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Malachai Constant
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PostWed Mar 31, 2021 7:56 pm 
Nomadland the book quite different from the film much more of a documentary. Interesting lifestyle choice born out of desperation. Goes into the economics and sociological reasons behind the choice. Not completely bleak. A lot of information on how AMazon has promoted the system along with companies hiring campground hosts. Somewhat exploitive but that applies to all employment. Like the film it stays with you a while.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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neek
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PostSat Apr 03, 2021 5:26 pm 
Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding by Daniel Lieberman. I'm only halfway through but am liking it enough to recommend to folks here. Written by the evolutionary biologist who wrote the original "Born to Run" academic paper, I think he should have titled this one "Born to walk and carry stuff: why you hate to exercise," but I was not consulted prior to publication. Each chapter dispels or rather elaborates on the nuance of popular beliefs such as "sitting is bad", "you need 8 hours of sleep", and "just do it". Writing style is fun and engaging, without jargon or condescension.

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zephyr
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PostSat Apr 03, 2021 9:32 pm 
neek wrote:
Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding[/url] by Daniel Lieberman.
Ha! You're ahead of me. I've had that on HOLD at the SPL for quite awhile. Still only number 111 on 28 copies right now. This one is hot. Great to hear it's a good read. ~z

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Sculpin
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PostSun Apr 04, 2021 8:16 am 
Because we evolved from chimpanzee-like apes, our early ancestors must have been relatively inactive as well." Hmmm. rolleyes.gif These evolutionary "just so" stories used to be quite common. But there is no good reason to believe any of it. Evolution is really messy! As a counterpoint to this sort of evolutionary storytelling, I recommend Oliver Sacks "Island of the Colorblind." Evolution cannot be reverse-engineered by storytelling, but it can be better understood with facts (and certainly with genetics).

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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zephyr
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PostSun Apr 04, 2021 11:02 am 
neek wrote:
Good discussion for another thread perhaps, as I don't want to derail this long-standing one.
Yes. Please and Thank you. wink.gif ~z

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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostFri Apr 09, 2021 7:33 am 
olderthanIusedtobe wrote:
I'm on another losing streak with books. Currently attempting "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. I thought very highly of the movie adaptation. The jury is out on the book. I'm about 100 pages in. It's very episodic. There is basically no plot to speak of, at least not so far. Considering I'm about 1/4 of the way thru, I expected it to start moving in some direction by now.
Well, after 130 or 140 pages I pulled the plug. Story was going absolutely nowhere still. Prose and characters weren't interesting enough to keep plugging away. Finally got my hands on something that I'm enjoying. "Radiant Angel" by Nelson DeMille. I've read several of his books, hadn't thought about him in years. A couple stand alone, and a couple with the recurring character John Corey (like this one). He's not quite Jack Reacher, but a kind of in the same vein. Tough guy, good cop/investigator who has issues w/ authority and sometimes doesn't play well with others, but gets the job done and thwarts the ne'er do wells. In this one he's in what's supposed to be a low key government job, tailing diplomats and keeping tabs on them. A Russian who is not a diplomat at all, previously a high ranking official w/ the rebranded KGB, is in NYC and looking to do some very bad things.

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zephyr
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PostTue Apr 13, 2021 11:42 am 
América: The Epic Story of Spanish North America, 1493-1898, Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, 2019. Just completed reading this book over the past three weeks. We don't often hear about what happened in detail during the Spanish exploration and conquest of much of North America since Columbus's "discovery" of the New World. They swept through the South, Southwest, West and Southeast within decades of subjugating the West Indies and Central/South America. Who knew that in their push into the American Southwest, they took contingents of both Aztec and Tlaxcalan warriors to bolster their ranks. They sailed as far north as Vancouver Island and established an outpost in Nootka Sound for a time. Here are some reviews: Bloomsbury, Goodreads, and Kirkus. The book jacket design features Frederick Remington's painting of Francisco Coronado's expedition march through the Southwest. At the Seattle Public Library. ~z

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graywolf
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PostTue Apr 13, 2021 12:00 pm 
The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Fascinating book by someone with a great writing style. Just recently finished The Laws of Medicine and The Emperor of all Maladies (Pulitzer Prize winner) by the same author.

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graywolf
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PostTue Apr 13, 2021 12:03 pm 
zephyr wrote:
América: The Epic Story of Spanish North America, 1493-1898, Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, 2019. Just completed reading this book over the past three weeks. We don't often hear about what happened in detail during the Spanish exploration and conquest of much of North America since Columbus's "discovery" of the New World. They swept through the South, Southwest, West and Southeast within decades of subjugating the West Indies and Central/South America. Who knew that in their push into the American Southwest, they took contingents of both Aztec and Tlaxcalan warriors to bolster their ranks. They sailed as far north as Vancouver Island and established an outpost in Nootka Sound for a time. Here are some reviews: Bloomsbury, Goodreads, and Kirkus. The book jacket design features Frederick Remington's painting of Francisco Coronado's expedition march through the Southwest. At the Seattle Public Library. ~z
You might find The Pueblo Revolt by David Roberts interesting. It's about the Native American uprising against the Spanish.

The only easy day was yesterday...
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mike
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PostTue Apr 13, 2021 6:05 pm 
Of local interest.

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zephyr
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PostTue Apr 13, 2021 7:55 pm 
graywolf wrote:
You might find The Pueblo Revolt by David Roberts interesting. It's about the Native American uprising against the Spanish.
Yes, it is interesting--very interesting. Goodwin covers it quite well. I also read about the uprising in Charles Mann's 1493. I can't remember when I first learned about the Pueblo revolt in 1680, but it has always fascinated me that these people resisted strongly and were successful for a time. As were the Maya down in the Guatemala highlands. Thanks for the referral to Roberts book on the subject. I will check it out. ~z

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zephyr
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PostSun Apr 25, 2021 6:08 pm 
Thanks for the heads up. I just finished reading David Roberts' The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2004. The Pueblo peoples are comprised of dozens of groups that share "common agricultural, material, and religious practices." Their languages are from four different language families. The Puebloans had been dominated by the Spanish for over 80 years until 1680 when they managed to force them out of New Mexico for at least a dozen years. The author gathered his research from archives and collaborations with other historians, archeologists, and tribal members. He spent a lot of time on location hiking, exploring, and camping in the ruins and historical sites. Here's the GoodReads review. There are many descriptions of pitched battles in villages or atop mesas, or even in Santa Fe between the Spanish, their allies, and the various Puebloan communities. It's hard to understand the determination of the Spanish to dominate these people and their meager resources in this harsh environment. Religious zeal was part of this story. The Puebloans also had to deal with raids and wars from the Utes, the Navajos, and the Apaches. Then at some point the Commanches arrived and fought them all. It was a tough period. ~z

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Mike Collins
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PostSun Apr 25, 2021 6:29 pm 
Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples by Nancy Turner describes over 100 plants which are traditionally harvested and eaten by the First Peoples on the coasts of Washington and British Columbia. She shares a wealth of information as she is a leading authority on ethnobotany in the Northwest. I plan on adding a few more foods for my gathering activities from what I learned.

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Brian R
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PostWed Apr 28, 2021 9:56 pm 
Always worth a re-read, and so relevant now: The Road to Serfdom, by Hayek. Just finished The Deep Dark, by Gregg Olsen--silver mining accident near Wallace Idaho in the 1970s. Really enjoyed it.

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zephyr
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PostThu May 06, 2021 9:49 pm 
Chaco Canyon by Robert and Florence Lister, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1981, 1997. I had a friend who recently explored a bit of New Mexico a couple of weeks ago. He went to Chaco Culture National Historical Park. I picked up this book from the library to learn about the culture. A review can be found here. The book reads well and is loaded with old photographs, maps, and drawings. Chaco Canyon is located in northwestern New Mexico. It's the site of numerous ancient pueblos long abandoned. I think I have more of an understanding of the Anazazi now after reading this book. The authors were a husband and wife archaeologist team who also explored and worked at Mesa Verde and other sites in the Four Corners area. Per Wikipedia: Between AD 900 and 1150, Chaco Canyon was a major center of culture for the Ancestral Puebloans.[a] Chacoans quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances, assembling fifteen major complexes that remained the largest buildings ever built in North America until the 19th century.
The pic below is of Pueblo Bonito, the largest and most populated town. (Note the large stack of rubble in the rear. This is where a huge section of cliff spalled off and fell onto the site in 1941.) ~z
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