Happy Atheist Forum

General => Media => Topic started by: Arturo on March 15, 2017, 11:02:09 PM

Title: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on March 15, 2017, 11:02:09 PM
I've been watching a lot of TV, movies, and YouTube for awhile and I think I am burned out. So I decided to read. Here's what I'm reading; what about you?

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Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2017, 12:52:09 AM
How We Learn - any good?
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on March 16, 2017, 01:38:19 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2017, 12:52:09 AM
How We Learn - any good?

I haven't gotten to that one yet because the swoley Bible is due back at the library sooner than the other two. I will tell you what I make of it though once I get into it.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Davin on March 16, 2017, 04:45:22 PM
The most recent books I read and am going to read.
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FbY7rQa4.png&hash=0beb4768e03b6783c1265fe5b51c78368cae23f8)

I was reading at a fast pace last year to catch up on my book queue, now that I have caught up, I slowed down so that I could spend more time on my game queue.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2017, 09:59:48 PM
Quote from: Davin on March 16, 2017, 04:45:22 PM
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Wow Davin, I'm truly impressed. I wish I was that systematic.  :P
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Davin on March 17, 2017, 04:04:23 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2017, 09:59:48 PM
Quote from: Davin on March 16, 2017, 04:45:22 PM
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Wow Davin, I'm truly impressed. I wish I was that systematic.  :P
It's a bit sad I think. It's how I have to function if I want to be efficient and still have enough time to veg out when I need to. Meanwhile, everyone else seems to get by just fine without all that extra work.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on March 17, 2017, 04:48:48 PM
Well, I think it's just a tad sad myself - but I am also impressed.

Also, since you seem to like several of my favourite authors, you have also given me some ideas for future reading.

Currently I'm into Chris Nuttall's Bookworm IV. Nuttall is inventive but tends to repeat too many things too often, I know that thunder is usually "high overhead" and that rain comes from "high overhead", don't need both statements in the same sentence - and several other occurrences of the same phrase elsewhere!

Actually this is a writing error other sci-fi and fantasy ebook writers suffer, I only need to be told, "... HUD (Head Up Display) ..." once, I can remember the next twenty times he looks into his "HUD (Head Up Display)".

Is this because so few ebook writers get their work proofread, let alone edited, by someone who has half an idea how to do those jobs? Have volunteered a couple of times but no takers so far! Thought it might be a way of getting freebie books - I cannot read without prooreading and my fingers itch to edit.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Davin on March 17, 2017, 05:08:06 PM
Yeah, I have lists for almost everything. I like google docs so that I can access them from any device anywhere, also, I like googles note app for the same reasons.

I'll have to check out Nuttall, I haven't read anything by that author.

When the author repeats things too often, it also bugs me. I read Atom my Laurence Krauss, and while I thought it was a great book, I felt like he jumped around between the future, past and present too much. But at least I can understand why he was doing it, he tended to repeat things to clarify things, even though I think it was a bit too much repeating information.

For that HUD thing, I think they were worried a bit much about their audience. For self published authors, they have less control about who their audience might be, so many try to accommodate for the lowest common denominator. On the other hand, there was a book I read a few years ago that made use of several acronyms and only explained them once and even by context it was tough to read through. Though a bit better than reading a Clockwork Orange with all that "slang."

Publishers also tend to pay editors more, so they get "better' editors, for self published authors, editors don't often make too much, so you tend to get editors that may not be as good or just has less experience. That seems to be changing though.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Biggus Dickus on March 17, 2017, 05:20:46 PM
Quote from: Davin on March 17, 2017, 04:04:23 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2017, 09:59:48 PM
Quote from: Davin on March 16, 2017, 04:45:22 PM
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FbY7rQa4.png&hash=0beb4768e03b6783c1265fe5b51c78368cae23f8)

Wow Davin, I'm truly impressed. I wish I was that systematic.  :P
It's a bit sad I think. It's how I have to function if I want to be efficient and still have enough time to veg out when I need to. Meanwhile, everyone else seems to get by just fine without all that extra work.

I know exactly what you mean Davin as I have the same or similar systematic hangups as you. I mean I want to be efficient, but also romantic, and sometimes just laze around and sleep afterwards; not feel so compelled to update my spreadsheet all the fucking time. :'(
Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Magdalena on March 17, 2017, 05:49:21 PM
Quote from: Father Bruno on March 17, 2017, 05:20:46 PM
Quote from: Davin on March 17, 2017, 04:04:23 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2017, 09:59:48 PM
Quote from: Davin on March 16, 2017, 04:45:22 PM
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FbY7rQa4.png&hash=0beb4768e03b6783c1265fe5b51c78368cae23f8)

Wow Davin, I'm truly impressed. I wish I was that systematic.  :P
It's a bit sad I think. It's how I have to function if I want to be efficient and still have enough time to veg out when I need to. Meanwhile, everyone else seems to get by just fine without all that extra work.

I know exactly what you mean Davin as I have the same or similar systematic hangups as you. I mean I want to be efficient, but also romantic, and sometimes just laze around and sleep afterwards; not feel so compelled to update my spreadsheet all the fucking time. :'(
Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

This is funny.  :lol:
Condenado Padre Bruno!  :smileshake:
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on March 17, 2017, 05:52:50 PM
Quote from: Davin on March 17, 2017, 05:08:06 PM
Yeah, I have lists for almost everything. I like google docs so that I can access them from any device anywhere, also, I like googles note app for the same reasons.

I'll have to check out Nuttall, I haven't read anything by that author.

When the author repeats things too often, it also bugs me. I read Atom my Laurence Krauss, and while I thought it was a great book, I felt like he jumped around between the future, past and present too much. But at least I can understand why he was doing it, he tended to repeat things to clarify things, even though I think it was a bit too much repeating information.

For that HUD thing, I think they were worried a bit much about their audience. For self published authors, they have less control about who their audience might be, so many try to accommodate for the lowest common denominator. On the other hand, there was a book I read a few years ago that made use of several acronyms and only explained them once and even by context it was tough to read through. Though a bit better than reading a Clockwork Orange with all that "slang."

Publishers also tend to pay editors more, so they get "better' editors, for self published authors, editors don't often make too much, so you tend to get editors that may not be as good or just has less experience. That seems to be changing though.

I offered to edit just for the free books! But that is an old retired guy who does not need the money taking potential paying work from someone who does.

Not ethical.

I did think of the reader's "attention span/memory" thing in some of the repeats but HUD pops up so often these days, just about every space marine and future techie has one! The acronym stuff is bad writing IMHO, no matter how good the story; unless they spell a word, especially a funny word, that the reader can latch onto.

Niall Teasdale is another very inventive writer who, for me, spoiled his "Thaumatology" series with blocks of several pages of very graphic  lesbian, s&m and menage a trois adolescent wet-dream sex. Repetitive and boring in the end but always contains things vital to the story. Skip them and get confused later.

I am just an old pedant.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dragonia on March 17, 2017, 07:15:01 PM
Ha ha, Davin, that is an awesome spreadsheet,  I'm very impressed by your organization. I too have a reading  list, but it's just in my notes and it's kind of a mess.
And Father Bruno, hilarious.... I guess one can't be TOO organized! After all, to know where you want to go, it helps to know where you've been.  :smug:
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on March 17, 2017, 07:42:27 PM
Quote from: Father Bruno on March 17, 2017, 05:20:46 PM
Quote from: Davin on March 17, 2017, 04:04:23 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2017, 09:59:48 PM
Quote from: Davin on March 16, 2017, 04:45:22 PM
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FbY7rQa4.png&hash=0beb4768e03b6783c1265fe5b51c78368cae23f8)

Wow Davin, I'm truly impressed. I wish I was that systematic.  :P
It's a bit sad I think. It's how I have to function if I want to be efficient and still have enough time to veg out when I need to. Meanwhile, everyone else seems to get by just fine without all that extra work.

I know exactly what you mean Davin as I have the same or similar systematic hangups as you. I mean I want to be efficient, but also romantic, and sometimes just laze around and sleep afterwards; not feel so compelled to update my spreadsheet all the fucking time. :'(
Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.


I may need a new keyboard. :rofl:
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Davin on March 17, 2017, 08:13:40 PM
(https://media.giphy.com/media/13ZHjidRzoi7n2/giphy.gif)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on March 18, 2017, 01:03:59 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2017, 12:52:09 AM
How We Learn - any good?

It's fucking fascinating. I think I found my calling in life. It's talking about memory first off. And second, you know that girl I go on about sometimes? She has short term memory loss which this book talks about in the first chapter. xSPx you gotta learn me some of that neuroscience right NOW!
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on March 19, 2017, 12:26:11 PM
Quote from: Arturo on March 18, 2017, 01:03:59 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2017, 12:52:09 AM
How We Learn - any good?

It's fucking fascinating. I think I found my calling in life. It's talking about memory first off. And second, you know that girl I go on about sometimes? She has short term memory loss which this book talks about in the first chapter. xSPx you gotta learn me some of that neuroscience right NOW!

:grin: A convert!

Neuroscience is fascinating. Two books I enjoyed very much are Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior (https://www.amazon.com.br/Subliminal-Your-Unconscious-Rules-Behavior/dp/0307472256) and Sleights of Mind (http://www.sleightsofmind.com/). They don't have to do with memory per se, but there are plenty of scientific papers and textbooks regarding that topic. :grin:

One book to get started on the topic of memory is the Nobel prize winner Kandel's In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind (https://www.amazon.com.br/Search-Memory-Emergence-Science-Mind/dp/0393329372). I haven't read it myself, but the guy is basically a pioneer in the field and very well respected.

Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on March 19, 2017, 04:52:21 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 19, 2017, 12:26:11 PM
Quote from: Arturo on March 18, 2017, 01:03:59 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2017, 12:52:09 AM
How We Learn - any good?

It's fucking fascinating. I think I found my calling in life. It's talking about memory first off. And second, you know that girl I go on about sometimes? She has short term memory loss which this book talks about in the first chapter. xSPx you gotta learn me some of that neuroscience right NOW!

:grin: A convert!

Neuroscience is fascinating. Two books I enjoyed very much are Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior (https://www.amazon.com.br/Subliminal-Your-Unconscious-Rules-Behavior/dp/0307472256) and Sleights of Mind (http://www.sleightsofmind.com/). They don't have to do with memory per se, but there are plenty of scientific papers and textbooks regarding that topic. :grin:

One book to get started on the topic of memory is the Nobel prize winner Kandel's In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind (https://www.amazon.com.br/Search-Memory-Emergence-Science-Mind/dp/0393329372). I haven't read it myself, but the guy is basically a pioneer in the field and very well respected.

Great! I was looking into subconscious mind power when I came across these books. Fucking great shit.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: hermes2015 on March 19, 2017, 05:38:31 PM
For you music lovers, I can recommend Eric Siblin's The Cello Suites. I am halfway through it now and love the way he uses the structure of Bach's cello suites to introduce biographical details of Pablo Casals, and J, S. Bach himself, while describing his own discovery of the cello suites.

I also urge everyone here to give the suites a try - some of my all-time favourite pieces (does this belong here or in the What Are You Listening To thread?)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: solidsquid on March 20, 2017, 11:16:03 PM
For a class I'm taking this semester.  Text is decent but quite basic, not a lot of detail.  Instructor is very disorganized.  No worries though, I'm switching programs in the fall anyhow.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CdqT7C9-L._SX367_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on March 21, 2017, 02:55:37 AM
Quote from: solidsquid on March 20, 2017, 11:16:03 PM
For a class I'm taking this semester.  Text is decent but quite basic, not a lot of detail.  Instructor is very disorganized.  No worries though, I'm switching programs in the fall anyhow.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CdqT7C9-L._SX367_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

What exactly is this for? I read some of the wiki, just says it's techniques for process improvement. I assume it's for engineering?
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on March 21, 2017, 07:10:28 AM
Quote from: Arturo on March 21, 2017, 02:55:37 AM
Quote from: solidsquid on March 20, 2017, 11:16:03 PM
For a class I'm taking this semester.  Text is decent but quite basic, not a lot of detail.  Instructor is very disorganized.  No worries though, I'm switching programs in the fall anyhow.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CdqT7C9-L._SX367_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

What exactly is this for? I read some of the wiki, just says it's techniques for process improvement. I assume it's for engineering?
QuoteSix Sigma (sometimes stylized as 6σ) is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement. It was introduced by engineer Bill Smith while working at Motorola in 1986.[1][2] Jack Welch made it central to his business strategy at General Electric in 1995.[3] Today, it is used in many industrial sectors.[4]

It seeks to improve the quality of the output of a process by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, mainly empirical, statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has specific value targets, for example: reduce process cycle time, reduce pollution, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits.

Wiki (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma)

Sounds a bit like when I improved a process and almost eliminated rework by simply adding a cheap rubber O-ring as a spacer and using an exact length of solder (and a pair of tweezers) to attach two components together. They had been making this item for 20 years with a 40% first time failure rate on testing! Then I rewrote the manufacturing instructions and rededigned the test results sheet (simplifying the maths) so that even a non-chemist (like me) could cope with it.

The courses cost about £2500 over here, guessing they concentrate mainly on ways to look at things and some form of "lateral-" or "out of the box-" thinking.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Davin on March 21, 2017, 02:13:22 PM
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FZKAN9K7.gif&hash=b37323823d589ff20708140506dd7757b67f471a)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on March 21, 2017, 02:42:14 PM
Looking at Six Sigma again, Arturo, looks like it should be applicable to all "systems", accounting, engineering, selling, servicing, even cooking and councelling!

As I said, more a way of observing and thinking - one more step in the history of people revamping old ideas to try to make money out of them. I still have a copy of Edward de Bono's "Lateral Thinking" from the late 60s. They say he invented "lateral thinking" but I would say that he merely attached a catchy name to something that people have done since we started thinking. There is often more than one way to look at things and not all solutions are logical at first sight - intuition, hunches, oddball mental associations etc. are very important.

My favourite word, "serendipity" - the fortuitous accident - has often also been beneficial. But you have to be able to spot the fortuosity, the serendipity, in the first place. Not just cuss 'cos you broke the damn thing again and chuck it in the bin!
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on March 21, 2017, 05:29:35 PM
Quote from: Gloucester on March 21, 2017, 02:42:14 PM
Looking at Six Sigma again, Arturo, looks like it should be applicable to all "systems", accounting, engineering, selling, servicing, even cooking and councelling!
I didn't know that it would be useful in all those fields. I wonder if this is just a western practice then? They do things very differently in places like, say, Japan for instance.

QuoteAs I said, more a way of observing and thinking - one more step in the history of people revamping old ideas to try to make money out of them. I still have a copy of Edward de Bono's "Lateral Thinking" from the late 60s. They say he invented "lateral thinking" but I would say that he merely attached a catchy name to something that people have done since we started thinking. There is often more than one way to look at things and not all solutions are logical at first sight - intuition, hunches, oddball mental associations etc. are very important.
Yeah being able to easily identify things helps your short term memory. So if you ever want to remember some process, give it a catchy name.


QuoteMy favourite word, "serendipity" - the fortuitous accident - has often also been beneficial. But you have to be able to spot the fortuosity, the serendipity, in the first place. Not just cuss 'cos you broke the damn thing again and chuck it in the bin!
I see where you are going now. It helps to count the positives yes. That helps us out a whole lot in the long run. There is something I read about the subconscious mind that I think could be of use here. To be able to use your subconscious to make something happen, let's say, you tell yourself it it over and over for a few minutes and then stop and move on to breakfast or some shit. This puts it to your subconscious and you make things happen without much effort. So if you want to notice the serpendipity, tell yourself that you notice it like some Buddhist Monk trying to reach enlightenment.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on March 21, 2017, 05:42:06 PM
Hmm, I think thst a "frame of mind" is sometimes more important than any specialist knowledge. I am a technician at heart, like digging into the gubbins, but my "frame of mind" allows me to be flexible in many other areas. Like setting up a library and archive in an area, inland waterways, that I have never had experience of before.

It is often not only the nitty gritty, the specialist techniques, that are important, there are things that bridge disparate areas.

Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on March 21, 2017, 05:51:30 PM
Quote from: Gloucester on March 21, 2017, 05:42:06 PM
Hmm, I think thst a "frame of mind" is sometimes more important than any specialist knowledge. I am a technician at heart, like digging into the gubbins, but my "frame of mind" allows me to be flexible in many other areas. Like setting up a library and archive in an area, inland waterways, that I have never had experience of before.

It is often not only the nitty gritty, the specialist techniques, that are important, there are things that bridge disparate areas.

I should look into that then. I feel everything I know is centered in it's own category.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: solidsquid on March 21, 2017, 11:02:19 PM
Quote from: Arturo on March 21, 2017, 02:55:37 AM
Quote from: solidsquid on March 20, 2017, 11:16:03 PM
For a class I'm taking this semester.  Text is decent but quite basic, not a lot of detail.  Instructor is very disorganized.  No worries though, I'm switching programs in the fall anyhow.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CdqT7C9-L._SX367_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

What exactly is this for? I read some of the wiki, just says it's techniques for process improvement. I assume it's for engineering?

It's a set of "tools" for process improvement of basically any process.  It makes use of various charts and diagrams along with some statistics to make processes less wasteful.  It's often paired with lean management techniques and you'll often see people refer to Lean Six Sigma and the two methods complement each other.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Biggus Dickus on March 22, 2017, 06:05:35 PM
Quote from: solidsquid on March 21, 2017, 11:02:19 PM
Quote from: Arturo on March 21, 2017, 02:55:37 AM
Quote from: solidsquid on March 20, 2017, 11:16:03 PM
For a class I'm taking this semester.  Text is decent but quite basic, not a lot of detail.  Instructor is very disorganized.  No worries though, I'm switching programs in the fall anyhow.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CdqT7C9-L._SX367_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

What exactly is this for? I read some of the wiki, just says it's techniques for process improvement. I assume it's for engineering?

It's a set of "tools" for process improvement of basically any process.  It makes use of various charts and diagrams along with some statistics to make processes less wasteful.  It's often paired with lean management techniques and you'll often see people refer to Lean Six Sigma and the two methods complement each other.

I had to deal with this process often in my job as a manufacturing representative for the automotive field with regards to quality issues, not so much now because I only deal with wheels, but years ago when I was representing different types of DC motors it could be a pain in the ass (Seat and window motors).

It takes constant monitoring and adequate management systems...one of the  management systems that replaced the Total Quality Management (TQM) from the 80's.

I don't deal with it anymore, but I read an article recently I believe from Crain's Detroit Business that suggested process management can drag some organizations down and dampen innovation, so though you may improve efficiency you run the risk if the process management programs are misapplied to areas where you want employees to be innovative.

Maybe you'll get your black belt one day. 8)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on March 23, 2017, 01:07:18 AM
Gloucester, I also have the book Lateral Thinking.  It is the stuff of competent and inventive engineering  states of mind. 

I am constantly puzzled by the tendency of ordinary humans to fix a problem with "Band aid" patches rather than exploring the root causes of whatever problem exists.

My US health care system is a case in point.  The cost of health care is prohibitive for all but the most wealthy. It has not always been that way. Why the hell don't we address the problem at its root, not with insurance programs that we can not afford and that is not within the financial capabilities of the poorer of us.

This is not to say that we should relegate physicians and others in the medical community to equivalent squalor.  We can make great modifications to the damned system if we examine the basic details and do something about the capricious (and greedy) billing absurdities. 
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on March 23, 2017, 10:24:01 AM
Quote from: Icarus on March 23, 2017, 01:07:18 AM
Gloucester, I also have the book Lateral Thinking.  It is the stuff of competent and inventive engineering  states of mind. 

I am constantly puzzled by the tendency of ordinary humans to fix a problem with "Band aid" patches rather than exploring the root causes of whatever problem exists.

My US health care system is a case in point.  The cost of health care is prohibitive for all but the most wealthy. It has not always been that way. Why the hell don't we address the problem at its root, not with insurance programs that we can not afford and that is not within the financial capabilities of the poorer of us.

This is not to say that we should relegate physicians and others in the medical community to equivalent squalor.  We can make great modifications to the damned system if we examine the basic details and do something about the capricious (and greedy) billing absurdities.
Yup, sometimes you have to strip it down to essentials, look at the purpose of every individual component, then reassemble it in a way that it works properly.

With regards to Obamacare: good idea overall but the idea of fining someone because they might be too poor to already have medical cover is just insane! As bad as, in the UK, fining, by denying benefits, those too ill or poor to make it to an interview, with a benefits officer, on time.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Recusant on March 23, 2017, 11:33:35 AM
Quote from: Gloucester on March 23, 2017, 10:24:01 AMWith regards to Obamacare: good idea overall but the idea of fining someone because they might be too poor to already have medical cover is just insane! As bad as, in the UK, fining, by denying benefits, those too ill or poor to make it to an interview, with a benefits officer, on time.

Under the ACA (Obamacare) those who were too poor to buy health insurance were supposed to be able to sign up for Medicaid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicaid). Because of various political hijinks that didn't always work, but the idea was that fines would be levied on people who could afford health insurance but refused to get it.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on March 23, 2017, 12:45:35 PM
Quote from: Recusant on March 23, 2017, 11:33:35 AM
Quote from: Gloucester on March 23, 2017, 10:24:01 AMWith regards to Obamacare: good idea overall but the idea of fining someone because they might be too poor to already have medical cover is just insane! As bad as, in the UK, fining, by denying benefits, those too ill or poor to make it to an interview, with a benefits officer, on time.

Under the ACA (Obamacare) those who were too poor to buy health insurance were supposed to be able to sign up for Medicaid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicaid). Because of various political hijinks that didn't always work, but the idea was that fines would be levied on people who could afford health insurance but refused to get it.

Ah. Still not sure that it is a good idea. If those with the means but not the inclination charge them the full cost of all medical aid tgey get, ecen in emergencies.  In the UK I am a fan of charging those who can afford to get drunk for the ambulance and "hotel charges" that the injuries gained through their drinking often need.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: solidsquid on March 23, 2017, 03:10:13 PM
Quote from: Father Bruno on March 22, 2017, 06:05:35 PM
Quote from: solidsquid on March 21, 2017, 11:02:19 PM
Quote from: Arturo on March 21, 2017, 02:55:37 AM
Quote from: solidsquid on March 20, 2017, 11:16:03 PM
For a class I'm taking this semester.  Text is decent but quite basic, not a lot of detail.  Instructor is very disorganized.  No worries though, I'm switching programs in the fall anyhow.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CdqT7C9-L._SX367_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

What exactly is this for? I read some of the wiki, just says it's techniques for process improvement. I assume it's for engineering?

It's a set of "tools" for process improvement of basically any process.  It makes use of various charts and diagrams along with some statistics to make processes less wasteful.  It's often paired with lean management techniques and you'll often see people refer to Lean Six Sigma and the two methods complement each other.

I had to deal with this process often in my job as a manufacturing representative for the automotive field with regards to quality issues, not so much now because I only deal with wheels, but years ago when I was representing different types of DC motors it could be a pain in the ass (Seat and window motors).

It takes constant monitoring and adequate management systems...one of the  management systems that replaced the Total Quality Management (TQM) from the 80's.

I don't deal with it anymore, but I read an article recently I believe from Crain's Detroit Business that suggested process management can drag some organizations down and dampen innovation, so though you may improve efficiency you run the risk if the process management programs are misapplied to areas where you want employees to be innovative.

Maybe you'll get your black belt one day. 8)

A discussion point in my performance consulting course was essentially, "how much is too much?"  The point was that improvement projects can get out of hand and grow to become their own wasteful endeavors.  It becomes a balancing act to try and not waste money by trying to save money from being wasted.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on March 23, 2017, 03:46:12 PM
Quote from: solidsquid on March 23, 2017, 03:10:13 PM
Quote from: Father Bruno on March 22, 2017, 06:05:35 PM
Quote from: solidsquid on March 21, 2017, 11:02:19 PM
Quote from: Arturo on March 21, 2017, 02:55:37 AM
Quote from: solidsquid on March 20, 2017, 11:16:03 PM
For a class I'm taking this semester.  Text is decent but quite basic, not a lot of detail.  Instructor is very disorganized.  No worries though, I'm switching programs in the fall anyhow.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CdqT7C9-L._SX367_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

What exactly is this for? I read some of the wiki, just says it's techniques for process improvement. I assume it's for engineering?

It's a set of "tools" for process improvement of basically any process.  It makes use of various charts and diagrams along with some statistics to make processes less wasteful.  It's often paired with lean management techniques and you'll often see people refer to Lean Six Sigma and the two methods complement each other.

I had to deal with this process often in my job as a manufacturing representative for the automotive field with regards to quality issues, not so much now because I only deal with wheels, but years ago when I was representing different types of DC motors it could be a pain in the ass (Seat and window motors).

It takes constant monitoring and adequate management systems...one of the  management systems that replaced the Total Quality Management (TQM) from the 80's.

I don't deal with it anymore, but I read an article recently I believe from Crain's Detroit Business that suggested process management can drag some organizations down and dampen innovation, so though you may improve efficiency you run the risk if the process management programs are misapplied to areas where you want employees to be innovative.

Maybe you'll get your black belt one day. 8)

A discussion point in my performance consulting course was essentially, "how much is too much?"  The point was that improvement projects can get out of hand and grow to become their own wasteful endeavors.  It becomes a balancing act to try and not waste money by trying to save money from being wasted.
OK, I'll just stop gilding this lily then . . .
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: solidsquid on March 23, 2017, 04:04:51 PM
I had never heard that expression before, had to Google it...quite fitting once I knew what the heck you were talking about   ;D
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Guardian85 on May 22, 2017, 10:04:16 PM
Was in the specialty book store in Tromsø a few weeks ago, looking for something to read. But before getting to the stack of old "Conan the Barbarian" comics i happened past the shelf containing works of Terry Pratchett. I remembered hearing that his books were quite good from someone on this forum (I believe I was likened to a character at one point) and decided to give it a go.

Now, five books later I'm hooked!
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tank on May 23, 2017, 07:02:14 PM
Quote from: Guardian85 on May 22, 2017, 10:04:16 PM
Was in the specialty book store in Tromsø a few weeks ago, looking for something to read. But before getting to the stack of old "Conan the Barbarian" comics i happened past the shelf containing works of Terry Pratchett. I remembered hearing that his books were quite good from someone on this forum (I believe I was likened to a character at one point) and decided to give it a go.

Now, five books later I'm hooked!
35 to go :)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on June 24, 2017, 11:44:35 PM
Highly recommended for the politically observant types: Not a Scientist: How politicians mistake, misrepresent, and utterly mangle science.  By Dave Levitan   A non fiction book about that which the subtitle implies.  A most illustrative read of the chicanery, whether intentional or not, of our representatives and senators.   A most relevant book to digest and to then regret that our typical American, non reader, public, will never even get a sniff of the reality of political games playing.

I strongly suspect that the general descriptions within the texts will also fit the political scenarios of other nations.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on June 25, 2017, 02:21:52 AM
Quote from: Icarus on June 24, 2017, 11:44:35 PM
Highly recommended for the politically observant types: Not a Scientist: How politicians mistake, misrepresent, and utterly mangle science.  By Dave Levitan   A non fiction book about that which the subtitle implies.  A most illustrative read of the chicanery, whether intentional or not, of our representatives and senators.   A most relevant book to digest and to then regret that our typical American, non reader, public, will never even get a sniff of the reality of political games playing.

I strongly suspect that the general descriptions within the texts will also fit the political scenarios of other nations.

I'll pick that up
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Velma on June 25, 2017, 04:54:11 AM
At the moment, I'm only reading one book, Nemesis by Jo Nesbo. It is the forth in a series of Norwegian crime novels featuring the surly, reclusive Harry Hole. Friday I finished up The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on June 25, 2017, 06:51:59 AM
I just finished "On the Move: a life" by Oliver Sacks.  Not my favorite of his books (enjoyed what he wrote about his work more than anything else), but I did like it. 

Halfway thru "The Simple Art of Murder" by Raymond Chandler.  Starts off with a short but every entertaining essay by the same name, and then a collection of short stories.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tom62 on June 25, 2017, 12:04:13 PM
I'm reading Neal Asher's "The Technician" (2011), which is closely linked to "Dark Intelligence" (2015).

QuoteThe Theocracy has been dead for twenty years, and the Polity rules on Masada – but it is an order that the rebels of the Tidy Squad cannot accept, and the iconic Jeremiah Tombs is top of their hitlist.

Tombs, meanwhile, has escaped his sanatorium. His insanity must be cured, because the near-mythical hooder, called 'the Technician', that attacked him all those years ago, did something to his mind even the AIs fail to understand. Tombs might possess information about the suicide of an entire alien race. It's up to the war drone Amistad to discover this information, with the help of an ex-rebel Commander, the black AI Penny Royal and the amphidapt Chanter.

Meanwhile, in deep space, the mechanism the Atheter used to reduce themselves to animals stirs from slumber and begins to power-up its weapons . . .
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on June 28, 2017, 07:33:29 PM
Checked out a library book whose title looked interesting: Goldilocks and the Water Bears.... By Louisa Preston.
This random selection turned out to be one of the most interesting and informative books that have cometo my attention in a long time.  Ms Preston is an Astrobiologist and planetary geologist at Birkbeck, University of London. She is a UK Space Agency Aurora Research fellow. Her research focuses on places on earth in which life is able to survive despite extreme conditions. Such habitats provide clues on what alien life forms might look like and where we should search for them.

The author brilliantly explains some complexities in such a way that they are easily understood. An example is her easy explanation of how the Periodic table is constructed. She gets into some super duper biological concepts and makes them seem both logical and simple enough to understand.

Ms Preston is quite taken with Water Bears, which are actually Tardigrades. It seems that the water bears are the most durable critters imaginable. They are able to survive in conditions that would spell destruction for most other life forms. They have survived laboratory exposure to temperatures ranging from minus 450 F to plus 300F. Durable little dudes one could say. Preston talks about Prokaryotes ans Eukaryotes and cyanobacteria and ediacaran fauna and plenty of other strange things without confusing the reader. She is very good at explanations of complex technologies.

The word Goldilocks, in the title, of course refers to other worlds where life forms are more nearly possible or even probable. Not too hot, not too cold, just right.  ISBN 978-1-4729-2009-6 also available as E-book. 978-1-4729-2008-9
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on June 28, 2017, 08:20:28 PM
Quote from: Icarus on June 28, 2017, 07:33:29 PM
Checked out a library book whose title looked interesting: Goldilocks and the Water Bears.... By Louisa Preston.
This random selection turned out to be one of the most interesting and informative books that have cometo my attention in a long time.  Ms Preston is an Astrobiologist and planetary geologist at Birkbeck, University of London. She is a UK Space Agency Aurora Research fellow. Her research focuses on places on earth in which life is able to survive despite extreme conditions. Such habitats provide clues on what alien life forms might look like and where we should search for them.

The author brilliantly explains some complexities in such a way that they are easily understood. An example is her easy explanation of how the Periodic table is constructed. She gets into some super duper biological concepts and makes them seem both logical and simple enough to understand.

Ms Preston is quite taken with Water Bears, which are actually Tardigrades. It seems that the water bears are the most durable critters imaginable. They are able to survive in conditions that would spell destruction for most other life forms. They have survived laboratory exposure to temperatures ranging from minus 450 F to plus 300F. Durable little dudes one could say. Preston talks about Prokaryotes ans Eukaryotes and cyanobacteria and ediacaran fauna and plenty of other strange things without confusing the reader. She is very good at explanations of complex technologies.

The word Goldilocks, in the title, of course refers to other worlds where life forms are more nearly possible or even probable. Not too hot, not too cold, just right.  ISBN 978-1-4729-2009-6 also available as E-book. 978-1-4729-2008-9

But, as I am sure the lady mentioned the definition of "not too hot or too cold" has changed a bit. Goldilocks is a bit broader than she once was! Not sure if there has been any change in the need for liquid water, IIRC there are many bugs that hsppily live on ice, if slowly. Then there nematodes (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/110601-deepest-worm-earth-devil-science-animals-life/) that live literally miles (well, at least a couple) below Earth's surface in pretty harsh conditions. Plus bactetia even deeper.

Think I may look for that book, thanks, Icarus.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on June 29, 2017, 12:01:00 AM
Just started "Hillbilly Elegy" by JD Vance.  Enjoying it more than I thought I would -- I was half expecting a sulky, "me first" type rant to crop up every now and then but I'm in chp 4 and so far it's been entirely reasonable and self-aware.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: jumbojak on June 29, 2017, 03:26:58 AM
I'm reading Mad Dog Killers, a book written by a Congo Mercenary about his experiences there during the 60s. I'm only about 1/10th in but it seems interesting so far.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Essie Mae on June 29, 2017, 09:26:27 AM
Quote from: Icarus on June 24, 2017, 11:44:35 PM
Highly recommended for the politically observant types: Not a Scientist: How politicians mistake, misrepresent, and utterly mangle science.  By Dave Levitan   A non fiction book about that which the subtitle implies.  A most illustrative read of the chicanery, whether intentional or not, of our representatives and senators.   A most relevant book to digest and to then regret that our typical American, non reader, public, will never even get a sniff of the reality of political games playing.

I strongly suspect that the general descriptions within the texts will also fit the political scenarios of other nations.

I suspect you are right. You've so whetted my appetite that I'm going to get the book for myself. Presumably, government-appointed scientific advisors (where there are such appointments), either they don't have much clout or they become 'yes people'.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on June 29, 2017, 10:42:43 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91qqOzNSTqL.jpg)

The first of a four-part series. I'm liking it so far and recommended it to those who like historical fiction.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: OldGit on June 30, 2017, 11:34:44 AM
The Ancestor's Tale, by Richard Dawkins.  Fascinating.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: MariaEvri on July 02, 2017, 06:33:37 PM
at work Im reading the eaters of the dead by Michael chrichton
At home I'm reading "I am legend" by Richard Mattheson and "I Robot" by isaac Asimov
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: No one on July 02, 2017, 07:17:09 PM
The writing on the wall.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on July 02, 2017, 08:01:07 PM
Quote from: No one on July 02, 2017, 07:17:09 PM
The writing on the wall.
And what does it say?
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tank on July 02, 2017, 08:17:19 PM
Quote from: Gloucester on July 02, 2017, 08:01:07 PM
Quote from: No one on July 02, 2017, 07:17:09 PM
The writing on the wall.
And what does it say?

Bill stickers will be prosecuted.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tom62 on July 02, 2017, 08:41:46 PM
I'm reading Harry Harrison's Bill, the Galactic Hero: The Final Incoherent Adventure (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64434.Bill_the_Galactic_Hero),which is a good end to the series.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dave on July 02, 2017, 08:45:40 PM
Quote from: Tank on July 02, 2017, 08:17:19 PM
Quote from: Gloucester on July 02, 2017, 08:01:07 PM
Quote from: No one on July 02, 2017, 07:17:09 PM
The writing on the wall.
And what does it say?

Bill stickers will be prosecuted.
Poor old Bill. Let's start a campaign, "Bill Stickers is innocent!" "Stand up for Bill Stickers!" "Today they came for Bill Stickers, the might come for you tomorrow!"
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Essie Mae on July 03, 2017, 08:28:03 AM
Five Days by Douglas Kennedy. A light read; bit like Bridges of Madison County. Only one third in and all I can say is that the writing is very straightforward and would especially appeal to those who love words.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Claireliontamer on July 03, 2017, 10:09:57 AM
Finally going to read 'A Man Called Ove', sorry I'm miles behind with the bookclub!
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on July 04, 2017, 11:49:48 PM
Quote from: No one on July 02, 2017, 07:17:09 PM
The writing on the wall.

Naughty for you to mention that book No One

The actual name of the book is Spots On The Wall. The author is a Chinese person named Hu Slung Cum


Will I be banished for such a breach of decorum as the above?
[/size]
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Velma on July 08, 2017, 04:35:33 AM
Just finished Imago, the third book in Octavia E. Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy. I'm reading Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo and Hounded by Kevin Hearne. Saturday, I plan on starting Hillbilly Elegy.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on July 08, 2017, 09:26:19 AM
Quote from: Claireliontamer on July 03, 2017, 10:09:57 AM
Finally going to read 'A Man Called Ove', sorry I'm miles behind with the bookclub!

We don't care, jump in any time!
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on July 08, 2017, 09:30:36 AM
Have Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie underway and enjoying it very much, tho I can tell the action is going to get hair-raising sooner or later.  The writing is excellent, and I'm not surprised Adichie won a fistful of prizes for it.

Also starting Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.  Adapted from some of Tyson's essays in Natural History magazine.  Looking forward to seeing if I remember any of them.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Anne D. on July 08, 2017, 09:22:25 PM
I keep starting and stopping Tracy Borman's Thomas Cromwell bio, which is really good. And I love a good mystery series and am on the second book in C. J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake series, set during Henry VIII's reign. Shardlake is a lawyer who keeps being roped into investigative assignments from Cromwell.

I kind of fell in love with Hilary Mantel's Cromwell. Even though I know he's fictional, it's still a disappointment to encounter other depictions of him that are at odds with hers.

I'm almost finished with Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus, by Laura Kipnis, a professor at Northwestern. It's a quick read and pretty chilling. What prompted her to write the book was being the subject of a Title IX "hostile environment" complaint for having written an essay.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Biggus Dickus on July 09, 2017, 07:33:16 PM
Hi Anne D.  8)

Don't remember seeing you around here, but hello and welcome.  8)



I recently read a "A Drinking Life", which is a memoir by Pete Hamill, and also just finished "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford.

Pete Hamill is a former New York Post columnist and editor as well as a journalist and novelist, and his book has been lauded as one of the best books detailing the life of highly functioning alcoholic. It's written in the hard, spare prose of a journalist, but what I loved most is it gives one an excellent view of what life was like growing up in New York during the Second world war.
I highly recommend this book, simply an excellent read. (Hamill was actually among the men who disarmed Sirhan Sirhan after he assassinated RFK and helped the police capture him while covering Robert Kennedy's run for the presidency)


I couldn't put down the "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford. A love story that takes place during the second world war between a the son of Chinese immigrants, and a Japanese American girl.

Beautiful story taking place both in the present and past with an excellent background setting detailing the forced relocation of Japanese Americans during the war to internment camps.

The book is very popular, and the writer has said that he wrote it more as love story, and not so much to bring attention to the interment camps, but as this portion of American history is a subject not covered much by the media here in the US and considering the current administrations views on immigrants it may also become a cautionary tale to remind us not to repeat the same injustices again in this country.

In an interview I read the author has said the most frequent question about the book he receives is when will the movie come out, but he said Hollywood won't touch it because the main characters are not white, and they feel it would be a financial risk to come out with a movie with Chinese and Japanese leading characters. He said some independent film companies are interested, but since it is a period piece it would involve an large amount of capital investment to pull off the scenes taking place during the 40's. So for now sadly no movie.

Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on July 09, 2017, 07:50:27 PM
Quote from: Father Bruno on July 09, 2017, 07:33:16 PM

I couldn't put down the "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford. A love story that takes place during the second world war between a the son of Chinese immigrants, and a Japanese American girl.

Have added this to my "buy next" list.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: jumbojak on July 09, 2017, 08:09:17 PM
I'm about to start The Flechas, an account of the Portuguese recruited bushmen who served in Angola during the war there. It was a small group but supposedly a major contributor to Portuguese forces during the conflict, much like the Selous Scouts in Rhodesia or Koevoet in South Africa.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tom62 on July 09, 2017, 08:38:41 PM
I've just started to read Jan Timman's "Schakers" (Dutch for Chess players)

Quote from: from the back cover by Google translateOver the course of his rich career, Grandmaster Jan Timman has played against many great chess players. Like no other, he can look on their hands and in their souls. Boris Spasski, Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov are three of the most important older schakers he portrays in this book, besides youngsters like Judit Polgar and Magnus Carlsen. Timman talks about the influence of Mikhail Botwinnik and Mischa Tal on him, both on and outside the board. He has an eye and understanding of the peculiarities of the chessmen, kind and ignorant, human and inhuman. Particularly intriguing is the portrait of Alexander Aljechin, who's trail Timman picks up during a stay in Lisbon, decades after his death; The story is at the same time enchanting and terrifying, as magic as precise.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Biggus Dickus on July 20, 2017, 04:55:08 PM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 09, 2017, 07:50:27 PM
Quote from: Father Bruno on July 09, 2017, 07:33:16 PM

I couldn't put down the "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford. A love story that takes place during the second world war between a the son of Chinese immigrants, and a Japanese American girl.

Have added this to my "buy next" list.


I don't think you'll be disappointed with this one Books, in fact I lent it to a friend of mine who's already finished and now his wife is reading. He loved it, and said his wife can't put it down.


This same friend gave me a copy of "Gardens of the Moon", by Steven Erikson to read. Has anyone else here read this or any of the other books in this series? He said there are 10 books total, but the first three are not dependent on the series itself and so can be read independently, but he is has given this a high recommendation, and believes I will thoroughly enjoy it even though I'm not a huge fantasy reader. I'll probably start reading as soon as I finish Hillbilly Elegy.

Nice thing is this is a used book, so his instructions to me are when I was finish reading I'm to simply pass the book along to someone else to enjoy... :)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: No one on July 20, 2017, 09:39:46 PM
Too much into it. (https://web.stardock.net/images/smiles/themes/digicons/Tongue%20Wink.png)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on July 24, 2017, 02:07:25 AM
 Here is a book whose contents, an expose actually, will annoy you unless you are an investment banker.

The Spider Network.  Subtitle: The wild story of a math genius, a gang of backstabbing bankers, and one of the greatest scams in financial history. The non fiction story is about the way that brokers manage to make mind boggling amounts of money by cheating with total impunity.

Every major world bank is involved in the schemes that separate we ordinary slobs from our pension funds, stock values, and retirement funds.  The main protagonist is the math whiz Thomas Hayes, the fall guy actually.  He was only the most clever of the overabundance of thieves. The story spans the globe to markets in Tokyo, London, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and elsewhere.  Not a casual read but one that is most informative about the likes of the greedy operatives in the financial sector. Derivatives where millions exchange hands within 24 hours and other mind boggling realities of the financial world....... Torches and pitchforks anyone?

Fascinating read.... if you have the patience for the overly detailed 500 page screed. Revealing none the less.

Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Velma on July 24, 2017, 02:39:38 AM
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. It is the seventh in the series - and has been turned into a movie starring Michael Fassbender as the protagonist of the series, Harry Hole.

Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on July 24, 2017, 03:40:31 AM
Finished Sara Gran's "Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway".  Meh.  Detective work mixed with New Age woo and massive drugging.

Also finished Neil DeGrasse Tyson's "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry".  Great primer on astrophysics for the lay reader, adapted from several of Tyson's column in Natural History magazine.  Surprisingly short and easy to read, considering the subject.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Velma on July 24, 2017, 03:55:47 AM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 24, 2017, 03:40:31 AM
Also finished Neil DeGrasse Tyson's "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry".  Great primer on astrophysics for the lay reader, adapted from several of Tyson's column in Natural History magazine.  Surprisingly short and easy to read, considering the subject.
My husband got that for me a day or so after it came out. However, I have been so preoccupied with Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series that I've not gotten to it yet. So many books, so little time. :)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on July 24, 2017, 08:10:47 AM
Quote from: Velma on July 24, 2017, 03:55:47 AM
So many books, so little time. :)

The definition of a wonderful life.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Velma on July 24, 2017, 08:18:31 AM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 24, 2017, 08:10:47 AM
Quote from: Velma on July 24, 2017, 03:55:47 AM
So many books, so little time. :)

The definition of a wonderful life.
Yes it is.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on July 24, 2017, 05:33:17 PM
There is even a book titled "It's A Wonderful Life" about the making of a movie called "It's A Wonderful Life". I bet It's A WONDERFUL Book.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on July 24, 2017, 09:42:00 PM
Quote from: Arturo on July 24, 2017, 05:33:17 PM
There is even a book titled "It's A Wonderful Life" about the making of a movie called "It's A Wonderful Life". I bet It's A WONDERFUL Book.

I don't know.  I always thought the movie stank and was not wonderful at all.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on July 25, 2017, 12:13:37 AM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 24, 2017, 09:42:00 PM
Quote from: Arturo on July 24, 2017, 05:33:17 PM
There is even a book titled "It's A Wonderful Life" about the making of a movie called "It's A Wonderful Life". I bet It's A WONDERFUL Book.

I don't know.  I always thought the movie stank and was not wonderful at all.

Perhaps it is. Perhaps it's the worst movie to ever walk this earth!
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on July 25, 2017, 03:51:19 AM
Quote from: Arturo on July 25, 2017, 12:13:37 AM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 24, 2017, 09:42:00 PM
Quote from: Arturo on July 24, 2017, 05:33:17 PM
There is even a book titled "It's A Wonderful Life" about the making of a movie called "It's A Wonderful Life". I bet It's A WONDERFUL Book.

I don't know.  I always thought the movie stank and was not wonderful at all.

Perhaps it is. Perhaps it's the worst movie to ever walk this earth!

No, that would be The Exorcist.  Not even scary.  Unless we're including movies by Ed Wood Jr, which were so bad they were funny, which makes them not count quite so much.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on July 25, 2017, 04:26:17 AM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 25, 2017, 03:51:19 AM
Quote from: Arturo on July 25, 2017, 12:13:37 AM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 24, 2017, 09:42:00 PM
Quote from: Arturo on July 24, 2017, 05:33:17 PM
There is even a book titled "It's A Wonderful Life" about the making of a movie called "It's A Wonderful Life". I bet It's A WONDERFUL Book.

I don't know.  I always thought the movie stank and was not wonderful at all.

Perhaps it is. Perhaps it's the worst movie to ever walk this earth!

No, that would be The Exorcist.  Not even scary.  Unless we're including movies by Ed Wood Jr, which were so bad they were funny, which makes them not count quite so much.

Oh god, have you ever seen "The Room" ?? That movie falls under the category of "bad but hilarious" lol. James Franco and Seth Rogan are actually coming out with a movie about the making of The Room cuz it's that bad.

Apparently the guy whi played Tommy in the film never bothered to memorize his lines and they shot the film anyway. And later in an interview he says "I recommend seeing The Room at least two times " hahaha It was so bad lol

Sorry I'm ranting but I'm just excited
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Davin on July 25, 2017, 03:20:40 PM
Quote from: Arturo on July 25, 2017, 04:26:17 AM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 25, 2017, 03:51:19 AM
Quote from: Arturo on July 25, 2017, 12:13:37 AM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 24, 2017, 09:42:00 PM
Quote from: Arturo on July 24, 2017, 05:33:17 PM
There is even a book titled "It's A Wonderful Life" about the making of a movie called "It's A Wonderful Life". I bet It's A WONDERFUL Book.

I don't know.  I always thought the movie stank and was not wonderful at all.

Perhaps it is. Perhaps it's the worst movie to ever walk this earth!

No, that would be The Exorcist.  Not even scary.  Unless we're including movies by Ed Wood Jr, which were so bad they were funny, which makes them not count quite so much.

Oh god, have you ever seen "The Room" ?? That movie falls under the category of "bad but hilarious" lol. James Franco and Seth Rogan are actually coming out with a movie about the making of The Room cuz it's that bad.

Apparently the guy whi played Tommy in the film never bothered to memorize his lines and they shot the film anyway. And later in an interview he says "I recommend seeing The Room at least two times " hahaha It was so bad lol

Sorry I'm ranting but I'm just excited
There is a movie coming out about the making of that movie:
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on July 25, 2017, 09:11:32 PM
^OMG :rofl:
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Magdalena on July 25, 2017, 09:25:33 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on July 25, 2017, 09:11:32 PM
^OMG :rofl:
^OMG :rofl: :rofl:
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on July 25, 2017, 10:36:31 PM
Quote from: Davin on July 25, 2017, 03:20:40 PM
There is a movie coming out about the making of that movie:


(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F25.media.tumblr.com%2Ff9cfd5504f98c7f974e283a10a8b7191%2Ftumblr_mjdjrezpNN1rskk8io2_1280.gif&hash=57b579605330ac9686d156355d8907190a5831bc)

I recommend seeing The Disaster Artist at least twice.


Here is the original scene lol
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on July 31, 2017, 08:44:08 PM
I just finished MacArthur's Spies by Peter Eisner.  Random House large print edition.

This is the story of the Japanese invasion and containment of Manila. Manila is on the Philippine Island of Luzon for the geographically impaired. Its neighbor is Leyte and the other large island is Mindanao. Corregidor is a small island in the entrance to Manila harbor. These are famous names where so many WW2 battles were fought.   Luzon has an area of about 3000 square miles so plenty of room for fighting and dying. 

MacArthurs Battle of the Gulf Of Leyte was, by most accounts, the largest and most devastating battle in the history of the world, even surpassing the D-Day invasion in death and destruction. That was a large part in turning the tide of the Pacific war.

The book is mainly about one woman, Claire Phillips, an American living in Manila. After the Japanese occupation she became a spy for the American side. She ran a night club that entertained Japanese officers and she and her staff of women plied the Japanese officers with alcohol and other entertainments to get information about naval and army movements.

Part of Luzon is the Bataan peninsula where the infamous Bataan Death March took place.

Philippine guerillas harassed the Japanese occupiers constantly and some Americans were part of the Guerilla efforts.

This is both a historical and gripping account of that part of the Pacific during the war.  The book is a page turner, full of danger, suspense, intrigue, cruelty, and heroism. The book has particular interest for me because I was a Junior High school kid when all that was going on. I was familiar with the names of those far away places where so many battles took place.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dragonia on August 28, 2017, 04:22:31 AM
Over the weekend, I read Elie Wiesel's Night. You are such a thoughtful, well-read crowd, most of you have probably read it .
But in case you haven't, I'll tell you real quick that it's the memoir of a Jewish boy enduring Auschwitz,  Buchenwald, and other, lesser-known concentration camps, toward the end of WWII.
What struck me most about the events wasn't necessarily the cruelty of the SS soldiers (there was plenty though), it was the progression of the people's "spirit"s; their will to live. You can see an optimistic, almost light-heartedness in the Jews in the beginning, and you follow them through a process of dehumanization and theft of the goodness in their hearts, until all we see are utterly broken men who have lost even their will to live.
What made this book even more stark and difficult to read was the fact that I spent this weekend at the dirt bike track, at races, where I would guess the majority of the racers (or their dads) have plenty of money, and a fairly cushy, privileged life. So looking up from my book was always terribly thought-provoking and like seeing the world in black and white. Plenty vs. less-than-nothing. Greed vs. gratefulness. Thoughtfulness vs. indifference. Contentment vs. Misery.
I'm still in a somber mood, though my heart feels things like this so deeply that it takes me a while to be practical again. I have checked out the next 2 of his books (Day and Dawn) so I'm hoping to read of some happiness and goodness coming into his life.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: jumbojak on August 28, 2017, 01:54:10 PM
I've been reading Pass the Enlightenment by Tim Cahill, who is one of my favorite authors. He's a travel writer and usually gets sent to the really nasty places. He's also pretty funny. Most of his books have titles like Jaguars Ripped My Flesh or Pecked to Death By Ducks, his way of poking fun at the manly men who wrote travel stories when he was growing up.

He has a very amusing story about contracting malaria and what that entails when you live in the US. You'd think the disease would be the worst part but no... it's the hospitals who refuse to believe your previous diagnosis! That was in a different collection but this book has some pretty good ones too.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Davin on October 02, 2017, 04:38:38 PM
I'm re-reading Foundation by Asimov, because I never read the three books in the series that were written by other authors, I haven't read the books since I was very young, and I wanted to get a refresh before reading the "new" ones.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: jumbojak on March 12, 2018, 02:59:39 AM
I just finished The Night Circus by Eric Mortgenson. It was a very good book, combining elements of Howl's Moving Castle, The Prestige, andThe Once and Future King into one novel.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tom62 on March 12, 2018, 05:45:54 PM
I'm reading some very old science fiction stories written by Henry Kuttner. I just finished Mutant (https://www.amazon.com/Mutant-Henry-Kuttner/dp/0600363201), a great read.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Recusant on March 13, 2018, 03:11:09 PM
Recently finished The Steel Bonnets (http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/frasergm/sbonnets.htm), which is about the Border reivers, families living along the border between Scotland and England in the Late Medieval/Renaissance era who were nominally herdsmen and farmers, but often in actuality were more or less professional ruffians and thieves. I've started a couple of new books, one a broader overview of Borders history (The Borders (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5070219-the-borders)) and the other an examination of the composition of Europe (Ancestral Journeys (https://www.ancient.eu/review/44/)). Not sure which one will grab me and insist on being read first.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on March 13, 2018, 04:37:25 PM
Quote from: Recusant on March 13, 2018, 03:11:09 PM
Not sure which one will grab me and insist on being read first.

Did you try flipping a coin? ;)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on March 13, 2018, 10:45:54 PM
I am into a recent release titled: Heavens And Earth, subtitle; The scientific search for the afterlife, immortality, and Utopia.  Author Michael Shermer.  SHermer needs no introduction to the atheist contingent.  He is an accomplished writer and researcher into such things as this book addresses. So far I am impressed with the quality of the content.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on March 14, 2018, 01:40:32 AM
Quote from: Tom62 on March 12, 2018, 05:45:54 PM
I'm reading some very old science fiction stories written by Henry Kuttner. I just finished Mutant (https://www.amazon.com/Mutant-Henry-Kuttner/dp/0600363201), a great read.

I remember reading that when I was a teenager, and loved it.  I'd borrowed it from the library but when I wanted to check it out again I couldn't remember either the name of the book or of the author, and when I described the story no one had any idea what I was taking about.  Now I can put it on my wish list at ThriftBooks.

(correction: I'll have to put it on my Amazon wish list, both TB's copies are out of stock)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: jumbojak on March 14, 2018, 04:42:31 AM
I'm rereading Grendel by John Gardner. I haven't seen a copy since high school.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Essie Mae on March 14, 2018, 01:44:07 PM
  Fall of Man in Wilmslow by David Lagercrantz. This is a fictional treatment of the investigation from a policeman's POV into the death of Alan Turing in 1954.  The homophobic language is just what I remember from the seventies; it was still rife and widely acceptable well after the 1967 Act.  The main protagonist, the investigating officer, is not a nice person, but apparently he becomes more understanding and admiring as the story develops as he gets to 'know' Turing and gains a rudimentary understanding of the 'thinking machine'. It isn't comfortable reading at the moment, but i'm Not halfway yet.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Recusant on March 14, 2018, 02:11:10 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 13, 2018, 04:37:25 PM
Quote from: Recusant on March 13, 2018, 03:11:09 PM
Not sure which one will grab me and insist on being read first.

Did you try flipping a coin? ;)

;D Not a bad suggestion, but I'll stick with my method.  :)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on March 14, 2018, 02:28:54 PM
Quote from: Recusant on March 14, 2018, 02:11:10 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 13, 2018, 04:37:25 PM
Quote from: Recusant on March 13, 2018, 03:11:09 PM
Not sure which one will grab me and insist on being read first.

Did you try flipping a coin? ;)

;D Not a bad suggestion, but I'll stick with my method.  :)

:grin: When you have two options, sometimes flipping a coin can help you figure out which one you want to read first. :smilenod: It helps you become aware of things, like when flipping the coin results in an option and you think to yourself, 'Nah, actually I want the other one.'. :tellmemore: You didn't know you wanted the other option until that blasted coin chose the wrong book.  ;D

I hope I'm making sense. :lol: It's like you're gaining access to a decision that's already been made.
I use this method whenever I can't decide between two options, then I decide on the spot whether I accept the coin's 'choice' or not. But hey, I'm a little weird.   :badger:
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Recusant on March 14, 2018, 06:41:52 PM
Makes perfect sense to me, and yes I can see how the coin could be a tool to reveal a choice you didn't know you'd made.  :sidesmile:
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on March 14, 2018, 10:33:26 PM
That is deja vou for me Silver.  Flipping a coin is sometimes a revealing exercise.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on March 14, 2018, 10:47:02 PM
Quote from: Icarus on March 14, 2018, 10:33:26 PM
That is deja vou for me Silver.  Flipping a coin is sometimes a revealing exercise.

Isn't it? :grin: We should write a self-help book together, we could spout all sorts of scientifically-sounding BS and it'll sell like water! Deepak Chopra does it, so can we! :smilenod:

If I may I would suggest we title it Flipping a coin: When you've decided but don't know it! or perhaps something a little drier such as Coin flipping as a method to probe subconscious decisions: Implications for free will.   
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on March 16, 2018, 04:39:25 AM
^   :notes:
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Dragonia on March 16, 2018, 12:19:12 PM
I just finished "Abraham Lincoln- Vampire Hunter" by Seth Grahame-Smith.
The book operates under the premise that most of the main events of ole Abe's life were influenced by vampires and that the Civil War was actually orchestrated by vampires. Abraham Lincoln was trained to kill vampires (by another vampire) and secretly did so through much of his life.
It was obviously fiction, but fun to read about the civil war and Lincoln's life events through a different set of eyes.
Now I can see the movie!
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on March 16, 2018, 02:31:57 PM
Quote from: Dragonia on March 16, 2018, 12:19:12 PM
I just finished "Abraham Lincoln- Vampire Hunter" by Seth Grahame-Smith.
The book operates under the premise that most of the main events of ole Abe's life were influenced by vampires and that the Civil War was actually orchestrated by vampires. Abraham Lincoln was trained to kill vampires (by another vampire) and secretly did so through much of his life.
It was obviously fiction, but fun to read about the civil war and Lincoln's life events through a different set of eyes.
Now I can see the movie!

I like vampire movies (even the bad ones) so I wanted to watch that movie but nobody wanted to go with me. :sad sigh: If I remember correctly, it was in theatres for a short period of time -- usually a bad sign.  ::)

I will look for it online.

Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on April 24, 2018, 08:10:09 AM
I have been reading the new Power Ranger's comic book cross over event known as "Shattered Grid" (there is context behind the name which I will get to)

There are two separate Power Ranger's comic books -Go Go Power Rangers (GGPR), and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (MMPR). Both of which are taking part in the same cross over event. (Or so I'm told.) I've read the available issues that have come out so far for both of these editions of the Shattered Grid Event (SG).

So the story picks up in the MMPR where the alternate timeline of Tommy Oliver/Green Ranger is still evil after being released from Rita's mind control. And the Power Rangers discover that he is still in their world as a prisoner to one of their close friends and hold an emergency meeting to decide what to do. Meanwhile Saba (the talking flying autonomous power sword of the white ranger) takes it upon himself to try and destroy the alternate time line Tommy Oliver aka Lord Drakkon but ends up freeing him by mistake and Drakkon tears the head off of Saba and uses Saba's magical powers to escape to another time and place.

Drakkon moves to a time where the Ninja Rangers are and asks the Blue Ninja Ranger to repair his broken Power Coin. Telling him that he was actually useful in assisting him in the future and giving Drakkon his powers. While the Blue Ninja tells him it was crafted poorly and he would expect more care from himself. Drakkon tells him that there was no time for such things and that there was a war about to break loose. He asks if they won the war, while Drakkon responds "Not yet..." Once he has finished repairing the power coin, Drakkon takes him hostage and...

Meanwhile the good Tommy Oliver and Kimberly (pink ranger) go out on a date and are going through the typical teenage angst about being in a relationship. They are dancing around each other trying to figure out where they fit and Tommy wants to have a good night kiss but Kimberly isn't feeling it. She just got out of a bad relationship and doesn't want to put that on Tommy ect. ect. They decide to leave without a good night kiss and Tommy walks down and ally telling himself he is stupid. Meanwhile Kimberly is thinking it over as well and goes back to find Tommy and yells his name. Tommy hears her calling and turns around to see who is calling when the Evil Tommy comes and stabs him in the back and takes his green chaos crystal to charge more of his powers.

Kim just barley finds him and morphs into the Pink Power Ranger to stop Lord Drakkon while another Pink Ranger from another time comes and stops him before he can overwhelm Kimberly.

Lord Drakkon escapes into another portal and Kimberly tries to help Tommy but it's too late...

The next issue picks up with Tommy on the operating table in the Power Rangers secret base and Alpha (the robot maid/butler/caretaker/ect) is trying to revive Tommy by hitting him with blue energy from the morphing grid (where the power rangers get their power). But it's no use. Tommy has died. And they all have to grieve. They put Tommy back into the ally where they found him and let the story break free. Tommy's parents are informed by the police. There is a funeral. And the rangers begin to grieve together...

But that does not last for long when they are called back to the secret base and are informed by the other pink ranger of what exactly is happening. Time is shattered. There was a single time line, power rangers that came after these power rangers. And then alternate timelines, like the kind of Lord Drakkon. And Lord Drakkon's attacks on the different time lines have shattered them all into their own separate universes in order to preserve themselves. But in doing so, it puts every other universe/time-space at risk of being destroyed. The longer it goes on, the close it gets to total destruction. And it all began in this spot where the original power rangers are when Lord Drakkon killed Tommy Oliver. Because Tommy was never supposed to die. And the fact that time is now broken, that means she cannot go back and forth through time anymore.

But they find a way to jump to the other universes since they are no longer existing in time-space. And they all go to assist the other power rangers against Lord Drakkon and his army. They are barely holding their own against just barely his army after Drakkon had infomed his soldiers to take the power coins from the rangers of this universe except for the red ranger who escaped. All the ones with the powers still group up when the soldiers fire a tank shot at them and they barely get out alive. They try to use an EMP device to disable the soldiers powers since they look and act similar to the power rangers. When that does not work they escape using their teleportation abilities.

The next page picks up with Lord Drakkon back at his castle beginning the process of becoming fully powered with the help of the Blue Ninja Ranger who is now under a mind control device.

And that is where the 3rd issue ends.

The GGPR has only one issue out and from what I've seen...it's mainly a prelude. They are fighting a putty (main foot soldier of the main bad girl Rita Repulsa). This putty is different than the others in that it can move it's body like a fluid and take the shape of anyone it wants. So it uses that to it's advantage in playing mind games with the Power Rangers but is ultimately defeated.

The Rangers congratulate themselves and move on to the next day. One thing I should mention is that there is no green ranger in this comic. The green ranger eventually shows up in the TV series as a nice guy and gets put under Rita's spell and transformed into the green ranger until he is freed and becomes a good power ranger. Later on he becomes the White Ranger.

The next day the Red Ranger/Jason asks the Yellow Ranger/Trini if what the putty said about her having feelings for him were true. And Trini said that the putty was just trying to use that against him. Billy/The Blue Power Ranger, informs his father that he doesn't want to go to the high class university but would still go to the "moderately exceptional" university that he chose for himself. And his Father gives Billy the relief of telling him that Billy is so much smarter than he is, that he is sure that whatever choice he makes will be the right one for him.

Zack-The Black Ranger and Kimberly (still the pink ranger) go to check on their friend Matty who was traumatized by something in an earlier issue. They cannot tell if he knows their secret of being the power rangers and is too stunned by that to even talk, or if he is in so much shock that he can't even remember what is happening. He also saw a lot of other things apparently that contributed to his catatonic state.

Zack asks if Kim is alright about Matt (I'm assuming there was a love story here) and that Kim explains that having an alter ego comes at a price. The price of having loved ones. That they serve as a distraction if they ever get in your way of being focused. And that if they do become a distraction, you don't even notice.

And the next page cuts to an evil pink power ranger with a green chaos crystal and some stuff about "this ought to have enough power to get you there" and the evil pink ranger saying "I'll bring our Lord back to us"

And that's that. That's all that's come out so far.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on May 09, 2018, 02:35:28 AM
I am deep into a book by a woman who is the chairman at the NIMH in the Washington DC area.  SHe is a researcher of neurological stuff.  That is to say, a brain researcher.  Her name is Barbara Lipska, a Polish national who came to the US in the late eighties as an accredited researcher.  She is an athlete of considerable ability among other things, non technical.  Her credentials are impressive.

Her deal is that she, as a brain research person, contracted a cancer of the brain. A metatasitic  Melanoma, an almost surely fatal malady.  Her book is a page turner.  Somehow, against all odds,  she had the tumor removed from her skull and is now fully functional and back to work at the prestigious US federally supported agency that studies brains and the ramifications of various disfunctions and their considerable influence on society.

I suspect that this book might be of at least casual interest to our esteemed forum brainiac; Fernanda. It is every bit an interesting read about someone who managed to beat the incredibly long odds against recovery.

Book title: The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her mind.  She did lose it for a brief time but then miraculously recovered. after heroic efforts by some of the nations best neurosurgeons.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Recusant on May 09, 2018, 10:40:55 PM
In the end, neither of the books I mentioned upthread demanded to be read immediately. :lol:

Both are fairly weighty physically and I had a long journey pending, so one or the other would have had to really get a good grip to be brought along. Instead I took up with The Story of English in 100 Words (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12567848-the-story-of-english-in-100-words), which is physically light and yet eminently worthwhile.

A few books later, I've just finished Britain AD: A Quest for Arthur, England and the Anglo-Saxons (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1717215.Britain_AD), which doesn't focus on King Arthur so much as the historical concept of the Anglo-Saxon invasion/settlement of Britain. The author, archaeologist Francis Pryor, presents his case supporting the idea that no such large-scale historical event occurred, and that what actually took place was a process of cultural change, in which there were indeed some elite and powerful people who came from the continent to Britain and had influence on the culture, but that they were never particularly numerous. Pryor thinks that the Romano-British people were always the vast majority and over a period of one or two centuries various driving factors (for instance perhaps elite dominance, explained in "Why did the Anglo-Saxons not become more British?" (https://academic.oup.com/ehr/article/115/462/513/397935)) ensured that these people came to identify themselves with the "Anglo-Saxon" culture and adopt the language we know as Old English. Clearly this is not the narrative that holds sway in popular culture but as Pryor explains, variations on it have become much more predominant among specialists in this pivotal era in British history. That's not to say it's universally accepted, of course.

Now, for some lighter fare I'm reading The Long Mars (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18586487-the-long-mars), which I've enjoyed mostly by employing an easy-going suspension of disbelief, borrowed from my approach to co-author Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. If people pick this up expecting something along the lines of that superb work perhaps they'll be disappointed, but this collaborative effort has its own attractions, being closer to hard science fiction but not all that close. I'd suggest starting with the first of the series (The Long Earth (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13147230-the-long-earth)) however.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Arturo on May 10, 2018, 01:55:40 AM
I'm currently reading two books while I wait for the new power ranger issues to be released and I can download them to my kindle.

They are the last two books I need to read before I go for my Personal Trainer Certification Exam.

"Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning - Fourth Edition"

&

"NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training - Second Edition"

They are the latest edition. And there is another book that is actually about the form but they have online videos that explain everything in better depth and can see how it works in motion. So I've opted for the videos instead. I might go back to the book when that is over. But for now the two books work out.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on June 26, 2018, 02:42:12 AM
My usual fare is technical stuff or some sort of international intrigue.

I deviated to a fiction bit by Karl Hiaasen Skinny Dip is the title of the improbable but humorous tale of an ass hole husband who murders his wife by tossing her off a cruise ship.  Plenty of laughs and a sufficient amount of romance and satisfying come uppence for the bad guy.  Easy read, fun stuff there.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tom62 on June 26, 2018, 05:02:53 AM
I'm rereading the entire Stainless Steel Rat series (Harry Harrison) on my Kindle. Great fun and political incorrect, since it has a macho hero and lots of beautiful women.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on October 20, 2018, 01:51:27 AM
I checked out a book from the library a couple days ago.  It is titled; Prius or Pickup.  The two authors are Political Science professors at University of North Carolina.

The book disects and establishes with obvious accuracy, the differences in attitude of the conservative side and the liberals side.   One side is likely to drive a Prius, have more than a high school education, and prefer foods other than the fare at McDonalds or KFC.

The driving force of those with conservative insistence is actually veiled fear.  Fear of the people who are different from themselves, fear that the hated liberals will  take their guns away, provide abortions for their wayward daughters, allow us to be invaded by foreigners who will take our jobs.   The authors call the two sides Fixed and Fluids.  You can guess who are members of the fixed side. 

Altogether a brilliant analysis of the way things are going here in the US of late........and perhaps for some time in the past as well.

I heartily recommend the book to people who are thinkers.......that would adequately describe my friends here at HAF.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Velma on October 21, 2018, 12:16:37 AM
I'm reading more fiction. John Scalzi's The Last Colony, the third in his Old Man's War series. It follows the two main characters in the series as they leave the colony world they settled after leaving the Colonial Union army to help govern a new colony. Since this new colony is illegal from the view point of the alien confederation, known as the Conclave, I'm sure they will have their hands full.

In keeping with the time of year, I am also reading The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero. So far a bit predictable - man inherits a fortune and a house from a relative he didn't know he had. I'm not very far into it, but there has already been the expected small, odd happenings that could be put down to imagination, dreams, or stress of such a change of lifestyle. However, given the characters, it should be fun as long as it loses a bit of the predictable soon.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on October 21, 2018, 12:56:13 AM
In addition to the previous Prius and Pickups book, I am into the vicious screed by Malcolm Nance: the Plot To Destroy Democracy.  Nance is almost livid in his depiction of the current political scene.  Lord  God help us if what he so eloquently describes as the current and recent past state of political affairs. 

I recommend Nance's book but only if you hold it  at a length from your face. Some of the stuff in the book is just too incendiary to be real.  I fear that it might not be as from the the truth  as I would approve.

Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: hermes2015 on October 21, 2018, 05:06:31 AM
I am reading a biography of Tennessee Williams by John Lahr. It is a fascinating look at a man who remained essentially lonely and insecure, despite his well-earned fame as a playwright. I love his plays not just for their plots, but also his masterful use of English, which is also shown in the many extracts of letters he wrote to friends and theatre people like Elia Kazan.

(https://i.imgur.com/tW1O73s.jpg)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on November 07, 2018, 12:14:44 AM
The new book from the library is titled; Underbug.  It is more than you might want to know about Termites.  It seems that there are a gazillion kinds of these Underbugs but all of them share somewhat similar characteristics.

Why in hell do we care about termites?  Well for more than one thing they have some exotic chemistry going on in their guts. The next thing is that by weight, globally there are more of them than 100 times the weight of all the humans on earth. The chemicals are useful in pharmaceuticals. Some of those research meds are aimed at brain treatments. Alzheimers and the like.   Continuing, there are great hordes of the bugs that digest grasses, not just wood fibers as we mostly presume.  What can we do with termite digestions of grass, wood and other natural items?  We may be able to make fuel such as that that powers your automobile. 

Termites???? whod'a thunk it?

So alright already.  I have an attraction for oddball books.  The one mentioned is published by Scientific American Press. So this is probably a more serious subject than one might first presume.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Essie Mae on November 08, 2018, 10:50:44 PM
It sounds fascinating, not oddball at all.

I'll now lower the tone; i've just finished reading '67 People I'd Like to Slap'. by Ian Collins. It was a sort of grumpy old men tome but not particularly funny. I wouldn't recommend it.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: No one on November 09, 2018, 06:16:14 AM
The Idiot Chronicles, or as some may call it, the newspaper.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Essie Mae on December 12, 2018, 08:32:15 PM
I'm excited to have found a writer new to me; Elena Ferrante, having watched a wonderful TV series called 'My Brilliant Friend'. She wrote four Neapolitan novels. I'd be interested to hear if any of you know her writing and what you think.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on December 15, 2018, 01:10:15 AM
One of my most fascinating but not so pleasing to contemplate books : Kickback ...Exposing the global corporate bribery network.   By David Montero  who is a prolific writer and authority on this particular subject.

Some of the stuff that he reveals is stunning and well documented. Who knew that Siemans, General Electric, Exon Mobil, and damned near every other big corporate entity unhesitatingly bribes the person or person who can lead them to juicy contracts.  Damn!  No one is immune to this behavior it would seem.  I mean what the hell, some of the smaller government officials are taking big bucks from Huawei  the Chinese mega power in the electronics field..........and Pfizer, Bayer, Lilly, Norvartis and all the rest of the pharmaceutical houses spend gazillions to bribe doctors and hospital officers to specify their criminally overpriced drugs. .  The beat goes on.

Having read this book it made me examine some of the behaviors that we generally believe to be acts of kindness or generosity.  My wife is a very active E bay seller.  She buys from certain specialty retail stores when items are on sale or when she has discount coupons that are advantageous.  She turns right around and sells the stuff on E bay for list price and often more than list price.  People in Blowtorch Nebraska and elsewhere  buy her things, mostly of the cosmetic type, because it is easier than going to a distant retail store themselves,. Many times there are no retailers of that kind in their area.  On the other hand many of her customers are in Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and plenty of other places where the same retail stores are easily located.

It is the Xmas season of good cheer and all that stuff. Elaine bakes cookies and other niceties then delivers them to the clerks at the stores where she buys.  She is sincere about that kind of thoughtfulness.  She does not see that kind of thing as a form of bribery.  Nonetheless the clerks will tell her about good deals that are not openly apparent to the ordinary customer.  Neither she nor the recipients regard Xmas cookies  and other small goodies as bribery but there is some mileage derived from those simple acts of kindness. 

I suspect that we could get into a philosophic discussion about behavior such as Elaines.  I dearly hope that thoughtful and appreciative acts are not to be regarded as bribes.  But maybe they are bribes even though innocently done. 

An intrigue mixed and  interesting book that details much of the detail about things that we do not want to believe drives world commerce.  This is reality not conspiracy theory.  The author of Kickback is good at his job.

Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on December 21, 2018, 08:40:19 PM
Just finished my second Umberto Eco book - "The Name of the Rose".  It was a movie with Sean Connery in the late 80's, and I liked it.  I also liked the book, but there were lots of Latin phrases that I didn't understand.  It's a 14th Century murder mystery that took place in a Benedictine abbey in northern Italy.  The background is a theological dispute between Pope John XXII in Avignon and the Holy Roman Emperor in Germany about whether the poverty preached by the Franciscans is heresy.  The protagonist of the book is an English Franciscan, William of Baskerville, who comes to the abbey with his apprentice, young Adso of Melk, a Benedictine novice. Adso narrates the book in his old age.  Over 500 pages, and quite interesting if you are attracted to the period and obscure theological debates.  While William is at the abbey, monks begin to turn up murdered, and that drives the plot.  I give it an 8 out of 10, but it takes some investment to get into it. 
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on December 21, 2018, 08:45:37 PM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on December 21, 2018, 08:40:19 PM
Just finished my second Umberto Eco book - "The Name of the Rose". 

That's one of my favorite books, and favorite movies.  I love the Sherlock Holmes vibe of the book and the movie is a book lovers dream.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 21, 2018, 09:27:43 PM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on December 21, 2018, 08:40:19 PM
Just finished my second Umberto Eco book - "The Name of the Rose".  It was a movie with Sean Connery in the late 80's, and I liked it.  I also liked the book, but there were lots of Latin phrases that I didn't understand.  It's a 14th Century murder mystery that took place in a Benedictine abbey in northern Italy.  The background is a theological dispute between Pope John XXII in Avignon and the Holy Roman Emperor in Germany about whether the poverty preached by the Franciscans is heresy.  The protagonist of the book is an English Franciscan, William of Baskerville, who comes to the abbey with his apprentice, young Adso of Melk, a Benedictine novice. Adso narrates the book in his old age.  Over 500 pages, and quite interesting if you are attracted to the period and obscure theological debates.  While William is at the abbey, monks begin to turn up murdered, and that drives the plot.  I give it an 8 out of 10, but it takes some investment to get into it.

My father had a copy. I often wanted to start reading it after I watched part of the movie, but never did. It is an intimidating many-paged book.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on December 22, 2018, 10:46:36 PM
Quote from: Sandra Craft on December 21, 2018, 08:45:37 PM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on December 21, 2018, 08:40:19 PM
Just finished my second Umberto Eco book - "The Name of the Rose". 

That's one of my favorite books, and favorite movies.  I love the Sherlock Holmes vibe of the book and the movie is a book lovers dream.

Yeah, I was upset when the library burned. Think of the knowledge lost.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on January 09, 2019, 08:18:40 PM
"A Gentleman In Moscow"by Amor Towles.  Novel about a Russian Count who was sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow by the Bolsheviks.  Covers from 1920's to 1950's.  Good read - I recommend it.  While a novel, it has lots of historical and cultural insights.  Humorous at times, and a bit of murder, sex, mystery, and human foibles, but written in an erudite manner.  Towles is from Boston, and comes from a highbrow background.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: jumbojak on January 10, 2019, 04:15:08 AM
Following the Wild Bees: The Craft and Science of Bee Hunting by Thomas Seeley. I think I'm going to give his methods a try once the weather warms up and flowers are blooming again. The sport of beelining.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on January 10, 2019, 06:35:47 AM
Such interesting suggestions here.  I just finished Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me.  Of two minds about it, mostly because the writing style was a bit too philosophical/poetic for me and I'm not sure I always understood what was meant.  And sometimes I think I understood it extremely well.  Will have to let this one digest a few days.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tank on January 10, 2019, 07:42:30 AM
Schroedinger's Cat and 49 other experiments. (https://www.labnews.co.uk/puzzles/schrodingers-cat-49-experiments-revolutionised-physics-18-07-2018/)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tom62 on January 11, 2019, 05:07:52 AM
The Early Del Rey, Volume 1 (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6856101-the-early-del-rey-volume-1)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Anne D. on January 13, 2019, 11:27:09 PM
Just finished Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover

Here's the description from Amazon: Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

It was really, really good.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Essie Mae on January 13, 2019, 11:41:20 PM
Quote from: Sandra Craft on December 21, 2018, 08:45:37 PM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on December 21, 2018, 08:40:19 PM
Just finished my second Umberto Eco book - "The Name of the Rose". 

That's one of my favorite books, and favorite movies.  I love the Sherlock Holmes vibe of the book and the movie is a book lovers dream.

Seconded
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on January 14, 2019, 01:22:24 AM
Quote from: Anne D. on January 13, 2019, 11:27:09 PM
Just finished Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover

Here's the description from Amazon: Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

It was really, really good.

Looks really interesting.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tank on January 14, 2019, 02:41:30 PM
Quote from: Anne D. on January 13, 2019, 11:27:09 PM
Just finished Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover

Here's the description from Amazon: Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

It was really, really good.

That sounds fascinating.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Sandra Craft on January 14, 2019, 07:06:25 PM
Quote from: Anne D. on January 13, 2019, 11:27:09 PM
Just finished Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover


Another one for my wish list.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on March 12, 2019, 02:02:43 AM
Re-reading: And Man Created God,  by Selina O'Grady.  Subtitle is: A history of the world at the time of Jesus. I am more impressed with the content this time around than I was with the first read,  Brits may recognize O'Grady as the producer of the BBC1 moral documentary series Heart of The Matter.  Also the producer of a radio series on BBC radio 4 history of  Leviathon

I recommend this book to history buffs as well as the more casual reader of history as it was from 1500 BC to the present.   She takes us into the causes and effects of religions from the Israelites, the Chinese Confucians, and the rise of Christianity from around the time of Constantine.

A good read
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on March 12, 2019, 08:21:01 PM
Since I'm going to Russia this summer, I'm reading War & Peace.  I'm at page 804 out of 1458.  Taking it a little at a time.  It's about Russian aristocratic families and all their social events, love affairs and internecine squabbles, interspersed with descriptions of the Napoleonic Wars.  It takes place from 1805 onward.  Right now, Napoleon is in the process of invading Russia - one of his stupidest moves. He had some genius moments as a general, and some really dumb ones. 
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tank on March 13, 2019, 08:34:47 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on March 12, 2019, 08:21:01 PM
Since I'm going to Russia this summer, I'm reading War & Peace.  I'm at page 804 out of 1458.  Taking it a little at a time.  It's about Russian aristocratic families and all their social events, love affairs and internecine squabbles, interspersed with descriptions of the Napoleonic Wars.  It takes place from 1805 onward.  Right now, Napoleon is in the process of invading Russia - one of his stupidest moves. He had some genius moments as a general, and some really dumb ones.

Oooo! When are you going? Where are you going?
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Bad Penny II on March 13, 2019, 11:24:41 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on March 12, 2019, 08:21:01 PM
Since I'm going to Russia this summer, I'm reading War & Peace

I'm sure I could have made some humorous reply to that back in my prime.
A bag of bricks delivered with a smile?
Ye, but I don't know of a single contemporary Russian novel that he should read instead.
Our ignorance isn't our fault, Russian literature went out fashion fifty years ago.
Ah, the gulags, those were the days.
Maybe he'll get to visit a gulag theme park.


Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on March 12, 2019, 08:21:01 PMRight now, Napoleon is in the process of invading Russia - one of his stupidest moves. He had some genius moments as a general, and some really dumb ones.

Ye, he didn't even have the oil motivation.


The characters, it's hard to like any of them.

I hate gambling with the zeal of an outraged bean counter.



Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Recusant on March 13, 2019, 02:46:14 PM
If you're reading old books about Russia, I can suggest Hedrick Smith's The Russians (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/575801.The_Russians).  :)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on March 13, 2019, 08:22:49 PM
Quote from: Tank on March 13, 2019, 08:34:47 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on March 12, 2019, 08:21:01 PM
Since I'm going to Russia this summer, I'm reading War & Peace.  I'm at page 804 out of 1458.  Taking it a little at a time.  It's about Russian aristocratic families and all their social events, love affairs and internecine squabbles, interspersed with descriptions of the Napoleonic Wars.  It takes place from 1805 onward.  Right now, Napoleon is in the process of invading Russia - one of his stupidest moves. He had some genius moments as a general, and some really dumb ones.

Oooo! When are you going? Where are you going?

Leave July 16, return July 29.  We fly into St. Petersburg, get on a Viking river ship, stay 4 days in St. Pete, then go down Neva River, through some lakes, to the Volga, then to the Moscow River, stopping at 5 smaller towns.  Then finish up in Moscow for 4 days.  Lots of excursions planned during the stops.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tank on March 14, 2019, 06:13:55 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on March 13, 2019, 08:22:49 PM
Quote from: Tank on March 13, 2019, 08:34:47 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on March 12, 2019, 08:21:01 PM
Since I'm going to Russia this summer, I'm reading War & Peace.  I'm at page 804 out of 1458.  Taking it a little at a time.  It's about Russian aristocratic families and all their social events, love affairs and internecine squabbles, interspersed with descriptions of the Napoleonic Wars.  It takes place from 1805 onward.  Right now, Napoleon is in the process of invading Russia - one of his stupidest moves. He had some genius moments as a general, and some really dumb ones.

Oooo! When are you going? Where are you going?

Leave July 16, return July 29.  We fly into St. Petersburg, get on a Viking river ship, stay 4 days in St. Pete, then go down Neva River, through some lakes, to the Volga, then to the Moscow River, stopping at 5 smaller towns.  Then finish up in Moscow for 4 days.  Lots of excursions planned during the stops.

That's going to be amazing!
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Essie Mae on March 14, 2019, 09:07:47 AM
Quote from: Sandra Craft on January 10, 2019, 06:35:47 AM
Such interesting suggestions here.  I just finished Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me.  Of two minds about it, mostly because the writing style was a bit too philosophical/poetic for me and I'm not sure I always understood what was meant.  And sometimes I think I understood it extremely well.  Will have to let this one digest a few days.

That's interesting. I've also found that I can read a book without fully understanding it. 'Cloud Atlas' by Davis Mitchell and 'The Blind Assasin' by Margaret Atwood come to mind.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Essie Mae on March 14, 2019, 09:12:08 AM
Quote from: Tank on March 14, 2019, 06:13:55 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on March 13, 2019, 08:22:49 PM
Quote from: Tank on March 13, 2019, 08:34:47 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on March 12, 2019, 08:21:01 PM
Since I'm going to Russia this summer, I'm reading War & Peace.  I'm at page 804 out of 1458.  Taking it a little at a time.  It's about Russian aristocratic families and all their social events, love affairs and internecine squabbles, interspersed with descriptions of the Napoleonic Wars.  It takes place from 1805 onward.  Right now, Napoleon is in the process of invading Russia - one of his stupidest moves. He had some genius moments as a general, and some really dumb ones.

Oooo! When are you going? Where are you going?

Leave July 16, return July 29.  We fly into St. Petersburg, get on a Viking river ship, stay 4 days in St. Pete, then go down Neva River, through some lakes, to the Volga, then to the Moscow River, stopping at 5 smaller towns.  Then finish up in Moscow for 4 days.  Lots of excursions planned during the stops.

That's going to be amazing!

How did you even decide on a trip like that? Is it a historical tour? Do they mind talking about those times? I'd have thought that some more contemporary reading would be more informative. Well jealous anyway.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on March 17, 2019, 12:15:56 AM
Quote from: Tank on March 14, 2019, 06:13:55 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on March 13, 2019, 08:22:49 PM
Quote from: Tank on March 13, 2019, 08:34:47 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on March 12, 2019, 08:21:01 PM
Since I'm going to Russia this summer, I'm reading War & Peace.  I'm at page 804 out of 1458.  Taking it a little at a time.  It's about Russian aristocratic families and all their social events, love affairs and internecine squabbles, interspersed with descriptions of the Napoleonic Wars.  It takes place from 1805 onward.  Right now, Napoleon is in the process of invading Russia - one of his stupidest moves. He had some genius moments as a general, and some really dumb ones.

Oooo! When are you going? Where are you going?

Leave July 16, return July 29.  We fly into St. Petersburg, get on a Viking river ship, stay 4 days in St. Pete, then go down Neva River, through some lakes, to the Volga, then to the Moscow River, stopping at 5 smaller towns.  Then finish up in Moscow for 4 days.  Lots of excursions planned during the stops.

That's going to be amazing!

That's what I'm hoping.  I'm studying Russian now - it's a damn hard language, at least for me.  My next door neighbors speak it (they are from the country Georgia), so I'm hoping to get in a few conversations with them.  I don't want to order vodka at a bar and instead say something bad about Putin's mother.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: jumbojak on May 26, 2019, 01:57:00 PM
I'm trying to read The Art of Racing in the Rain. It's a good book but at only two chapters in I keep breaking out in tears.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tank on May 26, 2019, 05:08:51 PM
Quote from: jumbojak on May 26, 2019, 01:57:00 PM
I'm trying to read The Art of Racing in the Rain. It's a good book but at only two chapters in I keep breaking out in tears.

It must be good!
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: jumbojak on May 26, 2019, 08:52:31 PM
If you want to cry it certainly is. Damn, this got me bad. I'm going to have to make sure I never watch the movie.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on June 26, 2019, 12:56:00 AM
My public library has some shelves where latest editions are displayed.  My eyes landed on a book titled: Infinite Powers.....sub title; How calculus reveals the secrets of the universe.  The author is Steven Strogatz, an internationally acknowledged brilliant professor of Applied mathematics at Cornell university. ................hang on this is a legitimate endorsement of the author and the book.

The Author does not teach me how to do the calculus that gave me so much trouble at university.  What he does is make me understand how to think of it and to regard the methods as a simple set of perfectly apparent  realities.  This guy is really good at explaining and capturing the readers interest.  You need not be a math freak to enjoy this book.  Examples; he explains how Archimedes was able to arrive at a good estimate of the value of Pi.  Think of a pizza. Slice it into four parts and reassemble it in the form of a curvy edged rectangle. Slice it  into smaller and smaller and smaller wedges and the rectangle becomes less and less curvy on its top and bottom edges.  Yeah that'll work.  Archie was using his skull in inventive ways.

Strogatz tells how  to put a plate of grated cheese in the microwave and let it give you a near accurate estimate of the speed of light.  The author guy is full of fun stuff that can capture your attention.  The historic accounts of what those ancient thinkers did  or postulated are of much interest too.  For example he reminds us that at one period of time the space between the moon and earth were believed to be evil, rotten, filled with death, disease, poverty, and destruction while the heavenly places outside the moons orbit was pure and benevolent.  Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Catholic church were purveyors of those beliefs.



Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on August 22, 2019, 10:11:45 PM
Whole different book this time.  Siege; By Michael Wolff.  Subtitle; Trump Under Fire.   

The author goes into much detail about the goings on at the White house and beyond where our dear leader is involved.  The text is largely believable because Wolff offers sufficiently verifiable evidences.  The book crucifies Trump in a more or less polite manner. It does use some quotes that include words unsuitable in church. 

The book is divided into Chapters with titles and subjects such as Robert Mueller, Michael Cohen, The Women, Kushner, Hannity, and onward to Putin, Bannon, Kavanaugh, and the Wall. 

The book does not need an asbestos cover but it should not be stored near inflammable substances.  A Trump haters delight and one that will surely not be read by Mitch McConnel or his acolytes
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: jumbojak on August 27, 2019, 12:28:44 AM
Meno by Plato and Os Lusiads by Camoes. The latter is proving difficult in Portuguese...
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Biggus Dickus on October 02, 2019, 06:16:55 PM
Currently reading the following book, actually rereading to tell the truth since I have so much to deal with it, and it can be hard to handle some times 8)

(https://i.imgur.com/2IHBYDT.jpg)

I also recommend the following by Hugh Jones

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Magdalena on October 02, 2019, 06:41:35 PM
^^^
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Biggus Dickus on October 02, 2019, 06:58:36 PM
Quote from: Magdalena on October 02, 2019, 06:41:35 PM
^^^


Do you often derive please from the misfortunes of others Mags? I mean this is a curse, a curse I tell you! (Getting teased when I was younger for example...partners not caring about you as a person, etc...)

:-X :'(
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Magdalena on October 02, 2019, 07:37:29 PM
Quote from: Papasito Bruno on October 02, 2019, 06:58:36 PM
Do you often derive please from the misfortunes of others Mags?
(https://media.tenor.com/images/be28f3a26339bd8601945943ae822184/tenor.gif)
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Red_Cloud on October 02, 2019, 10:08:53 PM
I've just read my gas meter! . . . LOOK!  :mysterious:


(https://i.ibb.co/HY7pdwp/GAS.jpg) :thinking:

Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on October 23, 2019, 01:39:34 AM
Just finished a book titled: Leaving The Witness, by Amber Scorah.   The author was from Vancouver BC where she grew up as a Jehova Witness.  She describes the required Witness behavior rather thoroughly. Sheesh!  She ends up in China, Shanghai , where she is assigned so to save some Asian souls by revealing the word of Jehova to them.  But she must be very careful, even sneaky, to do that sort of thing.  If caught she might land in a prison.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is her explanation of how the Chinese think and behave. Over time she comes to realize that her JW presence is perhaps....no not perhaps, but for sure..... based on bullshit.  She describes her slow withdrawal from her faith to find a whole different world out there.

I enjoyed the book 
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: billy rubin on October 23, 2019, 02:14:58 AM
mark twain, life on the mississsippi, again after many years

QuoteIn the space of one hundred and seventy-six years the Lower Mississippi has shortened itself two hundred and forty-two miles. That is an average of a trifle over one mile and a third per year. Therefore, any calm person, who is not blind or idiotic, can see that in the Old Oölitic Silurian Period, just a million years ago next November, the Lower Mississippi River was upwards of one million three hundred thousand miles long, and stuck out over the Gulf of Mexico like a fishing rod. And by the same token any person can see that seven hundred and forty-two years from now the Lower Mississippi will be only a mile and three quarters long, and Cairo and New Orleans will have joined their streets together, and be plodding comfortably along under a single mayor and a mutual board of aldermen. There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tom62 on October 25, 2019, 07:23:34 PM
Java 9.0 to 13.0 New Features
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tank on October 25, 2019, 07:48:54 PM
Quote from: Tom62 on October 25, 2019, 07:23:34 PM
Java 9.0 to 13.0 New Features

:rofl:
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on October 25, 2019, 08:07:25 PM
Quote from: Tom62 on October 25, 2019, 07:23:34 PM
Java 9.0 to 13.0 New Features

:snicker:

Sounds...interesting.  ;D
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Tom62 on October 26, 2019, 10:24:42 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on October 25, 2019, 08:07:25 PM
Quote from: Tom62 on October 25, 2019, 07:23:34 PM
Java 9.0 to 13.0 New Features

:snicker:

Sounds...interesting.  ;D


Not really, but I have to keep myself up-to-date.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Anne D. on October 26, 2019, 12:49:47 PM
Quote from: Icarus on October 23, 2019, 01:39:34 AM
Just finished a book titled: Leaving The Witness, by Amber Scorah.   The author was from Vancouver BC where she grew up as a Jehova Witness.  She describes the required Witness behavior rather thoroughly. Sheesh!  She ends up in China, Shanghai , where she is assigned so to save some Asian souls by revealing the word of Jehova to them.  But she must be very careful, even sneaky, to do that sort of thing.  If caught she might land in a prison.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is her explanation of how the Chinese think and behave. Over time she comes to realize that her JW presence is perhaps....no not perhaps, but for sure..... based on bullshit.  She describes her slow withdrawal from her faith to find a whole different world out there.

I enjoyed the book

This sounds awesome. Will have to check it out.
Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: Icarus on November 21, 2019, 02:29:26 AM
I am having post operation difficulty with reading. At the library I am choosing only large print books.  This time around I selected only large print books from the new editions rack.

I have a book titled: The Girl Behind the Red Rope.  I'd think it a far out fantasy except that there are actual places and cultures as in the book.

The book is about a small community of religious and manipulated extremists who live in a remote part of the Tennessee wilderness. Anyone who ventures past the boundaries of the village, surrounded by red ropes, is in danger of being consumed by the "Furyies.' Furies are instruments of the devil who destroy the unbelievers with viciousness and unbearable pain.  Within three years Sylous will come and all the unbelievers will be annhilalated for their sins. 

The young unmarried women are assigned husbands with with whom they cannot co-habitate until they deliver a baby.  They are obligated to have two times a week connubial visits with the husband, but have no contact with him at other times. Residents of the community are obligated to attend church services each morning at seven A.M. 

The book is a far out piece of fantasy that does actually, unbelievably,  exist in the real world.

I do not know why I am reading this stuff but I do find it rather fascinating.  It is Jim Jones, David Koresh, or some other set of nutters all over again.

Large print easy to read.

Title: Re: What Are You Reading?
Post by: jumbojak on November 21, 2019, 02:31:48 AM
I'm reading the latest release in Phillip Pullman's prequel trilogy to His Dark Materials. That was difficult to describe when you can't remember the title of the book you are reading.