What Are You Reading?

[coolcanuc]

Deception by Rand Paul

Deception

Senator Rand Paul was on to Anthony Fauci from the start. Wielding previously unimaginable power, Fauci misled the country about the origins of the Covid pandemic and shut down scientific dissent.One of the few leaders who dared to challenge "America’s Doctor" was Senator Rand Paul, himself a...

books.google.ca

 

[tejolot3]

Christopher Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem:
How Religion Drove the Voyages that Led to America

Carol Delaney

 

[The Knize]

Boy, can Hitch write. I agree with him about 50% of the time but he’s always engaging.

Yeah, I really like Hitch and I do not always agree with him either. I do not think it bothered him that folks wouldn't always agree with him. He was the kind of public intellectual we need more of. I would say he is the kind of pubic intellectual Jordan Peterson should aspire to me. I used to really like JP and I still like some of what he does, but he seems to have become a tad brittle.

 

[Heron]

All the clever satire of Philomena Cunk without the cringe of her interviews. It's the only book that's made me spit-take.

 

[abies]

Now, I'm waiting on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 75th Anniversary edition of "The Little Prince".

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"Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as "The Little Prince".

This special edition of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's world-famous classic marks its seventy-fifth anniversary in print.

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Featuring a beautiful new cover and a special look at its history and making—including a biography of Saint-Exupéry, sketches, photos, and reviews from the first edition—this new anniversary edition of "The Little Prince" will capture the hearts of both devoted and new readers alike".

"Some books leave us free and some makes us free". Ralph Waldo Emerson

I also really enjoyed Wind, Sand and Stars. It's one of my favorite memoirs.

 

[Vespasian]

Lord Byron's "Don Juan."

Yesterday marked the 200th anniversary of Byron's death in Greece. I pulled down my ignored Penguin edition of "Don Juan" promising myself to finally read it all straight through.

I did the usual British Romantics course in college, mumble-mumble years ago, and I loved Byron's work. But I left it there. I've lugged "Don Juan" from house to house, never even cracking it open.

I became addicted a few years ago to the wonderful books of Iris Origo, namely her two masterpieces, "The Merchant of Prato" and "War in Val d'Orcia." I wondered what else she had written, so I bought her "The Last Attachment," all about Byron's last great love, Countess Teresa Guiccioli.

That's where the fun began. Hello, BookFinder! I started with Leslie Marchand's three-volume biography, then his 13-volume edition of Byron's letters. Then a book on Byron's convoluted finances, then a newer biography by Fiona McCarthy, lots of other secondary sources. I became thoroughly addicted to the man, and yesterday's sad anniversary seemed the perfect time to finally start reading what I had long circled around, "Don Juan."

In my edition, it's a 500 page epic poem, divided into cantos and stanzas, all in ottava rima. Plus 250 pages of notes. I figure if I manage to read 10 pages a week of the poem, a not unreasonable goal, I should finish it in about a year.

So I am set. I started reading last night, introductions, etc., and finally the poem itself: "I want a hero," it begins. I've found mine.

Any other Byron fans out there? Anyone want to join in my year-long reading project?

--Robert (Vespasian)

 

[Gauthier]

I did the usual British Romantics course in college, mumble-mumble years ago, and I loved Byron's work. But I left it there. I've lugged "Don Juan" from house to house, never even cracking it open.

Exactly. In college, I was only concerned with getting through. Now, that I have leisure, I find myself rediscovering and delving into the literature we covered then. I minored in philosophy, but mostly bluffed my way through. I recently won a prize in a radio quiz because I could name Blaise Pascal. I promptly read a very sophisticated biography of him, and have been working on his Pensées, which I won in the contest. The same goes for Hermann Hesse.

Cheers,

Gauthier

 

[steveclarkus]

"Disintegration" by Andrei Martyanov

 

[steveclarkus]

Exactly. In college, I was only concerned with getting through. Now, that I have leisure, I find myself rediscovering and delving into the literature we covered then. I minored in philosophy, but mostly bluffed my way through. I recently won a prize in a radio quiz because I could name Blaise Pascal. I promptly read a very sophisticated biography of him, and have been working on his Pensées, which I won in the contest. The same goes for Hermann Hesse.

Cheers,

Gauthier

Hesse was a favorite of mine

 

[njpaddy]

Killing Kennedy by Jack Roth, given to me by a daughter at Christmas. I was a senior in high school when Kennedy was assassinated. In 1962, I got into Ian Fleming/James Bond books and films because of JFK. I even had the First Family Comedy LP, which my parents hated almost as much as my Bob Dylan and Joan Baez LPs. I can still hear my stepdad yelling to my mom, that I had that g-d communist music on again. I always suspected that JFK's death was a gov't conspiracy by his own party, but never dwelt on it. I also never realized the number of books and theories surrounding the assassination, cancer-causing polio vaccines, etc, that followed.

 

[coolcanuc]

Deception: The Great Covid Cover-Up
By Rand Paul

Deception

Senator Rand Paul was on to Anthony Fauci from the start. Wielding previously unimaginable power, Fauci misled the country about the origins of the Covid pandemic and shut down scientific dissent.One of the few leaders who dared to challenge "America’s Doctor" was Senator Rand Paul, himself a...

books.google.ca

 

[Sando]

I mentioned earlier that Bosch is a favorite but I hadn’t read LL yet. Got a library copy and it’s off to a good start.

 

[ByMyBeard]

Earthseed #1 - Parable of the Sower. This one ended with where I thought it was going to begin, so my expectations were not quite accurate. I'll pick up Parable of the Talents in a bit and see how it picks up. I did enjoy that the book starts in the future year of 2024.

 

[njpaddy]

Just finished The Count of Monte Cristo. I read the unabridged version translated by Robin Buss and published by Penguin. It was a phenomenal read, a masterpiece. It is long but I loved reading every minute of it and wished there was more!

I have a dozen different unabridged English (and French) editions of The Count of Monte, including Buss, and find that no two English translations are the same. One of my early incomplete retirement projects was listing the differences between various editions. Most English translations leave out paragraphs, and many historical/religious references by Dumas. Buss included most if not all of those historical/religious references, but I wasn't fond of his attempt to modernize the language. My favorite reading (despite the omissions) is the e-reader illustrated version from Gutenberg.org, (or the Wordsworth Classic paperback), while listening to the Librivox audio by David Clarke which I downloaded. It's been over 5 years for me. Time I revisit an old favorite.

 

[Heron]

This is so weird. It better not end as a dream or hallucination.

 

[Gauthier]

I have a dozen different unabridged English (and French) editions of The Count of Monte, including Buss, and find that no two English translations are the same.

You are a scholar and a gentleman. In preparing book talks for a German group, I recently compared different translations of Madame Bovary, 1984 and Brave New World.

Cheers,

Gauthier

 

[The Knize]

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I mentioned earlier that Bosch is a favorite but I hadn’t read LL yet. Got a library copy and it’s off to a good start.

Definitelyl. I like Bosch slightly better, but the Lincoln Lawyer series is excellent, too.

 

[Sando]

I’m with you on that. Just finished LL and really enjoyed it but give Bosch a slight edge.

 

[The Knize]

I’m with you on that. Just finished LL and really enjoyed it but give Bosch a slight edge.

The net tells me there are now 30 Harry Bosch books. I would not say they are all of equal quality, but I think Connelly has done an amazing job quality-wise across so many books and has kept to believable, consistent character development. I was going to say that it is hard for the Mickey Haller books to compete with that, but I guess there are 7 of them now!

 

[Alum Wrench]

Delphi Classics Complete works of HP Lovecraft.
This one is going to take a while. Probably take breaks here and there to switch things up.
Holy smokes he is descriptive in some of his work.

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I discovered Lovecraft at a flea market while working on a farm way out in the boonies. I read him feverishly on lunch breaks, savoring the language, imbibing the atmospheres in the gloom of a wet, overcast November.

16 years old, Farm Boy Tough, strong as an ox--and Lovecraft had me jumping at shadows, listening anxiously for the approach of the Elder Gods, and terrified to be alone after dark. Enjoy!