Good Books.... Well, there are a few.

[Jstpssng]

This question is a bit off topic, but where do you buy books? There was a great used bookstore about 55 miles from here which had almost anything I asked for. I learned to never go in there with more than $20 in my pocket, which would give me 2 weeks of reading of various venues. (I read a lot.) They closed when Covid came along and my distress is two-fold; first, I am ordering online; second, I have no place to get rid of the disposable books (tomes which I don't want to hold onto or pass on) when I'm done with them.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Something to think about - excerpt from Neil Postman:

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism.

Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumble puppy.

As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists, who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny, 吐ailed to take into account man痴 almost infinite appetite for distractions.

In 1984, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that our desire will ruin us.

I think Huxley is closer to right than Orwell

Now, that's very interesting, thank you. I would think it will be combination of both.

 

[czechsonofagun]

This question is a bit off topic, but where do you buy books? There was a great used bookstore about 55 miles from here which had almost anything I asked for. I learned to never go in there with more than $20 in my pocket, which would give me 2 weeks of reading of various venues. (I read a lot.) They closed when Covid came along and my distress is two-fold; first, I am ordering online; second, I have no place to get rid of the disposable books (tomes which I don't want to hold onto or pass on) when I'm done with them.

My local used book stores some closed some still may exist but I don't go there anymore. I buy my books online, typically used on ebay. Colleague of mine mentioned Savage Continent, I would never find it locally but it was $5 on ebay. Same for Twelve days about Hungary 1956. Gulag Archipelago I could not find used anywhere - I read it in Czech in eighties - so I bought it new on Amazon.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Something to think about - excerpt from Neil Postman:

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism.

Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumble puppy.

As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists, who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny, 吐ailed to take into account man痴 almost infinite appetite for distractions.

In 1984, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that our desire will ruin us.

I think Huxley is closer to right than Orwell

Never read it, gonna read it! Based only on your comments, I think I agree. I continue to believe that our self indulgence coupled with wealth is gonna do the trick, hope Not!

 

[MoKelly]

Really....., I liked the Bosch book series and also liked the tv series. I think they picked a good guy to play Bosch. Just goes to show you, to each his own LOL.............MIke

Bosch books are fantastic. The Amazon show is good as well even though the story lines are altered.

Bosch, Reacher, Davenport and Flowers are my favorite characters.

MoKelly

 

[/pine]

This question is a bit off topic, but where do you buy books? There was a great used bookstore about 55 miles from here which had almost anything I asked for. I learned to never go in there with more than $20 in my pocket, which would give me 2 weeks of reading of various venues. (I read a lot.) They closed when Covid came along and my distress is two-fold; first, I am ordering online; second, I have no place to get rid of the disposable books (tomes which I don't want to hold onto or pass on) when I'm done with them.

The simple solution is to switch to e-books...read on a dedicated reader, phone or any tablet etc...

Give up the problems of holding hard copy books open, having to keep places, manually turning pages (requiring both hands)...

e-books are widely available especially with sites like 'Overdrive' (borrow e-books from your library)...e-books are easily shared via e-mail due to small file sizes...you can literally have thousands of books in a file library stored on your device...

have any number of books open at the same time and never lose your place...

Set the type size at will (don't bother with reading glasses)

OverDrive: ebooks, audiobooks, and videos for libraries and schools

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Something to think about - excerpt from Neil Postman:

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism.

Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumble puppy.

As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists, who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny, 吐ailed to take into account man痴 almost infinite appetite for distractions.

In 1984, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that our desire will ruin us.

I think Huxley is closer to right than Orwell

Interesting comparison. I believe both you and Huxley are correct; control people through pleasure. Look where we are today, instant access to drugs, alcohol, ***; and the government handing out 3 squares a day, lodging, money, etc. Small wonder people are so unhappy, they have everything they want.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Bosch books are fantastic. The Amazon show is good as well even though the story lines are altered.

Bosch, Reacher, Davenport and Flowers are my favorite characters.

MoKelly

I really enjoyed all of the Prey series. You should check out Greg Illes.

 

[dmccarty]

...and another entitled "A Canticle for Lebowitz."

I used to read quite a bit of Science Fiction and in high school we were required to read A Canticle for Lebowitz which I did not like. I keep saying maybe I should reread the book and maybe I would like it now.:laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

I finished Tom Sawyer and am just starting to reread Huck Finn. If those books were written today the author would never find a publisher.

There were complaints years ago about Huck Finn being racist because of the use of a certain word. They wanted the book banned and pulled from library shelves....

Maybe if the ignorant book banners would actually READ the book they might have a clue as to what the book is about. Course, they might not be able to read an comprehend the book.

I do not remember seeing complaints about To Kill A Mockingbird but I would not be surprised if there were some.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

I知 not a Luddite by any means with 4-5 computers, 3 kindles, smart TVs and phone.

I was just thinking last night (while reading my kindle) what would happen to all of the books and information that has been stored digitally over the last few decades if the big EMP hit like in all the dystopian post apocalyptic stories.
Makes me want to hang on to all my paper books.

Ironically, that is what A Canticle for Lebowitz is about. :laughing::laughing: I can remember that much about the book from too many decades ago. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

There was another End Of The World Book, I think written by Asimov, where the main character stored and protected books on medicine, engineering, math, the various sciences, etc, to save them so that the knowledge would not be lost and society could be rebuilt.

I don't think it would take an EMP hit. Just shutting down computer systems, for say three or six months, would do it. Not destroying them just turn them off. Just having people REMEMBERING how to start the systems and networks would be problematic. Imagine remember old passwords... :confused3::shocked:

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

This question is a bit off topic, but where do you buy books? There was a great used bookstore about 55 miles from here which had almost anything I asked for. I learned to never go in there with more than $20 in my pocket, which would give me 2 weeks of reading of various venues. (I read a lot.) They closed when Covid came along and my distress is two-fold; first, I am ordering online; second, I have no place to get rid of the disposable books (tomes which I don't want to hold onto or pass on) when I'm done with them.

I still buy hard back books on Amazon or Abe's but I do buy digital as well. The online places do buy old books though I have never sold any. There is a HUGE amount of history books in digital format.

Ironically, there are some really awesome books stores near me, and when I moved to the country, they got closer and I figured I would be going there frequently. Never went. :confused3::shocked: Parking is a PITA is the main reason.

Our county library has old book sales and I have found a bunch of good books there. I think people give books to the library so they can be sold to raise money for the library.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

So true. Certain cultures/nations seem to get a free pass while others are condemned. The Polish in WW2 have an interesting history, let's just say they looked the other way.
...
Turns out he was a survivor from the Bataan death march, one of I guess 10%. Sweetest old guy you want to meet.

Seems to me, whoever has the big stick at the moment is gonna use it and in too many cases, take pleasure from it.

The Japanese were brutal. They were just as bad as the ****'s and Communists but very little is said about what they did in the West. People in Asia know which is why there is still so much resentment/hatred towards the Japanese. It does not help that the Japanese will not ADMIT to what they did. At least the Germans have admitted to what they did and have paid for it. The Japanese, not so much.

Look at what the Japanese did to Nanking and Manila. What the Japanese did in those cities they did all over the Pacific. Even little, itty bitty, out of the way, villages in New Guinea were treated the same way.

Japanese culture then was brutal. Discipline was harsh. I was reading a history book that mentioned in passing about a Japanese admiral beating his subordinate, who was also an admiral. If that sorta of abuse is going on at the highest levels....

Having said that, the only history book I have not been able to finish is a biography on Mao. Mao makes Stalin, ****** and Tojo look like choir boys. The phrase Evil Genius is thrown around too often but Mao really was an Evil Genius. What he did is unreal and he out smarted so many other people, including Stalin. The biography is just report after another of Mao killing off masses of people for his own personal gain. Some estimates are as much as 300 million people due to war, camps, decisions, and his policies.

Later,
Dan

 

[sandman2234]

Alas Babylon was a good read. I read all of John Grisham's books, enjoy some more than others. I also do a little listening, and one book I recently listened to, after a friend asked me if I had read it, was 40 Autumns. I would have had an issue reading it, but it kept my attention driving down the road, listening to it.
David from jax

 

[Jstpssng]

I'm not a fan of lawyer novels but a friend gave me a copy of A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer which was the exception to the rule.
I consider it one of the best books I've read in a long time, possibly because it is different from the books I normally read.

 

[Oaktree]

This question is a bit off topic, but where do you buy books? There was a great used bookstore about 55 miles from here which had almost anything I asked for. I learned to never go in there with more than $20 in my pocket, which would give me 2 weeks of reading of various venues. (I read a lot.) They closed when Covid came along and my distress is two-fold; first, I am ordering online; second, I have no place to get rid of the disposable books (tomes which I don't want to hold onto or pass on) when I'm done with them.

Good question. Not a lot of bookstores left, and other than ones that specialize in either religious or children's books, none less than a 90+ minute drive from here, and that's a chain called BAM. Kinda pricey, and not a great selection. When I lived closer to "the city", I'd go to Barnes & Noble but even they seemed to be getting away from books and more toward CDs/DVDs/video games.
I mostly get mine at flea markets or the swap section at the dump. I have zero interest in e-books.

As far as getting rid of "disposable" books, I'll either donate them to a charity flea market (library, animal shelter, etc.) or drop them off in the swap section at the dump.

Alas Babylon was a good read. I read all of John Grisham's books, enjoy some more than others. I also do a little listening, and one book I recently listened to, after a friend asked me if I had read it, was 40 Autumns. I would have had an issue reading it, but it kept my attention driving down the road, listening to it.

"Alas Babylon", there's an oldie (if it's the one I'm thinking of...aftermath of a nuke strike in Fla.). A bit dated now, but it had to have been written 60 years ago...I read it when I was in high school.
I've read a lot of John Grisham's books. A few clinkers but most are hard to put down.

 

[dodge man]

They sell a lot of new and used books on Amazon. I was thinking I heard that is how Amazon got its start. My wife has gotten books that were not as advertised. Like it came as a paperback instead of a hardback. She got her money back and they always said keep the book. I never could get into the E books.

 

[Jstpssng]

I ordered a book from one of the online stores a few years ago. It came on scheduled but a few days later I got another one. A few days after that I received a third copy... I enjoyed the book but not that much.
I wrote them and said that I would return the extras if they paid the shipping but they told me to keep them.

 

[MoKelly]

I really enjoyed all of the Prey series. You should check out Greg Illes.

Thanks for the suggestion. Can always use a new author.

MoKelly

 

[om21braz]

For anyone with the slightest interest in going hunting on the Dark continent - Peter Hathaway Capstick. Probably some tales embellished, but still interesting and humorous reading. Death in the long grass is probably my favorite.