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What Book Are You Reading?


Wolfbane

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10 hours ago, Peter P. said:

"The Watergate Girl" by Jill Wine-Banks. The memoir of the only woman on the team which prosecuted the Watergate burglars.

 

"A Warning" by Anonymous (A Senior Trump Administration Official). " A behind the scenes portrait of the Trump presidency from the anonymous senior offical whose first words of warning about the president rocked the nation's capital."

 

Problem is, with the pandemic the libraries are closed to the public and inter-library book loans can't happen. So browsing the shelves is out and if it's not in the local library's catalog, I can't get it. I have to reserve it at the local library. They notify me when it's ready for pickup. I have to call them when I arrive at the library where they will walk out the front door and place the books on the passenger seat.

 

When I tell them "That ain't gonna work; I don't have a cell phone so how am I gonna call you when I arrive?", I get dumb silence, a "hold on" and after a wait they figure it out. It's happened to me multiple times. I think they're discriminating against people without cell phones. Just for that I'm gonna go tear down some statues...

 

OK, no cell phone. Nowadays all library's interact with EBooks. And it's free. Even if you don't have WiFi, just take EBook to any Hot spot - McDonalds etc.

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45 minutes ago, NADman said:

 

OK, no cell phone. Nowadays all library's interact with EBooks. And it's free. Even if you don't have WiFi, just take EBook to any Hot spot - McDonalds etc.

That requires having an electronic reader of some sort. Not me. And I'm sure a lot of poorer people don't have them as well.

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Maybe we should start a literary criticism thread instead of polluting a simple what book are you reading thread...I would welcome a discussion about a third rate philosophy based on an atheistic amorality, with an unapologetic elitism, called objectivism, but it doesn't seem appropriate in this thread.

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11 hours ago, Peter P. said:

I have to reserve it at the local library. They notify me when it's ready for pickup.

How do you reserve it... use a landline or computer?

 

11 hours ago, Peter P. said:

I have to call them when I arrive at the library where they will walk out the front door and place the books on the passenger seat.

 

When I tell them "That ain't gonna work; I don't have a cell phone so how am I gonna call you when I arrive?", I get dumb silence, a "hold on" and after a wait they figure it out. It's happened to me multiple times.

Can't you use someone's phone..?.. or have someone else, who is there to pick up books while you're in the lot, tell them to bring your chit out too?

 

11 hours ago, Peter P. said:

I think they're discriminating against people without cell phones. Just for that I'm gonna go tear down some statues...

 

You might be onto something. Before you tear down anything, you might just block the entrance to the place, or break out the front glass... that should get you some attention. See if they'll give you the book so you have something to read while you're in the slammer. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 7/29/2020 at 2:33 PM, oldtimer said:

Maybe we should start a literary criticism thread instead of polluting a simple what book are you reading thread...I would welcome a discussion about a third rate philosophy based on an atheistic amorality, with an unapologetic elitism, called objectivism, but it doesn't seem appropriate in this thread.

 

Sounds pretty Randy to me.

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Haha ... Gravitation. Gravitation is a textbook on Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, written by Charles W. Misner, Kip S. Thorne, and John Archibald Wheeler. Was required reading in (physics) Graduate School about 40 years ago and still is today.  Too difficult then, even more difficult today ... I am on page 27 of 1272 total pages and am completely "lost." :) 

Gravitation book.jpg

 

OK; going back to reading Clive Cussler's books now :D 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I thought I'd give this one a try (the author passed away yesterday at age 59, RIP.  He was a professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics):

 

Bullshit_Jobs.jpg

 

An excerpt from Wikipedia:

 

Quote

The author contends that more than half of societal work is pointless, both large parts of some jobs and, as he describes, five types of entirely pointless jobs:

  1. flunkies, who serve to make their superiors feel important, e.g., receptionists, administrative assistants, door attendants
  2. goons, who oppose other goons hired by other companies, e.g., lobbyists, corporate lawyers, telemarketers, public relations specialists
  3. duct tapers, who temporarily fix problems that could be fixed permanently, e.g., programmers repairing shoddy code, airline desk staff who calm passengers whose bags don't arrive
  4. box tickers, who create the appearance that something useful is being done when it isn't, e.g., survey administrators, in-house magazine journalists, corporate compliance officers
  5. taskmasters, who manage—or create extra work for—those who do not need it, e.g., middle management, leadership professionals[2][1]

I'm sure there are many other jobs that comply with the requirements.  Large corporations are actually quite adept at creating them.  I don't have one of those type of jobs, unless you count the times that I have to be "socially acceptable" with my significant other...😉

 

Should be a fun read.

 

Chris

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  • 2 weeks later...

515FWPyZ-5L.jpg

 

Just finished this one yesterday.  If you watched the series ("Chernobyl"), believe it that the book is even better, and the series was pretty darn good.  The book makes the understanding of what happened much more real--and understandable.  Heroes and villains aren't nearly as one-dimensional in the book.  And the story is pretty different than the TV series.

 

Chris

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Rage by Bob Woodward.  Woodward's methods and "secrets" are well described there and elsewhere.  The result is extremely credible and extraordinarily easy and quick to read.  You'll breeze right through it.  Informative detail on numerous puzzling stories you've heard over the past year.

 

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Rage/Bob-Woodward/9781982131739

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