Author Topic: What are you reading? (Read 7952 times)

MrsCablebandit · « **Reply #200 on:** February 08, 2021, 08:28:33 AM »

Nature's Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy - prepping for the natural history book club I am hoping to start with the county library as one of my PA Master Naturalist service projects.

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Bounce · « **Reply #201 on:** February 08, 2021, 09:30:57 AM »

Mine too! (now)

sleazy rider · « **Reply #202 on:** February 08, 2021, 09:37:14 AM »

The Sea Hunters II by Clive Cussler - Non-fiction - The second thrilling account of #1 New York Times bestselling author Clive Cusslers's real-life search for lost ships, planes, and other marvels that changed history.

I'm about 6 chapters in and it's been a good change of pace from his Dirk Pitt series. They're hunting for Frenchman explorer LaSalle's ships near New Orleans so far. Gonna have to find a copy of the Sea Hunters when this one's read.

Baxter · « **Reply #203 on:** February 08, 2021, 12:25:36 PM »

I just finished Artemis by Andy Weir, who also wrote The Martian. It's a caper story set in the first city on the moon, which was named after the moon goddess. The story was amusing, and I was looking forward to the strong female lead, but she seemed to be written, well, I'll just say it was obvious that her character was written by a man. I could easily envision this being modified for a movie.

maddjack · « **Reply #204 on:** February 08, 2021, 05:38:55 PM »

Quote from: Baxter on February 08, 2021, 12:25:36 PM

I just finished Artemis by Andy Weir, who also wrote The Martian. It's a caper story set in the first city on the moon, which was named after the moon goddess. The story was amusing, and I was looking forward to the strong female lead, but she seemed to be written, well, I'll just say it was obvious that her character was written by a man. I could easily envision this being modified for a movie.

That was a good read.

maddjack · « **Reply #205 on:** February 08, 2021, 05:39:40 PM »

The Androids Dream
John Scalzi

maddjack · « **Reply #206 on:** February 12, 2021, 01:44:09 PM »

Dragon Clive Cussler

Baxter · « **Reply #207 on:** February 13, 2021, 11:47:49 AM »

I've started Ghost Rider by Neil Peart. I'm guessing many folks here may either have read it or are familiar with the premise. But if you're not, briefly, Peart was the drummer for Rush, and lost his daughter in a car crash and his wife soon thereafter to cancer. He went into a deep depression, and decided to ride until he could cope with life again. It starts out grim, but is becoming more hopeful.

Papa Lazarou · « **Reply #208 on:** February 13, 2021, 01:15:42 PM »

John Dies @ the End by David Wong. A page turner and halfway through but I'm still unsure about it.

1KPerDay · « **Reply #209 on:** February 13, 2021, 02:11:02 PM »

Lucifer’s Hammer: fairly good.
Footfall: weird and not worth it IMO
Jack Carr’s James Reese series (The Terminal List) has been good so far.

jadziadax8 · « **Reply #210 on:** February 13, 2021, 03:24:25 PM »

Quote from: 1KPerDay on February 13, 2021, 02:11:02 PM

Lucifer%u2019s Hammer: fairly good.
Footfall: weird and not worth it IMO
Jack Carr%u2019s James Reese series (The Terminal List) has been good so far.

Footfall was one of my dad's favorite books. The cover art always creeped me out as a kid.

maddjack · « **Reply #211 on:** February 14, 2021, 09:32:50 AM »

Quote from: 1KPerDay on February 13, 2021, 02:11:02 PM

Lucifer’s Hammer: fairly good.
Footfall: weird and not worth it IMO
Jack Carr’s James Reese series (The Terminal List) has been good so far.

I liked Footfall,it was a different look at things, Lucifers Hammer is a classic.

Bounce · « **Reply #212 on:** February 14, 2021, 10:00:52 AM »

Quote from: 1KPerDay on February 13, 2021, 02:11:02 PM

Lucifer’s Hammer: fairly good.
Footfall: weird and not worth it IMO
Jack Carr’s James Reese series (The Terminal List) has been good so far.

Re-read LH at least 3 times. Loved the jump in the jeep while his friend was sleeping.

coho · « **Reply #213 on:** February 14, 2021, 10:08:24 AM »

Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer are the same story. I think that's kinda neat.

maddjack · « **Reply #214 on:** February 14, 2021, 04:38:46 PM »

Quote from: coho on February 14, 2021, 10:08:24 AM

Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer are the same story. I think that's kinda neat.

How do you figure that? One is an alien invasion and the other is what goes on after an asteroid smacks earth.

coho · « **Reply #215 on:** February 14, 2021, 06:01:54 PM »

Niven and Pournell originally pitched the Footfall story and the publishers liked it but wanted to remove the aliens.
The Fithp had an asteroid "The Foot" to stomp us with and N & P made that a comet. They later finished the original story.

I like stuff like that. The movies Spy Game and Body of Lies have a similar connection. Same pitch meeting, two movies (one directed by each of the Scott brothers).

MrsCablebandit · « **Reply #216 on:** February 15, 2021, 08:07:30 AM »

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

maddjack · « **Reply #217 on:** February 15, 2021, 12:40:45 PM »

Quote from: coho on February 14, 2021, 06:01:54 PM

Niven and Pournell originally pitched the Footfall story and the publishers liked it but wanted to remove the aliens.
The Fithp had an asteroid "The Foot" to stomp us with and N & P made that a comet. They later finished the original story.

I like stuff like that. The movies Spy Game and Body of Lies have a similar connection. Same pitch meeting, two movies (one directed by each of the Scott brothers).

Neat info.

Vulcanbill · « **Reply #218 on:** February 16, 2021, 08:22:21 AM »

I started the Variant by T.C. Edge. It's a 7 book series. I'm having a hard time carving out brain off time to make headway.

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MrsCablebandit · « **Reply #219 on:** February 16, 2021, 09:37:19 AM »

Quote from: MrsCablebandit on February 15, 2021, 08:07:30 AM

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Crushed that book in three days.

On to The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff - a remarkable story of friendship and courage centered around three women and a ring of female secret agents during World War II.

Book club meeting tonight for The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett which I also crushed in a weekend. Good book, intriguing story.

stevent · « **Reply #220 on:** February 17, 2021, 05:53:03 PM »

Chariots of the Gods, by Erich Von Daniken. I read it as a teenager when it first came out and was impressed.

I recently watched the movie they made of it back in the '70's (complete with annoying wierdy pseudo sci-fi soundtrack} and decided to re-read the book, which I found just as eye-opening and thought provoking as before.

There's a lot from antiquity that simply can't be explained within the parameters of what we assume to know. With the fall of the Greek and Roman Empires and the subsequent Dark Age we must have lost some continuity along the way. That doesn't explain similar occurrences half way around the world they didn't even know existed though.

Anyway, an interesting read.

maddjack · « **Reply #221 on:** February 17, 2021, 06:00:57 PM »

Quote from: stevent on February 17, 2021, 05:53:03 PM

Chariots of the Gods, by Erich Von Daniken. I read it as a teenager when it first came out and was impressed.

I recently watched the movie they made of it back in the '70's (complete with annoying wierdy pseudo sci-fi soundtrack} and decided to re-read the book, which I found just as eye-opening and thought provoking as before.

There's a lot from antiquity that simply can't be explained within the parameters of what we assume to know. With the fall of the Greek and Roman Empires and the subsequent Dark Age we must have lost some continuity along the way. That doesn't explain similar occurrences half way around the world they didn't even know existed though.

Anyway, an interesting read.

Yes its an interesting read, there are a few books in that vein worth a look.

Papa Lazarou · « **Reply #222 on:** February 17, 2021, 11:17:58 PM »

The "Dark Ages" didn't really exist and was a Victorian invention. Life went on in Europe and elsewhere (China and India remained organised and "civilised" and the Near East, Ireland and Southern Europe continued to record events) during the period. Movements of populations in Europe led to a huge decline in written recording, so less is known of the period, that's all. It's also a pretty Anglo-centric term-at a time the English did not exist

stevent · « **Reply #223 on:** February 18, 2021, 06:55:43 PM »

Quote from: Papa Lazarou on February 17, 2021, 11:17:58 PM

The "Dark Ages" didn't really exist and was a Victorian invention. Life went on in Europe and elsewhere (China and India remained organised and "civilised" and the Near East, Ireland and Southern Europe continued to record events) during the period. Movements of populations in Europe led to a huge decline in written recording, so less is known of the period, that's all. It's also a pretty Anglo-centric term-at a time the English did not exist

True, Saxons, Normans, Welshman and those pesky Hibernians

Vulcanbill · « **Reply #224 on:** February 18, 2021, 08:02:06 PM »

Quote from: Papa Lazarou on February 17, 2021, 11:17:58 PM

The "Dark Ages" didn't really exist and was a Victorian invention. Life went on in Europe and elsewhere (China and India remained organised and "civilised" and the Near East, Ireland and Southern Europe continued to record events) during the period. Movements of populations in Europe led to a huge decline in written recording, so less is known of the period, that's all. It's also a pretty Anglo-centric term-at a time the English did not exist

Typical bougie answer.

maddjack · « **Reply #225 on:** February 23, 2021, 01:31:12 PM »

Power and Empire Tom Clancy / Marc Cameron

OHScot · « **Reply #226 on:** February 23, 2021, 08:41:44 PM »

The Sentient Machine

JFK by Prouty.

Plus I seem to be bogged down by The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain, can't stay with it.

Been a slow winter.

Bounce · « **Reply #227 on:** February 24, 2021, 08:21:29 AM »

Stiletto: The sequel to Rook. Both are good.

xsrider · « **Reply #228 on:** February 24, 2021, 04:55:41 PM »

A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
By Adam Makos
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maddjack · « **Reply #229 on:** February 25, 2021, 09:16:56 AM »

Quote from: xsrider on February 24, 2021, 04:55:41 PM

A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
By Adam Makos
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that's a good one.

maddjack · « **Reply #230 on:** March 02, 2021, 10:11:26 AM »

Return to Mars Ben Bova

Papa Lazarou · « **Reply #231 on:** March 02, 2021, 02:09:00 PM »

A History of Jerusalem-Simon Schama. Excellent read.

R Doug · « **Reply #232 on:** March 02, 2021, 03:15:21 PM »

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

The book is a memoir describing the experience of Bryan Stevenson and his work as founder of the Equal Justice Institute, an organization which defends the poor and those unjustly convicted of crimes. The author examines one of his first cases, a man who was incorrectly convicted of murder even though there was a large amount of contradictory evidence. The book also describes the circumstances of various people who were convicted of crimes for which they were innocent.

I picked this up to better understand a different view on racial inequities.

maddjack · « **Reply #233 on:** March 05, 2021, 09:39:25 AM »

Day of the Cheetah Dale Brown