Sunday Morning Book Thread - 03-17-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(Irish kittens sold separately)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, enjoy a corned beef sammich, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

Since today is St. Patrick's day I tried to search for "St. Patrick's Library" and came up with the National Library of Ireland. Those of you (and me, I guess) of Irish descent may be interested to know that one of the services they provide is a Family History Service. You can apply for free access to their geneaology subscription sites in the reading rooms that will help you trace your lineage.

WHAT HAPPENED TO BARNES & NOBLE?

The new Head Guy at B&N has tried to save the company from ruin by giving store managers much more discretion is what they stock and what they push. The idea is that the manager of the store in Tulsa probably knows what people in Tulsa are reading better than some blue-haired fool at the main office.
For some reason "Tulsa" is a very hard word to type.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 10, 2024 10:46 AM (78a2H)

The nearest Barnes & Noble Booksellers is approximately 90 miles away from my small little town. It's unlikely we will ever get big enough to have one. Whenever I have to go to the "big city" I'd often make a point of visiting them. I always liked the ambience of the store and the smell of the coffee never hurt, even though I don't drink coffee. While digital publishing has become a juggernaut on its own, I think there is still a place for the hometown bookstore (new or used) as people do like to go there and sit and read and just enjoy the atmosphere. B&N giving more discretion to store managers as to what to carry in their inventory means they can cater to their local audience much better. However, since most B&N's are going to be in larger cities, it's not surprising that they would still have a Leftist bias in their selections.

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AUTHOR'S PREFERRED READING ORDER

For those of you who have not been initiated into Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere universe, I think he does give a pretty good roadmap for anyone who might be "Cosmere-curious." The Cosmere is a fascinating example of complex world-building. You have lots of stories that may not seem all that related to each other on the surface, but Sanderson weaves them all together into a coherent universe with its own set of laws and rules. Other authors have done similar projects, of course. It seems to be a bit more common in the science fiction genre than in the fantasy genre, but there are examples in fantasy, such as Steven Erickson's Kharkanas trilogy, that takes place in a world that is directly tied into his main world, that of the Malazan Empire. Cordwainer Smith's stories set in the Instrumentality of Mankind would also qualify, as does Larry Niven's Known Space stories. Many of these established universes have lengthy timelines (sometimes millions of years) and you can easily pick up any of the stories at any point without having to concern yourself with what came before.

BOOKS BY FRIENDS OF MORONS

Established Moron Author Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (or MP4 for short) sent me the following about a book written by a friend of his:

Perfessor,
May I ask for a mention on the Book Thread for a friend of mine? Her name is Dorrie-Lenore Parsons and the book is Becoming Hazel, which is slated as book 1 in the Inherited Treasures series.
The plot is based on her great-grandmother's pictures and letters and is the story of Hazel Cunningham, a young woman from Michigan who is determined to make her own way and live her own life in the early 20th century. It's a clean book, suited for all ages, and Dorrie is (though I say it) a gifted storyteller. I think this is a perfect book for one of the Moronettes to read on a lovely spring day. The kindle version is not out as I write this, but should be by the end of the week.
https://tinyurl.com/ms388dpk
MP4

NOTE: The paperback version is also available in addition to the Kindle edition.

ODDS & ENDS

Aspiring Moron Author OrangeEnt has a couple of things to share with you today:

I've received a couple e-mails from members who say they can't log in to ALH. I've asked one or two to try it, but they haven't responded. Can you put something in the BT? I'm going to make a post about it, and all they have to do it respond to the post if they can. I'm not sure how widespread it is, and the help center ain't of much "help." They don't need to e-mail me, just reply "in" on the thread.
Thanks,
OrangeEnt

And a recommendation:

Read Johann Dohla's diary, a German soldier sent to America to fight for England.
It's titled: A Hessian Diary of the American Revolution.
A few years ago, watching a Townsend's video, Jon Townsend referred to parts of a diary from a Hessian soldier during the Revolution. I found a copy in my local library and began to read it as wife and kid participated in story time. After a couple of weeks, the book disappeared from the shelves, and was no longer listed in the catalog.
With help here on the Book Thread, I was finally able to find it on archive.org. It's available on Bezos' site, but archive.org is free.
Johann Conrad Dohla entered the service of the evil GRIII, and was shipped to America. He started his diary from when his services were sold to King George from his prince in Anspach-Beyreuth. He included his travel across Europe, his voyage to America, and his time here, to his return home and release from service. He made traditional diary type entries concerning his whereabouts, the food, the pay, and the battles he either heard about or participated in. Considering all the deprivations the American troops faced, you'd think the enemy would have a better time of it, but they faced some of the same troubles - bad food, missing pay, criminal compatriots, punishments, and the like. Unlike some others, he doesn't seem dismissive of the Americans. He doesn't have any bad words to say about either loyalists, or Patriots. Some of the battle reports seem like he undercounts casualties, but maybe the numbers were smaller than we think because of the numbers of troops involved in modern war. He does get repetitive in describing places. They all are beautiful, well-laid out, etc. He was at Yorktown and was made captive for nearly two years. Strange to note was that the prisoners were allowed to go off and look for work in the surrounding areas without guard, then return for confinement. Probably because people were more honorable then.
All-in-all, an interesting look into the Revolutionary Period from the eyes of the other side. Definite recommendation if anyone's interested in the times.

Back in those days, a soldier's life was probably more-or-less the same, regardless of which side of the war one was fighting. Being a professional soldier was just something one did as a way to get out of the house and maybe earn a living until one day your ticket gets punched while fighting in a war that may or may not concern you. Sounds like Johann was just a man doing the job he was paid to do and didn't have any real animosity towards his "enemies" because he saw them as no different from himself. An odd sort of empathy, but I suspect it was fairly common for his type of soldiering.

Finally, we have this brief announcement from Hans G. Schantz:

The Based Book Sale has moved to Substack.
Authors can sign up now for the next sale which will be March 27 through April 3.
Readers can sign up to be notified when the sale goes live.
As The Federalist observed, conservative guerrilla marketing like the 'Big Based Book Sale' is how we fight leftist gatekeepers.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

In other news, I finished St. Augustine's Confessions and I've got mixed reviews. The best part for me, was his autobiography, which was wonderful to read. For the first time in a while, I stayed up because I couldn't put it down.
Alas, the remainder of the books is a deep meditation on theology, in part a rebuttal to Manicheanism. This is interesting, but in a different way, and it wasn't something I could breeze through. Reading more than 10 pages at a time was difficult because of way he was drawing everything out.
It is good stuff, foundational to the faith, and I got quite a bit out of how his points that the Bible is written in such a way that there are situations where there can be different interpretations and they might all be false - or true.
It's also clear that Tolkien knew the work well, because one of St. Augustine's questions was about sound vs song and could the first sound have been song? I immediately thought of the Music of the Ainur. The Prof also uses water a lot, and St. Augustine likewise considers it a key part of creation.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 10, 2024 09:18 AM (llXky)

Comment: A long, long time ago, on the same campus where I now work, I took an "Early Western Civilization" class. Unlike a more modern version of the course, our instructor was very keen on introducing us to the original sources. So we read stuff like Plato and Aristotle (though not in the original Greek). We also studied St. Augustine's The City of God. I don't remember much about it, but my lingering impression is that it was quite powerful. St. Augustine is certainly one of the most influential figures within the establishment of Christianity.

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Recently I read my first bit of Lady Mechanika. A comic book, and a somewhat modern one. There are a half-dozen books available on Amazon (some of them quite cheap) and each book appears to be its own separate adventure. The story is set in a steampunk world, or at least a high-tech world with a Victorian culture. The title-character is a lady with mechanical limbs, and no memory of how she acquired them. She's got an inventor-dude sidekick, who is affable but somewhat buffoonish. And she fights crime/tech-monsters in a London-stand-in that in anachronistically diverse.
In short, the book hits all the cliches for insufferable modern storytelling. And yet, it isn't. The book I read (volume 3) was just a standard, well-told (if slightly too short) adventure story. I liked it. And I picked up a few other volumes.
Also, the art is extremely 90s. Elegant, if very lanky figures, and everything is sharp and pointy. And the art is detailed enough to really drive home the steampunk/clockwork aesthetic.
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 10, 2024 09:42 AM (Lhaco)

Comment: Comic books and graphic novels can be quite entertaining ways of passing the time because we essentially get to read through the storyboard of a movie...

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Currently re-reading A Practical Guide to Evil. I don't know how many words it is, but I've been working on it for several weeks at least and not quite to the end, and I typically read several books a week. But don't let that put you off - the Guide is outstanding.
Next up, I'll get back to my unread ebook backlog. It's interesting going through these; I've picked up a really eclectic selection of free ebooks over the years. Biography, history, science, SF, cozy mystery, thriller, etc., etc.
Posted by: Mrs. Peel at March 10, 2024 10:00 AM (Y+AMd)

Comment: A Practical Guide to Evil is a rather new format of storytelling--a web serial novel, though it's just a throwback to the original serial novels published in the 1800s. Still, writers who want to reach a wide audience can try writing their stories in this format and shop it around various web forums...Interested readers can then spread the word among the online social communities, which can in turn motivate the author to continue writing a web-based version of the story. Or maybe other writers can collaborate within the same universe.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

The Books of Earthsea - The Complete Illustrated Edition by Ursula K. LeGuin

This is part of my "bucket list" of reading materials that I want to complete before I hit a significant milestone birthday this year--I can't stay 29 forever! Malazan was the first on the list and Earthsea is next, though the entirety of the main six books of Earthsea can fit in ONE book of Malazan. LeGuin has a much more compact and reduced writing style in comparison to Erickson. She reminds me a lot of Robert E. Howard, or C.L. Moore, or Lord Dunsany. She doesn't have a lot of characters in her stories. She has excellent descriptive prose for her locations, but she does not go on for pages and pages. She gives you just enough that you can picture the basics in your head and let your brain fill in the details. Her dialogue tends to be straightforward and her plots are fairly uncomplicated. This series was originally written with younger readers in mind.

One of the more interesting things about this series is how it impacted Terry Pratchett's Discworld series much later. It's very clear that he drew upon LeGuin's depictions of wizards and witches when creating his own versions for Discworld (though he was also inspired by Jack Vance, among others).

WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:

Dawnshard: From the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson -- This is an interquel novel within the much larger Stormlight Archive.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 03-10-24 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Disclaimer: No Morons were harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Rumors of mass executions by shillelagh remain unconfirmed at this time.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 1

Posted by: rhennigantx at March 17, 2024 08:55 AM (ENQN6)

2 I booked

Posted by: rhennigantx at March 17, 2024 08:56 AM (ENQN6)

3 So, finished the Hessian diary, now have to finish up Sarah Hoyt's "Darkship Thieves."

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 08:57 AM (0eaVi)

4 Booken Morgen horden!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 08:57 AM (DpEcY)

5 Good Morning Morons

Currently rereading the Belgariad series by David Eddings. On the first one now; Pawn of prophecy

Posted by: vic at March 17, 2024 08:58 AM (A5THL)

6 For some reason "Tulsa" is a very hard word to type.

Posted by: Trimegistus at March 10, 2024 10:46 AM (78a2H)

It's the white streak in the hair that throws you off.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 08:58 AM (0eaVi)

7 Good morning, book-heads!

This Woman Deconstructs 100-Year-Old Books To Restore Them:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OIsN0kiL9fI

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 17, 2024 08:58 AM (3e3hy)

8 Way early
Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 08:59 AM (qu9Ba)

9 Do the pants come with puppies instead of kittens?

Posted by: Rosasharn at March 17, 2024 09:01 AM (PzBTm)

10 Hi readers

Posted by: Ciampino - Am I cynical? at March 17, 2024 09:01 AM (qfLjt)

11 I liked the original Mistborn series

Posted by: vic at March 17, 2024 09:02 AM (A5THL)

12 When a local accidentally falls into the rendering machine at Tyson, the remains are fished out and the family has a funeral. Meanwhile the machine contents are dumped. If an illegal alien falls in they just render it with the chicken. Nobody knows who he really is or where from - remember al lot of them dump their real I.D.s at the border. Won't be missed.
Posted by: Ciampino

Posted by: Upton-Miklos Sinclair says plagiarism but OK at March 17, 2024 09:04 AM (v+0wn)

13 I've already requested that illustrated Earthsea collection from my library. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. The trilogy was a favorite of my youth. Still have it in the library.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 17, 2024 09:04 AM (3e3hy)

14 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. My day started with listening to a Vivaldi violin concerto while enjoying breakfast. Morning prayers, delicious food and glorious music is a wonderful way to begin the day.

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 09:05 AM (zudum)

15 I continued reading The Zion Chronicles by Bodie Thoene by reading A Light In Zion, the fourth in the series. It's April, 1948, just six weeks before the British withdrawal and Israeli independence. Jewish forces attack Arabs holding Bab-El Wad, a narrow pass on the road from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, to break the blockade and deliver a 300-truck convoy to the starving city. My thanks to CharlieBrown'sDildo for recommending O Jerusalem, which I want to read when I finish this series.

Posted by: Zoltan at March 17, 2024 09:06 AM (cfQ/i)

16 What happened to B&N? Seems to be doing just fine to me. There’s one in Amarillo and a huge one in Lubbock that I tend to go to more frequently than the one in Amarillo. There are something like 3 or 4 in San Antonio last time I looked.

I still visit them and have a Readers Advantage card there even.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 09:07 AM (LqqGi)

17 Just finished Patrick Chiles's Interstellar Medic: The Long Run. Highly recommended. The second book is planned for a 2025 release. Patrick, if you're lurking, work faster!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at March 17, 2024 09:08 AM (PiwSw)

18 Good morning all, Thanks Perfessor! great job, as always!

MY TBR stack grows at a constant rate of acceleration. Like the universe, or instances of leftist stupidity.

Another good friend has published a book, which his background is ideal for: Opposite of Collision, By Richard Timberlake. It's about the THIRD embassy bombing, back in the 90s.... a good story.

Posted by: goatexchange at March 17, 2024 09:09 AM (ku20c)

19 Posted by: Zoltan

What kind of name is Zoltan?

Sounds Foreign.

Posted by: Miklos at March 17, 2024 09:09 AM (v+0wn)

20 What kind of name is Zoltan?

Sounds Foreign.
Posted by: Miklos at March 17, 2024 09:09 AM (v+0wn)

I think he runs a fortune teller booth on the Embarcadero.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 09:10 AM (0eaVi)

21 Established Moron Author Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (or MP4 for short) sent me the following about a book written by a friend of his:
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So, is MP4 a Moron or a Moronette?

Posted by: Ciampino - Am I confused ...! at March 17, 2024 09:11 AM (qfLjt)

22 After several references to Kipling's "Kim" last week I decided it was time to get over the trauma of a grade school reading of it. Glad I did. Just a couple of chapters in and it is delightful. (Considering how much I enjoy Kipling's poetry, I shouldn't be surprised.)Some commenters on Amazon griped that it was too slow and all the description got in the way of the action. These imbeciles don't realize, or care, that Kipling is conveying a world unfamiliar to most of his readers. That level of description makes the book come alive with context and an appreciation of what the characters experience.

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 09:11 AM (zudum)

23
What kind of name is Zoltan?

Sounds Foreign.
Posted by: Miklos at March 17, 2024 09:09 AM (v+0wn)

Remember Zoltan spelled backwards is Natloz!

Posted by: naturalfake at March 17, 2024 09:12 AM (nFnyb)

24 Good Morning Everyone!

Posted by: p0indexterous at March 17, 2024 09:12 AM (QBwMV)

25 So, is MP4 a Moron or a Moronette?
Posted by: Ciampino - Am I confused ...! at March 17, 2024 09:11 AM (qfLjt)

He's a guy.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 09:13 AM (0eaVi)

26 Reading Triumph Forsaken by Mark Moyar, getting only q chapter a week isn't going to finish this, and there are 2 books after this one

Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 09:13 AM (fwDg9)

27 Morning horde. Actually wrote this blurb on Wednesday after finishing book one:
Started reading David Weber's "Out of the Dark" trilogy (so far anyway, just finished the titular first in the series.

It's a basic alien invasion (at least at first) of Earth. A couple interesting things about the first book. It starts with alien observers (who are herbivores) observing Henry V at Agincourt. These aliens are overwhelmed by the bloodshed (herbivores=PETA), and evaluate humans as unredeemable.

So fast track to modern era. The Hegemony (complete collection of the "enlightened aliens") decide that Earth may be invaded, and turn the duties over to the only carnivorous members of their collective.

Most of the story is about the human resistance to the invasion. There's a discussion near the middle of the book about why the aliens have so much trouble with conquering Earth that I felt was interesting. The human protagonists equate it to how both the US and the Soviets focused so much on modern warfare (Fulda Gap) and were unable to adjust to "low intensity combat" such as Vietnam and Afghanistan.

Be prepared for the last 100 pages to suddenly throw you off.

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at March 17, 2024 09:13 AM (e/Osv)

28 12
Posted by: Upton-Miklos Sinclair says plagiarism but OK at March 17, 2024 09:04 AM (v+0wn)
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Tell me more.

Posted by: Ciampino - I's confused ...! at March 17, 2024 09:14 AM (qfLjt)

29 The nearby BN is very Lefty
The one in Delaware acrosss the Costco is middle of the road

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 09:15 AM (TirNb)

30 Twenty five years ago, two English boys met aboard the Titanic, and both ended up surviving, and living in America. Now they meet again in England, both claiming to be Sir John Farleigh, and claiming to be heir to an English estate. The mystery only deepens when one of them dies while they wait for the proof of who is the real John Farleigh. John Dickson Carr presents us with this scenario in The Crooked Hinge. The dead man has three slashes across his throat, but witnesses say nobody was near him when he died in the garden - could it possibly be suicide? There are many false clues and theories for Gideon Fell to analyze, and the twists and turns in this tale are remarkable. Was the real John Farleigh killed, or the impostor? Was it murder or suicide? The plot is complicated by a padlocked room In the manor full of arcane books and objects as well as an automaton with arms of steel. So many clues lead in the wrong direction, and when the resolution comes, it is an astounding twist. Often the reader is convinced the trail leads to one suspect when it dead ends, and a new clue leads elsewhere. This is a clever mystery well worth reading.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 17, 2024 09:16 AM (bBPVf)

31 On the Kindle, I read Balancing On Blue: A Thru-Hiking Adventure on the Appalachian Trail by Keith Foskett. This is an Englishman's tale of hiking from Georgia to Maine along the AT in 2012 and about the characters he meets along the way. Reading this brought back memories of many backpacking hikes when my son and I were very active in a very active Boy Scout troop in California. The highlight of each year was a 5-7 day hike in the High Sierras. Saw some beautiful country and made many fond, lasting memories.

Posted by: Zoltan at March 17, 2024 09:16 AM (cfQ/i)

32 Thank you Perfessor for another highly cromulent Book Thread!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at March 17, 2024 09:16 AM (PiwSw)

33 Good Sunday morning, horde.

Rosasharn! Nice to see you--I've not seen your nic around in a long time. Hope all is well.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 17, 2024 09:16 AM (OX9vb)

34 I think the last time I was in Barnes & Noble maybe 7 or 8 years ago.

Posted by: dantesed at March 17, 2024 09:16 AM (88xKn)

35 From classic Marvel to classic novel.

I went to the library on a whim to get "The Four Feathers" by A.E.W. Mason. This 1902 British tale has been filmed several times, so I think the general plot is known.

No? OK: Harry Faversham, who resigned his army commission after he learned that his unit had orders to go fight in eastern Africa, receives four white feathers, the mark of a coward. Three are from fellow officers, and the last -- and most stinging -- is from his former fiancee. He plans a redemption campaign.

From the 1939 movie, I know the ending, but that's it. Now I'll see what made this famous.

Posted by: Weak Geek at March 17, 2024 09:16 AM (p/isN)

36 I admit to having books I have not read yet. Maybe I should read them or give them away.

My current re-reads re Thomas Szasz "The Theology of Medicine", which I think is and has been relevant, and "Japanese Destroyer Captain" by an actual Japanese WW II destroyer captain.

Posted by: Miklos reads at or above grade level at March 17, 2024 09:17 AM (v+0wn)

37 I reread Lewis' "Abolition of Man". The disturbing parallels to today's culture is on the edge of painful and further cements Lewis as a societal prophet. His ability to express the dangers of the modernist (anti-Western) view and action is as fine as any writing in the 20th century. I may get out my copy of "That Hideous Strength" if only because most of the bad guys are destroyed.

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 09:18 AM (zudum)

38 )Some commenters on Amazon griped that it was too slow and all the description got in the way of the action. These imbeciles don't realize, or care, that Kipling is conveying a world unfamiliar to most of his readers

Reminds me of the time when my pompous, snobby sophomore English teacher in HS whined about the presence of witches and witchcraft in Macbeth. I was 15 and had no degrees and even I understood why that was the case.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 09:18 AM (LqqGi)

39 Morning, Book Folk,

Currently I'm trying out Muriel Spark. A more "literary" author than I've been reading lately, she is still clear and her scenes and dialog are well drawn. Some of you know the novel and movie The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie]/i]; that's hers.

This one is called Memento Mori, and it features a woman who is getting prank phone calls with the simple message, "Remember you must die" (thus the title). The difference here from most suspense or thriller novels is that the victim, her brother and the brother's wife, and in fact all the characters we've met are over seventy years old! There is poker-faced British humor too, the drawing-room comedy sort, esp. in the descriptions and actions of the superannuated characters. I'm waiting to see if she actually has a mystery or crime-oriented plot.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:21 AM (omVj0)

40 I don't think the Pants guy is a guy.

Posted by: JT at March 17, 2024 09:21 AM (T4tVD)

41 Tell me more.
Posted by: Ciampino

It is almost a verbatim quote from Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle".

Posted by: Miklos was at one time the Literary Executor for the Estate at March 17, 2024 09:21 AM (v+0wn)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:22 AM (omVj0)

43 Haven't been in a B&N in I-can't-remember-when. Closest one is a two-hour drive, and while I always liked browsing there when I lived closer to one, it ain't worth a two-hour run.

They hacked me off when they bought and killed what was at the time my go-to ebook source, Fictionwise, and drove me to the dark side (the Amazon Kindle store).

Never got around to reading The Four Feathers, but thought the original film version had a Kipling feel to it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 17, 2024 09:23 AM (q3u5l)

44 I'm currently reading Getting to Know The General by Graham Greene. This is the first of his books that I've read and I picked it up because I wanted to know more about the author and this was all I could find in the current chaos at Curious Books.

The General is Omar Torrijos, dictator of Panama in the late 1970s. Greene was invited by Torrijos out of the blue in 1976 to tell the Panamanian side of the Canal Treaty debate. It is extremely well-written, and while Greene has a typical British antipathy to Americans, it is a very revealing and relevant book given the situation today.

We've long characterized the left as having an "It's okay when I do it," attitude, but this is very much a function of the lingering Puritanism in American culture. Yes, the Cold War forced hard choices, but a great deal of American foreign policy is basically "because we can," not because we should. That sense is strong in this book. Panama was carved out to fill American strategic needs and then bisected by American zones and military bases. No wonder people had a problem with that.

(con't)

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:24 AM (llXky)

45 The name Zoltan is a boy's name of Hungarian origin meaning "sultan".

Posted by: vic at March 17, 2024 09:24 AM (A5THL)

46 : A Thru-Hiking Adventure on the Appalachian Trail by Keith Foskett.

Hoo-Boy!

Posted by: Mark Sanford who "hiked the Appalacian Trail, with some hot Argentine action at March 17, 2024 09:25 AM (v+0wn)

47 On the Kindle, I read Balancing On Blue: A Thru-Hiking Adventure on the Appalachian Trail by Keith Foskett. This is an Englishman's tale of hiking from Georgia to Maine along the AT in 2012 and about the characters he meets along the way.

Posted by: Zoltan

I wonder if he met Mark Sanford.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 17, 2024 09:25 AM (bBPVf)

48 Ha!

Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 17, 2024 09:26 AM (bBPVf)

49 I am apparently near the end of the main quest in Nightingale and have "met" Nellie Bly. I read her collected works several years ago, and they were interesting enough that I remember bits of each. I got the compilation on Kindle and it was probably free, or nearly so, at the time.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 17, 2024 09:26 AM (XjtdB)

50 My wife is the Hungarian in the family. She was born and reared there, and we were married there. We gave our son the middle name of Zoltan to honor his Hungarian heritage.

Posted by: Zoltan at March 17, 2024 09:27 AM (cfQ/i)

51 (con't) We see the same dynamic at work today, whether Dubya's "freedom agenda" of forcing democracy on primitive societies at gunpoint or evangelical sodomy, where all US allies have to be down with the ghey as a condition of strategic support.

The complete lack of any awareness and self-absorbtion is present in this book, where the Senate debates what to do with "our" canal and Panama's leadership has to take elaborate countermeasures to avoid assassination or a coup.

Again, there are instances where strategic necessity and national security require the United States to step on someone's toes, but we don't have to be assholes about it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:27 AM (llXky)

52 The name Zoltan is a boy's name of Hungarian origin meaning "sultan".
Posted by: vic

Köszönöm, Viktor

Posted by: a Mere Magyar Miklos at March 17, 2024 09:27 AM (v+0wn)

53 "The nearby BN is very Lefty
The one in Delaware acrosss the Costco is middle of the roadi."

I've not noticed any particular leaning one way or the other at the store I patronize in Hendersonville, TN. It's large, well stocked and pretty busy. Of course this is a pretty conservative area so maybe the manager knows better than to fly a freak flag.

Posted by: Tuna at March 17, 2024 09:27 AM (oaGWv)

54 My internet went out right before posting today. I’m also busy with church stuff. Please play nice and forgive me for any glaring format errors.

Enjoy!

Posted by: Perfessor squirrel at March 17, 2024 09:27 AM (hVyZs)

55 “Yes, the Cold War forced hard choices, but a great deal of American foreign policy is basically ‘because we can,’not because we should.“

Like the UK then back in the day?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 09:27 AM (LqqGi)

56 Twenty five years ago, two English boys met aboard the Titanic, and both ended up surviving, and living in America. Now they meet again in England, both claiming to be Sir John Farleigh, and claiming to be heir to an English estate. The mystery only deepens when one of them dies while they wait for the proof of who is the real John Farleigh. John Dickson Carr presents us with this scenario in The Crooked Hinge. . . . This is a clever mystery well worth reading.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 17, 2024

***
One of his very best. I read it in an omnibus volume at fourteen, when I first discovered his work. That volume also contains his famous The Three Coffins, aka The Hollow Man, in which the murderer, it appears, must not only have been invisible, but lighter than air (he/she left no footprints in the snow at his two crime scenes).

Carr's stuff is amazing: not only brilliantly plotted in the grand old Ellery Queen style, but with good characterization and powerful atmosphere. Crooked Hinge has all three in spades.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:27 AM (omVj0)

57 Reading Triumph Forsaken by Mark Moyar, getting only q chapter a week isn't going to finish this, and there are 2 books after this one
Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 09:13 AM (fwDg9)

Take the Evlyn Woods Speed reading Course !

Posted by: JT at March 17, 2024 09:28 AM (T4tVD)

58 @43 --

The "Four Feathers" movie that I saw was the 1939 version, with C. Aubrey Smith. (Commander McBragg in the flesh.)

Turns out that was the third time it was made; the first came out in 1915.

Posted by: Weak Geek at March 17, 2024 09:28 AM (p/isN)

59 41

Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games
We got everything you want, honey, we know the names
We are the people that can find whatever you may need
If you got the money, honey, we got your disease

Posted by: rhennigantx at March 17, 2024 09:28 AM (ENQN6)

60 So am I fortunate or not? Tulsa -- see, it's easy to type -- has two B&Ns, and each is within five miles of my house.

I still miss Borders. We had two of those, too.

Posted by: Weak Geek at March 17, 2024 09:31 AM (p/isN)

61 Wow, I'd forgotten how many book chains there have been -- Borders (I remember when it was a college book store focusing on academic tomes), B.Dalton, Waldenbooks, and now Barnes and Noble stands alone atop the scorched battlefield.

Growing up, our smallish town had a Little Professor bookstore and one delightful independent that focused on children's and young adult fiction. I still remember purchasing "A Wrinkle in Time" and a map of Narnia there.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 17, 2024 09:31 AM (3e3hy)

62 My wife is the Hungarian in the family. She was born and reared there, and we were married there. We gave our son the middle name of Zoltan to honor his Hungarian heritage.
Posted by: Zoltan

Do you have the ancestral Hotscakes recipe?

I only know palacsinta.

RELEVANCE TO BOOK THREAD

Deplorable Cookbook 2.0 needs MOAR MAGYAR

Posted by: Miklos never met Eva Gabor, only saw Zsa Zsa at March 17, 2024 09:31 AM (v+0wn)

63 If I wasn't busy the Hessian book would be up my alley

Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 09:31 AM (fwDg9)

64 A few weeks ago I brought up a study by the British government that reading Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, even Shakespeare and others can lead to a 'nationalistic' viewpoint and further lead to terrorism. These shit for brains are serious. Worse, they have power.

In a related vein, I came across an article titled "Indigenous Land Acknowledgement". There is increasing pressure, again from the fucking British government, that admiration of the landscapes of Constable and similar, that have glorified the English countryside for centuries, are offensive and possibly dangerous. They no longer reflect the 'reality' that many in Britain experience and harken to a period when England was a colonial power exploiting the natives of whatever country. This is not to be allowed. (I have come to hate the word 'allowed'.) Funding for some museums that continue to display such art and fail to attract non-native viewers to a government assigned level have had that funding cut in half.

continued ...

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 09:32 AM (zudum)

65 Against the backdrop of the canal dispute, Central America is seething with Communist infiltration and the growing corruption of the narcotics trade. Greene is a fly on the wall at various parties and meets some of the participants. He doesn't like the Communists, but he also knows that the US does not have clean hands and we're basically making our own enemies.

The Carter Administration made a big show of rejecting Nixonian realpolitik, but they were insufferably smug about it, which was arguably worse.

Anyhow, halfway through the book, which is a quick and easy read. In addition to the politics, there's very much a Hunter S. Thompson vibe as Greene is constantly trying to find a decent rum punch.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:32 AM (llXky)

66 Take the Evlyn Woods Speed reading Course !
Posted by: JT

Still waiting out here

Posted by: the Birds want FOOD at March 17, 2024 09:32 AM (v+0wn)

67 Love The Company Man videos like the Barnes and Noble one posted above. My particular favorite is the one about Burt's Bees.
https://youtu.be/UfRWmR_X9a8

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at March 17, 2024 09:34 AM (dg+HA)

68 Comment: A long, long time ago, on the same campus where I now work, I took an "Early Western Civilization" class. Unlike a more modern version of the course, our instructor was very keen on introducing us to the original sources. So we read stuff like Plato and Aristotle (though not in the original Greek). We also studied St. Augustine's The City of God. I don't remember much about it, but my lingering impression is that it was quite powerful. St. Augustine is certainly one of the most influential figures within the establishment of Christianity.

I've been slogging through City of God for the last month, and am only 1/3rd through it. I can't say it's riveting reading, but it's a very interesting peak at a long ago time. He spends a lot of time hating on theater and explaining why the Roman gods are bad, and also not real. I do about a % of the book a night, so I should be done in another couple of months and will make a full report then.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 17, 2024 09:34 AM (CsUN+)

69 Read Rachel Hawkins' "The Heiress", in which a much-married heiress passes on her fortune and creepy North Carolina mountain estate to her adopted son, who wants none of it. Returning to the fold after ten years, Cam remembers anew just why he hated his family. But his wife Jules is determined that Cam claim his inheritance.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 17, 2024 09:34 AM (3e3hy)

70 Despite my bad experience with a recent Stephen King, in which his Trump Derangement Syndrome was on full display, at my library I picked up a couple of his older works: Just at Sunset, short stories, which came out in 2008; and Finders Keepers, the second in his Mr. Mercedes crime-oriented trilogy, which is also pre-Trump. Maybe I won't get lectured about how horrible Republicans are.

Also I have a new novel by Thomas Harris, not a Hannibal Lecter story, called Cari Mora. Don't know what it's about yet. But I've enjoyed each of his previous books and admire Silence of the Lambs enormously, so I thought it was worth a try.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:35 AM (omVj0)

71 Thank Perf. Now on to the content.

Posted by: 13times at March 17, 2024 09:35 AM (TKvi5)

72 There is increasing pressure, again from the fucking British government, that admiration of the landscapes of Constable and similar, that have glorified the English countryside for centuries, are offensive and possibly dangerous.

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 09:32 AM (zudum)
---
They are correct. This is very dangerous to the globalist enterprise, potentially lethal. They have to step up efforts to consoomerize the UK before another Brexit event happens.

Ireland just voted overwhelmingly to reject a revision to their constitution, which currently enshrines both preserving the family and motherhood as the central goals of the state. The changes would have gutted both provisions and the only constituency that voted "yes" was an enclave of the super-wealthy.

People are waking up and the elites are terrified.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:36 AM (llXky)

73 (off topic) another volcanic eruption in Iceland

Posted by: davidt at March 17, 2024 09:37 AM (SYTee)

74 58 --

Always thought the 1939 Four Feathers (which is the one I saw too) was the original. So that's the one I was referring to. And C. Aubrey was delightful in it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 17, 2024 09:37 AM (q3u5l)

75 Again, there are instances where strategic necessity and national security require the United States to step on someone's toes, but we don't have to be assholes about it.

Being an a***ole seems to be one of the basic human drives. It's a part of our love for power. That's why I don't trust anyone who wants power too much.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 17, 2024 09:37 AM (CsUN+)

76 Take the Evlyn Woods Speed reading Course !
Posted by: JT

Still waiting out here
Posted by: the Birds want FOOD at March 17, 2024

***
". . . the Nattily Wood became the crotchety old Evelyn."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:37 AM (omVj0)

77 My teen daughter and I have a Saturday morning routine - Farmer's Market, B&N, then lunch. Wonderful time together.

We have two B&N nearby. The first is in Oceanside, which is run by a normal person and has a nice, wide-ranging selection of books and an aisle dedicated to religion and philosophy. The second is in Temecula and is run by a Wiccan who hates men - mystical books everywhere, Tarot and occult section right next to the kids books, Grrrl Power adult fiction on the front tables, 14 months and counting in which the 'New release - Science Fiction' section has been filled with random crap. After months of complaining, we just stopped going in.

I have pictures, if anyone from B&N corporate is interested (sounds like not).

Posted by: Candidus at March 17, 2024 09:38 AM (+B0EC)

78 I've been slogging through City of God for the last month, and am only 1/3rd through it. I can't say it's riveting reading, but it's a very interesting peak at a long ago time.

Peek. More coffee is needed.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 17, 2024 09:38 AM (CsUN+)

79 Carr's stuff is amazing: not only brilliantly plotted in the grand old Ellery Queen style, but with good characterization and powerful atmosphere. Crooked Hinge has all three in spades.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

Nawlins public libraries have (or had) things you will not find anywhere else. Unknown authors, JFK assassination stuff, collections of short stories.

Much is wonderful work, reflecting the casual whimsy of a Nawlins gone by.

Posted by: Miklos wants his own library bigger than the garage at March 17, 2024 09:39 AM (v+0wn)

80 Regarding Panama, The Canal Zone and the US Army forts in and around it was a real good duty station for those stationed there prior to the December 7, 1941. While Hawaii and Pearl Harbor and Schofield Barracks is well known due to the war and books like "From Here To Eternity", duty in The Canal Zone is not as well known but back in the day was it's own little playground and tropical paradise for the men and their families serving there.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 17, 2024 09:39 AM (R/m4+)

81 Growing up, our smallish town had a Little Professor bookstore and one delightful independent that focused on children's and young adult fiction. I still remember purchasing "A Wrinkle in Time" and a map of Narnia there.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 17, 2024

***
We used to have a Little Professor bookshop here. And I visited one in Homewood, AL, in 2021.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:39 AM (omVj0)

82 Like the UK then back in the day?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 09:27 AM (LqqGi)
---
There's something to be said for learning from the mistakes of others. We decided to expand and amplify them.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:39 AM (llXky)

83 continued from 64 ...

This anti-Western mindset now has the power of the British government behind it. (I've heard that the Church of England is losing huge numbers of followers due to a similar approach.) It is enraging and beyond disgusting. If England were ever threatened like in WW I and WW II, I wouldn't want one more drop of American blood spilled for Britain's sake. Bring their few worthy folks over here and let the rest of the shithole fester in their self-imposed scum.

I try not to bring much politics into the book thread but this is another threat to the literature and art that underpins so much of what we value.

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 09:41 AM (zudum)

84 the Nattily Wood became the crotchety old Evelyn."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

Crotchety?

That would be ME

Posted by: Evelyn Waugh, the best stylist in English of the 20th Century at March 17, 2024 09:41 AM (v+0wn)

85 Still waiting out here
Posted by: the Birds want FOOD

If ya get TOO fat, ya won't be able to fly !

Posted by: JT at March 17, 2024 09:42 AM (T4tVD)

86 This thread has pointed out so many interesting books - thank you!

I am currently reading Voodoo River by Robert Crais. It's book 5 (I think) in the Elvis Colde/Joe Pike private investigator series. I'm also in the middle of Be Slightly Evil by Venkatesh Rao. He authored an online blog/newletter called Ribbonfarm (I have never seen that material).

On deck:
> The Ancient City (Coulanges)
> The Devil Drives: A Life of Sir Richard Burton (Brodie)
> A Splendid Savage: The Restless Life of Frederick Russell Burnham (Steve Kemper)
> Scouting on Two Continents (written by the subject of the preceding book)

I found at least 3 of these by reading the Book Thread.

Posted by: Oglebay at March 17, 2024 09:42 AM (7fVdQ)

87 Regarding Panama, The Canal Zone and the US Army forts in and around it was a real good duty station for those stationed there prior to the December 7, 1941. While Hawaii and Pearl Harbor and Schofield Barracks is well known due to the war and books like "From Here To Eternity", duty in The Canal Zone is not as well known but back in the day was it's own little playground and tropical paradise for the men and their families serving there.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 17, 2024 09:39 AM (R/m4+)
---
"Across the Pacific" is a forgotten classic about the Canal Zone. It takes place in November, 1941 and the plot is about a Japanese plan to block the canal as part of the surprise attack. Humphrey Bogart is a disgraced Army officer the Japanese are trying to seduce and Sydney Greenstreet is their corrupt ally. Mary Astor as the love interest.

It's a great film, very tense and remarkably balanced on Japanese culture and ambitions, no doubt an attempt to teach Americans that the Japanese are formidable opponents.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:42 AM (llXky)

88 Nawlins public libraries have (or had) things you will not find anywhere else. Unknown authors, JFK assassination stuff, collections of short stories.

Much is wonderful work, reflecting the casual whimsy of a Nawlins gone by.
Posted by: Miklos wants his own library bigger than the garage at March 17, 2024

***
"Had" is the crucial word here, Miklos. The main library downtown was great. Now it's a haven for homeless people to sleep, and most of the branches have never seen copies of older books like those of Queen and Carr. The one I've been hitting is in the suburbs, a big one, and while it has mostly newer authors it does have some older works -- and pretty darn good SF/fantasy and Western sections.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:42 AM (omVj0)

89 Wolfus --

I don't recall a lot of lecturing in King's work pre-Trump, and I'm hoping he's still enough of a pro to keep it out of short fiction where there's really no room for it (he's got a new short story collection coming this spring which I plan to check out). Re the Bill Hodges trilogy -- these were okay if memory serves, but I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about the Holly Gibney character as King is. YMMV.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 17, 2024 09:43 AM (q3u5l)

90 Currently I'm trying out Muriel Spark. A more "literary" author than I've been reading lately, she is still clear and her scenes and dialog are well drawn. Some of you know the novel and movie The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie]/i]; that's hers.

This one is called Memento Mori,..

Memento Mori is a good one.

Muriel Spark's closest equivalent would be Evelyn Waugh. Like Waugh, her prose is a delight to read. Also, like Waugh there is a certain ruthless quality to her plotting and characters, so things will lead where they lead in a very naturalistic way. Almost any of her books are good to great.

If you want to read a more conventional thriller by Spark, try "The Mandelbaum Gate". Rated as one of the top 99 Novels of the 20th Century by Anthony Burgess.

It also has a connection to current events as it's set in Jerusalem.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at March 17, 2024 09:44 AM (nFnyb)

91 John LeCarre had biting comments about Panama and Western policy in "The Tailor of Panama."

Biggest takeaway is that Panama is a canal, not a country, and its people would do well to remember that. He did not support this attitude.

As for the book, I don't recommend it.

Didn't Torrijos die in the bombing of his airplane?

Posted by: Weak Geek is too lazy today to check spelling at March 17, 2024 09:44 AM (p/isN)

92 ". . . the Nattily Wood became the crotchety old Evelyn."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:37 AM (omVj0)
---
Eris must have been nodding to have missed dropping that in.

Thanks for stepping up!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:44 AM (llXky)

93 If I wasn't busy the Hessian book would be up my alley
Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 09:31 AM (fwDg9)

There was one illustration in it that showed uniforms.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 09:44 AM (0eaVi)

94 I have no reason to quickly finish any book, with luck they aren't going anywhere and neither am I.

Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 09:45 AM (fwDg9)

95 "Across the Pacific" is a forgotten classic about the Canal Zone. It takes place in November, 1941 and the plot is about a Japanese plan to block the canal as part of the surprise attack. Humphrey Bogart is a disgraced Army officer the Japanese are trying to seduce and Sydney Greenstreet is their corrupt ally. Mary Astor as the love interest.

It's a great film, very tense and remarkably balanced on Japanese culture and ambitions, no doubt an attempt to teach Americans that the Japanese are formidable opponents.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024

***
It is a good one. Seeing Greenstreet and Bogart together, you can imagine what a good adaptation of a Nero Wolfe novel would have been like with SG as Wolfe (he later played NW on radio) and Bogart as Archie. Stout himself said that Archie looked much like Bogart. Imagine a 1940 faithful adaptation of The League of Frightened Men or Some Buried Caesar with those two as the leads!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:46 AM (omVj0)

96 Didn't Torrijos die in the bombing of his airplane?

Posted by: Weak Geek is too lazy today to check spelling at March 17, 2024 09:44 AM (p/isN)
---
I haven't dug into it, but Greene notes that he could have been assassinated but that he also liked to switch out pilots, often chosing younger ones because they were less cautious about flying over the jungle or ocean. Seasoned ones worried about having to make an emergency landing, and this added to the flight time.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:47 AM (llXky)

97 I’m glad that Sanderson said to read the Mistborne series first, because I grabbed a book on CD of that series about a year ago, I think it was the fourth one, and have been planning to read the 1st three. I grabbed it in a hurry for a road trip. Maybe that was a mistake b/c that world is complex enough that it was a bit mystifying, but I still enjoyed it. Haven’t read anything else of his except The Way of Kings which was also good.

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at March 17, 2024 09:47 AM (hsWtj)

98 "So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, ....."

My warm puppy is curled by my side as I read the thread in bed. Gave him a bath yesterday so he's especially soft and cuddly today.

Haven't done any reading this week except of course AoSHQ. I seem to read in short spurts since hubby passed away. Things which used to give me pleasure like reading and knitting don't seem to anymore. I wonder if anyone else here has experienced the same thing. I do hope that lack of concentration will reverse itself as time passes.

Posted by: Tuna at March 17, 2024 09:47 AM (oaGWv)

99 Muriel Spark's closest equivalent would be Evelyn Waugh. Like Waugh, her prose is a delight to read. Also, like Waugh there is a certain ruthless quality to her plotting and characters, so things will lead where they lead in a very naturalistic way. Almost any of her books are good to great.

If you want to read a more conventional thriller by Spark, try "The Mandelbaum Gate". Rated as one of the top 99 Novels of the 20th Century by Anthony Burgess.

It also has a connection to current events as it's set in Jerusalem.

Check it out.
Posted by: naturalfake at March 17, 2024

***
I didn't see that at the public library. Maybe my college library would have it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:47 AM (omVj0)

100 7 Good morning, book-heads!

This Woman Deconstructs 100-Year-Old Books To Restore Them:

***

I will watch this. Someone donated a 2nd edition of Jane Eyre to the library - a couple of pages torn, binfing coming loose, dark spots that may be mildew or mold.
I got it for free and will see what I can do.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 09:47 AM (TirNb)

101 This is a pretty conservative area, so our corporate bookstore (BAM) does stock conservative authors. But they put the de rigueur, bien pensant Leftist pap on the shelves, too, whatever a waste of space that may be.

So that's fairly balanced. My problem with them is the history section. I swear, if a space alien walked into an American corporate bookstore, he would think that the only event in human history was WWII. That, in the whole existence of our species, not one other thing was notable enough for us to document.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at March 17, 2024 09:48 AM (0FoWg)

102 Thanks for the Thread, Perfessor !

Posted by: JT at March 17, 2024 09:48 AM (T4tVD)

103 26 Reading Triumph Forsaken by Mark Moyar, getting only q chapter a week isn't going to finish this, and there are 2 books after this one
Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 09:13 AM (fwDg9)

I used to read that one aloud to my dad many years ago. He was blind. I think it is on the TBR pile somewhere. We never finished it.

Background to Betrayal by Hilaire du Berrier is another must read on the Vietnam war.

BTW, Hilaire du Berrier was quite the charactor. He left all his notes to, I think, his neice up in N. Dakota. Pretty sure they wound up in a college there. I tried contacting her many years ago to see if I could get copies as I think the dude is an unsung hero that deserves more memorialization than a few paragraphs on the internet.
His story is crazy.
Especially his time in China during WW2.

Posted by: Reforger at March 17, 2024 09:49 AM (B705c)

104 As for warm kitties, my big black Stirling is curled on the floor not far from my feet, and little Dagny . . . well, I don't know where she is. She likes to nap under the bed for some reason. Maybe she has racial memories of cave lion days.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 09:49 AM (omVj0)

105 Revolutionary War uniforms are a shot in the dark almost. Would bet Europeans units would be safer to guess until here and uniforms wore out. American units is the hard part as uniformity of a Regiment would be difficult.

Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 09:50 AM (fwDg9)

106 Somehow I have missed reading both Spark and (hangs head in shame) Waugh.

Will have to remedy that if the Amazing Colossal To-Be-Read Pile doesn't topple over and bury me before I can get to them...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 17, 2024 09:50 AM (q3u5l)

107 I've been slogging through City of God for the last month, and am only 1/3rd through it. I can't say it's riveting reading, but it's a very interesting peak at a long ago time. He spends a lot of time hating on theater and explaining why the Roman gods are bad, and also not real. I do about a % of the book a night, so I should be done in another couple of months and will make a full report then.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 17, 2024 09:34 AM (CsUN+)
---
I bought a copy of it and intend to read it, but the Confessions has taught me that while St. Augustine can be a superb prose stylist, a lot of his topics are highly complex and that reading those parts is best done in as a gradual, meditative study, not light reading for pleasure.

Chesterton, Waugh and Belloc seem more relaxed but still covering the same ground.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:50 AM (llXky)

108 Four Feathers 2002

Heath Ledger
Harry Feversham

Wes Bentley
Jack Durrance

Kate Hudson
Ethne Eustace

Mohamed Bouich
Sudanese Storyteller

Posted by: rhennigantx at March 17, 2024 09:52 AM (ENQN6)

109 Good morning horde. The Perfessor's observation is very astute and a good reminder as we judge/evaluate historical military conflict:

Back in those days, a soldier's life was probably more-or-less the same, regardless of which side of the war one was fighting. Being a professional soldier was just something one did as a way to get out of the house and maybe earn a living until one day your ticket gets punched while fighting in a war that may or may not concern you. Sounds like Johann was just a man doing the job he was paid to do and didn't have any real animosity towards his "enemies" because he saw them as no different from himself. An odd sort of empathy, but I suspect it was fairly common for his type of soldiering

Posted by: TRex at March 17, 2024 09:52 AM (IQ6Gq)

110 I have no reason to quickly finish any book, with luck they aren't going anywhere and neither am I.
Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 09:45 AM (fwDg9)

Oh.

Posted by: JT at March 17, 2024 09:52 AM (T4tVD)

111 Based on a recommendation here, I read Daniel Hannan's "Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World". If you've forgotten who Hannan is, he was a British member of the European Parliament, and an enormous pain in their backsides, since he's very erudite and would routinely and publicly demolish their pretensions. He's now an historian, and this book is a very good intro to his work. The title really tells it all; it's how the Brits invented the concepts that lead to freedom, how we improved on them, and how the Anglosphere is currently in danger from people like Obama (it was written in 2014 - just substitute Biden for Obama). It's an easy read, but full of valuable insights. Highly recommended.

Posted by: Archimedes at March 17, 2024 09:52 AM (CsUN+)

112 A man, a plan, a canal. Panama.

That is a long palindrome.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 17, 2024 09:52 AM (bBPVf)

113 The Ancient City (Coulanges)

I have that book. Just looked on the shelf, there it is. Haven't read it in decades.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 09:52 AM (0eaVi)

114 1. Whats a great Texas history book
2. US History

Posted by: rhennigantx at March 17, 2024 09:52 AM (ENQN6)

115 I have heard that the main reason St Augustine is so preeminent in Western Christian theology is that he wrote in Latin whereas other early Church Fathers wrote in Greek; and medieval monks all knew Latin but few knew Greek.
Therefore St Augustine's writings got recopied a lot more.

Is this true?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 09:53 AM (TirNb)

116 The story about Augustine's mom's death though - I hate being cynical, but when I read how she died while traveling with her son and her final instructions, according to Augustine, were that it didn't matter where her body was buried because her soul was with God, conveniently saving Augustine the trouble of schlepping her body home.

Posted by: Oglebay at March 17, 2024 09:53 AM (7fVdQ)

117 112 A man, a plan, a canal. Panama.

That is a long palindrome.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 17, 2024 09:52 AM (bBPVf)

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 Paperback – October 15, 1978
by David McCullough (Author)

Posted by: rhennigantx at March 17, 2024 09:53 AM (ENQN6)

118 The one I've been hitting is in the suburbs, a big one, and while it has mostly newer authors it does have some older works -- and pretty darn good SF/fantasy and Western sections.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

Well, at least, the local liberry here always has carts full of books they don't want anymore. For a minimal donation, take what you like. It sometimes sad to see what they consider unimportant.

Posted by: Miklos has lotsa books and will read them all one day at March 17, 2024 09:54 AM (v+0wn)

119 The bookstore I miss the most is Gene's Books in the KOP mall

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 09:56 AM (TirNb)

120 Is Evelyn Woods male or female? Mostly depends on if they are British or American.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 17, 2024 09:56 AM (XjtdB)

121 Good morning horde. The Perfessor's observation is very astute and a good reminder as we judge/evaluate historical military conflict:

Posted by: TRex at March 17, 2024 09:52 AM (IQ6Gq)
---
Soldiering was very much a trade, and one of the few open to the nobility. It was common for officers to "take service" in various countries if their nation was at peace. The same was true of the ranks, whose units could be hired out as the Hessians were. One of my ancestors was part of the "Wild Geese," Irishmen who fought for France or Spain. They did their service and got paid off, returning back to Eire to enjoy their retirement. The English were fine with it, because having all the active young men fighting somewhere else lessened the risk of rebellion.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:57 AM (llXky)

122 Evelyn Waugh is male and George Elliott is female.

Posted by: Oglebay at March 17, 2024 09:57 AM (7fVdQ)

123 That is a long palindrome.
Posted by: Thomas Paine

That's what she said.

Posted by: JT at March 17, 2024 09:58 AM (T4tVD)

124 In a Ring of Fire by Ivan Vasilevich Ovcharenko is another soldier’s memoir, but he’s a Bolshevik and the text was edited by GlavLit - the nascent Bolshevik censorship publishing house.

Posted by: 13times at March 17, 2024 09:58 AM (zZJ+I)

125 Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at March 17, 2024 09:47 AM (hsWtj)

Have you been able to log in to ALH yet? It may have been Spamhaus blocking your email domain.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 09:58 AM (0eaVi)

126 My local library has been unloading almost anything not checked out in five(?) years, and it depresses me to see the lobby sale tables. Some time soon, I'll go all the way into the place again to see what's left. But they do have movies to check out, and games, and...

The library biz ain't what it was, and I'm not sorry to be a long time out of it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 17, 2024 09:59 AM (q3u5l)

127 Is this true?
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby

Probably not.

Latin was much more commonly known than Greek among the monks, who also spoke it more than they read or wrote it.

Posted by: Miklos has a B.A. in Ancient and Medieval History, for what that's worth (0.02 cents) at March 17, 2024 09:59 AM (v+0wn)

128 @119 --

I shed tears for the loss of A Novel Idea. At its height, it had two stores, also close to home.

Posted by: Weak Geek at March 17, 2024 09:59 AM (p/isN)

129 I wonder if anyone else here has experienced the same thing. I do hope that lack of concentration will reverse itself as time passes.
Posted by: Tuna

I switched from nonfiction to fiction when my ability to concentrate evaporated.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 17, 2024 09:59 AM (bBPVf)

130 Is Evelyn Woods male or female? Mostly depends on if they are British or American.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 17, 2024 09:56 AM (XjtdB)
---
Bloody Yanks always screwing things up.

Posted by: Field Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood, VC, GCB, GCMG at March 17, 2024 10:00 AM (llXky)

131 "A long, long time ago, on the same campus where I now work, I took an "Early Western Civilization" class. Unlike a more modern version of the course, our instructor was very keen on introducing us to the original sources. So we read stuff like Plato and Aristotle (though not in the original Greek)."

Wow, Perfessor. You are either older than I thought or you were lucky enough to have one of the last of the real teachers in college. Imagine going to the original sources these days. What impudence to ignore the 'wisdom' and interpretation pushed in the thirty years; so much better than the author's intentions.

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 10:00 AM (zudum)

132 "Four Feathers 2002"

The Four Feathers I remember was the 70's TV movie with Beau Bridges, Robert Powell, Simon Ward and Jane Seymour.

Posted by: Tuna at March 17, 2024 10:01 AM (oaGWv)

133 Comme Le Rouge et le Noir

Posted by: Marie-Henri Beyle at March 17, 2024 10:01 AM (v+0wn)

134 The bookstore I miss the most is Gene's Books in the KOP mall
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024

***
We had a Waldenbooks in one mall when I was in high school. I can recall a B. Dalton in a mall in the Denver area. And we had a Doubleday and a bookseller called Siler's, both in the busy downtown area. You know, when it was fun to go shop downtown, and you didn't see panhandlers, endless hotels, and "urban wear" stores.

Plus a local drugstore chain always had a long section of new paperbacks. I bought many of my Man From U.N.C.L.E. series there when they came out, and Whitfield & Roddenberry's The Making of Star Trek.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:01 AM (omVj0)

135 Does anyone have any recommendations for the US battle for Saipan in WW 2?
Thanks!

Posted by: Lars at March 17, 2024 10:01 AM (kJH1Z)

136 Despite being on the of thread's resident Comic Book Guys (I even got a comic review onto the main post!) it's been over a decade since I've bought a comic book. Not a trade paperback, or graphic novel, but a classic, staple-bound mass-market monthly comic book. Partly because I live a hundred miles from a comic book shop, but also because most of the major publishers gave me the middle finger back in the mid 00's.

But, that finally changed! One of the smaller publishers revived the "Savage Sword of Conan" comic. At 60+ pages of black-and-white pulpy-goodness, the book is not just a story about Conan the Barbarian, but also a tribute to all the characters of Robert E Howard. The first issue has the first chapter of a gloriously illustrated Solomon Kane story! I'm actually looking forward to the rest of that more than the next Conan tale.

The only problem is that had to order the book online, and I paid as much for shipping as I did for the book itself.

Posted by: Castle Guy at March 17, 2024 10:02 AM (Lhaco)

137 Revolutionary War uniforms are a shot in the dark almost. Would bet Europeans units would be safer to guess until here and uniforms wore out. American units is the hard part as uniformity of a Regiment would be difficult.
Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 09:50 AM (fwDg9)

Dohla indicates getting new uniforms a couple of times, but doesn't say what colors except for breeches and stockings.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 10:02 AM (0eaVi)

138 Is Evelyn Woods male or female? Mostly depends on if they are British or American.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 17, 2024

***
I always wondered that too. Wiki says *she* was an American.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:03 AM (omVj0)

139 Another anarcho-Marxist memoir: Memories of a Makhnovist Partisan by Ossip Tsebry.

Posted by: 13times at March 17, 2024 10:03 AM (zZJ+I)

140 The story about Augustine's mom's death though - I hate being cynical, but when I read how she died while traveling with her son and her final instructions, according to Augustine, were that it didn't matter where her body was buried because her soul was with God, conveniently saving Augustine the trouble of schlepping her body home.

Posted by: Oglebay at March 17, 2024 09:53 AM (7fVdQ)
---
She spent her whole life praying for his conversion, so I'm pretty sure she sincerely didn't want him to make an expensive and dangerous voyage just to plant her in Africa.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:04 AM (llXky)

141 Good Morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear into the heart of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 17, 2024 10:04 AM (u82oZ)

142 >>> So we read stuff like Plato and Aristotle (though not in the original Greek).
----------------------

Victor's keeping an eye on you.

Posted by: Braenyard at March 17, 2024 10:04 AM (7XWTX)

143 Well, I have to go buy oysters now

Posted by: Miklos notes that he is mentioned by name in a poem by the Poet Laurate of A Certain Country to make at March 17, 2024 10:04 AM (v+0wn)

144 Oooh, Earthsea. I watched a made-for-tv adaptation of that (an A&E 2-parter, I think. I wonder if A&E is still making movies?) I don't remember dragons in it, but they may have been cut for the made-for-tv budget. I'll bet the book will be a lot more epic than the adaptation...

Posted by: Castle Guy at March 17, 2024 10:05 AM (Lhaco)

145 Latin was much more commonly known than Greek among the monks, who also spoke it more than they read or wrote it.
Posted by: Miklos has a B.A.

That would support what I had heard.

If Brother Miklos is the only one in the monastery who reads Greek, then the Abbott will have prioritize which texts he is to copy.
Meanwhile ten other monks are working on the Latin texts.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 10:05 AM (TirNb)

146 Our local B&N is part book store, part game store, and part toy store. For some reason, the Starbucks that was attached to it went out of business years ago - how the hell does a coffee shop attached to a book store go out of business??? I occasionally drop in to browse, or to pick up a new release if I'm feeling impatient, but my reading choices are often far too obscure for a corporate chain store to carry. Many years ago they carried obscure magazines like Monitoring Times, but MT went out of business and more shelf space went to more commercially appealing publications.

Posted by: PabloD at March 17, 2024 10:05 AM (QOl1C)

147 129 I wonder if anyone else here has experienced the same thing. I do hope that lack of concentration will reverse itself as time passes.
Posted by: Tuna

I switched from nonfiction to fiction when my ability to concentrate evaporated.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 17, 2024 09:59 AM (bBPVf)

For some reason this reminded me of shooting. I started shooting clays in middle age and went out with instructors many times. I love them all, but they made shooting very complex and I was having a lot of problems. Then I took one lesson when I was visiting Asheville and the instructor told me that shooting is just concentrating on the target - everything else is handled better with the subconscious mind. What a difference that has made both in my shooting success and my enjoyment of the sport.

Posted by: Oglebay at March 17, 2024 10:06 AM (7fVdQ)

148 The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 Paperback – October 15, 1978
by David McCullough (Author)

Posted by: rhennigantx at March 17, 2024 09:53 AM (ENQN6)

Now that's a really long palindrome!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 10:06 AM (0eaVi)

149 I loved going to Gene's Books as a teenager

Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 10:06 AM (fwDg9)

150 as mentioned above, from last week's recommendation I read Kim. It was, again as above, an amazing read in a lot of ways. I kept wondering how Kipling knew all that stuff about India. You can learn a lot in 6 years I guess. I was surprised that it ended when it did, but hey, what do i know?

i started the Mistborne series about 7 or 8 years ago and was mightily impressed. Until I got the Hero of Ages which I've tried about 3 times to read and, nah. it just doesn't work for me.

Posted by: yara at March 17, 2024 10:07 AM (jwDtS)

151 . It sometimes sad to see what they consider unimportant.
Posted by: Miklos has lotsa books and will read them all one day

If a lieberry book doesn't get checked out it gets chucked out.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 10:07 AM (TirNb)

152 I have heard that the main reason St Augustine is so preeminent in Western Christian theology is that he wrote in Latin whereas other early Church Fathers wrote in Greek; and medieval monks all knew Latin but few knew Greek.
Therefore St Augustine's writings got recopied a lot more.

Is this true?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 09:53 AM
---
The Western Empire spoke (and read) Latin, which is why St. Jerome undertook the Vulgate translation.

Independent of the content of his writing, St. Augustine is hailed as one of the greatest Latin stylists who ever lived. The translator of the edition I have highlights certain sections as being models of beautiful language, incorporating rhyme, metaphor in a way that simply can't be replicated in English.

It wasn't just the content of his work, it was the quality of it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:07 AM (llXky)

153 1. Whats a great Texas history book

Posted by: rhennigantx

The Men Who Wear the Star, The story of the Texas Rangers, by Charles Robinson.

Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne, which is the fascinating story of the Commanche

Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 17, 2024 10:07 AM (bBPVf)

154 149 I loved going to Gene's Books as a teenager
Posted by: Skip

*hi-5*

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 10:08 AM (TirNb)

155 The translator of the edition I have highlights certain sections as being models of beautiful language, incorporating rhyme, metaphor in a way that simply can't be replicated in English.

It wasn't just the content of his work, it was the quality of it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Which edition is this?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 10:09 AM (TirNb)

156 Seconded “Empire of the Summer Moon.“

Posted by: 13times at March 17, 2024 10:10 AM (zZJ+I)

157 Posted by: Miklos has a B.A. in Ancient and Medieval History, for what that's worth (0.02 cents) at March 17, 2024 09:59 AM (v+0wn)

(looks at classical civ degree on wall) A whole two cents! Must be nice to be so rich.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 10:10 AM (0eaVi)

158 There are indy bookstores around here - they all.seems leftist
Bleh

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 10:10 AM (TirNb)

159 What happened to Barnes& Noble?
Well they became aholes. Snooty, like Starbucks.
They went all woke. They told people like me our business was not needed. Like I said, aholes.

Posted by: Eromero at March 17, 2024 10:10 AM (DXbAa)

160 Castle Guy, during the Sniffle Scare I read about an independent comic series called "The Maze Agency," in which one story had a guest-star appearance by Ellery Queen (the detective character) written in part by Make Barr. I had to have it, and found it on EBay. The plot is well-done, even to using the old Nationality-Clue title form -- here, "The English Channeler Mystery."

The best moment is the end, which echoes and even quotes the conclusion of EQ's best overall novel, Cat of Many Tails.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:10 AM (omVj0)

161 You can trust your car to, the man who wears the star.

Posted by: Texaco at March 17, 2024 10:10 AM (dg+HA)

162 RE: my 160: That should be "Mike" Barr.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:11 AM (omVj0)

163 95 ... "Imagine a 1940 faithful adaptation of The League of Frightened Men or Some Buried Caesar with those two as the leads!"

Greenstreet as Wolfe and Bogart as Archie. Damn! But you shouldn't tease us.

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 10:12 AM (zudum)

164 KTY likes to go to BN to look at the magazines, the manga, and the manga-adjacent toys

I go with her to get coffee

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 10:12 AM (TirNb)

165 My local library has been unloading almost anything not checked out in five(?) years, and it depresses me to see the lobby sale tables.

Posted by: Just Some Guy

If my library did that, I would need to bring a UHaul and add a wing to my house.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 17, 2024 10:13 AM (bBPVf)

166 Worldcat.org is your friend Reforger:

Hilaire (Hal) Du Berrier (Harold Berry) papers, 1935-1991

Summary

apers consist of du Berrier's papers as collected by his sister Helen Spielman Mandan, ND) including correspondence, notes, drawings, newspaper clippings, post cards, telegrams, family history, ephemera, photographs, publications, and copies of his monthly newsletter, "du Berrier Report," on international diplomatic and political topics. Collection documents much of du Berrier's career, recording his activities during the Italo-Ethiopian War, Spanish Civil War, as a pilot for the Chinese government during World War II, and a diplomat in Southeast Asia, China, and Korea. Soldier of fortune and diplomat from Monte Carlo, Monaco originally from Flasher (ND)
Archival Material, English, 1935

State Historical Society of North Dakota State Archives
North Dakota Heritage Center, 612 E Boulevard Ave, Bismarck, ND, 58505-0830, United States

Posted by: Kindltot at March 17, 2024 10:13 AM (D7oie)

167 I always wondered that too. Wiki says *she* was an American.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:03 AM (omVj0)
---
Evelyn Waugh's first wife was also named Evelyn. They referred to themselves as "He-velyn" and "She-velyn."

That's a neat way remember how to pronounce the name, btw.

They subsequently divorced, Waugh became Catholic, had the marriage annulled and married Lady Laura Herbert, daughter of a famous recusant Catholic noble family. They had a bunch of kids, one of whom was Auberon Waugh, who became a famous journalist and his son, Alexander Waugh is also an author and has written an excellent family biography: Fathers and Sons.

Evelyn's elder brother, Alec, was infamous for his first book, The Loom of Youth, which hinted at homosexual activity in Sherbourne, his school. He was banned from the Old Sherbournians, moved to America, and wrote An Island in the Sun along with other potboilers. For many years he was more famous than his brother.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:14 AM (llXky)

168 @160 --

I'd forgotten "The Maze Agency"! I bought the Comico issues but didn't follow the series to subsequent publishers.

Disposed of those long ago. Can't keep everything.

Posted by: Weak Geek at March 17, 2024 10:15 AM (p/isN)

169 Thanks for the Book Thread, Perfessor! Always a bright spot, even on a dreary and snowy day like today.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at March 17, 2024 10:15 AM (U3L4U)

170 Texas History:
Fehrenbach's Lone Star is a bit dated, but IIRC decent. Don't remember when it ends.

For a fictional take, look at Sgt Mom's (Celia Hayes) Adelsverein trilogy and Daughter of Texas 2 book series.

Posted by: yara at March 17, 2024 10:15 AM (jwDtS)

171 Many years ago [B & N] carried obscure magazines like Monitoring Times, but MT went out of business and more shelf space went to more commercially appealing publications.
Posted by: PabloD at March 17, 2024

***
They used to carry the magazines Arizona Highways and New Mexico Magazine in the travel section. Both still exist, but I haven't seen them at B & N in years.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:16 AM (omVj0)

172 152 ... "The translator of the edition I have highlights certain sections as being models of beautiful language, incorporating rhyme, metaphor in a way that simply can't be replicated in English."

AHL, Which edition do you have? Translator's name?

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 10:16 AM (zudum)

173 Good morning.
Half way through the third book in the 3Body series, Death's End, the library took it back. I am now waiting for a paper copy(in transit) in order to finish and give an opinion.
I am also half way through the third book in Islington's Licanus trilogy The Light of all That Falls. I love his books but they are very complex with lots and lots of important characters to keep track of and there is also some time travel so I'm constantly trying to remember the significance of a character popping up out to the time line. Bottom line is it takes dedication as the book is almost 900 pages.
I am longing for a quick throwaway. Sigh...

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 17, 2024 10:16 AM (t/2Uw)

174 Kindltot @ 166- du Berrier!
This is the guy we need at Corsican in October.

Posted by: Eromero at March 17, 2024 10:18 AM (DXbAa)

175 I'd forgotten "The Maze Agency"! I bought the Comico issues but didn't follow the series to subsequent publishers.

Disposed of those long ago. Can't keep everything.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 17, 2024

***
I forget where I heard about this special issue but I'm glad I bought it. The artist and story portray the Ellery of the postwar years, when he was no longer a stuffy Philo Vance wannabe, and was aware of his fallibility and of human beings as humans. The artist even (shockingly, today) has him smoking his pipe.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:19 AM (omVj0)

176 AHL, Which edition do you have? Translator's name?

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 10:16 AM (zudum)
---
The Oxford World's Classics, translated by Henry Chadwick. I got it used, it was covered with stickers, was clearly part of a college course and one of the previous owners decided to highlight text and offer idiotic commentary in the margins that I learned to ignore. I carefully removed the stickers, much improving its appearance.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:20 AM (llXky)

177 I should add that if I can't find a book locally, I generally go on ebay where the storefronts offer ludicrously cheap books, even doing the "buy 3, get one free."

Very useful for my China research as well.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:22 AM (llXky)

178 I'm finishing up A Voyage To Arcturus. Quite the trippy scifi adventure written in the 1890s.

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at March 17, 2024 10:22 AM (++4z6)

179 With the mention a classic mystery writer like John Dickson Carr I decided to check our county library. Not one physical copy of his books. It is a big surprise these days when they have an actual book that I am looking for. (Yes, I'm so old I associate libraries with books. Gasp!)

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 10:23 AM (zudum)

180 95 ... "Imagine a 1940 faithful adaptation of The League of Frightened Men or Some Buried Caesar with those two as the leads!"
*
Greenstreet as Wolfe and Bogart as Archie. Damn! But you shouldn't tease us.
Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024

***
In an alternate universe somewhere, that film happened; and so, I imagine, did solid movie versions of Ellery Queen's Cat of Many Tails and The Siamese Twin Mystery with Richard Carlson as EQ. Or a 1995 version of either with Alexis Denisof as Ellery and John Mahoney as the Inspector.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:23 AM (omVj0)

181 Tara, read the Wax and Wayne series. They are a fun read, the dialog is brilliant, the story reads like a movie. It is a little like a Western fantasy. You've read enough of the Mistborn series to understand the way everything works.
I read The Way of Kings as my first Sanderson book and was immediately hooked. Read the entire series and all the short stories. then the entire Mistborn Series. Everything else of his I've read is good but does not come up to the brilliance of these two series.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 17, 2024 10:24 AM (t/2Uw)

182 Imagine a 1940 faithful adaptation of The League of Frightened Men or Some Buried Caesar with those two as the leads!"

Greenstreet as Wolfe and Bogart as Archie. Damn! But you shouldn't tease us.

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 10:12 AM (zudum)
---
Some wag on Twitter has done AI renderings of 80s stars as comic book characters in film adaptation. Some of them would be fun.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:25 AM (llXky)

183 Meant Yara, not Tara.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 17, 2024 10:26 AM (t/2Uw)

184 The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition are a fine example of expeditionary diaries.

Posted by: 13times at March 17, 2024 10:26 AM (Y9FAc)

185 Waiting on the paramedics for my wife. She went low, and is now on the floor, with a pillow under her head. Got some grape juice on her, so her going unconscious is not an immediate issue.

EMTs are here. GTG

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 17, 2024 10:28 AM (u82oZ)

186 Salty, all good wishes for you and your wife!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:29 AM (omVj0)

187 137 Revolutionary War uniforms are a shot in the dark almost. Would bet Europeans units would be safer to guess until here and uniforms wore out. American units is the hard part as uniformity of a Regiment would be difficult.
Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 09:50 AM (fwDg9)

On the topic of military uniforms, an old short-film I watched (via Rifftrax) claimed that the US Civil War was when we first developed standardized sizes for clothes. Anyone else heard anything that would support that claim? Or should I presume that the narrator was making up a factoid to make his quasi-propaganda film interesting?

Posted by: Castle Guy at March 17, 2024 10:30 AM (Lhaco)

188 Prayers Salty.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at March 17, 2024 10:30 AM (dg+HA)

189 What happened to B & N ? The freaking bean counters that's what. Was a great one in a mall near-by, first the long time and experienced staff was gutted and replaced with generic employees. Gradually more and more "not book stuff" replaced books. Then the store was moved to a different but near-by location of drastically reduced sized. Nearly all of the magazines of my interests, fire arms, reloading, shooting etc disappeared. The book selections in my interests, sci-fi, military thrillers, American history were "thinned". The tenor and buzz in the store was, in my opinion, irreparably damaged. There are 4 others within 30 drive and all are in the same condition. I did find another like my B & N used to be within acceptable distance. But I'm beginning to see the same signs again. And yes they all became of an obvious leftist feel and bent. Turning to the dark side and looking farther afield has been the result. Unfortunately the pleasure of browsing in a real book store has been lost and is I think, not retrievable. Grrrr.

Posted by: Edward at March 17, 2024 10:30 AM (bno6p)

190 Salty, prayers up.

Posted by: Weak Geek at March 17, 2024 10:30 AM (p/isN)

191 Was watching a video on the Library of Alexandria where the youtuber made a strong argument that neither Caesar, nor Christian zealots, nor Muslims destroyed it.

His argument is that it was probably damaged under the reign of Ptolemy VIII who fought a civil war and engaged in significant damage to the people of Alexandra potentially twice. He otes, for example, that most of the documentation from outside Egypt about it talks about it prior to the rise of Ptolemy VIII and the fact people felt comfortable talking about Caesar "destroying" it means that it really couldn't been the two later groups...

Posted by: 18-1 at March 17, 2024 10:33 AM (ibTVg)

192 Thanks for the shout-out, Yara! I had read Fahrenbach's books about Texas history and that of the Comanche, as part of research for the Trilogy, and Daughter of Texas. I have always believed that the best way to interest people in history is to make a ripping good yarn out of various episodes.
And speaking of which - I finally finished Bodie Theone's first book about the start of WWII and the first stirrings of the anti-Nazi underground. I just couldn't get into it. The characters just didn't grab me enough to want to go on to the other books in the series (at $8 a whack on Kindle!) to find out what happens to them all.
As for other literary creations, my daughter and I have been watching the BBC Father Brown series on TV ... and I don't think we'll carry on. Just too much bad, ahistorical writing, and elements of plot happening because of course they HAD to happen because the writers can't come up with a logically consistent sequence of events and believable characters.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at March 17, 2024 10:34 AM (xnmPy)

193 So your leader threatens a bloodbath when he loses in November. Ruling by fear. How.... democratic.

Posted by: Sid at March 17, 2024 10:35 AM (ZVzIc)

194 Sid go away, we are reading

Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 10:37 AM (fwDg9)

195 Turning to the dark side and looking farther afield has been the result. Unfortunately the pleasure of browsing in a real book store has been lost and is I think, not retrievable. Grrrr.

Posted by: Edward at March 17, 2024 10:30 AM (bno6p)
---
This place used to have a ton of book stores. Now? Very few are left. Other than Curious, the closest one to me is in a mall and is very, very woke. History section eclipsed by the Ghey Lifestyles section and I can't help but wonder how much there is to say about sodomy. I'm assuming it's all about affirming them and drowning out the quiet, insistent voice telling them that what they are doing is wrong and unnatural.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:38 AM (llXky)

196 Sid is to reading
As fish are to bicycles

Posted by: Florence Kennedy at March 17, 2024 10:38 AM (ibTVg)

197 The American Civil War was the biggest growth of production, besides weapons, uniforms and accouterments were mass produced.

Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 10:40 AM (fwDg9)

198 Wow, some anonymous rando just dropped a comment and it's prose and clarity have totally reshaped my worldview!

I'm reminded of how evangelical atheists comment bomb Catholic sites with pithy put downs. I mean, other than distracting them from the pathetic state of their miserable lives, do any of them seriously think they are making a difference?

"Hah, I used the term 'sky god!' That will totally destroy their faith!"

Imbeciles.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:42 AM (llXky)

199 Again, gonna pump the books of Ryan Williamson, who with Jason Anspach has written the first of three books in the genre I call Fantastical Apocalyptic:

"Doomsday Recon," which is about a Ranger platoon transported from 1989 Panama to The Land of the Black Sun. Great writing, action, characters, just loving it. Military Fantasy at its best. Next book in the trilogy comes out April 4, and is called Death or Glory.

Williamson also penned "The Widow's Son," which I thought was fantastic. Vampires, Demons, a ninja Catholic Nun, Buffalo Soldiers riding steam Mechs, Dirigibles. What more do you need? He also wrote a novelette called "The Spear of Destiny" that I loved.

Also, Jason Anspach has published "The Wanted," which is the first book in Season Three of the Galaxy's Edge universe of books. Great story so far, a bit of backstory on how Aeson Ford/Keel became Wraith.

Posted by: Sharkman at March 17, 2024 10:43 AM (/RHNq)

200 I have been thinking of bringing up web serials for a while, since that is what I read these days in preference to actual books. Many are long when you binge a new one, but I like that once I am caught up I can keep up on my lunch break, etc.

There are two that I have liked enough to re-read, which is not something I normally do.

One is "There is no epic loot here, only puns" which is a very delightful story, very much in the vein of Terry Pratchett's discworld books. This one is still ongoing, and updates about once a month, but each one tends to be the highlight of my day when it comes out.

The other is "In Loki's Honor" which is a much more gritty tale. Sadly I think it is going to remain unfinished, but it is structured more like a series of books with clear arcs that start, finish and lead into the next, so it still provides some moments of satisfaction and closure.

Posted by: Charlie at March 17, 2024 10:44 AM (HP9V3)

201 The American Civil War was the biggest growth of production, besides weapons, uniforms and accouterments were mass produced.

Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 10:40 AM (fwDg9)
---
Yeah, going from 16,000 to 500,000 was quite an increase.

Although the WW I ramp-up was probably bigger. Too lazy to look it up.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:44 AM (llXky)

202 On that note, time for Mass. St. Patrick, pray for us!

Thanks again, Perfesser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:45 AM (llXky)

203 Just finished Paul Theroux's 1995 travel book, "The Pillars of Hercules," in which he reports his circuit of the Mediterranean beginning at Gibraltar and ending right across the straight in Morocco.

It is a clockwise trip that he does, leaving Gibraltar for Spain, then France, Italy, where he goes by ferry to Corsica, then Sardinia, Sicily, back into Italy, then up the Adriatic side.

He finds in general that the locals use the shore as their dump, and their towns all poor and shabby. It all sounds like Florida's redneck riviera.

Albania sounds like an alternative universe, hell on earth.

He's a flaming leftist, and so finds Israel full of nasty Jews keeping the lid on the poor wonderful artistic educated Arabs, the jews doing open carry everywhere. When he leaves, it is on the Turkish passenger ship on which he came, and he is happy to be back amongst his muslim buds.

Posted by: Mr Gaga at March 17, 2024 10:45 AM (KiBMU)

204 Not a lot of reading done this week. The change to DST always does a number on me. They stole my hour and I want it back!

I'm about halfway through Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey, and while it is a very pleasant read, no crime has happened yet.

I've also begun to reread Glitter Girl by James Bartlett and I'm enjoying it as much the second time around.

Re: Barnes & Noble - I still can recall how amazed I was when I first encountered the B&N in Downtown Boston. Two stories of books! It was like heaven! There are several in my current area but I haven't really checked them out. I really should. And if they are halfway decent, give them my business. It pains me to see so many bookstores closing.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at March 17, 2024 10:47 AM (xbTzQ)

205 "as a pilot for the Chinese government during World War II"

Posted by: Kindltot at March 17, 2024 10:13 AM (D7oie)

Yeah. That's what he was doing over there.
I stumbled across his name looking into the Sergey spy ring in Japan.

His sisters daughter runs an artsy fartsy place up there in ND. 15ish years ago when I was doing my research on him I contacted her and got no response. She was in possession of them at that point. From what I understand it's like 4 old school travel trunks full of stuff and as far as I know, it's been a while, had not been scanned or anything.
Maybe that has changed. That would be cool.
He did get pretty famous with Background but not on the right side of the US. How he was treated when the internment camp he was tortured in was liberated after Japans surrender is quite telling how America felt about him.
They hated him well before he went on the record (correctly) predicting the US would fail in Nam. Gave reasons that border on clairvoyance. Because unlike Korean Ambassador Donohue he knew the people involved.
Why did the US hate him so much as to not even acknowlege his existence in that prison?
There is an unwritten book in there somewhere.

Posted by: Reforger at March 17, 2024 10:47 AM (B705c)

206 176 ... AHL,

Thanks for the info on your edition of St. Augustine. Just ordered the Oxford World's Classics version with Chadwick's translation.

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 10:47 AM (zudum)

207
The bookstore I miss the most is Gene's Books in the KOP mall

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 09:56 AM

When I worked in KoP I used to stop in there a least once a month. They had the best selection of obscure programming magazines and the latest in programming books. Sorry it folded.

I simply can not remember the last time I was in there but it had to be 20 years or thereabouts.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at March 17, 2024 10:47 AM (RKVpM)

208 Wife recovered. Two hunky paramedics got her off the floor. There must be an easier way to meet new tight ends.

She perked right up. She is recovered.

Thank you, Wolfus Aurelius, Quarter Twenty, Weak Geek. Your powerful prayers were answered. I can testify.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 17, 2024 10:50 AM (u82oZ)

209 185 ... NaCl Dog, Prayers begun for both of you.

Posted by: JTB at March 17, 2024 10:50 AM (zudum)

210 And speaking of which - I finally finished Bodie Theone's first book about the start of WWII and the first stirrings of the anti-Nazi underground. I just couldn't get into it. The characters just didn't grab me enough to want to go on to the other books in the series (at $8 a whack on Kindle!) to find out what happens to them all.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at March 17, 2024 10:34 AM (xnmPy)

They all joined "the resistance".

Posted by: BignJames at March 17, 2024 10:51 AM (AwYPR)

211
I'm about halfway through Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey, and while it is a very pleasant read, no crime has happened yet. . . .

Posted by: KatieFloyd at March 17, 2024

***
Katie, Tey's work is in a class by itself. You read her not primarily for the crime or the puzzle, but for what she shows you about the people caught up in the crime or puzzle. Pym is a one-of-a-kind story, not to be missed.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:52 AM (omVj0)

212 There was a B&N in the town whee I used to live. It was always full. Children's story hours packed. It was a typical suburban town where people paid attention and encouraged their kids. Pretty conservative for MA. Then, suddenly, closed. Replaced by a Buffalo Wings.
Made me realize how much money I was spending on buying books and started to use the library reserve system to get the $25 hardcovers as soon as they were released.
Take that B&N!

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 17, 2024 10:52 AM (t/2Uw)

213 160 Castle Guy, during the Sniffle Scare I read about an independent comic series called "The Maze Agency," in which one story had a guest-star appearance by Ellery Queen (the detective character) written in part by Mike Barr. I had to have it, and found it on EBay. The plot is well-done, even to using the old Nationality-Clue title form -- here, "The English Channeler Mystery."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 10:10 AM (omVj0)

After a quick search on Amazon and Ebay...I've never heard of that comic, nor either of the publishers (Comico and Innovation) that produced it. Not too surprising, since 1989 was long before I started reading comics. The covers look pretty cool, though. Great linework, and the coloring is sophisticated enough to look good, without being so busy it overwhelms the picture...I'll make a mental note to keep an eye out in case that story ever gets collected. (More obscure books have had it happen)

Running for 23 issues would be an impressive achievement these days. Marvel and DC have problems getting that far with major characters...

Posted by: Castle Guy at March 17, 2024 10:53 AM (Lhaco)

214 If a lieberry book doesn't get checked out it gets chucked out.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 10:07 AM (TirNb)
---

A librarian in "The Bellwether" deliberately checks out classics and favorites just to keep them in circulation.

Good book too.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 17, 2024 10:54 AM (3e3hy)

215 Salty, praise be to God.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 10:56 AM (51GSs)

216 177 I should add that if I can't find a book locally, I generally go on ebay where the storefronts offer ludicrously cheap books, even doing the "buy 3, get one free."

Very useful for my China research as well.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 10:22 AM (llXky)

My collection of Osprey's military books has greatly increased since I realized they could be bought off of ebay. Cheaper than the store, and a wider selection than can be found on the physical bookshelf. I need to be careful, lest I buy them fast than I read them...

Posted by: Castle Guy at March 17, 2024 10:58 AM (Lhaco)

217 Salty, what a relief. Good that they showed up quickly.❤️

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 17, 2024 10:59 AM (t/2Uw)

218 vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion

Thank you.

Type I Diabetes is a hell of a disease.
Wish I could borrow a bace of your knives and cut it out, but the promised cures are still in Type I clinical trials.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 17, 2024 11:00 AM (u82oZ)

219 Wait, wait: Plato and Aristotle are "early" western civilization?
Some y'all boys were given a fascinating aspect on antiquity. What did you do with the pre-Socratics?

I smell a Jesuit at play. The City of God was not by Augustine of Canterbury.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at March 17, 2024 11:07 AM (zdLoL)

220 Okay, it looks like Adam Hughs drew more than just the cover of The Maze Agency. He also did the interiors of at least the first issue. Since he's a bit of a 'name brand' in comics, there may actually be a chance that that book gets collected and reprinted someday. Depending on who owns the rights of the originals, of course....

Posted by: Castle Guy at March 17, 2024 11:11 AM (Lhaco)

221 What I have been reading:
Interstellar Medic: The Long Run by Patrick Chiles Recommended here on the book thread, IIANM. Smooth, clean, and it flows well. I just loaned it out to a former EMT. So a good book.

Victory Conditions (Vatta's War #5) by Elizabeth Moon. I like the series enough to upgrade them all to hardback. There are some plot holes, implausible romances, improbable villains, but it was enjoyable. Satisfactory endings were there, as the loose threads were patched up.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 17, 2024 11:11 AM (u82oZ)

222 Sharon(willow's apprentice)

I was able to stabilize her before they got there. It is 25 minutes from town for the ambulance to arrive. With St. Paddy day, they were out a lot yesterday and last night. This morning, the closest unit was out on a call.

That slow delivery time is a big plot point in Interstellar Medic: The Long Run.

Not looking to make my life a plot point in any book, even SF.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 17, 2024 11:15 AM (u82oZ)

223 There's something to be said for learning from the mistakes of others. We decided to expand and amplify them.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 17, 2024 09:39 AM (llXky)

Thinking people will learn from history? That's cute. : o )

In all seriousness, the greater point is that powers like the UK, Rome, et al tend to do things because they can, not because they should.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 11:16 AM (8sMut)

224 Have a great day, everyone. And may you be the Hero or Heroine Protagonist in the book of your life.

Hiro Protagonist, step aside.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 17, 2024 11:17 AM (u82oZ)

225 My problem with them is the history section. I swear, if a space alien walked into an American corporate bookstore, he would think that the only event in human history was WWII. That, in the whole existence of our species, not one other thing was notable enough for us to document.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at March 17, 2024 09:48 AM (0FoWg)

That's every bloody bookstore out there, I think.

I had a German history prof who said she loves to play a game whenever she goes to a bookstore: how many books on German history can she find, and of those, how many of them will have a swastika on the cover or will otherwise reference the Nazis?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 11:19 AM (8sMut)

226 Dug out an "Atlas of Ancient and Classicsl Geography" (1938, Everyman's Library).

It's like what Conan would've had in the glove compartment of his Trans Am.

Paphlagonia, Hyperborea, Antichthones Alter Orbis , etc., all ringed by the Oceanus Fluvius.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 17, 2024 11:19 AM (3e3hy)

227 I recently rediscovered Harland Williams, who has a podcast that is a hoot. If the name isn't familiar, he's had a minor career in film, does some standup, but isn't a star there either. Probably most famous as the cop who pulls over dumb and dumber in their film, and thinks a beer bottle contains beer. It does not.

Anyhoo, Williams has written some books, short stories, I think. I ordered one of them, called "Crave," along with a book by one of his guests, Kevin Nealon. It seems Kevin has taken up caricature art, and his book is called "I Exaggerate."

Who'da thunk. Hollowood is very selective about who does and does not live in their spotlight, and I can't help but think Williams got passed over for reasons having nothing to do with talent.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 17, 2024 11:20 AM (Qqpbi)

228 111 Based on a recommendation here, I read Daniel Hannan's "Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World". If you've forgotten who Hannan is, he was a British member of the European Parliament, and an enormous pain in their backsides, since he's very erudite and would routinely and publicly demolish their pretensions. He's now an historian, and this book is a very good intro to his work. The title really tells it all; it's how the Brits invented the concepts that lead to freedom, how we improved on them, and how the Anglosphere is currently in danger from people like Obama (it was written in 2014 - just substitute Biden for Obama). It's an easy read, but full of valuable insights. Highly recommended.
Posted by: Archimedes at March 17, 2024 09:52 AM (CsUN+)

I'll have to look for that. He is now Lord Hannan as he was granted a peerage. I still think one of the best speeches I have heard in recent years was his shredding of PM Brown at the European Parliament.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 11:23 AM (8sMut)

229 God, I hate the Malazan books. All except Deadhouse Gates. The Chain of Dogs arc was well done.

I did read TJM's Corstae and I liked it. It reads like Historical Fantasy, I reviewed it on Amazon but he did a good job on that one.

I'm also reading Richard Laymon's 'The Midnight Tour' because I keep thinking it will be good THIS time around. It has its movements of horror and suspense for sure and the deviant sex people read Laymon for but....it's not good. It just happens to have some vivid passages.

Next up is an in-depth two or three book look at the battle of Chickmauga.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo and keep your rifle by your side at March 17, 2024 11:23 AM (xcxpd)

230 I always preferred Borders over Barnes and Noble, as the store in which me and the kids would spend an hour or more. My daughter would pick up a stack of books, and I'd try to find something I wanted. Wasn't unusual for us to spend a decent amount.

If there had been more customers like us, Borders would still be in business.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 17, 2024 11:24 AM (Qqpbi)

231 I've had the Mistborn trilogy for a while but that will likely be my next read to get me back into Sanderson. I put down Rhythm of War halfway through it several months ago. Got depressed finding out that the Stormlight Archive series isn't planned to be finished until well into the 2040s.

Posted by: cheztrainor at March 17, 2024 11:25 AM (aellD)

232 The soldier as a sort of migrant worker was certainly true for a long time in European history and elsewhere.

An interesting book on the topic is, "Fighting for a Living, A Comparative History of Military Labour 1500-2000," a collection of articles from a history symposium on the topic. To get a hint of the variety of scholarship in the area, the titles of the articles are:
Understanding Changes in Military Recruitment and Employment Worldwide," "Military labor in China, c. 1500,"From the Mamluks to the Mansabdars,
A social history of military service in South Asia, c. 1500 to c. 1650," "On the Ottoman janissaries (fourteenth-nineteenth centuries)," "Soldiers in Western Europe, c. 1500-1790," "The Scottish mercenary as a migrant labourer in Europe, 1550-1650," "Change and Continuity in Mercenary Armies: Central Europe, 1650-1750," "Peasants Fighting for a Living in Early Modern North India," "'True to their salt', Mechanisms for Recruiting and Managing Military Labour in the Army of the East India Company during the Carnatic Wars in India," “'The Scum of Every County, the Refuse of Mankind,' Recruiting the British Army in the eighteenth century"
cont below

Posted by: Pope John 20th at March 17, 2024 11:28 AM (cYrkj)

233 Oh and on topic, we do have a B&N nearby on Woodinville but I don't visit it anymore. I buy all my books online and have in my library more books that I'll probably be able to finish in my lifetime...doesn't stop me from buying more, of course.

I really miss Borders, honestly. Yes, the drove out most of the indie bookstores but I had such a great time shopping there. I loved it. I love books. And hot chicks with big boobs. But that's for another thread...

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo and keep your rifle by your side at March 17, 2024 11:28 AM (xcxpd)

234 Morning Perfessor.
Read a couple books off kindle this week. They were horribly edited to the point it became off putting. What's up with publishing like that???

Posted by: Diogenes at March 17, 2024 11:30 AM (W/lyH)

235 193 So your leader threatens a bloodbath when he loses in November. Ruling by fear. How.... democratic.
Posted by: Sid at March 17, 2024 10:35 AM (ZVzIc)

Of the car industry. Reading is fundamental.

If you actually read, you'd stop sounding like a Brezhnev era apparatchik giving the party line. You know, and we know, and you know we know that you spout nonsense! (h/t, Lord Hannan)

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 11:31 AM (8sMut)

236 I really miss Borders, honestly. Yes, the drove out most of the indie bookstores but I had such a great time shopping there. I loved it. I love books. And hot chicks with big boobs. But that's for another thread...
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo and keep your rifle by your side at March 17, 2024 11:28 AM (xcxpd)

Heh, I don't know what it is, but there's something about a semi-hot chick who works at a bookstore, and sorta knows what she's talking about.

Well yeah, I guess I do know what it is.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 17, 2024 11:32 AM (CUJgk)

237 MAE,
Isn't there a B&N by Southcenter in Renton?
Or did it finally close?

Posted by: Diogenes at March 17, 2024 11:32 AM (W/lyH)

238 12 When a local accidentally falls into the rendering machine at Tyson, the remains are fished out and the family has a funeral. Meanwhile the machine contents are dumped. If an illegal alien falls in they just render it with the chicken. Nobody knows who he really is or where from - remember al lot of them dump their real I.D.s at the border. Won't be missed.
Posted by: Ciampino

I mean, I like Mexican food as much as anybody, but I draw the line at Chili con Hombre.

Posted by: Brewingfrog at March 17, 2024 11:33 AM (Cdrad)

239 As for ordering books, I finally ordered Tom Woods' "Diary Of a Psychosis," although I probably won't read it.

It's his take on the Covid bullshit, and it's almost certainly the best thing you'll ever find on the way the plandemic progressed.

Woods is a brilliant man, seems to be a real decent guy too. His friends kind of joke with him that he should be famous, more successful, and it's true. He should be.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 17, 2024 11:35 AM (CUJgk)

240 Except for family in the area, the only thing I really miss about Chicago is the bookstores. Kroch's & Brentano's, where the wife and I worked, B&N, Crown, Border's, the Aspidistra, Hanley's in Rogers Park, and a little string of hole-in-the-wall shops around Clark & Kinzie avenues where I found a bunch of Cornell Woolrich and Gerald Kersh stuff eons ago. All of it gone, but had some good times and found a lot of good reading in those places.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 17, 2024 11:36 AM (q3u5l)

241 >"A long, long time ago, on the same campus where I now work, I took an "Early Western Civilization" class.[...]"

If you were in Dr. B's (the 'B' could have been for 'Bluegrass' since he ran the bluegrass shows on the public radio station that used to be in the library in which you work but do not work for) section in Fall '91, I was two seats back in the second row from the left.

I will never forget his story that sounded like it was about a foreign ambassador approaching a medieval king; it turned out it was the DNC chair approaching Al Capone to ask if the DNC could hold the national convention in Chicago.

Posted by: SPinRH_F-16 at March 17, 2024 11:36 AM (8SABE)

242 Got depressed finding out that the Stormlight Archive series isn't planned to be finished until well into the 2040s.
Posted by: cheztrainor
Book 5 coming soon. Sanderson mentions this in th video.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 17, 2024 11:36 AM (t/2Uw)

243 So your leader threatens a bloodbath when he loses in November. Ruling by fear. How.... democratic.
Posted by: Sid at March 17, 2024 10:35 AM (ZVzIc)

Of the car industry. Reading is fundamental.

-
Our glorious media is all in on Trump threatens bloodbath.

https://tinyurl.com/2y9rfe79

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 17, 2024 11:36 AM (FVME7)

244 I really miss Borders, honestly. Yes, the drove out most of the indie bookstores but I had such a great time shopping there. I loved it. I love books. And hot chicks with big boobs. But that's for another thread...
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo and keep your rifle by your side at March 17, 2024 11:28 AM (xcxpd)

I liked Borders. There were two in San Antonio I would frequent. Then it went under in 2011 and I got some books from there in a fire sale.

It's hard to find independents, really. I found a good one in Anchorage many years ago, the Cook Inlet Book Company in downtown Anchorage. I was last there in 2005. When I went back to Anchorage in 2018 I found it was sadly long gone.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 11:37 AM (8sMut)

245 Morning Perfessor.
Read a couple books off kindle this week. They were horribly edited to the point it became off putting. What's up with publishing like that???
Posted by: Diogenes at March 17, 2024 11:30 AM (W/lyH)

Indie authors? Maybe they had no access or money to pay an editor. Self-editing isn't that easy. Or, do you mean it was cut up or mish-mashed so you couldn't follow it?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 11:37 AM (0eaVi)

246 A lovely memory of my mother --

My kidlets were excited at a new Harry Potter book and one of the local bookstores had a midnight launch party for kids. I told my mom that I would pick her up at 10p for the party before the midnight sale release and crossed my fingers that my kids had enough of a nap to survive. She talked about it for years that her grandkids wanted her to be involved in the silliness. I'm glad we could do it.

Can't do that with a Kindle.

Posted by: mustbequantum at March 17, 2024 11:38 AM (MIKMs)

247 >"The nearest Barnes & Noble Booksellers is approximately 90 miles away from my small little town. "

B&N used to run the bookstore on campus. The last time I visited was 2005. I'm sure I went to the bookstore, but I have no recollection if it was still run by B&N at that point.

Posted by: SPinRH_F-16 at March 17, 2024 11:38 AM (8SABE)

248 Migrant Military Labor cont.

“Mobilization of Warrior Populations in the Ottoman Context, 1750-1850," "Military Employment in Qing Dynasty China," "Military Service and the Russian Social Order, 1649-1861," "The French army, 1789-1914, Volunteers, Pressed Soldiers, and Conscripts," "The Dutch Army in Transition, From All-volunteer Force to Cadre-militia Army, 1795-1830," "The Draft and Draftees in Italy, 1861-1914," "Nation-building, War Experiences, and European Models, The Rejection of Conscription in Britain," "Mobilizing Military Labor in the Age of Total War, Ottoman Conscription Before and During the Great War," "Soldiering as Work, The All-volunteer Force in the United States," "Private Contractors in War From the 1990s to the Present, A review essay."

"The Contractor State and Its Implications, 1659-1815," another symposium publication, is mostly about the logistics of supplying early modern armies, but it also has some interesting bits on military labor.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at March 17, 2024 11:39 AM (cYrkj)

249 Heh, I don't know what it is, but there's something about a semi-hot chick who works at a bookstore, and sorta knows what she's talking about.

Well yeah, I guess I do know what it is.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 17, 2024 11:32 AM (CUJgk)

Especially if she can pull off a tight pencil skirt.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 11:39 AM (8sMut)

250 Except for family in the area, the only thing I really miss about Chicago is the bookstores. Kroch's & Brentano's, where the wife and I worked, B&N, Crown, Border's, the Aspidistra, Hanley's in Rogers Park, and a little string of hole-in-the-wall shops around Clark & Kinzie avenues where I found a bunch of Cornell Woolrich and Gerald Kersh stuff eons ago. All of it gone, but had some good times and found a lot of good reading in those places.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 17, 2024 11:36 AM (q3u5l)

Clayton, which is where the government of St. Louis County resides, had/has a great store called Left Bank Books. I avoided it for the longest time, because it has the word "Left" in its name.

It's an amazing place, huge and comprehensive, comfortable and inviting, and the last time I went there, still thriving. That was about 5-6 years ago, so who knows.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 17, 2024 11:39 AM (CUJgk)

251 It's gonna be a birdbath I tells ya!

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 17, 2024 11:40 AM (63Dwl)

252 I mean, I like Mexican food as much as anybody, but I draw the line at Chili con Hombre.
Posted by: Brewingfrog

Rolling Stone Warns Right-Wingers Are Pushing Absurd Lie About Haitian Cannibal Invasion

https://tinyurl.com/38j4rmuu

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 17, 2024 11:40 AM (FVME7)

253 Posted by: Pope John 20th at March 17, 2024 11:39 AM (cYrkj)

Looks like migrant soldier model lost its actuality somewhere in the 19th century ?

Posted by: runner at March 17, 2024 11:42 AM (V13WU)

254 251 It's gonna be a birdbath I tells ya!
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 17, 2024 11:40 AM (63Dwl)
----/

JT tried to warn us!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 17, 2024 11:42 AM (3e3hy)

255 My kidlets were excited at a new Harry Potter book and one of the local bookstores had a midnight launch party for kids. I told my mom that I would pick her up at 10p for the party before the midnight sale release and crossed my fingers that my kids had enough of a nap to survive. She talked about it for years that her grandkids wanted her to be involved in the silliness. I'm glad we could do it.

Can't do that with a Kindle.
Posted by: mustbequantum at March 17, 2024 11:38 AM (MIKMs)

We did the book launch for the sixth book in the series. Lots of activities, not very fun for me... too crowded, but my daughter loved it.

When the seventh was released, we ordered it online.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 17, 2024 11:44 AM (CUJgk)

256 >"The nearest Barnes & Noble Booksellers is approximately 90 miles away from my small little town."

If I'm doing my math correctly, I think I know which one that is. And I remember when it was "Library Limited." It was bought by Borders in 1997.

At least I think it's a B&N now. I haven't been to that part of town since 2015.

Posted by: SPinRH_F-16 at March 17, 2024 11:44 AM (8SABE)

257 Especially if she can pull off a tight pencil skirt.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 11:39 AM (8sMut)

At work? In the 21st century?

Only in pron.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 17, 2024 11:44 AM (CUJgk)

258 Well, guess I should go do something useful. Talk to the nifty Mrs Some Guy. Annoy the cat. Make more coffee. Something...

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 17, 2024 11:45 AM (q3u5l)

259 > 250 BurtTC: "Clayton, which is where the government of St. Louis County resides, had/has a great store called Left Bank Books. I avoided it for the longest time, because it has the word "Left" in its name."

Is that in the building that used to be Library Ltd.? I thought it changed from Borders to B&N? Or is it not the same bookstore in Clayton?

Posted by: SPinRH_F-16 at March 17, 2024 11:46 AM (8SABE)

260 At work? In the 21st century?

Only in pron.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 17, 2024 11:44 AM (CUJgk)

Yeah, I forgot, people have to dress like slobs now.

I keep seeing pajamas worn out in public. Now, I don't demand that people dress to the nines all the time. TX is an informal society. But it has just gone completely the other way...

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 11:47 AM (8sMut)

261 Indie authors? Maybe they had no access or money to pay an editor. Self-editing isn't that easy. Or, do you mean it was cut up or mish-mashed so you couldn't follow it?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 11:37 AM

A little of both. Or rather a lot of both.
Misspelling, repeating sentences. Screwy plot lines.
It seems that if one takes time to write a book, a few extra days proofreading seems doable.

Posted by: Diogenes at March 17, 2024 11:48 AM (W/lyH)

262 I too have a few more chores to handle before I can take a nap. One task is bringing garbage to the dumpster, but it's raining. Guess that will wait a little while. If it's still dreary this pm, it'll be great to settle down and read.

Grand Book Thread; kudos to the Perfessor and the rest of you!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 17, 2024 11:49 AM (omVj0)

263 Speaking of a bloodbath in the auto industry, it hurts, don't it?

Hertz's CEO resigned after a big bet on EVs went bad

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 17, 2024 11:49 AM (FVME7)

264 BurtTC: "Clayton, which is where the government of St. Louis County resides, had/has a great store called Left Bank Books. I avoided it for the longest time, because it has the word "Left" in its name."
--------
Is that in the building that used to be Library Ltd.? I thought it changed from Borders to B&N? Or is it not the same bookstore in Clayton?
Posted by: SPinRH_F-16 at March 17, 2024 11:46 AM (8SABE)

Hmm, I'm getting two different stores mixed up. Left Bank Books is a small store in the Central West End, and they were alright, but not the one I was thinking of.

I'm trying to look it up now, and whatever it is, it doesn't appear to exist anymore. I wonder if that's it, Library Limited, but they're closed now too.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 17, 2024 11:53 AM (CUJgk)

265 That'd fixed everything!

Dylan Mulvaney Says He Tried to Fix the BudLightGate by Pitching Ad Where a Cowboy and Trans Person Share a Beer

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 17, 2024 11:54 AM (FVME7)

266 Hertz's CEO resigned after a big bet on EVs went bad

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 17, 2024 11:49 AM (FVME7)

Biden & Co. should follow suit.

Posted by: BignJames at March 17, 2024 11:54 AM (AwYPR)

267 A little of both. Or rather a lot of both.
Misspelling, repeating sentences. Screwy plot lines.
It seems that if one takes time to write a book, a few extra days proofreading seems doable.
Posted by: Diogenes at March 17, 2024 11:48 AM (W/lyH)

I'm sure the real writers here have some insights to that, but it seems to me to be part writers, part printing errors. I've seen that in a few of the POD books I've bought. I'm pretty sure the writer didn't change font size just for one paragraph like I've seen or stop writing in the middle of a chapter and go to the next one.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 11:54 AM (0eaVi)

268 Have you read Glen Cook’s “Black Company” saga yet? If you liked Malazan, you’ll love The Black Company.

Posted by: Mel at March 17, 2024 11:57 AM (rLabs)

269 Texas Book: 'Texian Illiad' by Stephen L. Hardin. Probably the best tale of the Texian Revolution, the land, the people, and the times. Hardin is a gifted writer and fine storyteller, in addition to being a wonderful historian.

Posted by: Brewingfrog at March 17, 2024 11:57 AM (Cdrad)

270 269 Texas Book: 'Texian Illiad' by Stephen L. Hardin. Probably the best tale of the Texian Revolution, the land, the people, and the times. Hardin is a gifted writer and fine storyteller, in addition to being a wonderful historian.
Posted by: Brewingfrog at March 17, 2024 11:57 AM (Cdrad)

Timely. 188 years ago the Runaway Scrape was on and Sam Houston had an army to train.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 11:58 AM (8sMut)

271 That'd fixed everything!

Dylan Mulvaney Says He Tried to Fix the BudLightGate by Pitching Ad Where a Cowboy and Trans Person Share a Beer
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 17, 2024 11:54 AM (FVME7)

Say....is that a branding iron in your pants or are you just happy to see me?

Posted by: Diogenes at March 17, 2024 11:58 AM (W/lyH)

272 263 Speaking of a bloodbath in the auto industry, it hurts, don't it?

Hertz's CEO resigned after a big bet on EVs went bad
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 17, 2024 11:49 AM (FVME7)

See? Everyone loves EVs and we simply have to make more to keep up with demand!

Posted by: U.S. Auto Industry at March 17, 2024 12:00 PM (8sMut)

273 WE HAZ A NOOD

Posted by: Skip at March 17, 2024 12:00 PM (fwDg9)

274 Mrs D has a book on baking by Paul Hollywood, a famous British baker. While munching my Cheerios the other day, I was flipping through it and it is actually an interesting book and fun to read. And now I have an urge for fresh bread.

Posted by: Diogenes at March 17, 2024 12:00 PM (W/lyH)

275 Book 5 coming soon. Sanderson mentions this in th video

Yep, with 5 more to go at ~4 years per book (not counting the middies like Edgedancer, Dawnshard). If he keeps on schedule I (or hell, Sanderson, for that matter) might not be dead by the end.

Posted by: cheztrainor at March 17, 2024 12:01 PM (aellD)

276 Aw, it's that time again.

Thanks, Perfessor and fellow threadists!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 17, 2024 12:02 PM (3e3hy)

277 Welp, looks like the end of the Book Thread again. Thanks, Perfessor.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 17, 2024 12:02 PM (0eaVi)

278 276 Aw, it's that time again.

Thanks, Perfessor and fellow threadists!
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 17, 2024 12:02 PM (3e3hy)

Until next week...

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 17, 2024 12:03 PM (8sMut)

279 My wife is the Hungarian in the family. She was born and reared there, and we were married there. We gave our son the middle name of Zoltan to honor his Hungarian heritage.
Posted by: Zoltan

Do you have the ancestral Hotscakes recipe?

I only know palacsinta.

RELEVANCE TO BOOK THREAD

Deplorable Cookbook 2.0 needs MOAR MAGYAR
Posted by: Miklos never met Eva Gabor, only saw Zsa Zsa at March 17, 2024 09:31 AM (v+0wn)

I'm the Hungarian in the family. Wife is Irish. Guess who's done most of the cooking over the past 51 years?

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy now with twice the crazy at March 17, 2024 12:06 PM (iODuv)

280 12
'the machine contents are dumped.'

Glad I wasn't on pressure washer duty that day.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at March 17, 2024 12:10 PM (roH4R)

281 Weather & timing was too good, spent the book thread doing yard work. Now I get to peruse the entire thread.

Thanks Perfessor !

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at March 17, 2024 12:25 PM (3uc2w)

282 "Heh, I don't know what it is, but there's something about a semi-hot chick who works at a bookstore, and sorta knows what she's talking about."

Dorothy Malone in "The Big Sleep," before she got all blonde and brassy.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at March 17, 2024 12:26 PM (cYrkj)

283 237 MAE,
Isn't there a B&N by Southcenter in Renton?
Or did it finally close?
Posted by: Diogenes at March 17, 2024 11:32 AM (W/lyH)

There you have me...I drive past Renton every week but I haven't driven INTO Renton or Southcenter in a coon's age. I wouldn't be surprised if you're right though.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo and keep your rifle by your side at March 17, 2024 12:36 PM (xcxpd)

284 "Looks like migrant soldier model lost its actuality somewhere in the 19th century ?"

Runner:

Kind of depends on the definition. Certainly there were lots of soldiers fighting as volunteers for other countries to the present day. For example, the Indian Army in the world wars fits the definition and was the largest volunteer army in history, and Indian Princely States like Hyderabad basically gave the Brits their armies to use in the wars. Of course, there were all kinds of foreign volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War. The Germans in WW 2 had units of volunteers serving with them. Some of the units were pretty small-IIRC, they had about 8 Brits, but the Spanish provided nearly 20,000 volunteers to the Germans. The Japanese allied Indian National Army had as many as 100,000 "soldiers," some politically motivated volunteers and some POWs who deserted as soon as opportunity allowed-the Indian Army hated the "JIFs" (Japanese Indian Forces), and would kill them after capture if given the chance-George Fraser relates such an incident in his autobiography.
cont below...

Posted by: Pope John 20th at March 17, 2024 12:48 PM (cYrkj)

285 Near the end of the video, "The Decline of Barnes & Noble, What Happened?" the narrator asks where you get your books.

Well, since I bought a Kindle, two sources mainly: Amazon itself, and Baen Books who releases their books in physical form, as well as an impressive seven electronic formats:

1) EPUB (*.epub) - They show this as being for Kindle, Apple iOS, and Nook, but I think of it as "The Calibre Format" as it works so well with the Calibre Reader software on my desktop.

2) HTML (*.html) - Yup, you can read the books in a browser if you so desire, it makes them very portable to all platforms.

3) Mobi, Palm, Kindle (*.mobi) - this is the format I use when reading Baen books on my Kindle. It's indistinguishable on the reader from Amazon's native format.

4) Rich Text Format (*.rtf) - Can easily be read in a variety of document editors: Microsoft Word, Libre Office, Google Docs, Apple Pages, among others.

5) Ebookwise/Rocket (*.rb)

6) Microsoft Reader (*.lit)

7) Sony Digital Reader (*.lrf)

Oh, and Baen doesn't put any DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) in their electronic books, so you never have to worry about not being able to open your books in future.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 17, 2024 12:51 PM (qPw5n)

286 Modern migrant soldiers cont...

As for soldiers migrating from war to war; there was lots of that with Mad Mike Hoar and his type in the African and other colonial wars of independence after WW 2. And in many ways private military contractors are sort of the same thing today in a smaller way.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at March 17, 2024 12:51 PM (cYrkj)

287 (continued from previous)

Also, Baen has what's called their "Monthly Bundle". Six to seven books in digital format, all for $20. You just have to pay for the bundle in advance of release day, and you should also keep in mind that if you've been buying the bundles for over a year, you'll see some repeats mixed in with the new ones, on schedule with how Baen releases book (first year: Trade Paperback, second year: Mass Market Paperback.)

New releases also offer you the ability to read the first 50% of the book prior to release day, then 75% as it draws closer, and then the full 100% on release day itself. This isn't a feature I've used myself, but I can see some people loving the advance reading capability.

I've been buying the monthly bundles since early 2021, and have kept it up and it's building me quite the nice reading library (as well as making my TBR pile so much higher.)

That doesn't mean I don't support other publishers outside Amazon and Baen. You've all seen me mention Raconteur Press' anthologies here regularly, but (for now) I buy those electronically through Amazon until they start releasing their own files like Baen does, and then I'll go direct.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 17, 2024 12:58 PM (qPw5n)

288 I love Baen

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 01:41 PM (TirNb)

289 My 'reading' consists of listening to audiobooks since I spend so much time in my car. Week before last I listened to The Time Traveler's Wife, which I quite enjoyed, although I never felt like I really understood the author's rules of time travel. I think this would have bothered me enormously if I had been reading the book, but since I was listening to it I just let it go because I didn't want it to interrupt the narrative.

The book has two first-person narrators, and the audiobook used two different voices actors for the male and female narrators. I liked the audiobook so much that towards the end of the book I tried to read a chapter or two of the actual book and it felt so flat, so I waited to finish the book when I was back in my car.

This past week I listened to Chaim Potok's The Chosen, which has been on my TBR for a long time. This was a nice change of pace and an insight into the Jewish experience in New York, the conflict between Hasidic Jews and Orthodox/Reform Jews, and the conflicts within the communities.

Posted by: Biancaneve at March 17, 2024 02:04 PM (12ypN)

290 Gone but not forgotten bookstores -Brentano's. Brentano's was a regular stop for me in a trip to the mall. It was bought out by Borders.

Posted by: Biancaneve at March 17, 2024 02:21 PM (12ypN)

291 Biancaneve, have you ever listened toany grapgic audio books? They are like radio plays - cast, sound effects, etc. Fun.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 03:31 PM (TirNb)

292 *graphic audio

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 17, 2024 07:35 PM (DpEcY)

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Posted by: Dermatologist delray beach at March 20, 2024 04:40 PM (RpOi5)

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