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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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  • Catseye3C Catseye3

    This book is being offered for $1.99 -- marked down from $18.99!!!!!

    It is American Heritage History of the Confident Years: 1866-1914 by Francis Russell: "Here . . . is the vivid story of the confident years - those days of America's exuberant growth in population, industry, and world prestige - from the end of the Civil War to the outbreak of World War I." It seems an inspired choice for these gloomy anxiety-ridden times.

    I bought it, of course. A $19 book for a buck-99? Are you kidding me?

    Go to https://www.amazon.com/American-Heritage-History-Confident-Years-ebook/dp/B01DK8FY7C/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=American+Heritage+History+of+the+Confident+Years%3A+1866-1914&qid=1595601920&s=books&sr=1-2

    I recommend you read at least the opening paragraph in the "Look Inside".

    I have a feeling that this book will have a salutary effect on my sore heart.

    taiwan_girlT Offline
    taiwan_girlT Offline
    taiwan_girl
    wrote on last edited by
    #108

    @Catseye3 thanks for the recommendation. Looks like an iterating book

    jon-nycJ 1 Reply Last reply
    • taiwan_girlT taiwan_girl

      @Catseye3 thanks for the recommendation. Looks like an iterating book

      jon-nycJ Offline
      jon-nycJ Offline
      jon-nyc
      wrote on last edited by
      #109

      @taiwan_girl said in What are you reading now?:

      Looks like an iterating book

      You can say that again. And again. And again...

      Only non-witches get due process.

      • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
      taiwan_girlT 1 Reply Last reply
      • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

        @taiwan_girl said in What are you reading now?:

        Looks like an iterating book

        You can say that again. And again. And again...

        taiwan_girlT Offline
        taiwan_girlT Offline
        taiwan_girl
        wrote on last edited by
        #110

        @jon-nyc 😂

        We will have to have @Catseye3 let us know if it was also interesting!!!!

        1 Reply Last reply
        • taiwan_girlT Offline
          taiwan_girlT Offline
          taiwan_girl
          wrote on last edited by
          #111

          alt text

          Really good book. There was a series on Netflix called "Heavy Water" or something like that. The series was about the situation, the attempts to stop the Nazi people from making heavy water at a power plant in Norway.

          Very good book. I recommend.

          1 Reply Last reply
          • jon-nycJ Offline
            jon-nycJ Offline
            jon-nyc
            wrote on last edited by
            #112

            I’m still reading this:

            FAFDD3AC-DD72-4BEE-85F4-8EAA5D0ACB4D.jpeg

            Only non-witches get due process.

            • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
            taiwan_girlT kluursK 2 Replies Last reply
            • JollyJ Offline
              JollyJ Offline
              Jolly
              wrote on last edited by
              #113

              Just got through re-reading the Grail Quest series...

              alt text

              “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

              Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

              1 Reply Last reply
              • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

                I’m still reading this:

                FAFDD3AC-DD72-4BEE-85F4-8EAA5D0ACB4D.jpeg

                taiwan_girlT Offline
                taiwan_girlT Offline
                taiwan_girl
                wrote on last edited by
                #114

                @jon-nyc said in What are you reading now?:

                I’m still reading this:

                FAFDD3AC-DD72-4BEE-85F4-8EAA5D0ACB4D.jpeg

                How is that book?

                1 Reply Last reply
                • jon-nycJ Offline
                  jon-nycJ Offline
                  jon-nyc
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #115

                  It’s great so far. But I’m less than half way in. It’s been slow going because I’m just working book reading back into my daily habits. Covid interrupted the practice.

                  Only non-witches get due process.

                  • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

                    I’m still reading this:

                    FAFDD3AC-DD72-4BEE-85F4-8EAA5D0ACB4D.jpeg

                    kluursK Offline
                    kluursK Offline
                    kluurs
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #116

                    @jon-nyc

                    I read this one.

                    cd3e7a6d-8664-479e-9467-62ccc39df9d5-image.png

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • kluursK Offline
                      kluursK Offline
                      kluurs
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #117

                      Currently reading f451bf38-ccde-49c7-a5d3-60526e52ca17-image.png

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • jon-nycJ Offline
                        jon-nycJ Offline
                        jon-nyc
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #118

                        Sam Harris has a podcast with him about that book.

                        Only non-witches get due process.

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

                          I caved...

                          alt text

                          This is the audio version with multiple actors portraying the characters. I've only gotten to the "Arrival at Arrakis" part, but so far it's a very good adaptation.

                          George KG Offline
                          George KG Offline
                          George K
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #119

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

                          I caved...

                          This is the audio version with multiple actors portraying the characters. I've only gotten to the "Arrival at Arrakis" part, but so far it's a very good adaptation.

                          Followup...

                          I finished it a while ago. This was my third time through the book (2nd time on audio).

                          It hasn't worn as well as I'd hoped it would.

                          The early parts of the book, the departure from Caledan, arrival on Arrakis, the world-building and putting all the pieces in play still are amazing. So creative...

                          The entire middle section, with Paul and Jessica in the desert has way too much mysticism (for a guy like me who likes "hard" SF). There seems to be a lot of "filler" material: much of the Harkonnen stuff is irrelevant and distracting in the middle as well.

                          The closing of the book seemed rushed. Fast forward years, and now the final confrontation is staged...and just like that, it's done. The final confrontation between Paul and F'yed (the knife fight) is silly, and the resolution of Paul marrying Irulan is contrived.

                          I think, in retrospect, I was more impressed with the world-building and creativity of ideas (the Spacing Guild, the spice, the Bene Gesseret etc) rather than actual plot. It could have been 60% shorter and told the same story in a more concise way.

                          Oh, well....

                          "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.

                          KincaidK 1 Reply Last reply
                          • JollyJ Offline
                            JollyJ Offline
                            Jolly
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #120

                            alt text

                            “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

                            Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            • George KG George K

                              "On The Road" is a ... what's the word...touchstone book for the 1960s.

                              I've never read it.

                              Worth my time?

                              MikM Offline
                              MikM Offline
                              Mik
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #121

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

                              "On The Road" is a ... what's the word...touchstone book for the 1960s.

                              I've never read it.

                              Worth my time?

                              It was an influence on me in terms of expectations of my life. Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown was probably greater.

                              “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              • George KG Offline
                                George KG Offline
                                George K
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #122

                                alt text

                                "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
                                • taiwan_girlT Offline
                                  taiwan_girlT Offline
                                  taiwan_girl
                                  wrote on last edited by taiwan_girl
                                  #123

                                  alt text

                                  Kind of like a documentary book (which I like). It talks about a small town in Pennsylvania USA called Aliquippa. It uses the high school football team to tell the story of the town, which started out as a steel factory town. Kind of sociology study of "middle" USA. The football is just the small center of the story the book tells. Even if you dont know a whole lot about US football, that is okay.

                                  Really good book so far (I am about 60% done). A lot of the things that are discussed (labor/management, race relation, general living, etc.) are the same today as back then.

                                  The more history repeats itself, the more it is the same.

                                  I recommend it.

                                  Reminds me a little of another book I read (actually listeded to) called "Friday Night Light", which used a high school football team to look at a town in Texas. The "Friday Night Light" booked studied the town (mostly) over a one year period, while this book looks at the town over the past 80 or so years.

                                  Good compliments to each other.

                                  Aqua LetiferA 1 Reply Last reply
                                  • jon-nycJ Offline
                                    jon-nycJ Offline
                                    jon-nyc
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #124

                                    That sounds interesting, TG.

                                    Only non-witches get due process.

                                    • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    • taiwan_girlT taiwan_girl

                                      alt text

                                      Kind of like a documentary book (which I like). It talks about a small town in Pennsylvania USA called Aliquippa. It uses the high school football team to tell the story of the town, which started out as a steel factory town. Kind of sociology study of "middle" USA. The football is just the small center of the story the book tells. Even if you dont know a whole lot about US football, that is okay.

                                      Really good book so far (I am about 60% done). A lot of the things that are discussed (labor/management, race relation, general living, etc.) are the same today as back then.

                                      The more history repeats itself, the more it is the same.

                                      I recommend it.

                                      Reminds me a little of another book I read (actually listeded to) called "Friday Night Light", which used a high school football team to look at a town in Texas. The "Friday Night Light" booked studied the town (mostly) over a one year period, while this book looks at the town over the past 80 or so years.

                                      Good compliments to each other.

                                      Aqua LetiferA Offline
                                      Aqua LetiferA Offline
                                      Aqua Letifer
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #125

                                      @taiwan_girl said in What are you reading now?:

                                      a small town in Pennsylvania USA called Aliquippa

                                      Been there, it's a PA suburb. Bet you ten bucks LD and Big AL have been, too.

                                      Please love yourself.

                                      markM 1 Reply Last reply
                                      • Aqua LetiferA Aqua Letifer

                                        @taiwan_girl said in What are you reading now?:

                                        a small town in Pennsylvania USA called Aliquippa

                                        Been there, it's a PA suburb. Bet you ten bucks LD and Big AL have been, too.

                                        markM Offline
                                        markM Offline
                                        mark
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #126

                                        @Aqua-Letifer said in What are you reading now?:

                                        @taiwan_girl said in What are you reading now?:

                                        a small town in Pennsylvania USA called Aliquippa

                                        Been there, it's a PA suburb. Bet you ten bucks LD and Big AL have been, too.

                                        Pittsburgh suburb. I think I drove through it once.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        • JollyJ Offline
                                          JollyJ Offline
                                          Jolly
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #127

                                          Friday Night Lights?

                                          Never played in Texas. Played under a lot of Louisiana ones...

                                          “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

                                          Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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