Good Reads - Discussion of Books, Literature, Reading, etc.

[Bookmem]

3 hours ago, V.T. Eric Layton said:

I wasn't talking about the older "trilogies" and such. I've read all that. I was talking about modern publishers' pushing authors to serialize and endlessly spoon feed their reader fan base for eternity all in the interest of JACKING UP THAT BOTTOM LINE for the greedy publishers.

Yeah, it depends on the series.  Right now I'm in the middle of re-reading the Honor Harrington series by David Weber.  About 20 books and one of my all time favorites.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Heh... just the other day I was reading a John D. MacDonald "Travis McGee" book... one or MANY he wrote. The difference back then, though, was that the stories end with each book. They do not drag on for volumes like the proverbial "never ending story".

 

An example of the never ending series would be _Game of Thrones_ books by George R.R. Martin . I read the first three in the series years ago. No more. There are prequels, sequels, stand-alones, etc. in this same series these days. The fellow is quite prolific.

 

I guess I'm old fashioned. I like books like _Moby Dick_ that have a beginning, a middle, and an END! I wouldn't have wanted to read 15 Melville more books that continued Ishmael's adventures.  

 

Meh... just me, I guess.

[crp]

On 9/30/2022 at 1:41 PM, V.T. Eric Layton said:

Heh... just the other day I was reading a John D. MacDonald "Travis McGee" book... one or MANY he wrote.

I read all the colors.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

11 hours ago, crp said:

I read all the colors.

 

HA! Yes, he was a "colorful" writer.

[Bookmem]

On 9/30/2022 at 3:41 PM, V.T. Eric Layton said:

Heh... just the other day I was reading a John D. MacDonald "Travis McGee" book... one or MANY he wrote. The difference back then, though, was that the stories end with each book. They do not drag on for volumes like the proverbial "never ending story".

 

An example of the never ending series would be _Game of Thrones_ books by George R.R. Martin . I read the first three in the series years ago. No more. There are prequels, sequels, stand-alones, etc. in this same series these days. The fellow is quite prolific.

 

I guess I'm old fashioned. I like books like _Moby Dick_ that have a beginning, a middle, and an END! I wouldn't have wanted to read 15 Melville more books that continued Ishmael's adventures.  

 

Meh... just me, I guess.

Do you remember his book "Condominium"?  Just looking at the Ian damage reminded me of his predictions about the danger of building on barrier islands and coastal regions.

Edited October 3, 2022 by Bookmem

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Nope. Never read that one, but it looks like it could be directly from some of today's news stories...

 

Condominium by John D. MacDonald | Goodreads

 

 

Quote

Welcome to Golden Sands, the dream condominium built on a weak foundation and a thousand dirty secrets.
Here is a panoramic look at the shocking facts of life in a Sun Belt community -- the real estate swindles and political payoffs, the maintenance charges that run up and the health benefits that run out . . . the crackups and marital breakdowns . . . the disaster that awaits those who play in the path of the hurricane . . . .

 

[Bookmem]

2 hours ago, V.T. Eric Layton said:

Nope. Never read that one, but it looks like it could be directly from some of today's news stories...

 

Condominium by John D. MacDonald | Goodreads

 

 

 

If you read the Travis McGee novels, then you should know his best friend was a professor of economics.  John D. wasn't just a good writer, he was also very astute.  Rich people aren't stupid.  The only reason they build where they know nature will destroy their property is because the govt provides "flood insurance" that no insurance co. would grant otherwise.

Edited October 3, 2022 by Bookmem

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Well, it's basically a book discussion thread here, but we don't want to have it morph into a political/economic discussion, as we here at Scot's don't care to tread in that area... but yes, I understand what you're saying, @Bookmem.

[abarbarian]

Anyone looking to surf z-lib.org will be met with

 

 

[V.T. Eric Layton]

You're about two weeks late with that news tip.

[sunrat]

A pirate site shut down? I'm shocked! Well, not that shocked.

Plenty of alternatives - Z-Library Alternatives

[abarbarian]

18 hours ago, V.T. Eric Layton said:

You're about two weeks late with that news tip.

 

Story of my life.

[crp]

The Lightening Tamers    ,   The lightning Tamers - Bing - Shopping

 

[abarbarian]

What a Sixty-Five-Year-Old Book Teaches Us About A.I.

 

Quote

Luckily for us, thoughtful people long ago anticipated the rise of artificial intelligence and wrestled with some of the thornier issues. I’m thinking in particular of Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, two farseeing writers, both now deceased, who, in 1958, published an early examination of this topic. Their book—the third in what was eventually a fifteen-part series—is “Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine.”

 

I was an avid sci-fi reader when I was a child but never came across any mention of the Danny Dunn books over here in good ol' blighty.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn

 

[abarbarian]

A breadcrumb trail started by a chance following of a link found from researching my last post.

 

https://www.isfdb.org/

 

Quote

The ISFDB is a community effort to catalog works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It links together various types of bibliographic data: author bibliographies, publication bibliographies, award listings, magazine content listings, anthology and collection content listings, and forthcoming books.

 

What a fabulous site. They have a authors "Born on this day" page. Todays contained many that I had never heard of so I chose one at random.

 

Sylvia Spruck Wrigley

 

Strange that the fickle finger of fate would lead me to an unknown author who had Estonian links.

 

I Google searched one of the book titles which got me to this site where you can find free to read fiction.

 

https://www.freesfonline.net/authors/Sylvia Spruck_Wrigley.html

 

From there I followed three crumbs. One to this site where you can read free sci-fi.

 

https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/postmark-andromeda/sylvia-spruck-wrigley/the-sex-adventurers-handbook-to-kuiper-belt-resorts

 

An one to here where you can read for free,

 

Project daffodil  Sylvia Spruck Wrigley

 

Where I got side tracked for a moment as NATURE is a most fascinating journal,

 

https://www.nature.com/nature/history-of-nature

 

Quote

History of Nature

A note on Nature’s archive

Nature’s archive comprises all the content published since the journal’s launch in 1869;  it includes some images, articles and language that by twenty-first-century standards are offensive and harmful, including sexist, racist and other discriminatory content. This content does not represent Nature’s current values and would be unacceptable to publish today. We have not sought to suppress it because it is part of the scientific and historical record, and so should remain available for scholars now and in the future. Nature is committed to making the changes necessary to ensure that it learns from its past and creates a publication that champions science for everyone.

 

Back on track I arrived here where you can read for free,

 

https://www.wattpad.com/stories/science-fiction

 

An finally  to here where you can read for free in english or Estonian,

 

https://www.algernon.ee/seksituristi_k2siraamat

 

Quote

On the first EstCon in summer 1998 it was decided that there should be some output for stories from beginning authors and also for news about sf/f/h in Estonia and in the world. As using paper seeds too old-fashioned, webzine Algernon was founded; the first number was published in November 1998. (The name is taken from Daniel Keyes' story “Flowers for Algernon” that happened also to be the title of the one and only collection of western science fiction we had in the Soviet era.) In the beginning there were many authors with lots of stories in their drawers. It's not so any more and instead of monthly Algernon has turned into quarterly. Since 2000 the editors have been selecting what goes and what doesn't - and trying to give some advice to authors of stories not considered on the necessary level yet.

We do publish translations from other languages. Not only from English – in Estonia there are long traditions to translate from originals. Warning: not publishing everything sent to us goes about foreign authors too. We will translate your stories only if we like 'em and find 'em in some way good examples for our beginning authors to learn from.

 

Talking of breadcrumbs it is almost lunchtime.

 

[abarbarian]

Write a book, elevate your profile, build a business - Upload ideas and beginner tips to get you started

 

Excellent site even for those of you who do not write if you know what I mean.

[crp]

On 3/7/2023 at 1:36 AM, abarbarian said:

What a Sixty-Five-Year-Old Book Teaches Us About A.I.

 

 

I was an avid sci-fi reader when I was a child but never came across any mention of the Danny Dunn books over here in good ol' blighty.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn

 

wow, hadn't thought of those books in decades. I actually recall 'Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine' but do not remember much else than the title. 

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I don't remember Danny Dunn books at all... maybe my older brother would. I'll have to ask him.

[crp]

On 5/7/2023 at 1:30 PM, V.T. Eric Layton said:

I don't remember Danny Dunn books at all... maybe my older brother would. I'll have to ask him.

I even remember the cover, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn_and_the_Homework_Machine

- but not the contents.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles - a Review

[crp]

Blue Highways 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63832.Blue_Highways

 

never thought of it as being "hippie". 

[V.T. Eric Layton]

That looks interesting, @crp.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Any Rock & Roll fans out here? You MUST read this book that I just finished recently:

 

Riders on the Storm: My Life with Jim Morrison and the Doors by John Densmore – a review

[crp]

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-lightning-tamers-kathy-joseph/book/9798985981308.html

 

True Stories of the Dreamers and Schemers Who Harnessed Electricity and Transformed Our World