June Reading Thread

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I'm listening to Galaxy Outlaws: The Complete Black Ocean Mobius Missions by J.S. Morin, and I'm getting so hooked. I'm loving the flawed but loveable characters and the wild adventures they are having. A lot of the time I find myself muttering, "what on EARTH is happening right now", but like, in a good way. Chaos in the best way. Also, this is my first post in this forum so hey y'all!
 
Just finished THE STALIN AFFAIR: The Impossible Alliance that Won the War by Giles Milton.

It's a terrific inside account of the Allied/Russian quest to defeat Hitler - and an inside look at Stalin the man - relying heavily on often gossipy journals by assistants and translators to the leaders, which can differ immensely from official accounts, and particularly the recollections of Roosevelt's envoy to Britain (later ambassador to Russia) Averell Harriman's daughter Kathleen, who accompanied her father throughout the war.

If you have read the equally enjoyable THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE by Erik Larson, this one is a very good companion book.
 
Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston
Shady Characters explores the developmental history of a selection of common and obscure glyphs used to indicate punctuation. Houston takes the reader on a trip to Ancient Greece and Rome, the Library of Alexandria, the invention of the book, along with typography and typesetting, and also, the invention of the telephone and email. Each chapter focuses on the development and use of a particular glyph/symbol. The punctuation glyphs covered include: the pilcrow (¶), the interrobang (‽) for those of use who like using exclamation marks followed by question marks, the octothorpe (#) known as the hashtag these days, the ampersand (&), the @ symbol, the asterisk and dagger (* †) used in footnotes, the hyphen (-), the various dashes (—), the manicule (☞), quotation marks ( “ ”), and various irony and sarcasm symbols. The book is informative, interesting and on occasion rather amusing, all written/read in an engaging style.​
 
Lon Milo Duquette "Allow me to introduce. An insider's guide to the occult"
A collection of introductions that Duquette has written for various occult tomes.
When Duquette writes about himself and his own experience of other dimensions and personal magical practice, I can find him very likeable, hilarious, self-deprecating, informative and a very entertaining read. For all I know, in real life he may be a monster, but despite his veneration of a certain infamous (and as far as I am concerned, deeply unpleasant) occultist (who died about three miles away from this desk), I think he has a good understanding of the deeper unconscious forces within us. I'm thinking particularly of Jung's perspective here.
I thought he'd written himself out in terms of anecdotes about his personal life, but there are still one or two gems here to entertain me and also help me understand better the dimensions within us. There's also material I find less interesting, but then I am essentially a tourist rather than a student of these matters.
 
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My GoodReads review:
Eliot Ness was an icon of the 1920s because of his efforts to put pressure on Al Capone's empire and eventually bring him down; Ness was helped by his hand-picked team that became known as the Untouchables. But once Capone was imprisoned, Ness was left to find something else in which to invest his energy. Still a young man, not quite 30 when Capone went down, Ness was offered the Safety Director job in Cleveland, a position he held until 1942. This book becomes something of a biography of Ness, a corrective to the mythologizing of the book The Untouchables and the 1950s TV show and 1980s movie that sprang from it. It does this by focusing on Ness' time as Safety Director and the torso murders that happened there during his tenure.

It would be inaccurate to say dealing with serial killers was in its infancy: In the 1930s the closest analog of the torso murders would have Jack the Ripper in London in 1888. (Oddly, perhaps, Stashower doesn't mention the torso murders that happened concurrently with the Ripper as a parallel.) So Ness and his police force and his team dedicated to solving the crimes, were making it up as they went along. Stashower explains all this in brisk prose, and seems even-handed in his assessment of Ness and his actions and words, as well as with those Ness interacted with, friend or foe.

A fascinating slice of American history, well-written and engaging.
 
I'm currently listening to two series: Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky
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A post apocalypse series set in Russia. More specifically, the Russian metro system where some of the last known remnants of mankind struggle to survive in a cold, harsh, and now radiated world.

A truly interesting although dark story about perseverance.
I should also mention the three video games based on this book series for any who're interested.
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The other series is: Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi
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The story follows the titular Vampire Hunter, D, as he wanders the post-nuclear war torn Earth as the author combines multiple elements of the pulp genre to weave this narrative: Horror, Western, Science Fiction, Lovecraftian Horror, Occult, and Dark Fantasy.
Another post apocalypse series although what sets this apart from it's contemporary above is the fact this is a tale of man vs the classic monsters (Vampires, ghosts, the undead, etc.) but I should warn anyone who's interested in this series, this is a DARK fantasy story. This is not a series you can recommend to someone underaged.
 
Islands in the Bush by Malcolm Coe , a natural history of the Kora National Reserve, Kenya. Been on my tbr pile for decades, and I finally got another copy to replace the one that got left behind years ago
 
I've finished The Ferryman by Justin Cronin. Andy Weir says that it's "a rollercoaster's worth of twists and turns" and that's about the best description of it I would think. I won't spoil, it contains various big SF themes, but the big reveal halfway through, turns it into a subject I have been looking for more examples of.
 
Dave said:
I've finished The Ferryman by Justin Cronin. Andy Weir says that it's "a rollercoaster's worth of twists and turns" and that's about the best description of it I would think. I won't spoil, it contains various big SF themes, but the big reveal halfway through, turns it into a subject I have been looking for more examples of.
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Is The Ferryman a standalone? I read the first novel in his vampire trilogy and just couldn't muster up any enthusiasm for the second book.
 
I think so. I haven't read anything else by him but the comments I've read on the book don't suggest anything else, and the story doesn't require any prior knowledge. (It is impossible to discuss the story without giving anything away, but no vampires are involved.) His first book was The Passage, but I admit to never hearing about him before. The Ferryman was bought as a Birthday present for me, based upon recommendations by a book store.
 
OUT OF YOUR MIND, By Alan Watts, 1988.
Lectures.

Steve Martin ,THE PLEASURE OF MY COMPANY ,2004.

COMEDY :)
 
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