Large Scale Central

Reading is one of my other hobbies

Other Hobbies
#41

Victor Smith said:

Victor Smith said:
Almost done reading "Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War " by Robert Massie, a massive history about the naval rivalry between Germany and Britain beginning in the mid 19th century and culminating with the start of WW1. While the books title indicates its about the HMS Dreadnought, which was such a game changer in its design that it instantly made every other warship on earth obsolete and sparked an arms race. It is really about the geo-politics and personalities in the German and British governments, very interesting read even with its 800+ page girth. I have its follow up “Castles of Steel” about the naval battles of WW1 waiting in the wings.

Update, I finished this book only a week ago :open_mouth: :lol: Holy cats was it thick, now getting into the even thicker “Castles of Steel” hopefully I can finish it before the end of the year.

(http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320470021l/860850.jpg)

I am only about 1/4 the way thru this book, I can highly recommend this book. It is an excellent read. While its not necessary to have read ‘Dreadnought’ prior to this, it does help with being familiar with all the personalities, but the book is really good so far.

#42

Sometimes its fun to revist old friends. I just finished C. S. Forester’s Ship of the Line, in which Post Captain Horatio Hornblower commands HMS Sutherland against Boney’s fleet in the Med some five years after Trafalger.

Now I have to go buy Flying Colours (odd spelling, that) to find out what happens next. I’m sure that I have it somewhere in a box in the basement, but you know how that goes… I could spend two days looking for it and still not find it.

#43

A perk of unemployment is lots of time to read. Latest books:

  1. The 12th Imam

  2. Ender’s Game

  3. The Grapes of Wrath

  4. Peter Pan

  5. The Old Curiosity Shop

  6. A Christmas Carol

I got bogged down in Moby Dick amongst all the essays about the nature of the doubloon nailed to the mast. I guess spending years at sea, you don’t have much else to think about.

#44

I thought I could get 30% off at the “end of season” sales at two locations - one closing for good, the other until next season - nope, not on books.

So I ordered the items from Amazon at more than 30% off list.

:stuck_out_tongue:

  1. Via Rail - a lot of background info that I wasn’t aware of.

  2. Ghost towns and mining camps of the Boundary Country - that will have me get out there and have a look at the real McCoy.

#45

Opps I was going to ask what happened to the rest of the reads but I forgot there are now two reading threads

#46

I have recently read Boston on Fire (Schorow), Lewis & Clark (Duncan & Burns). Jefferson and the Gun-Men ( Montgomery), Andrew Jackson (Brands), The Saltworks of Cape Cod ( Quinn), 1861 (Goodheart) Civil War Boston) (O’Connor) The Killing of Crazy Horse (Powers) - As you can tell by the titles I enjoy history - I really enjoyed “Stealing the General” and Stephen Puleo’s "Dark Tide about The Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 ( I believe this was his first book and is rather dry in a places) I, like John read a lot of Heinlein while in my 20’s and really should read Stranger in a Strange Land again…

#47

Another interesting WWII read was “Due to Enemy Action”, also by Stephen Puleo which is about the sinking of the USS Eagle 56 and the decades long struggle to get the Navy to acknowledge that it was sunk by a u-Boat, not by a boiler explosion…

#48

In my opinion libraries are an excellent way to apply a taxpayer’s money. Time to order some more books. :wink:

#49

Four more of the Scandinavian mystery fiction genre on order.

#50

Two that I missed out on when I was young …

Huxley’s “Brave new world”

Asimov’s “Nightfall”

In retrospect, reading those two now and considering all that has gone down since the mid sixties (when I was young)… absolutely amazing.

#51

And now I’m on to very old John Le Carré “A murder of quality” and “Call for the dead”.

#52

A recent one “The five people you meet in heaven” http://mitchalbom.com/d/books/3874/five-people-you-meet-heaven

Good read with a few twists!

#53

SWMBO had ordered “Confined Space”, came in very handy to rest my wonky back on Saturday. Plays in a brewery in the Kootenays; excellent read, first of a series.

PS moving all the scenery material sure can get to be a pain.

#54

Hans-Joerg Mueller said:

A recent one “The five people you meet in heaven” http://mitchalbom.com/d/books/3874/five-people-you-meet-heaven

Good read with a few twists!

I read it, then realized that none of my friends will be there. :slight_smile:

#55

Steve Featherkile said:

Hans-Joerg Mueller said:

A recent one “The five people you meet in heaven” http://mitchalbom.com/d/books/3874/five-people-you-meet-heaven

Good read with a few twists!

I read it, then realized that none of my friends will be there. :slight_smile:

Funny! Funny! Funny!

As discussed at lunch today, I’ll be in charge of running trains in Hell, which will be a hellishly entertaining job in a dreadful climate. I can’t elaborate more since I would run a-foul of some rules.

#56

Finished “The Railway Beat” last night. Canadian Pacific Police Service’s (today’s name) history probably differs from most other railroad police departments’ since they also cover(ed) the CP Hotels, CP Airlines, CP ships and CP Express and Transport (road service). It’s a very interesting book that starts out way back when CP’s transcon was built and the Canadian West was wilder than today.

#57

Reading “Train Country” (Illustrated history of the Canadian National Railways). One of the pictures of Saskatoon station shows the station platform, three tracks and then the next station platform.

The interesting part of the third (middle) track: it is narrow gauge with a number of dollies on it that were used to transport ice blocks for the air conditioning and equipment for repairs.

#58

From the Sound Heritage Series (British Columbia Provincial Archives) comes “Railroaders - recollections from the steam era in British Columbia” ISBN 0-7718-8247-5. Based/transcribed from interviews with “old timers” who worked at various jobs on the different railways in BC. Absolutely fascinating.

#59

Donna Leon’s book “By its Cover” has arrived and is being devoured.

I highly recommend her complete “Commissario Guido Brunneti” series. Plays in Venice and is very well written.

And if one is into cooking there’s also “Brunetti’s Cookbook”. Molto bene!

#60

Oh my, last 4 months I have massively mega-splurged on space, train, plane, boat, urban renewal, history, and culture books. Must have bought at least 20 to 30 books.
Some new, some used
A random number of of those titles,

Ghost Rider by Neil Peart
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander

Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson

Emus Loose in Egnar by Judy Mueller

The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler

The Billionaire and the Mechanic by Julian Guthrie

Walking in Space by David J. Shayler

1421 The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzes

1491 New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

Clay: The History and Evolution of Humankind’s Relationship with Earth’s Most Primal Element by Suzanne Staubach.

War of the Whales by Joshua Horowitz
Narrowboats Explained by Trevor Yorke

The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton

The Book of Legendary Lands by Umberto Eco

Live TV from the Moon by Dwight Steven-Boniecki
Attack From the Sea: A History of the U.S. Navy’s Seaplane Striking Force by William F. Trimble

Cambridge Ocean Technology Series 2, Concepts in Submarine Design by Roy Burcher and Louis Rydill

Rocket Girl, The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan by George D. Morgan

The Railroad and the Space Program, an Experience in Historical Analogy by The M.I.T. Press, edited by Bruce Mazlish

The Rocket Men, Vostok & Voshkod; The First Soviet Manned Spaceflights by Rex Hall and David J. Shayler
The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser & KC-97 Stratofreighter by Bill Yenne

Happy City, Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery

Oh, major money, true; but most importantly, major fun and information!
Huh, don’t know why some are single-spaced and some are double-spaced? Tinkered with editing the post but in edit function they all come up sinclespaced, I dunno, why, probably technogeek stuf that’s over my head.
edit again - and in scrolling back up the page, my shaky hands today clicked on sme button partway op the page on right said and I have no idea what it was or what it idd.