What are you currently reading?

[GCoyote]

Interesting Brett. If you or someone would recommend some good sci-fi books, I'd like and appreciate it.

I always loved Jules Verne....

Right now, I'm going to revisit Edgar Allen Poe, of the macabre genre. Personal faves are "Into The Maelstrom", "The Pit And The Pendulum", "The Masque Of The Red Death" (how fitting in terms of Covid-19 today?), "The Tell Tale Heart", on and on.

Trivia: Poe was mentioned in "I Am The Walrus" by the Beatles. Koo koo ka joob!

The Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy

[DEnc]

I finally got around to reading Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain. Wow! A well-earned 4.08 rating with nearly a quarter million ratings on Goodreads.

It's been all the more engaging for me because I caught glimpses of the culinary culture while working summer jobs at the Lake Placid Club and The Sugar Maples (in the Catskills), and part-time jobs in Rochester, NY.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/333 ... nfidential

[KingNothing13]

Interesting Brett. If you or someone would recommend some good sci-fi books, I'd like and appreciate it.

I love anything by Arthur C. Clarke But he's about all I read for the "classics". I've tried reading Asimov's Foundation series - and barely made it through the first book, and stopped a few chapters into the second, as I just couldn't get through it.

Even though each book in the series won the Hugo Award for best novel, the Broken Earth Trilogy is sci-fi on the edges of it - so if you are looking for "hard" sci-fi, I do not think it would be what you are looking for.

One year, I picked up one of those "The Years Best Sci-Fi" compilation books - they were horrible.

Vernor Vinge is "hard" Sci-Fi, twisting Sci-Fi with the Singularity - he series set in that universe is interesting. Not sure of the exact name of the series at this point though, as I read it a while ago, and the books are not in chronological order.

I started "A Memory Called Empire" last night - it is starting out very Sci-Fi - so we'll see!

[Greenman]

The Astrophotography Manual 2 by Chris Woodhead and a Philip Jose Farmer Trilogy on Kindle. Real books Hubble Legacy, present from my son - overview of the last 30 years of images, and the Making of Mankind by Richard rd E Leaky (I used to work in the Physical Anthropology Department of Cambridge University)

Other than PJF all science/hobby focussed... King of nerds :joking:

[SirTalllPaul]

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly, it's good so far but i've not gone back to read it in a while, always finding other things to do instead.

[John999R]

I reached burn out in my last year of college when I had to work full time and carried a full academic load in school. I think it had a traumatic effect and I basically shut down any serious reading. However, years passed and I figured I would try reading as a way to relax, and by doing that a door to discovery opened for me. I read four or five books in a row of varying topics and since I have a strong interest in wildlife conservation, one of the books was "The Secret Lives of BATS". A very eye-opening read that cleared up many misconceptions about bats that were born out of Hollywood scary movies and exaggerated stories of the most misunderstood mammal on earth. I have a new appreciation for bats now. My current read is a study on character and leadership written by Admiral James Stavridis. He previews ten Admirals of historical significance and the modern relevance of "serving your reputation is a poor substitute for serving your character, and that taking time to read and reflect is not a luxury, it's a necessity". The Admiral's case studies of these leaders serve to assist your own voyage through life. Made me realize why we are in a state of chaos due to a lack of leadership. I liked the fact the book didn't sugar coat these individuals, highlighting both the highs and lows of their leadership styles.

I can thank a renewed interest in astronomy for kick-starting my curiosity, a rocky path to say the least. I never realized how frustrating it could be to achieve something as simple as "round stars".

[gregl]

I reached burn out in my last year of college...

When I was in grammar school I read many books but in high school I had a couple of English classes that killed it for me, and it took years before I was able to read for pleasure again. In one I was forced to read a "classic" that was a painful experience of obtuse verbiage that droned on with obscure relevance to modern life or interest. In a second course we'd read something and then beat it to death with analysis and explication. With all the required reading there was no time for reading anything else.

[John999R]

gregl, I totally understand where you are coming from. I faced a similar situation and it was a combination of factors that shut down my curiosity as it applies to read afterward. You have to be motivated to pick up a book, but when you are stymied by what you believe is irrelevant material, its a turn off. I was always that way when it came to math and also later in life I had a learning experience that turned that around when I was attending a math-heavy course designed for traffic accident investigators. I was apprehensive going in knowing my past troubles with math, not liking it didn't help. Fortunately, my roommate was a former Navy fighter pilot and he had a personality profile of calmness and helpfulness that helped damp down my anxiety about math. I undertook tutoring sessions with him after classes and along the way it was like experiencing open doors with keys to solve basic formulas which led to solving more complex problems. Once I started to grasp it I found the experience challenging but also fun working out the problems. For the first time, it was like a load lifted off my shoulders to which I saw math from a different perspective and stopped shutting down at the thought of it. I think the main key to my moving forward was the teacher I had, I recall most math teachers in middle and high school were generally boring, for course, my attitude wasn't in the right place, to begin with, so I share some of the responsibility.

[John999R]

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly, it's good so far but i've not gone back to read it in a while, always finding other things to do instead.

I get distracted as well so that is why I designate my reading time to when I hit the sack. It's something that is repeatable, but the downside depends on how tired I am. I could fall asleep while reading or not recall the content of the last page or two. On the other hand, it does help me relax since I've always had issues falling asleep.

[gregl]

John:

I still have problems with math, but what I learned was on the job, not in class. And it didn't help that my high school math classes were always scheduled right after lunch, which is my nap time! But I did learn how to sleep with my eyes open while sitting in those horrid school desks.

[Sky]

I'm currently reading "The Tripods Trilogy" by John Christopher. The books are loosely based on "The War of the Worlds" novel except the aliens won the war and mankind was almost totally exterminated. Good read!

I'm also concurrently watching the BBC television production of "The Tripods." Unfortunately, I don't believe the BBC ever filmed the third novel, so I'll have to wait until I get to third book to find out how it all ends up.

[pakarinen]

In one I was forced to read a "classic" that was a painful experience of obtuse verbiage that droned on with obscure relevance to modern life or interest. In a second course we'd read something and then beat it to death with analysis and explication.

Sounds like my required Lit. classes in college. Didn't really care about the symbolism of a guy walking his dog.

[John999R]

John:

I still have problems with math, but what I learned was on the job, not in class. And it didn't help that my high school math classes were always scheduled right after lunch, which is my nap time! But I did learn how to sleep with my eyes open while sitting in those horrid school desks.

Hahahahha! How I can relate to your story. The after-lunch doldrums when my seat was next to a large window with the hot sun on me. It was an hour of nodding and fighting back to stay awake, I may have retained 10% of the class, it was torture. I was a pretty good artist so one time I punched out the glass from a pair of reading glasses and drew two eyeballs with colored pencils and cut to fit them in the eyeglass frames. I actually got away with it for an extended period and it helped I was in the back of the class, that is until another student turned around and started laughing at me. Other students joined in which brought me out of my "just resting my eyeballs time" and then the HS Math teacher, Patrick Cannon caught wind of it, ut by the time he did I had already removed the glasses. It was the worst class I have ever taken.

Back to reading, the title of the book I mentioned as my current read is "Sailing True North" and I'm also close to finishing "Death Valley & The Amargosa" A land of Illusion. This is a historical account of the valley, focusing on the mining activity from the mid-1870s to the early 1900s and also detailing Borax mining that made the "Twenty Mule Teams" famous. Throughout the book stories of numerous con men and shady characters abound. All drawn to the valley in search of riches or to prey on those weak-minded souls looking for a quick buck. I bought this book after I completed a four-day motorcycle ride to the valley and back to No. California in 2017. I loved Death Valley and hope to return there, it's magical. I would like to go by motorcycle again, but it would be a very good time to take advantage of the dark skies and get some imaging in too. I can't do that unless I drive. Dang, I bought a Goldwing after selling my Harley, the Harley wasn't suitable as a touring bike on the DV ride, but I know the Goldwing will be.

[gregl]

Ah, John, you and I would get along well. There is a book by photojournalist Jim Richardson titled High School USA in which there is a photo of a girl sitting at an open classroom window, looking out at what appears to be a warm, sunny afternoon. Her face and body language show boredom and thoughts of being elsewhere. Above her on the wall is a poster of Andrew Wyeth's painting, "Christina's World," in which a girl in a similar position looks out into the distance. Jim's caption reads, "There is no greater waste of time than sitting in a classroom on a warm spring day." How I remember sitting in afternoon classes looking out the open window as a warm breeze pulled my mind away from the school work that was so meaningless.


And Death Valley is one of my favorite places. I'll read that book. We've been out there many times. The thing to do is to go to Dante's View well before dawn on New Year's morning and watch the sun come up. Do it either alone or with your s.o. No talking. Feel the winter desert wind blow against you, watch in all directions, and let it seep into your soul.

Then take your scope up to Mesquite Campground in the northern part of the park. I saw DSOs there naked eye that are only visible through a good scope elsewhere. Only then do you begin to understand what the ancients saw in the heavens and the motivations behind their mythology.


___
Although the book was done in 1979, except for the clothes and hair styles the life it depicts remains the same: https://jimrichardson.photoshelter.com/ ... SjLHmpcS5w
http://archive.boston.com/ae/theater_ar ... ies_at_91/

[pakarinen]

Add to the current list of dog-eared books lying around:

The Sun - A Short Introduction
Stars - A Short Introduction
Ancient Egypt - A Short Introduction

Might build a collection of the short intro books.

[Star Dad]

The Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy

OMG - I read 1 and 1/2 of those books. Red Mars was good albeit rather long. Great Martian topograpghy lessons in there. Blue Mars (Second book) got to be super boring as the author got into endless and boring details. I read some reviews on Amazon recently of the books and all were in agreement. Most people did not last through the first book. The remaining majority (like me) gave up halfway through the second. Someday I will try to re-read the second book. But I hate to be reading a book and wake up 30 minutes later and wonder what happened, and then have to go back and repeat.

[John999R]

Ah, John, you and I would get along well. There is a book by photojournalist Jim Richardson titled High School USA in which there is a photo of a girl sitting at an open classroom window, looking out at what appears to be a warm, sunny afternoon. Her face and body language show boredom and thoughts of being elsewhere. Above her on the wall is a poster of Andrew Wyeth's painting, "Christina's World," in which a girl in a similar position looks out into the distance. Jim's caption reads, "There is no greater waste of time than sitting in a classroom on a warm spring day." How I remember sitting in afternoon classes looking out the open window as a warm breeze pulled my mind away from the school work that was so meaningless.


And Death Valley is one of my favorite places. I'll read that book. We've been out there many times. The thing to do is to go to Dante's View well before dawn on New Year's morning and watch the sun come up. Do it either alone or with your s.o. No talking. Feel the winter desert wind blow against you, watch in all directions, and let it seep into your soul.

Then take your scope up to Mesquite Campground in the northern part of the park. I saw DSOs there naked eye that are only visible through a good scope elsewhere. Only then do you begin to understand what the ancients saw in the heavens and the motivations behind their mythology.
___
Although the book was done in 1979, except for the clothes and hair styles the life it depicts remains the same: https://jimrichardson.photoshelter.com/ ... SjLHmpcS5w
http://archive.boston.com/ae/theater_ar ... ies_at_91/

I remember the Wyeth painting, a good example of a picture, or in this case painting is worth a thousand words. I missed going up to Dante's view, next time. But even in my current 30-year non-drinking status, the thought of getting up before dawn would be tough, I'm a night owl. It would have been impossible back in my party animal days, especially on New Years' day, lol.

I'm still waffling on whether to go by car or motorcycle, in any case, something to consider is the time of year you go. I remember the Milky Way was low on the horizon, I think we went in November and my main concern was being there during a New Moon. Next time I'll try and arrange it when the Milky Way is higher up but still in the cooler months. Another consideration, if I go by motorcycle I should pick up one of those mini equatorial mounts and match it to my Canon 60Da and 70-200mm lens. However, it would be a lot more convenient taking my truck, I can then escape the freezing desert nights holed up in the comfort of my truck away from the hotel and surrounding light pollution. On the bike, I would be exposed to the elements with no place to park my body all night. Unfortunately, if I go the truck route I would be a "chase vehicle" instead of riding with a small group of buddies. That doesn't sound like much fun. Oh well, I'll think of something.

[Buckethead 2.0]

I know this is way off topic, but regarding Wyeth, there is a museum of his works in Rockland, Maine if anyone visits the area in the future. Lots and lots of paintings, it is fascinating.

[gregl]

John:
Having been out in Death Valley many times both tent camping and with a truck camper, I'd advise taking a 4-wheel vehicle rather than a two-wheeled one. The wind can come up at any time and you really don't want to be outside during a dust or sand storm. The last time we were there Mesquite Springs campground got snowed in just after we left and we were stuck at Stovepipe Wells because the road out was snowed over. Strange to see CalTrans trucks in Death Valley outfitted with snow plow blades.

[pakarinen]

"There is no greater waste of time than sitting in a classroom on a warm spring day."

Ummm, yeah... Kinda explains my Diff Eq grade.