Sunday Morning Book Thread - 06-25-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (solid thriller story with good people killing bad people doing bad things). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, especially if you are wearing these pants (wing sauce optional...)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

The Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library has a very unusual design. The exterior is very reminiscent of the Colosseum in Rome. I'm pretty sure it was used for establishing shots in the television show Fringe to inform the audience when the setting transitioned to the alternate universe's "Fringe Division" exterior. It's unique architecture does lead me to believe some very strange stuff could be going on in there...

QUICK NOTES

I thought I'd try something a bit different this week. There were several interesting questions or points brought up in the comments last week, so I wanted to elaborate my own thoughts on some of them. Each of these could probably be the subject of a Sunday Morning Book Thread in the future. So please keep posting your thoughts and ideas in the comments!

I really, really appreciate the nice things you say about my efforts to compile the Sunday Morning Book Thread. The truth, of course, is that I could not do this without the inspiration and support of the COBs who also spend a fair amount of their own time and effort to compile content for AoSHQ. Be sure to give kudos to them on their own threads from time to time! (Especially ace since this is his blog!)

I had a pleasant week of reading planned out. Read more of TJM's Colonial Nightmare which is a fun read [NOTE TO SELF: Order this book-PS]. Get more into books on sketching with various media. Look at my Brambly Hedge book to enjoy the wonderful illustrations. Some other bits and pieces.

Then the rabbit hole appeared.

It started with a YT video by Mapster, called "Tolkien's Incredible Map of Middle-Earth", on how the LOTR maps were created, both for the stories and physically. (The video is excellent.) That led to my copy of "The Atlas of Middle-Earth" by Karen Wynn Fonstad which I haven't read in ages and forgot how enjoyable it is. That made me think of the maps in "Treasure Island" I loved as a child so I re-read the book. That revived my interest in maps and charts and navigation in general. That means I got a good compass and some books on reading maps and basic navigation. That made me dig out the copies on primitive camping by Nessmuk and Horace Kephart. (I like how Nessmuk, around the turn of the 20th century, criticizes the current crop of campers who buy their camping trips instead of learning how to camp.) That led to my books of the journals of early explorers.

Rabbit holes are fun but dangerous.

Posted by: JTB at June 18, 2023 09:08 AM (7EjX1)

Comment: This video popped up in my own YouTube video feed so I gave it a watch based on JTB's recommendation. It was well worth my time, as the presenter goes into the history of how Tolkien conceived of and created his maps. He was not a cartographer, so his thinking was the map was created by the Hobbits after their journeys had ended and they strove to put together a visual representation of their journey. Christopher Tolkien was the true cartographer, painstakingly drawing the map multiple times to correct for mistakes and to clear up some of the clutter. I have a large copy of this map hanging on the wall of my library. It's a reminder to me that the journey is as important, if not more so, than the destination.

Perfesser, I want to suggest a regular question for the book thread:

"What *upcoming* (soon to be released) book are you looking forward to?"

I will elaborate in a follow-up comment as my pancakes might burn

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at June 18, 2023 09:20 AM (vHIgi)

Comment: Don't let me down, Horde! I know you can list a lot of upcoming books that are of interest to you! As for me, I'm eagerly awaiting the release of Tad Williams' The Navigator's Children, the final book in the Last King of Osten Ard. Unlike certain other epic fantasy authors (*cough* George R.R. Martin *cough*), Williams knows how to finish off an epic fantasy series properly. He's not let me down yet. I'm also looking forward to the next volume in Jim Butcher's The Cinder Spires. The first volume ended on a suitably epic cliffhanger, and so I've been waiting for years until he could get around to working on this series again. Both of these are supposed to be released in November.

Not herniatic door stops"

Haven't read Estleman but have heard good things about him, but the door stop thing hits home.

William Goldman told of a conversation he once had with George Roy Hill re movies. Hill said "If you can't tell your story in an hour and forty minutes, you'd better be David Lean." There should maybe be a similar principle in operation for novels. Something like, "If you can't tell your story in 300 pages, you'd better be Dickens, James, or Tolstoy." I dimly recall that someone (can't remember who) once commented that a book over a thousand pages should probably be regarded as a criminal offense.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 18, 2023 09:46 AM (a/4+U)

Comment: I'll admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for "herniatic door stoppers." I'm not afraid to crack open a thousand-page book if I feel the story will keep me interested and engaged. However, over the past couple of years, I've been keeping track of my reading in detail. These days I tend towards the shorter end of the doorstopper spectrum as I seem to be more focused on reading quantity. That is, I've been trying to read well over a hundred books a year for the past couple of years. So far, so good, but doorstoppers tend to put a crimp in that plan for obvious reasons. I'll read the same amount of pages in a week, but finish fewer books. Full disclosure: I ordered Brandon Sanderson's Rhythm of War (1200+ pages) back in 2020 when it was first released. Still haven't opened it.

Spenser's climactic battle with Phil, the gunman, in Book One is not to be missed, though.'

That's an interesting topic, how action/violence is written and how the reader processes it. The first book I did is essentially a fantastic horror piece, and has a lot of violence (interwebz Chinese Hell, you'll see why!), and it was a challenge to write it as descriptive. Violence can read as lurid, restrained, matter-of-fact, and it affects how the reader feels about it.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 18, 2023 11:52 AM (43xH1)

Comment: This is a great topic for further discussion. Action scenes in a story can be difficult to write well. My favorite ones are where the action feels very "cinematic" as though I can watch it on a screen inside my mind, following the twists and turns as the heroes and villains battle back and forth. Clifford D. Simak is fantastic at writing western action scenes. You feel like you are a gunslinger in the old west as he shows you the action. Great stuff! The aforementioned Brandon Sanderson also does it quite well. I liken the climax of Stormlight Archive Book 1 -- The Way of Kings to a team up of Iron Man, King Leonidas from 300, and Maximus from Gladiator. Just incredible, emotional action in those last 100 pages. About one third of Robert Jordan's A Memory of Light is devoted to action sequences as it's the Final Battle for the fate of humanity. Think Avengers: Endgame but a thousand times bigger, better, and more badass. Who else does action right?

BOOK SALES!

Hans G. Schantz has an announcement for y'all:

Bypass the cultural gatekeeping, support non-woke authors, and get yourself some great books from both established and emerging talent. The Big Based Book Sale runs through Tuesday June 27, 2023. The sale offers about 150 books for free or $0.99, including about sixty works new to the sale. The contributors include science fiction grandmasters, Dragon Award winners and nominees, established mainstream authors, and emerging indie talent.

"The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own," Tolkien noted. At a time when evil continues trying to corrupt and ruin what the good have created, support genuine creators, and get some great books from authors who don't hate you!

Thanks for supporting small press and indie authors.

Best Regards,

Hans

(click for larger image)

I also took advantage of a local public library book sale this week and picked up the following items:

• The Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF edited by Mike Ashley -- I've enjoyed the other anthologies he's edited and the stories in this anthology sound interesting, if depressing.
• Prey by Michael Crichton -- I do enjoy a good science fiction horror novel involving intelligent (or semi-intelligent) nanotech gone wild.
• The Reluctant King Book 1 - The Goblin Tower by L. Sprague de Camp -- This came in a bundle with the following two books and I thought the L. Sprague de Camp book I picked up recently was OK. So I'll give these a shot.
• The Reluctant King Book 2 - The Clocks of Iraz by L. Sprague de Camp
• The Reluctant King Book 3 - The Unbeheaded King by L. Sprague de Camp
• Modern Classics of Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois -- An anthology of quality science fiction stories from authors such as Damon Knight, Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe, Ursula K. LeGuin, R.A. Lafferty, and more.
• Tamerlane: The Earth Shaker by Harold Lamb -- Trimegistus recommended another Lamb book recently, Genghis Khan: The Emperor of All Men. I saw this book at the book sale ($7 since it's from 1928) and wanted to give Harold Lamb a try.
• Dark Dance by Tanith Lee -- A contemporary horror novel where a woman and her daughter become embroiled in ancient evil family secrets...all to preserve their bloodline.
• Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimm by Tanith Lee -- A collection of re-imagined fairy tales, told as only Tanith Lee can tell them...
• They Thirst by Robert McCammon -- This was a signed copy. It's a vampire story set in L.A. Could be interesting as I like a good vampire tale, as long as they don't sparkle. You know which ones I mean.
• Heechee Saga Book 1 - Gateway by Frederik Pohl -- I have the first two books in hardcover already, but this was part of a 4-book bundle for $5. Not a bad deal.
• Heechee Saga Book 2 - Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl
• Heechee Saga Book 3 - Heechee Rendezvous by Frederik Pohl
• Heechee Saga Book 4 - The Annals of the Heechee by Frederik Pohl
• The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child -- Preston & Child have been recommended a few times around here before, so I thought I'd check them out as they do sound like I'd enjoy their stories. OK. I read the first chapter of this one, then decided I had to go back to the book sale to scoop up the rest of the available Agent Pendergast novels...
• Dance of Death by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
• Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
• Still Life with Crows by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
• Fever Dream by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
• Halting State by Charles Stross -- A crime investigation in the weird world of MMORPGs...
• Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien -- These are a pair of short novellas he wrote late in his life. I already have this in paperback, but couldn't pass up the hardcover edition
• The Dragonships Book 4 - Doom of the Dragon by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman -- I have the first two books of this series, but not Book 3, so I guess I'll need to order that one someday.

As book hauls go, that's not too shabby for just under $40! On a side note, the library staff gave me a couple of paper bags in which to carry my purchases. Naturally, my cats find those bags highly interesting...

Library book sales--Fun for the whole family!

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

I picked up some used paperbacks last weekend and have been enjoying them a lot.

The first was Gengis Khan: Emperor of All Men, by Harold Lamb. Lamb was a novelist and pop-historian in the first half of the 20th century, but he did his research. (He worked for the OSS in WWII, though I don't know what he was up to.)

This book, obviously, is about the Great Khan himself, how he gained power, conquered everything he could reach, and finally died. It's frank about his limitations but praises his qualities. Not a hagiography, but Lamb obviously admires the Khan's courage, willpower, and wisdom.

It did leave me wondering . . . Great Man or Tides of History here? Did the Mongol conquest of most of Asia happen because Genghis was so personally awesome, or was there something hidden in Mongol birthrates and the rainfall patterns of the steppes that made the horde inevitable?
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 18, 2023 09:16 AM (QZxDR)

Comment: This sparked a very interesting discussion in last week's Sunday Morning Book Thread about whether or not events in history would have happened if certain "Great Men" were not around to kick them off. Note that "Great" in this context does not mean "good" as many so-called "Great Men" did horrific things, but left a lasting impact on world history as a result of their actions.

Happy Fathers Day, Morons! Don't laugh, but I've finally begun reading Moby Dick as I approach the 23rd anniversary of my 29th.birthday. My Dad had a unique career as a (non-hobby) farmer and high school teacher of English/World literature. I remember him once conversing with a friend who asked if he taught Moby Dick in class. He replied "oh no - young people don't deserve to read Moby Dick". That evidently left a mark on my mind.... but I now understand what he meant. Yesterday I had to pause and luxuriate in this phrase: ".....for there is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men." This maxim, like youth in general, would be wasted on the young.

Posted by: Matthew Kant Cipher at June 18, 2023 10:09 AM (QyWX+)

Comment: When I looked up Moby Dick on Amazon, I discovered that it has a Lexile level of 730L, which isn't terribly difficult. However, when I looked up Moby Dick on Lexile's own website, the level was all over the place, depending on the particular author who retold the story, ranging from 360L (as retold by Kathy Burke) to 1230 (the original author Herman Melville). I guess it's been dumbed down over the years...Or the readers have been dumbed down to accept a "retelling" of the story as the actual story itself. Naturally, a lot of important context and nuance is left out of these altered versions.

Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker describes the evolution of schizophrenia research from seeking psychological cures to determining biological and, perhaps, hereditary roots. The primary subjects of the book are the Galvins, a family with twelve children (10 boys, 2 girls) of which six of the sons were diagnosed with the disease. It's a pretty fascinating and depressing book. One of the passages that stood out most to me was his discussion of how early psychiatric efforts to cure the disease were in part an attempt to wrest control from the eugenicists, who just thought they should all be elimintated. Unfortunately, some of that led to the deinstitutionalization movement, the effects of which we see all around us today.

Posted by: Moonbeam at June 18, 2023 11:08 AM (rbKZ6)

Comment: That's pretty wild that half of the kids were diagnosed with schizophrenia, all of them boys. I know schizophrenia seems to manifest itself at much higher rates in boys than in girls, though it's certainly not confined to one gender. Look at Ellen (now Elliot) Page. We saw an article here not long ago where she mentioned she started hearing voices that convinced her to transition to a man. Schizophrenia is a very, very weird condition. Unfortunately, treatment is difficult and there is no lasting cure. It also has be frightening and disorienting to those who suffer from it, as their perception of reality is distorted, making them unable to distinguish the imaginary voices in their head from the real voices of people who care about them and want to help them.

Finally finished James A. Michener's Alaska. I've read 7 of his novels and enjoyed them all but Alaska was a challenge to finish. The tome is wordy, even for Michener, and when he spins a tale, it is detailed like no other. I skipped the first three sections on the geologic formation of Alaska, the mastadons and the first peoples across the Bering Strait and picked up the story in the days of the early explorers. The history of Alaska is fascinating and I have a new appreciation for the early settlers, both pioneer and indigenous. The land was plundered and largely ungovernable when the Russians were in charge but some civilized and religious progress was made. Once the vast wilderness was purchased by the U.S., plundering expanded and further progress was first squandered in favor of corruption by a small cabal of Seattle businessmen (and their D.C. lobbyists). A distant and disinterested government has been a constant problem and continues today. The indigenous peoples were ignored and shoved to the side, labeled as too ignorant to decide their own future. I now need the history on Alaska from 1988 to present to be fully informed.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at June 18, 2023 10:21 AM (vfKOf)

Comment: Speaking of doorstoppers, James A. Michener is no stranger to these. Pretty much all of the books of his I've seen fit this category. I do remember reading a couple of his books when I was in high school many moons ago and liking them somewhat. Perhaps when I've run out of my current selection of doorstoppers TBR, I will return to James A. Michener and give him another chance...

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (840 Moron-recommended books so far!)

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

• The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson -- The conclusion of the second age of the Mistborn series. Strangely relevant in today's world. Foreign infiltrators in the city-state of Elendil are attempting to gin up a foreign war to justify their own use of devastating weapons within the city that will destroy it, thus allowing an evil god to take over the world! I think Pinky and the Brain might be involved in here somewhere...
• Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien -- Two fairy tales with unconventional twists.
• Halting State by Charles Stross -- Stross is huge fan of incomprehensible technobabble in his writing, I've noticed. Also, I'm not sure I like the "second person" writing technique he uses to bounce between the three main characters' viewpoints. Gets a little disorienting.
• Still Life with Crows by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child -- Part of the Agent Pendergast mystery series.

That's about all I have for this week. Thank you for all of your kind words regarding the Sunday Morning Book Thread. This is a very special place. You are very special people (in all the best ways!). The kindness, generosity, and wisdom of the Moron Horde knows no bounds. Let's keep reading!

If you have any suggestions for improvement, reading recommendations, or discussion topics that you'd like to see on the Sunday Morning Book Thread, you can send them to perfessor dot squirrel at-sign gmail dot com. Your feedback is always appreciated! You can also take a virtual tour of OUR library at libib.com/u/perfessorsquirrel. Since I added sections for AoSHQ, I now consider it OUR library, rather than my own personal fiefdom...

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