WHAT ARE YOU READING
February 17th, 2021 at 2:40:41 AM
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George Pelecanos is a very unusual mystery writer
he's a white guy who grew up in DC and he writes about the underbelly of DC - black detectives chasing black criminals
he's no phony - he knows this stuff very well
I recommend "Right as Rain"
*
George Pelecanos is a very unusual mystery writer
he's a white guy who grew up in DC and he writes about the underbelly of DC - black detectives chasing black criminals
he's no phony - he knows this stuff very well
I recommend "Right as Rain"
*
the foolish sayings of a rich man often pass for words of wisdom by the fools around him
March 6th, 2021 at 3:01:37 AM
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started reading and liking "Blue Highways"
nonfiction - the author lost his job and his wife and so he starts driving and journaling about what he finds in the towns of the back roads of the U.S.
it's called "Blue Highways" because back in the day road maps had back roads in blue and main roads in red
*
started reading and liking "Blue Highways"
nonfiction - the author lost his job and his wife and so he starts driving and journaling about what he finds in the towns of the back roads of the U.S.
it's called "Blue Highways" because back in the day road maps had back roads in blue and main roads in red
*
the foolish sayings of a rich man often pass for words of wisdom by the fools around him
April 1st, 2021 at 4:42:16 AM
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just started reading a James Swain novel........."Grift Sense"
he writes about gambling cheats, con men and rip off artists at casinos
light stuff..............pretty entertaining
*
just started reading a James Swain novel........."Grift Sense"
he writes about gambling cheats, con men and rip off artists at casinos
light stuff..............pretty entertaining
*
the foolish sayings of a rich man often pass for words of wisdom by the fools around him
April 1st, 2021 at 9:30:02 AM
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Quote: lilredrooster.........................
just started reading a James Swain novel........."Grift Sense"
he writes about gambling cheats, con men and rip off artists at casinos
light stuff..............pretty entertaining
*
Very light reading but entertaining to those of us that like gambling. He has so much detail of Las Vegas that I wonder if he has lived in Las Vegas.
You can't know everything, but you can know anything.
April 1st, 2021 at 10:23:32 AM
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Quote: DRichVery light reading but entertaining to those of us that like gambling. He has so much detail of Las Vegas that I wonder if he has lived in Las Vegas.
I love James Swain
Just checked my local library to download some Swain to my kindle
They dont have his last 3 books
ugh
May buy them
Reading Michael Connelly latest
The Night Fire. Thank goodness the library had that for me to download
When somebody doesn't believe me, I could care less. Some get totally bent out of shape when not believed. Weird. I believe very little on all forums
April 1st, 2021 at 10:44:01 AM
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Retire Inspired by Chris Hogan
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
April 22nd, 2021 at 7:38:58 AM
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for the first time I'm reading Agatha Christie............................."The ABC Murders"
I think I didn't read her before due to sexism - thinking a woman can't write a mystery as well as a man
well, I was dead wrong about that
the book is very entertaining and she is obviously very gifted in telling a story
*
for the first time I'm reading Agatha Christie............................."The ABC Murders"
I think I didn't read her before due to sexism - thinking a woman can't write a mystery as well as a man
well, I was dead wrong about that
the book is very entertaining and she is obviously very gifted in telling a story
*
the foolish sayings of a rich man often pass for words of wisdom by the fools around him
April 23rd, 2021 at 2:47:41 PM
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Quote: lilredrooster.........................
for the first time I'm reading Agatha Christie............................."The ABC Murders"
I think I didn't read her before due to sexism - thinking a woman can't write a mystery as well as a man
well, I was dead wrong about that
the book is very entertaining and she is obviously very gifted in telling a story
*
Christie's early books are her best, in the later books the explanations of foul play become more convoluted and unrealistic.
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
April 23rd, 2021 at 3:07:43 PM
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I read a lot of sci-fi.
Currently: Arthur C. Clarke's "The Garden of Rama."
Magazines: Car and Driver, Smithsonian, Hemmings Motor News.
Currently: Arthur C. Clarke's "The Garden of Rama."
Magazines: Car and Driver, Smithsonian, Hemmings Motor News.
"What, me worry?"
July 17th, 2021 at 1:13:34 PM
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Artuto Perez-Reverte is my new obsession. He writes complex, elegant mysteries and historical fiction with leading characters that are intellectual - and with beautiful prose. He has been called a cross between Umberto Eco and Anne Rice.
The Club Dumas was made into a movie by Roman Polanksi: The Ninth Gate with Johnny Depp and the yummy Emanuelle Seigner. You will learn a lot about the history of books, Alexandre Dumas and the Three Musketeers (most of this was left out of the movie.)
The Fencing Master was his first book: a romantic adventure set in 1868 Spain full of complex intrigues and adventures. It has the same title as a Dumas novel. It is an erudite book, filled with literary culture, but its a swash-buckling pot-boiler - a beach read. I have just started this one.
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
July 17th, 2021 at 5:16:32 PM
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Quote: gordonm888
The Club Dumas was made into a movie by Roman Polanksi: The Ninth Gate with Johnny Depp and the yummy Emanuelle Seigner.
The Ninth Gate is my favorite Johnny Depp movie and I have it on DVD and I've seen it at least 10 times, probably more. There's something about it that I like, obviously. And I like that it's about old books and that it is a mystery, and the female lead is gorgeous.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
July 17th, 2021 at 5:19:31 PM
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Just finished the last Jack Reacher book, The Sentinel. It was written by Lee Child and his brother and it stinks. Absolutely awful, the worst Reacher book by far. It's like the real Jack Reacher never even shows up. It was boring, it was predictable, it was terrible. The one coming out later this year is written in the first-person, let's see how badly they screw this one up.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
July 17th, 2021 at 8:32:31 PM
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FEAR by Carl Bernstein.
Looking forward to reading RAGE.
And also the new book coming out from the WASHINGTON POST reporters.
And before "you" say it, NO these are not FAKE news.
Looking forward to reading RAGE.
And also the new book coming out from the WASHINGTON POST reporters.
And before "you" say it, NO these are not FAKE news.
There's emptiness behind their eyes
There's dust in all their hearts
They just want to steal us all and take us all apart
July 18th, 2021 at 6:46:26 AM
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I just bought a copy of Paul Allen's biography. I hope to start it this week.
Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft
Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft
You can't know everything, but you can know anything.
August 2nd, 2021 at 7:51:16 AM
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I really enjoy reading popular science books and books in the genre of disaster novels. s/
August 2nd, 2021 at 9:53:00 AM
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I'm reading The Catcher in the Rye again because my son was assigned it, and I enjoyed it back when it was my assigned reading.
He didn't ask, but I translated for him "Boy, she was lousy with rocks" to "Golly, she wore several diamonds."
Also, one of Holden's quirks is exaggeration, and he mentions early that his brother D.B. bought a Jaguar for like 4,000 bucks. One inflation calculator says $4,000 in 1951 dollars would be $41,799. Seems low.
EDIT: Based on this website, it appears you could indeed buy a Jaguar for $4,000.
He didn't ask, but I translated for him "Boy, she was lousy with rocks" to "Golly, she wore several diamonds."
Also, one of Holden's quirks is exaggeration, and he mentions early that his brother D.B. bought a Jaguar for like 4,000 bucks. One inflation calculator says $4,000 in 1951 dollars would be $41,799. Seems low.
EDIT: Based on this website, it appears you could indeed buy a Jaguar for $4,000.
Last edited by: smoothgrh on Aug 2, 2021
August 2nd, 2021 at 2:51:07 PM
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My wife is reading Dickens books again while she
is in quarantine with covid even tho she was vaxxed.
I could never read Dickens, too boring. My wife is
a smart cookie, she and her brother were valedictorians
of their class in consecutive years.
is in quarantine with covid even tho she was vaxxed.
I could never read Dickens, too boring. My wife is
a smart cookie, she and her brother were valedictorians
of their class in consecutive years.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
August 3rd, 2021 at 1:48:08 PM
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Quote: EvenBobMy wife is reading Dickens books again while she
is in quarantine with covid even tho she was vaxxed.
I could never read Dickens, too boring. My wife is
a smart cookie, she and her brother were valedictorians
of their class in consecutive years.
Dickens novels were written in installments as chapters/segments for magazines or other periodicals. This caused them to be drawn out and overly long. Also, the world Dickens wrote about is long gone which is confusing at times.
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
August 3rd, 2021 at 2:39:32 PM
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Quote: gordonm888Also, the world Dickens wrote about is long gone which is confusing at times.
Ah, but the world that existed when the Bible and the Koran were promulgated is long gone as well, but that hasn't stopped people from reading them.
"What, me worry?"
August 3rd, 2021 at 9:51:24 PM
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Tim Truman's "Wilderness; The True Story of Simon Girty"
Simon Girty is pretty much forgotten today but generations of Americans were taught he was the boogie man and if they misbehaved , that Simon Girty will get them.
Simon Girty was born on the frontier and after his parents were killed was raised by Indians until he was forcibly rescued at around the age of 17. He was in poverty when the Revolutionary War broke out and he became a paid agent for the British. During the war he recruited many Indian tribes and bands to attack the American settlers and farms along the frontier. Hundreds, if not thousands of much needed troops were diverted from the war with the British to protect the frontier from Girty and his Indians.
Simon Girty is pretty much forgotten today but generations of Americans were taught he was the boogie man and if they misbehaved , that Simon Girty will get them.
Simon Girty was born on the frontier and after his parents were killed was raised by Indians until he was forcibly rescued at around the age of 17. He was in poverty when the Revolutionary War broke out and he became a paid agent for the British. During the war he recruited many Indian tribes and bands to attack the American settlers and farms along the frontier. Hundreds, if not thousands of much needed troops were diverted from the war with the British to protect the frontier from Girty and his Indians.
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
August 7th, 2021 at 9:43:14 AM
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Quote: gordonm888Dickens novels were written in installments as chapters/segments for magazines or other periodicals. This caused them to be drawn out and overly long.
They are also highly melodramatic. Dickens also over-uses the literary 'chance meeting coincidence' in his books to such a degree that it's ridiculous. I live in the exact same area where I went to high school and shop in the same stores that my classmates left in the area shop at. The last time I ran into one of them has to be 15 or 20 years ago. If this were a Dickins book I would run into them daily.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
August 7th, 2021 at 9:48:32 AM
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Quote: EvenBobThey are also highly melodramatic. Dickens also over-uses the literary 'chance meeting coincidence' in his books to such a degree that it's ridiculous. I live in the exact same area where I went to high school and shop in the same stores that my classmates left in the area shop at. The last time I ran into one of them has to be 15 or 20 years ago. If this were a Dickins book I would run into them daily.
My high school English teacher taught my class about the use of coincidence in literature. Shakespeare also did that.
My Vegas-related coincidence is that I walked by my cousin in a Las Vegas mall years ago. She was in town to visit her sister-in-law. I was there for fun. Total chance meeting!
Last edited by: smoothgrh on Aug 7, 2021
August 7th, 2021 at 10:00:12 AM
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Quote: smoothgrhMy high school English teacher taught my class about the use of coincidence in literature. Shakespeare also did that too.
Without chance meeting coincidence books and movies
and TV shows would be out of business. You see it
constantly in all manner of fiction. In real life coincidence
is so rare most cops don't believe it at all. They see the
same person at two crime scenes and to them it's a red
flag, not a coincidence. It's how many crimes are solved
by totally ruling out coincidence as a factor.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
August 7th, 2021 at 10:11:16 AM
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Quote: EvenBobThey are also highly melodramatic. Dickens also over-uses the literary 'chance meeting coincidence' in his books to such a degree that it's ridiculous. I live in the exact same area where I went to high school and shop in the same stores that my classmates left in the area shop at. The last time I ran into one of them has to be 15 or 20 years ago. If this were a Dickins book I would run into them daily.
You don't live in Victorian England. With no cars, no buses, no trains, few horses and no public transportation, people in the 1800s rarely moved more than a few miles from their birth unless they went to America or Australia or joined the Armed Services.
No transportation narrowed down ones work opportunities to whatever one could walk to and from in a decent hour. I suspect few people walked two hours to work, worked a ten-twelve hour shift and then walked another two hours to go home.
A girl would be limited to being courted by men in her immediate area ,as well. Chances are she'd marry a local man who had a local job and their kids would do the same thing. In the 1870s/1880s, the British Health Service started a program of lending bicycles to rural villagers just so men could court at a longer distance. As most villages in the country were at least two hour walk from each other, and only the rich had riding horses, riding a bike was the only way a man might court a woman who lived more than a few miles away.
In London, if you were born in a district, chances are your husband will have been born there too, and your kids will be as well.
In the 18th century, most people never went more than twenty miles from their place of birth.
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
August 7th, 2021 at 11:41:39 AM
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Quote: billryanYou don't live in Victorian England..
Dickens has been railed against by critics
for using the coincidence device since he
was putting out his periodicals. He overuses
it to the n'th degree. It's not just people
running into each other, it's often how the characters
are connected in ways they aren't even aware
of.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
August 7th, 2021 at 12:58:59 PM
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Quote: EvenBobDickens has been railed against by critics
for using the coincidence device since he
was putting out his periodicals. .
Way too many authors have a device or a hook that they use over and over in their books. Lee Child does it in the Reacher books. Almost every one has a character in it that is secretly working for the other side, whatever the other side is in that book. And we the readers are not aware of it till the end. Once I became aware of this I started trying to guess who the insider was and I was always right except once. These gimmicks are annoying and good authors don't use them over and over. Lee Child basically writes pulp fiction so I forgave him.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
August 7th, 2021 at 8:43:30 PM
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Quote: EvenBobThese gimmicks are annoying and good authors don't use them over and over.
OMG, Darth Vader built C-3PO! George Lucas is on par with Dickens and Shakespeare!
September 2nd, 2021 at 2:45:21 AM
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_________
started reading James M. Cain's novel "Serenade" last night
that guy was truly a master - I can't put it down
the forward has a brief bio of him
it's amazing - all of the things he did in his life
.
started reading James M. Cain's novel "Serenade" last night
that guy was truly a master - I can't put it down
the forward has a brief bio of him
it's amazing - all of the things he did in his life
.
the foolish sayings of a rich man often pass for words of wisdom by the fools around him
June 15th, 2023 at 2:11:29 PM
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Grinding through The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas, although I don't know who did this translation) on audiobook.
Good stuff. Probably explains why the 5 year old talks the way she does.
Good stuff. Probably explains why the 5 year old talks the way she does.
May the cards fall in your favor.
June 16th, 2023 at 9:43:36 AM
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I just finished "The Sentinel" by Lee Child and Andrew Child. Absolute garbage. Nonsensical and with ridiculous plot holes.
Like, there is a villain who leads a Russian spy cell in the US and who also leads a secret white Nazi organization in Tennessee that worships Adolf Hitler. He has a painting in his office that can be flipped -it has Stalin painted on one side and Hitler painted on the other side. All of the Nazi sympathizers have a large tattoo on their chest of an American Eagle holding a shield with a swastika on it -that's how they identify themselves to each other. And ...um ... to everyone else in the world whenever their shirt is off?
And lots of other stupid things and lots of characters acting stupidly. Very disappointing.
Like, there is a villain who leads a Russian spy cell in the US and who also leads a secret white Nazi organization in Tennessee that worships Adolf Hitler. He has a painting in his office that can be flipped -it has Stalin painted on one side and Hitler painted on the other side. All of the Nazi sympathizers have a large tattoo on their chest of an American Eagle holding a shield with a swastika on it -that's how they identify themselves to each other. And ...um ... to everyone else in the world whenever their shirt is off?
And lots of other stupid things and lots of characters acting stupidly. Very disappointing.
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
June 20th, 2023 at 6:00:46 AM
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.
am reading "If he Hollers Let Him Go" by Chester Himes
he was a black man writing about race relations well before the Civil Rights movement - it was published in 1945
he is truly a master
this and many other books can be read for free at internetarchive.org and (not this one but others) at hoopladigital.com after creating a free account
.
am reading "If he Hollers Let Him Go" by Chester Himes
he was a black man writing about race relations well before the Civil Rights movement - it was published in 1945
he is truly a master
this and many other books can be read for free at internetarchive.org and (not this one but others) at hoopladigital.com after creating a free account
.
the foolish sayings of a rich man often pass for words of wisdom by the fools around him
June 20th, 2023 at 9:47:07 AM
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"The Plains of Passage" by Jean M. Auel.
One in a series about the lives of early humans during the ice age.
One in a series about the lives of early humans during the ice age.
"What, me worry?"
February 20th, 2024 at 1:39:04 PM
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Currently rereading "The Hacker Crackdown" by Bruce Sterling, read by Cory Doctorow. (Likely available as a podcast.)
I read it on paper years ago; I find it good to reconsider the moral and ethical implications as parallel AP.
I read it on paper years ago; I find it good to reconsider the moral and ethical implications as parallel AP.
May the cards fall in your favor.
May 16th, 2024 at 6:27:11 AM
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Author Chet Nairene has finally come out with a follow-up to his first novel, PACIFIC DASH, which followed a young vagabond American's life through the gambling business in Asia, from the illegal floating casino boats off the Straits of Malacca to seedy 1990s Macau.
His new novel is PACIFIC ODYSSEY, which is like Poltergeist meets Wall Street in remote tropical Asia. Flashy New York businessman Lew Clarke descends down an existential rabbit hole when he is forced to travel to a strange kingdom somewhere beyond the Golden Triangle, where he learns that Western tech and modern knowledge don't always provide all the answers.
Nairene's books are breezy, fast reads and played for laughs.
If you enjoyed, say, THE WHITE LOTUS on Netflix, you'll like these.
His new novel is PACIFIC ODYSSEY, which is like Poltergeist meets Wall Street in remote tropical Asia. Flashy New York businessman Lew Clarke descends down an existential rabbit hole when he is forced to travel to a strange kingdom somewhere beyond the Golden Triangle, where he learns that Western tech and modern knowledge don't always provide all the answers.
Nairene's books are breezy, fast reads and played for laughs.
If you enjoyed, say, THE WHITE LOTUS on Netflix, you'll like these.
May 16th, 2024 at 7:14:58 AM
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Gosh, I haven't read a book in a VERY long time. 🤔💡 The last book I read was My Booky Wook by Russell Brand in around 2011, 13 years ago! 😵💫😱😳
In both The Hunger Games and in gambling, may the odds be ever in your favor. :D
"Man Babes" #AxelFabulous
"Olive oil is processed but it only has one
ingredient, olive oil."-Even Bob, March 27/28th. :D The 2 year war is over! Woo-hoo! :D
I sometimes speak in metaphors. ;) Remember this. ;)
Crack the code. :D 8.9.13.25.14.1.13.5.9.19.14.1.20.8.1.14! :D
"For about the 4096th time, let me offer a radical idea to those of you who don't like Nathan -- block her and don't visit Nathan's Corner. What is so complicated about it?" Wizard, August 21st. :D
May 16th, 2024 at 12:30:06 PM
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The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left by Yuval Levin. Got it for my birthday. Been trying to read more early USA philosophical and political commentators and figured this was a good jumping off point.
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
June 22nd, 2025 at 12:38:58 PM
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I have my books!
I'll explain soon
I'll explain soon
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!” She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
June 22nd, 2025 at 12:48:46 PM
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I have my books!
There's a song from the 60s with that line in the lyrics, and I put that exclamation point there because the singers shout it out
"I have my books
And my poetry to protect me"
recognize it now?
I was over at a friend's house and he had dragged out his old Simon and Garfunkel. The song is "I am a Rock", lyrics below, and it gave me an earworm ... I slowly realized the lyrics were written at a different time, you couldn't write that now and not get hooted off the stage. The poor fellow is so heart broken, now he is a rock, an island. Of course that doesn't work, but i don't remember back in those days thinking the lyrics were so odd.
I like my books too, by golly, and there are times I think 'I can't be bored. I have my books!'
Yes, that line in the lyrics gets shouted!
… A winter's day
In a deep and dark December
… I am alone
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am a rock I am an island
… I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
I am a rock I am an island
… Don't talk of love
Well I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died
If I never loved I never would have cried
I am a rock I am an island
… I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock I am an island
… And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Paul Simon
I Am a Rock lyrics © Paul Simon Music, Sony/atv Songs Llc, Lorna Music Co Ltd
There's a song from the 60s with that line in the lyrics, and I put that exclamation point there because the singers shout it out
"I have my books
And my poetry to protect me"
recognize it now?
I was over at a friend's house and he had dragged out his old Simon and Garfunkel. The song is "I am a Rock", lyrics below, and it gave me an earworm ... I slowly realized the lyrics were written at a different time, you couldn't write that now and not get hooted off the stage. The poor fellow is so heart broken, now he is a rock, an island. Of course that doesn't work, but i don't remember back in those days thinking the lyrics were so odd.
I like my books too, by golly, and there are times I think 'I can't be bored. I have my books!'
Yes, that line in the lyrics gets shouted!
… A winter's day
In a deep and dark December
… I am alone
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am a rock I am an island
… I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
I am a rock I am an island
… Don't talk of love
Well I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died
If I never loved I never would have cried
I am a rock I am an island
… I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock I am an island
… And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Paul Simon
I Am a Rock lyrics © Paul Simon Music, Sony/atv Songs Llc, Lorna Music Co Ltd
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!” She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
June 22nd, 2025 at 1:02:12 PM
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I'm reading Julia Child's memoir of her life in Paris in the early fifties when she learned how to cook. She's a really really good writer and I didn't expect that. She paints a wonderful picture of what Paris was like in 1952. I don't know why I thought she might not be a good writer, she taught herself how to cook after she attended classes at the Cordon Bleu, wrote a groundbreaking world-renowned cookbook that has never been out of print, and had a successful TV show for 20 years. Obviously she's extremely intelligent. A lot of the stuff in the movie Julie and Julia was taken from this book.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
June 22nd, 2025 at 1:40:39 PM
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Campaigning with Grant, by Horace Porter
Porter was a young Lieutenant who was destined to be a star. The top Union graduate, his first job was aide to George McCellan. From there he was General Thomas's aide and received a Medal of Honor in 1863. He was on staff to the head of the Army of the Cumberland when Grant recognized his quality and requested him as his aide. When told his aide needed to be a colonel or higher, Captain Porter got a field promotion. He was one of three aides to Grant during the ending of the war, served him in the White House, and headed the committee that raised money for Grant's Tomb.
He took contemporary notes in a diary, and the book expands a series of magazine articles, so it doesn't flow well in places.
It's fascinating reading Grant's thought process and seeing the timeline play out. In the current chapter, Porter goes to bed at 130 AM, wakes up at 4 AM, and is on the field by 5 AM. The Union's plan for an attack on the enemy right is in question as the Rebels launched a predawn attack on the left. Grant's plan has gone to hell, and he must think on his feet.
Porter was a young Lieutenant who was destined to be a star. The top Union graduate, his first job was aide to George McCellan. From there he was General Thomas's aide and received a Medal of Honor in 1863. He was on staff to the head of the Army of the Cumberland when Grant recognized his quality and requested him as his aide. When told his aide needed to be a colonel or higher, Captain Porter got a field promotion. He was one of three aides to Grant during the ending of the war, served him in the White House, and headed the committee that raised money for Grant's Tomb.
He took contemporary notes in a diary, and the book expands a series of magazine articles, so it doesn't flow well in places.
It's fascinating reading Grant's thought process and seeing the timeline play out. In the current chapter, Porter goes to bed at 130 AM, wakes up at 4 AM, and is on the field by 5 AM. The Union's plan for an attack on the enemy right is in question as the Rebels launched a predawn attack on the left. Grant's plan has gone to hell, and he must think on his feet.
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
June 22nd, 2025 at 1:43:31 PM
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I just received this in the mail today. I was a little surprised by the size of it. I had no idea that it was 650 pages. I don't remember reading a book this long since one of the Nixon biographies that was over 1000 pages.
You can't know everything, but you can know anything.
June 22nd, 2025 at 4:18:58 PM
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"Under a Flaming Sky" by Daniel James Brown, the guy who wrote "the Boys in the Boat"
This is a terrific story about the exceptional kind of forest fire that is sheer terror. Just the right amount of technical stuff ... recommending it to everyone
This is a terrific story about the exceptional kind of forest fire that is sheer terror. Just the right amount of technical stuff ... recommending it to everyone
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!” She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
June 22nd, 2025 at 4:43:31 PM
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Quote: odiousgambit"Under a Flaming Sky" by Daniel James Brown, the guy who wrote "the Boys in the Boat"
This is a terrific story about the exceptional kind of forest fire that is sheer terror. Just the right amount of technical stuff ... recommending it to everyone
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Is it fiction or non-fiction? If non-fiction I might take a look at it.
You can't know everything, but you can know anything.
June 22nd, 2025 at 5:14:50 PM
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most definitely non-fiction. Minnesota used to have horrific forest fires due to forestry practices. These are the kind that have their own weather, fire tornadoes, and such ... and could take out whole towns
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!” She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
June 22nd, 2025 at 6:42:14 PM
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Quote: DRichI just received this in the mail today. I was a little surprised by the size of it. I had no idea that it was 650 pages. I don't remember reading a book this long since one of the Nixon biographies that was over 1000 pages.
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Did they use bunker buster bombs in those days.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
June 23rd, 2025 at 10:21:51 AM
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Quote: EvenBobQuote: DRichI just received this in the mail today. I was a little surprised by the size of it. I had no idea that it was 650 pages. I don't remember reading a book this long since one of the Nixon biographies that was over 1000 pages.
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Did they use bunker buster bombs in those days.
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No, but they did have bouncing bombs.
You can't know everything, but you can know anything.
June 23rd, 2025 at 10:42:26 AM
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Quote: DRichQuote: EvenBobQuote: DRichI just received this in the mail today. I was a little surprised by the size of it. I had no idea that it was 650 pages. I don't remember reading a book this long since one of the Nixon biographies that was over 1000 pages.
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Did they use bunker buster bombs in those days.
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No, but they did have bouncing bombs.
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The Bouncing Betty, very lethal
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
June 23rd, 2025 at 4:04:15 PM
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Trees of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Sanderson's attempt at an unconventional fantasy in which the protagonist has nothing special about them and who constantly questions and changes her assumptions about what is going on.
The Devil's Element, Phosphorous and a World Out of Balance by Dan Egan
An element that is essential for fertilizer and modern agriculture (called 'the new oil"), is more rare in concentrated form than I had imagined and which is destroying waterways from Florida to the Mississippi Basin to the Great Lakes.
Sanderson's attempt at an unconventional fantasy in which the protagonist has nothing special about them and who constantly questions and changes her assumptions about what is going on.
The Devil's Element, Phosphorous and a World Out of Balance by Dan Egan
An element that is essential for fertilizer and modern agriculture (called 'the new oil"), is more rare in concentrated form than I had imagined and which is destroying waterways from Florida to the Mississippi Basin to the Great Lakes.
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
June 23rd, 2025 at 5:02:51 PM
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Quote: gordonm888Trees of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Sanderson's attempt at an unconventional fantasy in which the protagonist has nothing special about them and who constantly questions and changes her assumptions about what is going on.
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The main character is a woman and he's a man writing the book? I read many decades ago that the very best women are in books written by men because they miss the mark by so much of what women are really like. Just today I saw a video of a really good looking woman about 38 saying she went to the marriage counselor with her husband and said she wanted a divorce and her husband had absolutely no reaction at all. He said I can be out in 2 weeks, see ya, and he got up and left. She was very upset over his reaction when he was obviously so sick of her he couldn't wait to get away. Men do not understand women and women do not understand men and it comes out when they write about each other. Men usually portray women in books as having far more compassion and empathy and understanding and kindness than they ever do in real life. They are writing about what they want women to be, not what they really are. And no this has nothing to do with my wife, my wife is everything that I just stated. I'm talking about in general. But it took her a long long time to get there.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
June 23rd, 2025 at 11:06:27 PM
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Quote: EvenBob
The main character is a woman and he's a man writing the book? I read many decades ago that the very best women are in books written by men because they miss the mark by so much of what women are really like. Just today I saw a video of a really good looking woman about 38 saying she went to the marriage counselor with her husband and said she wanted a divorce and her husband had absolutely no reaction at all. He said I can be out in 2 weeks, see ya, and he got up and left. She was very upset over his reaction when he was obviously so sick of her he couldn't wait to get away. Men do not understand women and women do not understand men and it comes out when they write about each other. Men usually portray women in books as having far more compassion and empathy and understanding and kindness than they ever do in real life. They are writing about what they want women to be, not what they really are. And no this has nothing to do with my wife, my wife is everything that I just stated. I'm talking about in general. But it took her a long long time to get there.
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On the other hand, there's what I've called the "Heinlein girl." It's a male fantasy, where you have a female who is physically completely feminine, but has attitudes, talents and behaviors like a man. So in theory it's someone that can be related to like a male peer, but also a sexual partner.
And I thought about that for a while. A woman who spends her day like me and does things my way would be the most odious battleaxe I've ever met. Worse than a bull.... you know. Like when they were talking about having a female James Bond. A woman who has sex with random men she meets at high-class social functions, then wakes up puking from the martinis and whatever else, before she starts her day we would call a "mess", not an "action hero." That would be an offensive character. In fact I can't recall any woman in fiction who was a major character with those attributes, can you? I can recall a few like that from real life. Not fun dates.
