The New Book Theead

[The Feral Slasher]

I think there was an old thread with book recommendations. One of my goals this year is to quit reading all the crap on the Internet (except Rotojunkie) and read some actual books. Here it is March and I am only one third the way thru a book. Once I finish that what else should I read ?

[The Feral Slasher]

The new book Theead...it is exceelent

[Sour Masher]

I aspire to read challenging works, but far more often, I am tired and want something easy. For instance, I have The Book of Disquiet: The Complete Edition, a well regarded work of existentialism by a Portuguese poet high on my "to read" list: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081122693X?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1#customerReview s

But recently, when not reading baseball stuff, I've dived into nostalgia, rereading an old choose your own adventure gamebook type series called Lone Wolf that I loved back in the late 80s/early 90s when I was a kid. The son of the author has recently been reissuing a Definitive Edition. They have held up surprisingly well--the quality of the stories and the choices are really great. I'm hoping my sons are into them in a couple of years (they are 6 and 9, so not quite there yet). Here are the first five bundled together, for those into such things: https://www.amazon.com/Lone-Wolf-Books-Collection-Caverns/dp/9124223611/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Z8073RXGDI82&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.E2at iaYoD5PM7tGuS7wyQJKeKwwjFL5mG99WwJ-dxYsgzCfWOKo9qp3XYLmXbo9Hd6KnoJ98-3_euXku9oO1Pyuw8ppGBSrD7MH3ZlbJvF2jcuC3xAMBZBJgLok ZkWIlQmtyBeVxhgKf2AmsL7iYo9Uuo8opjWrSQqeaQcwSN2ZZN W2NDgd752pddA9b-iTz0MeC8da81Wyximlq_PFqF38RfKYAlasiMEW62-rulOxtsX_wbC-4_qqCI9K8o598QlMQHQLIefYmy12jHwZ2WSKivI7uMORP4Ttdz ltIgP0.os3eK4wyNcZBDU0SLe__I4UdR8vRVgsdtWlgXk1V-No&dib_tag=se&keywords=joe+dever+lone+wolf&qid=17 1 0194697&s=books&sprefix=lone+wolf%2Cstripbooks%2C1 23&sr=1-1

A little while ago, I finally got around to reading a Confederacy of Dunces, which sort of split the difference--it was a funny, fairly easy read, but still had some ideas to chew on after I put it down (though, I admit my thoughts on it are influenced by the lore around the book, its author, and the fight his mother put up to get it published after his death): https://www.amazon.com/Lone-Wolf-Books-Collection-Caverns/dp/9124223611/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Z8073RXGDI82&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.E2at iaYoD5PM7tGuS7wyQJKeKwwjFL5mG99WwJ-dxYsgzCfWOKo9qp3XYLmXbo9Hd6KnoJ98-3_euXku9oO1Pyuw8ppGBSrD7MH3ZlbJvF2jcuC3xAMBZBJgLok ZkWIlQmtyBeVxhgKf2AmsL7iYo9Uuo8opjWrSQqeaQcwSN2ZZN W2NDgd752pddA9b-iTz0MeC8da81Wyximlq_PFqF38RfKYAlasiMEW62-rulOxtsX_wbC-4_qqCI9K8o598QlMQHQLIefYmy12jHwZ2WSKivI7uMORP4Ttdz ltIgP0.os3eK4wyNcZBDU0SLe__I4UdR8vRVgsdtWlgXk1V-No&dib_tag=se&keywords=joe+dever+lone+wolf&qid=17 1 0194697&s=books&sprefix=lone+wolf%2Cstripbooks%2C1 23&sr=1-1

[Sour Masher]

If you like funny, weird, disturbing stuff, I also recommend Jason Pargin's "John Dies at the End" series (they made the first one into a movie with Paul Giamatti that is available on Amazon, though it only covers about half the novel). I read the 4th book while on vacation over the summer after seeing it in an airport bookstore. I lost track of the series after the first three books came out fairly close together about a decade ago. I hadn't realized a 4th, If This Book Exists, You're In the Wrong Universe, had come out. It reminded me of how much I liked the first three, although it might have been my favorite. You can read any of them on their own, but they all have the same characters and I like reading stuff in order. But here is the 4th one: https://www.amazon.com/This-Exists-Y...aufs_ap_sc_dsk

[rhd]

I dont how seriously this thread will be taken but I will try taking it seriously.

I am in the middle of a fascinating book called "America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization" by Graham Hancock. It is about the idea that humans populated the Americas much longer ago than most currently think. The commonly held belief is that the Americas became populated first from passage over a land bridge connecting Siberia to Alaska during the last glaciation, and then from Alaska to the rest of the continent by a gap in the glaciers which opened up after the glaciers starting melting. This was about 11,800 years ago and for a long time there has been evidence of human habitation shortly after this time at several sites, notably the "Clovis Points" sites first found in New Mexico and later at other wide-ranging places. But this book says there are many sites dating tens of thousands of years before this time in many different places in the Americas, including many in South America, and as far back as 133,000 years ago at a site in San Diego. He also says many South American sites bear no resemblance to the sites in North America and introduces that idea that humans may have reached South America many thousands of years ago by boat. He also says there is documentation from the first European explorers that there were great cities and road systems, similar to the Aztec civilization, in the Amazon jungle built by the natives. He says that this Amazon civilization was possible despite the characteristically poor soil because the natives developed a way of producing long-lasting fertile soil called "terra preta" which we've found evidence of.

I was already familiar w the idea of humans coming to the Americas by boat long ago from a book called "They Came Before Columbus" by Ivan Van Sertima. This book said that Africans unwittingly came to the Americas many times before the European explorers did when their boats off the West African coast got pushed by storms out into the currents that run from Africa to South America and the Caribbean and that the Olmec stone heads found in Mexico, among other artifacts, are evidence of ancient Africans in the Americas. This I find very believable but curiously Hancock does not mention Van Sertima's work at all.

I'm only halfway thru Hancock's book but I'm very open to the idea that humans were in the Americas long before 12,000 years ago. In fact, I have for a long time been reading in various different places that humans were in southern South America as long ago as about 26,000 years ago. But this is the first that I have heard anyone say that humans reached South America 50-70,000 years ago and by boat. So far, he hasnt offered any direct evidence of the travel by boat, only that the sites in South America seem to indicate they are completely unrelated to any of the sites found in North America so that they must have reached there by boat w/o first travelling thru North America.

[The Feral Slasher]

I aspire to read challenging works, but far more often, I am tired and want something easy. For instance, I have The Book of Disquiet: The Complete Edition, a well regarded work of existentialism by a Portuguese poet high on my "to read" list: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081122693X?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1#customerReview s

But recently, when not reading baseball stuff, I've dived into nostalgia, rereading an old choose your own adventure gamebook type series called Lone Wolf that I loved back in the late 80s/early 90s when I was a kid. The son of the author has recently been reissuing a Definitive Edition. They have held up surprisingly well--the quality of the stories and the choices are really great. I'm hoping my sons are into them in a couple of years (they are 6 and 9, so not quite there yet). Here are the first five bundled together, for those into such things: https://www.amazon.com/Lone-Wolf-Books-Collection-Caverns/dp/9124223611/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Z8073RXGDI82&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.E2at iaYoD5PM7tGuS7wyQJKeKwwjFL5mG99WwJ-dxYsgzCfWOKo9qp3XYLmXbo9Hd6KnoJ98-3_euXku9oO1Pyuw8ppGBSrD7MH3ZlbJvF2jcuC3xAMBZBJgLok ZkWIlQmtyBeVxhgKf2AmsL7iYo9Uuo8opjWrSQqeaQcwSN2ZZN W2NDgd752pddA9b-iTz0MeC8da81Wyximlq_PFqF38RfKYAlasiMEW62-rulOxtsX_wbC-4_qqCI9K8o598QlMQHQLIefYmy12jHwZ2WSKivI7uMORP4Ttdz ltIgP0.os3eK4wyNcZBDU0SLe__I4UdR8vRVgsdtWlgXk1V-No&dib_tag=se&keywords=joe+dever+lone+wolf&qid=17 1 0194697&s=books&sprefix=lone+wolf%2Cstripbooks%2C1 23&sr=1-1

A little while ago, I finally got around to reading a Confederacy of Dunces, which sort of split the difference--it was a funny, fairly easy read, but still had some ideas to chew on after I put it down (though, I admit my thoughts on it are influenced by the lore around the book, its author, and the fight his mother put up to get it published after his death): https://www.amazon.com/Lone-Wolf-Books-Collection-Caverns/dp/9124223611/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Z8073RXGDI82&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.E2at iaYoD5PM7tGuS7wyQJKeKwwjFL5mG99WwJ-dxYsgzCfWOKo9qp3XYLmXbo9Hd6KnoJ98-3_euXku9oO1Pyuw8ppGBSrD7MH3ZlbJvF2jcuC3xAMBZBJgLok ZkWIlQmtyBeVxhgKf2AmsL7iYo9Uuo8opjWrSQqeaQcwSN2ZZN W2NDgd752pddA9b-iTz0MeC8da81Wyximlq_PFqF38RfKYAlasiMEW62-rulOxtsX_wbC-4_qqCI9K8o598QlMQHQLIefYmy12jHwZ2WSKivI7uMORP4Ttdz ltIgP0.os3eK4wyNcZBDU0SLe__I4UdR8vRVgsdtWlgXk1V-No&dib_tag=se&keywords=joe+dever+lone+wolf&qid=17 1 0194697&s=books&sprefix=lone+wolf%2Cstripbooks%2C1 23&sr=1-1

Thanks for the ideas ! I loved choose your own adventures when I was a kid, I will see if my library has Lone Wolf. John Dies at the End sounds interesting too.

[The Feral Slasher]

I dont how seriously this thread will be taken but I will try taking it seriously.

I am in the middle of a fascinating book called "America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization" by Graham Hancock. It is about the idea that humans populated the Americas much longer ago than most currently think. The commonly held belief is that the Americas became populated first from passage over a land bridge connecting Siberia to Alaska during the last glaciation, and then from Alaska to the rest of the continent by a gap in the glaciers which opened up after the glaciers starting melting. This was about 11,800 years ago and for a long time there has been evidence of human habitation shortly after this time at several sites, notably the "Clovis Points" sites first found in New Mexico and later at other wide-ranging places. But this book says there are many sites dating tens of thousands of years before this time in many different places in the Americas, including many in South America, and as far back as 133,000 years ago at a site in San Diego. He also says many South American sites bear no resemblance to the sites in North America and introduces that idea that humans may have reached South America many thousands of years ago by boat. He also says there is documentation from the first European explorers that there were great cities and road systems, similar to the Aztec civilization, in the Amazon jungle built by the natives. He says that this Amazon civilization was possible despite the characteristically poor soil because the natives developed a way of producing long-lasting fertile soil called "terra preta" which we've found evidence of.

I was already familiar w the idea of humans coming to the Americas by boat long ago from a book called "They Came Before Columbus" by Ivan Van Sertima. This book said that Africans unwittingly came to the Americas many times before the European explorers did when their boats off the West African coast got pushed by storms out into the currents that run from Africa to South America and the Caribbean and that the Olmec stone heads found in Mexico, among other artifacts, are evidence of ancient Africans in the Americas. This I find very believable but curiously Hancock does not mention Van Sertima's work at all.

I'm only halfway thru Hancock's book but I'm very open to the idea that humans were in the Americas long before 12,000 years ago. In fact, I have for a long time been reading in various different places that humans were in southern South America as long ago as about 26,000 years ago. But this is the first that I have heard anyone say that humans reached South America 50-70,000 years ago and by boat. So far, he hasnt offered any direct evidence of the travel by boat, only that the sites in South America seem to indicate they are completely unrelated to any of the sites found in North America so that they must have reached there by boat w/o first travelling thru North America.

Thanks, that sounds interesting, I will add it to my list

[heyelander]

I dont how seriously this thread will be taken but I will try taking it seriously.

I feel triggered

[Sour Masher]

I dont how seriously this thread will be taken but I will try taking it seriously.

I am in the middle of a fascinating book called "America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization" by Graham Hancock. It is about the idea that humans populated the Americas much longer ago than most currently think. The commonly held belief is that the Americas became populated first from passage over a land bridge connecting Siberia to Alaska during the last glaciation, and then from Alaska to the rest of the continent by a gap in the glaciers which opened up after the glaciers starting melting. This was about 11,800 years ago and for a long time there has been evidence of human habitation shortly after this time at several sites, notably the "Clovis Points" sites first found in New Mexico and later at other wide-ranging places. But this book says there are many sites dating tens of thousands of years before this time in many different places in the Americas, including many in South America, and as far back as 133,000 years ago at a site in San Diego. He also says many South American sites bear no resemblance to the sites in North America and introduces that idea that humans may have reached South America many thousands of years ago by boat. He also says there is documentation from the first European explorers that there were great cities and road systems, similar to the Aztec civilization, in the Amazon jungle built by the natives. He says that this Amazon civilization was possible despite the characteristically poor soil because the natives developed a way of producing long-lasting fertile soil called "terra preta" which we've found evidence of.

I was already familiar w the idea of humans coming to the Americas by boat long ago from a book called "They Came Before Columbus" by Ivan Van Sertima. This book said that Africans unwittingly came to the Americas many times before the European explorers did when their boats off the West African coast got pushed by storms out into the currents that run from Africa to South America and the Caribbean and that the Olmec stone heads found in Mexico, among other artifacts, are evidence of ancient Africans in the Americas. This I find very believable but curiously Hancock does not mention Van Sertima's work at all.

I'm only halfway thru Hancock's book but I'm very open to the idea that humans were in the Americas long before 12,000 years ago. In fact, I have for a long time been reading in various different places that humans were in southern South America as long ago as about 26,000 years ago. But this is the first that I have heard anyone say that humans reached South America 50-70,000 years ago and by boat. So far, he hasnt offered any direct evidence of the travel by boat, only that the sites in South America seem to indicate they are completely unrelated to any of the sites found in North America so that they must have reached there by boat w/o first travelling thru North America.

I too was very drawn to this idea, but soon discovered Hancock is not a scientist and his broader theory iof an advanced global ancient civilization is deeply flawed and based on no actual evidence. His cionjectures also draw from some texts with strong Eurocentric bias and racist implications, which I think are unintended. But I still love the idea and there is ever growing evidence that humans made it to the Americas way earlier than previously thought, complicating long held beliefs. If you are interested in Hancock, he has a Netflix series, which shows him build to his overarching theory of an ancient lost advanced global civilization. It is worth reading scientific rebuttals to his work as well.