Book Thread. I have nothing good to read.

[Ruzious]

The Books of Jacob is next on my list - thanks to badinage and Pif. I really need to do more reading and stop accumulating fees from the library police.

[badinage]

PayIt: I liked, almost loved, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. She’s acute and tender and philosophical and (surprisingly!) funny.

And yes, I know the story of Sabbatai Sevi. And what a story it is. OT’s false messiah was real, too — emerged about 80 or so years after Sevi. He was such an outrageous character that at times it’s hard to tell what’s fiction from what’s invented. But her inventions are great.

Here’s her subtitle to The Books of Jacob, by the way:

“A Fantastic Journey Across Seven Borders, Five Languages, and Three Major Religions, Not Counting the Minor Sects. Told by the Dead, Supplemented by the Author, Drawing From a Range of Books, and Aided by Imagination, the Which Being the Greatest Natural Gift of Any Person. That the Wise Might Have It for a Record, That My Compatriots Reflect, That Laypersons Gain Some Understanding, and That Melancholy Souls Obtain Some Slight Enjoyment.”

Isn’t that fantastic? Worth the price of the book, all by itself!

[payitforward]

The Books of Jacob is next on my list - thanks to badinage and Pif. I really need to do more reading and stop accumulating fees from the library police.

I ordered it from Amazon this afternoon!

[payitforward]

PayIt: ...yes, I know the story of Sabbatai Sevi. And what a story it is....

It didn't end with his death.

You are aware I hope that many of his followers remained "Sabbateans." They developed a theology that held that the messiah had to convert, to go to "the dark side," in order to rescue the kelippot -- the broken shards from the creation (which are the reason there is evil in the world).

From this sub-rosa Sabbatean movement there came, about 120 years later, strong support for the American & French Revolutions.

There was also a much smaller, much more radical group of Jews who believed that not only must the Messiah go over to the dark side, but that his followers also had to. These families converted to Islam (& to a lesser degree elsewhere to Christianity) outwardly -- while practicing an increasingly non-standard Judaism within the circles of their families.

The last of these groups was discovered in Istanbul in the mid-XXth century; they were called the "donmeh." They had been radical supporters of Ataturk & influential in the secularization of Turkey!

The world is a complicated place, eh?

[penbeast0]

I also recently read Hiaasen’s latest novel Squeeze which was an
extremely thinly veiled rank on tRump and tRumpism. Pretty funny.

t-Rump, isn't that the rapper?

[dobrojim]

It’s shorter than typing out Golfy McBonespurs

[dobrojim]

I've started reading War and Peace.

[badinage]

Readers, you have to read The Promise by Damon Galgut. South African novelist. Fantastic book about post-apartheid SA. Written with brio and wit — two things you couldn’t really say about Coetzee or Gordimer. I love the shifting perspectives and the multiple voices at play on every page.

[Gig18]

The Socrates Express by Eric Weiner. Philosophy for life.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

I’m reading A Firing Offense, written by one of the Wires’ screenwriter/producers. It’s dark, but a hoot, set in 1980 Silver Spring/DC.

I graduated from Kennedy in 1984, so a bunch of the clubs/music/radio stations show up in just about every chapter. My favorite? Weasel spinning some NRBQ on WHFS, prior to the Annapolis move, I think

[AFM]

I’m reading A Firing Offense, written by one of the Wires’ screenwriter/producers. It’s dark, but a hoot, set in 1980 Silver Spring/DC.

I graduated from Kennedy in 1984, so a bunch of the clubs/music/radio stations show up in just about every chapter. My favorite? Weasel spinning some NRBQ on WHFS, prior to the Annapolis move, I think

You old as hell....

Have you seen We Own This City? Written by one of the Wire's writers, sort of a spiritual successor. Came out this year, on HBO. Was pretty good.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Friendly '79

I'm reading BOOKS for DUMMIES. Yellow and black like Cliff's Notes.

Right now: IDIOT'S GUIDE to the Bible. Orange and White, as are all the idiot guides.

Best of all: Costco offers "Smartest Kid in Class", Everything You Need to Ace...

Science
Geometry
Biology
Etc.

Good for Middle and High School students.

Lots of pictures
Lots of colored notes
Great notes
Simple explanations

Them is my kinds books from a PG County dude.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Unfortunately I do not read the kind of books that a lot of you read because I just don't have the attitude or the interest in those kinds of books

Sent from my SM-A536U using RealGM mobile app

[AFM]

Friendly '79

I'm reading BOOKS for DUMMIES. Yellow and black like Cliff's Notes.

Right now: IDIOT'S GUIDE to the Bible. Orange and White, as are all the idiot guides.

Best of all: Costco offers "Smartest Kid in Class", Everything You Need to Ace...

Science
Geometry
Biology
Etc.

Good for Middle and High School students.

Lots of pictures
Lots of colored notes
Great notes
Simple explanations

Them is my kinds books from a PG County dude.

Thought you were pretty well versed in the bible, pardon the pun....Doubt you need a guide....Hope you're doing well big fella....

[AFM]

Friendly '79

I'm reading BOOKS for DUMMIES. Yellow and black like Cliff's Notes.

Right now: IDIOT'S GUIDE to the Bible. Orange and White, as are all the idiot guides.

Best of all: Costco offers "Smartest Kid in Class", Everything You Need to Ace...

Science
Geometry
Biology
Etc.

Good for Middle and High School students.

Lots of pictures
Lots of colored notes
Great notes
Simple explanations

Them is my kinds books from a PG County dude.

Thought you were pretty well versed in the bible, pardon the pun....Doubt you need a guide....Hope you're doing well big fella....

I'm middle eastern but I bought a bible with all of Jesus' words in red text...good read.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Friendly '79

I'm reading BOOKS for DUMMIES. Yellow and black like Cliff's Notes.

Right now: IDIOT'S GUIDE to the Bible. Orange and White, as are all the idiot guides.

Best of all: Costco offers "Smartest Kid in Class", Everything You Need to Ace...

Science
Geometry
Biology
Etc.

Good for Middle and High School students.

Lots of pictures
Lots of colored notes
Great notes
Simple explanations

Them is my kinds books from a PG County dude.

Thought you were pretty well versed in the bible, pardon the pun....Doubt you need a guide....Hope you're doing well big fella....

You know you are absolutely right!

I have 2 library books that are basically about The Bible but ... Nah, I don't really need them!

What is so funny is that where I live now in Waikiki I see a lot of Street people in a lot of veterans who I've seen from both of us being down and out in the past. I was just talking to somebody about Jezebel and Delilah and then I dropped the name Gomer on them

Prophet Hosea married a shady lady...

Then a really nice tourist who happened to have been a special forces guy back in Vietnam in the '70s was telling me about the Book of Joel and how in his life he married a second time and it's been married for 32 years. That book is about restoration among other things

AFM

God bless YOU because despite ALL my travails and weird posts...

My LAMENTATIONS...get it...

You recall

Yeah my mom was the church lady and I spent a lot of time in church

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Those library books are due on the 22nd and I haven't even opened them yet...



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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

This Google translator and auto correct are both simply horrible

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[daSwami]

I've started reading War and Peace.

Me too, a few times. Ditto Infinite Jest, Ulysses, most things DeLillo, Pynchon, etc. My attention span can no longer handle "long" slogs - exactly as DFW foretold.

[payitforward]

I've been in France since last Sunday. In Paris (a town I know pretty well from having lived there a couple of years many decades ago) for a few days, then in Normandy for the wedding of my wife's youngest son. Tomorrow we head down to the Perigord to look at prehistoric caves, etc.

That's what connects to this thread: I've just read a terrific series of mysteries set in a tiny town in that region of France. The series is called Bruno, Chief of Police. I recommend it highly. Author's name is Martin Walker. They're in your local library.

Aside from novels, you might well be interested in books about the long habitation of the region by early man: both Neanderthals & Homo Sapiens Sapiens (us) were in the region from about 35,000 years ago (tho the Neanderthals went extinct about 16000 years ago).

If you're interested in learning more about this you can start with this wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Sites_and_Decorated_Caves_of_the_V%C3%A9z%C3%A8re_Valley -- All kinds of fascinating stuff to learn here... but the Martin Walker novels are more entertaining!