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Library Bookshelf

Started by Marilyne, March 29, 2016, 03:20:53 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Marilyne

Good morning Mars - Glad your cold is gone, but I wish you hadn't sent it to me!  :knuppel2:  I'm afraid I now have it, but not sure yet - could be a bad allergy attack?   The wind has been blowing non-stop for a couple days, and many trees and flowers are in bloom.  There's an olive tree in the far corner of my backyard that's blooming, and it's always been one of my worst allergens.

My dil came by a  week ago and brought me a stack of books, so I have plenty to read this weekend.  One of them is  Spare, the "tell-all" book by Prince Harry, criticizing all the Royal's . . . and he wonders why he was not welcomed by his family, at his father's Coronation?  ::)

MarsGal

While waiting on my tablets to recharge, I re-read Binti and am continuing on with the rest of the novella series written by Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor. The short story "Binti: Sacred Fire" was not particularly interesting, but now I am ready to read book two: Binti: Home.

Huh, I should clarify that the un-named SciFi I referred to in my last post is not On a Steel Breeze. On a Steel Breeze is going a little better now, but it certainly is not as interesting to me as Blue Earth Remembered was. This second of series skipped a generation or two, although a couple of the prime characters in the first book are still around, the characters being either very long lived or are what the book calls "artilects", AI robots/constructs with the original character's memories and knowledge. This second of series mostly focused on several of the characters traveling on a colony ship. There is a continuing mystery to be solved which involves both those on the ship and those back in near earth space. Right now, our intrepid near-earthers have just survived a major "accident" on Venus and suspicions are high that it wasn't an accident at all.

I also managed to read a few more paragraphs of The Anarchy in between the novels. One book I downloaded from the library and started to read was the non-fiction The Bookseller of Florence by Ross King. It is a very lengthy book which I would never have been able to finish in 20 days. It went back to the library, and I bought a copy. When I get back to it, I'll probably have to start over. Good thing I only in a chapter or so. It is a book about one of my favorite non-fiction topics: books, printing, history of paper and ink developments, etc. The author follows the life of the book maker Vespasiano da Bisticci. At the height of Bisticci's success as a book/manuscript maker, Gutenberg invented the press. How did Bisticci deal with this world-changing event? Did he oppose the printing press or learn to use the new technology? Looking forward to reading it soon.

phyllis

I used to read a lot of science fiction, too, MarsGal, but now the rapid development of AI is no long fiction but fact and that concerns me....even worries me.  IMO, we must slow this down and put rigid controls over how far scientists can go with their so-called progress.  With reports that AI is getting smarter than humans now, if they are not controlled it could happen that the human race will end.  That sounds like something from "I, Robot" or even "War of the Worlds", doesn't it?  I never thought in my lifetime it would actually become a concern.  What bothers me even more is that some very learned thinkers are actually feeling the same concern and are warning in the media that we must be very careful and put safeguards in place.  What is your opinion about this?
phyllis
Cary,NC

Marilyne


Phyllis - I'll throw in my 2 cents worth here was well.  As you know, I live in the heart of Silicon Valley, and AI is a subject constantly in the news here.   Lots of the top high tech genius engineers think  it's already too late.   They're trying to reign it in, but not succeeding, because they are so many independent  companies/scientists that are working on it in secret, and they don't have to answer to anyone.

Even if we are somehow able to control AI here  in the US,  China would continue on.   There is no stopping China.  They answer to no one.  I'm glad that I won't be around long enough to see what happens, but I worry about my grand and great-grand children. :(   

MarsGal

I have to agree with you all. What is alarming me at the moment is the likes of Elon Musk raising a red flag over AI but doesn't he have a tech company that is working on just that? Well, this helps explain it he was involved in something called OpenAI. He disagreed with their direction and left the company. Now he is starting another. I have to do a little research on OpenAI. The Open in front of AI kind of makes me think it is like Open-Source programming in Linux/Unix. Anyone can program something in with open source coding that others can go in modify and or share as they like. No cost. I rather think that Musk's main problem with OpenAI is that it is not regulated or strictly regulated.

Here is the first article I came up with, https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/14/23684005/elon-musk-new-ai-company-x

There are so many Elon Musk videos on YouTube where he talks about AI and its dangers. Tanke your pick if you are interested. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Elon+Mus+k+on+AI

On a similar subject, I saw a clip yesterday about the proliferation of surveillance cameras and how they are being misused, and not necessarily by the police. Public housing complexes and other apartment complexes, for example, are also using them against residents for very minor things that have nothing to do with public safety but are infringements on rental rules. So, if your kids take a short-cut across the grass rather than staying on the road or sidewalk, the camera can flag it and next thing you know you get a fine. Beware, Big Brother is here.

phyllis

Marilyn, unfortunately both our husband's worked for the company that is in the forefront of AI developement.  I live in what is often called Silicon Valley East.  I would like to think that they are a responsible company and only develop AI for beneficial purposes.  I am not against AI but hope that safe-guards can be put in place in the early days and not wait too long and try to curb in the whole industry when it is too late.

I agree on Musk.  It always seems to me that he has lots of warnings while at the same time he is personally profiting from developing this technology.  He seems to fit that old adage....."Do as I say, not as I do."   But, I am afraid that at times I am guilty of that same behavior.   :( 
phyllis
Cary,NC

MarsGal

Okay, here is more about OpenAI, and yes, according to this Microsoft, though not directly involved in the company is an Investor. Wikipedia has an extensive article about OpenAI who developed (developing) ChatGPT which has been in the news lately. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI

So, it looks like I may be wrong about OpenAI being structured similarly to open-source programming. It is actually the name of a company. I am going to have to look into it more closely. I am still fuzzy exactly what the issues are between Musk and OpenAI regarding how AI should be developed and controlled.
Here is an article about OpenAI's CEO about global cooperation and governance over AI. https://www.gizmochina.com/2023/06/07/openai-ceo-altman-advocates-global-cooperation-mitigate-existential-risk-ai/

I think that is enough heavy thinking for the day.



so_P_bubble

anyone read this one?



The Anvil
By Christopher Coates
To survive a comet headed for Earth, the government creates underground shelters. But decades later, when people return to the surface, what they find is unexpected... A riveting science fiction novel!

MarsGal

#2888
Haven't run across it yet, Bubble. Will look it up shortly.

I haven't felt much like reading today, but I did listen to more of On A Steel Breeze. The book is a bit spotty, but the bit I've been listening to yesterday and today is holding my interest. Otherwise, I have been picking about and pitching some I have had in my cue for quite a while. Yesterday I got back to reading a bit of the next book in the Binti series. Although it isn't holding my interest as well as the first book, I am going to try to finish it.

Marilyne


Bubble - Yes, I remember reading reviews  about "The Anvil", and that it was going to be made into a mini-series?  That must not have ever happened, or I think we would have heard more about it?
It does sound like a good story, so I plan to put it on my library list.

Phyllis - I had no idea that Big Blue was working on the development of AI.  Maybe that's happening more in NC, than it is here?  When you were living here, it was the premier tech company, but now has shrunk to only the development Lab in the Almaden Valley.  Those lovely mid-century modern buildings out off Cottle Road, have been torn down and are long gone.  In their place is a massive shopping center containing Costco, Home Depot and all the other chain stores.  :'(    A sad sight for those of us who remember the early days. 

MarGal - I'm in the middle of a good memoir book, that I think you would like.  When The World Didn't End, by Guinevere Turner.  I'll write more when I finish. 

Marilyne


Pulitzer prize winning author,  Cormack McCarthy,  died yesterday at the age of 89.  He wrote many books, but will be remembered mostly for his prizewinning novel,  The Road.  To those who haven't read it, I recommend it highly.  It was also made into a movie, which I have never seen, but I intend to find it on one of my movie channels, and watch it tonight.   

He wrote two other memorable novels that were also made into movies:  All the Pretty Horses,  and   No Country for Old Men,  which won an Academy Award.  He wrote many other novels, that sound wonderful.   So many books that I hope to read . . . but so little time.

MarsGal

Has anyone read I'm Not Who You Think I Am? The description of the book gave me the impression it is a mystery surrounding a man's death. I thought there was a mystery to be solved about his death, but it turns out that it is more about a 12-year-old boy who witnessed his dad's suicide and how it affected him. Or that is how the first chapters start out. Not exactly what I was expecting. It is very well written, though.

I am sorry to hear about Cormack McCarthy. I still haven't read any of his books, nor seen the movies. 

so_P_bubble

a review about this book says: "If you're looking for a straightforward, not-too-challenging mystery, then I Am Not Who You Think I Am is a fine choice. Just don't expect to remember much about it when you're done."

MarsGal

That would probably be a good description of the story, Bubble. I did like the writing style and the prolog to the book made things sound rather mysterious/ominous, but I didn't finish it, I decided I wasn't interested in the characters or in following a teen dealing with witnessing his father's death. Never got far enough to find out why the father committed suicide.

What I have settled on now is The Paladin by George Shipway. It is an historical novel set in France after King Philip II annexed Normandy. It follows William Tirel who is sent to Prince William (William the Conqueror) in Rouen, FR to learn to become a knight. In the first chapters, the author introduces the main character to the training needed to become a knight. I am to the part where he is done with the three years of preliminary training and about to leave Rouen to find someone who will take him one as a squire/knight apprentice.

Most of the characters are real. William Tirel is the knight suspected of killing William Rufus (William II) during a hunting accident in the New Forest. With the death of William Rufus, his brother Henry became King of England.

Marilyne

When the World Didn't End, by Guinevere Turner.  I mentioned that I was reading this memoir a couple of weeks ago, but never got back to say more about it.  It's well written and worth reading if you like a true story about children who were raised out of the mainstream, in a large cult community.  This group was/is called, The Lyman Family,  and was started by  "guru" Melvin Lyman in the 1960's.   If anyone is interested in Lyman, there is lots of information online about him, and the "family", and how it got started and developed over the years.

Yesterday I started the novel, This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger.   I read it many years ago, but was reminded of it recently, and decided to take a fresh look.  Krueger's books are all good, and worth reading more than once.

MarsGal

I don't think you will be disappointed, Marilyne. It is a very thought-provoking book.

I am finally getting around to reading Andy Weir's Hail Mary. It is not bad. It kind of reminds me of The Martian because the main character is stuck off by himself and he has to do science things (mostly math references so far) to figure out where he is and what he needs to do.

I've also started C. J. Cherryh's Alliance Space which includes two books. I am almost positive I read Merchanter's Luck before, but so far, I don't recall a thing that I've read. The other is Forty Thousand In Gehenna.

For my listening pleasure I am well into Poseidon's Wake, the last of the Poseidon's Children trilogy by Alastair Reynolds.   

Marilyne


Sad news about the passing yesterday of versatile actor, Alan Arkin.  He is on my list of long time favorites, and is near or at the top!   Always a pleasure to watch him in a comedy or a drama.  He did both, equally well.
 
He was born in Brooklyn, in March 1934, so he just turned 89 years old.
Many  of us remember him in the 1966 comedy,  The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming!  He was nominated for Best Actor,  but didn't get the award.    Also nominated a few years later, 1968 for,  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.   It was adapted from a book of the same name,  by Carson McCullers.   Anyone here who hasn't read the book, or seen the movie, I recommend both!  A unique and beautiful, but sad story.

After those two hits he went on to do dozens of movies and TV shows over the years.  Other starring roles were in "Glengarry, Glen Ross", "Hearts of the West",  and many more.  He finally got an Oscar for Best supporting actor  for the comedy,  "Little Miss Sunshine".  He most recently starred in the television comedy/drama series, "The Kominsky Method", with Michael Douglas - 1918 -1921.  I watched it and liked it - still available on Netflix, if anyone is interested.  RIP Alan Arkin.

MarsGal

Sue and I were commiserating over his death this morning. Sad to hear he passed. One movie you didn't mention is Catch 22 where he played the main character, Yossarian. The cast of characters is fantastic. I have the book, but never got around to reading it, like so many others.

I finished Hail Mary several days ago. It was okay. The beginning is engaging, and I did like the ending very much. The book reminded me of The Martian but not as good, IMO.

Oh, Oh, exciting news! :cheer: (for me anyway). I am just ecstatic. While checking out the jigsaw puzzles on the Microsoft Store, I discovered that my jigsaw puzzle game was there. I missed it before, or it didn't show on Windows 11 in S mode. I removed the S. Not only that, I can also stop whining about the Kindle and Audible apps. They are there now, too. All three are happily residing on my laptop now and seem to be working fine. 

Tomereader1

Re: The Library Posted in Senior Learn
« Reply #23469 on: July 06, 2023, 11:41:24 PM »

Ginny and whomever else is reading here:  I have only this weird thing to report, and it only applies to "Library" as it does to my Kindle Library.  Years ago, I had one of the first Kindles, loaded beaucoup books on it, then came fancier Kindle HDX, so I switched to that.  I thought (what I get for thinking) that all the books on the old Kindle would transfer over to the new one.  Well, I was researching on my old Kindle, after charging the battery (I'm surprised it would even take a charge) and wondered if I could switch some of those old books to the new. (I'm rambling here, it's getting late).  So hie me to the computer, click on Amazon Kindle, Manage Your Account or whatever, and lo and behold every single solitary book from the old K, was listed with the date, which Kindle it was assigned to, with squares to click if you wanted to send whichever book to the newer Kindle.  I spent probably 2 hours, switching from old to new, and only got about halfway thru the Old K's library.  There were several I could Delete, which I did.  Amazing that this all kind of "fell into place" without my having to contact Amazon and ask if it could be done (didn't want to appear to be a numpty...British TV word).  I'm always afraid to do something on my own, since this computer is so darn old, and not running a current operating system.   But, I think there's a saying apropos for this..."nothing ventured, nothing gained". Now I think I will go to bed with visions of new reading material dancing through my head!

MarsGal

Super, Tome. I kind of forgot you can do that now. I noticed the same thing when I got my first Fire. Not all of my Kindle books showed up. Some of the eBooks apparently were not reprogrammed to accommodate the newer 4/c formatting.

I still have my old b/w eReader, too. I had a lot of Project Gutenberg books on it but have since moved many of them over to my Kobo which meant converting or redownloading them as .eps files. The poor little Paperwhite was just about full and was getting slow because of it. Now, it works a lot more smoothly.

I could never get used to the new(ish) web design on Project Gutenberg, so I rarely go there anymore. Recently there have been some copyright issues even though they had been careful to research any known copywrites. I noticed, the last time I looked, that a few of the books and short stories I had downloaded years ago are no longer listed (or I just couldn't find them). Wikipedia has a good synopsis of the conflict. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gutenberg

Now I am down to reading one book. Edward Abbey's, The Monkey Wrench Gang, is supposed to be available in about two weeks. And, I've decided to listen to Tom Holland's Persian Fire (non-fiction). It is one of the first audiobooks I bought, so it is about time it got my attention.

MarsGal

Now this is interesting. Since I brought up Project Gutenberg, I decided to check it out since I haven't been there in a while. I discovered, a) that I can see the books as a list rather than the cover pix, b) that there are new formats and newer versions of formats added to the download offerings. I am going to have to look into this. https://www.gutenberg.org/help/bibliographic_record.html#Dropbox

MarsGal

Well, I am still waiting on The Monkey Wrench Gang. The site still says two weeks. Meanwhile, I have finished listening to Farilane by Michael J. Sullivan. It is the latest in his Elan Universe, but not for long. His last of this sequence is scheduled to release soon. The book went fast because after the first few chapters, which didn't particularly excite me, I couldn't put it down. The ending was surprising, awesome, jaw dropping.

My old paperwhite went back for trade-in. I hated to see it go. I've had it since 2015. But - the new Kindle (I did not opt for a another Paperwhite. Is wonderful, lots more Gigs (went form 4GB to 16GB), I can listen to audible books via my Bluetooth earphones should I want to (it does not have external speakers), and it now can handle more than just Kindle books (like .epub and more). I think you need to use a program to convert from .epub to the Kindle format, but I didn't check into it. Makes me wonder why I spent all that money on the Kobo a year or so ago. It is also lighter. They trimmed the edges on three sides to slim it without reducing screen size. Very nice, very pleased.

My new audiobook reading includes Persian Fire by Tom Holland which I am reading on my laptop so I can look up maps and such as I read. Because this isn't a Great Courses book there are no maps with the audio version. That is one of the disadvantages of audio books over print. My SciFi pick, after rummaging through my pile and discarding some early on, is Starshine: Aurora Rising Book One (Amaranthe Book One) by G. S. Jennsen. I had previously read several of the short stories associated with the series.

MarsGal

#2902

I am guessing everyone is busy with other things and not doing much reading. My updated reading:
  • I am well into the second Amaranthe series by G. S. Jennsen.
  • Only did one more chapter so far on Tom Holland's Persian Fire.
  • The new library listen is Fredrick Forsyth's The Fox. I've just started it, and it promises to be a very good spy thriller. A novel, but it seems to me there was a similar real live case years ago involving a kid hacking into super sensitive sites. It replaces Kate Mulgrew's Born with Teeth which I sent it back to the library after listening to only to chapter 10. She does a very good narration, but I just wasn't interested in reading about her affairs, etc. Maybe she gets to saying more than just cursory mentions about her acting career, but I decided not to bother reading the rest.

That is kind of a short list for me. Well, I guess I will go see what I can cue or put on hold for my next library read soon. The Fox is not very long.

Marilyne


MarsGal -  I never cared much for Kate Mulgrew, so I wouldn't be interested in her memoir.  I don't really know why - maybe the characters she played in movies and TV shows?  Just something about her that was/is unlikeable?

I have  yet to open either of the novels that I got as gifts for Mother's Day, in May.  One is  "The Spanish Daughter",  by Lorena Hughes.  I see that it's already been made into a movie - playing now on Netflix or another of the streaming channels?  The other book is "Spare", by Prince Harry.  He and his wife don't really interest me, nor does his many complaints and issues with  his family.  I'll probably pass that one along to my local non-profit thrift shop.

Other than that, I've been mostly watching old movies on TCM, or just reading about all the new movies.  I would love to see "Oppenheimer", but it will likely be a long time before it shows up on any TV channel.

MarsGal

I actually never heard of (or don't think I did) Kate Mulgrew before she played Captain Janeway on one of the Star Trek series. Don't think I ever saw anything she was in except for that. My sister watched some of Ryan's Hope when it aired. While I aware of the Mrs. Columbo series, I never watched it. When I listened to a clip on Audible, I thought it sounded interesting, and it was, a bit, but only her childhood remininces. Good thing I borrowed the book rather than buy it.

The Spanish Daughter gets some very good reviews. I took a minute to find it in the library and read an excerpt. Looks like a fun read, so I put it in my wish list.

My sister wants to see Oppenheimer too, but neither she nor I want to spend three hours in a movie theater. We are also waiting for the stream.

I am enjoying The Fox. It is only about six hours long. I find that I need some shored novels, novellas and short stories on audio to spell me from the much longer ones.

I downloaded a couple of free magazines to my laptop. I still do not like reading magazines on the computer and the Kindle Fire 10 is out. I thought reading one on my laptop with the larger screen would be better. Nope!

Tomereader1

Reading:  "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" by G. Zevin;
"Homecoming" by Kate Morton; various mysteries on my Kindle.

MarsGal

Almost two weeks and no one has been posting, including me. Well, there is a reason for that. I haven't been reading much, or nothing much worth reporting, anyway.

The Fox by Fredrick Forsyth ended up being just okay. It got a bit boring, actually.

Also finished are the first three books in G. S. Jennsen's Amaranthe series. I am liking this series very much but am taking a break from it for now to catch up on several other of my favorite SciFi series books. One I just started is The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks which is part of his Culture series. It promises to be very interesting. So far, it seems rather surreal.

Speaking of surreal, I just acquired Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. It is a bit hard to describe, but it appears to be kind of like someone's surreal dream or hallucination. Well, at least to me after listening to the excerpt. Here is a review. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/17/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-review-an-elegant-study-in-solitude

Marilyne


MarsGal - Good Morning!  Nice to see some action here in the Library.  The Hydrogen Sonata . . . love that title!   Let me know if you like it, and I may give it a try.  Nothing on my reading agenda at the moment.  I finished The Spanish Daughter, but was not impressed.  I had a hard time staying with it.

There's too much on TV now!  I usually end up scrolling through the possibilities, and rarely ever find anything I want to watch.  Just too overwhelming now.  I usually check out what's going on in the World on one of the news channels from the UK or Australia. That's the only way you can get the big picture, with no slant to left or right.   I still watch a lot of movies and other programming on Turner (TCM). Always something there that I can't resist. 

I think I mentioned here a couple of weeks ago, that daughter Sandy, saw Oppenheimer.   She was impressed, and still talking about it.  I would love to see it, but it will be a while before it's shown on any of the TV Channels.

Tomereader1

Marilyne, I am currently reading "Horse" by Geraldine Brooks. It is a fascinating book, and I posted info on my Facebook Group page, Historical Fiction Readers.  I will try to copy it from there, and paste it here for you and other readers here. 

Tomereader1

After a long wait, my library request for "Horse" by Geraldine Brooks finally arrived.  If you've read any of her books and/or seen any of her interviews you will know how deeply she researches each and every one.   It's 512 pages (in Large Print), but it moves along so beautifully the length is not going to make a difference to me.  I'm only on Pg. 155, but I keep going back, reading passages that are simply and artfully crafted.  For people who do not like books which alternate the story from one character or time frame to another this may not be for you, but I can't see how it could have been done differently.  Her research encompasses Art, Science (wonderful chapters on The Smithsonian), horse breeding (then and now), slavery (before the Civil War),  and the problems of past and present racism.
Even though I've not finished the book, (was up till 4:00 AM reading), I highly recommend this novel. (and any of the author's other books)!