Right now I'm reading

[Shafpocalypse Now]

Viriconium: ehhhh. *shrug* I am not a fan of the whole "writer's writer" thing. Technically quite good. Pacing was (intentionally) ponderous. Ponderously ponderous. Heavy influence from Gene Wolfe and Clark Ashton Smith and Jack Vance and Lord Dunsany. Lethargically lethargic. Dying world stuff. "Hmmm how unpleasant and boring can I make this reading experience and still keep them reading?". He's good enough to make it very very unpleasant and boring.

Moorcock Hawk moon series: reading this as antidote to above: excellent. Just as technically skilled but it moves quick. The bad guys are as close as I have come to seeing the reality of the imperialist hard Right depicted. This is Nazism and Imperial Japan. It's not Portugal or Spain or Italy or Lebanon though. So, it's not " fascism" but it is Nazism and Imperial Japan.

Barry Hughart's Number Ten Ox series: re-read. Absolutely fantastic. Makes me happy. Chinese Taoism mystery story. It sounds lame and hippie but it isn't. It's beautiful. Can not recommend this any more strongly. Please read. It will make you happy. Hughart made the world a better place with this series.

If any of you uses Fbook (spit) and haven't blocked the preposterous Steve Shafley tell him I demand he read the Hughart books. The peculiar and worrisome Fatcat too.

I am way ahead of you, BenE. I bought The Bridge of Birds when it first came out and I regularly reread these almost on a yearly basis. I absolutely love those books. When I see someone start to criticize them because of his portrayal of women in them, I just know they are woke cunts. They are beautifully told, and Hughart was completely unappreciated.

[Shafpocalypse Now]

I read Hughart when it was new, BenE

Hawkmoon was read as a teen. So good

[Shafpocalypse Now]

For the manly men (or the swashbuckling women).

If you want a fucking fantastic story that gets your blood worked up read The Religion by Tim Willocks and the sequel "Twelve Children of Paris"

Like Benny, I love Hughart and recommend everyone read them. But for my boys, guys who like to read books written for a male audience, "The Religion" is so fucking good. It is fucking massive as well, but it goes quick.

It's a fictional story set during the Siege of Malta.

I cannot recommend this enough.

Benny, I demand you read this. You too TOM. If you like Ledger you will like this.

https://a.co/d/gujw69R

[Bennyonesix1]

I ordered it. 700pgs!

Steven have you read The Frontiersmen by Ekhart?

Or Hopkirk's books about The Great Game?

[Shafpocalypse Now]

I have not. I will check them out.

My high school history teacher made me read this massive tome on early Detroit and the interactions with the indians around there, which you would probably enjoy but I cannot remember the name of it

[Bram]

The Tao of Pooh — short book using examples of Winnie the Pooh to illustrate Taoist principles. I enjoyed the part about the importance of nourishing the “empty mind” (accomplished via spacing out, going on a walk with no purpose, etc.) vs. the “thinking mind” (consuming shit tons of media, being riddled with anxiety, etc.).

Learning to Fly. Steph Davis is a world-famous rock climber and this is her second book. Her first, which I also enjoyed, was a bunch of short essays on different climbs as well as falling in love and dealing with fear and insecurity. This book has a linear time line. After a tough separation from her husband and getting dropped by her major sponsor, she finds sky diving, then eventually base jumping and wingsuit flying, as well as tackles a number of free solos. She also deals with her aging dog, her one true companion for over a decade.

The One Minute Manager — another short book. This is about setting short and clear goals, rewarding good behavior in pursuit of them, and reprimanding bad behavior. And otherwise staying out of the way. As a personal trainer, I found the concepts simple and applicable.