What book r u reading?

[ChristineM]

I'm not reading it yet, the children have bought me A stroke of the pen by Terry Pratchett as a Saturnalia present.

I learned to read on Terry Pratchett books and got addicted to them, i have read most of his works but since his death i have been starved of his humourous take on the human condition.

A stroke of the pen is a collection of previously unpublished short stories, i think i shall enjoy it.

 

[Wu Wei]

 

[jbg]

I used this reading Blindsight is 2020: Reflections on Covid Policies by Gabrielle Bauer. If ever there was a book that needed writing it was this one. If there was ever an author that needed to write this book, it was Gabrielle Bauer. The author reflects thoughts that I have had since a few days after I was personally affected by the lockdown. the week began normally. The parking lot to the train station were almost full and most people were happily at work. A few people have their children in because their schools had already closed on a day to day basis. By the end of that week, on Friday, March 13th, 2020 we were in a different world. The train parking lots were almost empty, the trains were empty, the sidewalks of New York were empty, and Broadway theater had been closed the night before. Our office ordered pizza in “ for people brave enough to come to work. Quote that was the word of the email that announced the pizza offering. The next day I decided to go to a movie, being fairly certain that would be the last such occasion. I saw “Once We Were Brothers” about The Band. During the movie, I received the officer's email that we were closed effective that Monday. The following Saturday , March 21st, 2020 was rather warm spring day and the tennis courts were full , presumably with people bored out of their minds by the lockdown. The next day cover our villages mayor locked the tennis courts. When I wrote to ask why the residents were being “punished” his answer was that the tennis balls might carry COVID.
I describe the conditions not to Digress come up to set the scene. This book was all about social media and government engendered panic that led to the destruction of a lot of social values. The author describes, through descriptions of interviews and writings by the courageous dissidents of the panic come over reaction and affect of that maelstrom. I personally was regarded as mentally unstable by questioning, even to close friends, the insanity of the Times. I do not want to spoil the book but I will let you in on the ending; The author ends to a citation of The Rolling Stones great song “You Can't Always Get What You Want,” To make free point that life is governed by choices, and should not be governed by diktat coming from not particularly gifted, compassionate were caring government officials. Governments throughout the world, with certain courageous exceptions as Sweden and South Dakota, we're not willing to let people make adult choices; and either did those officials.
I will have a lot more to say on other threads and in other places.

 

[jbg]

I read Argo: How the CIA & Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History by Antonio J. Méndez back in 2016. Exciting and well-written, this book really brings you back to the dark days of 1979-80. The Canadians really provided a ray of light. The Canadians really provided a ray of light. I read that book in 2016 when I was not regularly posting my reading.

 

[Wu Wei]

 

[jbg]

I just finished reading Golda Meir: Israel’s Matriarch by Deborah E. Lipstadt. I am the big fan of Deborah Libstadt's writing, and when faced with a choice of reading this book, of 250 or so pages compared to Gol'da Meirs own memoir, either approaching or over 1000 pages, the choice was obvious. It is refreshing to read a book about a much admired historical figure that is decidedly neutral and is hagiography. The subject was a flawed human being and the book is not perfect either.

First my quibbles. The book contained few of Golda Meir's noteworthy quotes. Her quotes and sayings were a large part of her legacy to the world. That is one of the reasons I give the book a 4 rather than a 5. That being said, this book contains much in the way of new information about the founding of Israel and the lead up to Israel's creation that I did not know. I read voraciously about Israel because I'm proud of my Jewish Heritage. I had previously read biographies of David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin, and the autobiography of Moshe Dayan. I was afraid there would not be very much new and I was surprised.

A word about this author. Professor Lipstad specializes in the study of Holocaust denial. She wrote a creditable and recommended work outside of her field of particular expertise.

 

[JIMMY12345]

I'm not reading it yet, the children have bought me A stroke of the pen by Terry Pratchett as a Saturnalia present.

I learned to read on Terry Pratchett books and got addicted to them, i have read most of his works but since his death i have been starved of his humourous take on the human condition.

A stroke of the pen is a collection of previously unpublished short stories, i think i shall enjoy it.

Impressive.This forum has many intellectuals.

 

[ChristineM]

Impressive.This forum has many intellectuals.

Take a break and have some fun, you may find you enjoy it.

 

[flowerpower]

Trying to read No Bad Parts by Richard C. Schwartz - non-fiction about Internal Family Systems psychotherapy.

It's pseudo self help and I'm trying to get really into that mode of therapy with my own psychologist this year so I figured I'd put down the fiction and give this **** a try.

Needless to say, you can definitely overdo therapy - I feel saturated and it feels like a chore to pick it up despite being as enthusiastic about the concept as I am and ready to dive into the therapy ahead of me. Just seems like a lot of stuff I already know and it's really dumbed down.

The forward is by Alanis Morrisette.

 

[exchemist]

Just finished Richard Fortey’s “Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution”, which was a Christmas present from my son. Very interesting to learn how much we now know about these creatures which lived and evolved for 300 million years, before dying out at the end of the Permian.

I think my favourite nugget of information is about their compound eyes, the lenses of which were transparent crystals of calcite, a calcium carbonate mineral. They are quite unlike the eyes of anything else, and manage to exploit the birefringence of calcite so that each facet of the eye only detects light entering at one specific angle. But there is also a lot about the nature of scientific work, his personal experiences, the history of studying these creatures and so on. Trilobites were chelicerata, like spiders and scorpions. The closest living relative today is the horseshoe crab, Limulus.

 

[jbg]

I just finished reading (yes I know I start all my "reviews" this way) How Good Do We Have to Be? A New Understanding of Guilt and Foregiveness by Harold S. Kushner. Just as I did with When Bad Things Happen to Good People, I am giving this a "five." Judaism admits of many points of view on many subjects and Rabbi Kushner's views on many topics align comfortably with mine. He puts it into words better than I can.

I am familiar with his view, for example, that the exit from the Garden of Eden reflects mankind's evolution from being just a higher level of mammal into something unique and important. This is but an example. An excellent book both for Jewish people and those that want to understand Jewish and human perspectives on vital matters.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

No, I'm pretty sure Stephen King wrote that as a series.

 

[Wu Wei]

No, I'm pretty sure Stephen King wrote that as a series.

Kodaik bear...moves to Maine......duh.... why do you think I'm reading it

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Kodaik bear...moves to Maine......duh.... why do you think I'm reading it

I still believe what you posted was plagiarized from Stephen King who made that as a series of very long books detailing the state, especially around fall when the leaves change colors and you'll get serious overtime with the tourists flocking in with picnic baskets needing inspecting.
And if someone fails? Just take thrm to the County for mauling and disposing.

 

[Wu Wei]

I still believe what you posted was plagiarized from Stephen King who made that as a series of very long books detailing the state, especially around fall when the leaves change colors and you'll get serious overtime with the tourists flocking in with picnic baskets needing inspecting.
And if someone fails? Just take thrm to the County for mauling and disposing.

I don't care..... send Stephan by, once I am in Maine, he in I will talk about it..... but he better DARN well bring a pick-a-nick basket...or I'll GIVE him something to write about

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I don't care..... send Stephan by, once I am in Maine, he in I will talk about it..... but he better DARN well bring a pick-a-nick basket...or I'll GIVE him something to write about

Give him? Please don't. If you give him more than he has he may end up with a book that's longer than the entire Song of Ice and Fire series.

 

[Wu Wei]

Give him? Please don't. If you give him more than he has he may end up with a book that's longer than the entire Song of Ice and Fire series.

Well, you started it..... so its your fault..... deal with it

 

[jbg]

I just finished reading The Bodies of Others: The New Authoritarians, Covid-19 and the War Against the Human. I strongly recommend reading this book. Nevertheless, i'm only giving you the three. There are nuggets of gold buried in the book, as well as stretches of hysteric writing and excessive polemics against the COVID vaccine. I agree with the book to the extent that the lockdowns were caught I fe unnecessary, dehumanizing and very destructive of people with little power to resist. I also agree that people should have questions and resisted, especially as it became clear that there was not going to be any reopening after the initial two weeks to “flatten the curve."

Essentially, the author has the zeal of the converted. Formerly on the far left of the political fringe, she shifted almost to the far right. As good and as useful as much of the material is, her political zealotry And fostering of some conspiracy theories takes some of the worthwhile enjoyment out of the book. To get education in anti lockdown hues I recommend the book that I read about two weeks ago, Blindsight is 2020 by Jessica McCullough.

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

I'm tagging @McBell and @sun rise for this, as I discovered that what I tried to write to @McBell in response to him on sun rise's profile page was too long for a profile page posting.

Me: I love the picture of the golden retriever in your profile. I'm currently reading a Dean Koontz novel that has a golden as a main character. Dean Koontz has and loves goldens, and he's written a couple of suspense novels that feature them.

@McBell wrote: Watchers is a really good book.

Me: Yep. Watchers was published in 1987. Then, in 2020, Koontz came out with Devoted which, while not exactly a sequel to Watchers, nevertheless continued the side-story about the genetically enhanced golden retrievers who comprise "the Mysterium" and who presumably were descendants of the golden named Einstein in Watchers. I had read Devoted first, a few years ago when it first came out. I didn't know about Watchers until recently when I became so hooked on Koontz's novels that I started reading his older stuff. So now I'm currently reading Devoted for the second time, and enjoying how having read Watchers now answers some questions regarding Devoted.

Stephen King had always been my favorite author for horror, but now I'm leaning more towards Dean Koontz. Especially since I think that King tends to overwrite a bit in his later novels, and maybe could use a better editor (if he's even using an editor these days).

I find Koontz's horror to be more realistic, focusing less on the supernatural (although Koontz's horror isn't always entirely without a touch of the supernatural) and more on how flesh-and-blood human beings are the real monsters in this world. Granted, King also has written works featuring some monstrous human beings, especially the authoritarians in King's dystopian novel titled The Long Walk, which is my favorite of his (first published in 1979 under King's pseudonym of Richard Bachman). But Dean Koontz gets my vote for America's Number One writer of suspense and horror.

To others reading this: What's your opinion on Dean Koontz? Do you compare him with Stephen King, or some other author? I understand that Koontz originally began as a writer of science fiction, but I haven't read any of his science fiction.

I'm also tagging @Debater Slayer because I know he enjoys horror stories.

 

[Wu Wei]