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What book is everyone reading at the moment? Part 2.

Finished "The Barefoot Investor" by Scott Pape.

This has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

It's a no-nonsense guide to investing, with an Australian focus.

He's very much against credit cards. He gives a plan of how to save, splurge, buy a home, plan for retirement, and pay off debt.

Something I wish I'd read in my twenties, but it reassured me I'm doing well in my fifties.
 
I'm about half-way through Tales of Alternate Earths Vol. 3, the latest in a series of alternate history short story anthologies.

Stories so far:
Guy Fawkes succeeded in blowing up Parliament.
Alfred Hitchcock directed a Titanic movie in 1940 instead of "Rebecca".
A Jane Austen-style story in which a lonely widow lost her husband when the Peninsular War was interrupted by alien invaders.
Paleontologists in a world where "Jurassic Park" was never written and people have stopped caring about dinosaurs, with Indiana Jones taking its place as a global franchise.
A young woman stalks the streets of London hunting Jack the Ripper, who never stopped killing.
Louis Bonaparte didn't die in Africa, returned to France, and was crowned Emperor.
Neanderthals were more advanced when they first encountered humans, resulting a world where Homo Sapiens are an oppressed minority.
Vasil Levski didn't die in 1872 and continued to participate in Bulgaria's government for decades, including preventing the coup that removed Alexander of Battenberg from power.
A noir-style detective story in which the PI is a human/chimp hybrid created by the US military using Japanese research and scientists from Unit 731 claimed after WWII. (The author may have confused Unit 731 with a Russian scientist's attempts to create human/chimp hybrids in the 1920s or the reported Chinese experiments in the 1960s.)
 
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Armitage72 said:
I'm about half-way through Tales of Alternate Earths Vol. 3, the latest in a series of alternate history short story anthologies.

Stories so far:
...
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The Challenger disaster leads to the development of a space elevator.
The Industrial Revolution happened around the time of the Punic Wars. More a fantasy story than a conventional alternate history since magic exists, the steam engines are powered by bound Ifrit, and powerful rulers and military commanders around the world are descended from the gods and have magic powers.
A World War I battlefield in a world where Nicholas Flamel developed the Elixir of Life, pharmaceutical companies mass produced it, people are virtually immortal as long as they have a dose available, and the world population is 13 billion.
A police investigation story in a world where Rome never fell.
Oleg Gordievsky attempts to flee the Soviet Union and defect on his own instead of being extracted by MI6.
 
He Used Thought as a Wife. An Anthology of Poems And Conversations (From Inside) by Tim Key

From the ever-magical mind of Tim Key, a collection of poems and dialogues with friends etc. during Covid lockdown.

Wonderfully evoactive and subtle, but equally abstract and ebullient. Keeps me constantly smiling. Willl be folowing up with the companion edition. Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush. An anthology of Poems and Conversations (From Outside)
 
I've started to read Donald E. Westlake, and OMG, why had I never heard of him before?

The Dortmunder Series is utter brilliance.
If I could tell my teenage self to read oen thing, it would be this.
 
The Great Zaganza said:
I've started to read Donald E. Westlake, and OMG, why had I never heard of him before?

The Dortmunder Series is utter brilliance.
If I could tell my teenage self to read oen thing, it would be this.
Click to expand...

Huh. I can get at least the first book (The Hot Rock) for free with my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I'll check it out, thanks!
 
For amusement, The Saboteurs by "Clive Cussler". Pretty poor so far, Cussler's new "co-writer" is poor.
I particularly noticed the hero being protected from Fire from a Lewis hubby a "sturdy table"...:rolleyes:
 
I finally found an opportunity to raid a used book store again.

David Gerrold, Space Skimmer

A dwarf, a robot, an Eloi, an elf, and a waif walk onto a spaceship. They have a psychic orgy. The end.
 
Beelzebuddy said:
I finally found an opportunity to raid a used book store again.

David Gerrold, Space Skimmer

A dwarf, a robot, an Eloi, an elf, and a waif walk onto a spaceship. They have a psychic orgy. The end.
Click to expand...
Will he ever finish The War Against the Chtorr?
 
The Great Zaganza said:
I've started to read Donald E. Westlake, and OMG, why had I never heard of him before?

The Dortmunder Series is utter brilliance.
If I could tell my teenage self to read oen thing, it would be this.
Click to expand...

If you like Westlake, you might also like Richard Stark. Westlake and Stark are equally good, but the books they wrote are quite different.
 
catsmate said:
Will he ever finish The War Against the Chtorr?
Click to expand...

So I am not the only one asking that....
At times I htink the Gerrold can make a ton of money on the Star Trek circuit and does not feel the need of actually finishingthe series.
I enjoyed the series, despite the very blatent thefts from Heinlein's "Starship Troopers".,
 

Wudang said:
You do know Stark is Westlake's pseudonym?
Click to expand...
That would explain why I said Stark and Westlake are equally good, although the books they wrote were rather different.

I must qualify what I wrote in the spoiler by admitting Westlake wrote a few books, such as 361 and The Ax, that Stark would have been proud to write.

There is of course some evidence that Westlake was influenced by Stark, most obviously in Jimmy the Kid. (Judging by The Grifters and Drowned Hopes, I'd say Westlake was also aware of Jim Thompson, although that connection is considerably more distant.)

While I'm at it, let me put in a good word for a third author, Sam Holt, who published only four books during his short career.

I am pleased to report that I own and have read all of the Dortmunder novels, all of the Parker novels, all of the Grofield novels, and three of the Holt novels (looking to collect the second of the four). I re-read them every few years, along with the novels and short stories of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, John D MacDonald, Sue Grafton, Carl Hiaasen, and Craig Johnson. I am trying to complete my collection of Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn/Chee novels.
 
W.D.Clinger said:


That would explain why I said Stark and Westlake are equally good, although the books they wrote were rather different.

I must qualify what I wrote in the spoiler by admitting Westlake wrote a few books, such as 361 and The Ax, that Stark would have been proud to write.

There is of course some evidence that Westlake was influenced by Stark, most obviously in Jimmy the Kid. (Judging by The Grifters and Drowned Hopes, I'd say Westlake was also aware of Jim Thompson, although that connection is considerably more distant.)

While I'm at it, let me put in a good word for a third author, Sam Holt, who published only four books during his short career.

I am pleased to report that I own and have read all of the Dortmunder novels, all of the Parker novels, all of the Grofield novels, and three of the Holt novels (looking to collect the second of the four). I re-read them every few years, along with the novels and short stories of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, John D MacDonald, Sue Grafton, Carl Hiaasen, and Craig Johnson. I am trying to complete my collection of Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn/Chee novels.
Click to expand...

Even Hiaasen's kid's books are worth reading. And Hillerman's daughter has carried on, though I haven't read them all, yet. Read all but "Y" from Grafton. We seem to have similar taste. You'll need to pardon me, I worked in libraries for over 40 years! :blush:
 
Carlotta said:
Even Hiaasen's kid's books are worth reading. And Hillerman's daughter has carried on, though I haven't read them all, yet. Read all but "Y" from Grafton. We seem to have similar taste. You'll need to pardon me, I worked in libraries for over 40 years! :blush:
Click to expand...
Librarians have my respect. I have spent many hours working in libraries without ever working for libraries.

For most of my life, I read more non-fiction than fiction. Even now, my taste in fiction is a bit broader than could be inferred from what I wrote above.
 
dudalb said:
I enjoyed the series, despite the very blatent thefts from Heinlein's "Starship Troopers".,
Click to expand...
Coincidentally enough, the book blatantly stole the "breeding for luck" idea from Niven. I didn't mention it because it's a stupid idea and didn't actually factor into anything aside from being an excuse for the orgy.
 
Armitage72 said:
I'm about half-way through Tales of Alternate Earths Vol. 3, the latest in a series of alternate history short story anthologies.

Stories so far:
Guy Fawkes succeeded in blowing up Parliament.
Alfred Hitchcock directed a Titanic movie in 1940 instead of "Rebecca".
A Jane Austen-style story in which a lonely widow lost her husband when the Peninsular War was interrupted by alien invaders.
Paleontologists in a world where "Jurassic Park" was never written and people have stopped caring about dinosaurs, with Indiana Jones taking its place as a global franchise.
A young woman stalks the streets of London hunting Jack the Ripper, who never stopped killing.
Louis Bonaparte didn't die in Africa, returned to France, and was crowned Emperor.
Neanderthals were more advanced when they first encountered humans, resulting a world where Homo Sapiens are an oppressed minority.
Vasil Levski didn't die in 1872 and continued to participate in Bulgaria's government for decades, including preventing the coup that removed Alexander of Battenberg from power.
A noir-style detective story in which the PI is a human/chimp hybrid created by the US military using Japanese research and scientists from Unit 731 claimed after WWII. (The author may have confused Unit 731 with a Russian scientist's attempts to create human/chimp hybrids in the 1920s or the reported Chinese experiments in the 1960s.)
Click to expand...

That has it's basis in fact. "Titanic " was the project that both Selznick and Hitchock had in mind for Hitch's first American film. Memos between Selznick and Hitchock discussing it exist.
Things changed when Gone With the Wind ran wildly over budget, and Selznick simply could not afford another expensive film like "Titanic", He turned to "Rebecca" as Hitchcock's first US film (despite being set in England it was shot in Hollywood) as a much less expensive project. Both Selnzick and Hitchcock intended to come back to Titanic later,after the profits from GWTW rolled in, but it never happened.
 
Armitage72 said:
I'm about half-way through Tales of Alternate Earths Vol. 3, the latest in a series of alternate history short story anthologies.

Stories so far:
Guy Fawkes succeeded in blowing up Parliament.
Alfred Hitchcock directed a Titanic movie in 1940 instead of "Rebecca".
A Jane Austen-style story in which a lonely widow lost her husband when the Peninsular War was interrupted by alien invaders.
Paleontologists in a world where "Jurassic Park" was never written and people have stopped caring about dinosaurs, with Indiana Jones taking its place as a global franchise.
A young woman stalks the streets of London hunting Jack the Ripper, who never stopped killing.
Louis Bonaparte didn't die in Africa, returned to France, and was crowned Emperor.
Neanderthals were more advanced when they first encountered humans, resulting a world where Homo Sapiens are an oppressed minority.
Vasil Levski didn't die in 1872 and continued to participate in Bulgaria's government for decades, including preventing the coup that removed Alexander of Battenberg from power.
A noir-style detective story in which the PI is a human/chimp hybrid created by the US military using Japanese research and scientists from Unit 731 claimed after WWII. (The author may have confused Unit 731 with a Russian scientist's attempts to create human/chimp hybrids in the 1920s or the reported Chinese experiments in the 1960s.)
Click to expand...
Everyone was trying to create humanzees, back to before the Great War. I wrote a bit on it.
 
Currently reading a couple of books but recently started with The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund de Waal

Anyone read this?
 
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