What are you reading?

If you only read one Clancy novel, it should be Red October Rising. It is stand alone from his universe the other books are in. Worth it for expressing the tension the world was under during the Cold War.

 

Some of “his” later books were in fact by other authors: his name prominent on the front cover, actual authors name in smaller print. They were decent reads as well, albeit formulaic.

Sum of All Fears and Debt of Honor were a couple more I found real page turners.

 

too many Russian names for me. and speaking of Russian names, I'm plodding through Anna karrenina.
not thinking much of Tolstoy so far

 

Just struck me; I did not really answer Mendel. Yeah, sort of alike, but Griffin seems to focus more on the people, if that makes sense...of course...I am all of 50 pages into Griffin and read one Clancy, which lists a second author, Mark Greaney.

 

Just heard Tom Robbins had died about a year ago... so thinking about re-reading 'Skinny Legs And All', first novel a memorable g/f had suggested back in the '90s (enjoyed Jitterbug Perfume as well).

 

His passing was a sad day. How am I to perfect Bandaloop breathing now to alter my place in history? (Time travel) It was always hard to separate fact from fiction in his stories. I still wonder about a certain canyon mentioned in Wild Ducks Flying Backward. I enjoy his writing as much or more than everything I've read and reread by another of my favorites, Kurt Vonnegut.

 

A re-read, but 10 hours of mindless entertainment from....DANG! Has it BEEN nearly 30 years?

I actually re-finished Red Storm Rising recently from (gasp!) 40 years ago although it took well over 30 hours to listen to it.
I read it for the first time underwater on a submarine - and today I am amazed at how many of those weapons systems are still in use.
Today we are still sending kids down-range with the same hardware from 40 years ago....PLUS!

RSR was published in 1986, and 40 years before THAT we were cleaning up after WW1-part 2.....

Glad I'm retired and non-deployable - even by Ukraine/Russian standards!

 

Speaking of re-reads... recently had to dip into my AMR manual, by Dr. Brian Bronk...

Advance Muscle Reconditioning is super-effective at removing stubborn and/or non-intuitive adhesions in especially flat muscles of the body, namely the back... but enforces very little pain in-session but some local tenderness. The modality's tq is so gentle, feels like you're doing nothing... until the client's able to do what they couldn't just 30 mins earlier. Does reward add'l sensitivity and exp in the prac's fingers, but isn't required to become competent.

Very interesting modality whose challenge to me (why I'm re-reading the manual) is remembering which direction to process the client, as changes drastically depending on location in the body. Has come in handy (hurr-hurr) in the clutch many times -- but takes time to remember intuitively what directions and depth to use. Recommend the book to anyone who has breathing, upper back, voice, or back of neck / shoulder issues

 

I had no idea he wrote this:

 

Great fan of Kesey. Love "the nest" both in print and film.

His other famous tome, Sometimes a Great Notion, just never got into it. Tried reading it in my 20s and my 50s. No go. Yeah, I know. Just keep at it and it will all fall into place around 80 to 100 pages in.

But, by that time, I've quit and gone for a walk.

Ah, maybe some Electric Koolaid would help keep that prose in line.

 

.

 

Picked this gem up for $0.25 at the library, old books cart:


This will be for my 3d generation, craps simulator:

• V1.0 (2001) - a PowerBook 140 version, it confirmed that conservative play approximates the probability prediction. Written mostly while commuting on the DC Metro.
• V2.0 (2010) - a PowerBook (PowerPC) version, faster, with a better random number generator. It investigates betting strategies that quantified the probability and play experience.
• V3.0 (current) - MacBook Air (Apple M1) version, a multi-payer version to investigate relative betting strategies using a single pair of dice. It will also incorporate some compiler tricks like pre-calculating payoff ratios, to accelerate processing.

Never forget, it is called "gambling" not "winning." But we can optimize the play to minimize the House advantage. Per probability, the House advantage of how I play is ~0.5% which makes it a lot more fun.

Bob Wilson

 

First read.

Set in 1930's Oxford MS, I should not have loved this book as much as I did - but it was highly engaging and historically...'close enough.'
At 650 pages (29 hours in audio) it's not a novella but I roared through it in a couple of sittings.
Like most people who grew up after the Great Depression and the Civil Rights movement (which is....MOST people) - Stockett leaves paint on a few guardrails but she cleaned the worst of the mess in the Author's notes.

''Can recommend!"

 

Probably the eighth time I've read it. I have the collection on Kindle. Some artistic license in the telling, but probably not far from reality.