Sunday Morning Book Thread - 6-8-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (NOT the sequel to The Deplorable Gourmet. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(why do the laundry instructions require a stick of butter?)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

This is from the Provincetown Public Library in Provincetown, MA. It's a former church that was converted into a library many years ago. The half-scale replica of the Rose Dorothea was too big to remove easily, so now it's a part of the library. Neat! Reminds me of the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus library, which has ship *parts*, but doesn't have a replica of an entire ship.

MURDER MYSTERY TWIST

++++++++++

++++++++++

POP QUIZ! IT PAYS TO INCREASE YOUR WORD POWER

In the interests of full disclosure, I did pretty well up through number 17. The last three (18-20) were tough for me. I only made it due to process of elimination.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Reading wise, I started Nancy J. Cohen's Writing the Cozy Mystery. It's charming in and of itself, and a nifty little advertisement for her series, but it offers some excellent advice for character, setting and plot development that can apply across all genres.
Posted by: moki at June 01, 2025 09:34 AM (wLjpr)

Comment: Moki makes a great point about writing advice. Even if you find a book about writing that applies to a specifc genre (e.g., "cozy mystery"), chances are the writing tips can apply to any genre, as characters, settings, plots, etc., are all relevant for writing great stories. You still need to know the characteristics of a given genre so that you can writin within those genres. Especially if you want to mix-and-match genres, like a cozy mystery set aboard a space station.

+++++

I just read The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons, a Sherlock Holmes adventure. Bought it because it was offered for two bucks on kindle, I have know idea who Dan Simmons is, but it seems he is a somewhat popular and prolific writer. No idea why he was writing a Holmes story, but it was a good one, entertaining.
In spring, 1893, Holmes interrupts the author Henry James contemplating suicide, and enlists his help in determining whether the historian Henry Adam's wife was murdered, and also to prevent the assassination of Grover Cleveland and a number of other world leaders by a group of anarchists. Most of the main characters are literary and political figures of the time.
In telling the story, the author seems to be enjoying himself pontificating rather snarkily on the writers of the time and playing with author's perspective and the like.
All in all a fun read, light and airy. May have to check out some of this guy's other stuff.
Posted by: From about That Time at June 01, 2025 09:46 AM (n4GiU)

Comment: Dan Simmons is one of those authors who is not afraid to write in any genre he feels like. He's best known for his science fiction series The Hyperion Cantos, but he's also written in the horror genre and clearly the mystery genre as well. Simmons has a strong background in English literature, so I suppose it's not surprising that he'd be conversant with numerous genres and write accordingly. Hyperion, for instance, is basically The Canterbury Tales in space, with tons of literary references to Chaucer's work, as well as numerous other authors (one of the pilgrims is a poet).

MORE MORON RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE: AoSHQ - Book Thread Recommendations

+-----+-----+-----+-----+

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg

Valentine wakes up on the banks of a river on the other side of the continent furthest from his home. He's the exiled legitimate ruler of the planet, but his soul has been placed in a different body. Now he has to make his way across tens of thousands of miles of dangerous, hostile terrain to reclaim his rightful role as Coronal of the gigantic planet Majipoor.

Although this series is labeled as "science fiction," I think "science fantasy" is more appropriate. Humans traveled to Majipoor thousands of years ago and conquered the planet, but now they live in a quasi-medieval society, having forgotten many of their amazing technological skills. There are relatively few signs of "science fiction" elements in this story. They have "energy throwers" (beam weapons) and "floaters" (levitating vehicles), but the vast majority of technology seems to be stuck at late-medieval or Renaissance levels.

This first book is mostly a travelogue of Valentine's adventures across Majipoor as Silverberg guides the reader in witnessing his worldbuilding. It's a very strange, wondrous place, with a mountain 30-miles high as the center of all political power, while a massive underground Labyrinth serves as the source of religious power, and the Isle of Sleep is the center of spirituality.

The Majipoor Chronicles by Robert Silverberg

Silverberg takes a major detour in this book of the series. It's really a collection of short stories with a loose connecting narrative between stories. Hissune, a young boy who Valentine met in the first book, finds his way into the deepest parts of the Labyrinth, where recordings of all citizens' lives are kept. He dives into key stories that are described briefly in the first book so that we see more details.

My favorite story by far--and one that is relevant today--is the story of the Pontifex who decided to abdicate his throne in the most unusual way. The Pontifex is the supreme ruler of the planet. His word is law. Unfortunately, his life is confined to the massive underground Labyrinth and he's unable to leave it for any length of time. One Pontifex gets tired of this. Upon the death of the Lady of Sleep, the Pontifex declares that he's now a woman and appoints himself the new Lady of Sleep. Tradition holds that the Lady of Sleep is the mother of the current Coronal, but the Pontifex can override tradition at will. He succeeds in his mad scheme and lives out the remainder of "her" life on the Isle of Sleep.

Valentine Pontifex by Robert Silverberg

Now we're back to Valentine's story, several years after he's reclaimed the Coronal's throne on Castle Mount, the titanic, 30-mile mountain at the center of Majipoor society. The shapeshifting Metamorphs, the indigenous race of Majipoor, are stirring up trouble by infecting crops with devastating diseases, among other schemes to drive wedges into the stable Majipooran society. Valentine must also deal with the internal politics of being the Coronal, as there's a push to elevate him to Pontifex. By tradition, the Coronal becomes the Pontifex after several years, then lives out his life in the underground Labyrinth. Valentine struggles with this concept because he enjoys the freedom of being Coronal and doesn't want to give that up, as he's only in his early forties at this point.

The Majipoor series has quite a bit of commentary on the roles of power within society. The stable society that currently exists has four major Powers: The Coronal, who basically serves as the political ruler, the Lady of Sleep, who serves as a spiritual guide, the Pontifex, who is the moral center of the culture, and the King of Dreams, who punishes evildoers with terrible nightmares for the rest of their life. Most citizens go quietly about their lives and there are seldom any major problems in society.

I had never read much Silverberg up until this point. I know him mostly as an editor of several anthologies I own. He's an interesting mix of Lord Dunsany, H.P. Lovecraft, Jack Vance, and Michael Moorcock, as you can clearly see their influences in his writing.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 6-1-2025 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.

(100% keto unfriendly)

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Be on the lookout for Metamorphs, who may or may not resemble certain Morons.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at June 08, 2025 08:59 AM (+qU29)

2 Garcia is wasting away again in Margaritaville

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 09:00 AM (m4pkx)

3 Second.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 09:00 AM (m4pkx)

4 Pants and socks

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 09:02 AM (m4pkx)

5 Yawn. Didn't read. Started to. Wanted to. But, didn't. Too much vacation.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 09:03 AM (0eaVi)

6 I shouldn't have been here yet but had a alarm from last week go off.
Reading Rick Atkinson's The Day of the Battle about the Italian campaign in WWII. Its very good and prequel to his Guns at Last Light which covered from D-Day to end of the war.

Posted by: Skip at June 08, 2025 09:03 AM (+qU29)

7 Good morning again morons and thanks Perfesser

My favorite Robert Silverberg is "Those Who Watch"

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 08, 2025 09:04 AM (RIvkX)

8 Does the Rose Dorito have a poop deck?

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 09:05 AM (m4pkx)

9 #17 is incorrect. Ersatz and replica are repetitive.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at June 08, 2025 09:05 AM (mWSu4)

10 Those pants are really disturbing.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 08, 2025 09:05 AM (h7ZuX)

11 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.

Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 09:06 AM (yTvNw)

12 Thanks for the Sunday Morning Book Thread, Perfessor!

That ship within the library looks magnificent. It should fire up childhood imaginations like crazy!

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at June 08, 2025 09:06 AM (rxCpr)

13 I enjoy "The Order of the Stick," but I'm years behind on it. Is it still going?

(For those who don't know, TOOTS -- unfortunate acronym, that -- is the stick figure cartoon. It a webcomic.)

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 08, 2025 09:07 AM (p/isN)

14 I read some of my mail. My new vape juice has letters that are too small to read.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 09:08 AM (m4pkx)

15 Reading The Swordbearers: Supreme Command in the First World War.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 09:08 AM (ITkJX)

16 Great vids, Perfessor. Sadly, I don't have the heart to watch any that long any more. Best to give it a go later.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 09:09 AM (0eaVi)

17 Stayed up late to finish "Flashman's Lady."

The last half of the book relates Fhashman's six months as a slave in Madagascar. He lucked out, being made the commander of the home army. (And the royal stud. Don't tell his feather-headed wife.)

Several unpleasant scenes owe to the prediliction of the queen for mass, messy execution. She's so vicious that even Dr. Doom would blanch.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 08, 2025 09:09 AM (p/isN)

18 I've never read Susanna Clarke but see her mentioned frequently. Saw a short volume of hers, "The Wood At Midwinter". The title caught my attention. Rather disappointing. The story starts in midstream and goes nowhere much. There are a few cute bits with animals and a strong, grim idea of sacrifice. Not inclined to read more of her books if this is typical.

Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 09:10 AM (yTvNw)

19 re #13, Yes "The Order of the Stick" is still going. Up to #1327 now.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at June 08, 2025 09:11 AM (aYnHS)

20 Which war was it where the Polish Cavalry charged the Panzers?

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 09:11 AM (m4pkx)

21 reading the great books using the lecture series offered free from Hillsdale College. Paradise Lost is a very hard read, but with the professor's companion lecture, readable and understandable.

Posted by: Jeff Carter (@pointsnfigures1) at June 08, 2025 09:12 AM (cuE6m)

22 17 - Have you read the rest of them? If so, what's your favorite? Mine is probably Flashman at the Charge.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 09:12 AM (ITkJX)

23 I am reading "A bite-sized history of france Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment," by Stéphane Henaut.

It's mildly interesting as a description of the overlap between history and food, but the the incessant injection of leftist politics and nasty backhanded swipes at anything to the right of Stalin is unpleasant.

It's a book that I would normally buy, but I am sticking to the library e-book.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at June 08, 2025 09:12 AM (mWSu4)

24 I like the replica of the ship in the library. Pretty cool.

Posted by: dantesed at June 08, 2025 09:14 AM (Oy/m2)

25 "Fhashman"? "prediliction"?

Ugh.

So true: The best way to find errors in your writing is to hit Send.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 08, 2025 09:14 AM (p/isN)

26 23 Does it tie in the cheese eating and surrender monkeys?

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 09:15 AM (m4pkx)

27 I came across several references to Madeleine L'Engle recently, especially regarding the Christian aspects of her writing. I read "A Wrinkle in Time" as a teen but don't remember much and surely didn't see any deeper aspects. (The simplicity of callow youth.)

Wondering if Wrinkle and the rest of the series and other books is worth trying in my mature years. Any thoughts?

Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 09:17 AM (yTvNw)

28 Does it tie in the cheese eating and surrender monkeys?

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 09:15 AM (m4pkx)

A bit...France is more interested in food than national pride!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at June 08, 2025 09:17 AM (mWSu4)

29 @19 --

Thanks.

Hmm ... If I were to quit my job and get a high-speed computer ...

Posted by: Weak Geek, dreaming at June 08, 2025 09:18 AM (p/isN)

30 I read a long science fiction book called "Empire of Silence," which is part of the Suneater series, by Christopher Ruocchio. I found it excruciatingly boring, as the narrator is telling us his life story, which is pretty lame, while vaguely referencing future events that he participated in, which sound much more interesting and exciting (destroying a sun, committing a near genocide against humanity's greatest, evil, extraterrestrial enemy, etc.). We never get to hear any detail about those future events, and after 763 pages, I finished the book and said: "Hell, no, I'm not reading 6 more doorstops in this series just to get to the exciting stuff. So, highly not recommended.

In honor of D-Day, I picked up "D-Day Survivor" by Hal Baumgarten. He was in Company A, 116th Regiment, of the 29th Division, which was slaughtered almost to the man at Dog Green sector on Omaha Beach in the invasion's first wave. As depicted in the first 24 minutes of Saving Private Ryan.

The author wanted to make sure he wrote a book in which he named the names of each of his comrades who were killed that day, so that their memory would not be lost. Good book so far.

Good morning, Book Nerdz.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 08, 2025 09:18 AM (/RHNq)

31 good morning Perfessor, Horde

Posted by: callsign claymore at June 08, 2025 09:18 AM (ftcl+)

32
Lacuna chimera!

Wasn't that a jaunty song from Disney's "The Lion King"?

Posted by: naturalfake at June 08, 2025 09:18 AM (iJfKG)

33 Missed one. #19.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 08, 2025 09:22 AM (u82oZ)

34 Morning, Perfessor.

Howdy, Horde.

Silverberg -- read the Majipoors as they came out eons ago, but have never revisited them. Favorite Silverbergs for this kid are DYING INSIDE and THE BOOK OF SKULLS. A lot of his short fiction is terrific too. "To See the Invisible Man" (done on the 80s Twilight Zone), "Flies," "Born with the Dead," and way too many others to list. Many moons ago, my favorites post-Heinlein were Ellison and Zelazny; these days, I'd go with Silverberg. Pick up any of his work written after about '65 and you're probably guaranteed a good read. A lot of the essays in REFLECTIONS AND REFRACTIONS and MUSINGS AND MEDITATIONS aren't too dusty either.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 09:22 AM (q3u5l)

35 Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is the true story of Louis Zamperini, who served as an Army Air Corps B-24 Bombardier in the Pacific during WWII. Louis was always fearless, except he hated to fly. He overcame that fear and discovered he liked being a bombardier. Unbroken tells of Louis' service, the crashing of his plane, the 47 days spent drifting on a decomposing rubber raft until they reached land (during a typhoon), and 2.5 years spent in unspeakable horror as a Japanese POW. It is an amazing story of courage, faith, and despair. The story follows Louis from early childhood through his encounter with a young Franklin Graham. It was through faith that Louis overcame the PTSD and other obstacles that were a result of his combat service and the ravages of the substance abuse he tried as a cure. Louis' post-war life focused on helping others and it was a delight to learn that he was still in great shape when he turned 100 years old. I found myself repeatedly asking how it was that our great nation could not only create such brave men but inspire and compel them to fight for our freedoms and liberty against such great odds. God truly has blessed the USA. Highly recommended reading.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at June 08, 2025 09:22 AM (rxCpr)

36 @22 --

I have read only "Flashman," "Royal Flash," and now "Flashman's Lady." I'm reading them in chronological order and not publication order.

I have them all; the used-book store had most of them, and online shopping provided the rest.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 08, 2025 09:22 AM (p/isN)

37 >> MURDER MYSTERY TWIST

The butler did it.

Posted by: World-renowned mystery writer at June 08, 2025 09:22 AM (l3YAf)

38 I'm annoyed that I missed three of the vocabulary words. I console myself, knowing that I could have spelled them correctly, even if I didn't know their correct definitions.

So, there.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 08, 2025 09:23 AM (h7ZuX)

39 I have them all; the used-book store had most of them, and online shopping provided the rest.
Posted by: Weak Geek
_______
You are in for a treat. There's not a bad one in the lot.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 09:24 AM (ITkJX)

40 On the seventh of May 1915, the Cunard liner Lusitania was hit by a single torpedo fired by U-20 as she was rounding southern Ireland. In Dead Wake, Erik Larson recounts in great detail one of the most infamous nautical disasters in history.

The sinking of the Lusitania did not precipitate the US entering World War I, but it was one of a series of dominoes, culminating in the Zimmerman telegram, that did. Larson recounts the stories of those on board the ship and the submarine, and how an improbable series of events put the ship in the periscope of the Germans.

In the book, Larson details how a single hit caused enough damage to sink the Lusitania in under 30 minutes, and how this event changed lives on every side. Through intensive research, Larson sets the record straight on history that is often misunderstood, even more than a century later.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 09:24 AM (lTGtQ)

41 I'm subbing for Bob this week. Just remember, that ...

Well secluded, I see all.

Posted by: Magenta from NSA at June 08, 2025 09:24 AM (3fCc4)

42 Morning, Book Folken,

I'll need to watch that whole Anthony Horowitz video.

My reading this week: finished Jeff Shaar's To Wake the Giant, a big novel of the year before and just after Pearl Harbor. Shaar has three major viewpoint characters: a Florida teen who signs up for the Navy in 1940 and is assigned to the Arizona; Admiral Yamamoto; and U.S. Sec'y of State Cordell Hull. Roosevelt appears, as do several other historical people. It's a fast mover and his scenes of the actual attack on the Arizona are very effective.

In his afterword, Shaar denies that Roosevelt had any foreknowledge of the impending attack, but he does show in the novel that the U.S. had plenty of warnings and clues, like the Japanese Embassy burning documents in late November, and ignored them.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 09:25 AM (omVj0)

43 I really need to read "The Fifth Heart" by Dan Simmons. I have it in my Kindle, just have had a million other books in line to he read. I loved the Hyperion Cantos, so am thinking his Sherlock Holmes tale will be worthwhile.

Oh, also reading "The Case for Jesus" by Dr. Brant Pitre. He analyzes whether the Gospels were anonymously written, as is contended by such dishonest charlatans such as the execrable hack Bart Ehrman. Dr. Pitre proves, using references in the writings of the Early Church Fathers, that the Gospels were always considered to be written by their named authors, as far back as the first generation after the Apostles. Great book.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 08, 2025 09:26 AM (/RHNq)

44 Currently I'm on one of Loren D. Estleman's mysteries about "film detective" Valentino in modern LA, Vamp, involving a hunt for the missing 1917 Cleopatra w/ Theda Bara. I didn't realize until I was several chapters in that I'd read it already; but I don't recall any of what's to come, so it might as well be brand new to me.

Oh, and this week I finished the first of Child's Jack Reacher series, Killing Floor. Fascinating stuff, and I'll try more.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 09:27 AM (omVj0)

45 POP QUIZ! IT PAYS TO INCREASE YOUR WORD POWER
-

18 out of 20.

That's 18 out of 20 correct, wise guys. I know whom I'm dealing with here.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 08, 2025 09:28 AM (copfg)

46 Which war was it where the Polish Cavalry charged the Panzers?

Posted by: Boss Moss

That was early in WWII, when both Hitler and Stalin were invading.

Since the allies went to war because Poland was invaded, doesn't that mean that the war only ended in 1991, when Poland became free again?

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 09:28 AM (lTGtQ)

47 Reading Matthew Hughes One. Magic is taking over the underlying reality of the Galaxy from Science, technology, and rationalism.

The latest in the highly entertaining Archonate stories and novels. Many deal with a private detective, an inbred aristocracy, a mysterious ruler, and/or crimes. The use of language is sublime. Has a better than Vance Dying Earth feel to the tales.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 08, 2025 09:29 AM (u82oZ)

48 OotS!

Also, why was there a giant model ship in a church?

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at June 08, 2025 09:30 AM (lFFaq)

49 So, earlier in the year I went on a big comic-book buying binge. (I think I have it out of my system, now.) One of the last titles I looked at was "Nothlanders," a comic about Vikings! The genre seemed cool, and I could get the whole series for a good price. But I remembered that I had a trade paperback of the first Northlanders story (Sven the Returned) and figured that I should re-read that story before committing the whole series.

The comic is published by Vertigo, which means its R-rated, graphically violent, and full of gratuitous swearing. The hero is murderous and selfish, and only marginally less evil than the villain. (If he's even less evil at all...) It's only in the last third of his story that he does anything even remotely heroic or noble or selfless, and even then its still only in the context of who he fights against, and how he justifies it. This may be an appropriate style story for a Viking setting, but I hated it, and don't want to spend any more time with it. I did not buy the rest of the comic.

Plus, the art was just...somehow unappealing. Not technically bad, but just off-putting. Can't fully describe why...

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 09:33 AM (Lhaco)

50 In the book, Larson details how a single hit caused enough damage to sink the Lusitania in under 30 minutes
Posted by: Thomas Paine
______

Because it was carrying munitions? Lots of testimony from survivors about a second explosion after the torpedo hit.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 09:33 AM (ITkJX)

51 Silverberg had several stories set in an afterlife where people from various eras interact and have adventures. I can't recall which ones I've read.

I know him primarily as an anthologist, as the Perfessor said. Some of the earliest SF anthologies I read after discovering Heinlein were put together by him.

His Hawksbill Station has an intriguing concept: Political prisoners of a future America are sent back in time, a one-way trip, to a prison colony at a point in the Earth's history where animals have not yet invaded the land. Thus there is no way something they do can affect the future. Food and supplies are sent back at regular intervals, but otherwise they are on their own.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 09:33 AM (omVj0)

52 “ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

James 4:10

Posted by: Marcus T at June 08, 2025 09:33 AM (0Eoy+)

53 Boss Moss WWII but it never happened
They did make a mess of a British infantry in the Peninsula War in Napoleonic era

Posted by: Skip at June 08, 2025 09:34 AM (+qU29)

54 I'll try the Word Power video too. I used to do those quizzes in Reader's Digest when I was a kid, and did pretty well on them.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 09:35 AM (omVj0)

55 I'll never get close to the bottom of my reading pile.
Lately I 'finish' at least 4 or 5 audio books for every 'real' book I read.
The Philadelphia Free Library (free for anyone in PA) has been adding 100's of audio books a week. of course most aren't my type, but I've now got over 400 wishlisted (audiobooks available in system).

Mike Campbell's Heartbreaker is a great autobiography. I'd have gotten a lot more out of it if I had any music background. From a Tom Petty bio one of the biggest things I got out of it, was that Tom ended up hating Stan the drummer. Mike still like Stan.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at June 08, 2025 09:37 AM (KaHlS)

56 18 out of 20.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 08, 2025 09:28 AM

Anybody have 2 they could lend Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey?

Posted by: Duncanthrax at June 08, 2025 09:37 AM (3fCc4)

57 Be on the lookout for Metamorphs, who may or may not resemble certain Morons.

I found one on Twitter yesterday! Had a name one letter off from an unusual Moron name, so I asked if he was the HQ person of that name. He said he was, but further review of his timeline shows that is highly unlikely.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at June 08, 2025 09:38 AM (lFFaq)

58 I finished The Hunter Returns by Jim Kjelgard and David Drake. Drake was asked to finish off a draft of a book by Kjelgaard's estate.
Hawk, the spear maker of a paleolithic tribe that hunts by fire driving wild oxen, is driven out of the tribe for reasons, and he survives along with the woman Willow, who was too injured to follow the tribe by inventing the atlatl, the bow, domesticating dogs, and holing up in a cave. The rest of the tribe under Wolf have a terrible run of bad luck made worse by low numbers and poor decisions.
It is kind of grim, in the way that nomadic hunters have a grim life among tigers, dire wolves and every other predator either hunting or defending their kills from them.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 08, 2025 09:39 AM (D7oie)

59 how did a charlatan like ehrman ever get published, I answered my own question,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:39 AM (bXbFr)

60 And for any fans of Silverberg out there who may have missed it:

Grab a copy of TRAVELER OF WORLDS: CONVERSATIONS WITH ROBERT SILVERBERG. It's worth a look just for his comments on his book collecting habits. Also, if you read ebooks, Subterranean Press has their nine-volume Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg in the Kindle store priced at 2.99 each, which is a steal.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 09:41 AM (q3u5l)

61 I used to do those quizzes in Reader's Digest when I was a kid, and did pretty well on them.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 09:35 AM (omVj0)

Reader's Digest was pretty great, back then. Is it still published? Did it turn woke and gay, like everything else?

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 08, 2025 09:41 AM (h7ZuX)

62 Because it was carrying munitions? Lots of testimony from survivors about a second explosion after the torpedo hit.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba

No, it wasn't carrying enough to cause an explosion of that size. Lusitania carried a few hundred boxes of rifle rounds, and several hundred artillery shells, but those only had the bursting charge, not the propellant. Neither of those would have all gone off simultaneously. The alternating theories are that the nearly empty coal bunkers, full of dust, exploded like a grain elevator, or that the cold water hitting the number one boiler caused it to explode. That latter theory is the most plausible one today.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 09:41 AM (lTGtQ)

63 wouldnt that still cause a branch time line,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:41 AM (bXbFr)

64 I read a book decades ago (title lost to memory) abkut the downing of Yamamoto's plane. It opened with his history and stated that he was angry when he learned that Japan had not broken diplomatic relations with the U.S. before Pearl Harbor. He thought that made the attack dishonorable.

The book ended with the aftermath of the shootdown. The pilot who claimed credit -- and is still credited in Pentagon records for the kill -- turned out not to have done it. How they found the new evidence I don't remember, but it had to do with the angle of the bullets.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 08, 2025 09:42 AM (p/isN)

65 Last week I continued reading the "Justice League of America" comic, from 1990. This included the unofficial cross-over with the "Maze Agency" comic. The story behind that is that artist Adam Hughes originally worked on an indy comic about a private-detective and amateur-detective duo, but then he got scooped up by DC and placed directly on JLA. (He's a good artist, he deserved the promotion) Then, just for fun, he drew the main characters of Maze Agency into a panel of a JLA story. Just a silly reference, and an easter egg to those who actually read MA.

Unless you actually think about the story from the perspective of the MA characters. They come from a story set solidly in the real world. In the JLA comic, they are vacationing at a resort-hotel on a tropical island. An island that turns out to be a living creature, that gets annoyed and flies to another part of the ocean. With the tourists still on it. So, if you imagine the Maze Agency detectives living through that...It'd be like watching Murder She Wrote or Monk and then having an Avengers movie break out in the middle of an episode! I'll bet they were just about to solve a mystery when the island started moving...

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 09:42 AM (Lhaco)

66 Boss Moss WWII but it never happened
They did make a mess of a British infantry in the Peninsula War in Napoleonic era
Posted by: Skip at June 08, 2025 09:34 AM (+qU29)
---
I think it's a confusion of the idea that Polish cavalry DIVISIONS engaged Panzer DIVISIONS, but that wouldn't mean lowering lances and charging tanks. By 1939, everyone knew that cavalry charges were problematic, but in eastern Europe, cavalry was much more mobile than even motorized troops.

"Mounted infantry" was more accurate, and the troopers usually carried modern short rifles (that just about every army ended up issuing the infantry because they were light and handy).

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 09:43 AM (ZOv7s)

67 just like there was a supposed fire on the titanic that started before it left port, that affected the section of the ship where the iceberg struck,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:44 AM (bXbFr)

68 Aw, thanks Perfessor! I'm playing with some cozy type ideas but I have a dozen other things to finish before I start something new!

This week's read is Dean Koontz' Going Home in the Dark, his latest novel (at age 79!) and he has gone scorched earth on the publishing biz. The story is an amalgamation of all his works it seems, but it's the constant asides of the "author" raising havoc with editors, agents, publishers, the changes in the business in the last forty years that are the real entertainment: he's mad as heck and isn't going to take it anymore.

Posted by: moki at June 08, 2025 09:44 AM (wLjpr)

69 Happy Reading all.
Just finished this week The Book of Lost Things and The Land of Lost Things by John Connolly. ‘I loved the first ( cried at the end) and the second had some nice moments but just didn’t connect with me.
I do enjoy the Horowitz/Hawthorne series. I enjoyed that video as in the books Horowitz comes across as big ego guy who hawks his own material in the books.(sure there is a running count somewhere of how many times he mentions his previous work). I like the his last book Close to Death was briefly mentioned in a previous book. I appreciate that helps create the belief that these both are real people who are living today and working together.
So far enjoying the Dresden kind of book Fated by Benedict Jacka and so far so good. ( mage, elementals, and humor)

Posted by: Paisley at June 08, 2025 09:44 AM (ny1NG)

70 20 out of 20. It was open book, right?

Posted by: callsign claymore at June 08, 2025 09:45 AM (ftcl+)

71 or that the cold water hitting the number one boiler caused it to explode. That latter theory is the most plausible one today.
Posted by: Thomas Paine
____

I can't disagree with that. But the Brits denied forever that it was carrying munitions. Maybe they still do. Not sure.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 09:46 AM (ITkJX)

72 as I recall from cryptonomicon, the problem was yamamato's own trajectory, could only have been identified from the broken magic code,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:46 AM (bXbFr)

73 @49 --

Man, I had forgotten "Northlanders." I think I tried it and found it not to my taste.

Vertigo put out some grest titles, but it also had some clunkers.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 08, 2025 09:47 AM (p/isN)

74 I'm up to Q 13 in the word quiz. So far so good.

I observe irrelevantly that the presenter looks a good deal like myself at his age, minus beard and mustache.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 09:48 AM (omVj0)

75 so they had to come up with other ways they could have come across his flight path, yamamoto was a skilled tactician, who was at odds with the radicals in the Control Regime, who were Imperial Japanese Army dominant,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:49 AM (bXbFr)

76 Didn't get as much reading done as usual this week. I spent more time trying to decide what books to sell or donate as I start the painful process of reducing the number of books to a useable and realistic (that is, shelf space) amount. Getting rid of any books feels wrong and somewhat sinful but it has to be done. It has been interesting to realize how my tastes and perceived needs have changed over the decades. Less recent history and culture, less action/adventure except classics, even years of back issues of magazines I will never read again. I have wonderful books on hobbies I no longer, or can't, pursue. Those are easy as our niece and nephew and their families are interested in the topics.

Then there are the books I intend to keep, still a huge number. I'm sure there is a psychology paper that could be written about this process.

Part of the reluctance to downsize is from the realization that it is driven by getting older, realistic but not a very comfortable idea. However, being buried under treasure is still being buried. And the volumes that remain will bring joy and excitement, enough to last for decades.

Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 09:49 AM (yTvNw)

77 Yay book thread! Thank you to whoever recommended Brant Pitre's The Case for Jesus. I'm 2/3 of the way through it and start to speed run it because Pitre is using material and arguments I am quite familiar with and so don't need a detailed explanation. Others, less versed in scripture and ancient manuscripts, do need this patient instruction.

By the time I was in college, I was already a true history nerd, reading Tacitus, Suetonius, Arrian, etc, and while my religion remained ambiguous. I did try to make time with some of the Campus Crusade gals, but fortunately they demurred, otherwise I might have ended up Dutch Reformed! (Praise God I avoided such a terrible fate!)

Anyhow, even then I could see the annual "let's question scripture" shtick was biased an illogical. Pitre hammers this home, and honestly the fight should be called up, but Pitre is still taking an axe handle to Bart Ehrman's scholarship and I'm up for it.

If you want to see the fake scholarship of these people utterly annihilated, this is a great book. It is compact, crisply written, copiously sourced and irrefutable. (cont)

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 09:50 AM (ZOv7s)

78 For the Yamamoto shootdown, there were two Betty's (bombers being used to transport).
One was shot down & crashed over ocean & the other in Jungle.
The pilot who immediately claimed he killed Yamamoto actually did shoot down the 'other' plane. Not sure how long it took for facts to be verified, but it was.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at June 08, 2025 09:51 AM (KaHlS)

79 I suppose it was somewhat similar to the former General Inteliigence Drector, who resigned shortly before 9'11

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:51 AM (bXbFr)

80 The pilot who claimed credit -- and is still credited in Pentagon records for the kill -- turned out not to have done it. How they found the new evidence I don't remember, but it had to do with the angle of the bullets.
Posted by: Weak Geek
_____

I saw some History channel thing on that years ago in which the pilot said he was approaching from a 90 degree angle, thought he had no chance, and was just clearing his guns when he got the lucky hit.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 09:53 AM (ITkJX)

81 who was replaced with a more radical national guard general

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:53 AM (bXbFr)

82 (cont) For those who want a little more specificity, I can give a couple of basic examples. The "Bible scholars" often raise questions about the reliability of Christian scripture, but they never raise these about any other ancient document.

Thus: the Gospels are suspect because they were written after the fact, maybe decades later. Um, like all ancient texts. Suetonius is our best source for the lives of the early Emperors, but he didn't live to be 180. He wrote based on sources long lost to us within the Imperial archives. Similarly, Arrian wrote the best, most comprehensive history of Alexander the Great, but he was no eyewitness, he was using Alexander's war diaries and other records in Alexandria.

Compared to those texts, the Gospels are the gold standard of authenticity, confirming details but with just enough differentiation to confirm different authorship. Ehrman and his type know this, which is why they have break every rule in order to attack them.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 09:54 AM (ZOv7s)

83 the fighter had no reason to be on that intersect course if not for the majic intercept,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:55 AM (bXbFr)

84 What is that ship named? The Rose Dorothea? I loved The Golden Girls! But why are we referencing then in the book thread? Is there a literary Golden Girls expanded universe I've been missing all these years!?!?!

Posted by: Very Confused Moron at June 08, 2025 09:55 AM (JCZqz)

85 I read "Sword of Honor" by Evelyn Waugh. Another great story.

Our hero was a British officer during WWII and stationed at one point in Croatia.

Lesson learned: Anti-fascists are Commies.

Victor Lazlo was a Commie.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at June 08, 2025 09:55 AM (ZmEVT)

86 20 out of 20. No. 19 was a little tough, that was not a word I've run across often, but like the Perfessor I eliminated the others.

I learned how to pronounce "chimera" at last after all these years, too!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 09:56 AM (omVj0)

87 I don't get that argument, the events in the gospel happened in an obscure backwater of the empire, hence tacitus and josephus could see the evidence of early Christianity,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:56 AM (bXbFr)

88 This past week I've been reading an old book I picked up at a used bookstore. _The Vampire in Europe_, by Montague Summers. It's basically a compilation of folk beliefs and vampire anecdotes from other writers going back to ancient Greece.

Summers presents this as if it's proof of vampirism, but then Summers was a really weird guy and may have been conducting a decades-long Andy Kaufman bit in which he pretended to believe in witches, vampires, werewolves, magic, etc. He was an Anglican minister who converted to Catholicism and then claimed to be a Catholic priest but probably wasn't. Also very gay.

His scholarship is good (though I grow a bit weary of long untranslated passages in Greek), but as I said, entirely uncritical. Anyway, entertaining book.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 08, 2025 09:57 AM (78a2H)

89 I read Out of the Dark by Gregg Hurwitz. This is the fourth book in the Orphan X series. Evan Smoak, Orphan X, hunts the President for a past act of treason while trying to stay alive from both an LA drug dealer and Orphan A, who was sent by the President to eliminate him. An action-packed thriller.

Posted by: Zoltan at June 08, 2025 09:57 AM (SQp7G)

90 I can't disagree with that. But the Brits denied forever that it was carrying munitions. Maybe they still do. Not sure.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 09:46 AM (ITkJX)
---
From a treaty/international law perspective, it's irrelevant. The Germans should have boarded it and inspected it, and either taken it as a prize or allowed the passengers to leave it and scuttled it once everyone was clear.

But this was not efficient, and so (as in so many other cases) the Germans threw away the rule book, and to this day whine about how everyone points this out.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 09:58 AM (ZOv7s)

91 Montague Summers' name is familiar, but I don't know why. Maybe John Dickson Carr mentioned him in one novel or another.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 09:59 AM (omVj0)

92 Michael Walsh had his attempt at trying to grok lazlo and company's back stories, and where they would end up,
he figured blaine was a minor figure, for the mob, that he and lazlo would end up frst in London and then onto Czechoslovakia,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:59 AM (bXbFr)

93 Good morning Professor and Hordemates.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 08, 2025 10:00 AM (W/lyH)

94 the fighter had no reason to be on that intersect course if not for the majic intercept,

Posted by: miguel cervantes

The US flew daily sorties of P-38s in that same area for weeks afterward in order to make it look like luck instead of code breaking that put our fighters there.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 10:01 AM (lTGtQ)

95 I don't get that argument, the events in the gospel happened in an obscure backwater of the empire, hence tacitus and josephus could see the evidence of early Christianity,
Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 09:56 AM (bXbFr)
---
If you dig into Roman history just for kicks (as I did) and then get into Christianity, you find that there is an abundance of material supporting the existence of Jesus Christ, far more than most Roman generals or politicians.

Thus they have to create impossible standards that no other historical figure can attain. They never explain exactly what would pass their test because no one can. They know full well that much of ancient history depends on one surviving copy of one account. They don't want to pick that fight, but Pitre forces them to.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:02 AM (ZOv7s)

96 37 >> MURDER MYSTERY TWIST

The butler did it.
Posted by: World-renowned mystery writer

In a mystery story I'll never write, there has been a crime in a big fancy mansion. Our detective has interviewed the residence, and is on his way out. As he leaves, his sidekick is expressing his opinions on the case.
"I'm telling you [main character name], the butler did it!"
They open the closet door to retrieve their coats, and a man in black-and-white suit falls face down onto the ground with a knife in his back.
"No, my friend, the butler got it."

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 10:02 AM (Lhaco)

97 The "Polish cavalry charging German tanks" myth has endured because both Allied and German propaganda encouraged it. For the Germans it was "Look how weak and stupid those Poles were, attacking our invincible Panzers!" While for the British it was "Look at how brave and devoted the Poles were, fighting with nothing but horsemen against tanks!"

I wonder if the Russians also encouraged it as a way to discredit the (anticommunist) prewar Polish government?

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 08, 2025 10:02 AM (78a2H)

98 for the hit on Heydrich, it sounds plausible,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 10:03 AM (bXbFr)

99 @ 80 --

That was it. The pilot who actually shot down the plane fired into its side.

What was that book? "Lightning Strike," maybe?

****

I'm leaving the thread early. Oldest son and DIL(!) just arrived for birthday celebrations.

Catch you next week!

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 08, 2025 10:03 AM (p/isN)

100 But this was not efficient, and so (as in so many other cases) the Germans threw away the rule book, and to this day whine about how everyone points this out.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
_______

Efficiency? Or that a single hit from a deck gun on an armed merchantman could sink a sub?

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 10:03 AM (ITkJX)

101 89 I read Out of the Dark by Gregg Hurwitz.
Posted by: Zoltan at June 08, 2025 09:57 AM (SQp7G)

I also read an Orphan X this week: Dark Horse, wherein Smoak comes up against drug cartels. Very exciting and ridiculously improbable, but let's face it--that's what we love about Orphan X.

In this, and the previous, book, Smoak is exploring the concept of family and familial bonding. Since he's an orphan, it is something he missed out on. It's adding additional texture to his adventures.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 08, 2025 10:04 AM (h7ZuX)

102 it would make for an interesting mystery, a little like the film Risen with Joseph Fiennes as an inquisitive Centurion,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 10:04 AM (bXbFr)

103 Victor Lazlo was a Commie.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at June 08, 2025 09:55 AM (ZmEVT)
---
Not necessarily. He was a Czech, and Hitler had been whipping up a war against them for years before Munich. To put it another way, there was a non-Communist anti-Nazi movement that came from conservative (monarchist/nationalist) circles. Like Churchill, for instance.

Waugh's book is brilliant, and second only to Lord of the Rings in its influence on me.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:05 AM (ZOv7s)

104 "Risen", based on a feature film.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at June 08, 2025 10:05 AM (ZmEVT)

105 From a treaty/international law perspective, it's irrelevant. The Germans should have boarded it and inspected it, and either taken it as a prize or allowed the passengers to leave it and scuttled it once everyone was clear.

But this was not efficient, and so (as in so many other cases) the Germans threw away the rule book, and to this day whine about how everyone points this out.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

One thing that really comes out in the book is that the Germans unwittingly did everything possible to bring about their worst case scenario; having the US join the war on the side of the allies.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 10:06 AM (lTGtQ)

106 57 Be on the lookout for Metamorphs, who may or may not resemble certain Morons.

I found one on Twitter yesterday! Had a name one letter off from an unusual Moron name, so I asked if he was the HQ person of that name. He said he was, but further review of his timeline shows that is highly unlikely.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at June 08, 2025 09:38 AM (lFFaq)

This is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: Maya at June 08, 2025 10:06 AM (vm8sq)

107 Since the allies went to war because Poland was invaded, doesn't that mean that the war only ended in 1991, when Poland became free again?

Posted by: Thomas Paine

I believe this is a correct interpretation.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 08, 2025 10:06 AM (/RHNq)

108 little like the film Risen with Joseph Fiennes as an inquisitive Centurion,

Posted by: miguel cervantes

Great flick, very unloved by the critics, which I watch every year at Eastertime.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 08, 2025 10:07 AM (/RHNq)

109 obviously official sources would be reluctant to lend legitimacy to an account that challenged the Emperors divinity no,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 10:08 AM (bXbFr)

110 Got all 20.

JTB at 76 -- You're not alone.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 10:08 AM (q3u5l)

111 I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that the Brits sunk the Luisitania as a ploy to swing the U.S. to their side.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 08, 2025 10:08 AM (p/isN)

112 Efficiency? Or that a single hit from a deck gun on an armed merchantman could sink a sub?
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 10:03 AM (ITkJX)
---
Right, submarines are not effective under the laws of war, so we'll just dump them.

Merchantmen have always been vulnerable to warships, and that is why rules were put in place to protect the vessels and their crews. The very idea of rolling up to a merchant vessel and blasting it out of the water without warning was absurd - until the Germans did it.

It was barbaric, a horrific violation of the first law of the sea: always rescue crews. Always. Never abandon sailors to the sea.

If one wants to argue military expediency, well, German got to find out that other laws can be discarded, too. Enjoy your firebombing, jerks.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:09 AM (ZOv7s)

113 15
‘ Reading The Swordbearers: Supreme Command in the First World War.’

This is one of my favorites. I should read it again.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at June 08, 2025 10:09 AM (+Vfbs)

114 The biggest own goal by Germany in WWI was the idiotic plan to get Mexico to attack the USA thereby keeping them out of the war. Not only was it a stupid plan, but when the Zimmerman telegram was made public, the Germans confirmed it!

That created the wave of sentiment Wilson needed to get Congress to declare war.

One can almost (almost, but not quite) sympathize with Ludendorf -- the German government before and during WWI was run by nincompoops.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 08, 2025 10:09 AM (78a2H)

115 It's another exciting chapter in the story of the 1996 Everest disaster. Jon Krakauer is a talented writer but has a tendency to make things up and just grt other things wrong. He's admitted there are errors in Into Thin Air. Michael Tracy, a climber that has summited Everest, does videos pointing out the errors. Krakauer responds by saying Tracy is trying to destroy him. It's just very strange. I am on Tracy's side, as I have learned a lot from him on logical thinking. We are having the battle of yhe books now, where you compare what other survivors wrote. The latest, if you are interested;
https://tinyurl.com/mry732tr
All Krakauer has to do is say, "I made some mistakes. It was a long time ago and painful for me to relive." He just can't do it. It's his only bit of fame.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 08, 2025 10:10 AM (AcTAo)

116 Tacitus a court historian of sorts would acknowledge the behavior of early Christians, as would Josephus, with his own Imperial entanglements,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 10:11 AM (bXbFr)

117 51 Silverberg had several stories set in an afterlife where people from various eras interact and have adventures. I can't recall which ones I've read.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 09:33 AM (omVj0)

Would that have been "Riverworld"? Never read the books, but I did see the made-for-tv movie on the Sci-Fi channel (back when it actually was the Sci-Fi channel) After they die in the real world, various people wake up on a riverbank and have, well, survive. Samuel Clemens is one of the main characters. While the situation in general is bleak and mysterious, he is secretly thrilled to be having an adventure on a river.

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 10:11 AM (Lhaco)

118 Efficiency? Or that a single hit from a deck gun on an armed merchantman could sink a sub?
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba
______

That is, the most efficient way for a sub to sink a ship was to surface and use its own deck gun, but only if there was not going to be any shooting back. Shells were way more plentiful than torpedoes.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 10:11 AM (ITkJX)

119 35 Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is the true story of Louis Zamperini, who served as an Army Air Corps B-24 Bombardier in the Pacific during WWII.

On my bookshelf, read a decade ago. Concur.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 08, 2025 10:12 AM (vm8sq)

120 One thing that really comes out in the book is that the Germans unwittingly did everything possible to bring about their worst case scenario; having the US join the war on the side of the allies.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 10:06 AM (lTGtQ)
---
CBS News (I know) did a documentary about World War I in the 1960s and you can get it on DVD. It is outstanding, and it does a great job of showing how the US was pushed into war, and really brings home how utterly barbaric the notion of sinking a passenger liner was.

Talk about self-defeating.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:12 AM (ZOv7s)

121 I do Order of the Stick about once every six months. Dude used to do one every day or two. Now it's sometimes three weeks between strips. It's not like it used to be. It's infected. The commenters seem to have all gone trans or weird in some way.
And the story has just gotten stupid. I think the total actual time advanced in the last 2 years is about 3 hours.
On the same theme was the webcomic DM of the Rings. That one I really loved. Unfortunately Shamus passed away and his weird woke daughter took over the site. Last time I looked it was all gone.

Posted by: Reforger at June 08, 2025 10:12 AM (xcIvR)

122 One thing that really comes out in the book is that the Germans unwittingly did everything possible to bring about their worst case scenario; having the US join the war on the side of the allies.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025

***
In her The March of Folly, Barbara Tuchman mentions that Lusitania business as part of the run-up to WWI. Her book also reaches back into history to cover the folly involved in the Trojans' taking the Greek horse statue into the city, and the folly of the Hebrew king (Jeroboam?) who had the chance to solidify all twelve tribes into a nation, and instead promised to "chastise" his subjects "with scorpions."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 10:12 AM (omVj0)

123 I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that the Brits sunk the Luisitania as a ploy to swing the U.S. to their side.

Posted by: Weak Geek

In the book, Larson points out that the British were holding capital ships in harbor, or sending them heavily escorted, while doing almost nothing about the Lusitania, which suggests they were ambivalent at best about her survival. However, if they hoped her sinking would bring the US in, they were mistaken. It took nearly two years from that event before we entered the war. The Zimmerman letter was the breaking point.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 10:12 AM (lTGtQ)

124 how did a charlatan like ehrman ever get published, I answered my own question,

Posted by: miguel cervantes

Anything that is anti-Christianity gets a contract. Especially if it is presented as "OMAGERD! New Information!!!," like the Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus crap that gets peddled every few years, and the "OMAGERD!!! The Lost Gospels of Judas, Peter and Thomas!!!" It's all so shabby and dishonest.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 08, 2025 10:12 AM (/RHNq)

125 Since the allies went to war because Poland was invaded, doesn't that mean that the war only ended in 1991, when Poland became free again?
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 09:28 AM (lTGtQ)

In 1989 Poland elected a non-communist government.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 08, 2025 10:12 AM (vm8sq)

126 They misspelled 'aberration' in number 7.

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at June 08, 2025 10:13 AM (tRYqg)

127 20 of 20. No sweat.

Posted by: Toad-0 at June 08, 2025 10:13 AM (cct0t)

128 The idea that the British sank the Lusitania is kind of stupid, given that the ship sank in May 1915, when the war was less than a year old, and it took another 2 1/2 years for the US to get involved.

The Lusitania didn't get the US into the war. It got the US to declare that continued "unrestricted" U-boat warfare would be considered an act of war against the US. Germany agreed to stop, until 1917 when they were getting too desperate to care.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 08, 2025 10:13 AM (78a2H)

129 Would that have been "Riverworld"? Never read the books, but I did see the made-for-tv movie on the Sci-Fi channel (back when it actually was the Sci-Fi channel) After they die in the real world, various people wake up on a riverbank and have, well, survive. Samuel Clemens is one of the main characters. While the situation in general is bleak and mysterious, he is secretly thrilled to be having an adventure on a river.
Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025

***
Riverworld and its sequels were by Philip Jose Farmer, a contemporary of Silverberg's.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 10:14 AM (omVj0)

130 Eventually I will finish the John Quincy Adams bio when things settle down a bit.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 08, 2025 10:14 AM (vm8sq)

131 That is, the most efficient way for a sub to sink a ship was to surface and use its own deck gun, but only if there was not going to be any shooting back. Shells were way more plentiful than torpedoes.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at June 08, 2025 10:11 AM (ITkJX)
---
That documentary I talked about has footage from an Austrian sub commander who was an amateur filmmaker. The way it worked was the sub would surface, fire a warning shot. The crew would get into the lifeboats while the captain would go aboard the submarine.

The ship would then either be scuttled or sunk with the deck gun.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:14 AM (ZOv7s)

132 58 I finished The Hunter Returns by Jim Kjelgard and David Drake. Drake was asked to finish off a draft of a book by Kjelgaard's estate.
Hawk, the spear maker of a paleolithic tribe that hunts by fire driving wild oxen, is driven out of the tribe for reasons, and he survives along with the woman Willow, who was too injured to follow the tribe by inventing the atlatl, the bow, domesticating dogs, and holing up in a cave. The rest of the tribe under Wolf have a terrible run of bad luck made worse by low numbers and poor decisions.
It is kind of grim, in the way that nomadic hunters have a grim life among tigers, dire wolves and every other predator either hunting or defending their kills from them.
Posted by: Kindltot at June 08, 2025 09:39 AM (D7oie)

That sounds...bleaker than the standard Jim Kjelgaard fare! But I guess most of what I've read from him are his boy-and-his-dog stories, which are aimed squarely at the youth market. Which reminds me that I have two books of his that I bought last year (a lot of 8 used books) that I still need to read...

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 10:15 AM (Lhaco)

133 how did a charlatan like ehrman ever get published, I answered my own question,

Posted by: miguel cervantes
---
A friend of mine who is agnostic used to read him, but stopped because "He's just writing the same book under a different name every two years or so. It gets old."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:16 AM (ZOv7s)

134 Waiting on the Perfessor to comment on Riverworld, he persuaded me to read it!

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at June 08, 2025 10:17 AM (KaHlS)

135 I sometimes wonder if it might have been better if we had never gotten involved in WWI.

Posted by: Toad-0 at June 08, 2025 10:17 AM (cct0t)

136 wow ok! so you've mentioned two of my favorite authors today! exciting!

Silverberg is so so underrated. and yes it's fantasy more than sci-fi. love love love him

Simmons is all over the place, very scary horror, intriguing and complex sci-fi, and historical fiction THAT I ACTUALLY LIKE.

he's persona non grata now so you can get his books cheap for kindle - but I try to buy physical copies at full price to support him. he's been un-personed by the left for going on a (non-serious) rant on Reddit that people did not like, and they smeared him by pretending he was being serious. it's a long story. basically he was extremely non-PC on purpose to rile the Redditors up, and it really freaking worked.

I've loved every book of his I've read and I have a couple left to get to.

about to try Little Heaven again by Nick Cutter which everyone says is so great, but so far I'm eh. after the atrocious Conclave book I'd like to read something good! might have to re-read Silverberg!

Posted by: Black Orchid at June 08, 2025 10:17 AM (Pv3Rg)

137 Oops, no, the Hebrew King who promised to chastise his subjects with scorpions was Rehoboam, a son of Solomon.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 10:18 AM (omVj0)

138 A friend of mine who is agnostic used to read him, but stopped because "He's just writing the same book under a different name every two years or so. It gets old."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:16 AM (ZOv7s)

Sort of like these "book one of forty-eight" fantasy series writers?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 10:19 AM (0eaVi)

139 In the book, Larson points out that the British were holding capital ships in harbor, or sending them heavily escorted, while doing almost nothing about the Lusitania, which suggests they were ambivalent at best about her survival.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 10:12 AM (lTGtQ)
---
Capital ships are targets for u-boat, not deterrents.

There was no precedent for sinking a passenger vessel.

Munitions or not, it was an atrocity. Never, never, never abandon men to the sea, let alone women and children.

Our age is so numbed that we cannot appreciate that visceral outrage of that barbarous act.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:19 AM (ZOv7s)

140 18 of 20 on that quiz. Not too shabby. The two I missed I had never heard or read before, so I just increased my vockle-berry (which is how my little sister used to say it)

Posted by: Pug Mahon at June 08, 2025 10:19 AM (0aYVJ)

141 I just saw the book covers of the Valentine series, and I realized it's been probably 20 years since I read them. So onto the pile they go.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at June 08, 2025 10:21 AM (0aYVJ)

142 Sort of like these "book one of forty-eight" fantasy series writers?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 10:19 AM (0eaVi)
---
Nah, worse. Those are just endless takes on a fun setting or character, whereas Ehrman acts like he has no information, but doesn't.

My friend said that one of his really annoying tics was coming up with a hypothesis that is completely unsupported, and then running with it as if it was true.

Um, no. This started as a hypothetical, it doesn't become fact without evidence.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:21 AM (ZOv7s)

143 On book 12, The Gathering Storm, of the Wheel of Time. I'm doing a combination audible and reading. Actually works well for me for this series since it's so long. My oldest is off to college, 6+ hours away, in August and the spawn has Nationals next month, the audio books are good for road trips.

Posted by: lin-duh at June 08, 2025 10:21 AM (VCgbV)

144 Many U boat captains weren't all that thrilled about using torpedoes against merchant ships. One that I didn't know about until reading the book was Georg Von Trapp, who was a successful Austro Hungarian submarine captain in WWI before becoming the famous head of the Von Trapp singers.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 10:22 AM (lTGtQ)

145 135 I sometimes wonder if it might have been better if we had never gotten involved in WWI.

Posted by: Toad-0 at June 08, 2025 10:17 AM (cct0t)

Screw that. How about if the world would have been better off had WWI not happened, period.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 08, 2025 10:22 AM (vm8sq)

146 Horse born cavalry still offers a tactical advantage in some IW situations. Just ask ODA 595 who took Mazar i Sharif with an NA element (two and another ODA in the final assault) on horseback against a bunch of T72’s and some other armor.

Posted by: Marcus T at June 08, 2025 10:23 AM (0Eoy+)

147 I sometimes wonder if it might have been better if we had never gotten involved in WWI.

Posted by: Toad-0 at June 08, 2025 10:17 AM (cct0t)
---
Hard to say. Hypotheticals abound. The problem is that Germany was so mindlessly stupid (in so many ways) that it was pretty much a fait accompli in the end. Ol' Woodrow is said to have cried like a baby when Congress declared war. A deeply flawed man, but he really didn't want to get into it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:23 AM (ZOv7s)

148 There was a sequel to "Fire Hunter"? I loved that book growing up. One reason why I learned to love reading at an early age.

Posted by: Toad-0 at June 08, 2025 10:24 AM (cct0t)

149 Grab a copy of TRAVELER OF WORLDS: CONVERSATIONS WITH ROBERT SILVERBERG. It's worth a look just for his comments on his book collecting habits. Also, if you read ebooks, Subterranean Press has their nine-volume Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg in the Kindle store priced at 2.99 each, which is a steal.

thank you so much, Just!

Posted by: Black Orchid at June 08, 2025 10:24 AM (Pv3Rg)

150 Many U boat captains weren't all that thrilled about using torpedoes against merchant ships. One that I didn't know about until reading the book was Georg Von Trapp, who was a successful Austro Hungarian submarine captain in WWI before becoming the famous head of the Von Trapp singers.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 08, 2025 10:22 AM (lTGtQ)
---
Which is why the Nazis want to put him back to work, needing experienced officers to rebuild the Kriegsmarine.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:25 AM (ZOv7s)

151 Tuchman's criteria for folly were that it had to be a decision of a committee or group rather than of a single ruler, that it had to be recognized as counter-productive by some in its own time and not just later, and that a feasible alternative had to be available and recognized as such. The Rehoboam scenario violated the first, and the Trojan Horse violated the corollary of the first that the folly had to persist over more than one political lifetime. Still, they are classic examples.

Her book also deals with Britain losing the American colonies, and America losing in Vietnam. The Trojan Horse story is the most fascinating, though.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 10:25 AM (omVj0)

152 20 out of 20. That vocabulary test was too easy. Don't know if that says something about the test or me.

Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 10:25 AM (yTvNw)

153 The last one "lacuna" killed my perfect streak. Finished the Henry IV biography and recommend it. The man led a very eventful life and the author (Ian Mortimer) does a great job of letting you know who was related to who and why that really mattered in medieval society. The fights in his parliaments are also very clearly explained.

Posted by: who knew at June 08, 2025 10:26 AM (+ViXu)

154 Nah, worse. Those are just endless takes on a fun setting or character....

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:21 AM (ZOv7s)

I dunno. What you wrote above sounds like those "book one of forty-eight" fantasy series to me.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 10:26 AM (0eaVi)

155 Horse born cavalry still offers a tactical advantage in some IW situations. Just ask ODA 595 who took Mazar i Sharif with an NA element (two and another ODA in the final assault) on horseback against a bunch of T72’s and some other armor.
Posted by: Marcus T at June 08, 2025 10:23 AM (0Eoy+)
---
On the open plain, they are very much superior. No need for fuel, you can have them graze at the end of the days' ride. Breakdowns are solved by remounts, and you can throw them as screens, use them as scouts, or punch through and raid deep into enemy territory.

See also: Russo-Polish War 1919.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:27 AM (ZOv7s)

156 Screw that. How about if the world would have been better off had WWI not happened, period.
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 08, 2025 10:22 AM (vm8sq)

All Britain had to do was let Bill have a little time in the sun. But, they couldn't.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 10:28 AM (0eaVi)

157 I finally watched the Sound of Music a ways back. I coulldn't get through the Dick Van Dyke as a chimney sweep one though.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 10:29 AM (m4pkx)

158 On the same theme was the webcomic DM of the Rings. That one I really loved. Unfortunately Shamus passed away and his weird woke daughter took over the site. Last time I looked it was all gone.
Posted by: Reforger at June 08, 2025 10:12 AM (xcIvR)

If I'm thinking of the right comic, I have fond memories of DM of the Rings.
[Gimli addresses the Rohirrim] "Give me you're name, horsef----ers, and I shall give you mine."
[All Rohirrim point spears at Gimli]
DM: "What the hell?"
Gimli: "I rolled a 1 on diplomacy."

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 10:29 AM (Lhaco)

159 20 out of 20. That vocabulary test was too easy. Don't know if that says something about the test or me.
Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025

***
JTB, I'm glad you said it. It was fairly easy for anybody who actually *reads* something other than tweets and Instagram posts.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 10:29 AM (omVj0)

160 Riverworld and its sequels were by Philip Jose Farmer, a contemporary of Silverberg's.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 10:14 AM (omVj0)

Ah, I stand corrected.

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 10:30 AM (Lhaco)

161 Her book also deals with Britain losing the American colonies, and America losing in Vietnam. The Trojan Horse story is the most fascinating, though.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 10:25 AM (omVj0)
---
Vietnam was a lot more complex than people think. Anyone who thinks that US abandonment of Vietnam would have been cost-free are remarkably ignorant of history. To run the counterfactual, one has to pick a date and then look at the Cold War at that time.

I'm not saying that we had the best possible outcome (HAH! NOT!) but that it must be weighed against other ones fairly.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:30 AM (ZOv7s)

162 Tuchman, is a flawed account, we ventured into Vietnam, because of the Diem coup, which was prompted by bad intel, as Moyar noted, and then there were instances when we could have course corrected but didn't because narrative,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at June 08, 2025 10:30 AM (bXbFr)

163 I think the British called mounted infabtry Dragoons.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 10:31 AM (m4pkx)

164 17 out of 20 isn't too bad for a computer software nerd.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at June 08, 2025 10:31 AM (ZmEVT)

165 152

As it is with most multiple-choice tests, you can significantly improve your odds by eliminating the answers that are obviously wrong.

Posted by: Toad-0 at June 08, 2025 10:31 AM (cct0t)

166 17, The older I get the more I realize I don't know.
Quite a few options in the last 5, I've never seen used in print. I will look up something I don't understand!

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at June 08, 2025 10:31 AM (KaHlS)

167 We lost a potential ally when bin ladn murdered Ahmad Shah Masoud on 9/10/01.

Posted by: Eromero at June 08, 2025 10:32 AM (jgmnb)

168 20/20 for the vocab video but I will raise an objection. "Metastasize" is the applicable verb for most modern art.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 08, 2025 10:32 AM (/y8xj)

169 I'm not saying that we had the best possible outcome (HAH! NOT!) but that it must be weighed against other ones fairly.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:30 AM (ZOv7s)

We won, but the press and democrats gave it away.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 10:32 AM (0eaVi)

170 I finally watched the Sound of Music a ways back. I coulldn't get through the Dick Van Dyke as a chimney sweep one though.
Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 10:29 AM (m4pkx)
---
The Sound of Music was always on broadcast TV over the holidays. After a feast, the Lloyd cousins would pile into the den and watch it while the menfolk discussed boring things in the living room and the women cluttered about the kitchen.

Very much a slice of Americana that I miss.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:33 AM (ZOv7s)

171 Europe had been killing their generations every generation since the 100 years war. Probably well before that.
These 80 some years since WW2 has been the longest mostly peaceful period in European History. I don't know how they can stand it. They now have about 5 generations who never experienced blood soaked ground.

Posted by: Reforger at June 08, 2025 10:33 AM (xcIvR)

172 Would that have been "Riverworld"? Never read the books, but I did see the made-for-tv movie on the Sci-Fi channel (back when it actually was the Sci-Fi channel) After they die in the real world, various people wake up on a riverbank and have, well, survive. Samuel Clemens is one of the main characters. While the situation in general is bleak and mysterious, he is secretly thrilled to be having an adventure on a river.
Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 10:11 AM (Lhaco)

Riverworld was Philip Jose Farmer, IIRC. I think he wrote a sequel or two, and then handed the concept off to the "community" to play with.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 08, 2025 10:33 AM (MtQPR)

173 Quite a few options in the last 5, I've never seen used in print. I will look up something I don't understand!
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at June 08, 2025 10:31 AM (KaHlS)

Same. And I do read, lots!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 08, 2025 10:34 AM (h7ZuX)

174 Silverberg has also written some good nonfiction. He wrote one about Ethiopia called THe Kingdom of Prester John which was very interesting.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 08, 2025 10:34 AM (78a2H)

175 The fun of the vocabulary quiz was seeing if the word I was thinking of to fill the blank was one of the choices offered. Should have counted that -- think I did around half.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 10:34 AM (q3u5l)

176 You people and your 20 out of 20. You deserve my obloquy!

If I had a few more seconds to think....

But, I knew the correct answer on a few of them before he even posted the choices. So, there.

(grumble grumble kicks rock)

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 10:35 AM (0eaVi)

177 Late, so comment and then go back and read what everyone had to say.
Obloquy was the only one that stumped me but that video took forever.
Started book 3 in Pierce Browns Sci Fi thriller series Red Rising titled Morning Star. The action starts right from page one with our hero in dire straits, reflecting the cliff hanger ending of book 2. If you like non stop action, Sci Fi space operas and continuity in the story telling, read these books. The story is pretty, much narrated by the main character so doesn't jump around from chapter to chapter.
Didn't do a lot of reading this week though. Have to get back into my routine.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at June 08, 2025 10:35 AM (t/2Uw)

178 These 80 some years since WW2 has been the longest mostly peaceful period in European History. I don't know how they can stand it. They now have about 5 generations who never experienced blood soaked ground.
Posted by: Reforger at June 08, 2025 10:33 AM (xcIvR)
---
It was "mostly" peaceful, but there was the Hungarian Uprising, Prague Spring, Yugoslav devolution, Serbian bombing and now Ukraine is pretty intense. Plus their cities are awash in migrant crime. Something has got to give.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:36 AM (ZOv7s)

179 “ On the open plain, they are very much superior. No need for fuel, you can have them graze at the end of the days' ride. Breakdowns are solved by remounts, and you can throw them as screens, use them as scouts, or punch through and raid deep into enemy territory.

See also: Russo-Polish War 1919.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:27 AM (ZOv7s)”

The Poles were masters at continued use of warfare tactics some had tried to discard as outdated. Horse borne elements was just one of them. Even today the Polish SF are creative, tough bubbas. Also if you haven’t already, read up on the Soviets in Afghanistan. They faced horse borne troops a lot. I know because I spoke with some of them.

Posted by: Marcus T at June 08, 2025 10:37 AM (0Eoy+)

180 175 The fun of the vocabulary quiz was seeing if the word I was thinking of to fill the blank was one of the choices offered. Should have counted that -- think I did around half.
Posted by: Just Some Guy

That's what caused my first miss, was surprised that only a few of the words I expected were in the options.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at June 08, 2025 10:37 AM (KaHlS)

181 Also, procrastinate was better than dawdle.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at June 08, 2025 10:38 AM (t/2Uw)

182 I got all the words but lacuna! silly me I always just kind of slide over that word and I'm glad to finally know what it actually means!

Posted by: Black Orchid at June 08, 2025 10:38 AM (Pv3Rg)

183 In future reading news, I have a small pile of Graham Greene books that arrived last week. As soon as I finish Pitre, I will dig into it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:39 AM (ZOv7s)

184 I finally watched the Sound of Music a ways back. I coulldn't get through the Dick Van Dyke as a chimney sweep one though.
Posted by: Boss Moss

Mary Poppins

Posted by: Tuna at June 08, 2025 10:40 AM (lJ0H4)

185 "Mostly peaceful" generally means "not peaceful" today.

Posted by: Toad-0 at June 08, 2025 10:40 AM (cct0t)

186 174 Silverberg has also written some good nonfiction. He wrote one about Ethiopia called THe Kingdom of Prester John which was very interesting.
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 08, 2025 10:34 AM (78a2H)

The legend of Prester John is a funny one. He leads a faraway Christian Kingdom....Maybe in Africa, maybe in the middle of Asia. Because, you know, those two locations are really similar and easy to mix up...

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 10:41 AM (Lhaco)

187 Good morning fellow bibliophages.

I'm currently enjoying Liane Moriarty's "Here One Moment". A woman on a short domestic flight from Hobart to Sydney gets up from her seat and proceeds to point at each passenger and crew member and declare their age at and cause of death. Most dismiss her as a loon but some are rattled to their core. But their lives go on as normal, until one young passenger dies exactly as predicted. And then another, and another.

Moriarty is great at deftly sketching out characters with dialog and acerbic comments, but then surprising you with their hidden depths.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 08, 2025 10:43 AM (kpS4V)

188 I missed ersatz obiloquoy and lacuna.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 10:43 AM (m4pkx)

189 The legend of Prester John is a funny one. He leads a faraway Christian Kingdom....Maybe in Africa, maybe in the middle of Asia. Because, you know, those two locations are really similar and easy to mix up...
Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 10:41 AM (Lhaco)

Seems there was a pretty strong current of belief in his existence, wherever his kingdom might be.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 08, 2025 10:43 AM (MtQPR)

190 Recently I read about a book by a reporter for one of the big liberal papers -- NYT, WaPo, etc. -- about the COVID epidemic and how disillusioned he got about the spin and outright lies his paper was publishing. But I can't remember who it was or what the book was called. Anybody got any hints?

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 08, 2025 10:45 AM (78a2H)

191 This week's foray into classic, highly intellectual literature is "Casca: The Nationalist" by Tony Roberts.

Number 62 in this long-running historical military action series, which recounts the adventures of Casca Rufio Longinius, cursed by Christ on the Cross to remain a soldier until the Second Coming.

It's 1936 and Casca is in the Spanish Army in Morocco, enjoying being a simple soldier for while, when word comes that there has been a coup against the leftist government, and his unit is shipping out for mainland Spain. Having gotten a great dislike for Communists in 1917 Russia, Casca approves.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 08, 2025 10:46 AM (cnmiW)

192 I recall the Prester John thing, and borrowed a book from the library to read, but it was written by a historian to be read by other historians. It was dry and boring, so I said, eh, and moved on.

Learning that Silverberg wrote about Prester John has reawakened that interest.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at June 08, 2025 10:46 AM (0aYVJ)

193 17 out of 20 is an 85.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 10:47 AM (m4pkx)

194 Seems there was a pretty strong current of belief in his existence, wherever his kingdom might be.

Because they stole my map!

Posted by: Hecataeus Of Miletus at June 08, 2025 10:48 AM (KaHlS)

195 I've begun reading Too Much the Lion by Preston Lewis, an historical novel about the Civil War Battle of Franklin, the title referring to Confederate General John Bell Hood. This is one of those books in which there are no fictional characters, the only other novel I know of that does this is Robert Graves' I, Claudius. In this book, he is twice forced to fictionalize names because the characters, although real people, have not had their full names recorded in history. Lewis is known as a YA author and this may be intended as a YA novel. This is an engaging and tragic novel of the Confederate army marching to its destruction.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, And You're Not at June 08, 2025 10:50 AM (L/fGl)

196 Idaho Spudboy that sounds like something I would double like, bit of historical fiction and kind of time traveling

Posted by: Skip at June 08, 2025 10:50 AM (+qU29)

197 With apologies to Muldoon:

A young man from Provincetown, Mass.
Had testicles made out of brass.
When he clanged them together,
They played "Stormy Weather";
And sparks flew out of his ass!

Posted by: scottst at June 08, 2025 10:52 AM (qcvs8)

198 Though have to gp to work this evening and a few things to do outside, it's nice enough out to take awhile and read on the deck

Posted by: Skip at June 08, 2025 10:53 AM (+qU29)

199 A friend of mine who is agnostic used to read him, but stopped because "He's just writing the same book under a different name every two years or so. It gets old."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Ehrman has a book called "Misquoting Jesus" which is a very dishonest look at Jesus' quotes in the Gospels.

Edward Andrews has written a book called "Misrepresenting Jesus: Debunking Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus," which I am about to start reading after I finish "The Case for Christ."

Posted by: Sharkman at June 08, 2025 10:54 AM (/RHNq)

200 I got 19 and 20 wrong and admittedly got 17 and 18 right by elimination.

Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 10:55 AM (VofaG)

201 The legend of Prester John is a funny one. He leads a faraway Christian Kingdom....Maybe in Africa, maybe in the middle of Asia. Because, you know, those two locations are really similar and easy to mix up...
Posted by: Castle Guy at June 08, 2025 10:41 AM (Lhaco)
---
In medieval England, both would be vaguely 'thataway.'

Recall that in 1914, British troops recalled from India tried to speak Hindi to Belgian peasants because all foreigners are the same.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:57 AM (ZOv7s)

202 The older I get the more I realize I don't know.

-
Well, we can't all be Jasmine Crockett.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, And You're Not at June 08, 2025 10:57 AM (L/fGl)

203 Steven Pressfield has a number of books to help writers and artists become better and to identify practices that will help them with their profession.

I’ve never heard anyone here indicate they have ever read any these books.

Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 10:58 AM (VofaG)

204 Recall that in 1914, British troops recalled from India tried to speak Hindi to Belgian peasants because all foreigners are the same
----

Bloody wogs!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 08, 2025 10:59 AM (kpS4V)

205 182 I got all the words but lacuna! silly me I always just kind of slide over that word and I'm glad to finally know what it actually means!
Posted by: Black Orchid at June 08, 2025 10:38 AM (Pv3Rg)

Listen to us! It won't be a problem...

Posted by: Lacuna Coil at June 08, 2025 10:59 AM (vm8sq)

206 Ehrman has a book called "Misquoting Jesus" which is a very dishonest look at Jesus' quotes in the Gospels.

Edward Andrews has written a book called "Misrepresenting Jesus: Debunking Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus," which I am about to start reading after I finish "The Case for Christ."
Posted by: Sharkman at June 08, 2025 10:54 AM (/RHNq)
---
LOL.

Ehrman is a caricature of himself. An Evangelical turned evangelical atheist, which is the worst kind.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:59 AM (ZOv7s)

207 Lacuna seems Hawaiian.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 10:59 AM (m4pkx)

208 Recall that in 1914, British troops recalled from India tried to speak Hindi to Belgian peasants because all foreigners are the same.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Penguins are just as smart as people who can't speak English.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, And You're Not at June 08, 2025 10:59 AM (L/fGl)

209 IMO PDT Is the most hands on, kick a$$ Prez since Andy Jackson.
When will the alt media release the AI generated whoop azz of PDT kicking ex faux prez FJB azz behind the bleachers?

Posted by: Ray at June 08, 2025 11:00 AM (3+riX)

210 I'll pass on the quiz because "these" appears in the headline, the plural of "this", thus revealing a piss poor headline.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 08, 2025 11:00 AM (vm8sq)

211
From a treaty/international law perspective, it's irrelevant. The Germans should have boarded it and inspected it, and either taken it as a prize or allowed the passengers to leave it and scuttled it once everyone was clear.

But this was not efficient, and so (as in so many other cases) the Germans threw away the rule book, and to this day whine about how everyone points this out.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

-----

The sinking occurred quite close to Britain. Surfacing and carrying out a time-consuming inspection and evacuation of the ship would have subjected the German submarine to detection and attack by the nearby British Navy. I am not commenting on the morality of it.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at June 08, 2025 11:01 AM (ES1Rb)

212 Last year I told my dentist, a very nice young woman, about the Brambly Hedge series. She and her husband have three kids, now 7, 5, and 3 years old. Turns out Brambly Hedge was a huge hit for the whole family. I came across a used copy in great shape of "The Lost Words" by Robert Macfarlane, 2 dollars. A fantastic bargain. At the appointment this week I gave it to her and she was thrilled. The watercolor illustrations are similar in style to the Brambly Hedge paintings, detailed, natural and will fascinate youngsters.

I love being able to share my enthusiasm for books, especially for kids. For a two dollar price tag I felt like a million bucks.

Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 11:01 AM (yTvNw)

213 This week's foray into classic, highly intellectual literature is "Casca: The Nationalist" by Tony Roberts.

Number 62 in this long-running historical military action series, which recounts the adventures of Casca Rufio Longinius, cursed by Christ on the Cross to remain a soldier until the Second Coming.

It's 1936 and Casca is in the Spanish Army in Morocco, enjoying being a simple soldier for while, when word comes that there has been a coup against the leftist government, and his unit is shipping out for mainland Spain. Having gotten a great dislike for Communists in 1917 Russia, Casca approves.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 08, 2025

***
I think I read the first of those many years ago. Anyway, it was about a soldier called Casca cursed by Jesus during the Crucifixion, cursed to eternal life. Seems to me the author was Barry ("Ballad of the Green Berets") Sadler, though. Anybody know if he started the series?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 11:02 AM (omVj0)

214 The fickle context question was the best question as they had flippant in there as a choice which without the context could be defined as a change of opinion also as is the word compliant.

Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 11:03 AM (VofaG)

215 Lacuna seems Hawaiian.
Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025

***
Latin for "lake," thus giving us "lagoon," I think.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 11:03 AM (omVj0)

216 I missed number 19 in the quiz. And number 12 improperly uses the word disinterest. That word does not mean lack of interest.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia's phone at June 08, 2025 11:04 AM (ny95y)

217 The sinking occurred quite close to Britain. Surfacing and carrying out a time-consuming inspection and evacuation of the ship would have subjected the German submarine to detection and attack by the nearby British Navy. I am not commenting on the morality of it.
Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at June 08, 2025 11:01 AM (ES1Rb)
---
Right, and the point of the laws of war was to put a break on the most efficient way of killing in the name of humanity.

In an alternate history, the captain sees the Lusitania, realized that a lawful seizure of the ship is impractical, and nothing happens.

But it is precisely at such moments when morality matters. Do you take prisoners or shoot them? To you execute airmen or put them in camps? How do you treat your prisoners?

Progressives believe violence is a knob that can be fine-tuned to the desired level of conflict. I think it's more of a series of gates, each increasingly close to the other, so that you can get a cascade from scrupulously lawful to utterly ruthless.

Many of recognized this, and Sherman is probably the most well known. It is staggeringly easy to go from saluting a vulnerable opponent and letting them get away to genocide.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:06 AM (ZOv7s)

218 I looked up Barry Sadler. He did indeed start the Casca series, and wrote twenty-two books in it. Other authors have continued it since then.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 11:06 AM (omVj0)

219 No reading for the past couple of weeks. I still have Waugh's Decline and Fall sitting next to me. I'll have to pick it up again this week.

The word quiz was fun. I got 18/20 which I was happy with. I really appreciated hearing the correct pronunciations of a couple of the words as I get tripped up on them.

Thank you, Perfessor, for the Book Thread, and thank you all for making it such a fun and interesting place to visit.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at June 08, 2025 11:06 AM (EnQ0C)

220 Only missed two on the quiz, the last two to be accurate.

I felt bad for a moment, but then realized that most high school grads nowadays probably couldn't get even half right.

Scratch that; college grads.

Posted by: Shinjinrui at June 08, 2025 11:07 AM (xNMCe)

221 I think I read the first of those many years ago. Anyway, it was about a soldier called Casca cursed by Jesus during the Crucifixion, cursed to eternal life. Seems to me the author was Barry ("Ballad of the Green Berets") Sadler, though. Anybody know if he started the series?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 11:02 AM (omVj0)

He did indeed. After his death, the series was carried on by a succession of writers, some more successfully than others.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 08, 2025 11:08 AM (cnmiW)

222 Have never read any of the Casca series, but I believe Barry Sadler did start the series. Had no idea it was still going.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 11:08 AM (q3u5l)

223 Unless you’re a writer I don’t see the purpose of using words to communicate that only one in a hundred know the meaning.

Readers of books though definitely enjoy learning unfamiliar words.

Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 11:09 AM (VofaG)

224 Recently I read about a book by a reporter for one of the big liberal papers -- NYT, WaPo, etc. -- about the COVID epidemic and how disillusioned he got about the spin and outright lies his paper was publishing. But I can't remember who it was or what the book was called. Anybody got any hints?
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 08, 2025 10:45 AM (78a2H)

It's called, Gettin' Old.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at June 08, 2025 11:10 AM (g8Ew8)

225 I like that aos commenters point out some of the flaws of the test.

I don’t know if they are right but aos has to keep up the reputation that any incorrect information will be called out😀.

Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 11:12 AM (VofaG)

226 Hello, book threadies & pimp-hat-tip to Prof S. In recent months, I've usually missed the book thread one way or another. Sometimes I try to catch up later in the day. Sometimes I just check out the pants. Nice to be in it "live" for a change.

About the top pics, "The half-scale replica of the Rose Dorothea was too big to remove easily, so now it's a part of the library." It's been quite a while since my last reading of Moby Dick, but wasn't there a church with a pulpit like a ship's forecastle in the early part of the book? Something like that. Must be time to re-read it.

Posted by: mindful webworker - between the pages at June 08, 2025 11:13 AM (7lLhn)

227 Nicholas Monsarrat, best-known as author of the Cruel Sea, wrote a book,or incipient series, entitled "The Master Mariner", about a sailor who committed an act of cowardice during the battle with the Spanish Armada, and was cursed to live forever as a sailor to expiate his sin.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 08, 2025 11:14 AM (MtQPR)

228 Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is the true story of Louis Zamperini, who served as an Army Air Corps B-24 Bombardier in the Pacific during WWII.

On my bookshelf, read a decade ago. Concur.
Posted by: Cow Demon

The movie left out all that yucky Christian stuff which is a main theme in the book.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, And You're Not at June 08, 2025 11:15 AM (L/fGl)

229 I’ve never heard anyone here indicate they have ever read any these books.
Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 10:58 AM (VofaG)

Dang it. That reminds me I bought "Techniques of the Selling Writer" by Dwight Swain and I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I told myself to read it before starting another book, but nooooo.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 11:16 AM (0eaVi)

230 I appreciate the effortlessness with which I look up an unfamiliar word using my Android phone.
Just hold my finger on it for a couple seconds and Ye Olde Google asks me if I want a definition.

I think these smart phone things might really catch on.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 08, 2025 11:17 AM (lIgBp)

231 20/20 on that vocab quiz!

*raises hand in anticipation of richly deserved high five*

Actually, if you read a lot you will recognize certain phrases even if you're not quite sure of that word's meaning. Not me, of course!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 08, 2025 11:19 AM (kpS4V)

232 It was barbaric, a horrific violation of the first law of the sea: always rescue crews. Always. Never abandon sailors to the sea.

If one wants to argue military expediency, well, German got to find out that other laws can be discarded, too. Enjoy your firebombing, jerks.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 10:09 AM (ZOv7s)

It’s worth noting that during WW2, the US Navy sunk more merchant shipping (mostly in the South Pacific) than all other naval forces active at the time, combined.
And no US sub ever tried to rescue Japanese crew.

Posted by: Tom Servo at June 08, 2025 11:19 AM (3tIsI)

233 I can figure change in my head. Most of the youngins can't do that.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 11:19 AM (m4pkx)

234 As long as we're mentioning immortal soldiers, let's give a tip of the hat to Gerald Kersh's "Whatever Happened to Corporal Cuckoo?" You can find the story in Kersh's collection NIGHTSHADE AND DAMNATIONS (with a bunch of other delightful stories); it originally appeared in Frederik Pohl's Star Science Fiction anthologies and was my intro to Kersh when it showed up in Pohl's selection of the best of the series, STAR OF STARS.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 11:21 AM (q3u5l)

235 Kash Patel was on Rogan. I wonder if that is worth watching.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 11:21 AM (m4pkx)

236 Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 11:16 AM (0eaVi)

I’m not a writer but I love Steven Pressfield’s novels and note his self help / instruction books he has written. One title has always jumped out at me.

NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SHIT : Why that is and what you can do about it

Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 11:22 AM (VofaG)

237 223 ... "Readers of books though definitely enjoy learning unfamiliar words."

Polynikes,
That is so true. One of the pleasures of reading Treasure Island in second grade was learning so many new words. That enjoyment propelled my love of reading and hasn't stopped. I still recall some of the words, unfamiliar to the young me, from LOTR and how I enjoyed working out their meanings. The same thing happened with Shakespeare's sonnets.

Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 11:24 AM (yTvNw)

238 I guess this is on me - I always thought “chimera” was pronounced “shimmer-ah”.

Posted by: Tom Servo at June 08, 2025 11:24 AM (3tIsI)

239 "NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SHIT"

Now, that is a grabber of a title. Will have to look that one up. Thanks, polynikes.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 11:25 AM (q3u5l)

240 It’s worth noting that during WW2, the US Navy sunk more merchant shipping (mostly in the South Pacific) than all other naval forces active at the time, combined.
And no US sub ever tried to rescue Japanese crew.
Posted by: Tom Servo at June 08, 2025 11:19 AM (3tIsI)

I wonder about the sea creatures who experienced the soft pink meat that floated down from above, with the great metal containers. Generations of fish have talked about those days, some 80 plus years ago now. Waiting, hoping for another era of the soft pink meat to come floating down.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:25 AM (lH8E4)

241 Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 11:22 AM (VofaG)

Someone mentioned the Swain book to me, and as I can't seem to interest anyone in my attempts at writing so far, I thought it might be something to pick up. Maybe it'll work, maybe not. It was cheap enough on Kindle anyway.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 11:25 AM (0eaVi)

242
George Mac Donald Fraser's "The Pyrates" this afternoon, in the shade on the deck.

I have about as much energy as Joe Biden today, so probably a nap by the second chapter.

Posted by: Auspex at June 08, 2025 11:26 AM (j4U/Z)

243 Dan Simmons is a remarkable writer. He's got some great stuff that is very affecting and well-done. What I'd recommend most of all:

The Terror - a story of an ill-fated ship with a supernatural element. I can't recommend this book strongly enough, but it will haunt you.

Carrion Comfort - Mind control vampires with a Nazi element. Again, just really really well-done.

Other books:

I liked Drood, but I gather that a fair number of people did not. Dickens and Wilkie Collins and opium addiction.

His private eye series is really good stuff. Sort of Spillane-esque.

Song of Kali was so creepy I did not want to read it again.

The Fifth Heart didn't really leave an impression on me.

Posted by: Jake Tapper at June 08, 2025 11:26 AM (ju/6W)

244 Lying sock off

Posted by: Splunge at June 08, 2025 11:26 AM (ju/6W)

245 My older sister gave ne C.S. Lewis's science fiction trilogy instead of the Chrinicles of Narnia when I was in middle school. That expanded my vocabulary. I think that is on a college level.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 11:27 AM (m4pkx)

246 Kash Patel was on Rogan. I wonder if that is worth watching.
Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 11:21 AM (m4pkx)

Kash is bad at lying. It's becoming a joke.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:27 AM (yxiAY)

247 Finished reading the nonfiction book 'Say Nothing, about the Troubles. I was cheering to see everyone dead by the end of the book.

Last week Gerry Adams won £100,000 in a libel lawsuit.

Posted by: 13times at June 08, 2025 11:28 AM (mXij7)

248 Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 11:24 AM (yTvNw)

Speaking of reading Treasure Island as a kid I like how it found it’s way back to me as an adult regard to my learning that N C Wyeth was the illustrator and of course his son Andrew Wyeth.

Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 11:28 AM (VofaG)

249 Reading also helps with spelling, obviously, and learning the Latin and Greek basis for words (or Yiddish, if you study MAD Magazine).

Let kids read fun trash initially and it will bridge the gap to Important Works and Weighty Tomes.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 08, 2025 11:28 AM (kpS4V)

250 I got two questions into that word power video, and shut it down. Presenter is amazingly smarmy.

And the format is wrong for a multiple-choice quiz. Needs to be on a Web page, so you can click on an answer, which clicks you through to another page.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 08, 2025 11:29 AM (MtQPR)

251 I wonder about the sea creatures who experienced the soft pink meat that floated down from above, with the great metal containers. Generations of fish have talked about those days, some 80 plus years ago now. Waiting, hoping for another era of the soft pink meat to come floating down.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:25 AM (lH8E4)

Look up "Whale falls" on EweTube for what happens when a whale carcass settles on the bottom.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 08, 2025 11:29 AM (cnmiW)

252 The same thing happened with Shakespeare's sonnets.
Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 11:24 AM (yTvNw)

Billy Shakes?! That hack? I'm told by the smartest, most well read, mostest bestest author and political commentator, VD, that Shakespeare stole other's work and passed it off as his own. That butcher's boy was low class. He could have never written anything under his name! Only upper classes could do it!!1

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 11:30 AM (0eaVi)

253 I liked Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, and a Connecticut Yankee. Adventures.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 11:30 AM (m4pkx)

254 I've mentioned this before, but for some outstanding historical fiction, Paulette Giles is an incredible writer. Tom Hanks f'd up the movie version of her story "News of the World", but the book remains a great read. Also, for those of you trying to get your tweens/teen daughters/nieces/friends interested in reading, "Enemy Women" is a fantastic story, featuring a strong young woman who survives and thrives through the Civil War in Missouri. I savor her writing. It's fun, funny and realistic to the time.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at June 08, 2025 11:30 AM (lPeS+)

255 43 I really need to read "The Fifth Heart" by Dan Simmons. I have it in my Kindle, just have had a million other books in line to he read. I loved the Hyperion Cantos, so am thinking his Sherlock Holmes tale will be worthwhile.

Oh, also reading "The Case for Jesus" by Dr. Brant Pitre. He analyzes whether the Gospels were anonymously written, as is contended by such dishonest charlatans such as the execrable hack Bart Ehrman. Dr. Pitre proves, using references in the writings of the Early Church Fathers, that the Gospels were always considered to be written by their named authors, as far back as the first generation after the Apostles. Great book.
Posted by: Sharkman at June 08, 2025 09:26 AM (/RHNq)
_______
If you haven't already done so, I recommend finding Jimmie Akin's debate with Ehrman. It's on YouTube.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 08, 2025 11:30 AM (od0dV)

256 I have a copy of that Wyeth "Treasure Island" (thanks, library sale). Maybe that will be my next (re)read.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 08, 2025 11:30 AM (kpS4V)

257 I can figure change in my head. Most of the youngins can't do that.
Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 11:19 AM (m4pkx)

that's a skill that I never needed until I started delivering pizzas, back when it was all cash exchanges. Figured it out in a few minutes, and I ain't a math guy.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at June 08, 2025 11:30 AM (0aYVJ)

258 How many can name a classic murder in which the butler did do it?

Posted by: Eeyore at June 08, 2025 11:31 AM (od0dV)

259 246 Kash Patel was on Rogan. I wonder if that is worth watching.
Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 11:21 AM (m4pkx)

Kash is bad at lying. It's becoming a joke.
Posted by: BurtTC
---------------

All of them are getting jammed up and frustrated.
Musk was kind of the canary (bomb) in the coal mine.
He's not used to dealing with that many corrupt people (congress).

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at June 08, 2025 11:32 AM (Xlykt)

260 Well, time to shoo the dog outside so she can drop a mohammed, or a Trudeau, or a Biden. She's versatile, that way.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 08, 2025 11:32 AM (MtQPR)

261 "I've mentioned this before, but for some outstanding historical fiction, Paulette Giles is an incredible writer. Tom Hanks f'd up the movie version of her story "News of the World", but the book remains a great read."

I absolutely loved the book. Was so disappointed to read the reviews of the movie. Was hoping for an excellent version. Needless to say, I didn't bother viewing the film.

Posted by: Tuna at June 08, 2025 11:34 AM (lJ0H4)

262 can figure change in my head. Most of the youngins can't do that.
Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 11:19 AM (m4pkx)

that's a skill that I never needed until I started delivering pizzas, back when it was all cash exchanges. Figured it out in a few minutes, and I ain't a math guy.
Posted by: Pug Mahon at June 08, 2025 11:30 AM (0aYVJ)

Bowling leagues as a youth for me helped me . At least that’s where I trace back my technique of converting everything in factors of ten in my head and go from there.

Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 11:34 AM (VofaG)

263 Look up "Whale falls" on EweTube for what happens when a whale carcass settles on the bottom.
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 08, 2025 11:29 AM (cnmiW)

I'm sure it's fascinating, but in my silly brain, I imagine human meat is the most delicious thing the sea creatures have ever tasted, and they keep waiting, looking up into the darkness, for another bounty of that most precious meal.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:34 AM (yxiAY)

264 Was that tge volleyball movie?

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 11:35 AM (m4pkx)

265 It’s worth noting that during WW2, the US Navy sunk more merchant shipping (mostly in the South Pacific) than all other naval forces active at the time, combined.
And no US sub ever tried to rescue Japanese crew.
Posted by: Tom Servo at June 08, 2025 11:19 AM (3tIsI)
---
Right, because the new rules came into play. Rules that in the end, still did not help the people made them up.

That seems to happen a lot.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:35 AM (ZOv7s)

266 If you haven't already done so, I recommend finding Jimmie Akin's debate with Ehrman. It's on YouTube.

Posted by: Eeyore

I shall take a look. Thank you.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 08, 2025 11:35 AM (/RHNq)

267 How many can name a classic murder in which the butler did do it?
Posted by: Eeyore at June 08, 2025 11:31 AM (od0dV)

Mr. French was a stone cold killer.

Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 11:35 AM (VofaG)

268 "The Case for Jesus"

There's a good debate between Alan Keyes and Alan Dershowitz on that subject.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at June 08, 2025 11:35 AM (Xlykt)

269 Kash is bad at lying. It's becoming a joke.
Posted by: BurtTC
==================
That seems kind of harsh. What exactly did Kash lie about in that interview? Did you even watch it? I did.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at June 08, 2025 11:36 AM (lPeS+)

270 I wonder about the sea creatures who experienced the soft pink meat that floated down from above, with the great metal containers. Generations of fish have talked about those days, some 80 plus years ago now. Waiting, hoping for another era of the soft pink meat to come floating down.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:25 AM (lH8E4)
---
Well, according to the BLM types, sharks in the Atlantic are *to this very day* circling the old slave routes, hoping for a meal.

Anyone else remember that from the 1990s? Rush had a field day with it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:36 AM (ZOv7s)

271 For now the poor sea critters will have to make do with the morsels that somehow fall unnoticed from the jaws of the sharks. I imagine such meat must be awfully expensive for them, worth its weight in whatever unit of currency they use these days.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 11:37 AM (q3u5l)

272 All of them are getting jammed up and frustrated.
Musk was kind of the canary (bomb) in the coal mine.
He's not used to dealing with that many corrupt people (congress).

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at June 08, 2025 11:32 AM (Xlykt)

I'm sure, but why can't Kash and Dan just say "we can't talk about it." Just say it's an ongoing investigation, and we hope to be able to reveal the truth to you, someday.

Everyone would know, and we could stop speculating about whether they too, are now compromised. Because that's what it looks like. When you lie, it looks like you're now a card carrying member.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:37 AM (yxiAY)

273 I read Lord Valentine's Castle decades ago. Good series, thank you for reminding me of it. I'll put it into my Kimdle To Be Engaged queue.

Posted by: BifBewalski - at June 08, 2025 11:39 AM (MsrgL)

274 That seems kind of harsh. What exactly did Kash lie about in that interview? Did you even watch it? I did.
Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at June 08, 2025 11:36 AM (lPeS+)

We have video, and we're reviewing all of it. There's nothing on those videos. Which we don't have.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:39 AM (yxiAY)

275 I'm sure, but why can't Kash and Dan just say "we can't talk about it." Just say it's an ongoing investigation, and we hope to be able to reveal the truth to you, someday.

Everyone would know, and we could stop speculating about whether they too, are now compromised. Because that's what it looks like. When you lie, it looks like you're now a card carrying member.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:37 AM (yxiAY)

See, that is how you say, "I didn't watch Joe Rogan Experience" without saying "I didn't watch Joe Rogan Experience"

Also, you are expecting a seasoned US Attorney to speak clearly and without qualifications. You can't get a public defender at the county seat to do that.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 08, 2025 11:40 AM (D7oie)

276 Gotta cut out early. Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 11:40 AM (0eaVi)

277 For now the poor sea critters will have to make do with the morsels that somehow fall unnoticed from the jaws of the sharks. I imagine such meat must be awfully expensive for them, worth its weight in whatever unit of currency they use these days.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 11:37 AM (q3u5l)
---
During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, I was stationed at the Unified Area Command for a few weeks (see also: Three Weeks with the Coasties, a Tale of Disaster and also an Oil Spill).

All types of government folks were wandering around and I chatted a bit with a biologist from Fish and Wildlife. The media was full of doom and gloom, but I pointed out that during WW II, oil tankers were primary targets for everyone, and lots were sunk. Tar balls were a thing. Yet when the fishing fleets were finally able to go to sea in 1946, they had record catches! How could this be?

He agreed that the danger was overblown and that the Gulf probably would see an uptick once the moratorium was done. Overfishing can be much more damaging than an oil spill.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:40 AM (ZOv7s)

278 Well, according to the BLM types, sharks in the Atlantic are *to this very day* circling the old slave routes, hoping for a meal.

Anyone else remember that from the 1990s? Rush had a field day with it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:36 AM (ZOv7s)

Hmmm, I wonder, is dark meat better or worse than white and yellow meat?

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:41 AM (yxiAY)

279 And do they argue over who gets the drumstick?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 11:42 AM (q3u5l)

280 Mr. French was a stone cold killer.
Posted by: polynikes at June 08, 2025 11:35 AM (VofaG)
---
Not MY Mr. French. He's very soft and understanding when put him out in his shed. Paolo, on the other hand, is a very hard man, in every way.

Posted by: Nancy French at June 08, 2025 11:43 AM (ZOv7s)

281 Time to tackle projects.

Thanks again, Perf and Hordelings!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 08, 2025 11:43 AM (kpS4V)

282 For now the poor sea critters will have to make do with the morsels that somehow fall unnoticed from the jaws of the sharks. I imagine such meat must be awfully expensive for them, worth its weight in whatever unit of currency they use these days.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 11:37 AM (q3u5l)

Then there's the question, depending on how the meat is prepared, there's some that is infused with all sorts of poisons (heroin, cocaine, Covid vaccines) that will kill a fish.

You must have a skilled crab to chop it up just right. Causing the price to go up exponentially.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:43 AM (yxiAY)

283 Hmmm, I wonder, is dark meat better or worse than white and yellow meat?
Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:41 AM (yxiAY)
---
CIA agents stationed in central Africa during the 1950s and 60s were told to visibly chain smoke, since it ruined the taste of the meat.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:44 AM (ZOv7s)

284 Well, according to the BLM types, sharks in the Atlantic are *to this very day* circling the old slave routes, hoping for a meal.

Anyone else remember that from the 1990s? Rush had a field day with it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:36 AM (ZOv7s)

What, so it's some kind of cellular memory passed through generations of sharks? Preposterous.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 08, 2025 11:44 AM (h7ZuX)

285 how did it go from books to sharks

Posted by: Don Black at June 08, 2025 11:45 AM (AOsQT)

286 What, so it's some kind of cellular memory passed through generations of sharks? Preposterous.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 08, 2025 11:44 AM (h7ZuX)

No, they talk. It's the oral history, passed down from generation to generation.

The Gospel, According to St. Jaws.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:45 AM (yxiAY)

287 Everyone would know, and we could stop speculating about whether they too, are now compromised. Because that's what it looks like. When you lie, it looks like you're now a card carrying member.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:37 AM (yxiAY)
---
The virtue of the Sword of Damocles is that it hangs. When it falls, it's just another piece of metal.

Anyone who doesn't understand this isn't a serious student of politics. The list will come out when Trump has exacted the maximum value from it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:45 AM (ZOv7s)

288 Right, because the new rules came into play. Rules that in the end, still did not help the people made them up.

That seems to happen a lot.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:35 AM (ZOv7s)

In defense of the new rules, it was also due to the evolution of air power. When a dive bomber can be on location 5 minutes after a report of a torpedo sighting, an attacking sub has to dive and take evasive immediately or risk the loss of the vessel with all hands.
Chivalrous and honorable methods of warfare belong to older, slower, dare I say more genteel modes of warfare. Modern weaponry provides no place for any of that.
Ironically, for real wars we’re back to ancient warfare goals: annihilate the enemy with no mercy, no hesitation.

Posted by: Tom Servo at June 08, 2025 11:46 AM (3tIsI)

289 how did it go from books to sharks
Posted by: Don Black at June 08, 2025 11:45 AM (AOsQT)

I'm sorry, I usually get here late on Sunday, I figure everyone's done talking about books by the time I show up.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:47 AM (yxiAY)

290 What, so it's some kind of cellular memory passed through generations of sharks? Preposterous.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 08, 2025 11:44 AM (h7ZuX)
---
The mortality rate may also have been embellished.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:47 AM (ZOv7s)

291 The list will come out when Trump has exacted the maximum value from it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:45 AM (ZOv7s)

That's one possibility.

There are others.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:48 AM (yxiAY)

292 And no US sub ever tried to rescue Japanese crew.
Posted by: Tom Servo at June 08, 2025 11:19 AM (3tIsI)

Agreed. Some old Bubblehead said in an interview "that by the time the Japs knew we were there, the Japs were already dead" about a US sub attacking some Jap merchantmen.

Posted by: Run Silent, Run Deep at June 08, 2025 11:48 AM (R/m4+)

293 256 ... "I have a copy of that Wyeth "Treasure Island" (thanks, library sale). Maybe that will be my next (re)read."

AHE,
My copy with the Wyeth illustrations didn't survive childhood, sadly. But I have two hardcover editions now and have given several over the years. That Wyeth illustration of Blind Pew is still delightfully terrifying.

Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 11:49 AM (yTvNw)

294 Chivalrous and honorable methods of warfare belong to older, slower, dare I say more genteel modes of warfare. Modern weaponry provides no place for any of that.
Ironically, for real wars we’re back to ancient warfare goals: annihilate the enemy with no mercy, no hesitation.
Posted by: Tom Servo at June 08, 2025 11:46 AM (3tIsI)
---
This is why claims of war crimes are so pointless these days. The laws of war are supposed to be reciprocal, so that one side violating them, forfeits their protection. Obviously, no one actually applies that logic, because reasons.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:49 AM (ZOv7s)

295 How many can name a classic murder in which the butler did do it?
Posted by: Eeyore at June 08, 2025

***
Maybe something by Anna Katherine Green. She was popular before WWI, I think.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 11:49 AM (omVj0)

296 The Russian Roulette aspect of dining on the human meat settling to the ocean floor may simply enhance the culinary experience for our sea-dwelling friends. Embrace the risk, and all that.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 11:50 AM (q3u5l)

297 If I were President, I'd put out a brief statement tomorrow morning.

"Back in '20, I was far too permissive with rioters. Partly because of my well-known sympathy for the cause of criminal justice and policing reforms, but mostly because I didn't want the heat I'd catch from the Left for putting down the riots they incited.

But now, after one of them shot me, I don't feel that heat nearly so much. Their neverending stream of crocodile tears just doesn't pack the same punch as their bullets, and I've seen far too much of their violence and intimidation.

Going forward, I can promise you that any riots will be met with force. Know this: if you want to riot in 2025, then you better pray for G-d's mercy, because you'll find none from me. That is all."

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at June 08, 2025 11:52 AM (BI5O2)

298 Time is running short, so thanks again, Perfesser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:52 AM (ZOv7s)

299 Well, according to the BLM types, sharks in the Atlantic are *to this very day* circling the old slave routes, hoping for a meal.

Anyone else remember that from the 1990s? Rush had a field day with it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 08, 2025 11:36 AM (ZOv7s)

What, so it's some kind of cellular memory passed through generations of sharks? Preposterous.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 08, 2025 11:44 AM (h7ZuX)

While I doubt it, cuz who's going to throw there "cattle" so to speak overboard or treat them so poorly that they die in vast numbers, the idea might work this way.

IIRC, while reading about whale falls(!), that the sharks which live at great depths at the bottom of the ocean have extremely slow/low metabolisms, in that one meal might suffice for more than a year.

And these sharks also tend to live for a very long time, perhaps even centuries.

Not a lot known about them so take it with a grain of salt.

So, it's not like school,s o0f hammerheads and tiger sharks and Great Whites are cruising the Atlantic looking for people chow.

If any are it's these very specialized, very deep, very slow metabolizing, very low intelligence garbage sharks

Posted by: naturalfake at June 08, 2025 11:53 AM (iJfKG)

300 Today's pants are some of the most hilarious, yet. I bet the wearer is plagued by crows.

A quick recommendation for those interested in the age of fighting sail. I've been reading the novels of J.D. Davies, who has created a fascinating character in the form of Matthew Quinton, a "gentleman captain" active during the period of the reign of Charles II. Well researched, filled with all the blazing action you could want, and shot through with the captain's exemplary dry sense of humor.

Posted by: Paco at June 08, 2025 11:53 AM (mADJX)

301
A War Crime is something that the Americans perfected after their accusers started it.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 08, 2025 11:54 AM (QnmlO)

302 Going forward, I can promise you that any riots will be met with force. Know this: if you want to riot in 2025, then you better pray for G-d's mercy, because you'll find none from me. That is all."
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at June 08, 2025 11:52 AM (BI5O2)

Aging and sensible men all over the country will have found their erectile dysfunction has been suddenly cured.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:54 AM (yxiAY)

303 Time for me to get on with my Sunday morning project: put the new pump in the washing machine, so I can do a load of laundry.

May pop in for FWP or the Gub Thread.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 08, 2025 11:55 AM (AT9dH)

304 the shark is really a miracle of evolution

all it does is swim, and eat, and make little sharks

Posted by: Don Black at June 08, 2025 11:55 AM (AOsQT)

305 Off to see what kinds of catastrophes I can cause here at Casa Some Guy.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 08, 2025 11:55 AM (q3u5l)

306 How many can name a classic murder in which the butler did do it?
Posted by: Eeyore at June 08, 2025

***
Maybe something by Anna Katherine Green. She was popular before WWI, I think.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 11:49 AM (omVj0)

Well, that damn butler did something bad or else the meme wouldn't have lasted this long.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at June 08, 2025 11:56 AM (g8Ew8)

307 the shark is really a miracle of evolution

all it does is swim, and eat, and make little sharks
Posted by: Don Black at June 08, 2025 11:55 AM (AOsQT)

They say if it stops making little sharks, it dies.

But that just might be the mako shark.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 11:56 AM (ftih5)

308 This is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: The Butler at June 08, 2025 11:58 AM (lIgBp)

309 I actually ate a mako shark
well, a tiny piece of one
the meat is like a pork chop

Posted by: Don Black at June 08, 2025 11:58 AM (AOsQT)

310 @43 --

I just realized that the DVDs we've been watching in Sunday school these past months are by Bart Ehrman.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 08, 2025 11:59 AM (zwo3t)

311 We used to wave hop late at night when I was a kid. Apparently that is when sharks feed.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 11:59 AM (m4pkx)

312 I actually ate a mako shark
well, a tiny piece of one
the meat is like a pork chop
Posted by: Don Black at June 08, 2025 11:58 AM (AOsQT)

I'm not sure what type they serve in fancy restaurants when they sell you a shark steak, but it is very very good.

I've had it. Feels like revenge, of a sort. For the men of the USS Indianapolis!

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 12:00 PM (ftih5)

313 >>>We have video, and we're reviewing all of it. There's nothing on those videos. Which we don't have.
Posted by: BurtTC
-------------

And Bondi saying they have thousands of pic/vids just before.

Not quiet the same page.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at June 08, 2025 12:00 PM (Xlykt)

314 Sebastion Cabot and Hugh Beaumont.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 08, 2025 12:00 PM (m4pkx)

315 Onward and upward.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 08, 2025 12:01 PM (ftih5)

316 Musk was kind of the canary (bomb) in the coal mine. He's not used to dealing with that many corrupt people (congress).

-

Adam Schiff For Brains has saved us!

https://shorturl.at/2lSMP

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, And You're Not at June 08, 2025 12:02 PM (L/fGl)

317 Ate shark at a seafood restaurant on Longh Island. Very good.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at June 08, 2025 12:02 PM (Xlykt)

318 nood

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 08, 2025 12:02 PM (cnmiW)

319 Good morning from the Left Coast!

FWIW, Rober Silverberg writes a column for each bimonthly issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction, which is a “pulp” published bimonthly. He has mentioned Lord Valentine and discussed how he built Majipoor in several columns over the years. I believe Lord Valentine was his first major attempt and success at this. If not, it was still fairly early in his career.

Mr. Silverberg lives in Berkeley and is in his mid-to-late 80’s. He knew a lot of the early greats of sf before sf con’s became an industry.

Posted by: March Hare at June 08, 2025 12:04 PM (GyTRH)

320 Going forward, I can promise you that any riots will be met with force. Know this: if you want to riot in 2025, then you better pray for G-d's mercy, because you'll find none from me. That is all."
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

Cops For Criminals.

W.T.A.F?! LAPD Drops Statement COMMENDING Rioters/Thugs for 'Peaceful Protest' and HOOBOY That Was Dumb

https://shorturl.at/AgBml

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, And You're Not at June 08, 2025 12:07 PM (L/fGl)

321 20/20

Posted by: nosmo king at June 08, 2025 12:07 PM (/iMjX)

322 A fun Book Thread today, as usual!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 12:14 PM (omVj0)

323 A fun Book Thread today, as usual!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2025 12:14 PM (omVj0)

But it's over!!!!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 08, 2025 12:21 PM (0eaVi)

324 A small town in Manitoba had a men only bar until the 1990s.

Posted by: Northernlurker , Maple Syrup MAGA at June 08, 2025 12:26 PM (LysRS)

325 W.T.A.F?! LAPD Drops Statement COMMENDING Rioters/Thugs for 'Peaceful Protest' and HOOBOY That Was Dumb

https://shorturl.at/AgBml
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, And You're Not at June 08, 2025 12:07 PM (L/fGl)

They are neutered and beholden to their political masters. Their first concern is their pensions um, I mean, the citizenry and public safety.

I’m waiting for the day when Americans generally realize that the police are not their friends, and that contrary to the romanticized visions of some out there, they put in their uniforms because they have contempt, or outright hatred, for the citizenry that pays their wages and salaries.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 08, 2025 12:28 PM (vm8sq)

326 Washing machine is assembled, and a cycle commenced. No leaks, so far. And the way it was leaking, it would have leaked by now.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 08, 2025 12:36 PM (PCqbQ)

327 I'm late to the thread this week.

Finished all 12 books in the "Levon Cade" series. Very enjoyable, and ... I rather liked the ending. Good closure. (No spoilers.)

If you like justifiable retribution against evil stories, this series is for you.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 08, 2025 12:39 PM (O7YUW)

328 That Wyeth illustration of Blind Pew is still delightfully terrifying.
Posted by: JTB at June 08, 2025 11:49 AM (yTvNw
---

It is! I checked it out and it's still low-key nightmare fuel.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 08, 2025 12:57 PM (bgsfx)

329 Finished reading Guy Gavriel Kay's new book, Written on the Dark. It was pretty good, bit perhaps a bit indulgent. Also a bit gay, unnecessarily. I'd probably rank it in the lower middle of the 9 works of his I've read.

Also finished listening to Ballistic by Marko Kloos, and started #3 in the series, Citadel, but the new voice narrator is throwing me for a bit of a loop. I'm sure I'll get used to him, already am, just a very different sound.

Reading a few Bradbury short stories from a collection while I decide which novel to read next. Leaning toward Patricia McKillip's Riddle Master, I think

Posted by: tintex at June 08, 2025 01:11 PM (nRKXM)

330 Leaning toward Patricia McKillip's Riddle Master, I think
Posted by: tintex

Sorry I missed the thread but as a big McKillip fan totally gonna plug the Riddle Master

GGK's new book is on my to read list

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at June 08, 2025 01:15 PM (Splbu)

331 @267 How many can name a classic murder in which the butler did do it?
Posted by: Eeyore at June 08, 2025 11:31 AM (od0dV)

not a classic murder, it true crime, but the founder of Rice University (William Marsh Rice) was murdered by his butler.

Posted by: yara at June 08, 2025 02:23 PM (k9S3D)

332 OK. No one got it. Trent's Last Case.

Posted by: Eeyore at June 08, 2025 02:43 PM (od0dV)

333 The killer in "Trent's Last Case" was not a butler. Trent's first solution was that Manderson (the victim) was killed by Manderson's secretary (not butler) Marlowe, who impersonated Manderson after he killed him in order to provide himself with an alibi. Trent later meets with Marlowe and after hearing Marlowe's story concludes that Manderson had killed himself and had so arranged things that his death would be blamed on Marlowe who Manderson wrongly believed was having an affair with Manderson's wife.

Trent then meets with Cupples (Manderson's wife's uncle, an old friend of Trent and not a butler) and is told by Cupples that he had intervened when Manderson attempted to shoot himself (Trent's second solution) and wrestled the gun away from Manderson. Manderson then attempted to attack Cupples who shot Manderson with his own gun in self defense: "Mr. Cupples, 'It’s very simple,' he said. 'I shot Manderson myself.'”

It may not be a classic mystery, but Mary Roberts Rinehart's book "The Door" is thought by some to be the origin of the trope that the butler did it although that phrase is not used and there are earlier examples of the plot device.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at June 08, 2025 06:17 PM (yl1YV)

334 20/20. Although Oddbob's thought occurred to me too.

Just finished Shadows on the Rock, after a trip to Montreal & Quebec City. Lovely story. I had to tease me wife though that after I was 80 pages in, nothing had happened. Not even one Indian kidnapping. Everything had been in the pluperfect. OTOH the further I got the more it me think about colonizing Mars or the Moon.

Not 100% sure what the shadows are. My assume that it's peeeople!

Posted by: pjungwir at June 08, 2025 06:26 PM (q4wrI)

335 I read Patricia McKillip's Riddle Master trilogy in the 90s and loved it. I've never met anyone else who has heard of it!

Posted by: pjungwir at June 08, 2025 06:29 PM (q4wrI)

Processing 0.05, elapsed 0.0532 seconds.
14 queries taking 0.0153 seconds, 343 records returned.
Page size 212 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.