What 📔book are you reading right now?

[Ent]

Make that 4 of his. But now I've run into an issue.
I bumped into the 'very short introduction' series of books by Oxford. Some 730ish books written and/or still in process of being written.
Most seem to range from 150ish to 220ish pages.
It would seem a person would have something valuable to say in about 185 pages...

I only want about 75 of them from what I can see... ecologically, biologically, cosmologically, evolutionarily, and other scientific type things related. (I confess, a few political ones as well.) Of primary interest currently is the study of "Nothing". What is it really.

That said, I need to come up with about $700 right quick to get these all loaded in.

I really hate this thread..!! 😆

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

I'm not reading this right now but have been thinking about it and wanted to get some feedback from those who've read it.
Alamut by Vladimir Bartol. What you guys think of it?

 

[Ent]

Alamut by Vladimir Bartol. What you guys think of it?

I'm sorry no one seem to be able to help. (At least, not yet.)
An intriguing find... I've been reading over Amazon's synopsis about 3 times, finding it attractive. Sadly, no sample review is made available with this one.
From the synopsis it really does sound like a pertinent 'book for today's world' (Ent's words).

As for myself, I've finished Crichton's 'lost world' now, so am looking to move forward.
(I found Lost World worthwhile, but with an unsatisfactory ending.)

I find if I'm going to take him in publication order to see his development, I'm going to need to go back to Andromeda Strain, his first book... 1969.
He returned to it 50 years later, in 2019, with Andromeda Strain Evolution... 2nd to his last book.

Jurassic Park and Lost World were 1990 and 1995 respectively, 21 and 26 years into his career... and he still held his penchant for 'that'.

I suspect if I take Andromeda Strain from '69, and Andromeda Strain Evolution in 2019, plus the other 4 I've got in between, I'll have a sufficient view. (I've got 1970, 1980, 1992 and 1997. But there are a couple more I think I'd like to add yet. I've heard about them in extreme brief.)

Anyway, merrily we Crichton along for now.

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

I'm sorry no one seem to be able to help. (At least, not yet.)
An intriguing find... I've been reading over Amazon's synopsis about 3 times, finding it attractive. Sadly, no sample review is made available with this one.
From the synopsis it really does sound like a pertinent 'book for today's world' (Ent's words).

No worries. I had a history teacher recommend this to me a long time ago and I was just looking for more feedback,I guess. I see if I can read it during my semester break.

 

[Ent]

No worries. I had a history teacher recommend this to me a long time ago and I was just looking for more feedback,I guess. I see if I can read it during my semester break.

will look forward to a 'book report' (if I can manage to refrain from getting and reading it myself for that long.) ☹️

 

[Ent]

Well. I confess to great pleasure and hope.
I’ve started Crichton’s Dragon’s Teeth published in 2017. This is a story loosely based on a very real pair of paleontologists of renown some decades ago, and the marked rivalry and antagonism between them.

The early good news…I’ve read the entire introduction and several pages into the work, discovering only two ‘that’s’ creeping their way into his work. A very marked difference from Jurassic Park and Lost World of 27 and 22 years earlier. (Yes, both ‘that’ events were ‘useless that’s’ rather than proper ones.)

The whole read flows much better. The man learns. And, the story has my early interest.
I’ll need to start looking at the finer details of his improvement already.

Naturally, what it will require of me is upon completion will be a little research of these two actual gentlemen to find out more about them, and see to what extent ‘things match’ (or don’t).

So exciting.

 

[Olorgando]

Have begun re-reading Christopher Tolkien's 1996 "The Peoples of Middle-earth", the 12th and last volume of his HoMe.

 

[Vorondil]

Well. I confess to great pleasure and hope.
I’ve started Crichton’s Dragon’s Teeth published in 2017. This is a story loosely based on a very real pair of paleontologists of renown some decades ago, and the marked rivalry and antagonism between them.

The early good news…I’ve read the entire introduction and several pages into the work, discovering only two ‘that’s’ creeping their way into his work. A very marked difference from Jurassic Park and Lost World of 27 and 22 years earlier. (Yes, both ‘that’ events were ‘useless that’s’ rather than proper ones.)

The whole read flows much better. The man learns. And, the story has my early interest.
I’ll need to start looking at the finer details of his improvement already.

Naturally, what it will require of me is upon completion will be a little research of these two actual gentlemen to find out more about them, and see to what extent ‘things match’ (or don’t).

So exciting.

Is it about Othniel Marsh, and Edward Cope?

 

[Ent]

Othniel Marsh, and Edward Cope?

Yes - well, it ‘includes’ Marsh and Cope as the paleontological rivals, but it seems his ‘central character’ is going to be a youth joining Marsh at first, as a photographer. Apparently much intrigue is going to follow.

 

[Olorgando]

This is a story loosely based on a very real pair of paleontologists of renown some decades ago,

Ent, ol' tree-herd, "some decades ago" is the post-WW-II period when we four oldest goats of TTF were born.
The Cope-Marsh "Bone Wars" gangsterism took place between over 145 and over 130 years ago.
Had more than just a touch of what Al Capone & Co. perpetrated in the Chicago of the Prohibition era ...

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

I bought a copy of this years ago, partly out of interest in the subject, but also simply for the pairing of author and title, which I found amusing, in my juvenile way:

Interesting guy. He died in 1985, but if he were alive today, I'm sure he'd have a blog.

 

[Olorgando]

I bought a copy of this years ago, partly out of interest in the subject, but also simply for the pairing of author and title, which I found amusing, in my juvenile way:
View attachment 28837

The cover is a picture of the Tollund Man from Scandinavia.

 

[Deimos]

Riveting page turner.... can't put it down
JK Rowling, eat your heart out.

 

[Ent]

"some decades ago" is the post-WW-II period when we four oldest goats of TTF were born.
The Cope-Marsh "Bone Wars" gangsterism took place between over 145 and over 130 years ago.

Yes it seems the events written of in the Crichton book supposedly occurred between 1875 and 1876 during.a Marsh expedition “into the west”. William Johnson, a college student, is the photographer joining Marsh on the expedition. I’ll get the pieces all put together eventually. For now I’m just excited the read is readable.

Apparently the dispute between Marsh and Cope started following an 1868 tour of a quarry Cope invited Marsh to take but behind Cope’s back Marsh made a deal with the Quarry owner to have any future fossil finds sent to him directly at Yale. That was later said to be ‘the beginning of the end’ of their friendship and ignition of the resultant rivalry..

 

[Vorondil]

I'm still reading through the Allan Quartermain books by H. Rider Haggard. I've now read:

• King Solomon's Mines
• Allan Quartermain
• Hue-Hue or the Monster
• The Ivory Child
• The Holy Flower

And I've just started Marie.
I must say, I'm rather enjoying them, I especially like that they are set in Africa, because many of the things described in the books are things I have seen or heard (e.g. the rumble of an elephant), and it helps to bring the stories to life.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Currently reading (not this specific copy)

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

That's a Science Fiction Book Club edition, I believe -- one of the few of theirs that are actually collectable.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

That's a Science Fiction Book Club edition, I believe -- one of the few of theirs that are actually collectable.

The one I'm reading was free on kindle since it's in public domain. I just wanted a good picture of it to share too . I guess a more accurate image of what I'm actually reading would be this:

 

[Deimos]

Currently reading (not this specific copy)
View attachment 28913

Classic/vintage Franzetta cover art 👍

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Yes, it's the cover art that made those editions somewhat valuable; SF Book Club upgraded quality a few decades ago, but when these came out in the 70s, it was terrible.