What Books are you Reading (2024)

[a3tsw]

[VocalNeal]

Where does one purchase books? Are there any good sellers on, say, Shopee for instance?

[scottiejohn]

10 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Where does one purchase books? Are there any good sellers on, say, Shopee for instance?

Just download them for free

Library Genesis (libgen.is)

Edited May 13 by scottiejohn

[TimBKK]

[BritManToo]

9 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Just download them for free

Library Genesis (libgen.is)

Z Library is much better ............

Currently reading 'the Gray Man' thriller series by Matt Greaney

 

Thanks Tim, I'll give The Wager a look.

Edited May 13 by BritManToo

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Z Library is much better ............

Currently reading 'the Gray Man' thriller series by Matt Greaney

 

Thanks Tim, I'll give The Wager a look.

I use both! 

[Prubangboy]

Narcotopia, about the decades-long collusion of the CIA with Burmese opium growers (who were also headhunters) is the best Asian-interest page turner since SnakeHead. Read it in thee 100 page blasts.

[Gormo_]

The Magus. It is a little too basic for me. 

[OneMoreFarang]

Currently I read this one. 

I read many of his books years ago. He has a very special style and I like that style. Part of that style is that at the beginning lots of things happen which seem to be independent from each other, and mostly boring. And then, slowly everything grows together more and more. And a boring beginning becomes a page turner book.

I am still at the beginning with this one, but things start developing...

 

 

[Ben Zioner]

On 4/24/2024 at 12:34 PM, GammaGlobulin said:

I am reading this during the end of the HOT SEASON:

 

a. I am moving back to Linux, and dumping Windows, for now and future.

b. I have, in the past, been attacked by ransomware, and it is real.

c. I like the author.

d.  The book has received good reviews. (But, this is not about MASTERING but more like an less in-depth look.)

e. As Windows moves to AI, and a new focus on designing for the consumer-masses, the silent majority of social media know-nothings, I will enjoy openSUSE Leap for the coming years.  And so, it will be good to know more about LInux Security and Ransomware attacks, etc.

 

Mastering Linux Security and Hardening Third Edition

 

This guy even LOOKS like a hacker, too!

 

 

And, he owns an Edsel!

 

 

What does "hardening" refer to?

[OneMoreFarang]

On 3/15/2024 at 5:08 AM, Mediappy said:

Currently, I'm diving back into the magical world of Hogwarts by re-reading the Harry Potter books in order. It's like revisiting an old friend and rediscovering the wonders of Hogwarts all over again.
If you're still looking for reading material, I highly recommend revisiting the Harry Potter books. They never fail to captivate and enchant, no matter how many times you've read them. Happy reading, and may your literary adventures be as spellbinding as ever!

I started reading the books after I saw the first movie.

I liked the movie, and I liked the books. And I was always a book ahead before I saw the movie.

 

I read that JK Rowling had problems publishing her books at the beginning and first I wondered why.

I found out when I finally read the first book, after I read the whole series from the 2nd book onwards after I saw the movie.

With most books there are many more details in the books then in later film productions.

With Harry Potter, at least with the first book, the opposite is true. The film adds so many details which make it a wonderful story. Those details are not in the book. 

But after seeing the movie it was so much easier to imagine the book.

So, in case anybody didn't read them yet, I recommend watch the first movie before you read the first book.

 

 

 

[fredwiggy]

Last few were Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, Lightfoot by Nicholas Jennings and The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill.

[GammaGlobulin]

3 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

What does "hardening" refer to?

 

In terms of what?

 

For example:

 

a.  Hardening of arteries is a bad thing.

b.  Hardening of one's member is often a good thing, which signifies that one's arteries are not yet hard enough that this might preclude hardening of one's member.

b2.  I am sure you know that hardening of arteries leads to the inability to stay hard, due to less blood flow, and SOFTENING, in fact.

b3.  So softening is bad, in this respect, and hardening is always good, especially in the mornings.

c.  Hardening, in terms of security hardening, just means that one tries to harden a target, such as a tank, or a computer system, or a computer network, against malicious attack.

d. Then, you have hardheadedness, which is often seen as being counterproductive to progress.

e.  In cooking, you have hardening, too, of course.

f.  Hardening of the coating on one's computer tables, in my case, means waiting for the Banana Wood tables, I coated with a great coating, to harden, and become useful, and impervious to almost any kind of staining, or beer, or almost anything.  Yes, I put THREE COATS of finish on my many computer tables made of Banana Wood, just to make sure they were hardened enough for my liking.

g.  Should I go on?  Or, is this enough....for now?

 

 

 

 

[Utalk2mutt]

On 5/14/2024 at 7:53 AM, scottiejohn said:

I use both! 

Another worth trying is oceanofpdf.com  no registration required just straight into downloading

[ExpatOilWorker]

Unbroken. Fantastic book.

 

Edited July 3 by ExpatOilWorker

[jaywalker2]

I've been reading "Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization" by Edward Singerland, which, as the title implies, is about the important role alcohol has played in most cultures. Interesting reading especially now that alcohol is under attack for its alleged health hazards.

 

I also read the two Penguin books, "Death and the Penguin" and "Penguin Lost" by Andrei Kurkov, a Ukranian writer. Highlights the sad politics of Ukraine through the eyes of a would be novelist who has  been reduced to writing obituaries of people who are about to die. Kafkeque is the way I would describe it.

 

 

[zmisha]

As a Z-Russian, I like to read this american book

[LarryLEB]

I recently finished the 3-volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmond Morris:  The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex, and Colonel Roosevelt (and I'm not even American!).  Beautifully written, wonderfully detailed, and extensively referenced.  I see why it's often referred to as the definitive biography of "Teddy."  Great owning a Kindle!

 

Currently, I'm nearly finished The Complete Adventures of Feluda (volumes 1 and 2) by Satyajit Ray (the director of the acclaimed 1955 film, Pater Panchali).  These volumes are a collection of fictional short stories about an Indian private detective based in Calcutta.  His cases take him throughout India.  (also on Kindle)

 

Recently also was Second-Hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich.  The author (Nobel Prize winner) interviewed dozens of witnesses to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

 

Next in line is Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. 

 

Read much?  I'm a book junkie.

[oobar]

Just passed page 5,200 of the 6,000 pages making up the complete works of Thomas Wolfe.   Truly an amazing writer.

[retarius]

On 4/10/2024 at 4:24 PM, RuamRudy said:

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zout by David Mitchell

 

A novel set in late 18th century Japan and the involvement of the Dutch East India Company there. I am really enjoying it, although i have yet to read a David Mitchell book that I didn't enjoy. 

I've read all of David Mitchell's books. Amazing stuff. This particular one is my least favourite. Cloud Atlas and Bone Clocks are him at his very best I think. 

[n00dle]

On 7/1/2024 at 10:02 PM, GammaGlobulin said:

.  Should I go on?  Or, is this enough....for now?

you really are nothing more than a waste of time. 

[yankyoakum]

just finished "Time enough for Love" Robert Heinlein for the 5th time in 50 yrs.  Great book Sci-fi old school... Need to hit the book shop in Pattaya but could not find the old location...  need some new reading material

[WDSmart]

- Cap'n Billy

- Kepler-438b

- The Gliese Project (a set of four books)

----- Helios

----- Kratos

----- Aeolus

----- Demeter

- Jihad: Path to Heaven

- The Seven Scepters of the Apocryph

- Humanity First

- The Icarus Syndrome

[RuamRudy]

3 hours ago, retarius said:

I've read all of David Mitchell's books. Amazing stuff. This particular one is my least favourite. Cloud Atlas and Bone Clocks are him at his very best I think. 

 

Funnily enough I enjoyed it up until the last chapter when it seemed that he had run out of steam and wanted to finish it quickly - lots of loose ends were servered rather than tied off. 

 

My favourite book of his has to be the first I read, Number 9 Dream, but the only way I could get through that was skipping the Goat writer chapters entirely. 

[ChrisKC]

On 12/31/2023 at 7:57 PM, CharlieH said:

 

 

When he writes it, "Crime and Punishment" by Donald Trump - from his prison cell!

[TimBKK]

On 6/10/2024 at 8:12 PM, Prubangboy said:

Narcotopia, about the decades-long collusion of the CIA with Burmese opium growers (who were also headhunters) is the best Asian-interest page turner since SnakeHead. Read it in thee 100 page blasts.

I want to second this recommendation - Narcotopia is a thoroughly enjoyable read.  Touches on Thailand in many instances, as you might imagine.  Non-fiction (and thoroughly cited) but reads like a novel at times.  
 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145624870-narcotopia

 

https://theworld.org/contributors/patrick-winn (Author)

 

 

Edited August 14 by TimBKK
formatting

[Will B Good]

'Khrushchev Remembers'......but I have a suspicion his memory might be a little suspect

[Moonlover]

 

 

I've recently been absolutely captivated by the 'Cicero' trilogy by Robert Harris. I've never had much interest in Roman history erstwhile, but this series, although a novel, stills holds true to events of that period and it is an amazing read. When I see 'Quotes by Cicero' which is quite often, they really mean something to me now.

 

So I went in search of 'similar books'  I came up with 'When We Where Gods'. a novel by Colin Falconer based on the life of Cleopatra. It too is intertwined with Rome of the same period. Equally fascinating. And as I lived in Egypt for 7 years, this book was of particular interest to me.

[Lacessit]

Doing a legal bender at present, just finished the Michael Connolly series of Mickey Haller. The Lincoln Lawyer etc.

 

Starting on Steve Martini's series of Paul Madriani.

[Enoon]

16 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

 

I've recently been absolutely captivated by the 'Cicero' trilogy by Robert Harris. I've never had much interest in Roman history erstwhile, but this series, although a novel, stills holds true to events of that period and it is an amazing read. When I see 'Quotes by Cicero' which is quite often, they really mean something to me now.

 

So I went in search of 'similar books'  I came up with 'When We Where Gods'. a novel by Colin Falconer based on the life of Cleopatra. It too is intertwined with Rome of the same period. Equally fascinating. And as I lived in Egypt for 7 years, this book was of particular interest to me.

 

I know I've read and enjoyed "Imperium" but not sure if I have read either of the following two.

 

Perhaps you know enough of Egypt to want to read this, but it opened my eyes to enough things to have made it worthwhile for me: