What are you reading in 2024?

[trappedslider]

My msot recent library trip i picked up 11/22/63 by King and for non fiction: To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945 by John C. McManus, it's the 3rd book in a trilogy about the Army in the pacific

 

[Autumnal]

My next trip to the library is a pile of masked luchador movies.

¡Es verdad! ¡El Santo lee todos los libros del mundo!

 

[overgeeked]

¡Es verdad! ¡El Santo lee todos los libros del mundo!

Hace 40 años que murió.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I finished The Longest Minute: The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 this morning before breakfast. Its focus on firsthand accounts of the earthquake and how it affected everyday San Franciscans is really good, and there's good work on some of the choices made (I was unaware that Mayor Schmitz and Brig. Gen. Funston (1) instructed firefighters to only dynamite buildings already on fire to create firebreaks and (2) allowed the use of blackpowder and other explosives for some firebreaks, both with suboptimal results). It got a little repetitive at times, with some sections repeating earlier sections nearly verbatim, but also in the presentation of events, which was generally entirely chronological and at times had a bit of a Winnie-the-Pooh feel (e.g., "...and so San Francisco burned from the bottom of page 53 until the top of page 307...").

 

[prabe]

I finished The Longest Minute: The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 this morning before breakfast. Its focus on firsthand accounts of the earthquake and how it affected everyday San Franciscans is really good, and there's good work on some of the choices made (I was unaware that Mayor Schmitz and Brig. Gen. Funston (1) instructed firefighters to only dynamite buildings already on fire to create firebreaks and (2) allowed the use of blackpowder and other explosives for some firebreaks, both with suboptimal results). It got a little repetitive at times, with some sections repeating earlier sections nearly verbatim, but also in the presentation of events, which was generally entirely chronological and at times had a bit of a Winnie-the-Pooh feel (e.g., "...and so San Francisco burned from the bottom of page 53 until the top of page 307...").

Simon Winchester wrote a book on the same topic a while ago, I wonder how different it is.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Simon Winchester wrote a book on the same topic a while ago, I wonder how different it is.

It looks like Winchester leans into his geological interests and placing the Earthquake and post-Earthquake California into a larger context. Davenport's really not interested in that. He spends enough time on public/private water supply issues, contemporary firefighting techniques and theory, and building codes, but it's not a deep dive into any of them. He's mostly focused on the people.

 

[prabe]

It looks like Winchester leans into his geological interests and placing the Earthquake and post-Earthquake California into a larger context. Davenport's really not interested in that. He spends enough time on public/private water supply issues, contemporary firefighting techniques and theory, and building codes, but it's not a deep dive into any of them. He's mostly focused on the people.

Given that I think Winchester wrote his book on the San Francisco Earthquake right after he wrote his book about Krakatoa, I'll absolutely buy that.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

My next trip to the library is a pile of masked luchador movies.

There were a surprising number of those on youtube the last time I had occasion to go looking. Mostly rather old ones, but still nice to have access to on a whim.

 

[overgeeked]

There were a surprising number of those on youtube the last time I had occasion to go looking. Mostly rather old ones, but still nice to have access to on a whim.

Absolutely. Library budgets are often connected to usage numbers, so I make a point of using the library even when I don’t strictly need to.

 

[Autumnal]

Today I started listening to an audiobook of Flannery O’Connor’s novel Wise Blood. A man does the reading and is excellent, including distinct accents for people from different parts of the South and Midwest. Who’s this, I thought, and checked. Answer: Bronson Pinchot.

Me: This was no boating accident ‘80s sitcom!