All About Pocket Knives

Reading this at present, bought 4 at the flea mkt. Saturday for a buck.

bighomer wrote:Reading this at present, bought 4 at the flea mkt. Saturday for a buck.

I like Baldacci and have read a lot of his books but have not gotten to that one yet.

Jerry it's a '98 edition a little different from his normal stuff but a fine read.

Found this one at a thrift store. Picked it up and put it down several times, but after I got past the first chapter it turned out to be a great read. Not your typical Western, more of a historical fiction of the settlement of western Dakotas and eastern Montana cattle ranches. Main character a young well-connected New Yorker who goes hunting in the 1880s west to find himself, becomes a cattle rancher but ends up a powerful politician (mindful of Theodore Roosevelt?).

I'll be looking for more by this author. Was not familiar with him, it turns out he wrote a few that that were made into Hollywood movies (Warlock).

Ken

I read history books in my spare time. Am I weird? Barbara Tuchman is my favorite author. The Guns Of August, ignited in me a love for WW1 history. Her Zimmerman Telegraph read like a spy novel. And her book The First Salute was an amazing read if you are interested in the founding of out nation.
The March Of Folly and her book on General Stilwell in China were both well done. Two of her books won the Pulitzer Prize, The Guns of August and Stilwell. If you like history and have not read her books, do yourself a favor and get her books.
Mark

TwoFlowersLuggage wrote:I'm currently re-reading one of my all-time favorite novels by one of my all-time favorite authors, Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves. An absolute classic of SciFi that won both the Nebula (1972) & Hugo (1973) awards for best novel.

Been a while (40 years) since I read that, but I still remember parts of it.

TFL, (or anyone else) since you are a scifi fan, I would be interested in any seeing the names of any current authors that you like. I guess I am getting old and onery, but I have a hard time finding new scifi writers that I like.

Fair is fair, so I will drop the name Peter F. Hamilton as my favorite scifi author who is still (I hope) writing.

Dinadan wrote: my favorite scifi author who is still (I hope) writing.

According to Wikipedia --- "He is currently working on a new trilogy of books set in a new universe, collectively titled Salvation."

jerryd6818 wrote:

Dinadan wrote: my favorite scifi author who is still (I hope) writing.

According to Wikipedia --- "He is currently working on a new trilogy of books set in a new universe, collectively titled Salvation."

Thanks, Jerry. Maybe I should give Baldacci a try.

Dinadan wrote: Been a while (40 years) since I read that, but I still remember parts of it.

TFL, (or anyone else) since you are a scifi fan, I would be interested in any seeing the names of any current authors that you like. I guess I am getting old and onery, but I have a hard time finding new scifi writers that I like.

Fair is fair, so I will drop the name Peter F. Hamilton as my favorite scifi author who is still (I hope) writing.

Hmm, well, if you read SF, then you probably already know most of my favorites: Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Larry Niven, Arthur C. Clarke, Poul Anderson, Robert Silverberg, Ben Bova and just about any of the other authors found on anyone's "all-time best SF writers" list.

But, here's some more that are not always household names: Vernor Vinge, Connie Willis, Joe Haldeman, William Gibson, Jerry Pournelle, Stephen Baxter, Harry Turtledove, Mike Resnick, Harry Harrison, Richard K. Morgan, Daniel Suarez, Kage Baker...

If you asked me the same question next week, I would probably give you a completely different list...

You'll find a Turtledove recommendation from me a few pages back.

Dinadan wrote:

jerryd6818 wrote:

Dinadan wrote: my favorite scifi author who is still (I hope) writing.

According to Wikipedia --- "He is currently working on a new trilogy of books set in a new universe, collectively titled Salvation."

Thanks, Jerry. Maybe I should give Baldacci a try.

You should. Very entertaining.

Tsar Bomba wrote:You'll find a Turtledove recommendation from me a few pages back.

You bet! The king of alternative history. I've read the entire Worldwar and Southern Victory series. I love alternative history and time-travel stories.

TwoFlowersLuggage wrote:

Dinadan wrote: Been a while (40 years) since I read that, but I still remember parts of it.

TFL, (or anyone else) since you are a scifi fan, I would be interested in any seeing the names of any current authors that you like. I guess I am getting old and onery, but I have a hard time finding new scifi writers that I like.

Fair is fair, so I will drop the name Peter F. Hamilton as my favorite scifi author who is still (I hope) writing.

Hmm, well, if you read SF, then you probably already know most of my favorites: Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Larry Niven, Arthur C. Clarke, Poul Anderson, Robert Silverberg, Ben Bova and just about any of the other authors found on anyone's "all-time best SF writers" list.

But, here's some more that are not always household names: Vernor Vinge, Connie Willis, Joe Haldeman, William Gibson, Jerry Pournelle, Stephen Baxter, Harry Turtledove, Mike Resnick, Harry Harrison, Richard K. Morgan, Daniel Suarez, Kage Baker...

If you asked me the same question next week, I would probably give you a completely different list...

Thanks. I grew up on Heinlein, Clarke, Simak, and Asimov. Later Anderson and Pournelle were two of my favorites: I have read almost all on your list and I may just not remember the others.

Over the past couple of decades David Weber. John Ringo, and David Drake have written some of my favorite scifi. Anyway, sometimes late at night, after midnight, I will have this fantasy that I will discover an author I have never heard of who has published over a dozen books that I like. But when the morning sun rises and burns off the mists and dew I realize just how unlikely that dream really is.

Ahh - yes - Honor Harrington at the helm of a fleet of super dreadnaughts!

Have you read any B.V. Larson? Both the Undying Mercenaries and Star Force series are very good. Also, the Legion of the Damned series by William Dietz.

I usually don't read political books, but I met the two authors and decided that if their writing is as engaging as their conversation, then it might be worth a try. A couple of very interesting gentlemen. They signed a copy for me and I love the inscription.
"Don't ever get tired of WINNING."
https://www.amazon.com/Let-Trump-Be-Ins ... trump+book

I picked these up at a gun show this morning for a song. Quite interesting so far.

Just so no one gets a crick in their neck.........
So on to what I'm currently reading. I'm almost finished with the 4th in the Memory Man series.

I read the first two. Guess I need to get three and four. I like the character and his story.

I have just finished Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, probably for the 6th time. I bought these at Barnes & Noble from their faux leather classic editions display. Nicely done books.

Most everyone should read these and I read long ago that one should read them at different stages in their life as they age and mature. A different perspective is appreciated each time.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the most banned book in America, if not the world. People are turned off by the use of "n****r" throughout the book, but they consistently fail to understand how Twain was using that to condemn slavery and racism.

Even though he grew up in Missouri with an acceptance of slavery, he married a woman from an abolitionist New England family and developed an abhorrence for it and he spoke against it on his world tours and the treatment of minorities wherever he was, whether that was Australia. South Africa, India, etc.

Books are ten dollars each at B & N.

Charlie Noyes

Those are two of my favorites, Charlie!

New John Sandford book, I like reading all his books

New Virgil Flowers book out.

Just finished. Reading now.

royal0014 wrote:A bit late here, but Charlie's post on Twain reminded me of an anecdote I thought to share with Y'all.

I have read both Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn practically since I was old enough to pick up the books.
Every summer break I would read them again. I knew the stories well .. .. ..

Fast forward to senior year of high school. My future bride (Kristina) and I had a Literature class together.
She was quite studious and smart, with consistent good grades. I, on the other hand, muddled through with
barely passing grades. I could read well enough, but Shakespeare and such never spiked my imagination
or curiosity enough. I simply could not grasp the stories . . . .

And then the teacher assigned Tom Sawyer .....
I never even opened the book that semester. Kris struggled with the story. She just could not get interested in it.

When the test was given, I finished quickly and turned in my paper. Kris took nearly the entire class
period to finish her test. I passed easily, while Kris failed, completely out of normal for her.

The next day, the teacher pulled Kris aside and asked why she had exchanged tests with me !!
That, to her, was the only plausible explanation to what had happened to our test scores.
Kris explained to her that we had not cheated or exchanged tests or any other wrong doing.
I was smart enough when I wanted to be .....
Fortunately the teacher believed Kris.

27 years later, and we still laugh over that little time in our lives ....

Great story, Royal!

Ray

Recently discovered a new translation of the Bible, The Voice. (Like I need another Bible ). This translation is a refreshing new approach, formatted like a screenplay. I'm really enjoying reading it - started with Genesis and Exodus, then Ruth. Just finished Luke, now reading Acts. Been jumping around depending on what topics we're talking about at my church.

Ken