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

Current pile:

Kerry Greenwood's latest Phyrne Fisher book, Murder in Williamstown.
The excellent fanfic, Harry Is a Dragon, and That's OK. Just up to first squirrel in soace.
 
Have just discovered the existence of one Andy McDermott -- British author (seemingly prolific and liked by many) of thrillers with an archaeological flavour. Acquired one of these (The Sacred Vault) in a charity shop, very cheaply and purely "on spec". Found it -- for my tastes -- the most utterly awful thriller that I have ever attempted to read: struggled to about a third of the way through, then packed it in. I will, for sure, have no more ado with Mr. McDermott's works.
 
catsmate said:
Current pile:

Kerry Greenwood's latest Phyrne Fisher book, Murder in Williamstown.
The excellent fanfic, Harry Is a Dragon, and That's OK. Just up to first squirrel in soace.
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I'm going to have to try some of these. I liked the TV adaptation of the character from some years back. I have no idea how closely (or not) they followed the books, but it's definitely made me want to read some of them.
 
JimOfAllTrades said:
I'm going to have to try some of these. I liked the TV adaptation of the character from some years back. I have no idea how closely (or not) they followed the books, but it's definitely made me want to read some of them.
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They're not that close, characters were dropped, her police foil has a different personality, plots were trimmed.
They are damned good books though.


Also I recommend Harry is a Dragon excellent stuff.
 
Bought a very nice edition of All Quite On The Western Front so I'm gonna start with it today. I've been very keen to watch the movie after all the praise it got but it can wait now :)
 
Lennart Hyland said:
Bought a very nice edition of All Quite On The Western Front so I'm gonna start with it today. I've been very keen to watch the movie after all the praise it got but it can wait now :)
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I presume you mane the current film.
The 1930 version won the BP Oscar, and stands up pretty well today.
 
Went to a history exhibition in Copenhagen today, where Antony Beevor was present and offering some brief insights into the Russian state. Afterwards he was signing copies of his various books and since I haven't yet read his book on the Russian revolution 1917-1921, I picked it up and had him autograph it. Started reading it on the train home, but it may be a while as there were a lot of book sellers, and I hadn't been cautious enough to set a limit on my credit card for the day... :D
 
KDLarsen said:
Went to a history exhibition in Copenhagen today, where Antony Beevor was present and offering some brief insights into the Russian state. Afterwards he was signing copies of his various books and since I haven't yet read his book on the Russian revolution 1917-1921, I picked it up and had him autograph it. Started reading it on the train home, but it may be a while as there were a lot of book sellers, and I hadn't been cautious enough to set a limit on my credit card for the day... :D
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Very nice! :)

My wife's grandfather died recently and he left behind a some books which I will be able to take whichever I want. I've Only seen some photos of the collection yet and saw some Beevor in there :)

I'll report a list later.
 
I've now finished The Uplift War, and it's a great end to the first part of the series.

It takes place right after the events of the previous book, but on another planet called Garth. Garth is a colony of Earth, with both humans and neo-chimps. An avian-like alien race called the Gubru has decided to invade Garth and hold the Terrans hostage in exchange for information about the ancient spaceships and relics found by the dolphin crewed spaceship Streaker in the previous book Startide Rising.

The book follows the humans, chimps, and a couple of friendly ETs and their fight against the invading Gubru. I thought the characters of the chimps and ETs were very well done. I thought the depictions of the neo-chimps, mostly alone, conducting an underground resistance to the Gubru were great (and they even make a joke about guerilla warfare :) ). Plenty of action and character development both, and even though the chimps are similar to humans they are different in some fundamental ways, and those differences are well handled and add considerably to the story.

I liked all three books in this series quite a bit, I think it's one of the best series I've read in a while. This last book is my favorite, but all three are good.

I've now started the second series of three books. These are written about 10 years after the first three. The first one in this set is Brightness Reef. It's a little slow getting started, but I'm only about 15% of the way in.
 
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Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. Nothing new, but a depressing read about the Agency's ineptitude. About once every four or five years it generates an internal assessment, and they all conclude, "We really need to recruit better people. Plus, none of us knows what we're doing."
 
In 9/11/01 when the word trade center went down I wondered what on earth could make Muslims commit suicide and homicide in such a terrible act. So in 2002 I read the Quran.
I started reading this book with an open mind, but after 20 minutes I already smelled a rat, as I observed it was largely a rehash of the bible. Subsequent readings confirmed this and when I read the following verses I also decided it was an evil book of lies about God.
Quran surah 4.56 and 22.19 to 22.22 and 40.72 . These verses tell of terrible tortures that God will inflict on unbelievers in the words of Muhammad for all eternity.
I have a lifetime of study of the practical occult and spiritualism, and I was completely certain these threats of hell in the Quran are lies made up by Muhammad to scare people into obeying him.
I concluded the world needed to know these things and embarked on an effort to express my views on the internet. I also thought I might one day write a book criticizing the Quran, but doubted I would ever be able to do so because it is a formidable undertaking, and because I cannot read Arabic. Also I am no scholar and I doubted my ability to write such a book even with a lot more studying.
But yesterday I received a copy of the book

The complete infidels guide to the Koran, by Robert Spencer.

I started reading it and all though I have not so far learned a lot I did not already know
it has confirmed to me my views are correct and I have not been wasting my time criticizing the Quran these past twenty years. It is a job that should be done, and must be done, by as many people who can do it. Because in Britain today there is a very real and present danger that Muslims are attempting to turn Britain into an Islamic state. In fact they aim to take over the entire world including the USA and enslave us all with their evil doctrine, because they are all utterly deluded by thinking they are doing Gods work and the rest of us are their inferiors.

Here is a passage from chapter one- Of the infidels guide.
"The fact that the Koran counsels warfare against unbelievers should move the readers to act in defense of freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the legal equality of all people before it is too late."

As I have schizophrenia I sometimes felt it is me that is delusional and I have been wasting my time for 20 years, but Robert Spencer's lucid criticism of the Koran has
clarified to me I am doing the right thing, and will continue to do so for as long as I live.

I no longer need to write such a book because it has already been done far better that I could do it, so from now on I will simply refer to this book by Robert Spencer, and quote it, and recommend people to read it.

For those who want to follow my efforts on twitter my name there is Dajjal, and my address is @dajjal_dd
 
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Belay that, in my last message I had not read far enough into Robert Spencer's book,
The complete infidels guide to the Koran.
Now I have read a few more chapters I have learned a lot I did not know. It is a well researched and scholarly book full of informative details.
I realize that my idea of writing a book about the Quran would have been restricted to a personal opinion of the text of the Quran without all the background information in Roberts book. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the Quran, and the real and present danger that many Muslims pose to the free world.

I am relieved of the burden of attempting to write a book about the Quran because it has been done far better that I could do it so from now on I will be promoting Robert Spencer's book, and quoting it all over the Internet.

PS. I have just ordered another Robert Spencer book. 'The critical Quran' I looked through some of it on Amazon where you can look inside to review the book, and I decided it is worth getting it too as it appears to be a close analysis of the entire Quran.
 
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I have finished reading 'the complete infidels guide to the Koran' by Robert Spencer.
It is an affordable A4 sized paperback book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in understanding what the Koran/Quran really says. It is critical and honest.

Today I received 'The critical Quran' by Robert Spencer. This is a more expensive hardback book which is a complete criticism of the M.M.Pickthall English translation.
It has copious notes on every surah in the Quran. it is well worth getting if, like me you are dedicated to critcizng the Quran on the internet.
 
I've been working my way through The Uplift Universe books by David Brin. I liked the first three books in this series quite a bit, I think it's one of the best series I've read in a while. The third book, The Uplift War, is my favorite, but all three are good.

I've now started the second series of three books. These are written about 10 years after the first three. The first one in this set is Brightness Reef. I said previously that this book had started slowly, and it didn't really change. I have to give credit to the massive character development in several different alien characters of several different races. It's an impressive feat.

Unfortunately it just dragged on way too much. I think I was about 60% through the book when I finally just skipped ahead about ten chapters. I figured that if I got totally lost I'd go back, but I didn't have to. The stuff I'd skipped didn't really seem to change what I knew of the actual plot.

In the end I think this could have been cut down to 8 or ten chapters in the next book in the series. Who knows, maybe in the next book the stuff I skipped will leave me not getting something.

All in all this was disappointing, especially considering how much I liked the previous three books.

I'll be starting the next book Infinity's Shore in the day or so. It seems to pick up immediately after this one. I hope it's better.
 
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Set the Night on Fire

A friend just gave me this book, subtitled LA In The Sixties. My friend knows how I came of age in the 60's while living in Hollywood. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Those were some of the craziest of times in the fabric of society. An interesting history, both culturally, politically.

The best part of coming of age then and there was we had the BEST MUSIC ever!!!
 
catsmate said:
Yep the Islamophobic nutter so beloved of Anders Breivik.
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Islamophobia. A word created by Fascists and used by cowards to manipulate morons. Christopher Hitchens.

There is no such thing as islamophobia, it is the right of every individual to question a religion which claims to be peaceful, and yet is responsible for more terror attacks than any other.
In the Islamic world, women are treated as second class citizens and bound by ancient laws that have no place in the modern world.
If anything Islam has a phobia about anything not Islamic.
Author unknown.
 
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I just began reading a book about physicists studying remote viewing and psychic abilities using scientific methods. I intend to start a discussion thread about it when I have finished it.
Its called:

Mind reach by Russell Targ and Harold E. Puthoff
 
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