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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostMon Jan 08, 2018 11:32 am 
zephyr wrote:
One of my favorite authors when growing up. This was long, long before science fiction and fantasy were so popular and overblown. There were books first, but I usually read the paperbacks with the amazing Frank Frazetta covers. ~z
I browsed through the galleries. Interesting artwork.

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lookout bob
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PostMon Jan 15, 2018 4:49 pm 
Now reading "Grant" by Ron Chernow. He is very readable for a historian and Grant himself was not what I had imagined at all. I'm only a third of the way through but can sincerely recommend this as a good read if you have patience for 959 pages. cool.gif

"Altitude is its own reward" John Jerome ( from "On Mountains")
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MtnGoat
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PostMon Jan 15, 2018 5:28 pm 
Just finished Newton and the Counterfeiter. A fascinating look at the little known 3rd career of the father of modern physics..as Warden of the Royal Mint. He'd get down and dirty and actually do his own legwork gathering evidence in disguise, running informants, etc. You didn't want to wind up matching wits with Newton in court after doing some coining of your own. The story is about Newton and the sole guy to evade him for very long, William Chaloner...said to be a master of 'tongue pudding' (love that), a skill he used to escape punishment on his first arrest, turning over on his conspirators and winding up not only a free man, but with a 100 pound reward! Now I'm working on my second satire from Owen Stanley. The first was The Missionaries, a short read and waaay more fun than I expected. My second round with him is The Promethean. This is about a Bezos/Musk type character who decides to market a robotic personal assistant with AI, and his head on impact with politically correct expectations and regulators, especially when the prototype is finished...and it observes things and asks questions which are not popular. Short books, easy reading, and funny as hell.

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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PostMon Jan 15, 2018 7:37 pm 
Astoria by Peter Stark. Good read about two troublesome expeditions -- 1 overland, 1 by sea -- funded by John Jacob Astor to establish a trading colony in the PNW. I highly recommend it to hikers and adventurers.

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MtnGoat
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PostMon Jan 15, 2018 7:43 pm 
that looks good, thanks! on my list now

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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Badger
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PostTue Jan 16, 2018 2:27 pm 
Neither wolf nor Dog "A white author is sucked into a road trip through the heart on Native American Country by a Lakota elder and his best friend forcing the author into a deep understanding of contemporary native life" Would post more but connection is lame at best- 10 minutes just to post this much...

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PostThu Jan 18, 2018 11:20 pm 
Where Men Win Glory. By Jon Krakauer. Written in 2009, but I never got around to reading it before. The story of ex-Arizona Cardinal Pat Tillman, who gave up a lucrative NFL career to join the Army Special Forces, where he eventually died in Afghanistan from friendly fire. I really enjoyed it. Unbelievable (or not) how the government twisted facts around during the Iraqi war. I especially liked the couple of chapters of the Jessica Lynch rescue. And the totally f**ked up mission that resulted in the deaths of several Americans.

Reach for the sky, cuz tomorrow may never come. Live the life of love. Love the life you live.
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PostFri Jan 19, 2018 9:31 am 
mtn.climber wrote:
Where Men Win Glory. By Jon Krakauer.
It's a well researched exposé of two disgusting U.S. military false propaganda campaigns. Tillman's widow,Tillman's family and Jessica Lynch deserve lauds for working to get the truth to the public.

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ScottP
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PostFri Jan 19, 2018 10:16 pm 
Having lived, and worked, on boats in the Florida Keys and Bahamas, I am thoroughly enjoying The Republic of Pirates. From this book, and some other reading online, I have learned that the relationship amongst pirates was more complex and democratic than the stereotypes would have us believe.

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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostSun Jan 21, 2018 12:04 am 
I saw several positive reviews for Louise Erdrich's "Future Home of the Living God" so I got it from the library. Having a hard time getting into it. So I'm setting it aside for now. Basic idea is that somehow all of sudden evolution is reversing itself. Much mayhem is to ensue as people freak out. Got another book from the library, just getting started but it's promising. Andy Weir's followup to "The Martian." This one is called "Artemis" and is set in a permanent lunar colony. The main character is a small time smuggler, barely getting by, but finds herself w/ a chance for a big score. Which will probably not go according to plan of course.

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lookout bob
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PostSun Jan 21, 2018 8:56 am 
I worked at Seattle Public Library and Nancy Pearl was there for a time. She uses the "Pearl Rule" for reading. That is....you read the first fifty pages of a book and if you don't like it or get into it, it's time to move on to another book. The Pearl Rule also states that if your are over fifty, you take away one page for every year that you are over fifty. I'm sixty six soon and by her rule can only now read 34 pages before I should move on if not motivated. Thoughts? cool.gif

"Altitude is its own reward" John Jerome ( from "On Mountains")
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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostSun Jan 21, 2018 11:07 am 
I more or less use that same rule. I'll give it somewhere between 50-100 pages. I've given up on a lot more books than movies over the years, much bigger time commitment to keep trying to plow through a book that isn't enjoyable or interesting.

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PostWed Jan 24, 2018 2:51 pm 
I'm a few chapters into Norman Mailer's first novel, The Naked and the Dead, a story of an imaginary WWII battle on an imaginary Pacific Island. It's a very long novel, and I find myself sometimes wanting Mailer to leave out some of the voluminous tiny details, but I get over that because his prose is superb.

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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostWed Jan 24, 2018 5:07 pm 
I breezed through "Artemis" in a couple days. Entertaining. I think Andy Weir is more of a good storyteller than a good writer. His prose isn't particularly noteworthy but the pages keep flying by. I know some of the fans of "The Martian" are specifically drawn to all the science and math he injects into the story. I thought it was overkill and found it distracting. He includes a little of the same elements in his latest, but to a much smaller degree. Which was good with me. I think the biggest issue with the novel is that the protagonist/narrator is a woman in her mid 20's, and I found myself fairly unconvinced that Weir has much skill or capacity for imaging himself into the mind of a woman. I tried a couple more times to get going with "Future Home of the Living God," but I gave up. Just picked up Pierce Brown's brand new novel from the library "Iron Gold." The Red Rising series was intended to be a trilogy. After thinking about it for a year or two, Brown decided he had more story to tell with those characters. I reread the trilogy recently in anticipation of this. Now I get to read the ongoing tales of Darrow, Mustang, Sevro, and whoever else survived the first trilogy. It's no War and Peace, but damn this is a large book. Almost 600 pages. I think it would break your foot if you dropped the book on it.

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PostWed Jan 24, 2018 7:14 pm 
The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine. by Lindsey Fitzharris Well written account of mid-19th century surgery, prior to real understanding about infection. And, before the use of anesthesia. Grisly indeed....

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