Sunday Morning Book Thread - 11-17-2024 ["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, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

This map was taken from the Grolier Club's website. It seems to show the layout of the building, but I do note the lack of detail that makes it difficult to really understand this map. Where is the entrance to the building? Are the stairs going UP or DOWN? Are the alcoves categorized by subject matter? In the library in which I work, but do not work for, we have similar maps, of course, to direct patrons to various locations within the library. They are definitely more useful than this archaic map.

GAMIFICATION OF READING?

"Gamification" is a term widely used in education--especially K-12--to refer to adding elements to learning that are derived from the pleasure we get from gaming. In other words, teachers add things like competitions or achievements to the learning curriculum to motivate students in their learning.

It turns out "gamification" of reading is also a thing on the interwebs these days. You can find YouTube videos on the subject as well as conversations on social media about how to make reading more like a game. Goodreads, for instance, offers a Reading Challenge every year as a way to help readers increase the number of books they want to read per year. So far, in 2024, it looks like there are over 9 million participants who have pledged to read a whopping 355+ million books this year (around 39 books per participant). I've seen people talking about reading over 350 books in a single year, which sounds crazy to me. I consider myself to be a reasonably fast reader, but I'm doing well if I read a third of that in a year.

This idea of "gamifying" reading has been around for a long time. When I was a child *mumble* years ago, our local community library had a program where children were encouraged to track the books they read. After reading X number of books, there were some small extrinsic rewards, like a coupon for free ice cream. It certainly helped motivate me to read a lot of books when I was a kid.

Nowadays, I implement some "gamification" into my reading. I use a spreadsheet to track all of my reading activities, which does help motivate me when I can see how much progress I've made in my reading every day. I've got at least two more fat tomes to get through by the end of the year in addition to some other books I want to cross of my list. So I think gamification does have a role to play in reading, just as it does in education, or monitoring one's health via exercise apps (they use similar principles there to make exercise more enjoyable).

ARE BOOKS BECOMING A LUXURY ITEM FOR THE "RICH?"

The YouTuber above raises some interesting questions, but I'm not sure her premises hold up after doing some back-of-the-envelope calculations. Let's go back about 30 years (1994) and look at the average prices of a mass market paperback book. According to the interwebs, it was around $5.00. Now, the federal minimum wage back then was $4.25. So for approximately one hour's worth of labor at minimum wage, a guy like me (who was poor back then) could still afford a paperback book once in a while.

Now let's look at the present day. Today, the average cost of a mass market paperback book is $7.50 or so. The federal minimum wage is $7.25. So again, it looks like someone can spend one hour's worth of labor at minimum wage in order to have enough money to afford a mass market paperback book.

Things get more complicated when you look at eBooks, trade paperbacks, and hardcovers, of course. Though when I look at the average cost of a hardcover book, the price doesn't seem to have increased all that much from 30 years ago. Today, the average cost is between $17 and $28, depending on a variety of factors. Back in 1994, the average cover price of a hardcover novel was between $22 and $25. Maybe 4-5 times as much as a mass market paperback book. Now, a hardcover book is only 2-3 times as much as a mass market paperback.

So are books slowly becoming a luxury item for the rich? Maybe, as the purchasing power of minimum wage has significantly decreased thanks to inflation, among other factors. But one hour of labor at minimum wage still provides enough income to afford a mass market paperback, assuming all other expenses are covered. Books are, to some extent, a luxury item in general, as we don't *need* books to live--though it would be a true hardship for many of us to give them up completely!

BOOKS BY MORON ADJACENT AUTHORS

Moron "Roll-Aid" asked if I would post a little something about The Name in the Stone, a posthumous collection of essays from Gerard Van der Leun, who passed away in January 2023. He was the proprietor of the American Digest blog. For many years, American Digest was one of my "go-to" reads in the morning. In fact, I usually saved that for last because it was among the most interesting. Gerard may not have been "the most interesting man in the world," but he's a strong candidate.

His dear friend Jean Kaufman (a.k.a "NeoNeoCon") edited and published The Name in the Stone at his request, which is also the name of one of his "most personal and revealing essays."

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

This past week, we exercised our right to vote, and we exclaimed our right to free speech, to protect our property, and to express our revulsion for arbitrary government political prosecution. These rights are expressed in our constitution, but they draw their inspiration from a much older document. Dan Jones explores the history of the foundational document of Western civilization in Magna Carta, the Birth of Liberty.

In 1215 at Runnymeade, King John of England signed the Magna Carta in order to be allowed to maintain kingship over his rebellious subjects. His father Henry had been more amenable to his subjects, and they were not about to accept anything less: the right to tax only by the consent of the people, the right one's trial by his peers, and the English church would be free.

In a very readable manner, Jones reviews the development of the inherent rights of the people, the struggle to achieve and to hold them, and the document that finally cemented them in place in England. Every representative government in the world is built on the foundation of this document, and Jones gives us the story of one of the primary written guarantees of freedom that we cherish.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at November 10, 2024 09:19 AM (eH98r)

Comment: God willing, last week's election results will serve as a repudiation of every repugnant policy the Left stands for. Yes, some of the ballot measures (like abortion) passed in some states. But I hope that will be a Pyrrhic victory at best. The idea that average, ordinary people have a voice in their government is truly a revolutionary idea. One the "elites" hate with a fiery passion.

Continuing my reading in a 7-book Jules Verne omnibus. I shot through Five Weeks in a Balloon and Journey to the Center of the Earth, and just started From Earth to the Moon this morning.

It's interesting to watch Verne getting better as a writer, book by book. Five Weeks in a Balloon was his first, and the narrative is basically what a D&D player would call a "hexcrawl" across Africa, full of random encounters. The plot is entirely "what happens next?"

By Journey to the Center of the Earth he's learned to maintain suspense, and gives us a (little) bit of character development over the course of the novel as young Axel, the narrator, goes from being very reluctant (almost cowardly) to a competent adventurer.

And by From Earth to the Moon he's capable of satire which is still funny 150 years later!

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 10, 2024 09:19 AM (78a2H)

Comment: I've never read Verne, but his evolution as a writer is not all that surprising. I've seen similar evolution in fantasy authors over the years. Their first book might be a standard "dungeon crawl" or loosely (or even wholly) inspired by Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. If they work on honing their craft, you can see that their plots and character development become much more complex as their writing skills improve. Examples include Terry Pratchett, Terry Brooks, and Tad Williams, among many others.

One book I did finish recently was The Great Shakespeare Fraud by Patricia Pierce. It's the story of William-Henry Ireland, a rather lackluster clerk who, in order to win the affection of his father, forged a Shakespeare signature in 1798. Although his creations appear literally ridiculous to modern eyes, they were accepted and celebrated for almost a year by some of the most learned people in England until the whole thing came crashing down when Ireland tried to forge an entirely new Shakespeare play, Vortigern.

A very interesting book, if you are a fan of Shakespeare or hoaxes.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at November 10, 2024 09:39 AM (Q0kLU)

Comment: We live in interesting times. Thanks to "deep fakes" and generative AI, it's now possible to create passable forgeries of works, though they will seldom stand up to intense scrutiny. You can ask ChatGPT (or another LLM) to write essays in Shakespearean pentameter, for instance, and it will take a crack at it. It probably won't be good, but you can ask ChatGPT to keep refining it.

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

WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:

• Last King of Osten Ard Book 4 - The Navigator's Children by Tad Williams - This was supposed to be released about a year ago, but was delayed for some reason. It's the final volume in the series. I think Tad Williams has given up on trying to write proper trilogies because it never works out for him.

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.

Saga of the Forgotten Warrior Book 2 - House of Assassins by Larry Correia

The prophet Thera, who speaks for the Forgotten, has been captured by the House of Assassins, a lost House of wizards that seeks to capture Thera's power for their own use. Ashok must find a way to rescue her because the rebels need her gifts to motivate them and provide them with direction. Otherwise, the rebellion of casteless is doomed to failure despite their overwhelming numbers.

Saga of the Forgotten Warrior Book 3 - Destroyer of Worlds by Larry Correia

Ashok and allies have obliterated the House of Assassins. Thera, the Voice of the old gods has been rescued. Now Ashok must find a way to protect the casteless (or "non-people") from the Great Extermination, a pogrom that will eliminate all of the casteless from the realms. Instigated by the Grand Inquisitor, this pogrom will also remove any obstacles to the demons coming onto land again and ravaging the lands, as it's said that the casteless are the descendants of the great warrior Ramrowan, who saved the people centuries ago from demon hordes.

Saga of the Forgotten Warrior Book 4 - Tower of Silence by Larry Correia

These books are loosely based on Indian (dot) culture, with the way the castes in society are structured and who is in charge. The Law dominates society and any deviation from the Law is harshly punished by the Protectors and the Inquisition. In execution, these books are essentially Bollywood action flicks in novel form, with incredibly over-the-top action set pieces and nigh indestructible heroes. There are fewer impromptu song-and-dance numbers, however.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 11-10-2024 (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. Awright, which one of you Morons scheduled a public library book sale the week before I go on Thanksgiving break?

posted by Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

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