The Border
Don Winslow

Educated - Tara Westover
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett Neil Gaiman (for the 7th time) Hilarious
Lord of Chaos - Robert Jordan (for the 5th or 6th time) Book 6 in The Wheel of Time Series so yeah, the 5 before it again too
The Feynman Lectures on Physics (boxed set) Already watched all his lectures Multiple times (just Starting)
Snuff - Sir Terry Pratchett (one of my all time Fav authors multiple reads The whole Discworld series)
Permanently Suspended - Anthony Cumia (was a huge fan of the radio show, the book is..... Eh)
Moby ****** - Herman Melville (talk about a slow starter) 3rd time through
The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (Top 5 All time) Best revenge book EVER numerous reads
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith (Top 5 - Everyone, especially women should read just to get an idea of how not oppressed they are these days) too many to count rereads
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter - Richard Feynman (up next I have a pile I just grab from)
12 Rules for Life An Antidote to Chaos - Jordan Peterson (up next)
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis (can't ever seem to get to this one. Up next)
Crime and Punishment or Demons - Both by Fyodor Dosteovsky (Up next)
Atonement - Ian McEwan (up next.. Another I never seem to get to)
The Rape of Nanking - Iris Chang (Up next)


Looking for a good source book to read to catch up on 13th/14th Century Italian Politics (As you do) So my 2nd read through of the Divine Comedy - Dante, makes more sense. Don't suppose anyone has any suggestions? It really is a mix of Philosophy, Religion, Satire, Self Loathing, and the Hypocrisy of the contemporary ruling powers that be of the time. Well, kind of, he's also calling himself out for hating them for what they are and knowing he's done no better and believes he deserves no better. It's also about his love of a woman he only met twice before she died... Virgil(Poor Virgil, a righteous man born in the wrong time and country so he was a pagan and couldn't go to Heaven. See! It pays to be born in America where we have the right God! Lucky us!) guides him through Hell, but she guides him through Purgatory on the way to Heaven. If you don't know the families it's an almost impossible read in Hell and Purgatory. People try with footnotes but they don't do it justice and you miss out on a lot of the subtlety when he's not outright insulting people. It's amazing how relevant some of the ideas are even today. The idea that fear is the driver for all sin and that's why we don't lead the lives we want and why no matter how many riches we gather we will never find true happiness in them. Just wish it was easier to keep track of the who's who. I think Terry Pratchett explained it best. There are all kinds of horrible evils in the world and nothing one human being won't do to another and it all starts with one simple evil. Treating people as things. Once you can treat a person as a thing the skies the limit on the horrors we will happily commit. If I treat you as a thing and not a person, I don't have to fear you judging me. Once you get there, it's an easy step to how dare something as insignificant as you judge me in the first place! You DESERVE what I do next. It's a tough read but if you're fascinated by what drives people to do the things they do like I am it's worth the effort. It's also a good idea to read it just to keep an eye on those crazy Catholics and get up to date on what they are believing in these days.... 13th century/21st Century.... Not much has really changed.... Could REALLY use Christopher Hitchens these days. I should go pull out some of his old articles/books.

That's all I can remember from the past month or so.... I read.... A lot. No idea what's on TV. Watch the occasional Netflix binge if a show has great reviews. (Keep hearing about a show called Killing Eve) I remember Sandra Oh from Arliss. Really funny old HBO show so I think that's next if it's finished so I can binge watch it if it lives up to the hype. Was going to do Game of Thrones but I hear they screwed the pooch hard with the final season. Actually I have watched one recent show now that I think about it, Lucifer, which I love. Glad Netflix picked it up. The Ranch is another Netflix show I like. Haven't gotten around to the newest seasons yet. Not sure how they handled the whole Danny Masterson rape allegations incidents. Was that all part of the pound me too movement? (Wish I could remember the comedian's name who came up with that whole "the # used to be called the pound sign, so they named the #Metoo movement the pound me too movement!") But, I ummm yeah, I think I digress at this point? Can I change my answer?

Green Eggs and Ham - Dr. Seuss

Double post deleted.

Damn it!!!
I knew I should have hung on to that book!
Sorry Celtic

Such a shame too, cause it would've been perfect...

At Salvation Army Store today, I picked up The CliffsNotes to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey....I've read this book 5 or 6 times, seen the movie a dozen times or more, and saw the Broadway Play way back when.....looking through the CliffsNotes, it's interesting to read the commentaries and analysis of the book....in all the various forms I've experienced this book, I never came to these types of conclusions as to what the book is trying to tell me.
I may have to read the book again, to compare my thoughts to the CliffsNotes conclusions just to decide if I can see it as they say it was meant to be seen......hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Your attempt at evil was adorable! You are definitely getting a present:-)

Stop, you're making me blush

____

In all seriousness though - I am in no position to accept any packages at the moment. I have seen what’s traded and sent here, and my palate is not nearly up to that level. Nor do I have that kind of stock to send to anyone else in return. I can’t accept anything from anyone that I can’t return something of relatively comparable value. I happily smoke what many of you would consider sub-par smokes or even yard-gars. Also, I am making a move soon and trying to reduce the stock of what I do have. Roughly 2-3 years worth of smokes. Once settled, I hope to begin sampling higher grade stuff, and begin trading with everyone else here. But thank you for your consideration.

I appreciate hanging with everyone.

How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization
by American journalist Franklin Foer

Always end up reaching for it in may with the EPL and champions league finishing up.

Time to find something else for the train

The Boss Always Sits In The Back
Jon D’ Amore
A memoir about the Jersey mob.

Interesting read for me as this is the neighborhood I grew up in & knew a few of the the guys in the book.

Just finished the re-reading of book two of Cormac McCarthy’s Plains Trilogy. “The Crossing”. Taking a break and starting Dave Sedaris’ “Calypso”.

Done Deal- The insiders guide to contracts, multi million pound contracts and the Premier League.

Detailed.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal - Christopher Moore

Cigarlady7 recommended it to me when I mentioned I love Terry Pratchett. This book is hilarious. I have no idea how I missed this guy's work and he's been a busy author. Which of course is good for me! Thanks for the recommend Bee! I started yesterday and by the time I put it down I realized I was almost half way through and laughing out loud from the first page! Already have all his other books in the queue waiting for when I run low on books

Dave Sedaris is really funny too. With him I love to listen to him read his own books. His voice is very distinctive and ooze's sarcasm. The first time I heard him read 6 to 8 black men I was crying laughing by the end.

Anyone ever read To Hell and Back? I don't really remember the movie and I was on Youtube watching a lecture about Operation Paperclip which lead to Band of Brothers which lead to a short video about him. The most decorated U.S. Soldier ever. I'm going to grab it anyway but I like to hear other people's opinion's on books. Oh for those unaware I'm talking about Audie Murphy.


I read a quote of his describing his Shell shock now called PTSD. "It is a though a fire has roared through this human house leaving the charred hulk of something that was once green." For a guy that didn't make it passed the 5th grade that's a pretty good line any author would be proud of, even if the subject is dark. Most accounts say his willingness to talk about his troubles after the war opened the door for many other vets to talk about what they suffered through after the war and the Gov't started taking Shell Shock seriously.

Too few appreciate what others have sacrificed. Everyone should know. Everyone.

This guy was 5'5" and 110lbs soaking wet. He was rejected like 7 times so he did his best and put an extra 12lbs of weight on and had his sister lie and testify he was 18(he was 17) after the war for the rest of his life he carried a loaded pistol at all times and because of his PTSD was irrationality violent. His costars in all his movies were terrified of him. He had it really rough emotionally after the war. His childhood didn't help, 10 kids, dad never worked and skipped outta town one day without a word and a year later his mother died of pneumonia. He was such a good shot because for all of his childhood eating meant shooting something, anything that could be cleaned and cooked.

recently read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor.
much different writing style than what I had read years ago.
About to start his collection of 12 short stories, Strange Pilgrims.

My palm.

But it keeps tellin me the same story...

Is it a rosey one?

Very hairy. But rosey at the end

😊