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Post by msmaggie on May 29, 2020 9:01:51 GMT -5
Just finished My Brother's Destroyer (great book despite lurid title); prior to that A Gentleman in Moscow (fun, lighthearted and clever). Also Ask Again, Yes (intense, moving)
Any suggestions?
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Post by Bartman on May 30, 2020 20:44:37 GMT -5
I listen to Audiobooks in my car for the most part now. Currently listening to Dr. Lawrence Krauss "A Universe from Nothing". This Quantum Physics stuff is just Incredible. I don't see how these guys get their minds around it!
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Post by guido2 on May 31, 2020 9:37:19 GMT -5
I listen to Audiobooks in my car for the most part now. Currently listening to Dr. Lawrence Krauss "A Universe from Nothing". This Quantum Physics stuff is just Incredible. I don't see how these guys get their minds around it!
When I was struggling with an advanced math class (not QM) I had a sit down with the professor. And he had a comment to me about 'wrapping my head' around it. He more or less said ..... when you start studying and using math in the beginning much of it is tangable to our real lives. At this level it is no longer that process and starts leaning more to an artform.
In painting one can learn the mechanics/process but where greatness (or in this case really applying QM) comes is when you paint beyond the mechanics......that you just 'see' it...... and that can't be taught......you either got it or you don't.
I struggled to a C+. π
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Post by Bartman on May 31, 2020 13:10:56 GMT -5
I listen to Audiobooks in my car for the most part now. Currently listening to Dr. Lawrence Krauss "A Universe from Nothing". This Quantum Physics stuff is just Incredible. I don't see how these guys get their minds around it!
When I was struggling with an advanced math class (not QM) I had a sit down with the professor. And he had a comment to me about 'wrapping my head' around it. He more or less said ..... when you start studying and using math in the beginning much of it is tangable to our real lives. At this level it is no longer that process and starts leaning more to an artform.
In painting one can learn the mechanics/process but where greatness (or in this case really applying QM) comes is when you paint beyond the mechanics......that you just 'see' it...... and that can't be taught......you either got it or you don't.
I struggled to a C+. π What's mind boggling are these Quantum Particles that can just pop in or out of existence any time. There it is, no wait, no it isn't! And That is how the Universe came into existence!
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Post by guido2 on May 31, 2020 14:08:35 GMT -5
When I was struggling with an advanced math class (not QM) I had a sit down with the professor. And he had a comment to me about 'wrapping my head' around it. He more or less said ..... when you start studying and using math in the beginning much of it is tangable to our real lives. At this level it is no longer that process and starts leaning more to an artform.
In painting one can learn the mechanics/process but where greatness (or in this case really applying QM) comes is when you paint beyond the mechanics......that you just 'see' it...... and that can't be taught......you either got it or you don't.
I struggled to a C+. π What's mind boggling are these Quantum Particles that can just pop in or out of existence any time. There it is, no wait, no it isn't! And That is how the Universe came into existence! Yup. So they say..... this week. Imagine the math/thinking that came up with the idea of black matter because calculations suggested that what mass/etc we 'see' can't be all of the mass of the universe. For whatever reason I remember when this popping in and out theory came about......someone called it; 'the God factor'. I have been interested in astronomy/space most all my life and I still can't wrap my head around the fact that we can't really grasp the dimension and distance of just our galaxy. That floating out there ....billions of light years away..... there are others..... WAY bigger than ours.....and there are billions of them. Real excited about the clean docking today. But I think the warp drive is a long after we are dead thing. πͺ π
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Post by Gentile on Jun 5, 2020 9:45:16 GMT -5
I just finished Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" - don't bother. I see why he took his life a year after completing it.
Currently reading David James Duncan's "The River Why" - a humorous, spiritual book about love, family and fly-fishing. My copy of the book - and Duncan's "The Brothers K" - are both highly underlined with plenty of bent pages for relatively easy access to his best lines - of which there are many. Duncan is my all-time favorite author.
If you enjoy nestling in with one of those sprawling, generational type novels where family and historical touchstones interweave, Anton Myrer's "The Last Convertible" is always a pleasant diversion for me. I've read it at least five times.
I read anything Richard Russo writes -"Empire Falls" is one of his which stands out. And who can ever go wrong with an Anne Tyler book?. So much still to read...
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Post by vosa on Jun 9, 2020 15:40:25 GMT -5
When I was struggling with an advanced math class (not QM) I had a sit down with the professor. And he had a comment to me about 'wrapping my head' around it. He more or less said ..... when you start studying and using math in the beginning much of it is tangable to our real lives. At this level it is no longer that process and starts leaning more to an artform.
In painting one can learn the mechanics/process but where greatness (or in this case really applying QM) comes is when you paint beyond the mechanics......that you just 'see' it...... and that can't be taught......you either got it or you don't.
I struggled to a C+. π What's mind boggling are these Quantum Particles that can just pop in or out of existence any time. There it is, no wait, no it isn't! And That is how the Universe came into existence! Life is like that. One minute you're here and the next minute you're not.
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Post by vosa on Jun 9, 2020 15:42:42 GMT -5
I just finished Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" - don't bother. I see why he took his life a year after completing it.
Currently reading David James Duncan's "The River Why" - a humorous, spiritual book about love, family and fly-fishing. My copy of the book - and Duncan's "The Brothers K" - are both highly underlined with plenty of bent pages for relatively easy access to his best lines - of which there are many. Duncan is my all-time favorite author. If you enjoy nestling in with one of those sprawling, generational type novels where family and historical touchstones interweave, Anton Myrer's "The Last Convertible" is always a pleasant diversion for me. I've read it at least five times. I read anything Richard Russo writes -"Empire Falls" is one of his which stands out. And who can ever go wrong with an Anne Tyler book?. So much still to read...
I think I've read all of Bill Bryson's books. Each one a good read.
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Post by WKDWZD on Aug 15, 2020 6:29:43 GMT -5
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Makesey. A truly inspirational read.
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Post by soulflower on Aug 28, 2020 7:54:39 GMT -5
Books I've read this Summer:
"Hate Inc." by Matt Taibbi
A series of essays criticizing the current News Media business model. I know lots of people disagree with Taibbi these days but he is right in his overall point that Fox News is a "Safe Space" for Republicans and MSNBC is a "Safe Space" for Democrats and his criticism that Reporters shouldn't reveal their personal political biases.
"Has China Won?" by Kishore Mahbubani
The book never answers the question in the title. It just details the issues that have led to China's ascension and seemingly inevitable confrontation with the US. I learned a great deal that I didn't know about China's economic policies and history. Also, the author stresses that confrontation between the US and China is avoidable if both sides want to avoid conflict.
"The Devil's Chessboard" by David Talbot
This book is an unflattering biography of Allan Dulles, the former CIA director and brother of American diplomat John Foster Dulles. The brothers were deeply connected to both the Espionage world and the American Financial Elite who secretly drove US foreign policy from WWII through the Cold War. Dulles comes across as a more likeable J Edgar Hoover. Both men were very good at manipulating the levers of power in the US government but Dulles was better than Hoover at manipulating the News media and cultural influencers.
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Post by pickle20 on Oct 14, 2020 18:22:09 GMT -5
Iβm reading The Chill, by Scott Carson. So far so good!
Good mix of thriller with a lot of information about the New York water supply worked into it. Sounds odd but it is working.
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Post by ivanbalt on Oct 16, 2020 6:37:59 GMT -5
Almost finished The Great Pandemic.
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Post by soulflower on Oct 18, 2020 10:22:18 GMT -5
Recently read βThe People, Noβ by Thomas Frank.
It covers the history of Populism in America. Critical of both Republicans and Dems for adopting Populist rhetoric while implementing anti-Populist policies. Great overview of the American Labor movement too.
Taking a break from the History topic and currently reading βThe Design of Everyday Thingsβ by Don Norman.
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Post by WKDWZD on Oct 19, 2020 8:07:36 GMT -5
Recently finished "The Haunting Of H. G. Wells" by Robert Masello. A ghost story set in The Great War. Very enjoyable, particulary as it was a freebie on Amazon Prime Reads.
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Post by Gentile on Oct 22, 2020 8:10:24 GMT -5
Muriel Spark's "The Driver's Seat" - the woman has been twisting my brain since "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"...
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