I had already listened to Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “The Inexplicable Universe” from the Great Courses series. So I was reluctant to get another book from him that might cover the same topics. But after he showed up on Colbert back when the book came out, it sounded really good, so I got it back then.
The book in question is Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Even though it’s the same author, he does a much better job of providing deeper explanation in a more succinct way. It was well worth getting this despite having heard the other one. I feel like I have a much better grasp on cosmic microwave background, and how that was measured and then used to make deductions, and also how supernovas were used for their brightness to measure distances to galaxies, and a whole bunch of other concepts. In trying to write for people in a hurry, he actually managed to make a lot of complicated concepts much easier to understand and filled with more detail at the same time. Recommended.
I don’t know if this will help anyone else, but I just want to throw it out there in case it is helpful. I got tired of my audiobook backlog just growing and growing and growing. Instead of continuing to listen to the 30+ hour lectures on the Barbarians of the Steppes (sometimes fascinating, sometimes boring), I went to the audible app and sorted everything by length. That puts the shortest stuff at the top. So I’ve been listening to the short Audible originals first, then the slightly longer ones. Using this method I’ve now gotten through 6 entries in my library in the last 3 weeks. And they’ve all been decent to excellent. I’ll come back here and do a short recommendation/synopsis once I get through a few more of them.
It’s a nice feeling to shorten the list. (It also helps that I’ve been unsubscribed from audible for the last few months).
I’ve been listening a little to Accessory to War by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I’ve only gotten a little way into it, but it’s pretty depressing.
:(
An exploration of the age-old complicity between skywatchers and warfighters, from the best-selling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.
In this fascinating foray into the centuries-old relationship between science and military power, acclaimed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and writer-researcher Avis Lang examine how the methods and tools of astrophysics have been enlisted in the service of war. “The overlap is strong, and the knowledge flows in both directions,” say the authors, because astrophysicists and military planners care about many of the same things: multi-spectral detection, ranging, tracking, imaging, high ground, nuclear fusion, and access to space. Tyson and Lang call it a “curiously complicit” alliance. “The universe is both the ultimate frontier and the highest of high grounds,” they write. “Shared by both space scientists and space warriors, it’s a laboratory for one and a battlefield for the other. The explorer wants to understand it; the soldier wants to dominate it. But without the right technology—which is more or less the same technology for both parties—nobody can get to it, operate in it, scrutinize it, dominate it, or use it to their advantage and someone else’s disadvantage.”
Spanning early celestial navigation to satellite-enabled warfare, Accessory to War is a richly researched and provocative examination of the intersection of science, technology, industry, and power that will introduce Tyson’s millions of fans to yet another dimension of how the universe has shaped our lives and our world.
I got an offer to come back for $7 a month for 3 months. Are the Audible originals really good this month? If not, I can activate the offer in December instead. I tried looking on their website, but they don’t tell you which are this month’s possible selections.
Try this link. I picked up the true crime story set in Alaska, and I haven’t decided on my second. I lean toward the climbing memoir. I’m not if I’ll actually read them though. I’ve got a couple of long-anticipated novels in my queue right now.
The Alaskan true crime story (Midnight Son) was really good. I thought it was a “true” story, not a true story, if you know what I mean? Like a fake true story, where it’s all made up. But then the main actor who is charged with a crime is in a native Alaskan indie movie called On the Ice, where the author (who is also native Alaskan) felt the native people’s life was portrayed on the screen honestly for the first time. And I googled On the Ice, and it’s a real movie! Which means it was a real true story, not a “true” story after all.
I love the hook of this tale by the way. I won’t give it away, but the hook is not the crime itself, but something else that’s introduced to us in the first chapter.
After Midnight Son, I moved onto another Audible Original, Find Another Dream. It’s by an Arab-American Stand Up comic, and she also happens to have cerebral palsy, which you notice right away because you think “woah, why does her voice sound weird?”
But you get used to it pretty fast, and she addresses it right away when describing her birth and how the doctor messed up and it caused this disability. The level of detail with which she then proceeds to describe her life is kind of intoxicating. She’s a Jersey girl, and that sass and attitude is there throughout her writing. The description of her parent’s lives and then her own childhood have a Charles Dickens level of detail, but filtered through a Jersey girl. It’s a heady mixture, and I’m really digging it.
After Find another dream, I moved onto Twain’s Feast. I originally chose this Audible Original as one of my free originals for the month because it had Nick Offerman on the cover, and I figured I was going to get a nice Nick Offerman comedy special.
That’s not what this is. If I’d bothered to read the description, I’d know that this features Nick throwing a feast for his friends based on the writings of Mark Twain. Twain, when he was abroad, wrote back fondly about all the foods he missed from America. So Andrew Beahrs and Nick Offerman explore those menu items and they explore Samuel Clemens’ life as well. And it ends up being way more interesting than that setup makes it sound. First of all, a lot of the foods mentioned by Clemens/Twain are no longer available. Others are really rare. Others are still there, but they taste very different now. It’s a fascinating look back at the writer’s life (including his hardcore racism towards Native Americans btw, so they don’t shirk from looking at negative things) from his days in Hannibal, MO, to his life as a riverboat captain, to his life as a young writer in San Francisco, to his attempts to became a more serious writer while also being known as a humorist. And along the way, you learn a lot about America and how much its changed through exploring those food items.
Quick heads up if you’re an audible member. This month’s audible originals are up, where you pick your two free entries for the month out of six. Except, there seems to be some other sale layered on top of it too. I noticed they all have their price at zero for the next 3 days. That’s not normal. So I chose all 6, and I seem to have gotten all 6 of them for $0 and no credits used.
I’m not sure if this 3 day sale is on purpose somehow or just a mistake. Hopefully if it’s a mistake they’ll let me re-choose which 2 I want instead of charging me for the other 4. (Or let me keep all 6, that would be acceptable as well. :-P )
I was about to listen to Dune Messiah, but shut it off as soon as I heard Scott’s voice. I gave up on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep after a few hours prior to that.
Yeah, I’ve got a ton of books in my audible library, and the only one I can recall offhand being read by Scott Brick is The Devil In The White City. And he does a fine job reading that.
Audible finally added Collections to iOS in the last update. Thank goodness. I understand it’s been on one of their platforms for years, and I’m not sure why it took so long to add to iOS. But it’s definitely a godsend for those of us who like occasionally re-listening to books and have large collections.
Also added Genre sorting. So I can now look at all my History books all at once.
Haha. You and I are the same it seems. I just commented to agree with your opinion in the Last Dance thread and now I’m here doing it again with this recommendation!
I loved Station Eleven. I read it with my eyeballs, not my ears, so I can’t comment on the reader, but the novel itself is wonderful.
I recently finished Craig Ferguson’s excellent book/audiobook Riding the Elephant. He’s a great storyteller. Highly recommended.
Near the end of his book, he described his experiences visiting Japan with his son. And the Tokyo Olympics were about to start soon. So I knew I had bought Understanding Japan, which is a part of the Great Lecture series, and I thought, wow, this seems like a perfect time to learn more about Japan.
I’m only half way through it, since I listen on my daily walks, and each lecture is about 30 minutes. So far, it’s just been really excellent. I’ve found out so many things about Japan that I didn’t know, and the lecturer is very engaging, and has good delivery. Highly recommended.
Adrian Tchaikovsky’s new one “Shards of Earth” is out on audible on August 3, 2021. I listen to most of his stuff and it is well narrated. We’ll see about this new series of his. Also the latest in a series I can almost recommend is out:
It is long winded and disjointed but I am addicted to it. FYI, YMMV.
