Sunday Morning Book Thread 05-21-2017

Library of Congress Main Reading Room

(h/t tsrblke)

[Update]:For discussions about Trump's speech, use the open thread directly below this one. Thank you.

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, where men are men, all the 'ettes are gorgeous, safe spaces are underneath your house and are used as protection against actual dangers, like natural disasters, or Literally Hitler, and special snowflakes do not last. And unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these pants, which give the 60s a really bad name.

In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody.
-Oscar Wilde

We Need A Pope To Match Our President

...because the one that's in the Vatican now just ain't cutting it. Sorry, Catholics, but the reincarnation of Hugo Chavez is not what the Catholic Church needs right now.

Remember the good old days, when we had a great president, and a great pope? Paul Kengor does, and he writes about those days in his new book A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century

Even as historians credit ­Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II with hastening the end of the Cold War, they have failed to recognize the depth or significance of the bond that developed between the two leaders.

Acclaimed scholar and bestselling author Paul Kengor changes that. In this fascinating book, he reveals a singular bond—which included a spiritual connection between the Catholic pope and the Protestant president—that drove the two men to confront what they knew to be the great evil of the twentieth century: Soviet communism.

I am reminded of this earlier book, The President, the Pope, And the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World by John O'Sullivan, which adds Margaret Thostaer to the mix:

All of them led with courage — but also with great optimism. The pope helped ordinary Poles and East Europeans banish their fear of Soviet Communism, convincing them that liberation was possible. The prime minister restored her country's failing economy by reviving the "vigorous virtues" of the British people. The president rebuilt America's military power, its national morale, and its pre–eminence as leader of the free world. Together they brought down an evil empire and changed the world for the better.

The collapse of the USSR didn't happen by accident. Three powerful and influential Western leaders were deliberately pushing it into the dustbin of history, and they succeeded brilliantly. This is a topic that, to my knowledge, the MSM has never explored in detail. Not that we should be at all surprised by this.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

The word SPACEMAN originally referred to a journalist paid according to the amount of space their writing took up in a newspaper.

Usage: "That Paul Krugman is a complete waste of space, man."

Ladies And Gentlemen, the World's Largest Book

How. Big. Is it?

The 1660 Klencke Atlas is among the world’s biggest books, measuring nearly six feet by seven and a half feet when open. So when the British Library digitized the towering tome, it required several people to maneuver it to a platform for its high-resolution photographs.

Interesting article about the British Museum digitizing it.

Where did it come from?

“The Klencke Atlas is the British Library map collection’s jewel in the crown,” Harper stated. “It was made for Charles II and presented to him in celebration of his restoration to the throne of England — in May 1660, following the English Civil War and Commonwealth. It was presented by the Dutch sugar merchant Johannes Klencke who possibly hoped to win trading concessions in England; there’s a map of the Dutch colony in Brazil in the atlas, where the sugar plantations were based.”

You can view the digitized pages here.

Another Book That Won't Be Read By Those Who Need To

Liberalism, or How to Turn Good Men into Whiners, Weenies and Wimps by Burgess Owens, which

...documents the role of the 21 white, self-avowed socialist, atheist and Marxist founders of the NAACP and their impact on the Black community’s present status at the top of our nations misery index. It highlights the decades of anti-Black legislation supported by liberal black leaders who prioritized class over race in their zeal for the promises of socialism. Their anti-Black legislation, dating back with the 1932 Davis-Bacon Act, continues today to suppress inter-community Black capitalism, federal construction related Black employment, work and job experience for Black teenagers, quality education access for urban black children, and the role of black men as leaders within the family unit.

(h/t David Limbaugh)

And along these same lines, there's RACE PIMPING, The Multi-Trillion Dollar Business of Liberalism by Kevin Jackson.

The satirical format of the book was very appropriate given the gravity of the issue. Kevin Jackson exposes the tactics Sharpton and Jesse Jackson employ to profit from exploitation of the black community. With media and Democratic Party backing the force is almost unstoppable. Kevin Jackson delivers information that can spark real conversation regarding race and offer a way out from Sharpton's spell. A must read for any young person interested in politics, race relations, and media bias.

Moron Recommendation

Moron commenter Hrothgar recommends Aye, Robot (Starship Grifters Book 2) by Robert Kroese, another adventure featuring interstellar con artist Rex Nihilo, who

...hijacks a cargo freighter on a whim, he decides that he and his long-suffering robot sidekick Sasha have found their calling as space pirates. But when the ship's cargo turns out to be a cryogenically frozen religious fanatic who holds the secret to a vast galactic conspiracy, Rex and Sasha find themselves on the run from real pirates--as well as agents of the oppressive Malarchy, crazy space cultists and the Ursa Minor mafia

Sounds like crazy space opera on stilts. Hrothgar tells me

I've been laughing out loud at the dialog. It seems like it could well have been written by the Horde late on a Friday or Saturday ONT in response to one of those "write the next paragraph" challenges.

Which is as good a recommendation as you'll find. $4.99 on Kindle.

Books By Morons

Moron author Vince Milam is back with his 4th novel, The Suriname Job: A Case Lee Novel:

When a mysterious client asks former Delta Force operator Case Lee to investigate a rebellion in South America, he uncovers an incredible global conspiracy. Welcome to revolution, murder, and behind-the-curtains intrigue. As events unfold, the spies and mercenaries come to a hard realization. You may mess with a lot on this good earth, but you don’t mess with Case Lee.

This novel will be available for a limited time at the introductory price of 99 cents before it goes up to the regular price of $4.99.

Vince also tells me

And by the by - Case lives on a boat. The Ace of Spades. I actually tossed out a litany of options for friends and they settled - after a minor blood-letting or two - on Ace of Spades. Weird. But true.

Vince is also the author of the three spiritual thrillers that comprise the Challenged World series. Here's the first one, the second, and the third.

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'Ette right wing yankee has just published a new supernatural fantasy story, By the Light of the Moon:

Aatu is eighteen years old, a respectable landowner, and about to marry the girl he loves. The south coast of Finland provides everything his little village requires. It’s a peaceful life, until a band of ex-Crusaders land on the shore. With the harsh winter and lean times approaching, they cannot be allowed to stay for long. When their priests disturb things best left alone, Aatu fears a minor annoyance will become a disaster. Aatu’s people turn to the old ways to fight the enemy, to teeth and claws instead of swords and spears. Though they are outnumbered and unused to fighting, Aatu is about to discover that wild wolves are not the most fearsome predators in this land, and even the most peaceful people can become ferocious in defense of the ones they love.

Kindle version available for $0.99.

Rwy is also the author of the YA novel Kingdom of Glass, about which she said "If you like medieval fantasy with a touch of romance and an epic family feud, this is the book for you." On Kindle for $3.99.

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Don't forget the AoSHQ reading group on Goodreads. It's meant to support horde writers and to talk about the great books that come up on the book thread. It's called AoSHQ Moron Horde and the link to it is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/175335-aoshq-moron-horde.

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So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as you all know, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

posted by OregonMuse at 09:00 AM

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