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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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  • 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 Online
        jon-nycJ Online
        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 Online
              jon-nycJ Online
              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 Online
                          jon-nycJ Online
                          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
                                • George KG Offline
                                  George KG Offline
                                  George K
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #128

                                  "Ragtime...."

                                  A very interesting book. Doctorow's style is unusual, very straightforward, with an occasional diversion into detailed descriptions of an item, behavior, location.

                                  He weaves many historical characters into the narrative (Houdini, Freud, Archduke Ferdinand, Perry, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford), and all of that struck me as being a bit contrived. Yeah, it's clever, but many of the historical characters didn't really add that much to the narrative. It was like - "let's see how clever I can be to bring this guy into the tale."

                                  A fun read, with a story that really doesn't get going until about ⅓ of the way through.

                                  Time Magazine called it one of the 100 greatest books of the 20th century. That may be, but I found it nice, but not overwhelming. It doesn't hold a candle to Gatsby, Slaughterhouse-FIve, Invisible Man, Brave New World or a host of others.

                                  "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 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....

                                    KincaidK Offline
                                    KincaidK Offline
                                    Kincaid
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #129

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

                                    @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).

                                    
                                    I got half way through Dune in two days of jury duty (before I ended up on a jury) and never picked the book up again.
                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    • KincaidK Offline
                                      KincaidK Offline
                                      Kincaid
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #130

                                      I am reading Nathaniel Philbrick's The Mayflower. Very interesting to learn actual facts behind the myth.

                                      George KG 1 Reply Last reply
                                      • KincaidK Kincaid

                                        I am reading Nathaniel Philbrick's The Mayflower. Very interesting to learn actual facts behind the myth.

                                        George KG Offline
                                        George KG Offline
                                        George K
                                        wrote on last edited by George K
                                        #131

                                        @Kincaid said in What are you reading now?:

                                        I am reading Nathaniel Philbrick's The Mayflower. Very interesting to learn actual facts behind the myth.

                                        Indeed. I enjoyed it as well. If you like Philbrick's work, check out "In the Heart of the Sea." Defoe used a lot of the history of the whaleship Essex for "Moby Dick." I enjoyed it more than "Mayflower."

                                        If you're interested in "fact vs. pop culture" stuff, take a look at Caroline Alexander's objective story of "The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on The Bounty." It's great.

                                        More than two centuries after Master’s Mate Fletcher Christian led a mutiny against Lieutenant William Bligh on a small, armed transport vessel called Bounty, the true story of this enthralling adventure has become obscured by the legend. Combining vivid characterization and deft storytelling, Caroline Alexander shatters the centuries-old myths surrounding this story. She brilliantly shows how, in a desperate attempt to save one man from the gallows and another from ignominy, two powerful families came together and began to create the version of history we know today. The true story of the mutiny on the Bounty is an epic of duty and heroism, pride and power, and the assassination of a brave man’s honor at the dawn of the Romantic age.

                                        "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
                                        • KincaidK Offline
                                          KincaidK Offline
                                          Kincaid
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #132

                                          Interesting! I think the last fiction I read was actually a re-read of The Hobbit about 10 years ago.

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