What are you reading?

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I am about 300 pages into “Homeland: a Novel”, by John Jakes.

I haven’t read one of his books in years, this one almost 1200 pages in length.

So far, it is rich in historical detail and very good.
 
..... There used to be an editor and a proofreader involved before publication .....
One reason I only read e-books that also have a printed copy available. Although for newer publications that doesn't guarantee good editing/proofreading.

There are plenty of older books that are worth reading, even ancient ones. I don't need to waste my time on poorly written stuff.
 
What @Spaceman Spiff said.

But "self published" doesn't have to mean "not edited or proofread."
Self-publishing authors know that they have the option of hiring an editor and proofreader -- I mean, it would be very hard to get all the way to uploading your book to Amazon without somebody telling you you should do that, and there are lots of editors and proofreaders who specialize in helping indie authors -- but they also know they can skip that step and get away with it.

Another issue is that apparently a lot of piracy gets through onto Amazon and some of those books are really cr@ppily produced. Sometimes a legit author's reputation takes a hit because of a bad pirated version. (Sorry, I can't cite a source on this, just going from memory, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt.)

OTOH, traditional mainstream publishers are also not investing as much in editing and proofreading as they used to. It's been one round of cutbacks after another, in everything from newspapers to academic publishers, for decades. (I was/sort of still am a copyeditor by trade so I've had a front-row seat, lucky me.)

E-books have definitely been a mixed blessing!
 
OTOH, traditional mainstream publishers are also not investing as much in editing and proofreading as they used to. It's been one round of cutbacks after another, in everything from newspapers to academic publishers, for decades. (I was/sort of still am a copyeditor by trade so I've had a front-row seat, lucky me.)
I've noticed this as well. It often looks to me like some publishers just let the spell check run amok. Very simple mistakes that a human would catch.
 
"The Dawn of Everything" ( https://a.co/d/2MakChu) human history reviewed using the evidence that was actually available to thinkers during the Euro-Enlightenment, plus recent excavation evidence. A review that tries to ask much better questions and uses evidence rather than assumptions to chart human social and political changes. Dense, but not bad reading.
 
^^that a GREAT book and i learned a lot! it took awhile to read as i read most of the references as well ;)
 
I just read the next installment of Charlie Stross' The Laundry Files series. If you like extremely well-written and engaging dark urban fantasy mixed with Lovecraftian horror, this is for you! The first novel in the series is The Atrocity Archives, and the wiki devoted to the series suggests a reading order.
 
I know I need to get my eyes checked. But that is on the back burner right now.
It has been a h### of a spring here for me this year. One of the reasons I have had to not finishing anything is my mom and dad moved in and then we had to find her and my Dad a senior housing apartment. She sabotaged 2 (yea it really was sabotaged) before we got something that worked for them. (I took over the paperwork process) I would have been fine with them living here, but they did NOT want to live on the island. We have lived here 30+yrs so no mom, no matter how much you want, we are not moving into town for you.
Then Hubby got sick and had eye surgery, then Dad got sick in and out of hospital. Then Hubby got sick again and is now in a waiting stage to find out which cancer he has and is it treatable.
Both sons got into car accidents. One is getting screwed by insurance company, the other one is getting back on his feet.
And while reading is what usually gets me destressed Mom has always thought my "reading" is silly and should not ever be done before everything else is done. Drove her nuts when I was a kid and still does now 50+yrs later. She still can find silly jobs that have to be done right now anytime she sees me reading. Thankfully she got to where she could not climb the stairs and I got away once in a while to the upstairs.
Oh yea and because of all the S$%^& happening I am not working right now so money is a bit tighter and I really miss my job. Not poor by any means just tighter. I was only part time and a cheap part time at that.
But Mom is finely getting settled in and Dad and kids are on the mend. Job will be there whenever I want to get back to it.
Now we are 100% focused on hubby. Well, that and yard work. I like to go out a putter in my garden something else that was hard to do with mom here. She worried about the germs and bugs and my working too hard so she often would come get me so I could have a break and not get to tired.
 
Gee I don't see why you can't fit an eye exam in KIDDING!!!!!
Wow. Good luck. Sounds like your efforts might be paying off and the worst of the worst might be over. Hope so!
 
Let’s get back on track to what you are reading.
 
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I just read an article called "Contextless Void" and, if you could read it, you might realize that you are among the luckiest people alive today. A comment to Contextless Void included a version of the parable of the fisherman & the businessman. You might be able to "sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, spend quality time with my wife, and every evening stroll into the village to drink wine and play guitar with our friends.”
 
Leisure time is a luxury which I often spend doing some reading!
 
I love to find places where books are based. Steinback, Salinas/Monterey's Cannery row, and Mark Twain and the Mississippi River and stuff like that I have a book waiting for me to get back to Called 'The Museum of Extraordinary Things' that makes me want to go to New Jersy just to see the board walk. I want to go to New England to visit where Little Women was based and such. Maybe England and Harry Potter stuff.
Hubby rolls his eyes and smiles. I have weird reasons to go someplace sometimes.
 
Found this book to be interesting on a few different levels.

The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance​


If a Nomad were only to read the first chapter he or she may think twice before jumping into a lake, pond, or stream that isn't inspected for pubic bathing. There is a blue-green algae that could literally eat the skin off your body as it is so laden with phosphorus. Some who have walked the beaches by the oceans have picked up items that looked like ancient coins or curious looking small rocks and put them in their pockets have met with a horrible fate. These were a type of phosphorus that needed eighty five degrees (less than body heat) to cause their ignition.

Phosphorus is a vital element to just about every living thing and the environment in which we live. In recent decades it has become vital in the production of the food we eat and fortunes have been made by those who mine it in various places around the world. Early alchemist realized it's value and spent years trying to synthesize it.
Today it is readily abundant and is so overused it is beginning to pose threats that before were unrealized. This is the crux of the book but the story details phosphorus from the time it's value was first realized to today's times. Following chapters are a collection of interesting stories that chronicle how early global commerce had phosphorus as a pillar of their trade.

As far as we know, this is a finite resource. We may have to mine the ocean floor or build mines on Mars someday just to continue as we have been living.

In reading this I began to wonder that if we run out of this resource, would it be the end of us.

This story about phosphorus reminds me of that 1 Thessalonians 5:2" quote "For you yourselves are fully aware that the Day of our Lord will come like a thief in the night". (myself....I still think it will be a black hole that pops up out of nowhere) But running out of phosphorus could be a close second.

 
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