The Book Thread 2022

[Kaleid]

1. The Five - Hallie Rubenhold
2. The Time Traveller's Guide to Regency Britain - Ian Mortimer
3. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
4. The Golden Strangers - Henry Treece

The first book of his Celtic Tetralogy of historical novels, it's a dark, murky story of prehistoric Britain at the end of the Stone Age, involving a tribe attempting to repel a wave of fair-haired strangers who have landed in the north. Apparently viewed as the weakest of the four books, I found it very enjoyable, largely due to Treece's wonderful prose. He describes some fantastical things, but he writes with a realism that makes you believe it could all have happened.

[scott1328]

1. Caliban's War, James S A Corey Book 2 in the Expanse Series.
2. Time’s Eye, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
3. Sun Storm, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. Sequel to Time's Eye.
4. The Firtstborn, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
5. Abaddon’s Gate, James S A Corey, Book 3 in the Expanse Series.
6. Cibola Burn, James S A Corey, Book 4 in the Expanse Series.
7. Nemesis Games, James S A Corey, Book 5 in the Expanse Series.
8. Babylon’s Ashes, James S A Corey, Book 6 in the Expanse Series.

[Blip]

1. A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
2. The Expectation Effect by David Robson
3. Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
4. Road Ends by Mary Lawson
5. A Brief History of Earth by Andrew H Knoll
6. Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Lois Roth
7. The Man Who Went Up in Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Joan Tate
8. The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
9. The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Alan Blair
10. Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
11. The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Alan Blair
12. Monsieur Ka by Vesna Goldsworthy

Monsieur Ka, aka Mr Carr, aka Sergei Alexeievich is an elderly Russian immigrant in post-war London. His son employs a companion for him, the narrator, a young French woman married to a British army officer who is apparently now working as a spy. This is rather good and I'll be reading more from this author.

[Macdoc]

Scott you are on a roll.

Speaking of spies.

reads like a novel however it's true......quite the seductress.

[scott1328]

1. Caliban's War, James S A Corey Book 2 in the Expanse Series.
2. Time’s Eye, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
3. Sun Storm, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. Sequel to Time's Eye.
4. The Firtstborn, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
5. Abaddon’s Gate, James S A Corey, Book 3 in the Expanse Series.
6. Cibola Burn, James S A Corey, Book 4 in the Expanse Series.
7. Nemesis Games, James S A Corey, Book 5 in the Expanse Series.
8. Babylon’s Ashes, James S A Corey, Book 6 in the Expanse Series.

9. Persepolis Rising, James S A Corey, Book 7 in the Expanse Series.

[don't get me started]

1. Caliban's War, James S A Corey Book 2 in the Expanse Series.
2. Time’s Eye, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
3. Sun Storm, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. Sequel to Time's Eye.
4. The Firtstborn, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
5. Abaddon’s Gate, James S A Corey, Book 3 in the Expanse Series.
6. Cibola Burn, James S A Corey, Book 4 in the Expanse Series.
7. Nemesis Games, James S A Corey, Book 5 in the Expanse Series.
8. Babylon’s Ashes, James S A Corey, Book 6 in the Expanse Series.

9. Persepolis Rising, James S A Corey, Book 7 in the Expanse Series.

Man you are really belting through these. I'm envious.
I watched the TV series and then had a conundrum. I want to see what happens after the season six narrative arc, but was going to have to choose between starting reading at book one and bash on through the whole series. Or, pick up at where the TV show left off and go from there.

Well, much as I'd love to start from book one, I've made the strategic decision to pick up where the last season left off. (I've currently got 3 linguistics books on the go plus a history book... best not to over commit myself)
The bookshops here usually have fairly small English sections and the Expanse books are not in stock, so I've had to order.
Because of various factors I've been give a delivery date for early April ...

Oh well. It gives me something to look forward to.

[scott1328]

1. Caliban's War, James S A Corey Book 2 in the Expanse Series.
2. Time’s Eye, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
3. Sun Storm, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. Sequel to Time's Eye.
4. The Firtstborn, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
5. Abaddon’s Gate, James S A Corey, Book 3 in the Expanse Series.
6. Cibola Burn, James S A Corey, Book 4 in the Expanse Series.
7. Nemesis Games, James S A Corey, Book 5 in the Expanse Series.
8. Babylon’s Ashes, James S A Corey, Book 6 in the Expanse Series.

9. Persepolis Rising, James S A Corey, Book 7 in the Expanse Series.

Man you are really belting through these. I'm envious.
I watched the TV series and then had a conundrum. I want to see what happens after the season six narrative arc, but was going to have to choose between starting reading at book one and bash on through the whole series. Or, pick up at where the TV show left off and go from there.

Well, much as I'd love to start from book one, I've made the strategic decision to pick up where the last season left off. (I've currently got 3 linguistics books on the go plus a history book... best not to over commit myself)
The bookshops here usually have fairly small English sections and the Expanse books are not in stock, so I've had to order.
Because of various factors I've been give a delivery date for early April ...

Oh well. It gives me something to look forward to.

I am listening to the audio books, which allows me to multi-task at home while listening and I have a half-hour commute to work everyday.

The TV series should give you a good place to start for the last three books. However there are several BIG changes between the TV series and the books:

1) In the book, Alex did not die while rescuing Naomi. He is a POV character in the last three novels.
2) Kamina Drummer is a minor character until the seventh book. The Drummer of the TV series is an amalgamation of Carlos "Bull" De Baca, the director of security on the Behemoth, and Michio Pa, XO of the Behemoth and later the Pirate Queen.
3) Bobbie was not involved in the slow-zone incident, and was not on the Behemoth.

There are other changes, but nothing that detracts from understanding what's happening in the novels.

[NamelessFaceless]

1. Hope of Heaven - John O'Hara
2. Pal Joey - John O'Hara
3. Invitation to a Beheading - Vladimir Nabokov
4. Killing Lincoln - Bill O'Reilly

[Macdoc]

The Expanse books are different enough from the series to be enjoyable as a separate work and certainly expands the detail.
We've been through the series, the books ( audio books mostly ) several times adn generally I'd suggest do the books up to 6 if you want to continue the tale as no one knows if 7-9 will be done on TV Not a spoiler but unlike many long serials there is a satsifactory ( to me ) wind up yet room for more.
Really a superb piece of work both the series on TV and the books. Good effort on the part of the TV series to get some physics correct though the "sound" of rockets from an external viewpoint never fails to annoy. The weightless physics was as good as I've seen. Lot of little details like the coffee cups and the click to connect mag boots etc
Might be worth its own thread for chitchat. Very memorable characters.

[Blip]

1. A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
2. The Expectation Effect by David Robson
3. Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
4. Road Ends by Mary Lawson
5. A Brief History of Earth by Andrew H Knoll
6. Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Lois Roth
7. The Man Who Went Up in Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Joan Tate
8. The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
9. The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Alan Blair
10. Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
11. The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Alan Blair
12. Monsieur Ka by Vesna Goldsworthy
13. The Fire Engine That Disappeared by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Joan Tate

As you can tell, I think these are good!

[Macdoc]

Ah love Nordic procedurals ...thanks.

You ever tried sailplanes?

[scott1328]

1. Caliban's War, James S A Corey Book 2 in the Expanse Series.
2. Time’s Eye, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
3. Sun Storm, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. Sequel to Time's Eye.
4. The Firtstborn, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
5. Abaddon’s Gate, James S A Corey, Book 3 in the Expanse Series.
6. Cibola Burn, James S A Corey, Book 4 in the Expanse Series.
7. Nemesis Games, James S A Corey, Book 5 in the Expanse Series.
8. Babylon’s Ashes, James S A Corey, Book 6 in the Expanse Series.
9. Persepolis Rising, James S A Corey, Book 7 in the Expanse Series.

10. Tiamat’s Wrath, James S A Corey, Book 8 in the Expanse Series.

[Blip]

Ah love Nordic procedurals ...thanks.

I think you might enjoy this series then. I'm reading them in order.

You ever tried sailplanes?

My career as an aviatrix exists only in Evolving's fevered imagination. The quote in my sig is from a Mafia game years ago: it still makes me smile.

[don't get me started]

1. Cognitive Discourse Analysis: An introduction - Thora Tenbrink
2. Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything About Race, Gender And Identity- And Why This Harms Everybody – Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay
3. A History of the World in 12 Maps – Jerry Brotton
4. Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language – Patricia T. O’Connor & Stewart Kellerman
5. Peer Interaction and Second Language Learning - Jenefer Philip, Rebecca Adams & Noriko Iwashita
6. Eugene Onegin - Alexander Pushkin
7. Found in Translation: How Language Shapes Our Lives and Transforms the World - Nataly Kelly & Jost Zetzche

8. English Words: A Linguistic Introduction - Heidi Harley

296 pp.

Well, this one really knocked it out of the ball park. The book starts out with the question 'What is a word?' and then delves into the various ways in which we can answer this surprisingly difficult question. Assuming little or no familiarity with linguistics, the author describes the sound system of English and then moves onto the area of 'phonotactics' which is a description of the allowable sound combinations in English and gives a thorough explanation of why words like N'Djaema (Capital of Chad) or Mbappe (French soccer player) have word onset sound combinations which are not allowable in English, and why the words 'Thumb' and 'Knight' have strange spellings because of a change in phonotactics of English over the centuries.

There was also a very interesting section which cleared up argument structure for me - something I had always had a rather slippery grasp of. (Simply put, certain verbs take a single argument (John laughed) some have two arguments (John ate the cake) and some three (John gave the book to Mary.) The argument structure depends heavily on things like animacy, agency, change and experience...all very well described by Harley)

I can hardly give an adequate account of all of the topics covered in this book, so rich was the material. I re-read several sections a couple of times to get the maximum benefit and there was liberal use of post it notes.

An excellent read and thoroughly recommended for anyone who wants to look into linguistics and finds themselves beyond the merely interested layman or laywoman but not quite ready to jump into the deep end of a fully academic text for professionals.

[NamelessFaceless]

1. Hope of Heaven - John O'Hara
2. Pal Joey - John O'Hara
3. Invitation to a Beheading - Vladimir Nabokov
4. Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever - Bill O'Reilly
5. Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salman Rushdie

[Kaleid]

1. The Five - Hallie Rubenhold
2. The Time Traveller's Guide to Regency Britain - Ian Mortimer
3. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
4. The Golden Strangers - Henry Treece

5. White - Marie Darrieussecq

Utterly bizarre piece of... writing? Poetry? Sentient atmosphere? It's ostensibly a novella set in the near-future about the only woman stationed at the first permanent European base in Antarctica. It's written in the third person, except the third person is the surroundings - as one reviewer has put it on the back of the book, "She writes as if the elements themselves are telling the tale." It flits about here and there, yet you can tell that every phrase, every word has been carefully considered; it's the sort of thing that requires you to fully digest every line, but it's certainly beautiful. Definitely wise to restrict it to a novella, though.

[romansh]

1. Cognitive Discourse Analysis: An introduction - Thora Tenbrink

2. Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything About Race, Gender And Identity- And Why This Harms Everybody – Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay
<snip>

Currently halfway through the last chapter.
It was interesting that it is frequently argued that Critical Theory(ies) are Marxist in origin, whereas according to the authors the origin is more related to post modernism, which in turn was in part a result of Marxism's failure. ie class is by and large is not part of the inter-sectionalist's repertoire.

A criticism or two of the book: it is a little repetitive at the beginning, perhaps understandably so - it is not a bug but a feature sort of thing. Foucault and Derrida, but fair enough. I thought the authors could have at times unpacked the dense terminology of post modernism a little more understandably.

But overall well worth reading as a defence of enlightenment liberalism.

[don't get me started]

1. Cognitive Discourse Analysis: An introduction - Thora Tenbrink

2. Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything About Race, Gender And Identity- And Why This Harms Everybody – Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay
<snip>

Currently halfway through the last chapter.
It was interesting that it is frequently argued that Critical Theory(ies) are Marxist in origin, whereas according to the authors the origin is more related to post modernism, which in turn was in part a result of Marxism's failure. ie class is by and large is not part of the inter-sectionalist's repertoire.

A criticism or two of the book: it is a little repetitive at the beginning, perhaps understandably so - it is not a bug but a feature sort of thing. Foucault and Derrida, but fair enough. I thought the authors could have at times unpacked the dense terminology of post modernism a little more understandably.

But overall well worth reading as a defence of enlightenment liberalism.

I'm glad you found it a worthwhile read. Your criticisms are something I would agree with.
Getting to grips with the obfuscation of the terminology is a hard task... designedly so by the creators, I think.

Communication relies in large part on the participants co-constructing meaning and not immediately rushing to the fractal edges of semantics or taking a disaffiliative interactional stance from the outset, which is what the post-modernist problematizing tendency often promotes.

As I mentioned in my initial review, this is NOT an angry screed against the bogeyman of CRT or 'wokeism' but – as you state so clearly, 'a defense of enlightenment liberalism.'

[scott1328]

1. Caliban's War, James S A Corey Book 2 in the Expanse Series.
2. Time’s Eye, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
3. Sun Storm, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. Sequel to Time's Eye.
4. The Firtstborn, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
5. Abaddon’s Gate, James S A Corey, Book 3 in the Expanse Series.
6. Cibola Burn, James S A Corey, Book 4 in the Expanse Series.
7. Nemesis Games, James S A Corey, Book 5 in the Expanse Series.
8. Babylon’s Ashes, James S A Corey, Book 6 in the Expanse Series.
9. Persepolis Rising, James S A Corey, Book 7 in the Expanse Series.
10. Tiamat’s Wrath, James S A Corey, Book 8 in the Expanse Series.

11. Leviathan Falls, James S A Corey, Book 9 in the Expanse Series.

[Blip]

1. A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
2. The Expectation Effect by David Robson
3. Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
4. Road Ends by Mary Lawson
5. A Brief History of Earth by Andrew H Knoll
6. Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Lois Roth
7. The Man Who Went Up in Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Joan Tate
8. The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
9. The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Alan Blair
10. Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
11. The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Alan Blair
12. Monsieur Ka by Vesna Goldsworthy
13. The Fire Engine That Disappeared by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö translated by Joan Tate
14. Gorski by Vesna Goldsworthy

Owing an - acknowledged - debt to The Great Gatsby, this novel is centred round a Russian billionaire in love with a married Russian emigrée in London. Unpredictable, very well written, and absorbing. A good one.