What book is on your nightstand? Readers!

[Cameronl]

I've been pecking away at "The Best of H. Allen Smith."

H.A.S. was a popular humorist back in the middle of the last century. He had a trio of best sellers in the 30s of humorous anecdotes about his encounters as a journalist with celebrities and eccentric folks, mostly in NYC and LA.

Today, hardly anyone has heard of him, yet he is responsible for the whole chili cookoff phenomenon!

In 1967, HAS, living in the suburbs of NYC, published a magazine article entitled, "Nobody Knows More About Chili Than I Do." Some Texans took offense to that, including Wick Fowler and Carroll Shelby (yes, that Carroll Shelby). After some good-natured arguments back and forth in the magazine, he was challenged to a chili cookoff to be held in Terlingua, Texas, now home of the national chili cookoffs. Fowler and Shelby both went on to produce chili mixes that are still available today. Smith later published "The Great Chili Confrontation," an entertaining retelling of the events.

 

[MograhmDeadbraid]

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein illustrated version.

 

[sibelman]

The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler's Atomic Bomb by Neal Bascomb. For my book group, else I would never have seen it. Clear prose, and a story of Nazi nuclear scientists, brave Norwegians and their British associates, among others.

 

[beermanpete]

I just finished this. It presents a very different viewpoint of the conflict between Israel and Palistine compared to what is presented in the Amercan media.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Some of the ones I've got on deck:

• Wide Awake by Steven Konkoly: Book 3 of a sort of SpecOps/spy thriller series. The first two were good page-turners but nothing I'd call weighty. But if you're into that genre, give book 1 a shot.
• The Singularity is Nearer by Ray Kurzweil: A follow up to his very famous The Singularity is Near, so if you know (and have read/enjoyed) it, you're probably like me and looking forward to the follow up. In what will become a theme, I realized the book existed when he was interviewed on Bill Maher's program on HBOMax.
• Trust: America's Best Chance by Pete Buttigieg: Don't know much about it. He was also on Bill Maher's show and the reviews were decent. So figure I'll give it a shot.
• What This Comedian Said Will Shock You by Bill Maher: Again. You can imagine how I realize this book exists.
• Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton: Book 1 of a series. I don't know Hamilton, but in my news feed was a story about "7 Hard Sci-Fi Books". IIRC, I looked up one of the books on Amazon and in the reviews they were talking about Hamilton as one of the greats of sci-fi, so instead of the book from that list I ended up with this.
• Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks: Similar to above. Book 1 of a series. Apparently he's also a heavy-hitter of sci-fi that I only heard about via Amazon reviews of OTHER sci-fi books. So I figured I need to give it a shot.
• Loka by S.B. Divya: Book 2 of a series that I pre-ordered something like 16 months ago after reading the first book, and it was just released. Sci-fi with a heavy emphasis on genetic engineering and design. Very interesting. We'll see where book 2 goes.

Been loading these up for the plane ride to/from Ireland where I'll be heading in ~6 weeks.

 

[corkybstewart]

Captain Cook's Third and Final Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. It's a part of history I was really ignorant of.

 

[jdauria]

Currently reading Worst Case Scenario by T.J, Newman. This is her latest release, her third of her thrillers about airplane disasters.

 

[passedpawn]

Captain Cook's Third and Final Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. It's a part of history I was really ignorant of.

I read his biography a year or two ago. Captivating.

 

[estricklin]

Some of the ones I've got on deck:

• Wide Awake by Steven Konkoly: Book 3 of a sort of SpecOps/spy thriller series. The first two were good page-turners but nothing I'd call weighty. But if you're into that genre, give book 1 a shot.
• The Singularity is Nearer by Ray Kurzweil: A follow up to his very famous The Singularity is Near, so if you know (and have read/enjoyed) it, you're probably like me and looking forward to the follow up. In what will become a theme, I realized the book existed when he was interviewed on Bill Maher's program on HBOMax.
• Trust: America's Best Chance by Pete Buttigieg: Don't know much about it. He was also on Bill Maher's show and the reviews were decent. So figure I'll give it a shot.
• What This Comedian Said Will Shock You by Bill Maher: Again. You can imagine how I realize this book exists.
• Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton: Book 1 of a series. I don't know Hamilton, but in my news feed was a story about "7 Hard Sci-Fi Books". IIRC, I looked up one of the books on Amazon and in the reviews they were talking about Hamilton as one of the greats of sci-fi, so instead of the book from that list I ended up with this.
• Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks: Similar to above. Book 1 of a series. Apparently he's also a heavy-hitter of sci-fi that I only heard about via Amazon reviews of OTHER sci-fi books. So I figured I need to give it a shot.
• Loka by S.B. Divya: Book 2 of a series that I pre-ordered something like 16 months ago after reading the first book, and it was just released. Sci-fi with a heavy emphasis on genetic engineering and design. Very interesting. We'll see where book 2 goes.

Been loading these up for the plane ride to/from Ireland where I'll be heading in ~6 weeks.

I know I've mentioned Peter F. Hamilton several times already in this thread, but he really is great. I think he's significantly more popular in the UK though.

 

[Willy]

A bunch of Ken Follet books (pillar of fire, world without end, and others), The Mysterious Case of Rudolph Diesel, Essays of GK Chesterton, and How to Brew.

 

[estricklin]

Anyone read Ender's Game series? One of our engineers at work raved about it to me yesterday while we were all drinking at the end of the day.

 

[Jonakr]

Anyone read Ender's Game series? One of our engineers at work raved about it to me yesterday while we were all drinking at the end of the day.

Yeah, moderately ok, but serious religious overtones.

 

[TheCache]

Anyone read Ender's Game series? One of our engineers at work raved about it to me yesterday while we were all drinking at the end of the day.

I read the first few, can't remember how far I went, maybe 3 or 4 titles. I loved the first two and the third was good, but as they went on they became easier to put down. Probably why I never realized how many books are in the series... wow. Maybe I'll try some of the later ones and see how they are. The first two, for me, were unforgettable. They were written well enough that I refuse to see the movie which I fear would just ruin my memory of the books. It's just a great story with enough of metaphysical/moral emphasis to give the characters some depth.

Card is a deeply religious writer, which I don't mind at all, but by the time I hit the 3rd or 4th book it seemed kind of forced and I felt like I was stumbling over that emphasis to keep track of the story emphasis.

But again, the first two at least are great SciFi and certainly worth the read.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I think I read all 5, and although I'd probably think myself sensitive to overt religious overtones, don't remember anything irking me.

 

[Rish]

This is a first hand account of how gruesome, frightening, exhausting and savage combat is. I've read a number of historical books about WWII but none from the direct perspective of a Marine on the front lines. Very moving and humbling.

 

[beermanpete]

Fascinating. I had no idea how important salt has been throughout history.

 

[Pkrd]

I just finished "Caging Skies" which is the book Jojo Rabbit is based on. The little nazi kid doesn't have any of the redeeming features he does in the movie. Great read.

 

[estricklin]

This is a first hand account of how gruesome, frightening, exhausting and savage combat is. I've read a number of historical books about WWII but none from the direct perspective of a Marine on the front lines. Very moving and humbling.
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I would suggest checking out "Helmet for My Pillow" by Robert Leckie, a very good first hand account of World War II as well.


Does anyone have any recommendations for books of schematics, in particular looking for some RF circuit inspirations. "RF Circuit Design" by Christopher Bowick looks pretty good, and is available on the Kindle.

 

[passedpawn]

I would suggest checking out "Helmet for My Pillow" by Robert Leckie, a very good first hand account of World War II as well.


Does anyone have any recommendations for books of schematics, in particular looking for some RF circuit inspirations. "RF Circuit Design" by Christopher Bowick looks pretty good, and is available on the Kindle.

I have books here, but there is a lot of very good Youtubers out there. Many of them are Ham radio operators with an electronics background. Some real hands-on stuff there. I’m doing some RF design right now. Nothing more illuminating than getting a VNA and hooking it up to various antennas and circuits.

 

[user 246304]

Coming back to a pretty old love of classical history, including the great series my the popular historian Michael Grant. Currently, finishing up a re-read of Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland. A nice tight little work covering a pretty sweeping time.

That, and as I'm back in the water (covering 4200 yards daily now, 5-6 days/week - plan is to increase total daily by 10% week by week; and increasing my tolerance for threshold, intensive interval and speed training throughout), I read and loved Kate Ledecky's autobiography, Just Add Water. Also reading excellent work by the 5' 2", Olympic Gold champion, World Triathlon Champion, and pentathlon Olympian Sheila Taormina. Changing my freestyle stroke after 40 years, and her book (Freestyle) Swim Speed Secrets is excellent. Michael Phelps' autobiography No Limits is on deck.

 

[estricklin]

I have books here, but there is a lot of very good Youtubers out there. Many of them are Ham radio operators with an electronics background. Some real hands-on stuff there. I’m doing some RF design right now. Nothing more illuminating than getting a VNA and hooking it up to various antennas and circuits.

I've been watching a lot of Youtube on the subject as well. I'm trying to build a super het FM radio broadcast receiver, and eventually a 2 meter transceiver. For years I wasn't messing with electronics too much, I was so focused on learning to code so I could get a job doing it. Now I'm waiting on some PCBs from China, so was looking for some stuff to read in the mean time. Planning to order a scope in the next couple of weeks as well, maybe get a spectrum analyzer soon too.


I have nothing to report to the thread for books I've read lately, my completion for the past few weeks is a big fat goose egg.

 

[passedpawn]

This one is a pageturner. No, not literature. The book keeps telling you it's not jurassic park, but it is. I like it a lot, great book for travel for sure. Almost finished with it.

https://a.co/d/24dFILr​

 

[MaxStout]

Currently reading this one. I'm normally not a fan of celebrity autobiographies, even celebrities I admire. Too self-indulgent. But after reading some reviews, this seemed different so I ordered it from Amazon. I'm a big Rush fan, but you don't have to be to enjoy this book. It starts off about Geddy's early life, and the experiences his parents endured during the Holocaust. Then on to his musical adventures and the band's rise to fame.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Currently reading this one. I'm normally not a fan of celebrity autobiographies, even celebrities I admire. Too self-indulgent. But after reading some reviews, this seemed different so I ordered it from Amazon. I'm a big Rush fan, but you don't have to be to enjoy this book. It starts off about Geddy's early life, and the experiences his parents endured during the Holocaust. Then on to his musical adventures and the band's rise to fame.

View attachment 862598

I'm a RUSH fan. I have read all of Neil Peart's books and just yesterday I was looking at this book from Geddy. Thanks for the nudge!

 

[MaxStout]

I'm a RUSH fan. I have read all of Neil Peart's books and just yesterday I was looking at this book from Geddy. Thanks for the nudge!

I read Ghost Rider several years ago. Helped get me through a rough patch after I lost my parents in the same year.

Hope you enjoy My Effin' Life.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I read Ghost Rider several years ago. Helped get me through a rough patch after I lost my parents in the same year.

Hope you enjoy My Effin' Life.

I have read Ghost Rider several times, I can relate. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Dgallo]

I'm a RUSH fan. I have read all of Neil Peart's books and just yesterday I was looking at this book from Geddy. Thanks for the nudge!

My dad (still alive, 65) listen to 60-80s rock and he was big into the southern rock movement so eagles, Lenard, CCR, rainbow, & ZZtop were his jam, but he always loved rush. The rush documentary on Netflix was something we watched together and it was a beautiful thing so see his nostalgia while we watch.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

My dad (still alive, 65) listen to 60-80s rock and he was big into the southern rock movement so eagles, Lenard, CCR, rainbow, & ZZtop were his jam, but he always loved rush. The rush documentary on Netflix was something we watched together and it was a beautiful thing so see his nostalgia while we watch.

I live that every day, same music. Glad you can enjoy your dad . . . . but he's younger than me.

 

[Dgallo]

I live that every day, same music. Glad you can enjoy your dad . . . . but he's younger than me.

Thanks! We have a pretty cool connection to music. My dad owns a flower nursery in Woodstock NY. He shares a property line with the late Levon helm wnd we were lucky enough to get to know him and his daughter Amy pretty well. My uncle Perry became a member of his stage crew for his rambles and I got in for free as a kid (which looking back now is wild lol.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Thanks for the rec... Also a Rush fan so I just picked it up on Kindle.