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Edward Aycock
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 13 July 2024
Location: United States
Posts: 50
Posted: 17 May 2025 at 7:26pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

I just finished The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler.  This was the second Tyler I've read in the past year.  She is a very, very good writer but, after two novels, I don't find that I like her characters all that much.   It's not that they're very quirky, it's that they're annoying.  Maybe it's a Baltimore thing (she and John Waters are friendly as well) or maybe I am missing something.  

Edited by Edward Aycock on 17 May 2025 at 7:27pm
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Stéphane Garrelie
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 05 August 2005
Location: France
Posts: 4256
Posted: 18 May 2025 at 11:07am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Essentially reading on a loop the two volumes of the Problèmes de linguistique générale by Emile Benveniste. The more familiar i am with it, the better it is. I used to be more familiar with the first volume than the second, so i remedied to that. 

Narrative works:
-Ivanhoe (Walter Scott), an all-time favorite.
-Nadja (André Breton), i don't like what i know of the man, but i like the writer and his books. (The few i read so far.)
-Chessmen of Mars (Edgar Rice Burroughs)

Also rereading Les Langages de Rabelais, by François Rigolot.

That's a bit of too many books at the same time, it's still OK and manageable but none the less a lack of discipline on my part. I intend to quickly reduce it to one or two books. 



Edited by Stéphane Garrelie on 18 May 2025 at 8:27pm
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James Best
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 02 March 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 923
Posted: 31 May 2025 at 11:40pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Now starting DARK SUN: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb by Richard Rhodes.

Published back in 1995, this is basically a sequel to his award-winning book on the making of the atomic bomb, which I read a few years ago and really enjoyed.

My interest in reading the book was kindled by reading a mystery/thriller novel last year that was centered around the Soviets designing, building, and testing the Tsar Bomb back in 1961, which was the most powerful thermo-nuclear (hydrogen) bomb ever detonated (~ 55 megatons).


Edited by James Best on 31 May 2025 at 11:41pm
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134510
Posted: 31 May 2025 at 11:53pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Excellent choice, James!
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Edward Aycock
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 13 July 2024
Location: United States
Posts: 50
Posted: 01 June 2025 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Me again.

I just finished The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor.  That led me to revisiting her short stories which I first read in college.  

Her story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is still a great read.  Darkly funny despite being so twisted.  She remains a favorite of mine.  
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John Popa
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 20 March 2008
Posts: 4628
Posted: 01 June 2025 at 5:11pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Horror novelist Grady Hendrix came through my town last week for a signing. It was a good 400 people deep crowd. He opened with a blistering one hour monologue about witches throughout history, both in fiction and reality. Some of it was hilarious as he's an expert on sleazy paperback novels of yesteryear and pulled up a lot of those stories. Some of it was naturally powerful as he went over mankind's constant need to invent and then kill witches.

It was a really great presentation.

Luckily I was in the first quarter of the attendees in line so I didn't wait too long. Hendrix mentioned that the autograph line took six hours!

"My Best Friend's Exorcism" is my favorite of his books, which is now signed. 
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134510
Posted: 01 June 2025 at 6:14pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Speaking of witches, a while back I read VAMPIRE FORENSICS. (The author’s name is eluding me, but there can’t be more than one book with that title.)

An engrossing read.

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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31615
Posted: 01 June 2025 at 7:51pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Still making my way thru Mick Herron’s Slough House series and
adjacencies. Currently on REAL TIGERS so I’m not past the TV show yet.
Herron can certainly tell some cracking good stories.
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Josh Goldberg
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 25 October 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 2106
Posted: 01 June 2025 at 11:01pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

The Long Walk.  I had never heard of it before.  When I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation, I knew it was my kind of movie (and book).
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John Young
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 22 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3156
Posted: 01 June 2025 at 11:11pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

I am about half way the first book in the First Law Trilogy.  By Abercrombie.  This is the first "new" fantasy book I have read in a long time, and am enjoying it.   
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James Best
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 02 March 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 923
Posted: 11 June 2025 at 4:02am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Frederick Forsyth (August 25th, 1938 - June 9th, 2025). RAF jet pilot. Journalist for Reuters and the BBC. Part-time spy & courier for MI-6. Author of eighteen thriller novels, five of which are part of my permanent library.

Rest in peace.

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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134510
Posted: 11 June 2025 at 1:07pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

THE GOOD OLD DAYS -- THEY WERE TERRIBLE by Frederick Bettman

I actually acquired this book several years ago, but am only now getting around to reading it. A truly harsh presentation of what life was like, especially in cities, before (and even a few decades into) the 20th Century. Disease, garbage, animal waste, crowded housing. At least the lifespans were short!

Time travel? No thanks. I'll sit in a comfy chair and use my time viewer scope!

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