Conquer Club

Well, today the wife and I created a New Year's Resolution to resume reading.

(Yeah, henceforth the New Year begins on Remembrance Day.)

We both used to read a lot, and noted that neither of us has actually read a book in years. So today we began a new policy of reading for an hour before bed every night.

We have lots of unread books laying around, but to get into the spirit of things we went to Chapters and bought new books for the occasion. I bought Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine.

Dukasaur wrote:Well, today the wife and I created a New Year's Resolution to resume reading.

(Yeah, henceforth the New Year begins on Remembrance Day.)

We both used to read a lot, and noted that neither of us has actually read a book in years. So today we began a new policy of reading for an hour before bed every night.

We have lots of unread books laying around, but to get into the spirit of things we went to Chapters and bought new books for the occasion. I bought Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine.

She should have titled the book, Shocktrine!. Missed a golden branding opportunity there.

Are you looking to read classics, history, science, pop?

I try to alternate… I’ll read a “heavy” history book, then I’ll read a light science fiction or pulp.

I also listen to a lot of books on Audible, but I don’t ‘count’ those as reading in the same way.
You don’t retain the info or what you read as much as you do reading traditionally IMHO.

90% of my reading was traditionally science fiction.

I'm trying to broaden my horizons now -- read more non-fiction, and maybe also some non-science fiction.

Reading is my crack

I've read a couple books a week since I was 10. Kindle Unlimited is the best thing since sliced bread...

Dukasaur wrote:90% of my reading was traditionally science fiction.

I'm trying to broaden my horizons now -- read more non-fiction, and maybe also some non-science fiction.

I appreciate your use of hyphens here.

I have enjoyed reading over the summer, Chesapeake (in 6 weeks), by James A. Michener. I read Hawaii as a teen (in 6 days..!..) and want to read a few more of his historical fiction. I finished reading another historical novel by James A. Michener, called The Source, about the Jews, from Pre-History to now. I enjoyed the book, about 1080 pages.

I have enjoyed reading some of the Killing Series by Bill O'Reilly. I have read, in the Killing series:

Killing Jesus
Killing Patton
Killing Kennedy
Killing The Rising Sun
He (Bill O'Reilly) has some 12 or more volumes, as of now.

I also read American Prometheus, about J. Robert Oppenheimer, before the movie was released.

I have read other books in the past few months, but nothing noteworthy. I do not think that "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle Ages" is up there, but I learned more History, of an era I did not already know LOTS about.

jusplay4fun wrote:I have enjoyed reading over the summer, Chesapeake (in 6 weeks), by James A. Michener. I read Hawaii as a teen (in 6 days..!..) and want to read a few more of his historical fiction. I finished reading another historical novel by James A. Michener, called The Source, about the Jews, from Pre-History to now. I enjoyed the book, about 1080 pages.

I have enjoyed reading some of the Killing Series by Bill O'Reilly. I have read, in the Killing series:

Killing Jesus
Killing Patton
Killing Kennedy
Killing The Rising Sun
He (Bill O'Reilly) has some 12 volumes, as of now.

I also read American Prometheus, about J. Robert Oppenheimer, before the movie was released.

I have read other books in the past few months, but nothing noteworthy. I do not think that "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle Ages" is up there, but I learned more History, of an era I did not already know LOTS about.

I'm just playing a wild hunch here... Have you read Killing the Joke?

Votanic wrote:

jusplay4fun wrote:I have enjoyed reading over the summer, Chesapeake (in 6 weeks), by James A. Michener. I read Hawaii as a teen (in 6 days..!..) and want to read a few more of his historical fiction. I finished reading another historical novel by James A. Michener, called The Source, about the Jews, from Pre-History to now. I enjoyed the book, about 1080 pages.

I have enjoyed reading some of the Killing Series by Bill O'Reilly. I have read, in the Killing series:

Killing Jesus
Killing Patton
Killing Kennedy
Killing The Rising Sun
He (Bill O'Reilly) has some 12 volumes, as of now.

I also read American Prometheus, about J. Robert Oppenheimer, before the movie was released.

I have read other books in the past few months, but nothing noteworthy. I do not think that "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle Ages" is up there, but I learned more History, of an era I did not already know LOTS about.

I'm just playing a wild hunch here... Have you read Killing the Joke?

This is merely more silliness from vot the bot. Vot, you need to read “The Idiot’s Guide to How Not Deliver Humor.”

I will just FOE him; it is not worth my time to read and reply to this silliness.

Hemingway is a good read, would recommend.
Although his style takes some getting use to.
He writes more on themes than story plots.

It might border on too much of the same as you broaden your horizons... but give 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman. I think it might be right up your alley

Lonous wrote:Hemingway is a good read, would recommend.
Although his style takes some getting use to.
He writes more on themes than story plots.

I like Hemingway; as I recall, his style is based on his journalism background, using few words to express his story. I have two of his novels, A Farewell to Arms and one more. I recall reading some of his short stories, but I do recall those titles.

Votanic wrote:

jusplay4fun wrote:I have enjoyed reading over the summer, Chesapeake (in 6 weeks), by James A. Michener. I read Hawaii as a teen (in 6 days..!..) and want to read a few more of his historical fiction. I finished reading another historical novel by James A. Michener, called The Source, about the Jews, from Pre-History to now. I enjoyed the book, about 1080 pages.

I have enjoyed reading some of the Killing Series by Bill O'Reilly. I have read, in the Killing series:

Killing Jesus
Killing Patton
Killing Kennedy
Killing The Rising Sun
He (Bill O'Reilly) has some 12 volumes, as of now.

I also read American Prometheus, about J. Robert Oppenheimer, before the movie was released.

I have read other books in the past few months, but nothing noteworthy. I do not think that "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle Ages" is up there, but I learned more History, of an era I did not already know LOTS about.

I'm just playing a wild hunch here... Have you read Killing the Joke?

I haven’t heard of “Killing the Joke” but I see it in action regularly whenever JP4 posts.

“The Killing Joke” however was an excellent graphic novel…

mookiemcgee wrote:It might border on too much of the same as you broaden your horizons... but give 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman. I think it might be right up your alley

I’ve read a lot of Gaiman’s work, both graphic/comic and traditional.
“American Gods” is one of my favorites, though I like 90% of his work I’ve read.

Lonous wrote:Hemingway is a good read, would recommend.
Although his style takes some getting use to.
He writes more on themes than story plots.

I did used to read Hemingway in my younger days. Wasn't really thrilled, but probably because I was too young. I might give him another shot at some point.

mookiemcgee wrote:It might border on too much of the same as you broaden your horizons... but give 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman. I think it might be right up your alley

I actually did buy a copy of American Gods a few years ago and never got around to reading it. I'm sure I still have it, somewhere. Will give it a shot next time it turns up.

jimboston wrote:“The Killing Joke” however was an excellent graphic novel…

Killing Joke was the loudest band I ever heard. Literally hurt my ears. And I was 18 at the time and into hard rock, so saying a band was too loud for me is saying a lot.

Dukasaur wrote:90% of my reading was traditionally science fiction.

I'm trying to broaden my horizons now -- read more non-fiction, and maybe also some non-science fiction.

I read lots of science fiction when I was in college. I read lots of anthologies of short stories. I even took a course in the Philosophy Dept. called “Religion and Science Fiction.” The course attracted lots of engineers. The professor waived for me the prerequisite of Plato’s Republic. Perhaps I should have taken that, but it was my last semester in college. We read lots of short stories in the course.

For Modern Physics, I suggest that you read Michio Kanu; I like Asimov for more “classical “ Physics. For a change of pace, try Malcolm Gladwell.

So Dod....on a scale of 1 - 10, how much do you value the advice you're getting?

Do you want more?
Do you laff and shake your head?
Wanna hear about the 5,000 books I've read for fun? Or my 4 years of college philosophy??



This is fun....

If you have not yet done so, everybody read The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner and Moby Dick by Melville.
Two Great (North) American Novels that live up to the hype. Hemingway be wishing.

For non-fiction I'd recommend West Like Lightning by Jim DeFelice, which I read a while ago - about the Pony Express, and an absolute classic, Straight and Crooked Thinking by R Thouless, which should be required reading before posting in this forum.

jonesthecurl wrote:For non-fiction I'd recommend West Like Lightning by Jim DeFelice, which I read a while ago - about the Pony Express, and an absolute classic, Straight and Crooked Thinking by R Thouless, which should be required reading before posting in this forum.

I see the Thouless' book is a primer about logical fallacies. I agree, all should be familiar with the concepts.
However, among many caveats, let me say that when logic is applied to language, the line between logical fallacies and rhetorical devices becomes very blurred indeed.

KoolBak wrote:So Dod....on a scale of 1 - 10, how much do you value the advice you're getting?

Do you want more?
Do you laff and shake your head?
Wanna hear about the 5,000 books I've read for fun? Or my 4 years of college philosophy??



This is fun....

I don't mind reading all the suggestions, though I absolutely won't be able to keep up with all of them.

Sure, I wouldn't mind hearing about your favourites.

You took Philosophy as a major?

I took one course in Philosophy and didn't even finish it. Didn't help that the first major assignment was on Plato, and I hate Plato. I'm thinking if they would have started with Aristotle, I might have gotten more enthused.

I have read bits and pieces of: Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Kierkegaard, Hume, Nietzche, Lysander Spooner, John Stuart Mill. Browsed, skimmed, but didn't finish any of them. My ADD really showing. LOL. Philosophers that I have finished complete works by are really Voltaire, Voltaire, or Voltaire.

My mind always drifts back to Poul Anderson or Robert Heinlein, lol. The professors' outbursts in Starship Troopers is about as much philosophy as a can handle in a sitting.

Also read Machiavelli, L.Ron Hubbard, and Ayn Rand, although opinions diverge widely about whether any of those can be considered legitimate philosophers..

Cool.

I was an unwilling participant. At 19, my GF of 2 years was attending a private Catholic college for nursing and I was in public college 100 miles away. Guess why I wanted to attend the MUCH more expensive, small, elite school? You got it....we have a lot in common

Anyway, scored a great job and could afford it. That school required you take 1 philosophy course and 1 theology course every year. As an agnostic, it was eye opening and I really enjoyed it as they did a great job. I ended up modeling my entire 4 years around one philosophy professor so I could always get him. An outstanding, weird, excitable, totally non religious little round Austrian dude....LOVED him. True what they say how one educator can make a difference.....

Anyway, with kindle Unlimited there are COUNTLESS Indy writers that can cheaply self publish and will visit with customers. I totally support this new clique.

As far as classics, the one singular book I go back and read every 5 years or so is Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard. All his sci Fi was outstanding, but this book is a work of art.

Probly my second fave is Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds....

I'm doing a lot of current day shifter / weird fiction lately. Here's one I picked up this am on KU

Witchy Whiskers: A Nine Lives Magic Mystery https://a.co/d/3fi14vP

Read on Duk!!

PS....Did you hear about the time when Rene Descartes went to the burger joint? They brought his meal, and asked "Do you want ketchup for your fries?" he goes "No...I think not" and POOF!!!! He disappeared!!

*mike drop*

KoolBak wrote:Cool.

I was an unwilling participant. At 19, my GF of 2 years was attending a private Catholic college for nursing and I was in public college 100 miles away. Guess why I wanted to attend the MUCH more expensive, small, elite school? You got it....we have a lot in common

Anyway, scored a great job and could afford it. That school required you take 1 philosophy course and 1 theology course every year. As an agnostic, it was eye opening and I really enjoyed it as they did a great job. I ended up modeling my entire 4 years around one philosophy professor so I could always get him. An outstanding, weird, excitable, totally non religious little round Austrian dude....LOVED him. True what they say how one educator can make a difference.....

Anyway, with kindle Unlimited there are COUNTLESS Indy writers that can cheaply self publish and will visit with customers. I totally support this new clique.

As far as classics, the one singular book I go back and read every 5 years or so is Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard. All his sci Fi was outstanding, but this book is a work of art.

Probly my second fave is Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds....

I'm doing a lot of current day shifter / weird fiction lately. Here's one I picked up this am on KU

Witchy Whiskers: A Nine Lives Magic Mystery https://a.co/d/3fi14vP

Read on Duk!!

PS....Did you hear about the time when Rene Descartes went to the burger joint? They brought his meal, and asked "Do you want ketchup for your fries?" he goes "No...I think not" and POOF!!!! He disappeared!!

*mike drop*

Good Joke, KB..!

I like reading the labels on microbrewery beer bottles and cans.

Reading the above posts about how philosophical some of you are...well it makes me want to drown myself in beer.