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[Boom Boom]

I'm ordering this one just for fun: All My Friends Are Dead   

[Boom Boom]

And this one, too: Go The F**k To Sleep 

[Toedancer]

I just finished The Dog Stars, what a terrific read. Heller knows dogs like no one's business. If I was in a postapocalyptic world I'd want an Aussie to go fishing/hunting with as well, I grieved Mickey all over again, an honest love of nature and the vulnerability of us all.

[Boom Boom]

I've always liked dogs, although my mother had cats. On my brother's farm that I looked after a few summers, were not just a half dozen cats, but also a Husky, German Shepherd, and a Collie - all of which I got along with well.
 
I'm not overly fond of smaller dogs, because they're basically crazy and crave attention. But the larger breeds - especially Labradors and Shepherds - I really, really like. I guess the smallest dogs I like are Beagles - I had one for a decade. If I was a bit younger and in better health, I'd get another dog in a heartbeat - probably a black Lab.

[Toedancer]

I didn't realize but this Heller guy joined Paul Watson on the Sea Shepherd, here is an excerpt:


Heller is straightforward about Paul Watson's quixotic and fanatical nature when it comes to saving marine wildlife, but he also sheds light on contemporary research indicating that our commercial exploitation of the ocean is predicted to cause its ecological collapse by the middle of this century, and the obvious moral obligation we have to not consciously drive other species - least of all those that may very well be as intelligent (or more intelligent) as we are - to extinction. In so doing, he quotes marine biologist, Roger Payne: "As supposedly intelligent creatures, doesn't it seem odd that humans might think that the best way to engage whales is to eat them?"
http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/memoir/fr/whaleWarriors.htm

Meantime Australia is pissed at Japan sending their whaling fleet to the southern ocean, a very specific place with high whale pop. yet they won't go and monitor the killings. At least the gov't does say it is not for 'science'.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/15733224/australia-condemns-japan-whale-hunt/

Karma is going to be a bitch for Japan.

[Toedancer]

This e-book by Maher/McGregor looks like great fun/Paranoid Thriller


Secrets. Lies. Oil. Sex. Undercover Mounties. Deadline pulls back the curtain on the backroom struggles that decide who wields power and who serves those at the top. http://deadlinebook.com./


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[Boom Boom]

A friend of mine two weeks ago loaned me his copy of Life of Pi. Here are my comments:
 
1.  I would recommend to new readers that they skip Part One altogether - it's just boring, rambling nonsense - and start on Part Two.
 
2. My eyes hurt, I have arthritis, I'm older and just not willing to suffer fools gladly. If I'm expected to read through 354 pages, it had better be better than just good. The first 100 pages of "Life of Pi" just pissed me off - I wanted to get to the good stuff. I got the impression Yann Martel was being paid either by the word or by the page, that's why the book is so insufferably long.
 
3. From the beginning of Part Two right to the end, it's quite good, but the manic attention to detail is a bit off-putting to me.
 
4.  I want to meet author Yann Martel in person and slap him upside the head for wasting so much paper - his 354 page book could easily be condensed down to 250 or even 200 pages, max.
 
5. There's just so much gunk out there - I stopped buying new books long ago because so much of it is trash.  In this age of  enviromental concern, maybe authors should be forced to justify publication.
 

[Toedancer]

My daughter concurs BB. But she watched the movie for free and then said - makes sense he'd have to make shit up to protect his psyche from what really happened.


I'm reading The Martian by Andy Weir - guy gets abandoned by his crew so he's alone until next mission - 4 years - a survival story, so far I'm totally intrigued, but if you hate specs on how things work you wouldn't like it.

[Boom Boom]

My daughter concurs BB. But she watched the movie for free and then said - makes sense he'd have to make shit up to protect his psyche from what really happened.

That's a comment I've seen made about survivors of atrocities, and it fits here.
 

I'm reading The Martian by Andy Weir - guy gets abandoned by his crew so he's alone until next mission - 4 years - a survival story, so far I'm totally intrigued, but if you hate specs on how things work you wouldn't like it.

I don't like science fiction, that alone would turn me off. However, I do like reading about mechanical specs and details in cars and trucks.
 
Anytime there's sci-fi on the telly, I change channels right away. Ditto for all that stupid nonsensical vampire and zombie trash that plagues the airwaves nowadays.
 
I especially hate anything related to video games, iPads, cellphones, BlackBerries, and other technical garbage.
 
I wouldn't read Marcel Proust if his book was the last bound edition on Planet Earth.
 
I have the world's smallest tolerance for boredom. I think people who bore others should be put in prison for life.
 
I very much doubt I will watch the movie version of this book - my standards are higher than this.
 
 

[Boom Boom]

My daughter concurs BB. But she watched the movie for free and then said - makes sense he'd have to make shit up to protect his psyche from what really happened.

Kurt Vonnegut did this in his novel thirty years before Yann Martel that was also turned into a movie: Slaughterhouse Five.

[Boom Boom]

Finished! Am I ever glad I didn't buy this book - my days of buying a book just to read it ONCE were over - decades ago. I think it's criminal to cut down forests to create books that you only read once. I've read all my "Don Camillo" and "The Vicar of Dibley" books several times - there's no way I would ever submit myself to reading "Life of Pi" again. I give thanks to my friend for loaning it to me, he saved me $30.00 (with tax and shipping...).
 
ETA: In a progressive economy, every community in the country would have local library access (for free). Authors would still be able to sell their writings in the marketplace. But with libraries everywhere, there would be less demand and thus less waste of resources.

[Toedancer]

[size=78%]ETA:[/size] In a progressive economy, every community in the country would have local library access (for free). Authors would still be able to sell their writings in the marketplace. But with libraries everywhere, there would be less demand and thus less waste of resources.

That's why I have a dedicated e-book, and I can use the library with it as well.

[Bacchus]

I used to have to read every word of a book, even if I wasnt enjoying it. And buy every book in a series when I started it.


Now Im able to toss a book across a room and dump it if it doesnt work for me     And get them one by one if I enjoy the series. (Ive even been able to just stop reading a series like Dresden when it fails for me)

[Boom Boom]

That's why I have a dedicated e-book, and I can use the library with it as well.

Argh. Forgive me, good friend, but I have even more problems with eBooks than paper books.
 
eBooks, iPads, Blackberries, and all that other electronic stuff (including all computers) - all have a claim on exploitation of oil and mineral not to mention human resources, including outright slavery and child labour.
 
I'm okay with community libraries sharing paper books. I just think the production of the printed word needs to be reigned in a bit, and people encouraged to use their local library more.

[Toedancer]

I used to have to read every word of a book, even if I wasnt enjoying it. And buy every book in a series when I started it.


Now Im able to toss a book across a room and dump it if it doesnt work for me     And get them one by one if I enjoy the series. (Ive even been able to just stop reading a series like Dresden when it fails for me)

I'm able to do the same thing now Bacchus, it's wunnerful!