Support
Contact
Ace:
aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
CBD:
cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
Buck:
buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
joe mannix:
mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum:
petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton:
sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
CBD:
cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
Buck:
buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
joe mannix:
mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum:
petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton:
sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 4-13-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
PIC NOTE
The picture above is a perfect example of what Trimegistus is talking about. The university library where I work (but do not work for) has maybe 1/3 of the books that it had when I was a student here. They've thrown away thousands upon thousands of books. Most of those books were bound periodicals which have been digitized, but there were a lot of other books as well. I suspect most of those books were simply outdated and obsolete as knowledge marches on. The loss of the books has allowed for traveling exhibits to visit the library, however, and showing the local community of students, faculty, staff, and town residents historical events. We've also featured a traveling Holocaust museum, which was pretty neat. This one focuses on the experiences of soldiers during D-Day in World War II. RESPONDING TO COMMENTS... One of the downsides of being an active member of a church is that I don't always get to participate in the Sunday Morning Book Threads as much as I would like to. I do read all the comments, however, and keep track of those that I find particularly interesting.
Libraries aren't what they once were. Not just a building full of books any more. Librarians, and Library trustees, are obsessed with the notion of "staying relevant" and of "Libraries as community spaces." So they've got computers for Internet use, and game consoles to check out, and a "library of things" to lend out tools and random stuff, and "teen spaces." Librarians cull the books more ruthlessly than the stockers in Barnes & Noble. If it hasn't been checked out in x months, out it goes! Got to make room for the next round of celebrity memoirs, ghostwritten political screeds, and Oprah Book Club recommendations. Posted by: Trimegistus at April 06, 2025 10:12 AM (78a2H)
Look, I can sympathize with MP4. I don't have to acquire books. I can quit any time I want!
I must have at least 30 books scattered around the house that I have bought for the sake of buying within the last few weeks, and I haven't finished a single one of them.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 06, 2025 09:27 AM (Q0kLU) I think many of us share this problem.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 06, 2025 09:36 AM (h7ZuX)
It seems like Africa is a problem that defies solutions. It's been exploited for *centuries* by the rest of the world. Arab slave traders depopulated whole sections of the continent. The American slave trade was small potatoes by comparison (though still quite awful, of course). Now China is sticking their fingers into that pie to see if they can succeed where the rest of the world has failed. I don't think they will achieve the rewards they are hoping for, but they'll do their best to make a mess of an already messed-up continent.
The funny thing about the 1880-1900 Scramble For Africa was how none of the actual colonial powers at the time really wanted it. The British, French, and Portuguese were pretty happy to just control some coastal enclaves, trade with the interior, and let the Africans do unto each other. Then Bismarck realizes this is a great wedge issue to keep France and Britain from being too chummy. So Germany starts making some claims, and Otto calls a big conference to "solve all the problems" -- which basically created all the problems of the next generation. Carving up the continent with lines on a map meant that the colonial powers had to actually go into the interior and try to impose authority -- and that meant finding a way to create a money-based economy generating enough tax income to pay for all that. Otto's masterstroke was giving the real prize -- the Congo River basin -- to a private company run by the king of Belgium, which was totally incapable of handling the job. I suspect Bismarck figured the Congo Company would get their asses handed to them and then Germany could generously offer to go in and fix things.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 06, 2025 10:21 AM (78a2H)
I recently read Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories as well as Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. There are many similarities between the two authors, as they are both British and are writing detective stories featuring characters who have some similar traits. Though they also have stark differences as well. I often read stories that may bear a passing similarity to another story, or are a retelling of a very familiar story in some new way. That's OK. It usually doesn't detract from the story too much unless it's very obvious blatant copy/pasting from another author. Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shannara is one of the most famous examples, as he lifted much of the story from J.R.R. Tolkien. It was his first epic fantasy novel, and that's what people wanted at the time.
Had an interesting discussion with someone the other day about writing. We ended up talking about books that made us feel like "I've never read anything like this before. This is something completely new." I picked the opening of the first book in Nine Princes in Amber. The narrator wakes up in a hospital and begins to do things he doesn't fully understand but moves towards learning who he is. The other thing we agreed on is that it isn't possible to write something completely new. My choice wasn't actually new at all, it just made me feel like it was. Fwiw, I am not at all someone who thinks about or is bothered by "tropes" or "theft" or "copying". Thank god. I don't care at all if author X uses author Y's "ideas" or "world" or "character types". It is interesting what works make/made people experience that "This is like nothing I have ever read before!" feeling.
Posted by: Thesokorus at April 06, 2025 11:09 AM (z6Ybz)
MORON RECOMMENDATIONS
When his friend shares half his fabulous silver claim, a smalltown storekeeper must battle claim jumpers, a corrupt judge and ruthless killers. Most people are at least dimly aware of the Great Depression of 1929. But how many have heard about the Panic of 1873, which was nearly as devastating? In White Money (a wonderful throw-back to old-timey Western novels like Shane and True Grit), Civil War veteran Morris Goldwater, like millions of his fellow Americans, has been caught up in the financial disaster of the Panic. Dangers and disappointments abound, not least of which is finding that the Arizona desert in winter is not the paradise Goldwater hoped for. Claim jumpers, a corrupt judge, bigots and brigands conspire to thwart his dreams. Will evil be a match for the ingenuity and the basic goodness of the average American? Never count a war veteran out, even against formidable odds. Available in eBook or Paperback at Amazon.com Or only in paperback directly from the author on the author's own store. PLUS: There is a 15% discount at VWAM Books for ACE people, good for all Max Cossack novels and all Ammo Grrrll collections as well. Just enter ACEDISCOUNT (one word, all CAPS) at checkout.
<Comment: Thrift store finds can be *amazing.* You just never know what's out there buried deep in the stacks of a used bookstore or a library book sale. I'm not surprised that China has had its eyes on Africa for many decades. It seems like all the "Great Powers" of the world see Africa as an endless source of resources to be exploited. South Africa gold mining was mentioned numerous times in Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, for instance.
This week I read another one of my thrift store finds: The Shepherd File by Conrad Voss Bark. The cover of this paperback, published in 1966, proclaims "This Year's Number One Spy Thriller!!" And I believe it. This was good. A dead man is fished out of the Thames, and it turns out he's MI5. Autopsy points to suicide or accidental drowning while drunk, but Shepherd's friends and colleagues think not. While the police and the foreign service investigate Shepherd's activity prior to his death, they discover a plot by African revolutionaries to use LSD to screw with British troops. What I found really interesting was the revelation of China's push into Africa even then, to foment communist revolution and exploit African resources. I thought that was a more recent thing, but looks like China has had Africa in its sights for decades. You Morons probably all knew this already. Started a bit slow, but it really built into some crazy, heart-pounding action by the end. Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 06, 2025 09:26 AM (h7ZuX)
Comment: Bad storytelling will never make an interesting story worth reading, even if it's based on historical events. As I am a resident in small-town Missouri, I also take issue with someone running down those communities. I love it here and don't want to live anywhere else. MORE MORON RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE: AoSHQ - Book Thread Recommendations
This week, I have a non-recommendation to make. Due to a presentation I've been roped into giving at my college, I've been reading, and just finished, The Flower Sisters, by Michelle Collins Anderson, a novel very loosely based on a real event: the explosion of a dance hall in West Plains, MO, in 1928, an unsolved mystery to this day. The event itself is interesting. The book is....bad. Partly I dislike its politics; there's a lot of hackneyed modern feminism in the story, and it frequently runs down small-town Missouri, which I resent. But then again, a leftist colleague of mine, who's also been reading the book, doesn't like it either. More than anything, it's just badly written--the prose sounds totally out of place in the mouths of the characters, and they themselves are just caricatures. There're a few interesting sections, but on the whole, it's just not good. Posted by: Dr. T at April 06, 2025 09:30 AM (lHPJf)
- The Archimedes Engine: Exodus by Peter F. Hamilton -- This was recommended last week by Sharkman. It's based on a soon-to-be-released action roleplaying game.
- Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton -- I also ordered the first book in this duology, but it won't arrive until next week or the following week.
- Guardians of the Flame Book 3 - The Silver Crown by Joel Rosenberg -- Now I have the first seven books in this series, which I will eventually read...
- Tom O'Bedlam by Robert Silverberg
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
Tolle Lege
Posted by: Skip at April 13, 2025 08:59 AM (ypFCm)
2
"When life gives you lemons, sell some of your grandma's jewelry and go clubbin'." -- Jean-Ralphio Sapperstein
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 09:01 AM (kpS4V)
3
Not first.
Read another spare but droll Anne Tyler novel, "Three Days in June", about a woman dealing with the flurry of activity before her daughter's wedding.
Tyler often plops you "mid-conversation" into family drama but she's so deft at dialog that you get the characters immediately. I like her tart sense of humor.
Read another spare but droll Anne Tyler novel, "Three Days in June", about a woman dealing with the flurry of activity before her daughter's wedding.
Tyler often plops you "mid-conversation" into family drama but she's so deft at dialog that you get the characters immediately. I like her tart sense of humor.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 09:02 AM (kpS4V)
4
Halfway through Russian Nobility in the Age of Alexander I by Patrick O'Mara.
I think this is the book I wanted to read for decades to find out what made Russia in the Napoleonic era.
Mostly thinking why the whole country didn't crumble for almost another 100 years, or how it could have been avoided.
I think this is the book I wanted to read for decades to find out what made Russia in the Napoleonic era.
Mostly thinking why the whole country didn't crumble for almost another 100 years, or how it could have been avoided.
Posted by: Skip at April 13, 2025 09:04 AM (ypFCm)
5
The funny thing about the 1880-1900 Scramble For Africa was how none of the actual colonial powers at the time really wanted it. The British, French, and Portuguese were pretty happy to just control some coastal enclaves, trade with the interior, and let the Africans do unto each other.
___________
I thought the British did want central Africa, or at least railroad concessions. The had plans for a Cape to Cairo RR.
___________
I thought the British did want central Africa, or at least railroad concessions. The had plans for a Cape to Cairo RR.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at April 13, 2025 09:06 AM (Dm8we)
6
I've pretty much stopped going to the library close by.
One great thing the Kindle has done is make classic books and authors and literature in general available at a reasonable price.
Now, if they'd only be sure to respect the texts and not engage in shadow-banning or outright deletion or text modification.
Oh, and no abridged versions for the woke or DEI challenged.
One great thing the Kindle has done is make classic books and authors and literature in general available at a reasonable price.
Now, if they'd only be sure to respect the texts and not engage in shadow-banning or outright deletion or text modification.
Oh, and no abridged versions for the woke or DEI challenged.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025 09:09 AM (iJfKG)
7
"Small-town Missouri," Prof? I've been there. Compared with the small towns in the area where I grew up, your place is metropolitan.
You're not the only one to do this. AP once ran a story on some occurrence in a small town. Fifty thousand people.
You're not the only one to do this. AP once ran a story on some occurrence in a small town. Fifty thousand people.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (p/isN)
8
I thought Hercule Poirot was Belgian .
Posted by: dantesed at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (Oy/m2)
9
One great thing the Kindle has done is make classic books and authors and literature in general available at a reasonable price.
Posted by: naturalfake
Have you tried Project Guttenberg? Pretty much any classic you want, free.
Posted by: naturalfake
Have you tried Project Guttenberg? Pretty much any classic you want, free.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (Dm8we)
10
Hey, I made the front page again!
I flipped through a book yesterday that Tom Cotton recently wrote about China and the threat it poses. His argument about their involvement in Africa is that the Chinese don't really care if their "investments" turn a profit or not; it's all about leveraging the individual governments and putting them in Beijing's debt. Cotton specifically compared it to the system of "favors" used by the Corleone family.
I flipped through a book yesterday that Tom Cotton recently wrote about China and the threat it poses. His argument about their involvement in Africa is that the Chinese don't really care if their "investments" turn a profit or not; it's all about leveraging the individual governments and putting them in Beijing's debt. Cotton specifically compared it to the system of "favors" used by the Corleone family.
Posted by: Dr. T at April 13, 2025 09:13 AM (lHPJf)
11
This week I've been reading _Polostan_ by Neil Stephenson. It's another of his "historical nerd romps" about fictional characters getting in the middle of Real Science and Real History. In this case, the fictional character is a girl named Dawn (she has lots of aliases), whose father is a Communist in the 1930s while her mother is an anarchist in Montana who raises polo ponies. Dawn spends time in Soviet Russia, gets caught up in the Bonus Army protest in DC, and meets various Real People including teenage Richard Feynman, Major George Patton, and Lavrenty Beria.
It's pretty good, though obviously the first of a trilogy so not a lot gets resolved. I was afraid NS might be going squishy on Communism, but I don't think so. We see things through Dawn's naive red-diaper baby perspective but gradually the vileness starts to emerge.
From the subject I deduce that Stephenson has at least one teenage daughter who likes horses.
It's pretty good, though obviously the first of a trilogy so not a lot gets resolved. I was afraid NS might be going squishy on Communism, but I don't think so. We see things through Dawn's naive red-diaper baby perspective but gradually the vileness starts to emerge.
From the subject I deduce that Stephenson has at least one teenage daughter who likes horses.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 13, 2025 09:13 AM (78a2H)
12
Have you tried Project Guttenberg? Pretty much any classic you want, free.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (Dm8we)
I have. They're pretty good.
Depending on what you want to read and the translation available.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (Dm8we)
I have. They're pretty good.
Depending on what you want to read and the translation available.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025 09:14 AM (iJfKG)
13
Morning, Perfessor.
Howdy, Horde.
Not a lot of reading this week, but a little more than the previous. Somebody had recommended Michael Dirda's book on Conan Doyle, which I've dipped into as far as the preface. The preface referred to Conan Doyle's book on the books he loved, called Through the Magic Door (which is well worth a look) -- so I read that one instead of the Dirda, which I'll hit some time this week. Also revisited The Hound of the Baskervilles and a couple of short stories by Robert Bloch. Such systematic reading...
Howdy, Horde.
Not a lot of reading this week, but a little more than the previous. Somebody had recommended Michael Dirda's book on Conan Doyle, which I've dipped into as far as the preface. The preface referred to Conan Doyle's book on the books he loved, called Through the Magic Door (which is well worth a look) -- so I read that one instead of the Dirda, which I'll hit some time this week. Also revisited The Hound of the Baskervilles and a couple of short stories by Robert Bloch. Such systematic reading...
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 09:14 AM (q3u5l)
14
Poirot is indeed Belgian.
I would have loved to have read a story about his rookie days on the police force. Imagine him breaking up a bar fight.
I would have loved to have read a story about his rookie days on the police force. Imagine him breaking up a bar fight.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:14 AM (p/isN)
15
I thought Hercule Poirot was Belgian .
Posted by: dantesed at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (Oy/m2)
---
Poirot is Belgian, yes, but Agatha Christie was British. She uses Poirot's "Belgianness" to pass commentary on British society as she saw it. It helps establish his character as an "outsider" to the other characters he interacts with in the stories.
Posted by: dantesed at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (Oy/m2)
---
Poirot is Belgian, yes, but Agatha Christie was British. She uses Poirot's "Belgianness" to pass commentary on British society as she saw it. It helps establish his character as an "outsider" to the other characters he interacts with in the stories.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 13, 2025 09:15 AM (cweKM)
16
Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025 09:15 AM (yTvNw)
17
I hit the bottom of the TBR stack and extracted "The Last Man on the Moon," the 1999 memoir by the late astronaut Eugene Cernan. We had bought the book as a souvenir from the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson; Cernan was there signing copies.
I've let it sit on the shelf all this time, with a vow to read it someday. "Someday" is now.
As for the account itself, Cernan, a Navy pilot, has just been advised that he is eligible for astronaut training. Ahead of him await flights in both the Gemini and Apollo programs.
Cernan includes memorable details such as how he and his older sister had to share a bedroom (but not a bed) for years. After that experience, he wrote, he had no discomfort inside cramped space capsules.
However, the book could have used a better copy editor -- I've found several misplaced modifiers. I wish I'd had a crack at it.
I've let it sit on the shelf all this time, with a vow to read it someday. "Someday" is now.
As for the account itself, Cernan, a Navy pilot, has just been advised that he is eligible for astronaut training. Ahead of him await flights in both the Gemini and Apollo programs.
Cernan includes memorable details such as how he and his older sister had to share a bedroom (but not a bed) for years. After that experience, he wrote, he had no discomfort inside cramped space capsules.
However, the book could have used a better copy editor -- I've found several misplaced modifiers. I wish I'd had a crack at it.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:15 AM (p/isN)
18
I thought it was too short for a stephenson book lol after crypronomicon and seven eves
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 13, 2025 09:16 AM (bXbFr)
19
Depending on what you want to read and the translation available.
Posted by: naturalfake
__________
Yes, any translations still under copyright aren't going to be available.
Posted by: naturalfake
__________
Yes, any translations still under copyright aren't going to be available.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at April 13, 2025 09:16 AM (Dm8we)
20
Have you tried Project Guttenberg? Pretty much any classic you want, free.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (Dm8we)
I have. They're pretty good.
Depending on what you want to read and the translation available.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025 09:14 AM (iJfKG)
---
Project Gutenberg also provides numerous versions of media, depending on how you want to read it (e.g., Kindle v. website).
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (Dm8we)
I have. They're pretty good.
Depending on what you want to read and the translation available.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025 09:14 AM (iJfKG)
---
Project Gutenberg also provides numerous versions of media, depending on how you want to read it (e.g., Kindle v. website).
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 13, 2025 09:16 AM (cweKM)
21
Last week, a request was made for books covering the French Revolution, specifically the period known as the Terror. Stanley Loomis wrote Paris in the Terror, which is a great introduction to the personalities involved in this bloody period in history. The Terror was a time when the leaders of the revolution used barely legitimized murder to control the population. Leftist revolutions always turn to mass murder.
Loomis begins his book with the death of Jean-Paul Marat. Charlotte Corday decided to kill him because the revolution executed the king. This is often noted as the beginning of the Terror.
The second event covered is the trial of Georges Danton. This trial indicated that the revolution was eating its own. The trial became a farce when Danton began revealing how the CPS chose victims and twisted the legal process to gain convictions.
The third section in the book is the end of Robespierre, when the Terror burned itself out. This story is how the leader was quickly turned into the enemy, how he failed his own suicide, and then was guillotined just like his many victims.
This book illuminates how the revolution became terrorist, and how it destroyed itself.
Loomis begins his book with the death of Jean-Paul Marat. Charlotte Corday decided to kill him because the revolution executed the king. This is often noted as the beginning of the Terror.
The second event covered is the trial of Georges Danton. This trial indicated that the revolution was eating its own. The trial became a farce when Danton began revealing how the CPS chose victims and twisted the legal process to gain convictions.
The third section in the book is the end of Robespierre, when the Terror burned itself out. This story is how the leader was quickly turned into the enemy, how he failed his own suicide, and then was guillotined just like his many victims.
This book illuminates how the revolution became terrorist, and how it destroyed itself.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 09:17 AM (LuvNb)
22
I hit the bottom of the TBR stack and extracted "The Last Man on the Moon," the 1999 memoir by the late astronaut Eugene Cernan. We had bought the book as a souvenir from the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson; Cernan was there signing copies.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:15 AM (p/isN)
----
Since when do TBR stacks have a "bottom?"
This is the first I've heard of such a thing...
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:15 AM (p/isN)
----
Since when do TBR stacks have a "bottom?"
This is the first I've heard of such a thing...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 13, 2025 09:17 AM (cweKM)
23
"Small-town Missouri," Prof? I've been there. Compared with the small towns in the area where I grew up, your place is metropolitan.
You're not the only one to do this. AP once ran a story on some occurrence in a small town. Fifty thousand people.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (p/isN)
*arches eyebrow*
Don't try to play the small-town game with me. I'll win that one every time.
Yes, West Plains is larger than some, but my remark had more to do with communities with a largely rural culture and how they're regarded as dead ends by the media and "intellectuals" in general.
You're not the only one to do this. AP once ran a story on some occurrence in a small town. Fifty thousand people.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:11 AM (p/isN)
*arches eyebrow*
Don't try to play the small-town game with me. I'll win that one every time.
Yes, West Plains is larger than some, but my remark had more to do with communities with a largely rural culture and how they're regarded as dead ends by the media and "intellectuals" in general.
Posted by: Dr. T at April 13, 2025 09:18 AM (lHPJf)
24
Project Gutenberg also provides numerous versions of media, depending on how you want to read it (e.g., Kindle v. website).
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
_______
And Librivox covers the public domain for audio books.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
_______
And Librivox covers the public domain for audio books.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at April 13, 2025 09:18 AM (Dm8we)
25
Bad books seem to be more common than in the past, or maybe my tolerance for them is less than it used to be. Last week, I returned two books that I had read forty or so pages of because I hated all the characters or they were so boring that I could not force myself to continue. I'm old and life is too short to read bad books.
Posted by: huerfano at April 13, 2025 09:18 AM (n2swS)
26
I continue with "Word in the Wilderness" by Malcolm Guite. Used as a devotional, it has added a lot to my understanding of Lent and appreciation of Easter. The insights and depths added to the seasons are wonderful.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025 09:19 AM (yTvNw)
27
Good Sunday morning, horde!
"Look, I can sympathize with MP4. I don't have to acquire books. I can quit any time I want!"
That's what I've told Mr. Dmlw! a hundred times. And then, Wednesday, I went to the thrift store again on the way to Mom's house. I found "AIRSCREAM" which promises to be "Compelling, shocking, explosive--a story that begins with a terrifying midair collision and races toward a shattering climax in a courtroom trial." Copyright 1977.
Next on the nightstand TBR pile.
"Look, I can sympathize with MP4. I don't have to acquire books. I can quit any time I want!"
That's what I've told Mr. Dmlw! a hundred times. And then, Wednesday, I went to the thrift store again on the way to Mom's house. I found "AIRSCREAM" which promises to be "Compelling, shocking, explosive--a story that begins with a terrifying midair collision and races toward a shattering climax in a courtroom trial." Copyright 1977.
Next on the nightstand TBR pile.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025 09:19 AM (h7ZuX)
28
Read a few books free from Gutenberg
Posted by: Skip at April 13, 2025 09:19 AM (ypFCm)
29
Thx "Perfesser".
Thomas Pakenham wrote a good review about the grab for colonies in Africa called The Scramble for Africa. It covers the period 1880 - 1910. A worth it read
Thomas Pakenham wrote a good review about the grab for colonies in Africa called The Scramble for Africa. It covers the period 1880 - 1910. A worth it read
Posted by: Smell the Glove at April 13, 2025 09:23 AM (6TePA)
30
The Chosen.
Posted by: Come and see at April 13, 2025 09:23 AM (dg+HA)
31
In Japanese, "tsundoku" means collecting books and letting them pile up, not for neglect, but for the joy of knowing they're there, full of untold stories.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 09:25 AM (/RHNq)
32
For anyone who might be interested in Doyle's Through the Magic Door, it's available at Project Gutenberg.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 09:26 AM (q3u5l)
33
If I didn't get most of my books from the library and interlibrary loan system, I'd be living in a cardboard box under an overpass.
Mostly.
Oh look, there's a library book sale in May!
Mostly.
Oh look, there's a library book sale in May!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 09:26 AM (kpS4V)
34
Guardians of the Flame is outstanding
Posted by: Fen at April 13, 2025 09:26 AM (jY3Ey)
35
@23 --
Former farm boy here. I didn't have a home town. The nearest population center was five miles away, and it was unincorporated. Maybe 50 people.
I saw a map of how it was in the late 1800s. Three churches. Now only one church, and it has to share a pastor with a church in the county seat.
Former farm boy here. I didn't have a home town. The nearest population center was five miles away, and it was unincorporated. Maybe 50 people.
I saw a map of how it was in the late 1800s. Three churches. Now only one church, and it has to share a pastor with a church in the county seat.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:27 AM (p/isN)
36
I'm in the middle of "Beautiful Ugly" by Alice Feeney. Author Grady Green is in the phone with his wife Abby to share great news about his new book hitting the bestseller list, when he hears her slam on the breaks to investigate a body lying in the road. He hears her get out of the car...and then she's never seen again, her car abandoned with her phone still inside.
A year later and there's still no news on Abby. Distraught, unable to function, and running out of money, he reluctantly takes his agent's offer to stay at the cabin of a former client. It's on an island off the coast of Scotland, remote, and with only a ferry to the mainland for contact to the outside world.
He hopes the beautiful solitude will help him get back to writing. But the island inhabitants are cagey and eccentric, and vaguely threatening, and he swears he catches glimpses of Abby.
A year later and there's still no news on Abby. Distraught, unable to function, and running out of money, he reluctantly takes his agent's offer to stay at the cabin of a former client. It's on an island off the coast of Scotland, remote, and with only a ferry to the mainland for contact to the outside world.
He hopes the beautiful solitude will help him get back to writing. But the island inhabitants are cagey and eccentric, and vaguely threatening, and he swears he catches glimpses of Abby.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 09:28 AM (kpS4V)
37
Finished reading "Exodus: The Archimedes Engine" by Peter F. Hamilton, and loved all 903 pages. Followup later this year will close out the story.
Just starting a short novel called "Rose/House" by Arkady Martine, she who wrote the absolutely excellent "A Memory Called Empire" and "A Desolation Called Peace," both of which I cannot recommend more highly. Wonderful science fiction. Rose/House will probably also be great. Let's hope.
Just starting a short novel called "Rose/House" by Arkady Martine, she who wrote the absolutely excellent "A Memory Called Empire" and "A Desolation Called Peace," both of which I cannot recommend more highly. Wonderful science fiction. Rose/House will probably also be great. Let's hope.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 09:29 AM (/RHNq)
38
In Harlan Ellison's "Paladin of the Lost Hour" the main character gives his answer to the question "Have you read all those books?" The answer: "Hell, no. Who wants a library full of books you've already read?"
That leaves out the fun of revisiting, though.
That leaves out the fun of revisiting, though.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 09:30 AM (q3u5l)
39
My next read will be the first in the Murderbot diaries, "All Systems Red". I see they've made a movie.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 09:32 AM (kpS4V)
40
I read Edward Ashton's new book, "The Fourth Consort" this week.
There are two groups in the universe that try to find and make contact with any sentient species they find on habitable worlds. The search in itself is a massive undertaking, there aren't that many worlds out there that have the right conditions, ended up spawning life, and further ended up with a species that is sentient, intelligent, and interesting enough to contact.
The first group is called "Unity", and the second group is "The Assembly". Both groups have a goal of intervening and shepherding a sentient species before they succumb to the negative outcome of the Fermi paradox (ie, they get just smart enough to wipe themselves out, and many do.) Apparently the window between "develops language" and "destroys themselves" is frighteningly short when compared to the time required to locate these worlds.
Unity and The Assembly are, of course, in conflict. Unity, which is shepherding earth, uses Humans in their conflict with The Assembly. Apparently we have a real talent for deception, guile, and a particular capability for being amazingly destructive when we have the right tools.
(continues in part 2)
There are two groups in the universe that try to find and make contact with any sentient species they find on habitable worlds. The search in itself is a massive undertaking, there aren't that many worlds out there that have the right conditions, ended up spawning life, and further ended up with a species that is sentient, intelligent, and interesting enough to contact.
The first group is called "Unity", and the second group is "The Assembly". Both groups have a goal of intervening and shepherding a sentient species before they succumb to the negative outcome of the Fermi paradox (ie, they get just smart enough to wipe themselves out, and many do.) Apparently the window between "develops language" and "destroys themselves" is frighteningly short when compared to the time required to locate these worlds.
Unity and The Assembly are, of course, in conflict. Unity, which is shepherding earth, uses Humans in their conflict with The Assembly. Apparently we have a real talent for deception, guile, and a particular capability for being amazingly destructive when we have the right tools.
(continues in part 2)
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at April 13, 2025 09:32 AM (O7YUW)
41
(continued from part 1)
Our story begins with two Earthlings being dropped onto a world of intelligent largish insectoid creatures by a Unity ship. They're told to do whatever is necessary to secure an agreement so that they can be brought into Unity and shepherded.
An Assembly ship is already present in orbit, and there's a member of the Assembly on the planet as well, tasked with the same sort of diplomatic mission.
Something goes pear-shaped up in orbit, and the Unity ship ends up using its drive as a weapon against the Assembly ship, and both ships end up going up like a roman candle, stranding the two earthlings and the representative of the Assembly. The last message our two earthlings get is that the Captain of their ship sent a message to Unity about what was happening, and reinforcements would eventually arrive, so get to work and secure that alliance.
And thus begins a very weird, but enjoyable tale where humans are outclassed physically, are seen by the locals as "prey animals", and we're supposed to be outclassed at every turn, but we've still got some surprises up our sleeve.
Oh, and there's a bunch of "lost in translation" going on just to add to the problems.
Our story begins with two Earthlings being dropped onto a world of intelligent largish insectoid creatures by a Unity ship. They're told to do whatever is necessary to secure an agreement so that they can be brought into Unity and shepherded.
An Assembly ship is already present in orbit, and there's a member of the Assembly on the planet as well, tasked with the same sort of diplomatic mission.
Something goes pear-shaped up in orbit, and the Unity ship ends up using its drive as a weapon against the Assembly ship, and both ships end up going up like a roman candle, stranding the two earthlings and the representative of the Assembly. The last message our two earthlings get is that the Captain of their ship sent a message to Unity about what was happening, and reinforcements would eventually arrive, so get to work and secure that alliance.
And thus begins a very weird, but enjoyable tale where humans are outclassed physically, are seen by the locals as "prey animals", and we're supposed to be outclassed at every turn, but we've still got some surprises up our sleeve.
Oh, and there's a bunch of "lost in translation" going on just to add to the problems.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at April 13, 2025 09:32 AM (O7YUW)
42
Or rather, t.v. series.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 09:33 AM (kpS4V)
43
Thanks for the Sunday Morning Book Thread, Perfessor!
Windy and cool outside, so it's a good day to stay inside and read!
Windy and cool outside, so it's a good day to stay inside and read!
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 13, 2025 09:35 AM (rxCpr)
44
Thomas Pakenham wrote a good review about the grab for colonies in Africa called The Scramble for Africa. It covers the period 1880 - 1910. A worth it read
Posted by: Smell the Glove
I highly recommend this book. It is a comprehensive overview of all of the imperial powers jockeying for control of the continent. It covers a lot of history that is often overlooked.
Posted by: Smell the Glove
I highly recommend this book. It is a comprehensive overview of all of the imperial powers jockeying for control of the continent. It covers a lot of history that is often overlooked.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 09:37 AM (LuvNb)
45
I may have snapped my tether...
A week or so back I was wandering through ebay and came across a custom-bound comic. Basically, someone took old comic books and bound them together into a single hardcover book. Because the book was of a series I liked, and a series that probably won't be officially reprinted anytime soon, I bought it. Then I looked deeper into ebay, to see if there were custom-bindings available of my other favorite series. There weren't. But I did find full runs of the comics themselves, at a reasonable price. So, I bought those, and am now preparing to put those comics into my own personally-commissioned custom-bound volumes! I've found a bindery company, have read their literature, have watched some youtube vids of others that have used them, and am about to scan the covers so I can put together my own custom cover... This is a very odd and expensive rabbit hole I'm about to fall into.
A week or so back I was wandering through ebay and came across a custom-bound comic. Basically, someone took old comic books and bound them together into a single hardcover book. Because the book was of a series I liked, and a series that probably won't be officially reprinted anytime soon, I bought it. Then I looked deeper into ebay, to see if there were custom-bindings available of my other favorite series. There weren't. But I did find full runs of the comics themselves, at a reasonable price. So, I bought those, and am now preparing to put those comics into my own personally-commissioned custom-bound volumes! I've found a bindery company, have read their literature, have watched some youtube vids of others that have used them, and am about to scan the covers so I can put together my own custom cover... This is a very odd and expensive rabbit hole I'm about to fall into.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 13, 2025 09:37 AM (Lhaco)
46
I had resolved for this year not to buy any books, after my rampage last year in which I nearly filled out several classic series. I've targeted particular cover designs.
But I cast my eye on eBay last month, said to hell with it, and bought the rest of the Parker series. Most of which I have yet to crack.
But that's it! No more purchases this year!
*small print*
This pledge is void if Marvel puts the rest of Master of Kung Fu into Epic collections.
But I cast my eye on eBay last month, said to hell with it, and bought the rest of the Parker series. Most of which I have yet to crack.
But that's it! No more purchases this year!
*small print*
This pledge is void if Marvel puts the rest of Master of Kung Fu into Epic collections.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:37 AM (p/isN)
47
Finished a new bio of Physicist Roger Penrose, 'The Impossible Man'. Also found out a new Boogeyman I can expect to see referenced in non-fiction books for next few years.
Thankfully it was close to the end, where an out of the blue attack on Joe Rogan was made. Joe is every bad kind of "ist" (I believe at least 4 mentioned) among worst kind of person in the world. Book was published in November, if a few months later I'm sure Joe would be called a nazi too. Not being a big Rogan viewer it of course made me watch the 6yr old podcast. It's a good interview about consciousness.
Book was mostly about Penrose's personal life and author really seemed to take advantage of 93yr old Penrose. This was a case where parallel wiki & internet research was much more rewarding than the primary book.
Thankfully it was close to the end, where an out of the blue attack on Joe Rogan was made. Joe is every bad kind of "ist" (I believe at least 4 mentioned) among worst kind of person in the world. Book was published in November, if a few months later I'm sure Joe would be called a nazi too. Not being a big Rogan viewer it of course made me watch the 6yr old podcast. It's a good interview about consciousness.
Book was mostly about Penrose's personal life and author really seemed to take advantage of 93yr old Penrose. This was a case where parallel wiki & internet research was much more rewarding than the primary book.
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at April 13, 2025 09:38 AM (L1omb)
48
I'm old and life is too short to read bad books.
Posted by: huerfano at April 13, 2025 09:18 AM (n2swS)
Same. I will abandon a book without compunction if I find it the least bit disinteresting. The mere fact of publication doesn't make a book a sacred object.
Posted by: huerfano at April 13, 2025 09:18 AM (n2swS)
Same. I will abandon a book without compunction if I find it the least bit disinteresting. The mere fact of publication doesn't make a book a sacred object.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025 09:38 AM (h7ZuX)
49
13 ... "Somebody had recommended Michael Dirda's book on Conan Doyle, which I've dipped into as far as the preface. The preface referred to Conan Doyle's book on the books he loved, called Through the Magic Door (which is well worth a look) -- so I read that one instead of the Dirda, which I'll hit some time this week."
Glad you are enjoying it and how it led to Doyle's Through the Magic Door. Besides Dirda's own accounts, other rabbit holes that will appear are some of the writings from the Baker Street Irregulars: Christopher Morley, Stout, and others. Rex Stout delivered a lecture to the BSI and it was later published in the Saturday Review of Literature as "Watson Was a Woman". It is hilarious and delivered with a straight face like some of Jonathan Swift's satires.
Glad you are enjoying it and how it led to Doyle's Through the Magic Door. Besides Dirda's own accounts, other rabbit holes that will appear are some of the writings from the Baker Street Irregulars: Christopher Morley, Stout, and others. Rex Stout delivered a lecture to the BSI and it was later published in the Saturday Review of Literature as "Watson Was a Woman". It is hilarious and delivered with a straight face like some of Jonathan Swift's satires.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025 09:38 AM (yTvNw)
50
I might make it into a movie, but only if I can get Larry to play Karl. He would be perfect
Posted by: Fen at April 13, 2025 09:40 AM (jY3Ey)
51
After that experience, he wrote, he had no discomfort inside cramped space capsules.
. . .
Posted by: Weak Geek
Pondering the Apollo moon missions, it is amazing to consider that the astronauts somehow didn't lose their minds, three guys basically jammed into the front seat of a 1969 Chevy Nova for 10 straight days, with a short break for two of them to stretch their legs by daring the fates and landing on the moon.
How a person could sit in one place that long without going berserk is mind-blowing to me.
. . .
Posted by: Weak Geek
Pondering the Apollo moon missions, it is amazing to consider that the astronauts somehow didn't lose their minds, three guys basically jammed into the front seat of a 1969 Chevy Nova for 10 straight days, with a short break for two of them to stretch their legs by daring the fates and landing on the moon.
How a person could sit in one place that long without going berserk is mind-blowing to me.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 09:40 AM (/RHNq)
52
Weak Geek --
No more book purchases this year? You're made of sterner stuff than I am. Let us know how that goes.
As for me, I remain a happy slave to my addiction. If there were weekly meetings of Bookaholics Anonymous, you wouldn't find me within a mile of the meeting room.
No more book purchases this year? You're made of sterner stuff than I am. Let us know how that goes.
As for me, I remain a happy slave to my addiction. If there were weekly meetings of Bookaholics Anonymous, you wouldn't find me within a mile of the meeting room.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 09:43 AM (q3u5l)
53
I do have a solid recommendation, it may not be for everyone, but David Palmers 'emergence' (available on kindle and probably best way to get it) is very good
He also does a writing 'experiment' dropping unnecessary 'words' from huge sections of it. It winds up compacting the plot where 200 pages is more like reading 400+
There are a couple sequels as well, but try emergence first.
He also does a writing 'experiment' dropping unnecessary 'words' from huge sections of it. It winds up compacting the plot where 200 pages is more like reading 400+
There are a couple sequels as well, but try emergence first.
Posted by: Evil Bunny at April 13, 2025 09:44 AM (db2M0)
54
@45 --
Castle Guy --
Many moons ago I was prowling on eBay and came across a listing for a homemade bound volume of the complete run of Tomb of Dracula.
No, I didn't buy it.
Good luck on your project. May the comics fit squarely.
Castle Guy --
Many moons ago I was prowling on eBay and came across a listing for a homemade bound volume of the complete run of Tomb of Dracula.
No, I didn't buy it.
Good luck on your project. May the comics fit squarely.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:45 AM (p/isN)
55
I wish Herbert's son was worthy to continue the world of Dune. It's not fair, he makes a gallant effort, but he's not his father. Has that ever worked?
Posted by: Fen at April 13, 2025 09:45 AM (jY3Ey)
56
I have finally finished reading "Sword Woman and other Historical Adventures" by Robert E Howard. It's a collection of his 'miscellaneous' short stories, one-off stories that each feature a new main character, rather than established characters like Conan the Barbarian or Solomon Kane. Per the title, it's all about historical adventures, with no magic that I can remember, mostly taking place in the Crusader States or in other borders between Europe and Islam.
The last story, "The Road of Eagles" felt oddly familiar to me. It featured some Cossacks chasing a Corsair, in retaliation for a raid the Corsair led. The Corsair also fell in league with a dancing girl, along the way. It took me a chapter or two to realize why it was familiar. First, because the story had been adapted into a Conan comic book which I had read. Second, because the backdrop of the story (and the name of the Corsair) was also used in one of Harold Lamb's Cossack stories! Probably one collected in "Swords of the Steppes." Two pulp authors, riffing on the same topic...it's possible they are copying each other, but I'm guessing they are both basing their stories on an actual historical event...
The last story, "The Road of Eagles" felt oddly familiar to me. It featured some Cossacks chasing a Corsair, in retaliation for a raid the Corsair led. The Corsair also fell in league with a dancing girl, along the way. It took me a chapter or two to realize why it was familiar. First, because the story had been adapted into a Conan comic book which I had read. Second, because the backdrop of the story (and the name of the Corsair) was also used in one of Harold Lamb's Cossack stories! Probably one collected in "Swords of the Steppes." Two pulp authors, riffing on the same topic...it's possible they are copying each other, but I'm guessing they are both basing their stories on an actual historical event...
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 13, 2025 09:46 AM (Lhaco)
57
The table of contents of Elie Mystal's new book poses the query is there such a thing as a stupid question?
https://shorturl.at/35jhO
https://shorturl.at/35jhO
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 13, 2025 09:46 AM (L/fGl)
58
Wasn't Roger Penrose one of the major names re: theories of gravitational collapse and black holes? Or am I remembering wrong?
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 09:46 AM (q3u5l)
59
Yes
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 13, 2025 09:48 AM (bXbFr)
60
@44 Thomas, after I posted I went back to last week's thread and saw your post. You are correct both times . A good read
Posted by: Smell the Glove at April 13, 2025 09:48 AM (6TePA)
61
But the island inhabitants are cagey and eccentric, and vaguely threatening, and he swears he catches glimpses of Abby.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 09:28 AM (kpS4V)
Sounds right up my alley, despite the main character being a writer. That's one of my least favorite themes. But the rest of it sounds great.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 09:28 AM (kpS4V)
Sounds right up my alley, despite the main character being a writer. That's one of my least favorite themes. But the rest of it sounds great.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025 09:49 AM (h7ZuX)
62
Lot's of reading this week (for a change). I finished Paul Johnson's The Birth of the Modern and couldn't recommend it more highly for anyone interested in how we got wherever it is we've gotten. If you have any interest in what the world was like 200 years ago, this is a must read.
Based on numerous moron recommendations, I started Red Sky at Morning, and I'll just say you guys were right. I also started Francis Parkman's The Pioneers of France in the New World. Who knew their first efforts were led by Hugenots in Florida.
Based on numerous moron recommendations, I started Red Sky at Morning, and I'll just say you guys were right. I also started Francis Parkman's The Pioneers of France in the New World. Who knew their first efforts were led by Hugenots in Florida.
Posted by: who knew at April 13, 2025 09:50 AM (+ViXu)
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 13, 2025 09:50 AM (bXbFr)
64
Sharkman: Two things made the Apollo missions bearable for the astronauts. First, they were all pilots -- used to spending hours and hours in tiny cockpits. Compared to 1950s and 1960s jets, the Command Module was pretty roomy.
Second, zero gravity. Imagine sitting but your weight isn't pressing down on your butt and thighs. I could go for that on any airliner trip!
Second, zero gravity. Imagine sitting but your weight isn't pressing down on your butt and thighs. I could go for that on any airliner trip!
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 13, 2025 09:50 AM (78a2H)
65
@51 --
In his autobiography "Baa Baa Black Sheep," the former WWII fighter pilot Greg Boyington told of friends asking him after the war what it was like to fly a fighter.
His reply: Sit in a desk chair for six hours.
In his autobiography "Baa Baa Black Sheep," the former WWII fighter pilot Greg Boyington told of friends asking him after the war what it was like to fly a fighter.
His reply: Sit in a desk chair for six hours.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:51 AM (p/isN)
66
Rainwater by Sandra Brown is one of those stories that haunts you long after you have finished the book. The story takes place during a few weeks in August 1934 in Gilead, Texas, a small town near Waco. Brown said she wrote the book as a labor of love in between her contractual obligations, and she attributes the story to one told by her father. Says she "needed" to write it.
The story is a slice of depression-era, small town America, with its display of small-minded prejudices thrown together with ordinary and extraordinary actions by good-hearted people. Times were simple then, but good and evil existed as they always have and, in this story at least, thankfully the goodness in men's hearts outweighs the bad.
The story is a slice of depression-era, small town America, with its display of small-minded prejudices thrown together with ordinary and extraordinary actions by good-hearted people. Times were simple then, but good and evil existed as they always have and, in this story at least, thankfully the goodness in men's hearts outweighs the bad.
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 13, 2025 09:52 AM (rxCpr)
67
So I looked at the contents of the Mystal book.
Eons ago when I taught a few sessions of intro to computers, I told the students that the only stupid question was the one you didn't ask when you needed to ask it.
Mystal's contents page proves I was wrong.
Eons ago when I taught a few sessions of intro to computers, I told the students that the only stupid question was the one you didn't ask when you needed to ask it.
Mystal's contents page proves I was wrong.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 09:52 AM (q3u5l)
68
Speaking of wearing pants, I came across this book, Nude Weddings: The Ultimate Guide On How To Set Up a Super Fun- Nudist Wedding By: Kristin Williams. So go for it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 13, 2025 09:54 AM (L/fGl)
69
I flipped through a book yesterday that Tom Cotton recently wrote about China and the threat it poses. His argument about their involvement in Africa is that the Chinese don't really care if their "investments" turn a profit or not; it's all about leveraging the individual governments and putting them in Beijing's debt. Cotton specifically compared it to the system of "favors" used by the Corleone family.
Posted by: Dr. T at April 13, 2025 09:13 AM (lHPJf)
---
A preeminent feature of Chinese history is the belief that no agreement is ever binding between the Empire and foreigners. This continues to the present day. China will talk of international law, and then trash it. It is brought up only when useful to score political points.
The reason the Empire did this was that the Emperor was the Son of Heaven and thus superior to all mortals. The reason Communists do it is that they have no souls or morality. They do whatever is in their interest.
This tendency is why China got treated so harshly. The ink on some treaties didn't even have a chance to dry before new violations were made. This tendency is why China will only ever have dependencies, but never allies.
Posted by: Dr. T at April 13, 2025 09:13 AM (lHPJf)
---
A preeminent feature of Chinese history is the belief that no agreement is ever binding between the Empire and foreigners. This continues to the present day. China will talk of international law, and then trash it. It is brought up only when useful to score political points.
The reason the Empire did this was that the Emperor was the Son of Heaven and thus superior to all mortals. The reason Communists do it is that they have no souls or morality. They do whatever is in their interest.
This tendency is why China got treated so harshly. The ink on some treaties didn't even have a chance to dry before new violations were made. This tendency is why China will only ever have dependencies, but never allies.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 13, 2025 09:55 AM (ZOv7s)
70
Hes a harvard law grad justice department intern
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 13, 2025 09:55 AM (bXbFr)
71
Great writer and offspring who was as well.
Good question
Good question
Posted by: Skip at April 13, 2025 09:55 AM (ypFCm)
72
The cat has informed me that the time for reading is over and the time for petting and scritches has begun.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 09:55 AM (kpS4V)
73
I came across this book, Nude Weddings: The Ultimate Guide On How To Set Up a Super Fun- Nudist Wedding By: Kristin Williams. So go for it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
One of the top rules has to be that grandparents do not sit in the front row.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
One of the top rules has to be that grandparents do not sit in the front row.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 09:57 AM (LuvNb)
74
I wish Herbert's son was worthy to continue the world of Dune. It's not fair, he makes a gallant effort, but he's not his father. Has that ever worked?
Posted by: Fen at April 13, 2025 09:45 AM (jY3Ey)
---
Christopher Tolkien did a very good job of editing his father's work, and just how much of that involved filling gaps is not known.
But he was also heavily involved with his father's works going back to his younger days. In addition to being the test audience for The Hobbit, he was the test reader for LotR as well.
Posted by: Fen at April 13, 2025 09:45 AM (jY3Ey)
---
Christopher Tolkien did a very good job of editing his father's work, and just how much of that involved filling gaps is not known.
But he was also heavily involved with his father's works going back to his younger days. In addition to being the test audience for The Hobbit, he was the test reader for LotR as well.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 13, 2025 09:58 AM (ZOv7s)
75
No grandparents in the front row? In my case, I doubt I'd be invited at all.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 10:00 AM (q3u5l)
76
Reading this week has centered on A Burnt-Out Case, which I picked up idly, put down, and then dove back into it. It's turning into quite the page-turner.
A full report will follow upon completion. I'm almost done with Bulfinch's take on the Greeks and the other pantheons are next.
A full report will follow upon completion. I'm almost done with Bulfinch's take on the Greeks and the other pantheons are next.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 13, 2025 10:01 AM (ZOv7s)
77
I do read all the comments, however, and keep track of those that I find particularly interesting.
Aw, crap.
(looks at own comments)
Aw, crap.
(looks at own comments)
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 13, 2025 10:01 AM (0eaVi)
78
Working through the towering to-be-read pile on my nightstand - this week, finished a book that was recommended on the AoS book thread - When the Mississippi Ran Backwards by Jay Feldman ... interesting in spots, especially about the couple who had developed and built the first substantial steam-powered paddle-wheel boat to travel on the river. And started on Samuel Chamberlain's Clementine in the Kitchen, which is quite charming, so far - about an American family who returned to the US on the outbreak of WWII, and brought their French cook with them, as a legal and sponsored immigrant.
I had an OK day at the New Braunfels Folkfest yesterday - there were several competing events across town, so it seems that organizations and people have gotten back into the swing of setting up and attending fun public events again.
I had an OK day at the New Braunfels Folkfest yesterday - there were several competing events across town, so it seems that organizations and people have gotten back into the swing of setting up and attending fun public events again.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 13, 2025 10:01 AM (Ew3fm)
79
I came across this book, Nude Weddings: The Ultimate Guide On How To Set Up a Super Fun- Nudist Wedding By: Kristin Williams. So go for it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
----
I do NOT want to see the Chicken Fance at a nude wedding.
Also, this couldn't be a church wedding, could it?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
----
I do NOT want to see the Chicken Fance at a nude wedding.
Also, this couldn't be a church wedding, could it?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 10:02 AM (kpS4V)
80
*small print*
This pledge is void if Marvel puts the rest of Master of Kung Fu into Epic collections.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:37 AM (p/isN)
Yeah, most of my pledges come with a similar caveat. And I'd love to see Master of Kung Fu omnibus 4 get reprinted! It's the only one I don't have, and the last time I saw one 'for sale' the price was 4 digits...
This pledge is void if Marvel puts the rest of Master of Kung Fu into Epic collections.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:37 AM (p/isN)
Yeah, most of my pledges come with a similar caveat. And I'd love to see Master of Kung Fu omnibus 4 get reprinted! It's the only one I don't have, and the last time I saw one 'for sale' the price was 4 digits...
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 13, 2025 10:02 AM (Lhaco)
81
Former farm boy here. I didn't have a home town. The nearest population center was five miles away, and it was unincorporated. Maybe 50 people.
I saw a map of how it was in the late 1800s. Three churches. Now only one church, and it has to share a pastor with a church in the county seat.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:27 AM (p/isN)
I am reading Willamette Landings by Howard McKinley Corning, which is a reprint of a WPA project on the pioneer communities on the Willamette river, from Portland to the various "heads of navigation"
The Willamette probably gets its name form the native name for the pool below the Willamette falls now at Oregon City, which was the highest ocean ships could go. From Canemah, the town and portage, the upper river was opened to transport, and the book talks about the "grain ports of the middle river" Buttesville, champoeg to Lincoln - all just names now, the upper river from Salem to Eugene, with a discussion of each - Peoria with its wharf and warehouses, Buena Vista with the largest pottery works in the state supplying crockery and sewer lines, Marysville, now Corvallis, and the paddlewheels that ran the river.
I saw a map of how it was in the late 1800s. Three churches. Now only one church, and it has to share a pastor with a church in the county seat.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:27 AM (p/isN)
I am reading Willamette Landings by Howard McKinley Corning, which is a reprint of a WPA project on the pioneer communities on the Willamette river, from Portland to the various "heads of navigation"
The Willamette probably gets its name form the native name for the pool below the Willamette falls now at Oregon City, which was the highest ocean ships could go. From Canemah, the town and portage, the upper river was opened to transport, and the book talks about the "grain ports of the middle river" Buttesville, champoeg to Lincoln - all just names now, the upper river from Salem to Eugene, with a discussion of each - Peoria with its wharf and warehouses, Buena Vista with the largest pottery works in the state supplying crockery and sewer lines, Marysville, now Corvallis, and the paddlewheels that ran the river.
Posted by: Kindltot at April 13, 2025 10:04 AM (D7oie)
82
"Great" writers I cannot say, but several comic strip writer/artists had sons who took over the family business.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 10:05 AM (p/isN)
83
I read The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, which is one of those broken family stories in which the mother abandons her husband and their children, the stepmother throws the children out of their home as soon as their father dies, and the older of the children spends her whole life reacting to the loss.
The narrator, Danny, is the younger of the children. Frankly, he's a bit too bland for my taste. There's a mutual hate between his wife and his sister which isn't explained very well.
It's one of those well-written popular books by a best-selling writer on the top of her game - which I kept skimming towards the end. Would not reread.
The narrator, Danny, is the younger of the children. Frankly, he's a bit too bland for my taste. There's a mutual hate between his wife and his sister which isn't explained very well.
It's one of those well-written popular books by a best-selling writer on the top of her game - which I kept skimming towards the end. Would not reread.
Posted by: NaughtyPine at April 13, 2025 10:05 AM (N6I6O)
84
I do NOT want to see the Chicken Fance at a nude wedding.
Also, this couldn't be a church wedding, could it?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 10:02 AM (kpS4V)
Probably a bit advanced, even for the Methodists. Might work for the Unitarians.
Also, this couldn't be a church wedding, could it?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 10:02 AM (kpS4V)
Probably a bit advanced, even for the Methodists. Might work for the Unitarians.
Posted by: Kindltot at April 13, 2025 10:06 AM (D7oie)
85
This book illuminates how the revolution became terrorist, and how it destroyed itself.
Posted by: Thomas Paine
And isn't this, too, the Story of Barack Obama?
Posted by: Thomas Paine
And isn't this, too, the Story of Barack Obama?
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 10:06 AM (/RHNq)
86
A great thread about an historian's various books...
Capel Lofft @CapelLofft Apr 11
Just started this, and with [Christopher] Clark you always know that you are in such good hands: accessible and readable while also remaining rigorous and giving highly original insights. Surely the gold standard of both popular and academic history:
Iron Kingdom: The Rise & Downfall of Prussia 1600-1917
http://tiny.cc/aneg001
No X account required to read.
romannovella @ClassicalThread Apr 11 Replying to @CapelLofft
1848 is equally brilliant
David Gleeson @dgleesonhistory Apr 11 Replying to @CapelLofft
Revolutionary Spring is brilliant.
Capel Lofft @CapelLofft Apr 11
Just started this, and with [Christopher] Clark you always know that you are in such good hands: accessible and readable while also remaining rigorous and giving highly original insights. Surely the gold standard of both popular and academic history:
Iron Kingdom: The Rise & Downfall of Prussia 1600-1917
http://tiny.cc/aneg001
No X account required to read.
romannovella @ClassicalThread Apr 11 Replying to @CapelLofft
1848 is equally brilliant
David Gleeson @dgleesonhistory Apr 11 Replying to @CapelLofft
Revolutionary Spring is brilliant.
Posted by: andycanuck (mZtdJ) at April 13, 2025 10:06 AM (mZtdJ)
87
Re the top pic & libraries- public libraries are also now leaned on to be welfare stations, provide services to the "unhoused", and other poor dears.
Frontline barely minimum wage part time workers are supposed to deal with mentally unstable misfits with minimal training.
Fantastic.
Andrew Carnegie weeps.
Frontline barely minimum wage part time workers are supposed to deal with mentally unstable misfits with minimal training.
Fantastic.
Andrew Carnegie weeps.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 13, 2025 10:07 AM (J5RCE)
88
I came across this book, Nude Weddings: The Ultimate Guide On How To Set Up a Super Fun- Nudist Wedding By: Kristin Williams. So go for it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
Feeling sorry for whoever has to disinfect the seating afterward.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
Feeling sorry for whoever has to disinfect the seating afterward.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025 10:07 AM (h7ZuX)
89
Many moons ago I was prowling on eBay and came across a listing for a homemade bound volume of the complete run of Tomb of Dracula.
No, I didn't buy it.
Good luck on your project. May the comics fit squarely.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:45 AM (p/isN)
I just want the books to open nicely with no gutter loss. I plan on paying extra for smythe-sewn binding...
Anyways, thanks. If/when I go through with this and get the final books back, I will definitely be letting the thread know. But it will be many months before that happens, as the bindery does not advertise itself on its prompt service. Believe it or not, comic-book binding is not their primary business model, and they only do it when not doing projects for larger clients.
No, I didn't buy it.
Good luck on your project. May the comics fit squarely.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 09:45 AM (p/isN)
I just want the books to open nicely with no gutter loss. I plan on paying extra for smythe-sewn binding...
Anyways, thanks. If/when I go through with this and get the final books back, I will definitely be letting the thread know. But it will be many months before that happens, as the bindery does not advertise itself on its prompt service. Believe it or not, comic-book binding is not their primary business model, and they only do it when not doing projects for larger clients.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 13, 2025 10:07 AM (Lhaco)
90
Been a while since I looked at comic book prices. When I was still buying comics, Marvel was cranking up, so my boxes contained things like first issues of Spiderman, X-Men, Sgt Fury, the Avengers...
When I decided to spend my $$$ on paperback science fiction instead, I gave the comics to one of the kids down the block. I like to think his mother threw them away later.
On a visit to Chicago, I stopped in a comic place and saw a number of those issues priced in 4-digits, and that was 20-some years ago.
When I decided to spend my $$$ on paperback science fiction instead, I gave the comics to one of the kids down the block. I like to think his mother threw them away later.
On a visit to Chicago, I stopped in a comic place and saw a number of those issues priced in 4-digits, and that was 20-some years ago.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 10:08 AM (q3u5l)
91
I've always had an interest with trees: New England fall colors, my dad loved white birch trees and had some small logs as decorative pieces, places to climb, etc. As a teen I read Eric Sloane's "A Reverence for Wood". Add to that all the references to trees in LOTR. All of this combines with curiosity about regenerative farming methods and essays by Wendell Berry.
I read "The Nature of Oaks" by Douglas Tallamy and "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohllenben. Both deal with the complex interaction of trees with their overall effect on the area for both plants and animals. There is a growing awareness of how the longevity of trees and old growth forests has benefits to the environment. (Shades of Lothlorien, the Shire,Treebeard and the Ents.)
I find these interconnections on so many levels to be fascinating and rather enchanting in how life onthe earth goes deeper on many levels. Wohllenben does anthropomorphize these things but as a way to describe the chemistry involved. Neither book has the woke, tree hugger approach, which is a relief.
I read "The Nature of Oaks" by Douglas Tallamy and "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohllenben. Both deal with the complex interaction of trees with their overall effect on the area for both plants and animals. There is a growing awareness of how the longevity of trees and old growth forests has benefits to the environment. (Shades of Lothlorien, the Shire,Treebeard and the Ents.)
I find these interconnections on so many levels to be fascinating and rather enchanting in how life onthe earth goes deeper on many levels. Wohllenben does anthropomorphize these things but as a way to describe the chemistry involved. Neither book has the woke, tree hugger approach, which is a relief.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025 10:08 AM (yTvNw)
92
Another comment about libraries - a librarian I know commented offhand that the Trump Admin hates librarians and libraries.
Horde thoughts on that?
Horde thoughts on that?
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 13, 2025 10:09 AM (J5RCE)
93
I've just finished "Paying for the Party," with subtitle "How College Maintains Inequality," a 300-page socialogical study published in 2013 by a pair of women who studied a group of women students.
Done at Indiana University and begun I think about 2003, the two were part of a team of socialogists, who moved into a dorm room, on a floor with 52 freshman girls, to study their behavior and progress over a five-year period.
The dorm was a recognized "party dorm," and the floor population consisted of those that chose it for what it was, and some who were clueless. The mix included some from wealth and privilege, and some from poor working class families.
It's kind of engaging in that the text includes plenty of interview quotes. The researchers spoke at length with all the 52, at regular intervals each year, to be able to conduct what they refer to as a longitudanal study.
It describes how the U gets bent into a shape that exists for the benefit of the wealthy socialites that inhabit the greek system, in a flagship public research uni, the student population about 15 percent greek. And it then concludes that the school does nothing to support those who need support.
Done at Indiana University and begun I think about 2003, the two were part of a team of socialogists, who moved into a dorm room, on a floor with 52 freshman girls, to study their behavior and progress over a five-year period.
The dorm was a recognized "party dorm," and the floor population consisted of those that chose it for what it was, and some who were clueless. The mix included some from wealth and privilege, and some from poor working class families.
It's kind of engaging in that the text includes plenty of interview quotes. The researchers spoke at length with all the 52, at regular intervals each year, to be able to conduct what they refer to as a longitudanal study.
It describes how the U gets bent into a shape that exists for the benefit of the wealthy socialites that inhabit the greek system, in a flagship public research uni, the student population about 15 percent greek. And it then concludes that the school does nothing to support those who need support.
Posted by: Mr Gaga at April 13, 2025 10:09 AM (KiBMU)
94
My next read will be the first in the Murderbot diaries, "All Systems Red". I see they've made a movie.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes
Great series. I think I have book 7, "System Collapse," on Kindle somewhere. Need to get after it.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes
Great series. I think I have book 7, "System Collapse," on Kindle somewhere. Need to get after it.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 10:10 AM (/RHNq)
95
vmom. Classic TDS. just like he's hitler, a misogynist, homophobe and beats his wife.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025 10:11 AM (2NHgQ)
96
There are 106 books in the nudist how-to series!
You've barely scratched the sticky surface, Anonosaurus.
You've barely scratched the sticky surface, Anonosaurus.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 10:12 AM (kpS4V)
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 13, 2025 10:13 AM (p/isN)
98
Read The Late Scholar by Jill Patton Walsh, an author that tried to continue the Peter Wimsey stories. What a slog, I did finish it since I payed good money for it. Rereading Gaudy Night by Sayers to wash away the bad taste from the knock off.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025 10:14 AM (2NHgQ)
99
Good morning book people.
Whelp, I had cataract surgery this past week so didn't get much reading done. Now I can see perfectly distance wise but left eye, mid range, is still adjusting. Freaked out when I could see perfectly fine until I tried to see what was on my phone. I can now read my laptop, IPad okay. Phone still blurry but got some temporary readers to help with real closeup. Trying to remember that it was surgery,only 3 days ago and I need to heal.
Hopefully can get back to Wind and Truth which is finally starting to make sense.
Whelp, I had cataract surgery this past week so didn't get much reading done. Now I can see perfectly distance wise but left eye, mid range, is still adjusting. Freaked out when I could see perfectly fine until I tried to see what was on my phone. I can now read my laptop, IPad okay. Phone still blurry but got some temporary readers to help with real closeup. Trying to remember that it was surgery,only 3 days ago and I need to heal.
Hopefully can get back to Wind and Truth which is finally starting to make sense.
Posted by: Sharon(mwillow's apprentice) at April 13, 2025 10:15 AM (t/2Uw)
100
Trump hates what libraries have become in the years they've been taken over by the ultra-woke left, so if you are hearing this from a librarian, she or he is part of the problem.
It's about what libraries offer to kids. We've all seen the videos of the angry moms standing up against woke school boards for putting those books and troonie story hour shows in the school libraries. The problem is that the public libraries are far worse, and while publicly funded, have board meetings no one attends to complain.
It's about what libraries offer to kids. We've all seen the videos of the angry moms standing up against woke school boards for putting those books and troonie story hour shows in the school libraries. The problem is that the public libraries are far worse, and while publicly funded, have board meetings no one attends to complain.
Posted by: Mr Gaga at April 13, 2025 10:16 AM (KiBMU)
Posted by: 13times at April 13, 2025 10:17 AM (JWQTr)
102
Second, zero gravity. Imagine sitting but your weight isn't pressing down on your butt and thighs. I could go for that on any airliner trip!
Posted by: Trimegistus
Good points. But still, TEN DAYS STRAIGHT.
Posted by: Trimegistus
Good points. But still, TEN DAYS STRAIGHT.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 10:18 AM (/RHNq)
103
Read The Late Scholar by Jill Patton Walsh, an author that tried to continue the Peter Wimsey stories. What a slog, I did finish it since I payed good money for it. Rereading Gaudy Night by Sayers to wash away the bad taste from the knock off.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine
I have to say that Sayers and Margery Allingham wrote some fantastic mysteries, and should be more widely read. They both captured British culture very well, while providing interesting cases.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine
I have to say that Sayers and Margery Allingham wrote some fantastic mysteries, and should be more widely read. They both captured British culture very well, while providing interesting cases.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 10:18 AM (LuvNb)
104
A month ago I was in ICU, today I’m in Sunday School!
Posted by: Eromero at April 13, 2025 10:19 AM (DXbAa)
105
Surely the gold standard of both popular and academic history:
Iron Kingdom: The Rise & Downfall of Prussia, 1600 -1917.
Posted by: andycanuck
I've got that volume somewhere and I think I.started to read it years ago. Another one to revisit.
Iron Kingdom: The Rise & Downfall of Prussia, 1600 -1917.
Posted by: andycanuck
I've got that volume somewhere and I think I.started to read it years ago. Another one to revisit.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 10:20 AM (/RHNq)
106
MOrning, Book Folken! I'm back from the grocery and ready to participate.
This week I picked up Heinlein's The Pursuit of the Pankera. Never heard of it? Neither had I until I saw it at the library. Apparently RAH wrote *two* versions of the 1980 book we know as The Number of the Beast, and this is the second, never published until 2020. It seems that about a third of the way through writing Beast, Heinlein sent his same four lead characters off in a different direction. I'm at the point, early on, where, in a parallel universe where Burroughs's Barsoom (Mars) really exists, his leads are visiting with Dejah Thoris and many of the other characters from ERB.
The story is fast-moving, and the characters talk fast and knowledgeably about lots and lots and LOTS of things. I'm hoping this will be more entertaining a ride than Beast was. I liked that, but I don't rank it among his best.
This week I picked up Heinlein's The Pursuit of the Pankera. Never heard of it? Neither had I until I saw it at the library. Apparently RAH wrote *two* versions of the 1980 book we know as The Number of the Beast, and this is the second, never published until 2020. It seems that about a third of the way through writing Beast, Heinlein sent his same four lead characters off in a different direction. I'm at the point, early on, where, in a parallel universe where Burroughs's Barsoom (Mars) really exists, his leads are visiting with Dejah Thoris and many of the other characters from ERB.
The story is fast-moving, and the characters talk fast and knowledgeably about lots and lots and LOTS of things. I'm hoping this will be more entertaining a ride than Beast was. I liked that, but I don't rank it among his best.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 10:21 AM (omVj0)
107
Rereading Gaudy Night by Sayers to wash away the bad taste from the knock off.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025 10:14 AM (2NHgQ)
That's one of my thrift store finds. I haven't opened it yet. I see that it's part of a series--should I read prior books first, or does it matter?
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025 10:14 AM (2NHgQ)
That's one of my thrift store finds. I haven't opened it yet. I see that it's part of a series--should I read prior books first, or does it matter?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025 10:22 AM (h7ZuX)
108
92 ... " a librarian I know commented offhand that the Trump Admin hates librarians and libraries.
Horde thoughts on that?"
She (probably a she) is an uninformed leftist ass who shouldn't be involved in the dissemination of knowledge or allowed to be around young people. My disdain for, and disgust with, these wastes of oxygen is profound.
Horde thoughts on that?"
She (probably a she) is an uninformed leftist ass who shouldn't be involved in the dissemination of knowledge or allowed to be around young people. My disdain for, and disgust with, these wastes of oxygen is profound.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025 10:22 AM (yTvNw)
109
Public libraries?
That's where the homeless drug addicts and otherwise filthy people with no jobs live, isn't it?
That's where the homeless drug addicts and otherwise filthy people with no jobs live, isn't it?
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 10:22 AM (/RHNq)
110
I doubt that the Trump administration hates libraries and librarians. DJT couldn't possibly hate librarians as much as many of them seem to hate him. He's simply applying the O'Rourke question re: govt spending to libraries (among other things).
Dealing with the homeless, helping people with tax returns and job applications, etc. Collections full of current best-sellers, games, DVDs, tools, jigsaw puzzles... I spent almost 15 years in libraries and liked it, but I wouldn't go into the field now and especially not as a public librarian.
Dealing with the homeless, helping people with tax returns and job applications, etc. Collections full of current best-sellers, games, DVDs, tools, jigsaw puzzles... I spent almost 15 years in libraries and liked it, but I wouldn't go into the field now and especially not as a public librarian.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 10:23 AM (q3u5l)
111
T Paine. My favorite Sayers is The Nine Tailors. Will give Alingham a try, thanks.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025 10:24 AM (2NHgQ)
112
Surely the gold standard of both popular and academic history:
Iron Kingdom: The Rise & Downfall of Prussia, 1600 -1917.
Posted by: andycanuck
I've got that volume somewhere and I think I started to read it years ago. Another one to revisit.
Posted by: Sharkman
Same here. I should probably take it with on my next vacation. Prussia has a fascinating history, and it seems to be the only country/territory to be banned by treaty.
Iron Kingdom: The Rise & Downfall of Prussia, 1600 -1917.
Posted by: andycanuck
I've got that volume somewhere and I think I started to read it years ago. Another one to revisit.
Posted by: Sharkman
Same here. I should probably take it with on my next vacation. Prussia has a fascinating history, and it seems to be the only country/territory to be banned by treaty.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 10:24 AM (LuvNb)
113
The librarian "knows" that Trump hates libraries because that's the party line according to the American Library Association. Which (no surprise) has gone hard-left over the past few decades -- so much so that several state Library Associations have "seceded" from the ALA in protest.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 13, 2025 10:24 AM (78a2H)
114
Well, like the Perfesser, religious obligations are calling, so I will have to leave early.
Thanks, Perfesser!
Thanks, Perfesser!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 13, 2025 10:27 AM (ZOv7s)
115
I can think of two somewhat recent reads that were totally out of the box.
First is Sanderson's Way of Kings, the first book in the Stormlight Archive. I was especially impressed with his world building. There were pictures of flora and fauna and his characters unique and fascinating.
The second is The 3Body Problem by Cixin Liu. Maybe some due to being Chinese but I never knew what was going to happen next. I found that completely new.
First is Sanderson's Way of Kings, the first book in the Stormlight Archive. I was especially impressed with his world building. There were pictures of flora and fauna and his characters unique and fascinating.
The second is The 3Body Problem by Cixin Liu. Maybe some due to being Chinese but I never knew what was going to happen next. I found that completely new.
Posted by: Sharon(mwillow's apprentice) at April 13, 2025 10:27 AM (t/2Uw)
116
99 ... "Whelp, I had cataract surgery this past week so didn't get much reading done. Now I can see perfectly distance wise but left eye, mid range, is still adjusting."
Sharon,
So glad it is going well. Yeah, it takes a few days for things to settle to the new normal. Even a year and a half later I still get surprised at how sharp things appear.
Question: have you noticed if colors, especially blues, are more intense? Turns out my cataracts were muting color perception.
Sharon,
So glad it is going well. Yeah, it takes a few days for things to settle to the new normal. Even a year and a half later I still get surprised at how sharp things appear.
Question: have you noticed if colors, especially blues, are more intense? Turns out my cataracts were muting color perception.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025 10:27 AM (yTvNw)
117
Rereading Gaudy Night by Sayers to wash away the bad taste from the knock off.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025 10:14 AM (2NHgQ)
That's one of my thrift store finds. I haven't opened it yet. I see that it's part of a series--should I read prior books first, or does it matter?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!
They are all independent stories, though if you want to understand Wimsey's world better, Whose Body is where he meets his future wife, whose university is featured in Gaudy Night.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025 10:14 AM (2NHgQ)
That's one of my thrift store finds. I haven't opened it yet. I see that it's part of a series--should I read prior books first, or does it matter?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!
They are all independent stories, though if you want to understand Wimsey's world better, Whose Body is where he meets his future wife, whose university is featured in Gaudy Night.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 10:28 AM (LuvNb)
118
Dash. I'll give you the abridged version of what leads to Gaudy Night and you'll be good to go.
Peter Wimsey saves Harriet Vane from hanging when she's accused of poisoning her former live in. Two scandals in that era, shacking up and tried for murder. Harriet deals with the consequences of her actions while being pursued by Wimsey for 6 years, her self confidence has been shattered. He saw her once in the dock at the the court and fell in love. This is a mystery wrapped up with a love story and tale of redemption. If you like this one continue on to Busman's Honeymoon.
Peter Wimsey saves Harriet Vane from hanging when she's accused of poisoning her former live in. Two scandals in that era, shacking up and tried for murder. Harriet deals with the consequences of her actions while being pursued by Wimsey for 6 years, her self confidence has been shattered. He saw her once in the dock at the the court and fell in love. This is a mystery wrapped up with a love story and tale of redemption. If you like this one continue on to Busman's Honeymoon.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025 10:29 AM (2NHgQ)
119
This morning I read Lex's essay on "good vs. clever" screenwriting, and enjoyed it. As far as I can see it should apply to the written word too, novels, novelettes, and short stories. It seems to me that his "dramatic purpose" concept is roughly equal to the old adage that "The protagonist should learn something and change in some way because of the adventure or other events he's gone through."
For example, Alastair Maclean's thrillers are all cleverness, though often with wit, and quite a bit of mystery and suspense. Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday, though a comedy, features Doc learning that he's not meant to live a solitary life. In SF, Heinlein's short story "Ordeal in Space" has its hero change as he faces and overcomes a terrifying condition for a spaceman -- acrophobia.
Thoughts?
For example, Alastair Maclean's thrillers are all cleverness, though often with wit, and quite a bit of mystery and suspense. Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday, though a comedy, features Doc learning that he's not meant to live a solitary life. In SF, Heinlein's short story "Ordeal in Space" has its hero change as he faces and overcomes a terrifying condition for a spaceman -- acrophobia.
Thoughts?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 10:31 AM (omVj0)
120
Glad to hear you're on the mend, Sharon.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 10:31 AM (/RHNq)
121
T Paine. No, Harriet first appears in Strong Poison and is on trial for murder.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025 10:32 AM (2NHgQ)
122
They are all independent stories, though if you want to understand Wimsey's world better, Whose Body is where he meets his future wife, whose university is featured in Gaudy Night.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025
***
Thomas, I believe he meets Harriet, his future wife, in a later book, Strong Poison. However, his future brother-in-law, a police officer, is there in the first book, though the relationship between him and Peter's sister doesn't develop until later.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025
***
Thomas, I believe he meets Harriet, his future wife, in a later book, Strong Poison. However, his future brother-in-law, a police officer, is there in the first book, though the relationship between him and Peter's sister doesn't develop until later.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 10:33 AM (omVj0)
123
T Paine. No, Harriet first appears in Strong Poison and is on trial for murder.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine
Ah, yes, you are correct.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine
Ah, yes, you are correct.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 10:34 AM (LuvNb)
124
Prussia has a fascinating history, and it seems to be the only country/territory to be banned by treaty.
Posted by: Thomas Paine
It's interesting to me that the Allies finally got rid of Prussia only after WW2, when it had already all but ceased to exist after its territory had been absorbed by Poland and the USSR, and most of its population expelled. After WW1, Prussia was pretty much a non-entity, politically as well as militarily. It wasn't a big component of the Nazi state by any means.
Blaming Prussian militarism for WW2 is pretty silly.
Posted by: Thomas Paine
It's interesting to me that the Allies finally got rid of Prussia only after WW2, when it had already all but ceased to exist after its territory had been absorbed by Poland and the USSR, and most of its population expelled. After WW1, Prussia was pretty much a non-entity, politically as well as militarily. It wasn't a big component of the Nazi state by any means.
Blaming Prussian militarism for WW2 is pretty silly.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 10:36 AM (/RHNq)
125
Is T Paine T'Pol's cousin??
Posted by: andycanuck (mZtdJ) at April 13, 2025 10:36 AM (mZtdJ)
126
My favorite Sayers is The Nine Tailors. Will give Alingham a try, thanks.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025
***
I enjoyed Allingham's Dancers in Mourning (backdrop: musical theatre), Flowers for the Judge (the publishing world), and The Fashion in Shrouds (the fashion industry in 1930s Britain).
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 13, 2025
***
I enjoyed Allingham's Dancers in Mourning (backdrop: musical theatre), Flowers for the Judge (the publishing world), and The Fashion in Shrouds (the fashion industry in 1930s Britain).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 10:36 AM (omVj0)
127
JTB,it has been greens I've noticed the most but that might be due to the yellow eye drops. lol Going to try and take a walk today. Was too nervous yesterday because I could not see my phone and didn't want to be out and about without my lifeline. It has been overcast until this morning but I can see a gorgeous bright blue sky today.
Life is good.
Life is good.
Posted by: Sharon(mwillow's apprentice) at April 13, 2025 10:36 AM (t/2Uw)
128
All of the Wimsey stories are excellent; I think she was one of the first authors whose main character ages during the series, so it may be beneficial to read them in order for character development, but each mystery stands on its own.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 10:36 AM (LuvNb)
129
That's one of my thrift store finds. I haven't opened it yet. I see that it's part of a series--should I read prior books first, or does it matter?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025 10:22 AM (h7ZuX)
They were written to stand alone, but there is more context to get if you know who all are whom, and why there is some conflict. I found i]Gaudy Night be be more of a stand-alone, because it fleshed out Harriet Vane's character without much contact with Peter Whimsey who tends to hog the attention otherwise. This is helpful, because she is a very important character in the series, and without some background Harriet is relegated to being just a foil.
Of the Peter Whimsey books, I liked Murder Must Advertise, and Busman's Honeymoon the best
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025 10:22 AM (h7ZuX)
They were written to stand alone, but there is more context to get if you know who all are whom, and why there is some conflict. I found i]Gaudy Night be be more of a stand-alone, because it fleshed out Harriet Vane's character without much contact with Peter Whimsey who tends to hog the attention otherwise. This is helpful, because she is a very important character in the series, and without some background Harriet is relegated to being just a foil.
Of the Peter Whimsey books, I liked Murder Must Advertise, and Busman's Honeymoon the best
Posted by: Kindltot at April 13, 2025 10:37 AM (D7oie)
Posted by: andycanuck (mZtdJ) at April 13, 2025 10:37 AM (mZtdJ)
131
It seems to me that his "dramatic purpose" concept is roughly equal to the old adage that "The protagonist should learn something and change in some way because of the adventure or other events he's gone through."
That's why I've gotten away from series, because in essence the main character rarely/never changes.
Drunk detective is drunk again. Guy's wife dies-two books later his girlfriend dies- and this time it's personal!!!!! etc
I don't necessarily believe that the protagonist has to have a wholesale personality change but they should have a clear story arc within the plot. The main character should develop in some clear manner.
Unless, it's a popcorn book then anything goes.
That's why I've gotten away from series, because in essence the main character rarely/never changes.
Drunk detective is drunk again. Guy's wife dies-two books later his girlfriend dies- and this time it's personal!!!!! etc
I don't necessarily believe that the protagonist has to have a wholesale personality change but they should have a clear story arc within the plot. The main character should develop in some clear manner.
Unless, it's a popcorn book then anything goes.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025 10:39 AM (iJfKG)
132
{{{Eromero}}}
Good to see you are on the mend.❤️
Good to see you are on the mend.❤️
Posted by: Sharon(mwillow's apprentice) at April 13, 2025 10:40 AM (t/2Uw)
133
DOGE cutting fat. Library grant payouts for everything but new books and shelves.
California State Library Notice of IMLS Grant Termination Press Release.pdf
California State Library Notice of IMLS Grant Termination Press Release.pdf
Posted by: 13times at April 13, 2025 10:41 AM (JWQTr)
134
Prussian militarism was used by Adolf is more like it
Posted by: Skip at April 13, 2025 10:43 AM (ypFCm)
Posted by: Sharkman at April 13, 2025 10:44 AM (/RHNq)
136
106 ... "This week I picked up Heinlein's The Pursuit of the Pankera. Never heard of it? Neither had I until I saw it at the library"
Wolfus,
Thanks for mentioning this. I had no idea it existed. Number of the Beast was a fun read as I recall even though not Heinlein's best. Just ordered a copy. (Of course, the library didn't have it.) Over the decades I have read probably everything Heinlein ever published, starting with "The Rolling Stones" when in third grade. (That was a while ago.) So I want to try this one of only for completeness.
Wolfus,
Thanks for mentioning this. I had no idea it existed. Number of the Beast was a fun read as I recall even though not Heinlein's best. Just ordered a copy. (Of course, the library didn't have it.) Over the decades I have read probably everything Heinlein ever published, starting with "The Rolling Stones" when in third grade. (That was a while ago.) So I want to try this one of only for completeness.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025 10:46 AM (yTvNw)
Posted by: andycanuck (mZtdJ) at April 13, 2025 10:46 AM (mZtdJ)
138
That's why I've gotten away from series, because in essence the main character rarely/never changes.
Drunk detective is drunk again. Guy's wife dies-two books later his girlfriend dies- and this time it's personal!!!!! etc
I don't necessarily believe that the protagonist has to have a wholesale personality change but they should have a clear story arc within the plot. The main character should develop in some clear manner.
Unless, it's a popcorn book then anything goes.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025
***
Generally no, in series (esp. TV) the main character does not change very much. Exceptions: Lawrence Block's alcoholic detective Matt Scudder, who gets sober early in the series; Ellery Queen, who suffers a crisis of conscience fairly late in his series, when he comes to realize his crime-solving work is done with human beings instead of just logic.
True, Rex Stout's Wolfe and Archie change very little over the decades -- which is fine and the way we like them.
Drunk detective is drunk again. Guy's wife dies-two books later his girlfriend dies- and this time it's personal!!!!! etc
I don't necessarily believe that the protagonist has to have a wholesale personality change but they should have a clear story arc within the plot. The main character should develop in some clear manner.
Unless, it's a popcorn book then anything goes.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025
***
Generally no, in series (esp. TV) the main character does not change very much. Exceptions: Lawrence Block's alcoholic detective Matt Scudder, who gets sober early in the series; Ellery Queen, who suffers a crisis of conscience fairly late in his series, when he comes to realize his crime-solving work is done with human beings instead of just logic.
True, Rex Stout's Wolfe and Archie change very little over the decades -- which is fine and the way we like them.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 10:46 AM (omVj0)
139
I appreciate all the insight on the Wimsey series. First one is only forty-nine cents on kindle--I think I'll start there. Gaudy Night isn't going anywhere--it will be there when I finish the predecessors.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025 10:47 AM (h7ZuX)
140
Wolfus,
Thanks for mentioning this. I had no idea it existed. Number of the Beast was a fun read as I recall even though not Heinlein's best. Just ordered a copy. (Of course, the library didn't have it.) Over the decades I have read probably everything Heinlein ever published, starting with "The Rolling Stones" when in third grade. (That was a while ago.) So I want to try this one of only for completeness.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025
***
As you might expect, I dropped the other book I was reading (a novel about a Comanche investigator, modern day, in Oklahoma) and went right to the RAH. And he is incapable of writing dull, so here I am zinging along with it -- even though I never read the ERB Mars books, I'm following with no trouble.
Thanks for mentioning this. I had no idea it existed. Number of the Beast was a fun read as I recall even though not Heinlein's best. Just ordered a copy. (Of course, the library didn't have it.) Over the decades I have read probably everything Heinlein ever published, starting with "The Rolling Stones" when in third grade. (That was a while ago.) So I want to try this one of only for completeness.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025
***
As you might expect, I dropped the other book I was reading (a novel about a Comanche investigator, modern day, in Oklahoma) and went right to the RAH. And he is incapable of writing dull, so here I am zinging along with it -- even though I never read the ERB Mars books, I'm following with no trouble.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 10:49 AM (omVj0)
141
I'd think Lex's essay re good vs clever would apply to storytelling in any form -- fiction, tv, film. Don't know if it's necessarily the protagonist who has to change, but somebody has to. If memory serves, Maugham's narrator in quite a few of his stories doesn't change, but he tells of other people who did. Television's The Fugitive -- Richard Kimble is pretty much the same character all 4 seasons; the people he encounters are the ones who are changed.
Maybe cleverness is the hook that distracts you while good sneaks in through the back door?
Maybe cleverness is the hook that distracts you while good sneaks in through the back door?
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 10:49 AM (q3u5l)
142
Drunk detective is drunk again. Guy's wife dies-two books later his girlfriend dies- and this time it's personal!!!!! etc
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025 10:39 AM (iJfKG)
Haha...I like the Joe Pickett series, and will read every one of them, but it is absurd that his wife and daughters are in mortal danger all of the time.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025 10:39 AM (iJfKG)
Haha...I like the Joe Pickett series, and will read every one of them, but it is absurd that his wife and daughters are in mortal danger all of the time.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025 10:50 AM (h7ZuX)
143
They are all independent stories, though if you want to understand Wimsey's world better, Whose Body is where he meets his future wife, whose university is featured in Gaudy Night.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 10:28 AM (LuvNb)
I think Wimsey met Harriet in Strong Poison.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 10:28 AM (LuvNb)
I think Wimsey met Harriet in Strong Poison.
Posted by: Wethal at April 13, 2025 10:51 AM (NufIr)
144
When you have a series centered on an iconic character, that isn't the person who changes. Instead, you show how other people are changed by their interactions with that character.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 13, 2025 10:51 AM (78a2H)
145
I've been reading Dennis Lehane lately. He's the writer behind the books that became Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone.
I recently finished Since We Fell and am now working on Small Mercies. He tends to set his books in the Boston area. His writing moves at a good pace. When he takes you into a room, he won't spend 2 pages describing the pattern of the wallpaper.
Wiki says that DreamWorks bought the rights to Since We Fell, but that was back in 2015. So I guess it's one that will never happen. Gotta put out Shrek 16 instead.
I recently finished Since We Fell and am now working on Small Mercies. He tends to set his books in the Boston area. His writing moves at a good pace. When he takes you into a room, he won't spend 2 pages describing the pattern of the wallpaper.
Wiki says that DreamWorks bought the rights to Since We Fell, but that was back in 2015. So I guess it's one that will never happen. Gotta put out Shrek 16 instead.
Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at April 13, 2025 10:52 AM (klJTj)
146
I appreciate all the insight on the Wimsey series. First one is only forty-nine cents on kindle--I think I'll start there. Gaudy Night isn't going anywhere--it will be there when I finish the predecessors.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025
***
Dash, Sayers herself said she was trying with Whose Body? to write a more "conventional" (i.e., not pure genre) novel. Later, she realized, "It was no more akin to a conventional novel than I am to Hercules." Don't let that stop you. It is inventive, and there are strong personal moments for Wimsey in it, even that early (1923 or so?).
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 13, 2025
***
Dash, Sayers herself said she was trying with Whose Body? to write a more "conventional" (i.e., not pure genre) novel. Later, she realized, "It was no more akin to a conventional novel than I am to Hercules." Don't let that stop you. It is inventive, and there are strong personal moments for Wimsey in it, even that early (1923 or so?).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 10:52 AM (omVj0)
147
Halfway through Russian Nobility in the Age of Alexander I by Patrick O'Mara.
I think this is the book I wanted to read for decades to find out what made Russia in the Napoleonic era
Posted by: Skip at April 13, 2025 09:04 AM
John Quincy Adams was sent on a trade mission to St Petersburg and of course met Alex I officially - they also crossed paths when out for walks and would exchange pleasantries. JQA was reassigned to Silesia and while traveling there by carriage he witnessed the wreckage of Napoleon's battles.
I think this is the book I wanted to read for decades to find out what made Russia in the Napoleonic era
Posted by: Skip at April 13, 2025 09:04 AM
John Quincy Adams was sent on a trade mission to St Petersburg and of course met Alex I officially - they also crossed paths when out for walks and would exchange pleasantries. JQA was reassigned to Silesia and while traveling there by carriage he witnessed the wreckage of Napoleon's battles.
Posted by: 13times at April 13, 2025 10:54 AM (JWQTr)
148
Trimegistus and Just Some Guy, I think you are both dead on target. If your lead series character faces a life-altering event in every book, pretty soon you have nothing but melodrama. But if the people he meets change in some way, you still have your drama and dramatic purpose.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 10:55 AM (omVj0)
149
127 ... Sharon,
Enjoy your walk and the sky. A few suggestions. My eye surgeon recommended Oasis TEARS eye drops which work VERY well, especially in this pollen season. Also, I really need sunglasses these days since things are so much brighter. I keep a pair of medium dark bad ass shades in the car. And, of course, shooting glasses when the time comes.
Enjoy your walk and the sky. A few suggestions. My eye surgeon recommended Oasis TEARS eye drops which work VERY well, especially in this pollen season. Also, I really need sunglasses these days since things are so much brighter. I keep a pair of medium dark bad ass shades in the car. And, of course, shooting glasses when the time comes.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025 10:56 AM (yTvNw)
150
Peter meets Harriet (and saves her from the hangman) in Strong Poison. He proposes to her at the end and she turns him down. Their paths cross again in Have His Carcase, when she is the first person to discover a murder victim and the two of them collaborate on solving the mystery. In Gaudy Night she asks his help figuring out who is threatening people at a women's college -- and finally accepts his proposal at the end of that one. They get married in Busman's Honeymoon and stumble across another dead guy in their honeymoon house (which Peter eventually buys and they settle down in). Apparently the family motto is "I swear, he was dead when I got here!"
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 13, 2025 10:57 AM (78a2H)
151
Regarding the Wimsey books, you can picture his world very nicely by watching the post-WWI episodes of Downton Abbey. The same is true of a later British crime novel called Before the Fact by Francis Iles -- the basis for the Hitchcock film Suspicion. Johnnie and Lina's world takes place after WWI and before the novel was published around 1932, so the ten-year span of their marriage must have been set during the 1920s.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 10:59 AM (omVj0)
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 13, 2025 11:01 AM (PiwSw)
153
Yes, any translations still under copyright aren't going to be available.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at April 13, 2025 09:16 AM (Dm8we)
Library Genesis doesn't have that limitation.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at April 13, 2025 09:16 AM (Dm8we)
Library Genesis doesn't have that limitation.
Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at April 13, 2025 11:02 AM (klJTj)
154
"I swear, he was dead when I got here."
Are these set in Midsomer, by any chance? Or Cabot Cove, Maine?
Are these set in Midsomer, by any chance? Or Cabot Cove, Maine?
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 11:02 AM (q3u5l)
155
Sayers suggests that Peter Wimsey shifts to doing counterespionage work during the runup to WWII (and presumably during). I also remember reading something where she suggests his nephew Jerry probably dies a hero as an RAF pilot. Which leaves Peter as heir to his brother's Dukedom.
This suggests that in an alternate universe, James Bond's boss is "W" rather than "M."
This suggests that in an alternate universe, James Bond's boss is "W" rather than "M."
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 13, 2025 11:02 AM (78a2H)
156
Drunk detective is drunk again. Guy's wife dies-two books later his girlfriend dies- and this time it's personal!!!!! etc
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025 10:39 AM (iJfKG)
This sort of topic has come up again in my neck of the woods. The writers/editors at Marvel think that Peter Parker/Spider-Man is the type of character who should always stay the same (single and miserable) while a very vocal segment of the fandom is screaming that they want Peter's character to evolve. Specifically, they want him married, probably with a kid or two, and dealing the hassles associated with adulthood (and superhero-ing) That fight has been going on for nearly 20 years now, but in the past couple months some of Marvel's editorial staff been re-opening the battle by publicly rebuking/belittling the unhappy fans.
It really is amazing how many people get put in charge of franchises who enjoy actively antagonizing the existing fans of said franchise.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025 10:39 AM (iJfKG)
This sort of topic has come up again in my neck of the woods. The writers/editors at Marvel think that Peter Parker/Spider-Man is the type of character who should always stay the same (single and miserable) while a very vocal segment of the fandom is screaming that they want Peter's character to evolve. Specifically, they want him married, probably with a kid or two, and dealing the hassles associated with adulthood (and superhero-ing) That fight has been going on for nearly 20 years now, but in the past couple months some of Marvel's editorial staff been re-opening the battle by publicly rebuking/belittling the unhappy fans.
It really is amazing how many people get put in charge of franchises who enjoy actively antagonizing the existing fans of said franchise.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 13, 2025 11:04 AM (Lhaco)
157
Sayers suggests that Peter Wimsey shifts to doing counterespionage work during the runup to WWII (and presumably during). I also remember reading something where she suggests his nephew Jerry probably dies a hero as an RAF pilot. Which leaves Peter as heir to his brother's Dukedom.
This suggests that in an alternate universe, James Bond's boss is "W" rather than "M."
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 13, 2025
***
I love this idea. Or perhaps we can speculate that Admiral Sir Miles Messervy ("M") was a contemporary of Wimsey and went to school with him . . .?
In the same vein, I've also speculated that Henry Jones Jr. (later known as "Indiana") and Ellery Queen were at school together, perhaps at Harvard. . . .
This suggests that in an alternate universe, James Bond's boss is "W" rather than "M."
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 13, 2025
***
I love this idea. Or perhaps we can speculate that Admiral Sir Miles Messervy ("M") was a contemporary of Wimsey and went to school with him . . .?
In the same vein, I've also speculated that Henry Jones Jr. (later known as "Indiana") and Ellery Queen were at school together, perhaps at Harvard. . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 11:05 AM (omVj0)
158
I have moved into my new place in Galveston County, Texas.
However, none of the books, even those in the to-be-read pile, have been unpacked.
That might happen today, but as of now I'm doing work to make up for the hours that I lost to the move.
However, none of the books, even those in the to-be-read pile, have been unpacked.
That might happen today, but as of now I'm doing work to make up for the hours that I lost to the move.
Posted by: Cybersmythe at April 13, 2025 11:10 AM (2Insx)
159
I very much like the Peter Hamilton Commonwealth series.
Well done Space Opera style with some very well developed characters.
I liked "Judas Unchained" so much I dove into his next series somewhat related Commonwealth Chronicles, "The Abyss Beyond Dreams".
Some formulaic stuff, Earth and her descendants and allies against some bizarre and unknown force trying to kill or assimilate everyone. Spies, traitors, etc. included. It's done very well with involved character development, good dialogue and he put a great effort into visualizing what the near and far view is as if you were there.
Well done Space Opera style with some very well developed characters.
I liked "Judas Unchained" so much I dove into his next series somewhat related Commonwealth Chronicles, "The Abyss Beyond Dreams".
Some formulaic stuff, Earth and her descendants and allies against some bizarre and unknown force trying to kill or assimilate everyone. Spies, traitors, etc. included. It's done very well with involved character development, good dialogue and he put a great effort into visualizing what the near and far view is as if you were there.
Posted by: pawn, RIP Vic at April 13, 2025 11:13 AM (QB+5g)
160
Thanks JTB for the advice. Will probably need more as time goes by. Still on prescription eye drops for the next 3 weeks. Really annoying but one of the three is for pollen. I will make a note of your recommendation for,the future.
Posted by: Sharon(mwillow's apprentice) at April 13, 2025 11:15 AM (t/2Uw)
161
Greetings Book People!
I've finally been able to get some reading done. I finished Fr. Chad Rippergers' Shop Talk: Catholic Philosophical and Theological Lessons Learned Working as a Mechanic, a memoir about growing up in Wyoming. His father was a mechanic and Fr. Ripperger reflects the influence of his father and other family members, but mostly lessons learned from watching his father work and run his business, and, interestingly how mechanical work shaped his mind. I think I caught a few typos but I otherwise enjoyed the book.
Also, I'm about halfway through Evelyn Waugh's Black Mischief. Not sure what to make of it. It's amusing in a twisted sort of way only petty, corrupt government officials can be. The faces and races and circumstances may change but human nature doesn't. I'm curious how this story will turn out.
I've finally been able to get some reading done. I finished Fr. Chad Rippergers' Shop Talk: Catholic Philosophical and Theological Lessons Learned Working as a Mechanic, a memoir about growing up in Wyoming. His father was a mechanic and Fr. Ripperger reflects the influence of his father and other family members, but mostly lessons learned from watching his father work and run his business, and, interestingly how mechanical work shaped his mind. I think I caught a few typos but I otherwise enjoyed the book.
Also, I'm about halfway through Evelyn Waugh's Black Mischief. Not sure what to make of it. It's amusing in a twisted sort of way only petty, corrupt government officials can be. The faces and races and circumstances may change but human nature doesn't. I'm curious how this story will turn out.
Posted by: KatieFloyd at April 13, 2025 11:19 AM (BOn6l)
162
92 Another comment about libraries - a librarian I know commented offhand that the Trump Admin hates librarians and libraries.
Horde thoughts on that?
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 13, 2025 10:09 AM (J5RCE)
It's all about who gets to "curate" the library's collection. There was a story about Sarah Palin when she won election to Mayor of Whatever-Town-it-was, Alaska. She held a meeting with the town's librarian and asked her what she would do if Palin decided that a book should be removed. The librarian reported to the mayor, so the mayor was the boss.
The story was reported as an example of what an authoritarian Palin was, wanting to censor books. But no mention of how librarians do this on a regular basis if a particular work comes to be viewed as "hateful".
If you refuse to cede control of the content to the Left, then by their definition, you are against librarians.
Horde thoughts on that?
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 13, 2025 10:09 AM (J5RCE)
It's all about who gets to "curate" the library's collection. There was a story about Sarah Palin when she won election to Mayor of Whatever-Town-it-was, Alaska. She held a meeting with the town's librarian and asked her what she would do if Palin decided that a book should be removed. The librarian reported to the mayor, so the mayor was the boss.
The story was reported as an example of what an authoritarian Palin was, wanting to censor books. But no mention of how librarians do this on a regular basis if a particular work comes to be viewed as "hateful".
If you refuse to cede control of the content to the Left, then by their definition, you are against librarians.
Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at April 13, 2025 11:19 AM (klJTj)
163
Question: have you noticed if colors, especially blues, are more intense? Turns out my cataracts were muting color perception.
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025 10:27 AM (yTvNw)
My Uncle finally got cataract surgery after being essentially blind for several years. Stubborn old coot... Anyway, the evening after the surgery, he walked out on the deck and looked out at the Bay and the evening sky where the stars were just peeking out. He stared for a bit, then turned to us and said in wonderment, "The sky! It's purple!!!"
One of my cousins remarked, "He sounds like a dude on his first hit of acid..."
Posted by: JTB at April 13, 2025 10:27 AM (yTvNw)
My Uncle finally got cataract surgery after being essentially blind for several years. Stubborn old coot... Anyway, the evening after the surgery, he walked out on the deck and looked out at the Bay and the evening sky where the stars were just peeking out. He stared for a bit, then turned to us and said in wonderment, "The sky! It's purple!!!"
One of my cousins remarked, "He sounds like a dude on his first hit of acid..."
Posted by: Brewingfrog at April 13, 2025 11:21 AM (ciLsd)
164
Also on my pile from the library: He Who Whispers, a 1946 John Dickson Carr "impossible crime" mystery. (I suspect I've read it, but won't be sure until I actually start on it again.) And I have a Western by Elmer Kelton, Other Men's Horses from 2009 and possibly his final novel. The jacket blurb makes it sound like a continual series of surprises.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 11:21 AM (omVj0)
165
Dad Joke?
I'm reading a horror story in Braille. Something bad is about to happen...
I can feel it.
OT: Sometimes I wish I could read braille. Even if the power is out, I could still read....
I'm reading a horror story in Braille. Something bad is about to happen...
I can feel it.
OT: Sometimes I wish I could read braille. Even if the power is out, I could still read....
Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at April 13, 2025 11:25 AM (VNX3d)
166
Your curation of the collection is censorship. The librarian's curation of the collection is selection and evaluation.
Too many these days buy into "The library is more than just books" so the collection isn't granted the consideration it's due. But any attempt by you to involve yourself with curation will be regarded as censorship.
Too many these days buy into "The library is more than just books" so the collection isn't granted the consideration it's due. But any attempt by you to involve yourself with curation will be regarded as censorship.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 11:25 AM (q3u5l)
167
This sort of topic has come up again in my neck of the woods. The writers/editors at Marvel think that Peter Parker/Spider-Man is the type of character who should always stay the same (single and miserable) while a very vocal segment of the fandom is screaming that they want Peter's character to evolve. Specifically, they want him married, probably with a kid or two, and dealing the hassles associated with adulthood (and superhero-ing) That fight has been going on for nearly 20 years now, but in the past couple months some of Marvel's editorial staff been re-opening the battle by publicly rebuking/belittling the unhappy fans.
It really is amazing how many people get put in charge of franchises who enjoy actively antagonizing the existing fans of said franchise.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 13, 2025 11:04 AM (Lhaco)
Just make him gay.
Problem solved.
It really is amazing how many people get put in charge of franchises who enjoy actively antagonizing the existing fans of said franchise.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 13, 2025 11:04 AM (Lhaco)
Just make him gay.
Problem solved.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 13, 2025 11:28 AM (bNJTc)
168
Burt at 167 --
Jeez, don't give them ideas.
Of course, they've probably been considering that for a while now.
Jeez, don't give them ideas.
Of course, they've probably been considering that for a while now.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 11:29 AM (q3u5l)
Posted by: pawn, RIP Vic at April 13, 2025 11:30 AM (QB+5g)
170
OT: Sometimes I wish I could read braille. Even if the power is out, I could still read....
Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at April 13, 2025 11:25 AM (VNX3d)
Similarly, I sometimes pretend to be blind, so when a hot chick comes up and tries to help me, I tell her she sounds nice, and ask if I can "read" her face with my hands.
Chicks like that, it gets them going.
Works every time.
Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at April 13, 2025 11:25 AM (VNX3d)
Similarly, I sometimes pretend to be blind, so when a hot chick comes up and tries to help me, I tell her she sounds nice, and ask if I can "read" her face with my hands.
Chicks like that, it gets them going.
Works every time.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 13, 2025 11:32 AM (bNJTc)
171
168 Burt at 167 --
Jeez, don't give them ideas.
Of course, they've probably been considering that for a while now.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 11:29 AM (q3u5l)
South Park already came up with the idea.
Jeez, don't give them ideas.
Of course, they've probably been considering that for a while now.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 11:29 AM (q3u5l)
South Park already came up with the idea.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 13, 2025 11:34 AM (bNJTc)
172
My local Library was doing an exibit of stamps. My four yo grandson started asking the guy putting it up (obviously the collector) about it. Wound up sitting there for almost 20 minutes while grand #2 got a pretty awesome historical lesson on stamps. I learned a thing or two also. I think the dude loved having someone that curious to explain things to.
Posted by: Reforger at April 13, 2025 11:34 AM (xcIvR)
173
Back from a constitutional with the lovely and rambunctious Mrs naturalfake-
in the bright sunlight with my ghostly white legs blinding all who venture close.
Back from a constitutional with the lovely and rambunctious Mrs naturalfake-
in the bright sunlight with my ghostly white legs blinding all who venture close.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 13, 2025 11:43 AM (iJfKG)
174
Well, errands to run, wife & cat to annoy, so...
Thanks for the thread, Perfessor. Always a pleasure.
Have a good one, gang.
Thanks for the thread, Perfessor. Always a pleasure.
Have a good one, gang.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 13, 2025 11:43 AM (q3u5l)
175
'Bout time for me to get off the couch and do some chores, I guess. Thanks to the Perfessor and to all of you for a fine Book Thread!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 11:43 AM (omVj0)
176
Currently reading The Body Keeps the Score (I'm burned out about 10-30 years away from retirement) & Peter Zeihan's the End of the World is Just the Beginning which provides some context as to why Trump is pursuing tariffs right now.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at April 13, 2025 11:59 AM (qwx/I)
177
Just make him gay.
Problem solved.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 13, 2025 11:28 AM (bNJTc)
All right, I am going to put an end to this discussion, because there is nothing to discuss. On my way home from the gym, I popped into Bad Billy's looking for a man I was hoping was in the bathroom. I had a quick sherry with my French polisher and then I left. As for how I got into another man's shorts, that is no one's business!
Problem solved.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 13, 2025 11:28 AM (bNJTc)
All right, I am going to put an end to this discussion, because there is nothing to discuss. On my way home from the gym, I popped into Bad Billy's looking for a man I was hoping was in the bathroom. I had a quick sherry with my French polisher and then I left. As for how I got into another man's shorts, that is no one's business!
Posted by: Peter Parker at April 13, 2025 12:00 PM (R/m4+)
178
OUR EXPAT HAS A NOOD
Posted by: Skip at April 13, 2025 12:01 PM (ypFCm)
179
Nood. The frog has jumped. I say again, the frog has jumped.
Posted by: Duncanthrax at April 13, 2025 12:04 PM (0sNs1)
180
If you missed it, I highly recommend the post by our own Lex before the Saturday ONT, The Clever and The Good: Screenwriting and Storytelling in Mainstream American Cinema. https://ace.mu.nu/archives/414297.php
While specifically focused on screenwriting, the need for dramatic purpose applies just as much to book writing as screenwriting.
While specifically focused on screenwriting, the need for dramatic purpose applies just as much to book writing as screenwriting.
Posted by: Candidus at April 13, 2025 12:05 PM (RJNKN)
181
This week I finished listening to Brothers of Valor, the final (*) book in the Man of War series by H. Paul Honsinger. Fun scifi, enjoyed it on my commutes. The trilogy ends with our heroes having completed their mission but with their ship dead behind enemy lines and the war very much ongoing.
* Unfortunately the author died of covid in 2020(?) so I guess we won't see anymore (I imagine this wasn't supposed to be the end, anyway)
Also FINALLY finished Titus Groan, and it was a slog. Don't imagine I'll be reading more of Gormenghast any time soon.
This week I've started listening to A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay, and am reading a few short stories in a big collection of Ray Bradbury before going on to another novel.
* Unfortunately the author died of covid in 2020(?) so I guess we won't see anymore (I imagine this wasn't supposed to be the end, anyway)
Also FINALLY finished Titus Groan, and it was a slog. Don't imagine I'll be reading more of Gormenghast any time soon.
This week I've started listening to A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay, and am reading a few short stories in a big collection of Ray Bradbury before going on to another novel.
Posted by: tintex at April 13, 2025 02:36 PM (sBl13)
182
The Pursuit of the Pankera.
I have 43 Heinlein paperbacks on the top shelf on one of the bedroom bookcases, and I thought I was done with _Grumbles from the Grave_.
If it's not to thick, I can squeeze it in.
I have 43 Heinlein paperbacks on the top shelf on one of the bedroom bookcases, and I thought I was done with _Grumbles from the Grave_.
If it's not to thick, I can squeeze it in.
Posted by: buddhaha at April 13, 2025 06:26 PM (y0bUn)
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 13, 2025 07:51 PM (kpS4V)
Processing 0.04, elapsed 0.0379 seconds.
14 queries taking 0.0098 seconds, 191 records returned.
Page size 146 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.
MuNuvians
MeeNuvians
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement
Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band
AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection
AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings)
George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement
Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band
AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection
AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings)
George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer
Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica
New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network
Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes
Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse
Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party"
Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad
Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up
Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry
NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom
Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?"
Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind
All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd
Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran
Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore
Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery
Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile
Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance
Collective Names for Groups of People
John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets
Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle
Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy
Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive"
Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments
John Edwards Campaign Excuses
John Kerry Pick-Up Lines
Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney
Torments in Dog-Hell
Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
News/Chat