What are you Reading now ..... other than comics ? 7 7

[Bearcatcoach]

Read Jim Butcher's new Dresden Files book, a couple Joe R Lansdale books and am on book #9 A Serpent's Tooth in the Craig Johnson Longmire series. Loved the TV series but am enjoying the novels even more!

[jimjum12]

Haven't started it yet, but just nabbed the latest Pendergast novel by Preston and Child, "Crooked River". As an added bonus, this one came from the autographed section at Second and Charles  GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Brock]

I just finished Serendipities: Language and Lunacy by Umberto Eco.

It's a collection of essays about the Renaissance search for the perfect language of the angels. In the book of Genesis, God asks Adam to name all the animals, and it says that the names he gave them were proper according to their nature. In this Edenic time, there was only a single language, gifted by God, and (as illustrated by the story of Adam naming animals) the words of that language captured the true "essence" of the things they described, giving them magical or spiritual power. During the Renaissance and early Enlightenment periods, many famous thinkers - including the poet Dante and the mathematician Liebniz (who invented calculus) - attempted to recreate or rediscover this language of the angels.

Like all of Eco's books, it's incredibly dense and slow-going... And while it also proves to the reader how little they know about things compared to Eco, it can be very rewarding.

[jimjum12]

13 hours ago, Brock said:

I just finished Serendipities: Language and Lunacy by Umberto Eco.

It's a collection of essays about the Renaissance search for the perfect language of the angels. In the book of Genesis, God asks Adam to name all the animals, and it says that the names he gave them were proper according to their nature. In this Edenic time, there was only a single language, gifted by God, and (as illustrated by the story of Adam naming animals) the words of that language captured the true "essence" of the things they described, giving them magical or spiritual power. During the Renaissance and early Enlightenment periods, many famous thinkers - including the poet Dante and the mathematician Liebniz (who invented calculus) - attempted to recreate or rediscover this language of the angels.

Like all of Eco's books, it's incredibly dense and slow-going... And while it also proves to the reader how little they know about things compared to Eco, it can be very rewarding.

You make me want to check this out. Sometimes Biblical texts will have parallels to science for those who can read between the lines.  This sounds like something in that vein. Thanks for mentioning this. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Brock]

6 hours ago, jimjum12 said:

You make me want to check this out. Sometimes Biblical texts will have parallels to science for those who can read between the lines.  This sounds like something in that vein. Thanks for mentioning this. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Just be advised that Eco is an acquired taste!

His novel Foucault’s Pendulum (which I loved) has been called the “most bought, least read novel in the world.”

[Scrooge]

2 hours ago, Brock said:

His novel Foucault’s Pendulum (which I loved) has been called the “most bought, least read novel in the world.”

I know I did ... buy it and not finish it, that is. Maybe now that I have matured is the time for me to give it another try 

[Scrooge]

Just finished the 4th novel in the Junior Bender series by Tim Hallinan - Junior is a burglar in the LA area who is always roped in to solve crimes for other members of the underworld. It's a blend of comedy / mystery. This one was not the best of the series IMO but it won the Lefty Award in 2014.

[Scrooge]

Rolled from the light Junior Bender to the always dark 9th novel in the Sharko & Hennebelle series by Frank Thilliez: Luca. Like others in the series, it's a page turner with the cops trying to outwit the master criminal; they don't ... until they realize (as always) that there is still someone else behind their first target.

[wilbil]

2 hours ago, Brock said:

Just be advised that Eco is an acquired taste!

His novel Foucault’s Pendulum (which I loved) has been called the “most bought, least read novel in the world.”

every eco book would have had 10-fold increased sales, and 100-fold public accolades, had each book had a forward that was penned by tupenny, that explained in clear and simple tupenny manner of phrase what the book was about.

signed: a very multi-year supportive fan of eco.

[AndrewCup]

A friend lent me this diddy - from the late 90's and so far humorous and engaging.  Light and insightful

[WolverineX]

On 11/5/2020 at 10:13 PM, Bearcatcoach said:

Read Jim Butcher's new Dresden Files book, a couple Joe R Lansdale books and am on book #9 A Serpent's Tooth in the Craig Johnson Longmire series. Loved the TV series but am enjoying the novels even more!

Love Dresden.  I've thought about purchasing a first print of the first book

[comicstock]

Bill O'Reilly - Killing England.  1/3 way thru.  Very interesting.

[Badger]

12 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

Love Dresden.  I've thought about purchasing a first print of the first book

Yeah, Dresden Files books are amazing. The comics are not bad.

[Badger]

A friend and i were discussing how American Indian tribes ended up where they are now and he recommended I read Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynn. Its about the Comanches, their origins, and how they ended up ruling hundreds of thousands of miles of prairie from the mid-1750s up until the late 1800s. Every other tribe respected and feared them during this period. The Mescalero Apaches, long the boogeymen of Settler dreams, were forced to hide in the mountains in Southern New Mexico rather than continue fighting the Comanches. There is a theory that the initial white settlement of what would become Texas was encouraged by Mexico because Mexico wanted a human buffer between them and Comanche raiding parties.

So far, its a great, well written and well researched book. The audiobook is well done too.

[jimjum12]

6 hours ago, Badger said:

A friend and i were discussing how American Indian tribes ended up where they are now and he recommended I read Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynn. Its about the Comanches, their origins, and how they ended up ruling hundreds of thousands of miles of prairie from the mid-1750s up until the late 1800s. Every other tribe respected and feared them during this period. The Mescalero Apaches, long the boogeymen of Settler dreams, were forced to hide in the mountains in Southern New Mexico rather than continue fighting the Comanches. There is a theory that the initial white settlement of what would become Texas was encouraged by Mexico because Mexico wanted a human buffer between them and Comanche raiding parties.

So far, its a great, well written and well researched book. The audiobook is well done too.

I don't know if you like Historical Fiction, but Alexander Thom does some fantastic stuff in that regard, as do Michael and Kathleen Gear. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Scrooge]

Followed LUCA with Territoires by Norek, a crime novel - The book takes place at the intersection of drug dealing, local politics and policing. The author is a retired cop so you know on which side he stands. The book has a strong true-to-life feel to it.

[frozentundraguy]

Recently finished The Glass Key by Hammett. Found it slow going at first but it eventually rounded into a very good yarn.

 

Currently reading Berlin at Midnight. This book does convey very well the atmosphere of being in Berlin just months after WWII ended.

 

 

[GoldenAgeAddict]

[kccoig14]

I've been on a Hellboy/ Mignola-verse kick lately. Been reading through his HB and related novels. Just finished "Emerald Hell" a couple weeks ago and finished "Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire" before that. Last week I got through "Joe Golem and the Drowning City" and now I'm about a quarter of the way through "An Assortment of Horrors ". When I'm not in the mood to read a novel and need some pictures to look at, I've been slowly making my way through "The Art of Pulp Horror" by Stephen Jones. Really cool book about the history of horror pulps starting with penny dreadfuls in the early 1800s, then the Pulps we all know and love, Weird Tales, The Shadow, Doc Savage, Argosy, etc..., and then comics and the cheesy slasher/exploitation paperbacks of the 60s-80s and all the way to horror books that are published today. I highly recommend it to anyone here who's a fan of horror.

[Cocomonkey]

I've been reading through the Witcher books...currently on I think 4? (Tower of the Swallows) So far, I'm finding them kind of...meh. They're interesting, but not really enough to make me want to keep reading and see what happens next, but at the same time, they aren't bad enough to push me to stop. Just like, solid middle of the road. Eh, I'll finish them, then I have Ready Player 2, Dawnshard, and Rhythm of War waiting.