Topic: Reader's Nook

[6pairsofshoes]

Homeschooling my daughter, we are reading Alice in Wonderland, very interesting comparisons from the Disney in my head to the material in the book.

That's a great story.  It's fun to read Lewis Carroll.   Through the Looking Glass is also wonderful.  When I was in college I discovered his Pillow Problems and a Tangled Tale, basically logic problems, but very funny ones. Available for free borrows at archive.org.   There are several movies made of Alice in Wonderland, and some of the older ones are the best, although there's even one with Johnny Depp, if memory serves (maybe that's the Disney one you were talking about? directed by Tim Burton?)

Edward Lear is also really enjoyable to read as he wrote lots of daffy oddball poems.

[goldshirt*9]

Homeschooling my daughter, we are reading Alice in Wonderland, very interesting comparisons from the Disney in my head to the material in the book.

I personally have found that anything that Disney has made into a film Alice in wonderland, Sword in the stone - I just cannot then read the book 

[goldshirt*9]

God is not Great - Christopher Hitchens

[6pairsofshoes]

I have not read the book, but recall an article by him lambasting Mother Theresa.  It's been years since I read it.  I do recall that he was a bit extreme in his criticisms in that case. 

That said, I saw him speak several years ago at a local law school and he was delightful as an orator -- quick on his feet.  He was wonderfully smart and I miss the level of debate that he fostered, given the focus of specialized media that offers multiple talking heads who offer "contrasting points of view" but who are in fundamental agreement.

I write this instead of watching the Republican presidential debate.

[goldshirt*9]

Whether God is great or not isn't at all relevant. I think that Mr Hitchens makes the fundamental error of assuming that (organised) religion has anything to do with God(s) other than strictly nominally. Religion is another of those things like FaceBook and Reddit (and gangs, and abusive marriages etc.) that allow people to cluster together for shelter, preferably with someone to tell them how to live. Some (quite a lot, to be honest) people desperately need someone else to tell them what they should think and do, and throughout history "religions" have been a very common way of fulfilling that need. What this means is that people "on the inside" are immune to "logic", no matter how much people on the outside think it will help. Something exactly similar happens with the most dedicated adherents of political parties - particularly the extreme ones.

I have not read the book, but recall an article by him lambasting Mother Theresa.  It's been years since I read it.  I do recall that he was a bit extreme in his criticisms in that case. 

That said, I saw him speak several years ago at a local law school and he was delightful as an orator -- quick on his feet.  He was wonderfully smart and I miss the level of debate that he fostered, given the focus of specialized media that offers multiple talking heads who offer "contrasting points of view" but who are in fundamental agreement.

I write this instead of watching the Republican presidential debate.

Spoiler alert people, may just give directly to the free community library as I now know the "story" 😂🤣

[goldshirt*9]

I have not read the book, but recall an article by him lambasting Mother Theresa.  It's been years since I read it.  I do recall that he was a bit extreme in his criticisms in that case. 

I haven't read nor seen this article, plenty of Video's referring to M,Teresa from a few Orators.
A very mixed bag in their talking's about her and a few very harsh in their opinions, Mainly from the Indian perspective. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[6pairsofshoes]

A Memory called Empire by Arkady Martine, not bad and engaging.  I discovered that the writer is also an urban planner, which makes a good deal of sense in how she describes infrastructures and the interplanetary relationships between an imperial political entity and its subsidiary states.

I just inhaled Persepolis Rising, by Jas SA Corey the 7th book in the Expanse series.  For some reason I probably read it and had forgotten.  I thought it was new.  Vague memories of key events finally came back to me.  I figure I'll read the last 2 novels now since my memory doesn't hold too much of these plots.  Perhaps I'm sleep deprived.  These sci fi novels are like popcorn.  Can't stop eating them and they are consumed so quickly.  I finished PR in a day and a half and now need something else engaging to read on the plane.  This ought to work.

I'm always open to suggestions for new sci fi novels.  I occasionally comb the Hugo winners and other lists to find things.  The Martine book was sitting around in my ebooks waiting for me to get around to it.  I guess it was from the last time I went looking for something light to read.

[goldshirt*9]

I'm always open to suggestions for new sci fi novels.  I occasionally comb the Hugo winners and other lists to find things.  The Martine book was sitting around in my ebooks waiting for me to get around to it.  I guess it was from the last time I went looking for something light to read.

A large area to peruse,
Julian May ?
Stephan Donaldson ?

[goldshirt*9]

Having said that, I read all of his stuff avidly until I got to The Last Chronicles, and I couldn't get into them at all.

As with lots of writers/films  A series too far.

[smokester]

Hardly what one might call "reading a book" considering the length of each poem, but I treated myself to Lemn Sissay's Let The Love Pour In when it came out.

Must have thumbed through it at least a dozen times so far.

[smokester]

Let the Light Pour In?

Whoops. Freudian slip, maybe?

[6pairsofshoes]

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I'm on a tear to finish the Expanse series and with the travel I've been doing lately, that shouldn't take long.  I go through a book every couple of days. 

Hardly what one might call "reading a book" ..., but I treated myself to Lemn Sissay's Let The Love Pour In when it came out.

Must have thumbed through it at least a dozen times so far.

That sounds like a great title for a '70's R&B song.

I'll dig around and see what Julian May I can come up with.  slsk is a great resource for that.

[6pairsofshoes]

Was it my imagination or was The Many-Colored Land recommended?  This guy is prolific so I'm kind of overwhelmed by the selection.

Some posts disappear and I've been too distracted to remember to quote stuff for safekeeping.

[goldshirt*9]

A. J. Smit did a 4 part series called the Black Guard. A tad fantasy but when I read it I thought it wasn't a run of the mill series 🤷‍♂️

[6pairsofshoes]

Without internet, I read a lot.  Here's recent musings on books I've finished in the past couple of weeks.

Jas. McBride, Deacon King Kong.  Amusing, although not like the author has lightning bolts coming out of his head or anything.  A sweet little book.

George Elliot, Middlemarch.  Am I getting old or was this a lot longer than necessary?  I prefer Trollope.  Someone said, "you gotta read this, it's by a woman."  So I did.  I still don't get what all the fuss is about.  At least now I can avoid reading anything else by her.  Jane Austen is much better and more succinct among the writers in this genre.

VS Naipaul, A House for Mr. Biswas.  This is a well written book, about a guy who is basically self centered and unlikeable.  I feel sorry for his wife and kids.  Mostly a flashback biography after he dies.  In that, I'm reminded of Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis' Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas, except that the latter is in the first person while Mr. B is told from a 3rd person perspective.  I'm nearly done with it and like it better than the Elliot.