Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?

[Scepticalscribe]

I‘m determine to lure someone into reading the first Honor Harrington novel and added the starting paragraph from Chapter 1 to this post:

What Book Are You Reading?

Speaking of Honor Harrington :D:Done of the greatest space operas ever written (imo ;)) I was mulling over re-reading the 16 book saga, and discovered that the first two books in the series are currently free to buy and read on the Kindle App (Amazon). This might be an opportunity if you have...

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And I, likewise, am determined to lure someone into reading the Heris Serrano space opera series (by Elizabeth Moon).

Moon has also written classic fantasy - the Paksenarrion series, (and its sequels) which is very good, but I must say that I prefer the Heris Serrano series, (an original trilogy, followed by two pairs of books, which follow some of the characters from the original trilogy, along with several new characters), which I think excellent.

 

[Huntn]

And I, likewise, am determined to lure someone into reading the Heris Serrano space opera seres (by Elizabeth Moon).

Moon has also written classic fantasy - the Paksenarrion series, (and its sequels) which is very good, but I must say that I prefer the Heris Serrano series, (an original trilogy, followed by two pairs of books, which follow some of the characters from the original trilogy, along with several new characters), which I think excellent.

I am looking into this title.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I am looking into this title.

They are excellent space stories, - actually excellent stories with a credible space background and an impressive grasp of politics, power and political culture, complete with strong female characters, - and credible characters overall - and a very solid understanding of military culture which is woven into the very fabric of the stories.

 

[Huntn]

They are excellent space stories, - actually excellent stories with a credible space background and an impressive grasp of politics, power and political culture, complete with strong female characters, - and credible characters overall - and a very solid understanding of military culture which is woven into the very fabric of the stories.

I’d make a like comparison to the Harrington novels, which include political intrigue, and impressive space battles.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I’d make a like comparison to the Harrington novels, which include political intrigue, and impressive space battles.

The first trilogy (which I acquired as an omnibus hardback "Heris Serrano" - it comprises the first three books, "Hunting Party", "Sporting Chance" and "Winning Colours"), I thought them excellent, take place mostly in a civilian world, but one informed by the military values and code of the eponymous protagonist, Heris Serrano, an ex-officer.

Some online reviews that I have read consider them even better than the Honor Harrington books, and, while the first trilogy truly sets the scene and introduces the reader to the values and worlds were the story is set, and serves to set the scene, the four subsequent books (Once A Hero, Rules of Engagement, Change of Command, and Against the Odds) take place in a mostly military environment and introduce other POV characters, and, in addition to continuing with the wider narrative arc and story of some of the more interesting and attractive characters from earlier books, also introduce some further compellingly unpleasant antagonists.

The Serrano books have very solid political intrigue and yes, very good world building (and includes worlds with markedly different socio-political-economic and cultural values), and also compelling and credible (and sometimes quite suffocating and tense) space battles.

 

[Fthree]

Mastery.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

Reading:

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

Sontag: Her Life and Work by Benjamin Moser

 

[S.B.G]

The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness
by Jonas Salzgeber

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness
by Jonas Salzgeber

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Please let me know how you find it, or what you think of it.

If memory serves, it was on your recommendation that I purchased Susan Cain's excellent book on Introverts.

 

[S.B.G]

Please let me know how you find it, or what you think of it.

So far I'm 30% through it today and I find it very good. Well written, easy to read and understand the basics of Stocism. This is one of the books recommended by @yaxomoxay

If memory serves, it was on your recommendation that I purchased Susan Cain's excellent book on Introverts.

Yes, that is a book I read a number of years ago, enjoyed a great deal and still recommend today.

 

[mikzn]

1522 The voyage of circumnavigation ends, vindicating Copernicus.Right, so two years short of five centuries later, well... yeah, and flatlanders actually still abound!

I’m gonna have to make time in the early morning hours to appreciate that book properly, I think. It's the time of day I'm most optimistic about the journeys that humans have made and continue to make while Planet Earth persists. Still, it has remained provably true that the planet is more round than flat... while it follows its path around one of the several hundred billion stars in just one of the couple trillion galaxies of the known universe.

(but sure it's possible that the earth is flat, there's always been fake news for those who prefer it)

Hmm - Flat Earth - what about the other planets?

 

[LizKat]

Hmm - Flat Earth - what about the other planets?

That depiction is wrong from POV of flat landers, who believe the earth is disc shaped with the North Pole at the center, and Antarctica all around the circumference. So circumnavigation just means traversing the surface of the disc. I guess if one could break out of the icy gates of Antarctica and get to "the other side" somehow without "falling off", then the South Pole would be in the center? No wonder these folks probably don't think climate change is real either. Once those icy gates go, seems like life on flat earth could get really dangerous... or at least mushy around the edges right before the eternal drought sets in.

Well enough of that before I politicize the thread. Back to figuring out how to keep the basil alive until it's safe to transplant it. Fried the first batch in the little coldframe by forgetting to raise the glass when the forecast went awry and the sun came on strong! Second batch is on the porch but now it needs more sun. I'm sure I can find a solution in here.

​

 

[Matz]

Just started Shop Class as Soulcraft - An Inquiry Into the Value of Work, by Matthew B. Crawford.

I discovered it while browsing through the Hemmings website, and it looks promising.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Just started Shop Class as Soulcraft - An Inquiry Into the Value of Work, by Matthew B. Crawford.

I discovered it while browsing through the Hemmings website, and it looks promising.

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This has been on my list for a while. It's highly recommended by Cal Newport and other digital minimalists (I think Jocko also talks about it). It gives me a "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" vibe. Let me know it's any good.

 

[SocialKonstruct]

 

[yaxomoxay]

Very interested in this. Let me know if it's biased af, or if it's a fair analysis.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Very interested in this. Let me know if it's biased af, or if it's a fair analysis.

@SocialKonstruct: I take this opportunity of echoing @yaxomoxay's comment and query, - the same thoughts crossed my mind, especially the question of whether the book is a fair and informed analysis, or is biased - and will look forward with interest to reading what you have to say about this book.

 

[Matz]

This has been on my list for a while. It's highly recommended by Cal Newport and other digital minimalists (I think Jocko also talks about it). It gives me a "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" vibe. Let me know it's any good.

I’m roughly a third of a way into it, and finding it both interesting and informative. While reminiscent in some ways of Zen, I believe it takes the discussion further in terms of clearly laying out the political and economic forces that informed the shift towards valuing manual work less than so-called knowledge work.

My own work experience, in a wide variety of roles, resonates with much of what he is saying.

Of particular interest to me is that he discusses at some length a book by a graduate school professor of mine (The Rise of the Creative Class, by Richard Florida). I‘ve read that book, and had some of the same reservations that Crawford had with it.

It’s not light reading; I may read it a second time before weighing in on it further.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I’m roughly a third of a way into it, and finding it both interesting and informative. While reminiscent in some ways of Zen, I believe it takes the discussion further in terms of clearly laying out the political and economic forces that informed the shift towards valuing manual work less than so-called knowledge work.

My own work experience, in a wide variety of roles, resonates with much of what he is saying.

Of particular interest to me is that he discusses at some length a book by a graduate school professor of mine (The Rise of the Creative Class, by Richard Florida). I‘ve read that book, and had some of the same reservations that Crawford had with it.

It’s not light reading; I may read it a second time before weighing in on it further.

Thanks for the update. I guess it's time to make a book reservation at my local library

 

[RootBeerMan]

If you like this one, I highly recommend Radley Balko's "Rise Of The Warrior Cop". It's an eye opener by one of the best reporters on Justice Reform in the country.

 

[AVBeatMan]

Looking around the internet this afternoon and came across this by Tim Ferris. Has anyone heard of or read this book?


“What I’m reading —
Little, Big by John Crowley. Little, Big is simply one of the best novels I’ve ever read, and even that doesn’t do it justice. It is, as one reviewer put it, “mysteriously affecting.” Read a few of the Amazon reviews here to get a glimpse of what I mean. On top of that, I feel like it put me in an altered state of consciousness that often lasted for 6–12 hours, best described as a deep feeling of serenity. And yet, I’ve hesitated for weeks to put it into “5-Bullet Friday”! Why? Because I think it’ll only grab 10–20% of you. In fact, my brother gave me the paperback version in 2018, and I tried reading it three or four times over the past two years. I put it down after fewer than 50 pages in each attempt. So how’d I end up finishing it this time? This go-round, I committed to reading at least 100 pages, reading daily, and reading the Kindle version. Why? It’s partly because the prose is stunningly beautiful, but it’s unusual and requires close attention. It’s partly because there are a lot of characters introduced in the first 100 pages, and you need to keep them straight, which is why I also posted a pic of a family tree (the last of the three photos in the post) to help everyone out. Last, author John Crowley uses exquisite and poetic vocabulary, but I needed the Kindle built-in dictionary quite a lot (borborygmus, anyone?). It all sounds like a lot of work, and—guess what?—it is a lot of work. But hot damn, the payoff is just so, so delicious that it’s hard to describe. If you try it, don’t say I didn’t warn you. 8 out of 10 of you will think I’ve lost my mind. But 2 out of 10 will find this tale of hyperreality, unreality, concrete jungles, fairy tales, and dreams to be nearly magical in its effects. This book is special.”

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Yep. I've read the intro and part of the first chapter. I am impressed thus far, it's promising to become one of the best books I've read on the subject.
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For those interested, here's the NYT review https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/...inevitability-of-tragedy-henry-kissinger.html

Just read the FT review of this work - in this Saturday's paper - (which I prefer to read in a relaxed manner on Sunday) which was exceptionally positive.

In fact, it prompted me to trot back a few pages, in order to seek out your posts - that I remembered that you had posted - about a very recently published biography of Dr Kissinger that you were about to embark on reading - to confirm that it is the same work (it is).

Are you still as positive about it, and impressed by it, as you were when you first mentioned this work a few weeks ago?

 

[yaxomoxay]

Just read the FT review of this work - in this Saturday's paper - (which I prefer to read in a relaxed manner on Sunday) which was exceptionally positive.

In fact, it prompted me to trot back a few pages, in order to seek out your posts - that I remembered that you had posted - about a very recently published biography of Dr Kissinger that you were about to embark on reading - to confirm that it is the same work (it is).

Are you still as positive about it, and impressed by it, as you were when you first mentioned this work a few weeks ago?

Yes I am. I am reading it slowly because 1) I don't want to read too much about politics lately 2) This is a good book to digest and ponder upon after reading each chapter.

I think that its strength is that this is not a biography per se but more an analysis of the environment that shaped both the situations in which the man found himself and the situations that shaped the man himself.
Just to give you an example, the first chapter is about Chile; most biographies usually start from the rise of Allende. This books starts its analysis of the Chilean situation from the early 1800's, and it discusses how complex the US-Chile relationship was already in the XIX century (regardless of how much they ignored each other). Early diplomatic incidents are discussed, including an incident in which some brawl between US and Chilean sailors in the 1890's almost caused a full fledged war between the two countries. Quick urbanization, population growth, malnourishment, etc. are also discussed in a way that clarifies why the people first look at Allende and then wanted his head (I wasn't aware of many "programs" that he implemented that ultimately lead to extreme poverty).
Chilean-Cuban and Chilean-Soviet relations are also discussed (I didn't know for example that despite being an admirer of Castro, both Castro and the Soviet saw Allende as a bad imitation of the Cuban leader, and a danger for the Communist agenda). Through an analysis of Chile itself and its relations with the rest of the world since the beginning, the author makes a wonderful picture of why although not overly worried, Kissinger could not ignore the Chilean situation. Several documents are quoted, including the famous Church committee report that explored various CIA activities throughout the world. I won't spoil what the author concludes, but he truly clarified how misunderstood the situation is by modern historians and people in general.

 

[RootBeerMan]

Reading Harry Turtledove's "A Different Flesh". Good alternate history about a North America where there were no American Indians, but instead still had the ice age mammals and homo erectus was the humanoid in place. Kind of a timely alt history.

 

[Gutwrench]

Strength to Love, MLK
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The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness
by Jonas Salzgeber

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Love the title. What the world needs now is a bit of stoicism.

I‘m checking on this book. Thanks.