What are you reading 2023

Is that the two volume account?

I have only Volume 2 left as I loaned Volume 1 and it was never returned. 

Excellent authoritative account. He does his best to be objective and even charitable when blood is their argument. (thank you w. Shakespeare).


“But if the cause be not good, the king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make, when all those legs and arms and heads, chopped off in battle, shall join together at the latter day and cry all 'We died at such a place;' some swearing, some crying for a surgeon, some upon their wives left poor behind them, some upon the debts they owe, some upon their children rawly left. I am afeard there are few die well that die in a battle; for how can they charitably dispose of anything, when blood is their argument? Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the king that led them to it; whom to disobey were against all proportion of subjection.  Henry V Act IV, Scene 1

A great read, indeed!

If only politicians could read.

A couple of years ago I read Decameron, Canterbury Tales and one other similar book that my old brain can't remember right now. An enjoyable interlude.

A lot of them, like Anna Karenina, just don't appeal to me. I've read thousands of books, but only about a third of those on the list. Note that things like The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire aren't on the list. I've read most of Dickens, Sir Walter Scott and such. When I was 12 I learned to read and understand Beowulf in the old English, but years later it doesn't make any sense to me. Use it or lose it. I've read several books by Albert Einstein and similar. All of Shakespeare, Don Quixote, Gullivers Travels and such. I got off into science fiction and read everything in the library when that was the only place to get books. I tend to read mostly fiction now because reality sucks. Favorite book is A Tale of Two Cities, second is The Count of Monte Christo. Those are 2 that I've read twice. I have also read the Bible through in a couple of versions. Some of what I read is generally considered crap. But I'm choosy about the crap I read. I like books with heroes. The Hornblower books and especially the 21 volume Master and Commander books are especially enjoyable. I also learn stuff from books. I learned carpentry and electrical engineering for my own needs from books. I can build, wire and roof a house, do 90% of the plumbing, rebuild engines and automatic transmissions, and so much more because of books. I have at least two hundred paper books that I will probably never get to. Mostly history. I have read most of the Bernard Cornwell novels, Harry Potter, Wheel of Time, The Game of Thrones, every fiction and a lot of the nonfiction books by Asimov, everything by Heinlein and a whole lot more. I rarely get to read anything on paper any more, except the local paper. I do have 4 paper books that I'm working on, albeit slowly.
You may have heard the phrase, so many books, so little time..
When I was born, I was, at least theoretically possible for a person to know all the recorded human knowledge. Things have changed. There are a million times as many novels now than there were 72 years ago.

English majors and math: they never mix well.

When I was in grad school I HAD TO READ the list, beginning to end, plus peruse the index. I vowed that after that I would ONLY read what pleased me. Best selling book but at page 20 I don’t like it— it’s done, and so am I. I don’t care how much of a “most loved classic” it is. It’s fired.

Well of course. Like smoking, read what you like, like what you read. I appreciate the list because it helps me pick through and keep at top of mind books that I want to review and select just what I want to read. I'll try to spend enough time to overview what I'm getting into first and if one is really not enjoying a book it's best to ditch it and move on.

Just started reading Homer Price with my granddaughter, a book that I enjoyed as a kid, and she seems to really enjoy reading.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_Price