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Message started by bogarde73 on Jun 3rd, 2013 at 1:59pm

Title: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 3rd, 2013 at 1:59pm
Found a fascinating book called "The Dillen". It's really an oral history of a man born in 1878, who lived for 99 years in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Edited by his grand-daughter Angela Hewins, it describes in detail what it was like to live as a member of the underclass before & after the Great War, before any welfare or social assistance.
True life history.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 5th, 2013 at 9:24am
A bit of a digression, but it's on the same theme and I intend to read it again soon. It should appeal to imcrook & KAT.
There was a wonderful Australian writer, Kylie Tennant, who wrote about the people who travelled the roads during the Depression (the real one that is).
The book's called The Battlers . . .worth a read.
(It was also made into a TV series but I haven't been able to find that)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Yadda on Jun 5th, 2013 at 9:34am
The Book of Samuel I [O.T.]        ;)



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 5th, 2013 at 10:41am
We'll expect to hear from you again in three months and 17 days.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by gizmo_2655 on Jun 5th, 2013 at 11:09am
Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series..(Again)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Jun 5th, 2013 at 11:20am
Dan Browns 'Inferno'

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 5th, 2013 at 12:20pm
Did I forget to say, what are you currently reading, what's it about & what's it like. . .

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jun 5th, 2013 at 12:57pm



Roth is always an excellent read.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FriYAY on Jun 5th, 2013 at 3:13pm
TESCO Supermarkets Food Manufacturing Standard – Version 5.

167 pages of absolute pain.

Then I get to implement it – oh hoofknray for me.

:(

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 5th, 2013 at 3:16pm
Tell us more. Does it have instructions on how to slip some horse into the ready-to-heat burgers?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Morning Mist on Jun 6th, 2013 at 10:59am
The Longing for Myth in Germany by G. S. Williamson.

A fascinating read. It's about how German thinkers in the 1800 were rejecting the ideas of individualism and capitalism for Romanticism.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 6th, 2013 at 2:00pm
Sounds interesting. Can you expand a bit? Name a few people?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Morning Mist on Jun 6th, 2013 at 5:46pm

bogarde73 wrote on Jun 6th, 2013 at 2:00pm:
Sounds interesting. Can you expand a bit? Name a few people?


I am currently reading the chapter on Wagner. He was influenced by a number of people: Feuerbach, Grimm, Muller, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and later Schopenhauer.

The Romantics didn't want to go down the path of England and France with individualism and capitalism. They rejected materialism but were also international socialists, but not material international socialists. Romanticism inserts a mysticism into existence, which makes the universal brotherhood of man not just a material movement related to the means of production. Wagner uses his operas and symbols to mystify the world and bring people together under the influence of his dramas. This made people "feel" they were attached to their fellow man and the earth rather than just having a relationship based on being proletariats.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 7th, 2013 at 11:15am
I suppose that's roughly a similar view to people like Wordsworth & Byron although they were a lot earler than Wagner.
Not my cup of tea really. I can only take opera in small doses like the 3 tenors.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Morning Mist on Jun 7th, 2013 at 11:50am
I just find it interesting because they brought forth alternative ideas to the dominant ones of the day, even if they sound a bit silly. Today we have no alternatives being brought forth. It's liberal theory and economic and cultural socialism, and that seems to be about it.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jun 7th, 2013 at 11:58am

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Jun 6th, 2013 at 10:59am:
The Longing for Myth in Germany by G. S. Williamson.

A fascinating read. It's about how German thinkers in the 1800 were rejecting the ideas of individualism and capitalism for Romanticism.



That does sound interesting.

I've just put in an order with bookdepository.com

(couldn't find it locally, as usual)







Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FriYAY on Jun 7th, 2013 at 12:44pm
LES NORTON IN

The Boys From Binjiwunyawunya/ St Kilda Kooler

Robert G Barrett

Too indepth to give a small run down on these 2 awesome books.

;) :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jun 7th, 2013 at 6:35pm

A buddy from the ALP gave me this to read:



:-/

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Honky on Jun 7th, 2013 at 7:03pm
Juggs

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jun 7th, 2013 at 7:14pm

... wrote on Jun 7th, 2013 at 7:03pm:
Juggs




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by GeorgeH on Jun 10th, 2013 at 4:15pm
Just finished Neil Stephenson’s Reamde:
http: //ww w.nealstephenson.com/reamde/

And now reading his The Diamond Age:
http: //ww w.nealstephenson.com/diamond/

(remove the spaces to use the links)

Then back to a book a Brewing with Wheat then a couple books on hops, Hop Variety Handbook and Using Hops.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by KJT1981 on Jun 12th, 2013 at 3:54pm
Kill the Morans.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Jun 13th, 2013 at 8:44am
I got given the complete (well, almost) Clive Cussler collection for my
tablet, so I'm working my way through some of them at the moment.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Jun 13th, 2013 at 8:45am

FriYAY wrote on Jun 7th, 2013 at 12:44pm:
LES NORTON IN

The Boys From Binjiwunyawunya/ St Kilda Kooler

Robert G Barrett

Too indepth to give a small run down on these 2 awesome books.

;) :)



Those books cracked me up when I read them!

Good one!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by PZ547 on Jun 22nd, 2013 at 8:42pm
Currently reading about 'Huge Deal', an early Sydney entrepreneur.  He built the original Stadium, intended it to be for just one prize-fight.  Great character

Also reading biography of David Lean, the film director.  Another character

and have a third on the go -- Irish folk-lore. Fascinating

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jasignature on Jun 22nd, 2013 at 10:53pm
The Biggest Estate on Earth by Bill Gammage


All about Pre-1788 Australia and how Aboriginies had 'manicured' the Australian landscape into a virtual sustainable 'Parkland' that was easily traversed, kept in shape, demanded only 30% of time spent - aquiring food, etc.
Very interesting stuff and shows that after 40,000 years what the Aboriginies did in all that time.

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if they harnessed the power of Water?
Would the Land be 'bountiful' beyond just sustainable?
Would they have travelled around the world on boats?


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by PZ547 on Jun 23rd, 2013 at 9:52am

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Jun 22nd, 2013 at 10:53pm:
The Biggest Estate on Earth by Bill Gammage


All about Pre-1788 Australia and how Aboriginies had 'manicured' the Australian landscape into a virtual sustainable 'Parkland' that was easily traversed, kept in shape, demanded only 30% of time spent - aquiring food, etc.
Very interesting stuff and shows that after 40,000 years what the Aboriginies did in all that time.

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if they harnessed the power of Water?
Would the Land be 'bountiful' beyond just sustainable?
Would they have travelled around the world on boats?




I don't buy it

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jasignature on Jun 23rd, 2013 at 10:55am
Put into perspective PZ547

The North American Amerindian would put 'feathers' in his attire and say he is "One with the 'Sky' Spirit" and that's as close to it as he got, besides turning his brain into a rotted cabbage with some help from Peyote.
While the White American lads flew over him in a thing called an 'Aeroplane (Jet, Shuttle, etc)' and gave the 'wannabe' below the 'bird'.  ;D

That's why 'they' lost North America.


...so when the Aboriginies were amazingly LAND (& Fire)  orientated, their isolationism was also due to their lack of understanding WATER and thus they were both trapped (by water) and underdeveloped beyond 'just' Fire.
They chose the wrong element, you could say.

...OZ is probably the world leader in 'Water' technology.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 2nd, 2013 at 10:38am
All That Swagger, Miles Franklin.
I enjoyed My Brilliant Career and am hoping this turns out to be as good.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 6th, 2013 at 2:20pm
It is as good. I'm a slow reader these days but what I've read so far is a brilliant account of the raw edge of pioneer life in southern NSW in the 1840s. And what impresses me for a book written in the 1930s by a woman I take to have a squattocracy background is an enlightened view of what relations with aborigines should have been.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ubermensch on Jul 18th, 2013 at 5:52pm
Currently reading (again) The Prince by Machiavelli.

Advice on how to maintain the control of territories after seizing them. The rules differ for seizing principalities compared to republics. Then, he has numerous different strategies for maintaining control of principalities, all depending on how they were seized.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Jul 18th, 2013 at 8:36pm
'Future Shock' by Alvin Toffler - again.

When he wrote it in 1971, he suggested that the sum total of man's knowledge was doubling every 7 years and accelerating.

Now, I've recently read that it's down to 2 years and still accelerating.

What have we learnt?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jul 29th, 2013 at 5:56pm
'Next' by Michael Crichton.

All about the commercial and legal aspects of genes and genes technology. It's a pretty heavy subject, but he makes it an interesting read. A real page-turner.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 30th, 2013 at 12:06am
good author
Michael Crichton... 
pity he'll write no more..

I'm currently indulging in a little light detective/animal tales.

Have just finished  'New Tricks' by David Rosenfelt

Now on to 'Hush My Mouth"  by Cathy Pickens

..both authors I've never read, or heard of before..  :) ;D

looking for a laugh..

New Tricks was quite enjoyable.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jul 30th, 2013 at 8:47am

Lionel Edriess wrote on Jul 18th, 2013 at 8:36pm:
'Future Shock' by Alvin Toffler - again.



I pulled that off the bookshelf the other day and started reading it again.

Also reading this:



Good stuff.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Thinking Mans Grappler on Aug 7th, 2013 at 11:05pm
Roger Zelazny's 'The Dream Master' - a wonderful book.  Someone has had the insight to reprint them 15 years after his death...


A man who can write this:-

"A mind may holds many things.  It learns.  It cannot teach itself not to think, though.

..A mind cannot teach itself not to think, but feelings fall into destined patterns."

...deserves to be re-printed...

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Aug 7th, 2013 at 11:21pm
Matthew Flinders' Cat by Bryce Courtenay.

A disturbing glimpse into the grooming of a victim by a paedophile with a penchant for pussy.


8-)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by ian on Aug 8th, 2013 at 1:15am
Norstrilia.- cordwainer Smith aka Paul linebarger

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Aug 15th, 2013 at 5:55pm
'Hannibal Rising' by Thomas Harris.

Damn good writer.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by skippy. on Aug 31st, 2013 at 4:56pm
Father Bob, the larrikin priest, by Sue Williams. Kind funny really as I'm a confirmed atheist. But I respect the likes of Bob Maguire and my favourite books are always a bio.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Karnal on Sep 18th, 2013 at 8:58pm

Postmodern Trendoid wrote on Jul 18th, 2013 at 5:52pm:
Currently reading (again) The Prince by Machiavelli.

Advice on how to maintain the control of territories after seizing them. The rules differ for seizing principalities compared to republics. Then, he has numerous different strategies for maintaining control of principalities, all depending on how they were seized.


Me too, Mistie. I’m still getting through the forward - in this case longer than the book itself.

Please tell me - do you think Machiavelli intended it as satire?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Sep 18th, 2013 at 9:08pm
'Tell my Sons'

by Lt Col. Mark Weber

If you can't draw some sort of positive inspiration from that, you won't find it anywhere.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Sep 18th, 2013 at 9:21pm
Leaving Alexandria, Richard Holloway.

"What a deeply lovable man; and what a wonderful book he has written."

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Sep 27th, 2013 at 3:45pm
I can top that, Soren.

Just to irritate the literati here, I picked up a dog-eared soft-cover copy of Thomas Harris' 'The Silence of the Lambs'.

So there.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sprintcyclist on Sep 27th, 2013 at 3:55pm

Great Expectations.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Sep 27th, 2013 at 4:13pm

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Oct 6th, 2013 at 1:08am
Re-reading The Jeeves Omnibus. P.G. Wodehouse.

Worth learning by heart.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Vuk11 on Oct 6th, 2013 at 1:16am
The magician series - Raymond E. Feist (the final is out after 31 years)
Capitalism and Freedom - Milton Friedman
Basic Economics - Thomas Sowell

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jaqs on Oct 8th, 2013 at 5:39pm

Vuk11 wrote on Oct 6th, 2013 at 1:16am:
The magician series - Raymond E. Feist (the final is out after 31 years)
Capitalism and Freedom - Milton Friedman
Basic Economics - Thomas Sowell


One of my all time favorite books is:  Faerie Tale - Raymond E Feist.

Currently I'm reading:  The Grand Design - Stephen Hawking


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Honky on Oct 8th, 2013 at 5:45pm
Game of thrones

I haven't even seen the TV show, but when I do get around to it, I want to be one of those koonts who interjects every 5 minutes to say "in the book it happens like blah blah blah"

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jaqs on Oct 8th, 2013 at 5:47pm

... wrote on Oct 8th, 2013 at 5:45pm:
Game of thrones

I haven't even seen the TV show, but when I do get around to it, I want to be one of those koonts who interjects every 5 minutes to say "in the book it happens like blah blah blah"


hahaha Love it!  Anyway books are always so much better than the movie or tv shows.  IMO.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Oct 8th, 2013 at 6:05pm

Jaqs wrote on Oct 8th, 2013 at 5:39pm:
Currently I'm reading:  The Grand Design - Stephen Hawking


Does he change his mind again in this book?

There is a God ~ or there isn't a God?

Maybe he'll tell us for sure in his next book.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jaqs on Oct 9th, 2013 at 6:04am

Lord Herbert wrote on Oct 8th, 2013 at 6:05pm:

Jaqs wrote on Oct 8th, 2013 at 5:39pm:
Currently I'm reading:  The Grand Design - Stephen Hawking


Does he change his mind again in this book?

There is a God ~ or there isn't a God?

Maybe he'll tell us for sure in his next book
.



He appears to be speaking from an agnostic point of view - so far. But only just started the book. In the very first page he writes: "Philosophy is dead!!!"  I find that arrogant and blunt approach enjoyable reading! 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Oct 9th, 2013 at 10:28am

Jaqs wrote on Oct 9th, 2013 at 6:04am:

Lord Herbert wrote on Oct 8th, 2013 at 6:05pm:

Jaqs wrote on Oct 8th, 2013 at 5:39pm:
Currently I'm reading:  The Grand Design - Stephen Hawking


Does he change his mind again in this book?

There is a God ~ or there isn't a God?

Maybe he'll tell us for sure in his next book
.



He appears to be speaking from an agnostic point of view - so far. But only just started the book. In the very first page he writes: "Philosophy is dead!!!"  I find that arrogant and blunt approach enjoyable reading! 


He's a great scientist, but I must say it annoys me a little when scientists presume to be experts on subjects outside of their official qualifications.

Take Tim Flannery, the Climate Warming alarmist. He has absolutely no training whatsoever in Climatology. He's totally unqualified to assume the mantle of 'expert' on the subject of climate change.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Postmodern Trendoid on Oct 10th, 2013 at 10:16am

Karnal wrote on Sep 18th, 2013 at 8:58pm:

Postmodern Trendoid wrote on Jul 18th, 2013 at 5:52pm:
Currently reading (again) The Prince by Machiavelli.

Advice on how to maintain the control of territories after seizing them. The rules differ for seizing principalities compared to republics. Then, he has numerous different strategies for maintaining control of principalities, all depending on how they were seized.


Me too, Mistie. I’m still getting through the forward - in this case longer than the book itself.

Please tell me - do you think Machiavelli intended it as satire?


That's what I was taught, however, I believe he's showcasing his knowledge to the prince to show him what he's missing out on by not employing him. The Medici banished and punished him. So, I am guessing the book is a: "stuff you, pal, look at the knowledge you're missing out on by getting rid of me".

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Dec 15th, 2013 at 1:45pm
The Birth of Venus: Love & Death in Florence, Sarah Dunant.
Just finished actually. A novel set in Florence in the time of the Medici and the fundamentalist Savonarola.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Dec 15th, 2013 at 6:03pm
I'm going throguh the 'Jack Reacher' series by Lee Child ... currently on 'The Persuader'.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Dec 19th, 2013 at 9:58am
Jeffery Deaver's 'Vanished Man'.

It's all junk-reading, if I'm honest. Helps me get to sleep.

I've grown (groan?) a little tired of these detective authors inventing silly novelties to take their books out of the ordinary.

We've got Jeffery Deaver's main hero being a forensic specialist who is a quadriplegic who can't even scratch himself.

And then there's (white) author James Patterson who thought it would be cute to make his detective hero a Negro.

And then (I can't remember the author now) ~ the hero is a middle aged homosexual detective.

And then there's Steven King ... who came off the rails quite some books ago when he began to depart from good story-telling to dope-smoking introspective meanderings that had me tossing away the books after 100 pages or so.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Dec 19th, 2013 at 10:10am
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Dec 19th, 2013 at 10:14am
Letters: Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh.

It's going to be a while, every letter has about a dozen footnotes re the people mentioned.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Dec 19th, 2013 at 11:41am

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 19th, 2013 at 10:14am:
Letters: Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh.

It's going to be a while, every letter has about a dozen footnotes re the people mentioned.


Couldn't you have bought the abridged version?  :P

********

I've got Christopher Hitchen's 'Arguably' waiting to be read.

Here's The Guardian's (staunchly leftwing) take on it, deriding the very notion that Extreme Islam can be placed in the same stable with Naziism and Communism.


Quote:
The pleasures the reader feels at this escape are in proportion to the horrors of Hitchens at his worst. Let us consider just two of the fatuities. In a piece from 2007, when one might have expected post-9/11 rage to have been tempered by the experience of the war in Iraq, Hitchens writes of how Anglo-American co-operation defeated three great threats: "German Wilhelmine imperialism in 1918, the Nazi-Fascist Axis in 1945, and international communism in 1989." Then comes a sentence so shocking it is hard to believe that a man of Hitchens's intellect not only wrote it but agreed to republish it between hard covers: "The world now faces a barbarism that is no less menacing than its three predecessors – and may even be more so." This fourth threat is "bin-Ladenism". The claim that al-Qaida "may even be more" menacing to humanity than the Nazis or Stalin shows what Hitchens elsewhere calls "the way in which mania feeds upon itself and becomes hysterical".


link


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Morning Mist on Dec 19th, 2013 at 2:52pm
Just read Australian Intellectuals : Their Strange History and Pathological Tendencies by Greg Melleuish.

Nearly finished Radical conservatism and the future of politics by Göran Dahl.

Just started The New Right Norman P. Barry.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Dec 19th, 2013 at 3:08pm

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Dec 19th, 2013 at 2:52pm:
Just read Australian Intellectuals : Their Strange History and Pathological Tendencies by Greg Melleuish.

Nearly finished Radical conservatism and the future of politics by Göran Dahl.

Just started The New Right Norman P. Barry.


I'll leave the heavy lifting to you, then, MM.

For my sins I'll Carry on Regardless with the pot boilers and the Penny Dreadfuls printed on cheap pulp paper to help sink me into a gentle coma every night, perchance to dream.


Quote:
A penny dreadful was a type of British fiction publication in the 19th century that usually featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part costing one (old) penny.

The term, however, soon came to encompass a variety of publications that featured cheap sensational fiction, such as story papers and booklet "libraries". The penny dreadfuls were printed on cheap pulp paper and were aimed primarily at working class adolescents.[3]


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Dec 29th, 2013 at 12:48pm
re NM/EW mentioned earlier, I am not finding it as heavy going as I thought. The thing about letters is you can put it down & pick it up whenever.
The other thing is you find out so much about the authors that you've read and the people they mixed with.
One thing I found out already is that "Love in a Cold Climate", which you may know of, was as much written by EW through edits and suggestions as it was by NM.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by GeorgeH on Jan 1st, 2014 at 7:23pm
Neal Stephenson & Frederick George “Cobweb” is my current reading.

Just finished the last volume of Stephenson’s Baroque trilogy

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Heartless Felon on Jan 5th, 2014 at 8:07am

Just been given an anthology, " The Most of P G Wodehouse": Jeeves and Bertie, The Drones, Lord Emsworth AND the Empress of Blandings, et al...love it!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jan 5th, 2014 at 8:59am


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 5th, 2014 at 12:48pm

The Heartless Felon wrote on Jan 5th, 2014 at 8:07am:
Just been given an anthology, " The Most of P G Wodehouse": Jeeves and Bertie, The Drones, Lord Emsworth AND the Empress of Blandings, et al...love it!


Insanely jealous!
Wasn't the Empress of Blandings a pig? . . .as in porcine, rather than greedy, fat aristocrat.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Heartless Felon on Jan 5th, 2014 at 7:54pm
The Empress, a mere pig?

Contrary to what you may have been told, Bogy, philistinism does NOT rock!

However, since I have an understanding nature, I will provide a brief excerpt from the members of the Drones Club:

"Do you know," said a thoughtful Bean, " I'll bet that if all the girls Freddy Widgeon has loved and lost were placed end to end...they would reach halfway down Piccadilly."
"Further than that," said the Egg, "Some of them were pretty tall."

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by GeorgeH on Jan 7th, 2014 at 7:19pm
Nice to see another admirer of PG Wodehouse.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 8th, 2014 at 1:48am
'The Bat'  Jo Nesbo

recommended by me..

A Norwegian detective in Sydney... and .... 

The first 'Harry Hole' novel.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jan 8th, 2014 at 7:27pm

St George of the Garden wrote on Jan 7th, 2014 at 7:19pm:
Nice to see another admirer of PG Wodehouse.


Testing people's community spirit

I found this interesting

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 12th, 2014 at 11:04am
Yes, I find it interesting too. Never knew about it. But to compare him with Haw Haw is fantasy. Haw Haw made continuous broadcasts aimed at frightening the British and encouraging defeatism. He had been a member of Mosley's organisation as well as having other fascist connections.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jan 12th, 2014 at 12:13pm
More on the real person behind the famous novelists:

H.G.Wells ~ what a shocker.

He was a full-blown genocidal Nazi.

link

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jan 12th, 2014 at 3:14pm



"The view from the closet"

"After reading Cory's MANifesto and carefully considering the arguments within I'm prepared to offer punters 3-1 odds that he'll be caught in a Sydney hotel with rent boys and a smoking meth pipe within six months."

http://www.amazon.com/THE-CONSERVATIVE-REVOLUTION-Cory-Bernardi/dp/1922168963

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jan 12th, 2014 at 3:40pm


The devil is in the detail.

Is he just another closet religionist using 'Conservative values' as a Trojan Horse for getting religion fully up-and-running in our public schools.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 12th, 2014 at 7:47pm
no he is an abomination and a good extreme example of LNP policy.

disgusting... read Terry Sweetman in the Sunday Mail  ( yep Brizzies only paper!   :-?)

terry.sweetman@news.com.au

I couldn't be bothered bothering about this creature Bernardi... 

is he married..??  pity his wife.. 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jan 12th, 2014 at 7:59pm
Abbott had better be careful that political cowboys like Pyne and Bernadi don't get too much out of hand, or he'll lose the next election.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:03pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 7:59pm:
Abbott had better be careful that political cowboys like Pyne and Bernadi don't get too much out of hand, or he'll lose the next election.



One-term-Tony will lose the next election, no matter what.

However, Pyne and Bernardi are indeed dangerous cowboys.



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:04pm

Emma wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 7:47pm:
no he is an abomination and a good extreme example of LNP policy.

disgusting... read Terry Sweetman in the Sunday Mail  ( yep Brizzies only paper!   :-?)

terry.sweetman@news.com.au

I couldn't be bothered bothering about this creature Bernardi... 

is he married..??  pity his wife.. 



They used to say that about Abbott -dreadful, unelectable, just way too conservative, nobody would ever vote for him, who does he think he is, totally unelectable - 'ello, 'ello, 'ello, whassis then?

Blighme! 'e's elected PM!  ##*&@#$%$#!!!

Oh! that's coz 'alf me Ozzie compatriots are ijits, innit. When they elect Labor, they are wise and discerning. When they elect non-Labor, they are 'orrible ijits. Same people, different appraisal.
Coz I am a lefty woman and coz I'm free, hear me whine inconsistently.

As you all probably guessed by now, I have been reading the Pope on “adolescent progressivism”.i




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:09pm

It's cocktail hour at Soren's place.

Put down the bottle ...



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:11pm
yeah I 'm afraid you are right  Soren ijits in't they..? 
poor blind buggers who suck up the 'hit... and LOVE IT.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:17pm

greggerypeccary wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:09pm:
It's cocktail hour at Soren's place.

Put down the bottle ...

You couldn't make a comprehensive point if your life depended on it. Because you do not actually stand for anything. You snarls, you grin, you leer, you jest, you pull faces, you fap, you svck each other's d!cks, you scoff - but you make no actual point.
You are devoid of a cohesive idea and any way to express it, should it bang you, unexpectedly, on the back of your head while you are busy with being a complete fapping d!ckhead.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:22pm

Soren wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:17pm:

greggerypeccary wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:09pm:
It's cocktail hour at Soren's place.

Put down the bottle ...

You couldn't make a comprehensive point if your life depended on it. Because you do not actually stand for anything. You snarls, you grin, you leer, you jest, you pull faces, you fap, you svck each other's d!cks, you scoff - but you make no actual point.
You are devoid of a cohesive idea and any way to express it, should it bang you, unexpectedly, on the back of your head while you are busy with being a complete fapping d!ckhead.



A bottle of white, a bottle of red.
Perhaps a bottle of rose instead?

What's your poison tonight, Soren?



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:24pm
What are you currently reading?


Ian Rankin's Beggars Baquet.

Roald Dahl's Switch Bitch.

Tolstoy's Twenty Three Tales.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:32pm
oh oh Ian Rankin .. :)

excellent series of novels ...   memorable characters.. recommended

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:34pm
;)
Emma wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:32pm:
oh oh Ian Rankin .. :)

excellent series of novels ...   memorable characters.. recommended

;)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:35pm
I've just finished reading Tami Hoags ..Secrets to the Grave.

Am now reading a new author,  to me. 
Chris Brookmyre...  Flesh Wounds.

Haven't yet met the main protagonists.. not bad so far.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:36pm

Soren wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:24pm:
What are you currently reading?


Ian Rankin's Beggars Baquet.

Roald Dahl's Switch Bitch.

Tolstoy's Twenty Three Tales.



Any other audio books on your list?



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:38pm
now now GP.. ain't that old.. still read  REAL BOOKS  w/o reading glasses..  :) :P

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:46pm

Emma wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:38pm:
now now GP.. ain't that old.. still read  REAL BOOKS  w/o reading glasses..  :) :P



Yes, I'm sure you do.

I was referring to our intoxicated little friend, Soren.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:48pm

greggerypeccary wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:36pm:

Soren wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:24pm:
What are you currently reading?


Ian Rankin's Beggars Baquet.

Roald Dahl's Switch Bitch.

Tolstoy's Twenty Three Tales.



Any other audio books on your list?



Yes, plenty.
I love listening to audio books when I go for a bike ride before work. Or when driving to and from the beach with the kids (Dahl, Rankin). Or when going for a bike ride after work.

I have a a few favourite podcasts too.



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by WorldSacred on Jan 12th, 2014 at 11:35pm
Started reading Anna Karenina the other night, after putting it off for a while. Thinking that it would be a bit of a girly book. Turns out to be a good book, and a real page turner. Still got 800 out of 850 pages to go.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jan 13th, 2014 at 5:48am
'The Vanished Man' by Jeffery Deaver.




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 13th, 2014 at 8:14pm
another fave Herb

have read all the J Deaver books I could get my hands on, and have in a request at the local library for the next.

Is it Deaver who has written the new James Bond novels...??
Hmmm..?


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Jan 13th, 2014 at 9:13pm

Soren wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:04pm:
They used to say that about Abbott -dreadful, unelectable, just way too conservative, nobody would ever vote for him, who does he think he is, totally unelectable - 'ello, 'ello, 'ello, whassis then?


but they didn't vote him in .... the voted labor out. There is a difference. Abbott has got to have had the worst numbers of anybody to win an election

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 13th, 2014 at 9:18pm
??? 

wrong topic?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by brumbie on Jan 13th, 2014 at 10:02pm
Have finally got hold of Michael Connelly's new one 'The Gods of Guilt'
Totally absorbing.Up to his best on this guys.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Jan 13th, 2014 at 10:13pm

John Smith wrote on Jan 13th, 2014 at 9:13pm:

Soren wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:04pm:
They used to say that about Abbott -dreadful, unelectable, just way too conservative, nobody would ever vote for him, who does he think he is, totally unelectable - 'ello, 'ello, 'ello, whassis then?


but they didn't vote him in .... the voted labor out. There is a difference. Abbott has got to have had the worst numbers of anybody to win an election

Thank you. You may now bugger orf.

Thank you.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 13th, 2014 at 10:17pm
good one brumbie...

I've read them all  as well... 
always look forward to a new Connelly.  :)




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jan 14th, 2014 at 7:12am

Emma wrote on Jan 13th, 2014 at 8:14pm:
another fave Herb

have read all the J Deaver books I could get my hands on, and have in a request at the local library for the next.

Is it Deaver who has written the new James Bond novels...??
Hmmm..?


I'm finding these Jeffery Deaver books a little irritating, to be honest.

The 'hero' is a quadriplegic 'criminalist' ~ fercrissake ~ flat on his back on a gurney with half a dozen able-bodied police detectives crowded around him feeding him bits of information about a serial killer. That's how it is in every book.

Over the period of each book he solves these serial killer cases. 

Jesus ... don't I have any pride reading this kind of trash? Apparently not.

It's utterly pathetic, and to be honest I feel like I'd like to roll him under a bus.

I buy my books at Opportunity Shops for a $1 or so, and that explains why my home library is full of pot boilers and trailer trash penny dreadfuls.

  ;D

Wilbur Smith. I tried reading one of his books and found the first two chapters badly written and downright boring.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 14th, 2014 at 10:48pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Jan 14th, 2014 at 7:12am:

Emma wrote on Jan 13th, 2014 at 8:14pm:
another fave Herb

have read all the J Deaver books I could get my hands on, and have in a request at the local library for the next.

Is it Deaver who has written the new James Bond novels...??
Hmmm..?


I'm finding these Jeffery Deaver books a little irritating, to be honest.

The 'hero' is a quadriplegic 'criminalist' ~ fercrissake ~ flat on his back on a gurney with half a dozen able-bodied police detectives crowded around him feeding him bits of information about a serial killer. That's how it is in every book.

Over the period of each book he solves these serial killer cases. 

Jesus ... don't I have any pride reading this kind of trash? Apparently not.

It's utterly pathetic, and to be honest I feel like I'd like to roll him under a bus.

I buy my books at Opportunity Shops for a $1 or so, and that explains why my home library is full of pot boilers and trailer trash penny dreadfuls.

  ;D

Wilbur Smith. I tried reading one of his books and found the first two chapters badly written and downright boring.


Herb? The character you refer to is  um  mm Lincoln Rhyme..??  something like that.  Has  been made into a movie

BUT
that is only one of Deaver's characters.  And I find them  a bit tiresome,  so I stick with his other novels.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Jan 15th, 2014 at 9:12am

Soren wrote on Jan 13th, 2014 at 10:13pm:

John Smith wrote on Jan 13th, 2014 at 9:13pm:

Soren wrote on Jan 12th, 2014 at 8:04pm:
They used to say that about Abbott -dreadful, unelectable, just way too conservative, nobody would ever vote for him, who does he think he is, totally unelectable - 'ello, 'ello, 'ello, whassis then?


but they didn't vote him in .... the voted labor out. There is a difference. Abbott has got to have had the worst numbers of anybody to win an election

Thank you. You may now bugger orf.

Thank you.

not a fan of facts?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jan 15th, 2014 at 10:37am

Emma wrote on Jan 14th, 2014 at 10:48pm:
Herb? The character you refer to is  um  mm Lincoln Rhyme..??  something like that.  Has  been made into a movie

BUT
that is only one of Deaver's characters.  And I find them  a bit tiresome,  so I stick with his other novels.


My apologies, Emma. I didn't mean to put you down with my criticism of this paralysed crime-solver. You should see some of the trash I've read over the years.

It was Denzel Washington who played 'Lincoln Rhyme' in 'The Bone Collector'  ~ a story about a homosexual serial killer.  :P

... We are not alone ...


Quote:
"What would people here think about a writer that had a quadriplegic as
>sleuth?  Is that uniqueness owned by Jeffrey Deaver and his creation?
>
I'd think that even Deaver might have doubts about the wisdom of his
having taken that road.  It must be hell dreaming up even
half-plausible new plots every year or so.

What turned me off the Rhyme books was the inherent improbability of
the whole concept - I simply found it impossible to suspend my
disbelief after the first one or two.  There were other issues - his
faithful sidekick (can't recall her name) was simply unbelievable in
this modern day and age, if only because no modern woman would demean
herself by putting up with the crap he kept handing her.


;D ;D ;D


Quote:
Secondly, the technology needed to make communications reliable, even if possible, would be far to complex to be practicable. in what is, or was, essentally a one-person operation.

Only a masochist would take on a task like that, I think.  I'd be very
surprised if Deaver didn't quickly come to regret having gone down
that track, no matter how popular the books became".

Mique


link



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Jan 15th, 2014 at 11:15am
What are you currently reading?



What are you currently reading, on the ozpolitic forum .... riveting stuff. ;D ;D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jan 15th, 2014 at 11:43am

John Smith wrote on Jan 15th, 2014 at 11:15am:
What are you currently reading?

What are you currently reading, on the ozpolitic forum .... riveting stuff. ;D ;D


You should be booked for loitering here.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jan 15th, 2014 at 12:03pm

I'm reading this again.  It was so good.





"Not since Mein Kampf have I read such a disgusting, hypocritical, hate-filled piece of fluff."

http://www.amazon.com/THE-CONSERVATIVE-REVOLUTION-Cory-Bernardi/dp/1922168963

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Jan 15th, 2014 at 12:57pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Jan 15th, 2014 at 11:43am:

John Smith wrote on Jan 15th, 2014 at 11:15am:
What are you currently reading?

What are you currently reading, on the ozpolitic forum .... riveting stuff. ;D ;D


You should be booked for loitering here.


right after they book you for stupidity ....

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jan 15th, 2014 at 1:50pm
You don't really have much going for you, do you John?

No maturity. No intellect. Nothing worth saying outside of a primary school playground.

Just flitting from one thread to the next, pissing your scent with gratuitous insults before looking for more opportunities to demonstrate what a shallow, superficial, sad little fellow you are.

Troller

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Jan 15th, 2014 at 6:41pm
"An Echo in the Bone" by Diana Gabaldon.

A time-travelling family with a modern twist.

I'm still waiting for King to finalise his Gunslinger series.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Herbert on Jan 15th, 2014 at 6:44pm

Lionel Edriess wrote on Jan 15th, 2014 at 6:41pm:
"An Echo in the Bone" by Diana Gabaldon.

A time-travelling family with a modern twist.

I'm still waiting for King to finalise his Gunslinger series.


I've read all of them.  :)


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 17th, 2014 at 9:14am
Guys, there are plenty of other corners of the forum to indulge our political/personal slanging matches.
Let's keep this corner for talking about the books we like or don't like.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Jan 17th, 2014 at 9:23am

Lord Herbert wrote on Jan 15th, 2014 at 1:50pm:
You don't really have much going for you, do you John?

No maturity. No intellect. Nothing worth saying outside of a primary school playground.

Just flitting from one thread to the next, pissing your scent with gratuitous insults before looking for more opportunities to demonstrate what a shallow, superficial, sad little fellow you are.

Troller


there are other sites you should go to if you are looking for a date, this is not one of them.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 17th, 2014 at 10:54pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Jan 15th, 2014 at 6:44pm:

Lionel Edriess wrote on Jan 15th, 2014 at 6:41pm:
"An Echo in the Bone" by Diana Gabaldon.

A time-travelling family with a modern twist.

I'm still waiting for King to finalise his Gunslinger series.


I've read all of them.  :)


What about  The Dark Tower series..? ..you know?  Roland to the Dark Tower goes.'

Thats a mindbender...  or


on a much lighter note  Alan Dean Foster's  'Spellsinger' series. Enjoyed that.

OR  even more in my line Alan Dean Foster's  ..' Book of the Damned ' series.

Gunslinger.. hmm yeah I've read some of them .. 

But I'll always remember Roger Zelazny's  .. Damnation Alley.

There are too many.. I can't keep up..  then again.. I am not a computer.

 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Andrei.Hicks on Jan 17th, 2014 at 11:26pm
Dan Brown - Inferno.

Not bad - he does love his Italian history ol' Dan.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 18th, 2014 at 12:00am

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Jan 17th, 2014 at 11:26pm:
Dan Brown - Inferno.

Not bad - he does love his Italian history ol' Dan.



Never read a Dan Brown novel.. I am happy to say..

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Jan 18th, 2014 at 7:59am

Emma wrote on Jan 18th, 2014 at 12:00am:

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Jan 17th, 2014 at 11:26pm:
Dan Brown - Inferno.

Not bad - he does love his Italian history ol' Dan.



Never read a Dan Brown novel.. I am happy to say..


I quite like them ... read them all.

much better than the movies, but books usually are anyway.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 18th, 2014 at 8:34pm
this is true.

How is this for a line...

"Most criminals of Glen's acquaintance had never known anything else. They were second- and even third-generation, people to whom it would never have occurred to look for honest work. They grew up looking at the world with different eyes, seeing different kinds of opportunities, different kinds of obstacles.They envisaged treasures behind every locked door yet imagined many of the open ones were somehow impenetrable to them."     'Flesh Wounds'   by Chris Brookmyre.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 26th, 2014 at 1:23pm

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 19th, 2013 at 10:14am:
Letters: Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh.

It's going to be a while, every letter has about a dozen footnotes re the people mentioned.


I wasn't wrong when I said it would take a while, but I am enjoying it immensely. They are both so subtly humorous in discussing each other's work & lives as well as people they both know. But I can pick it up and put it down when I like, which is a great advantage when there are so many other things to be done.
Waiting in the wings I have the 2 volumes of biography of Leon Trotsky by Isaac Deutscher, picked up for $4 would you believe . . .know your enemy! Maybe he isn't, I have yet to find out.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by namnugenot on Jan 27th, 2014 at 6:30pm
Man-Eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett....absolutely riveting...autobiographical and broken up into the various accounts...

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jan 27th, 2014 at 9:38pm
tokyo
Mo Hayder

1st published 2004.. 
a truly haunting novel  ,...
highly recommended.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Feb 2nd, 2014 at 10:18pm
Gabrielle LORD

Death by Beauty.

An australian author who certainly can write.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Feb 2nd, 2014 at 10:19pm


Moby Dick.

For my third time.

Just an amazing book.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by GeorgeH on Feb 3rd, 2014 at 5:51pm
“The Kings Depart, The Tragedy of Germany: Versailles and the German Revolution” by Richard M. Watt.

Meticulously researched account of the end off WWII and the inevitable slide into nazism and WWII.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Feb 4th, 2014 at 1:06am
Kill the Body, the Head will Fall.
by Rene Denfeld.

A 'Vintage Original'..published 1997.

A book all you fellas ought to read,  just for a different look at women.

She was probably the FIRST woman to break into the all-male world of Boxing..  in the US. Prior to Oct. '93 women were forbidden participation in amateur boxing.
This woman walked into a sweaty boxing gym in Nov'93...and proved herself...to herself, and  to all who fought her or trained her.
She is a freelance journalist and author.
the book is well researched and is.. according to the cover..
A closer look at women, violence, and aggression.

Highly recommended.. especially for anyone.. male or female,  who has a rigid view of women... for whatever reason.. and whatever that opinion might be.



 


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by WorldSacred on Feb 12th, 2014 at 8:36pm

greggerypeccary wrote on Feb 2nd, 2014 at 10:19pm:
Moby Dick.

For my third time.

Just an amazing book.


Just watched the recent miniseries of Moby Dick (starring William Hurt and Ethan Hawke) last night. Very interesting, and should motivate me to read the book.

In other news, I have just finished an interesting "The Cold War - A New History" by John Lewis Gaddis.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by WorldSacred on Feb 12th, 2014 at 8:37pm
Reading "The Fuhrer". Want to have the book finished by March.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Feb 13th, 2014 at 1:02am
Kathy Reichs

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Feb 21st, 2014 at 7:47pm
Just started Adele Ferguson's biography of Gina Rinehart. Also have a biog of J. Robert Oppenheimer and a novel by Dick Francis for lighter reading.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Feb 21st, 2014 at 9:02pm
i like light reading..very relaxing.

Just finished the latest James Bond novel...

Devil May Care  by Sebastian Faulks ..writing as Ian Fleming.

Not  bad,   eh what?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Honky on Feb 25th, 2014 at 2:49pm
Anti Fragile: Things that gain from disorder
by Nassim Nicholas taleb


An expansion of a thread of thought that I've had for a while, whereby our attempts to micromanage and make everything "safe" actually winds up causing more harm.

This would be of great benefit to many here.  The type who call for more legislation, after every single incident.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Mar 19th, 2014 at 2:40pm
Freedom Next Time, by John Pilger.

Yeah, I know, he's a leftwinger, socialist Commie journalist. Thought I'd beat the conga line to the punch.

Have just started the book, but got far enough to see the Sydney Morning Herald quoted George Bush Jnr as describing the US Constitution as " just another piece of paper ".

Explains a lot about his presidency, I think.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Mar 20th, 2014 at 1:28pm
Thought I'd beat the conga line to the punch.


That's OK. As I mentioned before, my next read was going to be a biography of Trotsky.
Only trouble is, , when I started to look at it, I found Vol 2 wasn't there. In my haste to pick it up at a cheap price I hadn't noticed it should be 3 volumes.
Don't like my chances of finding a Vol 2 lying around anywhere . . .them's the breaks.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Mar 20th, 2014 at 11:01pm
back to the nitty gritty

James Patrick Hunt

Police and Thieves

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Mar 23rd, 2014 at 7:34pm
Pilcher tells the sad and shocking story of the people of Diego Garcia, an island south of Ceylon.

The Yanks wanted the place as a naval base. So the ever compliant Poms rounded up the islanders, killed all their dogs, and dumped them in Mauritius.

Then lied about it for decades.

Many of the islanders died, pining for their homeland.

Get the Yanks and the Brits together and what do you get?

Bastards. No conscience. Uncaring, deceiving liars.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Mar 23rd, 2014 at 7:39pm
Ian Rankin's Standing in another man's grave, a Rebus story.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Mar 23rd, 2014 at 9:56pm
Jonathan Gash - the year of the woman

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Honky on Mar 23rd, 2014 at 10:00pm

Peter Freedman wrote on Mar 23rd, 2014 at 7:34pm:
Pilcher tells the sad and shocking story of the people of Diego Garcia, an island south of Ceylon.

The Yanks wanted the place as a naval base. So the ever compliant Poms rounded up the islanders, killed all their dogs, and dumped them in Mauritius.

Then lied about it for decades.

Many of the islanders died, pining for their homeland.

Get the Yanks and the Brits together and what do you get?

Bastards. No conscience. Uncaring, deceiving liars.


Sounds eerily similar to what the jews did after ww2.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Mar 28th, 2014 at 10:55am
100 Mistakes that changed History: Bill Fawcett

The Princesse de Cleves: Nancy Mitford

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Winston Smith Esq on Mar 28th, 2014 at 11:19am
Your mind.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Culture Warrior on Mar 28th, 2014 at 12:45pm

Peter Freedman wrote on Mar 23rd, 2014 at 7:34pm:
Pilcher tells the sad and shocking story of the people of Diego Garcia, an island south of Ceylon.

The Yanks wanted the place as a naval base. So the ever compliant Poms rounded up the islanders, killed all their dogs, and dumped them in Mauritius.

Then lied about it for decades.

Many of the islanders died, pining for their homeland.

Get the Yanks and the Brits together and what do you get?

Bastards. No conscience. Uncaring, deceiving liars.


Every culture/civilisation would have a story of aggression like this. It seems, though, it's only an issue if the US or Europeans do it.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by WorldSacred on Mar 28th, 2014 at 3:06pm
"War and Peace" Leo Tolstoy. But I want to finish another book before I continue with this one.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Mar 30th, 2014 at 2:40am
Jeez  War and Peace.?

Don't you see enough angst  in the news?? 

people saying they read all these tomes...  the War the Russian Revolution.. etc etc.. 


Perhaps historical carnage is more easily assimilated than reality today..
perhaps a way of reassurance of self..
sort of like.. hey its not that bad now.. looked what happened back then..??

OK  .. so  .. we read about the human condition ,  essentially..  seeking  insights in other  paradigms perhaps..?? thereby achieving some broader understanding.?

( I hesitated to use the word 'paradigm'..  but it seems appropriate in this instance)

But that wouldn't apply to those who only read certain narrow themes...  rather .. they seek reinforcement of their own paradigms,  a sort of  'comfort' story..to keep 'm happy.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Mar 30th, 2014 at 11:10am
War & Peace is a marvellous saga, which tells you a lot about Tsarist Russia. I couldn't deal with the mysticism bit at the end though, I passed on that.

I don't think it matters what you read. You read for knowledge, pleasure, relaxation, all sorts of reasons.
But you get all those things from surprising sources.
I think it's important to read things that are outside your own value system as well.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Mar 30th, 2014 at 11:31am



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Apr 4th, 2014 at 5:41am
Fascism, Past, Present and Future, by Walter Laqueur.

Have only just started it, but it may give me a better understanding of some of the posters on the form.

;) ;) ;) ;)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Apr 12th, 2014 at 8:47am
Have just come back from a Rotary book sale.

I bought:

Biographies of John Major, Robert Mitchum and Bill Skelton (a legendary Kiwi jockey).

Plus The Collaborators" by Gerald Seymour.

Bob Jones letters

The Mission Song, by John Le Carre.

Don Watson's Recollections of a Bleeding Heart.

Hart's War by John Katzenbach

Love, Poverty and War, by Christopher Hitchens.

Believing, an optimist looks at a pessimist's world, by Alan Atkinson

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

All for $26. Not bad eh?




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Apr 12th, 2014 at 8:53am

Peter Freedman wrote on Apr 4th, 2014 at 5:41am:
Fascism, Past, Present and Future, by Walter Laqueur.

Have only just started it, but it may give me a better understanding of some of the posters on the form.

;) ;) ;) ;)


Don't be afraid to ask me to fill in the parts you don't understand.  :P


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Apr 12th, 2014 at 1:12pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Apr 12th, 2014 at 8:53am:

Peter Freedman wrote on Apr 4th, 2014 at 5:41am:
Fascism, Past, Present and Future, by Walter Laqueur.

Have only just started it, but it may give me a better understanding of some of the posters on the form.

;) ;) ;) ;)


Don't be afraid to ask me to fill in the parts you don't understand.  :P



Finished that book several days ago.

It gave me a better understanding of how the "minds" of some people here work.

No names, no pack drill. They know who they are.

Am now reading The Two of Me by John Dybvig.

Then a biography of actor John Thaw. Also read a biog of David Jason. Both great actors, though very different.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Apr 28th, 2014 at 8:46am
Gandhi, Naked Ambition, by Jad Adams.

A very interesting and complex man.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frances on Apr 29th, 2014 at 6:32pm
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Apr 30th, 2014 at 12:20pm
Karpal Singh, Tiger of Jelutong by an old journalistic mate, Tim Donoghue.

I asked him to inscribe it, so he wrote: "To Peter, an integral part of the best days of New Zealand journalism".

Nice touch from a great colleague.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Apr 30th, 2014 at 3:17pm
Letters, Harold Nicholson & Vita Sackville-West.

Can't resist letters. Maybe it's because you can pick it up for 5 minutes or an hour.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Apr 30th, 2014 at 10:14pm

bogarde73 wrote on Mar 20th, 2014 at 1:28pm:
Thought I'd beat the conga line to the punch.


That's OK. As I mentioned before, my next read was going to be a biography of Trotsky.
Only trouble is, , when I started to look at it, I found Vol 2 wasn't there. In my haste to pick it up at a cheap price I hadn't noticed it should be 3 volumes.
Don't like my chances of finding a Vol 2 lying around anywhere . . .them's the breaks.


Funnily enough, when I bought War and Peace, it never occurred to me that it was a bit small.

When I got it home I discovered it was only one of three volumes.

So I have ordered the whole book from the local library.

There is a copy floating around, should be here by the end of the week.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by El_Kaboing on May 1st, 2014 at 9:40am
Currently enjoying DILLIGAF The life and rhymes of Kevin Bloody Wilson.

Funny and yet insightful showing the many sides of KBW.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on May 1st, 2014 at 1:12pm
Other People's Wars by NZ investigative journo, Nicky Hager.

It is a look at the real story behind NZ and Australian involvement in Afghanistan.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by fezz on May 1st, 2014 at 5:58pm
A Time to Betray - Reza Kahlili (pseudonym)

The true story of one man's betrayal of Iran's Revolutionary Guard by becoming a CIA operative during the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini, and subsequently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.


This book gives real insight why radical islam is at it's current boiling point, with complicity from many western / eastern nations through duplicity, the pleading of ignorance or direct support. All of which may or have not been used for domestic and/or international political advantage depending on the machinations of the times.

At times one of the hardest books I've read, not due to language but the brutal honesty of situations recollected.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by fezz on May 1st, 2014 at 6:04pm
The previous book to A Time to Betray:

Every Man in This Village is a Liar: An Education in War by Megan Stack

In the words of M. Stack.
"Only after covering it for years did I understand that the war on terror never really existed."

This is the writings of Stacks journalistic travels post 911 through Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, etc.

The one thing we are left with from this book...the futility of war at the expense of all. There are no winners, only losers. Even those that think they are winning end up just as lost as those they oppress.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on May 1st, 2014 at 9:05pm

Peter Freedman wrote on Apr 30th, 2014 at 10:14pm:
Funnily enough, when I bought War and Peace, it never occurred to me that it was a bit small.

When I got it home I discovered it was only one of three volumes.



There we have you in a nutshell.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on May 2nd, 2014 at 12:04pm
Why, thank you Soren, you are too kind. Such compliments are rare here. You are truly a gentleman of taste and integrity.

I know have the full version from the library, all 1300 pages of it.

So had better keep reading......

:D :D :D :D :D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on May 2nd, 2014 at 12:40pm
Will be interested to hear what you make of the last chapter I think it is. Couldn't hack it myself.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on May 3rd, 2014 at 1:35pm
I will. But it could take some time.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by austranger on May 3rd, 2014 at 7:21pm
           I read War&Peace back in the 70's, and now I don't remember anything much of it at all, I've only retained the memory that it was incredibly turgid and had a lot of incredibly long names in it that I had to keep going back to check on, I kept getting the characters confused.
   I'm am avid reader and used to read a lot of historical and political treatises, non-fiction, but these days I stick pretty much to Sci-Fi, I've become too cynical in my dotage, lol.

                                           Escapism RULES!
                                                    ;)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on May 4th, 2014 at 3:16am
yes  ..must agree that reading is a blissful escape from this best of all possible worlds. :-? 

I've read my share of 'classics'..  and these days I'm all for escapist literature.

Trouble is I can never keep up with the books, authors or series I read.

I've lost track of the books I've read.  I know some people keep a diary,  other's, Library borrowers , mark the book they've read .. so that they can see if they've read it before, and it's 'grade'.  Never bothered myself,  but now,  in my dotage,  I wish I had.

Will never be able to read all the books I'd like to,  ..but it beats the hell out of sitting passively watching the fodder on the visual media.

:)



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by austranger on May 4th, 2014 at 11:59am

Emma wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 3:16am:
yes  ..must agree that reading is a blissful escape from this best of all possible worlds. :-? 

I've read my share of 'classics'..  and these days I'm all for escapist literature.

Trouble is I can never keep up with the books, authors or series I read.

I've lost track of the books I've read.  I know some people keep a diary,  other's, Library borrowers , mark the book they've read .. so that they can see if they've read it before, and it's 'grade'.  Never bothered myself,  but now,  in my dotage,  I wish I had.

Will never be able to read all the books I'd like to,  ..but it beats the hell out of sitting passively watching the fodder on the visual media.

:)


          Right with you on keeping track, put simply, I've given up trying, lol.
   I remember those I've read more than once as a rule, and often find myself partway into a book and realising I've read it before. If I can't remember the finish I keep reading, if I can I put it aside.
  I use Libraries all the time, books are far too expensive now. If I read one that has a sequel or is part of a series I only need to ask, if they can't immediately supply the other(s) they will generally get it in for me. If I like a book I'll look for others by the same author, or read the blurbs or reviews on it, they often reference other similar books that I will then look for.
     I find I get absorbed into the written word far deeper than anything onscreen, and as you say, that's mostly bubble-gum for the brain anyway. Many's the time I've been lost in the pages to look up and realise I've read on into and/or beyond the night, or a decent bed-time anyway, lol. I totally avoid reading before any important event or appointment for that very reason, lol, I've made that mistake in the past and paid for it. You have NO idea how unreasonable or unforgiving your wife can be if you leave her waiting in the rain with the kids because that book was just too good to put down, lol.  :D
      (true story!)  ;D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by fezz on May 4th, 2014 at 8:59pm
Today I read the speech War is a Racket by Major General Smedley Butler.

Butler was America's most decorated soldier and General in the US forces and wrote this speech (1934) along with several other essays and books on the subject of war and the massive profits war generates for a select few, and why we will always have war in the capitalist state. As long as Gordon Gecko's words are sustained, Greed is Good, young men and women will be sent to war for profit.

The next book I have just begun is Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins.

Excerpts:

"Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization."

and

"It is one part of the struggle for world domination and the dream of a few greedy men, global empire. That is what we EHMs do best: we build a global empire.
We are an elite group of men and women who utilize international financial organizations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatocracy running our biggest corporations, our government, and our banks. Like our counterparts in the Mafia, EHMs provide favors. These take the form of loans to develop infrastructure — electric generating plants, highways, ports, airports, or industrial parks. A condition of such loans is that engineering and construction companies from our own country must build all these projects. In essence, most of the money never leaves the United States; it is simply transferred from banking offices in Washington to engineering offices in New York, Houston, or San Francisco. Despite the fact that the money is returned almost immediately to corporations that are members of the corporatocracy (the creditor), the recipient country is required to pay it all back, principal plus interest. If an EHM is completely successful, the loans are so large that the debtor is forced to default on its payments after a few years. When this happens, then like the Mafia we demand our pound of flesh. This often includes one or more of the following: control over United Nations
votes, the installation of military bases, or access to precious resources such as oil or the Panama Canal. Of course, the debtor still owes us the money—and another country is added to our global empire."


Sounds familiar...Ukraine is the latest to join the money / debt merry go round. When it can no longer meet its debt obligations, I'm sure we'll see another US military base installed closer to Russia and the bleeding of Ukraine's natural resources to the highest bidder.

If I were to be cynical, it would appear that there is an EHM play going down right now in Australia.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on May 4th, 2014 at 9:25pm

austranger wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 11:59am:

Emma wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 3:16am:
yes  ..must agree that reading is a blissful escape from this best of all possible worlds. :-? 

I've read my share of 'classics'..  and these days I'm all for escapist literature.

Trouble is I can never keep up with the books, authors or series I read.

I've lost track of the books I've read.  I know some people keep a diary,  other's, Library borrowers , mark the book they've read .. so that they can see if they've read it before, and it's 'grade'.  Never bothered myself,  but now,  in my dotage,  I wish I had.

Will never be able to read all the books I'd like to,  ..but it beats the hell out of sitting passively watching the fodder on the visual media.

:)


          Right with you on keeping track, put simply, I've given up trying, lol.
   I remember those I've read more than once as a rule, and often find myself partway into a book and realising I've read it before. If I can't remember the finish I keep reading, if I can I put it aside.
  I use Libraries all the time, books are far too expensive now. If I read one that has a sequel or is part of a series I only need to ask, if they can't immediately supply the other(s) they will generally get it in for me. If I like a book I'll look for others by the same author, or read the blurbs or reviews on it, they often reference other similar books that I will then look for.
     I find I get absorbed into the written word far deeper than anything onscreen, and as you say, that's mostly bubble-gum for the brain anyway. Many's the time I've been lost in the pages to look up and realise I've read on into and/or beyond the night, or a decent bed-time anyway, lol. I totally avoid reading before any important event or appointment for that very reason, lol, I've made that mistake in the past and paid for it. You have NO idea how unreasonable or unforgiving your wife can be if you leave her waiting in the rain with the kids because that book was just too good to put down, lol.  :D
      (true story!)  ;D



Yes I know what you are saying..  :).

My worst lapse was,  long time gone now,  travelling home from work by train,  and missing the station where my husband was waiting to pick me up,  ..because I was lost in what I was reading..

.. before the days of mobile phone technology THAT was a real pita :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on May 4th, 2014 at 9:27pm

fezz wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 8:59pm:
Today I read the speech War is a Racket by Major General Smedley Butler.

Butler was America's most decorated soldier and General in the US forces and wrote this speech (1934) along with several other essays and books on the subject of war and the massive profits war generates for a select few, and why we will always have war in the capitalist state. As long as Gordon Gecko's words are sustained, Greed is Good, young men and women will be sent to war for profit.

The next book I have just begun is Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins.

Excerpts:

"Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization."

and

"It is one part of the struggle for world domination and the dream of a few greedy men, global empire. That is what we EHMs do best: we build a global empire.
We are an elite group of men and women who utilize international financial organizations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatocracy running our biggest corporations, our government, and our banks. Like our counterparts in the Mafia, EHMs provide favors. These take the form of loans to develop infrastructure — electric generating plants, highways, ports, airports, or industrial parks. A condition of such loans is that engineering and construction companies from our own country must build all these projects. In essence, most of the money never leaves the United States; it is simply transferred from banking offices in Washington to engineering offices in New York, Houston, or San Francisco. Despite the fact that the money is returned almost immediately to corporations that are members of the corporatocracy (the creditor), the recipient country is required to pay it all back, principal plus interest. If an EHM is completely successful, the loans are so large that the debtor is forced to default on its payments after a few years. When this happens, then like the Mafia we demand our pound of flesh. This often includes one or more of the following: control over United Nations
votes, the installation of military bases, or access to precious resources such as oil or the Panama Canal. Of course, the debtor still owes us the money—and another country is added to our global empire."


Sounds familiar...Ukraine is the latest to join the money / debt merry go round. When it can no longer meet its debt obligations, I'm sure we'll see another US military base installed closer to Russia and the bleeding of Ukraine's natural resources to the highest bidder.

If I were to be cynical, it would appear that there is an EHM play going down right now in Australia.



wouldn't surprise me at all... 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on May 4th, 2014 at 9:31pm

austranger wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 11:59am:

Emma wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 3:16am:
yes  ..must agree that reading is a blissful escape from this best of all possible worlds. :-? 

I've read my share of 'classics'..  and these days I'm all for escapist literature.

Trouble is I can never keep up with the books, authors or series I read.

I've lost track of the books I've read.  I know some people keep a diary,  other's, Library borrowers , mark the book they've read .. so that they can see if they've read it before, and it's 'grade'.  Never bothered myself,  but now,  in my dotage,  I wish I had.

Will never be able to read all the books I'd like to,  ..but it beats the hell out of sitting passively watching the fodder on the visual media.

:)


          Right with you on keeping track, put simply, I've given up trying, lol.
   I remember those I've read more than once as a rule, and often find myself partway into a book and realising I've read it before. If I can't remember the finish I keep reading, if I can I put it aside.
  I use Libraries all the time, books are far too expensive now. If I read one that has a sequel or is part of a series I only need to ask, if they can't immediately supply the other(s) they will generally get it in for me. If I like a book I'll look for others by the same author, or read the blurbs or reviews on it, they often reference other similar books that I will then look for.
     I find I get absorbed into the written word far deeper than anything onscreen, and as you say, that's mostly bubble-gum for the brain anyway. Many's the time I've been lost in the pages to look up and realise I've read on into and/or beyond the night, or a decent bed-time anyway, lol. I totally avoid reading before any important event or appointment for that very reason, lol, I've made that mistake in the past and paid for it. You have NO idea how unreasonable or unforgiving your wife can be if you leave her waiting in the rain with the kids because that book was just too good to put down, lol.  :D
      (true story!)  ;D


And re public libraries..? 

couldn't live without them.  To have the access now available in your little library in the Village  (mine) ... is a really good thing.

As you say.. books are too expensive to purchase, usually.. unless..???  2nd hand.. or obsessed?  .. but  um yeah

..I  Love my local library.. :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on May 6th, 2014 at 8:44am

Emma wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 9:31pm:

austranger wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 11:59am:

Emma wrote on May 4th, 2014 at 3:16am:
yes  ..must agree that reading is a blissful escape from this best of all possible worlds. :-? 

I've read my share of 'classics'..  and these days I'm all for escapist literature.

Trouble is I can never keep up with the books, authors or series I read.

I've lost track of the books I've read.  I know some people keep a diary,  other's, Library borrowers , mark the book they've read .. so that they can see if they've read it before, and it's 'grade'.  Never bothered myself,  but now,  in my dotage,  I wish I had.

Will never be able to read all the books I'd like to,  ..but it beats the hell out of sitting passively watching the fodder on the visual media.

:)


          Right with you on keeping track, put simply, I've given up trying, lol.
   I remember those I've read more than once as a rule, and often find myself partway into a book and realising I've read it before. If I can't remember the finish I keep reading, if I can I put it aside.
  I use Libraries all the time, books are far too expensive now. If I read one that has a sequel or is part of a series I only need to ask, if they can't immediately supply the other(s) they will generally get it in for me. If I like a book I'll look for others by the same author, or read the blurbs or reviews on it, they often reference other similar books that I will then look for.
     I find I get absorbed into the written word far deeper than anything onscreen, and as you say, that's mostly bubble-gum for the brain anyway. Many's the time I've been lost in the pages to look up and realise I've read on into and/or beyond the night, or a decent bed-time anyway, lol. I totally avoid reading before any important event or appointment for that very reason, lol, I've made that mistake in the past and paid for it. You have NO idea how unreasonable or unforgiving your wife can be if you leave her waiting in the rain with the kids because that book was just too good to put down, lol.  :D
      (true story!)  ;D


And re public libraries..? 

couldn't live without them.  To have the access now available in your little library in the Village  (mine) ... is a really good thing.

As you say.. books are too expensive to purchase, usually.. unless..???  2nd hand.. or obsessed?  .. but  um yeah

..I  Love my local library.. :)


Me, too.

With what they call a "Smart" library card I can borrow books from about five different libraries as well.

Just started Conversations With Myself by Nelson Mandela.

The Boer should read it. He'd love it!

;D ;D  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on May 14th, 2014 at 11:35am
Now reading Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.

War and Peace is still awaiting me.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on May 14th, 2014 at 11:45am
Couldn't face the long haul eh? I do that frequently. Opt for what might be lighter & easier. Story of my life really.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on May 15th, 2014 at 8:45am
Am getting stated on War and Peace

What a tome! So heavy you almost need a shovel to pick it up!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on May 15th, 2014 at 10:03pm
or you could try some modern light reading. :)

I have just started on my first novel by Daniel Silva.. 
'The Secret Servant'.

A bit scary .. altho .. as likely a scenario as it is .. I couldn't give  a  stuff.

Nothing stays the same.

All things are equal.

:-?


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on May 16th, 2014 at 2:28pm
No light reading for me!

Have put aside War and Peace for  a while and started Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T E Lawrence.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on May 18th, 2014 at 2:21pm
Reading the Vita & Harold letters (see above) is an eye opener to me.
Although I was a pot-smoking randy tom-cat of the 1960s, the relationships among the English upper classes of the 1920s era comes as a surprise. Homosexual husbands and lesbian wives seem to have been the order of the day, as long as it was kept more or less out of the public arena.
Maybe the protestant ethic has stuck with me more than I imagined.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on May 29th, 2014 at 6:50pm
a frivolous question for you all...

I am about to embark on George R R Martin's book series which has led to the cult-like following for The Game of Thrones.

I read the very first one a couple of decades ago... or so it seems,,  and always looked forward to the next one.  However.. I lost touch with these books ,  and now I see there are many strands.

My Question..

Is it better to just read them all in the sequence in which they appeared, (ie originally published)  or is it better,  now that there is so much to gather, to read them in their own series.????

  It does seem there are several story lines to follow.

Any advice..??   :)


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Jun 1st, 2014 at 11:58am
Have just started Breaking News, Sex and Lies and the Murdoch Success Story by Paul Barry.

Have got far enough for this quote by  Pulitzer Prize winner, Mike Royko as he walked out the door of The Chicago Sun Times as Murdoch took it over:  "From what I've seen of Murdoch newspapers I don't know of any self respecting fish that would want to be wrapped in one".

PS: 59 other journalists and executives must have thought the same thing as they all left as well!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 1st, 2014 at 12:00pm
Emma, I don't know the books you refer to but I've found that when you come across an author who has written a lot of books with the same characters in them, it has paid to find out the dates of publication and read them in that order.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 1st, 2014 at 12:04pm

Peter Freedman wrote on Jun 1st, 2014 at 11:58am:
Have just started Breaking News, Sex and Lies and the Murdoch Success Story by Paul Barry.

Have got far enough for this quote by  Pulitzer Prize winner, Mike Royko as he walked out the door of The Chicago Sun Times as Murdoch took it over:  "From what I've seen of Murdoch newspapers I don't know of any self respecting fish that would want to be wrapped in one".

PS: 59 other journalists and executives must have thought the same thing as they all left as well!


But aren't newspapers just a business like any other and therefore the owners are entitled to run it how they like? Within the law of course.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by fezz on Jun 1st, 2014 at 6:07pm

Peter Freedman wrote on Jun 1st, 2014 at 11:58am:
Have just started Breaking News, Sex and Lies and the Murdoch Success Story by Paul Barry.

Have got far enough for this quote by  Pulitzer Prize winner, Mike Royko as he walked out the door of The Chicago Sun Times as Murdoch took it over:  "From what I've seen of Murdoch newspapers I don't know of any self respecting fish that would want to be wrapped in one".

PS: 59 other journalists and executives must have thought the same thing as they all left as well!



That looks like a good follow up to the book I'm about to start.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Community's Assault On Truth by Mark Howard

The blurb:

When Fox News debuted it was crafted from scratch to be a partisan outlet for right-wing propaganda and a platform for advancing a conservative agenda. Its Internet community web site, Fox Nation, serves as the online gathering place for Fox viewers to absorb and spread the aggregated disinformation and conspiracy theories hatched by Fox News.

The statement of purpose posted on the Fox Nation web site says that it is “committed to the core principles of tolerance, open debate, civil discourse, and fair and balanced coverage of the news.” However, a cursory glance at the site reveals that they have fallen wide of their stated purpose by several light years.

This first volume of Fox Nation vs. Reality is a collection of some of the blatant falsehoods found on Fox Nation. These are not mere differences of opinion or discussions that might have varying degrees of perspective. They are obvious, provable, out and out lies. They are manifestations of a disconnect with the real world. But they are not the result of psychosis or mistake. They are deliberate and purposeful. They are aimed at an ill-informed audience that is only interested in having their prejudices affirmed. And Fox News is only too happy to accommodate them.

In Fox Nation vs. Reality you will find a compilation of articles originally published on the media analysis web site News Corpse. They provide an eye-opening look into the lengths that committed propagandists will go in order to fabricate an alternative political reality. And remember that Fox Nation is not some remote outpost on the Internet Superhighway. It is an integral part of Fox News whose executives are wholly responsible for the stain it produces on journalism.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jun 1st, 2014 at 9:04pm

bogarde73 wrote on Jun 1st, 2014 at 12:00pm:
Emma, I don't know the books you refer to but I've found that when you come across an author who has written a lot of books with the same characters in them, it has paid to find out the dates of publication and read them in that order.



Quite so Bogie ..that is my usual practice,  but this series, with regard to sheer number of works, with several strands , is somewhat akin to  umm..


nothing else I have decided to read.  Mind you.. I don't often approach reading in this vein... hence my query. If you don't know of the material,  you may have missed my point.  In any case... thank you for the reply. :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Jun 5th, 2014 at 4:13pm

bogarde73 wrote on Jun 1st, 2014 at 12:04pm:

Peter Freedman wrote on Jun 1st, 2014 at 11:58am:
Have just started Breaking News, Sex and Lies and the Murdoch Success Story by Paul Barry.

Have got far enough for this quote by  Pulitzer Prize winner, Mike Royko as he walked out the door of The Chicago Sun Times as Murdoch took it over:  "From what I've seen of Murdoch newspapers I don't know of any self respecting fish that would want to be wrapped in one".

PS: 59 other journalists and executives must have thought the same thing as they all left as well!


But aren't newspapers just a business like any other and therefore the owners are entitled to run it how they like? Within the law of course.


No, they are not. Newspapers are not like any other business. They are the eyes of the people to what is going on in the world.

No other businesses, except, of course radio and TV, have that role.

Murdoch runs ALL his TV stations and newspapers and you see the results. They are constantly mirroring Murdoch's views, biases and political leanings.

That one man should have such power over what people read and see is both dangerous and obscene.

Never once in 25 years as a journo, did I have an owner tell me what to write or how to write it.

Sometimes they would suggest a story but always added: "Pete, you're a good journalist, it's entirely over to you".

Often the suggestion was a good one. When the story appeared, the owner would come into the newsroom holding a copy of the paper and smiling broadly.

It's called "editorial freedom".

Who knows what is news? The owner or an experienced reporter?

It's that simple. But it is also crucial.

It differentiates real newspapers and TV stations from crap like The Australian and Fox News.





Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Jun 5th, 2014 at 4:35pm

fezz wrote on Jun 1st, 2014 at 6:07pm:

Peter Freedman wrote on Jun 1st, 2014 at 11:58am:
Have just started Breaking News, Sex and Lies and the Murdoch Success Story by Paul Barry.

Have got far enough for this quote by  Pulitzer Prize winner, Mike Royko as he walked out the door of The Chicago Sun Times as Murdoch took it over:  "From what I've seen of Murdoch newspapers I don't know of any self respecting fish that would want to be wrapped in one".

PS: 59 other journalists and executives must have thought the same thing as they all left as well!



That looks like a good follow up to the book I'm about to start.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Community's Assault On Truth by Mark Howard

The blurb:

When Fox News debuted it was crafted from scratch to be a partisan outlet for right-wing propaganda and a platform for advancing a conservative agenda. Its Internet community web site, Fox Nation, serves as the online gathering place for Fox viewers to absorb and spread the aggregated disinformation and conspiracy theories hatched by Fox News.

The statement of purpose posted on the Fox Nation web site says that it is “committed to the core principles of tolerance, open debate, civil discourse, and fair and balanced coverage of the news.” However, a cursory glance at the site reveals that they have fallen wide of their stated purpose by several light years.

This first volume of Fox Nation vs. Reality is a collection of some of the blatant falsehoods found on Fox Nation. These are not mere differences of opinion or discussions that might have varying degrees of perspective. They are obvious, provable, out and out lies. They are manifestations of a disconnect with the real world. But they are not the result of psychosis or mistake. They are deliberate and purposeful. They are aimed at an ill-informed audience that is only interested in having their prejudices affirmed. And Fox News is only too happy to accommodate them.

In Fox Nation vs. Reality you will find a compilation of articles originally published on the media analysis web site News Corpse. They provide an eye-opening look into the lengths that committed propagandists will go in order to fabricate an alternative political reality. And remember that Fox Nation is not some remote outpost on the Internet Superhighway. It is an integral part of Fox News whose executives are wholly responsible for the stain it produces on journalism.



Thanks, will go down to the library tomorrow and see if I can track it down.

Have almost finished Barry's book. The lies told by Murdoch, his executives and his offspring are phenomenal.

And the now defunct News of the World and the still existing The Sun are trash almost beyond belief.

The NOTW news editor, Greg Miskiw, is quoted as saying: "This is what we do. We go out and destroy other people's lives".

That's journalism?

No, it's muck raking and The Sun and the NOTW spent thousands of pounds paying private detectives to stake people out, search their bank account details, hack their telephones calls and emails.

It's grubby and disgraceful.

And it's Murdoch.

The Prince of all media bastards!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Peter Freedman on Jun 6th, 2014 at 12:15pm
Have now started Daddy was a German Spy and other scandals by Brian Edwards.

Edwards may not be known to many Australians, but here he is a household name.

Born in Ireland, educated in Scotland, he came here in 1964 and spent 40 years as a TV commentator and interviewer.

In 1993 he was made Commander of the NZ Order of Merit for his services to broadcasting and journalism.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Jul 12th, 2014 at 8:16pm
Have just completed re-reading the collected works of Henry Lawson.

I'm saving re-reading Paterson 'til later.

One thing strikes me.

The life, experiences, people, occupations, opportunities, society and infrastructure, of all the things he wrote about - simply don't exist any more.

Some place names are familiar, but that's about it.

It got me thinking.

A lot of restrictions we place on our everyday lives are self-imposed. We just so 'cannot' exist without 'so and so'. Which is all well and good until we admit that we are slaves to modern consumerism.

His chronicles remind us that there is nothing new in hard work, atrocity in war, drug dependence, relationship breakdown, police brutality, mateship, despair.

It's his stoicism that I miss in the Australians I meet, and read about, today.

I think that is the one quality that all those commentators miss when they discuss/dissect the ANZAC thing.

I miss the Australia I used to live in.




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 12th, 2014 at 9:59pm

Emma wrote on Jun 1st, 2014 at 9:04pm:

bogarde73 wrote on Jun 1st, 2014 at 12:00pm:
Emma, I don't know the books you refer to but I've found that when you come across an author who has written a lot of books with the same characters in them, it has paid to find out the dates of publication and read them in that order.



Quite so Bogie ..that is my usual practice,  but this series, with regard to sheer number of works, with several strands , is somewhat akin to  umm..


nothing else I have decided to read.  Mind you.. I don't often approach reading in this vein... hence my query. If you don't know of the material,  you may have missed my point.  In any case... thank you for the reply. :)


Well ... what I can I say ... ??  :)
Now, before I go on.. for the info of those not in the know.. The Game Of Thrones...  has just become the MOST POPULAR PayTV   HBO I think  .. EVER... and looks to continue.. The TV Show is based on the huge works of George RR Martin   ...  and to borrow any of the books in the series from the local library requires huge waiting lists.  I imagine the SHOW has revived interest in the novels... 

However.. as I have said..earlier,  I had decided to re-read the earlier works... which I had caught at the time... and go on to the further masses of these books. 


SO OK  I did that... but after reading the first 2 tomes... and realising I had already read them.. I scanned the other two tomes in the sequence  .. and thought 


BUGGER THAT.  !!  No thank you... tiresome in the extreme... which probably explains why I didn't follow up on them in the past..   ;D

NOT RECOMMENDED.


Now .. currently .
I am about to finish off The Gods of Guilt... by Michael Connelly. 

Sorry.. no toffy nosed choices here ..  :)

No aspersions on Henry Lawson..   :)







Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Andrei.Hicks on Jul 12th, 2014 at 10:04pm
Re-reading Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal.

I think probably the best book I have read.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Jul 12th, 2014 at 10:05pm

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Jul 12th, 2014 at 10:04pm:
Re-reading Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal.

I think probably the best book I have read.



loved it ......

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Jul 12th, 2014 at 10:06pm

Emma wrote on Jul 12th, 2014 at 9:59pm:
No aspersions on Henry Lawson..   



None taken.  :)

Have you ever heard of King's 'Gunslinger' series? A bit future/scifi but a huge change from his usual horror genre. Great read.

Maybe it stems from the time he got run over while jogging?

8-)


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Jul 12th, 2014 at 10:12pm

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Jul 12th, 2014 at 10:04pm:
Re-reading Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal. ...


I remember seeing the movie aeons ago - probably very dated now.

Always liked Edward Fox as an actor though. Always gave me the impression of tightly wound and surprisingly capable.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 12th, 2014 at 10:44pm

Lionel Edriess wrote on Jul 12th, 2014 at 10:06pm:

Emma wrote on Jul 12th, 2014 at 9:59pm:
No aspersions on Henry Lawson..   



None taken.  :)

Have you ever heard of King's 'Gunslinger' series? A bit future/scifi but a huge change from his usual horror genre. Great read.

Maybe it stems from the time he got run over while jogging?

8-)



Err definitely.. and   the Dark Tower  series.. wasn't that ?  in a way tied in to the Gunslinger..

Gawd  I 've read so many of those King Novels... I tend to go elsewhere now for a bit o horror.... names are numerous... 

Can't go past Koontz.. e.g.  altho.. like King... they become formulaic... still...  it is the ideas

Agree The Day of the Jackal  was excellent... there were many many authors of that era and before ..that bear reading.
Who wrote  'the Eiger Sanction' ?  now that author wrote some exciting stuff... all pre... mobile phones tho..   :)

It is sadly impossible  for me to read all that I would like to. Except in some exciting science fiction/future scenario 

happy reading..  :)... 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 15th, 2014 at 11:28pm
now I'm reading a Jack Reacher novel...  by LEE CHILDS

Never Go Back. 

I'd love a friend like Reacher. 

But.. did you see the movie..??  I wouldn't even bother.. what a joke..

Tom Cruise,...   ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

If it wasn't a massive flop it should have been...I mean really.. 

;D ;D ;D ;D
That man has an ego twice the size of his body.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jul 17th, 2014 at 7:58pm
I've just finished 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' which I absolutely loved and have just started 'Deliverance.'

So far, so good.

Next on my list is Huxley's 'Brave New World.'

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:15pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 7:58pm:
I've just finished 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' which I absolutely loved and have just started 'Deliverance.'

So far, so good.

Next on my list is Huxley's 'Brave New World.'


Yes I read Deliverance many yrs (decades) ago    ...scary stuff...  the movie was pretty good actually.. 

Brave New World.....  again.. read many yrs ago... but definitely worth it.

Have you read Animal House..?  by Hmm  jeez there goes the memory.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:19pm
I am currently reading a Karin Slaughter novel...  'Genesis'.
Have already been through earlier novels.... 

If you want to get a handle on how sick some people are.. read some of her novels.
Highly recommended.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:34pm

Emma wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:15pm:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 7:58pm:
I've just finished 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' which I absolutely loved and have just started 'Deliverance.'

So far, so good.

Next on my list is Huxley's 'Brave New World.'


Yes I read Deliverance many yrs (decades) ago    ...scary stuff...  the movie was pretty good actually.. 

Brave New World.....  again.. read many yrs ago... but definitely worth it.

Have you read Animal House..?  by Hmm  jeez there goes the memory.


Do you mean Orwell's Animal Farm? I started it, but couldn't get into it. I enjoyed 1984 though. I should probably give Animal Farm another crack. I like dystopian novels. 'The Handmaid's Tale' is one of my favourite reads ever.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:38pm
Animal Farm is definitely worth another go ... 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:43pm
if u r interested in old S-F  try  Clifford D Simak..

He wrote many visionary tales...  All Flesh is Grass, among many...   

and  highly recommended if you can find it  CITY.

Sort of a segue to Animal Farm..   :)

City is about when DOGS... intelligent wise DOGS are the dominant life-form... after humans had shot their wad. 

Fascinating. :)


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:51pm

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Jul 12th, 2014 at 10:04pm:
Re-reading Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal.

I think probably the best book I have read.

Some years ago I read a collection of his short stories. An absolute master.



Being a thoroughly with-it, modern guy, I would also like to recommend the following on iTunes:

Prominent authors reading their favourite short stories published in the The New Yorker.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jul 17th, 2014 at 9:17pm

Soren wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:51pm:
Being a thoroughly with-it, modern guy



Yes, you're one cool cat, daddy-o.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Jul 17th, 2014 at 9:36pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 9:17pm:

Soren wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:51pm:
Being a thoroughly with-it, modern guy



Yes, you're one cool cat, daddy-o.



Yes, dreaming of lions soon.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jul 17th, 2014 at 9:54pm
May you be neither destroyed nor defeated.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 18th, 2014 at 11:12am
Next on my list is Huxley's 'Brave New World.'

The word "pneumatic" comes to mind from that book. I think I was too young to know what he was talking about at the time.
I seem to remember he died from an overdose of LSD.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 18th, 2014 at 4:23pm
I was reading up on Hitler. Then I stopped at his political era to start reading a book on JFK. Got about as far as his governorship, and stopped reading. Picked up a book on Napoleon. Read as far as his teenaged years as a military officer cadet. Put that down to start reading John Douglas "Mindhunter". Don't know which book to finish reading.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jul 18th, 2014 at 5:47pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 4:23pm:
I was reading up on Hitler. Then I stopped at his political era to start reading a book on JFK. Got about as far as his governorship, and stopped reading. Picked up a book on Napoleon. Read as far as his teenaged years as a military officer cadet. Put that down to start reading John Douglas "Mindhunter". Don't know which book to finish reading.



That could be a consequence of internet usage. People get so used to getting entire stories or concepts in short bites that restlessness sets in with anything more substantial.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Jul 18th, 2014 at 6:26pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 5:47pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 4:23pm:
I was reading up on Hitler. Then I stopped at his political era to start reading a book on JFK. Got about as far as his governorship, and stopped reading. Picked up a book on Napoleon. Read as far as his teenaged years as a military officer cadet. Put that down to start reading John Douglas "Mindhunter". Don't know which book to finish reading.



That could be a consequence of internet usage. People get so used to getting entire stories or concepts in short bites that restlessness sets in with anything more substantial.



Yes, easier to Google.


Books require focus and you can't click.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jul 18th, 2014 at 6:56pm

Soren wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 6:26pm:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 5:47pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 4:23pm:
I was reading up on Hitler. Then I stopped at his political era to start reading a book on JFK. Got about as far as his governorship, and stopped reading. Picked up a book on Napoleon. Read as far as his teenaged years as a military officer cadet. Put that down to start reading John Douglas "Mindhunter". Don't know which book to finish reading.



That could be a consequence of internet usage. People get so used to getting entire stories or concepts in short bites that restlessness sets in with anything more substantial.



Yes, easier to Google.


Books require focus and you can't click.



The best and worst thing about reading is getting lost in the story or language. Books that you take to bed and you struggle to stay awake to finish the chapter, with longer and longer blinks of the eye til you're waking up and didn't even realise you were drifting off. Or ones that make a telephone call or knock on the door seem like major irritations.

It's pretty cool when you think about it.   

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jul 18th, 2014 at 7:48pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:34pm:

Emma wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:15pm:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 7:58pm:
I've just finished 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' which I absolutely loved and have just started 'Deliverance.'

So far, so good.

Next on my list is Huxley's 'Brave New World.'


Yes I read Deliverance many yrs (decades) ago    ...scary stuff...  the movie was pretty good actually.. 

Brave New World.....  again.. read many yrs ago... but definitely worth it.

Have you read Animal House..?  by Hmm  jeez there goes the memory.


Do you mean Orwell's Animal Farm? I started it, but couldn't get into it. I enjoyed 1984 though. I should probably give Animal Farm another crack. I like dystopian novels. 'The Handmaid's Tale' is one of my favourite reads ever.



Animal Farm is a great read.

It's only short, so it won't take too long.

'The Handmaid's Tale' - wonderful book.  Thanks for reminding me - I might read that again.

Currently reading (among about 7 other books) Personal History - Katharine Graham.




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jul 18th, 2014 at 8:02pm

greggerypeccary wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 7:48pm:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:34pm:

Emma wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:15pm:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 7:58pm:
I've just finished 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' which I absolutely loved and have just started 'Deliverance.'

So far, so good.

Next on my list is Huxley's 'Brave New World.'


Yes I read Deliverance many yrs (decades) ago    ...scary stuff...  the movie was pretty good actually.. 

Brave New World.....  again.. read many yrs ago... but definitely worth it.

Have you read Animal House..?  by Hmm  jeez there goes the memory.


Do you mean Orwell's Animal Farm? I started it, but couldn't get into it. I enjoyed 1984 though. I should probably give Animal Farm another crack. I like dystopian novels. 'The Handmaid's Tale' is one of my favourite reads ever.



Animal Farm is a great read.

It's only short, so it won't take too long.

'The Handmaid's Tale' - wonderful book.  Thanks for reminding me - I might read that again.

Currently reading (among about 7 other books) Personal History - Katharine Graham.


Is it good? I struggle with proper autobiographies. Even Stephen Fry's which I thought I'd love. The only one I've ever really enjoyed was Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis, which was totally unexpected.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jul 18th, 2014 at 8:24pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 8:02pm:

greggerypeccary wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 7:48pm:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:34pm:

Emma wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 8:15pm:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 17th, 2014 at 7:58pm:
I've just finished 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' which I absolutely loved and have just started 'Deliverance.'

So far, so good.

Next on my list is Huxley's 'Brave New World.'


Yes I read Deliverance many yrs (decades) ago    ...scary stuff...  the movie was pretty good actually.. 

Brave New World.....  again.. read many yrs ago... but definitely worth it.

Have you read Animal House..?  by Hmm  jeez there goes the memory.


Do you mean Orwell's Animal Farm? I started it, but couldn't get into it. I enjoyed 1984 though. I should probably give Animal Farm another crack. I like dystopian novels. 'The Handmaid's Tale' is one of my favourite reads ever.



Animal Farm is a great read.

It's only short, so it won't take too long.

'The Handmaid's Tale' - wonderful book.  Thanks for reminding me - I might read that again.

Currently reading (among about 7 other books) Personal History - Katharine Graham.


Is it good? I struggle with proper autobiographies. Even Stephen Fry's which I thought I'd love. The only one I've ever really enjoyed was Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis, which was totally unexpected.




Only a few pages in, so too early to tell.

I have Scar Tissue, somewhere - I must get that out.  Thanks again for the reminder (I haven't read it yet).


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 18th, 2014 at 11:16pm
something old brits might remember.. 
I've been going thru old books I have...
and have read with fascination .. a series of three volumes  entitled
"The Story of Britain".....  by
H A Clement..M A

first printed April 1943
reprinted  June 1944  ,and January 1945, they are hardbacks  and were, I think , school books, printed during the Second World War.

These are OLD books. !

Vol 1 - From the Earliest Times To 1485
Vol 2 - From 1485 To 1714
Vol 3 - From 1714 To 1942

If you want to know about the history of Great Britain... these are truly excellent reading...  not novels.. just the facts... as perceived in 1942,,, when they were completed.

And truth is definitely stranger than fiction ..


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 19th, 2014 at 12:12am
really?? you are sucking his balls??  did you like it..??

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 19th, 2014 at 12:14am
is this a new book?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 19th, 2014 at 12:29am
No..?   guess not..

it is the same OLD tired sad story....

mysogynists (oops)
are such sad weak d heads .. their fellow males look at them in pity...
but usually say FA..
its  domestic don't you know..??

better look up the spelling.. but you get the IDEA.. YEAH..??

Read all the BOOKS about your particular kink  .. you will still not understand yourself.. so sad  too bad..  :)


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 19th, 2014 at 1:51pm
That's one bit of his rubbish removed anyway.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 19th, 2014 at 1:56pm

Emma wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 11:16pm:
something old brits might remember.. 
I've been going thru old books I have...
and have read with fascination .. a series of three volumes  entitled
"The Story of Britain".....  by
H A Clement..M A

first printed April 1943
reprinted  June 1944  ,and January 1945, they are hardbacks  and were, I think , school books, printed during the Second World War.

These are OLD books. !

Vol 1 - From the Earliest Times To 1485
Vol 2 - From 1485 To 1714
Vol 3 - From 1714 To 1942

If you want to know about the history of Great Britain... these are truly excellent reading...  not novels.. just the facts... as perceived in 1942,,, when they were completed.

And truth is definitely stranger than fiction ..


There have been so many volumes like that by every other history don in the UK. I've got a few myself.
As you say, there's nothing like the facts. But there have been so many changes in interpretation in the last 30-40 years with the discovery of old documents & letters. It's fascinating stuff history.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 19th, 2014 at 5:39pm
thanks for that bogarde73 .. 

yes  definitely fascinating to be able to look back,  not just at a broad scope of particular aspects of history... but to read it from such a comparatively 'old' source... and then looking at what we know now..  :)

Not exactly Homer...  nevertheless worth a read

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jul 20th, 2014 at 5:31pm
Deliverance was a bit of a let down, which could have been due to my high expectations of being scared or at the very least creeped out.

I've changed my mind about what to read next - I'm giving Tim Winton's Eyrie a go. It'll be the first of his I've read.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jul 20th, 2014 at 6:38pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 20th, 2014 at 5:31pm:
Deliverance was a bit of a let down, which could have been due to my high expectations of being scared or at the very least creeped out.

I've changed my mind about what to read next - I'm giving Tim Winton's Eyrie a go. It'll be the first of his I've read.



Cloud Street and Dirt Music are worth a read.





Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jul 21st, 2014 at 7:03am
Thanks, Greg. I'll put them on my list.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jul 21st, 2014 at 10:14pm
Whoever it was who was having trouble seeing a book through to the end, maybe you could try short stories to ease back in to proper reading. Chekhov's The Looking Glass is good.

Calvino has a short story about a soldier on a train who sits next to a civilian woman. It's really, really good and quite short. I can't recall the name of it and I'm snuggled in now, but I will post it tomorrow when I can check out the bookcases.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ahovking on Jul 21st, 2014 at 10:42pm
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Everyone should read this.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Jul 21st, 2014 at 11:18pm
"The Amulet of Samarkand" by Jonathan Stroud. One of three in a series about magicians in modern-day London.

I needed a little light relief after Ken Wilber's "A Brief History of Everything".

Given that it's now 45 years since we landed on the moon, I'd suggest that anyone who hasn't read Alvin Toffler's "Future Shock" to give it a try. Even years later, it goes a loooong way to understanding the society we live in today.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 22nd, 2014 at 10:13am

Pantheon wrote on Jul 21st, 2014 at 10:42pm:
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Everyone should read this.


Absolutely. It shouldn't but it does quite amaze me to find such original thinking so long ago.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 23rd, 2014 at 12:29am

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 5:47pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 4:23pm:
I was reading up on Hitler. Then I stopped at his political era to start reading a book on JFK. Got about as far as his governorship, and stopped reading. Picked up a book on Napoleon. Read as far as his teenaged years as a military officer cadet. Put that down to start reading John Douglas "Mindhunter". Don't know which book to finish reading.



That could be a consequence of internet usage. People get so used to getting entire stories or concepts in short bites that restlessness sets in with anything more substantial.


No, I wouldn't think so. Probably the result of impatience after realising that I have to get things done before September, just to get ahead in life. Realised that I was wasting my time on the internet or doing other things, ie. getting drunk, when I found that I was getting old and needed to expand on my knowledge. By the end of the year, I want to get through my year 11 and 12 curriculum on math and science. Trying to redeem myself for a poor effort in those years.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 23rd, 2014 at 12:40am

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 6:56pm:

Soren wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 6:26pm:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 5:47pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Jul 18th, 2014 at 4:23pm:
I was reading up on Hitler. Then I stopped at his political era to start reading a book on JFK. Got about as far as his governorship, and stopped reading. Picked up a book on Napoleon. Read as far as his teenaged years as a military officer cadet. Put that down to start reading John Douglas "Mindhunter". Don't know which book to finish reading.



That could be a consequence of internet usage. People get so used to getting entire stories or concepts in short bites that restlessness sets in with anything more substantial.



Yes, easier to Google.


Books require focus and you can't click.



The best and worst thing about reading is getting lost in the story or language. Books that you take to bed and you struggle to stay awake to finish the chapter, with longer and longer blinks of the eye til you're waking up and didn't even realise you were drifting off. Or ones that make a telephone call or knock on the door seem like major irritations.

It's pretty cool when you think about it.   


I have just gotten that feeling back after about 15 years away from concentrating on books. I would read a chapter a night, and then turn in for a good sleep. With Dallek's book on Kennedy, he has written the book to be easy to read. It does take me up to 2 hours to get through a chapter, though. So, falling asleep is quite easy to achieve upon completion. Someone suggested reading "Don Quixote". It's a novel that not only takes forever to read, but makes absolutely no sense. I could not even complete the first chapter without my mind wandering. I'll try again later, though.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 23rd, 2014 at 11:08am
UnSubRocky, have you ever tried audio books? Passive reading. I use it quite a lot to re-read books I read ages ago.
Books that are still in copyright you have to pay for but there are a lot of classics available free.
Google Librivox.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 23rd, 2014 at 9:05pm

bogarde73 wrote on Jul 23rd, 2014 at 11:08am:
UnSubRocky, have you ever tried audio books? Passive reading. I use it quite a lot to re-read books I read ages ago.
Books that are still in copyright you have to pay for but there are a lot of classics available free.
Google Librivox.


I know about that. I tried doing some passive reading whilst I played computer games. I have the books ready to read, but I have been listening to the same stories online before I read the books I have at home. Subconsciously, you focus better on the books you read because you are looking for the commonality of both book and audiobook.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by fezz on Jul 26th, 2014 at 10:43am
Imagined Communities - Benedict Anderson.

Anderson believes that a nation is a socially constructed community, imagined by the people who perceive themselves to be part of that community.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by fezz on Jul 26th, 2014 at 11:58am
The previous book to Imagined Communities, more an essay actually was The Stolen Generations: A Documentary Collection by Robert Manne

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Culture Warrior on Jul 28th, 2014 at 9:47pm

fezz wrote on Jul 26th, 2014 at 10:43am:
Imagined Communities - Benedict Anderson.

Anderson believes that a nation is a socially constructed community, imagined by the people who perceive themselves to be part of that community.


I've read snippets of this book before. I disagree with his separation of real and imagined communities. The nation state is very much real, particularly when people believe in and act out the behaviours of the nation state they're in. I have a feeling Anderson is an international socialist hell-bent on destroying the state for some universal ideal world. Ironically, that would really be an imagined community.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Redneck on Aug 4th, 2014 at 6:52pm
I though this was interesting in regards to the start of WW1.

I heard an interesting program on ABC Radio National related to the start of WW1 called "Guns of August"

It largely related to a book written in 1962 by Barbara Tuchman which is highly acclaimed and was a winner of the Pulitzer prize.

" After introductory chapters, Tuchman describes in great detail the opening events of the conflict. Its focus then becomes a military history of the contestants, chiefly the great powers."

They even suggest it influenced the handling of the Cuban missile crisis by JFK and Krusckev!

Have any of you guys/gals read it?


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Aug 9th, 2014 at 9:46am
Transferred this, written in May, from another thread:

"Among 19th century writers, Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) is said to be making a comeback in popularity after remaining practically anonymous for a long time.
I heard a program recently in which a couple of modern writers were singing his praises, even going so far as to put him ahead of Dickens in their rating.
They particularly recommended "The Old Wives Tale".

I read 2 or 3 of his books many years ago and quite liked them. I'm going to have a listen to some on audio again (which is what I do now a lot of the time)."

I have in fact since read (listened to) a couple of his books - The Old Wives' Tale & The Price of Love.
He does have something of value to say in his observation of human nature and in an enjoyable way.
I think when I read him before I was in a hurry to consume as much as I could after many years of not reading.
Many people probably shy away from older literature because the language can sometimes be more complicated than what we are used to today, but imo there is a lot of pleasure and insight to be gained from it.
As to putting Arnold Bennett ahead of Dickens, not imo but they are completely different kinds of writers.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Aug 9th, 2014 at 10:59pm
The Son

Jo Nesbo

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Sep 2nd, 2014 at 11:38pm
Ah  Nesbo..
these scandinavian authors.. are really good.  Lots of them too. :) :)

But
currently reading 
Australian.. 

'Truth' .. Peter Temple.!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Awesome.  and a deserved winner of the Miles Franklin Award.

A very worthy follow to 'The Broken Shore'.

Well worth a read.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Sep 2nd, 2014 at 11:59pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Jul 21st, 2014 at 10:14pm:
Whoever it was who was having trouble seeing a book through to the end, maybe you could try short stories to ease back in to proper reading. Chekhov's The Looking Glass is good.

Calvino has a short story about a soldier on a train who sits next to a civilian woman. It's really, really good and quite short. I can't recall the name of it and I'm snuggled in now, but I will post it tomorrow when I can check out the bookcases.

The Adventures of a Soldier (in the collection Difficult Loves).

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Sep 3rd, 2014 at 6:17am
Oh, thanks. I'd forgotten my post.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Sep 4th, 2014 at 8:55pm
I am about to start Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I think I mentioned earlier in the thread that I loved The Handmaid's Tale so I have high expectations. It's the first in a trilogy which has very good reviews. I'm just a bit excited.




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Sep 4th, 2014 at 11:43pm
I'm saving Atwood for later. 

Have the Blind Assassin, and am saving it for a rainy day.

Oh dear.. I wish there was three of me...  but even then.. I'll never keep up..

But.. I recommend your local library...  use it people... or lose it.
And wouldn't THAT be sad.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Sep 5th, 2014 at 12:14pm
Via audio, The Clicking of Cuthbert by P G Wodehouse (creator of Jeeves).
A humorous look at man's struggle with the demons of golf.
Giggles may be heard from under my blankets in the middle of the night, but I promise (sadly) that it's all innocent.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by fezz on Sep 5th, 2014 at 12:52pm
The Walking Dead comic book series by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore (Illustrator)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by St George of the Puissant HLT on Sep 21st, 2014 at 11:04am
“The Good Fight” by Wayne Swan.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Sep 21st, 2014 at 10:33pm
Just finished Ray Parkin's Odysey by Pattie Wright. Ray was an artist, a writer, a POW on the Burma Railway and he was combat quarter master in HMAS Perth. Surely one of Australia's greatest men.

Now reading Island of Shame by David Vine about the displacement of the islanders when the US and UK turned Diego Garcia atoll into a naval base.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by King FriYAY II on Sep 30th, 2014 at 1:31pm
I actually got some time on the weekend and picked back up Thomas Keneally - Australians.

Tells the history of OZ through the stories of individuals.

Will be a good read when i get time....


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by mrkamikaze on Sep 30th, 2014 at 6:20pm
Humboldt's Gift. Saul Bellow is arguably Americas best ever writer.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Sep 30th, 2014 at 6:28pm
Patricia Cornwall  ..  DUST

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Sep 30th, 2014 at 7:02pm
I am still on page two of the Atwood novel. I lay down with it and always start at the beginning cos it seems silly to start at page two and I fall asleep straight away.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Redneck on Sep 30th, 2014 at 7:06pm
Being a rare reader I really loved a book called "Adams Empire" by Evan Green

It had me locked in , I couldnt put it down!

Evan Green (Dec) wrote a lot on motor sport years ago to those that dont know the name although this book  has nothing to do with that

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Sep 30th, 2014 at 7:21pm
Evan Green .. well the name sounds familiar for sure..  long ago back in the day  :)


um still waiting for the rainy day ( month )  to read Atwood. too much else to read ..

I do hope you readers don't find my writing style abrasive... seems some folk are offended ..

apparently it's all the double foolstops and commas ..

I was going to reply but decided the person was a troll and most obnoxious...  ;D
Pls advise if my 'style' on this particular book thread has caused you angst....  :)

more than willing to listen/read.............  :)
   

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Animal Mutha on Oct 1st, 2014 at 4:12pm
hey mr kamikaze, have you ever read augie march?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Oct 2nd, 2014 at 6:55am

Emma wrote on Sep 30th, 2014 at 7:21pm:
Evan Green .. well the name sounds familiar for sure..  long ago back in the day  :)


um still waiting for the rainy day ( month )  to read Atwood. too much else to read ..

I do hope you readers don't find my writing style abrasive... seems some folk are offended ..

apparently it's all the double foolstops and commas ..

I was going to reply but decided the person was a troll and most obnoxious...  ;D
Pls advise if my 'style' on this particular book thread has caused you angst....  :)

more than willing to listen/read.............  :)
   


Not at all, Emma.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Oct 2nd, 2014 at 7:02am

Annie Anthrax wrote on Sep 30th, 2014 at 7:02pm:
I am still on page two of the Atwood novel. I lay down with it and always start at the beginning cos it seems silly to start at page two and I fall asleep straight away.


Give it up! Give it up!
http://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0034-give-it-up-franz-kafka.html

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Freedumb on Oct 5th, 2014 at 6:04pm

Emma wrote on Sep 30th, 2014 at 7:21pm:
Evan Green .. well the name sounds familiar for sure..  long ago back in the day  :)


um still waiting for the rainy day ( month )  to read Atwood. too much else to read ..

I do hope you readers don't find my writing style abrasive... seems some folk are offended ..

apparently it's all the double foolstops and commas ..

I was going to reply but decided the person was a troll and most obnoxious...  ;D
Pls advise if my 'style' on this particular book thread has caused you angst....  :)

more than willing to listen/read.............  :)
   


As long as you can be comprehended, it matters not.  :)

People like to exercise their faux-superiority by attacking people who don't type in what is considered a "correct" manner. You chose the best option in your response.

Anyway, what am I reading........
"The Gods of Eden" by William Bramley. Very intriguing, don't recommend it to "rational thinkers" though.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Oct 5th, 2014 at 6:29pm

Soren wrote on Oct 2nd, 2014 at 7:02am:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Sep 30th, 2014 at 7:02pm:
I am still on page two of the Atwood novel. I lay down with it and always start at the beginning cos it seems silly to start at page two and I fall asleep straight away.


Give it up! Give it up!
http://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0034-give-it-up-franz-kafka.html


I'm on page 27. It's not very good so far.

Speaking of Kafka, it took me at least as many attempts to get into Metamorphosis.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Oct 5th, 2014 at 11:14pm
a debut

Daniel Friedman...
Don't Ever Get Old

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on Oct 6th, 2014 at 10:15am

Annie Anthrax wrote on Oct 5th, 2014 at 6:29pm:

Soren wrote on Oct 2nd, 2014 at 7:02am:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Sep 30th, 2014 at 7:02pm:
I am still on page two of the Atwood novel. I lay down with it and always start at the beginning cos it seems silly to start at page two and I fall asleep straight away.


Give it up! Give it up!
http://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0034-give-it-up-franz-kafka.html


I'm on page 27. It's not very good so far.

Speaking of Kafka, it took me at least as many attempts to get into Metamorphosis.

I live his short stories and aphorisms but he was no novelist. Or I wouldn't recommend starting with his novels and longer pieces, unless as audiobooks read by someone like Ralph Fiennes.




Julian Barnes, Through the Window.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Oct 7th, 2014 at 1:24pm
Ways of Escape by Graham Greene, the 2nd part of an autobiography.

If you sometimes wonder, like I do, why journalists etc go to places like Syria, Iraq or Egypt and put themselves in danger, there is an answer of sorts here.
Greene, who had been in MI6 and reputedly liked to play Russian roulette, was a compulsive traveller to places like Vietnam during the war against the French, Malaya during the communist war and Kenya during the Mau Mau trouble to find material for his novels or just to file articles.
For him it was a way of escape from the humdrum of life.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Oct 7th, 2014 at 8:32pm
sounds interesting


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Oct 11th, 2014 at 6:00pm

Soren wrote on Oct 2nd, 2014 at 7:02am:

Annie Anthrax wrote on Sep 30th, 2014 at 7:02pm:
I am still on page two of the Atwood novel. I lay down with it and always start at the beginning cos it seems silly to start at page two and I fall asleep straight away.


Give it up! Give it up!
http://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0034-give-it-up-franz-kafka.html



Gave it up.


Now reading Madame Bovary.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by JaSin on Oct 11th, 2014 at 8:03pm
Local town show had NEVILLE BURNS - snake & reptile man.
The book I bought off him, after having a good chat with him after the show about snakes, crocs, sharks, etc - is called "A Gift from the Snake that Bit Him."
I even donated $17 overall on top of the (signed) book cost.
Apparently, by the look of it - this is the guy of which Crocodile Dundee character was based upon.

As I do a bit of extra work as a Gardener and had to kill a Brown Snake a few weeks ago. Its always good to learn a few more things.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Oct 13th, 2014 at 1:43pm
Just finished the bio of Ray Parkin, Artist, sailor, prisoner of war. Amazing life. Was 60 miles from Nagasaki when the bomb went off. Also just fin. Dirt Music by Tim Winton and am reading Conrad, Life and Letters. His correspondence would be very interesting to those who write.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Oct 14th, 2014 at 11:51pm
"Stalingrad" by Anthony Beevor.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Nov 5th, 2014 at 9:32am
"the Heart of the Matter" by Graham Greene. Held by many people (including I think himself) to be his best book.
I am only part way into it and I think I would agree.
When it comes to human relationships he is just so observant. You find yourself saying " yes that's just how it is".

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Nov 6th, 2014 at 1:55pm

"The Menzies Era", later today.

Just popping down to get John to sign me a copy now.

https://www.dymocks.com.au/Events/StoreEvents-Western-Australia

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Rocketanski on Nov 6th, 2014 at 2:00pm
I like Beevor's narration. 'Berlin' is excellent too.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Outrage Bus on Nov 7th, 2014 at 8:37am
Beneath the Surface. History of Australian Caving.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Nov 7th, 2014 at 9:53am

greggerypeccary wrote on Nov 6th, 2014 at 1:55pm:
"The Menzies Era", later today.

Just popping down to get John to sign me a copy now.

https://www.dymocks.com.au/Events/StoreEvents-Western-Australia


Another huge tome. You could build a house with the political bricks that have come out in recent years - Blair, Keating, Howard, Blair again etc etc
Still, this one could be more educational than the others, covering an era that is hardly known to many.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Nov 7th, 2014 at 11:11am

bogarde73 wrote on Nov 7th, 2014 at 9:53am:

greggerypeccary wrote on Nov 6th, 2014 at 1:55pm:
"The Menzies Era", later today.

Just popping down to get John to sign me a copy now.

https://www.dymocks.com.au/Events/StoreEvents-Western-Australia


Another huge tome. You could build a house with the political bricks that have come out in recent years - Blair, Keating, Howard, Blair again etc etc
Still, this one could be more educational than the others, covering an era that is hardly known to many.



Yes, 720 pages.

Johnny was quite pleasant at the signing yesterday.  He had quite a queue too.

I might tackle the book this weekend.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by SpecialCharacter on Nov 19th, 2014 at 6:55pm
Sounds interesting, gregg.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Nov 26th, 2014 at 1:59pm

Prime Minister for Canyons wrote on Nov 7th, 2014 at 8:37am:
Beneath the Surface. History of Australian Caving.


That must be a shocker.

So many so-called 'experts' having drowned at the bottom of subterranean flooded caves.

Remember the poor fellow a few years ago in SA (I think) who swam down to recover the body of 'an experienced diver' who then himself drowned when he kicked up enough sediment off the floor to not know which way was up or down?

And for some reason they didn't have a rope attached to him.

He simply ran out of air.

One of the more terrifying of the Extreme Sports.

***

I'm just finishing off 'Archangel' by Robert Harris ~ a cracking good yarn set in Russia and involving Stalin's reign and legacy.

Very well written, fast paced, and loaded with authentic history and snippets of biographical quotes.

I'm at the point where Stalin's bastard son who lives as a hermit in the forested wilderness of the north has just killed two Soviet secret agents and ... is a complete psychopathic lunatic with great bushcraft skills and is highly intelligent.

It would make a fascinating movie.

Have also read by the same author 'Fatherland' and 'Enigma'.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Nov 26th, 2014 at 5:31pm
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Nov 27th, 2014 at 7:45pm
Mr Darwin's Incredible Shrinking World by Peter Macinnis.

A look into science and technology in the year 1859. This was the year that Darwin published his On the Origin of Species. The last 150 years have witnessed almost unbelievable change.

It's really quite an insight into the changes of our everyday world when seen through the eyes of my great grandfather who would have lived through those times.

I still remember my youthful shock when my grandmother related the story of the first motorcar to hit the town she lived in.



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Dec 1st, 2014 at 9:36pm
I finished the Flanagan book. I enjoyed it as far as one can enjoy reading a story that includes much suffering. It's easy to see why he won the Man Booker for it.

I am about to start reading either Former People about the last days of the Russian aristocracy or Agent Zigzag about the WWll spy, Eddie Chapman.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Dec 1st, 2014 at 10:35pm
It would appear you like history or accounts of such, even if fictionalised (to an extent).

There's Charles Bean's diaries online if you're into factual WW1 at Gallipoli, if you wish to go to the trouble.

http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/AWM38/

Currently reading the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers #5. The story "Nerds" is my pick at the moment.

Fat Freddy's cat is my all-time favourite anti-hero.

Admittedly, sometimes you've just gotta be in the mood.

8-)



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Brian Ross on Dec 1st, 2014 at 11:58pm
My goodness, Lionel.  You go up in my estimation.  I am a big fan of Gilbert Sheldon's.  I have all the FFFB and FFC!   ;D ;D

"Idiots abroad" is my favourite.   ;)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Dec 2nd, 2014 at 12:05am

I still miss my Gary Larson collection.

Never trust intelligent, pot-smoking have-nots.

:'(


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Dec 2nd, 2014 at 6:10am

Lionel Edriess wrote on Dec 1st, 2014 at 10:35pm:
It would appear you like history or accounts of such, even if fictionalised (to an extent).

There's Charles Bean's diaries online if you're into factual WW1 at Gallipoli, if you wish to go to the trouble.

http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/AWM38/

Currently reading the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers #5. The story "Nerds" is my pick at the moment.

Fat Freddy's cat is my all-time favourite anti-hero.

Admittedly, sometimes you've just gotta be in the mood.

8-)


Thank you, Lionel. I'll check it out.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Dec 2nd, 2014 at 11:12am
"Agent Zigzag about the WWll spy, Eddie Chapman."

I remember Eddie Chapman. I'm pretty sure he did an autobio (probably ghosted).
I'm pretty sure his previous occupation was as a habitual criminal, safe cracking mostly.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Brian Ross on Dec 3rd, 2014 at 11:53pm

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 2nd, 2014 at 11:12am:
"Agent Zigzag about the WWll spy, Eddie Chapman."

I remember Eddie Chapman. I'm pretty sure he did an autobio (probably ghosted).
I'm pretty sure his previous occupation was as a habitual criminal, safe cracking mostly.


I think you mean:

Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal

Chapman was quite a character, criminal and spy, double agent, worked for the Nazis and the British during WWII.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Brian Ross on Dec 3rd, 2014 at 11:55pm

Lionel Edriess wrote on Dec 2nd, 2014 at 12:05am:
I still miss my Gary Larson collection.

Never trust intelligent, pot-smoking have-nots.

:'(


Larson was good.  Pity he gave up cartooning.   I still like Dilbert and Doonsebury (although that one requires a fairly indepth knowledge of US politics to understand properly).

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Dec 9th, 2014 at 12:49pm
I am reading You Are Awful, But I Like You: Travels Through Unloved Britain

It's about this guy (Tim Moore)who embarks on a road trip to all the worst places in Britain. The dowdiest pubs, accommodation and towns. The author is very funny - it's completely different from what I usually read, but I am really enjoying it.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by cods on Dec 14th, 2014 at 7:42am
the Murder of Allison Baden-Clay... riveting

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 20th, 2014 at 9:40am
About to read 'Kokoda' by Paul Ham.

533 pages of fascinating history, is my guess.

Got it for a song at the local Op Shop.

Same place I scored 'John Stuart Mill - Victorian Firebrand' by Richard Reeves.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Dec 24th, 2014 at 10:45am
I just finished Gone Girl - the book that the film was based on. I haven't seen and wont see the movie, but the book was excellent.

I am now reading the Water Diviner. I haven't seen the film, but probably will even though I have an irrational loathing of Russell Crowe.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 24th, 2014 at 10:50am

Annie Anthrax wrote on Dec 24th, 2014 at 10:45am:
I just finished Gone Girl - the book that the film was based on. I haven't seen and wont see the movie, but the book was excellent.

I am now reading the Water Diviner. I haven't seen the film, but probably will even though I have an irrational loathing of Russell Crowe.


Wow. So it's not just me?

I can't stand the fellow either.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Jan 19th, 2015 at 7:24pm
The next book waiting for me is 'Tiger Force' ... 'The shocking true story of American soldiers out of control in Vietnam'.

Very nasty.

There were homicidal serial killers wandering around, legitimised as US soldiers.

It's what people do when given total freedom to exercise personal power to the extreme over defenceless people.

Humans can be cruel bastards when given full rein to do what they want with other people.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 24th, 2015 at 1:55pm
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. I came by a beautiful hard cover edition with a preface by Greene from 1970, not long before he died.

In it he describes how the book was meant to be a detective story, but now only the first 50 pages are what he first wrote. He also says, at one & the same time, that he couldn't read it again but that it might be the best book he ever wrote.

It must be 40 or more years since I read it. It's been made into two movies I think, one fairly recent, the other a classic from about 1947 with Richard Attenborough.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Jan 24th, 2015 at 2:14pm

bogarde73 wrote on Jan 24th, 2015 at 1:55pm:
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. I came by a beautiful hard cover edition with a preface by Greene from 1970, not long before he died.

In it he describes how the book was meant to be a detective story, but now only the first 50 pages are what he first wrote. He also says, at one & the same time, that he couldn't read it again but that it might be the best book he ever wrote.

It must be 40 or more years since I read it. It's been made into two movies I think, one fairly recent, the other a classic from about 1947 with Richard Attenborough.


Good film, the Attenborough one. Lots of authentic atmosphere.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jan 25th, 2015 at 9:31am
Kal by Judy Nunn. It's a bit...light so far.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Rosie on Jan 27th, 2015 at 12:31pm
Servant of the Crown:A Powder Mage Novella By Brian McClellan

I do like a good fantasy story especially when it is well written.  I've never heard of Powder Mage or Brian McClellan but it has me hooked.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Jan 31st, 2015 at 2:06pm
link

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by locutius on Feb 2nd, 2015 at 8:46am
Hannibal, Makers of History by Jacob Abbott.

A very good introduction to Hannibal. Touches briefly on the 1st and 2nd Punic Wars with the obvious focus on Hannibal and the 2nd Punic War.

There would certainly be better and more detailed books around but as I say a good introduction - enjoyable and easy pace.

Regards
Loc

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Feb 5th, 2015 at 12:20pm
"The Glorious Cause" by Robert Middlekauff. Nice big textbook on the history of the American War of Independence. Seems quite comprehensive.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ahovking on Feb 5th, 2015 at 12:55pm
Why Not Socialism - a book about why don't we try socialism instead of capitalism..Whats interesting is i'm also readying Why not Capitalism - a book written to counter the book Why Not Socialism, and its simply brilliant, a lot of socialist arguments are philosophy base, but actual real world testing proves that Socialism doesn't work, so why do people still cling on to an ideology that has had less success then Anarchism?

Because of its philosophy, it sounds so nice and makes so much sense but it just doesn't work in the real world, in other words too perfect to be real.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Hot Breath on Feb 16th, 2015 at 11:39am
Ah, yes, one man's view of socialism.  I'm sure it's not going to have deliberate faults in the reasoning.   ;D :D ;D :D ;D :D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Feb 21st, 2015 at 12:46pm
We love second hand bookstores and recently went on a haul at a few. I scored some books that I've been meaning to read for ages. I've just started Atonement by Ian McEwan.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lisa Jones on Feb 24th, 2015 at 7:02am

locutius wrote on Feb 2nd, 2015 at 8:46am:
Hannibal, Makers of History by Jacob Abbott.

A very good introduction to Hannibal. Touches briefly on the 1st and 2nd Punic Wars with the obvious focus on Hannibal and the 2nd Punic War.

There would certainly be better and more detailed books around but as I say a good introduction - enjoyable and easy pace.

Regards
Loc


Hmmmm ... probably something my husband should try and track down as a gift for me. He is into all that type of stuff and keeps encouraging me to read too but I need something of an intro.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Feb 24th, 2015 at 11:00pm
Just finished  'The Humans'   by Matt Haig.


Sad, amusing,  and very thought provoking.. it makes you think about life as you understand it.  Quirky.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Feb 25th, 2015 at 9:58pm
Just finished Carlos Santana's autobiography. The Universal Tone. It is really very interesting. He does bang on about spiritualism a bit too much, but its is still a great read, and at 500 pages you get your money's worth.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Feb 26th, 2015 at 12:52pm
Notorious Australian Women by Kay Saunders.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lisa Jones on Feb 26th, 2015 at 1:48pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Feb 26th, 2015 at 12:52pm:
Notorious Australian Women by Kay Saunders.


That sounds intriguing actually.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Mar 1st, 2015 at 10:15pm
Try

"Kill the Body, the Head Will Fall"  by Rene Denfeld, if you want to read about a pioneering woman.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Mar 1st, 2015 at 10:36pm
or if you want some pretty real ..fiction.. read Martina Cole.. all about the East End of London,  the powerful women and the ethos of the families that worked the London grafts.

Fascinating, urgent, real, and a genuine insight into a particular 'state of being'. Highly recommended.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Mar 3rd, 2015 at 8:53pm
Just finished Breath, a novel by Tim Winton, very readable, good characters. Just started Passage to India, EM Forster. Dated, but great characters if you have an insight into the place and times.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Mar 4th, 2015 at 11:28pm
currently I am reading Death Watch  .. Jim Kelly.
A mystery, and this man can write.!

the prose is gut wrenching, and very human, and very confronting. 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Life_goes_on on Mar 4th, 2015 at 11:32pm
About 2/3rds of the way through D-Day by Antony Beevor.

I'm not finding it as gripping as either his Stalingrad or Berlin, but that's probably down to my preference of the Eastern Front over the Western front during WW2.

But it's still an eye opener and gives a much more even handed account - and less selective - than Stephen Ambrose's earlier work of the same name.

Beevor shows the D-Day campaign to be every bit as vicious (when the US army is involved) as the Eastern Front or even the Pacific campaign. A rapid spiral of barbarity with both US and German forces committing atrocities and reluctant to either accept surrender or surrender themselves.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Mar 5th, 2015 at 4:39pm

issuevoter wrote on Mar 3rd, 2015 at 8:53pm:
Just finished Breath, a novel by Tim Winton, very readable, good characters. Just started Passage to India, EM Forster. Dated, but great characters if you have an insight into the place and times.


They're making a film of the Winton book. I saw a casting call for surfers yesterday.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Mar 6th, 2015 at 10:14am
I could (but I wouldn't) change the name of this thread to "What are you currently reading, or intending to read, or are listening to as an audio book, or have downloaded and intend to listen to?" except that it wouldn't fit.

I don't see any way I'll ever be able to post again otherwise.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Mar 6th, 2015 at 6:40pm
Currently reading  one of my fave gore  authors.

Tess Gerritsen .. Die Again. 

Good stuff.  :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bias_2012 on Mar 29th, 2015 at 4:47pm
Silent Voices

About the South Australian 10th Battalion AIF WW1

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Apr 9th, 2015 at 9:28pm
'Tiger Force'.

An expose of the war crimes committed by a specialised guerrilla group of the US army in Vietnam.

Nasty goings on.

Necklaces made of severed ears, etc.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Apr 9th, 2015 at 9:54pm

'You' by Zoran Drvenkar.

About a serial killer who intercepts the hunt for a group of girls who ripped off a drug stash stored by a stand-over cop's brother.

Very complicated. Fascinating twisted people and sub-plots.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Apr 10th, 2015 at 9:57pm
The Slap

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Apr 16th, 2015 at 12:52am
Have to admit I'm on a bit of a binge of J D Robb at tjhe moment .. her series......???  in Death...  with Eve Dallas and Roarke.
Catching up on the more recent .  Love it.

MAG. 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Apr 16th, 2015 at 6:49pm
Received my copy of "Dune" by Frank Herbert. Tried to have a warm bath and read the first few chapters to get into the story. Seems engaging. Heard that Lord Herbert didn't like the book. Don't know why. I might try and read up on Gallipoli in one of my Fitzsimons books tonight, just to get through it by Anzac day.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Apr 16th, 2015 at 11:13pm
Dune..  well then you are just at the beginning of a huge body of work. 
Hope you enjoy them... I did.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Apr 17th, 2015 at 1:19am
I was told that if I read one, then I would have to read the lot. Might even make a go of it.

Was also considering reading the list of "100 books you must read before you die".

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Apr 24th, 2015 at 12:26am
Just finished a really good read by an Aussie author.. Tony Cavanagh .. The Train Rider.

Well written and an interesting look at aussie crime.  This a serial killer story.. the protagonists are perceivable as real people and the settings, particularly S E Q,  and St Kilda,  brought back some old memories.

Worth a read if you are into that sort of thing


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Apr 24th, 2015 at 9:46pm
'The Solitude of Prime Numbers'  a novel by
Paolo Giordano.

Translated and published in English  in 2009 by Viking.. A Penguin Book.

I'm going to put a 'Recommended Read' slip in the book when I return it to my local library.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on May 23rd, 2015 at 3:39pm
I just finished Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn. She wrote Gone Girl, which I read a while back but never saw the film.

Dark Places was good if you like a mystery. It's one of the better fiction books I've read recently.

I was just about to start The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion but realised that it's a sequel so I decided to skip it until I get my hands on the previous book.

I will start Terry Pratchett's The Truth instead.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lisa Jones on May 24th, 2015 at 7:59am
Various text books.

Enjoyable reading too I must say.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on May 24th, 2015 at 5:59pm
what were they about?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on May 25th, 2015 at 9:51pm
I just read War and Peace over the weekend. ::) And last week I read 'The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.  And Ulysses.!!!! Plus the entire works of William Shakespeare, in between. The week before I read the entire works of Charles Dickens. ;D ;D ;D.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lisa Jones on May 28th, 2015 at 6:51am

Emma wrote on May 25th, 2015 at 9:51pm:
I just read War and Peace over the weekend. ::) And last week I read 'The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.  And Ulysses.!!!! Plus the entire works of William Shakespeare, in between. The week before I read the entire works of Charles Dickens. ;D ;D ;D.


And then you woke up and realised it was just a dream  ;D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lisa Jones on May 28th, 2015 at 9:26am

Emma wrote on May 24th, 2015 at 5:59pm:
what were they about?


Just noticed your post.

Criminology, law....

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on May 28th, 2015 at 4:37pm
ahh  that would be interesting.

Particularly Criminology.  Law is such a varied field, I assume you are reading Criminal Law, which is certainly a field where you will never run out of material to absorb. Good luck, if you are trying for academia. Takes a lot of commitment. .

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lisa Jones on May 28th, 2015 at 4:44pm

Emma wrote on May 28th, 2015 at 4:37pm:
ahh  that would be interesting.

Particularly Criminology.  Law is such a varied field, I assume you are reading Criminal Law, which is certainly a field where you will never run out of material to absorb. Good luck, if you are trying for academia. Takes a lot of commitment. .


Thanks.

I'm merely finishing off a degree I started yrs ago.

It's a part time thing.

I can do most of it online.

The internet is a wonderful thing Emma.

The person pushing me to do this? My husband. 

Pssst....just so you know, I am a female..ok?

I have some stretchmarks and a massive caesarean scar on my tummy to prove it...unfortunately  :'(




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on May 28th, 2015 at 5:42pm
OK Lisa J  I believe you, and will not mention it further.

Good luck in your endeavours. :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Soren on May 28th, 2015 at 6:12pm
http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/%C5%BEi%C5%BEeks-jokes

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jun 9th, 2015 at 2:34am
My My !
You are determined ADAT.! Pity you can't communicate very well.

I can only guess that you are claiming to be a transgender person, who somehow feels deprived.??  :) ;D :-?

G-Mods could stand for Gender modified I suppose, but this spread of nonsensicality gains you very little, if anything at all.
perhaps ADAT you could be more communicative.??
.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 15th, 2015 at 3:02am

Emma wrote on May 25th, 2015 at 9:51pm:
I just read War and Peace over the weekend. ::) And last week I read 'The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.  And Ulysses.!!!! Plus the entire works of William Shakespeare, in between. The week before I read the entire works of Charles Dickens. ;D ;D ;D.


Always had the "Will Hunting" fantasy, where I could read a page per second and retain the information for instant recall later on. I have tried to start reading the books that I have had for the last few years. Each one of them, I gave up after a few chapters. And that's with the re-reading after being totally motivated. I'm just going to watch my "Dune" 3 hour movie before I try to get a go with reading the book.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 15th, 2015 at 10:50am

Emma wrote on May 25th, 2015 at 9:51pm:
I just read War and Peace over the weekend. ::) And last week I read 'The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.  And Ulysses.!!!! Plus the entire works of William Shakespeare, in between. The week before I read the entire works of Charles Dickens. ;D ;D ;D.


I've heard of speed reading but I didn't believe it till now.
Did you enjoy Martin Chuzzlewit?
“At length it became high time to remember the first clause of that great discovery made by the ancient philosopher, for securing health, riches, and wisdom; the infallibility of which has been for generations verified by the enormous fortunes constantly amassed by chimney-sweepers and other persons who get up early and go to bed betimes.”

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jun 15th, 2015 at 5:34pm
I preferred Great Expectations,  and Bleak House actually. :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jun 16th, 2015 at 1:50pm
Bleak House is beautiful. Jarndyce v Jarndyce lost in the dusty vaults of the Court of Chancery.

There is a wonderful TV series of it with Scully from the X Files as Lady whatshername and a wonderful actor as Mr Tolkinghorne.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jun 16th, 2015 at 11:08pm
Oh I am sad I missed that completely.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jun 17th, 2015 at 10:13pm
Just finished  A Michael Connolly novel. Another Heironymous Bosch novel. Great writer.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Niftiest Bear on Jun 25th, 2015 at 12:57am
I just finished Citadel by Kate Mosse --- pretty interesting bit of historical fiction, though a bit too religious for my tastes. And romantic. Blegh.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Jun 27th, 2015 at 9:54am
I'm reading 'All the Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr. It won the Pulitzer.

So far it's excellent. Author's use of language is exquisite. The story is set in the lead up to and duration of WW2.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 2nd, 2015 at 9:29pm
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John_Taverner on Jul 4th, 2015 at 1:53pm
"Ghostly Tales and Sinister Stories of Old Edinburgh"

It has nothing to do with the supernatural. I went on the tour and decided to read the book.

It makes me feel very grateful to be living in the 21st Century.  All those people whose ears were nailed to the Tolbooth before being torn off at the root (or worse), and the antics of the Edinburgh mob which could raise 10,000 men to despatch any miscreant officials.

It also brought to life the conflict between the Catholic royal family of Mary I and the Edinburgh city fathers who were mainly Presbyterian. It was literally a time where assassinations were commonplace.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Jul 4th, 2015 at 11:02pm
Jo Nesbo. The Harry Hole saga. Have read quite a ffew, and find them very insightful into the nature of the workings of humans and politics and crime. If you're into that sort of thing. :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 5th, 2015 at 2:43pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Jul 2nd, 2015 at 9:29pm:
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens


One of the few Dickens books I don't enjoy that much. Works well as a TV series or movie though.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Cofgod on Jul 30th, 2015 at 3:04am
This brand new book on Churchill, in the year which has seen the 50th anniversary of the great man's death....



From London’s inimitable mayor, Boris Johnson, the story of how Churchill’s eccentric genius shaped not only his world but our own.

On the fiftieth anniversary of Churchill’s death, Boris Johnson celebrates the singular brilliance of one of the most important leaders of the twentieth century. Taking on the myths and misconceptions along with the outsized reality, he portrays—with characteristic wit and passion—a man of contagious bravery, breathtaking eloquence, matchless strategising, and deep humanity.

Fearless on the battlefield, Churchill had to be ordered by the king to stay out of action on D-Day; he pioneered aerial bombing and few could match his experience in organising violence on a colossal scale, yet he hated war and scorned politicians who had not experienced its horrors. He was the most famous journalist of his time and perhaps the greatest orator of all time, despite a lisp and chronic depression he kept at bay by painting. His manoeuvering positioned America for entry into World War II, even as it ushered in Britain’s post-war decline. His open-mindedness made him a trailblazer in health care, education, and social welfare, though he remained incorrigibly politically incorrect. Most of all, he was a rebuttal to the idea that history is the story of vast and impersonal forces; he is proof that one person—intrepid, ingenious, determined—can make all the difference.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Culture Warrior on Jul 30th, 2015 at 9:29pm
I recently re-read, for the third time, An Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Culture by Roger Scruton. Brilliant.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Raven on Aug 4th, 2015 at 3:21pm
I hope they serve beer in Hell by Tucker Max

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Inyss on Aug 4th, 2015 at 6:55pm

Sustainable Energy Solutions for Climate Change

By Mark Diesendorf 


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Aug 5th, 2015 at 9:40pm
The Restoration of Otto Laird by Nigel Packer. An excellent first novel. About an aging architect looking back on his life, having reached a point where it doesn't matter anymore.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Pho Huc on Aug 6th, 2015 at 1:18pm
The Cyberiad, Stanislaw Lem.

Loving the cannonade of babies  ;D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Aug 9th, 2015 at 12:51pm
Hitler's Forgotten Children: my life inside the Lebensborn

Ingrid von Oelhafen

It's pretty good. 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by cods on Aug 11th, 2015 at 3:02pm

Cofgod wrote on Jul 30th, 2015 at 3:04am:
This brand new book on Churchill, in the year which has seen the 50th anniversary of the great man's death....



From London’s inimitable mayor, Boris Johnson, the story of how Churchill’s eccentric genius shaped not only his world but our own.

On the fiftieth anniversary of Churchill’s death, Boris Johnson celebrates the singular brilliance of one of the most important leaders of the twentieth century. Taking on the myths and misconceptions along with the outsized reality, he portrays—with characteristic wit and passion—a man of contagious bravery, breathtaking eloquence, matchless strategising, and deep humanity.

Fearless on the battlefield, Churchill had to be ordered by the king to stay out of action on D-Day; he pioneered aerial bombing and few could match his experience in organising violence on a colossal scale, yet he hated war and scorned politicians who had not experienced its horrors. He was the most famous journalist of his time and perhaps the greatest orator of all time, despite a lisp and chronic depression he kept at bay by painting. His manoeuvering positioned America for entry into World War II, even as it ushered in Britain’s post-war decline. His open-mindedness made him a trailblazer in health care, education, and social welfare, though he remained incorrigibly politically incorrect. Most of all, he was a rebuttal to the idea that history is the story of vast and impersonal forces; he is proof that one person—intrepid, ingenious, determined—can make all the difference.



I will look for it....there was something really special about him.. he gave Londoners confidence he didnt run and hide so neither did they... oh I did I was evacuated..unfortunately..but it was what we littlies had no say in.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Aug 20th, 2015 at 6:55pm
Tim Winton's The Turning.  It's a collection of short stories that has a wonderful Australian feel. There's an authenticity that evokes nostalgic childhood memories. Ive discovered a liking for short stories lately and Winton fuels that with this book.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lionel Edriess on Aug 20th, 2015 at 7:33pm
Four Fires by Bryce Courtney.

A 750 page read in hardback, bought for $8 at a book sale - therein lies the choice of author.

The blurb reads: " The four fires are passion, religion, war and fire itself ".

Written in the first person, about 180 pages in, it's basically a story about different personalities, set in the mid 50's (?) in a small country town, full of the usual prejudices and vices.

Reminds me a lot of where I grew up in the early years.

Greatly enjoying it so far.



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Aug 31st, 2015 at 5:18am

Annie Anthrax wrote on Aug 20th, 2015 at 6:55pm:
Tim Winton's The Turning.  It's a collection of short stories that has a wonderful Australian feel. There's an authenticity that evokes nostalgic childhood memories. Ive discovered a liking for short stories lately and Winton fuels that with this book.


Winton is probably my favourite Australian author, but even if he wasn't Australian writing about Australia, he would still be up there with the best contemporary novelists.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Aug 31st, 2015 at 5:29am
Just finished "The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared," by Jonas Jonasson. The premise is interesting, but after the first few chapters, the story gets weaker as it gets more complex. The story is a farce, and I usually like a good farce. There are two stories running at the same time. One is the "escape," and the other is the old man's life story. This second story is too farcical, and provides no counter-point to the main story. It is almost as if it where a high-school writing exercise. On the other hand, the escape story is highly entertaining, but its quality of imagination deteriorates in the last chapters.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Inyss on Sep 3rd, 2015 at 2:47pm
Just finished reading 'Infidel' by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Just picked up my next book I ordered a couple of weeks ago. 'Small is Beautiful A Study of Economics as if People Mattered' by Dr E. F. Schumacher first printed in 1973.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Dnarever on Sep 10th, 2015 at 9:32pm
My dog stood on my kindle the other day but luckily my daughter had given me this thing full of paper for fathers day. It seems to contain a story called The girl in the spiders web. It is a continuation of Stieg Larsson's series written by David Lagercrantz. (The Girl with the dragon tattoo / Milenium series).

Not sure if this is from the disputed unfinished Stieg Larsson Book or a new spin off.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Sep 14th, 2015 at 8:08pm
Ive just finished two books by Australian author Ilsa Evans. One was a lighthearted and funny novel about a tree change and the other a harrowing and gutwrenching book about a woman living with domestic violence. It was called Broken and I highly recommend it.

I have now started Stalingrad by Antony Beevor. Its an excellent read thus far, particularly so for anyone interested in military history.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Sep 21st, 2015 at 2:26pm
Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Oct 11th, 2015 at 9:56pm
On occasion, I disinter The Exquisite Corpse, and interesting literary website.

http://www.corpse.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Grappler on Nov 15th, 2015 at 2:01pm
The Hot Country, by Robert Olen Butler.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Nov 15th, 2015 at 2:48pm
Im reading Our Game by John le Carre. Its okay.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Grappler on Nov 15th, 2015 at 7:54pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Nov 15th, 2015 at 2:48pm:
Im reading Our Game by John le Carre. Its okay.



Butler writes a lot like I do, but I'd say he's much better.... more depth than mine, which tend towards ease of turning into a movie or series...

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Nov 24th, 2015 at 10:27pm
Just finished The Odyssey, by Homer. It is interesting in that it shows the human condition has not changed in the last 3000 years, even if technology has.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Grappler on Nov 25th, 2015 at 1:05am

issuevoter wrote on Nov 24th, 2015 at 10:27pm:
Just finished The Odyssey, by Homer. It is interesting in that it shows the human condition has not changed in the last 3000 years, even if technology has.



Fair point.....

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Nov 25th, 2015 at 5:54am
Carve her name with Pride - the story of Violette Szabo.

Unfortunately she didn't have a clue of what she would be facing if she was caught, and so she refused to accept the lethal pill that was offered to all operatives in France by the Special Overseas Executive.  (SOE).

She was an extraordinary woman, but that sort of cavalier bravado irritates me.

She ended up being tortured and put into Ravensbruck concentration camp where she died.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Nov 25th, 2015 at 9:50am
I read a stack of those kinds of wartime stories when I was in my teens Herb.

One that always sticks in my mind is The Password is Courage.
The author Charlie Coward was a serial escaper from POW camps and was eventually sent to the POW camp attached to Auschwitz, where he helped some of the Jews to escape.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Nov 25th, 2015 at 10:12am
Then there was a stack of coffee-table size books (not with legs) my brother had.
I think they were a kind of official history of Australian forces in WW2 and there was a couple of dozen of them, full of pictures too.
I read most of those but don't remember them much.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Nov 25th, 2015 at 10:35am

bogarde73 wrote on Nov 25th, 2015 at 9:50am:
I read a stack of those kinds of wartime stories when I was in my teens Herb.

One that always sticks in my mind is The Password is Courage.
The author Charlie Coward was a serial escaper from POW camps and was eventually sent to the POW camp attached to Auschwitz, where he helped some of the Jews to escape.


I read that book when it first came out. Extraordinary story.

Political correctness has all but put an end to those war time films in which the Germans were portrayed as evil monsters.   

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Nov 25th, 2015 at 12:33pm
Just refreshing my memory about S/Major Coward, noticed the name IGFarben who ran factories at Auschwitz.
They are still going strong today.
Maybe that's what Merkel allowed the refugees in for now.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Nov 25th, 2015 at 2:30pm

bogarde73 wrote on Nov 25th, 2015 at 12:33pm:
Just refreshing my memory about S/Major Coward, noticed the name IGFarben who ran factories at Auschwitz.
They are still going strong today.
Maybe that's what Merkel allowed the refugees in for now.


Ah yes - IG Farben or - (off the top of my head) - 
Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft.  ::)

The horror of Auschwitz wasn't so much the killing that went on there, but what they put those poor devils through before they finally, and mercifully, gassed them.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Dec 5th, 2015 at 12:04am
umm  I prefer to read fiction .. currently

Memory Man by David Baldacci

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 5th, 2015 at 6:49am
I'm reading about a man with a subconscious murder-suicide Death Wish who sells his farm and buys an old yacht to go sailing around the world with.

It's a true story written by him.

While sailing a few hundred miles west of South America, a pod of Killer Whales comes crashing into the boat and splinters the hull timbers - causing it to sink within minutes.

They hopped into their tented inflated raft and watched the Orcas kill and eat the whale that had a fatal dent in its head from the crash.

People's lack of commonsense and foresight never ceases to amaze me.

Instead of the raft already being stocked with what they'd need in an emergency, their last actions upon the deck of the sinking yacht was to transfer onto the raft as much as they could that would be of use to them.

(... dear O dear O dear ... and Christ wept for His people ... )

And no surprise to me whatsoever - even brand new, this self-inflating raft proved to be a bit leaky by allowing water to seep up from below.

Did this fellow have a satellite beacon installed? Silly question - of course not. That would be WAY too reasonable, sensible, and tiresomely kowtowing to commonsense.






 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Dec 5th, 2015 at 11:20pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Nov 25th, 2015 at 2:30pm:

bogarde73 wrote on Nov 25th, 2015 at 12:33pm:
Just refreshing my memory about S/Major Coward, noticed the name IGFarben who ran factories at Auschwitz.
They are still going strong today.
Maybe that's what Merkel allowed the refugees in for now.


Ah yes - IG Farben or - (off the top of my head) - 
Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft.  ::)

The horror of Auschwitz wasn't so much the killing that went on there, but what they put those poor devils through before they finally, and mercifully, gassed them.



I really don't understand why one would willingly read about these horrors.. like Auschwitz, having knowledge already. It seems to be a sort of wallowing in the foul deeds of others. Thats why I prefer fiction.  It can be horrific, and even based on factual circumstances, but it is still , not real.

.  I know the history, like many of the atrocities committed in War(s), and find no personal benefit from reading about them as you seem to.

There are enough monsters in the world today, shirley, without looking to the monsters past, however recent in relative time.

Horror is very real and present in the world today,  so when I read about it, I prefer to know what I am reading is fiction.

I don't apologise for that...  I've had real horror in my life .. now I'd prefer a quiet life.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Dec 6th, 2015 at 6:22am
Reading most history is pretty brutal Emma
Ancient Rome, the Wars of the Roses, the French Revolution & the Napoleonic wars. If you want to know what  happened you cant escape violence.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 6th, 2015 at 8:40am

Emma wrote on Dec 5th, 2015 at 11:20pm:
I really don't understand why one would willingly read about these horrors.. like Auschwitz, having knowledge already. It seems to be a sort of wallowing in the foul deeds of others. Thats why I prefer fiction.  It can be horrific, and even based on factual circumstances, but it is still , not real.

.  I know the history, like many of the atrocities committed in War(s), and find no personal benefit from reading about them as you seem to.

There are enough monsters in the world today, shirley, without looking to the monsters past, however recent in relative time.

Horror is very real and present in the world today,  so when I read about it, I prefer to know what I am reading is fiction.

I don't apologise for that...  I've had real horror in my life .. now I'd prefer a quiet life.


The male psychology differs from that of the female in matters such as this. There's a lot more of the ghoul in we males, and I think at the heart of its reasoning is that we want to learn as much as we can of these horrors so that we ourselves are better informed to prevent these things happening to ourselves and our families.

Knowledge is Power.

It may also one day save a life or two.

Knowing the nature of the enemy and the depth to which he will go to achieve his aims is a learning experience that has practical application in defending ourselves against this kind of enemy.

Shying away from that which is distasteful to our moral senses is precisely what the Leftwing are doing about confronting the 'Islamist' threat the West is now under.

Through ridicule, sarcasm, trolling and graffiti there are men with female psychologies on this forum board who are forever trying to deflect their 'Rightwing' antagonists from taking the 'Islamist' threat seriously.

These are girly-men for whom the threat of Violent Islam is so terrifying they would rather ignore it as 'the elephant in the room'.









Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Dec 7th, 2015 at 12:13am
I say Herbie, thats a long bow to draw from my post.

I can see the argument you so facilely put forward.. knowledge is Good..  ''... 'cept my friend.. we , as humans, HAVEN'T learned a thing from it as far as I can see.


Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 6th, 2015 at 8:40am:
Knowing the nature of the enemy and the depth to which he will go to achieve his aims is a learning experience that has practical application in defending ourselves against this kind of enemy.

Shying away from that which is distasteful to our moral senses is precisely what the Leftwing are doing about confronting the 'Islamist' threat the West is now under.

Through ridicule, sarcasm, trolling and graffiti there are men with female psychologies on this forum board who are forever trying to deflect their 'Rightwing' antagonists from taking the 'Islamist' threat seriously.

These are girly-men for whom the threat of Violent Islam is so terrifying they would rather ignore it as 'the elephant in the room'.



Hilited above is a pile of steaming bshite

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 7th, 2015 at 6:33am

Emma wrote on Dec 7th, 2015 at 12:13am:
I say Herbie, thats a long bow to draw from my post.

I can see the argument you so facilely put forward.. knowledge is Good..  ''... 'cept my friend.. we , as humans, HAVEN'T learned a thing from it as far as I can see.


Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 6th, 2015 at 8:40am:
Knowing the nature of the enemy and the depth to which he will go to achieve his aims is a learning experience that has practical application in defending ourselves against this kind of enemy.

Shying away from that which is distasteful to our moral senses is precisely what the Leftwing are doing about confronting the 'Islamist' threat the West is now under.

Through ridicule, sarcasm, trolling and graffiti there are men with female psychologies on this forum board who are forever trying to deflect their 'Rightwing' antagonists from taking the 'Islamist' threat seriously.

These are girly-men for whom the threat of Violent Islam is so terrifying they would rather ignore it as 'the elephant in the room'.



Hilited above is a pile of steaming bshite


Well at least it's fresh and topical.

Does 'Peace in our Time' sound a little more to your liking than 'A Call to Arms'?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Dec 8th, 2015 at 8:14pm
Guess you're a Donald Trump fan then. :D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 8th, 2015 at 8:35pm

Emma wrote on Dec 8th, 2015 at 8:14pm:
Guess you're a Donald Trump fan then. :D


I can't stand the bastard - but I'll vote for anyone who has the foresight to see that stocking up Western nations with yet more annual quotas of Muslims is a recipe for future generations having to deal with de facto alien nations of Mohammadans within their own homelands.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Dec 8th, 2015 at 8:51pm
so,  you'd vote for him if that was possible.? That is what I hear you saying. Can't stand him, but would vote for him if possible.

Am I wrong.?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 9th, 2015 at 4:39am

Emma wrote on Dec 8th, 2015 at 8:51pm:
so,  you'd vote for him if that was possible.? That is what I hear you saying. Can't stand him, but would vote for him if possible.

Am I wrong.?


Not at all.

Policies is what is important to the male voting public - not how handsome he looks and how suave his manner as it is with you girls who swoon over Malcolm Turnbull, John Kennedy, and the rest.




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Dec 9th, 2015 at 11:45pm
is my point.. you don't like him, but you like his politics...  so you would vote for him.  :)

As for your facile dig about the political views of women.. you are a right wally.. what else is there to say?  ::).

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 10th, 2015 at 1:35pm

Emma wrote on Dec 9th, 2015 at 11:45pm:
is my point.. you don't like him, but you like his politics...  so you would vote for him.  :)

As for your facile dig about the political views of women.. you are a right wally.. what else is there to say?  ::).


Women don't buy newspapers - just ask any newsagent.

I wouldn't have anyone voting until they've reached the age of 30 when they have at least a little life experience behind them.

What we have now are millions of women, spotty teenagers, and 'young adults' who don't know sh*t from clay about the issues of day - fronting up to cast a vote that cancels the vote of people who make an effort to understand what they're voting for.

And then there are all those university students voting ... 100% Leftwing brainwashed Socialist imbeciles ... 
 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Dec 11th, 2015 at 9:50pm
you're a funny fella  ;D  Your humor is much to biased for my taste however. :P

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 12th, 2015 at 6:25am

Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 10th, 2015 at 1:35pm:
[quote author=jalane3311@yahoo.c link=1370231974/382#382 date=1449668727]is my point.. you don't like him, but you like his politics...  so you would vote for him.  :)

As for your facile dig about the political views of women.. you are a right wally.. what else is there to say?  ::).


Women don't buy newspapers - just ask any newsagent.

I wouldn't have anyone voting until they've reached the age of 30 when they have at least a little life experience behind them.

What we have now are millions of women, spotty teenagers, and 'young adults' who don't know sh*t from clay about the issues of the day - fronting up to cast a vote that cancels the vote of people who make an effort to understand what they're voting for.

And then there are all those university students voting ... 100% Leftwing brainwashed Socialist imbeciles ... 
 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Dec 16th, 2015 at 9:17pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 12th, 2015 at 6:25am:

Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 10th, 2015 at 1:35pm:
[quote author=jalane3311@yahoo.c link=1370231974/382#382 date=1449668727]is my point.. you don't like him, but you like his politics...  so you would vote for him.  :)

As for your facile dig about the political views of women.. you are a right wally.. what else is there to say?  ::).


Women don't buy newspapers - just ask any newsagent.

I wouldn't have anyone voting until they've reached the age of 30 when they have at least a little life experience behind them.

What we have now are millions of women, spotty teenagers, and 'young adults' who don't know sh*t from clay about the issues of the day - fronting up to cast a vote that cancels the vote of people who make an effort to understand what they're voting for.

And then there are all those university students voting ... 100% Leftwing brainwashed Socialist imbeciles ... 
 


Sorry to be persnickety, but it is their world ( to bugger up if they wish). Don't hold your breath while older generations save it; they had their chance.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Dec 16th, 2015 at 10:05pm
Hear Hear.!

I am currently reading what is surely a vision of a pre-apocalypse world..

one of many powerful works by

James Lee Burke.. a true son of good ole' Louisiana, whose novels look into the heart of the Bayou.

I read , and realise that the characters aren't in fact caricatures, but true.

Horrible and mind-blowing all at once.. you see the good and the bad that exists in every human.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 17th, 2015 at 6:01am

issuevoter wrote on Dec 16th, 2015 at 9:17pm:
Sorry to be persnickety, but it is their world ( to bugger up if they wish). Don't hold your breath while older generations save it; they had their chance.


Wrong!

We older folk aren't ready to be warehoused yet! In the 50's we had the formula right. Socialism wasn't a rampaging bushfire as it is today.

The kids still had respect for their elders built into them.

There really was a Conservative Party in both the UK and Australia - not the faux 'Tories' we see today that are nothing more than the rightwing of the Labour party.

Crime was still a punishable offence that attracted decent sentences that fit the crime and met the expectations of the public.

Hangings wuz still in fashion in them days. (Good morning, Bobby. I trust you slept well?)

Politicians were still thinking in terms of prioritising the needs and wishes of their indigenous voting public - with a care for preserving the generational identity of Western nations.

Schools were still being taught the 3 'R's - and were unashamedly monoculturally Anglo-British or Anglo-Australian without any PC knee-bending to 'multiculturalism' in the classroom. There was one flag on the classroom wall - not a dozen to 'represent' the immigrant kids there.

There were virtually no mosques, no hijabs, and no city streets blocked with hundreds of aliens kowtowing to their foreign god.

The police did their job without any let or hindrance from 'cultural sensitivity' directives.

A man's wages was enough for the wife to stay at home and look after the 2.75 kids.

Politicians took their instruction from the public - not the other way round as it is today.

Universities didn't turn out graduates who needed to do an English Grammar (and spelling) evening course for 12 months as a pre-condition for being accepted as an apprentice legal secretary in a law firm.

... and the rest.

And then the universities across the Western World fell into the hands of rampant socialists who were only a tiny minority of the total population - but just as with Islam today, these radicals dictated the agenda to the exclusion of any one else 'getting a look in'. Their influence was complete.

They predominated in key positions - with the result that they developed highly successful socialist 'madrases' within these campuses which produced clones of themselves on conveyor-belts that led to positions of power in politics, the media, the law courts, the teaching professions ...

The 'Long march through the Institutions' had begun .. with the result that we see today.

      

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Dec 17th, 2015 at 8:00pm
I wasn't going to read your epistle Herbie, but I did.


Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 17th, 2015 at 6:01am:
In the 50's we had the formula right. Socialism wasn't a rampaging bushfire as it is today.
The politics.?? That is your cause for all that is bad in the world. 


Much of what you say will draw sympathy from us older folk. 

BUT Herbie, you have to accept that this is the '15's.. 65 yrs on from your remembrances of yesterday, and Jeez you must be a real old fella.!

We face a whole different set of circumstances today. The past cannot be revived. Like it or not.




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Dec 17th, 2015 at 10:34pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 17th, 2015 at 6:01am:

issuevoter wrote on Dec 16th, 2015 at 9:17pm:
Sorry to be persnickety, but it is their world ( to bugger up if they wish). Don't hold your breath while older generations save it; they had their chance.


Wrong!

We older folk aren't ready to be warehoused yet! In the 50's we had the formula right. Socialism wasn't a rampaging bushfire as it is today.

The kids still had respect for their elders built into them.

There really was a Conservative Party in both the UK and Australia - not the faux 'Tories' we see today that are nothing more than the rightwing of the Labour party.

Crime was still a punishable offence that attracted decent sentences that fit the crime and met the expectations of the public.

Hangings wuz still in fashion in them days. (Good morning, Bobby. I trust you slept well?)

Politicians were still thinking in terms of prioritising the needs and wishes of their indigenous voting public - with a care for preserving the generational identity of Western nations.

Schools were still being taught the 3 'R's - and were unashamedly monoculturally Anglo-British or Anglo-Australian without any PC knee-bending to 'multiculturalism' in the classroom. There was one flag on the classroom wall - not a dozen to 'represent' the immigrant kids there.

There were virtually no mosques, no hijabs, and no city streets blocked with hundreds of aliens kowtowing to their foreign god.

The police did their job without any let or hindrance from 'cultural sensitivity' directives.

A man's wages was enough for the wife to stay at home and look after the 2.75 kids.

Politicians took their instruction from the public - not the other way round as it is today.

Universities didn't turn out graduates who needed to do an English Grammar (and spelling) evening course for 12 months as a pre-condition for being accepted as an apprentice legal secretary in a law firm.

... and the rest.

And then the universities across the Western World fell into the hands of rampant socialists who were only a tiny minority of the total population - but just as with Islam today, these radicals dictated the agenda to the exclusion of any one else 'getting a look in'. Their influence was complete.

They predominated in key positions - with the result that they developed highly successful socialist 'madrases' within these campuses which produced clones of themselves on conveyor-belts that led to positions of power in politics, the media, the law courts, the teaching professions ...

The 'Long march through the Institutions' had begun .. with the result that we see today.

      


Jesus Herb, you really are one sad old bugger.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Dec 17th, 2015 at 11:53pm
I'd advise Herbie to let go of the past, and all it's horrors, 'cos we've got a whole new lot to deal with today.
Longing for the good old days is just self-serving self-deception.. rather  'then' than 'now', eh.
PROBLEM?.. we live NOW.
Pity your children and grandchildren !.....it won't be getting any better for them..

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Dec 18th, 2015 at 1:42am

greggerypeccary wrote on Dec 17th, 2015 at 10:34pm:

Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 17th, 2015 at 6:01am:

issuevoter wrote on Dec 16th, 2015 at 9:17pm:
Sorry to be persnickety, but it is their world ( to bugger up if they wish). Don't hold your breath while older generations save it; they had their chance.


Wrong!

We older folk aren't ready to be warehoused yet! In the 50's we had the formula right. Socialism wasn't a rampaging bushfire as it is today.

The kids still had respect for their elders built into them.

There really was a Conservative Party in both the UK and Australia - not the faux 'Tories' we see today that are nothing more than the rightwing of the Labour party.

Crime was still a punishable offence that attracted decent sentences that fit the crime and met the expectations of the public.

Hangings wuz still in fashion in them days. (Good morning, Bobby. I trust you slept well?)

Politicians were still thinking in terms of prioritising the needs and wishes of their indigenous voting public - with a care for preserving the generational identity of Western nations.

Schools were still being taught the 3 'R's - and were unashamedly monoculturally Anglo-British or Anglo-Australian without any PC knee-bending to 'multiculturalism' in the classroom. There was one flag on the classroom wall - not a dozen to 'represent' the immigrant kids there.

There were virtually no mosques, no hijabs, and no city streets blocked with hundreds of aliens kowtowing to their foreign god.

The police did their job without any let or hindrance from 'cultural sensitivity' directives.

A man's wages was enough for the wife to stay at home and look after the 2.75 kids.

Politicians took their instruction from the public - not the other way round as it is today.

Universities didn't turn out graduates who needed to do an English Grammar (and spelling) evening course for 12 months as a pre-condition for being accepted as an apprentice legal secretary in a law firm.

... and the rest.

And then the universities across the Western World fell into the hands of rampant socialists who were only a tiny minority of the total population - but just as with Islam today, these radicals dictated the agenda to the exclusion of any one else 'getting a look in'. Their influence was complete.

They predominated in key positions - with the result that they developed highly successful socialist 'madrases' within these campuses which produced clones of themselves on conveyor-belts that led to positions of power in politics, the media, the law courts, the teaching professions ...

The 'Long march through the Institutions' had begun .. with the result that we see today.

      


Jesus Herb, you really are one sad old bugger.


Yeah, and he's another who doesn't 'get' what socialism actually IS, they all have a mental-picture of
some American cold-war-inspired propaganda vision of communism (which, once and for all, is NOT
socialism), with the end result being that they understand neither socialism NOR communism.

It gives me the sh1ts.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Dec 18th, 2015 at 2:21am
[quote author=Herbert link=1370231974/388#388 date=1450296062] Wrong!

We older folk aren't ready to be warehoused yet! In the 50's we had the formula right. Socialism wasn't a rampaging bushfire as it is today. Socialism isn't the problem today, it's a solution.

The kids still had respect for their elders built into them. Flogged into them, don't you mean?

There really was a Conservative Party in both the UK and Australia - not the faux 'Tories' we see today that are nothing more than the rightwing of the Labour party. Well off-base there. One thing these pieces of faeces are NOT is a Labor faction (although Labor has its share of right-wing tools as well).

Crime was still a punishable offence that attracted decent sentences that fit the crime and met the expectations of the public. It still does - in fact crime figures are dropping over most offenses. People are going to jail for misdemeanours, victimless crimes like drug use, or mental illness. Now, if you're talking about crimes like rape, murder, armed rob etc, then I'd have to agree.

Hangings wuz still in fashion in them days. (Good morning, Bobby. I trust you slept well?) Hanging is barbaric and uncivilized, and lowers you to the same (or lower) level as those you 'execute'.. No country which practises state-sanctioned murder has the right to be called civilized.

Politicians were still thinking in terms of prioritising the needs and wishes of their indigenous voting public - with a care for preserving the generational identity of Western nations. Ah! The White Australia policy. Thank Christ THAT got abolished!

Schools were still being taught the 3 'R's - and were unashamedly monoculturally Anglo-British or Anglo-Australian without any PC knee-bending to 'multiculturalism' in the classroom. Yes, and the kids WERE all the worse for it. In fact, it goes a long way towards explaining the parochialism, xenophobia and resistance to change that many older Aussies exhibit. There was one flag on the classroom wall - not a dozen to 'represent' the immigrant kids there. See my previous comment.

There were virtually no mosques, no hijabs, and no city streets blocked with hundreds of aliens kowtowing to their foreign god. Not mosques, perhaps. But there was growth of many other 'non-traditional' churches and religions - some were accepted, some igored, and some actively discriminated against. So, nothing really new there.

The police did their job without any let or hindrance from 'cultural sensitivity' directives. The police were often thugs, drunks, bullies or out-and-out criminals who used brute-force to intimidate anyone they thought they could.

A man's wages was enough for the wife to stay at home and look after the 2.75 kids. Only just, in many cases. My mom returned to work several times between 1959 and 1972 to boost the family's finances. That's not counting the fact that she did the books for Dad's business for nix, to save the cost of him having to pay a clerk.
Politicians took their instruction from the public - not the other way round as it is today. Yes. And no. While they don't take their instructions from the public, nor do they themselves dictate to the public - well, not directly. They relay the demands and wants of big-business and big-money.
Universities didn't turn out graduates who needed to do an English Grammar (and spelling) evening course for 12 months as a pre-condition for being accepted as an apprentice legal secretary in a law firm. I have to give you that one, unreservedly. I left school at the end of Year 10 (4th Form) in 1973, and my spelling, grammar and comprehension runs rings around today's school-leavers. Yes, I was in the Advanced classes and got an Advanced in the Sch. Cert. , and yes, I was lucky enough to score some absolutely inspiring teachers, but still.... and the rest.

And then the universities across the Western World fell into the hands of rampant socialists A myth, rabidly propagated and fertilised by conservatives. Not actually factual. who were only a tiny minority of the total population - but just as with Islam today, Well no - nothing like Islam today really. these radicals You DO realise, I hope, that it IS possible to be a socialist or have socialist leanings WITHOUT being a radical. It's true, you know. dictated the agenda to the exclusion of any one else 'getting a look in'. Their influence was complete. You can check with The Grappler on this one if you wish, but from my point of view (step-dad of 4 kids, dad of 1)watching their schooling (1986 to1998) the biggest 'evil influence' has been lrabid feminists.

They predominated in key positions - with the result that they developed highly successful socialist 'madrases' within these campuses which produced clones of themselves on conveyor-belts that led to positions of power in politics, the media, the law courts, the teaching professions ... See above

The 'Long march through the Institutions' of conservative imaginations had begun .. with the result that we see today.

      
[/quote

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Dec 18th, 2015 at 2:26am
Back to the topic - what I'm reading.

I've just finished (well, I'm about halfway through the last book) the entire Dick Francis collection.

The latest Wilbur Smith novel has also recently been enjoyed and despatched.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 18th, 2015 at 5:53am

Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 10th, 2015 at 1:35pm:

Emma wrote on Dec 9th, 2015 at 11:45pm:
is my point.. you don't like him, but you like his politics...  so you would vote for him.  :)

As for your facile dig about the political views of women.. you are a right wally.. what else is there to say?  ::).


Women don't buy newspapers - just ask any newsagent.

I wouldn't have anyone voting until they've reached the age of 30 when they have at least a little life experience behind them.

What we have now are millions of women, spotty teenagers, and 'young adults' who don't know sh*t from clay about the issues of the day - fronting up to cast a vote that cancels the vote of people who make an effort to understand what they're voting for.

And then there are all those university students voting ... 100% Leftwing brainwashed Socialist imbeciles ... 
 


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 18th, 2015 at 6:42am

Emma wrote on Dec 17th, 2015 at 8:00pm:
I wasn't going to read your epistle Herbie, but I did.


Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 17th, 2015 at 6:01am:
In the 50's we had the formula right. Socialism wasn't a rampaging bushfire as it is today.
The politics.?? That is your cause for all that is bad in the world. 


Much of what you say will draw sympathy from us older folk. 

BUT Herbie, you have to accept that this is the '15's.. 65 yrs on from your remembrances of yesterday, and Jeez you must be a real old fella.!

We face a whole different set of circumstances today. The past cannot be revived. Like it or not.


You raise an interesting point here ... one which has annoyed the crap out of me for some time now: The mantra that societal progress demands constant change across the whole structure of society no matter how well current policies are functioning for the betterment of all.

At any one time a lot in society needs to be 'improved' and 'advanced' towards an optimal and ideal final result - granted - but those things which are working well should be left alone.

In law, education, policing, political policy - and other societal concerns, there's been a move to re-visit and resurrect how things were in the 50's when policy wasn't hobbled and compromised by having to accommodate the sensitivities and 'special demands' of millions of immigrant ethnics all with their own foreign identity to the locals.

Abbott and Trump are right now championing the immigration policy as it was in the 50's when there was virtually no Muslim immigration.

Howard's very last act in government was to trash-and-burn the 'multicultural' part of the 'Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs'.

Judges and magistrates have been coming under increasing pressure to stiffen their sentences and stop playing silly-buggers with ridiculously lenient sentences.

On last night's news we heard that a passenger who stabbed a taxi driver 17 times was given only 6-and-a-half years jail time ...

On a whole swathe of matters, going 'back to the 50's' would be progression - not regression.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 18th, 2015 at 6:53am
Thank you for that effortful and well-considered reply, Kat. Well done.






Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Dec 18th, 2015 at 7:21am

Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 18th, 2015 at 6:53am:
Thank you for that effortful and well-considered reply, Kat. Well done.



And thank YOU for your response. Yeah, I did put a bit of effort and thought
into it, I couldn't sleep and the 'net was pretty dead so had time to write, edit
change, proof-read etc.

That's what some here don't 'get' - they think I'm angry and abusive, but if I
get treated with a bit of courtesy and respect, I usually respond in kind, even
if disagreeing.

But if all I get are slurs like 'bike boy' or 'bludger' or when I'm called a commie
no matter what 'side' I take, then they can't really complain when I lock, load
and let rip with both barrels.

It's also why I seldom bother to post detailed replies to their comments - the
replies don't get read by them or, if they do, they're either misinterpreted, or
one phrase or sentence is used as a basis for an attack, ignoring the substance
of the comment.

It's no fun (and pointless) to labour for 15, 20, 30 minutes composing a detailed
comment or response, only to get 'Get a job' or 'commie traitor' as a response.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 18th, 2015 at 7:35am

Kat wrote on Dec 18th, 2015 at 7:21am:

Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 18th, 2015 at 6:53am:
Thank you for that effortful and well-considered reply, Kat. Well done.



And thank YOU for your response. Yeah, I did put a bit of effort and thought
into it, I couldn't sleep and the 'net was pretty dead so had time to write, edit
change, proof-read etc.

That's what some here don't 'get' - they think I'm angry and abusive, but if I
get treated with a bit of courtesy and respect, I usually respond in kind, even
if disagreeing.

But if all I get are slurs like 'bike boy' or 'bludger' or when I'm called a commie
no matter what 'side' I take, then they can't really complain when I lock, load
and let rip with both barrels.

It's also why I seldom bother to post detailed replies to their comments - the
replies don't get read by them or, if they do, they're either misinterpreted, or
one phrase or sentence is used as a basis for an attack, ignoring the substance
of the comment.

It's no fun (and pointless) to labour for 15, 20, 30 minutes composing a detailed
comment or response, only to get 'Get a job' or 'commie traitor' as a response.



I sure as hell can sympathise with those sentiments about the graffiti vandals, TAGers, and one-liner jockeys on this board. (Gregg will be along shortly, bless his little cotton socks).

Again - sincere thanks for the effort you put into most of your posts.






Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Dec 21st, 2015 at 2:28pm
Good discussion Emma, Herb & Kat.
I can see now why you haven't been so visible on the other boards Herb, you've been spending your time here.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 21st, 2015 at 3:11pm

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 21st, 2015 at 2:28pm:
Good discussion Emma, Herb & Kat.
I can see now why you haven't been so visible on the other boards Herb, you've been spending your time here.


I'm now about to read a compendium of condensed stories from Best Seller books - introduced by none other than Kenneth More of 'Reach for the Sky' - the Douglas Bader story (I was at school with his nephew).

You've got to wonder about human nature.

'Reach for the Sky' - a movie about pilots dying in the skies over Germany, but the part that chokes up audiences the most was when Douglas Bader's dog got run over and killed by a car.  ;D ;D

Hey! What am I laughing at?

Dozens of planes and scores of airmen shot down ... and you could still hear the unrelenting crunching and munching of Smiths Crisps fished out from crackly cellophane bags throughout the cinema ... but then the moment arrives when Douglas Bader returns from a hellish trip over Germany and is told his beloved dog has been killed ...  and that's when the cinema falls silent, with no crunching of chips to be heard anywhere ... just a few muted sobs here and there, and a lot of blowing of noses.

We humans are very sick puppies indeed.

There was Hitler patting his dog who he loved with a passion, with meanwhile millions were being sent to the Death Camps ...

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Dec 26th, 2015 at 5:30pm
Born to Rule.
Might not get through it though. The start is quite interesting on family history.
Unauthorised biography of Turnbull M.
Immensely readable.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by cods on Jan 2nd, 2016 at 4:42pm
the Fall... about the life and murder of Lisa Harnum.. by Simon Gittany... her boy friend at the time...


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lisa Jones on Jan 4th, 2016 at 8:45am
The Herb Bible

by Stefan Buczacki

Apparently, it's "the definitive guide to choosing & growing herbs".

(Hubby's little Christmas present for me...& it even came with a nice little $100 Coles-Myer gift card as a bookmark) :)


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lisa Jones on Jan 4th, 2016 at 8:49am

cods wrote on Jan 2nd, 2016 at 4:42pm:
the Fall... about the life and murder of Lisa Harnum.. by Simon Gittany... her boy friend at the time...



Ah. Now that would be an awesome read!

Have you seen the documentary which covered her life and murder on the Crime channel?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Jan 4th, 2016 at 9:01am

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 26th, 2015 at 5:30pm:
Born to Rule.
Might not get through it though. The start is quite interesting on family history.
Unauthorised biography of Turnbull M.
Immensely readable.


I wish I could wander on down to Dymocks like you can and think nothing of coughing up $49.99 for each of those books you keep buying ...

I have to rely on Salvation Army Opportunity Shops where I haggle over the price of $4 paperbacks which have vital pages missing and the woman at the counter is an old Scot who wouldn't give me a halfpenny discount even if I bought 10 books all at once.

I don't borrow from libraries any more because I was always getting into trouble for late returns.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Jan 4th, 2016 at 9:06am

Lisa Jones wrote on Jan 4th, 2016 at 8:49am:

cods wrote on Jan 2nd, 2016 at 4:42pm:
the Fall... about the life and murder of Lisa Harnum.. by Simon Gittany... her boy friend at the time...



Ah. Now that would be an awesome read!

Have you seen the documentary which covered her life and murder on the Crime channel?


He was convicted on circumstantial evidence - and therefore in this case I'm glad there isn't the death penalty.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 4th, 2016 at 12:40pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Jan 4th, 2016 at 9:01am:

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 26th, 2015 at 5:30pm:
Born to Rule.
Might not get through it though. The start is quite interesting on family history.
Unauthorised biography of Turnbull M.
Immensely readable.


I wish I could wander on down to Dymocks like you can and think nothing of coughing up $49.99 for each of those books you keep buying ...

I have to rely on Salvation Army Opportunity Shops where I haggle over the price of $4 paperbacks which have vital pages missing and the woman at the counter is an old Scot who wouldn't give me a halfpenny discount even if I bought 10 books all at once.

I don't borrow from libraries any more because I was always getting into trouble for late returns.


It was a present herb. I wouldn't have bought it, in fact I tell people don't buy me books.
But I haven't enjoyed a book so much in ages.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Jan 4th, 2016 at 1:05pm
Books can be expensive, but here is a guy who can buy any book that interests him, and the great thing is, he does just that.

I'd take anything from Bill Gates' current reading list which is long. He writes short reviews, so you can whittle down your wish list.

https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Jan 4th, 2016 at 1:30pm

bogarde73 wrote on Jan 4th, 2016 at 12:40pm:
It was a present herb. I wouldn't have bought it, in fact I tell people don't buy me books.
But I haven't enjoyed a book so much in ages.


When I'm in town I always make sure to hang around the book stores where I can spend a little time wallowing in the expensive perfumes while brushing against the mink stoles of the Filthy Rich who browse there in haughty silence while their chauffeurs are having a smoke in the car park around the back.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Neferti on Jan 5th, 2016 at 3:58pm
I just ordered the following books from Angus and Robertson.

http://www.angusrobertson.com.au/holiday-reading-guide

"Banquet of Consequences" by Elizabeth George (an Inspector Lynley mystery)
"Private Sydney" by James Patterson and Kathryn Fox
"Last Woman Hanged" by Caroline Overington
"Spirits of the Ghan" by Judy Nunn 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Jan 5th, 2016 at 10:31pm
I recently read "The Odyssey," by Homer; something I have meant to do for years. It is often cited as the source of Western literature, and I found it interesting on different levels. The form is probably intended for reciting, as not many people could read in ancient Greece, but that means there is a lot of reiteration. There is no indication that the human condition has changed during the intervening years, no matter what religions and philosophies have come and gone. By today's standards it might seem unnecessarily cruel, until you look at the latest computer games.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 10th, 2016 at 3:55pm
It must be at least 40 years ago I read that. I thought I'd start back then and work up to the present.
Haven't got there yet.
Remember nothing of it but probably covered some of it in docos.
I do remember it was hard work.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Mechanic on Jan 20th, 2016 at 6:06pm
The Cost of Bravery

Allan Sparkes
............................

'I was Humpty Dumpty at the bottom of the wall, my heart and the very soul of me shattered into a thousand pieces.  I knew that my life was never going to be the same again.  I also knew that if I did not get professional help, I'd soon be dead.'

Allan Sparkes didn't think twice about rescuing an 11-year-old boy from a flooded storm water drain – the courageous policeman put his life on the line and saved the kid. He became one of only five people to be awarded Australia's highest decoration for bravery, the Cross of Valour, but the rescue would signal a downward spiral into post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Here was a man with many professional accolades, who had thrived on never knowing what his next call would involve – murder, bombings, junkies and robberies were often part of a day's work for this detective, yet he suddenly lost his 20-year career and all sense of self-worth.

Allan's recovery from debilitating mental illness was a rollercoaster ride of personal challenges that tested his courage and resolve over more than a decade. With the unwavering support of his wife, he faced his demons and rebuilt his mind, body and soul. Today, Allan is back to being his adventurous self, prepared to face whatever comes his way. This is his inspiring story.

..................................................

thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring read...

which sounds a bit funny with a guy how had depression I guess... but what he and his family achieved was incredible...

some people say - I wouldn't mind doing that

while others say - lets do that, and do it


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jan 20th, 2016 at 6:10pm

Neferti wrote on Jan 5th, 2016 at 3:58pm:
I just ordered the following books from Angus and Robertson.

http://www.angusrobertson.com.au/holiday-reading-guide

"Banquet of Consequences" by Elizabeth George (an Inspector Lynley mystery)
"Private Sydney" by James Patterson and Kathryn Fox
"Last Woman Hanged" by Caroline Overington
"Spirits of the Ghan" by Judy Nunn 


Try here:  http://www.bookdepository.com/

Cheaper (most of the time), with free (fast) delivery.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Feb 15th, 2016 at 1:14pm
Just got through reading “Mere Anarchy” by Woody Allen (2007). It is a collection of short stories; a form that is not as popular as it was in former times. But as Woody's trademark is already established, he could present a book of recipes and a publisher wood pick it up.

I didn't like his earliest movies, but his more recent stuff is either better, or my tastes have changed. Likewise, I had a little difficulty with the first two stories in this book, but found the subsequent 16 hugely entertaining. You will need a taste for the absurd, and a penchant for turns of phrase. However, on two occasions, I noted the use of related adjectives in close proximity. That is just plain poor editing.

Woody's stories are delivered in an off-hand and chatty manner, employing bizarre simile and metaphor on charlatans in business, the law, the arts, and just about everywhere else. His protagonist narrators are invariably gullible fall-guys. The subject matter reveals Woody as an urbane internationalist, and somewhat old-fashioned in that his sense of humour has elements of Groucho Marx, John Lennon, and P G Wodehouse. If you like those writers, you will appreciate Woody's dry wit.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Feb 18th, 2016 at 6:34pm
Might seek that out.

Just been given a copy of the new Dismissal book by Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston. Will be getting into that momentarily.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Apr 4th, 2016 at 2:21pm
Franklin & Eleanor, by Hazel Rowley

The patrician world of old American money and a warts & all look at the great president.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Apr 4th, 2016 at 2:58pm

bogarde73 wrote on Feb 18th, 2016 at 6:34pm:
Might seek that out.

Just been given a copy of the new Dismissal book by Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston. Will be getting into that momentarily.



Paul Kelly? eeeeyuk!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Apr 4th, 2016 at 3:44pm
Yes, excellent book Herb. I started a thread on it but it doesn't seem anybody's read it.
I've passed my copy on to someone else now otherwise I would have quoted a lot of passages I marked.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by AussieAmAndARC on May 15th, 2016 at 11:20pm
Since no one has posted for a bit ...
Hi! New girl here ... not generally a liar.

#1 religio medici - thomas browne (he warns you when you start, that if you are not shocked [my words, I'm sure he said it far more eloquaintly], you probably haven't understood what he has written)
#2 on the toltec path - eagle feather (confirms the probability that many 'encounters' are of human origin, by deduction, and the possibility of harm at a distance can be achieved, if you're that kind of person)
#3 the dictionary of the esoteric - nevill drury (absolutely invaluable for all those people who love to 'label' stuff, a lot of the time many different names are in fact the same thing being discussed, and I'm not sorry I stole it)
#4 the holy kabbalah - a. e. waite (as my first time reading this novel, I'm marking pages specifically that make mention of the 'viod', as other indicators surface they are noted also.)
Thomas makes a comment
'truth was ransomed to the void' (fits a personal experience/encounter)

they're the ones I'm reading at the moment, and a couple of them I have read several times ...

Quite a few times I will pick up, for the hell of it...
the politics - aristotle (and randomly flick to a page, it's always like a quick snack and food for the brain, reckon over the coming couple of weeks I might be doing it more often)

Thanks for listening

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on May 16th, 2016 at 7:23am

bogarde73 wrote on Apr 4th, 2016 at 2:21pm:
Franklin & Eleanor, by Hazel Rowley

The patrician world of old American money and a warts & all look at the great president.



Wasn't she the 'power behind the throne' ... with F.D.R. playing her hand-puppet WAY beyond what the public realised at the time?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on May 16th, 2016 at 7:28am

AussieAmAndARC wrote on May 15th, 2016 at 11:20pm:
Since no one has posted for a bit ...
Hi! New girl here ... not generally a liar.

#1 religio medici - thomas browne (he warns you when you start, that if you are not shocked [my words, I'm sure he said it far more eloquaintly], you probably haven't understood what he has written)
#2 on the toltec path - eagle feather (confirms the probability that many 'encounters' are of human origin, by deduction, and the possibility of harm at a distance can be achieved, if you're that kind of person)
#3 the dictionary of the esoteric - nevill drury (absolutely invaluable for all those people who love to 'label' stuff, a lot of the time many different names are in fact the same thing being discussed, and I'm not sorry I stole it)
#4 the holy kabbalah - a. e. waite (as my first time reading this novel, I'm marking pages specifically that make mention of the 'viod', as other indicators surface they are noted also.)
Thomas makes a comment
'truth was ransomed to the void' (fits a personal experience/encounter)

they're the ones I'm reading at the moment, and a couple of them I have read several times ...

Quite a few times I will pick up, for the hell of it...
the politics - aristotle (and randomly flick to a page, it's always like a quick snack and food for the brain, reckon over the coming couple of weeks I might be doing it more often)

Thanks for listening


;D ;D ;D

It's been my pleasure.

Are we to understand you're into the occult in a very big way?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by AussieAmAndARC on May 16th, 2016 at 12:36pm

Lord Herbert wrote on May 16th, 2016 at 7:28am:

AussieAmAndARC wrote on May 15th, 2016 at 11:20pm:
Since no

Thanks for listening


;D ;D ;D

It's been my pleasure.

Are we to understand you're into the occult in a very big way?


I think 'tripped over' would better describe what happened.

Actually I've always been a prolific 'tripper'/dreamer/positive, and up until the begining of 2012 it never really occured to me to research the why's and wherefores before, I enjoyed fanatsy reading instead.
Had an encounter and it took three years of reading to find some reference to it.
I concluded from that that the person who was communicating assumed everyone would know their reference shown.
Must have been very frustrating for them.
Meanwhile being 'pushed', poked, insulted, threatened, harassed, menaced and shoved out of the impatience of others (not to mention show offs with 'skills') who should have just spoken up, plain and simple.
But they didn't bother.
That was dissappointing.
When you brush up against practicing occult that has thrown common human decency out the window though, it tends to encourage you to find ways to combat/protect yourself and your family knowing what they can do.
Having said that, some of the extraordinary happenings I have wittnessed need to be noted somewhere, the previous site where I was posting thought it best to rape my privacy in ways even I didn't think possible, rather than respect and extend the hand of friendship.
It's easy to walk away from those sort.
No one likes to be treated like a science experiment for kicks or political gain, or a whore to be played with.
My honesty was wasted there, and I hope I am now less naive, fingers crossed. Probably not though, I tend to see the good in people and make excuses for them instead.

I got tired of the bickering across faiths also and wanted to get to the meat of the subject, maybe to see if I coud help, since faith wise, I'm impartial.
Probably bit off more than I could chew, but I've found if you chew fast enough, anything is possible ;)

Made some very, way-awsome new friends though, so, win win.

What book would you recommend?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by cods on Jun 30th, 2016 at 5:57pm
I have just bought the Girl on the Train... has anyone read it.....I dont read fiction as a rule but saw this at the airport and bought it on a whim....it seems to  be a big seller...

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 8th, 2016 at 7:54am
I'm sick of improving my mind. How can you improve on perfection?
I'm reading Miss Read. Google it and see if I care.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Jul 11th, 2016 at 1:19pm
I am about 2/3 through Leonardo da Vinci by Charles Nicholl. Its is really well researched and cross referenced. It is quite astonishing how much has survived in the way of records from around 1500 in Florence and northern Italy.

Leonardo's paintings are mostly collaborations. With him doing the more important parts. He worked with about eight assistants, just as he had when working for Verrocchio. As an apprentice, he helped build the bronze and gilt ball, 3 meters in dia, and secured it on top of the Duomo of Florence cathederal, over 100 meters above the ground. I get dizzy thinking about it.

If the author can be believed, Leonardo's flying machine didn't work.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 11th, 2016 at 1:36pm
Sarah Dunant, a writer & commentator, is a very knowledgeable person on Renaissance Italy.
There could be stuff she's done that would interest you.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 16th, 2016 at 5:55am
"Echo Burning" by Lee Child.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Aug 17th, 2016 at 1:28am

Lord Herbert wrote on Jan 4th, 2016 at 1:30pm:

bogarde73 wrote on Jan 4th, 2016 at 12:40pm:
It was a present herb. I wouldn't have bought it, in fact I tell people don't buy me books.
But I haven't enjoyed a book so much in ages.


When I'm in town I always make sure to hang around the book stores where I can spend a little time wallowing in the expensive perfumes while brushing against the mink stoles of the Filthy Rich who browse there in haughty silence while their chauffeurs are having a smoke in the car park around the back.


Most of the books I read come from the local library. Love my Library. :)  Being a pensioner I can't afford to buy books anymore. And I read a lot. BUT.. recently I ran out of Library books, and turned to books given to me by a dear friend, who had in turn been given them by a friend. She didn't have the time or inclination to read them so...

I have thirteen books by the same author, so I decided to read them chronologically, from the first one published.

It was in Portuguese originally. The author is
Paulo Coelho. a Brazilian. :o

I didn't think I'd get into them, being an atheist.
The first book was  The Pilgrimage.

Not particularly easy to read, and yet, despite the Godspeak, I was drawn to the concepts.  Food for thought.

So the next one I've read , so far, is The Alchemist.
Impressive. It seems to me that in the Pilgrimage he was trying too hard to encompass what he had to say.

The Alchemist, on the other hand, is much more readable, and resonates with its subject of a young Andalusian shepherd who has a dream, twice, which tells him to go the the Pyramids in Egypt, to gain a great treasure. And he does. He follows his dream.

A simple tale with incredible insight. It has helped me to understand and incorporate into my thinking, the major religions, and what they signify. Since reading these two books I have , perhaps not coincidentally, encountered these same or similar concepts by chance in my daily life.
And I realise that much of my own thoughts and knowledge are part of the great mystery of human life on earth.

They have helped me to understand that religions are simply symbols. Religions make it easier for people to grasp the reality of the worlds we inhabit, and the spiritual life that we all have inside ourselves.

No one could be more surprised than I.

I am about to read the third book, The Valkyries,  and do wonder if this sense of connection and resonance continues.

I would certainly recommend reading The PILGRIMAGE, as a trial,  :) and definitely to read The Alchemist.

Whatever your persuasion. i


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Aug 17th, 2016 at 1:29am

UnSubRocky wrote on Jul 16th, 2016 at 5:55am:
"Echo Burning" by Lee Child.



I've read all the Lee Childs book in the Library. Good stuff.

He fights the good fight. :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Aug 20th, 2016 at 7:08am
Just tried to read Dancing In The Dark, by Karl Knausgaard. Two words: don't bother. KK is actually a very good writer. The problem is does not care whether you are interested or not. Its like reading a diary, every inconsequential moment in the day is documented, quite well in fact. But this tome drones on for 548 pages. There is a hint in the beginning of what you are in for. The protagonist mentions a taste for Ullyses by James Joyce, another well written doorstop that you have to wade through to find there was no story.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Aug 20th, 2016 at 11:44am
A couple of days ago I found a box of books left out on the nature-strip, took them home only to discover they were all 'women's' reading matter. Skipped across the road to dump them all on the divorcee ... but she didn't want them either.

I notice people on the trains now read from one of those computer-pad thingies.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Aug 20th, 2016 at 12:03pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Aug 20th, 2016 at 11:44am:
A couple of days ago I found a box of books left out on the nature-strip, took them home only to discover they were all 'women's' reading matter. Skipped across the road to dump them all on the divorcee ... but she didn't want them either.

I notice people on the trains now read from one of those computer-pad thingies.


Love my kindle. I have about 10k books downloaded and anything new I just buy from Amazon.

There are also 2 street libraries near me that actually get some good stuff if I feel like turning pages old school.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Aug 20th, 2016 at 12:11pm
Oliver Sacks - An anthropologist on Mars.

One chapter is about a guy who was in the hare krishnas, he began losing his vision, put on weight, lost his hair and developed speech and memory issues but could remember all chanting.  The hare krishnas thought he was transending.

Turned out he had a tumor the size of a grapefruit which destroyed his frontal lobes.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Aug 20th, 2016 at 1:04pm

Gordon wrote on Aug 20th, 2016 at 12:03pm:

Lord Herbert wrote on Aug 20th, 2016 at 11:44am:
A couple of days ago I found a box of books left out on the nature-strip, took them home only to discover they were all 'women's' reading matter. Skipped across the road to dump them all on the divorcee ... but she didn't want them either.

I notice people on the trains now read from one of those computer-pad thingies.


Love my kindle. I have about 10k books downloaded and anything new I just buy from Amazon.

There are also 2 street libraries near me that actually get some good stuff if I feel like turning pages old school.


Kindle! Yes, that's it.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Aug 20th, 2016 at 6:11pm
I always have a book on the go, sometimes two. I am reading the life of Marco Polo via Kindle for PC. I actually prefer the printed page, especially a good weight of creamy paper and nice typeface where you can see the case impression. But if its available electronically, I don't mind that either.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Aug 20th, 2016 at 6:18pm

issuevoter wrote on Aug 20th, 2016 at 6:11pm:
I always have a book on the go, sometimes two. I am reading the life of Marco Polo via Kindle for PC. I actually prefer the printed page, especially a good weight of creamy paper and nice typeface where you can see the case impression. But if its available electronically, I don't mind that either.


Great.

Now confirm for me what I told John Smith here - it was Marco Polo who brought spaghetti and pasta back to Italy from his trips to China.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's been censored out for reasons of political correctness and not wanting to upset millions of Italians. 8-)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Aug 20th, 2016 at 9:50pm
I just started reading something different for me.
AussieAmAndARC wrote on May 16th, 2016 at 12:36pm:
What book would you recommend?


Emma wrote on Aug 17th, 2016 at 1:28am:
recently I ran out of Library books, and turned to books given to me by a dear friend, who had in turn been given them by a friend. She didn't have the time or inclination to read them so...I have thirteen books by the same author, so I decided to read them chronologically, from the first one published.It was in Portuguese originally. The author isPaulo Coelho. a Brazilian. I didn't think I'd get into them, being an atheist. The first book was  The Pilgrimage. Not particularly easy to read, and yet, despite the Godspeak, I was drawn to the concepts.  Food for thought.So the next one I've read , so far, is The Alchemist.Impressive. It seems to me that in the Pilgrimage he was trying too hard to encompass what he had to say.The Alchemist, on the other hand, is much more readable, and resonates with its subject of a young Andalusian shepherd who has a dream, twice, which tells him to go the the Pyramids in Egypt, to gain a great treasure. And he does. He follows his dream.A simple tale with incredible insight. It has helped me to understand and incorporate into my thinking, the major religions, and what they signify. Since reading these two books I have , perhaps not coincidentally, encountered these same or similar concepts by chance in my daily life.And I realise that much of my own thoughts and knowledge are part of the great mystery of human life on earth.They have helped me to understand that religions are simply symbols. Religions make it easier for people to grasp the reality of the worlds we inhabit, and the spiritual life that we all have inside ourselves.No one could be more surprised than I.I am about to read the third book, The Valkyries,  and do wonder if this sense of connection and resonance continues.I would certainly recommend reading The PILGRIMAGE, as a trial,   and definitely to read The Alchemist.Whatever your persuasion. i


Just in case you haven't read them

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Aug 20th, 2016 at 10:10pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Aug 20th, 2016 at 6:18pm:

issuevoter wrote on Aug 20th, 2016 at 6:11pm:
I always have a book on the go, sometimes two. I am reading the life of Marco Polo via Kindle for PC. I actually prefer the printed page, especially a good weight of creamy paper and nice typeface where you can see the case impression. But if its available electronically, I don't mind that either.


Great.

Now confirm for me what I told John Smith here - it was Marco Polo who brought spaghetti and pasta back to Italy from his trips to China.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's been censored out for reasons of political correctness and not wanting to upset millions of Italians. 8-)


I have heard that story too, but so far there is no mention of it. However, Marco Polo was a teenager on his father's second journey to China, and a number of Europeans had been to China before them. I suspect the recipe for pasta came back with all or some of them. It seems before them, there was no pasta in Italy, and before Columbus, no tomatoes. Thank God they had grapes.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Aug 21st, 2016 at 9:32am

issuevoter wrote on Aug 20th, 2016 at 10:10pm:

Lord Herbert wrote on Aug 20th, 2016 at 6:18pm:

issuevoter wrote on Aug 20th, 2016 at 6:11pm:
I always have a book on the go, sometimes two. I am reading the life of Marco Polo via Kindle for PC. I actually prefer the printed page, especially a good weight of creamy paper and nice typeface where you can see the case impression. But if its available electronically, I don't mind that either.


Great.

Now confirm for me what I told John Smith here - it was Marco Polo who brought spaghetti and pasta back to Italy from his trips to China.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's been censored out for reasons of political correctness and not wanting to upset millions of Italians. 8-)


I have heard that story too, but so far there is no mention of it. However, Marco Polo was a teenager on his father's second journey to China, and a number of Europeans had been to China before them. I suspect the recipe for pasta came back with all or some of them. It seems before them, there was no pasta in Italy, and before Columbus, no tomatoes. Thank God they had grapes.


No potatoes or corn until America was settled.

No macadamias until Terra Nullius Australia was settled.

Brazil nuts ... Lichees ...

Tomatoes from Central and South America.

Tea from China.

Coffee from South America.

Tulips from Turkey.

etc etc

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Aug 25th, 2016 at 11:58pm
Echo Burning by Lee Child

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Rhino on Aug 26th, 2016 at 12:02am

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 25th, 2016 at 11:58pm:
Echo Burning by Lee Child
is this a Jack reacher novel?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Aug 26th, 2016 at 12:11am

rhino wrote on Aug 26th, 2016 at 12:02am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 25th, 2016 at 11:58pm:
Echo Burning by Lee Child
is this a Jack reacher novel?


It sure is. I'm about to find out how Reacher is going to kick arse against a hit squad. Personally, I find Reacher a bit of a dick, and I wish he got his arse kicked this time around.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Setanta on Aug 26th, 2016 at 12:21am

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 26th, 2016 at 12:11am:

rhino wrote on Aug 26th, 2016 at 12:02am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 25th, 2016 at 11:58pm:
Echo Burning by Lee Child
is this a Jack reacher novel?


It sure is. I'm about to find out how Reacher is going to kick arse against a hit squad. Personally, I find Reacher a bit of a dick, and I wish he got his arse kicked this time around.


He'll probably just do a Reacher round. Sorry. I don't even know the books. I should ban me from books and I will. 48 hours.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Sep 14th, 2016 at 1:02am
Half way through "Tripwire" by Lee Child. Better book.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma Peel on Sep 14th, 2016 at 1:41am
Coldbrook ..Tim Lebbon

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Sep 15th, 2016 at 2:07pm
Picasso: The Real Family Story, by his grandson Olivier Widmaier Picasso.

This biography appeared in 2004, and it holds a special place among all the books about the great artist as it tries to tell the story in the context of four generations. At first, I was wary of the perspective of privileged relation, and the introduction really put me off. It goes on for fourteen pages of grievances against other writers. However, I have to say when the author makes a statement, a correction, or contradiction, he backs it up with detailed citations.

I was also ready to be disappointed in the actual writing, as the author was trained as a lawyer. I am happy to report that this man really knows how to write.  His handling of language is that of one who understand the value of writing, no matter what the subject, and the author has a sound perspective of the human condition. Poignant at times, the book is not chronological, it is made up of parts under different headings, starting off with the “Women.” And being centred in the life and times of “Mr Modern Art,” there are many interesting characters described and quoted throughout. It is a quite comprehensive view of the family in its triumph and troubles. But most of all, it gets us close the creative genius of Picasso without worshiping or judging the man.

I must admit I scanned over the part detailing the complex inheritances, it is not important to the average reader. I suppose it had to be spelled out, and it is doubtful anyone else could have documented these details in a worthwhile way.

This is a great read for anyone interested in modern art.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Oct 8th, 2016 at 11:00am
H.E. Bates "The Fallow Land" (repeat read)

Simultaneously reading W S Maugham "Creatures of Circumstance", which is a collection of short stories probably included in the complete collection I read years ago. But this is an old hard cover edition, thick pages & quite a bit of foxing, so it's great to read.

Also listening to "Cousin Henry" by Trollope.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Oct 11th, 2016 at 4:56pm
Maugham, right. You got me thinking I should re-read "On A Chinese Screen," his short stories about his travels in China, circa 1920. Found this great quote in the introduction:

"If a man is unfaithful to his wife, she is an object of sympathy, whereas if a woman is unfaithful to her husband, he is merely an object of ridicule."

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Oct 11th, 2016 at 5:19pm



"The remarkable true stories in The Boy Behind the Curtain reveal an intimate and rare view of Tim Winton’s imagination at work and play."


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Oct 11th, 2016 at 5:40pm
Sorry, quick aside - is anyone a subscriber to Audible and if yes, do you recommend it?
http://www.audible.com.au/

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Neferti on Oct 11th, 2016 at 5:57pm
I read lots and lots of books.  Always have done. However, I wonder whether those here actually take notice and learn anything from what they read.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Oct 11th, 2016 at 9:57pm

greggerypeccary wrote on Oct 11th, 2016 at 5:19pm:


"The remarkable true stories in The Boy Behind the Curtain reveal an intimate and rare view of Tim Winton’s imagination at work and play."


Tim Winton, one of Australia's finest writers.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Oct 11th, 2016 at 11:45pm

issuevoter wrote on Oct 11th, 2016 at 9:57pm:

greggerypeccary wrote on Oct 11th, 2016 at 5:19pm:


"The remarkable true stories in The Boy Behind the Curtain reveal an intimate and rare view of Tim Winton’s imagination at work and play."


Tim Winton, one of Australia's finest writers.


Indeed.

I walked past him once in Fremantle.

I wanted to say hello, but I thought he'd probably be sick of strangers doing that.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Oct 12th, 2016 at 7:45am
I recently read Tim Winton's little book called Land's Edge. It is probably twenty years old, but remains fresh and relevant.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Oct 14th, 2016 at 8:34pm
I listened to an interview with Tim Winton a few years ago.

I had never heard - nor have since -  a more inarticulate, Umming and youknowing writer.

Someone said that that is his Australian quality - groping for inarticulacy.  I don't think so.

I find Peter Carey unreadable, too. I don't know what people see in him- but people I respect do see quality where I see only tosh.

Pierre Ryckmans, Clive James and Les Murray are my top Australian literary figures.

Self-consciously Australian writing (Winton, Carey)- like self-conscious writing of any kind - is bad.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Oct 15th, 2016 at 9:43am
I think that's "inarticulateness" but not to worry I've done worse.

Try reading some of the older Australian writers.
Kylie Tennant, Ruth Park, George Johnstone, Sumner Lock Elliott and others.

I listened to a podcast about lost Australian histories the other day and the guest, a historian and award-winning author, came across as pretty inarticulate too. But the spoken word obviously wasn't his thing, the written word was.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Oct 19th, 2016 at 4:01am
"The Visitor" by Lee Child.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Culture Warrior on Oct 19th, 2016 at 7:05am
Revolt Against the Modern Word by Julius Evola.

Brilliant. It describes the differences between the 'traditional world' and 'modern world'. The 'traditional world' is the world where all behaviour and activity on earth (and heavens) is explained by a metaphysical realm, usually via gods or Platonic 'forms'. The 'modern world' is where the world (our world) is explained by the physical and material.

In the modern world, all human behaviour losses its justification beyond naked individual interest - even group interests are traced back to individual interests. In the traditional world, behaviour was explained according to the metaphysical order of the time - an order that existed outside the human.

There's so much in this book that a few dozen dissertations would be required to cover it all. The description that Evola gives of the decadence of modern man deserves a few dissertations in itself.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Oct 22nd, 2016 at 1:00pm

issuevoter wrote on Oct 11th, 2016 at 4:56pm:
Maugham, right. You got me thinking I should re-read "On A Chinese Screen," his short stories about his travels in China, circa 1920. Found this great quote in the introduction:

"If a man is unfaithful to his wife, she is an object of sympathy, whereas if a woman is unfaithful to her husband, he is merely an object of ridicule."


I haven't read him for many years but I'm discovering again why I liked him, especially the short stories. It's so simple and so well written and he gets to the heart of things.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 11:16am

Neferti wrote on Oct 11th, 2016 at 5:57pm:
I read lots and lots of books.  Always have done. However, I wonder whether those here actually take notice and learn anything from what they read.

I learned what a harridan is from reading Dickens.


  ;D ;D ;D ;D

I also learned:
Annual income £20, annual expenditure £20 and sixpence, result is misery

Annual income £20, annual expenditure £19/19/6, result is happiness

Basically, reading Dickens confirmed that my leftist, progressive stance is the right one. I now see neoconservatism bringing back the pain, misery and exploitation of the 19th century.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 12:07pm
A lot of Dickens though is a caricature of society, highly dramatised for effect. He was a drama queen by inclination. There are probably more accurate descriptions by Gissing for example or Gaskell.

I think it's dramatising to compare say contemporary Australian or British society to 19th century England, with its unsanitary waste, water & food conditions as well as uncontrolled pollution and exploitation of workers.

PS A lot of good nitty gritty on 19th century conditions appears as background material in Peter Ackroyd's excellent but long biography of Dickens.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 1:36pm
Naughty librarians



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 2:31pm

bogarde73 wrote on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 12:07pm:
A lot of Dickens though is a caricature of society, highly dramatised for effect. He was a drama queen by inclination. There are probably more accurate descriptions by Gissing for example or Gaskell.

I think it's dramatising to compare say contemporary Australian or British society to 19th century England, with its unsanitary waste, water & food conditions as well as uncontrolled pollution and exploitation of workers.

PS A lot of good nitty gritty on 19th century conditions appears as background material in Peter Ackroyd's excellent but long biography of Dickens.

Well, Charles was a novelist. And a socialist of sorts: when he was sent out to work as a boy (some reversal of family fortunes) and loud did he wail that he had to work in a factory gluing labels on jars of bootblack instead of studying at school. Didn’t worry himself about all the other boys in that factory.

Orwell also wrote on Dickens.

Charles did get changes made so did good.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 2:35pm
Anybody read much Jack London?

Another socialist novelist.

I read White Fang in high school, attempted another novel but doubt I managed to finish it. Any recommendations for books by London?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 3:29pm
I have read his book of Hawaiian stories which are excellent for those interested in the literature of the 19th century "South Seas", Cruise of the Snark is good, and I started the Sea Wolf, but I did not go any further than his first nautical technical error. Similarly, I rejected Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 3:49pm

Jovial Monk wrote on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 2:35pm:
Anybody read much Jack London?

Another socialist novelist.

I read White Fang in high school, attempted another novel but doubt I managed to finish it. Any recommendations for books by London?



Iron Heel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/theater/review-the-iron-heel-reworks-a-jack-london-dystopia.html?_r=0

His stories are also very good, of course, every one a Ripping Yarn, but I think Iron Heel was his main book, with Martin Eden.


They are both good windows into the mind of romantic socialist thinkers before WWI and the kind of society they saw around themselves.
Dreiser's American Dream, from the mid-1920s, would be a good follow up I'd recommend. Far less didactic, as you would expect after the war and revolutions of 1914-1921.


The more I think about it the more I think - what a great adventure of the mind it would be to read and re-read Jack London's work. I read all his short stories as a teenager and he certainly shaped my idea of 'America' (as did Dreiser, Salinger, Bellow, Heller, Mailer  etc)

You have taken me on a reverie - thanks!





Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 3:52pm

Jovial Monk wrote on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 11:16am:

Neferti wrote on Oct 11th, 2016 at 5:57pm:
I read lots and lots of books.  Always have done. However, I wonder whether those here actually take notice and learn anything from what they read.

I learned what a harridan is from reading Dickens.


  ;D ;D ;D ;D



Lucky guy.....


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 4:27pm

Frank wrote on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 3:49pm:

Jovial Monk wrote on Oct 23rd, 2016 at 2:35pm:
Anybody read much Jack London?

Another socialist novelist.

I read White Fang in high school, attempted another novel but doubt I managed to finish it. Any recommendations for books by London?



Iron Heel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/theater/review-the-iron-heel-reworks-a-jack-london-dystopia.html?_r=0

His stories are also very good, of course, every one a Ripping Yarn, but I think Iron Heel was his main book, with Martin Eden.


They are both good windows into the mind of romantic socialist thinkers before WWI and the kind of society they saw around themselves.
Dreiser's American Dream, from the mid-1920s, would be a good follow up I'd recommend. Far less didactic, as you would expect after the war and revolutions of 1914-1921.


The more I think about it the more I think - what a great adventure of the mind it would be to read and re-read Jack London's work. I read all his short stories as a teenager and he certainly shaped my idea of 'America' (as did Dreiser, Salinger, Bellow, Heller, Mailer  etc)

You have taken me on a reverie - thanks!

Hmmm will see if local library has any Jack London works.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Nov 1st, 2016 at 1:31am

UnSubRocky wrote on Oct 19th, 2016 at 4:01am:
"The Visitor" by Lee Child.


This novel is turning into a bit of a CSI episode. Apparently, we know who is involved. But, the twist is still to come.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Dec 3rd, 2016 at 2:31pm
Sila's Fortune, by Fabrice Humbert.

I would think the author's name is pronounced Oombair. Sila's Fortune is a novel which won the Jean-Jaques Rousseau Prize of 2010, and there is no doubt it is a good read. Dicerning readers will sense that FH relies heavily on co-incidence for the main plot, but his style made me forgive this Dickensian device. The strange aspect of it, is that it combines really excellent writing with a few dreadful cliches, an example being, “the world was his oyster.” I almost put it down at that point, but I persevered, and it was worth the effort.

The story is at its most gripping when dealing with world international finance, which sounds dry, but FH drags us into the everything from the fall of the Soviet Union and the immediate appearance of Russian oligarchs, to the sub-prime mortgage scandals of this century.

Picasso said that art is the lie that reveals the truth, and of course, a work of fiction is a white lie that tries to trick us into believing the story. The truth revealed in Sila's Fortune is twofold. One is the corrupting influence of fortune that can be quantified by its dollar value. The other was quite unintentional. The way FH handles his characters personal lives, reveals fairly obvious references to bisexuality at least. It is as though he is trying to restrain his characters for his own sake.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Dec 20th, 2016 at 5:38am

UnSubRocky wrote on Nov 1st, 2016 at 1:31am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Oct 19th, 2016 at 4:01am:
"The Visitor" by Lee Child.


This novel is turning into a bit of a CSI episode. Apparently, we know who is involved. But, the twist is still to come.


Hmm.. well I have just read three new books courtesy of my local library..

..ohh I'm on the third now, and it is the best.

First book was the(a) new Lee Child .. Jack Reacher ....Night School .
A sad effort. It was so boring, and I can only describe it as a 'contract-filler' ...truly woeful.

Second book was the(a) new Coben Harlan , Home.. much more engaging, and better written. It had memorable characters and an interesting plot. He never disappoints.

Third book is the(a) new David Baldacci, featuring Amos Decker.
Halfway through. It is very enjoyable so far, altho ? I think I see an obvious set-up in the plot so far, and hope I am wrong. :)

Still, it is the best of the three. The writing is crisp, and the ideas open up in a rational progression. Amos Decker is definitely a character worthy of many further novels. Thumbs up.










Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Dec 27th, 2016 at 7:57am
I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Somerset Maugham's short stories, a collection of which "Creatures of Circumstances" I'm reading now.
They always have to do with human relationships & cultural influences and they are set in almost every part of the world.
And he tells them all as if he was a witness to the events or was told by someone who was, but I don't know how true that is.
Of course they're all from a world that is gone now.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Dec 27th, 2016 at 8:52am

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 27th, 2016 at 7:57am:
I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Somerset Maugham's short stories, a collection of which "Creatures of Circumstances" I'm reading now.
They always have to do with human relationships & cultural influences and they are set in almost every part of the world.
And he tells them all as if he was a witness to the events or was told by someone who was, but I don't know how true that is.
Of course they're all from a world that is gone now.


To read Maugham, you require an interest and insight into the period, although some of his writing stands the test of time a little better than others. I could not read Of Human Bondage after one chapter, due to the dull people he was writing about. I was unable to invest anything in the characters. Another thing about Maugham is his disregard for commas. You have to read some of his sentences twice to see the clauses.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Dec 27th, 2016 at 11:01am
I only read Of Human Bondage once. I believe it is in part autobiographical and from memory I did enjoy it. The Razor's Edge otoh I didn't enjoy at all.
But his short stories are great and timeless.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Dec 27th, 2016 at 7:36pm
Want to start reading "The Illiad" soon.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Dec 28th, 2016 at 6:28am

UnSubRocky wrote on Dec 27th, 2016 at 7:36pm:
Want to start reading "The Illiad" soon.


I think if ever I got around to reading those things again, which is improbable, I would first want to read a couple of good histories of Ancient Greece. My knowledge there is so limited as to be practically non existent.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Dec 28th, 2016 at 8:12am

UnSubRocky wrote on Dec 27th, 2016 at 7:36pm:
Want to start reading "The Illiad" soon.


I read the Odyssey about a year ago. I found it interesting from a historical perspective, but the style is from a time when most people could not read. A narrator told stories in episodes that used a lot of repetition. There is no power of description or depth of character. Revenge is an important motive throughout. Cruelty is recorded with some pleasure.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 28th, 2016 at 8:16am

issuevoter wrote on Dec 28th, 2016 at 8:12am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Dec 27th, 2016 at 7:36pm:
Want to start reading "The Illiad" soon.


I read the Odyssey about a year ago. I found it interesting from a historical perspective, but the style is from a time when most people could not read. A narrator told stories in episodes that used a lot of repetition. There is no power of description or depth of character. Revenge is an important motive throughout. Cruelty is recorded with some pleasure.


Sounds very modern day Hollywood.

'Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose'.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Dec 28th, 2016 at 11:07am

UnSubRocky wrote on Dec 27th, 2016 at 7:36pm:
Want to start reading "The Illiad" soon.



You should listen to it. These epics were meant to be heard, not read.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Heartless Felon on Dec 29th, 2016 at 2:24pm
Just picked up "Bombs Away" by Harry Turtledove.

During the Korean war, the American general Macarthur wanted to use nuclear weapons to interdict enemy supply lines. Harry Truman refused his request.

"Bombs Away" is based on the premise that Truman gave permission for the use of theses bombs. As alternative history, it's pretty confronting stuff.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Dec 29th, 2016 at 5:06pm
I have another 'Bombs Away' type book waiting for me after I've finished the book I'm reading at the moment, but it's all fact and about the aircrews of WWII.

Very small fonts and runs to about 400 pages.

Men of Air by Kevin Wilson - (No! - not Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson, I hasten to add).

'When we first arrived, the intelligence officer told us .. "Your expectation of life is six weeks. Go back to your huts and make out your wills" '

'In the winter of 1944 ... the chance of surviving a tour was as low as one in five, and morale had hit rock bottom'.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Dec 30th, 2016 at 12:24am

Frank wrote on Dec 28th, 2016 at 11:07am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Dec 27th, 2016 at 7:36pm:
Want to start reading "The Illiad" soon.



You should listen to it. These epics were meant to be heard, not read.


Hey that's a good idea. Might check out my local library. :) Thanks.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jan 5th, 2017 at 5:59am

Emma wrote on Dec 30th, 2016 at 12:24am:

Frank wrote on Dec 28th, 2016 at 11:07am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Dec 27th, 2016 at 7:36pm:
Want to start reading "The Illiad" soon.



You should listen to it. These epics were meant to be heard, not read.


Hey that's a good idea. Might check out my local library. :) Thanks.


Started reading the introduction to the Illiad, last night. Then it occurred to me that I was not reading the story, but various takes on what the story was about. Went ahead to the first page of the story, and was struck down by "it is written in bullshite" poetry. Started hearing David de Feis voice over as I read over the lines. That did not help. Gave up and put the book aside. I think I might read McIntyre's concise history of Australia, instead.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Jan 7th, 2017 at 4:31am
Just finished an older Stephen King novel. 
Joyland.

It isn't a long book, unlike many of his works, but nevertheless, it hits all the spots.  I picked it up, and read the first couple of chapters, then put it down.  I read ALL my other library books, some of which were quite good , before picking it up again.

It proved to be more interesting than I had expected, even though I know King delivers a punch in everything he writes.
Now I need to get some more books from the local library.

I can , sort of, understand why people want to read true histories of the human condition, like UnSubRocky's expression of his preferences for example.  My reading doesn't have that focus,  as I prefer fiction.  I don't watch movies much either. I much prefer written fantasy.... and all fiction basically falls into that category.. no??




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Jan 7th, 2017 at 3:37pm

Emma wrote on Jan 7th, 2017 at 4:31am:
Just finished an older Stephen King novel. 
Joyland.

It isn't a long book, unlike many of his works, but nevertheless, it hits all the spots.  I picked it up, and read the first couple of chapters, then put it down.  I read ALL my other library books, some of which were quite good , before picking it up again.

It proved to be more interesting than I had expected, even though I know King delivers a punch in everything he writes.
Now I need to get some more books from the local library.

I can , sort of, understand why people want to read true histories of the human condition, like UnSubRocky's expression of his preferences for example.  My reading doesn't have that focus,  as I prefer fiction.  I don't watch movies much either. I much prefer written fantasy.... and all fiction basically falls into that category.. no??


The best selling genre in fiction today, is "Fantasy." And by that, the publishing business is quite specific. It appeals to teenagers and young adults, who do not just buy any old fiction. The difference between Fantasy and Fictional literature is that Fantasy does not restrict itself to the laws of physics, human nature, or the catalog of the natural kingdom. So, I have to say, "No." All fiction is not fantasy. Most fiction of a lasting quality examines the real human condition.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jan 7th, 2017 at 3:48pm

Emma wrote on Jan 7th, 2017 at 4:31am:
Just finished an older Stephen King novel. 
Joyland.


How old?

I've never heard of it, and I'm a King fan.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jan 7th, 2017 at 6:03pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Jan 5th, 2017 at 5:59am:

Emma wrote on Dec 30th, 2016 at 12:24am:

Frank wrote on Dec 28th, 2016 at 11:07am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Dec 27th, 2016 at 7:36pm:
Want to start reading "The Illiad" soon.



You should listen to it. These epics were meant to be heard, not read.


Hey that's a good idea. Might check out my local library. :) Thanks.


Started reading the introduction to the Illiad, last night. Then it occurred to me that I was not reading the story, but various takes on what the story was about. Went ahead to the first page of the story, and was struck down by "it is written in bullshite" poetry. Started hearing David de Feis voice over as I read over the lines. That did not help. Gave up and put the book aside. I think I might read McIntyre's concise history of Australia, instead.



Blainey's Histories are better, I think.


Iliad - Robert Fagle's translation is the best. The older verse translations now sound archaic and contorted to our ears.

If you can't get an audio version that you like - the reader's voice becomes crucial and if you on't like the sound it doesn't matter how good the translation - then read out loud the printed version you like. Don't listen to Librivox, the readers are almost invariably terrible.





Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 9th, 2017 at 1:32pm
Yeah I found Blainey a good read.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Jan 9th, 2017 at 4:32pm
Interesting what you say about Librivox readers. I have found some good ones, but recently I was listening to American reading Somerset Maugham, totally wrong for a start, but he insisted on calling the author Maugha(n) at the start of every chapter. You'd think someone who read it that often, would get it right.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jan 9th, 2017 at 6:52pm
I recently listened to this reading of The Moon and Sixpence:
http://www.audible.com.au/pd/Fiction/The-Moon-And-Sixpence-Audiobook/B00FLKSIIU/ref=a_search_c4_1_8_srTtl?qid=1483951658&sr=1-8 Read by Robert Hardy.
Very, very good. Couldn't listen to it with Frederick Davidson.
Also, Vile Bodies, also read by Robert Hardy. He's excellent with voice impersonations, which is what you need with Vile Bodies.


And The Painted Veil http://www.audible.com.au/pd/Classics/The-Painted-Veil-Audiobook/B00FGF56A8/ref=a_search_c4_1_7_srTtl?qid=1483951791&sr=1-7
Also great.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Jan 9th, 2017 at 10:41pm

greggerypeccary wrote on Jan 7th, 2017 at 3:48pm:

Emma wrote on Jan 7th, 2017 at 4:31am:
Just finished an older Stephen King novel. 
Joyland.


How old?

I've never heard of it, and I'm a King fan.


Well shucks, I've returned it the Library already.
It was a small paperback, published by a mob  who's symbol was a small yellow ribbon with I think the name on it  , which I think was  'Hard Crime...hmm perhaps club? It had published other works by authors including Robert B.Parker...can't remember anymore, but you'll probably find it by googling.  :)


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jan 9th, 2017 at 10:56pm
It's actually quite recent, only the cover is retro.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Jan 9th, 2017 at 10:59pm

issuevoter wrote on Jan 7th, 2017 at 3:37pm:

Emma wrote on Jan 7th, 2017 at 4:31am:
Just finished an older Stephen King novel. 
Joyland.

It isn't a long book, unlike many of his works, but nevertheless, it hits all the spots.  I picked it up, and read the first couple of chapters, then put it down.  I read ALL my other library books, some of which were quite good , before picking it up again.

It proved to be more interesting than I had expected, even though I know King delivers a punch in everything he writes.
Now I need to get some more books from the local library.

I can , sort of, understand why people want to read true histories of the human condition, like UnSubRocky's expression of his preferences for example.  My reading doesn't have that focus,  as I prefer fiction.  I don't watch movies much either. I much prefer written fantasy.... and all fiction basically falls into that category.. no??


The best selling genre in fiction today, is "Fantasy." And by that, the publishing business is quite specific. It appeals to teenagers and young adults, who do not just buy any old fiction. The difference between Fantasy and Fictional literature is that Fantasy does not restrict itself to the laws of physics, human nature, or the catalog of the natural kingdom. So, I have to say, "No." All fiction is not fantasy. Most fiction of a lasting quality examines the real human condition.


Well yes I'd also agree with that.. certainly some authors are most rigorous in respect of authenticity, but by no means all. Most license taken by authors  does tend to be around human geography. For example making up a town where none actually exists, while the rest of the novel is as historically correct as possible. Some authors create geographical features like lakes or a mountain. Then we have authors who create different ideas based on real circumstances.
What is mostly called Fantasy today, used to be known as 'Sword and Sorcery'.. :)  but not so today. 
I'd still contend though that fictional works all contain elements of fantasy..obviously else it wouldn't be termed fiction. I think it is merely a matter of degree.



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Jan 9th, 2017 at 11:17pm
Having recently posted that I only rread fiction, I now find myself having just completed a Autobiography.. The first I have read in decades, really. :o :-?
I found that I had read all my library books, and my wee local library isn't open every day , so I was
pretty well forced to read a book I had been given as a gift some years ago.

I found it so excellent I basically opened it ... and read it in one evening.

'A Fence Around the Cuckoo', by Ruth Park. 
Having come from the same part of the world I found it particularly effecting and poignant. I was amazed to see names I hadn't heard since I was a child.  An excruciating, for me, description of the society and country where I was born, with a fearless chronicle of the Great Depression in particular, in New Zealand. My mother lived through the period covered by this book, in not totally dissimilar circumstances, tho not so dire.
Yet I'd known about none of it.
Eye-opening and with wonderful writing, it remained basically optimistic for the future and contains some marvellous true characters and observations about our world generally.
Well worth reading.
I'll have to read Volume Two, which I do not currently own.
It ends when she moves to Australia and marries
D'arcy Niland.. whose name may be familiar to some.  Also contains some excellent photographs.
5 Stars.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Jan 9th, 2017 at 11:22pm

Frank wrote on Jan 9th, 2017 at 10:56pm:
It's actually quite recent, only the cover is retro.

Yep that's it. Thanks Frank. :).
For Stephen King 2013 is still pretty old. :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 11th, 2017 at 2:52pm
Being interested in biographies probably more than fiction, I'm currently reading Portrait of a Marriage, the marriage being Harold Nicholson & Vita Sackville-West in the early 20th century.

Vita's family were involved in two of the most notorious family court cases of the time, both over wills and huge fortunes & property.
One of them arose over the de facto marriage of Vita's grandfather to a Spanish dancer, which produced 5 illegitimate children, one of them being Vita's mother.

When that Lord Sackville was appointed ambassador to Washington, not having a wife, he wanted to make Vita's 19 year old mother his official hostess. Queen Victoria was not amused but gave her approval provided the Americans didn't disapprove of an illegitimate daughter in the position.
The prominent ladies of Washington formed a committee to advise the President and gave their approval.
However that President was assassinated before Vita's mother even arrived. His successor, President Arthur (of whom I'd never heard), became enamoured of Vita's mother and pursued her relentlessly, despite being old enough to be her grandfather.
It's amazing what little snippets of history pop up in things you read.

Vita Sackville-West was a writer, a leading member of the Bloomsbury bohemian set and later a noted garden creator.
She was also involved in several lesbian affairs, one of which was with the daughter of Edward VII's long time mistress Alice Keppel and another with the writer Virginia Woolf.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jan 14th, 2017 at 2:49am
I have finished the Jack Reacher novel "The Visitor". Found the book quite predictable. You get told the modus operandi and a viable suspect within the first chapter or two of the book. Then you are lulled into thinking that the suspect is someone else, simply because the likely suspect disappears after the first third of the book.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 28th, 2017 at 9:02am
I am starting on Longbourn, a novel about the reality of life for the servants of the Bennet family of Pride & Prejudice.
It will take me ages, I'm a slow reader these days.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Feb 6th, 2017 at 11:52pm
Just finished 'Chaos' .. a Dr Kay Scarpetta novel, by Patricia Cornwall.

Was good.  A little long-winded in places, but nicely compresses some recent  Scarpetta books into a tidy place from which to move forward.
Over all a satisfying read.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Feb 7th, 2017 at 10:19am
Tell me what kind of stories they are Emma.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Feb 7th, 2017 at 10:16pm
YOU could always google Dr Kay Scarpetta.......
:)
Patricia Cornwall is a world famous author of the genre..  Forensic science. Crime and suspense from the viewpoint of a dedicated scientist, who also happens to be a human being.
Her descriptions of the ínvestigations, in this case post-mortem autopsy , are clear, succinct and entirely believable  and eminently readable. :)

She has an admirable way of describing locales and in the book mentioned I tended to largely skim those, until we get back to the action. Almost all the action concerns human interaction, BUT when the physical action happens, it is happens FAST.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Feb 8th, 2017 at 7:06am
I could Google but a) I'm lazy and b) it's more interesting if we talk about what we've read I think

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Feb 9th, 2017 at 11:45pm
Quite so . 

Have just started reading the second novel by the author of "The Horse Whisperer" .Nicholas Evans.

Haven't read the first novel, surprisingly enough. Must do so because this book, after about 5 reasonable sized chapters, is promising to be a good read. :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Feb 10th, 2017 at 12:08am
Oh , and I forgot to add that it is called "The Loop" and it's about WOLVES.
Have always loved wolf tales, ever since reading Jack London as a child.

There was another author back then I read ravenously, among many authors, but this fella wrote about Deer, and Elk .. He had a name  like um.. Chesterfield... something like that I and I seem to remember he was a Scot.
????

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Mar 29th, 2017 at 11:44am
Reading about the lead up to and the siege of Tobruk. Interesting.

Firstly: Menzies was a useless clown! No wonder the two Independents changed their support from the UAP to the ALP and Australia got its best PM bar none. Menzies could not get a single plane, ship or tank from Churchill for the defence of Australia. Compare this to irascible Billy Hughes who demanded against Woodrow Wilson and the assembled diplomats that Australia get New Guinnea. We, of course, were given NG.

Peter is pretty much against the adventure in Greece that denuded North Africa of men, planes and transport. But it could well be that the Germans invading Greece delayed the invasion of Russia meaning that got bogged down in winter short of where they could have been had they invaded as soon as conditions were favorable. It meant a pretty close run in Egypt etc!

General Morshead was called “Ming the Merciless” by his men—a sign of praise for their general. Ming the Merciless was a comic strip from that time. Ginger Meggs even gets a mention in the book.


Sorry, this review a bit disjointed and I think I spelled the author’s name wrong: my copper internet is down so typing this in the local council library. Bloody Libs and useless copper internet, traitors! At least in Tassie I will be on FTTH, more reliable (assuming the cable under Bass Strait doesn’t break down again!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Mar 30th, 2017 at 8:46pm
Jack London:

http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/tharsing_sp17.html

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Apr 1st, 2017 at 3:29am
yes


and so anyway... i didn't finish the book.
Really well written... I was just not willing to go thru the emotional result of reading it all the way through.

I guess I am a coward in that respect.  I can watch wildlife footage of predators taking down prey, and not get emotionally involved, but I HATE reading about human atrocities against our fellow creatures.





Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Apr 1st, 2017 at 9:09am
Me too. It sickens me to see these stories of ivory poaching in particular.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Apr 30th, 2017 at 12:49pm
Just reading the only novel written by actor, and film director Orson Welles. “Mr Arkadan” first appeared in 1956, but looking at Welles' rather convoluted career, its safe to assume it was begun some years earlier. Stylistically, decades tends to be the result of the ideals of the preceding years, before becoming “old hat.” From today's perspective, Welles' style is certainly dated, but not so much that it spoils a good yarn. He is not quite as coy about sex as his contemporaries, but there is much of the 1940s in the story, and few cliches. Those who appreciate pre-war crime writers, will find this a good read, but one needs some intuition into social order of the day. And it is difficult to not assume this was a developed screenplay.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on May 2nd, 2017 at 5:58pm
Rereading Neal Stephenson’s “The Confusion” the second novel in his Baroque Cycle.

Set in the 1600s it features real historical personages, the Royal Society, Newton, Leibnitz, alchemists, William the Silent and James II etc etc a riotous, complicated romp through those turbulent times of the English Revolution, etc.

Neal is well worth reading. Basically he writes Science Fiction—but not as you know it.

Particularly recommend Snow Crash, Cryptonomicron, Reamde (jihardists, Russian Mafia, Christian Taliban etc) and Anathem.

Bloody thick books all of them.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Nom De Plume on May 5th, 2017 at 5:00pm
I am intrigued. What is the first in the cycle?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on May 5th, 2017 at 8:05pm
The System of the World. The Great Fire of London features in that.

There are a few characters that appear in several of Neal’s novels: the Shaftoe family and Enoch Root who seemingly has found the secret of eternal life.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Nom De Plume on May 6th, 2017 at 11:23am

Thanks JM. I have ordered volume 1.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on May 7th, 2017 at 12:08pm
You won’t be disappointed!

Reamde is a romp through present day: Russian mafia, computer games, hackers, jihadists and christian Taliban.

I might have a look on Amazon to see if there are any of Neal’s books I haven’t read yet.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on May 7th, 2017 at 12:15pm
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS
Book by Joby Warrick

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on May 20th, 2017 at 7:06pm

Jovial Monk wrote on May 7th, 2017 at 12:08pm:
You won’t be disappointed!

Reamde is a romp through present day: Russian mafia, computer games, hackers, jihadists and christian Taliban.

I might have a look on Amazon to see if there are any of Neal’s books I haven’t read yet.


I have his “Zodiac—an environmental thriller” (something like that) fresh from the Book Depository.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 19th, 2017 at 12:40am
Bought the whole 7 books for Game Of Thrones for $59 from Kmart. Already don't feel like reading them.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Jun 19th, 2017 at 1:29am
Understand. I worked my way through the first series, beginning decades ago, and gave up after that. THEN the show came on and rekindled my interest so I tried to find where I'd left off.

Good grief...that didn't last long .

Maybe one day I'll even watch the show. :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 19th, 2017 at 10:02pm
I want to get through a book before the start of the next series. I would knuckle down and read them, seeing that I have watched season 1 to 6. It would be difficult to read the books if I did not have context about the characters.

But I am being held up with Fit2Fat2Fit about a guy who deliberately gained 75lbs. Then lost 75lbs to gauge the health effects.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Rhino on Jun 19th, 2017 at 11:37pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Jun 19th, 2017 at 10:02pm:

But I am being held up with Fit2Fat2Fit about a guy who deliberately gained 75lbs. Then lost 75lbs to gauge the health effects.

I will go out on a limb here and and predict that the guy was fitter and healthier without the 75lbs of extra fat.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 20th, 2017 at 6:13am

rhino wrote on Jun 19th, 2017 at 11:37pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Jun 19th, 2017 at 10:02pm:

But I am being held up with Fit2Fat2Fit about a guy who deliberately gained 75lbs. Then lost 75lbs to gauge the health effects.

I will go out on a limb here and and predict that the guy was fitter and healthier without the 75lbs of extra fat.


There was a documentary about the effects of eating McDonalds and only McDonalds for a whole month. Every man and his dog could tell you that eating that food would be bad for you. But he was apparently trying to prove a point about the specific health effects of gaining weight. "Supersize Me" is the documentary.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lisa Jones on Jun 20th, 2017 at 6:28am

Gordon wrote on May 7th, 2017 at 12:15pm:
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS
Book by Joby Warrick


Hmmmm....that sounds interesting.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 23rd, 2017 at 4:53pm

Lisa Jones wrote on Jun 20th, 2017 at 6:28am:

Gordon wrote on May 7th, 2017 at 12:15pm:
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS
Book by Joby Warrick


Hmmmm....that sounds interesting.


I want to add that to my Fall of Singapore and other books list. I know sweet stuff all about that.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Jun 24th, 2017 at 10:25pm
Got my holiday read.

https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Tribe.html?id=Isx1jgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y&hl=en

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jun 29th, 2017 at 5:18pm
The Secret Life of Bletchley Park by Sinclair McKay.

About the WWII codebreaking effort there.

Coming is:
“Art Nouveau Architecture” (Paperback)
By (author) Rene Beauclair

and

“A Global Warming Primer: Answering Your Questions About the Science, the Consequences, and the Solutions” (Paperback)
By (author) Jeffrey D. Bennett


So, something to guide me to building and decorating my south Tassie house and info on AGW—will be looking for more advanced works on AGW—It is the problem facing us that needs to be faced and tackled.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Jun 30th, 2017 at 7:56am
Only the Empty Sky. A novel set on Lord Howe Island in 1918. Its the first work by Russell Kelly and concerns the locals and an itinerant American collector and painter of bird life. It is quite well written and interesting, but I'm hot on mistakes in period novels. This novel needed to be proof-read by someone with a good knowledge of the period. Also, the author doesn't know a sheet from a sail. But all in all, its a good read.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jun 30th, 2017 at 7:32pm
A sheet is a rope connected to a sail, right? A painter is a rope that connects a boat to a ship?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lord Herbert on Jun 30th, 2017 at 8:50pm
'John Stuart Mill' by Richard Reeves.

A good read.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Jul 1st, 2017 at 5:42pm

Jovial Monk wrote on Jun 30th, 2017 at 7:32pm:
A sheet is a rope connected to a sail, right? A painter is a rope that connects a boat to a ship?


Basically correct. The sheet (single part or tackle) is the principal means of controlling the trim of the sail. Other lines are attached to the sail: Halyards for hoisting, cunninghams, barber haulers, reef pennants etc.

In a boat, the painter is usually a permanently fixed bow line.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jul 1st, 2017 at 7:38pm
Learned something from the Hornblower books then.


:)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 7th, 2017 at 1:07am

rhino wrote on Jun 19th, 2017 at 11:37pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Jun 19th, 2017 at 10:02pm:

But I am being held up with Fit2Fat2Fit about a guy who deliberately gained 75lbs. Then lost 75lbs to gauge the health effects.

I will go out on a limb here and and predict that the guy was fitter and healthier without the 75lbs of extra fat.


There was a lot on the psychological changes the man went through, as well as the input from his wife. His wife happens to be a "foodie". But even she goes through a health kick in response to her husband's new poor diet.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Emma on Jul 8th, 2017 at 3:09am
Patricia Cornwall... Depraved Heart.
Just started.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 8th, 2017 at 9:08am
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan.
It's a bit like the story of the Home Fires TV series.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Jul 28th, 2017 at 12:12pm
Just finished The Woman on the Stairs, by Bernhard Schlink. Its translated from German, but set largely in Australia. This novel is very well written so anyone who appreciates literature will find it worthwhile. However, I think the author's observations on life will not necessarily hold much meaning for those who have yet to reach middle-age.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jul 28th, 2017 at 1:20pm

Lord Herbert wrote on Jun 30th, 2017 at 8:50pm:
'John Stuart Mill' by Richard Reeves.

A good read.


An excellent read.

I'm about 100 pages into that one.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jul 29th, 2017 at 8:17am
I've started re-reading Dickens (biography) by Peter Ackroyd. I always promised myself I would.
I mostly don't keep promises, so will I get through it?
When not reading it, it comes in handy as a step stool.
But it's a great work not just of biography but of social history of the 19th century.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jul 29th, 2017 at 6:01pm
Alan Furst, A Mission to Paris (audiobook)





Unrelated but tres amusant:


‘You can’t switch it off — it’s a book.’

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 30th, 2017 at 2:35am
J.M. Roberts "History of the World". I have told people about this book. 1100 pages of explicit information. Will take me a couple months to finish reading.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Aug 5th, 2017 at 12:01pm

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Aug 6th, 2017 at 11:29pm
Did you read Bowden's account on Black Hawk Down?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Sep 15th, 2017 at 8:11am
I'm going to start a reread of the Don Camillo.books.
The Little World of Don Camillo etc.
Very amusing as I remember.

PS this must have been a popular read, the copy I have shows there were 17 editions between 1951 & 1953.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Sep 24th, 2017 at 2:22am
George R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones". On to book 1 and going well. Want to have them all read by the end of the year.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Sep 24th, 2017 at 1:11pm
I don't mean to be pedantic but wouldn't you have to be reading at least book 2 before you say "onto"?

Shut up Bogarde.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Sep 24th, 2017 at 10:03pm
Well, considering that I was reading a world history book a week ago, before I gave up again, it is reasonable to say "on to book 1". Such as, I have been reading more often than not, and it is a fair call to say a continuance of another reading. Thank you for pointing out the typo.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Oct 11th, 2017 at 12:48pm

bogarde73 wrote on Sep 15th, 2017 at 8:11am:
I'm going to start a reread of the Don Camillo.books.
The Little World of Don Camillo etc.
Very amusing as I remember.

PS this must have been a popular read, the copy I have shows there were 17 editions between 1951 & 1953.


I've been having a ball with these. What we're looking at here is immediate post-war Italy and a history of partisans fighting the Germans, who were a coalition of Stalinist communists and Catholic traditionalists. As they settle down to live together in peacetime there are frictions which emerge and the author has captured the gentle humour in it all, encapsulated in the constant battle between the Catholic priest Don Camillo and the Communist mayor of the village Pepponi.
Vintage stuff from the diminished shelves of Bogarde.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Oct 21st, 2017 at 3:13pm
M Train by Patti Smith.

Many people will know Patti Smith from her days as a musician and song writer, and recently for her rendition of Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall given for the Nobel Prize crowd.

I was surprised to find this is the eleventh book from Patti. It is autobiographical, and starts out in a dream in which she is told it is hard to write about nothing. That put me off, as I have heard it elsewhere, but if one likes poetical prose, M Train is excellent. It might just be me, but it took 50 pages for me to feel that she was hitting her stride. It is very engaging and revealing, and thought provoking in places.
Not all of her writing heroes are mine. For example, I pretty sure William Boroughs was a pedophile. Nonetheless, M Train has a "beat" validity, and I will certainly look for more of Patti Smith's work.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by cods on Oct 22nd, 2017 at 8:51am
anyone buying Kevin 007s new book???

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by PZ547 on Oct 26th, 2017 at 2:53pm
I'm still dipping into Charles Hoy Fort

It's all there, everything

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Nov 26th, 2017 at 8:03pm
My local share library.  :)


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Cofgod on Nov 27th, 2017 at 12:25am


'The Hollow Crown is exhilarating, epic, blood-and-roses history . . . Jones's material is thrilling . . . There is fine scholarly intuition on display here and a mastery of the grand narrative; it is a supremely skilful piece of storytelling.' Sunday Telegraph


The fifteenth century saw the crown of England change hands seven times as the great families of England fought to the death for power, majesty and the right to rule. The Hollow Crown completes Dan Jones' epic history of medieval England, and describes how the Plantagenets tore themselves apart to be finally replaced by the Tudors.

Some of the greatest heroes and villains in British history were thrown together in these turbulent times: Henry V, whose victory at Agincourt and prudent rule at home marked the high point of the medieval monarchy; Edward IV, who was handed his crown by the scheming soldier Warwick the Kingmaker, before their alliance collapsed into a fight to the death; and the last Plantagenet, Richard III, who stole the throne and murdered his own nephews, the Princes in the Tower. Finally, the Tudors arrived - but even their rule was only made certain in the 1520s, when Henry VIII ruthlessly hunted down his family's last remaining enemies.


Historian and author Dan Jones

In the midst this tumult, chivalry was reborn, the printing press arrived and the Renaissance began to flourish. With vivid descriptions of the 1461 Battle of Towton, where 28,000 men (1% of England's entire population) died in a single morning, and the Battle of Bosworth Field, at which Richard III was hacked down, this is the real story behind Shakespeare's famous history plays.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Nov 27th, 2017 at 6:51am
A great TV series too with Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard II.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Annie Anthrax on Dec 8th, 2017 at 8:17pm
I'm reading "The  Farm" by Tom Rob Smith, who also wrote Child 44. It's very good - quite unlike anything Ive read before. It's a thriller and a perfect summer read.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Dec 9th, 2017 at 8:41pm
How Dante can change your life
The unlikely voyage of Jack de Crow

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Dec 31st, 2017 at 12:25am
Read the first chapter to "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens. The wordiness of the book did not make it any less enjoyable.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 7th, 2018 at 5:20pm
The House with the Mezzanine & other Stories, Anton Chekhov

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Agatha on Jan 7th, 2018 at 6:22pm

bogarde73 wrote on Jan 7th, 2018 at 5:20pm:
The House with the Mezzanine & other Stories, Anton Chekhov

Ha! I just downloaded his short stories from Audible.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 11th, 2018 at 10:37am
I enjoy listening to his plays, especially Uncle Vanya and The Three Sisters.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Nom De Plume on Jan 20th, 2018 at 6:50pm
Currently reading The last days of Socrates by Plato

https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/the-last-days-of-socrates-1?utm_campaign=bing_shopping_feed_au_en&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=4583932695809942&utm_content=Ad%20group%20%231

Waiting to be read next is The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333230-the-luminaries

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jan 20th, 2018 at 6:52pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Dec 31st, 2017 at 12:25am:
Read the first chapter to "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens. The wordiness of the book did not make it any less enjoyable.

Hey, Charles was paid by the word!  :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jan 20th, 2018 at 7:00pm
In contrast to the highbrow reading here I have read a couple of lighter books: two volumes of Kerry Greenwood’s Corinne Chapman series about an ex-accountant baker and amateur sleuth, her sabra lover, Jasin her ex-junky apprentice, her unique apartment building etc.

With lots of research and planning I have been doing for a project these books helped me keep my sanity and sent me happily off to the land of Nod—I must read something before I turn the light off and go to sleep.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bogarde73 on Jan 26th, 2018 at 2:29pm
Nothing wrong with light reading. It's about all I can handle these days. The heavier things are wannareads but won'tbereads.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Mar 6th, 2018 at 2:59am
Almost gave up on "The wonderful wizard of Oz". But I managed to finish the book. Really weird that I can start on a book, but not finish it, even if it was a short book. Got in to reading up on "The Australian Prime Ministers" edited by Michelle Grattan. Tried to read about Gough Whitlam. Boring as anything. Malcolm Fraser is going to be the next chapter. I know nearly nothing about his prime ministerialship, even though he was prime minister when I was born.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Apr 1st, 2018 at 8:06am
"98% Funky Stuff," by saxophonist Maceo Parker. Picked up at a $3 sale, this autobiography turns out to interesting and well written. Maceo and his brother were backing musicians for such showmen as James Brown and Marvin Gaye in their heyday. Its a perspective on American music, that has been absent from my collection of musicology. The frontmen were the stars of Soul, R+B, and Funk, but it was the bands, especially the saxes, that drove the music.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sir Spot of Borg on Apr 1st, 2018 at 10:31am
I am currently reading piers anthony incarnations of immortality series. I dont usually like fantasy but its not bad.

Spot

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Apr 3rd, 2018 at 8:37am
Took two Corinna Chapman books with me to Tassie. Have read them and am rereading them. Like this series of books, did not like the Phryne Fisher books much.

Author is Kerry Greenwood.

I am also reading what I can on craft cidermaking, especially now on planting a tiny orchard (12 cider apples, 10 English types including four Yarlington Mill and 2 American King David apples. The King David will provide juice for canning. And a number of dwarf apple and perry pear trees plus cherry trees.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Apr 8th, 2018 at 11:15pm
Just read Jonathan Livingston Seagull with 1stborn.

She loved it, now I just need to explain it a bit to her :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by AiA on May 4th, 2018 at 11:02pm
I read mostly non-fiction business books, most of which I cast aside and never finish as they would have made better magazine articles.

But I do have a new copy of The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft that I keep by the bed ... If you don't know who he is, think of him as Edgar Allen Poe's child and Stephen King's father ...



He looks like Mark Zuckerberg, don't you think?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by le_petit_prince on May 14th, 2018 at 1:21am
I'm currently reading Simon vs homo sapiens agenda. I really liked the screen version of this book - Love, Simon :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on May 26th, 2018 at 9:46am
Lifeline Bookfest yesterday allowed me to buy 18 books for $46. I was thinking going back to the showgrounds today to buy more.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on May 29th, 2018 at 10:46pm
I am reading “Over the Cliff” by author Hugo First.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on May 30th, 2018 at 1:09pm
"Telegraph Avenue," by Michael Chabon. Set in the seedy parts of Oakland, California, his aesthetic choice to embark on extended paragraphs without periods is tiring. It only succeeds due to his brilliant contemporary prose. A great read.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 4th, 2018 at 10:25pm
"Red Dragon" and "Silence of the lambs" by Thomas Harris. Picked up a two in one novel at the op shop today for $4.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jun 5th, 2018 at 11:36pm
Just finished the “Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood.

Not easy reading but I recommend it.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 7th, 2018 at 10:22pm
Thomas Harris novel is being put aside in preference for "God is not great" by Christopher Hitchens.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jun 8th, 2018 at 9:02pm
A Brief History of Celts and one on China are winging their way to me.

Also a book on growing fruit. Well, TWO books on growing fruit are headed my way. One is “The Holistic Orchard” and also covers understory crops like red and black currants.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jun 14th, 2018 at 3:50pm

Monk asked me to tell you that he is reading “Soil Food” by Jackie French.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jun 14th, 2018 at 6:21pm
:-/

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 26th, 2018 at 4:09am

Yadda wrote on Jun 5th, 2013 at 9:34am:
The Book of Samuel I [O.T.]        ;)


I tried so hard to read the Bible. I got through Genesis... and part of the next 'section'. I literally threw the bible across the room, it was that infuriating.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 26th, 2018 at 4:14am

Sprintcyclist wrote on Sep 27th, 2013 at 3:55pm:
Great Expectations.


Was it everything you hoped for?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 26th, 2018 at 4:16am

... wrote on Oct 8th, 2013 at 5:45pm:
Game of thrones

I haven't even seen the TV show, but when I do get around to it, I want to be one of those koonts who interjects every 5 minutes to say "in the book it happens like blah blah blah"


I always watch the show before I read the book. I do that with Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon. Recently, I have taken to reading up on John Howard. Having watched his antics on television from 1996 to 2007.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 26th, 2018 at 4:18am

John Smith wrote on Dec 15th, 2013 at 6:03pm:
I'm going throguh the 'Jack Reacher' series by Lee Child ... currently on 'The Persuader'.


You have probably beaten me to all of them so far. They are such page-turners, I think I have read at least 3 books so far. My goal is to read all of them by end of next year.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sir Spot of Borg on Jun 26th, 2018 at 5:36am

UnSubRocky wrote on Jun 26th, 2018 at 4:16am:

... wrote on Oct 8th, 2013 at 5:45pm:
Game of thrones

I haven't even seen the TV show, but when I do get around to it, I want to be one of those koonts who interjects every 5 minutes to say "in the book it happens like blah blah blah"


I always watch the show before I read the book. I do that with Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon. Recently, I have taken to reading up on John Howard. Having watched his antics on television from 1996 to 2007.


I have a couple books on john howard. I thought I followed the politics at the time but the books are eye opening anyway. A lot of stuff didnt get in the media.

Spot

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by JollyGreenGiant on Jun 28th, 2018 at 4:27pm
I am reading The Ipcress File by Len Deighton, again. The (old) movie had Michael Caine in the role of Henry Palmer.

There were some great books produced back in the day when the "Cold War" was on. Ludlum, Le Carre, Forsyth and of course, Len Deighton. I started reading those books back in the mid-80s.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by issuevoter on Jul 16th, 2018 at 8:12am
Just finished "Lonely Vigil" Coastwatchers of the Solomons. by Walter Lord. An important account of Australian history. Having watched the war clouds gather, the Coastwatchers were organised by RAN intelligence at the outbreak of war in Europe. US Admiral Halsey said, "The Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved the Pacific." Headquartered in Townsville, very few were  military men, (and one woman) they were chosen for their knowledge of the Islands. They were good choices, all showing clear heads and exceptional bravery.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FD bring back mothra and JS on Jul 18th, 2018 at 8:45pm
Haven’t started reading it yet but I have received a copy of:

“The Planet Remade” by Oliver Morton.

About ways geoengineering could stop or reverse the globe warming. None of these have been tried and it is going to be bloody tricky! However, I feel it is only a matter of time before the first attempts are made. Another big El Nino like ’98 or ’16 would do it.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by xeej on Jul 18th, 2018 at 9:06pm
I am reading a phantom comic.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 18th, 2018 at 9:36pm
Got 3 books on former prime ministers. Menzies, Fraser, and Howard. Starting reading Howard's biography. Quite interesting.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FD bring back mothra and JS on Jul 21st, 2018 at 10:00pm
Rereading Neal Stephenson’s “Cryptonomicon.”

Part is set in WWII, particularly code breaking and how to stop the Germans realising the Enigma machine had been cracked, part is set some decades after WWII (the era of laptops, the internet etc) and features descendants of the people in the WWII bit. All cleverly interwoven.

When I have finished that will reread Stephenson’s “Reamde” which has about everything: a multi-player role playing game, Russian mafia, jihadists, Christian Taliban—and a damsel in distress.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FD bring back mothra and JS on Jul 30th, 2018 at 10:25pm
Received two books today:

“Cherries” by D. J. Singh.

Published 2014 but outdated. Mentions cherry trees growing huge, bigger than apple trees. Not on dwarfing rootstocks they don’t.

The other one will be much more useful—remember my concern with the rootstock my cherries are on, Semi dwarfing Colt rootstock.

“Grow a little fruit tree” by Ann Ralph. Keeping trees to a useful size by pruning.

With dwarf rootstocks and pruning you can grow fruit trees even on a balcony!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FD bring back mothra and JS on Aug 8th, 2018 at 9:41am
In between reading gardening/orcharding  :) books I am reading Neal Stephenson’s “Quicksilver.”

Set in the time just after the Restoration in England, the starting of the Royal Society, the rebuilding of London after the fire etc it deals with Leibnitz, Hooke, Boyle, Pepys—and Isaac Newton!


Quote:
A novel of history, adventure, science, invention, sex, absurdity, piracy, madness, death and alchemy


Fascinating!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Agnes on Aug 13th, 2018 at 9:18pm
the back of the cornflakes box- rivetting

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Dnarever on Aug 13th, 2018 at 9:25pm

bogarde73 wrote on Jun 7th, 2013 at 11:15am:
I suppose that's roughly a similar view to people like Wordsworth & Byron although they were a lot earler than Wagner.
Not my cup of tea really. I can only take opera in small doses like the 3 tenors.


I can mange 2 of them - any two.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Dnarever on Aug 13th, 2018 at 9:31pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Jul 18th, 2018 at 9:36pm:
Got 3 books on former prime ministers. Menzies, Fraser, and Howard. Starting reading Howard's biography. Quite interesting.


I found the Howard book to be very useful. After reading the second chapter I threw it at a cockroach that crawled in the window. Felt sorry for the roach but the most useful Howard has ever been.


Not sure if I want to try and read it again,  just burn it or save it in case of a roach infestation.

More seriously reading bits of it seems to hold more fiction than bio.

I have not read Fraser's that may be interesting.

I am currently or almost exclusively these days reading light books. This comes from too many technical journals and such. (I have a pile of serious books to read - untouched).

My current read is THE LADY VANISHED a detective mystery by GRETTA MULROONEY


Private detective Tyrone Swift (book 1 of series) It is a better than average read if you like that sort of thing.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Agnes on Aug 13th, 2018 at 10:27pm
I only really like Stephen Kings books- any of them-

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Sep 8th, 2018 at 2:38am
"God is not great" by Christopher Hitchens.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by mortdooley on Nov 15th, 2018 at 4:44am
The Final Day by William R Forstchen.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by bellamor on Nov 20th, 2018 at 10:49am
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by fezz on Nov 23rd, 2018 at 6:56pm
Ordinary Men - Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland ... Christopher R. Browning

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Reboot on Dec 26th, 2018 at 2:31pm
Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe - Thomas Ligotti.

Ligotti is an obscure gothic horror fiction writer inspired by Lovecraft.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by .JaSin. on Dec 26th, 2018 at 6:24pm
I'm reading: "Killing of the Eternal Song." by Angleire Scotwelsh (A Confession)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by goosecat on Mar 6th, 2019 at 5:25pm
Robert Frost - Selected Poems

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by .JaSin. on Mar 6th, 2019 at 9:15pm
"How to Build a Bridge over Trolls" by Achtung Snigerburger

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Mar 7th, 2019 at 12:00am
Restarting my book 1 of the Game of Thrones series.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by it_is_the_MIGHT on Mar 11th, 2019 at 1:13pm
Robert Jordan - The Fires of Heaven (Wheel of Time #5)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Laugh till you cry on Mar 11th, 2019 at 1:16pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Mar 7th, 2019 at 12:00am:
Restarting my book 1 of the Game of Thrones series.


Read while seated on the throne?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by .JaSin. on Mar 11th, 2019 at 11:09pm
Back reading the "Killing of the Eternal Song"

At the part where the Sinnurs have infiltrated the Temple.
The Sinnurs are the most ancient Religious order who practice the Three Monotheisms of Judaism, Christianity and Mohommedism by way of 'converting' through all three like a Boy becomes a Man becomes an Elder. By experiencing all three Monotheisms through one's life - one becomes a Sinnur and comes to understand the truest nature of God 'himself' for God is indeed a 'Male' for a Male's immortality is via the creation of something outside of himself, while the female creates her immortality 'within' herself.
So for a Sinnur - being a Boy is being Jewish, being a Man is being a Christian (which is only attained by becoming 'one' with a female in the 'double-helix' embrace) and being an Elder is being a Moslem. The irony of the Jewish 'boyhood' is that it is the 'older' of the Monotheisms and the Moslem 'elderhood' is from the 'younger' of the Monotheisms.

Anyway, I'm at the part where the Sinnur's are about to 'kill the song'.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Mar 12th, 2019 at 2:24am

Laugh till you cry wrote on Mar 11th, 2019 at 1:16pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Mar 7th, 2019 at 12:00am:
Restarting my book 1 of the Game of Thrones series.


Read while seated on the throne?


The iphone is the only thing I would use whilst sitting 10 minutes passed the time I need to do my number 2 business.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Mar 12th, 2019 at 2:26am
"Inside Their Minds: Australian Criminals" by Rochelle Jackson. I have read up 50 pages on chapters regarding Carl Williams and Martin Bryant. Both rather sick individuals.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Mar 12th, 2019 at 2:31am
People want me to read "Vietnam: The Australian War" by Paul Ham. Seems easy to read, and I got through a chapter the other week without much fuss.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sad Kangaroo on Jul 10th, 2019 at 5:30am
I've been enjoying The Wheel of Time series, although I unknowingly started with a prequel book but have since moved onto the main series... whoops!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by barryfromthebush on Jul 22nd, 2019 at 6:48am
Been listening to all the Ian Fleming James Bond audio books on the way to work, Much better than the movies, especially Dr No. I tried reading the later novalisation of Goldeneye but it was just to hard already knowing exactly what was going to happen after seeing the film.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sir Spot of Borg on Jul 22nd, 2019 at 8:19am
Re-reading the Larry Niven series ringworld

Spot

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 30th, 2019 at 3:45am

barryfromthebush wrote on Jul 22nd, 2019 at 6:48am:
Been listening to all the Ian Fleming James Bond audio books on the way to work, Much better than the movies, especially Dr No. I tried reading the later novalisation of Goldeneye but it was just to hard already knowing exactly what was going to happen after seeing the film.


I go to youtube on my phone and look up audiobooks. Then I select the audiobook I want to hear. I hook up the phone with my Beats headphones. Hook the charger up to the phone, so that the power does not drain too quickly. Then I lay there until I fall asleep listening to the recording.

Normally, I fall asleep after half an hour listening to the story. I usually awake and give up continuing the playback. The phone usage whilst I charge the phone is probably not good for the battery. But, it is on the way out, anyway.

I also listen to audiobooks whilst I play games on the computer.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Aug 3rd, 2019 at 2:02pm
Reading "Red Dragoon" by Thomas Harris. The book is a two-parter with "Silence of the Lambs". Some lines in the Red Dragon novel are found in the Silence of the Lambs movie. Particularly, Dr Chilton's line about the attack by Lecter upon the nurse. "His pulse never got above 85".

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Aug 22nd, 2019 at 12:14am
“Johannes Kepler and the New Astronomy” by James R Voelkel.

Skipped a bit of the childhood stuff, up to where Kepler graduated B.A.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by .JaSin. on Aug 22nd, 2019 at 3:55am
I was given a book to read upon recommendation based upon my enjoyment of the Game of Thrones.
It was by Australian Sarah Douglass and called BattleAxe.
It didn't take long to realise that Game of Thrones was too similar to this 1995 offering.
Plagiarism? :-?

I'm also re-reading one of my own books. All about the future and not to be released until after my death.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Aug 24th, 2019 at 4:50am
"Silence of the lambs" by Thomas Harris. A continuation of the story after "Red Dragon".

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Sep 13th, 2019 at 10:25am
"The Man from Snowy River" by Andrew Paterson. Bought for $1 at a garage sale.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Sep 22nd, 2019 at 12:26pm
Aha! Snap! I got Les Miserables for $1 at an op shop.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Sep 22nd, 2019 at 4:07pm
"The World's Most Dangerous Places" by Robert Young Pelton and Coskun Aral. Even though the information is not extensive, the topics are numerous. This gives you an idea of a broader complexity to the world. The book is probably well out of date by now. Published in 1995.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Sep 22nd, 2019 at 10:18pm
Brideshead Revisited, read by Jeremy irons.
Everything else by Waugh. Phenomenal.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Sep 29th, 2019 at 11:39pm
Going to read a couple of chapters on two textbooks about Don Bradman. Likely I will get bored before I reach the halfway mark.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Oct 2nd, 2019 at 11:40pm
Bought the 7 John Marsden books of the Tomorrow series, for $30. See if I can get through them all in a month.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by .JaSin. on Oct 3rd, 2019 at 7:54pm
Read "Nostrodamus's World War 3 prophecies".
Very interesting and as far as can be made out,
everything is going as planned.

;D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by .JaSin. on Nov 3rd, 2019 at 11:20am
Hyperion/The Fall of Hyperion - by Dan Simmons
and Ring around the Sun by the great Simak.

Awesome reads.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sprintcyclist on Nov 3rd, 2019 at 2:23pm
The last Painting of Sara De Vos

Dominic Smith

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by .JaSin. on Nov 10th, 2019 at 10:04pm
Helliconia

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Nov 16th, 2019 at 4:23pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Oct 2nd, 2019 at 11:40pm:
Bought the 7 John Marsden books of the Tomorrow series, for $30. See if I can get through them all in a month.


*thhppppt* I would not even get through one of the books in a month. Barely worthwhile reading.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by PZ547 on Dec 5th, 2019 at 8:38pm
Reading (on and off) the Baby Farmers by Annie Cossins

Grim

Set in Sydney, late 1800s

Anyone who thinks it was better back in the Good Old Days should read books based in that era and their minds would change fast

Example:  young couple, both working.  Couldn't afford to get married.  Had a child out of wedlock.  Handed it to an older couple of baby-farmers to take care of.  The young couple paid the older couple and went to visit their child on weekends, taking little gifts for it, etc.  If it had become known that they'd had a child out of wedlock, they would have lost their jobs

The older couple basically starved the poor infant to death. Then took money from the child's parents for a funeral, after which they buried the child in the backyard of the dump in which they (older couple) were living.  Twelve more babies were buried by the older couple in various locations, usually in inner Sydney

and that's how it goes, with graphically described conditions under which a large proportion of Sydney's inhabitants were living at the time

Also dipping into Render Unto Rome -- the Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church

and Niall Ferguson's The Square and the Tower -- Networks, Hierarchies and the Struggle for Global Power

the latter is fascinating.  Who knew that Nathan Rothschild began his career in the UK by buying cloth (which he claimed was incredibly cheap) from England's north and reselling it in Germany -- and doing it personally in no-frills style

but my eyes aren't up to it the way they used to be, unfortunately, even with magnifying glasses.  Wish I could smash books' contents straight into my skull instead of squinting to read

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Dec 5th, 2019 at 9:21pm

PZ547 wrote on Dec 5th, 2019 at 8:38pm:
  Wish I could smash books' contents straight into my skull instead of squinting to read

https://www.audible.com.au/


Render unto Rome
The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church
By: Jason Berry
Narrated by: Jason Berry
Length: 17 hrs and 59 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 07-06-2011
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio



The Square and the Tower
Networks, Hierarchies and the Struggle for Global Power
By: Niall Ferguson
Narrated by: John Sackville
Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
Release date: 05-10-2017




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by PZ547 on Dec 5th, 2019 at 9:25pm

Frank wrote on Dec 5th, 2019 at 9:21pm:

PZ547 wrote on Dec 5th, 2019 at 8:38pm:
  Wish I could smash books' contents straight into my skull instead of squinting to read

https://www.audible.com.au/


Render unto Rome
The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church
By: Jason Berry
Narrated by: Jason Berry
Length: 17 hrs and 59 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 07-06-2011
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio



The Square and the Tower
Networks, Hierarchies and the Struggle for Global Power
By: Niall Ferguson
Narrated by: John Sackville
Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
Release date: 05-10-2017



Gee, thanks, Frank  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Dec 5th, 2019 at 9:33pm

Sprintcyclist wrote on Nov 3rd, 2019 at 2:23pm:
The last Painting of Sara De Vos

Dominic Smith

That was really good.

The Last Painting of Sara de Vos
By: Dominic Smith
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 08-02-16
Language: English
Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Dec 29th, 2019 at 9:21pm
Is anyone a James Ellroy fan? Brilliant interview in The Spectator:
FEATURES

‘I was a tortured, obviously brilliant child’: James Ellroy interviewed
The crime writer on God, drugs and his mother’s murder
Sam Leith

21 December 2019

James Ellroy is occasionally quoted as saying he’s the greatest American crime novelist ever. The man sometimes called the ‘demon dog of American letters’ has no hesitation in affirming it when he arrives in The Spectator’s London offices to record a podcast. ‘Oh yes, I think that’s been proven,’ he says matter-of-factly. Has he always thought that? ‘When I finished the LA Quartet. I knew there was nobody like me and there wasn’t.’

Ellroy’s new book, This Storm, is the second novel in a projected set of prequels to his LA Quartet (The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential and White Jazz) set between LA and the Baja peninsula in Mexico in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. America is going to war, Japanese citizens are being interned, and the characters pick their bloody way through a whole stew of fascists and communists, Japanese sub-marine incursions, stolen gold, fifth columnists and racketeers.

It’s classic Ellroy stuff: dark and dense as hell, told staccato in jazzy period slang peppered with old-time tabloid alliteration, casual racial invective and spiced with interludes of staggering brutality. He says he decided to do the prequels ‘to deepen the characters, differentiate the overall action and densify on an historical level’.

‘When this quartet is completed a couple of years from now, I will have written a total of 11 novels that cover LA, my hometown, America, my country, 31 years 1941 to 1972. No one has ever done anything like this and I’m proud of the work I’ve done.’

His novels are notoriously long and complex — he maps his plots out in minute detail in advance, and says of the ‘my characters tell me what to do’ school of writing: ‘That’s a crock of poo.’ This Storm is no exception. ‘I love big pieces of art. I love symphonic music, I love the Bruckner symphonies, the Mahler symphonies, the Shostakovich symphonies. I love history and my great theme is the secret infrastructure of large public events. When I was a kid going to junior high school and reading fiendishly, the books were never big enough, long enough… I think psychologically what I’m doing is trying to replicate my early reading experience by giving readers around the world what I didn’t get as a place.’

A lot of what Ellroy writes and the world he writes about is rooted in childhood experience. He’s adamant that 1972 is as far forward as he’s interested in going in terms of historical setting: ‘History is a blast. A blast.’ And he had quite a childhood. His mother, Geneva Hillroy Elliker — an avatar of whom appears in this book as Joan Conville — was raped and murdered when he was ten; it was a trauma that he processed through his obsession with another unsolved rape-killing, the so-called Black Dahlia case, his novelisation of which was his professional breakthrough.

‘I grew up in what I would call the freewheeling, egalitarian Los Angeles,’ he says. ‘My mother was a hard-drinking, good–looking, tall, red-headed, poo-kicking registered nurse and she would wet-nurse alcoholic film stars like ZaSu Pitts. My dad, who was much older than my mother, was a big handsome bullshitter who had a 20-inch-long wang. All his friends talked about it: this is not a kid’s whacked-out reminiscence of his dad, some trauma of seeing the beast unsheathed — all his friends talked about my old man’s wang.

‘I was a tortured, obviously brilliant but messed-up only child and I loved history and I loved to read. The old man taught me to read when I was three and a half and after my mother’s death, I was about 11, my dad said to me apropos of nothing: “Hey kid, I buggered Rita Hayworth.” “Dad, you lie like a rug, you did not bugger Rita Hayworth.” (We talked that way to each other, my dad and me.)

‘Then, lo and behold, ten years after my father’s death in ’65 I saw a Hayworth biography in a bookstore in LA and I looked the old man’s name up in the index and yeah, it didn’t say whether he — err-err — with her, but he was her business manager in the late ’40s right at the time of my birth. So there you go, it’s that kind of LA.’

That kind of LA. As in Ellroy’s previous books, This Storm jumbles in with its fiction real events and figures (some obscure, some less so) from the historical record. Orson Welles features prominently and far from flatteringly. ‘I never liked Orson Welles and I never liked his movies,’ Ellroy says. ‘I think Citizen Kane is a crock of poo. I don’t think it’s the great American movie and I always considered Welles a shitbird and a blowhard. I don’t like him, I don’t dig him, so I trashed him in the book. He’s dead, he’s not going sue me.’


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Dec 29th, 2019 at 9:22pm
As well as its labyrinthine surface structure, three interlinked murder investigations, multiple subplots and love triangles, the book is stitched together with thematic motifs, fire, gold, and rain prominent among them. The title is taken from a fictional W.H. Auden quote (‘this storm, this savaging disaster’; Ellroy came across the second half of the phrase in a letter to Isherwood and made up the first bit). ‘It’s the storm of world war two, it’s the storm of the Japanese internment, it’s the storm of fascism and communism, the twin totalitarian evils of the last century. It is the storm of sedition, of treason and of the internal private lives of the characters who are libidinised by world war two.’

You don’t go to Ellroy to read about lives of quiet stoicism, or lonely principle: you go to him to read about corrupt cops, treacherous sexpots and brutal murderers… And that’s just the goodies. When I suggest that the only character in This Storm who is truly pure of heart is Buzz Meeks’s pet scorpion, Ellroy laughs but he doesn’t contradict me.

Yet he says: ‘I love these characters. There’s the real-life vice cop Elmer Jackson [who pimps call-girls]. I find him sympathetic. I find Hideo Ishida, the tortured Japanese homosexual who is running from the Japanese internment… I find him entirely sympathetic. And Kay Lake is heroic; she is a heroic young woman. She is certainly reckless and eroticised but she is jazzy, she’s funny, she’s got a Carole Lombard kind of wit, she dresses well, she’s a gas.’

And Ellroy says his Lutheran faith informs his work. He’s a moralist.

‘My heroic people, they scrabble towards very, very tenuous redemption. It is a very Christian ideal, and in the end they are responsible for their sins, as I believe we all are. Even though these books are not noir, they take place during that era and there is a flip way of saying what the great theme of noir is: you’re buggered, malign fate will get you. You meet a woman, and before you    know it you’re in the sack and she says, “Oh baby, by the way, will you kill my husband?”  What are you going to do — she’ll turn off the woof-woof if you say no. You kill her husband and six months later you’re in the gas chamber at San Quentin.

‘That’s a flip way of looking at it but I prefer to think of the great theme of crime fiction as the consequences of sin — and that’s a very Christian idea.’

Also, almost all the characters are perpetually out of their minds on alcohol, benzedrine, cocaine, opium and something called terpin hydrate (Ellroy: ‘It is a bronchial clearer and it will get you zonked out of your mind. I used to get it from the old geezers in the alcoholic wards at the Veterans Hospital in west LA.’). Yet Ellroy himself has been 12-step sober since the late 1970s (‘with the odd bump’); his memoir My Dark Places covers his years of addiction, and they were not pretty. Is all this fictional intoxication what they call in AA ‘euphoric recall’? ‘You hit it right on the head,’ he says.

But he stresses, too, that his characters are young and that was what LA was like then. ‘Cops, it’s an alcoholic culture. The west coast [was] under constant threat of Japanese sea and air attack. People were scared, people were having lots of sex, they were staying indoors, they were going to nightclubs, they were thinking tomorrow might not come. You want to look at a bunch of good-looking, chain-smoking boozehounds, look at party shots of home-front America during world war two.’

That kind of LA. A world compounded of crime fiction and nostalgia and an interest in the mesh of occult forces, the sex and greed and treachery, underpinning historical events. ‘It’s a secret world, and in the wake of my mother’s 1948 murder I started seeing a secret world out there. It was an unconscious viewing of — more than anything else — sex. You’re a little ten, 11-, 12-year-old kid, coming of age on the cusp of Jack Kennedy and beatniks and good-looking longhaired women in tight turtlenecks snapping their fingers at beatnik jazz clubs, and foreign movies by directors such as Bergman and Fellini showing the sexually disenfranchised, people subsumed by ennui and nihilistic bonhomie… and I was just on it like a pig on poo with my little-kid antennae.

‘I mean, I was peeping windows and looking at girls when I was 11 and 12, and I’m a classic case of the passive creepy-crawly kid sneak thief, a danger to no one but himself. Horny, love-starved, a bookworm at heart. That’s what Helen [his girlfriend] says I am now: “Ellroy, you’re a bookworm and all you want to do is stick your snout in detective novels.” And she’s right.’


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by PZ547 on Jan 13th, 2020 at 9:00pm
Wow Frank.  You've made a fan of me with those excerpts

I can relate

---

Not currently reading as I only picked it up today: 'Merchants of Menace' - The True Story of the Nugan Hand Bank Scandal

Back cover blurb

' Guns, Drug Money and the CIA -- These were not your average bankers.  This was not your average bank

In 1980, following the mysterious death of Australian merchant banker, Frank Nugan, his New York-born business partner, Michael Hand, brazenly ordered the destruction of the bank's records.  Hand then disappeared from Sydney and hasn't been seen since

Among the ruins of the Nugan Hand global financial empire, investigators uncovered astonishing evidence of gunrunning, money laundering for drug traffickers and connections to the CIA.

When the FBI and a Royal Commission failed to join the dots, those intimately involved with the case suspected a cover up.

Brimming with chilling new evidence and powerful testimonies, Merchants of Menace cracks open the sensational Nugan Hand story and goes on the hunt for the world's most elusive corporate fugitive ….


If I get around to reading it and if it's any good, I'll report back

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Jan 23rd, 2020 at 2:21pm

Frank wrote on Dec 5th, 2019 at 9:21pm:
Render unto Rome
The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church
By: Jason Berry
Narrated by: Jason Berry
Length: 17 hrs and 59 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 07-06-2011
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio

Does Goeorge Pell get a mention?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Feb 11th, 2020 at 10:44pm
Finishing up my reading of "The Silence of the Lambs" by Thomas Harris. Much better than the movie.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Mar 9th, 2020 at 12:11am
JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings".

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by cods on Mar 9th, 2020 at 7:52am
FIRE the story of the Westralia by kathryn Spurling

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Heartless Felon on Mar 12th, 2020 at 7:42am
Years and years and years ago there were a whole bunch of novels set in a post-atomic deluge world.  One that I read in the early sixties was "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter Miller.
It was such an entertaining and quirky book (and very well written) that I've never forgotten it.
So, when I came across a copy of it in the library, I grabbed it; and I'm glad I did. I am enjoying it probably more now than when I originally read it.
Don't be put off by the title, it's a funny, engaging and incisive examination of the human spirit.
If you see it, get it...

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Mr Hammer on Mar 12th, 2020 at 7:03pm
First Casualty by Phillip Knightley. Should be required high school reading.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Mar 12th, 2020 at 7:18pm

The microwave instructions on my dinner.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Mar 13th, 2020 at 7:08pm

greggerypeccary wrote on Mar 12th, 2020 at 7:18pm:
The microwave instructions on my dinner.

I have just read "I'm Gweggy - Life as a fvkwit."






Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Mar 13th, 2020 at 8:17pm

Frank wrote on Mar 13th, 2020 at 7:08pm:

greggerypeccary wrote on Mar 12th, 2020 at 7:18pm:
The microwave instructions on my dinner.

I have just read "I'm Gweggy - Life as a fvkwit."


If you buy the audio book you get to hear my dulcet tones.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Mr Hammer on Mar 15th, 2020 at 7:40pm
I imagine you'd sound like John Michael Howson.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Mar 15th, 2020 at 7:43pm

Mr Hammer wrote on Mar 15th, 2020 at 7:40pm:
I imagine you'd sound like John Michael Howson.


Would you masturbate?


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Mr Hammer on Mar 15th, 2020 at 7:49pm
You were masturbating while you typed that.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Mar 15th, 2020 at 7:50pm

Mr Hammer wrote on Mar 15th, 2020 at 7:49pm:
You were masturbating while you typed that.


So?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Mr Hammer on Mar 15th, 2020 at 7:54pm
Should type with two hands.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by .JaSin. on Mar 28th, 2020 at 12:32am
Pecker types with two chopsticks up his nostrils.
Pecker has no hands.
They were chopped off by Moslems because they caught him masturbating with one and masturbating another man with the other.  ;D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Apr 11th, 2020 at 5:24pm
Reading Frank Herbert's "Dune". At the rate I am going, I should be able to get the book read before they reopen the cinemas and premiere the rebooted movie of same name.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Apr 28th, 2020 at 6:02pm
Apt:


I. The Burial of the Dead

  April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47311/the-waste-land

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Nom De Plume on May 1st, 2020 at 1:08pm
The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz. I'm only reading it because it claims to have predicted a deadly virus originating from Wuhan labs.

This is a pulp read quickly.

Waiting in the sidelines is The Hydrogen Sonata by  Iain M. Banks. This is from his 'Culture' collection.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by JaSun on May 1st, 2020 at 9:34pm
The Washing of the Spears again.

Nice big thicky on the Zulu Wars and other South African atrocities created by the British.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jun 28th, 2020 at 10:30pm
“Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy”

Donald L. Miller

Been on a bit of a Civil War kick. Have read Grant’s and Sherman’s Memoirs and some other books.

Pre-Pasteur with troops drinking contaminated water—horrendous death rate.

Disease killed more soldiers than combat did in the Civil War.

Anyway, an array of outflanking moves on Vicksburg were tried before the move south and across the Mississippi, 300 miles marched, five battles fought and won before Vicksburg was besieged.

The technology was fascinating: cannon and muskets were still muzzle loading tho muskets and some cannon were rifled—more range and more accuracy. Cavalry carried repeating carbines—but there was trouble keeping the supply of ammo up the rounds were shot so fast! Mule drawn wagons.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Aurora on Jun 30th, 2020 at 1:41pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Apr 11th, 2020 at 5:24pm:
Reading Frank Herbert's "Dune". At the rate I am going, I should be able to get the book read before they reopen the cinemas and premiere the rebooted movie of same name.


;D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Scott on Jul 2nd, 2020 at 4:56pm
I'm reading a book about borderline personalities - it's a difficult one, I should say :o just because it's rather specific and is relevant for people who are more competent in psychology. It's called "I hate you - don't leave me"

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by JaSin. on Jul 2nd, 2020 at 11:59pm
That sounds violently happy

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Jul 31st, 2020 at 7:42pm
ATM I'm reading a page turner spy book, but my daughter just borrowed Oliver Sacks Awakenings from the school library, so I'll have to switch to that so I can discuss it with her.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Aug 18th, 2020 at 3:24pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5My6JS9EYKs

Tried to read "The Silmarillion" last night. I was going to read the first chapter and then go to sleep. But, my eyes were too tired to stay awake to understand what I was reading. Decided to restart the book for tonight. At the moment, the audiobook is the best I can do to try and remotivate myself to read this book again.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Aug 21st, 2020 at 5:08pm
Neal Stephenson’s “Anathem.”

From Amazon:


Quote:
Erasmas, "Razï", is a young avout living in the Concent, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers. Three times during history's darkest epochs, violence has invaded and devastated the cloistered community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe.

But they now prepare to open the Concentïs gates to the outside world, in celebration of a once-a-decade rite. Suddenly, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planets and beyond.


Read it once before but about to read it again. Cloisters. . .with mathematicians, scientists and philosophers not monks or nuns. Avout not devout.

Very high quality science fiction.


PS: his book “The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.” just got to preposterous and boring.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Sep 14th, 2020 at 6:58pm
Chekhov.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Sep 14th, 2020 at 7:25pm
.
61EWCr9l7WL__SL500_.jpg (68 KB | 32 )

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Dnarever on Sep 14th, 2020 at 7:27pm

Quote:
What are you currently reading?


At the moment I am typing - not reading.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Sep 16th, 2020 at 2:34pm
"A History of Australia" by Manning Clark.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by JaSin. on Sep 16th, 2020 at 2:50pm
I'm reading stuff on us being the Anthropocenes now.
No longer in the Holocene that stretches back to the Rift Valley emergences (why only one spot on the planet?).
Our Childhood is over.

The Anthropocene (/ænˈθrɒp.əˌsiːn, -ˈθrɒp.oʊ-/ ann-THROP-ə-seen, -⁠THROP-oh-)[1] is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change.[2][3][4][5][6]

As of July 2020, neither the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) nor the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) has officially approved the term as a recognised subdivision of geologic time,[4][7][8] although the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) of the ICS voted in April 2016 to proceed towards a formal golden spike (GSSP) proposal to define the Anthropocene epoch in the geologic time scale and presented the recommendation to the International Geological Congress in August 2016.[9] In May 2019, the AWG voted in favour of submitting a formal proposal to the ICS by 2021,[10] locating potential stratigraphic markers to the mid-twentieth century of the common era.[11][10][12] This time period coincides with the Great Acceleration, a post-WWII time during which socioeconomic and Earth system trends started increasing dramatically,[13] and the Atomic Age.

Various start dates for the Anthropocene have been proposed, ranging from the beginning of the Agricultural Revolution 12,000–15,000 years ago, to as recent as the 1960s. The ratification process is ongoing, and thus a date remains to be decided definitively, but the peak in radionuclides fallout consequential to atomic bomb testing during the 1950s has been more favoured than others, locating a possible beginning of the Anthropocene to the detonation of the first atomic bomb in 1945, or the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963.[10]

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Sep 27th, 2020 at 7:08pm
Found some good psychology textbooks that I picked up from Lifeline. 3 textbooks for $16.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Oct 7th, 2020 at 3:18pm
I am reading the book that Abraham Lincoln told the author of “So you are the lady that started the Rebellion” or wtte.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Mr Hammer on Oct 7th, 2020 at 10:22pm
A collection of short stories by Chekov.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Mr Hammer on Oct 7th, 2020 at 10:26pm

Jasin wrote on Sep 16th, 2020 at 2:50pm:
I'm reading stuff on us being the Anthropocenes now.
No longer in the Holocene that stretches back to the Rift Valley emergences (why only one spot on the planet?).
Our Childhood is over.

The Anthropocene (/ænˈθrɒp.əˌsiːn, -ˈθrɒp.oʊ-/ ann-THROP-ə-seen, -⁠THROP-oh-)[1] is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change.[2][3][4][5][6]

As of July 2020, neither the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) nor the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) has officially approved the term as a recognised subdivision of geologic time,[4][7][8] although the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) of the ICS voted in April 2016 to proceed towards a formal golden spike (GSSP) proposal to define the Anthropocene epoch in the geologic time scale and presented the recommendation to the International Geological Congress in August 2016.[9] In May 2019, the AWG voted in favour of submitting a formal proposal to the ICS by 2021,[10] locating potential stratigraphic markers to the mid-twentieth century of the common era.[11][10][12] This time period coincides with the Great Acceleration, a post-WWII time during which socioeconomic and Earth system trends started increasing dramatically,[13] and the Atomic Age.

Various start dates for the Anthropocene have been proposed, ranging from the beginning of the Agricultural Revolution 12,000–15,000 years ago, to as recent as the 1960s. The ratification process is ongoing, and thus a date remains to be decided definitively, but the peak in radionuclides fallout consequential to atomic bomb testing during the 1950s has been more favoured than others, locating a possible beginning of the Anthropocene to the detonation of the first atomic bomb in 1945, or the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963.[10]


The setting of the start date is political. The industrial revolution circa 1850 has to be a contender.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Oct 11th, 2020 at 8:14pm

Mr Hammer wrote on Oct 7th, 2020 at 10:22pm:
A collection of short stories by Chekov.


Is that a Star Trek spin-off?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Oct 11th, 2020 at 8:15pm
Robert Leckie - Helmet for My Pillow. It's going to be a dark read.
9780091937515.jpg (22 KB | 23 )

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Mr Hammer on Oct 12th, 2020 at 10:09am
There are two types of military service...Leckie's and Bwian's.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by JaSin. on Oct 12th, 2020 at 1:40pm

Mr Hammer wrote on Oct 7th, 2020 at 10:26pm:

Jasin wrote on Sep 16th, 2020 at 2:50pm:
I'm reading stuff on us being the Anthropocenes now.
No longer in the Holocene that stretches back to the Rift Valley emergences (why only one spot on the planet?).
Our Childhood is over.

The Anthropocene (/ænˈθrɒp.əˌsiːn, -ˈθrɒp.oʊ-/ ann-THROP-ə-seen, -⁠THROP-oh-)[1] is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change.[2][3][4][5][6]

As of July 2020, neither the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) nor the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) has officially approved the term as a recognised subdivision of geologic time,[4][7][8] although the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) of the ICS voted in April 2016 to proceed towards a formal golden spike (GSSP) proposal to define the Anthropocene epoch in the geologic time scale and presented the recommendation to the International Geological Congress in August 2016.[9] In May 2019, the AWG voted in favour of submitting a formal proposal to the ICS by 2021,[10] locating potential stratigraphic markers to the mid-twentieth century of the common era.[11][10][12] This time period coincides with the Great Acceleration, a post-WWII time during which socioeconomic and Earth system trends started increasing dramatically,[13] and the Atomic Age.

Various start dates for the Anthropocene have been proposed, ranging from the beginning of the Agricultural Revolution 12,000–15,000 years ago, to as recent as the 1960s. The ratification process is ongoing, and thus a date remains to be decided definitively, but the peak in radionuclides fallout consequential to atomic bomb testing during the 1950s has been more favoured than others, locating a possible beginning of the Anthropocene to the detonation of the first atomic bomb in 1945, or the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963.[10]


The setting of the start date is political. The industrial revolution circa 1850 has to be a contender.

I think you're right there.
Not a bad book from a Jewish Illuminati.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lols on Oct 16th, 2020 at 10:55pm
Huh! In my mad plight of spring cleaning during this lockdown.... I have found a pile of old Australian travel magazines...so I'm looking through them to remember what it was like to travel ...someone remind me  :P

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Nov 2nd, 2020 at 4:50pm
Well, I found the Bond 007 books (what I read of them) bloody banal.

If you want REAL mystery, code solving, wars etc etc then buy this bloody book and READ it!

“Cryptonomicon” by Neal Stephenson.

An Immortal(?) a special US&UK army unit 2702 (2701, the original unit number is the product of two primes.

Booby will be pleased to know there are some homosexuals in the book.


A more modern book out of a completely different fictional universe: Reamde again by Neal Stephenson. A multirole playing game from a billion dollar company started by a Viet Nam war draft dodger who found a secret way between Canada and the USA, jihadi terrorists, Russian mafia, a pretty and bright young woman kidnapped imprisoned by the terrorists, flying undetected out of China and Christian Taliban etc etc etc.

Very neat, very clever, very readable.
     

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Nov 7th, 2020 at 1:03am
I was reading "Scapegoats of the Empire" by George Whitton. But I want to restart reading "Dune" before the movie comes out. That is, if the movie is out in December.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Nov 8th, 2020 at 2:53pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Nov 7th, 2020 at 1:03am:
I was reading "Scapegoats of the Empire" by George Whitton. But I want to restart reading "Dune" before the movie comes out. That is, if the movie is out in December.


Pfft! The Dune movie has been delayed another 8 months.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Culture Warrior on Nov 8th, 2020 at 9:19pm
Unabomber manifesto.

Smart fella. Just a bit too violent.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Mr Hammer on Nov 8th, 2020 at 9:23pm

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Nov 8th, 2020 at 9:19pm:
Unabomber manifesto.

Smart fella. Just a bit too violent.


Ted was an odd one.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Culture Warrior on Nov 9th, 2020 at 8:35pm

Mr Hammer wrote on Nov 8th, 2020 at 9:23pm:

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Nov 8th, 2020 at 9:19pm:
Unabomber manifesto.

Smart fella. Just a bit too violent.


Ted was an odd one.


Radical libertarian.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Mr Hammer on Nov 9th, 2020 at 10:32pm

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Nov 9th, 2020 at 8:35pm:

Mr Hammer wrote on Nov 8th, 2020 at 9:23pm:

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Nov 8th, 2020 at 9:19pm:
Unabomber manifesto.

Smart fella. Just a bit too violent.


Ted was an odd one.


Radical libertarian.



Reminiscent of the internal conflicts that lead to the fall of Rome. Similar story with Timothy NcVie. The American Empire is actually,  pretty scary.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by JaSin. on Nov 10th, 2020 at 2:26pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Nov 8th, 2020 at 2:53pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Nov 7th, 2020 at 1:03am:
I was reading "Scapegoats of the Empire" by George Whitton. But I want to restart reading "Dune" before the movie comes out. That is, if the movie is out in December.


Pfft! The Dune movie has been delayed another 8 months.


Smart move considering Corona restrictions of attendances.
They can work on the movie a bit more and fine tune it for 8 months with a cheaper relaxed expenditure.
I predict it will be a blockbuster more than the previous attempts.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Nov 12th, 2020 at 4:17am

Jasin wrote on Nov 10th, 2020 at 2:26pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Nov 8th, 2020 at 2:53pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Nov 7th, 2020 at 1:03am:
I was reading "Scapegoats of the Empire" by George Whitton. But I want to restart reading "Dune" before the movie comes out. That is, if the movie is out in December.


Pfft! The Dune movie has been delayed another 8 months.


Smart move considering Corona restrictions of attendances.
They can work on the movie a bit more and fine tune it for 8 months with a cheaper relaxed expenditure.
I predict it will be a blockbuster more than the previous attempts.


When the movie is ready for release, there is not going to be much of an effort to change anything when they are satisfied that the movie is good enough for release. When "All the money in the world" was ready for release, Kevin Spacey's allegations against him was what required a reshoot of scenes with Christopher Plummer. That delayed the movie being released and the consideration for the Oscars that year.

I have given up on the movies this year. There really is nothing to see. I have to watch tv series and movies online just to save money and effort. I think I can write off 2020 in terms of the movie experience.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Apr 18th, 2021 at 8:50pm
Downloaded a pdf of Schindler's Ark. I intend to read the book over the next few weeks.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Apr 18th, 2021 at 9:31pm
Leave it to Psmith.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on May 11th, 2021 at 11:05pm
I had finally started reading, in April, the first Game of Thrones book. Someone said that it would be unlikely that I could have the book finished by the start of June. I said that 700 pages should not be too difficult to get through. But having got to near the halfway mark the other night, I think it is a possibility that I won't make the deadline.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 7th, 2021 at 3:51pm
I think I might be stuck reading the other 8 books over the next 6 months for A Game of Thrones. Very interesting reading. Especially in light of how good the tv series was when I last viewed it.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Credible Poster on Jun 18th, 2021 at 2:39pm
Heroes
The myths of the Ancient Greek heroes retold

Stephen Fry

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Valkie on Jun 18th, 2021 at 8:31pm
Just started last miz  again.
I enjoy reading it every couple of years.

None of the movies or series have done justice to it.

Probably because how the author goes off on tangents all the time.
Too difficult to make a sensible movie.

The best rendition was the one with Gerrard Depardieu.
It was reasonably close to the book, but still too compressed.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 1st, 2021 at 9:18pm
Tonight, at the Nextra newsagency in Stockland shopping centre, I picked up 3 books on the early history of Rockhampton. I have been looking for something like this for years now.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Jul 7th, 2021 at 5:14pm
Ordered this one last week from the ARHS* bookshop.

It arrived on Monday in the post.

It's the story (non-fiction) of the author's career on the
NSWGR* from 1945 til his retirement in 1988.

I've only just started it, but it looks to be very interesting -
especially to another former railwayman such as my good
self (I was a goods porter and then a goods Guard on freight
trains in the late 1970s).


ARHS: Australian Railway Historical Society.

NWSGR: New South Wales Government Railway

Link to ARHS Bookshop NSW:
https://arhsnsw.com.au/shop/
DSCN2528b.jpg (249 KB | 9 )

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:17pm
Kat, do you have insomnia and is that the cure?  ;D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:25pm
I'm reading Flyboys: A True Story of Courage - James Bradley

It covers the US WWII pilots in the pacific theatre, focusing on the latter stages of the war. I knew George W was a pilot and shot down, but the story is amazing. He was shot down 4 miles from Chichijima, the neighboring island of Iwo Jima. His life raft was drifting towards the island, and the Japanese launched small boats to capture him. Some of his squad circled for as long as they could staffing the boats to drive them off. A few hours later, an American submarine popped up in front of him and saved him. GW was only 20 years old.


51E8foMqKGL__SX330_BO1_204_203_200_.jpg (20 KB | 9 )

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:53pm

Gordon wrote on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:17pm:
Kat, do you have insomnia and is that the cure?  ;D


No - as I said in my post, I'm an ex-railwayman myself, so I naturally
have more than a passing interest in things which relate to railways.


I do a bit of rail photography as well. Here's one of mine.:P

SANY0623b1.jpg (174 KB | 12 )

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:57pm

Gordon wrote on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:25pm:
I'm reading Flyboys: A True Story of Courage - James Bradley

It covers the US WWII pilots in the pacific theatre, focusing on the latter stages of the war. I knew George W was a pilot and shot down, but the story is amazing. He was shot down 4 miles from Chichijima, the neighboring island of Iwo Jima. His life raft was drifting towards the island, and the Japanese launched small boats to capture him. Some of his squad circled for as long as they could staffing the boats to drive them off. A few hours later, an American submarine popped up in front of him and saved him. GW was only 20 years old.


Yes, I remember that story.

Book looks like an interesting read. I'll be sure to check it out.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Jul 20th, 2021 at 9:06pm


Kat wrote on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:53pm:

Gordon wrote on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:17pm:
Kat, do you have insomnia and is that the cure?  ;D


No - as I said in my post, I'm an ex-railwayman myself, so I naturally
have more than a passing interest in things which relate to railways.


I do a bit of rail photography as well. Here's one of mine.:P

Excellent shot. . I don’t recognise the class - - - N.S.W. ?
My uncle was the Victorian Railways head rollingstock engineer. Allowed me to get up close to a number of engines in my pre-teen years.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jul 20th, 2021 at 9:08pm

Ayn Marx wrote on Jul 20th, 2021 at 9:06pm:

Kat wrote on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:53pm:

Gordon wrote on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:17pm:
Kat, do you have insomnia and is that the cure?  ;D


No - as I said in my post, I'm an ex-railwayman myself, so I naturally
have more than a passing interest in things which relate to railways.


I do a bit of rail photography as well. Here's one of mine.:P

Excellent shot. . I don’t recognise the class - - - N.S.W. ?
My uncle was the Victorian Railways head rollingstock engineer. Allowed me to get up close to a number of engines in my pre-teen years.

Thank you, Sigmund... :P

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Dnarever on Jul 20th, 2021 at 9:20pm

Kat wrote on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:53pm:

Gordon wrote on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:17pm:
Kat, do you have insomnia and is that the cure?  ;D


No - as I said in my post, I'm an ex-railwayman myself, so I naturally
have more than a passing interest in things which relate to railways.


I do a bit of rail photography as well. Here's one of mine.:P


Is it the 5711 ?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Jul 21st, 2021 at 8:26pm

Frank wrote on Jul 20th, 2021 at 9:08pm:
Excellent shot. . I don’t recognise the class - - - N.S.W. ?
My uncle was the Victorian Railways head rollingstock engineer. Allowed me to get up close to a number of engines in my pre-teen years.


Quote:
Thank you, Sigmund... :P


I’ve no idea what you’re trying to say.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Jul 21st, 2021 at 8:29pm
Byron and Greek Love: Homophobia in 19th Century England.
Louis Crompton (Publ' University of California Press.1985)

An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination.
Sheera Frenkel & Cecelia Kang
https://www.hachette.com.au/sheera-frenkel-cecilia-kang/an-ugly-truth-inside-facebooks-battle-for-domination?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=crikey&utm_campaign=worm&utm_term=anuglytruth&utm_content=mrec

The Inmost Heart: 800 Years of Women's Letters
Edited by Olga Kenyon (Publ' Konecky & Konecky.1982)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jul 21st, 2021 at 9:11pm

Ayn Marx wrote on Jul 21st, 2021 at 8:29pm:
Byron and Greek Love: Homophobia in 19th Century England.
Louis Crompton (Publ' University of California Press.1985)

An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination.
Sheera Frenkel & Cecelia Kang
https://www.hachette.com.au/sheera-frenkel-cecilia-kang/an-ugly-truth-inside-facebooks-battle-for-domination?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=crikey&utm_campaign=worm&utm_term=anuglytruth&utm_content=mrec

The Inmost Heart: 800 Years of Women's Letters
Edited by Olga Kenyon (Publ' Konecky & Konecky.1982)

Not one for improving material, I see. Just self-justification (crompton).
Gayness narrows the view of the world, always looking, always searching for justification and grasping at any and all affirmation.

There is something sickly about 'gay studies' trying to be equal and normal.  Gay marriage is an example.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jul 21st, 2021 at 9:16pm


"What are you currently reading?"

An ignorant post from someone who dropped out of school at 15 (possibly 14) and has lived a miserable life consumed by irrational fear & hatred.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jul 21st, 2021 at 9:32pm

greggerypeccary wrote on Jul 21st, 2021 at 9:16pm:
"What are you currently reading?"

An ignorant post from someone who dropped out of school at 15 (possibly 14) and has lived a miserable life consumed by irrational fear & hatred.

Oh, here's another 'educated doctor of divinity' entirely coincidentally also from Perth.  How do the goood people of Perth MOVE with so many arrogant, stupid worms squirming under foot?


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 21st, 2021 at 10:40pm
It took me 2 frickin' months to finish reading 780 pages of a Game of Thrones book. It might take me 5 months to read the other 6.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Jul 21st, 2021 at 11:16pm

Frank wrote on Jul 21st, 2021 at 9:32pm:

greggerypeccary wrote on Jul 21st, 2021 at 9:16pm:
"What are you currently reading?"

An ignorant post from someone who dropped out of school at 15 (possibly 14) and has lived a miserable life consumed by irrational fear & hatred.

Oh, here's another 'educated doctor of divinity' entirely coincidentally also from Perth.  How do the goood people of Perth MOVE with so many arrogant, stupid worms squirming under foot?


We ain't in lockdown, bitch   :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Jul 22nd, 2021 at 9:05am

Frank wrote on Jul 21st, 2021 at 9:11pm:

Ayn Marx wrote on Jul 21st, 2021 at 8:29pm:
Byron and Greek Love: Homophobia in 19th Century England.
Louis Crompton (Publ' University of California Press.1985)

An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination.
Sheera Frenkel & Cecelia Kang
https://www.hachette.com.au/sheera-frenkel-cecilia-kang/an-ugly-truth-inside-facebooks-battle-for-domination?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=crikey&utm_campaign=worm&utm_term=anuglytruth&utm_content=mrec

The Inmost Heart: 800 Years of Women's Letters
Edited by Olga Kenyon (Publ' Konecky & Konecky.1982)

Not one for improving material, I see. Just self-justification (crompton).
Gayness narrows the view of the world, always looking, always searching for justification and grasping at any and all affirmation.

There is something sickly about 'gay studies' trying to be equal and normal.  Gay marriage is an example.
My dear friend ‘R’ who runs an up market escort service would acquaint you with some startling details of seriously weird sexual kinks practiced by so called normal hetro males. Instance, one Supreme Court judge pays in four figures to be slapped with raw tripe whilst wearing nappies and a see through plastic raincoat. The remaining details I spare your delicate sensibilities.
Time you fools read Portnoy’s Complaint.

Improving material? You come across like an old maid Sunday school teacher.

Oh, and how many gay studies have you perused to reach the conclusion they’re all trying to be equal and normal? Don’t know why I bother - you probably haven’t even caught up with Margaret Mead yet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 22nd, 2021 at 5:05pm
"The Early History of Rockhampton" by J. T. S. Bird. (Dealing chiefly with events up till 1870).

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jul 22nd, 2021 at 8:27pm

Ayn Marx wrote on Jul 22nd, 2021 at 9:05am:

Frank wrote on Jul 21st, 2021 at 9:11pm:

Ayn Marx wrote on Jul 21st, 2021 at 8:29pm:
Byron and Greek Love: Homophobia in 19th Century England.
Louis Crompton (Publ' University of California Press.1985)

An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination.
Sheera Frenkel & Cecelia Kang
https://www.hachette.com.au/sheera-frenkel-cecilia-kang/an-ugly-truth-inside-facebooks-battle-for-domination?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=crikey&utm_campaign=worm&utm_term=anuglytruth&utm_content=mrec

The Inmost Heart: 800 Years of Women's Letters
Edited by Olga Kenyon (Publ' Konecky & Konecky.1982)

Not one for improving material, I see. Just self-justification (crompton).
Gayness narrows the view of the world, always looking, always searching for justification and grasping at any and all affirmation.

There is something sickly about 'gay studies' trying to be equal and normal.  Gay marriage is an example.
My dear friend ‘R’ who runs an up market escort service would acquaint you with some startling details of seriously weird sexual kinks practiced by so called normal hetro males. Instance, one Supreme Court judge pays in four figures to be slapped with raw tripe whilst wearing nappies and a see through plastic raincoat. The remaining details I spare your delicate sensibilities.
Time you fools read Portnoy’s Complaint.

Improving material? You come across like an old maid Sunday school teacher.

Oh, and how many gay studies have you perused to reach the conclusion they’re all trying to be equal and normal? Don’t know why I bother - you probably haven’t even caught up with Margaret Mead yet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead



None of this means that gays are not weird. Others are weird - so gays are not???

No -  you are weird like other weirdos but in your own ways.


NOBODY would wish gayness on his/her children. It would be a contradiction of elemental, psychotic proportions.







Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Jul 22nd, 2021 at 8:28pm

Ayn Marx wrote on Jul 20th, 2021 at 9:06pm:

Kat wrote on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:53pm:

Gordon wrote on Jul 7th, 2021 at 8:17pm:
Kat, do you have insomnia and is that the cure?  ;D


No - as I said in my post, I'm an ex-railwayman myself, so I naturally
have more than a passing interest in things which relate to railways.


I do a bit of rail photography as well. Here's one of mine.:P

Excellent shot. . I don’t recognise the class - - - N.S.W. ?
My uncle was the Victorian Railways head rollingstock engineer. Allowed me to get up close to a number of engines in my pre-teen years.


Yes, it is.

It's an NSWGR D59-class freight locomotive, built in the USA by
Baldwin & Co in 1952 and commonly known as a 'Mikado'.

Originally built as oil-burners, most were converted to burn coal
but two oil-burners still exist, both can be seen at the Roundhouse
at Goulburn.

Three coal-burners also survive, the one in the pic, 5917 is the only
member of the class still in regular service on heritage trains.

Here's the same pic, but in colour - it was taken at Goulburn station in 2014.
SANY0623b.jpg (178 KB | 16 )

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Jul 23rd, 2021 at 1:50pm

Kat wrote on Jul 22nd, 2021 at 8:28pm:
It's an NSWGR D59-class freight locomotive, built in the USA by
Baldwin & Co in 1952 and commonly known as a 'Mikado'.

Originally built as oil-burners, most were converted to burn coal
but two oil-burners still exist, both can be seen at the Roundhouse
at Goulburn.

Three coal-burners also survive, the one in the pic, 5917 is the only
member of the class still in regular service on heritage trains.

Here's the same pic, but in colour - it was taken at Goulburn station in 2014.

Maybe the reason I didn’t fully recognise it was how clean it is. My experience of NSWGR rolling stock was it was invariably filthy with few exceptions.
Why though would they convert oil burners to coal? Cost of fuel?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Jul 23rd, 2021 at 1:57pm

Frank wrote on Jul 22nd, 2021 at 8:27pm:
NOBODY would wish gayness on his/her children. It would be a contradiction of elemental, psychotic proportions.

Well then, there appear to be an increasing number of parents prone to contradictions of elemental ‘psychotic' proportions.
Maybe you shouldn’t interpret the entire population in the light of your own primitive unthinking view of the world?


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Jul 23rd, 2021 at 3:00pm

Ayn Marx wrote on Jul 23rd, 2021 at 1:50pm:

Kat wrote on Jul 22nd, 2021 at 8:28pm:
It's an NSWGR D59-class freight locomotive, built in the USA by
Baldwin & Co in 1952 and commonly known as a 'Mikado'.

Originally built as oil-burners, most were converted to burn coal
but two oil-burners still exist, both can be seen at the Roundhouse
at Goulburn.

Three coal-burners also survive, the one in the pic, 5917 is the only
member of the class still in regular service on heritage trains.

Here's the same pic, but in colour - it was taken at Goulburn station in 2014.

Maybe the reason I didn’t fully recognise it was how clean it is. My experience of NSWGR rolling stock was it was invariably filthy with few exceptions.
Why though would they convert oil burners to coal? Cost of fuel?


Once they'd decided to phase steam out, the steam fleet was neglected, yes.

As to conversion, due to a combination of WW2 and the 1949 coal strike, coal was expensive
and in short supply so they were ordered and supplied as oil-burners (some members of other
classes were converted to oil-firing as well).

With the improvement in the suppy of coal and the reduced cost, and the rising cost of fuel-oil
the 59s were converted to coal and the other classes were either converted back to coal-firing
or withdrawn and scrapped.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Jul 23rd, 2021 at 8:05pm

Frank wrote on Jul 21st, 2021 at 9:11pm:
Not one for improving material, I see. Just self-justification (crompton).
Gayness narrows the view of the world, always looking, always searching for justification and grasping at any and all affirmation.

There is something sickly about 'gay studies' trying to be equal and normal.  Gay marriage is an example.



Could you explain what precicely is your problem with "The Inmost Heart: 800 Years of Women's Letters” other than it failing to register on your allergic gaydar?

As to gay marriage being normal or not, have you had a close look recently at straight marriages? The data from 2018 shows us that the average marriage in Australia lasts for 12.3 years. The data also shows that couples who have been married for nine years or less are the most likely to separate or divorce
Having found myself in the workplace with ‘normal’ males outpouring their incessant misogamy and wife hatred I soon ceased wondering about the so called bliss of hetro marriages. One comment (and the amused agreement of others) horrified me “If it wasn’t for that smelly thing between their legs shielas would be piled six high at the tip and set on fire” 
Although I’ve now met men happily married to other men I have to confess when I first heard of the idea of legal gay marriage I wondered why anyone would want to go down that path. Finally meeting two married gay men in their thirties with two sons soon changed my mind.
 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jul 23rd, 2021 at 9:32pm

Ayn Marx wrote on Jul 23rd, 2021 at 8:05pm:

Frank wrote on Jul 21st, 2021 at 9:11pm:
Not one for improving material, I see. Just self-justification (crompton).
Gayness narrows the view of the world, always looking, always searching for justification and grasping at any and all affirmation.

There is something sickly about 'gay studies' trying to be equal and normal.  Gay marriage is an example.



Could you explain what precicely is your problem with "The Inmost Heart: 800 Years of Women's Letters” other than it failing to register on your allergic gaydar?

As to gay marriage being normal or not, have you had a close look recently at straight marriages? The data from 2018 shows us that the average marriage in Australia lasts for 12.3 years. The data also shows that couples who have been married for nine years or less are the most likely to separate or divorce
Having found myself in the workplace with ‘normal’ males outpouring their incessant misogamy and wife hatred I soon ceased wondering about the so called bliss of hetro marriages. One comment (and the amused agreement of others) horrified me “If it wasn’t for that smelly thing between their legs shielas would be piled six high at the tip and set on fire” 
Although I’ve now met men happily married to other men I have to confess when I first heard of the idea of legal gay marriage I wondered why anyone would want to go down that path. Finally meeting two married gay men in their thirties with two sons soon changed my mind.
 

Gay married men have no sons from their gay marriage.


Gay is a late luxury, tolerated but still unnatural. It is an aberration and should be treated, tolerated as an abberation. It could obviously not be the norm.

I don't  mind that you are homosexual - and you don't care for my not minding. Be homosexual and be glad that you are a homosexual in a country where you can be.

But you are not like your mum and dad. You are a dead end. You could not produce even you. 

Homosexuality, apart from everything else, is a decadent self-indulgence of the me-me-me.  It's a dreadful narcissistic self-centeredness. A lot is made of its sexual incontinence but it is really a moral incontinence, a moral inability.







Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Jul 24th, 2021 at 10:39am

Frank wrote on Jul 23rd, 2021 at 9:32pm:
Gay married men have no sons from their gay marriage.


My gay married friends offspring's biological mother begat ( if we can stretch that ancient term) their offspring after becoming pregnant first to one gay male parent, then the other.
She has frequent contact with both offspring being regarded as a member of the family. And no, it wasn’t via any form of artificial insemination.
Too queer for you darling? I wonder then how you view artificial insemination and donated embryos now so popular with infertile heterosexuals?



Quote:
Gay is a late luxury, tolerated but still unnatural. It is an aberration and should be treated, tolerated as an aberration. It could obviously not be the norm.


May I suggest you acquaint yourself with more of our species history?


Quote:
But you are not like your mum and dad. You are a dead end. You could not produce even you.


I suppose you could describe my reproductive history as a dead end after a one night stand long ago with a young Vietnamese student. At the time I didn’t know I’d gotten her ‘up the duff’ until she returned home and told me she was pregnant, later on giving birth to a son. However the Vietnamese war put an end to that connection. When all contact was broken I learnt her village had been napalmed by Americans not caring too much which ‘gook’ village, North or South, they destroyed. An abiding dislike of US hoons has remained with me ever since.
What is the point I’m trying to make here? Simply that your simplistic view of the world is just that.  


Quote:
Homosexuality, apart from everything else, is a decadent self-indulgence of the me-me-me.  It's a dreadful narcissistic self-centredness. A lot is made of its sexual incontinence but it is really a moral incontinence, a moral inability.


Have you the slightest idea what it is you’re inadvertently telling us about yourself here?
  _____________________________________________________________

Returning to the original topic of this thread - I’m reading a strange little collection of short stories by an Oz author Jon Cleary ’These Small Glories’ (Publ’ Angus & Robertson LTD.1946)
I don’t think I’ll get very far due to him consistently referring to anyone not Anglo-Saxon as ‘WOGS’.
Wikipedia tells us "He was a regular churchgoer, attending Mass every Sunday." HMM!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Clearyi

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Jul 24th, 2021 at 3:04pm
When the current apocalypse descended upon us, I went looking for some free or cheap e-books to help pass the time.

I discovered a three-book set (part of a larger series) about the world ending in a vaccine-induced zombie apocalypse (how
appropriate), followed by a global nuclear war. It chronicles the adventures and tribulations of several small groups of
survivors trying to establish and build a future for the human race in a post-apocalyptic world.

So, having read the three freebies and having thoroughly enjoyed them, I started to acquire and read the following 20-odd
books in the series.

I am now almost finished the second-last one. The author says there are at least two or three still to be written.

If you are after a good story which is entertaining, sometimes sad, sometimes funny, often poignant and sometimes quite
violent (tho not in a gratuitous or cruel way), and which gives an insight into human nature and how different people and
groups respond in times of crisis, I thoroughly recommend it. It is set predominantly in the UK, Western Europe, Canada
and Australia.

The series is called 'Surviving the Evacuation', and the Author is a fellow named Frank Tayell.

He is also the author of several other books and series, also available on Google Play.

Books 1 to 3 are available on the Google Play site for free, and subsequent copies are from around $4.00 to $6.00 each.

Shown is the cover of Vol 1.


aLxhBwAAQBAJa.jpg (69 KB | 14 )

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Setanta on Jul 30th, 2021 at 6:33pm

Ayn Marx wrote on Jul 24th, 2021 at 10:39am:
I suppose you could describe my reproductive history as a dead end after a one night stand long ago with a young Vietnamese student. At the time I didn’t know I’d gotten her ‘up the duff’ until she returned home and told me she was pregnant, later on giving birth to a son. However the Vietnamese war put an end to that connection. When all contact was broken I learnt her village had been napalmed by Americans not caring too much which ‘gook’ village, North or South, they destroyed. An abiding dislike of US hoons has remained with me ever since.
What is the point I’m trying to make here? Simply that your simplistic view of the world is just that.  


Tell us, just how old are you?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Gordon on Jul 30th, 2021 at 6:39pm
I'm reading Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley and Ron Powers.

That's Flags, with an L so of no interest to Ayn el al

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Setanta on Jul 30th, 2021 at 6:43pm

Gordon wrote on Jul 30th, 2021 at 6:39pm:
I'm reading Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley and Ron Powers.

That's Flags, with an L so of no interest to Ayn el al


No that's Flags with an l, my eyes aren't that bad. I think Ayn must be around 90 going by his story.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Aug 1st, 2021 at 5:25pm

Setanta wrote on Jul 30th, 2021 at 6:43pm:

Gordon wrote on Jul 30th, 2021 at 6:39pm:
I'm reading Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley and Ron Powers.

That's Flags, with an L so of no interest to Ayn el al


No that's Flags with an l, my eyes aren't that bad. I think Ayn must be around 90 going by his story.

Are you sure my ‘story’ contained sufficient detail to justify that comment? I made no reference to the period between when the Vietnamese concerned spent a night with me in Melbourne and when her communications ceased after her return to Vietnam.

Why do I bother with you lot? 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Aug 19th, 2021 at 2:20am
Onto psychology. Big textbook to read.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Aug 21st, 2021 at 9:16pm
While waiting with bated breath for the next 'Surviving the Evacuation' book to
come out, I've been reading a few whodunits by Tami Hoag.

Picked one up in the 'free bin' at a local second-hand shop, enjoyed it, and down-
loaded a few more.

Reading this one currently - it's about a serial-killer near LA, set in the 1980s
and is the first in a 3-book series (Book 2 was the one I found in the 'free bin'.

nAOwBZ5W6roC.jpg (14 KB | 12 )

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Aug 24th, 2021 at 7:12pm
https://100daysofdante.com/

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Aug 24th, 2021 at 8:58pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 19th, 2021 at 2:20am:
Onto psychology. Big textbook to read.

https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/bible-series/

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Aug 24th, 2021 at 9:04pm

Frank wrote on Aug 24th, 2021 at 8:58pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 19th, 2021 at 2:20am:
Onto psychology. Big textbook to read.

https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/bible-series/


I am definitely a fan of Jordan Peterson. But, I have a big textbook to read in the meantime.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Aug 24th, 2021 at 9:30pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 24th, 2021 at 9:04pm:

Frank wrote on Aug 24th, 2021 at 8:58pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 19th, 2021 at 2:20am:
Onto psychology. Big textbook to read.

https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/bible-series/


I am definitely a fan of Jordan Peterson. But, I have a big textbook to read in the meantime.

What's the book?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by rhino on Aug 24th, 2021 at 9:37pm
Probably the latest Batman comic.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Aug 24th, 2021 at 9:37pm

Frank wrote on Aug 24th, 2021 at 9:30pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 24th, 2021 at 9:04pm:

Frank wrote on Aug 24th, 2021 at 8:58pm:

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 19th, 2021 at 2:20am:
Onto psychology. Big textbook to read.

https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/bible-series/


I am definitely a fan of Jordan Peterson. But, I have a big textbook to read in the meantime.

What's the book?


"Motivation" by Lambert Deckers. But then again, I have a house that needs cleaning up so that I can locate a few items for myself. Looking for a textbook on programming. Located one book. Need to find the other.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Oct 15th, 2021 at 6:21pm
Just finished for the second time the diary of Mary Chesnut. Mary was a Confederate lady and kept a diary from just before the Civil War to just after the end of the Civil War.

As the war goes on, with Lee’s idiotic frontal attacks leading to huge Confederate casualties, you read of just what a huge scythe the war swung through the male population—it really is sad to read.

Because of the Union blockade plus the loss of Vicksburg (a lot of blockade runners went into Mexican ports and the goods (rifles, ammunition and other warlike goods) went across the Rio Grande then east across the Mississippi to Vicksburg where rail lines saw the   goods shipped all over the Eastern half of the) Confederacy) prices in Confederate dollars rose steeply and even plantation owners like the Chesnuts found they were no more than beggars.

There is a bit of the Lost Cause myth in her writings but they still give a good account of life in the Confederacy in the Civil War.

Chesnut, Mary Boykin. “A Diary from Dixie: a Lady's Illustrated Account of the Confederacy During the American Civil War”

It is not a “good” diary because events got jumbled up in that diary. Nevertheless, a gripping account.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jim Lahey on Oct 15th, 2021 at 6:27pm
This?
Little_Bobby_005.jpg (66 KB | 11 )

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Oct 15th, 2021 at 8:31pm

Jim Lahey wrote on Oct 15th, 2021 at 6:27pm:
This?

Sooooo.... which fvvkwit are you?


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Oct 16th, 2021 at 9:25pm
Spinoza.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Oct 26th, 2021 at 3:47pm
Just finished “Evan’s Gallipoli” by Kerry Greenwood.

Starts in Gallipoli, Evan follows his father into the Turkish lines, they escape detention before they get shot. Evan guides his father who obviously went insane through Turkey to Bulgaria etc ending up in Greece where Evan and his now-sane father work with wounded soldiers, Diggers, Somalian, German, Turkish etc.

They return to Victoria and Evangelina decided to attend University High School to go to University to study languages, having picked up lots of the languages of the regions she travelled through.


Not great literature but entertaining.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Oct 29th, 2021 at 8:07am
After promising myself I'd do so ever since playing the 'Discworld' computer
game 25 years ago, I've finally gotten around to reading Terry Pratchett's
'Discworld' books.

Currently on Book 4.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sir Spot of Borg on Oct 29th, 2021 at 8:50am

Kat wrote on Oct 29th, 2021 at 8:07am:
After promising myself I'd do so ever since playing the 'Discworld' computer
game 25 years ago, I've finally gotten around to reading Terry Pratchett's
'Discworld' books.

Currently on Book 4.


The last couple arent as good because he got dementia

Spot

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Oct 29th, 2021 at 11:37am

Jovial Monk wrote on Oct 26th, 2021 at 3:47pm:
Just finished “Evan’s Gallipoli” by Kerry Greenwood.

Starts in Gallipoli, Evan follows his father into the Turkish lines, they escape detention before they get shot. Evan guides his father who obviously went insane through Turkey to Bulgaria etc ending up in Greece where Evan and his now-sane father work with wounded soldiers, Diggers, Somalian, German, Turkish etc.

They return to Victoria and Evangelina decided to attend University High School to go to University to study languages, having picked up lots of the languages of the regions she travelled through.


Not great literature but entertaining.


Is “Evan’s Gallipoli” fiction or fact?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Valkie on Nov 11th, 2021 at 12:13pm
I
Kat wrote on Oct 29th, 2021 at 8:07am:
After promising myself I'd do so ever since playing the 'Discworld' computer
game 25 years ago, I've finally gotten around to reading Terry Pratchett's
'Discworld' books.

Currently on Book 4.


Read them all a couple of times.
He really has a twisted sense of humor, but it is entertaining.

I also like Hitchhikers guide.

I guess that says a lot for my idea of humor.

I'm currently reading A Canticle for Lebowitz again.
I find it a great bok for ridding my mind of daily grind before sleep.


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Nov 29th, 2021 at 2:56am

Ayn Marx wrote on Oct 29th, 2021 at 11:37am:

Jovial Monk wrote on Oct 26th, 2021 at 3:47pm:
Just finished “Evan’s Gallipoli” by Kerry Greenwood.

Starts in Gallipoli, Evan follows his father into the Turkish lines, they escape detention before they get shot. Evan guides his father who obviously went insane through Turkey to Bulgaria etc ending up in Greece where Evan and his now-sane father work with wounded soldiers, Diggers, Somalian, German, Turkish etc.

They return to Victoria and Evangelina decided to attend University High School to go to University to study languages, having picked up lots of the languages of the regions she travelled through.


Not great literature but entertaining.


Is “Evan’s Gallipoli” fiction or fact?


It would be fiction.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Dec 16th, 2021 at 6:07pm
"A Clash of Kings" by George R R Martin. Second book in the Game of Thrones series.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jan 27th, 2022 at 12:25pm
Currently reading “Termination Shock” by Neal Stephenson.

Has a lot to do with The Netherlands and rising sea levels but that isn’t why I bought it—Neal is my favorite SF author.

Just getting through the introductory bit—Neal tends to write BIG books.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jan 29th, 2022 at 6:36pm
Well, it is about geoengineering, shooting sulphur into the stratosphere to reflect some sunlight away. India and China react to this—the Punjab, the breadbasket of India, might lose the monsoon.

Won’t say anymore than that—grab a copy and read it.

Personally—geoengineering is not the right thing to do, might even encourage more activities that emit CO2 and geoengineering does not reduce ocean acidification. It could be a circuit breaker when actual action to reduce CO2 emissions is going to happen.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Mar 23rd, 2022 at 4:41pm
Thomas Keneally -- "Australians (vol 2): Eureka to the Diggers"

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on May 12th, 2022 at 12:32pm
'In Pursuit of Justice' by Michael Finnane QC.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on May 12th, 2022 at 12:40pm
"The Man Without a Face -- The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin" by Masha Gessen.

I read through the first 20 pages of the 300-page book in 20 minutes. I should have the book read entirely by the end of next week.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on May 18th, 2022 at 2:54pm
"Underbelly: The Gangland War" by John Silvester and Andrew Rule.

Best to watch season 1 of Underbelly, or look at some documentaries on the topic of the Melbourne Underworld before you read this book. The book, however, seems a lot more interesting than the tv series.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 1st, 2022 at 4:56pm
Mario Puzo's "The Godfather". Keeping in line with the theme of family alienation being discussed in forums above, this book is a good page-turner classic.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jun 1st, 2022 at 9:28pm
Clive James, Cultural Amnesia: notes in the margin of my time

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FutureTheLeftWant on Jun 2nd, 2022 at 7:29am

Frank wrote on Jun 1st, 2022 at 9:28pm:
Clive James, Cultural Amnesia: notes in the margin of my time


A life of malcolm x, a book of essays about socialism, a book on anarchy, and a book on geometry

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lisa Ross on Jun 10th, 2022 at 5:53pm
This
A51ED6A6-C433-4DE2-A8E2-09C8315B7DCC.jpeg (62 KB | 11 )

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Xavier on Jun 11th, 2022 at 9:09pm
;D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 23rd, 2022 at 11:22pm
11/22/63 by Stephen King. Watch the tv series of the book first if you want some idea of what it is about.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FutureTheLeftWant on Jun 24th, 2022 at 7:40am

UnSubRocky wrote on Jun 23rd, 2022 at 11:22pm:
11/22/63 by Stephen King. Watch the tv series of the book first if you want some idea of what it is about.


I'm wrapping up a series of essays by Plinkety on socialism being inevitable.  Also have a life of Malcolm X and a book on the maths of geometric shapes on the go

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jun 24th, 2022 at 3:57pm

FutureTheLeftWant wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 7:40am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Jun 23rd, 2022 at 11:22pm:
11/22/63 by Stephen King. Watch the tv series of the book first if you want some idea of what it is about.


I'm wrapping up a series of essays by Plinkety on socialism being inevitable.  Also have a life of Malcolm X and a book on the maths of geometric shapes on the go


I have so many books from my book fair that I have purchased enough reading material to last me until late next year. The autobiography of Malcolm X would probably be a pdf version online for free read because I doubt that I would spend a great deal of time reading that for long.

I have Schinlder's Ark, Diary of Anne Frank and a few other books to get through in the next few weeks.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FutureTheLeftWant on Jun 24th, 2022 at 3:59pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 3:57pm:

FutureTheLeftWant wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 7:40am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Jun 23rd, 2022 at 11:22pm:
11/22/63 by Stephen King. Watch the tv series of the book first if you want some idea of what it is about.


I'm wrapping up a series of essays by Plinkety on socialism being inevitable.  Also have a life of Malcolm X and a book on the maths of geometric shapes on the go


I have so many books from my book fair that I have purchased enough reading material to last me until late next year. The autobiography of Malcolm X would probably be a pdf version online for free read because I doubt that I would spend a great deal of time reading that for long.

I have Schinlder's Ark, Diary of Anne Frank and a few other books to get through in the next few weeks.


Read all those years ago :)  I have a TON of books on Nazism, actually.  When Reclaim Australia happened, I saw the parallels to Nazism instantly, as I've studied it a lot.

The Malcolm X book was slow enough that I've stopped reading it.  But I will finish it. 

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lols on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:02pm
.
“The case for faith” ~ Lee Strobel
A journalist investigated the toughest objections to Christianity

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FutureTheLeftWant on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:05pm

Sophia wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:02pm:
.
“The case for faith” ~ Lee Strobel
A journalist investigated the toughest objections to Christianity


Does he come up with anything other than Pascals wager?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lols on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:09pm

FutureTheLeftWant wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:05pm:

Sophia wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:02pm:
.
“The case for faith” ~ Lee Strobel
A journalist investigated the toughest objections to Christianity


Does he come up with anything other than Pascals wager?


Not yet so far… but I’m intrigued how the author was an atheist and was a lawyer to be writing such an interesting book how his beliefs changed etc.

I’ve only just started reading it… took the book up to Qld on a flight recently to read it more… but slept on plane instead.  ::)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by FutureTheLeftWant on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:11pm

Sophia wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:09pm:

FutureTheLeftWant wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:05pm:

Sophia wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:02pm:
.
“The case for faith” ~ Lee Strobel
A journalist investigated the toughest objections to Christianity


Does he come up with anything other than Pascals wager?


Not yet so far… but I’m intrigued how the author was an atheist and was a lawyer to be writing such an interesting book how his beliefs changed etc.

I’ve only just started reading it… took the book up to Qld on a flight recently to read it more… but slept on plane instead.  ::)


I recommend reading the negative reviews on Amazon, apparently he makes no real case, he just preaches to the converted

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Lols on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:23pm

FutureTheLeftWant wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:11pm:

Sophia wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:09pm:

FutureTheLeftWant wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:05pm:

Sophia wrote on Jun 24th, 2022 at 4:02pm:
.
“The case for faith” ~ Lee Strobel
A journalist investigated the toughest objections to Christianity


Does he come up with anything other than Pascals wager?


Not yet so far… but I’m intrigued how the author was an atheist and was a lawyer to be writing such an interesting book how his beliefs changed etc.

I’ve only just started reading it… took the book up to Qld on a flight recently to read it more… but slept on plane instead.  ::)


I recommend reading the negative reviews on Amazon, apparently he makes no real case, he just preaches to the converted


Perhaps… but I’d like to see how he puts his case across.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jun 27th, 2022 at 8:30pm
Suppose yourself an enterprising biographer in search of a subject. Your interests lie in late twentieth-century Britain. You wish to trace cross-currents of literary and political commentary—not omitting spicy gossip, off-color jokes, and pyrotechnic wordplay—in pre-Thatcher London. For your purposes, you could hardly do better than choose a kebab shop near the New Statesman’s offices in the late 1970s. There one could find among a crowd of Young Turks, on a series of Fridays that have passed into literary legend, Martin Amis, Christopher Hitchens, Clive James, Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes, and others (all indiscreetly male). Lacking transcripts, you could fall back on interviews and memoirs to reconstruct these lunches. Your labor would be rewarded by the chance to assay a wellspring of diverse talents and sensibilities that gave rise to at least five prominent literary lives spanning several decades.

A group biography, then. Even so, the account would be incomplete if it failed to invoke a conspicuously absent elder, one whose influence bound the clique as tightly as did its members’ socialist leanings. Philip Larkin, though ensconced in his library at the University of Hull, made a vivid impression on all of these young men. Indeed, periodic visits to the group by his chums and fellow reactionaries Robert Conquest and Kingsley Amis probably made it seem as if his hologram were beamed into the Bursa Kebab House. Consider the effects. The younger Amis, whose brother was Larkin’s godson, has paid tribute to the poet in a memoir and essays and oversaw a published selection of his verses. Barnes was buoyed by Larkin’s praise of his first novel, Metroland; more recently, as Colm Tóibin has noted, “the spirit of Larkin” haunts Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending (2011). Hitchens wrote about or quoted Larkin on numerous occasions. McEwan recounts being asked by the Hitch to pronounce “The Whitsun Weddings” at his hospital bedside, weeks before dying, and the two kept up a brief email correspondence about the meaning of the poem’s celebrated final lines:

  We slowed again,
And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled
A sense of falling, like an arrow-shower
Sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain.

A few years earlier, naming The Whitsun Weddings (1964) as one of his top five favorite poetry books for The Wall Street Journal, Clive James said the final line of the title poem had become “a call sign for a generation.” It supplies, at any rate, the title for the book James published shortly before his death last November at the age of eighty.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jun 27th, 2022 at 8:31pm
The Whitsun Weddings
BY PHILIP LARKIN
That Whitsun, I was late getting away:
    Not till about
One-twenty on the sunlit Saturday
Did my three-quarters-empty train pull out,
All windows down, all cushions hot, all sense   
Of being in a hurry gone. We ran
Behind the backs of houses, crossed a street
Of blinding windscreens, smelt the fish-dock; thence   
The river’s level drifting breadth began,
Where sky and Lincolnshire and water meet.

All afternoon, through the tall heat that slept   
    For miles inland,
A slow and stopping curve southwards we kept.   
Wide farms went by, short-shadowed cattle, and   
Canals with floatings of industrial froth;   
A hothouse flashed uniquely: hedges dipped   
And rose: and now and then a smell of grass   
Displaced the reek of buttoned carriage-cloth   
Until the next town, new and nondescript,   
Approached with acres of dismantled cars.

At first, I didn’t notice what a noise
    The weddings made
Each station that we stopped at: sun destroys   
The interest of what’s happening in the shade,
And down the long cool platforms whoops and skirls   
I took for porters larking with the mails,   
And went on reading. Once we started, though,   
We passed them, grinning and pomaded, girls   
In parodies of fashion, heels and veils,   
All posed irresolutely, watching us go,

As if out on the end of an event
    Waving goodbye
To something that survived it. Struck, I leant   
More promptly out next time, more curiously,   
And saw it all again in different terms:   
The fathers with broad belts under their suits   
And seamy foreheads; mothers loud and fat;   
An uncle shouting smut; and then the perms,   
The nylon gloves and jewellery-substitutes,   
The lemons, mauves, and olive-ochres that

Marked off the girls unreally from the rest.   
    Yes, from cafés
And banquet-halls up yards, and bunting-dressed   
Coach-party annexes, the wedding-days   
Were coming to an end. All down the line
Fresh couples climbed aboard: the rest stood round;
The last confetti and advice were thrown,
And, as we moved, each face seemed to define   
Just what it saw departing: children frowned   
At something dull; fathers had never known

Success so huge and wholly farcical;
    The women shared
The secret like a happy funeral;
While girls, gripping their handbags tighter, stared   
At a religious wounding. Free at last,
And loaded with the sum of all they saw,
We hurried towards London, shuffling gouts of steam.   
Now fields were building-plots, and poplars cast   
Long shadows over major roads, and for
Some fifty minutes, that in time would seem

Just long enough to settle hats and say
    I nearly died,
A dozen marriages got under way.
They watched the landscape, sitting side by side
—An Odeon went past, a cooling tower,   
And someone running up to bowl—and none   
Thought of the others they would never meet   
Or how their lives would all contain this hour.   
I thought of London spread out in the sun,   
Its postal districts packed like squares of wheat:

There we were aimed. And as we raced across   
    Bright knots of rail
Past standing Pullmans, walls of blackened moss   
Came close, and it was nearly done, this frail   
Travelling coincidence; and what it held   
Stood ready to be loosed with all the power   
That being changed can give. We slowed again,
And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled
A sense of falling, like an arrow-shower   
Sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jun 28th, 2022 at 5:31pm
https://www.aldaily.com/

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jake Winker Frogen on Jun 28th, 2022 at 6:08pm
Murakami

Men Without Women.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Xavier on Jun 28th, 2022 at 10:06pm

Jake Winker Frogen wrote on Jun 28th, 2022 at 6:08pm:
Murakami

Men Without Women.

:-/

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Jul 3rd, 2022 at 9:36pm
The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Politically_Incorrect_Guide_to_English_and_American_Literature


Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John_Taverner on Sep 6th, 2022 at 5:39pm
I'm slowly reading Mémoires by André Maurois. (Émile Herzog)

I read "Call No Man Happy" many years ago and thought it would be a challenge to read his works in the original French.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by The Heartless Felon on Sep 7th, 2022 at 5:58am
'The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books'

About Christopher Columbus, his son and the quest to build the world's greatest library.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Sep 10th, 2022 at 10:21am
'The Radium Girls' by Kate Moore. Non-fiction.

A horrifying story of how young women, aged from 14 to their late 20s, employed to
hand-paint the numbers on the faces of 'luminous' clocks and instrument-faces during
WW1 and into the 1920s,were exposed to lethal radiation by their employers - who
then proceeded to attempt to evade all efforts to expose the problem while also doing
nothing to alleviate it.

The problem was, the girls used their lips to 'point' their brushes and enable them to
produce work of the required quality - but every time they did, they'd ingest minute
quantities of radium. They were not told of the danger of this, quite the opposite. An
alternative, using a container of water, to moisten, clean and 'point' the brushes, was
implemented - but abandoned because of the belief that 'too much radium was being
wasted' that way.

Many of these women died - in agony - from the horrific effects the radiation had upon
them. One girl's jaw simply fell apart during a tooth extraction. Several girls had their
entire lower faces basically eaten away from infections which could not be treated.

And in a move which 'Asbestos Julie' would be proud of, the lawyers tried to drag the
compensation cases out long enough for the affected women to die before a settlement
was reached - which, sadly, was all too often the case.

There are several docos on YouTube which tell this sad story - but none are as detailed
as this book appears to be.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Xavier on Sep 11th, 2022 at 6:04pm

Kat wrote on Sep 10th, 2022 at 10:21am:
'The Radium Girls' by Kate Moore. Non-fiction.

A horrifying story of how young women, aged from 14 to their late 20s, employed to
hand-paint the numbers on the faces of 'luminous' clocks and instrument-faces during
WW1 and into the 1920s,were exposed to lethal radiation by their employers - who
then proceeded to attempt to evade all efforts to expose the problem while also doing
nothing to alleviate it.

The problem was, the girls used their lips to 'point' their brushes and enable them to
produce work of the required quality - but every time they did, they'd ingest minute
quantities of radium. They were not told of the danger of this, quite the opposite. An
alternative, using a container of water, to moisten, clean and 'point' the brushes, was
implemented - but abandoned because of the belief that 'too much radium was being
wasted' that way.

Many of these women died - in agony - from the horrific effects the radiation had upon
them. One girl's jaw simply fell apart during a tooth extraction. Several girls had their
entire lower faces basically eaten away from infections which could not be treated.

And in a move which 'Asbestos Julie' would be proud of, the lawyers tried to drag the
compensation cases out long enough for the affected women to die before a settlement
was reached - which, sadly, was all too often the case.

There are several docos on YouTube which tell this sad story - but none are as detailed
as this book appears to be.


That's terrible!  :(

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Kat on Sep 12th, 2022 at 11:02am

Jasin wrote on Sep 11th, 2022 at 6:04pm:
That's terrible!  :(


It was.

And the more I read (and research online), the worse it gets.

Some of these girls barely made it into their 20s before dying horrific deaths.

Here's a doco about them, from YouTube. The book is actually mentioned at the end of the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KoBPHfEveA&t=377s

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sophia on Nov 30th, 2022 at 10:14pm

Kat wrote on Sep 12th, 2022 at 11:02am:

Jasin wrote on Sep 11th, 2022 at 6:04pm:
That's terrible!  :(


It was.

And the more I read (and research online), the worse it gets.

Some of these girls barely made it into their 20s before dying horrific deaths.

Here's a doco about them, from YouTube. The book is actually mentioned at the end of the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KoBPHfEveA&t=377s


That’s awful… I have heard about this before… and it’s heart breaking.
To think… I just bought a book last week I brought back with me from Qld
“Extra life” a short history of living longer (Steven Johnson)
I’m certain those Radium girls would’ve liked to have lived longer  :-[



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Dec 1st, 2022 at 3:07pm
The Spy and the Traitor

Was put onto this by an Americam member of my fine forum—A Soviet spy decides to spy for England while still working for Russia.

I am in the second half of the book where he is pretty much suspected, recalled to russia and now the attempted escape via Finland and Norway.

A certain Vladimir Putin appears as a minor character.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Dec 13th, 2022 at 1:58pm
Margi Prideaux : 'FIRE :A MESSAGE FROM THE EDGE OF CLIMATE CATASTROPHE '

From The Saturday Paper's Review.
We are on the Edge of a Climate Catastrophe" writes Margi Prideaux
This book grapples with the most difficult - or - to use her word "wicked" problems. The threat she says is climate chaos.

Prideaux has worked in wildlife and international politics and law for more the 30 years. An international negotiator and independent academic specialising in wildlife policy. The book is vulnerable, angry, fierce, well researched and well written.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
My fear is Prideaux will be largely preaching to the converted.


https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Message-Edge-Climate-Catastrophe/dp/1925856550

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Dec 13th, 2022 at 2:42pm

Ayn Marx wrote on Dec 13th, 2022 at 1:58pm:
Margi Prideaux : 'FIRE :A MESSAGE FROM THE EDGE OF CLIMATE CATASTROPHE '

From The Saturday Paper's Review.
We are on the Edge of a Climate Catastrophe" writes Margi Prideaux
This book grapples with the most difficult - or - to use her word "wicked" problems. The threat she says is climate chaos.

Prideaux has worked in wildlife and international politics and law for more the 30 years. An international negotiator and independent academic specialising in wildlife policy. The book is vulnerable, angry, fierce, well researched and well written.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
My fear is Prideaux will be largely preaching to the converted.


https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Message-Edge-Climate-Catastrophe/dp/1925856550

Bushfires in Australia are a widespread and regular occurrence that have contributed significantly to shaping the nature of the continent over millions of years. Eastern Australia is one of the most fire-prone regions of the world, and its predominant eucalyptus forests have evolved to thrive on the phenomenon of bushfire.[1] However, the fires can cause significant property damage and loss of both human and animal life. Bushfires have killed approximately 800 people in Australia since 1851,[2] and billions of animals.




Don't build houses in eucalyptus forests.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Ayn Marx on Dec 13th, 2022 at 4:26pm

Frank wrote on Dec 13th, 2022 at 2:42pm:

Ayn Marx wrote on Dec 13th, 2022 at 1:58pm:
Margi Prideaux : 'FIRE :A MESSAGE FROM THE EDGE OF CLIMATE CATASTROPHE '

From The Saturday Paper's Review.
We are on the Edge of a Climate Catastrophe" writes Margi Prideaux
This book grapples with the most difficult - or - to use her word "wicked" problems. The threat she says is climate chaos.

Prideaux has worked in wildlife and international politics and law for more the 30 years. An international negotiator and independent academic specialising in wildlife policy. The book is vulnerable, angry, fierce, well researched and well written.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
My fear is Prideaux will be largely preaching to the converted.


https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Message-Edge-Climate-Catastrophe/dp/1925856550

Bushfires in Australia are a widespread and regular occurrence that have contributed significantly to shaping the nature of the continent over millions of years. Eastern Australia is one of the most fire-prone regions of the world, and its predominant eucalyptus forests have evolved to thrive on the phenomenon of bushfire.[1] However, the fires can cause significant property damage and loss of both human and animal life. Bushfires have killed approximately 800 people in Australia since 1851,[2] and billions of animals.




Don't build houses in eucalyptus forests.

And how is that going to put an end to climate change?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Dec 13th, 2022 at 9:28pm

Ayn Marx wrote on Dec 13th, 2022 at 4:26pm:

Frank wrote on Dec 13th, 2022 at 2:42pm:

Ayn Marx wrote on Dec 13th, 2022 at 1:58pm:
Margi Prideaux : 'FIRE :A MESSAGE FROM THE EDGE OF CLIMATE CATASTROPHE '

From The Saturday Paper's Review.
We are on the Edge of a Climate Catastrophe" writes Margi Prideaux
This book grapples with the most difficult - or - to use her word "wicked" problems. The threat she says is climate chaos.

Prideaux has worked in wildlife and international politics and law for more the 30 years. An international negotiator and independent academic specialising in wildlife policy. The book is vulnerable, angry, fierce, well researched and well written.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
My fear is Prideaux will be largely preaching to the converted.


https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Message-Edge-Climate-Catastrophe/dp/1925856550

Bushfires in Australia are a widespread and regular occurrence that have contributed significantly to shaping the nature of the continent over millions of years. Eastern Australia is one of the most fire-prone regions of the world, and its predominant eucalyptus forests have evolved to thrive on the phenomenon of bushfire.[1] However, the fires can cause significant property damage and loss of both human and animal life. Bushfires have killed approximately 800 people in Australia since 1851,[2] and billions of animals.




Don't build houses in eucalyptus forests.

And how is that going to put an end to climate change?


That Prideaux's house burned down on Kangaroo Island had nothing to do with climate change.
Houses built in the bush don't burn down because of climate change, just as houses built on flood plains don't get washed away because of climate change. Unless it is 'climate chaos', as Prideaux calls it, that makes people do such stupid things.




Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Dnarever on Dec 13th, 2022 at 9:41pm

gizmo_2655 wrote on Jun 5th, 2013 at 11:09am:
Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series..(Again)



Classic.  I don't currently have it.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Aussie on Dec 15th, 2022 at 6:21pm
Nowhere Else to Go written by Danni McDonnell.

A new/recent release by a new author

Get yourself a copy $30.00 from Amazon.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Xavier on Dec 16th, 2022 at 8:38pm
Considering your Wordles.
I thought Mills and Boon are more your style Aussie.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jan 21st, 2023 at 4:40pm
David Fischer's "Washington's Crossing". Decided to make a start on that book. Interesting first chapter examining the painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Mar 19th, 2023 at 3:01pm
The ANZACS by Patsy Adam-Smith. Read three short chapters last night.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Mar 21st, 2023 at 9:21am

Jasin wrote on Dec 16th, 2022 at 8:38pm:
Considering your Wordles.
I thought Mills and Boon are more your style Aussie.


I volunteered at the local library back in SA. One afternoon I had to prepare a heap of Mills and Boon books for going on the shelf—sticking labels over the spine etc. Reading the synopsis on the back cover of each book I had to ask out loud “Do people actually read this drivel?” and got loud laughs from the fulltime staff there! Talk about mundane!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Apr 27th, 2023 at 6:46pm
I have bought, some time ago I admit, all of Chas Dickens’ books in electronic form I have just started to (re)read them.

First one on offer—see if you can guess the novel:


Quote:
. . . there is one anciently common to most towns, great or small: to wit, a workhouse; and in this workhouse was born; on a day and date which I need not trouble myself to repeat, inasmuch as it can be of no possible consequence to the reader, in this stage of the business at all events; the item of mortality whose name is prefixed to the head of this chapter.

Dickens, Charles. The Complete Novels of Charles Dickens: 20 Illustrated Classics in One Volume (p. 10). e-artnow. Kindle Edition.


Who was the “item of mortality?”

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Apr 27th, 2023 at 7:49pm
I was in the QBD bookstore just recently. I looked up "American Psycho" for their website to find that they are not allowed to sell it in Qld. Felt ripped off. What is the reasoning behind that decision?

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by greggerypeccary on Apr 27th, 2023 at 7:55pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Apr 27th, 2023 at 7:49pm:
I was in the QBD bookstore just recently. I looked up "American Psycho" for their website to find that they are not allowed to sell it in Qld. Felt ripped off. What is the reasoning behind that decision?


I'm not sure if it's reasonable, but here ya go:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/20/american-psycho-pulled-police-australia

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Apr 27th, 2023 at 8:15pm
Nancy Mitford.
Julian Barnes.
Murakami.



Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Apr 27th, 2023 at 8:18pm
We have a Lifeline bookfest coming up at the end of the first week of May. Hopefully, someone forgot to not include "American Psycho" on the not-to-be-sold-in-Qld list and has a copy at the market available for me to purchase.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Apr 27th, 2023 at 8:30pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Apr 27th, 2023 at 8:18pm:
We have a Lifeline bookfest coming up at the end of the first week of May. Hopefully, someone forgot to not include "American Psycho" on the not-to-be-sold-in-Qld list and has a copy at the market available for me to purchase.


It's a sensationalist crap book. From the 90s.
If you are really interested in sexual perversion and violence, read the Marquis De Sade. He was in the Bastille when it was stormed in 1789. Anything after him is insipid and bland.






Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Apr 27th, 2023 at 10:18pm
Nevermind. I can read it online for free. Duh.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Apr 28th, 2023 at 9:25pm
Oliver Twist.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Apr 28th, 2023 at 10:30pm

Jovial Monk wrote on Apr 28th, 2023 at 9:25pm:
Oliver Twist.


I did a short critique on that book (even though I was only one-third the way through it). I got told off for being a smart-arse. Book is so much better than the movie, even for my part-way reading of the novel.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sir Spot of Borg on Apr 29th, 2023 at 6:40am

UnSubRocky wrote on Apr 27th, 2023 at 8:18pm:
We have a Lifeline bookfest coming up at the end of the first week of May. Hopefully, someone forgot to not include "American Psycho" on the not-to-be-sold-in-Qld list and has a copy at the market available for me to purchase.


I missed the last book fest - they had it a month early! wont miss the next one. . . . .

Spot

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Apr 29th, 2023 at 12:43pm

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Apr 29th, 2023 at 6:40am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Apr 27th, 2023 at 8:18pm:
We have a Lifeline bookfest coming up at the end of the first week of May. Hopefully, someone forgot to not include "American Psycho" on the not-to-be-sold-in-Qld list and has a copy at the market available for me to purchase.


I missed the last book fest - they had it a month early! wont miss the next one. . . . .

Spot


Next Friday and Saturday for me.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on May 8th, 2023 at 3:55pm
Spent a fair amount of money on books this year. Still have not read most of the books from the last Bookfest.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 24th, 2023 at 9:42pm
"Unstoppable" by Maria Sharapova.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sir Spot of Borg on Jul 25th, 2023 at 4:06am

UnSubRocky wrote on Apr 29th, 2023 at 12:43pm:

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Apr 29th, 2023 at 6:40am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Apr 27th, 2023 at 8:18pm:
We have a Lifeline bookfest coming up at the end of the first week of May. Hopefully, someone forgot to not include "American Psycho" on the not-to-be-sold-in-Qld list and has a copy at the market available for me to purchase.


I missed the last book fest - they had it a month early! wont miss the next one. . . . .

Spot


Next Friday and Saturday for me.


8th - 10th september here.

Spot

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Aug 8th, 2023 at 9:47pm
https://themillions.com/2023/08/why-read-john-milton.html

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Frank on Oct 19th, 2023 at 6:51am
Tolstoy.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sophia on Nov 21st, 2023 at 10:08pm
Actually, those free woolies and coles monthly cook magazines!

But re: books in general… I’m packing to shift and hubby says not all the books… get rid of some.
But I sneakily pack them up and put into nooks and crannies hidden from him  ;D
Gosh books are darn heavy when carrying a box of them. So I do it in smaller bundles.
Which reminds me… I started reading a Gold Coast magazine yet it’s a year old!
But fascinating … there’s something about bikinis…. Imma gonna put it in travel soon.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Nov 22nd, 2023 at 6:07am
American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant by White, Ronald C.

US Grant, Ulysses S Grant, was not Grant’s real name!

He was baptised Hiram Ulysses Grant. A clerical error by the politician who nominated him for West Point saddled him with the empty “S” that stood for nothing. So he accepted that. (the politician assumed he was called “Hyram Simpson Grant, Simpson being his mother’s maiden name. This was a common practice back then but Jesse Root Grant wanted a fancy name for his first born son, hence “Ulysses” for a boy born in backwoods Midwest America.

He did save the union. As President he crushed the Ku Klux Klan.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Bias_2012 on Nov 22nd, 2023 at 7:20am
The Nashos' War - by Mark Dapin

426 pages of life in Vietnam for conscripts. I'm 5/8th of the way through it

Dapin describes how and where the first conscript was killed in Vietnam. Eric Noack .. the Aust media published that he was killed by the enemy, but all the blokes near Eric swore he was killed by friendly fire, caused by a lack of communication between separate platoons who didn't know each other was there. Each thought the other was the enemy

The read so far is a compilation of eye witness reports from the conscripts themselves, not holding back on gruesome details of the dead, dying, and wounded in the battles of Long Tan, Tet, and some other serious skirmishes.

However, much more is covered in the book than just those battles, far too much to mention here. It's very comprehensive and you get a good picture of everything from go to wo. Dapin even talks about Doug Walters the cricketer, and Normie Row the singer being conscripted and how the Government thought that was great - (bloody sadists)









Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by John Smith on Nov 22nd, 2023 at 7:31am

Sophia wrote on Nov 21st, 2023 at 10:08pm:
Which reminds me… I started reading a Gold Coast magazine yet it’s a year old!
But fascinating … there’s something about bikinis…. Imma gonna put it in travel soon.



did it mentions the GC's most popular accessories to wear with a bikini?

Botox and silicone? :D

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by SadKangaroo on Nov 23rd, 2023 at 8:16am
Ryk Brown's "Frontiers Saga" is amazing.

I gave up, almost at the end, of Silver Ships Series by S.H. Jucha.  I was enjoying that, but I just can't start book 20 in the series.  I've got bored of it and moved over to the Frontiers Saga.

Currently on book 11 of part 2.

A lot more action and a more grounded (for a post-apocalyptic sci-fi setting) and military-based setting with some pretty grim, but accurate commentary on us humans...

Highly recommend Ryk Brown's "Frontiers Saga"

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Nov 23rd, 2023 at 8:49am
OK, ordered Book 1.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by SadKangaroo on Nov 23rd, 2023 at 10:59am
Hope ya like it :)

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Nov 23rd, 2023 at 12:01pm
Only cost like $4 so doesn’t matter.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Nov 29th, 2023 at 7:35pm
OK so far!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Nov 29th, 2023 at 8:03pm
Yeah, very much an intro but, yeah, good.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Nov 30th, 2023 at 2:36pm
Ordered Book 2.

A bit Hornblower in the 22nd century so far but OK.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Dec 1st, 2023 at 6:14pm
As light entertainment until I get into the second book of the Frontiers Saga I a,m reading Vol 1 of

Albert Smith’s Culinary Capers. An old, former Det Superintendent sets out on a culinary trip of England and finds himself involved in crimes going on around him.

Sounds corny but it is fine, a nice read.

Oh—he is accompanied by an outsize German Shepherd who was trained and passed as a police dog but was later dismissed for a bad attitude!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sprintcyclist on Dec 2nd, 2023 at 1:45am
2017 Laws of Duplicate Bridge


Quote:
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/http://www.worldbridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2017LawsofDuplicateBridge-nohighlights.pdf

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sophia on Dec 3rd, 2023 at 11:30pm
Instructions to a dishwasher in a new place… couldn’t find it earlier, put dishwasher on “Eco” and it just went on and on … over 3 hours!  :o eco my butt!

So now I know settings for shorter wash!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Dec 4th, 2023 at 5:34am
LOL!

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Dec 18th, 2023 at 6:15pm
“Lessons in chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus

Set in 1950s

Two chemists, one established one starting out.

Defacto relationship before that was acceptable.

Male chemist dies. Female chemist is fired and finds herself pregnant. Before this was a rower in a male–only 8 crewed boat.

Neither chemist the dead and the pregnant have family they want to acknowledge (one was a booby, a hell fire repent now moron.


The author experienced something like the protagonist of the book experienced and she wrote the first chapter in a white–hot rage about how male colleagues appropriated her work.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Dec 19th, 2023 at 7:15pm
Want to know more?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/16/it-was-smart-to-write-when-i-was-so-angry-bonnie-garmus-on-the-winning-formula-behind-lessons-in-chemistry

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by SadKangaroo on Dec 20th, 2023 at 4:50pm
Well I'm sad, I just finished book 7 of part 3 which means I'm current.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by A.I. on Dec 21st, 2023 at 1:15am

SadKangaroo wrote on Dec 20th, 2023 at 4:50pm:
Well I'm sad, I just finished book 7 of part 3 which means I'm current.

Well that is indeed sad.
Read on.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jan 22nd, 2024 at 8:20pm
They are basing the recent "Reacher" tv series on the books of Lee Child. The last season kind of sucked. But, I found that I do not have the book that the series was based upon. So, that was a blessing.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Sprintcyclist on Jan 23rd, 2024 at 12:20pm

The Island of Missing Trees
by Elif Shafak.

magical, beautiful.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jan 23rd, 2024 at 1:16pm

SadKangaroo wrote on Dec 20th, 2023 at 4:50pm:
Well I'm sad, I just finished book 7 of part 3 which means I'm current.


I am on book 2.6.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by SadKangaroo on Jan 26th, 2024 at 8:23am

UnSubRocky wrote on Jan 22nd, 2024 at 8:20pm:
They are basing the recent "Reacher" tv series on the books of Lee Child. The last season kind of sucked. But, I found that I do not have the book that the series was based upon. So, that was a blessing.


I prefer the TV Reacher over the original book version of the character, but I'm yet to check out season 2.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Feb 8th, 2024 at 4:41pm

SadKangaroo wrote on Jan 26th, 2024 at 8:23am:

UnSubRocky wrote on Jan 22nd, 2024 at 8:20pm:
They are basing the recent "Reacher" tv series on the books of Lee Child. The last season kind of sucked. But, I found that I do not have the book that the series was based upon. So, that was a blessing.


I prefer the TV Reacher over the original book version of the character, but I'm yet to check out season 2.


Ever since the TV series have arrived to view, I have the urge to read the 10 books that have been sitting on my bookshelf for the last 4 years. But, I still have the urge to finish my Game of Thrones books. I want to watch the series again for the 4th time.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 10th, 2024 at 2:56am
I am going to finally make a start on reading "The Eureka Stockade".

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by UnSubRocky on Jul 10th, 2024 at 12:40pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Jul 10th, 2024 at 2:56am:
I am going to finally make a start on reading "The Eureka Stockade".


Started reading the book. Such a rubbish book.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Jul 16th, 2024 at 6:22pm
Just finished Harper Lee “To kill a mockingbird.”

Need to read it again—different era, different country—the rural south. Little echos of Huckleberry Finn.

It is 1935, Atticus Finch drives a Buick but horse and mule drawn transport is common. “Old Hitler” gets a mention. “black people” play a big part in the story.

Title: Re: What are you currently reading?
Post by Jovial Monk on Oct 7th, 2024 at 1:28pm
Just finished Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle “Escape from Hell” a sequel to. their earlier “Infirno”

Interesting.


Someone here put me onto the sequel but can’t remember who. Thanks anyway.

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