Sunday Morning Book Thread - 5-25-2025 ["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. 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

Caltech has its own "science fiction library," a dedicated space under Fleming House (whatever that is), hosting thousands of science fiction and fantasy books. It's a space where undergraduate students who are enthusiastic about fantasy and science fiction can come together to engage in one of their favorite hobbies. I kind of wish my own university had something like this, as we are a STEM institution (like Caltech) and many of our students are also passionate about fantasy and science fiction. We do have excellent science fiction and fantasy, but a lot of it is buried in the main stacks and is not with the more popular "paperback section," which is prominently available to readers.

BAD ENDINGS TO BOOKS

(I'm gonna wait until they're 90% off!)

THE TRUTH ABOUT MODERN YA FICTION (language warning)

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Finished reading Jack Posobiec's Unhumans about 2 weeks ago. It's about how communists dupe the masses and take control. But some of today's controllers aren't necessarily communists. So the term which best suits all of these leftists is indeed "Unhumans."

Soros is an Unhuman.

Schwab is an Unhuman,

Yes, Starmer, too, is an Unhuman.

So, too, are America's Raskin and Reich and Obama and - well - the list of Unhumans destroying America is lengthy. And millions are their useful idiots.

Added bits to my knowledge of historical leftist uprisings.

The last chapter contains the solution. Many of us here have been suggesting it all along.

Easy read. Recommended.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at May 18, 2025 09:14 AM (qFAfu)

Comment: As most of us know, the so-called "unhumans" described above are also virulently ANTI-human, desiring to eliminate large portions of the human race for their own benefit. If anything, they perceive themselves to be "übermensch" or homo superior, a race of humanity elevated over and above the rest of us.

Just finished Overkill by Sandra Brown. This thriller is based on the moral question of discontinuing life support on a person who has been in a persistent vegetative state for four years following a night of debauchery gone very wrong. The ex-husband has the written medical authorization but he does not want to "play God." Another reason to leave things as they are is that the ex-wife's family is opposed to interfering based on religious grounds. The only good reason to end the painful process is so the man who caused the PVS in the first place can be charged with murder in an exception to the double jeopardy rule. That man has just been released early from prison as a result of family connections. The guilty party has zero remorse and wants to make sure he cannot be charged for his crime by eliminating witnesses, primarily the ex-husband. Lots of twists and turns, good character development and life lessons learned the hardest way. Recommended.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at May 18, 2025 10:31 AM (rxCpr)

Comment: I hope I'm never in the unfortunate situation where I have to decide someone's fate like this. It's not easy. I would not like to be kept alive in this state, though I don't have any official documentation (yet), explaining my wishes about what should be done if that ever came to pass.

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

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.

Galilee by Clive Barker

It's been a long time since I've read Clive Barker, so I thought I'd give this one a chance. Unfortunately, I'm putting it in the "DNF" pile for now. It just didn't grab my attention the way most of his other books do, though he's still quite decent with his prose. The story moved along at a glacial pace. We don't even meet the title character, Galilee Barbossa, until a third of the way through the book. Everything prior to that is mostly backstory about the two families in conflict with each other like the Capulets and Montagues from Romeo and Juliet. The Barbossa family is ancient and eternal, dating back to pre-Biblical times, blessed (or cursed) with long life and strange abilities. The Gearys are a contemporary robber-baron family instrumental in shaping the United States and global affairs. The relationship between Galilee and Rachel is portrayed as a tragic, doomed romance, though I haven't quite read up to the point where the two lovebirds actually meet. Maybe someday I'll return to this book and finish it.

Blood of the Martyrs by Naomi Mitchison

This story is about a secret society of Christians operating in ancient Rome, in the time of Nero, to recruit more Christians to their cause, and hopefully fulfill Christ's promise of bringing a New Kingdom to the earth. It's an interesting portrayal of the decadent ruling classes, who abuse the slaves and freedmen with impunity while the lower classes just sit there and take it. The Christians draw up on their belief in Christ's teachings to grant them the strength to endure. I found it interesting that Mitchison presented the Kingdom as a socialist paradise, which is not that surprising since Mitchison was quite the socialist activist in real life. She even invokes the phrase "from each according to their ability to each according to their needs" describing the coming Kingdom. The context, however, is against the Christian notions of charity where those who have more to contribute provide resources to their local church, to be distributed among the poor according to their need. Exactly like Christian charity today (including within my own church, which operates a food distribution center for the poor). The State is not involved, except to provide tax breaks. In the end, the Christians are rounded up by Nero, who sees them as a useful scapegoat to distract the citizens of Rome from their troubles. They are put to death in the Circus Maximus as part of a celebration ceremony. They go to their deaths with a smile on their face, even as they are torn apart by wild animals, knowing that they are blessed by God, dying as true Christians. Those who escape the purge, continue their work to spread Christianity, which is where we are today.

King of Ashes by Raymond E. Feist

After the conclusion of Feist's decades-long Riftwar Saga, he wrote The Firemane Trilogy, which is a fairly standard fantasy story. A king is betrayed by some of his fellow rulers and his entire line is eliminated, except for a baby that escaped the purge. He grows up as a foundling within a society of assassins. Meanwhile, another young man is bestowed with the knowledge of crafting "king's steel," a superior form of steel used to forge exceptional weapons. Together, their destinies will entwine as they embark on a quest to foil the real threats to the stability of the current world order.

Although this book starts out as NOT part of the Riftwar Saga, apparently Feist decided to retcon that a bit in the sequel series, which does tie into the overarching plot of the books that take place on Midkemia. Not sure if I'll bother to read those, except out of morbid curiosity.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 5-18-2025 (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. Some content may only be viewed through 4D glasses.

posted by Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

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