Cheer and Jeer THC as he reads 80 books in 2012!

[The Hooded Claw]

Five books for the year now.  Temple Houston is finished.  The book is not "awesome", but I enjoyed it and many of the stories of practicing law in the final days of the Wild West were very interesting.  Temple Houston is documented as being himself a participant in at least two gunfights, both caused by people who were displeased by coming out the loser to Houston in court proceedings.  In one case, Houston shot his opponent and disabled him but didn't kill him.  In another case, two men assaulted Houston and his friend (who happened to be the sheriff) after they were unhappy how things came out.  This one reads like something from a western novel or movie--The fight took place at night indoors, Houston and his friends had already been nervous about the situation, and realized that things were coming to a head when they used a mirror<!> in the saloon to look across the room and see their opponents readying their guns for a fight.  When the confrontation came, Houston shot one of the men in the head, but didn't stop him--The injured man kept on shooting even though the lights went out.  Houston's other assailant also kept shooting in the dark, and evidently shot his comrade squarely in the back of the head at close range!  Houston's Sheriff friend shot the other man and shattered his arm, so he fled.  In both cases where Houston fought, it was ruled self-defense.  On two other occasions tensions involving Houston were very very high, and it was commonly believed that there would be a fight; in one of those cases, when court proceedings came to an end, the Judge quietly told Houston's lawyer opponent, who had come in from out of town and had publicly and deliberately made inflammatory insults to Houston, to stay off the streets and get out of town as soon as possible.  The judge then collared Houston and kept him busy in the courthouse on unrelated legal business.  The opposing lawyer reportedly left town by the first train!

Despite all this, Houston appears to have been a very well-educated and articulate man--He had attended the best colleges in Texas, and served as a Congressional Intern.  He gave public talks on astronomy and science that were well-attended and received, and wrote a report on his investigations of the ruins of an Indian pueblo.  Supposedly he tried to organize an archeological dig at one of these, though it never came to pass.  Apparently Houston was merely competent at the law, his great talent as a lawyer was emotional and effective arguments to a jury.

Less-interesting was Houston's involvement in political issues of the day.  Though he routinely took the side of friendless and often penniless accused criminals, he also was a close ally of big "cattle baron" ranchers, and as a party leader was forced to be involved in the Free Silver controversy (Yep, that was one of the hot button political issues of the day in the 1890s!), though it appears he personally didn't feel strongly about that issue.  

Writing on the book is competent, but merely adequate.  The author appears to be serious about his responsibilities as a historian and amongst the frequent tales of dramatic and interesting courtroom and gunfight drama, inserted a lot of factual recitations and documentary material that I didn't find that interesting.  I'd recommend the book if you are very interested in the subject and period--Then I think you will be pleased.  But those who don't have such an interest can skip it.

Next book--Yet another Charlie Chan novel!

[Meka]

This is a fun thread to read and I think Scarlet is a hoot!

[The Hooded Claw]

I have begun Charlie Chan Carries On.  This is the fifth of the six original Charlie Chan books.  The book cover shows Big Ben, and I had assumed that Charlie Chan would be traveling in London when dragged into a murder, but so far Charlie Chan has had only a cameo role, and most of the book centers around a Scotland Yard Inspector who had a brief appearance alongside Chan in an earlier book that involved the murder of a retired Scotland Yard Inspector traveling in the US.  I assume Charlie will take center stage, or at least part of center stage, soon.  Though one of the features of the books has always been a large role for a major secondary person who often is the viewpoint character for large parts of the books.  I much prefer to see Charlie in action, and I'm hoping that this British fellow, competent and likable though he may be, soon steps off stage so we can see Charlie do his thing!  

[Tony Richards]

People are fond of arguing these days that reading is a dying habit. But a cursory look at The Book Corner totally disproves that. It's great to see such huge enthusiasm. I love coming on this forum.

[The Hooded Claw]

People are fond of arguing these days that reading is a dying habit. But a cursory look at The Book Corner totally disproves that. It's great to see such huge enthusiasm. I love coming on this forum.

Thanks, Tony.  Lots of longtime readers here, and plenty of younger readers who will keep things going on eInk!

[telracs]

This is a fun thread to read and I think Scarlet is a hoot!

Now I'm an owl?

I think instead of "books"  we should make him read 1 million kindle locations....

[The Hooded Claw]

Six books for the year!  Charlie Chan Carries On is complete.  I've started a single cumulative list of books read for the year in the original post.

Charlie Chan Carries On is a very acceptable mystery, but I was quite disappointed that Charlie doesn't come onstage till the last part of the book.  Most of the novel concerns the British detective I mentioned earlier.  Once Charlie enters, his role is a large and satisfying one, but I didn't like the wait!  As partial compensation for no Charlie, we see the mystery taken over a good chunk of the world--The viewpoint character spends a lengthy time starting the book in London, but then shifts to several other locations before the finale of the book.

In spite of my impatience, the mystery is a good one and the story is interesting.  The period these were written seemed to enter more into these books than the earlier Charlie Chans.  Early in the book when the detective enters a murder scene after the police photographer has been at work, it is mentioned that the smell of flash powder lingered in the room!  I thought that flash powder was no longer in use by 1930, when this book was published.  Mussolini is specifically mentioned as being in charge of Italy, and one financier character admits he has lost some money in the recent stock market crash, but affirms that in his opinion the economy is sound and recovery will come soon!

Not as many of Charlie's sayings, but here are a few:

"Fortune calls at the smiling gate."

"He who squanders today talking of yesterday's triumph will have nothing to boast of tomorrow!"

"When the dinner is ended, who values the spoon?"

"The stupidest man in the town may point out the road to the school."

"A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea."

"The wise elephant does not seek to ape the butterfly."

"The drum which makes the most noise is filled with wind."  (I like this one!)

"Wise man has said, do not follow on heels of sorrow, or it may turn back."

"The turtle that enters the house at the rear gate comes finally to the head of the table."  (this one has a nice double meaning!)

Next up is this:



Making Sense of People:  Decoding the Mysteries of Personality, by Samuel Barondes

There's a fair chance this will end up being psychobabble and I'll abandon it, we'll see.  It does have good reviews.  I scarfed it up while it was offered for free last Summer, and am finally reading it.

[kaotickitten]

Wow way to go. Your already on six books for the year.  Your synopsis of the Charley Chan book has me thinking of reading one.

Your next one well all I have to say is better you than me.

Anyways for the cheering section Yeah go Hooded Claw you got five down, you'll beat your own goal.

[The Hooded Claw]

Seven Books now!  I'll post more on Making Sense of People when I get home, but the short version is that it was okay, and is definitely readable, but isn't awesome.  Some of the stuff was interesting.

I've started a book called "Thicker Than Water", by Greg Sisco.  I hadn't realized it, but he's an author here.  I'm visiting relatives now, more on both books when I get home and can type on a computer that doesn't use punched cards!   

[The Hooded Claw]

As for "Making Sense of People", it was interesting and had some good research-based stuff about personality and personality types, but was not as hands-on as I had hoped for.  As a couple of examples, there was a chapter on how a portion of personality and some personality traits are genetically determined.  This is interesting, but I'm not sure how it would be useful to me in making sense of a coworker (for instance), and the book talked about some interesting research that supported this idea, but gave no pointers on real world use.  Again, there was a chapter on the "personal story", and quite a bit of discussion of Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey and their backgrounds, but very little on using this in the real world (there at least was SOMETHING about application on this one, unlike the genetically determined chapter).

On a more positive note, it was well-written and readable and had some interesting theoretical stuff, and some things about tests and experiments that had validated some of the ideas discussed.  Perhaps the most interesting one was research on how genetics affect behavioral traits....Researchers took a group of laboratory mice and evaluated each mouse for how timid or bold the mouse was in terms of moving into open or exposed places.  In general, mice are somewhat timid, though not hopelessly so.  The researchers took the most bold pair of mice and the most timid pair of mice, and separately bred them.  They tested the next generation of offspring, and again selected the most timid mice (from those who had had timid parents) and the most bold mice for those who had had bold parents.  For a control, that would show what would happen if there was no intervention, they also bred a random pair of mice in each generation.  After ten generations (fortunately, mice mature and start another generation pretty quickly!) they had three populations of mice.  Those from the most timid of each of ten preceding generations basically were neurotic homebodies that quivered in a corner even when no threat was present.  Those from the boldest parents in each of ten generations brazenly roamed about in open and brightly-lit areas without fear.  And the controls were pretty typical mice, sticking to cover but willing to come out when things were very quiet,  or if there was good food at hand.  Very interesting stuff, and I enjoyed it, but not really useful in understanding a stranger's personality!

I've started a new book, that is quite a bit off of my usual fare:



Thicker Than Water (Blood Brothers), by Greg Sisco

I really like Fred Saberhagen's Dracula stories and highly recommend them (and many are available on Kindle now, hurrah!), but other vampire stories have generally left me "cold".  Anne Rice didn't appeal at all, and Barbara Hambly's vampire novels were merely okay.  I won't even discuss the current vampire craze among teens!  But something about this book made me grab it, perhaps the same impulse that causes me to read a bit of H. P. Lovecraft every few years before I shudder and remember why I stopped reading it before!


Blood Brothers begins with a protagonist who is extremely irritated that tonight's victim is too large to jam into his custom-built corpse incinerator no matter how he contorts her body.  He sighs, and goes to get a hacksaw as he wonders why everything always happens to him^*....In fairness, the book was advertised as being this way, though it goes much further into gruesomeness than I'd expected.  Significant amounts of very graphic violence and lesser amounts of graphic sex.  I'm afraid I'm not into a character who randomly kills people for fun (not even for food), especially when he's the sympathetic character in the book!  BUT....The book has some interesting ideas (what would vampires use as a religion, and why?  Why doesn't the whole world turn into vampires?  Both concepts are explored, and the author has given some thought to it).  If this sort of thing, played out by vampires who rejoice in treating humans with far less respect than a butcher gives a cow, appeals to you, then you will probably like the book.  Cthulhu has lots of fans, including some of my friends, so I know some folks will relish this!  But I do go back to Lovecraft every few years, so maybe the Blood Brothers series will join Cthulhu as an occasional adventure for me.  But not for my next book when I finish this one!    If the description appeals to you, it is a good buy for you!

^*Okay, I may be exaggerating the "poor me" viewpoint of the vampire a little bit, but not a lot!  

[The Hooded Claw]

Eight books!  I am 6.3 percent through the year, and ten percent to my goal.  But a combination of starting enthusiasm and having a fairly easy schedule with lots of time to read and nothing out of the ordinary going on right now make it unlikely I'll keep up this breakneck pace.

I've been reading a grim and dark novel about violent and cruel vampires.  I need a change of pace.  What THC needs right now is something cute and cuddly.  So the obvious choice of a subject is....

PANDAS!!!!



The Way of the Panda: The Curious History of China's Political Animal, by Henry Nicholls

You can't mention cute and cuddly without thinking of pandas.  I like pandas....I remember seeing them at the National Zoo in DC during a school trip in high school, it's the only thing I saw at the zoo on that memorable trip that has stayed with me.  My job takes me to Washington periodically, and I go to the zoo on at least half of my visits, and I ALWAYS go see the pandas when I go to the National Zoo.  This book looks like it will cover the way the Chinese have used pandas for diplomacy and as a symbol of their country, as well as (hopefully) containing some good ole natural history stuff!

I'm one of those people who is sensitive to price on Kindle books, especially when it climbs to over $9.99, so I am really glad I picked this up waaaay back in November when the price was $4.99.  When looking the book up to create a link, I found that it has jumped to $14.99.  Ugh!  I looked up the website of Pegasus Books, publisher of The Way of the Panda, and they don't appear to be a House owned by one of the biggie publishers, but seem to be a small publisher trying to use non-traditional publishing methods, especially for books from new authors.  I am not an insider to publishing or self-publishing, so I have no independent way to tell whether that's hooey or not.  But clearly they aren't totally committed to lowering prices, despite their puffery about themselves containing a mention of the new age of publishing leading to lower-priced books! I do see that they are looking for paid readers and reader-contributors, if you are into that sort of thing.

I haven't started Way of the Panda yet, but will probably dive into the beginning before bedtime tonight.

[telracs]

scarlet:  charlie chan, pandas....  do i sense a theme here?

toots: good going claw.  keep on reading!

[kaotickitten]

Wow eight already. Way to go. As to thinking you won't be able to keep up the pace, well just remember there will be times you slow down for a really good book and you won't have to feel guilty about it.

[The Hooded Claw]

scarlet:  charlie chan, pandas....  do i sense a theme here?

Not a deliberate theme, though by a coincidence I set up my first trip to Asia for later this year, made the reservation last week.  My panda reading has been disrupted by diversions to thumb through (both literally and electronically) guide books for Vietnam and Cambodia!

But nevertheless, I'm reading about Giant Pandas.  And here are a few of the mandatory tidbits--

There are some vague references to pandas in classical Chinese literature, but even the Chinese don't seem to have been too aware of the panda until about 150 years ago.  It was westerners who "discovered" the panda and brought it to the attention of the outside world.  A French missionary named Armand David who was also a collector of exotic plants and animals saw a panda skin in the home of a local Chinese hunter, and naturally he asked the hunters who he used to find large animals to bring him one.  They did bring him a skin and other body parts which he sent back to France where a scientist would analyze it and "classify" it.  This was in 1869.  For about half a century, there were three raging debates about pandas--

1)  Was the Giant Panda actually a close relative of a previously-known smaller mammal known as the red panda, or was it a bear?
2)  Who would be the first Westerner to see a live Giant Panda?
and most important...
3)  Who would be the first Westerner to have the great honor of shooting one?!

As you might guess, I am totally in favor of the first two questions, but not so keen on the third.  But those were different times!

The "bear-or-panda" debate raged until the 1960s and 70s.  English-speaking scientists almost invariably insisted that the giant panda was a panda, while other scientists (mostly from the continent of Europe, especially France) insisted that no, it was clearly a bear.  It seems that blind division into "Tastes great!" and "Less filling" camps is not limited to beer advertisements.  In the 1960s, an American scientist had the bright idea of going past looking at the bones, teeth, and other gross physical stuff, and studying the insides of the first panda to be brought out of China alive (gross stuff in a different way, but luckily those insides had been preserved when that first panda had died a few years earlier).  He came down firmly in the bear camp, despite being an English speaker, and had some excellent evidence for his claim.  A few years later, genetic and biochemical testing became possible, and that pretty much nailed it for the bears.

The first Westerners to see a live giant panda were Germans on an expedition in China in 1914.  While the Guns of August were plunging Europe into the First World War, these guys cheated, and paid natives to bring them a live baby Giant Panda.  The baby soon died, but at least it had been proved that pandas were alive at some point, and didn't just spring into being as nifty-looking hides and odd bones.  Weird to think that less than one hundred years ago, nobody had seen a live giant panda except a few local residents in remote Chinese villages!

Weirdly, the first Westerner to shoot a giant panda was Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.  Yep, the son of President Teddy.  He shot one in the early 1920s while exploring on behalf of Chicago's Field Museum, which wanted a panda skin for their new Hall of Asia.  I never thought Teddy Roosevelt would figure into this book when I started reading it!

Lest I seem too harsh on the people who wanted to shoot the poor pandas, I should concede that in order to understand pandas, they had to study them, and there was no way to ship pandas from remote areas of China at a time when even finding a panda and seeing it in the wild was a great challenge.  So shooting pandas and studying the remains was one of the few ways to learn anything about them. And only by studying them, and telling the public about pandas in museum exhibits and articles, could scientists build up public support for conservation measures.  So this was probably an ugly necessity, similar to the need to make an incision before surgery.

Lots more panda power to come, I gotta get back to the book!

[The Hooded Claw]

The Way of the Panda hit a roadblock this week.  Last week I signed up for a reduced price on a trip to Southeast Asia, including Angkor Wat.  Naturally, this got me excited, even though the trip won't happen till next Fall!  I had ordered an appropriate guidebook on Kindle, but I also ordered some DTBs on Angkor Wat from Amazon, and they arrived early in the week.  I've been thumbing through a photo book of the temples and a couple of guidebooks on evenings this week, but not really reading.  I've also been distracted as I am giving a presentation in my ToastMasters club tomorrow, and have been preparing for that.  Nevertheless, last night and this evening I restored a little discipline and finished up the pandas.  It was interesting, but more "history" than natural history.  A lot about the early expeditions to learn about the panda, and a lot about the management of the pandas and various things they did in zoos and in nature to learn about pandas and in particular to learn how to successfully breed them and have the mother raise the young.  I enjoyed the book, but it is only recommended if pandas are of great interest to you!

Here are a few tidbits from the book:

Pandas do winter sports!  At least once, tracks of a panda hurling itself on its belly and tobogganing down a hill have been found in nature!

Periodically, for certain species of of bamboo, every plant over a wide geographical area will suddenly come into flower after years without flowering, release pollen, produce seeds, and die.  It's not clear why or how this happens, but in one case in the 1970s it happened at the same time for both species of bamboo that were the favored foods of wild pandas in a large area of China.  This was great for the pandas in the short run, but it was a disaster the following year when there was a severe food shortage for the pandas, and many starved.  Incidentally, pandas are NOT like bears in that they do not store huge fat reserves, and never hibernate.

The library of every panda keeper in zoos across the world contains two interesting volumes (presumably not on Kindle!).  One is "The Panda Stud Book" with full genetic ancestry for every captive panda in the world, and the other is a guidebook on "The Standardized Faecal Grading System" which tells how to evaluate the health of your pandas by carefully examining their *ahem* "panda poo".

Wild pandas are heavily-protected animals in China, and killing them, or even skinning a dead one is punished by penalties ranging from several years in prison to the death penalty, but actual jurisdiction over protecting the animals is split between two government agencies.  One is the Ministry of Forests, which is reasonably logical, but the other is the Ministry of Construction!  Huh?

To be healthy, Pandas need to eat bamboo.  Lots of it, almost half their body weight in cut bamboo shoots each day.  A zoo in Vienna, Austria kept a pair of pandas and provided their animals with a choice of two different varieties of bamboo, specially grown in France and trucked into Austria at a cost of about $200,000 per week!

Pandas leave secret smell messages for each other, and they mostly do it by scent.  Much of this scent communication is through *poo* again (that word turns up a lot in panda-ology) and especially through urine.  Pandas leave marks on trees by urinating on them, and they have a variety of different postures to do this, with the height and pattern of urine conveying different information to other pandas.  Some pandas literally do a handstand with their hind feet against a tree so they can urinate high up on the tree to leave a message that says "I'm the boss!"  Unsurprisingly it is the males that are the ones who strike this undignified posture.

Fiction will be next, I'm pondering whether to snarf another mystery, or read a bit of classic science fiction from either Heinlein or Asimov.

[telracs]

Heinlein, Heinlein!

[IowaGuy]

I am addcited to this thread.  As a new person to the forums this thread was what I was looking for.  So happy to see other people enjoying reading as much as myself!


I am chearing for you and enjoying all your posts very much!


Happy Reading,

IG

[The Hooded Claw]

Thanks, Iowaguy!

I took Scarlet's advice, and read Robert A. Heinlein.  Specifically, this one:



The Door Into Summer, by Robert Heinlein

For the month of February, it is marked down to $2.99, so it was a no-brainer to pick up.  I started reading it using the Kindle app on my phone during lunch today, and finished it this evening (Wild Friday night, huh?).  I enjoyed it, but it isn't Heinlein's best.  It's different than most of Heinlein's books in that some very specific dates are given in the book!  Heinlein did a good job of anticipating computer drafting and design software like Autocad, though he envisioned it in a specialized device, not as a piece of software you load onto a general purpose computer.  He also mentions electronic banking, using something called the CyberNet.  Of course, he got a lot of stuff wrong, the book suggests we would be using antigravity by the year 2000!  And mention of a manned mission to Mars in 2000 kind of hurts to read for an old space buff like me!

The old predictions game for science fiction writers is usually frustrating, but unusually doable for this one because of the specific dates.  Of course, Heinlein was more focused on cranking out a good story than making a specific prediction for the future that he thought would "come true."

I am now at ten books.  Twelve and a half percent of the way to my goal for the year!  Now on to book eleven!

[telracs]

not only did he read door into summer, he convinced the primary ego to buy it!
grumble....

[Sean Patrick Fox]

That's quite a goal you've set for yourself, THC. I read a lot as well, but I don't think I'll come anywhere near 80 books this year. I think I read 50 in 2011, and I was pleased with that. It's interesting to see the wide variety of books you're reading, too. Keep on truckin'!

[The Hooded Claw]

In early and mid-March, I'm going on a trip with a group that will start in Fairbanks, Alaska, then drive up the Dalton Highway (parallels the Alaska Pipeline) to Coldfoot, Alaska, which we will use as a base in some wildlife and scenery-watching above the Arctic Circle in Winter.  One of the highlights of the trip, if the Sun and the clouds cooperate, will be observing the Aurora Borealis at night.  So I ordered two DTBs about Aurora so I can read up on that subject.  I'm starting the first today:



The Northern Lights:  Secrets of the Aurora Borealis, by Syun-Ichi Akasofu

[Jeff]

Claw, I truly admire your reading zeal and writing ability (if not your hood). 

[The Hooded Claw]

Claw, I truly admire your reading zeal and writing ability (if not your hood). 

Jeff, anything I lack in writing ability I make up for by determination and snark!

[The Hooded Claw]

I'm done with the first aurora book, I recommend it if you have a passion to learn about aurora.  Here are a few tidbits.....

Aurora sightings go back a long way--There is one Babylonian record of aurora from 350 BC!  There are a lot more depictions that are later of course, my personal favorite is this one from Bavaria in 1570:



This isn't as fanciful as it seems, it probably came from a sighting of auroral rays like these:




As most KBers will know, Aurora are mostly sighted in the extreme north and south.  But they have gone quite far south during big solar storms, and aurora was sighted in Honolulu in 1859!

Aurora is not limited to the Earth!  Any planet that has a magnetic field has prospects for aurora.  Jupiter and Saturn definitely do, check these photos from the good folks at NASA:





After talking about the history and folklore of aurora, the book describes how aurora are generated.  I'd always thought that aurora were generated directly by particles of the solar wind impacting the earth--But this book says things are more complicated.  In short, the interaction of the solar wind causes an electron flow through earth's upper atmosphere which causes the aurora.  I've got a second book on aurora lined up to read before my Alaska trip next month, and I'm gonna be curious to find out if this idea is generally accepted.

On other tidbit--Aurora are typically between 60 and 200 miles high.  I don't think I can climb that high!

Anyway, now I am at eleven books for 2012!

[telracs]

next year we are gonna set some ground rules for this reading thing...
hush scarlet.  you're doing good claw, keep it up.