drneutron's (Jim's) Reading to Avoid Work - Part 7

407days 03hours 55minutes 41seconds UNTIL LAUNCH

Launch Window: July 31 – August 19, 2018

And until then, more books!

Read so far:

The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Committed by Dinah Miller and Annette Hanson
The Inkblots by Damon Searls
Monstress, Vol 1 by Marjorie Liu
The Seventh Plague by James Rollins
You Disappear by Christian Jungersen
The Unwinding by George Packer
The Ferryman Institute by Colin Gigl
The One-Cent Magenta by James Barron
Three Gothic Novels by E. F. Bleiler
In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides
Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Invincible, Vol 1 by Robert Kirkman
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Lola by Melissa Scrivener Love
Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King
Armada by Ernest Cline
Powers of Darkness by Bram Stoker
Coolidge by Amity Shlaes
Magic in Islam by Michael Muhammad Knight
Watchmen by Alan Moore
I Am Providence by Nick Mamatas
Orphan X by Greg Hurwitz
The Nowhere Man by Greg Hurwitz
Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton
The Secret State by John Hughes-Wilson
Long Black Veil by Jennifer Flynn- Boylan
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston
Rutland Place by Anne Perry
Brimstone by Cherie Priest
The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence by Bill James
Invincible, Vol 2 by Robert Kirkman
Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Scars of Independence by Holger Hoock
Strangers in their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild
The Dreamquest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson
The Presidents Book of Secrets by David Priess
Cold Earth by Ann Cleeves
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony
City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman
A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd

And the stats:

Total Books: 51

Author Gender
Male: 35 (66%)
Female: 18 (34%)

Author Status
Living: 52 (98%)
Dead: 1 (2%)

Publication Medium
Hardback: 10 (20%)
Trade: 16 (31%)
Mass Market: 1 (2%)
eBook: 24 (47%)

Category
Fiction: 32 (63%)
Nonfiction: 19 (37%)

Source
Library: 38 (75%)
Mine: 13 (25%)

ARC: 5
Re-Read: 2
Series: 16
Group Read: 3

Happy new thread!!! And nice countdown up top. SO cool!!

Love the topper, Jim. How exciting to touch the sun! Happy new thread.

The last few on my list are

49. Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn

Shikanoko is the son of a feudal lord in a reimagined medieval Japan. When his father dies, his uncle tries to kill him to take over the estate, and he escapes in the Dark Wood. There he meets a sorcerer who awakens a connection to wilder spirits and a greater destiny.

First in a fantasy quartet based on medieval Japanese warrior tales, Hearn has written a beautiful tale that's not your typical fantasy. Highly recommended!

50. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

And another beautiful fantasy - this time one where Neil Gaiman respins the story of Sleeping Beauty in a new and interesting way. Read the print version of this, if possible. The illustrations are wonderful!

51. A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd

Final part of the Madman's Daughter trilogy based on classic gothic and sf stories like The Island of Dr Moreau and Frankenstein. Frankly, a better concept than execution - wish that it had been better!

>4 Berly:, >5 BLBera: Thanks! Time's flying faster than I can believe!

Happy new thread and go Solar Probe!

Happy New Thread, Jim! Go, Solar Probe! I'm working on City of Miracles now, moved it to the top after your review. I'll look for that Gaiman. I've never tried Hearn as his books seem to be quite violent and dark--at least that's my impression from blurbs. What's your take?

>8 lkernagh: Thanks!

>9 ronincats: Well, the story involved war between clans in a pseudo-Japanese culture, so it had some pretty violent scenes, though not graphically written. A main character also sexually assaulted a young female character while under a magical compulsion which I suspect will ring through the rest of the story. I wouldn't call it dark, but yeah, there's violence.

Surprisingly for me, Lian Hearn is a pseudonym for Gillian Rubenstein, an Australian children's book author.

Happy New Thread, Jim! Glad you guys had a great time at the game!

Happy New Thread! Love the probe patch!

Happy new thread, Jim!

Happy new thread, Jim!

Happy new one buddy.

Happy new thread, Jim! Let's see, I missed your birthday, your 10th Thingaversary and Father's Day - hoping all of them we full of happy. I'll try to stay caught up this time.

Hi Jim! Happy new thread and happy Monday to you.

>11 msf59:, >12 mahsdad:, >13 tymfos:, >14 scaifea:, >15 PaulCranswick: Thanks!

>16 Crazymamie: Thanks! No worries about missing anything - life is life. :)

>17 karenmarie: Happy Monday to you!

Happy new thread -- love the patch!!

Happy new thread, Jim!

Thanks for the mention of new Liam Hearn, I'm a fan, and will go looking for it.

Happy new thread, Jim!

Happy New Thread, Jim!

I liked The Sleeper and the Spindle, too. Did you hear he may do a sequel to Neverwhere?!

>19 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks!

>20 EllaTim: I've read the first, but have all three of the others sitting at home - trying to get back to them!

>21 katiekrug: Thanks!

>22 jnwelch: Oh, that would be good news! By the way, I'm about 1/3 of the way through Norse Mythology. I love the way Gaiman is telling these tales.

Happy new thread Jim.

Thanks!

Happy new thread, Jim, and belated happy 10th Thingaversary!

>6 drneutron: I loved Lian Hearns Tales of the Otori, so I will look for her new series.

Morning, Jim!

I'm so glad you're enjoying Norse Mythology! It's a good one, but all of his are excellent, of course.

Happy new thread and cool countdown!!

>26 FAMeulstee: Thanks! I haven't read Otori, but plan to rectify that ASAP.

>27 scaifea: The thing I love about it is that the spirit of the way he tells them is so close to what the old storytellers were doing. These weren't formal stories in archaic language to them - they were funny and thrilling and real. And the way he writes them echos that perfectly.

>28 ChelleBearss: Thanks!

Happy new thread, Jim!

THanks!

Happy new thread from me too - another fan of the countdown. Time flies when you're having fun?

Very cool topper! Happy new thread, Jim.

>32 charl08:, >33 Familyhistorian: Yeah, it's over a year away but feels like tomorrow! :)

>34 drneutron: When there's that much prep to be done just over a year is practically no time at all.

>35 Familyhistorian: :)

>1 drneutron: Lovely to see some good science carrying forward...

Started our comprehensive performance test today! So far so good... 😀

>38 drneutron: Congratulations Jim!

Hi Jim, hope you are having a really good weekend.

Well, I've had to work some, but mrsdrneutron and I broke out the kayaks this afternoon for a quick paddle on a local river. Now having a light dinner on our deck with a decent beer!

Hope yours is good too!

>41 drneutron: - Sounds like your Sunday was perfect!

Sounds like the perfect Sunday

>42 lkernagh:, >43 The_Hibernator: :)

Hey Doc, after watching 2 SpaceX launches in the last couple days, made me curious. Who is launching Parker?

We're flying on a Delta IV Heavy made by United Launch Alliance (ULA), formerly Boeing. There's also a solid rocket upper stage made by Orbital Sciences using an ATK Star-48 motor.

Here's a pic of the rocket from a former launch:

So sweet!

Biggest rocket we could get plus a third stage. We look like a hood ornament on it. :)

Impressive!

Now that 'we' in we're flying is not ment to be literal, I hope?

>46 drneutron: Love the Delta. Very cool.

I wanted to mention to you, that I snagged a copy of Lightning Men at ALA yesterday. This is the follow up to Darktown. I am pretty sure you liked that one too, right?

>49 EllaTim: We in the general sense! 😀

>50 msf59: I haven't read Darktown, though it's on my wishlist. Sounds like you liked it, right?

Yes, I liked it quite a bit. I thought someone had passed a copy on to you. Good stuff.

Hi Jim and happy Tuesday to you!

>46 drneutron: United Launch Alliance (ULA), formerly Boeing Well. Color me surprised.

Some time ago, the government forced Boeing and Lockheed-Martin to form a joint venture to build launch vehicles. The main purposes were to reduce cost and to increase the compatibility of the vehicles to allow for higher reliability of the fleet. Boeing and LM each still exist, but activities are managed through ULA. So the Decatur manufacturing facility is Boeing's, but the work is managed through ULA contracts and interfaces. Its not been a marriage made in heaven, rather one of political advantage. :)

Time for an update!

52. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

No brainer here - Gaiman's a fave. I really like how he evokes the spirit of an Old Norse storyteller spinning tales around a hearth on a long, cold winter night. Reminds me of listening to my grandfather...

53. My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris

An amazing graphic novel set in 60's Chicago, recommended by our resident Chicagoans - Mark and Joe. Karen Eyes is a 10 year old girl who believes she's a monster - she doesn't fit in, lives in a dysfunctional setting, the outsider in all of us. She's also an artist, keeping a notebook of sketches and drawings - and the story of her neighbor who is killed early on. Add a brother with a secret and a sick mother, and you get a really good, deeply felt work of art. Mark was right to warble about this one!

54. Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance

Hillbilly Elegy is popular with those (let's call them cultural elites) who are trying to understand the political landscape in the Trump era. I'm sort of one of those elites: highly educated, working in a high-tech field, higher income. But I'm also from a background somewhat like Vance's; my extended family is mostly blue collar from rural Louisiana, very conservative Protestant Christian, mostly straight Republican voters. So I resonated with a lot of Vance's story, though I didn't suffer from the abuse he did as a result of drug and alcohol abuse in his family. And it's a pretty well told, insightful story of a culture, and cultural changes, often misunderstood and ignored.

It's a story that should be read. And Vance is pretty honest that the problems are sourced in the people and the culture from which they came. But he's also pretty honest about the economic and cultural challenges associated with the migration from hillbilly Appalachia to the Midwest. The link to the current political situation is less visible, mostly because the book itself was written before the rise of Trump and his supporters - later writings by Vance are more explicit in this regard.

Well worth reading.

55. Wolf on a String by Benjamin Black

16th century Prague was a tough place. Capital of the Holy Roman Empire, deeply divided into political and religious faction, the environment surrounding Emperor Rudolph was a place where one could rise fast and fall faster - all the way to a headsman's axe or a hangman's noose. Into this swirling city, Christian Stern has come to make his fortune and run away from a romantic entanglement. And when he stumbles on the murdered body of a young woman - the Emperor's new mistress - he's about to get lots of attention from the powers surrounding the throne.

Benjamin Black is the pen name used by John Banville when he writes mysteries - most well known is the Quirke series set in Dublin. He's written other works about this time and setting, so in some sense this is familiar territory for Banville, which he's adapted to fine purpose. The political environment and those buried in it are well-represented. The plot's more suspense/conspiracy than mystery; it's not so much about whodunnit as it is about how Stern will survive.

Good morning, Jim! Stranger Things is still bouncing around my head. You never know what will get a hold you and hand on for a while. I feel the casting for the show is phenomenal. Every character is interesting and the premise, thought not entirely original is so beautifully displayed that I couldn't take my eyes off of it. My favorites were Hopper, Eleven, and Dustin. Just so good.

Yup, mrsdrneutron and I were talking about watching it again sometime over the next few weeks. Hopper was just terrific!

>46 drneutron: Like!

I'm glad My Favorite Thing is Monsters worked well for you, Jim. (Can't get the touchstone to work).

Morning Jim. Love the photo of your "biggest rocket possible" and the comment about looking like a hood ornament :) More seriously, I've been toying with reading Hillbilly Elegy and your fine comments just tipped the scale. Sounds like I would be looking at it from eyes similar to yours and also like it's something I should give more thought to. On to the summer reading list it goes.

>60 RebaRelishesReading: Awesome! I'll keep an eye out for your thoughts on it.

Hi Jim!

>54 drneutron: Thanks.

Morning, Jim! Love your recent reads and I have Gaiman's waiting for me...if I could just read faster!! Love that you got to kayak. I haven't done that in so long. I have had a beer though. ; )

>62 karenmarie: Hi!

>63 Berly: Thanks! The last set of books was pretty good, but the Gaiman was clearly the stand-out for me.

Last summer, mrsdrneutron and I decided to invest in a couple of kayaks, so we're able to get out about half a dozen times over the summer months. It's been great exercise, plus we've got some good rivers close by that make it fun - even saw the local bald eagle again!

When my husband and I first started dating we went white water canoeing a lot in MN. I think we were lucky to not have swamped at all. We went down some class 3's!! Awesome rivers there. And bald eagles. Not so much in Oregon, or at least Portland. Hope you continue to have fun!!

>56 drneutron: I will have to look into the author's more recent writings post-book that cover more of the 2016 election. I did notice that he moved back to Columbus, Ohio which I think is interesting and I am curious to hear more about that move espe ially post-book. I realize that the number of reviews of a book on Amazon is not the best metric and quite biased but I am often surprised at the steadily increasing number of reviews for Hillbilly Elegy.

Found you! Stared threads aren't showing up for me anymore. :(

>65 Berly: Can't convince mrsdrneutron to try anything too fast - the Potomac has some great runs at all skill levels, and I'd love to tackle them. Working on her, though! :)

>66 pbirch01: Most notably, there was an extended article by Vance that I came across - he's moved back to Columbus to start a foundation to work on poverty and sustainable employment issues in the city. He's pretty open about his politics - mostly conservative Republican, but not much of a Trump supporter, with a bent toward helping people help themselves. I'll see if I can resurrect the link.

>67 beeg: Hmmm. That's weird. Glad you made it by!

Glad you are enjoying your kayaks, Jim. They sound like fun. Ocean kayaking is rather strenuous.

>69 ronincats: We did some kayaking on the Chesapeake Bay, not out where the waves get bigger and the big boats roam, but around some islands off the Eastern shore. That was a blast - I want to do it some more!

One of my heroes is a guy I heard about who retired, then took a trip down the west coast of North America by kayak. Last I heard, he was trying to paddle all the way down to the southern tip of South America. That's my kind of adventure! 😀

Hey Jim,

Do you follow David Brin on FB, he just posted about his book Sundiver? I'm sure you've read this, but if you haven't, you should check it out, I do believe its right up your alley. Or at least a future destination...

From his post...

Over on Quora, someone asked: *“Could there be life on the Sun?”* Some of those answering sneered about the Sun being too hot for molecular life. To which I answer: _“So? Try actually stretching your conceptual noodle.”_
“Life” can be defined as a dissipative structure that utilizes thermodynamic gradients to: (1) produce entropy, (2) _export_ entropy from a confined area in order to create islands of order, (3) reproduces new versions, in order to continue.
The sun provides many kinds of extremely steep energy and thermal gradients. We use some of them here on Earth. In the solar atmosphere (chromosphere) these gradients might by exploitable. Moreover, while it is too hot to allow molecules and molecular chemistry, there is another kind of structure that might, possibly, become self organizing.
In my novel SUNDIVER I portrayed entities consisting of self-sustaining magnetic field loops, that use the copious energy flows to energize, grow, and spawn new loops. *We can already do similar things (crudely) in the lab* and we see field loops forming all the time in the Chromosphere. Not in ways that satisfy a definition of life. But it’s not precluded.
See an illustration of my sun beings in the cover art to SUNDIVER, created by the brilliant Jim Burns. I have it hanging on the wall behind me. (And some of the foreign covers, below.) And yes, I have had Nobel winners compliment this book, so it ain’t all that crazy… just far-fetched!

>71 mahsdad:
>70 drneutron:

With the scorching weather still gradually making it's way north,

I'm wondering if we know what The Sun sounds like...?

>71 mahsdad: Yup, read Sundiver when it was first published - though it's time for a re-read! By the way, Brin is an honorary member of our science working group. Haven't met him yet, but I hear he's a pretty interesting guy!

>72 m.belljackson: Well, we're getting pretty good at building heat shields! 😀

>73 drneutron:

Well, while shields are intriguing, what SOUNDS does it make up there?!?

Ah, well there are all sorts of plasma waves going on, but the plasma's not dense enough to make a sound we could hear. Plus it's really hot. 😀

But some folks have measured the plasma waves and converted the data into sounds we can hear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_15tYrsR5-c

Happy Fourth of July weekend, Jim.

Thanks!

>75 drneutron:

Wow - thank You - that's absolutely astonishing!!!

The NASA one where the man says you can "...SEE sound moving across the Sun..."
is also
perfect for The 4th Of July.

I did not know that a recording had been made of "chaos."

There are other ones on YouTube as well - interplanetary space by Voyager, I think also some of sounds from Jupiter by Galileo. There should be links on the YouTube page.

Happy Saturday! I have lots of Gaiman on my TBR list including the essays and Norse mythology.

Hope you're finding time to kayak. My husband and I have a couple kayaks and canoes but the farm seems to pin us down.

Hi Jim! Happy July 4th Weekend to you.

Happy weekend Jim. Kayaking seems wonderful. It's the best way to enjoy the water and nature I think. Good way to destress from a busy job.

Happy Sunday, Jim! The PSP talk is exciting and interesting! I look forward to hearing more about it in the next year.

Happy holiday weekend, Jim! Hope you are getting plenty of R & R in, my friend.

>80 witchyrichy: Yup, farms will do that! We've got three acres of yard and flower beds, and that's bad enough. 😀

>81 karenmarie: Thanks!

>82 EllaTim: Yup, we love being close to the water. Except that time we stirred up a bed of small sand sharks. Mrsdrneutron wasn't amused! 😀

>83 Carmenere: Thanks! I'll be keeping folks up to date as we go.

>84 msf59: Well, we had some testing going on yesterday, so I was at work most of the day, but today's been quiet. 😀

Banging and booming. Hooting and Hollering.



Hope your Fourth was good.

>86 weird_O: Hope Jim's testing didn't look like that!

>86 weird_O: 😀 We made it to some local fireworks this year on Monday night, but didn't make the big ones in DC this year. Family were arriving from Louisiana.

>87 laytonwoman3rd: Yeah, that would be a bad day! 😀

>1 drneutron:, >46 drneutron:, >48 drneutron: SO EXCITING! Love the "hood ornament" image.

Happy new(ish) thread! Lots going on here! Been hit by a number of BBs flying around. I've got Norse Mythology on audio (read by Neil Himself!) waiting for me to finish two other books. Can't wait!

Hi Jim, hope you are having a good weekend.

>90 Storeetllr: Wow, I might have to pick up the audio version just to hear him read the stories!

>91 johnsimpson: Thanks!

I know, right?! Gaiman could read a shopping list and make it sound interesting and exciting. Have you heard him read Neverwhere and The Graveyard Book? So good!

>93 Storeetllr: Did you see that there was an attempt on twitter recently to try and get $500.000 for refugees (I think) and if they reached the target Neil Gaiman had agreed to read the Cheesecake Factory menu? They didn't reach their target but I think there's going to be a partial read because they did manage to get quite a lot.

Happy Sunday, Jim. Hope you are enjoying the weekend and getting some reading in.

I'm rather far behind for wishing happy new thread but I wish you a most wonderful hapoy Sunday, Jim.

Jim--Just catching up here, there and everywhere! Hope the weekend treated you well. On to Monday!!

>93 Storeetllr: I haven't, but I think his reading of Neverwhere would be great!

>94 PawsforThought: 😀I *love* that!

>95 msf59: Not so much - mrsdrneutron's sister and boys have been with us this week. They got on the road yesterday (Sunday) morning, but we spent most of the rest of the day cleaning and organizing and recovering. But I've got at least 4 books I need to catch up on here.

>96 Ameise1: Thanks!

>97 Berly: Yay, Monday! Kidding... We had a major problem communicating with the spacecraft this weekend. It's being worked, and nothing's wrong with the flight hardware. But it's put a crimp on testing and I've been tracking the situation all weekend. Looks to be a golden week if we don't get it fixed soon! 🙄

Glad you enjoyed Hillbilly Elegy I will hopefully get to it soon.

I've been neglecting my thread in favor of work - in direct contradiction to my thread title! Still, I've managed to finish 4 recently:

56. Autumn Princess, Dragon Child
57. The Lord of the Darkwood
58. The Tengu's Game of Go by Lian Hearn

I liked Emperor of the Eight Islands so much I had to rip right through the rest of the series! It's really one long story published in four books, so reading them back to back was great. This is the story of Shikanoko, a warrior and sorcerer destined to correct the imbalance in the world when a clan rebels and unseats the Divine Emperor for an unworthy substitute. There magic and mystery, spirits and fantastical beings, violence and love in the story.

Hearn has built a fantasy world based on medieval Japanese warrior tales and mythology in a way that's fresh and unique. Her characters are flawed, but because of that they're real. There were times when I wanted to smack one of them for what they did - but that's what makes us so involved in the story. Plus the language Hearn uses wonderful. And yes, there's a connection to the Tales of the Otori!

59. The Road to Jonestown by Jeff Guinn

Guinn became one of my favorite narrative nonfiction writers when I read his Go Down Together, the story of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. He made it all the better with The Last Gunfight, the real story of the gunfight at the OK Corral. Now in The Road to Jonestown, he's tackled Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and the mass suicide in Guyana.

Anyone around in 1978 will remember the horrific story - in the midst of a Congressional investigation concerning the safety and freedom of members of the Peoples Temple, Congressman Leo Ryan and several members of his party were killed outside what was supposed to be a self-sustaining socialist town carved out off the Guyanese jungle. This kicked off a mass murder/suicide of nearly all the folks living there under the extreme leadership of Jim Jones, most voluntarily drinking Flavor-Ade (not Kool-Ade as popular culture would have it) laced with cyanide. Nearly 1000 people died on the orders of this man. So who was he, and how did he get this power over these people? This is what Guinn's working to explore.

And his exploration is pretty successful. I knew the pop culture version. What I didn't know is the long history of the Peoples Temple and how Jones was genuinely concerned about racial inequality and socialism. But even from the beginning, he used the good his organization did to become absolute dictator of his members' lives, money, time, even social interactions. And so there's this twin thread running through the story of self-sacrifice and self-indulgence that poisoned Jones' work in parallel with the poison that kills his people. Highly recommended!

I remember that horrific event, Jim. Good review of The Road to Jonestown - onto the Wish List it goes!

>100 drneutron: Nice review of the Jonestown book, Jim. I was 14 when that happened and while I remember watching the news reports I don't think I know much of the background of what led to it all. So that will be one to look for at the library.

Hi Jim!

I've just added The Road to Jonestown to my wishlist. The tragedy came up in a conversation with my husband recently, so it's interesting that you've just read this book about it.

Morning, Jim! I'm adding the Hearn series to my wishlist...

Hi Jim, lots of good reading being done here!

I remember the Jonestown killing as well, and hearing later that the mass suicides weren't very voluntary at all. I'm going to look for the book.

>101 Storeetllr:, >102 rosalita:, >103 karenmarie: Great! It's a very good book, if you can call a book about the subject good. The others I've read are also good - still need to find his book on Charles Manson, though.

>104 scaifea: Cool! I hope you like them!

>105 EllaTim: How many were voluntary and how many were not is the subject of some debate. Small children and elderly were definitely given the poison by others. There were armed guards in the camp making sure adults and older children didn't run away, but it seems the majority of the adults voluntarily and willingly took it. Guinn shows that this was due to a very long process of indoctrinating adults into a "theology" of conflict and feelings of persecution by the outside world. It's a very good writeup.

For those who may have been trying to access the Threadbook or the group links page:

Over the last few days, LT's wiki system has had some issues. Things seem back together again, and the pages are current as of 10 July. I've kept track of the people who've started new threads while this has been going on and will get those in the Threadbook today. I don't think there were any changes to the links page, but will check to make sure. So by the end of today things should be back to normal!

Sweet Thursday, Jim. Good review of The Road to Jonestown. Glad you got to it. This was my introduction to Guinn and I hope to get to Go Down Together later this summer.

>100 drneutron: I, too, enjoyed your review of The Road to Jonestown. It sounds like the journey well intentioned activism to cult leader is fascinating reading. You also have me interested in The Last Gunfight.

>100 drneutron:

Does the author include a list of the people who were murdered?

>110 m.belljackson: No, unfortunately. There were significant issues trying to identify bodies to the point that at least 400 people were buried in a mass grave. Here's the best guess at a victims list:

http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=690

Great review of The Road to Jonestown, Jim. I was a freshman at Tulane in November 1978, so I remember that tragedy well. I'll add this book to my wishlist.

>100 drneutron: I am adding this to my WL too, Jim!! The Road to Jonestown by Jeff Guinn is a must-read, I reckon.

>112 kidzdoc:, >113 LovingLit: Glad you liked the review! His other books are pretty good too.

>107 drneutron: Thanks for keeping all the pieces together for us here on LT!!

Sorry about the flight hardware mishap. I trust you got it all worked out? And can actually enjoy this weekend?

Yep, we got it worked out pretty quickly. All hands on deck mostly gets problems solved fast. 😀 This weekend has been fine, but I did pick a bit of a cold and have been pretty draggy. It'll work out eventually.

Stopping by to say hello on a lovely Sunday...hope you are working out that cold with some good reading.

Happy Sunday, Jim! I hope you have a good one.

Did you miss me in >109 brodiew2:?

Folks seem attracted to the book about Jonestown, and though I'm sure it's excellent, I am going to pass...unless it should fall into my lap. I too recall the mass death. For some reason I recall hearing an on-the-spot (and seemingly in-the-moment) radio report on the congressman's arrival at the airstrip being met by gunmen and being disbelieving. This can't happen; the guy's a U.S. Congressman; he wouldn't be fired upon.

>117 witchyrichy: I'm spending a little time resting in my reading chair and finishing a couple of book while mrsdrneutron quilts!

>118 brodiew2: Thanks! Yeah, I did. I was probably looking at my thread between meetings and lost track. The Last Gunfight was another of Guinn's that cut through the mythology of the event to get at what really happened. I hope you like it!

>119 weird_O: I get that the story's not for some. And I should probably warn folks that a few of the photos in the book show the scene after the mass suicide and are pretty grisly.

If Guinn is correct, Ryan and company were pretty suspicious of Jones, but went in anyway after they couldn't get protection from the Guyanese government.

Saw today that George Romero died. Is it wrong that my first thought was to wonder if he'll be back? Stocking up on my cricket bats...

Lots of interest in your review of The Road to Jonestown, seems like you should be getting a cut of the profits based on all the (likely) traffic you are driving to it!

Hi Jim and happy Monday to you!

>122 pbirch01: I wish... 😀

>123 karenmarie: Thanks! Happy Monday to you!

Good morning, Jim! I hope your day is off to a good start.

Any impressions on the announcement of the 13th Doctor?

>125 brodiew2: I'm willing so give it a go. We weren't fans of the Capaldi era, though mostly due to a decline in writing, IMHO. If they are fix that problem, I think it'll be great!

Hello - any chance that you have read NEW YORK's July 10-23 issue and could offer
another scientist perspective on "The Doomed Earth Catalogue" ...?

I didn't think there could be more depressing news than the daily trumps,
but this is pretty overwhelming.

Haven't read it, but i found a blurb about it on line. The telling thing for me is that the author went into asking how bad could it be. What's often not factored into those sorts of questions is also asking about the likelihood that these things can occur. So let's take the case of releasing ancient diseases from melting ice. Yes, it's possible, but unlikely. And also, just based on the ratio of total pathogens to deadly pathogens, unlikely that those diseases will cause the kinds of mass death that can be imagined. It's good to ask that kind of question, but without reading the article I don't have any idea whether the author considers the other side of the equation - likelihood.

I'm also encouraged by human resourcefulness. We're pretty good at solving problems and I wonder whether the author considers the third side of the coin, if you will. When we do risk analysis we worry about likelihood and consequence, and use that to implement mitigations to either keep the bad thing from happening or to offset the effect of the consequence.

I'm not saying that there isn't a problem heading right for us. There is, and it's already here. But I'm not ready to pack it in yet, either.

>128 drneutron:

Thanks and I hope you can read the entire article.

From the first third (had to put it down to restore Calm),
it appears that it is not unleashed diseases that will be the main concern,
it will be gases, like Methane.

Also stated that even 'throwing in the towel' time is long past,
that human changes NOW will make little difference.

ON a more joyful note,

ASP online is offering an "Eclipse Demo Kit" for $10!

>129 m.belljackson: Interesting. I was using that as an example since the summary I saw on line discussed it, but same thing applies for any of these scenarios. One has to consider both likelihood and consequence. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about the science to assess whether nothing can be done.

>128 drneutron: Awesome! I'll check it out.

>128 drneutron: What a great response, Jim. Thanks for that. And yay for the third side of the coin! I'm a big fan of that one, myself.

>132 scaifea: Thanks! 😀

Good morning, Jim! I hope your day is off to a good start.

Have you by chance seen 'Travelers' on Netflix?

I hadn't, but just looked it up. Sounds interesting! We'll have to give it a go after finishing our binge of MST3K.

I've only seen the first episode, but the premise and execution are intriguing.

MST3K?

I watched the first season of Travelers and it is SO GOOD! I highly recommend it.

>137 norabelle414: Very cool! I look forward to more.

>132 scaifea:

Hope you are still this optimistic AFTER reading the entire article!

I picture trump and Stephen Hawking on their way to Mars -
with Hawking trying to convince trump that Galileo and Copernicus
were right about The Sun.

>136 brodiew2:, >137 norabelle414:, >138 brodiew2: Well, it's settled then. Next up on our binge list.

>139 m.belljackson: I'm still trying to track the article down...

>139 m.belljackson:

Maybe one of the New York City LT readers knows how to get to it...?

In case you haven't already seen it, Kristoff's New York Times column today is a good one.

Is this the article in question?

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-too-hot-for-hu...

>142 katiekrug:

That's IT - thanks!!!

(Now I won't have to use my printer to make a bunch of copies
to depress the bejeebers out of everyone else.)

Happy to help save some trees. Especially given the topic at hand...

>141 m.belljackson:, 142, >143 m.belljackson:, >144 katiekrug:

There's a heavy dependence on computer models in the article and anybody who's done that sort of thing will tell you that models are inherently dependent on the assumptions made. Again, I believe that at least some of the effects predicted are starting to happen. But a good scientist will give an estimate of the uncertainty in the model that you don't see in articles like this. I don't want to trivialize the piece, because it's important that we be conservative in this (in the engineering sense, not political sense). But what's missing in an article like this is a real risk assessment that includes both likelihood and consequence estimates along with an analysis of potential mitigations.

I guess you need to lump me in with the scientists at the end of the article that believe we'll develop ways to mitigate the effects of climate change. I know some of the technologies the author mentioned are being worked on. This is serious. This is potentially catastrophic. We can give up or we can roll up our sleeves and get to work. Call me an optimist, but I have faith that humanity will do the latter.

Also, while we worry about human-caused climate change, we need to add to the list asteroid impacts, solar variations that naturally warm the Earth, magnetic pole reversal that's likely to happen sometime in the next few hundred years,... There's a lot of ways for us to die. 😀

Where do I sign up for the escape rocket...?!

Thanks for the measured response. The poor seed bank!

>147 charl08: 😀 I'm right there with you! If they would let a 55 year old go to Mars, I'd be first in line.

>145 drneutron: - Thanks for that important perspective and reminder, Jim.

"There's a lot of ways for us to die." Ain't that the truth!

>145 drneutron: appreciate the perspective! We just took pictures of Pluto, figured out the Higgs boson and are about to send a probe to the sun. I'm not saying it will be easy but based on our previous achievements I am confident we can figure out a solution. Don't get me wrong, I am very concerned but in the meantime I just keep doing my small part everyday and staying aggressively optimistic.

"There's a lot of ways for us to die." They said that when our family went to Australia, and we survived. :-)

I share your optimism about addressing climate change, and I'm glad so many are ignoring the current U.S. administration in rolling up their sleeves and getting after it.

>149 katiekrug:, >150 pbirch01: Thanks!

>151 jnwelch: Yup, I'm encouraged that local and state governments are picking up the slack. And generally I give a lot more thought these days before buying stuff I don't need, especially energy-using things.

>145 drneutron: Thanks for your optimistic view! There is good work being done and there are many ways, large and small, that all of us can contribute.

>153 witchyrichy: no prob. By the way, been prepping mrsdrneutron that I may want to get a Tesla when I comes time to replace the Outback. Gotta do my part for the planet. 😀

>154 drneutron: the long sell! Love it

Happy weekend, Jim.

Hope you are having a good weekend Jim.

Have you read Phil Plait's Death From the Skies? I haven't read it yet, but want to. He takes a lot of doomsday scenarios (like that killer asteroid) and analyzes them - in a combo of fun and exciting, and scientifically accurate (as you say above, with the estimates of uncertainty and discussion of the models used). He writes well at column size (the Bad Astronomer blog), I haven't read any full books by him yet.

Delurking to say Hi!!

Hi Jim!

There are always interesting discussions here. I try to stay optimistic in the face of doomsday prophecies and potential asteroid impacts and the bloviating orange gasbag. Sometimes it's hard, but yours is a positive voice that offsets the nasty stuff.

>155 pbirch01: 😀

>156 Ameise1:, >157 johnsimpson: So far, so good! 😀 I hope you both have good ones as well.

>158 jjmcgaffey: I haven't - will have to check it out.

>159 Berly: Hi!

>160 karenmarie: I go back to The Martian. When things go to hell, you just start. You solve one problem, then the next. If you solve enough problems, you get to live. Mark Whatney's my hero! 😀

Time for an update!

60. Everything We Lost by Valerie Geary

Ten years ago, Lucy's brother disappeared after some time of increasing paranoia and belief in extra-terrestrial presence here on Earth. His disappearance has haunted her, her life has stalled, and now that her father has taken away much of her financial support, Lucy reacts by fleeing home to find out what really happened. And why her memories of that night are so confused.

Frankly, Geary's work is a pretty run-of-the-mill attempt at conspiracy, suspense, mystery. Is this alien stuff real or not? Is Lucy's faulty memory hiding something more sinister? As a beach read, this is pretty good - it's brain candy without much substance. If that's what you need, go for it, but don't expect too much.

61. Ararat by Christopher Golden

When a huge avalanche uncovers a cave on Mt Ararat, a team headed by TV adventure personalities is first on scene. It turns out that it's no cave - it's really the interior of a very large, very old ship. On Mt Arararat. So yeah (and this is no spoiler), Noah's ark. Or at least what may have been the truth behind the Biblical story. And there may be something in there that never should have been uncovered...

Pretty much straight up horror story set on a mountaintop in a storm. People getting picked off, etc. Golden wrote Mind the Gap, a pretty good urban fantasy, so I thought I'd give this one a try when I saw it was available on Overdrive. If you like scary stuff with a supernatural/religious element, this one's pretty good.

62. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Followed up Ararat with another storm-on-a-mountain story, this time a true one. Krakauer's book is well known (more than 10,000 libraries on LT have it!) and is well worth all the good things written about it. It's a tragic story of hubris, bad luck, and poor decision-making combined with one of the most difficult environments there is - extreme high altitude. Pile that on with unqualified climbers who pay big bucks to make it to the top no matter what and it's no wonder so many died. Highly recommended.

Good morning, Jim! I hope all is well with you.

>161 drneutron: I'm really looking forward to Weir's new book Artemis. And, yes, Mark Whatney is special guy.

>163 brodiew2: Oooooo, sounds good!

Morning, Jim! >163 brodiew2: I am anxiously awaiting that one, too!

>163 brodiew2: I see that auntmarge64 posted an advanced review. her thread is over at Club Read. I also saw she posted it to the book page.

>162 drneutron: Good reading, Jim! I liked Into Thin Air quite a bit, even though I'd rather be tied to a concrete block at the bottom of the ocean than try to climb Mount Everest. The Noah's Ark book sounds intriguing ...

>165 Crazymamie:, >166 brodiew2: Saw the review!

>167 rosalita: Like Clint Eastwood says - "a man's got to know his limitations." I'm sure mine's about 14,000 ft or so. 😀

Ararat was good, but it's definitely a horror story, and not one of those subtle, slow-building ones. 😀

Hi, Jim - no BBs for me in that last batch, thank goodness! My TBR pile is - well, talk about altitude! Speaking of which, I am finding that 700 feet below the Mile High City is still a bit too high for me. I mean, born at sea level, raised at sea level, and lived my entire life at sea level. No wonder I can't hack the height, right?

>162 drneutron: Ooh, you got me with that one (Ararat)--sounds like my cup of tea! Thanks!

Karen O.

>100 drneutron: Picking up Road to Jonestown at the library this weekend, really looking forward to it

>162 drneutron: Nice reads there, Jim!

Hi Jim!

When things go to hell, you just start. You solve one problem, then the next. If you solve enough problems, you get to live. Excellent advice. I loved The Martian - book AND movie (although the movie had that stupid sugary feel-good ending that irritated the hell out of me.).

Into Thin Air was a great book. Another excellent book about Everest, hubris, and dedication is Annapurna: A Woman's Place by Arlene Blum. I recommend it highly.

>169 Storeetllr: Sometimes no BBs is a good thing, right?! 😀 I find myself feeling the altitude when I visit Denver, but really felt it the few times I've been to areas higher than that - Snowmass, Telluride, etc.

>170 klobrien2: Cool!

>171 pbirch01: Excellent! I'll be interested in what you think of it and of Guinn's narrative nonfiction. As I've warbled several times, his other works are pretty good too.

>172 Berly: Thanks!

>173 karenmarie: Yeah, I wasn't fond of that aspect either. Annapurna's now on my list!

Good morning, Jim! I hope your day is off to a good start.

>175 brodiew2: So far, so good. Found a path through the latest issue on the spacecraft, had lunch with our Chief Engineer, no settling in to avoid the bands of rainstorms hitting us this afternoon. 😀

Ugh, you got me right between the eyes with Ararat it's now next on my list.

>177 beeg: 😀

Well, after a rough day of trying to get to Boston, we finallly made it to our hotel about 30 minutes before our meetup with Caroline (cameling) and Marianne (michigantrumpet) and husbands. We had an absolutely fabulous time! Good food, good drink, great company that I felt like I knew right from the get-go. We found some new, yet not new, friends tonight that I hope to spend more time with in the future!

Oh, meet-ups! Wonderful.

>179 drneutron: Fantastic! Meet-ups are the best.

>181 rosalita: I agree! *grins*

Caro posted pics on Facebook, but hasn't made it over here yet. Even the LT spouse support group had a great time!

I fell asleep last night when I got home thanks to the double espresso after dinner. So here is the pic....

Yep, there we are!

>179 drneutron:, >184 cameling: Great! Happy times. I know what you mean about meeting new friends who are old friends.

Love the photo! Looks like a very good time, Jim.

Looks like a good time! Glad you all got to meet-up.

Good morning, Jim! Looks like a good time.

>186 jnwelch: You were one of those, buddy! 😀

>187 Crazymamie:, >188 mstrust:, >189 brodiew2: Already thinking about a return trip. 😂

A very happy group. : ) And I love your description of meeting new friends who are old friends. Aptly put.

>184 cameling:, Hi Jim, great meet-up photo and glad you all had a good time.

>184 cameling: What a great photo, Jim. I am blessed to have met most of these wonderful people, except for your lovely wife, of course.

I NEED to make it back out to the East Coast!

>191 Berly: hey, if we ever get out Portland, you're on my list...

>192 johnsimpson: Thanks!

>193 msf59: Yup! And now that the son is at Notre Dame, mrsdrneutron and I have been talking about visiting, then taking a few days in Chicago. So we'll see...

Great meet-up photo! What a happy group!

Hooray for meet-ups!!

>194 drneutron: Yay! Glad to hear it. ; )

Great picture! Looks like a good time had by all.

>195 Copperskye:, >196 RebaRelishesReading:, >197 Berly:, > 198 Yup, it was a great time!

I have proof that mrsdrneutron loves me! While I was in my all-day meeting yesterday, she was wandering around the Harvard Square area. She got me Tana French's In the Woods and the next three in the Dublin Murder Squad series as well as Ted Riccardi's The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes!

Chicago Meet Up! Chicago Meet Up! Go Jim!

It looks like I will be having lunch and brews with Joe on Sunday. Not sure what we will talk about though...

Good morning, Jim! Happy Friday!

Random Q: Have you read Asimov's Foundation trilogy and, if so, how to you regard it?

Lucky you to come back after an all day meeting to be rewarded for your hard work with lovely lovely books.

>184 cameling: Great shot of obviously wonderful company.

Wishing you the very best of weekends Jim.

>200 msf59: I'm sure you two will figure it out! 😀

>201 brodiew2: I have - the whole series. I really enjoyed it, but it's been a while. Tried to mrsdrneutron to give it a try, but didn't work for her. She didn't like that so much happened behind the scenes even though I told her that it was really a set of connected short stories, at least until the later books.

>202 cameling: 😀 She's great, isn't she? Now if I could just convince her to start an LT account...

>203 PaulCranswick: hey, buddy, your turn for a meetup with me is coming someday! 😀

>204 drneutron: I do hope so, Jim.

>199 drneutron: Oh, you definitely should work on keeping Mrs Dr happy, because she is a keeper! Book score!

Hi Jim, hope you are having a good weekend with Mrs D mate.

Glad to hear that you had a splendid time at the meet-up. Happy Sunday, Jim.

Hi Jim!

Lovely gifts from your wife, proof that I'm sure you didn't need!

I've only read the first of the Dublin Murder Squad series, In the Woods, but it was a doozy.

>205 PaulCranswick: 😀

>206 Berly: Yup, definitely a keeper!

>207 johnsimpson: So far, so good! We're stewing tomatoes to freeze from our garden!

>208 Ameise1: Thanks!

>209 karenmarie: Sounds good! It's going to the top of my stack!

Good morning, Jim! I hope all is well.

Did you happen to catch the recent Childhood's End adaptation on Amazon?

I did. It was good, but didn't overwhelm me. 😀 Have you seen it?

I have not. I'll be looking for it on DVD at the library. Same with Man in the High Castle.

I loved Childhood's End, the novella, when I read it a million years ago. I haven't read the novel version or seen the adaptation and doubt if I will - don't want to ruin my memory of how wonderful it was when I first read it.

>213 brodiew2: Man in the High Castle is on my binge list, but probably not until mrsdrneutron is away this fall. She's expressed disinterest. 😀

>214 Storeetllr: oh, I get that. Some things just shouldn't be messed with!

I heard you have your copy of Kafka at hand? Go Jim! Go Jim!

I also loved In the Woods! Best to start with the first and possibly the best.

>216 msf59: Yup, 4 chapters in, will probably get another 2 or 4 done before bed. It appears I need to read in pairs - the story's alternating so far.

>217 drneutron: Very observant of you! Yes, they alternate. But it is okay to stop after an odd chapter. (That has a double meaning! LOL) Hope you like it. : )

So far so good!

Join me on my new thread!

>174 drneutron: Just finished Road to Jonestown and thought it was great! I was vaguely aware of the story and thought Guinn did an excellent job telling describing Peoples Temple and doing his best to get inside Jones's head. My only gripes were I felt the early years of Jones's life in Indiana were a little too folksy and there was so much going on in the final few days in Guyana that it became really hard to follow. Impressive amount of research was done and I also really liked how he started with Jones's parents backgrounds for a better overview of the home life Jones had growing up. Lots of interesting side anecdotes on why is San Francisco is the way it is today and interesting views on what has and has not changed in race relations. I think I will have to check out his other works soon :)

Cool! His book on Bonnie and Clyde is the other one I really liked.