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Fireblossom
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14 Oct 2022, 10:40 am

Of Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts

Second part of a trilogy. I finished the first part a few days ago, and am gonna look for the final part from the library tomorrow. Couldn't find it when I borrowed the second part, it was probably borrowed, but if I don't find it this time then I'm gonna book it. Hopefully I can get my hands on it by the time I finish part two.



ToughDiamond
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14 Oct 2022, 7:50 pm

DuckHairback wrote:
I'm reading Out of Town by Jack Hargreaves.

When I was a kid, Jack Hargreaves had a TV show of the same name, which he presented out of a replica of his own garden shed. He'd show films he'd made throughout his life of fast disappearing country skills like horsemanship, tool maintenance, hunting, manual farming, smallholding. I always found him fascinating and recently saw a couple of his books at a car boot sale and bought them.

Reading them now I find myself ashamed. I don't know how to work, the way people used to have to just to get by. I'd be something monstrous to them, a man with a weak, flabby, body and few skills in his hands - they would be embarrassed to be me. I'm embarrassed to be me. I'm grateful they can't see me.

Jack Hargreaves lived near where I do. If he was still alive I'd go and find him, but he died in the 90s I think.



I remember him from television in the 1960s. His stuff always seemed a cut above the usual TV fare, never dummying things down, just deep and genuine. Reminds me of how much we've lost in modern times. I expect his books are well worth a look.



IsabellaLinton
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14 Oct 2022, 7:55 pm

I'm still reading Desperate Remedies, the first published novel of Thomas Hardy (1871).

I'm gobsmacked how similar it is to Jane Eyre (1847).



ToughDiamond
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14 Oct 2022, 8:52 pm

Romola by George Eliot. Some of it goes over my head - it boggles my mind to imagine the standard of education the book's original Victorian fans must have had, though apparently it wasn't any bestseller and was criticised for being too clever - but the (relatively) simple parts are a goldmine of fascinating (and apparently authentic) detail, wit, and artistic merit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romola



IsabellaLinton
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14 Oct 2022, 8:59 pm

I love Romola. ^
Nice pick!

I'm always amazed how well they can read a person's character from subtle gestures or expressions.

Today I was stumped that my character in DR was enumerating the emotions she was able to recognise and navigate in herself. I'll have to find the passage but it was something like, she knew how to react to jealousy, envy, and anticipation but not suspense or anxiety.

I'm lucky if I can tell anger from upset, and I'll be darned if I know how to navigate anything!



ToughDiamond
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14 Oct 2022, 11:59 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:
I'm always amazed how well they can read a person's character from subtle gestures or expressions.

Today I was stumped that my character in DR was enumerating the emotions she was able to recognise and navigate in herself. I'll have to find the passage but it was something like, she knew how to react to jealousy, envy, and anticipation but not suspense or anxiety.

Yes I've seen a lot of detail about small changes in facial expression and their presumed meanings in Victorian novels. And they had a lot of faith in physiognomy.



techstepgenr8tion
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22 Oct 2022, 10:04 pm

Blindsight by Peter Watts


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FleaOfTheChill
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23 Oct 2022, 3:49 pm

The end of the world is just the beginning, by peter zeihan.

Not sure what I think about it yet as I'm not even 200 pages in, but I am amused by the things my father recommends...that much I know.



techstepgenr8tion
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23 Oct 2022, 4:10 pm

FleaOfTheChill wrote:
The end of the world is just the beginning, by peter zeihan.

Not sure what I think about it yet as I'm not even 200 pages in, but I am amused by the things my father recommends...that much I know.

I haven't read this but I've watched a lot of his Youtube appearances. A lot of his arguments remind me of the kinds of things that George Friedman / Stratfor talked about in 'The Next 100 Years' but it sounds like he's mostly bullish on France and the US based on demographics and resources and doesn't share the opinion of people like Ray Dalio that the US is in decline to the degree that they're passing the baton of world hegemonic leadership to China but rather that China's getting unraveled by it's one child policy and headed toward belligerence (ie. realizing that it's a powerful right now as it will ever be) which is part of why people are worried about Taiwan.


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23 Oct 2022, 6:31 pm

techstepgenr8tion wrote:
I haven't read this but I've watched a lot of his Youtube appearances. A lot of his arguments remind me of the kinds of things that George Friedman / Stratfor talked about in 'The Next 100 Years' but it sounds like he's mostly bullish on France and the US based on demographics and resources and doesn't share the opinion of people like Ray Dalio that the US is in decline to the degree that they're passing the baton of world hegemonic leadership to China but rather that China's getting unraveled by it's one child policy and headed toward belligerence (ie. realizing that it's a powerful right now as it will ever be) which is part of why people are worried about Taiwan.


I have not read that. I also haven't listened to him on youtube or anything. I never heard of the guy until my dad gave me the book. But yeah, that sounds about right so far. I think he's a bit too optimistic sounding for the US and yeah, China doesn't have a larger younger people demographic compared to the aging folks, but ultimately, I'm not sure how much of an issue that really is. He seems really focused on things like naval forces but (and I'm no military expert or any expert for that matter) but I'm not sure how much location matters when thinking about war in the here and now what with things like drones, for example. Most of what I've read so far is just him setting a stage for how things got the way they are in regards to stuff like global economy and how the world will go to hell once that unravels. He does hype up the US a lot because he kind of blames/thanks the US for making the world a safe place for global trade...easier access for all and not the elite, and so on.



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24 Oct 2022, 4:59 am

The Rise of Magicks by Nora Roberts

Last part of The Chronicles of The One -trilogy!



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24 Oct 2022, 8:32 am

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Character Is Destiny
Inspiring Stories We Should All Remember

Author John McCain, Mark Salter

Google books w table of contents


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30 Oct 2022, 12:19 pm

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Fireblossom
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31 Oct 2022, 10:06 am

^ Hey we both got tea books! Sort of... mine is Teemestarin kirja by Emmi Itäranta, and the name translates to "Tea master's book" or "Tea maker's book." Not that it's really about tea; it's dystopian fiction, but since there's the word "tea" in the name... :mrgreen:



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06 Nov 2022, 10:35 am

:P ^ That's cute! Hope you liked your book!


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07 Nov 2022, 6:02 am

Had you asked yesterday, I was reading Children of Time but now finished. Not entirely certain how I feel about the ending.


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