What are you reading now?
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Reading (actually listening to the audio book) called ""Say Nothing"
Really really good. Uses the kidnapping and killing of a Irish widow mother to explore the whole "Troubles", which were/are the "civil war" between the Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland.
I thought it was a very balanced book, does not take sides and shows that both sides did some very very bad thing. I did not know really much about this whole conflict, so very educational as well as a good read.
Highly recommended.
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This guy is reasonably likely to win a nobel someday for this work. Beautifully written book. The science aspect is about an algae with a gene which turns light into electrical pulses. His lab figured out a way to implant this gene into mouse brains, into very specific locations, which allows them to shine laser light into the brain through the eyes, and control the mouse in specific ways, causing both feelings and actions. It's a novel and useful way to study the human brain. I was introduced to this guy through podcasts, which can be found on youtube, for anybody who might be curious.
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The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth.[6] Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending 144 stories beneath the surface. The series initially follows the character of Holston, the sheriff of the Silo, with subsequent volumes focusing on the characters of Juliette, Jahns, and Marnes. An ongoing storyline of the series focuses on the mystery behind the Silo and its secrets. Shift encompasses books six through eight and comprises a prequel to the series. Book nine, Dust, pulls the storylines together.
Several studies frame the story within the dystopian genre since Howey includes several of the main features of that type of literature, i.e., a totalitarian rule, a rebellion of the main characters, or a planned separation between human areas and wild natural spaces.
4.5 stars out of 38,000 reviews.
Apple TV+ just started this as a series. I thought I'd give it a read before diving into the series. I'm only a bit into it, but it's a fun read.
That is if dystopian sci-fi is your idea of "fun."
"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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From one sea yarn to another
I must have been a sailor in another lifetime
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Latest edition of an old friend...
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Had an Audible credit to burn and stumbled upon
Meh, it’s okay, but it feels like Taylor can only write 50 slightly different versions of the same character. It works kind of well for Bobiverse not so much for a full ensemble.
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This should be required listening for everybody on the planet. It's a good deep dive into human tribalism, especially as it relates to politics. It touches on a few of my own favorite points, including the disgust reaction being the most dangerous and galvanizing polarizing force, and how both-sides-are-equalizing is just another vacuous form of bias. I oughta write a book someday. Too bad they require research.
The author is a legit non-hater politically (as many people are, though they are underrepresented in online political discussion of course). I want to read tribalist Ezra Klein's attempt at a similar book, Why We're Polarized, to see if an indoctrinated person doing their level best to think about this stuff, is capable of coherence.
The thing about the ideas in this book, which makes them non-starters for wider understanding, is that they don't make people feel better about themselves. They'd be amazing for society and our politics if people understood them, but as individuals, there's not much advantage to understanding this stuff. Except maybe peace of mind, if you started out as a hater, and need to course correct.
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This one was fun. Basically your straightup Connelly yarn, but no Bosch. Aside from it being a different character with a different past, a big difference is that Bosch makes a lot of trouble for himself whereas with Ballard it's a mix of shit she signs up for, and other stuff that's thrust upon her.
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@bachophile said in What are you reading now?:
From one sea yarn to another
I must have been a sailor in another lifetime
I really liked this book. i thought it was very descriptive and made me feel like I was there. (Kind of an eew description of the toilet facilities on board. LOL)
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Really unbelievable story. Psychopaths existed also in the 17th century.
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It’s a very detailed history and u can get hung up on the Dutch names. But fascinating.
Now my next book,
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@George-K said in What are you reading now?:
The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth.[6] Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending 144 stories beneath the surface. The series initially follows the character of Holston, the sheriff of the Silo, with subsequent volumes focusing on the characters of Juliette, Jahns, and Marnes. An ongoing storyline of the series focuses on the mystery behind the Silo and its secrets. Shift encompasses books six through eight and comprises a prequel to the series. Book nine, Dust, pulls the storylines together.
(I'm going slowly)
This is, IMO, one of those books that does better as a TV series. The concept is utterly fascinating, but after about ¼ of the book, the concept wears a bit thin. The characters are a bit two-dimensional, and there's a lot, and I mean a lot, of pointless adventure that doesn't propel the storyline.
I may pick up the 2nd book of the series (which is actually a prequel) just to suss out the backstory of how the silos came to be, etc. However, I'm not all that sure I will.
That said, I'm ashamed to say that I've never read this, and I'm queuing it up next.
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"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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@George-K
I just read Black Echo.
On to Black Ice. -
“Haller answered with what Bosch would describe as a reluctant grunt.
“It’s Bosch. I wake you?”
“No, man, I’m awake. I usually don’t answer blocked calls this early. It’s usually one of my clients saying, ‘Mick, the cops are knocking on my door with a warrant, what do I do?’ Stuff like that.”
“Well, I got a problem, but a little different.”
“My brutha from another mutha, what’s wrong? DUI?”
Haller was fond of the line and said it every time, always employing a half-assed impression of the Texas-bred Matthew McConaughey, the actor who had played him in a movie six years earlier.”"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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@George-K said in What are you reading now?:
“Haller answered with what Bosch would describe as a reluctant grunt.
“It’s Bosch. I wake you?”
“No, man, I’m awake. I usually don’t answer blocked calls this early. It’s usually one of my clients saying, ‘Mick, the cops are knocking on my door with a warrant, what do I do?’ Stuff like that.”
“Well, I got a problem, but a little different.”
“My brutha from another mutha, what’s wrong? DUI?”
Haller was fond of the line and said it every time, always employing a half-assed impression of the Texas-bred Matthew McConaughey, the actor who had played him in a movie six years earlier.”That's referential at its finest.
At the end of the Black Echo re-print, there was an interview with Connelly and Welliver. Two interesting things:
- Connelly admitted that the movie and TV adaptations of his novels have greatly influenced the novels that were written afterward.
- Titus Welliver doesn't like giving his own name at Starbucks because whenever he does and they yell his name out, everyone in the place turns their head to see who the person is that's named "Titus." So he always says it's for Harry.
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I'm on another Bosch kick, as if you haven't noticed.
Started this today:
It's the 2nd "Renee Ballard" book, but in the first few chapters, Bosch makes an appearance. I haven't read the 1st Ballard book (yet), but I wanted to dive into this because it's a followup on what happened in "Two Kinds of Truth" - Harry searches for Daisy's murderer.
Renée Ballard is working the night beat again, and returns to Hollywood Station in the early hours only to find a stranger rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is retired detective Harry Bosch, working a cold case that has gotten under his skin. Ballard kicks him out, but then checks into the case herself and it brings a deep tug of empathy and anger.
Bosch is investigating the death of fifteen-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway on the streets of Hollywood who was brutally murdered and her body left in a dumpster like so much trash. Now, Ballard joins forces with Bosch to find out what happened to Daisy and finally bring her killer to justice.
"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.
