Mirrorlands - Ed Pulford – 6/10

Mirrorlands is a metaphor for the similarities between Russia and China at the boarder as a mirrored affect. The author begins in Moscow and takes a train East to Siberia to various boarder cities and towns, eventually making his way to Beijing. Russia is separated into two halves, East and West or European and Asian.

Various subjects comparing and contrasting the two global juggernauts are covered ranging from their history of world leaders, wars, territory disputes, the sharing of socialist/communist views, etc. Many interesting parallels from this such as China's rapid growth by having 10 times the population and much better agricultural land helping them to propel past a once dominate Russia, who they once feared (Beijing actually built over 30 miles of underground bunker in fear of a Russian attack that never came). China gained in technology as well developing the biggest and fastest rail line in the world while the Trans Siberian train has become outdated while a once an important innovation. Russia to this day does hold valuable resources (that China would love to exploit) but they are primarily more focused towards Europe in the West. Despite China pulling away from Russia and becoming more prosperous and modern they still are closely intertwined in ideology and history to this day.

My problem with this lies more with the author than the historical content. The author (an Englishman) doesn't really know what he wants this book to be. He flips around from the past to the present, talks about his traveling companions he meets, and quickly moves on from, while giving a dry history lesson. The whole thing doesn't go together well and doesn't seem thought out too well either.

* Also 52 books in the bin!!!


Spoiler!

1. Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo - 8/10
2. The Importance of Being Ernest - Oscar Wilde - 7.5/10
3. The Paragon Hotel - Lyndsay Faye - 5/10
4. When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris - 8/10
5. The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street - Susan Jane Gilman - 9/10
6. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle - 6/10
7. 11/22/63 - Stephen King – 9/10
8. No Longer Human – Osamu Dazai - 3/10
9. A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles – 7/10
10. Bear Town – Fredrik Backman – 10/10
11. Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens – 10/10
12. Pachinko – Min Jin Lee – 9.5/10
13. Fault in Our Stars – John Green – 7.5/10
14. Red Metal – Mark Greaney - 7/10
15. The Girl With Seven Names - Hyeonseo Lee – 9.5/10
16. The Great Alone – Kristin Hannah – 9/10
17. My Dark Vanessa – Kate Elizabeth Russell – 6/10
18. Us Against You - Fredrik Backman - 8/10
19. Circe - Madeline Miller - 7/10
20. Piranesi - Susanna Clarke - 9/10
21. The Stranger – Albert Camus - 5/10
22. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury - 5/10
23. Dark Matter - Blake Crouch - 9.5/10
24. When These Mountains Burn - David Joy - 10/10
25. Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway - 7.5/10
26. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - 8.5/10
27. Nothing To See Here - Kevin Wilson - 9/10
28. American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins - 8/10
29. Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami - 9/10
30. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis - 8/10
31. A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L'Engle – 7/10
32. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman - 9/10
33. Dark Places - Gillian Flynn – 8/10
34. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami – 7.5/10
35. The Fox Hunt - Mohammed Al Samawi – 8.5/10
36. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams – 7/10
37. We Begin At The End - Chris Whitaker – 8/10
38. They Both Die at the End - Adam Silvera – 9/10
39. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman – 8.5/10
40. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann – 10/10
41. The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah – 8/10
42. The Sun Down Motel - Simone St. James – 7.5/10
43. The Martian - Andy Weir – 8.5/10
44. Can't Hurt Me - David Goggins – 8/10
45. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman – 6/10
46. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith – 8.5/10
47. The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells - 8/10
48. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison – 6/10
49. Death in Midsummer & Other Stories - Mishima Yukio – 8/10
50. The Road - Cormac McCarthy – 8/10
51. Devil in the White City - Erik Larson – 9/10
52. Mirrorlands - Ed Pulford – 6/10

Children groomer, influencer, CEO

Registered LgBLT + Incest, Beastiality, P3dophile with obligations like a vacation on my face

Queen > Beatles crew
Megadeth > Metallica crew
How the heck is King's X not considered one of the GOATs?!?!??!?!?!
Utah Jazz crew
Tennessee Titans crew

Movie Man
Book Brah
Game Guy
Bike Boyo

🌺 Lauren Brooks Kelly (snailsrus) - Jul 25, 1991 – Jan 29, 2022
Thread: RIP Snails : https://forum.obnoxiousbrutes.com/showthread.php?t=181070293&page=100

⭐ Samurai Break: 140kg(308lb) Failed Bench Press Recovery Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8eIkpZ29u0
⭐ Over 35 Journals > Samurai, Without Ever Having Felt Sorry For Itself:
https://forum.obnoxiousbrutes.com/showthread.php?t=4832373&page=200
📌 Please Call me Kaz, a 65-year-old 🥋 Karate Kid in Tokyo.

Cook the man some eggs!

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini – 9/10

From the same author as The Kite Runner I found this to be, not quite as engaging, but still an incredible read. Hosseini once again writes about growing up in Afghanistan in the 1970s and up to the more present day. This time around the focus is more on a woman's point of view where the hardships are much worse. What I really like about Hossseini's writing is how it can transport you to a place you are unfamiliar with (Afghanistan) but somehow you understand it. Even though this is a sad story it's very well written and rich with insightful sensitivity.

Spoiler!

1. Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo - 8/10
2. The Importance of Being Ernest - Oscar Wilde - 7.5/10
3. The Paragon Hotel - Lyndsay Faye - 5/10
4. When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris - 8/10
5. The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street - Susan Jane Gilman - 9/10
6. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle - 6/10
7. 11/22/63 - Stephen King – 9/10
8. No Longer Human – Osamu Dazai - 3/10
9. A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles – 7/10
10. Bear Town – Fredrik Backman – 10/10
11. Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens – 10/10
12. Pachinko – Min Jin Lee – 9.5/10
13. Fault in Our Stars – John Green – 7.5/10
14. Red Metal – Mark Greaney - 7/10
15. The Girl With Seven Names - Hyeonseo Lee – 9.5/10
16. The Great Alone – Kristin Hannah – 9/10
17. My Dark Vanessa – Kate Elizabeth Russell – 6/10
18. Us Against You - Fredrik Backman - 8/10
19. Circe - Madeline Miller - 7/10
20. Piranesi - Susanna Clarke - 9/10
21. The Stranger – Albert Camus - 5/10
22. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury - 5/10
23. Dark Matter - Blake Crouch - 9.5/10
24. When These Mountains Burn - David Joy - 10/10
25. Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway - 7.5/10
26. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - 8.5/10
27. Nothing To See Here - Kevin Wilson - 9/10
28. American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins - 8/10
29. Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami - 9/10
30. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis - 8/10
31. A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L'Engle – 7/10
32. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman - 9/10
33. Dark Places - Gillian Flynn – 8/10
34. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami – 7.5/10
35. The Fox Hunt - Mohammed Al Samawi – 8.5/10
36. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams – 7/10
37. We Begin At The End - Chris Whitaker – 8/10
38. They Both Die at the End - Adam Silvera – 9/10
39. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman – 8.5/10
40. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann – 10/10
41. The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah – 8/10
42. The Sun Down Motel - Simone St. James – 7.5/10
43. The Martian - Andy Weir – 8.5/10
44. Can't Hurt Me - David Goggins – 8/10
45. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman – 6/10
46. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith – 8.5/10
47. The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells - 8/10
48. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison – 6/10
49. Death in Midsummer & Other Stories - Mishima Yukio – 8/10
50. The Road - Cormac McCarthy – 8/10
51. Devil in the White City - Erik Larson – 9/10
52. Mirrorlands - Ed Pulford – 6/10
53. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini – 9/10

Children groomer, influencer, CEO

Registered LgBLT + Incest, Beastiality, P3dophile with obligations like a vacation on my face

Smooth Seas don't make Strong Sailors. Keep your head up.

MrWhiskey24 for jolly cooperation (PS)

Originally Posted By jreacher⏩

Anyone have a recommendation for a book similar to The Matrix movie?

I am interested in a similar theme myself so I have G-searched it.

Some are very promising.

----------------

Key words = "matrix like virtual reality sci-fi novels"

Simulated reality in fiction

60+ science fiction books on virtual and augmented reality

Reading List: 50 Scifi Books Featuring AR and VR Technology

Key words = "AI and virtual reality Sci-fi novels"

24 Best Artificial Intelligence Science Fiction Books

I wish I have 10 more years to read all these books in addition to those on my already existing must-read list.



Maybe I could use some of those AI and VR technology to prolong my intellectual life until I finish reading all the good books in this real world.

🌺 Lauren Brooks Kelly (snailsrus) - Jul 25, 1991 – Jan 29, 2022
Thread: RIP Snails : https://forum.obnoxiousbrutes.com/showthread.php?t=181070293&page=100

⭐ Samurai Break: 140kg(308lb) Failed Bench Press Recovery Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8eIkpZ29u0
⭐ Over 35 Journals > Samurai, Without Ever Having Felt Sorry For Itself:
https://forum.obnoxiousbrutes.com/showthread.php?t=4832373&page=200
📌 Please Call me Kaz, a 65-year-old 🥋 Karate Kid in Tokyo.

Originally Posted By Samraiwise⏩

Some are very promising.

----------------

Key words = "matrix like virtual reality sci-fi novels"

Simulated reality in fiction

60+ science fiction books on virtual and augmented reality

Reading List: 50 Scifi Books Featuring AR and VR Technology

Key words = "AI and virtual reality Sci-fi novels"

24 Best Artificial Intelligence Science Fiction Books

I wish I have 10 more years to read all these books in addition to those on my already existing must-read list.



Maybe I could use some of those AI and VR technology to prolong my intellectual life until I finish reading all the good books in this real world.

I'm impressed Snow Crash got named three times on these lists lol.

And Accelerando by Charles Stross is an incredibly smart novel that is also available free from his website, but it is HARD, HARD scifi. If you're not into ridiculously thinky sci-fi you won't enjoy it.

Like, breaking down the solar system into a Matrioshka Brain, explaining the Fermi paradox as a bandwidth issue, level thinky. It's a ridiculously ambitious novel set before, during, and after a technological singularity.

Smooth Seas don't make Strong Sailors. Keep your head up.

MrWhiskey24 for jolly cooperation (PS)

Heterologously Vaccinated Superior Race Crew

Kurt Russell, Ray Winstone, Mickey Rourke Crew

"The dominant economic order rests on unofficial dependency and official individualism. Survival requires the transposition of these two ideas: official solidarity and unofficial individualism."

Yeah, I'm old, been here for years before posting. Son posts as well.
My "Doggies in the Snow" thread:
http://forum.obnoxiousbrutes.com/showthread.php?t=159284441
52 books/52 weeks
I will always try to rep back.
Reps owed to/on spread:

Smooth Seas don't make Strong Sailors. Keep your head up.

MrWhiskey24 for jolly cooperation (PS)

Queen > Beatles crew
Megadeth > Metallica crew
How the heck is King's X not considered one of the GOATs?!?!??!?!?!
Utah Jazz crew
Tennessee Titans crew

Cook the man some eggs!

🌺 Lauren Brooks Kelly (snailsrus) - Jul 25, 1991 – Jan 29, 2022
Thread: RIP Snails : https://forum.obnoxiousbrutes.com/showthread.php?t=181070293&page=100

⭐ Samurai Break: 140kg(308lb) Failed Bench Press Recovery Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8eIkpZ29u0
⭐ Over 35 Journals > Samurai, Without Ever Having Felt Sorry For Itself:
https://forum.obnoxiousbrutes.com/showthread.php?t=4832373&page=200
📌 Please Call me Kaz, a 65-year-old 🥋 Karate Kid in Tokyo.

I'm re-reading this for fun.

"I am a rational animal who occupies the intermediary position between angel and beast"

"The upper class is afforded their position by the collective burden the underclass must carry for them"


**Summer Walker Crew**

Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia – 8.5/10

I had high expectations for last years Goodreads horror book of the year, but I didn't really know what to expect. I was not disappointed and somewhat surprised how well this was written and where this was going. The story itself was a little slow to get into but still a delightful to read none the less. Wasn't really scary or anything though

Spoiler!

1. Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo - 8/10
2. The Importance of Being Ernest - Oscar Wilde - 7.5/10
3. The Paragon Hotel - Lyndsay Faye - 5/10
4. When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris - 8/10
5. The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street - Susan Jane Gilman - 9/10
6. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle - 6/10
7. 11/22/63 - Stephen King – 9/10
8. No Longer Human – Osamu Dazai - 3/10
9. A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles – 7/10
10. Bear Town – Fredrik Backman – 10/10
11. Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens – 10/10
12. Pachinko – Min Jin Lee – 9.5/10
13. Fault in Our Stars – John Green – 7.5/10
14. Red Metal – Mark Greaney - 7/10
15. The Girl With Seven Names - Hyeonseo Lee – 9.5/10
16. The Great Alone – Kristin Hannah – 9/10
17. My Dark Vanessa – Kate Elizabeth Russell – 6/10
18. Us Against You - Fredrik Backman - 8/10
19. Circe - Madeline Miller - 7/10
20. Piranesi - Susanna Clarke - 9/10
21. The Stranger – Albert Camus - 5/10
22. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury - 5/10
23. Dark Matter - Blake Crouch - 9.5/10
24. When These Mountains Burn - David Joy - 10/10
25. Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway - 7.5/10
26. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - 8.5/10
27. Nothing To See Here - Kevin Wilson - 9/10
28. American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins - 8/10
29. Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami - 9/10
30. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis - 8/10
31. A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L'Engle – 7/10
32. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman - 9/10
33. Dark Places - Gillian Flynn – 8/10
34. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami – 7.5/10
35. The Fox Hunt - Mohammed Al Samawi – 8.5/10
36. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams – 7/10
37. We Begin At The End - Chris Whitaker – 8/10
38. They Both Die at the End - Adam Silvera – 9/10
39. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman – 8.5/10
40. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann – 10/10
41. The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah – 8/10
42. The Sun Down Motel - Simone St. James – 7.5/10
43. The Martian - Andy Weir – 8.5/10
44. Can't Hurt Me - David Goggins – 8/10
45. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman – 6/10
46. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith – 8.5/10
47. The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells - 8/10
48. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison – 6/10
49. Death in Midsummer & Other Stories - Mishima Yukio – 8/10
50. The Road - Cormac McCarthy – 8/10
51. Devil in the White City - Erik Larson – 9/10
52. Mirrorlands - Ed Pulford – 6/10
53. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini – 9/10
54. Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia – 8.5/10

Children groomer, influencer, CEO

Registered LgBLT + Incest, Beastiality, P3dophile with obligations like a vacation on my face

Queen > Beatles crew
Megadeth > Metallica crew
How the heck is King's X not considered one of the GOATs?!?!??!?!?!
Utah Jazz crew
Tennessee Titans crew