pukkapoisoned

An all-around geek who collects hobbies like Pokémon.

6089 points

0% overlap

My Taste

War of the Ancients Archive (WarCraft: War of the Ancients, #1-3)

The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1)

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 1 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Edition, #1)

Obligation's Unity (Carving Legacies, #2)

Reading...

55%

13%

21%

Traditional Blacksmithing: The Fine Art of Horseshoeing and Wagon Making

50%

14%

pukkapoisoned is interested in reading...

Hell Bent: How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love

Brian Recker

A former evangelical pastor explains why we can stop worrying about hell and start focusing on loveThere is a black hole at the center of Christian the doctrine of hell. No matter how hard we try to believe in a loving God, the fear of eternal torment always lurks at the back of our minds, warping our sense of what love means. Worse still, many churches act as if the point of Christianity is not to follow Jesus but to secure a get-out-of-hell-free card—and to “save” everyone you know by converting them to your religion. For many of us, the whole story of Christianity has punishment at the very center. But does the Bible really say we’re going to hell if we don’t do or believe the “right” things?In this taboo-shattering book, former evangelical pastor Brian Recker takes an honest look at scripture and reveals what has been true all Hell isn’t real, and God’s universal love is radically inclusive, in this life and the next. By removing punishment from Christianity's center, Recker boldly reimagines the core questions of faith, such as why Jesus lived and died, and what it means to be “saved.” It’s time to rediscover spirituality as Jesus taught loving God, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Whether you’re Christian, exvangelical, or anywhere along a deconstruction journey, Hellbent is the perfect resource to help you replace fear and church hurt with healing and peace.

pukkapoisoned made progress on...

14h

The Long Surrender

Burke Davis

55%

pukkapoisoned is interested in reading...

Against Empire

Michael Parenti

Richly informed and written in an engaging style, Against Empire exposes the ruthless agenda and hidden costs of the U.S. empire today. Documenting the pretexts and lies used to justify violent intervention and maldevelopment abroad, Parenti shows how the conversion to a global economy is a victory of finance capital over democracy. As much of the world suffers unspeakable misery and the Third-Worldization of the United States accelerates, civil society is impoverished by policies that benefit rich and powerful transnational corporations and the national security state. Hard-won gains made by ordinary people are swept away.

pukkapoisoned is interested in reading...

Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau's masterwork, Walden, is a collection of his reflections on life and society. His simple but profound musings—as well as Civil Disobedience, his protest against the government's interference with civil liberty—have inspired many to embrace his philosophy of individualism and love of nature.

pukkapoisoned is interested in reading...

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Jared Diamond

"Diamond has written a book of remarkable scope ... one of the most important and readable works on the human past published in recent years." Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: the global account of the rise of civilization that is also a stunning refutation of ideas of human development based on race. In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed writing, technology, government, and organized religion—as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war—and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth Club of California's Gold Medal

pukkapoisoned commented on a post

Anyajulchen

Thoughts from 40%

Sooooo, where does this start being scary? I mean, I like the mess of cheating characters, but I'm bored 😪

pukkapoisoned commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

csdaley

New Author Criteria

I am curious. What makes you pick up a new book from an author you have never read before? Do you have different rules for buying it or checking it out? Does cover art matter? Do you rely on reviews, or is the snippet on the back cover enough?

I find that when I check it out, I am way more adventurous. There is no risk to a checkout. I will check out a book because someone told me about it, or I saw a cover I liked. The back blurb seemed interesting. I have a pretty harsh DNF rule, so if I check it out and it doesn't work for me, I DNF it fast.

Buying the book gets way more interesting. I do buy books from new authors, but I am more cautious. Again, because I will DNF a book fast (although if I bought it, there is a very good chance I will give it another shot).

If I am buying a book from a new author, I usually rely on reviews or word of mouth. Even then, that might not get me over the hump. If it is a fantasy book 1 and book 2 is not out, I will almost always pass. This is my George R.R. Martin rule. I like to know I will have a chance to get to the end of the story.

As with everything in my life, I break my own rules all the time. Sometimes it burns me. I bought a mystery novel from an author I had never heard of a few weeks ago. I liked the cover. The book sounded interesting. I read the first few paragraphs and rolled the dice. I DNFed it, and it is now patiently waiting for me to give it another chance. On the other hand, I bought James Logan's The Silverblood Prince as book 1, with no book 2 and no reviews. I loved that book.

I also get several book subscriptions. I never pass on a Goldsboro Crime Collective book. They are almost always new authors to me, and I know nothing about them, but Goldsboro's track record of picking mysteries I like has been very good. Occasionally they moss but not usually. With my other book subscriptions, I usually go read any advance reviews from ARCs. I will take more chances with them, especially Broken Binding, because I know I can probably sell them if I don't like them. That said, I skip Broken Binding and have always hit my skip limit every year. I will be retiring soon, and money will be much tighter, so I have a feeling most new authors will come from the library. I will say there is nothing quite like finding a new author. The joy of discovery and the anticipation of whether they can keep it up runs deep in my brain.

Post from the The Long Surrender forum

pukkapoisoned

Thoughts from 35% - "It's a rich man's war, and a poor man's fight."

I picked this up because I was very curious on the history of the confederacy from a more personal perspective. But it's hard to find books that delve deep without them hyper-romanticizing the POV. Reason being is because, as an American, the current regime is rooted in the whole "the south will rise again" bs. While I did learn about the Civil War in high school decades ago, I only learned the base bullet points on what happened, and why it happened. But I wanted to know more about the psychology of those who chose to go through with this process, and so far it's very illuminating. I was wondering if the whole Secretary of War renaming was just Hegseth cosplaying a tough guy, but no... that title literally harkens back to the civil war era. Secretary of War was a real title within the confederacy, and I'm at a point in my life where I'm not even shocked anymore. SMH

This particular book is written by southern historian, and a descendant of "president" Jefferson Davis of the confederacy. I think the author does a decent job at staying as neutral as possible (so far), while still giving a count-by-count process of Davis's whole "surrender whilst we flee like the cowards we are," sort of situation. How the confederacy broke down, the mindsets and infighting of all the different parties involved, etc.

One very interesting factor that popped up briefly, and then cropped up again as Davis is trying to find hospitality as he flees, is the fact that the south wasn't in a majority of agreement in going through with leaving the Union. Like MAGA and our current regime, a lot of the decision-making was made by the super wealthy land owners (because they had the most to lose) and the super zealous "patriotic" folk. (Does this ring a bell?) Which means that only the hardcore towns that helped fund the war were hospitable to him, but there were towns that wanted nothing to do with Davis as he's trying to flee the federal army.

Watching the confederate currency literally tank to where the treasury is worth nothing more than fuel to burn fires is hilarious. And none of the towns where Davis is fervently trying to cash a $26k check is taking that bank note. insert Nelson laugh here

It's also worth noting that Davis is willing to burn everything down behind him to save his own skin in the hopes he can still turn this war around. The level of self-righteous delusion is quite staggering, and over time his advisors are like, "Yeah, this is over, dude. Give it a rest."

I have a ton of other thoughts, but these are my starting ones so far.

pukkapoisoned made progress on...

The Long Surrender

Burke Davis

35%

pukkapoisoned started reading...

The Long Surrender

Burke Davis

A panoramic and spellbinding history of the last days of the Confederacy and the flight, capture, and imprisonment of Jefferson Davis In April 1865, Richmond fell to the Union army and Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to his Northern counterpart, Ulysses S. Grant, at the Appomattox Court House. But the Civil War was far from over. Determined to keep Confederate dreams of secession alive, President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled the burning capital city. With Union troops in pursuit, the fugitives rallied loyalists across the South and made plans to escape to Cuba. In the aftermath of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, a $100,000 bounty was placed on Davis’s head. Finally captured in Irwinville, Georgia, the former US senator and secretary of war became a prisoner of the American government. The harsh treatment he received would inflame tensions between North and South for years to come. Meticulously researched and brilliantly told, The Long Surrender brings these dramatic events to vivid, unforgettable life and paints a fascinating portrait of Davis, one of history’s most enigmatic figures. By shining a light on this forgotten chapter of the Civil War, bestselling author Burke Davis examines the lasting impact of America’s bloodiest conflict on the national character.

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