Sunday Morning Book Thread - 04-07-2024 ["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...

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, remember to protect your eyes during tomorrow's solar eclipse, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

Since a solar eclipse will be occurring tomorrow, I felt that a picture of this book/comic/game store might be appropriate. It used to primarily sell fantasy and science fiction books, but under the current owner it has morphed into a comic book and gaming store, though it does have a few remnants of fantasy and science fiction books.

WHY READ NONFICTION?

Last week we explored the benefits of reading fiction, so I thought it only fair to also discuss the benefits of reading nonfiction, as I know we have a lot of Morons who prefer nonfiction over fiction. I tried searching for a good YouTube video on the subject, but they seem to be lacking compared to videos extolling the benefits of reading fiction. Perhaps there is an unfair bias against reading nonfiction...

So why read nonfiction? To learn stuff, of course!

I admit that my own journey into nonfiction didn't really start in earnest until I was an adult. As a young squirrel running through the treetops of my home forest, I didn't give much thought to reading nonfiction. I always thought it was "boring" compared to the adventures I was used to reading. It just wasn't for me. In college, I somehow got a job where my task was to explain mathematics (algebra, trigonometry, and calculus) to undergraduate students. All of a sudden, I developed a keen interest in the history and origins of mathematics, as I wanted to demonstrate to students that mathematics had immediate relevancy in their lives. It was not just an abstract subject, but came from a lot of people who were attempting to solve difficult problems in the real world and the only way to overcome the challenges was to invent entire branches of mathematics.

I also expanded my knowledge of science at the same time, so that I could include scientific information in the subjects I was writing about at the time. So I bought books on a variety of scientific subjects (mostly physics related since I had been a failed physics major--I still loved the subject, but didn't want to learn all the math involved).

Then 9/11 happened and that completely changed my worldview--or reinforced it. In any event, I studied Islam in some depth thanks to books by Robert Spencer, Raymond Ibrahim, and others. This was also when I developed my personal conservative philosophy on life by reading books by Ann Coulter, Mark Steyn, Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, etc.

The nice thing about reading nonfiction is that you can explore virtually any topic to any depth that you desire. If you just want a basic understanding of Newtonian mechanics and electromagnetism, then Isaac Asimov's Understanding Physics may be just right for you, as it just requires a working knowledge of basic algebra. However, if you *really* want to know physics in-depth, then Roger Penrose's The Road to Reality will give you the math explaining the physics with both barrels blazing. Both are excellent books, but are written for different audiences for different purposes.

Among my favorite nonfiction book series are The Politically Incorrect Guides, published by the conservative-leaning Regnery Publishing company, as they give you a high-level overview of topics such as capitalism, English literature, Islam (and the Crusades), intelligent design, and more. They are all well-written, easily digestible, and include many resources for further reading. The Complete Idiot's Guides are also well worth your time for casually becoming familiar with a wide variety of subjects.

If you are looking for an emotional experience comparable to that found in fiction, then biographies and memoirs might be right for you. There are many compelling biographical stories out there about people whose lives have been enriched and changed by tragedy and triumph. My pastor at church recently promoted a book about a young Muslim woman who converted to Christianity after experiencing a "God incident." Her Muslim faith was unable to incorporate this into her life--only Christianity could do that. It's stories like these that serve to inspire us.

What are some of YOUR favorite nonfiction reading experiences?

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HISTORY'S MOST BANNED BOOKS

For those who prefer the TL;DW (too long, didn't watch) summary, here are the "banned books" he's discussing in the video above.

Animal Farm by George Orwell -- I may be one of the few American kids of my era who *didn't* read Animal Farm in school. I know it was taught by some of the other English teachers, but for whatever reason, I was never part of that class. I am, of course, familiar with the general outline of the story. As an allegory about the evils of Communism, it's no wonder it's been banned in Communist countries (or rewritten to *promote* Communism instead)

1984 by George Orwell -- Perhaps THE greatest dystopian novel ever written (sorry, We), even people who have never read it (like me) still know it's a powerful tale of an overwhelmingly powerful God-like State that crushes all within it under the eternal bootheel of oppressive tyranny. This is another book that was frequently taught in school when I was growing up, but again I never seemed to end up in that English class. As with many other dystopian novels, our "elites" prefer to view this book as an instruction manual instead of the warning against oppression that it is.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov -- Yet another banned book I haven't read. This is definitely a controversial book, as on its surface it appears to glamorize the attraction an older man feels for a much, much younger woman (12-year-old girl, actually). However, Nabokov himself and others who have studied the novel state that there are layers of complexity that demonstrate the narrator is a deeply disturbed man who faces psychological challenges that make him a not-very-nice person underneath it all. Still, the novel gets talked about a lot and I would not be surprised to see the "elites" promoting this as appropriate school material sometime soon.

The Anarchist's Cookbook by William Powell -- I had heard of this book when I was growing up, and in my youth I was somewhat "anarchist curious" but I never had the nerve to obtain a copy of this book as I didn't want to be on anyone's "list." Of course, now you can find bootleg copies of this all over the internet if you know where to look, along with various other anarchist-related materials. Probably best to give this one a pass.

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie -- Most of us are probably familiar with the controversy surrounding this book. Almost before the ink was dry, a fatwa was placed on his head by the Ayatollah of Iran, proclaiming that he was a blasphemer against Islam and therefore any action against him by Muslims (up to and including his murder) is completely justifiable. He was grievously wounded in an attack a couple of years ago, but survived. I have not read this particular book, but we did read Haroun and the Sea of Stories in one of my English classes in college. It was a fairly enjoyable story, as it's a fairy tale for children. In some ways, it resembles The Neverending Story by Michael Ende as the main protagonist is a young boy who has to save the fount of all stories in the world.

BOOKS BY MORONS

Moron Author "Ordinary American" has released a new book, this time dealing with a personal nonfiction issue related to his father.

Perfesser:
My new book is out, very different, non-fiction, offered for your consideration. It is the story of how my father was slandered by journalist Gabriel Sherman in his biography of Roger Ailes, and my forensic correction of the record. In his book, Sherman devoted a chapter to my father and his development of the broadcasting progenitor of CNN, Television News, and the fact he hired Roger Ailes for his first, major position in the industry. It was mostly lies and smears.
Thanks for any consideration for your stately and unrivaled Sunday Book thread.
Best regards,
Rip Pauley
The Executive and the Smear: The Toxic Farce of Progressive Journalism--A Case Study

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

During our anniversary camping trip last weekend, I was able to actually spend some quiet time getting some sun and reading.
I read our own TJM's The Battle of Lake Erie end to end. First completed book in a long time for me. I don't read books very often, so I felt it as an accomplishment.
The book itself was a reasonably fast read as it's not long and not difficult to get through at all. It's very descriptive and does a good job of setting up the characters and giving you a mental picture of time and place. Once things get going, you can immerse yourself into the story and get the sense of being there. It's not overly descriptive but gives you what you need to feel a part of the action.
I enjoyed reading it and thought it was well done.
Typos aside.....
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at March 31, 2024 10:16 AM (Zz0t1)

Comment: There is a lot to be said for getting away from it all and just finding time to sit down and read. Even if you have to leave the comfort of the city or town, with all of the distractions that prevent you from reading. When you are out in the woods and have nothing else to do, then reading a book, listening to nature, and just enjoying the time alone with your thoughts and the ideas of a quality author can do much to refresh the spirit. Keep reading, Sponge!

Also, TJM has a new book recently released....

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For the ardent bibliophile, serendipity usually plays a big role. Many times I've taken a flyer on an author previously unknown to me, and been rewarded in a big way.
One such instance occurred years ago, when I was perusing the 50-cents-a-book racks at the main public library in Richmond, Virginia. I bought a work of historical fiction entitled A Sailor of Austria, by John Biggins, based largely on the information on the dustjacket, and the intriguing topic: the Austro-Hungarian Navy. I embarked on a delightful journey of discovery as I read of the adventures of Otto Prohaska, a captain in the Austro-Hungarian submarine service in WWI. I went on to acquire all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed them all. A great pay-off for an initial investment of only 50 cents.
Posted by: Paco at March 31, 2024 09:48 AM (njExo)

Comment: Paco is absolutely spot on with his observation. I, too, have taken chances on authors while shopping around at used bookstores or library sales because for a dollar or two, I may stumble into a world of fantastic adventure and excitement. For me, it was finding a copy of P.C. Hodgell's Dark of the Moon, book 2 of the Chronicles of the Kencyrath at a library book swap. I was hooked. Later, I found a copy of God Stalk (book 1) at a used book store here in town. Since then, I've steadily acquired the rest of the books in the series. So yes, go out there and scour used bookstores and library book sales! You never know what treasures you will find!

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It is May 1940. A has-been old man has just been made prime minister of Britain, and must rally a demoralized country against a foe that has trampled every continental nation it invaded. In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson provides the reader with an inside look at Churchill and his entourage as the Blitz begins. A heroic yet bittersweet evacuation from Dunkirk saves thousands of soldiers to live and fight another day, but retreat is not victory. Churchill knew that an almost impossible slog lay ahead for his country, and it was due to his personality that Great Britain held fast. From previously unreleased war records and personal diaries, Larson reconstructs the period from when Churchill took the reins until the battle of Britain was won. The confidence and charisma that Churchill showed was contagious, and turned a nation from defeatism into a fighting force that eventually caused America to join the fight, and to ultimate victory. Throughout the book, Larson captures the man who transformed the mood of a nation, and who refused to allow the word surrender to be uttered.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 31, 2024 09:12 AM (JYvcN)

Comment: Among the various branches of nonfiction, biographies may be best at capturing the imagination by presenting us with the the incredible life of a real person and their accomplishments. Winston Churchill is one of those mythical, legendary figures upon whom the fate of the world rested at one time, not unlike George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.

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.

New Classroom Instruction that Works: The Best Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement by Bryan Goodwin & Kristin Rouleau

As part of my job, I read a lot of books about education. Turns out there are some actual effective strategies that anyone can learn that can be used in any classroom to improve learning. There's been a ton of research in the past couple of decades showing the real way in which people learn. This book condenses much of that down into a digestible 150 pages or so. It did not have any new information for me, as I had already much of this information in other sources. Still, for faculty it's a pretty good resource because it's easy to read, based on fairly good evidence, and doesn't require drastic changes to one's teaching style. Merely start inserting tweaks here and there.

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

This was a love letter from Brandon Sanderson to his wife Emily. It's also the third entry in his "Secret Projects" series. The plot follows a young woman--Yumi--who is trapped in an endless cycle of ritual serving her local communities by conjuring up spirits that provide them with benefits. Meanwhile, Painter wanders the eternal dark streets of his industrial city, searching for "nightmares" that plague humanity. When he encounters one, he "paints" the nightmare into a harmless shape on his canvas. A mystical incident links these two and they discover the hidden truths about both of their worlds. Will they be able to master the skills needed to protect humanity from a threat that will destroy both of their worlds? Like the other entries in the Secret Projects, this has quite a lot of whimsical humor, but also poignancy, with a satisfying Sandersonian conclusion.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

The Hyperion Cantos is the next series on my "bucket list" to finish before my milestone birthday later this year. I have read the first one several years ago, but I'm re-reading it to refresh my memory. It's inspired by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (among other classics) as it features a group of pilgrims on a journey to a quasi-religious site on the planet Hyperion. Each pilgrim has their own tale to tell about their previous encounter with the supernatural being known only as "The Shrike." Simmons' style of writing is an interesting contrast with Asimov's, as Simmons has a literary background, so he tends to spend a lot of time on his characters, giving them incredible depth and complexity. His worldbuilding is also more involved and complicated, with a lot of weird details that take some time to understand (what is a "time debt?").

Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Book 2 in the Hyperion Cantos follows the pilgrims from Hyperion as they arrive at the mysterious Time Tombs, seeking an audience with the lethal and capricious Shrike, who is said to grant boons to one pilgrim while killing the rest. Meanwhile, overhead, the Ousters are waging war against the Hegemony for control of the planet Hyperion, as both factions believe Hyperion is the key to the future of humanity. Within the TechnoCore, the mysterious AI rulers of humanity are also engaged in a covert war amongst themselves. These factions believe that Hyperion will either lead to the elevation of intelligence to a higher, unified plane, or the ultimate destruction of humanity. It's a very, very, very strange world that Simmons has created here. One of the most unique and engaging. I have little frame of reference for much of the technology that is in use, as the terms only give me a vague sense of understanding. Farcasters are holes in the fabric of the universe that allow instantaneous travel, but farcaster gates have to be deployed manually via the FTL technology, which is faster than light, but not by much, as it can still take months or years to travel between stars in cryogenic fugue. However, once a farcaster gate is set up, now a planet becomes instantly available to any other farcaster linked in the network. The lack of a farcaster on Hyperion is one of the significant plot points, as it has resisted being absorbed into the Worldweb of humanity. The Cult of the Shrike plays a part in all of this...

Endymion by Dan Simmons

Nearly three centuries have passed since the events of Fall of Hyperion. The Pax has taken over the galaxy, ruling it with an iron fist. Raul Endymion is chosen to go on a quixotic quest to save the One Who Teaches as she returns from the future to guide humanity, protected by the mysterious Shrike. Will she survive to spread her message of hope and redemption for humanity? Or will she be captured and corrupted by the Church?

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 03-31-24 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Disclaimer: No Morons were harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Beware of gods lurking in hyperspace.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 1rst.

Posted by: Reforger at April 07, 2024 08:59 AM (B705c)

2 Hooray! Book Thread... aaannd I have to go somewhere. I hope I don't miss all the fun. Perfessor, save me a seat. I'll be back later.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 09:00 AM (0eaVi)

3 I did not read this week.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 09:00 AM (ENQN6)

4 Morning all. Off to content.

Posted by: Reforger at April 07, 2024 09:00 AM (B705c)

5 Good Sunday morning, horde!

Those pants...they are making me veerrry sleepy

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 07, 2024 09:02 AM (OX9vb)

6 Tolle Lege
3/4 of way through Triumph Forsaken by Mark Moyar
400 pages small print and very detailed of events in Vietnam 1954 - 65. Just past the Coup D'etat that murdered Diem and then Kennedy murder. The causes of this debacle is well described. The journalists and a few American diplomats ended any hope of a free Vietnam.

Posted by: Skip at April 07, 2024 09:05 AM (fwDg9)

7 Perfessor, the Hyperion Cantos is my favorite sci-fi. Don't forget to finish off the series with The Rise of Endymion. A very satisfying conclusion to the series.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024 09:05 AM (PiwSw)

8 The Anarchist Cookbook was big in HS back in the day. You knew where to look, you could find it.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 07, 2024 09:06 AM (QCSQH)

9 Perfessor, the Hyperion Cantos is my favorite sci-fi. Don't forget to finish off the series with The Rise of Endymion. A very satisfying conclusion to the series.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024 09:05 AM (PiwSw)
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Don't worry...that's next on the list!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 07, 2024 09:07 AM (BpYfr)

10 #6 So it's all downhill from here, and two more books to go after this one

Posted by: Skip at April 07, 2024 09:09 AM (fwDg9)

11 I have never read Lolita, but I read "Reading Lolita in Tehran," by Azar Nafisi. It's non-fiction, biographical, and I learned some things about the Iranian revolution. From the author's perspective, the student revolutionaries got a lot more than they bargained for--they were agitating for something more like socialism, and they got repressive theocracy. Oops.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 07, 2024 09:09 AM (OX9vb)

12 Lolita is a great English language book. The story itself is a tragedy. There is a scene where HH tells us that he is aware of Lolita's sadness and despair, but, the show goes on.
That is the reality of evil, it does what it does until stopped.

Posted by: Jamaica at April 07, 2024 09:09 AM (IG7T0)

13 The Anarchist Cookbook was big in HS back in the day. You knew where to look, you could find it.

I have not read it -- not out of fear of being "on the list" because I'm probably on several just for reading AoS -- but I've heard speculation that some of the content is so stupidly dangerous that it might have been an FBI op to get so-called "anarchists" (i.e. junior wannabe Commies) to blow themselves up.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 07, 2024 09:09 AM (sNc8Y)

14 My library is probably 80 percent nonfiction and 20 percent fiction. I originally gravitated to history and biography in order to find out how the world works and why. Recently, I have moved to reading much more fiction, as an escape from how the world is now.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:13 AM (sAeui)

15 Prof --

You're not alone. I have never read "Animal Farm" or "1984." They're in my house; it was required reading for the kids.

This might be a good topic: What classic works have you never read? In addition to the two mentioned, I've never read "Fahrenheit 451."

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 07, 2024 09:17 AM (Y8Btr)

16 Yay book thread! Last week I finished Hillaire Belloc's The Great Heresies.

It is a quick read, makes solid points, and shows a remarkable prescience about where society was headed in the 1930s.

His take on the Reformation is very interesting, essentially arguing that the same freedom to reshape the faith ultimately is the engine of its destruction. He clearly saw that all of the Reformed (state) churches in Europe would die out, and so they have, and most are now property management firms with a side-hustle of selling souvenirs on the side.

The final heresy on his list is "modernism" (he admits this is a placeholder name) and he absolutely predicts its core nihilism and drive to annihilate the Church and put man in God's place.

His big theme is that heresies keep popping up, and are often recycled in the micro scale. I think Wokeness is consistent with the Albigensian heresy, and I've read some essays to that effect.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:17 AM (llXky)

17 before I forget, I need to thank NaCly and Wolfus for the Nevil Shute recommendations. it should've been last week, but I've only got an hour before church and got distracted.

anyway, finished The Ruined City. Their evaluation of a surprise at the end kept me trying to guess the surprise. still collecting Shute's other books.

anyway, just trying to get through the in progress list and not add any more.

Posted by: yara at April 07, 2024 09:17 AM (jwDtS)

18 I want to read more non-fiction than I do, but fiction keeps getting in my way.

I appreciate non-fiction that is written like a story unfolding so I can pay attention and learn something. Most of the n-f I read is in memoir form, because I am inspired by those who have triumphed over adversity.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 07, 2024 09:18 AM (OX9vb)

19 I spent the week reading the 3 books of the Three Body Problem, which, in case you've been living under a rock, is a scifi story about distant civilizations interacting with earth, with lots of physics thrown in.

I generally avoid reading something that's become popular because of a movie treatment, but I'd already read the first book a year ago, so I didn't feel like I was being too much of a fanboi. I'd read the first book before, but having watched both treatments on Amazon (Chinese) and Netflix, I wanted to finish the series. The series blurs the lines between the books, and does not go all the way to the end, so I fully expect further installments.

The latter two books don't rise to the level of the first, but are still very good. TBP is one of the best scifi books/series in many moons. Highly recommended.

Posted by: Archimedes at April 07, 2024 09:18 AM (CsUN+)

20 On the Kindle I read O Jerusalem! by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. This is a detailed, well-researched history of the making of the state of Israel. It is very informative and well written.

Posted by: Zoltan at April 07, 2024 09:19 AM (cfQ/i)

21 As for nonfiction, my favorite is "Barbarians at the Gates," about the RJR/Nabisco merger and LBO. What a mess.

HBO made a good movie about it, starring James Garner.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 07, 2024 09:20 AM (Y8Btr)

22 Booken Morgen Horden!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 09:21 AM (fPaY0)

23 I spent my adult life reading high level science papers, but to relax, I'd read history. It's only since I retired that I've gotten back to reading the occasional fiction. I often find it too predictable and uninteresting, but occasionally, I come across something that takes me somewhere else. See my review of the Three Body Problem above.

Posted by: Archimedes at April 07, 2024 09:21 AM (CsUN+)

24 Thank you Perfessor for the Book Thread.

I have seen Hyperion recommended in the past; but, haven't picked it up. Now I might have to just to get it off my list. Of course, if I read the 1st I'll have to read all three.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 07, 2024 09:22 AM (hA4MP)

25 I really enjoyed Hyperion. One story, about the girl that aged backwards impacted me at a very deep level. Now that I think about it, it was like Flowers for Algernon.

I have read Dave Duncan's Swordsman Series in a long time, but those were great books. A little mystery, a little engineering, a great character arc, and and a damn good story.

Posted by: meh at April 07, 2024 09:22 AM (Ay0Gt)

26 My father is a huge Nabokov fan, and loaned me a copy of Lolita, warning me that "it's not what you think."

That's exactly true. The author knows it's a titillating subject, and plays it deftly, and there are lots of twists and turns to keep you interested. My father gave me a semi-spoiler insofar as he suggested that I pay attention to dogs.

One of the reasons why the book was successful was the narrative framing, and the bogus introduction which made some people think it was a work of non-fiction.

It's a quick read and worth knowing what the fuss is about. Movie adaptations can't do it justice, and they seem to be more about the perv angle.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:22 AM (llXky)

27 Been skipping around in Harlan Ellison's Greatest Hits, which is worth the price of admission for the long story that closes the collection, a non-f/sf novella called "All the Lies That Are My Life" (one of Harlan's best). Revisited Simenon's novel The Cat -- if you like bleak, this one should be right up your alley.

Non-fiction? Hmm. Most of my reading is fiction these days. But... Paul Johnson's Intellectuals. Norman Podhoretz's The Bloody Crossroads. Joseph Epstein's essays (and his short stories are pretty good too). Destructive Generation, by Horowitz and Collier. A lot of the articles in Commentary and National Review before they went bonkers in 2016. A bunch of the non-fiction pieces in anthologies edited by Jerry Pournelle... Prior to these I'd been a left-leaning dweeb, and am now more of a right-leaning dweeb.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 07, 2024 09:23 AM (q3u5l)

28 Lol at the fiction vs nonfiction meme

I liked the twist in Yumi & the Nightmare Painter.
Still, tress of the emerald sea is my fave of the Sanderson sectet projects

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 09:23 AM (fPaY0)

29 I have seen Hyperion recommended in the past; but, haven't picked it up. Now I might have to just to get it off my list. Of course, if I read the 1st I'll have to read all three.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 07, 2024 09:22 AM (hA4MP)
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There are FOUR books in the series....

And yes, it is excellent science fiction. It's especially good if you have some grounding in classic literature because literary references are abundantly scattered throughout the books.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 07, 2024 09:23 AM (BpYfr)

30 Anarchist cookbook is pretty dangerous. I eventually burned my copy so nobody else would read it. Trust nothing in it.
I know this from experience.
The shotgun bottle rocket... just don't.

I bought JJ Seftons The End of America last week. It'll be here Wednesday.

I'm gonna buy all y'alls books eventually. A proudly labeled section in my cases called Morons.

Posted by: Reforger at April 07, 2024 09:24 AM (B705c)

31 I forgot to mention that one of the first independent comics publishers of the '80s was Eclipse Comics. Man, talk about a lefty bunch -- during the Iran-Contra investigation, Eclipse was selling trading cards of the principal figures and proclaiming "Stop the Secret Team."

However, the comics were good.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 07, 2024 09:24 AM (Y8Btr)

32 I read 1984 in high school, but had forgotten most of it. During the scamdemic, I re-read it to refresh my memory. I was talking politics with a co-worker recently, and repeated the theme "1984 was supposed to be a warning, not an instruction manual."

She didn't understand--I had to tell her I meant the book, 1984. She'd never read it. I advised her to get a copy, tout suite, and she'd understand.

She'd be a great 'ette, but we cuss too much.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 07, 2024 09:24 AM (OX9vb)

33 Garrett the private investigator in the fantasy city of TunFaire is involved in the kidnapping of the son of a powerful spellcaster in "Bitter Gold Hearts," the second book of the Garrett series by Glen Cook. However, he's not investigating the crime, nor is he the bagman for the ransom. The magicker's top aide just wants him for his reputation. But of course the case doesn't stay that way, and then for Garrett it gets personal.

I had bought the first book, "Sweet Silver Blues," at a fantasy/SF/comics convention soon after its publication. And then I let it sit on my shelves for decades until I read on the Book Thread years ago that it was an homage to the Nero Wolfe series. That did it -- I read SSB, and started accumulating more in the series. Now I'm kicking myself for the late start. Still, better late than never.

Posted by: Weak Geek gets to the point at April 07, 2024 09:25 AM (Y8Btr)

34 Two book reports:

I finished Ike by Michael Korda. I'd gone to the Eisenhower museum in Abilene and wanted to read up on him a bit. For the most part, it's well done and seems to be balanced. The problem is that Korda seems to be a globalist and it left me wondering if a lot of the things Eisenhower did post war got us into the current mess. I'll try another biography but this isn't bad.

Also read Kurt Schlicter's The Attack, which I've recommended a few times. I haven't read his other books but the style of this one suits me. It documents a three day terrorist attack in the US, reported by imdividuals (like in Hard Times by Studs Turkel). Fast read, engaging with some memorable characters. I like it a lot.

Now reading some gardening books.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 07, 2024 09:25 AM (yeEu9)

35 She'd be a great 'ette, but we cuss too much.

To say nothing of the lack of pants.

Posted by: Archimedes at April 07, 2024 09:26 AM (CsUN+)

36 I have always read history and some historical fiction, rarely pure fiction. See some Sci-fi from my younger days around but not much of that lately.

Posted by: Skip at April 07, 2024 09:27 AM (fwDg9)

37 So why read nonfiction? To learn stuff, of course!

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But you must have a means of testing the validity of the information you read. Otherwise you run the risk oof learning more and more about all sorts of things until you reach the point of knowing everything about nothing. Trust but verify, young Cliff Clavin.

Data ≠ information ≠ knowledge ≠ understanding ≠ wisdom

Posted by: Muldoon at April 07, 2024 09:27 AM (991eG)

38 Nonfiction needs both a context and an application or purpose.

Posted by: Muldoon at April 07, 2024 09:27 AM (991eG)

39 Being stalked by a murderer is one thing, but then place the setting in Antarctica during the frigid and complete darkness of winter, without hope of outside help. Dark Winter is a novel by William Dietrich that takes the reader to Admunsen Base, where 25 scientists are overwintering. A last minute addition to the group on the last flight of the season is Jed Lewis. Jed is a geologist who was sent to quietly investigate the discovery of a potential Mars meteorite, something of immense scientific value, and unfortunately, vast monetary value as well. When the lead scientist is found dead, suspicion turns to Jed, but as others begin to die, it becomes a race against death in the most inhospitable place on earth. This book is not only a chilling mystery, but the author has experience in Antarctica, so the details are quite accurate. The style is reminiscent of Michael Crichton novels, and is well written. The characters become increasingly desperate as the base descends into chaos, and nobody is sure of whom they can trust, which is a harsh situation in a place where temperatures can hit 100 below, and teamwork is vital for survival.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:27 AM (sAeui)

40 As for 1984 and Animal Farm, they're both political essays crammed into book form. Animal Farm is a quick and easy read. It takes more effort to get into 1984 and the references may be a little distant to people so far removed from when it was written.

The "We've always been at war with Eastasia" thing was about the big Communist flip-flopping between 1938 and 1941, but not a lot of people would know that, or how thoroughly British society was locked down due to the war and the necessity of rationing, etc.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:28 AM (llXky)

41 Read ( or actually listened to) recently:

Empire of the Vampire by Kristoff - quit around 2/3rds in. Main character was too angry for me. Book lacked humor.

Moon Over Soho - book 2 in the Rivers of London series by Aaronovitch. One of the reasons I so enjoy this British paranormal procedural is the dry humor.

Reread Monster Hunter International. I wish I had my own paper copy of this. I think itrout of print thoigh, and only in ebook format now.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 09:28 AM (fPaY0)

42 I was recently reading a comic with three main characters: Lin, Bob, and Abe. At one point, Bob said, and I'm spacing his words just as it appeared in the word balloon:

Hold it,
Abe! Lin can
handle himself!

I need to know if anyone else saw the same thing I did in that sentence...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 07, 2024 09:28 AM (Lhaco)

43 Also, the line between fiction and nonfiction is blurry.

Posted by: Muldoon at April 07, 2024 09:29 AM (991eG)

44 I actually think Ada is a worse book, subject matter wise, than Lolita. I don't despise Humbert Humbert anywhere as much as Van Veen.

Posted by: Jamaica at April 07, 2024 09:29 AM (IG7T0)

45 Nonfiction needs both a context and an application or purpose.

Why? I enjoy history because I like to know how mankind has addressed the problems that occur with every generation. Or is that what you mean by a purpose?

Posted by: Archimedes at April 07, 2024 09:29 AM (CsUN+)

46 Hiya

Posted by: JT at April 07, 2024 09:29 AM (T4tVD)

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

Posted by: JTB at April 07, 2024 09:30 AM (zudum)

48 Willowed......

Birdbath status?
Posted by: Just Wondering at April 07,

Not frozen

Posted by: JT at April 07, 2024 09:30 AM (T4tVD)

49 The Politically Incorrect Guides, published by the conservative-leaning Regnery Publishing company, as they give you a high-level overview of topics such as capitalism, English literature, Islam (and the Crusades), intelligent design, and more. They are all well-written, easily digestible, and include many resources for further reading.

Hey, Hold My Beer Guides are picture books that attempt to faithfully depict and describe the complete and utter failures of people trying to show their family and friends that usually safe and innocuous activities often turn dangerous and deadly when (liquid) courage is liberally applied.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 09:30 AM (ENQN6)

50 16 Yay book thread! Last week I finished Hillaire Belloc's The Great Heresies.

***

That sounds really interesting, thanks for the precis, AH Lloyd

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 09:30 AM (fPaY0)

51 Hiya JT!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 09:31 AM (fPaY0)

52 A couple of older books on science, that are both very accessible are:

The World Within the World by John Barrow
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/218100

Also
The God Particle by Leon Lederman
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/261830

Posted by: meh at April 07, 2024 09:31 AM (Ay0Gt)

53 Has anyone read DosPassos?

Posted by: Jamaica at April 07, 2024 09:31 AM (IG7T0)

54 Castle guy @42, yes, the cartoonist was having fun with that one, lol

Posted by: skywch at April 07, 2024 09:32 AM (uqhmb)

55 43 Also, the line between fiction and nonfiction is blurry.
Posted by: Muldoon at April 07, 2024 09:29 AM (991eG)

Now do information and misinformation.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 09:32 AM (ENQN6)

56 Most banned and disturbing book I ever came across was "The Turner Diaries" back around 1985.

Only read it half the way through as it is not recommended unless you really, really want to get nuts.

The Anarchist Cookbook is just garbage too, just silly stuff which may or may not work but it was considered cool back in the day.

1984 and Animal Farm are good reads and shows what is happening today as well as in the 1930's Soviet Union and other marxist paradises. Burmese Days is also a good read by Orwell and gives a nice snapshot of British rule in Burma back in the colonial days.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 07, 2024 09:33 AM (R/m4+)

57 Anarchist cookbook is pretty dangerous. I eventually burned my copy so nobody else would read it. Trust nothing in it.
I know this from experience.
The shotgun bottle rocket... just don't.

Posted by: Reforger at April 07, 2024 09:24 AM (B705c)
---
Much talked-about in high school, copies passed around, but it never caught my interest. I'm not surprised that it's full of stupidity as firearms guides from the pre-internet era seem to have a great deal of Fudd lore dressed up as fact.

For example, Ian Hogg has a huge body of work on firearms, but it's obvious he's never shot (or in some cases handled) a great many of the weapons he describes. And yes, some of the advice about cartridge interoperability is stupid dangerous.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:33 AM (llXky)

58 Hiya Madame Stabby !

Posted by: JT at April 07, 2024 09:34 AM (T4tVD)

59 On my to read pile now are 3 nonfiction books on Christianity by Jeffrey Burton Russell

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 09:34 AM (fPaY0)

60 Yes halberstam comes off as a fool but kennedy was the greater fool with harriman as the intermediate fool we were farked from the get go. I remember moyars first work was on revising the phoenix project

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 09:34 AM (PXvVL)

61 Springsteen repeating "refineries" has really come to bother me.

Posted by: Jamaica at April 07, 2024 09:34 AM (IG7T0)

62 Read an old book review. The first thing that jumped out is that the author was complaining about a $1.25 cover price as being way too expensive (for a mass-market paperback book). Inflation has ruined society.

The second thing that jumped out was that Piers Anthony had at one point jumped on the kung-fu bandwagon with a book called 'Kiai!' The reviewer had good things to say about it, but nothing too specific. Except to praise its $0.95 cover price...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 07, 2024 09:34 AM (Lhaco)

63 I actually think Ada is a worse book, subject matter wise, than Lolita. I don't despise Humbert Humbert anywhere as much as Van Veen.

Posted by: Jamaica at April 07, 2024 09:29 AM (IG7T0)
---
That was in the stack I picked up from my father a couple of weeks ago. I'll approach it with caution.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:35 AM (llXky)

64 61 Springsteen repeating "refineries" has really come to bother me.
Posted by: Jamaica at April 07, 2024 09:34 AM (IG7T0)

It's better if you listen to him in the "wee wee hours."

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024 09:35 AM (PiwSw)

65 Yes i read much of his prewar coverage as well as big money hev was young anarchist on the march then but he properly hated wilson perhaps for the wrong reasons

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 09:36 AM (PXvVL)

66 I just noticed that I provided a review of a nonfiction book last week, when the theme was fiction, and a review of a fiction book this week, when the theme is nonfiction.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:36 AM (sAeui)

67 @42 --

Took a minute, then I got it.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 07, 2024 09:37 AM (Y8Btr)

68 Name some actual banned books?
Would the Anarchist Cookbook count?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 09:38 AM (fPaY0)

69 Ahhh, remembering the cover prices from the old days...

When I started buying paperbacks, most of 'em were 50 cents. A lot of Ace SF titles were still 40 cents. Now and then you could stumble over a Pocket Books release that was priced at 35 cents, but not often. When Heinlein's Glory Road came out as an Avon paperback, it was 75 cents. I stewed for three days about spending that much, and Heinlein was a favorite.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 07, 2024 09:38 AM (q3u5l)

70 So the plot in mccarrys christopher series where thr vietnamese get back at kennedy makes more sense

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 09:38 AM (PXvVL)

71 Most banned and disturbing book I ever came across was "The Turner Diaries" back around 1985.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 07, 2024 09:33 AM (R/m4+)
---
Oh, wow, I remember that being THE FORBIDDEN BOOK during the 1990s. Mere possession of it indicated you were violent traitor and would blow up government buildings.

I had no interesting, and word of mouth was that it was terribly written. I don't generally read political books for that reason. I just can't get past bad writing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:39 AM (llXky)

72 One might not like dospassos newreal type of story teliing that might get tiring

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 09:39 AM (PXvVL)

73 I finally finished the third book in the 3Body series, Death's End.
I agre 100% with Archimedes take. The books are unique in that the author comes up with responses to the crises in the book in such brilliant, totally out of the box way of thinking. It may be a reflection of the differences in the Chinese culture. There are definite wow moments.
The third book is good up to about half way through when there is an incredible development in the story. Then....he just wanders around with scientific discussions that didn't add anything like he couldn't figure out where to take the book.
They are a whole different level of SF writing however and should not be missed.
I watched the Netflix series and they did a good job of explaining a lot of the science in the book but they make it American and it loses something in the translation. The brilliance of the wow moments is lost.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 09:40 AM (t/2Uw)

74 Let me add another work in the sub-sub-sub zero genre of Antartic murder:

"Whiteout," a comics miniseries by Greg Rucka.

After this came out, he used one of the characters for his secret agent comic, Queen & Country. I recommend both.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 07, 2024 09:41 AM (Y8Btr)

75 Good morning horde. Thanks for the content Perfessor.

Non-fiction is typically my world, mostly because I get curious want want to learn more about something. (And also the real world is crazy enough to challenge fiction at times.)

I've been reading "Broken Money," by Lyn Alden. Is money a store of value or something that facilitates trade or both? Why has gold been a unique standard for money? Can governments ever resist the temptation not to print/inflate instead of prudently managing spending and taxes?

Banking allowed for transactions (commerce) and settlements (money) to be separated. How does technology impact the speed of transactions and how quickly settlements/claims are resolved?

The book takes a step back to think about why monetary systems (and related political systems) work like they do and how they got that way. It also helps to show where cracks form. Not done yet, but the book is working toward explaining why many find digital assets to be a compelling concept (digital assets that operate independent of a country or central bank). Whether you agree or disagree with the concept, it is good to understand the background.

Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 09:42 AM (IQ6Gq)

76 68 Name some actual banned books?
Would the Anarchist Cookbook count?
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 09:38 AM (fPaY0)

Tom Sawyer
To Kill a Mockingbird
Catcher
Off the top of my head

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 09:42 AM (ENQN6)

77 The forbidden book in HS was Abbey Hoffman’ Steal This Book. It sucked.

Posted by: Puddinhead at April 07, 2024 09:43 AM (BjRQH)

78 Name some actual banned books?
Would the Anarchist Cookbook count?
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 09:38 AM (fPaY0)

Tom Sawyer
To Kill a Mockingbird
Catcher
Off the top of my head

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 09:42 AM (ENQN6)
---
The Bible.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:43 AM (llXky)

79 But you must have a means of testing the validity of the information you read.

Posted by: Muldoon

This is very true. There are quite a few revisionist historians out there, especially now.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:43 AM (sAeui)

80 Yes queen and country is a good series it inspired some of my writing project

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 09:44 AM (PXvVL)

81 There are 1.4 billion people in China who are denied free access to The Bible.

Posted by: Northernlurker at April 07, 2024 09:44 AM (ewqMN)

82 Forgot Huck Finn

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 09:44 AM (ENQN6)

83 I don't generally read political books for that reason. I just can't get past bad writing.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

That plus the fact that political books have a very short shelf life.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:46 AM (sAeui)

84 This is very true. There are quite a few revisionist historians out there, especially now.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:43 AM (sAeui)

That's crazy talk.

Posted by: Howard Zinn, Nikole Hannah-Jones, et. al. at April 07, 2024 09:46 AM (PiwSw)

85 My non fiction reading has narrowed over the years. I used to read a lot of current events and political-related material. I quit that years ago. If the cover proclaims 'ripped from yesterday's headlines' it stays on the shelf.

Most of my nonfiction reading these days is history and biography and hobby related. I know enough about the history of the 20th century to suit me but Civil War era and older. Think Shelby Foote, the Landmark series, and contemporary accounts that haven't been put through an ideological filter. Similar for the biographies. With the exceptions of a few 20th century figures like Tolkien, Lewis, Churchill, etc., most biographies deal with older times.

to be continued ...

Posted by: JTB at April 07, 2024 09:46 AM (zudum)

86 The church i attended down in south florida has a satellite underground branch in china we take so much for granted in this place

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 09:46 AM (PXvVL)

87 79 But you must have a means of testing the validity of the information you read.

Posted by: Muldoon

This is very true. There are quite a few revisionist historians out there, especially now.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:43 AM (sAeui)

I tend to assume that most writing today is between 50% and 100% nowism or todayism. Zinn does a great job of that.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 09:47 AM (ENQN6)

88 Data ≠ information ≠ knowledge ≠ understanding ≠ wisdom
Posted by: Muldoon

Don't harsh the mellow.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 07, 2024 09:47 AM (hA4MP)

89 There are 1.4 billion people in China who are denied free access to The Bible.

Posted by: Northernlurker at April 07, 2024 09:44 AM (ewqMN)
---
They can go to the Patriotic Catholic Church, whose priests will share your confessions with the Party and who Pope Francis declared to be legitimate and in full communion with Rome, even as Cardinal Zen was sitting in prison.

I find it funny that they are effectively announced candidates to replace him already gathering support by promising to overturn everything he has done. That's got to sting.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:47 AM (llXky)

90 I had been a failed physics major--I still loved the subject, but didn't want to learn all the math involved

And thus, another AoS member was born....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 09:48 AM (0eaVi)

91 Omg i would take an ice pick if i had to read the 1619 project zinn is turgid carp that even suslov *would find insufferable *lead soviet propagandist

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 09:48 AM (PXvVL)

92 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

I've seen a number of leftwing activists argue that pro-pedophilia gay material is ok because of this book.

But I think its pretty clear the point of the story is "don't be like Humbert Humbert" which is the opposite message of say the recent pedo-friendly movie "Call Me By My Name"

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (ibTVg)

93 Another "book" I could not read was Moose Dung's "Little Red Book".

Used to be a thing among young marxist kollege types but for some reason you don't hear much about it any more.

Poor Moose Dung, hope he's enjoying hell.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (R/m4+)

94 For a few years, while I was early in the move from rank and file to management, all of my non-fiction reading was stupid motivational and management theory faire. Luckily, I'm at a point now where I don't have to go to as many silly training courses forcing me to read that stuff.

Finally got back into some non-fiction in the past year, though it's definitely been more narrative-style, history than my youth picks relating to science. I guess good stories just tickle my fancy whether they're true or imagined.

Posted by: She Hobbit at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (ftFVW)

95 I re-read 'Hyperion' sometimes after some particularly grim non-fiction. It's a nice retreat into another well-sketched world. Simmons was, according to a dust-cover blurb, a teacher for gifted and talented kids before he began writing, which seems to make sense. The classical structures and references are delightful to me!

I had recently finished a Niall Ferguson book, and immediately turned to Zelazney's 'Amber' series to clear my head. It's nice to turn to an old friend after a harrowing read.

Posted by: Brewingfrog at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (E0Ivz)

96 I asked this last night but probably makes more sense here - what is the best SF novel?

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (ibTVg)

97 This was also when I developed my personal conservative philosophy on life by reading books by Ann Coulter, Mark Steyn, Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, etc.

Perfessor, how many of these have now gone by the wayside for you? So many who seemed to be on our side, are now on the other? Which of these would you still read?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 09:50 AM (0eaVi)

98 "Whiteout," a comics miniseries by Greg Rucka.

Off to thirftbooks... Sigh. Ace really should get some kind of kickback for this thread.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 07, 2024 09:50 AM (sNc8Y)

99 I read about half of Yumi and got bored. I'll have to go back to it after reading what you all had to say. I liked the 3 others especially Tress but they did not rise to the level of the Mistborn books.
There is a fifth volume in the Stormlight Archive series due out this year. I'll have to see if I'm still a fan.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 09:50 AM (t/2Uw)

100 I enjoy nonfiction regularly, but for me it has to contain social history details. Absolutely love social history. One of my favorite that I own is No Idle Hands, a history of knitting. You would think "boring!" but the social aspect is fascinating to me. Women knitting for the soldiers in the world wars, etc.

Posted by: skywch at April 07, 2024 09:51 AM (uqhmb)

101
This is very true. There are quite a few revisionist historians out there, especially now.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:43 AM (sAeui)
---
They key is to have some frame of reference even as you're seeking new information. For example, if someone claims (as wags on the internet are) that Israel striking an Iranian consulate is an unprecedented violation of diplomatic norms, you can safely ignore everything they've written, because either they are so clueless as to know nothing of the 1979 incident with our embassy, or they're lying.

As I said regarding firearms, I've gotten rid of a lot of books that I could verify were wrong.

And don't get me started on the Spanish Civil War...(but do buy my book on it).

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:51 AM (llXky)

102 I had recently finished a Niall Ferguson book, and immediately turned to Zelazney's 'Amber' series to clear my head. It's nice to turn to an old friend after a harrowing read.
Posted by: Brewingfrog at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (E0Ivz)
---
Heh. Zelazny's Amber series is up next on my "bucket reading list."

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 07, 2024 09:52 AM (BpYfr)

103 I've been reading "Broken Money," by Lyn Alden. Is money a store of value or something that facilitates trade or both? Why has gold been a unique standard for money? Can governments ever resist the temptation not to print/inflate instead of prudently managing spending and taxes?

Posted by: TRex

I have seen Alden on a few financial podcasts and videos. Still trying to figure out the chromosomal makeup.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:52 AM (sAeui)

104 Anarchist's Cookbook was pussy stuff compared to some of the stuff the crazy hillbilly kids that I grew up with pulled as "pranks".

Posted by: pawn-(short-lived) Champion of Reality at April 07, 2024 09:52 AM (QB+5g)

105 I still am thinking the Marxists will get to burning books eventually, and E-books could be gone in a flash

Posted by: Skip at April 07, 2024 09:52 AM (fwDg9)

106 Banned books. That Simon Whistler seems to be everywhere!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 09:52 AM (0eaVi)

107 I think Lolita can be read as a moral book despite its subject matter just as Breaking Bad can be seen as moral despite its subject matter. In each case, the protagonist becomes increasingly evil and comes to a bad end.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 07, 2024 09:53 AM (FVME7)

108 I asked this last night but probably makes more sense here - what is the best SF novel?
Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (ibTVg)
---
"Best" anything is always a subjective term, but you'll see the same books on lists over and over again, indicating a consensus of which ones are worthy of inclusion in the canon.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 07, 2024 09:54 AM (BpYfr)

109 Zelazny's Amber series is up next on my "bucket reading list."
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

I stumbled across those in my high school library and found them very good.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:54 AM (sAeui)

110 I asked this last night but probably makes more sense here - what is the best SF novel?

Might as well ask who was the hottest '80s supermodel.* Dunno about "best" but my favorite is probably Neuromancer.

* the correct answer is Christie Brinkley.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 07, 2024 09:54 AM (sNc8Y)

111 Thanks for the dandy Book Thread, Perfessor!

Hope everyone is enjoying a fine spring morning. With a book, of course.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 07, 2024 09:54 AM (U3L4U)

112 I liked harrisons stainless steal rat bolivar de griz was kind of like peter quill but that was more like a series of stories

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 09:54 AM (PXvVL)

113 Another "book" I could not read was Moose Dung's "Little Red Book".

Used to be a thing among young marxist kollege types but for some reason you don't hear much about it any more.

Poor Moose Dung, hope he's enjoying hell.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (R/m4+)
---
I read it with great attentiveness as part of my research for Walls of Men. A lot of people think that because Sun Tzu was Chinese, he is considered a primary source for Chinese strategy throughout history. This is objectively false, and Mao's book is a rejection of the "reactionary" tradition of Sun Tzu.

If you want to understand ChiCom strategy, ya gotta read the Red Book.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:55 AM (llXky)

114 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov -- Yet another banned book I haven't read. This is definitely a controversial book, as on its surface it appears to glamorize the attraction an older man feels for a much, much younger woman (12-year-old girl, actually).

I would not be surprised to see the "elites" promoting this as appropriate school material sometime soon.

Twelve years old? I know I would!

Posted by: Joe B at April 07, 2024 09:55 AM (0eaVi)

115 I liked harrisons stainless steal rat bolivar de griz was kind of like peter quill but that was more like a series of stories
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 09:54 AM (PXvVL)
---
Those were great fun when I was a teenager.

They certainly instilled in me a healthy distrust and disrespect for authority...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 07, 2024 09:55 AM (BpYfr)

116 Hey bibliophreaks.

Had a copy of "The Anarchist's Cookbook" (from B.Dalton) back in the day. More of a conversation piece than a how-to manual, seeing as I was in the Navy and working for The Man. No idea what happened to it.

I would love to have a list of books I used to own, going back to childhood.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 09:56 AM (3e3hy)

117 Heh. Zelazny's Amber series is up next on my "bucket reading list."
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

Gah! I cannot believe you've not read the Amber series. Please to find my fainting couch.

Posted by: She Hobbit at April 07, 2024 09:56 AM (ftFVW)

118
I would love to have a list of books I used to own, going back to childhood.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

It would only fill a page.
(in point one font in 8 columns.)

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 07, 2024 09:57 AM (hA4MP)

119 "what is the best SF novel?"

This has been debated before here as I recall and there were a number of nominations for "A Mote in God's Eye" which I agree with.

But in truth there is no "best" SF novel. It is the reader who decides that for themselves.

Posted by: pawn-(short-lived) Champion of Reality at April 07, 2024 09:57 AM (QB+5g)

120 "Best" anything is always a subjective term, but you'll see the same books on lists over and over again, indicating a consensus of which ones are worthy of inclusion in the canon.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 07, 2024 09:54 AM (BpYfr)
---
Counterpoint: people give the same answers in order to conform to the consensus.

And if the culture shifts, so does the consensus. See also To Kill a Mocking Bird, Huckleberry Finn, etc.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:57 AM (llXky)

121 @80 --

Queen & Country is an homage to a British secret agent TV series, "The Sandbaggers." It has typical Brit '70s production values -- they're lucky the "office" walls didn't fall over -- but the plots are gripping.

The head of Special Section: "If you want James Bond, go to the library."

Also of note -- in one scene, a Special Section agent is cornered by Soviet troops on the border. He turns his body so his fellow agent across the border can make the kill shot.

What country was the sniper in? Iran.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 07, 2024 09:58 AM (Y8Btr)

122 Zelazny's Amber series was a favorite of mine. I named my first Labrador retriever Corwin. I then bought a female. Both dogs AKC so when they started having pups, Kennel name was Amber. He became Corwin of Amber!

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 09:58 AM (t/2Uw)

123 This has been debated before here as I recall and there were a number of nominations for "A Mote in God's Eye" which I agree with.

Posted by: pawn

Was the 2nd book of the series (18 years later in both the book and reality) listed as penultimate?

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 07, 2024 09:59 AM (hA4MP)

124 The best sf novel?

Dear God in Heaven... I have no idea how to even begin narrowing it down to a single best sf novel. Heinlein would be a contender, though.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 07, 2024 09:59 AM (q3u5l)

125 The godmother of the so called antifa and occupy who actually bombed capital hill susan rosenberg is a maoist

Yes maos lesson is the regime in his case chaing kaishek isnt as important as the people the sea

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 09:59 AM (PXvVL)

126 Tom Sawyer
To Kill a Mockingbird
Catcher
Off the top of my head

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 09:42 AM (ENQN6)
---
The Bible.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

**

I mean still banned now., will not be found in public libraries.
The Bible counts, as it is banned in a number of countries.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 10:00 AM (fPaY0)

127 I would not be surprised to see the "elites" promoting this as appropriate school material sometime soon.

Twelve years old? I know I would!

Posted by: Joe B at April 07, 2024 09:55 AM (0eaVi)
---
First off, it's densely written, so most of the teachers would fumble their way through it.

More importantly, it does not in any way legitimize pedophilia. It does the opposite. Humbert Humbert is not a positive role model.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:00 AM (llXky)

128 Counterpoint: people give the same answers in order to conform to the consensus.

And if the culture shifts, so does the consensus. See also To Kill a Mocking Bird, Huckleberry Finn, etc.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:57 AM (llXky)
---
There's definitely truth in this. I tried reading the first few chapter's of N.K. Jemison's The Fifth Season. It was garbage. Not sure how or why people like it. But it shows up near the top of a lot of lists.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 07, 2024 10:00 AM (BpYfr)

129 105 I still am thinking the Marxists will get to burning books eventually, and E-books could be gone in a flash
Posted by: Skip at April 07, 2024 09:52 AM (fwDg9)

Skip I think it will be more like that picture that fades away in Back to the Future as the past is slightly changed. It is much easier to stealth edit ebooks. Remember that the Firemen where not an invention of the Government but a demand by the population to place controls on others.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:00 AM (ENQN6)

130 I still am thinking the Marxists will get to burning books eventually, and E-books could be gone in a flash
Posted by: Skip

I'm banking on it. That's why my physical library has outgrown my library and is taking over the whole house.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 10:01 AM (sAeui)

131 Lolita can be read as a moral book despite its subject matter
--Anonosaurus

and, Boom, you have seen what others have missed.
An episode of Dragnet had Joe Friday blaming .22 target rifle murders on the presence of Flaubert in school libraries.

We're all going to get arthritis from waggling our finger.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at April 07, 2024 10:02 AM (zdLoL)

132 Re: Books by Morons: I had read Scarboy, by Rip Pauley. Didn't realize he was the commenter Ordinary American, and I'm glad to know it now.

I really liked Scarboy. I'm going to call it extreme fiction, because certain events are highly improbable. But, as I've said before, if improbability bothered me, I wouldn't read fiction. It's a nice, feel-good, dog story, and who doesn't like that? Only communists, say I.

I've put The Executive and the Smear on kindle--several books in front of it in line, but I'm interested.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 07, 2024 10:02 AM (OX9vb)

133 Winston Churchill is one of those mythical, legendary figures upon whom the fate of the world rested at one time, not unlike George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.

I would posit - as have others - that the world would be different, vastly different, if there was never a Washington.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 10:02 AM (0eaVi)

134 The best sf novel?

Dear God in Heaven... I have no idea how to even begin narrowing it down to a single best sf novel. Heinlein would be a contender, though.
Posted by: Just Some Guy

I'd nominate War of the Worlds by HG Wells

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 10:02 AM (fPaY0)

135 124 The best sf novel?

Dear God in Heaven... I have no idea how to even begin narrowing it down to a single best sf novel. Heinlein would be a contender, though.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 07, 2024 09:59 AM (q3u5l)

Martian Chronicles. Moon is a Harsh. Time Machine.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:02 AM (ENQN6)

136 In the movie 'Lolita', I know James Mason plays the main character but who plays the girl?

I can't remember her name but I know that face. She's been in bunch of films.

Posted by: dantesed at April 07, 2024 10:04 AM (88xKn)

137 continued from 85 ...

The rest of my nonfiction reading is mostly hobby related. How-to topics for hunting and fishing, wood carving, drawing and art, cooking, etc. Since reading is a hobby I include collections of letters, annotated editions, even the history of Middle-Earth series by Christopher Tolkien. They are about fiction but document its development so I include them in nonfiction.

One other subcategory I just thought of: reference works. Atlases, the OED, an older edition of Roget's Thesaurus, and various almanacs.

Posted by: JTB at April 07, 2024 10:04 AM (zudum)

138 "Best" anything is always a subjective term, but you'll see the same books on lists over and over again, indicating a consensus of which ones are worthy of inclusion in the canon.

Of course, but I'm interested in fellow morons' opinions.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 10:04 AM (ibTVg)

139 Counterpoint: people give the same answers in order to conform to the consensus.

Depends. Is the person asking part of the consensus and using your answer to grade you in some way or other (classroom grade, pay, etc)? If so, and you know what the "right" answer is, it's only smart of use it even if you don't actually believe it.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 07, 2024 10:05 AM (sNc8Y)

140 WOW War of the Worlds

But there are no bacteria in Mars, and directly these invaders arrived, directly they drank and fed, our microscopic allies began to work their overthrow. Already when I watched them they were irrevocably doomed, dying and rotting even as they went to and fro. It was inevitable. By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers; it would still be his were the Martians ten times as mighty as they are.
For neither do men live nor die in vain.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:05 AM (ENQN6)

141 Yes moon is a harsh mistress is good i tend to think that heinleins future histories collection is better

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 10:05 AM (PXvVL)

142 I would posit - as have others - that the world would be different, vastly different, if there was never a Washington.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 10:02 AM (0eaVi)

That's another fun genre -- Alternate History.

Examples, Pavane, by Keith Roberts; The Alteration, by Kingsley Amis.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024 10:05 AM (PiwSw)

143 IMDB

Sue Lyon
Lolita

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:06 AM (ENQN6)

144 I like Alternate History and Time Travel.books

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 10:07 AM (fPaY0)

145 Morning, book folk! I'm back from the grocery.

Yesterday at the library I picked up Holly, a 2023 novel by Stephen King. It's the third or fourth in his crime-oriented series that began with Mr. Mercedes. This one features OCD-ridden Holly Gibney, who began, SK said, as a walk on character in the first book and took it over. And . . . I stopped reading it 1.5 chapters in. The first chapter, set in 2012, is vintage King, vivid and gripping. Two, however, begins in 2021, with Holly reflecting on the Sniffle Scare (my words, not SK's). Almost immediately you know he's on the side of The Big Lie, as he has Holly reflect that "their governor was determined to preserve individual freedoms, no matter how many people sickened and died in the process."

Then, someone says, "At least Trump's gone," and I tossed the novel aside.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:07 AM (omVj0)

146 31 I forgot to mention that one of the first independent comics publishers of the '80s was Eclipse Comics. Man, talk about a lefty bunch -- during the Iran-Contra investigation, Eclipse was selling trading cards of the principal figures and proclaiming "Stop the Secret Team."

However, the comics were good.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 07, 2024 09:24 AM (Y8Btr)

On the topic of Eclipse comics, I have a collected edition of Aztec Ace from them, and the covers for the first few issues had a little NRA stamp on them. That seemed odd, but the author was one of the few comics creators that didn't seem to be a raging lefty, so, maybe.....But, no, looking up the logo just now, it's not the NRA that you think of, it's the Nation Recovery Administration. So, yeah, that would fit the MO of a raging-lefty company.

Since I mentioned Aztec Ace....it's a time-travel story. Our hero time-traveler (Casa, an Aztec descendent) tries to stop a villainous time-traveler from wrecking history. Cool art. I wish I liked the story more than I do. Too pretentious, too convoluted, and too focused on being quirky without justifying things.

Sorta like trying to re-create Dr. Who from scratch...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 07, 2024 10:07 AM (Lhaco)

147 Fiction or non-fiction? Yes, please.

Checks shelves, looks right: complete set of Niven's "Known Space" stories, etc., etc.

Looks left: signed set of Rhodes' "Making of the Atomic Bomb", "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb" and so on.

There's something to be said for both categories.

Posted by: Frank Harris at April 07, 2024 10:07 AM (/HDaX)

148 I never read nonfiction books. I spend a good part of my day (I am retired after all) here and on news sites. Nighttime is for reading pleasure and that is fiction. Mystery, Romance, Sci Fi, Historical Fiction, doesn't matter the genre as long as it entertains.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:07 AM (t/2Uw)

149 LenNeal wrote what I think is a very good short-form scifi story in the style used by authors in the 50-60s (Heinlein).

It's here:

https://tinyurl.com/3wuz963s

Posted by: pawn-(short-lived) Champion of Reality at April 07, 2024 10:07 AM (QB+5g)

150 Oops, casts off Niven/Pournelle novel sock

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at April 07, 2024 10:08 AM (/HDaX)

151
Examples, Pavane, by Keith Roberts; The Alteration, by Kingsley Amis.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024

***
There's a whole subgenre of "What if the Third Reich had won?" A great short story in that vein is Roberts' "Weinachtsabend."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:08 AM (omVj0)

152 Depends. Is the person asking part of the consensus and using your answer to grade you in some way or other (classroom grade, pay, etc)? If so, and you know what the "right" answer is, it's only smart of use it even if you don't actually believe it.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 07, 2024 10:05 AM (sNc8Y)
---
I don't think there is any difficulty at all knowing what the scholarly consensus is at any moment, and what the "correct" answers are to questions about what is best.

Often they do have to give their name and write a blurb why. That's where you see the groupthink best - how they all cite the same exact reasons.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:08 AM (llXky)

153 Heinlein Stranger is great too.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:08 AM (ENQN6)

154 Lessee...here's some NF books that affected me or my way of seeing things profoundly:

1) "Free to Choose" and "Capitalism and Freedom" by Milton Friedman.
Like most youth I was drawn to the blandishments of the Democrats, but always felt like their words and actions never lined up in reality. These books explained a lot and suddenly the world of politics and culture made sense. I never looked back

2) "The Shock of the New" and "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes.
TSotN gave me a new perspective and insight into the thinking of the pioneers of modern art. Shocka! those guys and gals weren't just lunkheads who couldn't paint or sculpt in most cases they thought deeply about what they were doing. Of course, that wasn't true in all cases.
TFS made me see the rather obvious idea that while modern life is mostly a sugar-glossed fun pack, history was hard as hell on those living it.

3) The Last Lion - Winston Churchill's early life made me realize the fairly pure freedom available in Ye Olde Days, where a man could build his life his way. Yes, yes...I know rich background, colonialism, etc, etc.

4) "Parasite Rex" a book about various parasites. Life is strange, baby!

Posted by: naturalfake at April 07, 2024 10:09 AM (nFnyb)

155 There's a first contact book about aliens arriving during the middle ages and meeting monks.
There was a current day framing story of two historians investigating the records.
It was really good but I forget the title /author.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 10:10 AM (fPaY0)

156 144 I like Alternate History and Time Travel.books
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 10:07 AM (fPaY0)

I despise them, and that annoys me, because it makes me feel like I can't get out of my comfort zone.

But they confuse me, so I don't enjoy them.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 07, 2024 10:10 AM (OX9vb)

157 I have the first five Amber books in a two-volume set that I picked up for $5.00 in the mid-'80s. I didn't crack it until 2019. Still have three of the books to go.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 07, 2024 10:10 AM (Y8Btr)

158 Speaking of physical books, I don't recall if I shared this before, but when I was selling my previous house, the realtor suggested I box up all of my books and remove the bookshelves from my library, and call it a game room. "Nobody reads books anymore."

Literally the first family to view the house bought it because it had a dedicated library.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 10:11 AM (sAeui)

159 I don't think there is any difficulty at all knowing what the scholarly consensus is at any moment, and what the "correct" answers are to questions about what is best.

I learned this lesson in freshman lit when I had to drop the class after getting an unrecoverably poor grade for an essay on A Canticle For Liebowitz that refuted almost everything the professor said about it.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 07, 2024 10:11 AM (sNc8Y)

160 There's definitely truth in this. I tried reading the first few chapter's of N.K. Jemison's The Fifth Season. It was garbage. Not sure how or why people like it. But it shows up near the top of a lot of lists.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 07, 2024 10:00 AM (BpYfr)
---
How about all the wannabes carrying around A Brief History of Time to show how smart they are?

I remember Obama conspicuously carrying Deep Thinker books to show his supreme intellect.

Reminds me of Georgian aristocrats ordering books by the foot for their new country estate.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:11 AM (llXky)

161 To be fair, I suppose "disputed" would be a better word than "refuted."

Posted by: Oddbob at April 07, 2024 10:11 AM (sNc8Y)

162 33 Garrett the private investigator in the fantasy city of TunFaire ...

I had bought the first book, "Sweet Silver Blues," at a fantasy/SF/comics convention soon after its publication. And then I let it sit on my shelves for decades until I read on the Book Thread years ago that it was an homage to the Nero Wolfe series. That did it -- I read SSB, and started accumulating more in the series. Now I'm kicking myself for the late start. Still, better late than never.

Posted by: Weak Geek gets to the point at April 07, 2024 09:25 AM (Y8Btr)

Oh, wow. I picked a Gerrett PI book off the library shelf back in high school, (I think it may have been Cold Copper Tears, with the girl and rat-man on the cover) and have been hooked ever since. I have a whole stack of the paperbacks. Haven't read them for a while, though.

I grew up a sci-fi/fantasy kid, and this series was my first (tentative) foray into the hard-boiled private investigator genre.

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 07, 2024 10:12 AM (Lhaco)

163 In the movie 'Lolita', I know James Mason plays the main character but who plays the girl?

I can't remember her name but I know that face. She's been in bunch of films.
Posted by: dantesed at April 07, 2024

***
Sue Lyon, I think.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:13 AM (omVj0)

164 If the FNM says disputed or controversial they mean "the rightwing view on this is clearly correct"

If they say proven or non-controversial they mean "we can pretend only the leftwing view exists"

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 10:13 AM (ibTVg)

165 LenNeal wrote what I think is a very good short-form scifi story in the style used by authors in the 50-60s (Heinlein).

It's here:

https://tinyurl.com/3wuz963s
+++
Yes, I enjoyed this very much.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:13 AM (t/2Uw)

166 I managed to get only one new book this week: a hardcover of Wind In the Willows with the Shepard illustrations. I have a copy with the Rackham illustrations but wanted both.

When I get my books organized (if that ever happens) one section will be just for hardcover editions of classic children's books. Considering how often I reread parts of them or cover to cover, it would be smart to have them all in one area.

Posted by: JTB at April 07, 2024 10:13 AM (zudum)

167 Reminds me of Georgian aristocrats ordering books by the foot for their new country estate.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:11 AM (llXky)

In the COVID ZOOM Meeting Year many fakes would order 3 feet of books for their backgrounds.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:14 AM (ENQN6)

168 For a few years, while I was early in the move from rank and file to management, all of my non-fiction reading was stupid motivational and management theory faire.

Posted by: She Hobbit at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (ftFVW)

Who Moved My Cheese ?...aka..."we're downsizing and your job may be eliminated".

Posted by: BignJames at April 07, 2024 10:15 AM (AwYPR)

169 Reminds me of Georgian aristocrats ordering books by the foot for their new country estate.

Half Price Books will take the books they can't sell and sort them by color and size for exactly that reason.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 07, 2024 10:16 AM (sNc8Y)

170 I despise them, and that annoys me, because it makes me feel like I can't get out of my comfort zone.

But they confuse me, so I don't enjoy them.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 07, 2024 10:10 AM (OX9vb)
---
I also despise them, and I'm fine with it, because it allows me to focus on other books that give me pleasure.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:16 AM (llXky)

171 160 There's definitely truth in this. I tried reading the first few chapter's of N.K. Jemison's The Fifth Season. It was garbage. Not sure how or why people like it. But it shows up near the top of a lot of lists.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 07, 2024 10:00 AM (BpYfr)

It's a safe bet that anyone who wins the Hugo now is irredeemably "woke" and not worth reading.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024 10:16 AM (PiwSw)

172 Oh, and I bought a copy of Robert Jackson Bennett's American Elsewhere after reading recommendations here. I hadn't realized how big a novel it is, though. Once I'm done with the current library books, I'll turn to it.

I also bought a 1969 Pan Books edition of Nevil Shute's No Highway. Strangely (because the film was a British production), there's no mention on the blurbs about the James Stewart film of 1951. Maybe earlier editions mentioned it, but that film was eighteen years old when this edition came out.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:17 AM (omVj0)

173 I'm more of a fiction reader than non-fiction, but I will read history because I have loved it from my first history class.

Empire of the Summer Moon by SC Gwynne about the Comanche and the end of their reign on the plains.

Endurance by Alfred Lansing about Shackleton's failed expedition and how all of the men survived a catastrophe.

The Endurance by Caroline Alexander, Shackleton with original photographs!

The Captured by Scott Zesch about the lives of white captives of the Comanche and Apache.

Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff about a sightseeing plane that crashed on New Guinea during WWII.

Posted by: huerfano at April 07, 2024 10:17 AM (VGOMa)

174 In the COVID ZOOM Meeting Year many fakes would order 3 feet of books for their backgrounds.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:14 AM (ENQN6)
---
I set up my home work station in front of my liquor collection.

Always got a favorable reaction.

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

175 There's a first contact book about aliens arriving during the middle ages and meeting monks.

I read that as "Melting Monks"

Posted by: JT at April 07, 2024 10:17 AM (T4tVD)

176 Don't hate, but I'm reading "To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery" by Neil Degrasse Tyson and Lindsey Nix Walker.

A fairly simple traipse through the solar system and beyond, and the history of astronomy and exploration, with some musings on movie physics and pop culture science. Eh. It's okay.

Early on, though, there's the bullshit claim that it was thought the moon was a flat disc until the 17th Century, when in fact the ancient Greeks knew it was a sphere that revolved around the Earth. Them homos was smart!

C'mon, Neil, do better.

An oldie but goodie: "Cosmos on Weed":

https://tinyurl.com/3vmzywjy

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (3e3hy)

177 Personal opinion on best SF novel... Time Enough for Love.
I don't read much SF anymore, like none in about 5 years but when I do I pretty much start with TEL and go from there. My RAH books are all pretty dog eared... Farnhams Freehold is another favorite of mine and probably the most dog eared.
I seem to gravitate more towards Fantasy when I do Fiction.

Posted by: Reforger at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (B705c)

178 There is also a 97 Lolita

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (ENQN6)

179 "It's a safe bet that anyone who wins the Hugo now is irredeemably "woke" and not worth reading."

The stuff is just bad writing too but the woke makes it unreadable to me.

Posted by: pawn-(short-lived) Champion of Reality at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (QB+5g)

180 I hope the guy(?) wearing 'these pants' was well paid for looking like a complete dork. If he(?) doesn't feel stupid he needs help.

Posted by: JTB at April 07, 2024 10:19 AM (zudum)

181 I set up my home work station in front of my liquor collection.

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

Hah!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 07, 2024 10:20 AM (OX9vb)

182 In the COVID ZOOM Meeting Year many fakes would order 3 feet of books for their backgrounds.
Posted by: rhennigantx

At the time, I had my work desk set up in my library. I had a job interview online, and the interviewer said "That's too many books". I didn't get an offer. Now, I don't know if they were anti-intellectual, or they thought I was a fake.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 10:20 AM (sAeui)

183 @146 --

I never read Aztec Ace. CBE.

Scout -- now that was weird. I bought them all, then later disposed of them, despite the fantastic Tim Truman art.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 07, 2024 10:20 AM (Y8Btr)

184 Examples, Pavane, by Keith Roberts; The Alteration, by Kingsley Amis.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024 10:05 AM (PiwSw)

Both of which are listed in the 99 Great novels of the 20th Century by Anthony Burgess.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 07, 2024 10:21 AM (nFnyb)

185 Early on, though, there's the bullshit claim that it was thought the moon was a flat disc until the 17th Century, when in fact the ancient Greeks knew it was a sphere that revolved around the Earth. Them homos was smart!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (3e3hy)
---
There is an unprecedented need in current culture to denigrate the past, falsely accusing them of ignorance, various -isms, because we come across so poorly in comparison.

It demonstrates very low self-confidence and a high degree of arrogance.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:21 AM (llXky)

186 Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff about a sightseeing plane that crashed on New Guinea during WWII.

Posted by: huerfano at April 07, 2024 10:17 AM (VGOMa)

People went sightseeing...during a war?

Posted by: BignJames at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM (AwYPR)

187 Fiction = escape from reality, entertainment, distraction

Non-fiction = reality, information, education

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM (RIvkX)

188 There is also a 97 Lolita
Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (ENQN6)

Was that the one that made Brooke Shields famous?

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM (t/2Uw)

189 Morning.

Either Brandon Sanderson has 16 arms or he's got like a small group of illegal aliens stashed away in his basement hammering away at typewriters day and night.

Posted by: Robert at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM (1Yy3c)

190 I read that as "Melting Monks"
Posted by: JT at April 07, 2024 10:17 AM (T4tVD)

ITS A COOKBOOK

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:23 AM (ENQN6)

191 I hope the guy(?) wearing 'these pants' was well paid for looking like a complete dork. If he(?) doesn't feel stupid he needs help.
Posted by: JTB at April 07, 2024 10:19 AM (zudum)

Prolly had to turn in his Weedwhacker.

Posted by: JT at April 07, 2024 10:23 AM (T4tVD)

192 Was that the one that made Brooke Shields famous?
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM (t/2Uw)

Pretty Baby

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:23 AM (ENQN6)

193 Had already read a bunch of Wells, some Verne, but Heinlein made me a science fiction addict -- found a Signet paperback of The Puppet Masters on the rack at a local pharmacy when I was 12 or 13 and for the next decade read almost nothing but sf for pleasure. Revisited The Puppet Masters a couple of years ago -- that sucker still holds up.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 07, 2024 10:23 AM (q3u5l)

194 Tom Woods wrote one of the "Politically Incorrect" guides, and it's a good summary of things people "know" that are wrong. More of an overview though, so anyone with intimate knowledge of any of the topics isn't going to be getting Earth shattering insight.

My most recent book purchase though, is his "Diary Of a Psychosis," which is a collection of his pieces written on Covid. Those who have read it say it's about the best deep dive into the madness as it was happening.

Tom's a brilliant guy, and apparently one of the nicest people on the internet. His podcasts are always informative, but for those who are sour on libertarians, you might find him to be scary and off-putting, because he's capable of kindly critiquing old school conservatism in ways that might change your mind.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 10:23 AM (TYYPA)

195 There is also a 97 Lolita

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (ENQN6)
---
Jeremy Irons as HH.

He has a thing for playing disturbed characters. I used to think it was because he was a weirdo, but I now think that he just wants really interesting roles.

However, he does slum it from time to time, because his castle requires upkeep.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:23 AM (llXky)

196 I have more than a few non-fiction books on my shelves: some Roman history, Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly, pictorial and detail books about Mercedes automobiles throughout the century just past, some travel stuff, some language stuff (The Story of Language by Mario Pei), some atlases, the two-volume biography of Heinlein by Wm. H. Patterson Jr., and more.

The bulk of my stuff is fiction, mostly paperbacks, a lot of them from before UPC codes.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:23 AM (omVj0)

197 An oldie but goodie: "Cosmos on Weed":

https://tinyurl.com/3vmzywjy
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Oh lordy, hahahaha! Andromamamedaaaa

Posted by: She Hobbit at April 07, 2024 10:24 AM (ftFVW)

198 There is also a 97 Lolita
Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (ENQN6)

Doesn't it have Jeremy Irons? Made for cable? I have a vague recollection.

Posted by: Robert at April 07, 2024 10:24 AM (1Yy3c)

199 I asked this last night but probably makes more sense here - what is the best SF novel?
Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (ibTVg)

I haven't finished writing it yet!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 10:24 AM (0eaVi)

200 Yes neil tyson does yield some interesting insights like with the cosmos series but there is so much dross to wade through

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 07, 2024 10:24 AM (PXvVL)

201 Had to go look it up and no, it was Pretty Baby.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:25 AM (t/2Uw)

202 Was that the one that made Brooke Shields famous?

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM (t/2Uw)
---
The Blue Lagoon. Fifteen years earlier.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:25 AM (llXky)

203 It's a safe bet that anyone who wins the Hugo now is irredeemably "woke" and not worth reading.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper

New York Post
@nypost
Sen. John Fetterman blasts squatters, violent crime: ‘I am not woke’

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 07, 2024 10:26 AM (FVME7)

204 People went sightseeing...during a war?
Posted by: BignJames at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM (AwYPR)

*shakes head

Humans be crazy.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 07, 2024 10:27 AM (OX9vb)

205 Personal opinion on best SF novel... Time Enough for Love.
I don't read much SF anymore, like none in about 5 years but when I do I pretty much start with TEL and go from there. My RAH books are all pretty dog eared... Farnhams Freehold is another favorite of mine and probably the most dog eared.
I seem to gravitate more towards Fantasy when I do Fiction.
Posted by: Reforger at April 07, 2024

***
TEfL is a wonderful epic. La Sociopath, aka Mrs. Wolfus No. 2, had a discerning comment about it: that it was kind of like the Bible, in that it features high adventure, personal stories ("The Tale of the Adopted Daughter" section has both of those), and a good deal of commentary on human nature and of guidelines for getting along with other people.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:27 AM (omVj0)

206 160 How about all the wannabes carrying around A Brief History of Time to show how smart they are?

I remember Obama conspicuously carrying Deep Thinker books to show his supreme intellect.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:11 AM
***

Lebron James is famous for carrying books or posting photos of himself reading books that he hasn't actually read.

Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 10:27 AM (IQ6Gq)

207 Since Niven/Pournelle & Heinlein already mentioned I'll throw another book/author into the mix.

Startide Rising, by David Brin. 2nd book of the Uplift Universe series. If I had to rank authors/series into a top ten list I know this book would make it.

As it is I'm still working my way through Heinlein and really feel like kicking myself every time I finish reading one of his 'Juveniles' for the first time. I think still 3 or 4 I've yet to read, but I've been rationing them for the last decade.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at April 07, 2024 10:27 AM (3uc2w)

208 179 "It's a safe bet that anyone who wins the Hugo now is irredeemably "woke" and not worth reading."

The stuff is just bad writing too but the woke makes it unreadable to me.
Posted by: pawn-(short-lived) Champion of Reality at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (QB+5g)

There are anti hugo books. Collections of SF that in not woke. One story a man is made leader of a all woman group that must take over a planet that is planning to destroy Earth.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:28 AM (ENQN6)

209 There is an unprecedented need in current culture to denigrate the past, falsely accusing them of ignorance, various -isms, because we come across so poorly in comparison.

This is part of the ancient aliens crazy.

The Egyptians/Mayans/whoever couldn't have built THAT! They were like cavemen or something and didn't have cranes!

Of course the funny part is if you took a gaggle of modern academics they likely couldn't build a Stonehenge without cranes and the like either. Work hard all day long moving rocks?!? That's racist! Oh and math as well.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 10:28 AM (ibTVg)

210 I read non-fiction in spurts: mostly because my preferred non-fiction is about history, which can get pretty dry, and can lead to burn-out.

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 07, 2024 10:28 AM (Lhaco)

211 There is an unprecedented need in current culture to denigrate the past, falsely accusing them of ignorance, various -isms, because we come across so poorly in comparison.

It demonstrates very low self-confidence and a high degree of arrogance.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

I always get a laugh when someone notices that Stonehenge, or the Pyramids, or some other ancient artifact lines up with the stars or seasons, so it proves some alien encounter occurred.

Sure, or maybe the builders looked around and noticed their surroundings, or built celestial calendars so they could plant their food at the right tine so as to avoid starvation.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 10:28 AM (sAeui)

212 It's a safe bet that anyone who wins the Hugo now is irredeemably "woke" and not worth reading.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper

Read the The ThreeBody Problem.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:29 AM (t/2Uw)

213 I read the banned books except for Antichrist Cookbook.

Posted by: Eromero at April 07, 2024 10:29 AM (DXbAa)

214 Professor, what is the title of the book by the young Muslim convert to Christianity you referenced? Thanks in advance!

Posted by: NCDave at April 07, 2024 10:29 AM (GU6kw)

215 Revisited The Puppet Masters a couple of years ago -- that sucker still holds up.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 07, 2024

***
It does indeed: a hard-boiled look at how an intelligence service would operate in the face of the worst threat mankind ever faced, a love story, and a final page that makes you want to cheer.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:29 AM (omVj0)

216 Thanks for The Book Thread Perfessor !

Posted by: JT at April 07, 2024 10:29 AM (T4tVD)

217 Thanks for the alway great book thread Perfessor AND mea culpa for my squirrel rant yesterday.

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at April 07, 2024 10:30 AM (HFbEw)

218 Good morning all, and thanks Perfessor for the thread. I never read the comments in this thread and fail to note a couple of recommendations to add to the reading list.

I fondly recall reading my first biography around second or third grade, and then devouring every single biography in the school library. Luckily my daddy worked across the street from the city library, so he would get/return books for me on a weekly basis.

As an adult, I moved into historical fiction. Recall reading Trinity by Leon Uris, with a map of Ireland next to me so I could follow along. Eventually moved onto non-fiction. Guess I found life strange enough, and non-fiction helped to explain some of it.

Posted by: Grateful at April 07, 2024 10:31 AM (IQ6Gq)

219 Canticle for Lebowitz as best.

I liked Dahlgren for the way the world was fleshed out. Very strange place.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 07, 2024 10:31 AM (yeEu9)

220 Getting back to Belloc before I have to go, I have to say that I'm really enjoying English Catholic writers. G.K. Chesterton, Waugh, of course Tolkien and I'd even include C.S. Lewis because he was High Church Anglican.

So much of their work is as relevant today as when it was written, and they provide a level of criticism that is positively devastating. No mincing words with this crew.

This is probably why, while I dabbled in sci-fi and fantasy as a teenager, I don't really want to read it now because I know that there is so much out there that I've yet to experience and will find absolutely fascinating.

My wife talked about this and we've agreed that when the next daughter moves out, her bedroom will be made into a library.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:31 AM (llXky)

221 I'm staring at the next weighty tome on my TBR list, "The Structures of Everyday Life: Civilization and Capitalism 15th-18th Century Volume I" by Fernand Braudel.

It's been in my stacks since the 80's.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 10:32 AM (3e3hy)

222 My earliest book infatuation was SF. I loved Heinlein, Niven, Pohl. I read the Foundation trilogy but for some reason Asimov just didn't appeal to me much. My absolute favorite was Arthur C. Clarke. His short stories were great but I remember Childhood's End and Rendezvous With Rama as some of the most satisfying novels I ever read. I'm not sure how they would hold up today though.

I haven't read fiction now in probably 20 years. It's all history now with some physics topics mixed in now and then.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 07, 2024 10:32 AM (bo7UB)

223 I read "Animal Farm" and "1984" in high school. I probably didn't appreciate the quality of the writing back then but they confirmed my distrust of Communism and a too powerful government of any kind. Never felt any desire to go back to them.

I recall some classmates thinking the books were so cool but didn't have a problem with some of the political aspects. I thought they missed the point. But then I was not suited by temperment to be a Hippie.

Posted by: JTB at April 07, 2024 10:32 AM (zudum)

224 Just started Rise of Endymion.

Posted by: Spitz512 at April 07, 2024 10:33 AM (dLw62)

225 I'm usually a lurker but I like nonfiction very much. My recommendations (current or recent reads):

A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa: Autobiography of a half-Japanese half -Korean man whose parents took the family to North Korea in 1960 because it was promised to be a paradise. Plot spolier - it wasn't. Amazing story.

When Languages Die by K. David Harrison. Information dense - you might find it more interesting as a thumb through for examples of how strange and wonderful human languages are. There are languages that have the equivalent of "tomorrow" and yesterday" going out 6 days before and after today, but don't have the concept of a week. There are completely different counting, location and object description systems. It made me think more about the oddities of English.

The Matter with Things by Ian McGilchrist. Ok this 2 volume set is taking me forever to read. I work in the medical field. I've had a number of Aha! moments when I realize I have seen how certain type of brain injury change a patient's personality and abilities. Our right and left hemisphere's are continuously independently processing the world in very different ways.

Posted by: Jade Sea at April 07, 2024 10:33 AM (J0Haf)

226 Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (3e3hy)

Hey, Eris,

I got the eclipse cocktail you requested all thought out, and-

sent a recipe and picture to CBD for the Food Thread.

But, if he doesn't have the time or inclination to post it there, I'll post the recipe in the comment section.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 07, 2024 10:34 AM (nFnyb)

227 Sure, or maybe the builders looked around and noticed their surroundings, or built celestial calendars so they could plant their food at the right tine so as to avoid starvation.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 10:28 AM (sAeui)
---
For me, the religious angle is increasingly important. Modern scholars clearly don't believe in God or any kind of unseen power, so they assume that pagan sacrifices and rituals were just mindless superstition.

But the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, etc., were not stupid. They understood cause and effect, and could build arches, canals, and exquisite sculpture. No one creates gigantic temples on a whim. They're doing it because the upgrade brings positive results, and so they keep building more of them.

Since I've started thinking that way, I'm having to reconsider my approach to reading ancient history.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:34 AM (llXky)

228 I fondly recall reading my first biography around second or third grade, and then devouring every single biography in the school library.
Posted by: Grateful at April 07, 2024 10:31 AM (IQ6Gq)

I loved biographies even in elementary school, too. I read about Helen Keller, Louis Braille, Amelia Earhart, Guglielmo Marconi, so many.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 07, 2024 10:34 AM (OX9vb)

229 There is also a 97 Lolita
Posted by: rhennigantx at April 07, 2024 10:18 AM (ENQN6)

Was that the one that made Brooke Shields famous?
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM (t/2Uw)

Stars Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain. Irons is terrific in the role, and it very much is one of the saddest films I've ever seen.

By the way, the Kubrick version, Sue Lyons says he trafficked her to various overseas bigshots on their Euro tour.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 10:35 AM (TYYPA)

230 160 There's definitely truth in this. I tried reading the first few chapter's of N.K. Jemison's The Fifth Season. It was garbage. Not sure how or why people like it. But it shows up near the top of a lot of lists.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 07, 2024 10:00 AM (BpYfr)

On the topic of garbage books: Youtube Shorts keeps showing me clips of some guy reading passages from "The Forth Wing" the new 'romanticy' (fantasy/romance) novel that is all the rage. But the gimmick is that the guy reads the passage while doing impressions of cartoon characters, while his girlfriend sits in the foreground dying.

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 07, 2024 10:35 AM (Lhaco)

231 212 It's a safe bet that anyone who wins the Hugo now is irredeemably "woke" and not worth reading.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper

Read the The ThreeBody Problem.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:29 AM (t/2Uw)

Obviously, there are exceptions. And Cixcin Liu was Chinese, so that was a plus to the judges, I'm sure.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024 10:35 AM (PiwSw)

232 Okay, time for Mass. Thanks again, Perfesser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 10:35 AM (llXky)

233 187 Fiction = escape from reality, entertainment, distraction

Non-fiction = reality, information, education

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM (RIvkX)

I screw that up more often than anybody I know.

This place needs an edit button. OR I could check myself better.

Posted by: Reforger at April 07, 2024 10:36 AM (B705c)

234 I'm staring at the next weighty tome on my TBR list, "The Structures of Everyday Life: Civilization and Capitalism 15th-18th Century Volume I" by Fernand Braudel.

It's been in my stacks since the 80's.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Crap, I have all three volumes, and now you are forcing me to pull them out - I got mine way back then, too

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 10:36 AM (sAeui)

235 That's another fun genre -- Alternate History.

Examples, Pavane, by Keith Roberts; The Alteration, by Kingsley Amis.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024 10:05 AM (PiwSw)

I know people like them, but I never got into alternate history. If things happened for the better, say, the Whites beat the Reds in Russia, how much misery could have been avoided? Then the world would be a nicer place, and we'd mourn because what we have doesn't compare to what we could have had if not for....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 10:36 AM (0eaVi)

236 I asked this last night but probably makes more sense here - what is the best SF novel?
Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (ibTVg)

One of my all time favorites is The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It has been described as his response to Starship Troopers, but it's more than that. A great action tale, and subtle commentary on the folly of war. Haldeman is a Vietnam vet, and it shows (in a good way.)

Posted by: NCDave at April 07, 2024 10:38 AM (GU6kw)

237 Then, someone says, "At least Trump's gone," and I tossed the novel aside.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:07 AM (omVj0)

If he can make it back in, I want him to destroy these people. Although, I know Trump's not like that.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 10:38 AM (0eaVi)

238 If he can make it back in, I want him to destroy these people. Although, I know Trump's not like that.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 10:38 AM (0eaVi)]

I'll settle for a webcam view of King the moment Trump is sworn in...

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024 10:39 AM (PiwSw)

239 About my decade of almost-only-sf reading...

During that time, the sf novel tended to run short -- a lot of 'em ran as magazine serials of 3 installments -- the Nebula awards from the SFWA classed the novel as 40,000 words and up. SF paperbacks tended to run 200 pages or a bit less. After that decade, I found I had less inclination to dive into doorstop novels, and when I've tried writing novels they top out at about 45 or 50 thousand words. I do believe that decade had some effect on my attention span and notions of literary construction. Anyone else notice anything like that in their own experience?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 07, 2024 10:40 AM (q3u5l)

240 My experience was similar to yours, Cicero, although I liked the short stories of Asimov's and Clarke equally. And then I ran into Roger B. Zelazny and fell in love with his work, especially Lord of Light.
And I had an 8th grade English teacher who had us spend a month going through Animal Farm.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 07, 2024 10:40 AM (6xrUr)

241 >>But I think its pretty clear the point of the story is "don't be like Humbert Humbert" which is the opposite message of say the recent pedo-friendly movie "Call Me By My Name"

IIRC, that was a book made into a movie glorifying grooming a teen boy.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 07, 2024 10:41 AM (6IDWi)

242 LenNeal wrote what I think is a very good short-form scifi story in the style used by authors in the 50-60s (Heinlein).

It's here:

https://tinyurl.com/3wuz963s
Posted by: pawn-(short-lived) Champion of Reality at April 07, 2024 10:07 AM (QB+5g)

He directed me to that himself. Very interesting read. I think I reviewed it somewhere. Maybe just gave my thoughts to Len.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 10:41 AM (0eaVi)

243 I remember that 1984, Animal Farm, Atlas Shrugged, and Farenheit 451 were all required reading in public school when I was enrolled.

God, how far we have fallen.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 10:41 AM (sAeui)

244 Yeah, the only banned books I can recall are The Satanic Verses and The Turner Diaries.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 07, 2024 10:42 AM (6IDWi)

245 Back when it was safe to go into Portland, I loved going on voyages of discovery in Powell's Bookstore. Looking for 'real people" historical descriptions (vs. kings and princes) I found Tents in Mongolia by Henning Haslund. Written in 1934, the story of a Swede who went into Mongolia to set up a fur trading outpost and had adventures with the local Mongols, learning their traditions (and lecturing their young men who wanted to become Westernized and communist. He thought they should at least learn and value their own history first!) It is an interesting snapshot of a vanished time, but contemporary. I don't trust far-distant historians to give a complete picture...

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 07, 2024 10:42 AM (InqhU)

246 I read "Animal Farm" and "1984" in high school. I probably didn't appreciate the quality of the writing back then but they confirmed my distrust of Communism and a too powerful government of any kind. Never felt any desire to go back to them.

I recall some classmates thinking the books were so cool but didn't have a problem with some of the political aspects. I thought they missed the point. But then I was not suited by temperment to be a Hippie.
Posted by: JTB at April 07, 2024 10:32 AM (zudum)

I read both during the Reagan years, and it was impossible not to see the practical application of the allegories to our current Cold War conditions.

However, now that we are here, it's impossible not to see how the Cold War winners are now the pigs, and are now the very thing they railed against in 1984.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 10:42 AM (pFX7H)

247 Oh yeah, also read "The Darkest Time of Night" and "The Dark Above" by Jeremy Finley, about the abduction of a boy from the woods behind his home and his subsequent discovery in an isolated town in the mountains of Colorado. The child is the grandson of a politician and it disrupts the lives of everyone in the family. It turns out the politician's wife was part of a research group investigating alien abductions.

There is, of course, a vast government conspiracy to keep the vast scope of the aliens' stealing and tampering with humans secret.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 10:42 AM (3e3hy)

248 But you must have a means of testing the validity of the information you read.

Posted by: Muldoon

Run it by Kieth Olberman?

Keith Olbermann Says RFK Jr. 'Must Be Forced to Withdraw From the Ballot'

-
To save democracy!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 07, 2024 10:42 AM (FVME7)

249 Looking at Hugo Award winners, the last author to win I've ever read was Gaiman in 2009 (and I didn't read that book) and the last winning book I've read was from...1987.

So in the mid-80s and before most of the books on the list are ones any SF reader would know and have read.

Is this like music where there has just been an explosion of alternate sources so everyone is reading different things or that the Hugo awards just went to shit at some point?

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 10:43 AM (ibTVg)

250 I have the first five Amber books in a two-volume set that I picked up for $5.00 in the mid-'80s. I didn't crack it until 2019. Still have three of the books to go.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 07, 2024 10:10 AM (Y8Btr)

Every time someone mentions Amber, I always think of that scene in the WB cartoon of the spinster sitting on the park bench reading "Amber," to mock "Forever Amber."

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 10:44 AM (0eaVi)

251 There is, of course, a vast government conspiracy to keep the vast scope of the aliens' stealing and tampering with humans secret.

If there were aliens screwing with humans our current government would:

1) Negotiate with them
2) Hide the truth

The good news is much of the government is incompetent so we'd also know for certain they were doing it.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 10:45 AM (ibTVg)

252 Finished the second volume of Toll's history of WWII in the Pacific. Just as good as the first. I also finished Far From the Madding Crowd and found it highly enjoyable although the ending is predictable. Started rereads of Fahrenheit 451, (already half-way through and it's fantastic) and Treasure Island (also excellent so far). Both are much better than I remembered from 50 years ago (more than 50 in the case of Treasure Island)
In grade school my reading was a mixed bag, then in junior high I found science fiction and that became an obsession. When that burned itself out, I read mostly non-fiction and interesting contemporary fiction that I found on the cut-out racks at various bookstores. The last thirty years I've mostly given up on contemporary fiction (with a few exceptions, I like Michael Chabon) and started reading mostly non-fiction: history and biographies mostly). I still read a fair amount of fiction but it's usually classics and rarely anything newer than the 1960s.

Posted by: who knew at April 07, 2024 10:45 AM (4I7VG)

253 IIRC, that was a book made into a movie glorifying grooming a teen boy.
Posted by: Lizzy at April 07, 2024 10:41 AM (6IDWi)

I have it on good authority that Milo was specifically cancelled for telling the lie that such things happen in real life.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 10:45 AM (pFX7H)

254 Is this like music where there has just been an explosion of alternate sources so everyone is reading different things or that the Hugo awards just went to shit at some point?

-----------

Have you followed the Newbery Awards, the Pulitzers and the Nobel Prize for Literature lately? They've all become anti-endorsements for a good read.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 07, 2024 10:46 AM (bo7UB)

255 I like biographies and autobiographies

American Caesar by William Manchester is my favorite followed by My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas.

Posted by: polynikes at April 07, 2024 10:46 AM (AIm4E)

256 Best SF novel? I'm inclined to think Ringworld by Larry Niven. An epic adventure, humor, grand world-building (a world with 3,000,000 times the surface area of the Earth!), aliens, danger, a life-threatening, fairly-clued puzzle solved at the end . . . hard to beat.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:46 AM (omVj0)

257 I got the eclipse cocktail you requested all thought out, and-

sent a recipe and picture to CBD for the Food Thread.

But, if he doesn't have the time or inclination to post it there, I'll post the recipe in the comment section.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 07, 2024 10:34 AM (nFnyb)
--//

Thanks 'Fake!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 10:46 AM (3e3hy)

258 If there were aliens screwing with humans our current government would:

1) Negotiate with them
2) Hide the truth

The good news is much of the government is incompetent so we'd also know for certain they were doing it.
Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 10:45 AM (ibTVg)

I heard someone say recently, before Trump was elected, he said he's reveal what was known about UFOs, but then after he got in, he stopped talking about it. Allegedly because he was shown some things.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 10:47 AM (pFX7H)

259 >>Is this like music where there has just been an explosion of alternate sources so everyone is reading different things or that the Hugo awards just went to shit at some point?

Nope, it went woke. There was a rebellion against it ten years ago or so led by authors Larry Correia, Saah Hoyt, and others. See: Sad Puppies

Posted by: Lizzy at April 07, 2024 10:47 AM (6IDWi)

260 I've read three of the five and Rushdie is on my list of want-to-reads. No interest in the Anarchist's cookbook.

Posted by: who knew at April 07, 2024 10:48 AM (4I7VG)

261 Have you followed the Newbery Awards, the Pulitzers and the Nobel Prize for Literature lately? They've all become anti-endorsements for a good read.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 07, 2024 10:46 AM (bo7UB)

Like the Oscars Best Picture .

Posted by: polynikes at April 07, 2024 10:48 AM (AIm4E)

262 The Hugo awards went to shit at the time of the Sad Puppy controversy. Larry Correia and Brad Torgerson were at the heart of it and wrote extensively about what happened. If you look it up on wiki you'll see a ridiculously "woke" left wing version of what transpired.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 07, 2024 10:48 AM (6xrUr)

263 53 ... "Has anyone read DosPassos?"

I did but it was a LONG time ago. Glad I don't have to write a book report because I don't remember much.

Posted by: JTB at April 07, 2024 10:49 AM (zudum)

264 33 Garrett the private investigator in the fantasy city of TunFaire ...

The ringing of the phone awoke Garrett. He looked at the now empty other side of the bed as he fumbled with the receiver and sat on the edge of the bed. He slipped on his crocs and found the two single bills peeking out from under the manbag. "So cruel, Ace."

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 10:49 AM (0eaVi)

265 Have you followed the Newbery Awards, the Pulitzers and the Nobel Prize for Literature lately? They've all become anti-endorsements for a good read.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 07, 2024 10:46 AM (bo7UB
----

I knew as a kid that seeing the Newberry Award medal on a book meant it was a multiculti spinach read. I knew it instinctively before I was even aware of the concept. Kids know.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 10:49 AM (3e3hy)

266 Simpler: there is no Best SF book because some are good, some are great, and some are outstanding.
Choosing which category a book belongs to is up to the reader.
(I intentionally left out 'some are stinkers' because I didn't want to throw shade on some of the authors I've read and regretted.)

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 07, 2024 10:50 AM (hA4MP)

267 I heard someone say recently, before Trump was elected, he said he's reveal what was known about UFOs, but then after he got in, he stopped talking about it. Allegedly because he was shown some things.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 10:47 AM (pFX7H)

------------

This all suggests a federal government that is intelligent and deliberate in the Tom Clancy mode, not the clown show we know to be the reality.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 07, 2024 10:50 AM (bo7UB)

268 The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand are the clearest modern declarations that independent thinking and individual freedom are the Devine birthright of every person.

Posted by: Queequeg the Harpooner at April 07, 2024 10:50 AM (+OnsA)

269 It may have been noted, but the Dan Simmons Hyperion series (Endymion is just a continuation) has a fourth book, The Rise of Endymion, which concludes the story. Great series.

There’s a series out ther by S. M. Stirling about the Terminator, starting from right after the second movie. Infiltrator, Rising Storm, and The Future War, all under a T2 moniker. Also good reads.

Posted by: Advo at April 07, 2024 10:50 AM (VHN21)

270 Darnit. Burned the bacon.

Actually it's not inedible, esp. mixed with scrambled eggs.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:51 AM (omVj0)

271 Have you followed the Newbery Awards, the Pulitzers and the Nobel Prize for Literature lately? They've all become anti-endorsements for a good read.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 07, 2024 10:46 AM (bo7UB)

Like the Oscars Best Picture .
Posted by: polynikes at April 07, 2024 10:48 AM (AIm4E)

Awards have always been about people in certain industries patting themselves on the back, and/or giving each other reach-arounds.

They've always been a reflection of an industry, naval-gazing, it's just that now they're all overrun by the people they are, so they look less and less like a reflection of their respective customers' tastes and opinions.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 10:51 AM (pFX7H)

272 Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 07, 2024 10:50 AM (hA4MP

I consider Armor by John Steakley the best SF book but I'm not a big reader of SF so that really means nothing.

Posted by: polynikes at April 07, 2024 10:53 AM (AIm4E)

273 I heard someone say recently, before Trump was elected, he said he's reveal what was known about UFOs, but then after he got in, he stopped talking about it. Allegedly because he was shown some things.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 10:47 AM (pFX7H)

This all suggests a federal government that is intelligent and deliberate in the Tom Clancy mode, not the clown show we know to be the reality.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 07, 2024 10:50 AM (bo7UB)

It could all be bullshit, of course. It could also mean Trump gets distracted and forgets what he says on the campaign trial. It could also be just another example of the Deep State freezing him out, whether there's any there there or not.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 10:54 AM (pFX7H)

274 >>I have it on good authority that Milo was specifically cancelled for telling the lie that such things happen in real life.

And it's a story that's been recounted again and again, as a charming coming out/coming into one's sexual identity, for decades within the gay community. For example, in The Vagina Monologues is a story about an 11 year old girl groomed by an adult lesbian - but the age was changed as this play became more popular.

But this has become one of those "It's not happening, but it's good that it is" facts only some people are allowed to talk about.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 07, 2024 10:54 AM (6IDWi)

275 In my mind, Sam Brinton and Pete Buttplug have become the avatars for government competence.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 07, 2024 10:54 AM (bo7UB)

276 Looking at Hugo Award winners, the last author to win I've ever read was Gaiman in 2009 (and I didn't read that book) and the last winning book I've read was from...1987. . . .

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024

***
Was that Gaiman's The Graveyard Book? I discovered that one by pure chance (see our mention of serendipity above) and loved it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 10:55 AM (omVj0)

277 She'd be a great 'ette, but we cuss too much.

To say nothing of the lack of pants.
Posted by: Archimedes at April 07, 2024 09:26 AM (CsUN+)

All right Archimedes! You know the rules! Go get some pants on right now.

Posted by: who knew at April 07, 2024 10:55 AM (4I7VG)

278 Obviously, there are exceptions. And Cixcin Liu was Chinese, so that was a plus to the judges, I'm sure.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper
I think you're wrong there. This book merits the Hugo. The Chinese take on sexuality in the book is completely foreign to the West's woke sensibilities. In fact, there is no sex in the books at all except for some ideal idea of love. And Chinese is not a woke minority. If anything it is the opposite.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:55 AM (t/2Uw)

279 I heard someone say recently, before Trump was elected, he said he's reveal what was known about UFOs, but then after he got in, he stopped talking about it. Allegedly because he was shown some things.

I've convinced that most of the real things people have seen in the sky are experimental aircraft/drones just like what happened with stealth tech in the 70s/80s. The government *intentionally* plays up "it must be aliens!" to hide what it really is.

I was watching several videos where people reported seeing a specific type if UFO - basically there was a light in the sky and then suddenly it split into multiple lights...then went back to one! Planes can't do that.

No...but drones can. Or drones launched from a plane.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 10:57 AM (ibTVg)

280 But this has become one of those "It's not happening, but it's good that it is" facts only some people are allowed to talk about.
Posted by: Lizzy at April 07, 2024 10:54 AM (6IDWi)

And now, a musical interlude, The Smiths "This Charming Man":

https://tinyurl.com/2x3k6f3e

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 10:57 AM (pFX7H)

281 I stopped reading SciFi about the time they started having gay sex in them. That was a turn off in Dahlgren as well as Elizabeth A Lynn's triology The Northern Girl. So went back to nonfiction.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 07, 2024 10:58 AM (yeEu9)

282 i was kicked out of a high school classroom for daring to have Fountainhead in my hands (I was reading it between classes). My English teacher was not a Rand fan, and told me either I left the book on the floor outside the room or I had to leave. Of course, disliking that sanctimonious SOB, I left (because that meant I could curl up in a comfortable chair and read).

Posted by: The Frumious Follywood at April 07, 2024 10:58 AM (9c66x)

283 The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand are the clearest modern declarations that independent thinking and individual freedom are the Devine birthright of every person.
Posted by: Queequeg the Harpooner at April 07, 2024 10:50 AM (+OnsA)

A great and often overlooked book today and an easy read compared to some of her overwrought and long stuff is "We The Living" about life in post revolutionary Russia.

Shows how as the commies came to power, the ratchet was turned tighter and tighter, even after each turn it produced failure and more failure but how the people accepted it like many do today.

Lots of Ayn having sex too but that was how she rolled.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 07, 2024 10:59 AM (R/m4+)

284 279 I was watching several videos where people reported seeing a specific type if UFO - basically there was a light in the sky and then suddenly it split into multiple lights...then went back to one! Planes can't do that.

No...but drones can. Or drones launched from a plane.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 10:57 AM
***

Drone swarms will be a standard feature in the next evolution of warfare.

Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 10:59 AM (IQ6Gq)

285 Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper
I think you're wrong there. This book merits the Hugo. The Chinese take on sexuality in the book is completely foreign to the West's woke sensibilities. In fact, there is no sex in the books at all except for some ideal idea of love. And Chinese is not a woke minority. If anything it is the opposite.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 07, 2024 10:55 AM (t/2Uw)

I didn't say I thought the books were not award-worthy -- I enjoyed reading them. I'm just making the point that the Hugo award itself has been debased.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 07, 2024 11:00 AM (PiwSw)

286 I'm an adherent to the Fermi Paradox.

And I don't believe only the government comes across wrecked alien crafts if they have happened.

Posted by: polynikes at April 07, 2024 11:00 AM (AIm4E)

287 >>People went sightseeing...during a war?

Posted by: BignJames at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM

In an airplane nicknamed The Gremlin Special.

Posted by: huerfano at April 07, 2024 11:01 AM (VGOMa)

288 Sabrina,

You might enjoy "With the Lapps in the High Mountains". Emilie Hatt goes to live with the Sami as their nomadic life is being curtailed.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 07, 2024 11:01 AM (yeEu9)

289 I knew as a kid that seeing the Newberry Award medal on a book meant it was a multiculti spinach read. I knew it instinctively before I was even aware of the concept. Kids know.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 10:49 AM (3e3hy)

"Hatchet" won a Newberry Award. I read that as a kid, and it stuck with me. The terror of how the kid got stranded, the drama of the kid surviving in the wilderness, the realizations and discoveries he made in his quest to find food and shelter.... What didn't stick with me was the kid reflecting on the divorce his parents were going through at the time. I only remembered that part of the book when I re-read it a few years ago (I bought a copy to my nephew, and read it before giving it away).

I am 90% sure the book got its award for the boring family stuff, rather than anything that made the story good or memorable...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 07, 2024 11:01 AM (Lhaco)

290 16

' I think Wokeness is consistent with the Albigensian heresy'

May Wokeness end the same way.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at April 07, 2024 11:01 AM (roH4R)

291
Drone swarms will be a standard feature in the next evolution of warfare.
Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 10:59 AM (IQ6Gq)

Read Steven Pressfield's The Profession. He does a pretty good job describing what future warfare might be like.

Posted by: polynikes at April 07, 2024 11:02 AM (AIm4E)

292 The most memorable sci-fi (although it mixes sci-fi and fantasy, sort of, it takes place millions of years in Earth's future) I've read is the four volumes of "The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe. He was an astonishing writer, with a gift for vivid description. I first read it 40 years ago, and there are still passages that I remember off the top of my head. He wrote an additional volume, "The Urth of the New Sun" at his publisher's behest (to explain some of the mysteries of the first books). It was good, but I think it spoiled the perfect symmetries of the original four.

Posted by: Disillusionist, getting moreso by the day at April 07, 2024 11:02 AM (WK6vg)

293 Even if there is intelligent life on other planets, and evn if it is a space-faring civilization, the likelihood somebody figured out faster-than-light travel is pretty much zero, and (even if somebody has), the chances they'd find our little star is even less.

It isn't aliens, whatever phenomena is in question.

Posted by: The Frumious Follywood at April 07, 2024 11:05 AM (9c66x)

294 204 People went sightseeing...during a war?
Posted by: BignJames at April 07, 2024 10:22 AM

***

The first battle of the civil war (or the war between the states if you're in the south) was at Manassas, Virginia. People came from Washington with opera glasses and picnics to spectate. They expected a quick skirmish and a conclusion to hostilities. Didn't quite turn out that way.

Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 11:05 AM (IQ6Gq)

295 Looking at the Newberry award winners the last one I read was from 1969 - Lloyd Alexander's The High King. I have never heard of most of the books/authors from the last few years.

Yes I'm not a kid any more, but the more recent entries look like crap.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 11:06 AM (ibTVg)

296 ' I think Wokeness is consistent with the Albigensian heresy'

They are both gnostic heresies.

Though historical gnostic heresies weren't as mind numbingly stupid as our current outbreak

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 11:07 AM (ibTVg)

297 291 Drone swarms will be a standard feature in the next evolution of warfare.
Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 10:59 AM (IQ6Gq)

Read Steven Pressfield's The Profession. He does a pretty good job describing what future warfare might be like.

Posted by: polynikes at April 07, 2024 11:02 AM
***
Thanks. Will do. Sounds very Mad Max with more technology.

Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 11:08 AM (IQ6Gq)

298 So, about that eclipse:

https://tinyurl.com/yjvr3m76

according to weather.com, nearly the entire path of totality is going to be under cloud cover, so expect riots in all those towns that have sold out hotel space to people that wanted to see it.

The best break in the clouds appears to be over Chicago, which will get a 90% eclipse around 2pm local time.

Posted by: Methos at April 07, 2024 11:08 AM (Dnobf)

299 The most memorable sci-fi (although it mixes sci-fi and fantasy, sort of, it takes place millions of years in Earth's future) I've read is the four volumes of "The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe.

I read all of those and one or two of his "Soldier" series, (so maybe 1500+ pages?) and I still can't decide whether or not I like him.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 07, 2024 11:09 AM (sNc8Y)

300 They expected a quick skirmish and a conclusion to hostilities. Didn't quite turn out that way.

Their fleeing on the same roads the Union soldiers needed to use caused quite a problem for their retreat.

Had the Confederacy managed to keep just a bit more cohesion after the battle they could have taken DC and much of the government right at the start of the war.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 11:09 AM (ibTVg)

301 Yay!

Another P.C. Hodgell fan.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 07, 2024 11:09 AM (a+y/U)

302 Professor, what is the title of the book by the young Muslim convert to Christianity you referenced? Thanks in advance!
Posted by: NCDave at April 07, 2024 10:29 AM (GU6kw)

I don't know if this is the book in question but I'm going through Hiding in the Light by Rifqa Bary and I've also read Defying Jihad by Esther Ahmed. Both fit the description.

Posted by: Northernlurker at April 07, 2024 11:10 AM (ewqMN)

303 The best break in the clouds appears to be over Chicago, which will get a 90% eclipse around 2pm local time.
Posted by: Methos at April 07, 2024 11:08 AM (Dnobf)

-----------

I wonder what the Vegas oddsmakers are giving as the over and under for shootings during the "bonus night."

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 07, 2024 11:11 AM (bo7UB)

304 Jerry Boyd has #45 in his "Bob's Saucer Repair" series out. Yeah, it's Space Opera, and yeah, it's not great literature that unmasks the dark side of the human condition, but I like it.

This entry has Bob and crew approaching a nice planet to set up a fallback base on, just in case the Commonwealth or the Squirrel Empire manages to push them off Earth. The planet looks good, Captain Sally having scanned the bejeebus out of it, but Bob has a feeling it looks just a little too good to be true...

Posted by: Idaho Spudby at April 07, 2024 11:12 AM (RJAZT)

305 The Perfessor writes, "For me, it was finding a copy of P.C. Hodgell's Dark of the Moon, book 2 of the Chronicles of the Kencyrath at a library book swap. I was hooked. Later, I found a copy of God Stalk (book 1) at a used book store here in town."

***
I read God Stalk many years ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. There's plenty of back story to it, but Hodgell seems to explain it well. And I admired her technique of having one scene flow into another, much like Rex Stout does with the Nero Wolfe stories in a totally different genre. Hodgell herself said GS was at core a Victorian-style novel, in which the protagonist finds herself in a world strange to her, and adapts to it with help from many of the locals.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 11:13 AM (omVj0)

306 298 according to weather.com, nearly the entire path of totality is going to be under cloud cover, so expect riots in all those towns that have sold out hotel space to people that wanted to see it.

Posted by: Methos at April 07, 2024 11:08 AM
***
Why not just reschedule on a day with better weather? So many people have bought non-refundable glasses and need pics for their social media pages. Stop keeping the people down.

Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 11:14 AM (IQ6Gq)

307 After that decade, I found I had less inclination to dive into doorstop novels, and when I've tried writing novels they top out at about 45 or 50 thousand words. I do believe that decade had some effect on my attention span and notions of literary construction. Anyone else notice anything like that in their own experience?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 07, 2024 10:40 AM (q3u5l)

My writing tends to end around 50k, except for the current one that's almost 85k and counting. It's hard to read longer works now that I'm 29. MP4's "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of" ended around 250 pages. It was a quick and easy two day read. Recently finished Sarah Hoyt's "Darkship Thieves" - I think a review will be posted here next week. It ran nearly 400 pages and it took a few sessions to read. I just get restless and can't read for long stretches as I used to. I don't think that every book needs to be 100k words, but that seems to be the style now.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 11:14 AM (0eaVi)

308 Even if there is intelligent life on other planets, and evn if it is a space-faring civilization, the likelihood somebody figured out faster-than-light travel is pretty much zero, and (even if somebody has), the chances they'd find our little star is even less.

It isn't aliens, whatever phenomena is in question.
Posted by: The Frumious Follywood at April 07, 2024 11:05 AM (9c66x)

A civilization that is advanced enough will have technology that seems impossible to us.

The simplest explanation that would make sense of alien tech though, is to assume we're being visited, not by corporeal beings, but projections of those civilizations.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:15 AM (aDhJj)

309 Well, off to carpe me some diem (not really, just a grocery run and then go see a couple of open houses). Thanks for the thread, Perfessor. See (some of) y'all later on the Gun Thread.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 07, 2024 11:17 AM (sNc8Y)

310 Why not just reschedule on a day with better weather? So many people have bought non-refundable glasses and need pics for their social media pages. Stop keeping the people down.
Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 11:14 AM (IQ6Gq)

Obviously Trump's fault.

And Russia's.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:18 AM (aDhJj)

311 Heinlein made me an addict, but I've found that the sf writers I return to most frequently these days are Silverberg, Ellison, Zelazny, and Sturgeon -- and as much for their short fiction as their novels.

On that happy note, off to deal with mundane reality.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 07, 2024 11:19 AM (q3u5l)

312 It's a safe bet that anyone who wins the Hugo now is irredeemably "woke" and not worth reading.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper

Read the The ThreeBody Problem.

Like the Shadout Mapes, I pretty much have looked upon the Hugo Award as a sure-fire way of knowing what NOT to pick up. 'The Three Body Problem' was praised by these Usual Suspects, and so I simply crossed it off the possibles list and moved right along. Judging by the praise it is receiving here on these discerning pages, I should dive in after all.

Sometimes a good story stands on it's own merits, and defies being shoved into any category. Like listening to a new record back in the day, and being surprised at both the quality and ingenuity of the music, and the fact that it somehow got past the people at the record company who were charged with seeing that all music they released was garbage.

Posted by: Brewingfrog at April 07, 2024 11:20 AM (E0Ivz)

313 289 I knew as a kid that seeing the Newberry Award medal on a book meant it was a multiculti spinach read. I knew it instinctively before I was even aware of the concept. Kids know.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at April

Wasn’t Bridge to Tarabethia a Newberry Award winner? I never saw the movie because that book really affected me in 5th grade. Maybe my first brush with enjoying a character my age who died. But I think I may get this for my daughter who is finally discovering the joy in books. She has terrible dyslexia which makes reading exhausting, small chunks at a time. She just finished My Side of the Mountain and is almost through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. For someone I was told would read on a third grade level at best, I am pretty proud of her.

Posted by: Piper at April 07, 2024 11:20 AM (ZdaMQ)

314 TRex, if you are interested in money, there are a number of writers of the Austrian perspective that discuss it - it is a principal element of the school.
Murray Rothbard has written The History of Money and Banking in the United States, which is an in depth history, I have read it and I have to read it again.
Jesus Huerta de Soto has written Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles which I have only read excerpts and articles he has published from the book. President Milei of Argentina rests a lot of his economics on Huerta de Soto

A third author is Saifedean Ammous who has written two books, one The Bitcoin standard, which tries to lay out how bitcoin works, and The Fiat Standard, which treats the current fiat currency regime to the same standard. Once again I have not read this book, only excerpts by the author

Posted by: Kindltot at April 07, 2024 11:20 AM (D7oie)

315 Those interested in exploring other planets and making humans a multi-planetary species may be interested in the update that Elon Musk gave yesterday in Boca Chica.

https://tinyurl.com/3pr7d46c

Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 11:21 AM (IQ6Gq)

316 Me recently, speaking of nonfiction:

"Fortunate Son" by John Fogerty (autobio of singer/songwriter/Creedence Clear Water founder)

"It's Not Easy Bein' Me" by Rodney Dangerfield

I found both interesting & worth reading.

Rodney omits a lot of info I would've liked to learn more about. His struggles with depression. How he avoided the draft (he was 20 when Pearl Harbor was bombed). He is forthcoming about his drug use-- mostly MJ & alcohol.

Fogerty is obsessed with music (duh), and a lot of his book is inside baseball for non-musicians like me. Like most rock stars I've read about, he's very bitter about his treatment by his first record company. He sued; the case went all the way to SCOTUS (!); and he won. 20-somethings are easy pickins for the unscrupulous. And there's a lot of unscrupulous.

Posted by: mnw at April 07, 2024 11:21 AM (NLIak)

317 >>A civilization that is advanced enough will have technology that seems impossible to us.

The simplest explanation that would make sense of alien tech though, is to assume we're being visited, not by corporeal beings, but projections of those civilizations.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:15 AM (aDhJj)
———
Yes, if modern technology was shown to people who lived 2 thousand years ago they wouldn’t be able to comprehend it and probably run away in terror. I like your idea of advanced civilizations projecting themselves here. Very cool.

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at April 07, 2024 11:22 AM (HFbEw)

318 Good morning Book Buddies and fellow Hordemates!
This week I made it thru Immortal Merlin books1 and 2 by Shelford. Stopped there. An interesting take on the Arthurian legend with Merlin still alive after 150 years. But the author makes him kinda dumb at times. It became annoying.

Posted by: Diogenes at April 07, 2024 11:23 AM (W/lyH)

319 314 TRex, if you are interested in money, there are a number of writers of the Austrian perspective that discuss it - it is a principal element of the school.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 07, 2024 11:20 AM
***
Thanks. Will add to my list for a read or refresher.

Posted by: TRex at April 07, 2024 11:24 AM (IQ6Gq)

320 Yes, if modern technology was shown to people who lived 2 thousand years ago they wouldn’t be able to comprehend it and probably run away in terror. I like your idea of advanced civilizations projecting themselves here. Very cool.
Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at April 07, 2024 11:22 AM (HFbEw)

Not my idea, of course. Makes sense to me though. Why send meat through space, when you can send whatever kinds of light projections of your civilization around the universe, looking for little backwater dumps like ours.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:25 AM (aDhJj)

321 I stopped reading SciFi about the time they started having gay sex in them. That was a turn off in Dahlgren as well as Elizabeth A Lynn's triology The Northern Girl. So went back to nonfiction.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 07, 2024 10:58 AM (yeEu9)

Heh, that weird stuff was in pulp too. I think I reviewed an older magazine story that had the main character showering with aliens, and apparently liking it. It might have been on one of the threads last year. So, it's not new. Maybe just obscured because of the times.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 11:27 AM (0eaVi)

322 I believe the well known quote is that a sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 07, 2024 11:27 AM (S6gqv)

323 For Sci-fi, I do like time travel stories, but mostly movies these days.

Posted by: Skip at April 07, 2024 11:28 AM (fwDg9)

324 I'm not saying these committees don't pick the occasional winner. But yeah, I'd bet that Liu Cixin's book made the cut because he's Chinese, apart from the merits of his book.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 11:29 AM (3e3hy)

325 The future isn't what it used to be.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at April 07, 2024 11:29 AM (63Dwl)

326 Also, I haven't read the books, but The Shrike is one of the most striking SF cover critters ever.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 11:30 AM (3e3hy)

327 I'm an adherent to the Fermi Paradox.

And I don't believe only the government comes across wrecked alien crafts if they have happened.
Posted by: polynikes at April 07, 2024 11:00 AM (AIm4E)

Correct. If aliens exist, they'd be found by regular people too. You're telling me that all governments on this planet fight among themselves and try to destroy each other, but collude in keeping aliens quiet? BS.

There are no other "people" out there.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 11:31 AM (0eaVi)

328
Data ≠ information ≠ knowledge ≠ understanding ≠ wisdom
Posted by: Muldoon at April 07, 2024 09:27 AM (991eG)

It is very important to be able to test information, which most people find difficult to do, and to accept at least the need to accept the possibility that the information that matches ones own view of the world might be incorrect.

Facts, data and sensory information is all processed by our minds into narratives that we tell ourselves about the world. It is how we interact with the world around us, Plato's shadows as it were, and it has the strength of tying us into the world and the data into a greater whole and gives us the chance to predict on the story to find possible futures, its weakness is that when we drop a stitch it requires us to unravel a lot of our preconceptions to fix it, or isolate out the bad information which is a real pain.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 07, 2024 11:31 AM (D7oie)

329 Pants are on. Time for The Outside.

Thanks for the Book Thread, Perf and peeps!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 07, 2024 11:32 AM (3e3hy)

330 I believe the well known quote is that a sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Posted by: Tom Servo at April 07, 2024 11:27 AM (S6gqv)

It's also true to say the tension that exists between science and religion is due to the fact that religion tends to explain the unexplainable by faith, and science tends to explore those unexplained phenomena until they can be sufficiently explained.

Both are capable of making errors, but generally in opposite directions. One of modern world's greatest follies though, is using the jargon and structure of science in the manner of religion, to the point where in many cases they are indistinguishable.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:32 AM (aDhJj)

331 I've spent a fair amount of time at the Bull Run battlefields.
Sitting under the shade of a tree it's pretty common to look up and see a huge jet on it's way in to Dulles airport. They seem to be almost suspended in the sky and at first glance not even moving.
So what would a soldier have thought, sitting in that exact same spot 160 years ago? Monster? Huge bird? Flying dinosaur? Hallucination?

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 07, 2024 11:33 AM (dg+HA)

332 For Sci-fi, I do like time travel stories, but mostly movies these days.
Posted by: Skip at April 07, 2024

I think "Up by his bootstraps" and "All you zombies" by Heinlein are two of the best time travel stories ever. Both play with all of the inherent paradoxes in the concept.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 07, 2024 11:33 AM (S6gqv)

333 We had to read all the banned books in my Catholic HS AP English. Been there done that.
I am rereading The Expanse series. I am really not interested in sci-fi but this series reminded me so much of Firefly tore through all of the books.

Posted by: Megthered at April 07, 2024 11:34 AM (BolxK)

334 Correct. If aliens exist, they'd be found by regular people too. You're telling me that all governments on this planet fight among themselves and try to destroy each other, but collude in keeping aliens quiet? BS.

There are no other "people" out there.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 11:31 AM (0eaVi)

Ever see a nature show? Animals being observed in their natural habitat, and with cameras set up all over the place, the animals behave as if they don't know they're being observed.

Because they don't!

Their brains aren't capable of comprehending what we're doing, and when some stupid cameraman gets himself eaten by some critter, or at least having his camera broken, it's because he wasn't bright enough to not outsmart the animal being observed.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:37 AM (aDhJj)

335 The simplest explanation that would make sense of alien tech though, is to assume we're being visited, not by corporeal beings, but projections of those civilizations.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:15 AM (aDhJj)
=================
The simplest explanation is that life and civilization is far too fleeting to accomplish anything like science fiction.

I grew up on Isaac Asimov, Philip Dick and Robert Heinlein, so I love the idea, but SMOD is far more likely than visits from aliens.

Posted by: The Frumious Follywood at April 07, 2024 11:39 AM (Hwxm3)

336 We had to read all the banned books in my Catholic HS AP English. Been there done that.
I am rereading The Expanse series. I am really not interested in sci-fi but this series reminded me so much of Firefly tore through all of the books.
Posted by: Megthered at April 07, 2024 11:34 AM (BolxK)

Back in the day, the Catholic newspaper would publish movie "reviews," which were nothing more than statements about the relative moral objectionability of the various films on offer.

It was often used by teens and older folk to find the films worth watching.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:39 AM (aDhJj)

337 Ever see a nature show? Animals being observed in their natural habitat, and with cameras set up all over the place, the animals behave as if they don't know they're being observed.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:37 AM (aDhJj)

That's what they want you to think.

Posted by: BignJames at April 07, 2024 11:42 AM (AwYPR)

338 The simplest explanation is that life and civilization is far too fleeting to accomplish anything like science fiction.

I grew up on Isaac Asimov, Philip Dick and Robert Heinlein, so I love the idea, but SMOD is far more likely than visits from aliens.
Posted by: The Frumious Follywood at April 07, 2024 11:39 AM (Hwxm3)

It's not an either/or. You don't have to believe in either religion or science fiction.

In fact, you don't have to believe in science fiction at all. You merely have to be open to the possibility the universe contains more than we currently know.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:43 AM (aDhJj)

339 SpaceX - Falcon 9 - Bandwagon-1 - LC-39A -
Kennedy Space Center - Space Affairs Live
Scheduled for Apr 7, 2024
SpaceX is targeting Sunday, April 7 at 7:16 p.m. EDT, 23:16 UTC (01:16 CEST - April

for a Falcon 9 launch of the Bandwagon-1 mission to orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If needed, there is a backup opportunity on Monday, April 8, at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/live/A6K81DMn2e8

Posted by: Ciampino - ROCKET SCIENCE on the go #01 at April 07, 2024 11:44 AM (qfLjt)

340 That's what they want you to think.
Posted by: BignJames at April 07, 2024 11:42 AM (AwYPR)

I had somebody the other day try to explain to me that his dog was able to tell when he was coming home, by some form of magic/extra-sensory perception he doesn't quite understand.

Ok. I'm sure that's it.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:44 AM (aDhJj)

341 Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:37 AM (aDhJj)

I understand what you're saying, but these reports are of things we have supposedly found, and the gov'ts know the truth, but keep from us, even though they can't keep any other secrets. How can they keep that one? Because in my view, there are no other people out there. I believe everything seen, is the result of testing tech, not extraterrestrial origins.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 11:45 AM (0eaVi)

342 Ok. I'm sure that's it.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:44 AM (aDhJj)

My cats can tell time...feeding time, anyway.

Posted by: BignJames at April 07, 2024 11:47 AM (AwYPR)

343 >>>It's not an either/or. You don't have to believe in either religion or science fiction.

In fact, you don't have to believe in science fiction at all. You merely have to be open to the possibility the universe contains more than we currently know.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:43 AM (aDhJj)
______
Indeed, how much do we know about the far depths of the benthic oceans? Not very much, we probably know more about the surface of the moon. Remember the Coelacanth, thought to be extinct and whoops, we just hauled one aboard.

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at April 07, 2024 11:49 AM (HFbEw)

344 Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

Posted by: Hitchhiker's guide to the universe at April 07, 2024 11:51 AM (dg+HA)

345 Remember the Coelacanth, thought to be extinct and whoops, we just hauled one aboard.

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at April 07, 2024 11:49 AM (HFbEw)

Wollemi Pine

Posted by: BignJames at April 07, 2024 11:51 AM (AwYPR)

346 Two last comments.
To those talking about unread Braudel, read them. They are long, dense and fantastic. I read them back in the 80s but not since.

I read Dos Passos' USA trilogy in the 70s and liked it quite a bit. My memory of it has faded but I remember that when I read E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime I thought he was influenced by
doe Passos. More recently I read his travel writings and was disappointed.

Posted by: who knew at April 07, 2024 11:52 AM (4I7VG)

347 You merely have to be open to the possibility the universe contains more than we currently know.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:43 AM (aDhJj)
===============
Science fiction (or even, science itself) isn't a religion. "Faith" has nothing to do with it.

Through earth's short history as a planet many species have already come and gone, as will humans in time, and (maybe) even the earth itself. Unless humans can somehow fulfill Musk's vision of becoming multi-planetary, that will happen to our species too.

Even if aliens exist, or ever existed, and even if physics finally finds a way to allow interdimensional or faster-than-light travel, alien civilizations (like earth civilization) are probably too quickly gone to accomplish space travel between star systems.

Posted by: The Frumious Follywood at April 07, 2024 11:54 AM (MihLe)

348 I understand what you're saying, but these reports are of things we have supposedly found, and the gov'ts know the truth, but keep from us, even though they can't keep any other secrets. How can they keep that one? Because in my view, there are no other people out there. I believe everything seen, is the result of testing tech, not extraterrestrial origins.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 11:45 AM (0eaVi)

Obviously that's a reasonable conclusion. However, the statement you've made, that government can't keep other secrets, is generally false. They do keep other secrets, quite well, and one way they keep them is to compartmentalize who knows what, as well as flooding the zone with false information that keeps anyone from solidifying around the truth.

We've seen more and more of these things get revealed recently, by various means. Think of the Libyan embassy story. It seems like the kind of thing that would have been accepted at face value, except changes in how information gets spread revealed the truth pretty quickly. Or think about the Dan Rather/CBS fake documents about W's military record.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:54 AM (aDhJj)

349 >>> 89 There are 1.4 billion people in China who are denied free access to The Bible.

Posted by: Northernlurker at April 07, 2024 09:44 AM (ewqMN)
---
They can go to the Patriotic Catholic Church, whose priests will share your confessions with the Party and who Pope Francis declared to be legitimate and in full communion with Rome, even as Cardinal Zen was sitting in prison.

I find it funny that they are effectively announced candidates to replace him already gathering support by promising to overturn everything he has done. That's got to sting.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 07, 2024 09:47 AM (llXky)

That could never happen here and if it did it would be good.

Posted by: leftists at April 07, 2024 11:54 AM (llON8)

350 I did read not long ago Restaurant at the end of the Universe, the sequel to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Posted by: Skip at April 07, 2024 11:55 AM (fwDg9)

351 You merely have to be open to the possibility the universe contains more than we currently know.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:43 AM (aDhJj)
===============
Science fiction (or even, science itself) isn't a religion. "Faith" has nothing to do with it.

Posted by: The Frumious Follywood at April 07, 2024 11:54 AM (MihLe)

That's not what I said.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:55 AM (aDhJj)

352 I've seen a number of trail camera videos and it isn't terribly uncommon for animals to notice the cameras. Eventually they grow board and move on but they do notice them...they just can't comprehend what the camera is doing.

OTOH I have seen monkeys and the like that seem to understand video/pictures.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 11:56 AM (ibTVg)

353 But today we know that we don't know so advanced technology wouldn't be a surprise at all. In fact we expect it.

Posted by: polynikes at April 07, 2024 11:56 AM (AIm4E)

354 Indeed, how much do we know about the far depths of the benthic oceans? Not very much, we probably know more about the surface of the moon. Remember the Coelacanth, thought to be extinct and whoops, we just hauled one aboard.
Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at April 07, 2024 11:49 AM (HFbEw)

Right, and everyone knows all the alien tech is buried under the ice in Antarctica.

No but seriously, it seems to me we're still trying to understand the octopus. They seem to be much much smarter than we previously realized. I can't begin to imagine what is down in the oceans that we've decided can't possibly be there.

The science is settled.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 12:00 PM (aDhJj)

355 We've seen more and more of these things get revealed recently, by various means. Think of the Libyan embassy story. It seems like the kind of thing that would have been accepted at face value, except changes in how information gets spread revealed the truth pretty quickly. Or think about the Dan Rather/CBS fake documents about W's military record.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 11:54 AM (aDhJj)

They can, but not forever, as the stuff eventually gets revealed. When was Roswell? Late 40s, early 50s? Yet, no one has been able to prove what happened or expose real alien bodies and crafts. It would have leaked by now with all the fmr gov workers saying it's real. Why no proof?

When I see the deep space photos from Hubble and JW, I think. Wow, I wonder what's out there, not who. Good discussion, though.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 12:01 PM (0eaVi)

356 I've seen a number of trail camera videos and it isn't terribly uncommon for animals to notice the cameras. Eventually they grow board and move on but they do notice them...they just can't comprehend what the camera is doing.

OTOH I have seen monkeys and the like that seem to understand video/pictures.
Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 11:56 AM (ibTVg)

I heard the other day one of the problems occurring on African safaris is the big cats, particularly leopards, are beginning to realize people and cars are not one entity, and are trying to get in them.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 12:02 PM (aDhJj)

357 Interdimensional travel, a la Stargate, to my mind, is more interesting a possibility than star system travel.

Posted by: The Frumious Follywood at April 07, 2024 12:02 PM (FMAAN)

358 (insert sad face here)

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor. Another whole week to wait....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 12:02 PM (0eaVi)

359 Another candidate for best SF novel, to me, is Stephen King's 11/22/63. Time travel, though with a catch (every trip back is a reset, and you always start on the same day in Sept.of 195

; a detailed exploration of that long-dead late Fifties-early Sixties world, so that you live it along with the hero; a love story, suspense, you name it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 12:03 PM (omVj0)

360 They can, but not forever, as the stuff eventually gets revealed. When was Roswell? Late 40s, early 50s? Yet, no one has been able to prove what happened or expose real alien bodies and crafts. It would have leaked by now with all the fmr gov workers saying it's real. Why no proof?

When I see the deep space photos from Hubble and JW, I think. Wow, I wonder what's out there, not who. Good discussion, though.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 07, 2024 12:01 PM (0eaVi)

One thing people "know" is that the assassinations in the 60s were committed by lone gunmen.

Even though the truth has been revealed in some ways, that it SHOULD be virtually impossible for people to continue to believe those narratives.

The government doesn't have to hide everything. Things can be revealed, over time. Sometimes truth hides in plain sight.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 07, 2024 12:04 PM (aDhJj)

361 Time to handle some chores, folk. Great book thread again, as usual!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 07, 2024 12:05 PM (omVj0)

362 They can, but not forever, as the stuff eventually gets revealed. When was Roswell? Late 40s, early 50s? Yet, no one has been able to prove what happened or expose real alien bodies and crafts. It would have leaked by now with all the fmr gov workers saying it's real. Why no proof?

Micheal Hiser argued that there were two things going on in Roswell.

1) The government was working on a nuclear explosion detector balloon and this is what "crashed". Remember that is how the US detected the first Soviet nuclear tests so we had working tech two years later...

2) The US was testing the effects of radiation by exposing corpses to it and this is the "alien" that a few people claimed to have seen. Note the US government got caught doing this same sort of testing a few years at another site.

So why does the US government keeping making dumb public statements about it to encourage people to think it is aliens? Well they like the aliens theme to cover up modern tech but also they don't want to admit another example of the radiation experimentation.

I find Hiser's argument pretty compelling.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 07, 2024 12:07 PM (ibTVg)

363 Nood

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 07, 2024 12:08 PM (N+fj3)

364 My non fiction this week was Frank Murphy's The Luck of the Draw about his time as a B-17 navigator and POW in Luft Stalag lll, were he witnessed The Great Escape from British compound. Besides the account of his 21 missions and POW life, Murphy shared his letters to and from his family and included the stories of some of his fellow 100th bomb group members. Although I haven't seen it he is portrayed in the series Masters of the Air.
The appendix includes info on missions, planes, and personal of the 100th Bomb group.

Posted by: Cosda at April 07, 2024 12:09 PM (AYhr7)

365 https://tinyurl.com/3b899865

Book 3 in my series comes out in two weeks!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at April 07, 2024 12:15 PM (asXVI)

366 Reminds me of Georgian aristocrats ordering books by the foot for their new country estate.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

--

To be fair, back then books were really really expensive- mainly because paper was so expensive- so those books were more of a "see how much money I have" rather than "see how intellectual I am" symbol

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 12:24 PM (Ka3bZ)

367 Book 3 in my series comes out in two weeks!
Posted by: moviegique

CONGRATS!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 07, 2024 12:40 PM (fPaY0)

368 Thanks, Vmom!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at April 07, 2024 12:53 PM (asXVI)

369 “ One such instance occurred years ago, when I was perusing the 50-cents-a-book racks at the main public library in Richmond, Virginia. I bought a work of historical fiction entitled A Sailor of Austria, by John Biggins, based largely on the information on the dustjacket, and the intriguing topic: the Austro-Hungarian Navy. I embarked on a delightful journey of discovery as I read of the adventures of Otto Prohaska, a captain in the Austro-Hungarian submarine service in WWI. I went on to acquire all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed them all. A great pay-off for an initial investment of only 50 cents.

Posted by: Paco at March 31, 2024 09:48 AM (njExo)”

This might be a good companion book to the von Trapp story, as Captain von Trapp was a submarine captain during WWI. We hear so much about Maria, but little about him. The Captain was from Trieste, IIRC, and died of lung cancer. Maria attributed his lung cancer not only to his smoking, but also to the fact the submarines were poorly ventilated and the crew constantly inhaled diesel fumes.

Posted by: March Hare at April 07, 2024 01:40 PM (GyTRH)

370 In the Otto Prohaska books Captain Prohaska refers to von Trapp as an old comrade (though he never actually appears in the stories).

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at April 07, 2024 01:58 PM (jjfDF)

371 Poor Moose Dung, hope he's enjoying hell.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (R/m4+)

Posted by: Mao at April 07, 2024 05:40 PM (e0dkU)

372 371 Poor Moose Dung, hope he's enjoying hell.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 07, 2024 09:49 AM (R/m4+)

Posted by: Mao at April 07, 2024 05:40 PM (e0dkU)

There’s nothing to do here but eat, sleep and shit.

Posted by: Mao at April 07, 2024 05:40 PM (e0dkU)

373 Funny how the banned-books lists and the banned-book events at public libraries never mention the most-banned book worldwide. It has been outright banned or heavily restricted in every communist country. And it is the only book that the U.S Supreme Court (in 1962!) has called out by name as banned from being read by any public school teacher at the beginning of any school day. If a teacher in the U.S. tried reading from this book to his or her class, that teacher would be fired immediately. Maybe you can guess the name of this book.

Posted by: bradc at April 07, 2024 08:56 PM (Wyhmc)

374 My library is probably 80 percent nonfiction and 20 percent fiction. I originally gravitated to history and biography in order to find out how the world works and why. Recently, I have moved to reading much more fiction, as an escape from how the world is now.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 07, 2024 09:13

I'm late to the thread, always am it seems, but this struck me as I'm similar in some respects. I usually have the news on TV in the background. Lately I find myself looking around for something historical to put on.

Jules has pretty much given up on the news as she just finds it too much of a bummer. Yet she watches all kinds of things like all the crap on Sean Diddy Combs lately.

Go figure, to each his own.
(And his is a long accepted term for all humanity. Nothing sexist about it despite the leftist loons that want to control our language. Which brings us back to Orwell's 1984.)

Posted by: Farmer at April 08, 2024 12:40 AM (55Qr6)

375 Maybe you can guess the name of this book.
Posted by: bradc at April 07, 2024 08:56

Mayyyyybeee the Bible!
(said in ChurchLady's voice.)

Posted by: Farmer at April 08, 2024 01:02 AM (55Qr6)

376 Know I'm coming to this a couple days late, but can't help chiming in when I see one of my old college haunts featured on the Book Thread.

I bought plenty of pulp sci-fi books during Eclipse's periodic sales, most of which I gave away to friends, or re-sold and don't really remember. They had a "buy 10, get one free" deal that hooked me and my meagre student aid budget good. Someone in town was a Poul Anderson and Anne Rice fan, because I bought a whole box of them after getting back early from winter break.

Thanks for the memory, Perfessor!

Posted by: Stewed Hamm at April 08, 2024 09:04 PM (PF6Lx)

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