What book is on your nightstand? Readers!

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corkybstewart said:
Having finally finished a comparison between the Book of Genesis as presented in the Bible vs a mush older version written in cuneiform by the Assyrians, I'm reading something a little lighter now: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Book by Yuval Noah Harari
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Working on Robert Alter's translation of the Hebrew Bible. Very, very different from what we're accustomed to from the King James or JPS. His translation and commentary place the Bible out of the realm of Thee & Thou and into its place of world literary tradition.
 
On book 3 of the Wayward Pines trilogy. Very cool and unexpected. I read book 1 in a single day haha (late night!). Not "literature", but the pace and material keeps me happy.

It's post-apocalypse, time travel, and some nasty monsters. I'll just say that. You know if that's your jam.

https://a.co/d/5Ccg5NY
 
For those that watched Oppenheimer and liked it and want more of that story (A LOT MORE), read the following. I read it many years ago, then re-read it many years ago. I found it captivating, but know that it's all facts and no drama like the movie. Well, there is the drama of the big ker-bang. The copy I had (recycled now) had pics.

An aside: I used to lay on a couch on a lazy Sunday and read all day. ALL DAY. That was Act 1.
Raising 3 kids in myriad sports, building a career/business, working long hours and a commute, etc, Act 2; in this act, the protagonist does not use the couch.
I'm now in Act 3, and it is good. Couch is in play. Learning morse code at the moment, so I've sworn off books, but I'll be back at it shortly.

1699736724501.png
 
Erik the Anglophile said:
Does anyone use morse code still? My dad had to learn it when he was doing military service in the navy and it was considered obsolete even then...
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Yes, it's very active still. I know, hard to believe, but is this the first time you've been surprised haha. There is a radio advantage to using morse (CW). I won't get into that here.
 
passedpawn said:
Finished the Wayward Pines series a few days ago. Very cool. Ended in a satisfying way, which wasn't expected. I'd highly recommend this series of books for those that enjoy the post-apocalyptic style.
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Would like to read this series, though based on reviews it seems more dystopian than post-apocalyptic.
 
huckdavidson said:
Would like to read this series, though based on reviews it seems more dystopian than post-apocalyptic.
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I would say that is not completely accurate. Cormac McCarthy's The Road is dystopian, painting an awful and hopeless future. Nevil Shute's On the Beach is dystopian. For sure, the first book is more like the Truman Show (movie). Without giving anything away, the series does not end with the hopelessness of your typical dystopian novel.

I can't say it's the future you want to be part of, but it's not totally hopeless. I did like the way it ended.

OK, maybe it's 30% dystopian and 50% post-apocalyptic. And 20% action thriller. Third book has a lot of action, for sure.
 
day_trippr said:
I imagine code "travels further" than voice...

Cheers!
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Whether you transmit voice or CW (morse code), the RF travels the same distance. But when the signal is weak, CW is far more intelligible than voice. More importantly, when making long-distance (DX) contacts, there is no language barrier. I often have trouble understanding the georgia accent. Imagine trying to understand someone in Fiji (made that contact friday).
 
passedpawn said:
I would say that is not completely accurate. Cormac McCarthy's The Road is dystopian, painting an awful and hopeless future. Nevil Shute's On the Beach is dystopian. For sure, the first book is more like the Truman Show (movie). Without giving anything away, the series does not end with the hopelessness of your typical dystopian novel.

I can't say it's the future you want to be part of, but it's not totally hopeless. I did like the way it ended.

OK, maybe it's 30% dystopian and 50% post-apocalyptic. And 20% action thriller. Third book has a lot of action, for sure.
Click to expand...
Cormack McCarthy, “All the Pretty Horses.” Read it as an adult and really enjoyed it. Not dystopian. Nevil Chute, “On the Beach.” Read in the 7th grade (1962, height of the Cold War). Can’t get much more dystopian than that.

About the same time read his book “‘Round the Bend.” Made me more tolerant and inclusive. A bit heavy for a pre-teen, but the “bending of the branch” certainly helped form how the ‘tree’ grew.
 
passedpawn said:
Whether you transmit voice or CW (morse code), the RF travels the same distance. But when the signal is weak, CW is far more intelligible than voice.
Click to expand...

Hence my use of quotes.

passedpawn said:
More importantly, when making long-distance (DX) contacts, there is no language barrier. I often have trouble understanding the georgia accent. Imagine trying to understand someone in Fiji (made that contact friday).
Click to expand...

How does that work if the two conversants don't share a common language?
 
day_trippr said:
Hence my use of quotes.



How does that work if the two conversants don't share a common language?
Click to expand...

Much of ham radio is about just making a contact, not having an extended dialog. The latter, of course, requires a common language. But for the contact alone, all that is required is sharing call signs - language barriers are not a problem - there is a common international method for doing so.

Though - ragchews (term used for two hams talking at length over anything) are very common, both on voice and on morse.
 
I’m reading Lee Child’s Reacher No Plan B. Read all the others, as I have Michael Connelly’s Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer, Robert Craig’s Elvis Cole, Ian Rankin’s Rebus, Peter James‘s Roy Grace, John Connolly‘s Charlie Parker, James Oswald, Chris Carter, Stuart McBride.
Prior to Reacher I reread Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy having first read them 50 years earlier. I’d forgotten how good they were.
 
Cheshire Cat said:
Prior to Reacher I reread Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy having first read them 50 years earlier. I’d forgotten how good they were.
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I've just been thinking about doing this. I think Foundation and then the rest of trilogy were among the first substantial books I ever read back in my early teens, so maybe 45 years ago. I think I saved up lawn mowing money to join a scifi book club and they were available as some of the "6 for around a dollar" joining offer. Yes, that is correct, 6 for a dollar ish... and even the regular priced books were in mostly the 3-5 range.

Heheh, just looked up Science Fiction Book Club and if you join now the first two book are only $10 ea and a third for $12. Times have changed. Think I'll go get the set used.
 
Recently finished "The Wager" by David Grann, a bit of harrowing story from the British navy... And alternating among the Reacher books by Lee Child, the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn, and the Memory Man (detective Amos Decker) series from David Baldacci.
 
corkybstewart said:
You're alive!
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Hey man, so happy to see you! Yep, alive and kicking, if just a tad slower. Been a good and tough road - went from 270 to 220 and holding, training for mountain hunting with my son...and just started working in retirement for our LHBS, so...the itch is driving me pretty bonkers. I have tons to both catch up on...feel like a dinosaur and you kids are still plugging away!

Great to see you buddy. Hope you're doing great. Looking forward to more!
 
Erik the Anglophile said:
Does anyone use morse code still? My dad had to learn it when he was doing military service in the navy and it was considered obsolete even then...
Click to expand...
I learned it as a Boy Scout, but never got to where I could translate as someone was sending, or send anything intelligible. I had to re-learn it to successfully identify precision radios, but was informed it isn't being taught anymore. If I'm given the letter, I can tell if the dashes and dots match.
 
I have pulled a muscle in my calf, and so my audiobook time while cycling to and from work has been cut to 0 lately. Very depressing as I absolutely love cycling. I've been reading on my Kindle in bed or on the couch, lots of books on corporate finance and business, along with some computer science stuff.

Here are some I've managed to read lately that I feel are worth mentioning:
Never Look At The Empty Seats: A Memoir by Charlie Daniels
My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, Drugs, and Gun N' Roses by Steve Adder
Hell Divers III by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

I've been in oil and gas for almost 2 decades, and I finally decided to learn something about Geology, other than the incidental facts I've picked up over the years. I must say, I find this VERY fascinating.
51OVPnWtngL._SL500_.jpg


My wife and I own and operate an Airbnb in the Ozarks, and are planning to build a small cabin (near Tulsa?) and so I've been looking for books on construction. I'm going to be my own GC, and will do almost all the work myself, except slab and framing, so I've been studying up a little.
613vDs2S8HL._SL1000_.jpg



@passedpawn I hope the CW is going well, I have a practice keyer and never put in enough effort to be any good.
 
estricklin said:
I have pulled a muscle in my calf, and so my audiobook time while cycling to and from work has been cut to 0 lately. Very depressing as I absolutely love cycling. I've been reading on my Kindle in bed or on the couch, lots of books on corporate finance and business, along with some computer science stuff.

Here are some I've managed to read lately that I feel are worth mentioning:
Never Look At The Empty Seats: A Memoir by Charlie Daniels
My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, Drugs, and Gun N' Roses by Steve Adder
Hell Divers III by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

I've been in oil and gas for almost 2 decades, and I finally decided to learn something about Geology, other than the incidental facts I've picked up over the years. I must say, I find this VERY fascinating.
51OVPnWtngL._SL500_.jpg


My wife and I own and operate an Airbnb in the Ozarks, and are planning to build a small cabin (near Tulsa?) and so I've been looking for books on construction. I'm going to be my own GC, and will do almost all the work myself, except slab and framing, so I've been studying up a little.
613vDs2S8HL._SL1000_.jpg



@passedpawn I hope the CW is going well, I have a practice keyer and never put in enough effort to be any good.
Click to expand...

I admire your ambition in all your endeavors. I hope your successes exceed mine in CW (at least, so far).
 
FREE Book Jan 31 - Feb 4.
Trying to pick up some Amazon reviews for my book, so I will have it listed for FREE on Amazon Jan 31 through Feb 4. The Lich of Thandorien, Crypts and Crusades, Book 1: Amazon.com
If you grab a free copy (and manage to make it to the end), all that I ask in return is that you leave an honest Amazon review when you are done. The book is a satirical (and somewhat funny, I think) story involving role playing and beer. If you enjoyed playing D&D and also enjoy beer, I hope you enjoy the book. If those things are not up your alley, maybe I don't want you to write a review. :p
It's free either way. $0, Nada, Zilch. But 5 days only Jan 31 - Feb 4.
 
The name of my newest book is irrelevant, it's a self published family history.
I was talking to a friend recently, he's 84 and from Florida, and he mentioned that his mother was from the same small town in Alabama my grandparents and father were from. He loaned me a copy of his mom's book, and in the first chapter I realized his grandparents and my grandparents would have to have known each other very well, they were born within 3 or four years of each other. This will give me a depiction of the life my grandparents lived, something i never got from them.
 
corkybstewart said:
The name of my newest book is irrelevant, it's a self published family history.
I was talking to a friend recently, he's 84 and from Florida, and he mentioned that his mother was from the same small town in Alabama my grandparents and father were from. He loaned me a copy of his mom's book, and in the first chapter I realized his grandparents and my grandparents would have to have known each other very well, they were born within 3 or four years of each other. This will give me a depiction of the life my grandparents lived, something i never got from them.
Click to expand...
It's amazing some of the things I've learned as an older adult, questions I only now have, and there is noone to answer them - all dead.
 

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