[BountyHunter]

I am currently reading Star Trek: A Time to Harvest.

Yeah, nothing too heavy for me this month.  lol

[narfstar]

I have been working outside. I have been too tired physically to do anything mentally. I have been looking forward to reading this months Samson but I am afraid I will fall asleep while reading it.

[bowers]

Me.too, Narf. I've been outside staining our deck. I have been working my way through a copy of "The Hellfire Files of Jules De Grandin" by Seabury Quinn. Quinn was an interesting writer, being a mortician before he began writing pulps. Dr. De Grandin is sort of a supernatural Hercule Poirot and the stories are usually quite good. Cheers, Bowers

[Geo (R.I.P.)]

Currently reading The Pharos Objective by David Sakmyster. This is his first book about locating the remains of the seventh Wonder of the Ancient World, the Pharos Lighthouse and is in pocketbook form. It's been a really great read so far. So check it out for yourself at your local book store or check out a review on it what others have to say about it.

Geo

[josemas]

The Pharos Objective- sounds like one right up my alley.  I'll look for it the next time I'm at the library.

Seabury Quinn- have read scattered Quinn stories over the years.  Seems like there is always at least one of his stories in every Weird Tales collection.

Star Trek books-  read a good number of these back in the 1970s and 80s but lost interest over the years as the variety of authors made for an uneven quality of reading.

Stuff read the last week or two-

Our Patchwork Nation by Dante Chinni & James Gimpel  The authors go beyond the simple Red State/Blue State approach that the mainstream media so often uses to categorize America by breaking things down further into twelve general types of groups and examines then their various differences and similarities.  The main text is easy enough to follow and interesting reading (although the appendix is a bit drier and convoluted). 

Seven Events That Made America America by Larry Schweikart   While I certainly didn't agree with all of his allusions and conclusions Schweikart does have some well thought out pieces scattered around in the book.  His connection of the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision and the 1857 recession is one I had never heard before quite plausible upon consideration. I also enjoyed his contrasting take on rock and roll which is quite different from that of his fellow conservative author, Jonathan Leaf (The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties).

The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy  I'm a big fan of Ellroy's L.A. quartet (The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential & White Jazz) but have had a hard time getting into his followup Underworld USA trilogy (American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, & Blood's a Rover). 
The staccato style of prose that he used so effectively in selected areas of his earlier novels is here used so relentlessly that it became tiresome to the point where I was only able to read this book in brief snatches.  I'm told that the final book of the trilogy is an improvement and I'll probably give it a chance later this year.

Long Time Coming by Robert Goddard  I've only been reading Goddard's books for two or three years but have been consistently impressed with with every one that I have read.  All have been top notch mysteries often covering events taking place over decades and with layer upon layer of intrigue awaiting to be uncovered.

Best

Joe

[josemas]

Killing Floor- by Lee Child   This was Child's first novel.  All feature his protagonist Jack Reacher.  I'm actually glad that I didn't read this one initially as the later books I sampled prior to this are all better.  This one is by no means bad but it does have some big plot loopholes that detract from it. His later works that I have read have much tighter plotting.

Thank You, Jeeves- by P. G. Wodehouse   Continuing my mini-theme of first novels.  Here's Wodehouse's first Bertie and Jeeves novel- although far from Wodehouse's first novel and also hardly the first appearance of B & J (as they had already appeared in a number of short stories).  Always look forward to my occasional Wodehouse book for a lift as they are all funny.

Fool- by Christopher Moore   I first learned of Moore two or three years ago when I heard him being interviewed on the radio.  This was the book that he was primarily referring to during that interview and when I next went to the library I looked for it but found that all copies had been checked out (apparently I was not the only one that had heard that interview!) and ended up checking out Moore's Lamb instead. Well Lamb was great but I'm glad I finally got around to reading Fool which is very funny and very bawdy take on King Lear.  Good reading.

Best

Joe

[JVJ]

Quick update after a long absence from this thread:
Right now I'm in the midst of

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. I read his "Washington A Life" and enjoyed the hell out of it. Also in the middle of

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly, whom I usually always enjoy. So far this is no exception.

Recently read (and some recommended):
1.   Genius Isolated - The Life and Art of Alex Toth. While I have a few historical bones to pick with it, and am disappointed with some of the reproductive choices, it is still enlightening. Since I own most of the comics, I wasn't buying if for the stories.

2.   Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi. Great. It's H. Beam Piper's story arc with better science and more realistic people. After I read it I went back to Piper's original, which I had always rememberEd fondly, and was sorely disappointed. Scalzi isn't doing a gimmick here, he's doing some good writing.
   still recommend his Old Man's War, Ghost Battalion, Electric Sheep, etc.

3.    61 Hours and Worth Dying For - both by Lee Child and both formulaic and ultimately unsatisfying. I think I've read my last Reacher book.

4.   The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough. First half is insightful and thought-provoking. Second half is great historical writing though it lacks the connections and force of the first half. It's amazing what our country got from France DESPITE its topsy-turvy and radically polarized forms of governments and revolutions - and how they painfully moved between such forms. Yet so much continuity underlay the chaos. Art and science persisted in spite of it all and Americans were there to assimilate them. Really good book.

5.   Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. Spooky/romantic/weird follow-up novel by the author of "The Time-Traveler's Wife." Karen and I both thought it a strange but enchanting and well-written book.

6.   Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson. After I commented on Bryson's "At Home" a friend sent me this one and, while enjoyable, it never captured me the way "At Home" did. I also read "I'm A Stranger Here Myself", and "Neither Here Nor There." Fun at the time, but pretty soon forgotten.

7.   Outliers, The Tipping Point, Blink and What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. When I find someone I like, I plow through their work. All of these are perceptive and eye-opening and, most importantly, offer explanations and some solutions for social problems of our day. Worth a read, IMHO.

8.   Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout - My brother gave me MP3 files of the complete canon of Wolfe stories just before we left for Paris and I've listened to them all. I find the experience of audio books to be less than satisfying as I am not so much a participant as a "casual observer". I find it harder to get at the meat of the story, yet there is an appealing ease of assimilation that is seductive. I've not pursued other audio books and probably won't, but I'm glad I had the chance to revisit with Archie, Nero, Sol, etc.

9.   Gideon's Sword by Preston and Child - couldn't finish it. Fairly pedestrian writing and a pretty unbelievable character.

10.   The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston - a true crime thriller of an uncaught serial killer in Italy.

11.   The Leopard by Jo Nesb

[Geo (R.I.P.)]

I'm almost through with Eurostorm by Payne Harrison. I've enjoyed every book he has written. This is his latest and it was a long time coming. A techno thriller by the way.

It's worth a look for a good read, you shouldn't be disappointed with it if you get it.

Geo

[narfstar]

The movie Time Traveler's Wife didn't grab me so I probably would not like the book.
Audio books are best in the car while driving. I like listening to a book that leaves me wondering what comes next as it helps keep me alert and awake while driving. I passed an audio book on to someone else that I wish I could remember the writer. It was about a smart ass detective that I really enjoyed and would like to read or listen to other adventures of his. I made the trip for PA to TN driving alone thanks to that story. I listened to Dracula the Un-Dead by Dacre Stoker while riding bicycle. "In this sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula, his great-grandnephew offers one of the rowdiest revisionist treatments of the most influential vampire novel ever written." It had some interesting aspects and made the bike ride better but I do not think it would have kept my attention reading it.

[JVJ]

The movie Time Traveler's Wife didn't grab me so I probably would not like the book.

HUH!?

That makes ZERO sense to me, narf. You're saying that because some idiot's idea of what the unwashed masses MIGHT be able to comprehend of a complicated time-travel story didn't appeal to you that the real book wouldn't? I think you know that the movies of a lot of good books are totally crap. They say don't judge a book by its cover. PLEASE don't ever judge a book by its MOVIE.

You might NOT like The Time Traveler's Wife as a book - and that's okay - but it deserves a fair hearing, not a pre-judgement based on a film.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[narfstar]

You would probably be very right Jim. But I learned a long time ago that once I have seen a movie I can not force myself to read the book. The other way around has always found me liking the book better. I think it has to do with effort. I know it is a quirk of mine, that I should be able to overcome, but have not in the past. If I have seen the movie I just can not make the effort to read the book, because reading does take effort (especially as the floaters increase in the old eyes.) Now that I have a tablet and a smart phone, reading on them is easier on the eyes for me than paper. I recently read an Ayn Rand story, but my prose reading is usually fluff as reality is stressful enough. I am currently reading a Doc Savage novel. I have not read one in awhile and still have several unread. I also have so many unread books and comics that it makes it unlikely that I would attempt a book after seeing a movie. Since I have so much to choose from I would choose a book that I had not seen the movie. I also do not like how most time travel is handled in books or movies. Poul Anderson did it best.

[josemas]

3.    61 Hours and Worth Dying For - both by Lee Child and both formulaic and ultimately unsatisfying. I think I've read my last Reacher book.

These are much more recent Reacher novels than any that I have gotten to so far.  I wonder if he's burning out on the character and its showing in his current writing?  I remember reading something online last year that suggested that Child (real name Jim Grant, btw) was toying with the idea of killing off Reacher.

4.   The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough. First half is insightful and thought-provoking. Second half is great historical writing though it lacks the connections and force of the first half. It's amazing what our country got from France DESPITE its topsy-turvy and radically polarized forms of governments and revolutions - and how they painfully moved between such forms. Yet so much continuity underlay the chaos. Art and science persisted in spite of it all and Americans were there to assimilate them. Really good book.

This one's high on my list of books to check out at the library.  Currently there's a bit of a waiting list though.

7.   Outliers, The Tipping Point, Blink and What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. When I find someone I like, I plow through their work. All of these are perceptive and eye-opening and, most importantly, offer explanations and some solutions for social problems of our day. Worth a read, IMHO.

I usually don't read more than a couple books by any single author in the course of a year and rarely more than 3 or 4 by any author in that length of time.  I like to mix it up more.  Bouncing around from author to author.

8.   Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout - My brother gave me MP3 files of the complete canon of Wolfe stories just before we left for Paris and I've listened to them all. I find the experience of audio books to be less than satisfying as I am not so much a participant as a "casual observer". I find it harder to get at the meat of the story, yet there is an appealing ease of assimilation that is seductive. I've not pursued other audio books and probably won't, but I'm glad I had the chance to revisit with Archie, Nero, Sol, etc.

For me audiobooks are okay when driving or doing some menial work.  I especially find that listening to a book (OTR will do also) will keep me awake on long drives where favorite music selections can get me nodding off.  I do not like to listen to books when sitting in bed or when I do most of my other usual regular reading.


Well Jim once again you've given me a few new names to add to my list of "authors to check out" list.  Thanks much amigo.

Best

Joe

[JVJ]

Of course, narf,
it's your life and your time and you should allocate that time as you see fit. Your choices. I'm sorry your life is so stressful. I've always felt that stress is the major component of aging and many diseases, so I hope you can find some way to relieve it.

I don't understand many of your quirks and choices, but certainly hope that they are easing some of that stress. Things like video games and action movies are simply too dynamic for me to handle. I find myself wired, like having ten cups of coffee, after one. I came to the conclusion that they, and TV, are better ignored than experienced - FOR ME. I have enough trouble sleeping at night, with sleep apnea and frequent insomnia, to add jittery stress on top of them. My life is as LEAST-stressful as I can make it - certainly not UN-stressful, but I'm continually seeking ways to lower it. Hope you can find some, too.

Joe, the "killing off Reacher" idea probably stems from the end of "61 Hours" wherein he's blown up in a fiery jet-fuel explosion, only to return far from the site of the explosion and "recovering" in the next novel. No real explanation for the super-human escape from the previous climax, just more of the same: Reacher comes to town, Reacher meets a woman abused, Woman makes them pay. Enough is enough for me. I enjoyed the earlier books, but at some point it gets to be too much and too predictable. Plus I think the writing has deteriorated, IMHO.

See, since I don't buy comics I can afford to buy books. There you go. That's why I didn't have to wait for "The Greater Journey". As I was telling narf, stress is a killer, and WAITING, now there's a stress-producer for you. Instant Gratification, that's the 21st century way!

<quote>
I usually don't read more than a couple books by any single author in the course of a year and rarely more than 3 or 4 by any author in that length of time.  I like to mix it up more.  Bouncing around from author to author.</quote>

With Gladwell I was hooked pretty early on. He's done some amazing digging into various kinds of research (scientific research) and thought about the results very hard. Not that everything he proposes and suggests is practical or even likely to produce the results he hopes for, but there are lessons therein for us to learn and exercise in our daily lives. I was fascinated and wanted to "hear" more of his thinking - hence the headfirst dive into his work.

For instance (and this should interest you, too, narf, as a teacher): "they" did a research project that involved taking video clips of teachers in the classroom. Just the teacher, no students and nothing telling in the backgrounds. The audio was turned off and the clip was five (5) seconds long. Students in other schools in other states were asked to view these five-second clips of 20 different teachers and evaluate the teaching skills of the person in the clip. The weird and unbelievable results is that these evaluations were almost identical with the evaluations given by the real students of those teachers after a semester of classroom experience. They did the study again and again, cutting the length of the silent video down to one or two seconds and STILL there was a significant concurrence in the evaluations. Whoever it was that said first impressions matter apparently wasn't kidding. Just as it is equally apparent that we all make snap judgements about people whether we know it or not.

I did the Nero Wolfe audios on the airplane and while doing mindless cleanup at my parent's house and packing and website chores here at home. When I tried to listen to the Dal Bonner stories, I discovered that I COMPLETELY tuned out after a few minutes. I had ZERO connection with the narrator and was unable to "hear" the story - just so many words... More telling on me than on the audio book, I'm certain. While I can see the appeal of an audio book while driving, I hardly drive at all. Leaves me pretty much out of the audio book market, I suppose.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[narfstar]

"For instance (and this should interest you, too, narf, as a teacher): "they" did a research project that involved taking video clips of teachers in the classroom."

Yes very interesting Jim. I will try to remember and apply this at the start of next school year.
Every year I win several students over by proving to them that they can learn. The better start the less effort to win them over. What is sad are the number of student that I actually get to learn who soon abandoned the effort because they do not want to put in the effort. I have to take some satisfaction in those who take their successes and continue with them.

Forcing students to learn who do not want to learn is very stressful. This year was especially stressful as we teachers were screwed over on the state then local level. We have the decked stacked against us by having to attempt teaching students who have never learned the prerequisite skills. Then we are held accountable because they can not do geometry, etc when they have never learned basic math or pre-algebra. Only government can be as incompetent as they are.

[narfstar]

I read Doc Savage: Fortress of Solitude on my phone today. I was able to read the whole thing much faster than the paper novel which I have here beside me. I think the font size and not having to scan across the page to read is easier on the eyes. I will probably get some more books to read on my phone. I think Doc Savage covers are more interesting than the stories. I have enjoyed some of them but after so many....well. Every few years they make for some easy light reading.

[josemas]

Joe, the "killing off Reacher" idea probably stems from the end of "61 Hours" wherein he's blown up in a fiery jet-fuel explosion, only to return far from the site of the explosion and "recovering" in the next novel. No real explanation for the super-human escape from the previous climax, just more of the same: Reacher comes to town, Reacher meets a woman abused, Woman makes them pay. Enough is enough for me. I enjoyed the earlier books, but at some point it gets to be too much and too predictable. Plus I think the writing has deteriorated, IMHO.

Ah ha!  That "killing off" explanation makes sense.  Well I still have several more books to read before getting to this "decline" period.

See, since I don't buy comics I can afford to buy books. There you go. That's why I didn't have to wait for "The Greater Journey". As I was telling narf, stress is a killer, and WAITING, now there's a stress-producer for you. Instant Gratification, that's the 21st century way!

I'm a pretty patient guy so "waiting" isn't a real stress factor for me.  There's always tons of other good books at the library to read. 

With Gladwell I was hooked pretty early on. He's done some amazing digging into various kinds of research (scientific research) and thought about the results very hard. Not that everything he proposes and suggests is practical or even likely to produce the results he hopes for, but there are lessons therein for us to learn and exercise in our daily lives. I was fascinated and wanted to "hear" more of his thinking - hence the headfirst dive into his work.

I already checked and my library has some of Gladwell's books on the shelf.  I'll probably snag one on my next trip to the library and toss it into the "to be read" pile.

I did the Nero Wolfe audios on the airplane and while doing mindless cleanup at my parent's house and packing and website chores here at home. When I tried to listen to the Dal Bonner stories, I discovered that I COMPLETELY tuned out after a few minutes. I had ZERO connection with the narrator and was unable to "hear" the story - just so many words... More telling on me than on the audio book, I'm certain. While I can see the appeal of an audio book while driving, I hardly drive at all. Leaves me pretty much out of the audio book market, I suppose.

I've also run across some audio books where a poor choice of narrators made the listening experience "less than desirable."   
Never tried listening to one while traveling by air but then I hate flying and haven't been on an airplane in over a decade.

Best

Joe

[josemas]

Things like video games and action movies are simply too dynamic for me to handle. I find myself wired, like having ten cups of coffee, after one. I came to the conclusion that they, and TV, are better ignored than experienced - FOR ME. I have enough trouble sleeping at night, with sleep apnea and frequent insomnia, to add jittery stress on top of them. My life is as LEAST-stressful as I can make it - certainly not UN-stressful, but I'm continually seeking ways to lower it. Hope you can find some, too.

I really don't do video games so can't comment on them but action movies and television shows don't stress me at all.  They're just fiction.  I can take or leave them. 
Sometimes politicians or radio/television talk show hosts/commentators can stress me some so I do limit my watching/listening in these areas

Best

Joe

[josemas]

Forcing students to learn who do not want to learn is very stressful. This year was especially stressful as we teachers were screwed over on the state then local level. We have the decked stacked against us by having to attempt teaching students who have never learned the prerequisite skills. Then we are held accountable because they can not do geometry, etc when they have never learned basic math or pre-algebra. Only government can be as incompetent as they are.

This sort of thing never happened in the parochial grade schools I attended in the 1960s.  A number of kids I knew were "flunked/held back/failed" and made to repeat years- especially in the lower grades.  Also an occasional kid was moved ahead to the next grade but that was a lot less common. 

I've noticed this tendency in public schools to keep pushing students on to the next grade even when they are not ready for it since the 1970s and it only seems to have gotten worse over the years.  I didn't think it was good idea then I still think it's a bad idea.

I have noticed recently where some states have gone to a testing system where kids won't be able to advance a grade unless they pass a certain standard test.  Teachers won't be able to just push them along to be someone else's problem.  Maybe that will help this unfortunate trend.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

I've noticed this tendency in public schools to keep pushing students on to the next grade even when they are not ready for it since the 1970s and it only seems to have gotten worse over the years.  I didn't think it was good idea then I still think it's a bad idea.

I have noticed recently where some states have gone to a testing system where kids won't be able to advance a grade unless they pass a certain standard test.  Teachers won't be able to just push them along to be someone else's problem.  Maybe that will help this unfortunate trend. Best Joe

Catch 22 has schools receiving tremendous pressure to graduate ALL students "on time." The horrible No Child Left Behind Act forced schools to do so or suffer the consequences. One of the biggest problems in school now is making kids hate learning by testing them to death. If schools would simply go to a MASTERY of the 3 Rs in elementary school before going to middle school most of the other problems could be worked out.

[JVJ]

I really don't do video games so can't comment on them but action movies and television shows don't stress me at all.  They're just fiction.  I can take or leave them. 
Sometimes politicians or radio/television talk show hosts/commentators can stress me some so I do limit my watching/listening in these areas

Best

Joe

Actually, Joe, I don't believe I've ever played a video game for more than a few seconds and don't know why I included the category here. I'm doubtful that action movies have no effect on you. Even if the story line isn't compelling, emotionally, the flickering images/fast cuts/action scenes can do some things to your brain of which you may not be conscious. There may be a subconscious stress happening. Or not. You may be able to dismiss the impact of it all. I know I sure can't and studies have been done that indicate kids who watch TV right before bedtime are adversely influenced by what they see with regards to getting to sleep.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about talk show content. One reason (out of many) why I don't have a TV, nor do I listen to radio talk shows (except Car Talk, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and Says You). And I think all politicians are no better than they have to be. An "honest politician" is an oxymoron, IMHO.

My local book store has a 20% off sale this month and I did the "rounds" today. I think I added a FOOT to my stack of reading material. Sigh... If I could ONLY get my web site done I could relax into a bunch of books. Back to work. (I just finished Dorothy Lathrop - about halfway from Edwin Austin Abbey to N.C. Wyeth).

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[profh0011]

I hated school.  I loved to learn... but too many of the teachers were TYRANTS, and too many of the students were BRAIN-DEAD BULLIES who would hassle you endlessly FOR BEING SMART.

And then of course you had something like, in high school English class, whenever we'd "read".  Each student in turn would read part of something.  Some were so slow, so unable to read even the most basic...  and so every time it would be my turn, the teacher would let me read a full page or two, because otherwise, we'd NEVER get done.


Of course, my biggest problem was my father, who spent the first 30 straight years of my life doing everything he could to DESTROY any hope of my ever developing self-confidence.  If not for that, it might have been a lot easier to STAND UP for myself against the A**H***s of the world... INCLUDING some of those teachers, and supervisors at work.



I almost never read novels anymore, but the other year, I did read a DOC SAVAGE... oddly enough, in the ORIGINAL PRINTING.  Had to be very careful, the pages were so old and delicate, I kept worrying the magazine might disintegrate if I wasn't careful.

I've only got one of those, bought it at a convention cheap, mostly as a novelty, just to actually have an genuine DOC SAVAGE pulp magazine.

[paw broon]

I'm in the middle of, "A Murder is Announced" (Agatha Christie) and it's great.  This is all thanks to some of you who were talking about her a while ago. Thanks. As to what's been talked about just above here, I can empathise with a lot of it and it's given me food for thought.  It's quite awful what some parents can do to a a child's self confidence.
I don't play v. games. Never have.  And we've stopped watching the late news and politics talk shows because they get us wound up and the news is just so depressing.  T.V. for us is for entertainment and diversion with the occasional interesting docu. thrown in and even then we don't watch a lot. 

[narfstar]

I don't have any Doc pulps but I do have 2 Shadow pulps and found them interesting reading.
I am reading The Girl in the Golden Atom by Ray Cummings free at Gutenberg.org

I do not know the full situation but I will say the most tyrant teachers come from having to put up with trying to control those brain dead bullies. Wishful wold be to handle each student individually but reality the whole class suffers.

[Menticide]

I don't have any Doc pulps but I do have 2 Shadow pulps and found them interesting reading.
I am reading The Girl in the Golden Atom by Ray Cummings free at Gutenberg.org

I do not happen to have any of the original Doc Savage pulps, but I do have a large stash of old pulps, and the Shadow is among them.

When my mother-in-law died, we were cleaning out the house, and we came across a ton of these old pulps. My sister-in-law's husband tried to throw them out, but I managed to grab them. All kinds of mags too, westerns, detective stories, and old copies of Argosy with original Tarzan serials.

My mother-in-law was obsessed with antiques, books, and collectibles. She never threw anything out and trust me, this is a very small house.

[josemas]

I do have one smallish box of pulps.  Most are ones with J. Allen St. John illustrations that I picked up cheap a quarter century or so ago.  There are a few hero pulps in the bunch though.  One of The Avenger, two or three Shadows (but from the period when it was digest sized) and one Doc Savage pulp. The cover of the Doc Savage pulp is very garish- with Doc penned up against the wall in the process of being machine gunned!  Bullet holes and blood!  In the story, IIRC, he was wearing a bullet proof vest so the bloody holes depicted on the cover were a bit of "poetic license" on the part of the artist.

Best

Joe