What are we reading today?

[MurphCID]

Reading Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie, and it is like watching a train wreck that you cannot look away from. Kaiser Willie and Tirpitz mis-reading every sign possible, Lloyd George upset at the naval race, Cousin Nicky the Tsar and the various German politicians who so completely made a muck of things by insisting on challenging British naval power. You read this, and just know that there will be no happy ending. But you see where it could have been stopped, if the Austrians and Germans had just pulled back a little. Serbia bears some of the burden as well, and as Lord Grey said; "The lights are going out all over Europe, and we shall not see them lit again in our lifetimes."

[AZgl1800]

I am reading "Somewhere in the South Pacific" by John J. Gobbell
the book starts March 1943, the month I was born.
It is centered around John F. Kennedy as a Lt JG assigned to PT-109

The author went to extreme lengths to get the history correct, and wove in the story line so that you feel you are there. In the Prologue, he lists every character and their history and rank.

Inspired by the true story of John F. Kennedy’s daring naval mission at the height of World War II, this historical thriller brings the unanswered question of the past to life with fast-paced action and vivid detail.

at Amazon ; https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09KM ... k_ro_title

[Portreve]

Bull**** Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber.

[Pjotr]

Reading Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie, and it is like watching a train wreck that you cannot look away from. Kaiser Willie and Tirpitz mis-reading every sign possible, Lloyd George upset at the naval race, Cousin Nicky the Tsar and the various German politicians who so completely made a muck of things by insisting on challenging British naval power. You read this, and just know that there will be no happy ending. But you see where it could have been stopped, if the Austrians and Germans had just pulled back a little. Serbia bears some of the burden as well, and as Lord Grey said; "The lights are going out all over Europe, and we shall not see them lit again in our lifetimes."

The fatal two gun shots in Sarajevo.... The spark that caused the world to explode with two world wars, a cold war and insane devilish ideologies that massacred people by the millions. And caused my very existence. Without those two gun shots, I wouldn't have existed.

[MurphCID]

Reading Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie, and it is like watching a train wreck that you cannot look away from. Kaiser Willie and Tirpitz mis-reading every sign possible, Lloyd George upset at the naval race, Cousin Nicky the Tsar and the various German politicians who so completely made a muck of things by insisting on challenging British naval power. You read this, and just know that there will be no happy ending. But you see where it could have been stopped, if the Austrians and Germans had just pulled back a little. Serbia bears some of the burden as well, and as Lord Grey said; "The lights are going out all over Europe, and we shall not see them lit again in our lifetimes."

The fatal two gun shots in Sarajevo.... The spark that caused the world to explode with two world wars, a cold war and insane devilish ideologies that massacred people by the millions. And caused my very existence. Without those two gun shots, I wouldn't have existed.

And fatal because the driver took a wrong turn.... I just started the next book Castles of Steel. Apparently one of the initial problems is the no one really know who exactly they were at war with for a few days after the start since the various alliances, treaties, entantes, declared war on different countries, and it took a week or two to finally get it all sorted out. But in the end it was the horrible miscalculation of Bethman-Hollweg, Kaiser Willie, Tirpitz, and some others that started the train of events that got out of control. Kaiser Willie was so insecure in regards to his British relatives, that it was disaster waiting to happen. Very well written book.

[The Muffin Man]

Three Bags Full

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Three Bags Full

The Muffin Man reading Three Bags Full (from Baa, Baa, Black Sheep). I don't care who you are, that there is funny!

(Apologies if you were being serious.)

[shedyed]

I am tempted to read Peripheral from Gibson...only because the movie is about to come out.Has to be in large print for these aging eyes.

[AZgl1800]

I am tempted to read Peripheral from Gibson...only because the movie is about to come out.Has to be in large print for these aging eyes.

that is precisely why I only read books on a Kindle, I prefer the original 5" height PaperWhite version.

easy to hold in one hand, a thumb press to go to the next page.
Two fingers press across the screen to increase the Font Size so I can read it easily.

FreeBooksy and Goodreads and Libraries are sources for 'free' books to read.
I also have a Kindle subscription at $10/month

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I am tempted to read Peripheral from Gibson...only because the movie is about to come out.Has to be in large print for these aging eyes.

that is precisely why I only read books on a Kindle, I prefer the original 5" height PaperWhite version.

easy to hold in one hand, a thumb press to go to the next page.
Two fingers press across the screen to increase the Font Size so I can read it easily...

Even easier for me is to use the Kindle Cloud Reader and read from my 43" TV patched into the computer. It's easier than having to hang onto the Kindle while reading. I use a wireless mouse for a "remote". I do have a Kindle but I use it as little as possible to hopefully last longer. I seems each new version of Kindles are not as good as the previous one (at least, for me). I shut off the WiFi connection on the Kindle and side load my books onto it so Amazon wouldn't be able to add any more updates since they would hit at inopportune times, take forever, and often require rebooting which takes even longer (the Kindle was the last thing I used WiFi for). I hate touch screens (mostly because they hate me) and I miss my old five button Kindle. I can't use the one I have now without cursing at the touch screen most of the times I use it.

It's a pity that Amazon doesn't think Linux users deserve their own version of the Kindle for PC or Mac apps.

[The Muffin Man]

Three Bags Full

The Muffin Man reading Three Bags Full (from Baa, Baa, Black Sheep). I don't care who you are, that there is funny!

(Apologies if you were being serious.)

No apologies needed and I am serious. I generally get my books at used bookstores and thrift stores. That way I'm not like a kid in a candy store and cannot decide. Books kinds "speak" to me and this one "spoke" to me at Salvation Army near Clemson, SC. I picked it because of the name and am reading it (almost done) because it's interesting.
From the Wikipedia page

Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story (original German title: Glennkill: Ein Schafskrimi) is 2005 novel by Leonie Swann. It is a detective story featuring a flock of anthropomorphic Irish sheep out to solve the murder of their shepherd. Written originally in German, the novel became an international bestseller, and has been translated into more than 30 language.

[RollyShed]

About to start -
Celts : The history and legacy of one of the oldest cultures in Europe by Martin J. Dougherty. My ancestors 2000 years ago.

The mention above of a second hand book shop. I claim it takes about 2 hours to drive to the town about 70 km (~40 miles) to the south of us. Why so long? About 12 km before it a village, Chertsey, containing a pub (or used to be) and a couple of houses and a barn. The Chertsey Book Barn is a vast second hand book shop.... Need I say more

[AZgl1800]

I some times, read with the Kindle Cloud reader, I have Vivaldi installed for that single purpose,
but, that requires that I have my laptop in my hands.

the Kindle PaperWhite goes where I go, in the car, out on the porch, in the RV...

when the daughter goes shopping, I slink down into the car seat, and read my Kindle.
time passes much faster that way

we make a point of trying to merge our shopping requirements, so that one trip from Cow Pasture Patty land to a metro store area, serves multiple chores.... plus, we use it as an excuse to get a meal out of the house....
she is a great cook, but I try to be easy on her....

< her mom was a lousy cook >
both of us hated her meals, but she went to heaven 5 years ago now

[MurphCID]

Used bookstores are the way to go, too many hidden gems can be found there. I had to slow down due to space limitations at the house. So many books, so little time.... I wish the Kindle/Kindle app was functional on Linux.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

With rare, very rare, exceptions, I stopped reading DTBs (Dead Tree Books) years ago. I spend less money on ebooks than I did even on used DTBs plus I tend to read series books, something hard to keep up with when buying used books. Added to that were the boxes of DTBs I was accumulating taking up too much space (I frequently reread books after a few years), the hassle of carrying around one or two DTBs when reading away from the house, needing two hands to read a DTB, and the real killer, my old back and eyes were having trouble reading the spines of DTBs in book stores.

I did carry my Kindle with me when away from the house and was expecting to have free time to kill, such as when going out to eat or traveling but now, since Covid struck, the only time I need to have a book with me is when I'm seeing my doctor every six months.

...I wish the Kindle/Kindle app was functional on Linux.

You and me three! I get around that stupid problem by using the Kindle Cloud Reader when at home.

[Portreve]

Three Bags Full

The Muffin Man reading Three Bags Full (from Baa, Baa, Black Sheep). I don't care who you are, that there is funny!

(Apologies if you were being serious.)

No apologies needed and I am serious. I generally get my books at used bookstores and thrift stores. That way I'm not like a kid in a candy store and cannot decide. Books kinds "speak" to me and this one "spoke" to me at Salvation Army near Clemson, SC. I picked it because of the name and am reading it (almost done) because it's interesting.
From the Wikipedia page

Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story (original German title: Glennkill: Ein Schafskrimi) is 2005 novel by Leonie Swann. It is a detective story featuring a flock of anthropomorphic Irish sheep out to solve the murder of their shepherd. Written originally in German, the novel became an international bestseller, and has been translated into more than 30 language.

This needs to be made into a movie.

[The Muffin Man]

Of course I've been dreaming of an animatronic version.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The Muffin Man reading Three Bags Full (from Baa, Baa, Black Sheep). I don't care who you are, that there is funny!

(Apologies if you were being serious.)

No apologies needed and I am serious. I generally get my books at used bookstores and thrift stores. That way I'm not like a kid in a candy store and cannot decide. Books kinds "speak" to me and this one "spoke" to me at Salvation Army near Clemson, SC. I picked it because of the name and am reading it (almost done) because it's interesting.
From the Wikipedia page

Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story (original German title: Glennkill: Ein Schafskrimi) is 2005 novel by Leonie Swann. It is a detective story featuring a flock of anthropomorphic Irish sheep out to solve the murder of their shepherd. Written originally in German, the novel became an international bestseller, and has been translated into more than 30 language.

This needs to be made into a movie.

If they would do it correctly. I've seen too many half-arsed attempts of books being made into movies that flopped miserably. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was popular movie series but strayed quite a bit from the actual books. The sequel, The Hobbit, which was actually a prequel to the Lord of the Rings, was a farce—I felt ripped off after seeing it—due to how much it strayed from the book. Rankin-Bass did a far better job with their low budget animated version of the Hobbit. Ralph Bakshi's attempt at an animated Lord of the Rings could have been far better due to his then revolutionary techniques but he bit off more than he could chew by trying to do all three books in one movie and run out of money halfway through the second book with the animation devolving into frequent lives scenes with a brown color wash.

The movie of the first book of the Stephanie Plum series, One for the Money, was actually pretty true to the book and could have been the first of a series of successful movies but failed miserably because of poor casting. They did OK with Stephanie but one of her boyfriends, Joe Morelli, was supposed to be a hunky, Italian stallion: the guy they cast was meh at best. her other boyfriend, Ranger, was supposed to a mysterious, smoking hot Latino; again, meh. The biggest casting crime was casting Grandma Mazur, a sweet but crusty, wild, pistol packing, smart mouthed little old octogenarian; they chose Debbie Reynolds! Betty White or Shirley MacLaine would have been far better choices.

The movie based on the first book of the Confessions of a Shopaholic series by Sophia Kinsella was another one that could have been the start of a great movie series but flopped miserably since the screen writers thought they do a better job with the plot than the wildly successful Kinsella could.

The first two Narnia movies, based on the popular second book (chronologically), The witch, the Lion, and the Wardrobe, and the fourth book, Prince Caspian, were pretty good despite the latter being a bit over-embellished (although that "double barreled" Telmarine catapult looked pretty cool even though it was physically impossible for it to work), but the last movie of the movie series, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, was a travesty because the screenwriters arriogantly though they could do better than the original author (which is usually the reason movies based on books flop) and they combined elements of more than one movie into it. (BTW, if you haven't already, I recommend reading the entire book series, not just parts of it, in chronological order, not publication order. Lewis' space Trilogy is another great read).

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Of course I've been dreaming of an animatronic version.

Like the Babe movies? CGI has developed to the point where it looks even more realistic than animatronics.

BTW, I checked on that book on Amazon and the Kindle version was too expensive for me. Being a voracious reader on a so called fixed income, I've had to set a limit on how much I spent on books. I will not read a book from a new author for anymore than $4.99 (USD). If it goes up after the first book, it's bye bye. If authors I've been reading for some time goes up to $5.99, I'll usually continue to read books in their series I've been reading unless they weren't all that great to begin with (or became too repetitive). There are plenty of really good authors out there that still don't charge too much for their books, many far better than the popular ones that can get high prices for their books.

[The Muffin Man]

As In:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep