softcover books

All posts tagged softcover books

A Rebel in Time - (1983 book), by Harry Harrison image

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(on Wikipedia)
https://www.michaelowencarroll.com/hh/n24.htm [ 1 ] was http://www.harryharrison.com/n24.htm

A man tails a racist who goes back in time to arm the slavers in the upcoming American Civil War.

Fair I guess. Not particularly time travel or science fiction, but once it gets into things it's more of a period piece; not my thing.



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(on Wikipedia)

Kids, the only survivors of a shipwreck, survive on a paradise island.

It's interesting, but not great. I stopped just before reading the chapter "A View to a Death" because it had been boring up to that point, and I could tell it was going to spiral into stupidity without a proper lead and reason for it.

Of Mice and Men - (1937 book), by John Steinbeck cover

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(on Wikipedia)

A too-forgiving man and his stupid brute of a friend travel as farm hands to scrape together money for the dream of owning their own land.

A thriller, a gripping tale ... that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick.

-- The New York Times, who are about as smart as Lenny.

An unforgivably-terrible book. Awful almost beyond reason. Plodding and boring, it's only a "page turner" because it's tauntingly short enough to tear through like ripping off a bandage. But on the plus side, although it's littered with written-accents, it's not difficult to read.. plus the ending is great!

2019-08-07 - Wow, this was so forgettable that I couldn't actually remember reading it until I read the first few paragraphs..

Net Force - (1998 book), by Tom Clancy image

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(on Wikipedia)

In a world where everyday people use the internet through total-sensory virtual reality, a specialist intelligence agency tracks down murderers and terrorists.

Slow and confusing, this book isn't just a challenge to read, it's a challenge to read with a straight face. One of the risks of speculative science fiction is that they can get very, very, wrong in their predictions. This book hand-waives people being transported into a magical world with no explanation as to how it's possible or what it's like. It is vague in everything it demands the reader suspend their disbelief in. It is awed at 900 Mhz computers. This is definitely a 1998 book that had way too much hope for its future.

The Hobbit - (1937 book), by J.R.R. Tolkien cover

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(on Wikipedia)

An unlikely little hero is swept into an travel-adventure through dangerous lands to recapture the lost treasures of a fallen Dwarvish kingdom.

Considered a classic fantasy book, it's definitely a children's book from it's narrative tone. It's slow and awkward in a lot of places, and takes too long to pick up into anything interesting for me. Perhaps it's because I had read it long ago, and perhaps it's because of the staggering quality of its associated movies, but I didn't like it.

Definitely not recommended as an entry into fantasy fiction, in spite of its popularity. Veterans of the genre may as well read this just to say they have.



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Sphere - (1987 book), by Michael Crichton cover

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(on Wikipedia)

The United States Navy discovers a crashed craft, and includes a cross-disciplinary team in its investigation.

I liked it, though I found it rather simple. I had already seen the movie that was inspired by this book, which I really liked, and that likely coloured my views.



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The Chronicles of Narnia cover

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(on Wikipedia)

Some kids are given Lantern rings for transporting around.

I read a decent ways in before getting bored. The combination of language (English-age) and language (audience-age) made it tiring. It's definitely a book to be read aloud to a 10 year old girl, and I respect that. I'd, even, be the one to do the reading aloud.. but not the listening.

This is a seven volume unabridge compilation, presented in the author's intended reading order.

Much Ado About Nothing - (1623 play), by Shakespeare - Signet Classic image

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(on Wikipedia)

An man works to undermine his brother's happiness by meddling with his son's marriage. Also two smart people dual with words.

A pretty good book, though my reading of the Signet Classic was seriously interrupted by footnotes. Not because of the shifting up/down to read them, but because the footnotes are crammed all together. Given that this book is 1/4 commentary, axing one for clearer footnotes would have been amazing. Maybe another edition will be better. I intend to collect many of this particular play.



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the-prince-1910-by-niccolo-machiavelli-cover

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(on Wikipedia)

A tactically-minded man creates an instruction manual for action and understanding in the realm of high-lords of kingdoms.

At under 70 pages, this book may be thin but it's incredibly dense. I found myself reading paragraphs three times before moving on. Although nothing in it surprised me, I can still easily recommend it. It's been, somehow, given a bad name. I only found a slight tinge of "evil" creeping in at about the half-way mark, but nothing inexcusable.

I understood it well enough to add strong commentary, and to give much improved explanation in the latter half which draws from the former. It's interesting to me that the author himself didn't catch on to the trends in his own advice.

Like The Art of War - (~476 BC book), by Sunzi, people have interpreted this text for all manner of uses such as the business world.



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bushido-1924-01-03-book-minoru-tanaka-cover

Entertainment > Reading > samurai >

(on Wikipedia)

A book on Bushido, the old way of the samurai, as created in conversation with an old master-turned-monk.

In a time when the others were softening up, a samurai who had lost his master and left to live in a monastery spoke in hushed tones to a friend about the old ways he grew up in. Although he and others insisted the manuscripts be burned, the promises were broken when they were kept secret. They would be later compiled and published, and even later translated from its original Japanese.

A particularly interesting book. Although most of it is definitely not directly-applicable today, I think anyone who already has a sufficient "wisdom" (whatever that means) will find bits and pieces of insight.



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