What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

[Brian Peacock]

Just finished John Scalzi's Interdependency trilogy. Vivid, amusing, and a tightly plotted critique of capitalism, privilege, and insurrection in the face of a natural phenomenon that poses an existential threat to humanity.

[Tero]

I have a heavy duty book on prehistory of Scandinavia, the last ice age and after when people moved in. These were hunter gatherers moving North as the more settled people moved in. I've had this for years and only managed about 20 pages each time. So I got this high school level book, written by someone actually in that field. It's mostly about them Africans.

The picture books, atlases, general history books usually cover hunter gatherers in 2 pages.

[Brian Peacock]

Here's a little documentary on hunter-gatherers to fill in the blanks for you...

[Tero]

66BAD605-E210-42CB-A180-5DE8B8714C9A.jpeg (79.59 KiB) Viewed 4845 times

As happens with all the classes I give to seniors, I end up asking myself questions. The videos summarized most of these hominins pretty well. But I ended up wondering why some scholars think homo heidelbergis and erectus are the same.

A college text, used, from 2013 is coming. I've bought these before. The first two students use different colored highlighters. A third one comes along and uses a pen over those.

[Svartalf]

Well, I was reading some stuff about Cthulhu mythos (namely some stories about Frank Belknap Long's Chaugnar Faugn. But now I have even more choice, I just received a novel, and a story collection, by Ramsey Campbell, and a collection of stories around Hastur...

[Tero]

Continuing my quest for prehistory in Europe (the N American finds are quite different other than the ice age and following), found that Chris Stringer books are quite readable. Unlike many archeology experts. Found this used at abe Books:
https://www.amazon.com/Britain-Million- ... 9ZJVNMWGY5
My main interest is the life in the cold. Up to 50 000 years ago the tools etc are much the same. After that regional solutions appear.

The era prior to homo sapiens is written in many books, even kids' books are good.

The material after that is variable. Only the cave art is well covered and easy to find books on.

[macdoc]

you might enjoy this for a variety of reasons..



Reading
The true story


a sweet followup based on the event


The movie The Professor and the Madman also is enjoyable and well cast covering off the story behind the creation of the OED. Not a Mel Gibson fan but he is perfect in this role and Sean Penn should have won an award. The movie was mired in controversy and deserves more.

[tattuchu]

I just read Mary Trump's Too Much and Never Enough, and found it surprisingly lacking

[Brian Peacock]

A Trump not living up to their promises? Say it ain't so Joe.

[Tero]

I'm reading 3 books on the brain, and then my science reading related to any class I give is done for a while. I had sought more material on ice-age hunters, but the books I have are rather boring to get any presentation out of. I don't care about the mammoths so much, but there are some videos on the Clovis people I could use. Maybe I should take up flint knapping? Only, we have just lime stone and sand outside, no flint in most of he state.

Anyway, I'm not a big fan of sci fi or fantasy. I read maybe 3 books from Disc World. But I started thinking about the dodo people on the transport ship of The Restaurant At The End of The Universe. So I ordered a hard bound ancient copy of the three first books. I used to read the first two to our son when my daughter was still young enough to be read to (she told us to stop when she 6, as she read quite well by then, and we soon stopped). So my son was near ten, and not to feel left out, I read all the Magic Treehouse books to him. Then the first two Adams books.

My daughter was in preschool and sat with kindergarteners often as she would sit still and listen. One day we realized she could read at 4. We certainly did not do it. May have been something to do with glasses. She needed glasses at 2 and a half, and after that she was fascinated with books most of all.

[Svartalf]

I just got my mitts on a XIXth century popular novel, It's fairly short, and I should make a quick bite of it before returning to my cthulhuian stuff...

Since it is French, it should make a break from my nearly 100% reading in English.

[Brian Peacock]

Erewhon, Samuel Butler.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1906/1906-h/1906-h.htm

[tattuchu]

I started in on Terry Pratchett's Hogfather. I like Pratchett. He's very clever. My only complaint might be that he's clever perhaps to the point of exhaustion.

[macdoc]

where is your avatar from? Found a big image but wondered if from graphic novel.

[JimC]

I started in on Terry Pratchett's Hogfather. I like Pratchett. He's very clever. My only complaint might be that he's clever perhaps to the point of exhaustion.

"relentlessly clever" sometimes comes to mind...

(but of course I like him, and have re-read many a Discworld novel)