What Are You Reading V.3 At The Fourth Grade Level

[Shambles]

Looks right up my dark, back passages, Stee. If you are interested in such topics I would very highly recommend the outstanding five-part Metanoia documentary on the CIA and all who sail in her: Counter-Intelligence (all parts available free via that linky or on PooToob (and elsewhere) if you prefer). In fact just go ahead and watch all of their docs cos they are incredible each and every one - and I'll address that recommendation to anyone and everyone cos they really are that frikkin good

 

[steewith2ees]

I'm going to try and get as much housework done s possible before the kids get up and start rowing but once they do I think the headphones can go on while I get stuck into that lot /\

 

[Arnold]

Old info but still has got a few handy tips even though it's more American oriented, it's lacking information on how to trap two legged vermin.

 

[Teen Age Riot]

Shambles!

The last book I read:

you read this yet Shambles?

If not, you can 'ave a gander at mine if you want .... if I can find it on the floor somewhere amid my own squalour at some point that is.


next up:

Back cover blurbs:

NSFW:

 

[Limpet_Chicken]

A journal article, 'NMDA and AMPA receptors, old channels, new tricks'

https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/bionb4300/NMDA_review.pdf

 

[steewith2ees]

The last book I read:



you read this yet Shambles?

If not, you can 'ave a gander at mine if you want .... if I can find it on the floor somewhere amid my own squalour at some point that is.


next up:

Back cover blurbs:

NSFW:

While Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok is without a doubt the most satisfying take on the Norse Legends I have so far experienced (and my favourite Phase 3 entry in the MCU to date) I have no doubt that it, the first two films in the trilogy and much of Marvels take on these characters through both comic and cinema leave much to be desired at times in terms of accuracy, something that I would expect Gaiman to have more nailed down - indeed, his profile among the top contemporary fantasy writers speaks for itself despite my never having picked up one of his stories - I am a huge GOT fan and while up to date with the HBO adaption I am still ploughing through the many volumes of ASOIAF and it is my interest in Martin and his works that made me aware of Gaiman, whom I believe is a personal friend of GRR and has featured as a talking head on documentaries regarding the resurgence of the genre and on those about Martin and his magnum opus itself.

I have read loads since last posting but mostly non - fiction with little to speak of note, mainly stuff on 20th century conflict, WW2 by and large but alongside everything else to date, including the cold war, war on terror from its roots through to ISIS/whatever they are called at the moment. The best space book (its either WW2 history or astrophysics with me) I have read recently is The Interstellar Age by Jim Bell, who thanks to spending much of the mission as a first hand witness (he was on the imaging team from the Saturn encounters onwards, as memory serves) has written a beautiful history of the 41 year old Voyager flights, with Voyager 1 currently the furthest man made object from earth as it continues into interstellar space having left the solar system, with both it and its sister ship still in contact with and sending data back to the JPL, courtesy of the global deep space network.

The best book I have read all year is the true life story of Eddie Chapman, the super - powered triple agent M15 sent back to the Abwehr at the height of WW2 and in a nutshell is one of the most gripping reads I have ever encountered with an adventure and insight into the war that could not be made up

 

[Wubb]

David Bellamy arctic night - a collection of watercolour paintings he did during numerous trips to the arctic circle

 

[apocalypse_when]

"Task Force Dagger: The Hunt For Bin Laden" by Robin Moore.

and

"War Against The Taliban: Why It All Went Wrong In Afghanistan" by Sandy Gall.

Both very interesting books, especially the second one, which gives an excellent look at the conflicts in Afghan from the time of the Soviet invasion in the 80s to the chaos and power vacuum that ensued after the Russkies were booted out. Also, how the resultant civil war between the rival warlords and mujahideen eventually gave rise to the Taliban.

Having been on the ground there during 2 separate tours and witnessed the almost unfathomable politics and traditional cultures of the Pashtun tribesmen who form the majority in Helmand province, I still don't think I'll ever understand Afghanistan or the Afghan people. They can be suicidally brave but also unbelievably lazy. Ruthlessly vengeful but also incredibly generous... total enigmas. One thing I do know though, is that they have zero loyalty and the average Afghan changes sides more often than the average Brit changes his socks... The went from supporters of the old Afghan king to supporting tqhe puppet communist government to the mujahideen to the various tribal warlords to the Taliban to ISAF forces and the Karzai government and then back to the Taliban again... the average Afghan seems to always hedge his bets and while they always seem to support the side they see as being the most 'powerful' they like to have a foot in both camps whenevr they can... and can be treacherous fuckers too, not averse to sonning an ANA or ANP uniform and coming out on patrol with us onky to quite literally shoot us in the back at the first chance they get when we return to base and unload our weapons and remive our body armour... pack of cunts

 

[TimeSprout]

The Brentford Chainstore Massacre - Robert Rankin.

 

[Mentes]

David Sedaris - Calypso

I love his writing style, a mild sarcastic humour and a unique view on life.

Never fails to make me laugh.

He has a unique voice and his readings are great too.

 

[invegauser]

Isaac Asimov's The Foundation series.

dude is a genius, even had NASA here back in the day asking his input on space exploration and other universe related stuff.

this series is about societal collapse and shortening the number of years between one collapsing and the emergence of the next one. gets very scifi on you. politics, deceit, being able to wipe memories from peoples minds and implant new ones using just your own mind as well as some funky outer space instruments that can make you feel things better than sex, drugs and rock n roll; they can even kill you.

 

[Limpet_Chicken]

Issue II of 'hammer and bolter'

And (forget the author) 'the rise of the horned rat' (warhammer fic) and a W40K novel 'Shas'O'. Tau, ork and adeptus astartes factions.

Plus a paper on certain reactions of aldehydes and amides. And something about nickel boride and it's use in catalytic reductions, plus a few footnotes on dicobalt boride. The former is making me want to test it again in certain applications, and for the first time, experiment with P1-type Ni2B. Although if I can get it to work, whether it'll be able to beat sodium borohydride+copper nanoparticles I have my doubts, at least for what I have in mind.

 

[Shambles]

The last book I read:

you read this yet Shambles?

Nope. And, I must also confess, I've never read The Manual either. I'm terrible at buying new books - if it's not on the shelves of whatever charity shop I happen to be in at the time it's not usually on my radar unfortunately

Loves me some Neil Gaiman too - Sandman is probably my favourite comicbook (or graphic novel in my case cos that is how I read them) series ever

I've actually been reading quite a lot recently. Having (semi-)organised my books into a... towering mound of books in the corner it makes it easier to see what I have and haven't read. Currently getting through the "kinda want to read but almost certainly won't ever read again" pile so nowt much to recommend though. At the moment I'm nearly finished Junkie Buddha which is a decent enough travelog-cum-memorial of a mother's journey to spread the ashes of her heroin-overdosed son's ashes at Machu Pichu. Written from the heart... but said heart is achingly middle-class which does grate a tad sometimes I must admit... but some good insights in there too so overall worth a look.

 

[Limpet_Chicken]

A book on the cultural, sociological and societal aspects of genetic research and genetic engineering. Genes, cells and brains, I think it's called. Been interesting so far, but just getting into it.

Although they themselves aren't supporting such crap, I have to admit, to hear brought up bollocks like proponents for 'black science' 'feminist science' 'socialist science'...thats the kind of thing that really makes me want to start microwaving heads and chopping off nackers with rusty sharpened fork tines to pin same to the nearest wall. 'Black science' ? seriously? I might as well ask for 'autistic science' for all the sense that would make (no, not research focused ON us and our kind, but some sociopolitical bollocks demanding and protesting, marching for the greater recognition of the contribution of autistic people to science' 'more jobs for autistic people alone in science positions' 'the relationship between..'..you get the idea.) [That said, I think it's probably already pretty thoroughly known as a field that attracts my species, like wasps to a sugar-coated lightbulb]

But seeing how people are projecting their personal neuroses onto the scientific establishment and worse, that 'management' types, not only fail to extirpate such special snowflake-itis, root and branch the moment someone gets wind of the sciences being used to push people's agendas, and just as sickening, to push policy, but even encourage it..it disgusts me. Seriously, it actually makes me feel physically sick that these bastards are being permitted to freeload and parasitize off of the good name and scientific authority, to which they have no rightful claim.

 

[Arnold]

Interesting

 

[Arnold]

Today I've received this book which I shall read in earnest.

 

[MDPV_Psychosis]

Any of you read the Undead series written by RR Haywood? The books are available on kindle unlimited which is a good thing since to date there are 24 books (and I can't be bothered to purchase them individually but don't mind paying the monthly subscription)

This author has a unique writing style that I'm really digging. He has a way with peoples personalities, how they mesh and interact, think and act.

These books kick ass. I'm in the middle of book 24 and so far they are only on day 27 post apocalypse. Lots of crazy shit has happened in those 27 days, very well written with suspense and some mystery. Some of it is a bit fantastical but done well so not a complaint.

Only problem is that in these book they call pants trousers, Gatorade is Lucozade, Big rigs are referred to as Lorries and the hardware stores are referred to as DIY, other than these unforgivable mistakes ? the books are fantastic. Highly recommend.

 

[Forever Changes]

Lots of H. P Lovecraft

 

[Ismene2]

Ladies and gentlemen, Lenny Bruce - Albert Goldman (prob my fave writer)
Walden - Thoreau
Putin - biog by Philip Short

 

[Bleaney]

Ladies and gentlemen, Lenny Bruce - Albert Goldman (prob my fave writer)
Walden - Thoreau
Putin - biog by Philip Short

I enjoyed reading Albert Goldman's "The Lives of John Lennon" many years ago although he did make Lennon out to be a completely monstrous person. I had to think to myself that he couldn't have been that bad surely.

And Walden, OMG have I tried with that book. Apparently Chris Mcandless / Alexander Super Tramp, the guy who the film Into The Wild was made about, was reading Walden before / during his trip IIRC, and that's how I first came to hear about it. The subject matter and the whole 'philosophy' is right up my street, but I find Therou's style incredibly dense and dry, and the phrasing so archaic that I just can't get into it, try as I might. Apparently you're only meant to tackle maybe one page at a time, and read it very slowly to digest it. It was written in that manner to be read in that manner. But sadly I just can't connect with it.

All my reading is now done via audio book, I just can't read more than a couple of sentences of a printed book without my mind wandering. I'm kind of alternating between easy reading relatively modern stuff like Stephen King and James Herbert etc and trying to alternate the easy reads with classics, or something more difficult and challenging.

I've loved The Dead Zone, and The Shining by Stephen King. Amazing books. Cujo was really very good as well. I also really enjoyed 'Rage' and 'The Long Walk' written by King's pseudonym, Richard Bachman. I'm listening to King's Firestarter at the moment, and it's OK, kind of a bit dated, but the subject matter feels very much like Stranger Things. The series that feels most like something Stephen King could have written but actually didn't. I had to DNF Salem's Lot. I hate vampire stories, they don't do anything for me, and that and Cell are the only Stephen King books that I've abandoned so far.

My more challenging read I've just finished was The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster. It actually turned out not to be a difficult book but I expected it would be. I loved the first story of the trilogy so much. I can't remember connecting with a story so much and becoming so engrossed for quite some time. For some reason I just couldn't connect with the 2nd and 3rd parts, although that seems to be my issue, as most reviews seem to rank the whole work very highly.