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The New Coffee Room

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  3. What are you reading now?

What are you reading now?

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  • George KG Offline
    George KG Offline
    George K
    wrote on last edited by
    #450

    Oh, between that and the Banks book, I did LeCarre's "Spy Who Came in From the Cold." I enjoyed "A Legacy of Spies" so I thought it might be fun to revisit the premise of LeCarre's penultimate book.

    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

    1 Reply Last reply
    • George KG George K

      Almost finished with "Endurance."

      A very well-told tale which never, ever gets boring.

      It reminds me of "Unbroken," the story of survival of the airmen of a downed B-24 in WWII.

      jon-nycJ Offline
      jon-nycJ Offline
      jon-nyc
      wrote on last edited by
      #451

      @George-K said in What are you reading now?:

      Almost finished with "Endurance."

      A very well-told tale which never, ever gets boring.

      It reminds me of "Unbroken," the story of survival of the airmen of a downed B-24 in WWII.

      Glad you enjoyed it. Awesome book.

      Only non-witches get due process.

      • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
      1 Reply Last reply
      • George KG Offline
        George KG Offline
        George K
        wrote on last edited by
        #452

        Just finished "Angel's Flight," the Bosch book.

        It was not my favorite. It had a really nice twist about ⅔ of the way through, but the ending was a bit of a disappointment.

        Up next - more Iain M Banks:

        51RHThKGOEL.AC_UY436_QL65.jpg

        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

        1 Reply Last reply
        • George KG George K

          @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

          I love, LOVE, Ben MacIntyre's books ("Operation Mincemeat").

          Started this today...

          Screen Shot 2022-01-27 at 4.53.31 PM copy.jpg

          Bumping this for @Renauda who might find it interesting.

          RenaudaR Offline
          RenaudaR Offline
          Renauda
          wrote on last edited by Renauda
          #453

          @George-K said in What are you reading now?:

          @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

          I love, LOVE, Ben MacIntyre's books ("Operation Mincemeat").

          Started this today...

          Screen Shot 2022-01-27 at 4.53.31 PM copy.jpg

          Bumping this for @Renauda who might find it interesting.

          Read it a few years ago. Really good. A genuine page turner.

          Elbows up!

          1 Reply Last reply
          • George KG Offline
            George KG Offline
            George K
            wrote on last edited by
            #454

            Return to "Dune."

            About 100 pages in...so far, meh.

            It seems like the desire to spin-out spin-offs is causing the ability to write creative stories is winning. The words that kept coming to me as I started were "cash cow."

            image.jpeg

            "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

            The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

            George KG 1 Reply Last reply
            • George KG George K

              Return to "Dune."

              About 100 pages in...so far, meh.

              It seems like the desire to spin-out spin-offs is causing the ability to write creative stories is winning. The words that kept coming to me as I started were "cash cow."

              image.jpeg

              George KG Offline
              George KG Offline
              George K
              wrote on last edited by
              #455

              @George-K said in What are you reading now?:

              Return to "Dune."

              About 100 pages in...so far, meh.

              Actually not too bad. Pretty predictable, and with the multiple storylines (The Sisterhood, the Mentats, the Navigators, the Venport industries) the tale is limber enough to keep your interest.

              Oh, and, of course, Arrakis.

              Got about 100 pages left.

              Popcorn's pretty good.

              *** out of **** stars so far.

              "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

              The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

              1 Reply Last reply
              • George KG Offline
                George KG Offline
                George K
                wrote on last edited by
                #456

                Taking a deep, deep dive into the "Dune" universe, I finished "Sisterhood" a few days ago. I stand by my original thoughts. A very satisfying tale, and it makes you want to get to the next story.

                So, today, I finished this:

                image.jpeg

                It's basically a continuation of "Sisterhood," and my thoughts are exactly the same. Very satisfying popcorn that makes you want more, so, today, I started this:

                https://images-na.ssl-imagimage.jpeg es-amazon.com/images/I/91mTFk88YpL.jpg

                "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                1 Reply Last reply
                • George KG Offline
                  George KG Offline
                  George K
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #457

                  I have about ⅔ of the last "Dune" book left, and it's okay. Very predictable in terms of character development, etc. Popcorn, as I said. Not great popcorn, but okay popcorn.

                  When I finish that, I'm going to queue this up:

                  Screen Shot 2022-03-12 at 8.36.37 AM.png

                  "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                  The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • jon-nycJ Offline
                    jon-nycJ Offline
                    jon-nyc
                    wrote on last edited by jon-nyc
                    #458

                    Just finished this:

                    7C1AA53A-F7F7-4027-AE9E-167C2ACFCB90.jpeg

                    Rather disappointing on account of being so vague. Like critical legal theory texts I’ve read, it tends to be long on complaints about liberal/enlightenment values and short on remedy or policy.

                    I’m now about halfway through Derrick Bell’s book:

                    F4AF8595-0724-462D-A9E5-82E420D53AB2.jpeg

                    It’s well written, and even though it is a collection of fictive short stories or parables it’s far more substantive than Delgado and Stefancic’s introduction.

                    It does come across as a bit dated, as he’s describing institutional environments that were mostly gone by the time I started my career. Still a very worthy read.

                    Only non-witches get due process.

                    • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • George KG Offline
                      George KG Offline
                      George K
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #459

                      I cheated, and continued my dive into the Dune-iverse. Was gonna start Barr's book, but...well, you know how it goes.

                      Finished this today.

                      image.jpeg

                      It jumps forward about 10K years from the other prequels (Sisterhood, Navigators, Mentats) and puts you about 30 years before the original book. The Harkonnen/Atreides feud continues.

                      There are 3 in the series, but I'll take a pause for a while.

                      Started this today. Kind of interesting reading this guy's remembrances of early East Germany and his parents' indoctrination into the Soviet line of thinking.

                      image.jpeg

                      More on the author here:

                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Barsky

                      "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                      The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                      jon-nycJ George KG 2 Replies Last reply
                      • George KG George K

                        I cheated, and continued my dive into the Dune-iverse. Was gonna start Barr's book, but...well, you know how it goes.

                        Finished this today.

                        image.jpeg

                        It jumps forward about 10K years from the other prequels (Sisterhood, Navigators, Mentats) and puts you about 30 years before the original book. The Harkonnen/Atreides feud continues.

                        There are 3 in the series, but I'll take a pause for a while.

                        Started this today. Kind of interesting reading this guy's remembrances of early East Germany and his parents' indoctrination into the Soviet line of thinking.

                        image.jpeg

                        More on the author here:

                        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Barsky

                        jon-nycJ Offline
                        jon-nycJ Offline
                        jon-nyc
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #460

                        @George-K

                        Was gonna start Barr's book, but...well, you know how it goes.

                        Yep, one damn thing after another…

                        Only non-witches get due process.

                        • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                        George KG 2 Replies Last reply
                        • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

                          @George-K

                          Was gonna start Barr's book, but...well, you know how it goes.

                          Yep, one damn thing after another…

                          George KG Offline
                          George KG Offline
                          George K
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #461

                          @jon-nyc LOL...

                          "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                          The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

                            @George-K

                            Was gonna start Barr's book, but...well, you know how it goes.

                            Yep, one damn thing after another…

                            George KG Offline
                            George KG Offline
                            George K
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #462

                            @jon-nyc the thing that gets me about these books is that they are all, well, boring.

                            I read Bolton's book, and I found it supremely uninteresting. It was one rant after another. It was about three times longer than it needed to be, in my opinion.

                            Hopefully Barr's won't fall to that standard.

                            "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                            The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            • jon-nycJ Offline
                              jon-nycJ Offline
                              jon-nyc
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #463

                              I haven’t read any Trump admin memoirs. Or Obama admin for that matter.

                              I did read all the Bush era ones, well at least national security related and finance related.

                              Only non-witches get due process.

                              • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                              1 Reply Last reply
                              • George KG George K

                                I cheated, and continued my dive into the Dune-iverse. Was gonna start Barr's book, but...well, you know how it goes.

                                Finished this today.

                                image.jpeg

                                It jumps forward about 10K years from the other prequels (Sisterhood, Navigators, Mentats) and puts you about 30 years before the original book. The Harkonnen/Atreides feud continues.

                                There are 3 in the series, but I'll take a pause for a while.

                                Started this today. Kind of interesting reading this guy's remembrances of early East Germany and his parents' indoctrination into the Soviet line of thinking.

                                image.jpeg

                                More on the author here:

                                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Barsky

                                George KG Offline
                                George KG Offline
                                George K
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #464

                                @George-K said in What are you reading now?:

                                image.jpeg

                                Finished it this afternoon. Interesting tale, which is much more interesting in the first half than the second. His memories of his education in East Germany, his love affairs, and his recruitment by the KGB were really intriguing.

                                Some of the training he received (spending two years in Moscow learning English - with an American, not German, accent), his education on tradecraft, etc also made interesting reading. I found his first exposure to West Berlin ("Everything was so colorful, and the people smiled.") almost sad. He recounts going to a restaurant and ordering a beer. When he asked for a bottle opener, the waiter was dumbfounded, and twisted the cap off for him. Apparently twist-off caps were not a thing in East Berlin, and he realized that such simple ignorances of the culture could give away his identity as a foreigner.

                                I was disappointed that the book didn't get into what he was actually doing for the KGB in his years in New York. The only hint he gave is that when he worked for MetLife (insurance) he photographed some computer code and sent it to Moscow.

                                3/5 stars.

                                "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                                The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                • George KG George K

                                  @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

                                  So far, it's VERY James Bond-like. Interesting, perhaps unrelated opening, flashback to past missions, etc.
                                  Oh, and it was written by someone I knew, back in another life.

                                  Yeah, it was okay.

                                  Not "blow me away I want MOAR" away, but a pleasant-enough waste of a few hours where you don't feel like you wasted a few hours.

                                  Nice twists in the last ¼ of the book.

                                  I was going to start this (and got about 10% of the way through it), but got, well, not bored, but "I'm not ready for this again," so I gave up - for now.

                                  61cParSJTJL.jpg

                                  I think I'll do some more Bosch instead.

                                  LuFins DadL Offline
                                  LuFins DadL Offline
                                  LuFins Dad
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #465

                                  @George-K said in What are you reading now?:

                                  @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

                                  So far, it's VERY James Bond-like. Interesting, perhaps unrelated opening, flashback to past missions, etc.
                                  Oh, and it was written by someone I knew, back in another life.

                                  Yeah, it was okay.

                                  Not "blow me away I want MOAR" away, but a pleasant-enough waste of a few hours where you don't feel like you wasted a few hours.

                                  Nice twists in the last ¼ of the book.

                                  I was going to start this (and got about 10% of the way through it), but got, well, not bored, but "I'm not ready for this again," so I gave up - for now.

                                  61cParSJTJL.jpg

                                  I think I'll do some more Bosch instead.

                                  Wait, I haven’t seen that. New series?

                                  The Brad

                                  George KG 1 Reply Last reply
                                  • LuFins DadL LuFins Dad

                                    @George-K said in What are you reading now?:

                                    @george-k said in What are you reading now?:

                                    So far, it's VERY James Bond-like. Interesting, perhaps unrelated opening, flashback to past missions, etc.
                                    Oh, and it was written by someone I knew, back in another life.

                                    Yeah, it was okay.

                                    Not "blow me away I want MOAR" away, but a pleasant-enough waste of a few hours where you don't feel like you wasted a few hours.

                                    Nice twists in the last ¼ of the book.

                                    I was going to start this (and got about 10% of the way through it), but got, well, not bored, but "I'm not ready for this again," so I gave up - for now.

                                    61cParSJTJL.jpg

                                    I think I'll do some more Bosch instead.

                                    Wait, I haven’t seen that. New series?

                                    George KG Offline
                                    George KG Offline
                                    George K
                                    wrote on last edited by George K
                                    #466

                                    @LuFins-Dad said in What are you reading now?:

                                    Wait, I haven’t seen that. New series?

                                    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=great+schools+of+dune&crid=3219Y7CC5ONGO&sprefix=great+schools+o%2Caps%2C140&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_15

                                    THey're a lot of fun.

                                    What I'm enjoying is how Herbert and Anderson are able to take the concepts of the original book and weave them into a pretty good tale.

                                    Some of the stuff seems to be "filler," like popcorn.

                                    But it's not bad popcorn.

                                    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                                    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                                    LuFins DadL 1 Reply Last reply
                                    • George KG George K

                                      @LuFins-Dad said in What are you reading now?:

                                      Wait, I haven’t seen that. New series?

                                      https://www.amazon.com/s?k=great+schools+of+dune&crid=3219Y7CC5ONGO&sprefix=great+schools+o%2Caps%2C140&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_15

                                      THey're a lot of fun.

                                      What I'm enjoying is how Herbert and Anderson are able to take the concepts of the original book and weave them into a pretty good tale.

                                      Some of the stuff seems to be "filler," like popcorn.

                                      But it's not bad popcorn.

                                      LuFins DadL Offline
                                      LuFins DadL Offline
                                      LuFins Dad
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #467

                                      @George-K that’s right, for whatever reason, I didn’t dig into those books. I’m sure they were fine, but I kind of felt like the prequel part was done with the Butlerian Jihad story. It laid the foundations for the guild, Bene Geserit, gholas, etc… That was all I needed… Same with the House books.

                                      The Brad

                                      George KG 1 Reply Last reply
                                      • LuFins DadL LuFins Dad

                                        @George-K that’s right, for whatever reason, I didn’t dig into those books. I’m sure they were fine, but I kind of felt like the prequel part was done with the Butlerian Jihad story. It laid the foundations for the guild, Bene Geserit, gholas, etc… That was all I needed… Same with the House books.

                                        George KG Offline
                                        George KG Offline
                                        George K
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #468

                                        @LuFins-Dad said in What are you reading now?:

                                        Same with the House books.

                                        I did "House Atreides" this week. It was okay. It reminded me of the Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe) shows - "Tune in next week to find out...."

                                        Yeah, I don't really need that.

                                        Still fun.

                                        I think I might have to revisit Herbert's sequels, which I haven't read since the early 1980s.

                                        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                                        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        • George KG Offline
                                          George KG Offline
                                          George K
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #469

                                          Why not?

                                          image.jpeg

                                          "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                                          The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

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