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What are you reading?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Off Key - General Discussion
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  • B Offline
    B Offline
    Bernard
    wrote on last edited by
    #41

    The Law of the Land by Charles Rembar (1980)

    The industrial revolution cheapened everything.

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    • Big_AlB Offline
      Big_AlB Offline
      Big_Al
      wrote on last edited by Big_Al
      #42

      Currently reading The Greater Journey by David McCullough, subtitled
      Americans in Paris. Very interesting so far. I've been a sucker for books set in Paris for a long time, even more so after visiting the city myself.

      Big Al

      Money seems to buy the most happiness when you give it away.

      Why does everything have to be so complicated, all in the name of convenience. -ShiroKuro

      A lifetime of experience will change a person. If it doesn't, then you're already dead inside. -MarkJ

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      • M Mary Anna

        @rustyfingers said in What are you reading?:

        @Mary-Anna @Piano-Dad #booksky #BannedBookSkyClub over on Blue Sky is reading The Left Hand of Darkness in June. I might use that as an excuse motivation.

        Ooh! Good to know!

        And it sounds like tai chi is not for you! I had that experience with karate, but so far tai chi is good.

        rustyfingersR Offline
        rustyfingersR Offline
        rustyfingers
        wrote on last edited by
        #43

        Finished The Left Hand of Darkness in time to return it to the library. Slow start due to world building. It picked up half-way through. Use of anthropological artifacts throughout.

        Starting Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong.

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        • B Offline
          B Offline
          Bernard
          wrote on last edited by
          #44

          I just read "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" by Carlo Cipolla. It's online (see link below) and it's a fast read.

          An enjoyable and interesting read. I can't say I agree with his postulate that stupidity is built-in, but otherwise a clever essay. It does seem applicable to current events.

          https://ia801609.us.archive.org/29/items/kaufman-s-clinical-neurology-for-psychiatrists-pdfdrive/The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (Carlo M. Cipolla) (Z-Library).pdf

          The industrial revolution cheapened everything.

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          • A Offline
            A Offline
            AndyD
            wrote on last edited by AndyD
            #45

            Last week I got these preloved:
            20250615_064557.jpg
            The Garden Room (1986) is a bit of a coffee table book which I've flicked right through to look at the photos for ideas. We'd love to add one on to the house.

            Today at £2.95 each...
            20250623_195203.jpg

            The Complete Gardner (1994) seemed a very practical book with an excellent section on types& construction.
            The OS Road Atlas (1990) is pure indulgence in these days of car satnav & phone maps. Ring roads and motorways may change but it has topographic detail that I love and is perfect for planning road trips.

            20250623_202020.jpg
            This area for example, English Lake District and High Pennines is mostly unchanged in 35 years.

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            • R Offline
              R Offline
              RealPlayer
              wrote on last edited by
              #46

              “The Always Already Absent Present”. — recent poetry by Anne Tardos

              A 1 Reply Last reply
              • R RealPlayer

                “The Always Already Absent Present”. — recent poetry by Anne Tardos

                A Offline
                A Offline
                AndyD
                wrote on last edited by
                #47

                @RealPlayer said in What are you reading?:

                “The Always Already Absent Present”. — recent poetry by Anne Tardos

                Looks interesting. 7 words in 7 lines. Guessing there are no rhymes.
                Do they flow?)

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                • R Offline
                  R Offline
                  RealPlayer
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #48

                  Fifty-One

                  Given the situation we find ourselves in
                  We often wonder how we got here
                  Those who claim that life is short
                  Must be either insatiable and or megalomaniacal
                  Or they have a skewed view of
                  Things which is more than understandable
                  Given the situation we find ourselves in

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                  👍
                  • C Offline
                    C Offline
                    CHAS
                    wrote on last edited by CHAS
                    #49

                    Started Cormac McCarthy's The Passenger. Read some of his books years ago. Think he is improving. Did not need to.

                    "The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;” - Shakespeare

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                    • A Offline
                      A Offline
                      AndyD
                      wrote last edited by
                      #50

                      In the Library paying my fine today, my attention was caught by this
                      20250731_104900.jpg

                      So I sat, read the dust jacket, intro, forward and afterward. Author picked a random day in US from 2013, found 10 youngsters had been killed in shootings (actually more if you count those who died some time after) and wrote about them.
                      Now I didn't borrow it (bit busy helping with DIY) , but it was interesting reading the gist:

                      20250731_104909.jpg
                      20250731_104929.jpg

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                      • wtgW Offline
                        wtgW Offline
                        wtg
                        wrote last edited by
                        #51

                        Sounds interesting. And sad.

                        Kirkus review:

                        https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gary-younge/another-day-in-the-death-of-america/

                        When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

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                        • wtgW Offline
                          wtgW Offline
                          wtg
                          wrote last edited by
                          #52

                          Booker nominees for 2025:

                          https://www.npr.org/2025/07/29/nx-s1-5482914/2025-booker-prize-longlist-fiction?utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c06e5d78644b3aab4472

                          When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

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                          • dolmansaxlilD Offline
                            dolmansaxlilD Offline
                            dolmansaxlil
                            wrote last edited by
                            #53

                            I recently read Stephen King’s latest, Never Flinch. Now I’m rereading John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series in preparation for his new book in the series that releases in early September. My reading these days tends to be on the very light side. There is enough heaviness in the world - I don’t need it in my make believe worlds, too.

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                            • D Offline
                              D Offline
                              Daniel.
                              wrote last edited by Daniel.
                              #54

                              Legal documents. I have 4 of them to read the longest of which is 50 pages.

                              I don't have to ask questions about them (a step in the process) and sign them yet (they are drafts written by a FL firm) because the
                              FL firm and the NY firm had a meeting at the end of July the result of which was the NY firm has concerns about them, the result being these aren't the drafts I can sign anyway.

                              I'm glad for the delay because it gives me more time to read what I have, then more time to prepare for scheduling the meeting with the FL attorney, and so extending the date when I'll have to sign documents in front of notary and two witnesses.

                              I guess I am lucky because my brother's ex-wife has been like an angel. I met her when she and my brother came to HI on a cruise for their honeymoon. My sister was very close to her and their daughter. My mother was very close to her, as well of course her granddaughter.

                              As an aside, their daughter decided they were trans and also to change their name and use they/them pronouns. My brother refers to them as, "my child" so as not to have to confront the reality of it all. Lol!

                              So, when my father died, it was my brother's ex-wife who insisted that my brother and cousin find me.

                              She knew perfectly well (from my sister) that my father and I were very close. My brother and my cousin didn't know my father and I were in contact.

                              She knew all the details of my father's decision not to change his will and to refuse to finalize a new draft will for 2 years because my father told her these details himself.

                              To make a long story short, she and I have become friends.

                              I trust her with my life meaning she'll have the legal power to make end of life medical decisions. She'll also be my trustee, etc.

                              I live in a 55+ community. We have a monthly newsletter. I guess it's more like a bulletin. This month's issue has an article about what it called, "elderly orphans."

                              It defined this term as describing those members of our community who have nobody to designate as having various legal powers.

                              This reassured me a lot. These documents are arcane (to me) and more complex than I expected them to be. You are, I'd like to say kind of, but in fact giving other people legal power involving your life.

                              The consensus is that it's better to have people you trust as you become elderly than not to have anyone.

                              I'm pretty sure that I was at high risk of becoming an "elderly orphan."

                              I won't be living with the same person I have been living with for 30 years, this will be the first time in my life that I've lived by myself (I can't wait!), and narcissistic abuse is isolating by its nature (not complaining, just being realistic).

                              This is not as fun as reading a Critical Legal Studies text in college but it is real life, and I'm finding it to be deeply satisfying.

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