Bolo's Reading List

Here are some books I've read recently. I've added some summaries to some of the entries. I hope to add more while my recollection is still good, or once I can condense the book into all of a short paragraph.

I don't write much of detail sometimes. I do it to protect the innocent reader of my web page, so they don't loose the sense of discovery about reading the text themselves.

A leading rr means the book is a Re-Read.

Sitting in the Queue

These books -- and many more, some of them sitting in the queue for years, are waiting to be read. The books here are just the newest additions.

• African Queen, C. S. Forester.
• Perdido Street Station, China Mieville.
• Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, Volume II
• Rashomon
• rr The Art of War, Sun Tzu.
• rr The Prince, Machiavelli
• Turbina, Karel Čapek.
• Anglie Lists, Karel Čapek.
• Stopařův Pr&uoring;vodceGalaxií (Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy) Douglas Adams.

Summer 2009

• Up
• Harry Potter The Half-Blood Prince
• Ponyo

Spring 2009

• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
• The Ossuary and other Tales, Jav Svankmajer.
• Master & Commander, Patrick O'Brian
• Glow Engines Volume 1, David Gierke.
• Musíme si Pomáhat (Divided we fall)
• RC Helicopter ???
• Rotary Wing Flight
• Horem Padem (Up and Down)

December 2008

• RC Engines ???
• RC Helicopter ??

Fall 2008

• Master Commander Series, Patrick O'Brian.
• Lásky jedné Plavovlásky (Loves of a Blonde) -- Miloš Forman.

Spring 2008

• The Good Soldier Švejk, Jaroslav Hašek.
• Tmavomodrý Svět (Dark Blue World) -- Zdenek Svěrák.
• The Great Mouse Detective.

January 2008

• The Princess & the Cobbler
• Autumn Spring, Czech DVD.
• Closely Watched Trains, Czech DVD, Jiří Menzel.
• Kolya, Czech Language DVD, Jan & Zdenek Sverak.

December 2007

• Motorcycle Performance Handbook, Kevin Cameron.
• Squeak, (The Yellow book), Various authors.

November 2007

• Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, Volume I, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

October 2007

• The Broken Cresent, S. Andrew Swan.
  I've enjoyed previous works by this author. The latest (it has actually been on my shelf for too long) presents yet another solid background, enjoyable story line, technology (or lack of it) and plot. Lets just say that magic might meet computers and leave it at that.

September 2007

• Hammerjack, Marc Giller.
  A cyberpunk novel with a twist on things.
• Kildar, John Ringo.
  Ghost settles down in a big way ....
• Lord Hornblower, C. S. Forester.
• Commodore Hornblower, C. S. Forester.
• Princess, Joe Richards.
  A story about a man and a boat. It isn't a history, it isn't a technical book, it isn't an autobiography. It isn't philosophy. It is a story. You can learn things reading it. Joe's other book is Tug of War I read it in 2006 while I loaned this (his first) book about sailing to a sailor who didn't read it. Checking to see if he wrote any other books, I found that Joe, age 83, died in January of 1992.

August 2007

• Flying Colours, C. S. Forester
  Hornblower's actions and imagination are his True Colours.
• Ship of the Line, C. S. Forester
  Hornblower and his first ship of the line.
• Beat to Quarters, C. S. Forester
  A crazy task is given to a sailor.
• At All Costs, David Weber.
  The last Honor Harrington novel. It has some good scenes in it, but is also a bit mushy for my tastes from time to time. Full of treachery. I set this aside to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The Treachery was so strong I am not enjoying reading it as much as the other Honnor Harrington books.
• Hornblower and the 'Atropos', C. S. Forester.
  Forester's Horatio Hornblower Novels are all too short; I seem to eat them up. The thing is about reading them, they are full of life and situations. Having a large background of David Weber's Honor Harrington, you can see and understand a lot more of the background in the HH novels by reading about the real-life background of the British Navy in the Horatio Hornblower books.
• Hornblower during the Crisis, C. S. Forester.
  A segue between Captain/Commander of the Hotspur, and Hornblower making Captain. This is an unfinished story; Forester died while writing it. There are also two shorts, one of H.H. as a young LT, and another of him as Admiral of the Fleet.
• Harry Potter #7 The Deathly Hallows, J. R. Rowling
  The last book in the Harry Potter series continue to be a extremely well written piece of literature. My brother Charles was right .... I couldn't put it down until finishing it.
• Hornblower and the Hotspur, C. S. Forester.
• Lieutnant Hornblower, C. S. Forester.
• Midshipman Hornblower, C. S. Forester.
  This book was sitting in my night-stand for about a year before I started to read it. I'd been waiting a long time, but never started. Forrester's work is vivid and picturesque, the best kind of writing. It presents moral and physical situations and solutions to the same. A fine book and an excellent character.
• Watch on the Rhine, John Ringo.
  Book 5? in the Posleen Invasion, positing rejuvenation and activation of the remnants of the S.S. in Germany.
• Cally's War, John Ringo.
• Market Forces, Richard Morgan.

July 2007

• The Hero, John Ringo.
• Ghost, John Ringo.
• Newton's Wake, Ken Macleod.
• Into the Looking Glass, John Ringo
• Wolf Star, Saga of the Merrimack, Meluch.
• Pushing Ice, Alistair Reynolds.
• rr Smooth Riding the Pridmore Way, Reg Pridmore.
• The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read, Daniel Solin.

June 2007

• Century Rain, Alistair Reynolds.
  A future/past history book in a different universe than the Revelation Space books.

May 2007

• The 13% Benefit, ???.
• Cash Flow Quadrant (Rich Dad Poor Dad), Kiyosaki, etc.
• XXXX Apartment Real Estate book, ???.

April 2007

• The Accounting Game
  An introduction to double-entry accounting using a lemonade stand as a business engine. This discusses balance sheets, income statements, and case statements. It introduces many concepts such as COGS, expenses, equity, profit, depreciation, capitalization, inventory, ... In other words an introduction to the necessities of running a business and how to account for its operations. The book is really a work-book, having you fill in balance, income, and case statements throughout.
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Kiyosaki & Lechter.
  An introduction to the difference between having money, and being wealthy. This book explained things to me I never knew about before, even with a reasonable introduction to economics. What I don't know or understand financially is impressive.
• The Septic System Owner's Manual, Shelter Publications
  This is a good introduction to how septic systems work, and the variety of septic systems installed. There is also a history of septic devices and systems.
• On Tugboats, Virginia L. Thorndyke
  A viewpoint of the art of tugboating from an outsiders perspective. It is a nice introduction to tug-boating. The viewpoint is biased toward the individual mariner. Full of stories. Gives you an idea of the flavor of tugboating, and an overview of the technology, techniques, and social issues.
• A Reverence for Wood, Eric Sloan
• Country Furniture, Aldren Watson

March 2007

• The Bull of the Woods, Volumes 1-3, J. R. Williams
  Reprints of classic one-page "comic strips" from the late 30s and early 40s. The background is a machine-shop. Williams is known for several strips he did through various careers. It is amazing how much of a story can be told in a single panel.
• Sword and Brush, Dave Lowry
  An introduction to the spirit and principles of Japanese martial tradition. This is a though provoking book on what some of these principles really mean, and how they were used in everyday life.

February 2007

• rr Glidepath, Arthur C. Clarke
  Re-read. A fiction background to the beginning of PAR -- Precision Approach Radar. Good science, good story, good writing. Amazing what the old classics can do.
• Turbocharging, Hugh MacInnes
  I wanted to learn more about turbocharging in detail, after using it for many years in airplanes. This book tells you what you need to know about turbocharging. It covers the field from A-Z, tells you about both the Science and the Art of Turbocharging. Yes, turbocharging is part art. It covers a gamut of installations, equipment, controls, "everything" you want to know to start out, And then to refine your knowledge later.

Fall 2006

After Returning from Prague I decided that I needed to learn more about the Czech Republic. The Rough Guide books seemed a good starting point to enjoy yan overview of buth the history, and the culture of the country before trying to learn more.

• The Rough Guide to the Czech & Slovak Republics, Rough Guides.
• The Rough Guide to Prague, Rough Guides.

Beyond That

Recent readings that aren't ancient....

In 2006 I decided to try some new science fiction authors. I am rather set in my ways some time, and was just continuing to get new books from existing authors. These folks came up in some talks about SF Technology which I attended during Confusion in one of those years. So far, I have read books by 3 out of 4 new authors I wanted to try. China Mieville is the next author on that list I will try.

Hmmm, Alistair Reynolds. Man of man is this guy twisted. In a good way, that of a twisty skein of yarn, not in the more recent meaning of twisted. How to start ... perhaps classic Space Opera would be one starting point. Epic Setting would be another. So Many points of view as to make your head spin, as well as confundingly seamless transitions between them which does make the remainder spin. Cool Technology pervassive on wide scale. A long and detailed history. Powerful Characterizations of not just a few but many characters. What can I say, but go out and get a copy of Revelation Space and start reading!

• Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days, Alistair Reynolds
• Absolution Gap, Alistair Reynolds
• Chasm City, Alistair Reynolds
• Redemption Ark, Alistair Reynolds
• Revelation Space, Alistair Reynolds

Ken MacCleod as the next author I tried, most likely because Cosmonaut Keep was a slimmer volume than Revelation Space. Ken's writing is sorta twisty, and jumps back and forth between times and points of view. The universe he presents is different, but yet sorta based on current trends. The big thing I observe from his books is a combination of different social-economic systems and the politics and interaction between them.

• Engine City, Ken MacCleod.
• Dark Light, Ken MacCleod.
• Cosmonaut Keep, Ken MacCleod.

John Scalzi's writings are probably the closest to my traditional science fiction readings., and what I am used to. In retrospect it is no big surprise that I started with his books. The other reason, of course, is that I met him at Confusion one year, and thogght he was a good fellow and interesting panelist.

• Ghost Brigades, John Scalzi
• Old Man's War, John Scalzi

Summer 2006

A lot of books about motorcycling here. A lot of this reading was done to/in/from the Czech Republic. The books burdnened my backpack quite a bit but it was a burden worth carrying.

• Smooth Riding the Pridmore Way, Reg Pridmore.
• Total Control, Reg Parks
• More Proficient Motorcyling, David Hough.
• Proficient Motorcyling, David Hough.
• The Soft Science of Road Racing, Keith Code
• A Twist of the Wrist, Volume 2, Keith Code
• A Twist of the Wrist, Keith Code
• Tug of War, Joe Richards.
  A tale of Joe's experiences on Sea-going Tugboats during World War II. Look at the entry for Princess for more details.

Spring 2006

The Japanese Samurai and their Philosophy, Culture, and Weapons have been a bit of an enigma. Not only an enigma, but a source of inspiration as well as something well worth studying. The Samurai, their sense of honor, as well as the sense of completeness to them, seem quite different from some of the shallowness that people today seem to have.

Not all the writings are Japanese though ... the Chinese also have some good writings of similar flavor ... as do the Italians. These are all mixed up in the same yet different philosophy that seem, to me, to be discussing differrent aspects of the same issue. One aspect that differs from modern culture is the way that the different religions (for lack of a better term) affected people in that period than they do today.

These are few books that I read during this time period to study the philosophy, history, and culture.

• Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai

Not only did I read books, but also I collected and watched a good corpus of Japanese samurai films of that time period. Truely classic film-making there -- the films are only subtitled, but the cinema is so striking and timeless that the culture difference doesn't matter.
XXX dig up these films

• Samurai III: Duel at Ganyru Island
• Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
• Samurai I: Mushashi Miyamota
• Kill!
• Samurai Spy
• Sword of the Beast
• Samurai Rebellion
• Sanjuro
• Yojimbo
• The Hidden Fortress
• The Seven Samurai