Spanking the Donkey by Matt Taibbi

Politics and the media, "A funny and angry book."

Try the local library for books for sale. I just bought a pile of nice hardbacks for a quarter each. I have been on a Grisham kick lately, entertaining, easy. Alas Babylon, Pat Frank, is a good read, cold war retro reading. On the Road, Kerouac, was fun.

Got Time & Shelf Space?

$7,989.50?!



At least it's free shipping!

You Save: $5,326.34 (40%)

Ya know, that free shipping thing would be a particular bargain to you, wouldn't it? 700 lbs.

Yup, and apparently the shipping includes inside delivery and unpacking.

You could really make 'em cry, couldn't ya?

I was surprised no one mentioned this author. He's a old car guy that puts lots of old cars in his novels. He writes in the Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, Ian Flemming style - cool hero, beautiful women, exotic locales and lots of action.

He's also a great author to pick up as an audio-book for solo long distance driving. (I did several of his books while driving Dallas to Phoenix in 14 hours in my 2002 C230 K)

Otherwise there's lots of other fun authors - Nelson DeMille, Tony Hillerman, Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen...and many, many others.

Happy reading!

The Douglas Adams books were entertaining too. The movie wasn't bad either. (Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy)

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

That's what I'm currently reading. One of my favorite authors!

I'll suggest reading the Space Trilogy, by CS Lewis.

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Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

Krakauer's book on Mormonism, Under the Banner of Heaven, is compelling, particularly if you live in AZ, UT or CO.
I'm currently reading Buchan's, Crowded with Genius, the story of Edinburgh in the late 18th century. Just finished, How the Scots Invented the Modern World.
Also just finished three books by Marlin Bree on sailing Lake Superior. He combines the adventures of travelling in his homebuilt sailboat with good historical chapters on storms and shipwrecks.
Still working thru Mein Kampf, which I started last spring. An important read, I think.
Freakenomics has some really good essays, particularly the one on crime rates and abortion.
Also just finished, War is a Force that Gives us Meaning. Well written, but damn depressing.
I'm about halfway thru Pinker's A Blank Slate but I think I've decided he's trying to get too much mileage out of one idea.

Lewis has had a lot of influence with those books. His Problem of Pain, put me into a serious thinking mode about the problem of evil, back in the early 70's, but I think I've concluded that his defense of Christianity is a disguised call for a 'return to Britain as it used to be.'

I try to buy most of my books used at alibris.com but I've also discovered that with new books, it is sometimes cheaper to buy from Amazon UK than Amazon US, even with the additional shipping costs.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I read those when I was a young teen before I realized they were allegorical I had finished, "Out of the Silent Planet." Great technique. I read the Narnia tales when I was a little kid. Same deal. Some of us are just thick-headed.

I hadn't read anything by C.S. Lewis in over a decade but I got on this historical kick concerning the Reformation (mainly piqued by the Kate Blanchette movie, "Elizabeth") and before I knew it, I was sucked into the English Revolution. Then I had to learn about Bible writing because the Bible was such a central issue to the various factions. I had previously read the New International Version, but the book, "God's Secretaries" got me interested in the King James Version, especially its assertion that the KJV shaped the English language and thought more than any other document. The English is only slightly easier to understand than Shakespeare, so I may not be able to read the whole thing.

Bot

Buchan makes a point about John Knox insisting that the translation of the Bible used in Scotland, be in Southern English and not in Scottish (or Northern English). It surprised me because I supposed that the Scottish Presbyterians would have wanted nothing to do with the English Bishoprics.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

If you liked the 'Da Vinci Code with pictures', why not give Harry Potter a try, and start with the first episode, The Philosopher's Stone. No cryptex's, but plenty of other riddle's..., and the Nimbus 2000 of course

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2011 Prius