Which book are you reading now? Volume XIV

[Synobun]

I'm reading the first book of the second trilogy in the Mistborn universe by Brandon Sanderson. About 10% done after three days despite the book being half the length his books normally are. It's not really enticing, and I think it's largely because the first trilogy already had a larger-than-life villain. Moving forward hundreds of years is a nice idea, but it falls flat when there's no way for the next Big Bad to be remotely comparable to the first one. Of course, I haven't reached any sort of information about what this trilogy is about. I'm still bogged down in the background history of the main character, whose current path seems suspiciously similar to that of the main character of the first trilogy.

My hold on the second book from Patrick Rothfuss also came through, and I... don't think I'll be finishing it anytime soon. The first book was already beefy, clocking in at over 2000 pages at my settings. This one is at over 3000. My reading rate lately is not up to the task, so I'll likely end up reading half, returning the book, and then waiting a couple months again to be able to borrow it once more to finish the other half.

 

[shmily_dana]

Skunk Works - A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben R. Rich : The former head of Lockheed's Skunk Works reveals the now-it-can-be-told story of the secret airplanes and deep black missions that changed the course of history-from U-2 to the Stealth fighter.

I enjoyed reading about the technical challenges of these aircraft and the historical context and events surrounding their development.

 

[Synobun]

Skunk Works - A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben R. Rich : The former head of Lockheed's Skunk Works reveals the now-it-can-be-told story of the secret airplanes and deep black missions that changed the course of history-from U-2 to the Stealth fighter.

I enjoyed reading about the technical challenges of these aircraft and the historical context and events surrounding their development.

Hey @hobbsyoyo, this could be tangentially relevant to your interests.

 

[Takhisis]

George Orwell had an interesting thought in his review on Hitler's Mein Kampf, that Hitler and Stalin's appeal lay in their offering followers an epic struggle to be involved in, one fraught with sacrifice and pain, but ultimately meaning. Orwell mused that this was far more attractive than drowsy, comfortable hedonism. When we consider that members of the well-fed, well-groomed upper classes are often finding political causes to get stirred up in - -- and this is true today as it was a century ago -- I wonder if it's because they're so bored by the meaninglessness of that comfortable existence that they feel compelled to find some cause to fight for.

This is actually one of the major reasons why former vehement supporters of the Soviet Union in Latin America have veered to supporting classical extreme-right/fascist parties that actually carried out massacres of communists up until the fall of the Communist bloc. They just needed an epic, any epic.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

A Concise History of Portugal (3rd edition, has 21st century addendum) by David Birmingham presents a nation-level history focused from the early modern era onward of the country in Europe's western rim with emphasis on several themes. The Luso-Brittanic alliance with roots in the 13th century and codified by treaties such as Methuen's has interacted with all of the other themes. Survival has been a constant, with Portugal managing to hold its borders from centuries ago despite Spanish and French invasions, emerge from the massive earthquake of 1755, and have its colonies persist despite post-WW2 decolonization. Migration to its colonies and richer countries was an important way for Portuguese to find a better life from the country's poverty. Portugal's history has been an unceasing struggle to climb out of the development trap of supplying raw materials and importing finished goods, and it has attempted to use colonization and industrialization to do so. Low development persisted due to the dogged resistance of those with traditionalist sympathies: landed interests and merchant traders resisting industrialization, monarchists and authoritarians squelching democracy, religious groups controlling education, etc. It was not until the 21st century that modernization was firmly established in Portugal.

Overall the book is a good introduction with black and white images to provide visual background. It skips on details as was already obvious from the title. Regardless, there is good analysis of historical themes and trends for those who read it.

 

[EnglishEdward]

I have just finished reading:

The Light Brigade

by

Kameron Hurley

I quite enjoyed it, although able to predict some of the plot twists.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I have just finished reading:

The Light Brigade

by

Kameron Hurley

I quite enjoyed it, although able to predict some of the plot twists.

Is that book about Thomas Edison's impact on GB?

 

[Synobun]

I'm reading the first book of the second trilogy in the Mistborn universe by Brandon Sanderson. About 10% done after three days despite the book being half the length his books normally are. It's not really enticing, and I think it's largely because the first trilogy already had a larger-than-life villain. Moving forward hundreds of years is a nice idea, but it falls flat when there's no way for the next Big Bad to be remotely comparable to the first one. Of course, I haven't reached any sort of information about what this trilogy is about. I'm still bogged down in the background history of the main character, whose current path seems suspiciously similar to that of the main character of the first trilogy.

First three quarters was 2 stars. Last quarter was 4 stars. Went with a 4-star rating because of what it implied for the 5th book.

Waiting list for that book: 13 weeks.

 

[Birdjaguar]

My hold on the second book from Patrick Rothfuss also came through, and I... don't think I'll be finishing it anytime soon. The first book was already beefy, clocking in at over 2000 pages at my settings. This one is at over 3000. My reading rate lately is not up to the task, so I'll likely end up reading half, returning the book, and then waiting a couple months again to be able to borrow it once more to finish the other half.

I have it now and will start it this weekend.

 

[EnglishEdward]

Is that book about Thomas Edison's impact on GB?

Nope, nor is it about suicidal cavalry in the Crimea.

 

[Arakhor]

Tennyson would not approve.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Nope, nor is it about suicidal cavalry in the Crimea.

OK, I'll stop being subtle: please tell us what the book is about.

 

[IglooDame]

OK, I'll stop being subtle: please tell us what the book is about.

I couldn't wait so I looked it up on GoodReads:

From the Hugo Award–winning author of The Stars Are Legion comes a brand-new science fiction thriller about a futuristic war during which soldiers are broken down into light in order to get them to the front lines on Mars.

 

[EnglishEdward]

OK, I'll stop being subtle: please tell us what the book is about.

It is a combination of three things:

(a) teleportation and time travel
(b) military slugfest (boot camp, conflict, weary disallusionment etc)
(c) the human and society via fascist extreme corporate dystopia

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Skunk Works - A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben R. Rich : The former head of Lockheed's Skunk Works reveals the now-it-can-be-told story of the secret airplanes and deep black missions that changed the course of history-from U-2 to the Stealth fighter.

I enjoyed reading about the technical challenges of these aircraft and the historical context and events surrounding their development.

Hey @hobbsyoyo, this could be tangentially relevant to your interests.

It definitely is up my alley. There was another Skunkworks bio by a guy named Johnson(?) that is also supposedly really good.

However, I am now 0/2 with biographies. In addition to the Gene Krantz stinker, there is a biography on Einstein that I go halfway through and and then abandoned due to it being a terribly boring slog. Those two have sort of put me off of biographies for a bit. The Einstein book was called Einstein On The Run and it is about how he had to flee Nazi Germany and also his supposedly deep love of and connection with England. The book meandered around and failed to get to the point and kept coming back to this supposed deep connection with England without really showing how that was true or even relevant to anything.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I'm alternating between Darth Plagius, a Star Wars novel about Palpatine's mentor, and In the Garden of Beasts, a NF work about an American family in German during Hitler's shift from "Dickish Chancellor" to "Genocidal Maniac".

 

[Takhisis]

Darth Plagius, a Star Wars novel about Palpatine's mentor

Is it an unofficial copy?

 

[Birdjaguar]

My hold on the second book from Patrick Rothfuss also came through, and I... don't think I'll be finishing it anytime soon. The first book was already beefy, clocking in at over 2000 pages at my settings. This one is at over 3000. My reading rate lately is not up to the task, so I'll likely end up reading half, returning the book, and then waiting a couple months again to be able to borrow it once more to finish the other half.

I'm a third of the way through it now and if you liked vol 1, you will love vol 2.

 

[Ferocitus]

My partner found a huge collection of audio books whch means we can both work and listen at the same time.

Inspector Chen Mysteries - Qiu Xiaolong.
Great stories about Chen Cao who is a Shanghai detective, poet and great admirer of T.S. Eliot.

The Oldest Member and The Code of the Woosters - P.G. Wodehouse.

It is only a short step from skiing to yodelling.

 

[EnglishEdward]

It definitely is up my alley. There was another Skunkworks bio by a guy named Johnson(?) that is also supposedly really good.

However, I am now 0/2 with biographies. In addition to the Gene Krantz stinker, there is a biography on Einstein that I go halfway through and and then abandoned due to it being a terribly boring slog. Those two have sort of put me off of biographies for a bit. The Einstein book was called Einstein On The Run and it is about how he had to flee Nazi Germany and also his supposedly deep love of and connection with England. The book meandered around and failed to get to the point and kept coming back to this supposed deep connection with England without really showing how that was true or even relevant to anything.

I have never read an autobiography of Albert Einstein and
he is on my list when I scan shelves in charity shops etc.

Thank you for warning me. It is always tiresome when an
author tries to fit a factual book around a dubious pet theory.

We've known for a long time that many transient visitors merely
see England as just a step to the new world and accept that.