Sunday Morning Book Thread - 10-06-2024 ["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. 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, unless you are wearing these pants...

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

PIC NOTE

Fans of the Evil Dead franchise of movies might recognize this image. It's a picture of the Necronomicon, a tome of eldritch lore. Sam Raimi took the reference from H.P. Lovecraft's book of the same name. Supposedly written by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred, it documents the lore of the Great Old Ones: how to communicate with them, how to summon them, and how to protect oneself against them if one is so foolish as to attempt to communicate with or summon one. Alhazred was torn apart in broad daylight by an unseen assailant.

The Necronomicon is also the source of the famous couplet:

That is not dead which can eternal lie And with strange eons even death may die

SCHOOLS AREN'T TEACHING KIDS TO READ

The video above is depressing and infuriating at the same time. It should not be possible for children to be taught how NOT to read, but that's where we are today. The reading "strategies" they are taught in school are actively harmful and counterproductive to their learning. It's no wonder that when they graduate, they may not have read a single book from start to finish, as documented in this article from The Atlantic that WeirdDave highlighted on the ONT a couple of nights ago. Ragin Dave, from Liberty's Torch (Moron Author Fran Poretto's site), also had comments about this malfeasance from our schools.

Over the years, I have heard numerous stories about the types of reading students are required to engage in these days. They are being steered towards reading practical, real-world documents. Things like government reports and "news articles." The rationale behind this decision is that they will need that skill for their professional career. As a result, the amount of reading students are asked to do for pleasure dramatically decreases once they start high school. Students who *like* reading will have a hard time enjoying their classes because they will be reading crap they don't care about, thus discouraging them from continuing their reading habit. It's insidious, evil, and is being done on purpose.

MICHAEL CRICHTON'S WRITING ADVICE

The YouTuber above has several videos discussing writing advice from prominent authors. I like to include these because it gives some insight into a writer's creative process. You'll start to see patterns after a while. Also, you might decide to try one of their suggestions for yourself and see if it works for you if you are an aspiring author. Note that just because one author found a technique that works for him or her, it's not going to apply to everyone, as we are all different. There is no magical formula on how to become a best-selling author and if that is your singular goal, then you are probably doing it wrong.

MORON AUTHOR UPDATE:

Well, as usual, it looks like the Moron Horde stepped up to the plate and delivered for one of our own. I hope the vote total was ludicrously large, like an inner-city Philly precinct during a Presidential election.

Thanks to all the members of the Horde who voted for my story, "The Waystation Incident," at Frontier Tales. You put me over the top and made me the winner of September's contest. My story will be in print - at some point in the future. Now, to create an author's page to sell and promote it. Any published Moron authors have suggestions for a place to establish an internet presence? Thanks again for voting me the winner. I appreciate it.

OrangeEnt.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

A few weeks ago on the book thread, someone mentioned The Schirmer Inheritance by Eric Ambler. This is a fascinating tale of legal research turned into a manhunt, and quite a good read.

George Carey is a young lawyer with a complicated assignment. Amelia Schneider died a very wealthy Pennsylvania woman a while ago, but her only heir appears to be German, and difficult to find. During the Napoleonic wars, her grandfather deserted after a battle, settled down with a local woman, and along the way, changed his name to hide his identity. Amelia's father then emigrated to the US. The hunt for the heir started in the late thirties but the war intervened. Now George must retrace that trail, using clues coded to deceive the Nazis, and hunt for an heir who may not even be alive.

Through many twists and turns, George tries to find the heir or prove he is dead in order to conclude his assignment. This story is full of surprises, and is a good example of how Ambler would craft a tale where an ordinary person must perform in extraordinary circumstances.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 29, 2024 09:15 AM (I1AMe)

Comment: I looked up this book on Amazon and read the author's blurb about Eric Ambler. Apparently he was a bit of a badass as a writer, earning a number of awards, including being made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth. He influenced a number of authors who came after him, such as John le Carre and Robert Ludlum.

Read Sacred Duty: A Soldier's Tour at Arlington National Cemetery by Senator Tom Cotton. When the kerfuffle about Trump's visit to Arlington was in the news, Cotton did some media interviews. He might have otherwise been willing to talk to the media, but I didn't realize his connection.

The book was worth a read for the history and background. Cotton served in the Old Guard supporting ceremonies and funerals. He wasn't in the smaller group that handles the Tomb of the Unknown. The book tells the history of the Old Guard, the cemetery, the unit's training, mission and activities (including transfer of remains at Andrews), and history of the Tomb of the Unknown.

In literary terms, the book feels a little plastic in places. There are parts that feel like a Lake Wobegon story. Everyone meets high standards and is honored to do their duty to respect those who served and their families. Everything is crucially important and no cost or burden is too small. But it was worth a read to learn a little more history and how the Old Guard works.

Posted by: TRex at September 29, 2024 11:10 AM (IQ6Gq)

Comment: A long time ago, I watched a documentary on television about the soldiers who serve in Arlington Cemetery, with a focus on those who stand over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. My understanding is that it is one of the highest honors among the enlisted ranks. You have to be an exemplary soldier with a flawless record before you can even apply to be among those ranks. The training they undergo is extremely rigorous and demanding, with no room for failure.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

Only one book arrived this week, but it should be an interesting one:

• The Last Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

The Banned and the Banished Book 4 - Wit'ch Gate by James Clemens

This is your standard post-Tolkien fantasy novel for the most part. Dark Lord threatens to take over the world. Chosen One must defeat him. Blah, blah, blah. We all know how this story ends.

However, it is told competently and has some unusual interpretations of the standard fantasy tropes. Lots of arbitrary punctuation, for one. There aren't any elves or dwarves. Instead, they are "el'vin" and "d'warven" characters. El'vin live in sky fortresses and sail around in skyships, being creatures that are connected to elemental air. D'warven are mostly similar to standard dwarves, but they were corrupted and enslaved by the Dark Lord centuries ago. They dug too deep and released ebon'stone into the world, which brought forth the demon...(sound familiar?)

Although the Tolkienien influence is clearly there, you can also see influences from other authors as well. I detect shades of Stephen Donaldson, in how the Land is portrayed as its own entity that must be protected/worshipped. You can also see some elements of George R.R. Martin (a major settlement is called "Winterfell"), as well as Robert Jordan, of course. It's a mish-mash of various authors (even Larry Niven!) but tends to work OK as long as you don't try to dig too deeply into it.

The setting is a Death World of sorts, as virtually every part of the Land is deadly in some way or another for the unwary traveler. Weirdly, I also get a strong World of Warcraft vibe, even though this book came out a few years BEFORE World of Warcraft was released. However, the earlier Warcraft games had enough lore that maybe influenced this series as well.

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eams

Kings of the Wyld tends to show up frequently on BookTubers' lists as one of their favorite books. I don't quite get it. It's a perfectly serviceable grimdark fantasy with comedic elements, but it's not even close to being top-tier when it comes to the quality of writing. It's basically about a group of old adventuring mercenaries who "get the band back together" so they can cross the dangerous Heartwyld, a dark forest chock-full of evil monsters, so that they can rescue the daughter of one of their members. It's OK, but definitely overhyped, in my opinion.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 09-29-2024 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Huggy Squirrel has no school shooter friends (nor does he want any!).

posted by Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

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