Sunday Morning Book Thread - 4-13-2025 ["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 (guaranteed to revoke your man card--HT: I am the Shadout Mapes). 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

Libraries aren't what they once were. Not just a building full of books any more. Librarians, and Library trustees, are obsessed with the notion of "staying relevant" and of "Libraries as community spaces." So they've got computers for Internet use, and game consoles to check out, and a "library of things" to lend out tools and random stuff, and "teen spaces."

Librarians cull the books more ruthlessly than the stockers in Barnes & Noble. If it hasn't been checked out in x months, out it goes! Got to make room for the next round of celebrity memoirs, ghostwritten political screeds, and Oprah Book Club recommendations.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 06, 2025 10:12 AM (78a2H)

The picture above is a perfect example of what Trimegistus is talking about. The university library where I work (but do not work for) has maybe 1/3 of the books that it had when I was a student here. They've thrown away thousands upon thousands of books. Most of those books were bound periodicals which have been digitized, but there were a lot of other books as well. I suspect most of those books were simply outdated and obsolete as knowledge marches on.

The loss of the books has allowed for traveling exhibits to visit the library, however, and showing the local community of students, faculty, staff, and town residents historical events. We've also featured a traveling Holocaust museum, which was pretty neat. This one focuses on the experiences of soldiers during D-Day in World War II.

RESPONDING TO COMMENTS...

One of the downsides of being an active member of a church is that I don't always get to participate in the Sunday Morning Book Threads as much as I would like to. I do read all the comments, however, and keep track of those that I find particularly interesting.

I must have at least 30 books scattered around the house that I have bought for the sake of buying within the last few weeks, and I haven't finished a single one of them. Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 06, 2025 09:27 AM (Q0kLU)

I think many of us share this problem.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 06, 2025 09:36 AM (h7ZuX)

Look, I can sympathize with MP4. I don't have to acquire books. I can quit any time I want!

The funny thing about the 1880-1900 Scramble For Africa was how none of the actual colonial powers at the time really wanted it. The British, French, and Portuguese were pretty happy to just control some coastal enclaves, trade with the interior, and let the Africans do unto each other.

Then Bismarck realizes this is a great wedge issue to keep France and Britain from being too chummy. So Germany starts making some claims, and Otto calls a big conference to "solve all the problems" -- which basically created all the problems of the next generation.

Carving up the continent with lines on a map meant that the colonial powers had to actually go into the interior and try to impose authority -- and that meant finding a way to create a money-based economy generating enough tax income to pay for all that.

Otto's masterstroke was giving the real prize -- the Congo River basin -- to a private company run by the king of Belgium, which was totally incapable of handling the job. I suspect Bismarck figured the Congo Company would get their asses handed to them and then Germany could generously offer to go in and fix things.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 06, 2025 10:21 AM (78a2H)

It seems like Africa is a problem that defies solutions. It's been exploited for *centuries* by the rest of the world. Arab slave traders depopulated whole sections of the continent. The American slave trade was small potatoes by comparison (though still quite awful, of course). Now China is sticking their fingers into that pie to see if they can succeed where the rest of the world has failed. I don't think they will achieve the rewards they are hoping for, but they'll do their best to make a mess of an already messed-up continent.

Had an interesting discussion with someone the other day about writing.

We ended up talking about books that made us feel like "I've never read anything like this before. This is something completely new."

I picked the opening of the first book in Nine Princes in Amber. The narrator wakes up in a hospital and begins to do things he doesn't fully understand but moves towards learning who he is.

The other thing we agreed on is that it isn't possible to write something completely new. My choice wasn't actually new at all, it just made me feel like it was.

Fwiw, I am not at all someone who thinks about or is bothered by "tropes" or "theft" or "copying". Thank god.

I don't care at all if author X uses author Y's "ideas" or "world" or "character types".

It is interesting what works make/made people experience that "This is like nothing I have ever read before!" feeling.
Posted by: Thesokorus at April 06, 2025 11:09 AM (z6Ybz)

I recently read Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories as well as Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. There are many similarities between the two authors, as they are both British and are writing detective stories featuring characters who have some similar traits. Though they also have stark differences as well. I often read stories that may bear a passing similarity to another story, or are a retelling of a very familiar story in some new way. That's OK. It usually doesn't detract from the story too much unless it's very obvious blatant copy/pasting from another author. Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shannara is one of the most famous examples, as he lifted much of the story from J.R.R. Tolkien. It was his first epic fantasy novel, and that's what people wanted at the time.

BOOKS BY MORON AUTHORS

Moron Author "Max Cossack" has another book out (a previous book of his--High Jingo--has been featured here before).

When his friend shares half his fabulous silver claim, a smalltown storekeeper must battle claim jumpers, a corrupt judge and ruthless killers.

Most people are at least dimly aware of the Great Depression of 1929. But how many have heard about the Panic of 1873, which was nearly as devastating? In White Money (a wonderful throw-back to old-timey Western novels like Shane and True Grit), Civil War veteran Morris Goldwater, like millions of his fellow Americans, has been caught up in the financial disaster of the Panic.

Dangers and disappointments abound, not least of which is finding that the Arizona desert in winter is not the paradise Goldwater hoped for. Claim jumpers, a corrupt judge, bigots and brigands conspire to thwart his dreams. Will evil be a match for the ingenuity and the basic goodness of the average American? Never count a war veteran out, even against formidable odds.

Available in eBook or Paperback at Amazon.com

Or only in paperback directly from the author on the author's own store.

PLUS: There is a 15% discount at VWAM Books for ACE people, good for all Max Cossack novels and all Ammo Grrrll collections as well. Just enter ACEDISCOUNT (one word, all CAPS) at checkout.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

This week I read another one of my thrift store finds: The Shepherd File by Conrad Voss Bark.

The cover of this paperback, published in 1966, proclaims "This Year's Number One Spy Thriller!!" And I believe it. This was good. A dead man is fished out of the Thames, and it turns out he's MI5. Autopsy points to suicide or accidental drowning while drunk, but Shepherd's friends and colleagues think not.

While the police and the foreign service investigate Shepherd's activity prior to his death, they discover a plot by African revolutionaries to use LSD to screw with British troops. What I found really interesting was the revelation of China's push into Africa even then, to foment communist revolution and exploit African resources. I thought that was a more recent thing, but looks like China has had Africa in its sights for decades.

You Morons probably all knew this already.

Started a bit slow, but it really built into some crazy, heart-pounding action by the end.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 06, 2025 09:26 AM (h7ZuX)

<Comment: Thrift store finds can be *amazing.* You just never know what's out there buried deep in the stacks of a used bookstore or a library book sale. I'm not surprised that China has had its eyes on Africa for many decades. It seems like all the "Great Powers" of the world see Africa as an endless source of resources to be exploited. South Africa gold mining was mentioned numerous times in Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, for instance.

Every once in a while I like to post ANTI-RECOMMEDATIONS. Knowing which books to AVOID can be as useful as knowing which books are worth your time.

This week, I have a non-recommendation to make.

Due to a presentation I've been roped into giving at my college, I've been reading, and just finished, The Flower Sisters, by Michelle Collins Anderson, a novel very loosely based on a real event: the explosion of a dance hall in West Plains, MO, in 1928, an unsolved mystery to this day.

The event itself is interesting. The book is....bad.

Partly I dislike its politics; there's a lot of hackneyed modern feminism in the story, and it frequently runs down small-town Missouri, which I resent. But then again, a leftist colleague of mine, who's also been reading the book, doesn't like it either. More than anything, it's just badly written--the prose sounds totally out of place in the mouths of the characters, and they themselves are just caricatures. There're a few interesting sections, but on the whole, it's just not good.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 06, 2025 09:30 AM (lHPJf)

Comment: Bad storytelling will never make an interesting story worth reading, even if it's based on historical events. As I am a resident in small-town Missouri, I also take issue with someone running down those communities. I love it here and don't want to live anywhere else.

MORE MORON RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE: AoSHQ - Book Thread Recommendations

WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:

1. The Archimedes Engine: Exodus by Peter F. Hamilton -- This was recommended last week by Sharkman. It's based on a soon-to-be-released action roleplaying game.
2. Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton -- I also ordered the first book in this duology, but it won't arrive until next week or the following week.
3. Guardians of the Flame Book 3 - The Silver Crown by Joel Rosenberg -- Now I have the first seven books in this series, which I will eventually read...
4. Tom O'Bedlam by Robert Silverberg

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.

Greatwinter Book 2 - The Miocene Arrow by Sean McMullen

McMullen moves the action from his native Australia to the Rocky Mountains of North America. Over the past 1900+ years since Greatwinter began, the United States has devolved into a highly feudal society where the citizens are ruled by "airlords" -- men (and a few women) who rule the skies in their sailwings and gunwings powered by bio-diesel engines. Unlike "Australica," the Americans have embraced the used of steam engines and diesel-powered engines, though the Sentinels that lurk in the heavens have placed strict limits on how advanced engines can get, destroying anything that moves too fast or is larger than a certain size.

McMullen is Australian, so it was interesting to view his perspective on how American culture would "evolve" over 2000 years. The culture he depicts seemed much more Canadian or European than American. Oddly, the Australican culture portrayed in Souls in the Great Machine seemed more American.

Greatwinter Book 3 - Eyes of the Calculor Sean McMullen

This is the final volume of the series. Now that Australica and America know about each other, it's only a matter of time before the Americans reach out to Australica to establish formal ties. Meanwhile, Mirrorsun, the great artifact in the skies that is designed to counteract global warming, has initiated its own plans for long-term survival, as it knows humanity will eventually be able to reach it and possibly destroy it. The Call, which used to lure people and animals to their deaths, is no longer a threat, though that's contingent on humanity behaving itself.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 4-6-2025 (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. The intervention for book hoarders is down the hall on your right, just past that table stacked with free books.

posted by Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

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