This Old Neon Forum

I finished reading “Sound of the Beast” by Ian Christe. Outstanding book and highly recommended for fans of metal. Good times.

1. Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings
2. Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Enchanter’s End Game by David Eddings
4. The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
5. Candide by Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire
6. Understanding Iran by William R. Polk
7. The Future of Humanity by Michio Kaku
8. The Return of the King by J.R.R.Tolkien
9. Choosing Death by Albert Mudrian
10. The Republic by Plato
11. The Notebook by José Saramago
12. The Tyrant’s Law by Daniel Abraham
13. A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold
14. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
15. Dracula by Bram Stoker
16. Animal Farm by George Orwell
17. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
18. Galaga by Michael Kimball
19. Mustaine by Dave Mustaine with Joe Layden
20. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
21. The Widow’s House by Daniel Abraham
22. The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
23. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
24. Resident Evil by Philip Reed
25. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
26. Metal Gear Solid by Ashly and Anthony Burch
27. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
28. Poems of John Keats by John Keats
29. Guardians of the West by David Eddings
30. Breakout: Pilgrim in the Microworld by David Sudnow
31. If It Bleeds by Stephen King
32. Age Happens: Garfield Hits the Big 4-0 by Jim Davis
33. The King of the Murgos by David Eddings
34. Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino
35. Sound of the Beast by Ian Christe

I’ve been reading a lot about Julius Caesar online and decided to reread Julius Caesar. Had a blast. Good times.

1. Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings
2. Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Enchanter’s End Game by David Eddings
4. The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
5. Candide by Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire
6. Understanding Iran by William R. Polk
7. The Future of Humanity by Michio Kaku
8. The Return of the King by J.R.R.Tolkien
9. Choosing Death by Albert Mudrian
10. The Republic by Plato
11. The Notebook by José Saramago
12. The Tyrant’s Law by Daniel Abraham
13. A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold
14. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
15. Dracula by Bram Stoker
16. Animal Farm by George Orwell
17. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
18. Galaga by Michael Kimball
19. Mustaine by Dave Mustaine with Joe Layden
20. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
21. The Widow’s House by Daniel Abraham
22. The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
23. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
24. Resident Evil by Philip Reed
25. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
26. Metal Gear Solid by Ashly and Anthony Burch
27. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
28. Poems of John Keats by John Keats
29. Guardians of the West by David Eddings
30. Breakout: Pilgrim in the Microworld by David Sudnow
31. If It Bleeds by Stephen King
32. Age Happens: Garfield Hits the Big 4-0 by Jim Davis
33. The King of the Murgos by David Eddings
34. Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino
35. Sound of the Beast by Ian Christe
36. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

I may not finish a book for quite a while but I am going to give myself two 2021 goals. 2020 I had a goal of reading 26 books which I accomplished with a decent margin of 10 books. Wow. I haven't read that many in a year since I was back in college. Anyway, this coming year I am once again giving myself a 26 book goal and I am going to reread Clavell's books with the exception of Escape (due to its redundancy since I am reading the superior Whirlwind which has all of the same content and more), Thrump-o-Moto and the Children's Story. I'll read those someday...perhaps in 2021 or perhaps later...but I've got my eyes on the Asian saga.

Right now I'm reading Quiet, a book about introversion, Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, which I'm having a blast with, Shatterday by Harlan Ellison, and a couple of fantasy books.

Kong Wen wrote:My copy of Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi came in yesterday! Homegoing (her debut) is one of the more brilliant novels I've read, so I was more than happy to pre-order her follow-up effort. It's moved up my queue to probably 3rd place, which means I'll probably read it over the winter holidays.

It skipped the queue up to next-place, apparently, but I did indeed manage to read it over the northern hemisphere winter holidays. Good book. Maybe I'll read more in '21.

01. 08-04 Who Fears Death (2010), Nnedi Okorafor (Nigerian-American)
02. 12-29 Transcendent Kingdom (2020), Yaa Gyasi (Ghanaian-American)

I finished the mighty Shogun by James Clavell. This was my fourth read of it I think. Outstanding book. I'll be starting Tai-Pan later today. Am also still reading a couple of fantasy books, Portrait of a Lady, and Harlan Ellison's Shatterday.

1. Shogun by James Clavell

Took me a while to finish my January book ( ) but here we are.

I just finished Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook by Mark Bray. It's not a "handbook" in any way, but a thorough historical survey of modern fascist and anti-fascist movements of the past century or so. The valuable insight of this book is its attention to various popular fascist movements, what they looked like, and where/when they came from, since a lot of modern pop-historical context for fascism simply uses nazis as shorthand.

Now to finish up The End of Policing, since my Eddas just arrived in the mail today.

01. 02-24 Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook (2017), Mark Bray (American)

Kong Wen wrote: ↑30 Dec 2020 16:50 It skipped the queue up to next-place, apparently, but I did indeed manage to read it over the northern hemisphere winter holidays. Good book. Maybe I'll read more in '21.

01. 08-04 Who Fears Death (2010), Nnedi Okorafor (Nigerian-American)
02. 12-29 Transcendent Kingdom (2020), Yaa Gyasi (Ghanaian-American)

I finished a pulp fantasy book by Daniel Abraham. Book five of the Dagger and Coin series. Pretty good stuff. I don't think I'll reread it any time soon but I did enjoy it. I'll be starting Godfather as my next Kindle book. Still reading Tai-Pan, the Last of Shannara, and some Harlan Ellison too. Oh my also reading Portrait of a Lady. Goodness!

1. Shogun by James Clavell
2. The Spider's War by Daniel Abraham

I finished Tai-Pan! Gosh I love that book. It's just incredible. I think I like it more than Shogun. Anyway, good times. Now I need to climb the Gai-Jin mountain and it is daunting. I am still reading Godfather, Last Nail in the Coffin of Shannara, some Harlan Ellison, and some Portrait of a Lady.

1. Shogun by James Clavell
2. The Spider's War by Daniel Abraham
3. Tai-Pan by James Clavell

Took me a while to finish my February book ( ) but here we are.

I just finished The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale. Although I'm less interested in the historical survey than I was in my previous book, this one is more well-organized and has more coherent structure within each chapter. It also does an excellent job of presenting research regarding various alternatives to the problems it identifies.

01. 02-24 Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook (2017), Mark Bray (American)
02. 03-15 The End of Policing (2017), Alex S. Vitale (American)

Considering moving on to one of my Eddas next.

I finished the Shannara series! I haven’t read quite all of them but very nearly have. Wow - last book was pretty good though it had issues. I guess most of them do. But they’re fun which has lead me to read as many of them as I have over the years. Good times.

I’m still reading some Harlan Ellison, Gai-Jin, and The Godfather.


1. Shogun by James Clavell
2. The Spider's War by Daniel Abraham
3. Tai-Pan by James Clavell
4. The Last Druid by Terry Brooks