Whatcha reading?

[Randi]

I was randomly assigned to the HMS Otranto, an Armed Merchant Cruiser which seems to be cruising off South America in the logs I'm working on now. Interestingly (to me) this ship appears to have been instrumental in the Battle of Coronel, having spotted the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to begin the brouhaha (in which Maximilian Graf Spee beat the tar out of the RN, the rotter).

Sorry to ramble...I bring this up because one of my favorite naval fiction works intimately concerns this very time and theater: "Thunder at Dawn", part of the David Cochrane Smith series, by Alan Evans. I strongly recommend this book for a vivid look at life in the coal-fired RN off South America in WWI, aboard the fictional light cruiser H.M.S. Thunder ("Had to call 'er Thunder, didn't they? Couldn't've very well called her Lightning!")

Actually, I'm also interested to note that Otranto met her end off the island of Islay, whose marvelous exports I enjoy on so many occasions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islay_whisky

Link to archive of this discussion from the old forum

[Randi]

Continuing on my habit of listening to books while I work on whaling logbooks, I decided to completely commit to being a total nerd and listen to Moby-Dick (which I had not read in years and years). I can recommend the 2018 recording narrated by Pete Cross as a pretty good version to listen to. It's got a lot of energy and I feel the voice for Ishmael is pretty good. I alternated between listening to that and music for awhile but I've finished it now and have been looking for something new.

In the world of physical books, I finally got around to reading "The Invention of Angela Carter" which is a very good, lengthy biography if that's your sort of thing.

One thing I would love to do is to read at the annual New Bedford Whaling Museum marathon non-stop read of Moby Dick.

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https://www.whalingmuseum.org/programs/ ... k-marathon
The New Bedford Whaling Museum's Moby-Dick Marathon celebrates Herman Melville's literary masterpiece with a 25-hour nonstop public reading of the book during a weekend of activities and events. Our annual event started in 1997 and is now considered one of the world's best known readathons.

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There are episodes of the readings linked to the above site.

Not sure I have time for Angela Carter right now - but I'll put it on a reading list

[Morgan]

Not that it has anything to do with navigation or weather, but the thoughtful respect for history makes me think this group might like the book I just finished; The Better Angeles of our Nature By Steven Pinkerton. I know I have never read a 700 page book before- but we are in a pandemic- I have time.
I don't agree with all he has to say- but he makes a good case for the world in a positive light. The book is a mostly scientific analysis of violence and the decrease over time- from hunter-gathers through the 1980's. 700 pages seems a bit excessive, however, he complied volumes of related information in one place with ample footnotes for those who want to know more. As a woman "of some certain age" in a technical world, I have long agreed there are no "Good old Days." With luck, the best is still ahead of us. He wrote the book a few years ago, but it is uncanny how timely it is from my perspective.
I have a rather sacred respect for books, but I threw the notion out the window with this one; I WROTE IN IT, I underlined sections, I wrote commentary, I circled words I did not know (an embarrassing amount of circles) but overall it was not hard reading (except for some graphic portions.)
Not that everything is fair, safe or perfect in the world today- but it has been worse.
Morgan

[Michael]

I'll add it to my list. Thank you...

[AvastMH]

It sounds like a great book to dig deep with Morgan. Like Michael I'll add it to my list too. Having benefitted from modern healthcare on a couple of occasions I'm sure that this is a good time to be living in...but we have new problems now and those need solving. It'll be interesting to hear how those are thought through

[Randi]

Fifty-one books I have absolutely no intention of reading!

50 States, 50 Scares
Before you pick up one of these hair-raising, shiver-inducing novels, you’re going to want to close the curtains and check the locks (twice).

[AvastMH]

Fifty-one books I have absolutely no intention of reading!

50 States, 50 Scares
Before you pick up one of these hair-raising, shiver-inducing novels, you’re going to want to close the curtains and check the locks (twice).

Sadly can't access the list so might get caught out by one of them one of these days. Anything scary is lost on me. I'm still worrying about monsters under the bed. Anything beyond that is way too much.

[Morgan]

Here is another one: "The Constitution of Knowledge- A Defense of Truth" by Jonathon Rauch. It is a little slow going (I have to look up too many of the words) but it has got me to thinking. Starting with ancient philosophers who asked "What is truth?" he carries it quickly into current events (at least in the US.) He describes a critical system (as in one that questions or provides criticism) of society' establishing what we believe as reality. No one gets the final say and No one has personal authority. He points out the short term benefits and long term problems with all of society thinking the same way. I would recommend it to a couple friends, but while the author lays out his arguments very effectively, he shows his political side a little to directly for some more conservative folks to continue on past their own ideas of reality.

[studentforever]

For people who wondered just how they produced vaccines try "Vaxxers" by Sarah Gilbert and Catherine Green who were key players in the Astra Zeneca vaccine development. It might help to explain to sceptics just how they did get through the testing safely and rapidly. As a retired academic the description of university admin and grant application reminds me only too vividly of the parts of the job I was happy to leave behind.

[mfpif]

So I was the dramaturg for my school's production of One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace this past spring (super great play set in 1665 London in a house under quarantine from the plague), and because one of the characters has spent a lot of time as an impressed sailor for the navy, it led me to some books that I think this crowd might find interesting
Right now I've been getting back into Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Marcus Rediker, which is a history of the Anglo-American Maritime world 1700-1750. It's kind of a working-class history in that he really focuses on the lives and experiences of the sailors, and I've found his writing to be really engaging. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/770 ... kHI&rank=3

[Michael]

[Randi]

Thanks! That sounds interesting.
We had some floggings in our earliest logs, and there have been plenty of people confined in double irons.

[Morgan]

I going to start "Starry Messenger- A Cosmic Perspective by Neil De Grass-Tyson. I had the chance to hear him speak last night. Both very entertaining and very thought provoking. He spoke of David Hillis whose work I will also have to look up. Hillis has a "tree of Life " diagram that shows we are more closely related to mushrooms than green plants. http://www.zo.utexas.edu/faculty/antise ... estol.html THis will take some chewing and contemplating.

[Michael]

[arboggs]

When you're finished with that, if you want another great read about mushrooms that will totally change your perspective then I recommend "Entangled Life" by Merlin Sheldrake. Absolutely one of the most fascinating books on fungus I've ever read.

[Morgan]

Thanks, I will certainly check it out.