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LibraryThing authors: David Liss (davidliss), John Reed (easyreeder), Roderic D. M. Page (rdmpage), Tom Shanley (tshanley)

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Member: fredbacon

CollectionsYour library (1,220), Russian Front (56), Kindle (6), Currently reading (3), All collections (1,230)

Reviews13 reviews

Tagsnonfiction (712), fiction (512), novel (407), 20th century (368), science (211), literature (211), history (199), textbook (183), reference (177), science fiction (157) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

GroupsMilitary History, Science Fiction Fans, Science!, What Are You Reading Now?

Favorite authorsAlbert Camus, Joseph Conrad, William Faulkner, Tess Gerritsen, Günter Grass, Samuel Pepys, Richard Powers, Rex Stout (Shared favorites)

About meI'm a physicist/programmer working for a small research and development company in Massachusetts. I was born and grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. A dog lover and book lover, I can often be found walking my dog around Willard's Woods in Lexington while reading a book.

Oh, and that dog up there in the corner. That's Enkidu, friend and companion to Gilgamesh.

About my libraryMy library has been growing for years and reflects my constantly shifting tastes and interests.

Books are judged on a relative scale according to their ambitions. A cheap pulp novel may score higher than a classic simply because it set its sights so low. If I don't judge books this way, every thing would be one or two stars. Three stars basically means that the book was an enjoyable way to spend some time, but offered nothing of any value.

Some books may lack a rating because I read them so long ago that I don't feel that I can adequately judge them without a second read. There are a lot of old science fiction books in my library that I read as a teenager...Arthur C. Clarke comes to mind. These books may be rated despite their age because my memories of them are so strong. However, bear in mind that they are the ratings of a teenage mind at best. If I reread them today, they would probably score very differently. I prefer to keep my less cynical childhood memories of these books.

Homepagehttp://sketchesamongtheruins.blogspot.com/

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Real nameFred W. Bacon

LocationWoburn, MA

EmailFred.W.Bacongmail.com

Account typepublic, lifetime

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/fredbacon (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/fredbacon (library)

Common KnowledgeSeries (176), Awards (245), Characters (3512), Places (641)

Member sinceJan 26, 2008

Currently readingForging Stalin's Army: Marshal Tukhachevsky And The Politics Of Military Innovation by Sally Stoecker
The Year of the Flood: A Novel by Margaret Atwood
Stalin's Reluctant Soldiers: A Social History of the Red Army, 1925-1941 (Modern War Studies) by Roger R. Reese

Most recent activity

fredbacon added:
Red Partisan: Memoirs of a Soviet Resistance Fighter on the Eastern Front by Nikolai I. Obryn'ba

fredbacon added:
Red Road from Stalingrad: Recollections of a Soviet Infantryman by Mansur Abdulin

fredbacon added:
On Tthe Roads of War: A Soviet Cavalryman on the Eastern Front by Ivan Yakushin

fredbacon rated, added:
Blindsight by Peter Watts

fredbacon added:
The Road (Movie Tie-in Edition 2009) (Vintage International) by Cormac McCarthy

fredbacon rated:
The Moonstone (Barnes & Noble Classics) by Wilkie Collins

Fred,
I ended up going through the Amazon feedback and received a refund within 6 hours. THEN the seller wrote to me to apologize for the mix up. So back to Amazon to get the book I wanted in the first place .. but NOT from the same seller, that's for sure.

Oh well, considering the number of books that I've bought online, I can't be too upset because this is the first time I've received a used book with a different book under the jacket.

caroline

posted by cameling at 4:20 pm (EST) on Oct 13, 2009

Look at that. On the first page I find a book that I have but haven't read yet. The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on… I have a feeling I would find a book on your list that wasn't on mine yet.

posted by callmejacx at 11:36 pm (EST) on Jun 1, 2009

I saw your posting in the gatering place. We share 19 books which isn't too too bad. I am going to peak at the rest of your library. I might find some in there that I have forgotten about.

posted by callmejacx at 11:33 pm (EST) on Jun 1, 2009

Thank you for your note and wise counsel. I don't typically back away from a fight, but as these things go, it's not a particularly interesting one. The argument (such as it is) that this person is making seems to be taken whole cloth from the crackpot theories of "writer, scholar, and Pythagorean" John Anthony West. There is just no point arguing with a true believer: they cannot see the limitations of their enthusiasms, but they will also try their damndest to pick you apart with mischaracterization and obfuscation. The hell with that. If I want to hear pseudointelligent ramblings, I will take the crosstown bus. At least then I'll end up somewhere.

posted by Makifat at 12:22 am (EST) on May 21, 2009

I see that you too have just added Third World War. What did you think of it

posted by carterchristian1 at 10:56 pm (EST) on May 16, 2009

No, I haven't read any other than the two. I get off on reading tangents and someday hope to get back to the mates of Nightmare Years (it is no. 2 in a series of 3). I will keep your suggestion in mind, sounds interesting.

posted by gordon361 at 2:10 pm (EST) on May 4, 2009

Fred, I hope you make it through The Rise and Fall... it's a strong lesson on how to treat the vanquished. If you enjoy Shirer I would strongly suggest "The Nightmare Years" it's him as a journalist in Germany during Hitlers rise, very good.

posted by gordon361 at 5:42 pm (EST) on Apr 29, 2009

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