadier Gerard' stories by Conan Doyle. (Another reference gleaned from Michael Dirda's book about Doyle.) This is some fine writing. He manages to take a puffed up dandy of a French cavalry officer, during the Napoleanic era, who is thick headed but convinced he is the epitome of grace, martial skill and manners for the period who is also irresistible to women. Doyle manages to make him less than a complete buffoon while showing all his flaws and admirable qualities. He also keeps the pace moving. It's a delicate balance and Doyle pulls it off. I wonder if Gerard was a model for Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau.

Posted by: JTB at November 21, 2021 10:46 AM (7EjX1)

260 213...Elitism expands on this. Relatively few people believe they can run things without practical experience and blindness as to facts on the ground.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 21, 2021 10:24 AM (ZHVt1)

The modern-day Gnostics. They have the Special Knowledge (tm) and you do not.

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 10:46 AM (Rbu5d)

261 Still in book 4 of the re-reading of the Wheel of Time...I'll be in this series for probably the next year unless I lose interest.
Anyone watch the Amazon series yet? Is it worth the time?
Posted by: lin-duh, duh, duh!! at November 21, 2021 10:38 AM (UUBmN)
---
Watched first three episodes (only ones released so far). Not really worth the time. It's fan fiction from less talented writers. Had to go back and start re-reading book 1 as an antidote.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 21, 2021 10:46 AM (K5n5d)

262 Sure, I get concentrate the fleet at Pearl, OK. That isn't the question.

But tying them up in a row like that as if everything is OK business as usual if concerned about an aerial attack? Why not spread them around? The harbor itself is huge.

Posted by: Common Tater at November 21, 2021 10:47 AM (1Zi6N)

263 @148: re: Coolidge "It's not grabbing me, like The Forgotten Man did" interesting. i thought Coolidge was the better book.

Posted by: yara at November 21, 2021 10:47 AM (N7mou)

264 The new movie looked exactly the way 14 year old me imagined the book to look.
Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 10:26 AM (mbFEM)

Denis, is that you?

Posted by: Flyover. at November 21, 2021 10:48 AM (Rbu5d)

265 The Deep Six is a 1953 novel by Martin Dibner (1911-1992) describing the experiences of a group of U.S. Navy sailors fighting in the Aleutian Islands Campaign in 1943 during World War II.
========================
I just finished "The Winter Army" (The WWII Odyssey of the 10th Mtn. Div., America's Elite Alpine Warriors) by Maurice Isserman. It's an amazing true story about the formation, and ultimate deployment of this start-up concept of preparing for mountain warfare in Europe. The 10th started out very suspect: they were the primary ground force in Aleutian assault. It turned into a ghastly incident, one that I knew nothing about until reading this book. The 10th went on to some of the most brutal and and heroic combat of WWII. The 10th was populated by many future out-door greats, and several went on to build out Aspen CO, into a destination resort. One of the interesting side notes of the 10th, Rupert and Werner von Trapp (Sound of Music fame), both served and saw action in the 10th.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at November 21, 2021 10:48 AM (7Fj9P)

266 I tried to read the Screwtape Letters but was bored almost immediately. Thought it would be a dialog or have a story to tell. It was just moralizing in a very obvious way.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 21, 2021 10:49 AM (Y+l9t)

267 Anna Puma

I recently watched The Dirty Dozen : at the end, when they dropped the grenades in the air shaft, and then dropped pinless grenades in, would the undetonated grenades have exploded , simply by having a grenade explode next to it ?

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 10:51 AM (arJlL)

268 Each area of Pearl had a specific function. So battleships get moored at Ford with the option for a strait sortie out the channel. Cruisers and destroyers had their areas, so to subs.

Utah got hit because she was berthed where the absent carriers normally anchored. And the Japs hit her anyway.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 21, 2021 10:51 AM (6F7G3)

269 Who does (or did) the best job at world-building?

Remember Watership Down, with the warrior-rabbits? He did a good job.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:52 AM (AwPyG)

270 I can endorse The Guns of John Moses Browning, apart from a few technical nitpicks, comparatively few for a gun book, it's a good biography and has lots of gun talk.

Skip the Stormlight Sanderson books. The worldbuilding is top notch, the characters...not so much. I've read the first two a few times, and it goes down hill fast. Only the old General is worth reading about and that's less than 1/3rd the plot. The third book introduces insufferable new characters.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 21, 2021 10:53 AM (eeRB6)

271 A child who lives in a self-centered family, sees that as normal, and a child deemed a prodigy or superior in any way will have a very hard time letting go of that despite all evidence to the contrary.

****

The mothers of my patients from the Roaring Fork Valley (Basalt to Aspen) all described their snowflake child to me as "an elite athlete". I saw elite ski racers, elite baseball players, elite soccer stars, elite X-Games virtuosos, elite softball, football, wrestlers, elite oboe players, and on and on. Aspen is friggin' Mount Wpbegon.

"where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."

Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 10:53 AM (m45I2)

272 I tried to read the Screwtape Letters but was bored almost immediately. Thought it would be a dialog or have a story to tell. It was just moralizing in a very obvious way.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 21, 2021 10:49 AM (Y+l9t)

IIRC, the Letters were serialized over a period of time. I'm thinking it'd be easier to read and digest by reading it in the same manner, i.e. perhaps a letter a week.

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 21, 2021 10:54 AM (ZSK0i)

273 I have a massive book Airwar on many chapters of WWII combat, on Aleutian campaign it goes something like
Weather in the Aleutians in July and August is bad, the rest of the year worse.

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 10:54 AM (2JoB8)

274 I have been reading "Work of Human Hands" by Rev. Anthony Cekada.

Francis is the Pope of the Roman Lutheran Church.

Find a Traditional Latin Mass if you want to leave the Last Supper and worship at the Cross.

Posted by: Been Lurking at November 21, 2021 10:55 AM (JVCkA)

275 266 I tried to read the Screwtape Letters but was bored almost immediately. Thought it would be a dialog or have a story to tell. It was just moralizing in a very obvious way.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 21, 2021 10:49 AM (Y+l9t)

I loved it. To each his own.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:55 AM (ONvIw)

276 Still in book 4 of the re-reading of the Wheel of Time...I'll be in this series for probably the next year unless I lose interest.
Anyone watch the Amazon series yet? Is it worth the time?
Posted by: lin-duh, duh, duh!! at November 21, 2021 10:38 AM (UUBmN)
---
Watched first three episodes (only ones released so far). Not really worth the time. It's fan fiction from less talented writers. Had to go back and start re-reading book 1 as an antidote.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 21, 2021 10:46 AM (K5n5d)

+1 on skip the Amazon series. It's terrible AND I don't think the writers actually read Wheel of Time. Or if they did, they still thought it needed 'improving'.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 21, 2021 10:55 AM (eeRB6)

277 @271

So happy we managed to leave the Lake Wobegon craze behind us. Yeesh.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:55 AM (AwPyG)

278 Posted by: yara at November 21, 2021 10:47 AM (N7mou)

I'm perfectly willing to concede that the lack of grabiness may be entirely on my part. It may be due to what I'd read before in each case.

I'm coming to this from a couple of missionary autobiographies and may just be biographied out. With The Forgotten Man I was coming from Timothy Egan's The Worst Hard Time that I didn't finish because his framing of some of the events deeply annoyed me.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at November 21, 2021 10:55 AM (MXdMt)

279 I read "The Screwtape Letters" when I was 15. I thought they were funny. Very sarcastic.

Posted by: Been Lurking at November 21, 2021 10:56 AM (JVCkA)

280 The new movie looked exactly the way 14 year old me imagined the book to look.
Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 10:26 AM (mbFEM)

The one thing I liked about the David Lynch Dune was the Internal dialogue which it needed in the New Movie.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 21, 2021 10:56 AM (PJya6)

281 When you realize that authors are people and not just bylines, you wonder how many aspects of their lives get folded into their novels.
Posted by: Weak Geek at November 21, 2021 09:49 AM (Om/di)

The joy of reading golden age to 70's sci-fi, as well as the really good detective novels from the 30's to the 50's, is that they are both folded into the then current world, both for what is actually going on for the writer and the intended reader, but also aspirations of what that means for the future on part f the sci fi.

I like reading them as tiny little time capsules of culture

Even today this goes on, Bujold's Cryoburn is based around "Commodified Contracts" and was published in 2010

Posted by: Kindltot at November 21, 2021 10:56 AM (P9T5R)

282
IIRC, the Letters were serialized over a period of time. I'm thinking it'd be easier to read and digest by reading it in the same manner, i.e. perhaps a letter a week.
Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 21, 2021 10:54 AM (ZSK0i)
-------
John Cleese did an excellent audiobook of the Letters.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:56 AM (AlkyK)

283 CN, it is probably because I am Jewish and just didn't "get it".

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 21, 2021 10:57 AM (Y+l9t)

284 My wife (the lovely and accomplished Annalucia) and I have been reading aloud to each other, and to our children, throughout our marriage (43 years and counting). This week, we are reading "Crazy: George Herriman, a Life in Black and White", by Michael Tisserand, which is a biography of the creator of the comic strip "Krazy Kat". If you're an aficionado of the classic American comic strip, this book is a must. I never would have thought that the biography of a man who spent most of his life drawing cartoons would be interesting, but this one is. In particular, it's a marvelous portrait of the world of the newspapers, and particularly of the Hearst papers, between the turn of the century and WWII. Herriman himself was, by the one-drop rule, an African-American - he was a Creole from New Orleans, whose mother tongue was Creole French, whose family had moved to Los Angeles and passed for white. Herriman himself was always in the racial twilight zone: his nickname was "The Greek", from his appearance, and he always wore a hat to cover his kinky hair. It's a fascinating story, thoroughly researched and very well written. Highly recommended.

Posted by: Nemo at November 21, 2021 10:57 AM (S6ArX)

285 John Cleese did an excellent audiobook of the Letters.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:56 AM (AlkyK)
---
Oh, he'd be perfect.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:58 AM (llXky)

286 Fashionably late to The Book Thread.

FYI anyone in PA can ger a library card from the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at November 21, 2021 10:58 AM (YZG/i)

287 CT, I didn't know that about the IC in the 90's. I don't believe that their intel was that well known.

As to the fleet at Pearl, none of the command structure at Pearl knew that Washington was reading the Purple diplomatic code, and the IJN JN25(b) code was not yet readable in large part. Washington had sent only vague war warning messages, so Short and Kimmel were more concerned with sabotage by local Japanese than by an aerial attack. They didn't know about the 14 part diplomatic message that in effect was their declaration of war. That's why everything was lined up so nice and pretty.

Posted by: Old Blue at November 21, 2021 10:59 AM (VNmG1)

288
And since history is written by the winners, what does it say about the past.
Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:54 AM (mbFEM)

The Republic ultimately won the Spanish Civil War?

Posted by: Kindltot at November 21, 2021 10:59 AM (P9T5R)

289 Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 10:53 AM (m45I2)

Yes. The "wires" are crossed by the environment. Now imagine many kids' disappointment and denial when they find out they are not "elite".

The Meghan Markle example is one where the "elite" nature of the person was reinforced by the spectacular marriage. After that it will be simple to blame any and all failures on haters and jealousy.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 10:59 AM (ONvIw)

290 Death Comes for the Archbishop is another book that's hard to plow through all at once--better in little pieces.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:59 AM (AwPyG)

291 John Cleese did an excellent audiobook of the Letters.
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:56 AM (AlkyK)

I think I might just check that out.

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 21, 2021 10:59 AM (ZSK0i)

292 the legend of Herbert says he had it all mapped out decades ahead of time. Like George Lucas.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:49 AM (mbFEM)

Narrator: George Lucas did not have it all mapped out decades ahead of time.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at November 21, 2021 10:39 AM (a/MYv)

The reason Dune is so good and the following books are increasingly bad is that Dune was rejected a huge number of time (50? 100?), so Herbert kept working on it, revising it, making it better (YMMV). The later books, he had a contract, so he did less revision and rewriting.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 21, 2021 11:00 AM (eeRB6)

293 Thank you for the thread and content. Now to read the comments.
Finished a Tom Clancy novel, Executive Powers. Very interesting. President Ryan confronts an ebola outbreak seeded into the US by Iran. He has to choose between shutting down the virus, and curtailing the rights of Americans to travel etc. Sounded familiar.
Now reading the latest from one of my favorite authors, Barry Eisler, The Chaos Kind. Enjoying it. A bunch of his heros from his previous books are dealing with an Epstein like situation. Our betters in government are all caught with their pants down, literally, on video that is archived. These government officials will stop at nothing to prevent the release of these videos etc.

Posted by: MikeM at November 21, 2021 11:00 AM (jI1b1)

294 Reading For Whom the Bell Tolls I was starting to think maybe Hemingway isn't for me. But then about a hundred pages in when Pilar describes the massacre of a bunch of fascists in her village it really picked up. Blood and gore FTW.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt

I thought it very interesting that commie Hemingway included that scene. I read it as showing what monsters the commies are but Hemmingway himself may have included it to show what a revolution is supposed to look like make him the real monster. Pilar clearly thought Pablo was more of man when he is engaging in mass murder than when he attempts to avoid combat.

For Whom the Bell Tolls is one of two Hemingway novel I quite like, the other being A Farewell To Arms.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at November 21, 2021 11:00 AM (FVME7)

295 So happy we managed to leave the Lake Wobegon craze behind us. Yeesh.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:55 AM (AwPyG)
---
My dad got me the books, if I was there Saturday night he had the radio on, watched the live TV broadcasts. His parents were late adopters on TV so he got lots of radio shows growing up.

Kind of funny how Gary K. turned out to be an awkward creeper.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:00 AM (llXky)

296 283 CN, it is probably because I am Jewish and just didn't "get it".
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 21, 2021 10:57 AM (Y+l9t)

So am I.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 11:00 AM (ONvIw)

297 like with red sparrow, it was full of dominikas reading of auras, and the city specific recipes,

in my novel, jambiya, I debate on how much to relate in thoughts, how much to narrate, how much to illustrate out right,

Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 11:01 AM (hMlTh)

298 Slow reading week for me. I did start re-reading Dune after seeing the movie, and I've got a book about the Holy Grail which I think came from a past Moron recommendation.

Dune -- like Foundation -- isn't as good when you re-read it as an adult. At age 14 they're amazing. Forty years older you notice the flaws. Herbert's dialog is terrible. The first scene with Baron Harkonnen is like something out of a vaudeville melodrama.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 21, 2021 11:02 AM (QZxDR)

299 It was Pearl Harbor's fault. I wonder what she was wearing.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at November 21, 2021 11:02 AM (FVME7)

300 That's why everything was lined up so nice and pretty.

Posted by: Old Blue at November 21, 2021 10:59 AM (VNmG1)
---
Never underestimate the incompetence possible by a peacetime military mentality. See also the current Navy's inability to put out ship fires or prevent open-sea collisions.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:03 AM (llXky)

301 @292

That makes a lot of sense, and could be true of many series that start out strong but then seem to get thinner and thinner.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:04 AM (AwPyG)

302 I think last year this time the Screwtape Letters was being passed around and have it on my tablet, have read some and it is profound but haven't gotten back to it.

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 11:05 AM (2JoB8)

303 Dune -- like Foundation -- isn't as good when you re-read it as an adult. At age 14 they're amazing. Forty years older you notice the flaws. Herbert's dialog is terrible. The first scene with Baron Harkonnen is like something out of a vaudeville melodrama.

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 21, 2021 11:02 AM (QZxDR)
---
The ending of Dune felt rushed, like he either was up against a page limit or deadline. After all that ploddingly slow detail - whoops! Let's cut to the end.

Doesn't Paul's son die off camera? Just weird.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:05 AM (llXky)

304 I've mentioned it before, but the father of one of my good friends was on the Arizona, and had to wiggle through a porthole underwater to swim to the surface.

She still has the rosary that was in his pocket.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:06 AM (AwPyG)

305 299 It was Pearl Harbor's fault. I wonder what she was wearing.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at November 21, 2021 11:02 AM (FVME7)

Pearls.

And only Pearls.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 21, 2021 11:06 AM (6FeV1)

306 That makes a lot of sense, and could be true of many series that start out strong but then seem to get thinner and thinner.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:04 AM (AwPyG)
---
This is one reason why none of my books that have sequel possibilities (Battle Officer Wolf, Vampires of Michigan) have gotten sequels yet. I don't want to just crank out stuff for sales.

A book should say something and I simply haven't got enough new ideas to flesh out additional books in those series.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:07 AM (llXky)

307 She still has the rosary that was in his pocket.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:06 AM (AwPyG)
---
That right there is a holy family relic. Very cool.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:08 AM (llXky)

308 Never underestimate the incompetence possible by a peacetime military mentality. See also the current Navy's inability to put out ship fires or prevent open-sea collisions.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

In Navy boot camp way back when, they were REAL big on firefighting. It was explained to us that on a ship at sea, you can't call the Fire Dep't, so you have to be your own Fire Dep't.

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 11:08 AM (arJlL)

309 So happy we managed to leave the Lake Wobegon craze behind us. Yeesh.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 10:55 AM (AwPyG)

Keillor is such an insufferably smug d-bag. Did he pass away or retire? Because I haven't heard him around much lately and I miss him not at all.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at November 21, 2021 11:09 AM (a/MYv)

310 The joy of reading golden age to 70's sci-fi, as well as the really good detective novels from the 30's to the 50's, is that they are both folded into the then current world, both for what is actually going on for the writer and the intended reader, but also aspirations of what that means for the future on part f the sci fi.
=====

A minor bleg of mine is that quite a few of the most competent and interesting writers seemed to hit mid-life crises at the same time. (80s, when I really noticed)

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 21, 2021 11:09 AM (MIKMs)

311 "Did he pass away or retire? "

He got caught in the Me Too business.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 11:10 AM (jTmQV)

312 I've been reading The Saga of the Volsungs, translated by Jackson Crawford. It's a very good translation. And what a messed up bunch of people! I picked up another saga that he translated but haven't started it. He has a You Tibe channel, if you are interested in runes or old English.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at November 21, 2021 11:10 AM (YynYJ)

313
Keillor is such an insufferably smug d-bag. Did he pass away or retire? Because I haven't heard him around much lately and I miss him not at all.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at November 21, 2021 11:09 AM

IIRC, he got "cancelled" for being not funny and a lecherous old bastard; but mostly for being a lecherous old bastard

Posted by: AltonJackson at November 21, 2021 11:10 AM (DUIap)

314 It twas da crackers fault, shoulda tipped the fucker over

dumbfucks

Posted by: Hank Johnson at November 21, 2021 11:11 AM (us2H3)

315 I'm trying to think of a great author who did great "world-building" where the "world" in question was our actual real world that we live in.... Someone who does such a good job at describing reality that you actually see reality better for it.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 21, 2021 11:11 AM (6FeV1)

316 Howdy OM, and howdy to the Horde!

Got some friends coming over today. A married couple. The missus of the couple is a former Trump supporter - so she says. Says she voted for him in 2016 but turned against him in 2020 because she thinks he failed to handle things well with the pandemic. She's all in on "the science" and "listen to the experts".

I told Mrs Doof that I'm leaving my copy of JJ's book out as a conversation starter. Right next to my newly purchased bottle of Rittenhouse Rye whiskey. Dis gonna be fun!!

Posted by: Doof (known to CROSS STATE LINES) at November 21, 2021 11:11 AM (mZUr4)

317 Fun story: When they graduated high school, my daughter and some of her friends went to Hawaii. They decided to visit "Pearl Harbor" without realizing that there was a difference between the base and the Memorial.

So they got off the bus at the base, and trudged up to the guard gate--5 pretty girls.

The soldiers were all too happy to drive them over to the memorial.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:11 AM (AwPyG)

318 Keillor is such an insufferably smug d-bag. Did he pass away or retire? Because I haven't heard him around much lately and I miss him not at all.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at November 21, 2021 11:09 AM (a/MYv)
---
He got "me-too'd" for pathetically clumsy passes at female staff.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:12 AM (llXky)

319 We were also taught that during WWII, more US ships were lost due to fires for any other reason.

The cause of the fires may have been enemy action, but they were allowed to burn out of control .

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 11:12 AM (arJlL)

320 He got "me-too'd" for pathetically clumsy passes at female staff.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:12 AM (llXky)

the only shocker in that story was the word "female".

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 21, 2021 11:13 AM (6FeV1)

321 285 John Cleese did an excellent audiobook of the Letters.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 21, 2021 10:56 AM (AlkyK)
---
Oh, he'd be perfect.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 10:58 AM (llXky)

It's available for free. Google around and it's easy to find the audio files. I think the copyright may have expired. Either that or the company that first published it went under and their IP is just floating around, owner by nobody.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at November 21, 2021 11:14 AM (a/MYv)

322 Posted by: Doof (known to CROSS STATE LINES) at November 21, 2021 11:11 AM (mZUr4)

tried to send you some coins on Ultimate Golf

I have like 5 or 6 million and don't use them for much

Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 11:14 AM (us2H3)

323 I picture now in the navy the class on fire fighting now is
Just remember back in this event your intersectionality training it's the White supremacists who caused it and they should step up and take responsibility for their actions.

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 11:15 AM (2JoB8)

324 I've mentioned it before, but the father of one of my good friends was on the Arizona, and had to wiggle through a porthole underwater to swim to the surface.

She still has the rosary that was in his pocket.
Posted by: artemis

Nice !

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 11:15 AM (arJlL)

325 I'm trying to think of a great author who did great "world-building" where the "world" in question was our actual real world that we live in.... Someone who does such a good job at describing reality that you actually see reality better for it.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 21, 2021 11:11 AM (6FeV1)
---
Tolkien was one. Middle Earth is probably one of the best ways to explain the spirit realm. It's funny how often the Lord of Spirits podcast turns to Tolkien to explain these concepts.

The other was...Evelyn Waugh. His Smart Set books form a coherent alternate universe with recurring characters (Lady Metroland, Lord Copper, Lord Zinc) and institutions (The Daily Beast - yes, that's where the name came from) that interrelate through his various books.

There are hints of this in his Sword of Honour trilogy, which while not part of the Smart Set is at least adjacent to it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:15 AM (llXky)

326 Thought it would be a dialog or have a story to tell.
===============================
That's interesting to me: I thought the narrative tool in "Screwtape" was brilliant, not to mention the content of the correspondence. That book changed me, in my views of personal sin, and the corruptibility of Man.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at November 21, 2021 11:15 AM (7Fj9P)

327 A lot of audiobooks are offered free, especially if you have the dreaded Amazon Prime.

I'm not an audiobook person, myself, but many are.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:16 AM (AwPyG)

328 I have a massive book Airwar on many chapters of WWII combat, on Aleutian campaign it goes something like
Weather in the Aleutians in July and August is bad, the rest of the year worse.

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 10:54 AM

Having been stationed there for 4 years, I rate this statement as factual.

Posted by: Mister Scot (Formerly GWS) at November 21, 2021 11:16 AM (bVYXr)

329 When I heard they were making a show about it, I knew it would be woke garbage.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

It's really not specially woke afaict

the Aes Sedai are female-supremacists, but that was in fact from the books iirc

The White Cloaks are the opposite, males in charge, and I can't really remember if it was that way in the books, but seems logical that two opposing groups would align that way

There is one scene where one minor character casually assumes 2 guys travelling together are gay, but it turns out that character may be biased

So it may still turn out woke garbage, but it isn't yet.
Plus it has acceptable levels of violence while still being PG-13 in the sex & nudity which is refreshing after all the T&A since GOT

Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at November 21, 2021 11:17 AM (YZG/i)

330 Someone who does such a good job at describing reality that you actually see reality better for it.
=====

George Orwell and Ayn Rand.

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 21, 2021 11:17 AM (MIKMs)

331 304 I've mentioned it before, but the father of one of my good friends was on the Arizona, and had to wiggle through a porthole underwater to swim to the surface.

She still has the rosary that was in his pocket.
Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:06 AM (AwPyG)

I wonder If my Grandfather served with him, My GrandPa served on the Arizona, discharged in the 30's. When we went to visit the Arizona, My Grandfather pointed to the wall of names of the Guys he knew and it home with me and He started to get REALLY MAD at the Japanese Tourists taking pictures because those were his friends as a Kid i was embarrassed now older I understand his Rage.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 21, 2021 11:18 AM (PJya6)

332 When I was a kid, we had a cheapo set of encyclopedias in the back of each volume was a short summary of great books starting with that letter. I frequently read those as I was on the throne allowing me to appear much better read than I actually was. Each selection had a short introductory paragraph. The introduction for For Whom the Bell Tolls said that it was the best refutation of those McCarthy-ites who contended that everyone in the International Brigades who fought for the Republic was a commie. Well, actually, Robert Jordan, Pablo and gang were commies.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at November 21, 2021 11:18 AM (FVME7)

333 Speaking of Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather is good at describing the Southwest in lyrical terms.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:18 AM (AwPyG)

334 Someone who does such a good job at describing reality that you actually see reality better for it.

-
What's reality ever done for me?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at November 21, 2021 11:19 AM (FVME7)

335 Accidentally found many books on audio are free on YouTube

Posted by: Skip at November 21, 2021 11:19 AM (2JoB8)

336 @331

Yeah, my dad wouldn't let us buy a German car because "they were shooting at him, that's why"

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:20 AM (AwPyG)

337 327 A lot of audiobooks are offered free, especially if you have the dreaded Amazon Prime.

I'm not an audiobook person, myself, but many are.
Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:16 AM (AwPyG)

With taking care of my son it's the only way I can really read while I do Stuff and I can't stand TV anymore because everything is CRAP so Audiobooks fill the void some are even done in the old Radio style where you will have other people read certain Characters in the book and I find it easier to follow along, Like in Fantasy books that have a ton of Characters

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 21, 2021 11:21 AM (PJya6)

338 Posted by: Doof (known to CROSS STATE LINES) at November 21, 2021 11:11 AM (mZUr4)

tried to send you some coins on Ultimate Golf

I have like 5 or 6 million and don't use them for much
Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 11:14 AM (us2H3)

Well, that's very nice!! I just opened the app if you wanna try again. Thanks!!

Posted by: Doof (known to CROSS STATE LINES) at November 21, 2021 11:21 AM (mZUr4)

339 I had to look up 'coleopterist'...but I do not feel badly about it.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 21, 2021 11:21 AM (UMXod)

340 the only shocker in that story was the word "female".

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 21, 2021 11:13 AM (6FeV1)
---
It's funny how spectacularly awkward so many "male feminists" turn out to be. They get rich, famous and yet they have zero personal skills, which is why they resort to threats to pick up women.

Much (if not most) of the hatred these guys had for Trump was that he slept with entire calendars of Playboy bunnies, none of them complained about him, his ex-wives were on good terms with him and Melania is not only gorgeous but speaks five languages fluently.

Envy is a powerful drug.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:21 AM (llXky)

341 I always suspected that Jordan's Aes Sedai was inspired by Herbert's Bene Gesserit, but dunno if true

Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at November 21, 2021 11:21 AM (YZG/i)

342 herbert had a whole series of notions, there was desertification from his studies of southern oregon
Posted by: no 6 at November 21, 2021 10:20 AM (hMlTh)

Actually it was dune reclamation in the Florence area that inspired him, (which was a big trope in the Imperial presence in Arrakis).
I have a friend who swears that the Freman rebellion is based around the Mahdi revolt.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 21, 2021 11:22 AM (P9T5R)

343 There's a couple of Reps who go on and on about how the social media needs to be reigned in (Jim Jordan comes to mind) but somehow they never do anything about it.

An aside; thinking of pols who say one thing and do or don't do another, how soon and how much will Lindsey Graham blather about citizens rights and stuff after exhorting the Congressional police to shoot the trespassers on 1/6?

He's completely dead to me. I don't want to hear about or see any staged standing up for RINOS. (which turns out what he did with Kavanaugh). The folks in SC really need to get rid of this phony.

Posted by: jakee308 at November 21, 2021 11:22 AM (ACz8/)

344 334 Someone who does such a good job at describing reality that you actually see reality better for it.
What's reality ever done for me?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at November 21, 2021 11:19 AM (FVME7)

To actually see reality, it would seem important to see the good, bad, and indifferent in the characters. Too many authors put characters in one of these three camps without fleshing them out. Nobody is entirely good and altruistic except for "one tragic flaw" or entirely bad.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 11:23 AM (ONvIw)

345 Well, actually, Robert Jordan, Pablo and gang were commies.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at November 21, 2021 11:18 AM (FVME7)
---
Jordan was based on one of the commanders of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. Who was a communist.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:23 AM (llXky)

346 Here's my take: anyone saying that social media needs to be "reined in" is trying to suppress free speech. They want to suppress anyone who disagrees with them.

Call back to: narcissists and Harry and Meghan.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:24 AM (AwPyG)

347 Yeah, my dad wouldn't let us buy a German car because "they were shooting at him, that's why"
Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:20 AM (AwPyG)

My Dad talked about when they took in a Refugee kid from China and his Mom went to use the an Iron and the Kid flew from the house in terror, later they found out that the Japanese had used an clothes Iron on his Parents.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 21, 2021 11:24 AM (PJya6)

348 I use Audible, it is a subscription service. You get 1 credit per month to use as you like. Then there are thousands of audio books which are "included" for free if you subscribe.
That is how I came across "Infamy".

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 11:24 AM (jTmQV)

349 Are there any books for pre-K (and parents) using simple language and concepts? None of them are religious now, but they were all raised with faith.
Posted by: mustbequantum at November 21, 2021 10:16 AM (MIKMs)

I am so sorry for your loss
I know a children's librarian I can ask tomorrow; if you want, send me an email so I can forward suggestions to you
My addy is votermom at g mail

Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at November 21, 2021 11:25 AM (YZG/i)

350 @343

To be honest, anyone who thought Graham was not another John McCain wasn't paying attention.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:25 AM (AwPyG)

351 Envy is a powerful drug.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:21 AM (llXky)

And we are left with "thou shall covet", "thou shall bear false witness" in the efforts to tear him down. You would think he never blamed himself for his failings, despite the fact he did.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 11:25 AM (ONvIw)

352 For sheer reading enjoyment, I nominate Scaramouche, by Rafael Sabatini. The opening paragraph is pure genius: He was born with the gift of laughter, and a sense that the world was mad.

Now in print in paperback.

Posted by: Jim B at November 21, 2021 11:26 AM (1RFUh)

353
Well, that's very nice!! I just opened the app if you wanna try again. Thanks!!
Posted by: Doof (known to CROSS STATE LINES) at November 21, 2021 11:21 AM (mZUr4)

now, who is this ????

Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 11:26 AM (us2H3)

354 Did someone pause the thread?

Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at November 21, 2021 11:30 AM (YZG/i)

355 I liked a number of John Toland's books, particularly The Rising Sun and The Last 100 Days.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at November 21, 2021 11:30 AM (FVME7)

356 To be honest, anyone who thought Graham was not another John McCain wasn't paying attention.
Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:25 AM (AwPyG)

Yep. And he's still at it. Then he always favored amnesty and the CoC goals. I often wondered if his sister's family is cashing in somehow.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 11:30 AM (ONvIw)

357 We had one of the BIG Carnegie libraries in Plymouth, IN. I recall the impressive steps going up to.the main lobby.

Our brain-challenged city 'leaders' tore it down and built a.library with the personality of a wet.fart.

We had a gothic revival.jail. same.thing, tore it down. Morons for leaders, we have.

Posted by: Cicero Kaboom! Kid at November 21, 2021 11:31 AM (TRGyz)

358 I liked a number of John Toland's books, particularly The Rising Sun and The Last 100 Days.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at November 21, 2021 11:30 AM (FVME7)
---
Back in the day, The Flying Tigers was offered as part of the school book order service. Bought my copy in 4th Grade. Probably triggering now.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:31 AM (llXky)

359 So, no comments about Henryk Sienkiewicz' work? I still plan on reading the first work of the Trilogy.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 11:32 AM (ONvIw)

360 Has Who Dis been confirmed as Sharon Stone?

Posted by: Gref at November 21, 2021 11:32 AM (AMIL/)

361 Posted by: Cicero Kaboom! Kid at November 21, 2021 11:31 AM (TRGyz)

Tore down a Carnegie Library? There are no words.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 11:33 AM (ONvIw)

362 The one thing I liked about the David Lynch Dune was the Internal dialogue which it needed in the New Movie.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 21, 2021 10:56 AM (PJya6)

Thing is that the internal monologues don't translate well to the screen. Dialog in italics in text is easily separated in your mind. The stage whisper voiceover was kind of weird.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 11:33 AM (mbFEM)

363 360 Has Who Dis been confirmed as Sharon Stone?
Posted by: Gref at November 21, 2021 11:32 AM (AMIL/)

Yes

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 11:33 AM (ONvIw)

364 Which has bitten us in the ass ever since. First in Korea, than Vietnam and now with the present mess we find ourselves in.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 21, 2021 10:24 AM (R/m4+)

Vietnam was Russia's proxy.

Posted by: My name is Jose Jimanez at November 21, 2021 11:33 AM (Fs5vw)

365 Our brain-challenged city 'leaders' tore it down and built a.library with the personality of a wet.fart.

We had a gothic revival.jail. same.thing, tore it down. Morons for leaders, we have.
Posted by: Cicero Kaboom! Kid

OMG
What horrible people

Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at November 21, 2021 11:34 AM (YZG/i)

366 It is ironical that at the time, FDR had his panties in a wad over what the Japs were doing in China, yet by 1948 China became Red China.
Which has bitten us in the ass ever since. First in Korea, than Vietnam and now with the present mess we find ourselves in.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 21, 2021 10:24 AM (R/m4+)

There was an agreement on setting the 45 parallel as the limit of the Soviet sphere of influence, knowingly cutting Korea in half.

Mao and Kim Jong-Il were financed by the Soviets, Mao with a lot of gear and money from Lend Lease. Nixon then reached out to China to stablilize them in the wake of the Cultural Revolution, and we pushed them to be successful without actually reforming the system they used to destroy themselves. So yes we bit ourselves on the ass.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 21, 2021 11:35 AM (P9T5R)

367 363 360 Has Who Dis been confirmed as Sharon Stone?
Posted by: Gref at November 21, 2021 11:32 AM (AMIL/)

Yes

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 11:33 AM (ONvIw)

My guess was Kim Cattrall. Oh, well.

Posted by: Gref at November 21, 2021 11:35 AM (AMIL/)

368 A good political book might be The Turning of Lindsey Graham. He started in the right place.

Then he got to the Senate and turned into what he is.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 11:35 AM (mbFEM)

369 afaict, FDR was an ahole and a proto-commie

Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at November 21, 2021 11:36 AM (YZG/i)

370 "My guess was Kim Cattrall. Oh, well."

Very similar screen persona, though.

Posted by: artemis at November 21, 2021 11:36 AM (AwPyG)

371 Well, that's very nice!! I just opened the app if you wanna try again. Thanks!!
Posted by: Doof (known to CROSS STATE LINES) at November 21, 2021 11:21 AM (mZUr4)

now, who is this ????
Posted by: REDACTED at November 21, 2021 11:26 AM (us2H3)

I'm on Ultimate Golf as Doof

Posted by: Doof (known to CROSS STATE LINES) at November 21, 2021 11:37 AM (mZUr4)

372 Speaking of commies . . .

Rage Against The Machine
@RATMofficial
1/What defines innocence in America? Tamir Rice was executed for playing with a toy. Nobody was charged. Ahmaud Arbery went jogging and was murdered in broad daylight. Rittenhouse armed himself and killed people who were fighting for racial justice. He claimed self-defense.
. . . .
2/This is the settler logic of America': s founding myth: whiteness must cast itself as the victim in order to justify its violence against those resisting its oppression. Welcome to the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at November 21, 2021 11:37 AM (FVME7)

373 Don't know about Death Comes for the Archbishop but My Antonia has some beautiful descriptions of the great plains and I thought it was a great book.

Posted by: who knew at November 21, 2021 11:38 AM (4I7VG)

374 As you may know, my grandson died suddenly earlier this month

Posted by: mustbequantum at November 21, 2021 10:16 AM (MIKMs)
---
I did not know this. Please accept my prayers and condolences on your loss.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:41 AM (llXky)

375 Correction:
Sharone Stone after being "approved " by Harvey Weinstein.

Posted by: Idahonian at November 21, 2021 11:41 AM (JUcCg)

376 Audible
Posted by: gourmand du jour
My favorite also.

Posted by: MikeM at November 21, 2021 11:41 AM (jI1b1)

377 They should change their name to Rage For the Machine.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 11:42 AM (mbFEM)

378 compare and contrast:

"whiteness must cast itself as the victim in order to justify its violence against those resisting its oppression"

aaaaand ,

(ace's post on Friday) A jury found Andrew "A.J." Coffee IV, 27, not guilty of second-degree felony murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer by discharging a firearm and one count of shooting or throwing a deadly missile.

Posted by: runner at November 21, 2021 11:43 AM (V13WU)

379 I hope the leftists actually believe the idiocy they're spewing. Saw one wailing "we just lost the right to protest peacefully!"
Ok, hope you believe that.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 21, 2021 11:46 AM (aNSOb)

380 Mr. Coffee iV (aa felon) was resisting oppression, by raiding his girlfriend's home and shooting at police.

Posted by: runner at November 21, 2021 11:47 AM (V13WU)

381 Mao and Kim Jong-Il were financed by the Soviets,

Posted by: Kindltot at November 21, 2021 11:35 AM (P9T5R)
---
So was the KMT. When Japan started making trouble in 1937, Stalin sent pilots and aircraft to aid the Nationalists. Because Stalin had finite resources, that aid came out of what had been going to Republican Spain. This was the origin of the myth that the Republic had been "abandoned to its fate."

I've got a book on Polycarpov Aces. Lots of them in Nationalist paint schemes.

The upshot was that the whole area was a mess and no one had any idea how to sort it out.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:47 AM (llXky)

382 Mr. Coffee is a cop-killer? Does Joe DiMaggio know about this?

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 21, 2021 11:48 AM (QZxDR)

383 > "Nancy Drew Visits the Scottish High Lands"

Nancy Drew and the Case of the Corrupted Sheep.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at November 21, 2021 11:48 AM (bW8dp)

384 They should change their name to Rage For the Machine.

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 11:42 AM (mbFEM)
---
Aren't they demanding that people submit to vaxx mandates?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:49 AM (llXky)

385 382 Mr. Coffee is a cop-killer? Does Joe DiMaggio know about this?
Posted by: Trimegistus at November 21, 2021 11:48 AM (QZxDR)

----------

The truth didn't come out until he was grilled by George Foreman.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 21, 2021 11:49 AM (VxC1e)

386 Nancy Drew and the Case of the Corrupted Sheep.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at November 21, 2021 11:48 AM (bW8dp)
---
Set in Wales, of course.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:50 AM (llXky)

387 Regarding the AIan Rutledge mysteries. I just did a quick search and ThriftBooks has most of the others by Todd priced at about $5.00 each plus free shipping if you spend $10 or more....
R

Posted by: Peter (My friends call me Pete) Zah at November 21, 2021 11:51 AM (a4vvV)

388 "we just lost the right to protest peacefully!"
Ok, hope you believe that.

Posted by: Tom Servo

=====

Looks like the Soros kiddies are learning how to use the No True Scots Fallacy

Posted by: 2009Refugee at November 21, 2021 11:51 AM (8AONa)

389
I'm slowly working my way through 'For Wuhan the Bell Tolls' by Anthony Fauci.

Posted by: Traitor Joe's Military Surplus at November 21, 2021 11:51 AM (dQvv7)

390 I often wonder why Stalin wasn't assassinated.

Posted by: My name is Jose Jimanez at November 21, 2021 11:51 AM (Fs5vw)

391 > So yes we bit ourselves on the ass.

True enough, but on the other hand, Nixon's ploy managed to drive a further wedge between Moscow and Beijing, thus forcing Moscow to spend metric fucktons of money to secure their very, very long border with China.

Things might well have gotten more sporty in Europe if the Sovs hadn't so many assets tied up in Asia.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at November 21, 2021 11:52 AM (bW8dp)

392
Things might well have gotten more sporty in Europe if the Sovs hadn't so many assets tied up in Asia.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at November 21, 2021 11:52 AM (bW8dp)
---
I hate people doing over-deterministic analyses on China. A policy for 1970 might be perfect for 1970 but not 2020.

Opening the PRC was the right move at that time. There was zero reason to think that our elites would subsequently hate their country and hollow out its industrial base for a few yuan.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:55 AM (llXky)

393 Nancy Drew and the Case of the Corrupted Sheep.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at November 21, 2021 11:48 AM (bW8dp)

That's just baa-aa-aaa-aaaa-aaaad!

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at November 21, 2021 11:55 AM (a/MYv)

394 390 I often wonder why Stalin wasn't assassinated.

Posted by: My name is Jose Jimanez at November 21, 2021 11:51 AM (Fs5vw)

I think it was because he killed anyone who was smart enough or brave enough to try.

You don't get to to be the top ruthless thug in a ruthless thugocracy by being dumb.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at November 21, 2021 11:57 AM (a/MYv)

395 As a resident of Penn's greene country towne I can confidently say that photo is a lie. The libraries, particularly that branch, are swarmed by drifters, junkies, and thieves who piss in the corners so much that the marble is corroded, probably because the bathrooms are an odorous combination of shooting gallery and San Francisco bathhouse.

Posted by: Bensdad00 at November 21, 2021 11:58 AM (lxs27)

396 Opening the PRC was the right move at that time. There was zero reason to think that our elites would subsequently hate their country and hollow out its industrial base for a few yuan.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:55 AM (llXky)

Shivving Taiwan in the back left a bad taste in my mouth.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at November 21, 2021 11:58 AM (a/MYv)

397 The movie "Death of Stalin" is a wonderful dark comedy. Cohen Bros.
Watch it and you will understand why no one whacked him.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 11:59 AM (jTmQV)

398 I often wonder why Stalin wasn't assassinated.

Posted by: My name is Jose Jimanez at November 21, 2021 11:51 AM (Fs5vw)
---
LOL, the guy wiped out his inner circle. Twice.

His last act was to try to exterminate all his doctors.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:59 AM (llXky)

399 Nood

Posted by: Duke Lowell at November 21, 2021 12:00 PM (kTF2Z)

400 @SecretsBedard

New Trump book does $1M in sales in first 24 hours

Publisher @SergioGor 'We have seen such an incredible response to President Donald Trump's newest book. Selling a million dollars worth of books in 24 hours is just extraordinary.'

https://tinyurl.com/ykyuaw3q

Posted by: Tami at November 21, 2021 12:01 PM (cF8AT)

401 Sanderson does have a sequel in mind for The Rithmatist. But it's currently in limbo. He wants to include elements of the setting's Meso-America region in the sequel, but nothing is known other than that. It might not even include the same characters. The Arcatraz books (which are verysilly) have one last book planned. No word on when it will be out.

One of the interesting things about Sanderson is that he juggles multiple series at the same time. This means that he has a wide range of stuff out. But it also means that series can get left hanging. The Stormlight series won't likely get delayed due to its importance. But he was working on the fourth and final Wax and Wayne book (which is important because he has two additional series planned in that world's future), but put that book on hold when he had a sudden urge to write a trilogy about a space fighter pilot. The third book for that is due out on Tuesday.

Posted by: junior at November 21, 2021 12:03 PM (PTw5h)

402 Noood

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 21, 2021 12:03 PM (VxC1e)

403 Posted by: Bensdad00 at November 21, 2021 11:58 AM (lxs27)

Sad!

Just proves that the public sucks and nobody appreciates free.

Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at November 21, 2021 12:03 PM (YZG/i)

404 Opening the PRC was the right move at that time. There was zero reason to think that our elites would subsequently hate their country and hollow out its industrial base for a few yuan.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:55 AM (llXky)

And they didn't for many years. I think that the perception that the USSR was not a threat allowed our "elites" to feel that there were no threats. And if China is not a threat why not help them industrialize and kneecap our own capabilities. Sure, most of this is to profit, but it was sold differently. It was sold as a way to build an ally and undermine communism. Instead we have Jesse Jackson's group marching in favor of a communist revolution and the oppressed v oppressors narrative in full motion.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 12:06 PM (ONvIw)

405 Trump's book will actually sell and make money for the publisher sans laundering from the billionaires.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 12:08 PM (ONvIw)

406 Grannie winger mentioned something about a Kyle movie. Tucker C. has been doing a documentary about it this whole time.
Tucker will interview Kyle on Monday night.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 12:08 PM (jTmQV)

407 407 Grannie winger mentioned something about a Kyle movie. Tucker C. has been doing a documentary about it this whole time.
Tucker will interview Kyle on Monday night.
Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 12:08 PM (jTmQV)

Please don't let Spielberg or Ron Howard get a grip on Kyle's story.

Posted by: CN...FJB at November 21, 2021 12:08 PM (ONvIw)

408 So many books...so little time to read.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 21, 2021 12:10 PM (KfC1e)

409 Stopping back to leave this comment appropriate for the book thread.
Trump's new book soldl 1 million copies in the first 24 hours before any advertising or promotion. It is a coffee table type book with photos and comments by Trump. Very smart to produce this type of book versus some insider tell all book.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 21, 2021 12:10 PM (Y+l9t)

410
Chloe Bennet?

Posted by: NCC at November 21, 2021 12:12 PM (JAYKI)

411 " So many books...so little time to read."

Time has been the silver lining to the whole pandemic stuff. I got laid off, I was ready to retire anyway.
I fill my days with reading. I listen to audio books the rest of the time. Audio books let you have activities like puttering in the garage or garden. I have bluetooth hearing aids so audio books get pumped directly in.
I didn't ask for this retirement, but I got it anyway.
Play the hand you are dealt.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at November 21, 2021 12:14 PM (jTmQV)

412 410 it is $1M in sales in the first 24 hours
They said over 9000 books pre-ordered

Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at November 21, 2021 12:14 PM (YZG/i)

413 413 410 it is $1M in sales in the first 24 hours
They said over 9000 books pre-ordered
Posted by: vmom - link to Red's fundraiser at November 21, 2021 12:14 PM (YZG/i)

La la la la la la, I don't hear you, I don't hear you

--New York Times Bestseller List

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at November 21, 2021 12:19 PM (PiwSw)

414 thanks vmom. Got over excited. lol

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 21, 2021 12:19 PM (Y+l9t)

415 The upshot was that the whole area was a mess and no one had any idea how to sort it out.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at November 21, 2021 11:47 AM (llXky)

Hitler was trading with and supplying the Chinese Nationalists too, until the Japanese complained about it. Shucks, the Astra 900 series full auto pistols were being sold to the warlords by the Spanish Republic too.

So yes, the whole place was messed up, but everyone wanted a piece

Posted by: Kindltot at November 21, 2021 12:27 PM (P9T5R)

416 I often wonder why Stalin wasn't assassinated.
Posted by: My name is Jose Jimanez at November 21, 2021 11:51 AM (Fs5vw)

Stalin had already killed most anyone with any balls or sufficient reputation to challenge him, had demoralized or coopted everyone else in his crimes, and the external threats were almost as big as the risk of a resumption of the factional fights following the October Revolution that would have left no one in power.

And Beria may have poisoned him

Posted by: Kindltot at November 21, 2021 12:33 PM (P9T5R)

417 The browning book, That's a film project I would do if I had the money and backing; the story of John Moses Browning's life.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 21, 2021 12:37 PM (KZzsI)

418 "Nancy Drew Visits the Scottish High Lands"

Posted by: Muldoon at November 21, 2021 09:23 AM

First read as: "Nancy Drew Visits the Scottish High Lads."

Perhaps I should go back to bed.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at November 21, 2021 01:13 PM (ezpv1)

419 For all the praise of Herbert for "world building" he was making it up as he went along. I mean, it's fiction, that is how it works. But he contradicts his world, he retcons stuff, he introduces all new stuff that you would think "well if this was that big a deal it would have shown up before."

Posted by: blaster at November 21, 2021 09:41 AM

There are two sorts of novelists: Plotters and Pantsers. Plotters plot out everything in advance by creating an outline and then hanging meat on the outline's bones. Pantsers, a play on "by the seat of their pants" just sort of write what seems right at the time. Herbert was obviously a pantser.

So am I, for that matter.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at November 21, 2021 01:27 PM (ezpv1)

420 You can't really break things down that cleanly; one writer can write several different ways, depending on the story and how it works for them.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 21, 2021 01:44 PM (KZzsI)

421 I recently watched The Dirty Dozen : at the end, when they dropped the grenades in the air shaft, and then dropped pinless grenades in, would the undetonated grenades have exploded , simply by having a grenade explode next to it ?

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 10:51 AM

According to an explosives researcher at the Battelle Memorial Institute that I had an extended conversation with once, no.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at November 21, 2021 01:59 PM (ezpv1)

422 You can't really break things down that cleanly; one writer can write several different ways, depending on the story and how it works for them.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 21, 2021 01:44 PM

According to the three or four dozen authors that I know, yes you can.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at November 21, 2021 02:00 PM (ezpv1)

423 There are two sorts of novelists: Plotters and Pantsers. Plotters plot out everything in advance by creating an outline and then hanging meat on the outline's bones. Pantsers, a play on "by the seat of their pants" just sort of write what seems right at the time. Herbert was obviously a pantser.
---
I believe Brandon Sanderson divides writers into "architects" and "gardeners." He's very much an architect. George R.R. Martin is more of a gardener.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 21, 2021 02:08 PM (K5n5d)

424 To Jim B. @352 above,

I strongly second your recommendation of "Scaramouche" by Sabatini. I enjoy Sabatini's work in general ("Captain Blood" is another favorite) but I think "Scaramouche" is his single greatest work.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at November 21, 2021 02:26 PM (rxWzH)

425 People are posting supposed AO-C porn on a book thread? Seriously?!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 21, 2021 02:29 PM (rXaFH)

426 Go gonzo! "Chasing the Dragon: a Cocaine-Fueled Study of China's Bars and Flesh Pots".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 21, 2021 09:33

By Hunter Biden?

Posted by: Farmer at November 21, 2021 02:42 PM (55Qr6)

427 @216: re Spellmonger. Yea. It's a good series, but he hasn't written anything new in it for a couple of years. Better to have stayed away. Ithink it's gonna be another Wheel of Time.

Posted by: yara at November 21, 2021 03:04 PM (N7mou)

428 I recently watched The Dirty Dozen : at the end, when they dropped the grenades in the air shaft, and then dropped pinless grenades in, would the undetonated grenades have exploded , simply by having a grenade explode next to it ?

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 10:51 AM

According to an explosives researcher at the Battelle Memorial Institute that I had an extended conversation with once, no.
Posted by: Cybersmythe

Thank you !

Posted by: JT at November 21, 2021 03:56 PM (arJlL)

429 Any fans of David Eggers' "The Circle"? I just started the sequel, "The Every", and I already like it.

"Capital-P Play was last year's management theory, following multitasking, singletasking, grit, learning-from-failure, napping, cardioworking, saying no, saying yes, the wisdom of the crowd > trusting one's gut, trusting one's gut > the wisdom of the crowd, Viking management theory, Commissioner Gordon workflow theory, X-teams, B-teams, embracing simplicity, pursuing complexity, seeking zemblanity, creativity through radical individualism, creativity through groupthink, creativity through the rejection of groupthink, organizational mindfullness, organizational blindness, microwork, macrosloth, fear-based camaraderie, love-based terror, working while standing, working while ambulatory, learning while sleeping, and, most recently, limes."

Posted by: All Howl Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 21, 2021 03:59 PM (XItSe)

430 "357 We had one of the BIG Carnegie libraries in Plymouth, IN. I recall the impressive steps going up to.the main lobby. "

You used to have a great looking courthouse too, until they built that ugly addition on to it.

Posted by: Pope John the 20th at November 21, 2021 08:59 PM (Ap+cR)

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