SugarFree
The Reddening (2019) by Adam Nevill
An interesting blend of The Wicker Man and Cannibal Holocaust, but too frontloaded, almost like it was written for people who hadn’t read horror before. Aficionados can see the twists from very far away. About 40% too long. And I’m not sure it comes together at the end. This is the second novel by Nevill I have read, along with The Ritual which was turned into a movie for Netflix. I liked The Ritual and The Ritual better than The Reddening. Also, The Reddening is a stupid title.
Hard To Be A God (1964) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Soviet Science Fiction is always interesting, if not exactly always a great read. Hard To Be A God does well in both aspects. The plot is about a member of a mission to a planet with a society roughly corresponding to Italy in the 15th century. The mission is to observe and report but not interfere with the development of the civilization. This chafes at the main character as the principality he has been assigned takes a sharp turn into religious authoritarianism. It would be interesting to read this and Iain M. Banks’ Inversions back-to-back.
The Case Against Satan (1962) by Ray Russell
Covers the same ground as The Exorcist, just a decade too soon, and went to a sleazy little paperback publisher rather than a marketing-supported hardback at Harper & Rowe. This is a shame because it is in many ways better written than Blatty’s tome and tells the story of the exorcism of a young girl in very non-moralistic prose. Gruesome, short, and the elderly maid gets to save the day.
Spudalicicous:
I’m back into garage sci-fi. I’m currently rereading the “Childe Cycle” by Gordon Dickson. It’s interesting coming back to this as an adult. It’s roots are radically libertarian. A good series, but could have been great.
mexican sharpshooter
I got nothing. So I ordered this.
I’m reading some of my older work, for entertainment this time.
I’m also reading an assortment of old pulp magazines, for inspiration.
I’m also reading a lot of paperwork at work,
I need to read more, just dont have the time lately, but I got a Gideon Bible,
Well, Peace Talks (Dresden series) finally got released in paperback, so I’ve got that on my shelf to hopefully read next week.
Other then that I’ve been wasting time going for bike rides, playing Bravely Default 2 on the Switch, and playing the new Masters of Orion on PC.
How is Bravely Default? I don’t know anything about it but I always hear that title come up in great game discussions. So I downloaded the demo (Switch) but haven’t fired it up yet….
It’s a JRPG. You need to grind to level up jobs and your characters. The plot is paint-by-number with the tropes (there’s four crystals you need to recover). There’s big difficulty spikes on some of the bosses, which you can later cheese using job pairings. There’s a card collection mini game that’s decent for wasting time. The art style is chibi for the characters, with some nice watercolors used for the main cities.
There’s some interesting interactions with some of the jobs (once they’re leveled up all the way) and job passives (once they’re unlocked for a character, they can be assigned even if you don’t have the job assigned). You can have a main job and a sub job active at the same time, and have all of the actions for both at the same time.
When I’m in the right mood, I loves me some JRPG. The problem I run into is most of them are so damn massive I end up not seeing it through to the end. This is a problem with other genres of modern game, but I think more so in the (J)RGP world.
Still, this one sounds fun. I’ll check it out this weekend.
I’ve completed the main story (through all the endings that I’m aware of), and I’m at ~70 hours in. I’ve beaten two of the challenge portals (out of seven), and gotten crushed by one.
Design for quite a few of the bosses is walk up to them once expecting to lose, get crushed, reload, change out jobs, abilities, and gear to spec for the fight. Then found out about some counter you didn’t experience before and adjust your plan until you can beat the boss. Most I managed to go wide spectrum enough that I could make it through (inefficiently) eventually.
60’s pulp sci-fi this month was a Frederik Pohl book (Reefs of Space) and a compilation of early writers from 1964 edited by Robert P. Mills. There was some weird stuff back then.
My reading of the Voyages extraordinaires took me through Around the World in 80 Days and most of the way through The Mysterious Island.
Just finished a couple of Dirt Pitt ebooks (Clive Cussler) that I hadn’t read. Clive wanted to be the Ian Fleming, apparently.
Also discovered Dean Koontz. Read the two Moonlight Bay books and the first three Odd Thomas books. Koontz writes sci-fi/mystery/horror better than Stephen King.
the modern Ian Fleming.
I just started that Matthew McConaughey book. So far it’s really interesting. He talks about how his mom and dad, and his dad and brother, would get into physical altercations with each other, to the point of bleeding or being knocked unconscious, and then just move on with their lives. He also talks about being a hustler, and his mom teaching him how to cheat and plagiarize. I find it interesting because a lot of that is completely foreign to the way I was brought up.
He’s been on a lot of podcasts lately.
Jordan Peterson did a terrific interview with him.
A bookI’ve been reading
they both die in the end,
And the worst book I’ve had to read for school was an ibrahm x kendi book, stamped racism, anti racist, and you
I hated that book so much.
Oof, they made you read that racist “anti-racist” tripe? That’s child abuse right there.
My work tried to encourage me to read that book, but at least it was optional. I would’ve pitched a fit if it was mandatory.
Had to do some probably racist shit along the way too
Thurber.
Which?
I just finished Apocalypse Never. Summary: Environmentalism has become a religion. Rumors of our death are premature. Poor people want to be rich too. Nuclear energy good.
Before that I read Unmasked by Andy Ngo. It was ok, but nothing really new if you’ve followed him.
Slanted by Sheryl Atkisson. It was ok too, but probably nothing new for people who know that the media are biased.
I’m looking for a change of pace, so I’ll probably check out Snow Crash.
I started Quicksilver (suggested by someone here) but found it hard to get into. Maybe I’ll try Snow Crash instead.
Good idea. I also really liked Diamond Age.
Anyone else think Snow Crash is just William Gibson lite?
no
Anyone else? Bueller? Bueller?
Never read Gibson, so I couldn’t say.
Fatemarked and Truthmarked by David Estes
Fatemarked (book 1) was a fun little fantasy novel that did a good job splitting the YA and Adult styles. Prophetess makes prophesies about the fall of the kingdoms of the day, including people with magical power marks who will play a large part in said fall of kingdoms.
Truthmarked (book 2) was way more YA than the first and was crammed with romances that didn’t advance the plot and made the main characters all seem whiny and insecure. I gave up the series after this one. The plot was still interesting, but the romances made it all drag and made a lot of the characters unlikable.
The Sentinel Mage by Emily Gee (still reading)
Enjoyable fantasy book. Sometimes falls into YA traps like getting too much in the heads of all the (coming of age) main characters, resulting in some of those same whiny, insecure character traits that were so prominent in the Fatemarked series. That said, it’s not particularly distracting. Distinctly feminine point of view comes through when the book deals with romance and sex, but it’s not obnoxious or too unrealistic. Most of the female characters have had sex in ways that are implied to be (or are explicitly) non-consensual. The other main female character is a virgin awaiting a ritual deflowering called “training” (won’t happen, she’ll end up screwing one or both of the male main characters). Most of the male characters screw anything that moves, whether or not it consents, and find any sort of restraint “prudish”. The main plot is a bog standard quest plot, but the fun of this book is in the characters, not the plot.
I’m re-reading The Gulag Archipelago. Not sure why I do this to myself.
I have a copy of it that was my Dad’s back when it was first published, still haven’t read it. I need to do that, but as I mention below, I’m trying to finish reading some things before I start new ones.
I just read that a few months ago. I would say we owe it to the author to read it since he paid so much to bring it to us and helped to destroy the machine which could have been a catastrophe for mankind.
Slogging my way through it as well. I can only take bits at a time.
Absalom, Absalom!
I guess I’m preparing for my trip to Mississippi and Alabama at the end of May.
The tie-in novels from Game of Thrones. Pretty weird that they’re so much longer and more fleshed out than the show they’re based on. This Martin guy does a lot more world building than the showrunners allowed. I just hope he ends it better.
words are wind
As useful as nipples on a breastplate.
No Longer Human by Osuma Dazai. About halfway through and not sure if I want to finish it or burn it and take a shower. The translator, Donald Keene, has quite an interesting life before his death just two years ago.
Picking up from the noose story in the AM linx. I guaran-fucking-tee that the rope on Wednesday was just some random cordage but the Thursday ones were deliberately placed by construction workers who thought it was utterly ridiculous for the police to show up and hassle them the prior day. If I’m wrong, I’ll buy today’s lunch off the gut truck for the entire worksite.
Considered it was described “could be interpreted to be a noose,” that guarantees it wasn’t a noose. Like the Black guy who put up some Roman rings along a path as exercise equipment.
Finished The R.A. Lafferty Fantastic MEGAPACK® *** less SCi-fi-ish than I expected, more /folktale/plot twisty short stories, Humorous a bit silly at times but quick fun read.
George Pelecanos The Man Who Came Uptown ***½ Criminals doing criminal things in DC, if you’ve read Pelecanos before there are no surprises here, maybe a bit more redemption going on other wise just a solid addition to his bookography.
Mike Omer A Deadly Influence** Cult survivor turned cop investigates a kidnapping that’s tied to a cult, nothing special ho-hum crime/police procedural.
Talmage Powell The Talmage Powell Crime MEGAPACK® *** Gangsters, Dames, and Shamuses (shami, shamupodes?) yer basic noir, may look into some of Powell’s full length novels.
Have I mentioned how much I like these MEGAPACK® ebooks? 99¢ a pop and I dig the short story format especially when I hit a reading wall and am having trouble getting into longer works. And they cover tons of genres, and seem well put together, no missing pages and odd formatting I’ve found in other cheapo e-books.
DC’s 3 Jokers Batman arc, Marvel’s Age of Apocalypse X-Men arc, the ingredients on the Irish Spring box…
I read a couple of Margaret Weis fantasy novels I was gifted a decade or two ago but found when puppy-proofing the house: Mistress of Dragons and Dragon’s Son.
Interesting to read them now because of how horribly the female protagonists are treated. Actually, it’s interesting in that the plot protagonists are treated as disposable, since the meta-plot is a decades long political scheme by dragons looking to rule humans as a stepping stone to the rest of their species.
Not interesting enough for me to hunt down and buy the rest of the trilogy? Series?
I’m currently trying to focus on finishing some things before I start reading new books. So I have whittled my reading list down to two books, and progress is going much better now.
Now reading:
Enough Already by Scott Horton
Boyd by Robert Coram
Is that Boyd book as good as the reviews make it out to be?, I need to get some non-fiction into my reading pile.
I think it is very good so far (halfway in). It’s careful to point out when there might be exaggerations by Boyd or his “Acolytes” about their exploits/influence, but sometimes gives the air of being the work of a fan itself. Read with a critical eye. It definitely goes into (and is getting more specific) about the strange management culture in the US military that is probably at the root of so much dysfunction today.
The Horton book is great. You’ll throw it against the wall a few times in a blind rage, but still good.
Any suggestions for a Terry Pratchett book? I started The Colour of Magic but had a hard time getting into it.
The first two Diskworld books are not representative of the series. I recommend “Guards! Guards!” as an introduction.
The ones involving Vimes are my favorite. Having a detective story in a fantasy city sounds like a very weird premise but somehow it works.
Thanks for the suggestions. Starting “Guards! Guards!” now.
I will second “Guards! Guards!” as the start of the Sam Vimes arc is a good place to start.
Most of the early books are stand alone stories, but he quickly re-uses characters and if you had not read their early development it won’t be quite as funny.
Rincewind is quickly re-used in Mort. etc.
The first couple of Discworld books are the roughest, as Pterry was still working on finding his voice (it doesn’t help that I find the Rincewind cycle the weakest of them). My suggestions would be:
Guards cycle – Guards! Guards! is the first book of this cycle, these books focus on the Night Watch Guards who are the dregs of the dregs of the cops in the city.
Death cycle – Mort is the first book of this cycle. These books deal with Death, and his role in the universe as well as his failed attempts at emulating humanity.
Witches cycle – Equal Rites is the first book of this cycle, These books deal with the Lancre witches, and after the first book generally have some spoof of a Shakespearean work in them
Wizards cycle – Starts with Colour of Magic, but I would go back to read that later. If you want one to start with
FaustEric is decent. These are generally the Rincewind books, but he eventually becomes a minor character.Moist cycle – Going Postal is the first, and this is the shortest (and newest) cycle. It deals with a conman taking over the postal service.
There are also the stand alone books, which add minor characters who appear in other later books. There’s also the children books (one stand alone, then the Tiffany Aching series, which is tangentially related to the Witches cycle).
For something completely unrelated to Discworld, you could go for Dodger (based on the Artful Dodger) or his collaboration with Neil Gaiman: Good Omens (a comedy of errors about the apocalypse).
Personally, the Guards, Death, and Moist cycles are my favorites.
Good Omens is excellent. I once lent a copy to a Greek Orthodox Bishop and never got it back.
Thanks, again. “Guards!” is very Python-esqe at the beginning.
Not a problem. It made my misty when I was reading the last of the unread Discworld novels I had on the shelf. I had put off reading it because I knew that once I was done with it, there would be no more new books in the world. His last will requested they destroy all of his equipment, which was done… with a steam roller.
His daughter has publicly refused to write any further books, and bashed the BBC adaptation of the Guards books (which may have been perfectly serviceable steampunk fantasy, but it wasn’t Discworld).
If you knew nothing about the Discworld books, then the BBC adaption was a competent, if totally woke, steampunk fantasy show.
But they totally went out of their way to destroy the characters that Pratchett created.
Carrot was probably the only character that was done correctly.
I liked the Witches stuff almost as much as Vimes. Granny Weatherwax is the most competent character in the entire universe, rivaled only by Vetinari (One man, one vote).
I would be hard pressed to choose between the guards, witches, death, and moist series as best. Each shines in its own way.
But the wizards are clearly last.
I love the Moist series, but with there only being two books, it can’t compete with the Guards, Death or Witches.
From what I’ve heard, the Wizards books are spoofing academia more specifically. So for those who have been in that environment, perhaps they land better? I just prefer them as side characters (like in Soul Music).
Three books – Going Postal, Making Money, and Raising Steam,
Two books. Like I said.
I’m still reading “Retief to the Rescue”. I haven’t had much time to read this month.
You chucklefucks got me to read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Good book, though!
Also, Stranger in a Strange Land. WTF was that.
I read some Calhoun and have been trying, again, to get farther than chapter 1 of Classics of Analytic Philosophy. The Tractatus is on my nightstand with a reading light hooked onto it, but hasn’t been attempted.
Also, Stranger in a Strange Land. WTF was that.
Right?!? I haven’t read any Heinlein since that one. I have TMIAHM on my bookshelf, but I’m not exactly clamoring to read more Heinlein after Stranger.
About the only thing more different then Stranger and Moon is comparing Stranger to one of the Heinlein juveniles.
Definitely completely different. The two novels are evidence of Heinlein’s range as an author.
I think my favorite work of his, outside “Mistress,” is “Job: A Comedy of Errors,” with “The Number of the Beast” and “Friday” way up there as well.
Second Job. That would be my favorite RAH.
Third here for Job.
That’s my second most lent out book that I’ve had to repurchase. Number one is the Screwtape Letters (I may have to order a new copy now that I think about it).
I enjoyed Number of the Beast, but it sure gets a lot of hate.
Was kind of a fan service; but I appreciated it, because I’d read almost all of the stuff he referenced in that book.
I liked “Job: A Comedy of Errors.”
I hated “The Number of the Beast” and “Farnham’s Freehold.”
“Time Enough for Love” and “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” I liked.
I remember reading “Friday” and “Stranger in a Strange Land”, but I don’t remember much of what I thought of them.
I enjoyed “Glory Road”.
I noped right out when he let someone else hold his wallet.
“Glory Road” is also one of my favorite Heinlein books. It’s more fantasy than his other books but grounded in sci-fi enough for me to enjoy it.
I loved “Beast” probably because it was the first Heinlein book I ever got my hands on and read. I had no idea he was referencing his own previous stories when I read it first.
Why didn’t you like Farnham’s Freehold?
Have any of you read the recently published alternate version of Beast? Allegedly, the original plan was to release the two versions which diverge during the trip to Mars. I recently read them both, and it was an interesting exercise. Not sure which version I liked better.
I’ll have to give it a shot, but the books I’ve read so far seem to follow the same pattern. Develop a great plot line with great characters for the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the book. Blow the climax and instead finish the book out with acid trip orgy shit.
Granted, I’ve read
The Cat who Walks Through Walls, Stranger in a Strange Land, and Starship Troopers. (Starship Troopers being the exception to the pattern, but still a book that tails off towards the end)
Then also avoid Number of the Beast, Time Enough for Love, and To Sail Beyond the Sunset. Those are also the really strange ones.
Friday is also from the later period but may be more up your alley. I would also recommend the Puppet Masters and Job (points up-thread).
The only book I’ve ever chucked at a wall, and which made me stop reading Heinlein forever.
I would second Friday. I also liked Methuselah’s Children.
That doesn’t happen with “Mistress,” for sure.
TMIAHM and SIASL are different genres. The former is libertarian hard SF. The latter is fantasy.
As long as I’m logged in, I’m in the middle of a re-read of The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells:
http://www.marthawells.com/murderbot.htm
The latest in the series just came out. I’m barely 1 chapter in.
I love Murderbot so much.
I just found out about it when researching the link. Yay!
Kill all humans?
39% complete. So, so good. Happy.
What if it has a virus which will kill every living thing on earth?
A fictitious asteroid is headed our way, and a group of real experts is currently doing their best to deal with the grim situation. The week-long tabletop exercise, now in its third day, aims to find out whether our current technologies, systems, and institutions could handle the crisis if an actual asteroid were to threaten Earth any time soon.
During the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, fire trucks were desperately needed at the plant. It seemed like a straightforward request, except for one rather alarming development—the roads were blocked on the way into the facility owing to the tremendous damage caused by the tsunami. It was an understandable oversight, but perhaps something that could’ve been foreseen.
Indeed, disasters may be notoriously unpredictable, but that doesn’t mean we should refrain from the attempt. Hence the importance of these tabletop exercises. By going through the motions of a disaster, we can foresee how a situation might actually unfold and evaluate various responses to an actual emergency.
One of the most frightening disaster scenarios is an asteroid impact. As far as we can tell, no known asteroid poses a significant threat to our planet at any point in the near future, but that could quickly change should a potentially hazardous asteroid suddenly come into view.
Doomsday porn. Fap fap fap.
It was an understandable oversight, but perhaps something that could’ve been foreseen.
Author probably hasnt ever had visibility into a project as complicated as building an R/C car, let alone a nuclear reactor.
Hint, hint: there are thousands, if not millions, of foreseeable failure modes in a project as complex as a nuclear reactor. It is impossible to address them all. It is impossible to stay in business while addressing any but the lowest hanging fruit.
In my industry, FMEAs are updated continually for basically this reason; there are too many possibilities to foresee them all.
Risk Management is as much reactive as proactive.
What RPN cut off do you use for a mandatory corrective action.
I’ve been a Nat Geo subscriber for 35+ years, once my current subscription expires I will not be renewing it. I refuse to pay to get woke. Sorry Nat Geo, I used to love you but it’s all over now.
I dropped them when they left the time-honored “National Geographic” moniker for the childish and moronic “NatGeo.”
They lost me around the turn of the century when they went “all in” for the doomed Earth scenario.
Same for me, around the mid-Oughts. Once it seemed as though there were at least one enviro doomsday article per issue, I stopped buying it. I still love reading the old ones.
More net-friendly?
“NatGeo”, that is.
Who knows? It’s still childish and stupid. Granted, as TBH rightly points out, their overt politicization of, well, everything, had a lot to do with my dumping them as well.
They hitched their wagon to the woke train in 2018.
The Devil’s Cup – A History of the World According to Coffee
The author starts in Africa and is following the path the bean took around the world with stories, past and present, about every stop. Kinda like a travel book, but kinda not. Dunno. It’s good though.
Somewhat related, and to all my other old RPG geeks out there.
Happy Shadowrun day.
I ran a Shadowrun game for a while. It was fun.
I like more of the aesthetic than the philosophy of the various *-punk genres.
I still have my first edition Shadowrun books.
Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic books graphic novels. They’re a little airy, I guess.
comic books
Supposed to be struck through…
Business is booming over here at biz de Mojeaux, then I had to make a quick run to Charlotte and back, plus my transcription gig, so I’ve read precious little. My tiny bit of leisure time, which I just steal from the claws of my clients, has been spent cross stitching.
Glibertarians.com – Random assortment of weirdos
Beyond Order – JBP
Blood of Elves – Sapkowski (Witcher ‘series’)
The MeatEater Guide to Wilderness Skills and Survival – Steven Rinella
I picked up the Rinella book, too.
So many books…
been thinking of picking up “The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game : Volume 1: Big Game” next time I order some books. Theoretical knowledge vs useful practical knowledge for the win!
I bought both of those volumes, as well.
Worth if? As in enough detail and information to practically translate to the field? I need to get out and do some hunting and get the true practical knowledge, but I also like starting with enough theoretical knowledge to minimize the errors in the field.
You’d think a kid who grew up in Wisconsin would have gutted a white tail or two; one of those life lessons I regret opting out of.
I haven’t gotten deep into them yet, but they look terrific. Reviews were uniformly positive.
I’ve no experience with anything other than birds. Looking to remedy that.
…and I hadn’t hunted birds since I left TX close to 40 years ago. I enjoyed dove hunting, had couple places close to my house. Not a lot of birds but still enough to shoot up some shells and always fun.
Now it’s deer only, at least I hope that’s the future…
Arkady Martine’s A Memory Called Empire and the sequel, A Desolation Called Peace.
Yes, there’s a smidge (or more) of diversity and inclusion, but it works. In some ways the sequel has better sf-nal ideas but may be a weaker book. Nonetheless, I was impressed enough to buy them both. Memory was even better on a re-read, I’m hoping Desolation will be as well.
Dresden series Peace Talks and it’s sequel Battle Ground. I found Peace Talks tedious, in the way prologues often are. Battle Ground was back to the expected level of adrenaline junkie Dresden adventures.
I didn’t know there was a sequel to A Memory Called Empire. My book backlog overfloweth.
You say that like it’s a bad thing 😉
There’s a reason I do so many re-reads, beyond the simple enjoyment of a good book.
Patrick J. Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed.
TL;DR version – American progressives and conservatives are both Enlightenment liberals, and that’s a bad thing. Individualism leads to statism. Hint: Not everyone at Glibs may like it.
À la Popper?
All my answers have been boring for the past year.
Re-reading through Dorothy Sayers’ Peter Wimsey canon. I’m in Gaudy Night right now.
She’s easily my favorite fiction author (not the author of my favorite fiction, though).
Also the regular read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year thing on my modified version of Sproul’s calendar.
For SpaceX follower nerds: does anyone have any information about the flight rules they are bound to by the FAA for Starship? I was frankly surprised that they elected to fly the SN11 craft with a low fog layer. That would have been well below IFR minimums for a manned craft, just wondering what rules FAA holds them to with regard to flight and ground visibility. Obviously the TFRs block out airspace for their use, but I’d imagine that the FAA would have done more than given them a blank slate inside that volume of airspace, especially given the risk associated with an off-property landing or crash.
I assume that SpaceX (with all the craft they attempt to land) uses something like an MLS or ILS in addition to a simple GPS or inertial navigator to hit its landing target–obviously a vision system wouldn’t be adequate for a landing in fog or extremely low visibilty.
Just finished Dealings by Felix Rohatyn. Pretty much what you’d expect. A lot of name dropping and repetition of left-Establishment platitudes.
Just cracked open Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life by Peterson. I’ve only just started. But, he goes into his recent medical travails in some detail in the intro.
I’m really wishing Vernor Vinge would write something new…
Gulag Archipelago. Damn. How could humans do that to each other? Going down the rabbit hold now: ordered Man’s Search for Meaning, about the Nazi’s version of the gulag, despite its misogynistic title.
Ozy’s book, which has me on the edge of my seat with wondering if he’ll reveal the real reason why there was such a push to implement that vaccine program. My guess is money. No spoilers, pofa.
A Libertarian Walks into a Bar. Pretty well written and funny. The author either doesn’t try to hide his digs at libertarians or assumes everyone finds the desire for more freedom to be humorous.
Bear, not Bar. Hole, not hold. /eye roll
Things what irritates me, ch 10,822
When you try to sign into an account with a password you may or may not remember correctly, and the sign in box won’t let you see the goddam characters you have typed in.
Hint, hint: there are thousands, if not millions, of foreseeable failure modes in a project as complex as a nuclear reactor. It is impossible to address them all. It is impossible to stay in business while addressing any but the lowest hanging fruit.
No risk is too infinitesimal to be completely eliminated.
I’ve been reading a little more lately. Insomnia has its upsides, I guess.
The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why
This one is really interesting. A lot of the conventional wisdom of behaviors during crisis are bullshit. Also, some people are quite literally built for staying cool under pressure and, interestingly enough, training doesn’t create these high level performers – their brains are physically different. Recommended.
Per SP’s recommendation, I’m on the third of Charles Todd’s Ian Rutledge Series. Quite good and a lengthy catalog. Rutledge is a Scotland Yard detective freshly back from WW1. He’s seen some shit and is massively fucked up, but trying to get it together. So far I really dig it.
(Quick dumb question before I let on what I’ve been reading – do we use the “b” or the “strong” tag here for bold?)
strong.
How Civilizations Die (and Why Islam is Dying Too)
By David P. Goldman
Outlines the declining birth rate in most industrialized nations, the causes and consequences when it drops below replacement rate, why certain nations (such as the US and Israel) are exceptions, and how the extremely rapid progression of this pattern in Islamic countries will lead to crisis.
Format: Audiobook is what I’m using.
I’m re-reading Mean Martin Manning by Scott Stein.
Wickedly funny, in a Carl Hiaasen mainlining red pills kinda way.
Plot synopsis at the link, if you’re at all curious.
From the previous article, Re: Justin Fields, the QB pick for the Bears.
Fields disclosed he has epilepsy, well-controlled with medication. This shouldn’t have been an issue for his draft position, but an epilepsy diagnosis carries a heavy stigma. Some people consciously or subconsciously assume “mentally ill”, “delicate”, “stupid”, or otherwise suboptimal even when the person has been seizure-free for years.
Trust me. It stinks. As a Bears fan with epilepsy, I wish him well.
(This message was brought to you by Hayeksplosives’ left temporal lobe.)
Well, sure. Who knows what evil they committed to have Apollo curse them?
Seriously, though, this is certainly true. I have a sister, who recently died of cancer, who struggled with epilepsy through most of her adult life. Not too many people outside the family knew about it. In her case, it was one of a long list of health issues, but that’s not always the case.
Seizures happen, surpised they let him play
Et tu, Yusef?
I’m going to have to write an article to dispel the ignorance surrounding epilepsy.
It only affects the person during a seizure. If the seizures are prevented by medication, what’s the problem?
It was suggested to me once upon a time after a sleep study that epilepsy might be possible. To my knowledge I have never had a seizure, but the EEG on the sleep study caught … something. I was scared to death of getting my driver’s license taken away, so I never pursued that.
They don’t suspend a DL unless you have a “loss of consciousness event” such as a seizure or fainting or any number of other health conditions people live with.
Every year I have to send a DMV form to my neurologist who then says I’m fine and the epilepsy is well controlled.
(Smacks head at the continuing ignorance of the general populace regarding epilepsy)
Guess I’ll chime in too: Hell’s Angels: A strange and Terrible Saga by HST. The last of Thompson’s books I haven’t read, including the fiction (Run Diary) and essays (Great Shark Hunt et al.)
So far it’s his usual charming stuff. In my opinion the closest cousin to The Curse of Lono, my personal favorite HST book.
I always forget…. Proofread BEFORE hitting “post comment”, not after….
RUM DIARY.
Gravity may overcome my unpinched source of better living, but rock might not be dead…
https://loudwire.com/sex-pistols-johnny-rotten-calls-out-spoilt-children-woke-culture/
(speaking of epilepsy)
Decades of NGAF.
Oops: meningitis sequelae, I think. NEVer miiind…
Sure beats Biafra who’s morphed into a scolding wuss.
“It’s just horribly, horribly tempestuous spoilt children coming out of colleges and universities with shit for brains.”
Johnny is the GOAT.
This is a guy who gets freedom of speech and the independence to make your own choices.
Since it was the beginning of the month, and the past is a foreign country, I forgot Peace Talks and Battle Ground were also read this month. I agree that Peace Talks drags a bit but it does set Battle Ground up to be one long fight scene.
You can see the end of the series taking shape.
Biden: It’s a “patriotic responsibility” for vaccinated people to keep wearing masks
I love it. Hectorer in chief.
No, Joe.
It still cracks me up that the old fuck was wearing a goddamn mask on a zoom call.
Also, thanks to whomever sent me to minimallycompliantmasks.com. I just got my cotton gauze and it is awesome. Off, you can see through it, on, it looks like a real mask. Pretty sweet!
Not my president. Fuck off you old cunt!
T inspector Maigret book, while dipping in and out of Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. Next up is The Trial.
Michael Gambon > Rowan Atkinson
I just graze at a bunch of books at once, but this morning I was reminded of deleted scenes from The Importance of Being Earnest:
Gwendolen: It requires merely physical courage to sacrifice oneself. To sacrifice others moral courage is necessary.
Look at y’all pretentious bunch with yer fancy readin and all!
I’m working. But after I think I shall play some more Subsistence. I want to build solar panels, but where am I going to get than many pearls?
But first, chop moar wood! I’m a choppin broc-o-leeeee, I’m a choppin broc-o-liiiiii!!!!!
Dog Money
It’s Remy. It’s worth it.
It linked me to this one in the suggested. Im laughing so hard!
that is a classic
The United States will no longer issue non-immigrant visas in Russia.
That’ll show Putin.
Rereading The Best of Roald Dahl. It’s a collection of his short stories.
This tea smells of almonds…
There are some really good ones in there. Dip in the Pool might be my favorite.
Waco: A survivor’s story.
As if I needed more motivation to distrust the gov’t.
One chapter into Another Time, Another Place, the just-released twelfth full-length volume in Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St. Mary’s series about
time-travelinghistorians who “investigate major historical events in contemporary time.” (Running joke: the St. Mary’s director takes umbrage at the “TT” term.) Besides the twelve books, there are also numerous e-book-only short stories released between novels. Always great fun (though occasionally heart- breaking.) Highly recommended for humor and/or history buffs.Also reading some of the back catalog AND some not-yet-released fantasy by some Robert McCarroll guy. (Must be a nom de plume. Guy would be fending off rabid fans constantly if he revealed his true identity.) Well worth looking into – he’s started to make a fantasy fan out of me, and I’d never been drawn to that genre before.
Never heard of him.
Just haven’t shown any interest in reading the past few weeks. Jimbo gave me a bunch of well read (must be good, no pictures, I was surprised) humor plus I have several historical books to read.
Seems like my eyes or glasses need a tuneup.
Tell him to send you his old Playboys. The articles are great.
And have never been read.
I just gobbled down Capital Murder which is part of an urban fantasy series – 1930’s private detective, set in NYC, who’s a runewright (low-level rune-based magician). Easy reading, the author is fleshing the world out a bit as he goes, but I enjoy them quite a bit.
Before that I re-read Brotherhood of the Rose, by David Morel; I remembered loving that book when I was much younger. It was… fine. No real desire to read the sequels.
I also finally finished What Every Body Is Saying, which was decent but dragged a bit towards the end.
I may finally read 12 Rules for Life next.
I listened to 12 Rules for Life on audiobook. I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to listen to the next one.
Last few books since the last “what are we reading?” post:
Went on a Stephen King streak, reading “The Shining”, “Dr. Sleep”, and “Pet Sematary”. Dr. Sleep wasnt good.
Also read Robbie Soave’s “Panic Attack”. It was good, but doesnt contain anything not known to anyone here.