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Book Thread: 05/10/2026 [MP4]
So ask the barman for a Pimm’s, covfefe or tea and let’s get started!
I don’t know. Part of me knows I’ve got dozens of ‘finished’ books which are gathering dust, but another, stronger part of me recoils at the very idea of getting rid of any book for any reason. I know that when I die, everything I have except for my Hollywood and Jack the Ripper collections (which will sell for a pretty penny) will end up in the dumpster, so why not anticipate the reaping now? What about you? What books are begging to be read and which ones are the old friends you turn to at a leisure moment? And do you, like me, hoard your books like Scrooge hoarding his gold?
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
I read the Ace of Spades HQ, does that count?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:01 AM (1Ff7Z)
2
Tolle Lege
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2026 09:01 AM (Ia/+0)
3
Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.
Posted by: JTB at May 10, 2026 09:02 AM (yTvNw)
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 09:02 AM (q3u5l)
5
That library pic looks strangely familiar...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 10, 2026 09:02 AM (gnNyN)
6
MP4,
Thanks for doing the thread. Give the new up a pat for us. The photo in the pet thread is adorable.
Thanks for doing the thread. Give the new up a pat for us. The photo in the pet thread is adorable.
Posted by: JTB at May 10, 2026 09:03 AM (yTvNw)
7
“ Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.”
Isaiah 26:12
Isaiah 26:12
Posted by: Marcus T at May 10, 2026 09:03 AM (u/66v)
8
Good morning morons and thanks MP4
Still working through Douglas Murray'a On Democracy and Death Cults
Still working through Douglas Murray'a On Democracy and Death Cults
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2026 09:03 AM (RIvkX)
9
As it’s May, it’s Goodwood Races time in England and women are encouraged to wear their finest.
What, no train-smash women? I guess Goodwood is less trashy than Aintree....
What, no train-smash women? I guess Goodwood is less trashy than Aintree....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:04 AM (1Ff7Z)
10
And do you, like me, hoard your books like Scrooge hoarding his gold?
---
yes. yes I do.
Like you, I have many books that I most likely will never read again. I also have an extensive collection of roleplaying games that I will never play again. But I keep them around for sentimental value, I suppose.
---
yes. yes I do.
Like you, I have many books that I most likely will never read again. I also have an extensive collection of roleplaying games that I will never play again. But I keep them around for sentimental value, I suppose.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 10, 2026 09:04 AM (gnNyN)
11
Yes your new puppy looks very cute.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2026 09:04 AM (RIvkX)
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at May 10, 2026 09:05 AM (6U1c2)
13
Good Sunday morning, horde.
I have so many books that I want to read because they're either culturally or historically important. And I occasionally do pull one off the shelf and read it, and am glad for it.
But I'm usually distracted by other shiny things, especially when I'm in the mood to just read pulp mysteries or spy novels for weeks on end, and that's all right.
I have so many books that I want to read because they're either culturally or historically important. And I occasionally do pull one off the shelf and read it, and am glad for it.
But I'm usually distracted by other shiny things, especially when I'm in the mood to just read pulp mysteries or spy novels for weeks on end, and that's all right.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 10, 2026 09:05 AM (h7ZuX)
14
Some books will be part of the estate. Others leave the house once I'm through with them. The tough part is deciding.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:05 AM (p/isN)
15
My TBR is over 200, which is somewhat of an embarrassment. But it does give me something to look forward to.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:06 AM (0U5gm)
16
Mostly from a podcast on Gen Scharnhorst which brought up his protégé Karl v. Clauswitz and his book On War I thought should read it again. I had a paperback copy 40 years ago but lost it somewhere.
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2026 09:06 AM (Ia/+0)
17
I try not to buy fiction books I won't reread
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at May 10, 2026 09:06 AM (6U1c2)
18
Hi, my name's Dave, and I'm a book-a-holic.
*waits for the traditional response*
I've probably got thousands. Many that I'll never get around to re-reading, not even because they weren't great, but because they're never in sight when the longing for comforting familiarity strikes.
But there's something insidious about those who would willingly toss out books. Give away to good recipients, sure, but you'd better be able to pass a Librarian's Background Check.
*waits for the traditional response*
I've probably got thousands. Many that I'll never get around to re-reading, not even because they weren't great, but because they're never in sight when the longing for comforting familiarity strikes.
But there's something insidious about those who would willingly toss out books. Give away to good recipients, sure, but you'd better be able to pass a Librarian's Background Check.
Posted by: RandomDave at May 10, 2026 09:06 AM (aJQbY)
19
What about you? What books are begging to be read and which ones are the old friends you turn to at a leisure moment? And do you, like me, hoard your books like Scrooge hoarding his gold?
Vmom sent me a nice big book of Zane Gray stories I haven't even taken out of the wrapper yet. Some day I'll get to it, vmom....
Vmom sent me a nice big book of Zane Gray stories I haven't even taken out of the wrapper yet. Some day I'll get to it, vmom....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:07 AM (1Ff7Z)
20
For some reason, I simply cannot crack the 80% mark of books in my collection that I've read.
By the time I've read a bunch of books in my TBR pile, it's time to go to the library book sale and get a bunch more...
By the time I've read a bunch of books in my TBR pile, it's time to go to the library book sale and get a bunch more...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 10, 2026 09:07 AM (gnNyN)
21
Morning, book people,
I've dived back into S.M. Stirling's The Sky People, which features an alternate Venus -- habitable, and inhabited by men, Neanderthals, and dinosaurs among others -- and the adventures of Terran colonists thereon.
Earlier this week I was on a non-fiction kick. I re-read Alfred Lansing's classic, Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage; Leon Stover's review of classic SF and its beginnings, Science Fiction From Wells to Heinlein; and a book about Ian Fleming. I'll deal with that one in another comment.
I've dived back into S.M. Stirling's The Sky People, which features an alternate Venus -- habitable, and inhabited by men, Neanderthals, and dinosaurs among others -- and the adventures of Terran colonists thereon.
Earlier this week I was on a non-fiction kick. I re-read Alfred Lansing's classic, Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage; Leon Stover's review of classic SF and its beginnings, Science Fiction From Wells to Heinlein; and a book about Ian Fleming. I'll deal with that one in another comment.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:08 AM (wzUl9)
22
Thanks for the Sunday Morning Book Thread, MP4!
Books are like old and cherished friends, and sometimes we would rather keep them around for a little while longer. Which turns into a lot longer.
Books are like old and cherished friends, and sometimes we would rather keep them around for a little while longer. Which turns into a lot longer.
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at May 10, 2026 09:08 AM (vrNzf)
23
I should have added:
What about gift books? Keep because someone thought enough of you to buy it, or treat it like any other acquisition?
What about gift books? Keep because someone thought enough of you to buy it, or treat it like any other acquisition?
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:08 AM (p/isN)
24
My TBR is over 200, which is somewhat of an embarrassment. But it does give me something to look forward to.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:06 AM (0U5gm)
Just don't break your glasses.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:06 AM (0U5gm)
Just don't break your glasses.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:09 AM (1Ff7Z)
25
Coming to the end of "The Star Treasure" by Keith Laumer. Still ground bound, and now we've got weird mindfuckery. Not sure whether I'll reread those chapters.
This book includes three short stories after the main feature. One is a Retief/Bolo tale that I've read elsewhere. Another is by Harlan Ellison. This will be my first Ellison story.
I'm also rereading "Doctor Mid-Nite," a squarebound DC miniseries that introduced Dr. Pieter Cross, a Shadow-like operator who loses his normal eyesight and takes the costumed identity of the original Dr. Mid-Nite, who also can see only in the dark. Whereas that Dr. M. only used smoke bombs to create fighting spaces, Cross has a lot more tech. The comic has abstract painted art, which I usually don't like, but it works.
This book includes three short stories after the main feature. One is a Retief/Bolo tale that I've read elsewhere. Another is by Harlan Ellison. This will be my first Ellison story.
I'm also rereading "Doctor Mid-Nite," a squarebound DC miniseries that introduced Dr. Pieter Cross, a Shadow-like operator who loses his normal eyesight and takes the costumed identity of the original Dr. Mid-Nite, who also can see only in the dark. Whereas that Dr. M. only used smoke bombs to create fighting spaces, Cross has a lot more tech. The comic has abstract painted art, which I usually don't like, but it works.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:09 AM (p/isN)
26
Mornin', Horde, and thanks, MP4. Seldom re-read nonfiction; trying to re-read all of my fantasy & science fiction to pick out what's going to go, but not making a lot of progress. Will pull up David Weber, John Ringo, and Glen Cook for comfort re-reads. Current TBR being read is The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, and enjoying it, but also slow going just because of other activities getting in the way.
Posted by: Nazdar at May 10, 2026 09:10 AM (NcvvS)
27
Good morning, MP4 and Horde.
Many of my TBRs are old books of my father's from his youth. He collected lots of musty tomes on African exploration and travels around Asia. I love their maps and illustrations and fully intend to read them...someday. I wonder if I inherited some of my dad's TBRs. That would be a hoot.
I myself like collecting Teddy-ana and 19th Century literature. There's also a teetering stack of sci fi paperbacks.
Many of my TBRs are old books of my father's from his youth. He collected lots of musty tomes on African exploration and travels around Asia. I love their maps and illustrations and fully intend to read them...someday. I wonder if I inherited some of my dad's TBRs. That would be a hoot.
I myself like collecting Teddy-ana and 19th Century literature. There's also a teetering stack of sci fi paperbacks.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 10, 2026 09:11 AM (kpS4V)
28
A lot of my TBR consists of Kindle books; much of what remains on my bookcases is TBRA or probably won't revisit, but I liked it dammit so it's staying on the shelves. Will I read through all 13 volumes of Theodore Sturgeon's collected short stories? Probably not, but there are gems in every volume, so... Will I get around to Don Robertson's Civil War novels? Maybe not, but maybe I will, so they stay, along with his other books which are on the TBRA pile.
Culled a lot of print as I was converting to ebooks. What print remains on my shelves is almost all stuff I expect to read again or simply don't plan to part with, just because.
Culled a lot of print as I was converting to ebooks. What print remains on my shelves is almost all stuff I expect to read again or simply don't plan to part with, just because.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 09:11 AM (q3u5l)
29
I don't get rid of books unless I really don't like them. My kids will read them, and their kids, etc.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:13 AM (0U5gm)
30
Its time for me to crack open a beer and crank up the celebratory music! ...Well, maybe its not time right NOW, but I did that earlier, and probably will again tonight...
Whatever. The point is; I'm thrilled. After six long months of waiting, I finally received a shipment of 4 custom-bound omnibuses from the Houchen Bindery. Three runs of great-but-forgotten comic books, sewn together to create 4 hardcover books! They look great on the shelf, and they let me read/flip through the entire series while holding a single volume.
I cracked open the first book (Brath, a comic about a faux-Celtic warrior) the first night I had the books. After that, I'll re-read the first half of Sojourn (a fantasy epic starring a hot blonde) and then finish off with a two-volume set of Meridian; a comic that started off looking terrible, and then developed into my favorite series of all time (at the time). And now it's all displayed on my bookshelf. I'm just soaking in the nostalgia...
Whatever. The point is; I'm thrilled. After six long months of waiting, I finally received a shipment of 4 custom-bound omnibuses from the Houchen Bindery. Three runs of great-but-forgotten comic books, sewn together to create 4 hardcover books! They look great on the shelf, and they let me read/flip through the entire series while holding a single volume.
I cracked open the first book (Brath, a comic about a faux-Celtic warrior) the first night I had the books. After that, I'll re-read the first half of Sojourn (a fantasy epic starring a hot blonde) and then finish off with a two-volume set of Meridian; a comic that started off looking terrible, and then developed into my favorite series of all time (at the time). And now it's all displayed on my bookshelf. I'm just soaking in the nostalgia...
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:13 AM (3v7ra)
31
The Goodwood Cup? It was often featured when Bertie and friends at the Drones pestered Jeeves for rock-solid investment schemes.
Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 10, 2026 09:14 AM (3ZBdr)
32
I've been watching/reading Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" again. It's four hours long!
Posted by: Smallish Bees at May 10, 2026 09:14 AM (xKjWc)
33
*And do you, like me, hoard your books like Scrooge hoarding his gold?*
-----
More like Smaug the dragon sprawled over his hoarded treasure.
-----
More like Smaug the dragon sprawled over his hoarded treasure.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 10, 2026 09:15 AM (kpS4V)
34
As it’s May, it’s Goodwood Races time in England and women are encouraged to wear their finest.
I included a pic with this thread, but I guess it got lost. Here's a typical Goodwood view:
https://tinyurl.com/w8uk9utv
I included a pic with this thread, but I guess it got lost. Here's a typical Goodwood view:
https://tinyurl.com/w8uk9utv
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 09:15 AM (qRla/)
35
Yay book thread! Congrats on finishing your draft, MP4! I'm finally getting back into the groove, finding the rhythm of plotting, brainstorming and then productive writing. I was trying to force things for a while, basically rejoicing in not having to do research, but it was all over the place. I spent last night combing through what I had written and doing significant edits to bring things into line.
As I have said before, I manage my library with callous ruthlessness. Only the worthy may remain. Whenever I buy a new book, the existing ones tremble with fear (except for Tolkien and Waugh, they laugh).
Books that sit unread will be discarded, whether read previously or not. No slackers. I've been binging on Graham Greene and half of his stuff is being sent back from whence it came.
As I have said before, I manage my library with callous ruthlessness. Only the worthy may remain. Whenever I buy a new book, the existing ones tremble with fear (except for Tolkien and Waugh, they laugh).
Books that sit unread will be discarded, whether read previously or not. No slackers. I've been binging on Graham Greene and half of his stuff is being sent back from whence it came.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 09:15 AM (ZOv7s)
36
I have trouble getting rid of books because for most of them I just can't stand the idea that they'll wind up in a landfill somewhere. So I can get rid of books I dislike, but if there's even a smidgeon of merit in a book I want to find it a good home.
Libraries are not a good home. Most of them value throughput rather than maintaining a good collection. Library book sales are (at least around here) maddeningly picky about what they'll take. Which is why book sales seem to have so many political memoirs -- people buy them and never touch them until it's time to make room for the next political memoir Oprah tells them to buy.
Used bookstores are a good home, except for the problem that most of them now pay only in store credit . . . so I go home with more books.
Libraries are not a good home. Most of them value throughput rather than maintaining a good collection. Library book sales are (at least around here) maddeningly picky about what they'll take. Which is why book sales seem to have so many political memoirs -- people buy them and never touch them until it's time to make room for the next political memoir Oprah tells them to buy.
Used bookstores are a good home, except for the problem that most of them now pay only in store credit . . . so I go home with more books.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 10, 2026 09:15 AM (78a2H)
37
I should like to winnow down my books to just comfort reads and old favorites
There are books I used to enjoy that I don't anymore - I should really weed those out.
There are books I used to enjoy that I don't anymore - I should really weed those out.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at May 10, 2026 09:16 AM (gDlxJ)
38
Edward Abel Smith's Ian Fleming's Inspiration: The Truth Behind the Books is a pleasant read. It details many items of Fleming's early life and his wartime and postwar experiences which found their way into the novels. He and his wife-to-be, Anne, had a friend in the late '40s and early '50s named "Loelia Ponsonby," which name Bond fans know as that of JB's secretary in the early novels.
It's well-researched and fun to read, but darn, the thing needed another pass by an editor! He's got typos and missing words all through it. The worst is the misspelling of the name of his headmaster's wife, famous author Phyllis Bottome (The Mortal Storm), who encouraged him at age nineteen to write. Smith spells it hilariously as "Phillis Bottom." The book is from 2020, so he did have the 'Net resources to check his references. Disappointing.
It's well-researched and fun to read, but darn, the thing needed another pass by an editor! He's got typos and missing words all through it. The worst is the misspelling of the name of his headmaster's wife, famous author Phyllis Bottome (The Mortal Storm), who encouraged him at age nineteen to write. Smith spells it hilariously as "Phillis Bottom." The book is from 2020, so he did have the 'Net resources to check his references. Disappointing.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:16 AM (wzUl9)
39
We have a new job building a town public library, not sure what all we are doing there yet, but hopefully will be a interesting job.
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2026 09:16 AM (Ia/+0)
40
(1/2)
I reread "The Curve of Binding Energy" for the first time in fifty years.
It was a big deal in 1973 - the book was by John McPhee, and basically consisted of interviewing and talking about the life of Ted Taylor, physicist and number bomb designer, who was very, very worried that some terrorist group would steal nuclear material, make a crude bomb, and detonate it.
The assumption was that the United States was about to build hundreds of civilian nuclear reactors (which didn't happen), and Taylor thought that enormous amounts of money should be spent securing the nuclear materials that would have to be stored and moved about the country.
Several people at the Atomic Energy Commission and elsewhere poo-pooed this, saying that there were easier ways of causing mass casualties than building a crude bomb.
I reread "The Curve of Binding Energy" for the first time in fifty years.
It was a big deal in 1973 - the book was by John McPhee, and basically consisted of interviewing and talking about the life of Ted Taylor, physicist and number bomb designer, who was very, very worried that some terrorist group would steal nuclear material, make a crude bomb, and detonate it.
The assumption was that the United States was about to build hundreds of civilian nuclear reactors (which didn't happen), and Taylor thought that enormous amounts of money should be spent securing the nuclear materials that would have to be stored and moved about the country.
Several people at the Atomic Energy Commission and elsewhere poo-pooed this, saying that there were easier ways of causing mass casualties than building a crude bomb.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at May 10, 2026 09:16 AM (aD4fx)
41
MP4 been using the time machine again!
Posted by: dantesed at May 10, 2026 09:17 AM (Oy/m2)
42
Larry Correia's newest book, "Magic and Bullets," is out. It cracked the top 200-ish.
In Fantasy, romantasy has taken up all the top spots on the charts.
Really, Amazon needs to get those books into its own category, so other authors can be discovered. Not everybody's bosoms need heaving, nor their girth swelling.
In Fantasy, romantasy has taken up all the top spots on the charts.
Really, Amazon needs to get those books into its own category, so other authors can be discovered. Not everybody's bosoms need heaving, nor their girth swelling.
Posted by: Smallish Bees at May 10, 2026 09:17 AM (xKjWc)
43
Read By Sorrow's River by Larry McMurtry. It was on the sale shelf at the Hooterville Library. Since I loved Lonesome Dove, I will pick up any of McMurtry's western novels. This is the third book in the Berrybender series and I have been reading them in reverse order because that is how they came to me. Had forgotten just how wordy McMurtry can be, but he does paint a scene and characters like nobody's business. The man does know a bit about how tough things were in a new land for trappers and Indians. He did tend to gloss over some of the worst parts, generally when the travelers encountered weeks without water and had to sacrifice their horses to obtain something resembling consumable fluid. The book is entertaining and educational, and the plot line is full of twists and turns. Recommend.
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at May 10, 2026 09:18 AM (vrNzf)
44
I share MP4's aversion to getting rid of ANY books for ANY reason. Reality (space in the house) has gotten harder to ignore. The friends of the library in town get some of them after I've agonized about the matter. Fortunately, I have great nieces and nephews who share some of my interests and knowing the books will be appreciated makes the giving easier. Those include doubles of things like a complete Shakespeare, Arabian Nights, the Francis Parkman volumes of history, Greek philosophy, wood working hand tools, even a lot of Clive Cussler books I'll never reread.
But it still feels like a sin.
But it still feels like a sin.
Posted by: JTB at May 10, 2026 09:18 AM (yTvNw)
45
Some of my favorites, that I will re-read when I just can't get interested in anything else:
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Young girl traveling alone on a transatlantic commercial ship, assaulted by the captain, takes over the ship. No one believes her when the ship reaches America. Great adventure, unlikely grrl power, but very enjoyable.
The Powwow Highway, by David Seals. An American Indian has a cross-country adventure with his buddy, whose sister is in jail in the American southwest. They've got to break her out. This book is the reason I call my car my "war pony."
I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes. One of the best spy novels/international intrigue I've ever read.
The Likeness, by Tana French. Dublin Murder Squad series. A detective is the doppelganger of a murdered woman. She looks so exactly like this woman, that she goes undercover in the home of friends who killed her, purporting to have survived the attempt but having no memory of it. Ridiculous premise, but fascinating.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Young girl traveling alone on a transatlantic commercial ship, assaulted by the captain, takes over the ship. No one believes her when the ship reaches America. Great adventure, unlikely grrl power, but very enjoyable.
The Powwow Highway, by David Seals. An American Indian has a cross-country adventure with his buddy, whose sister is in jail in the American southwest. They've got to break her out. This book is the reason I call my car my "war pony."
I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes. One of the best spy novels/international intrigue I've ever read.
The Likeness, by Tana French. Dublin Murder Squad series. A detective is the doppelganger of a murdered woman. She looks so exactly like this woman, that she goes undercover in the home of friends who killed her, purporting to have survived the attempt but having no memory of it. Ridiculous premise, but fascinating.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 10, 2026 09:19 AM (h7ZuX)
46
>>And do you, like me, hoard your books like Scrooge hoarding his gold?
Have donated about 300 books to various libraries; about 60 more will be going soon. Leaves about 3500 in the house.
Have donated about 300 books to various libraries; about 60 more will be going soon. Leaves about 3500 in the house.
Posted by: Nazdar at May 10, 2026 09:19 AM (NcvvS)
47
I mentioned The Blood Countess earlier. I think it's going to be one of the books I give away. Not because it's bad - it isn't - but because I'm listening to it on Audible and once that's done, I can't imagine turning to it again. Of course, I could put it on a shelf next to Radu Florescu's Dracula: Prince of Many Faces.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 09:19 AM (qRla/)
48
I'm not wearing any pants and my underpants smell like urine. It might be time to clean up. Happy Mother's Day, you mothers out there!
Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at May 10, 2026 09:19 AM (D1E+2)
49
Many of my TBRs are old books of my father's from his youth.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 10, 2026 09:11 AM (kpS4V)
---
My father's library looms over me like a restless Vesuvius thinking of reburying Pompei.
That inevitable catastrophe is one of the reasons I endlessly look for things to get rid of. On my visits, I'm starting to chip away at it, but it's like trying to dig the North American Dignity Canal with a teaspoon.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 10, 2026 09:11 AM (kpS4V)
---
My father's library looms over me like a restless Vesuvius thinking of reburying Pompei.
That inevitable catastrophe is one of the reasons I endlessly look for things to get rid of. On my visits, I'm starting to chip away at it, but it's like trying to dig the North American Dignity Canal with a teaspoon.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 09:19 AM (ZOv7s)
50
Not everybody's bosoms need heaving, nor their girth swelling.
---
Bodice-ripping and codpiece-busting!
---
Bodice-ripping and codpiece-busting!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 10, 2026 09:19 AM (kpS4V)
51
I read Yesteryear...complete trash. The premise that it was sold on was not what the book was about. I finished it because of my book club. It was a very woke book. After I started reading it, I found out it was classified as "dark humor/satire". It was neither, it was more of a very un funny parody/caricature of tradwives, Christians, conservatives, men, children, mental health, etc. The book jumped around a confusing timeline. It was not well researched as there were several glaring errors. The ending was a hot confusing mess that was not logical.
Highly DO NOT recommend!
I'm now listening/reading Larry Correia's "Magic and Bullets", which is way more enjoyable!
Highly DO NOT recommend!
I'm now listening/reading Larry Correia's "Magic and Bullets", which is way more enjoyable!
Posted by: lin-duh is offended at May 10, 2026 09:19 AM (VCgbV)
52
2/2
Several people at the Atomic Energy Commission and elsewhere poo-pooed this, saying that there were easier ways of causing mass casualties than building a crude bomb.
The eerie thing (mentioned several times in the book) was that the reference event that was used was terrorists taking down the World Trade Center.
The book concludes with McPhee and Taylor walking through the World Trade Center, with Taylor discussing where the best place would be to place a nuke to bring the WTC towers down.
Guess that the skeptics at the AEC were right in hindsight.
Several people at the Atomic Energy Commission and elsewhere poo-pooed this, saying that there were easier ways of causing mass casualties than building a crude bomb.
The eerie thing (mentioned several times in the book) was that the reference event that was used was terrorists taking down the World Trade Center.
The book concludes with McPhee and Taylor walking through the World Trade Center, with Taylor discussing where the best place would be to place a nuke to bring the WTC towers down.
Guess that the skeptics at the AEC were right in hindsight.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at May 10, 2026 09:20 AM (aD4fx)
53
Used bookstores are a good home, except for the problem that most of them now pay only in store credit . . . so I go home with more books.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 10, 2026 09:15 AM (78a2H)
Aye, that's the rub. Gimme money for my used books. I can't winnow, if I'm just trading. And I'm sure as heck not giving them a book that they will turn around and sell.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 10, 2026 09:15 AM (78a2H)
Aye, that's the rub. Gimme money for my used books. I can't winnow, if I'm just trading. And I'm sure as heck not giving them a book that they will turn around and sell.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:22 AM (1Ff7Z)
54
AUDIOBOOK QUESTION: How many of you listen to audiobooks?
I read; my wife listens.
My sister/writing partner and I have invested in an excellent book reader for our series, and . . . it's expensive. I hope it'll be worth it.
I read; my wife listens.
My sister/writing partner and I have invested in an excellent book reader for our series, and . . . it's expensive. I hope it'll be worth it.
Posted by: Smallish Bees at May 10, 2026 09:22 AM (xKjWc)
55
I didn't do much reading this week. Still picking away at "Descent" and that Star Trek Mirror Universe novel "Sorrows of Empire". Interesting to see some of the same people and events reflected in a funhouse mirror.
First contact is very different with the Terran Empire:
"Starfleet regulations regarding first contacts in deep space are clear: capture the alien vessel; subdue its crew; remand prisoners to the chief medical officer for vivisection and analysis; and file a full after-action report to Starfleet Command."
I seem to recall MU Doctor Phlox testing the tensile strength of a Tholian.
First contact is very different with the Terran Empire:
"Starfleet regulations regarding first contacts in deep space are clear: capture the alien vessel; subdue its crew; remand prisoners to the chief medical officer for vivisection and analysis; and file a full after-action report to Starfleet Command."
I seem to recall MU Doctor Phlox testing the tensile strength of a Tholian.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 10, 2026 09:22 AM (kpS4V)
56
And yes, the books I have, I hoard like Scrooge.
Been in a reading slump the past few weeks, but think I finally broke it. Watched the new Park Chan Wook (did I get that right?) movie, No Other Choice, which is based on Donald Westlake's The Ax. The flick didn't really do it for me, so revisited the novel. And then Westlake's The Hook (much of which would appeal to some of the Lit Horde -- think Strangers on a Train meets the book business). Squeezed in a couple of movies based on his Parker novels, and started a re-read of that series and have just started book 5. 6 novels read in just over a week, and delighted with all of 'em. Thank you, Westlake.
Been in a reading slump the past few weeks, but think I finally broke it. Watched the new Park Chan Wook (did I get that right?) movie, No Other Choice, which is based on Donald Westlake's The Ax. The flick didn't really do it for me, so revisited the novel. And then Westlake's The Hook (much of which would appeal to some of the Lit Horde -- think Strangers on a Train meets the book business). Squeezed in a couple of movies based on his Parker novels, and started a re-read of that series and have just started book 5. 6 novels read in just over a week, and delighted with all of 'em. Thank you, Westlake.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 09:22 AM (q3u5l)
57
Just Some Guy was kind enough to send me some early William Goldman novels, so they are waiting for me when I finish the S.M. Stirling story. I've read Goldman's first, The Temple of Gold, but remember nothing about it; I think I read his later Father's Day, but ditto; and Soldier in the Rain and The Thing of It Is . . . are new to me.
Well, I do recall seeing the movie version of Soldier w/ Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen on TV many years ago, but I've forgotten most of that.
JSG also sent me a copy of Goldman's comedy play (written w/ brother James), Blood, Sweat, and Stanley Poole. The original 1961 cast included Darren McGavin and Eugene Roche. Ought to be fun.
Well, I do recall seeing the movie version of Soldier w/ Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen on TV many years ago, but I've forgotten most of that.
JSG also sent me a copy of Goldman's comedy play (written w/ brother James), Blood, Sweat, and Stanley Poole. The original 1961 cast included Darren McGavin and Eugene Roche. Ought to be fun.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:22 AM (wzUl9)
58
In 1874, Henry Morton Stanley set out to follow the Congo River from its headwaters to the Atlantic. What followed was a deadly three year ordeal before his party finally completed the route. In 2004, Tim Butcher chose to recreate that journey, and documented his challenging trip inBlood River.
Butcher had some modern conveniences that Stanley did not; his journey began by motorbike, accompanied by his Pygmy bodyguard. He also used the traditional dugout canoe, and part of his journey was by a tugboat hauling a barge. The region of the Congo is one of the more dangerous places to travel in the world, and he relates his luck in some situations, and his fear in others.
What he discovers on his journey is that the Congo is even worse off now than it was when Stanley made his trip. On the tugboat, he converses with the Malaysian captain, who points out that Malaysia was colonized, but they have Formula 1 and skyscrapers, so there must be a different reason for the abhorrent conditions. Frankly, his description of his journey is like a factual version of Heart of Darkness.
Butcher had some modern conveniences that Stanley did not; his journey began by motorbike, accompanied by his Pygmy bodyguard. He also used the traditional dugout canoe, and part of his journey was by a tugboat hauling a barge. The region of the Congo is one of the more dangerous places to travel in the world, and he relates his luck in some situations, and his fear in others.
What he discovers on his journey is that the Congo is even worse off now than it was when Stanley made his trip. On the tugboat, he converses with the Malaysian captain, who points out that Malaysia was colonized, but they have Formula 1 and skyscrapers, so there must be a different reason for the abhorrent conditions. Frankly, his description of his journey is like a factual version of Heart of Darkness.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (0U5gm)
59
We have a new job building a town public library, not sure what all we are doing there yet, but hopefully will be a interesting job.
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2026 09:16 AM (Ia/+0)
---
Our library (funded by a one mill property tax) has gone beyond doing used book sales and is now creating a used book store. What a great business model! Taxpayers cover your purchasing budget, overhead, and employee salaries, and so you can drive the remaining used book stores - whose employees are paying for all of this - out of business.
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2026 09:16 AM (Ia/+0)
---
Our library (funded by a one mill property tax) has gone beyond doing used book sales and is now creating a used book store. What a great business model! Taxpayers cover your purchasing budget, overhead, and employee salaries, and so you can drive the remaining used book stores - whose employees are paying for all of this - out of business.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (ZOv7s)
60
Just hearing the reviews of Yesteryear put me off it. The reviewers weren't reviewing the book, they were reviewing the idea of making fun of people they disagree with. Naturally they thought this was swell.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (78a2H)
61
I'm not reading anything specific right now except my own book. I'm on chapter 9 (of 15), going through it slowly to get all the period details right. If I'm reading anything else, it's books on 1922 Hollywood, the Taylor murder or period fashion catalogs.
I'd like to get through chapter 10 today, but who knows? What I really need to do is fight the temptation to go out and get drunk.
I'd like to get through chapter 10 today, but who knows? What I really need to do is fight the temptation to go out and get drunk.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (qRla/)
62
The book is from 2020, so he did have the 'Net resources to check his references. Disappointing.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:16 AM (wzUl9)
True, but as you know, editors aren't free. BTW, how's Avery's edit?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:16 AM (wzUl9)
True, but as you know, editors aren't free. BTW, how's Avery's edit?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (1Ff7Z)
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at May 10, 2026 09:24 AM (bXbFr)
64
29 I don't get rid of books unless I really don't like them. My kids will read them, and their kids, etc.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:13 AM (0U5gm)
I still find gems at Mom's house.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:13 AM (0U5gm)
I still find gems at Mom's house.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 10, 2026 09:24 AM (h7ZuX)
65
How many of you listen to audiobooks?
I've never listened to an audiobook. What's the advantage of it?
I've never listened to an audiobook. What's the advantage of it?
Posted by: dantesed at May 10, 2026 09:24 AM (Oy/m2)
66
Just a heads up for any who might be interested; the Humble Bundle website is selling a bundle of ebook-versions of novels from Mercedes Lackey. I remember reading a bunch of ML's books back in high school. I saw her as sort of low-rent Anne McCaffery, especially with her griffon books. But ML may have been more of a proto-romantasy writer. Most of the moments I remember from here books were...what's the current term?...Spicy.
The most amusing example that I remember; some random girl gets cursed by the main villain, turning her into a wolf-woman. She is sent to attack the heroes, but she's a little bit hormonal, so the 'attack' turns into a struggle-snuggle with the heroine's sidekick. Falling madly in love with said sidekick, she switches sides and fights with the heroes for the remainder of the book. After the villain is defeated her curse is lifted, and she starts sobbing uncontrollably, worried that her boyfriend won't love her anymore since she isn't 'exotic' or whatever...
Heh. I guess that unlike current female authors/creators, old-school Mercedes Lackey wasn't focused on writing all female characters as embodiments of strength and virtue...
The most amusing example that I remember; some random girl gets cursed by the main villain, turning her into a wolf-woman. She is sent to attack the heroes, but she's a little bit hormonal, so the 'attack' turns into a struggle-snuggle with the heroine's sidekick. Falling madly in love with said sidekick, she switches sides and fights with the heroes for the remainder of the book. After the villain is defeated her curse is lifted, and she starts sobbing uncontrollably, worried that her boyfriend won't love her anymore since she isn't 'exotic' or whatever...
Heh. I guess that unlike current female authors/creators, old-school Mercedes Lackey wasn't focused on writing all female characters as embodiments of strength and virtue...
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:25 AM (3v7ra)
67
I'm not wearing any pants and my underpants smell like urine. It might be time to clean up. Happy Mother's Day, you mothers out there!
Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at May 10, 2026 09:19 AM (D1E+2)
----
This is a TBR thread, not a TMI thread...
Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at May 10, 2026 09:19 AM (D1E+2)
----
This is a TBR thread, not a TMI thread...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 10, 2026 09:25 AM (gnNyN)
68
As it’s May, it’s Goodwood Races time in England and women are encouraged to wear their finest.
I included a pic with this thread, but I guess it got lost. Here's a typical Goodwood view:
---
So, like an English Kentucky Derby.
I included a pic with this thread, but I guess it got lost. Here's a typical Goodwood view:
---
So, like an English Kentucky Derby.
Posted by: lin-duh is offended at May 10, 2026 09:25 AM (VCgbV)
69
Are those shelves glassed in or nah? (I have two bookshelves with glass doors on them.)
Posted by: Cow Demon at May 10, 2026 09:26 AM (nUR++)
70
I'm not wearing any pants and my underpants smell like urine.
This, too, is the story of Joe Biden.
This, too, is the story of Joe Biden.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 09:27 AM (qRla/)
71
Frankly, his description of his journey is like a factual version of Heart of Darkness.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (0U5gm)
---
If you dig into literary biographies, you realize how little authors change actual events. This is particularly true with Conrad, and Ian Burnet actually ran a bunch of these stories to ground. Heart of Darkness basically cleaned up the geography and changed a few names. Other Conrad tales are even less embellished.
You write what you know. Want to write interesting stuff? Go out and live an interesting life.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (0U5gm)
---
If you dig into literary biographies, you realize how little authors change actual events. This is particularly true with Conrad, and Ian Burnet actually ran a bunch of these stories to ground. Heart of Darkness basically cleaned up the geography and changed a few names. Other Conrad tales are even less embellished.
You write what you know. Want to write interesting stuff? Go out and live an interesting life.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 09:27 AM (ZOv7s)
72
Larry Correia posted this last week: After seeing that all the writing money is romantasy now, I am officially announcing my new pen name and series - Lobellia Troutswallow's A Kingdom of Angst and Boning. When beautiful 20 year old Glorendirerial Pufferdown goes to magic dragon school for magical dragons she meets Prince Tyrendrial Starfire who is cruel yet hot. And probably an elf or something. Their passion ignites a war between the gnomes and the local planetarium. Only then Gloreandreal is kidnapped by the minotaur pirate Hernand The WellHung. Swooning with even more passion, will Glerendreiaiel choose the dragons of prophecy or forbidden love?
Book 1: A Crown of Wolves and Roses
Book 2: The Sword of Length and Girth
Book 3: The Sword of Length and Girth 2: The Swordening
Book 4: A Knight of Mist and Lilacs
Book 5: A Shadow of Flame and Shadows
Book 5.5: A Moat of Sorrow and Burritos
Book 6: The Loins of El've'ns'mo'oor
Book 7: A (noun) of (noun) and (noun) TBD
Book 8: A Court of Wings and Thorns and Crowns and
Book 9: Gundum Wing Onyx Tensai Angel Genesis Alpha Force Go
Book 10: Smut Throne
I should be able to get all ten books banged out by the weekend. I will make BILLION
Book 1: A Crown of Wolves and Roses
Book 2: The Sword of Length and Girth
Book 3: The Sword of Length and Girth 2: The Swordening
Book 4: A Knight of Mist and Lilacs
Book 5: A Shadow of Flame and Shadows
Book 5.5: A Moat of Sorrow and Burritos
Book 6: The Loins of El've'ns'mo'oor
Book 7: A (noun) of (noun) and (noun) TBD
Book 8: A Court of Wings and Thorns and Crowns and
Book 9: Gundum Wing Onyx Tensai Angel Genesis Alpha Force Go
Book 10: Smut Throne
I should be able to get all ten books banged out by the weekend. I will make BILLION
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 09:28 AM (ZOv7s)
73
I rarely get rid of books. Never good books. I assume I'll get around to them again, sometime. Half of my adult life has been about going back to the books that enjoyed as a teen. I figure someday (retirement?) I'll have time to go back to what I'm discovering today.
And while this doesn't apply to most books; a lot of books on my shelf are comics, and those are super-easy to re-read. Especially while 'watching' a movie or during tv commercials. You can just browse through them, idly enjoying the art, re-reading the highlights, and quickly flip past the lesser sections...
And while this doesn't apply to most books; a lot of books on my shelf are comics, and those are super-easy to re-read. Especially while 'watching' a movie or during tv commercials. You can just browse through them, idly enjoying the art, re-reading the highlights, and quickly flip past the lesser sections...
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:29 AM (3v7ra)
74
3/4 of the way through To The Finland Station. Learning a lot. I don’t know why modern leftists are so enamored with Marx. He’s just another old dead white man. Because he’s so tied to the Russian revolution it’s easy to forget he started writing during the American Civil War. (I know I did). I read a little more in Of Human Bondage but the Finland Station has taken hold I spent more of my time with that.
Posted by: Who Knew at May 10, 2026 09:29 AM (0QMbS)
75
Our library (funded by a one mill property tax) has gone beyond doing used book sales and is now creating a used book store. What a great business model! Taxpayers cover your purchasing budget, overhead, and employee salaries, and so you can drive the remaining used book stores - whose employees are paying for all of this - out of business.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (ZOv7s)
Sounds like government run grocery stores are right around the corner.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (ZOv7s)
Sounds like government run grocery stores are right around the corner.
Posted by: Cow Demon at May 10, 2026 09:29 AM (nUR++)
76
I don't listen to audiobooks for four reasons:
1. I don't commute and when I take long car trips I usually have a companion, so we talk.
2. My favorite forms of exercise mostly don't go well with audiobooks. I know there are waterproof earphones but I don't want to listen to a book while I'm swimming, and if I have to crank up the volume inside my noise-cancelling headphones so I can hear the audiobook over the gas powered tools then I'm still damaging my hearing.
3. On the few occasions when I have tried sitting quietly and listening, I fell asleep.
4. They're so damned SLOW! A novel takes MUCH more time to read aloud than it does to read silently.
1. I don't commute and when I take long car trips I usually have a companion, so we talk.
2. My favorite forms of exercise mostly don't go well with audiobooks. I know there are waterproof earphones but I don't want to listen to a book while I'm swimming, and if I have to crank up the volume inside my noise-cancelling headphones so I can hear the audiobook over the gas powered tools then I'm still damaging my hearing.
3. On the few occasions when I have tried sitting quietly and listening, I fell asleep.
4. They're so damned SLOW! A novel takes MUCH more time to read aloud than it does to read silently.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 10, 2026 09:30 AM (78a2H)
Posted by: Nazdar at May 10, 2026 09:30 AM (NcvvS)
78
So, like an English Kentucky Derby.
Posted by: lin-duh is offended at May 10, 2026 09:25 AM (VCgbV)
Pretty much, though Goodwood now is known more for motor racing.
It's not as exclusive as the Enclosure at Royal Ascot, that's for sure.
Posted by: lin-duh is offended at May 10, 2026 09:25 AM (VCgbV)
Pretty much, though Goodwood now is known more for motor racing.
It's not as exclusive as the Enclosure at Royal Ascot, that's for sure.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 09:30 AM (qRla/)
79
AUDIOBOOK QUESTION: How many of you listen to audiobooks?
-
If I find a good audio book in the used bookstore, I will get it. I put them on a memory stick, and will listen to a book on long drives.
-
If I find a good audio book in the used bookstore, I will get it. I put them on a memory stick, and will listen to a book on long drives.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:30 AM (0U5gm)
80
My home is a black hole for books - the gravity is so intense none ever leave.
Posted by: Cow Demon at May 10, 2026 09:31 AM (nUR++)
81
77 >>How many of you listen to audiobooks?
Never - as a reasonably quick reader, they're too slow.
Posted by: Nazdar at May 10, 2026 09:30 AM (NcvvS)
Never. I have no inclination to do so even now.
Never - as a reasonably quick reader, they're too slow.
Posted by: Nazdar at May 10, 2026 09:30 AM (NcvvS)
Never. I have no inclination to do so even now.
Posted by: Cow Demon at May 10, 2026 09:32 AM (nUR++)
82
Between spending a weekend visiting family, and coming home to a delivery of new books, I had completely forgotten about trying to read The Silmarillion. Oh, well. That is one book that will not suffer from having a couple weeks go by between chapters. I'll get back to it eventually...
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:32 AM (3v7ra)
83
A mini tradegy, books a million has closed in the Rockaway mall, which means the only close by bookstore is the Barnes and Noble on Route 10.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 10, 2026 09:32 AM (XV/Pl)
84
Sam Kean's The Disappearing Spoon about the discovery and uses of elements in the periodic table, including the table itself.
Like Kilgoolie in Australia, where real gold was discarded because it came out as an alloy of tellurium. When tellurium was identified they tore up their own town to search the trash and get the gold out of it.
Like Kilgoolie in Australia, where real gold was discarded because it came out as an alloy of tellurium. When tellurium was identified they tore up their own town to search the trash and get the gold out of it.
Posted by: gKWVE at May 10, 2026 09:32 AM (iJNux)
85
During the Sniffle Scare I reread a lot of the books already on my shelves, many of which I hadn't dipped into in some years. I ended up buying a paperback edition of Philip MacDonald's Murder Gone Mad, which John Dickson Carr had listed in '47 as one of the ten best mystery novels, and which I'd read in high school. I wound up appreciating it much more. I need to revisit some more of the novels on his list, too; he thought highly of S.S. Van Dine's The Greene Murder Case, though more because of its shivery use of atmosphere than anything else.
Now, if my mind is tired and I just want to reread something that does not take mental energy, I'll pick up an old Ellery Queen or Rex Stout, or a Bond book, or perhaps one of Stephen King's good (read: early) works. Or, if I'm thinking non-fiction, the foreword and the first section (the Trojan War) of Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly.
Now, if my mind is tired and I just want to reread something that does not take mental energy, I'll pick up an old Ellery Queen or Rex Stout, or a Bond book, or perhaps one of Stephen King's good (read: early) works. Or, if I'm thinking non-fiction, the foreword and the first section (the Trojan War) of Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:32 AM (wzUl9)
86
Skip, a new library sounds wonderful! what town?
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at May 10, 2026 09:33 AM (dE3DB)
87
Between spending a weekend visiting family, and coming home to a delivery of new books, I had completely forgotten about trying to read The Silmarillion. Oh, well. That is one book that will not suffer from having a couple weeks go by between chapters. I'll get back to it eventually...
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:32 AM (3v7ra)
---
That's my bedtime book at the moment. It pairs very well with City of God.
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:32 AM (3v7ra)
---
That's my bedtime book at the moment. It pairs very well with City of God.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 09:34 AM (ZOv7s)
88
A mini tradegy, books a million has closed in the Rockaway mall, which means the only close by bookstore is the Barnes and Noble on Route 10.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 10, 2026
***
We had a BAM as a stand-alone building outside a mall here, about two miles from a Barnes & Noble. Though I missed the former when it closed, I wasn't surprised. This city, and certainly not my section of it, can hardly support one big bookstore, let alone two.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 10, 2026
***
We had a BAM as a stand-alone building outside a mall here, about two miles from a Barnes & Noble. Though I missed the former when it closed, I wasn't surprised. This city, and certainly not my section of it, can hardly support one big bookstore, let alone two.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:35 AM (wzUl9)
89
A new library is under construction perhaps a ten minute walk from my house. The skeletal structural beams are taunting me.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:35 AM (0U5gm)
90
I included a pic with this thread, but I guess it got lost. Here's a typical Goodwood view:
https://tinyurl.com/w8uk9utv
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression)
I thought what is it about Brit chicks and their wildly impractical hats but then I thought better than a hijab.
https://tinyurl.com/w8uk9utv
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression)
I thought what is it about Brit chicks and their wildly impractical hats but then I thought better than a hijab.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fat, Dumb, and Happy at May 10, 2026 09:36 AM (ndZc7)
91
What I really need to do is fight the temptation to go out and get drunk.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (qRla/)
Have you ever tried to get help? Too many good writers have been lost to that. There's gotta be someone out there to help you.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (qRla/)
Have you ever tried to get help? Too many good writers have been lost to that. There's gotta be someone out there to help you.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:36 AM (1Ff7Z)
92
25
I'm also rereading "Doctor Mid-Nite," a squarebound DC miniseries that introduced Dr. Pieter Cross, a Shadow-like operator who loses his normal eyesight and takes the costumed identity of the original Dr. Mid-Nite, who also can see only in the dark. Whereas that Dr. M. only used smoke bombs to create fighting spaces, Cross has a lot more tech. The comic has abstract painted art, which I usually don't like, but it works.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:09 AM (p/isN)
I think I've only ever known the original Dr. Mid-Nite, and even then only through cameo appearances....Painted art can be pretty hit or miss for me. I only have a few examples, but the only one I've really enjoyed was Alex Ross painting Kingdom Come.
I'm also rereading "Doctor Mid-Nite," a squarebound DC miniseries that introduced Dr. Pieter Cross, a Shadow-like operator who loses his normal eyesight and takes the costumed identity of the original Dr. Mid-Nite, who also can see only in the dark. Whereas that Dr. M. only used smoke bombs to create fighting spaces, Cross has a lot more tech. The comic has abstract painted art, which I usually don't like, but it works.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:09 AM (p/isN)
I think I've only ever known the original Dr. Mid-Nite, and even then only through cameo appearances....Painted art can be pretty hit or miss for me. I only have a few examples, but the only one I've really enjoyed was Alex Ross painting Kingdom Come.
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:36 AM (3v7ra)
93
I admit up front that this is 'quelle cheez-ayyyyy!', but hey … I still enjoy re-reading the old 'Classics Illustrated' comic books of my childhood. Good adaptations of stories, and (usually) very excellent artwork. Taking a slight dip into the downstream pool of cooler water, I readily admit to reading the Sunday Funnies mainly for Hal Foster's 'Prince Valiant' storyline and artwork - but mostly for the artwork. Simple, clean, elegant. What's not to like?
Posted by: Dr_No at May 10, 2026 09:37 AM (ayRl+)
94
54 AUDIOBOOK QUESTION: How many of you listen to audiobooks?
I read; my wife listens.
Posted by: Smallish Bees at May 10, 2026 09:22 AM (xKjWc)
Both. Sometimes, I download the audio and ebook version of the same book, because I want to continue the story if I'm no longer in the kitchen or the car.
I read; my wife listens.
Posted by: Smallish Bees at May 10, 2026 09:22 AM (xKjWc)
Both. Sometimes, I download the audio and ebook version of the same book, because I want to continue the story if I'm no longer in the kitchen or the car.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 10, 2026 09:37 AM (h7ZuX)
95
I should be able to get all ten books banged out by the weekend. I will make BILLION
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026
***
I'm in for A Moat of Sorrow and Burritos!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026
***
I'm in for A Moat of Sorrow and Burritos!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (wzUl9)
96
@30 --
Castle Guy, Sojourn is one of the comics series on my TBRA list. I could lay my hands on them in five minutes.
But, see, there's this Warlord omnibus that I'm expecting to be delivered this week. ...
Castle Guy, Sojourn is one of the comics series on my TBRA list. I could lay my hands on them in five minutes.
But, see, there's this Warlord omnibus that I'm expecting to be delivered this week. ...
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (p/isN)
97
88 A mini tradegy, books a million has closed in the Rockaway mall, which means the only close by bookstore is the Barnes and Noble on Route 10.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 10, 2026
***
We had a BAM as a stand-alone building outside a mall here, about two miles from a Barnes & Noble. Though I missed the former when it closed, I wasn't surprised. This city, and certainly not my section of it, can hardly support one big bookstore, let alone two.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:35 AM (wzUl9)
Does BAM still exist or are individual locations shuttering? (One B&N in Lubbock and one in Amarillo which is good.)
Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 10, 2026
***
We had a BAM as a stand-alone building outside a mall here, about two miles from a Barnes & Noble. Though I missed the former when it closed, I wasn't surprised. This city, and certainly not my section of it, can hardly support one big bookstore, let alone two.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:35 AM (wzUl9)
Does BAM still exist or are individual locations shuttering? (One B&N in Lubbock and one in Amarillo which is good.)
Posted by: Cow Demon at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (nUR++)
98
If I still took long bus trips, I'd probably use audiobooks; ditto if my eyes finally decide they've had enough of this #@%! and quit their job. I've got a few discs of Harlan Elllison reading his stuff, and he does a great reading, but I don't revisit them often. I think of audiobooks as something to use during solo travel and I'm done with that.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (q3u5l)
99
I listen to audiobooks a lot now. Started a couple years ago, when I realized I could do the routine parts of my job while listening.
Most recently finished Project Hail Mary. Decided to re listen to Ilona Andrews Hidden Legacy books. There are "graphic audio" versions which are basically radio dramas.
Most recently finished Project Hail Mary. Decided to re listen to Ilona Andrews Hidden Legacy books. There are "graphic audio" versions which are basically radio dramas.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (6U1c2)
100
I listen to audio books. I like them because I can do other things while listening like cook dinner, garden, take the dog for a walk, drive, etc. I don't have the luxury of sitting around all day reading. I actually only read in bed before going to sleep.
A good narrator is key. I've stopped listening to several books because the narrator annoys me. Sometimes it's their voice or tone. Flatness is another annoying one, it sounds like they are droning on and I lose interest. Having AI read a book or sounding like AI is another big turn off. I just listened to Hypernia and the narrator sounded like AI, I barely got through, in fact I abandoned it towards the end. I did try. I might try reading it, maybe.
A good narrator is key. I've stopped listening to several books because the narrator annoys me. Sometimes it's their voice or tone. Flatness is another annoying one, it sounds like they are droning on and I lose interest. Having AI read a book or sounding like AI is another big turn off. I just listened to Hypernia and the narrator sounded like AI, I barely got through, in fact I abandoned it towards the end. I did try. I might try reading it, maybe.
Posted by: lin-duh is offended at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (VCgbV)
101
I've never listened to an audiobook. What's the advantage of it?
Posted by: dantesed at May 10, 2026 09:24 AM (Oy/m2)
"Reading" while driving, or cooking.
Posted by: dantesed at May 10, 2026 09:24 AM (Oy/m2)
"Reading" while driving, or cooking.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (h7ZuX)
102
I included a pic with this thread, but I guess it got lost.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression)
Send it to me and I will add a link.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression)
Send it to me and I will add a link.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 10, 2026 09:39 AM (iERP6)
103
My TBR of real books is around 50. Some are TBRA, like Simon Schama’s Citizens that I read, years ago, lost, and found more recently at a used book store, so on the pile it went. My kindle library probably has over 100 unread books in it. I’m getting rid of more books these days because I’m running out of shelf space. I keep a lot, not because I might reread them but because they’re cool. And my new honey is a reader ( unlike my ex) so I keep ones that I think she might enjoy, too.
Posted by: Who Knew at May 10, 2026 09:39 AM (0QMbS)
104
I should be able to get all ten books banged out by the weekend. I will make BILLION
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026
***
I'm in for A Moat of Sorrow and Burritos!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (wzUl9)
---
The really sad part is that all ten books could be written, "edited", published by AI, and available for sale on Amazon by the time this book thread is over...
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026
***
I'm in for A Moat of Sorrow and Burritos!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (wzUl9)
---
The really sad part is that all ten books could be written, "edited", published by AI, and available for sale on Amazon by the time this book thread is over...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 10, 2026 09:39 AM (gnNyN)
105
Sometimes, I download the audio and ebook version of the same book, because I want to continue the story if I'm no longer in the kitchen or the car.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!
Same!
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!
Same!
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at May 10, 2026 09:39 AM (6U1c2)
106
I remember several years ago, I found an audio book version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Played it when we took the kids on a long, long road trip to the coast, and it kept them quiet during the voyage.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:39 AM (0U5gm)
107
I do wish we could get a separate Romantasy section in the library. They crowd out regular sff
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at May 10, 2026 09:41 AM (6U1c2)
108
I have books I'll never get rid of.
Posted by: Eromero at May 10, 2026 09:41 AM (LHPAg)
109
Also on my TBR pile, actually a shelf, is my annotated hardback edition of Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. I should have brought it with me on my recent Kansas trip.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:42 AM (wzUl9)
110
https://tinyurl.com/w8uk9utv
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression)
I've seen those kinds of hats worn by those weird looking royal girls, Bellatrix and Eugenics.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression)
I've seen those kinds of hats worn by those weird looking royal girls, Bellatrix and Eugenics.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at May 10, 2026 09:42 AM (0aYVJ)
111
If you have not watched TJM's video on "world building" you should it is very good.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2026 09:43 AM (RIvkX)
112
I should be able to get all ten books banged out by the weekend. I will make BILLION
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
---
I saw that, hilarious! If Larry wrote it, I'd read it, lol!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
---
I saw that, hilarious! If Larry wrote it, I'd read it, lol!
Posted by: lin-duh is offended at May 10, 2026 09:43 AM (VCgbV)
113
True, but as you know, editors aren't free. BTW, how's Avery's edit?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026
***
She liked it a lot and is willing to recommend it to the skies, as she put it. Now that my editing is done, I've set it aside as I am trying to focus on finding a house and moving.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026
***
She liked it a lot and is willing to recommend it to the skies, as she put it. Now that my editing is done, I've set it aside as I am trying to focus on finding a house and moving.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:45 AM (wzUl9)
114
Does BAM still exist or are individual locations shuttering? (One B&N in Lubbock and one in Amarillo which is good.)
Posted by: Cow Demon at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (nUR++)
We have a B$N (clean bathrooms) and a Half-Price Books in ETEX.
Posted by: Cow Demon at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (nUR++)
We have a B$N (clean bathrooms) and a Half-Price Books in ETEX.
Posted by: Eromero at May 10, 2026 09:45 AM (LHPAg)
115
And yes, the books I have, I hoard like Scrooge.
Been in a reading slump the past few weeks, but think I finally broke it. Watched the new Park Chan Wook (did I get that right?) movie, No Other Choice, which is based on Donald Westlake's The Ax. The flick didn't really do it for me, so revisited the novel. And then Westlake's The Hook (much of which would appeal to some of the Lit Horde -- think Strangers on a Train meets the book business). Squeezed in a couple of movies based on his Parker novels, and started a re-read of that series and have just started book 5. 6 novels read in just over a week, and delighted with all of 'em. Thank you, Westlake.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 09:22 AM (q3u5l)
I, too, thought No Other Choice was a dull dud. Could lose an hour with no effect.
Anywho, Westlake's "The Ax" is a fun read. I, too, followed it up with "The Hook". The hook isn't as good but it's still okay.
Been in a reading slump the past few weeks, but think I finally broke it. Watched the new Park Chan Wook (did I get that right?) movie, No Other Choice, which is based on Donald Westlake's The Ax. The flick didn't really do it for me, so revisited the novel. And then Westlake's The Hook (much of which would appeal to some of the Lit Horde -- think Strangers on a Train meets the book business). Squeezed in a couple of movies based on his Parker novels, and started a re-read of that series and have just started book 5. 6 novels read in just over a week, and delighted with all of 'em. Thank you, Westlake.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 09:22 AM (q3u5l)
I, too, thought No Other Choice was a dull dud. Could lose an hour with no effect.
Anywho, Westlake's "The Ax" is a fun read. I, too, followed it up with "The Hook". The hook isn't as good but it's still okay.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 10, 2026 09:46 AM (iJfKG)
116
Does BAM still exist or are individual locations shuttering? (One B&N in Lubbock and one in Amarillo which is good.)
Posted by: Cow Demon at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (nUR++)
Website says they're still a going concern. Just closing some locations and redesigning as smaller shops. Still have some new stores in the pipeline.
Posted by: Cow Demon at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (nUR++)
Website says they're still a going concern. Just closing some locations and redesigning as smaller shops. Still have some new stores in the pipeline.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:46 AM (1Ff7Z)
117
What if I want to read a book I own again?
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2026 09:46 AM (Ia/+0)
118
Dr No,
The old Classics Illustrated Comics were a joy. Had a bunch of 'em when I was in 5th grade and up. Wound up reading a number of the books they were based on, and got through a number of grade school and high school book reports with their help. Cliff's Notes? Bah!
IIRC Joseph Epstein mentioned in one of his essays that he met someone who used to write text adaptations for Classics Illustrated, and thanked him warmly for his contribution to Epstein's early education.
There was an attempt to do a new CI some years back -- focused on the art rather than the adaptation and a bit pricey. They didn't last, but the Poe volume with Gahan Wilson art was nice.
The old Classics Illustrated Comics were a joy. Had a bunch of 'em when I was in 5th grade and up. Wound up reading a number of the books they were based on, and got through a number of grade school and high school book reports with their help. Cliff's Notes? Bah!
IIRC Joseph Epstein mentioned in one of his essays that he met someone who used to write text adaptations for Classics Illustrated, and thanked him warmly for his contribution to Epstein's early education.
There was an attempt to do a new CI some years back -- focused on the art rather than the adaptation and a bit pricey. They didn't last, but the Poe volume with Gahan Wilson art was nice.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 09:47 AM (q3u5l)
119
I like to drop off once or twice read books at little book exchange boxes near where I live. Like the gang from Toy Story, they need to be loved again.
Posted by: No Justice for Iryna, No Peace for Charlotte Government at May 10, 2026 09:47 AM (7/Q5O)
120
I continue with Malcolm Guite's Galahad and the Grail. This is a slow but delicious process. I read a section, listen to Guite read it with all his verve (download from Audible), then reread that part with his voice in my head. It may sound weird but it is bringing out aspects I missed on the first reading. Nerd level appreciation.
Posted by: JTB at May 10, 2026 09:48 AM (yTvNw)
121
Send it to me and I will add a link.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 10, 2026 09:39 AM (iERP6)
To see the flip side of Goodwood women, check out Kim DuToit's site about "train smash women."
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 10, 2026 09:39 AM (iERP6)
To see the flip side of Goodwood women, check out Kim DuToit's site about "train smash women."
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:48 AM (1Ff7Z)
122
To make more room for the books on end tables TBR.
Posted by: No Justice for Iryna, No Peace for Charlotte Government at May 10, 2026 09:48 AM (7/Q5O)
123
My lifestyle is on a path to minimalism, so I consume audiobooks. My TBR list resides on the Libby app.
Right now it is a single book: The Magician's Nephew by CS Lewis.
I have to say I've gotten some good suggestions from right here on Ye Olde Book Thread.
And speaking of TBRA, last year I listened to The Last One At The Wedding (thanks for the rec, hordemates) and enjoyed it so much I listened to it twice.
Right now it is a single book: The Magician's Nephew by CS Lewis.
I have to say I've gotten some good suggestions from right here on Ye Olde Book Thread.
And speaking of TBRA, last year I listened to The Last One At The Wedding (thanks for the rec, hordemates) and enjoyed it so much I listened to it twice.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at May 10, 2026 09:49 AM (2Ez/1)
124
Decolonization has not been a net plus
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at May 10, 2026 09:49 AM (bXbFr)
125
Just started reading in print - Jim Butcher's Outlaw and T Kingfisher's Wolf Worm
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at May 10, 2026 09:51 AM (GhIJO)
126
She liked it a lot and is willing to recommend it to the skies, as she put it. Now that my editing is done, I've set it aside as I am trying to focus on finding a house and moving.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:45 AM (wzUl9)
Yeah, that's definitely the right move. (heh)
Now, you'll need a copyeditor and a book cover. SAH has offered to do a cover for SSH, and she knows a copyeditor who charges $50 for 50k words. I'm just waiting to hear back because SAH has been sick and has a big workload.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:45 AM (wzUl9)
Yeah, that's definitely the right move. (heh)
Now, you'll need a copyeditor and a book cover. SAH has offered to do a cover for SSH, and she knows a copyeditor who charges $50 for 50k words. I'm just waiting to hear back because SAH has been sick and has a big workload.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:52 AM (1Ff7Z)
127
I have old paperbacks that are literally falling apart they really need to be trashed. Plus, the font is tiny, even with my readers.
We also have a few shelves of old, outdated college textbooks. They are hard to part with because they all cost $100++ each....😱
We also have a few shelves of old, outdated college textbooks. They are hard to part with because they all cost $100++ each....😱
Posted by: lin-duh is offended at May 10, 2026 09:52 AM (VCgbV)
128
My TBR is on Kindle as well as a stack of physical books. I've counted them, and there are more books just on Kindle than I can read if I live to be 105 years old (I'm 62 now). Just shattered my phone screen yesterday, so not reading on Kindle for a month until I can get another phone.
Time to assault the physical book pile, which include a bunch of philosophy books by Dr. Edward Feser, one of my favorite Catholic philosophers.
Completely unrelated: Ellen Page is playing Achilles in Christopher Nolan's new Odyssey. Ellen still has her vagina, but no breasts, so she's indistinguishable from the Achilles of legend, I guess.
Oh, and a jet black lady who looks to be from Ethiopia is playing Helen of Troy. Or, Helen of Detroit, if you will. Again. Indistinguishable from the Helen of legend.
Time to assault the physical book pile, which include a bunch of philosophy books by Dr. Edward Feser, one of my favorite Catholic philosophers.
Completely unrelated: Ellen Page is playing Achilles in Christopher Nolan's new Odyssey. Ellen still has her vagina, but no breasts, so she's indistinguishable from the Achilles of legend, I guess.
Oh, and a jet black lady who looks to be from Ethiopia is playing Helen of Troy. Or, Helen of Detroit, if you will. Again. Indistinguishable from the Helen of legend.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 10, 2026 09:53 AM (/RHNq)
129
I stopped at a park in a nearby town recently, because they have the good swings. Tall, with a board seat instead of those slings that crush my hips. Yeah, I'm 64 years old, and love to swing. So what?
There was a little free library by the playground, and it was completely empty! Unacceptable! I gathered up a bagful of books from my shelf that I enjoyed, but will not read again, and filled it up. I should be able to find another bagful before too long, and I might start culling Mom's abandoned shelves, to the same purpose.
There was a little free library by the playground, and it was completely empty! Unacceptable! I gathered up a bagful of books from my shelf that I enjoyed, but will not read again, and filled it up. I should be able to find another bagful before too long, and I might start culling Mom's abandoned shelves, to the same purpose.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 10, 2026 09:53 AM (h7ZuX)
130
72 Larry Correia posted this last week: After seeing that all the writing money is romantasy now, I am officially announcing my new pen name and series - Lobellia Troutswallow's A Kingdom of Angst and Boning. When beautiful 20 year old Glorendirerial Pufferdown goes to magic dragon school for magical dragons she meets Prince Tyrendrial Starfire ---
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 09:28 AM (ZOv7s)
Going off on a tangent; I have grown to hate the 'magical dragon school' trope in fantasy stories. Magical academies just feel so....un-fantasy. They make the story feel like modern-day stories but with magic and monsters replacing technology. Few (if any) authors make the trope feel right in the fantasy world.
On a much smaller scale, I bailed on one particular fantasy novel when a rural peasant casually mentioned going to school. Ug. You probably could craft a setting where that made sense, but seeing it in that book just broke my interest.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 09:28 AM (ZOv7s)
Going off on a tangent; I have grown to hate the 'magical dragon school' trope in fantasy stories. Magical academies just feel so....un-fantasy. They make the story feel like modern-day stories but with magic and monsters replacing technology. Few (if any) authors make the trope feel right in the fantasy world.
On a much smaller scale, I bailed on one particular fantasy novel when a rural peasant casually mentioned going to school. Ug. You probably could craft a setting where that made sense, but seeing it in that book just broke my interest.
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:53 AM (3v7ra)
131
If you want to know what all the young cool cats and kittens are reading...
One of the kiddos got married last weekend and among all the various festivities, the kiddos and I were discussing books.
They all were reading or had read :
"Dungeon Crawler Carl" series and were excitedly awaiting the final book in the series.
DCC is about aliens who invade Earth and throw people into dungeon games as entertainment. Hijinks ensue and it's supposed to be very funny.
Brandon Sanderson's series "The Way of Kings"
The story here seemed fairly complex buuuut if you like swords and sorcery and don't mind long novels, you'll probably like it. They all were reading the series and gave it a thumbs up.
Now, finally you can hang with the teens and young adults in the mall and wear your baseball cap backwards, and be thought the coolest of the cool.
If you want to know what all the young cool cats and kittens are reading...
One of the kiddos got married last weekend and among all the various festivities, the kiddos and I were discussing books.
They all were reading or had read :
"Dungeon Crawler Carl" series and were excitedly awaiting the final book in the series.
DCC is about aliens who invade Earth and throw people into dungeon games as entertainment. Hijinks ensue and it's supposed to be very funny.
Brandon Sanderson's series "The Way of Kings"
The story here seemed fairly complex buuuut if you like swords and sorcery and don't mind long novels, you'll probably like it. They all were reading the series and gave it a thumbs up.
Now, finally you can hang with the teens and young adults in the mall and wear your baseball cap backwards, and be thought the coolest of the cool.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 10, 2026 09:53 AM (iJfKG)
132
If you get an audiobook on history or a textbook, how does it do maps or such?
Posted by: dantesed at May 10, 2026 09:54 AM (Oy/m2)
133
I've started reading one of Thomas Paine's recommendations from a long time ago:
The Ice Limit by Preston & Child
A billionaire with more money than sense wants to recover a 10,000 ton meteorite from a remote location in southern Chile. Despite planning for every contingency, the plan does not go smoothly, as the meteorite is not exactly what they thought it was.
The conclusion is played out in the sequel, Beyond the Ice Limit, part of the Gideon Crew novels.
The Ice Limit by Preston & Child
A billionaire with more money than sense wants to recover a 10,000 ton meteorite from a remote location in southern Chile. Despite planning for every contingency, the plan does not go smoothly, as the meteorite is not exactly what they thought it was.
The conclusion is played out in the sequel, Beyond the Ice Limit, part of the Gideon Crew novels.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 10, 2026 09:55 AM (gnNyN)
134
Never listened to an audio book but I used to like Chapter a Day on Wisconsin Public Radio. I don’t know if that’s still on.
Posted by: Who Knew at May 10, 2026 09:56 AM (0QMbS)
135
Brandon Sanderson's series "The Way of Kings"
The story here seemed fairly complex buuuut if you like swords and sorcery and don't mind long novels, you'll probably like it. They all were reading the series and gave it a thumbs up.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 10, 2026 09:53 AM (iJfKG)
----
The first couple of books in the Stormlight Archive are quite good. But the next two aren't quite as good. Sanderson shit the bed with Wind and Truth as he goes full woke in that book and the ending is just terrible.
I'll never read another Sanderson book again after that debacle.
The story here seemed fairly complex buuuut if you like swords and sorcery and don't mind long novels, you'll probably like it. They all were reading the series and gave it a thumbs up.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 10, 2026 09:53 AM (iJfKG)
----
The first couple of books in the Stormlight Archive are quite good. But the next two aren't quite as good. Sanderson shit the bed with Wind and Truth as he goes full woke in that book and the ending is just terrible.
I'll never read another Sanderson book again after that debacle.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 10, 2026 09:58 AM (gnNyN)
136
89 A new library is under construction perhaps a ten minute walk from my house. The skeletal structural beams are taunting me.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:35 AM (0U5gm)
When I was a kid, I was thrilled when they built a library-annex a mile and a half from my house. The main library had been on the far side of town, requiring a long car-ride to get to. The annex was a quick bike ride away. I spent so much of my teenage years in that annex... Admittedly, mostly browsing the one looooooooong shelf of sci-fi/fantasy novels.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 09:35 AM (0U5gm)
When I was a kid, I was thrilled when they built a library-annex a mile and a half from my house. The main library had been on the far side of town, requiring a long car-ride to get to. The annex was a quick bike ride away. I spent so much of my teenage years in that annex... Admittedly, mostly browsing the one looooooooong shelf of sci-fi/fantasy novels.
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:58 AM (3v7ra)
137
I listen to audiobooks all the time. For long trips I download several free audiobooks from my local library or from Audible. I also do this for my daily work commutes. On long trips, there's only so much two people can talk about, so audiobooks fill in the gaps.
Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent at May 10, 2026 09:58 AM (XMwZJ)
138
@92 --
Kingdom Come was a slam dunk. I'd love to have a poster of the last page of issue 3, where Big Blue meets the Big Red Cheese.
Kingdom Come was a slam dunk. I'd love to have a poster of the last page of issue 3, where Big Blue meets the Big Red Cheese.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:59 AM (p/isN)
139
132 If you get an audiobook on history or a textbook, how does it do maps or such?
Posted by: dantesed at May 10, 2026 09:54 AM (Oy/m2)
It doesn't. Those kinds of books aren't a good use of audio, IMO. Even ebooks with maps are annoying, because it's hard to go back and forth from the text to the maps.
Posted by: dantesed at May 10, 2026 09:54 AM (Oy/m2)
It doesn't. Those kinds of books aren't a good use of audio, IMO. Even ebooks with maps are annoying, because it's hard to go back and forth from the text to the maps.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 10, 2026 09:59 AM (h7ZuX)
140
I liked the Dungeon Crawler Carl books to an extent. It is funny. I sound like an old fussy-duddy but there are a lot of f-bombs and taking the lord's name in vain. That's a turn off to me. I did get through the first 2 books though. I don't know why authors feel the need to use so much foul language these days. It's like all the unnecessary nudity and sex in movies and on TV.
Posted by: lin-duh is offended at May 10, 2026 10:00 AM (VCgbV)
141
I just received a TBRAIAT (to be read again in another translation), i.e. the latest release of The Camp of the Saints. I have an edition that was published sometime back in the 80s, and I've always felt the language was a bit awkward in parts. Maybe this translation will be less clunky. Also, I wanted a second (paperback) copy in case I loan it out, since my 80s edition is a hardback. I have no idea if it has any economic value, but I know that at one point the book was selling for an elevated price due to its scarcity.
Posted by: PabloD at May 10, 2026 10:00 AM (C30Iv)
142
Some fall out from reading Guite's epic ballad about King Arthur. It (re)ignited my interest in the tales generally and in the sources for them. I started with Tennyson's Idylls of the King. I must have read bits of it but never the whole thing. Just a few pages in and I am stonkered. It is magnificent! It takes my appreciation of Tennyson, already sky high, to higher levels.
The next fall out was learning there is another version of Mallory's Le Morte D'Arthur: the Winchester version. It was discovered in 1934 in the library of Winchester College and is supposed to be closer to Mallory's original than the Caxton version that everyone reads. Don't know any more yet but the idea is intruiging. Two more books for the shelves.
The county library had neither work, of course. But the local B and N, to my considerable amazement, had both. Penguin Classics and Oxford World Classics to the rescue.
The next fall out was learning there is another version of Mallory's Le Morte D'Arthur: the Winchester version. It was discovered in 1934 in the library of Winchester College and is supposed to be closer to Mallory's original than the Caxton version that everyone reads. Don't know any more yet but the idea is intruiging. Two more books for the shelves.
The county library had neither work, of course. But the local B and N, to my considerable amazement, had both. Penguin Classics and Oxford World Classics to the rescue.
Posted by: JTB at May 10, 2026 10:01 AM (yTvNw)
143
It seems to be a trend that 'magical dragon schools' are being replaced by Quality Learing Centers.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at May 10, 2026 10:03 AM (2Ez/1)
144
There was a little free library by the playground, and it was completely empty! Unacceptable!
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 10, 2026 09:53 AM (h7ZuX)
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Excellent! Feed those young minds! Good way to bypass Current Year library indoctrination too.
Actually, wee free libraries could be petrie dishes for Robert Anton Wilson-style social hacking.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 10, 2026 09:53 AM (h7ZuX)
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Excellent! Feed those young minds! Good way to bypass Current Year library indoctrination too.
Actually, wee free libraries could be petrie dishes for Robert Anton Wilson-style social hacking.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 10, 2026 10:03 AM (kpS4V)
145
I had to get a new Kindle because my (really, really) old one wouldn't hold a charge anymore.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 10, 2026 10:04 AM (kpS4V)
146
The library here has been run for some years by people who believe that a book that hasn't been checked out in five years should be weeded from the collection. I snagged several Don Robertsons and a couple of Gerald Kersh novels from their sale tables.
Best library memory for me was the Chicago Lawn branch of the Chicago Public Library. Poking around the shelves and finding The Martian Chronicles, The Haunting of Hill House, a couple of the Arkham House Lovecrafts and a bunch of the old Ted Dikty Year's Best SF anthologies.
Best library memory for me was the Chicago Lawn branch of the Chicago Public Library. Poking around the shelves and finding The Martian Chronicles, The Haunting of Hill House, a couple of the Arkham House Lovecrafts and a bunch of the old Ted Dikty Year's Best SF anthologies.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 10:05 AM (q3u5l)
147
"...but I used to like Chapter a Day on Wisconsin Public Radio. I don’t know if that’s still on.
Posted by: Who Knew at May 10, 2026 09:56 AM"
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Yes, it is. Thanks to the generous support of Listeners Like You.
Posted by: Who Knew at May 10, 2026 09:56 AM"
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Yes, it is. Thanks to the generous support of Listeners Like You.
Posted by: Nina Totenbag at May 10, 2026 10:07 AM (2Ez/1)
148
Some things are meant to happen together. Yesterday I got my copy of Woodcarving Illustrated magazine, which is always welcome. The same day Doug Linker (my favorite) posted his latest YT video about whittling. Coincidence? No. Proof that God approves of one of my hobbies.
Posted by: JTB at May 10, 2026 10:07 AM (yTvNw)
149
I'm in for A Moat of Sorrow and Burritos!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (wzUl9)
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The Sword of Length and Girth reminded me of Ace. It seemed very much in his land.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (wzUl9)
---
The Sword of Length and Girth reminded me of Ace. It seemed very much in his land.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:08 AM (ZOv7s)
150
@118 --
I have some of the 1980s Classics Illustrated stories. Such a shame that First Comics folded.
I have some of the 1980s Classics Illustrated stories. Such a shame that First Comics folded.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 10:08 AM (p/isN)
151
Have you ever tried to get help? Too many good writers have been lost to that. There's gotta be someone out there to help you.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:36 AM (1Ff7Z)
It's depression that's killing me. I have pills, but they don't help as much as you would think. I don't like the idea of therapy, since a therapist wouldn't tell me anything or offer any advice that I can't already tell myself. And other people really don't want to listen to your troubles.
Thanks for the suggestion, though.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:36 AM (1Ff7Z)
It's depression that's killing me. I have pills, but they don't help as much as you would think. I don't like the idea of therapy, since a therapist wouldn't tell me anything or offer any advice that I can't already tell myself. And other people really don't want to listen to your troubles.
Thanks for the suggestion, though.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 10:08 AM (qRla/)
152
The Ice Limit by Preston & Child
A billionaire with more money than sense wants to recover a 10,000 ton meteorite from a remote location in southern Chile. Despite planning for every contingency, the plan does not go smoothly, as the meteorite is not exactly what they thought it was.
The conclusion is played out in the sequel, Beyond the Ice Limit, part of the Gideon Crew novels.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
That book was so good, it began my addiction to the authors, I now have 25 or so of their books.
A billionaire with more money than sense wants to recover a 10,000 ton meteorite from a remote location in southern Chile. Despite planning for every contingency, the plan does not go smoothly, as the meteorite is not exactly what they thought it was.
The conclusion is played out in the sequel, Beyond the Ice Limit, part of the Gideon Crew novels.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
That book was so good, it began my addiction to the authors, I now have 25 or so of their books.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 10:08 AM (0U5gm)
153
Posted by: Smallish Bees at May 10, 2026 09:17 AM (xKjWc)
Is that why Corriea was threatening to write a romantasy series?
Is that why Corriea was threatening to write a romantasy series?
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at May 10, 2026 10:10 AM (lFFaq)
154
I included a pic with this thread, but I guess it got lost.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression)
Send it to me and I will add a link.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 10, 2026 09:39 AM (iERP6)
Just use the link I posted at comment 34. That will do.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression)
Send it to me and I will add a link.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 10, 2026 09:39 AM (iERP6)
Just use the link I posted at comment 34. That will do.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 10:10 AM (qRla/)
155
96 @30 --
Castle Guy, Sojourn is one of the comics series on my TBRA list. I could lay my hands on them in five minutes.
But, see, there's this Warlord omnibus that I'm expecting to be delivered this week. ...
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (p/isN)
Warlord by Mike Grell? I have that omnibus. It's weird...It uses some unique paper-stock that feels/looks old. And the book is super-light. It's twice as thick as my Sojourn book, but weighs significantly less. I read the first dozen or so issues before getting distracted. (But I fully intend to get back to it sometime) The story was very Edgar Rice Burroughs...
Sojourn (at least the first half) is always on my To Be Read Again list. That's why I went through the time/expense of getting a custom-bound omnibus of it; to make re-reading easier!
Castle Guy, Sojourn is one of the comics series on my TBRA list. I could lay my hands on them in five minutes.
But, see, there's this Warlord omnibus that I'm expecting to be delivered this week. ...
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:38 AM (p/isN)
Warlord by Mike Grell? I have that omnibus. It's weird...It uses some unique paper-stock that feels/looks old. And the book is super-light. It's twice as thick as my Sojourn book, but weighs significantly less. I read the first dozen or so issues before getting distracted. (But I fully intend to get back to it sometime) The story was very Edgar Rice Burroughs...
Sojourn (at least the first half) is always on my To Be Read Again list. That's why I went through the time/expense of getting a custom-bound omnibus of it; to make re-reading easier!
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 10:11 AM (3v7ra)
156
I just received a TBRAIAT (to be read again in another translation), i.e. the latest release of The Camp of the Saints. I have an edition that was published sometime back in the 80s, and I've always felt the language was a bit awkward in parts. Maybe this translation will be less clunky. Also, I wanted a second (paperback) copy in case I loan it out, since my 80s edition is a hardback. I have no idea if it has any economic value, but I know that at one point the book was selling for an elevated price due to its scarcity.
Posted by: PabloD
I haven't read an earlier translation, but the one recently published by Vauban Books is well done. They are having a hard time keeping both paperback and hardback on the shelves.
Posted by: PabloD
I haven't read an earlier translation, but the one recently published by Vauban Books is well done. They are having a hard time keeping both paperback and hardback on the shelves.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 10, 2026 10:12 AM (0U5gm)
157
I talked about this book last evening on the Hobby Thread, "This House of Sky" by Ivan Doig. I picked it up at an estate sale. It is a memoir of growing up in 1940's-1960's Montana. It was an excellent read.
I have never listened to an audio book. I am a visual learner and like to see the words. Sometimes I re-read a page, especially if I like the writing. I know lots of people who love audio books.
I recently read "To Kill a Mockingbird" aloud to my husband, who is NOT a reader but enjoys a good story. Our grandson was reading it in HS and I hadn't read it in a couple of years. It took so long to read it out loud! It was fun to read it with MrT and see his reaction to the story as we went along. Almost made it like reading it for the first time myself.
I have never listened to an audio book. I am a visual learner and like to see the words. Sometimes I re-read a page, especially if I like the writing. I know lots of people who love audio books.
I recently read "To Kill a Mockingbird" aloud to my husband, who is NOT a reader but enjoys a good story. Our grandson was reading it in HS and I hadn't read it in a couple of years. It took so long to read it out loud! It was fun to read it with MrT and see his reaction to the story as we went along. Almost made it like reading it for the first time myself.
Posted by: TecumsehTea at May 10, 2026 10:13 AM (nz1sK)
158
Thanks for the suggestion, though.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 10:08 AM (qRla/)
Well, maybe the new dog will help.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 10:08 AM (qRla/)
Well, maybe the new dog will help.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 10:14 AM (1Ff7Z)
159
The Sword of Length and Girth reminded me of Ace. It seemed very much in his land.
More like The Shelf of Splinters and Tears.
More like The Shelf of Splinters and Tears.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 10:14 AM (qRla/)
160
Going off on a tangent; I have grown to hate the 'magical dragon school' trope in fantasy stories. Magical academies just feel so....un-fantasy. They make the story feel like modern-day stories but with magic and monsters replacing technology. Few (if any) authors make the trope feel right in the fantasy world.
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:53 AM (3v7ra)
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Several people have told me that the second book in the Man of Destiny Series (Rise of the Alliance) is their favorite. It was very popular in my squadron and I think the reason for that is that I have Adam Flyte (an older Annikin) go into OCS as war looms.
His class consists of civilian pilots who have to adjust to military life and that allows me to do deeper character development. I was also writing what I know, having gone to OCS myself (I did not complete it).
Fantasy schools could be written well, crucibles of character, places where lives are built but also destroyed, but to do that authors would have to understand how high-pressure environments function, and to know what it is like to both scrape through and graduate and also wash out. They know neither.
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 09:53 AM (3v7ra)
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Several people have told me that the second book in the Man of Destiny Series (Rise of the Alliance) is their favorite. It was very popular in my squadron and I think the reason for that is that I have Adam Flyte (an older Annikin) go into OCS as war looms.
His class consists of civilian pilots who have to adjust to military life and that allows me to do deeper character development. I was also writing what I know, having gone to OCS myself (I did not complete it).
Fantasy schools could be written well, crucibles of character, places where lives are built but also destroyed, but to do that authors would have to understand how high-pressure environments function, and to know what it is like to both scrape through and graduate and also wash out. They know neither.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:14 AM (ZOv7s)
161
The first couple of books in the Stormlight Archive are quite good. But the next two aren't quite as good. Sanderson shit the bed with Wind and Truth as he goes full woke in that book and the ending is just terrible.
I'll never read another Sanderson book again after that debacle.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 10, 2026 09:58 AM (gnNyN)
Agreed on all points.
I'll never read another Sanderson book again after that debacle.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 10, 2026 09:58 AM (gnNyN)
Agreed on all points.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at May 10, 2026 10:14 AM (lFFaq)
162
I listened to "Six Frigates" and wondered what illustrations I was missing.
I maintain that Decatur's mission in Tripoli would make a great movie.
I maintain that Decatur's mission in Tripoli would make a great movie.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 10:16 AM (p/isN)
163
To put it another way, "magic dragon school" should be like The Paper Chase or The Lords of Discipline but with a higher mortality rate. That might be interesting.
One dramatic advantage of having OCS as part of the story is that as the galactic civil war drags on, Adam Flyte experiences the recurring pain of losing classmates, which in turn hardens him for his eventual heel turn. It also creates more emotional impact for the reader than robots vs clones, which is perhaps the lowest stakes I can imagine in warfare.
One dramatic advantage of having OCS as part of the story is that as the galactic civil war drags on, Adam Flyte experiences the recurring pain of losing classmates, which in turn hardens him for his eventual heel turn. It also creates more emotional impact for the reader than robots vs clones, which is perhaps the lowest stakes I can imagine in warfare.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:16 AM (ZOv7s)
164
From earlier this week, didja see that Douglas Adams' book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency has come to pass?
Humanoid Robot Becomes Buddhist Monk in South Korea
https://tinyurl.com/bh5y7h8f
Humanoid Robot Becomes Buddhist Monk in South Korea
https://tinyurl.com/bh5y7h8f
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fat, Dumb, and Happy at May 10, 2026 10:16 AM (ndZc7)
165
More like The Shelf of Splinters and Tears.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 10:14 AM (qRla/)
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The Drill of Reversing and Frustration
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 10:14 AM (qRla/)
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The Drill of Reversing and Frustration
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:17 AM (ZOv7s)
166
I mentioned above donating books to the local friends of the library. The donated books are sold by the group to support more programs held at the various branches, not to put on the shelves. Although from my viewpoint they should. But I don't trust the staff to keep them available. The selections of the classics the library offers is sparse. But plenty of copies of Mike Obama's ghost-written shit and 'celebrity' stuff.
Posted by: JTB at May 10, 2026 10:17 AM (yTvNw)
167
I maintain that Decatur's mission in Tripoli would make a great movie.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 10:16 AM (p/isN)
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Modern Hollywood would make the pirates gay people of color who suffer unjustly from MAGA haters.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 10:16 AM (p/isN)
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Modern Hollywood would make the pirates gay people of color who suffer unjustly from MAGA haters.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:18 AM (ZOv7s)
168
A friend of mine had a roommate who was always after he to get rid of some of her myriad books, asking her why she kept them if she'd already read them. My friend looked ta her and said, "You already heard that opera, so why do you want to keep all those records around?" And that was the last time she heard THAT argument, LOL.
Currently reading a bunch of stuff by B.B. Hamel. Formulaic stories albeit with some interesting characters, but some good dirty fun light reading overall.
Currently reading a bunch of stuff by B.B. Hamel. Formulaic stories albeit with some interesting characters, but some good dirty fun light reading overall.
Posted by: tankascribe at May 10, 2026 10:19 AM (NtoJk)
169
I plow through my TBRA pile by taking a book off the shelf, turning to any page and reading for 5-10 mins. Repeat on next book, etc.
Posted by: Joemarine at May 10, 2026 10:19 AM (y171U)
170
AUDIOBOOK QUESTION: How many of you listen to audiobooks?
Posted by: Smallish Bees
I did before the invention of podcasts. They do stick with you, if you're an auditory learner. I think the consensus is, if you have a particular voice and/or an affect, it's worth it to record one.
Posted by: Smallish Bees
I did before the invention of podcasts. They do stick with you, if you're an auditory learner. I think the consensus is, if you have a particular voice and/or an affect, it's worth it to record one.
Posted by: weft cut-loop at May 10, 2026 10:19 AM (diia5)
171
BTW HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the moms of the horde!!! 🌸🌻🌺💐
Posted by: lin-duh in Texas at May 10, 2026 10:20 AM (VCgbV)
172
I maintain that Decatur's mission in Tripoli would make a great movie.
Posted by: Weak Geek
Can't do it. Would be Islamophobic.
Posted by: Weak Geek
Can't do it. Would be Islamophobic.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fat, Dumb, and Happy at May 10, 2026 10:20 AM (ndZc7)
173
I recently read "To Kill a Mockingbird" aloud to my husband, who is NOT a reader but enjoys a good story. Our grandson was reading it in HS and I hadn't read it in a couple of years. It took so long to read it out loud! It was fun to read it with MrT and see his reaction to the story as we went along. Almost made it like reading it for the first time myself.
Posted by: TecumsehTea at May 10, 2026 10:13 AM (nz1sK)
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Before radio and television, that was what people did in the evening. Books were designed to be read aloud. To promote their books, authors would do public readings.
My father used to read books to me well after I was old enough to read them myself. He liked reading and I liked listening. Specifically Mark Twain.
Posted by: TecumsehTea at May 10, 2026 10:13 AM (nz1sK)
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Before radio and television, that was what people did in the evening. Books were designed to be read aloud. To promote their books, authors would do public readings.
My father used to read books to me well after I was old enough to read them myself. He liked reading and I liked listening. Specifically Mark Twain.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:22 AM (ZOv7s)
174
138 @92 --
Kingdom Come was a slam dunk. I'd love to have a poster of the last page of issue 3, where Big Blue meets the Big Red Cheese.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:59 AM (p/isN)
Heh. I know that exact page. My copy of Kingdom Come is shelves just across the room. You're comment made me grab the book and revisit it. There is something awesome about the Captain's smile...
Kingdom Come was a slam dunk. I'd love to have a poster of the last page of issue 3, where Big Blue meets the Big Red Cheese.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 09:59 AM (p/isN)
Heh. I know that exact page. My copy of Kingdom Come is shelves just across the room. You're comment made me grab the book and revisit it. There is something awesome about the Captain's smile...
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 10:23 AM (3v7ra)
175
74 3/4 of the way through To The Finland Station. Learning a lot. I don’t know why modern leftists are so enamored with Marx. He’s just another old dead white man. Because he’s so tied to the Russian revolution it’s easy to forget he started writing during the American Civil War. (I know I did). I read a little more in Of Human Bondage but the Finland Station has taken hold I spent more of my time with that.
Posted by: Who Knew at May 10, 2026 09:29 AM (0QMbS)
I've imagined if Marx had taken the round that got T.J. Jackson.
Posted by: Who Knew at May 10, 2026 09:29 AM (0QMbS)
I've imagined if Marx had taken the round that got T.J. Jackson.
Posted by: Eromero at May 10, 2026 10:24 AM (LHPAg)
176
friend of mine had a roommate who was always after he to get rid of some of her myriad books, asking her why she kept them if she'd already read them. My friend looked ta her and said, "You already heard that opera, so why do you want to keep all those records around?" And that was the last time she heard THAT argument, LOL.
Posted by: tankascribe at May 10, 2026 10:19 AM (NtoJk)
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I asked my father the same thing because my mother never kept her cheap paperbacks, just tossed them. When I was a teenager, I convinced her to put them in a (paper) grocery bag and when it was full, I'd sell them for used books for me. (I lived with her after the divorce.)
Anyhow, my father noted that much of his collection non-fiction, so he needed it for reference purposes. I said "got to the library" and he replied "Oh, is that open at midnight when I want to look something up?"
Growing up was interesting because I was constantly jugging my growing book collection, which my mother found annoying and would not in any way encourage. Much of my "shelves" were converted cardboard boxes.
Posted by: tankascribe at May 10, 2026 10:19 AM (NtoJk)
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I asked my father the same thing because my mother never kept her cheap paperbacks, just tossed them. When I was a teenager, I convinced her to put them in a (paper) grocery bag and when it was full, I'd sell them for used books for me. (I lived with her after the divorce.)
Anyhow, my father noted that much of his collection non-fiction, so he needed it for reference purposes. I said "got to the library" and he replied "Oh, is that open at midnight when I want to look something up?"
Growing up was interesting because I was constantly jugging my growing book collection, which my mother found annoying and would not in any way encourage. Much of my "shelves" were converted cardboard boxes.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:26 AM (ZOv7s)
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 10:28 AM (p/isN)
178
Chesterton and Belloc both noted decades ago that Marxism was heresy under a veneer of science. It pretended to be purely rational, but relied on greed, envy, pride and wrath to spread and resonate.
That is why its promises keep failing, but people still support it because success is no longer defined as prosperity, merely punishing designated enemies.
That is why its promises keep failing, but people still support it because success is no longer defined as prosperity, merely punishing designated enemies.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:29 AM (ZOv7s)
179
Actually, Douglas Adams is having a hell of a week. Electronic Monks and Trump’s UFO files.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fat, Dumb, and Happy at May 10, 2026 10:31 AM (ndZc7)
180
There was a "real" magical school in folklore: the Scholomance, in a cave in the mountains of Transylvania. The headmaster was the Devil, and the class size was always 10. But only 9 students got to graduate. Bram Stoker hints that Dracula is an alumnus. _That's_ what a "wizarding school" should be like!
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 10, 2026 10:32 AM (78a2H)
181
I have finally struggled through reading Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress." I attempted to read it several times before. I never got through 40 pages before getting bored. A month ago I set a goal to read the entire book, thinking it must get better as it goes along, because everyone says it is a good sci-fi novel. Wrong. I found it a rambling, confusing primer about communism, propaganda techniques, overthrowing governments, and group marriage, with some bits of orbital mechanics and underground farming on the Moon in it.
I do not recommend it.
I do not recommend it.
Posted by: Gref at May 10, 2026 10:32 AM (5rh/l)
182
Reading Rebel King by Tom Bower, a biography of Charles III from after Diana's death and his effort to rehabilitate his image and also to marry Camilla.
Basically, Charles is a gigantic baby, petulant, selfish, inconsiderate, resentful, personally extravagant but cheap toward others, disloyal, grasping, self-pitying, hypocritical and overall incapable of running anything without driving away those he needs to operate.
What's amazing was his reliance on image consultants, fixers, fund raisers, an unfortunate trait he seems to have passed to the next generation.
Reading Rebel King by Tom Bower, a biography of Charles III from after Diana's death and his effort to rehabilitate his image and also to marry Camilla.
Basically, Charles is a gigantic baby, petulant, selfish, inconsiderate, resentful, personally extravagant but cheap toward others, disloyal, grasping, self-pitying, hypocritical and overall incapable of running anything without driving away those he needs to operate.
What's amazing was his reliance on image consultants, fixers, fund raisers, an unfortunate trait he seems to have passed to the next generation.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2026 10:33 AM (HdYcL)
183
91 What I really need to do is fight the temptation to go out and get drunk.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (qRla/)
Have you ever tried to get help? Too many good writers have been lost to that. There's gotta be someone out there to help you.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:36 AM (1Ff7Z)
Just yesterday, The Lost Weekend crossed mu mind.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 09:23 AM (qRla/)
Have you ever tried to get help? Too many good writers have been lost to that. There's gotta be someone out there to help you.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 09:36 AM (1Ff7Z)
Just yesterday, The Lost Weekend crossed mu mind.
Posted by: Eromero at May 10, 2026 10:33 AM (LHPAg)
184
Oldest son and his wife read aloud to each other. I think they alternate chapters.
They also watch some of the weirdest movies. I don't know how they trip across those.
They also watch some of the weirdest movies. I don't know how they trip across those.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 10:34 AM (p/isN)
185
Hopefully monks being robots doesn't transfer from Buddhism to Roman Catholicism because the whole idea, IMO, is ridiculous and faddish snd insulting to actual human beings.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2026 10:35 AM (6UQAR)
186
Hollywood won't tolerate a anti-Islamic film.
And a point made on a podcast not long ago was the Barbary Islamic war were not pirates as we might think. They were run by the Islamic leaders. Decatur wasn't fighting against 1 pirate ship, it was a government.
And a point made on a podcast not long ago was the Barbary Islamic war were not pirates as we might think. They were run by the Islamic leaders. Decatur wasn't fighting against 1 pirate ship, it was a government.
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2026 10:36 AM (Ia/+0)
187
AUDIOBOOK QUESTION: How many of you listen to audiobooks?
Posted by: Smallish Bees
Most of my "reading" is text-to-speech on my Kindle. The in-book service has been knee-capped over the years, I used to be able to close the cover and have it keep going and now sometimes the tts won't even come up, which I suspect is due to Amazon buying Audiobook.
Posted by: Smallish Bees
Most of my "reading" is text-to-speech on my Kindle. The in-book service has been knee-capped over the years, I used to be able to close the cover and have it keep going and now sometimes the tts won't even come up, which I suspect is due to Amazon buying Audiobook.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at May 10, 2026 10:36 AM (lFFaq)
188
Re disposal of books. Upon retirement and cleaning out my office,probably got rid of several thousand books with absolutely no remorse. They were on specific topics in law, politics, area studies, and empirical research that I have no interest in ever dabbling with again.
Some were assorted debris that one collects over the years like SAS manuals (stats not spec ops), database manuals, etc. More convenient to have them on my shelf for research projects back in the day rather than bothering to go to the library or worse, inter-library loan.
No emotional attachment to them whatsoever, since then, pretty ruthless at home as well, multiple passes through fiction and non-fiction alike.
My sort is basically whether I will realistically ever want to reread that particular book again, if not discard (have a Better World Books donation box around so put them there). I have at least two research projects that I want to complete and after that, I will empty another couple of bookshelves.
And it is time to get rid of most of my 30-40 year old paperbacks as well. They don't age well and pages falling out, yellowed brittle paper, and the smell of them is rather off putting.
Some were assorted debris that one collects over the years like SAS manuals (stats not spec ops), database manuals, etc. More convenient to have them on my shelf for research projects back in the day rather than bothering to go to the library or worse, inter-library loan.
No emotional attachment to them whatsoever, since then, pretty ruthless at home as well, multiple passes through fiction and non-fiction alike.
My sort is basically whether I will realistically ever want to reread that particular book again, if not discard (have a Better World Books donation box around so put them there). I have at least two research projects that I want to complete and after that, I will empty another couple of bookshelves.
And it is time to get rid of most of my 30-40 year old paperbacks as well. They don't age well and pages falling out, yellowed brittle paper, and the smell of them is rather off putting.
Posted by: whig at May 10, 2026 10:37 AM (E4rtv)
189
Well, it's that time. Thanks MP4, and stay off the sauce!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:39 AM (ZOv7s)
190
I have finally struggled through reading Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress."
____________
I, too, have tried to read Heinlein and I, too, have failed. Can't understand what all the fuss is about him. Chacun à son goût, but I think he's dreadful.
I have finally struggled through reading Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress."
____________
I, too, have tried to read Heinlein and I, too, have failed. Can't understand what all the fuss is about him. Chacun à son goût, but I think he's dreadful.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2026 10:39 AM (HdYcL)
191
Libby (Library) audio allows up to 3x speed, Audible 3.5 max. Both auto adjust pitch so don't sound like chipmunks. For light fiction or entertainment bios I can usually go max speed & enjoy/understand. For nonfiction I'm usually somewhere around 2x. Even dense or new nonfiction I tend to bump up at least 10 or 15%.
That said for something you really want to study a real book is a must.
That said for something you really want to study a real book is a must.
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 10, 2026 10:40 AM (KaHlS)
192
AUDIOBOOK QUESTION: How many of you listen to audiobooks?
Posted by: Smallish Bees
Generally, I don't do audiobooks. But I will listen to 'The Great Courses' lecture series while going on walks. It's kind of like a non-fiction audiobook. Sort of...
Posted by: Smallish Bees
Generally, I don't do audiobooks. But I will listen to 'The Great Courses' lecture series while going on walks. It's kind of like a non-fiction audiobook. Sort of...
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 10:41 AM (3v7ra)
193
I've listened to about 10 audiobooks, I think.
My absolute favorite is the unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo on LibriVox as read by David Clarke. It is magnificent.
My absolute favorite is the unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo on LibriVox as read by David Clarke. It is magnificent.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 10, 2026 10:41 AM (/RHNq)
194
186 Hollywood won't tolerate a anti-Islamic film.
And a point made on a podcast not long ago was the Barbary Islamic war were not pirates as we might think. They were run by the Islamic leaders. Decatur wasn't fighting against 1 pirate ship, it was a government.
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2026 10:36 AM (Ia/+0)
Such a movie could make money in China and India.
No theater chains in the US or EU would show it. In the EU the theaters and theater chains wouldn't even have to make the call; the EU would ban it. Sad. The Islamists have a violence veto on discussion of anything Islam in the entire Western world. And in many other nations.
And a point made on a podcast not long ago was the Barbary Islamic war were not pirates as we might think. They were run by the Islamic leaders. Decatur wasn't fighting against 1 pirate ship, it was a government.
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2026 10:36 AM (Ia/+0)
Such a movie could make money in China and India.
No theater chains in the US or EU would show it. In the EU the theaters and theater chains wouldn't even have to make the call; the EU would ban it. Sad. The Islamists have a violence veto on discussion of anything Islam in the entire Western world. And in many other nations.
Posted by: Gref at May 10, 2026 10:42 AM (5rh/l)
195
54 ... "AUDIOBOOK QUESTION: How many of you listen to audiobooks?"
When I listen to audiobooks it's for a specific voice that adds to my enjoyment of a book I've read. Gary Sinise's reading of Travels With Charley, Malcom Guite reading his poetry, Andy Serkis narrating LOTR, etc. They are the exception for me, not the rule.
When I listen to audiobooks it's for a specific voice that adds to my enjoyment of a book I've read. Gary Sinise's reading of Travels With Charley, Malcom Guite reading his poetry, Andy Serkis narrating LOTR, etc. They are the exception for me, not the rule.
Posted by: JTB at May 10, 2026 10:42 AM (yTvNw)
196
Well, it's that time. Thanks MP4, and stay off the sauce!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:39 AM (ZOv7s)
-
It was the best of shires...
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:39 AM (ZOv7s)
-
It was the best of shires...
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at May 10, 2026 10:43 AM (y1wyK)
197
I have finally struggled through reading Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress." I attempted to read it several times before. I never got through 40 pages before getting bored. A month ago I set a goal to read the entire book, thinking it must get better as it goes along, because everyone says it is a good sci-fi novel. Wrong. I found it a rambling, confusing primer about communism, propaganda techniques, overthrowing governments, and group marriage, with some bits of orbital mechanics and underground farming on the Moon in it.
I do not recommend it.
Posted by: Gref at May 10, 2026
***
Heinlein, esp. with his later books, is not for everyone. Please try The Door Into Summer (adult) and Have Space Suit Will Travel (written for young adults, but enjoyable by anyone).
I do not recommend it.
Posted by: Gref at May 10, 2026
***
Heinlein, esp. with his later books, is not for everyone. Please try The Door Into Summer (adult) and Have Space Suit Will Travel (written for young adults, but enjoyable by anyone).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 10:43 AM (wzUl9)
198
We also have a few shelves of old, outdated college textbooks. They are hard to part with because they all cost $100++ each....😱
Posted by: lin-duh is offended at May 10, 2026 09:52 AM (VCgbV)
Keep them, especially medical or engineering studies. For the burning times.
Posted by: lin-duh is offended at May 10, 2026 09:52 AM (VCgbV)
Keep them, especially medical or engineering studies. For the burning times.
Posted by: Eromero at May 10, 2026 10:43 AM (LHPAg)
199
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 10, 2026 10:40 AM (KaHlS)
I actually usually slow mine down, but that's because I'm generally doing something else at the same time and can't split my focus as well as I used to.
I actually usually slow mine down, but that's because I'm generally doing something else at the same time and can't split my focus as well as I used to.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at May 10, 2026 10:43 AM (lFFaq)
200
I think I'm going to call it a morning, too. I really must get to at least chapter 10.
Thanks for hosting me, CBD, and thanks to all of you for hanging out.
Hope you all have a lovely day.
Thanks for hosting me, CBD, and thanks to all of you for hanging out.
Hope you all have a lovely day.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at May 10, 2026 10:46 AM (qRla/)
201
@ 188 - "And it is time to get rid of most of my 30-40 year old paperbacks as well. They don't age well and pages falling out, yellowed brittle paper, and the smell of them is rather off putting. "
___________________________________
Whig, I know exactly of what you speak. When I moved to M'boro from Cordova, TN, I donated at least 3 YUUUGE boxes of my paperbacks and (yes, I admit it) 'Playboy' mags from the Hefner days. The only books I kept out of the donation were ones like 'A Canticle for Liebowitz', 'Something Wicked This Way Comes', and others in that vein. I also kept the USAF printout of how it would 'rule the weather' by 2025 (pub. in '89). They got that one right (and it describes chemtrails rather neatly, too). Do I miss the books? Yes. Did I READ the books anymore? No. Like you said, brittle paper, 'old book' smell, glue not keeping the pages inside anymore … let someone else enjoy the read - and the repairs. Fun while they lasted, tho'.
___________________________________
Whig, I know exactly of what you speak. When I moved to M'boro from Cordova, TN, I donated at least 3 YUUUGE boxes of my paperbacks and (yes, I admit it) 'Playboy' mags from the Hefner days. The only books I kept out of the donation were ones like 'A Canticle for Liebowitz', 'Something Wicked This Way Comes', and others in that vein. I also kept the USAF printout of how it would 'rule the weather' by 2025 (pub. in '89). They got that one right (and it describes chemtrails rather neatly, too). Do I miss the books? Yes. Did I READ the books anymore? No. Like you said, brittle paper, 'old book' smell, glue not keeping the pages inside anymore … let someone else enjoy the read - and the repairs. Fun while they lasted, tho'.
Posted by: Dr_No at May 10, 2026 10:46 AM (ayRl+)
202
Loved Heinlein as a kid; nowadays, I think Heinlein from Stranger in a Strange Land and up is hit-or-miss. But The Puppet Masters (my first Heinlein and the book that began my decade of almost nothing but sf for pleasure reading) still holds up nicely imho and I can still reread that one with pleasure more than 60 years after I first read it. YMMV.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 10:47 AM (q3u5l)
203
I was going to start getting rid of books in my library, especially the ones that might be worth a buck or two (19th century how-to books and suchlike.) My daughter said not to because come the apocalypse my house would be the library for stuff people needed to know. I was a little puffed up at that and figured what-the-heck, they're paid for, might as well let her deal with it when the time comes.
Posted by: Alan M Imboden at May 10, 2026 10:48 AM (i/4br)
204
181 I have finally struggled through reading Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress."
Posted by: Gref
======
Heinlein always needed a good editor and as he grew in fame, he could overawe his editors which had an unfortunate affect on his work. Other than his juveniles which were stripped of a lot of his digressions, he liked to spike his adult novels with unconventional hot takes, some aged well, others did not. And his predilection for inserting his bit of sex got greater as he aged than his much older and sedate stories in the 40's and early 50's.
And part of those digressions came from the really bad social science books that Heinlein read as he became a professional writer. Meade, Milgram, Kinsey Report, Stanford Prison Guard experiment, etc. were basically constructed as deliberate lies disguised as research.
Heinlein naively thought, as many of the educated class did back then, that what these were groundbreaking studies in social sciences, he forgot that scientists are no better and no worse in lies and deception than other humans.
Today, we know much of that social science and sex research is simply bogus that he relied upon.
Posted by: Gref
======
Heinlein always needed a good editor and as he grew in fame, he could overawe his editors which had an unfortunate affect on his work. Other than his juveniles which were stripped of a lot of his digressions, he liked to spike his adult novels with unconventional hot takes, some aged well, others did not. And his predilection for inserting his bit of sex got greater as he aged than his much older and sedate stories in the 40's and early 50's.
And part of those digressions came from the really bad social science books that Heinlein read as he became a professional writer. Meade, Milgram, Kinsey Report, Stanford Prison Guard experiment, etc. were basically constructed as deliberate lies disguised as research.
Heinlein naively thought, as many of the educated class did back then, that what these were groundbreaking studies in social sciences, he forgot that scientists are no better and no worse in lies and deception than other humans.
Today, we know much of that social science and sex research is simply bogus that he relied upon.
Posted by: whig at May 10, 2026 10:48 AM (E4rtv)
205
If you'll never read the book again, I recommend contacting your local library, and see if they accept donations. For example, the Somerset County Library accepts donations, which they sell to support the library. Other libraries have books sales several times a year - again, the money from the sale supports the library.
Posted by: Bill Anderson at May 10, 2026 10:49 AM (6kAzp)
206
My daughter gave me three volumes of Chinese SciFi starting with the 3 Body Problem that I haven't read, at least three years ago.
The internet has damaged my book reading.
The internet has damaged my book reading.
Posted by: toby928(c) at May 10, 2026 10:51 AM (KKN1V)
207
Heinlein, esp. with his later books, is not for everyone. Please try The Door Into Summer (adult) and Have Space Suit Will Travel (written for young adults, but enjoyable by anyone).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
=======
Yep. And I would include Double Star as many of the observations came from Heinlein's stint in practical politics.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
=======
Yep. And I would include Double Star as many of the observations came from Heinlein's stint in practical politics.
Posted by: whig at May 10, 2026 10:52 AM (E4rtv)
208
Heinlein, esp. with his later books, is not for everyone. Please try The Door Into Summer (adult) and Have Space Suit Will Travel (written for young adults, but enjoyable by anyone).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 10:43 AM (wzUl9)
I enjoyed many of Heinlein's earlier books. Several months ago I got onto a Heinlein kick. Most of the ones I attempted were ok, some were great. A few were too technically outdated or written very much for adolescent readers, for me to stick with. I was often intrigued by Heinlein's future technology 'predictions.' Many are sort-of accurate. Some are laughable, in hindsight.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 10:43 AM (wzUl9)
I enjoyed many of Heinlein's earlier books. Several months ago I got onto a Heinlein kick. Most of the ones I attempted were ok, some were great. A few were too technically outdated or written very much for adolescent readers, for me to stick with. I was often intrigued by Heinlein's future technology 'predictions.' Many are sort-of accurate. Some are laughable, in hindsight.
Posted by: Gref at May 10, 2026 10:52 AM (5rh/l)
209
Her Majesty said Laura King was handling The Big Dummy in Kansas this weekend. Laura was featured in Dogland by Tommy Tomlinson, a story of her and Striker, her Samoyed and their Westminster quest in 2021.
HM was not familiar with it. I told her it was better than most but still not satisfactory because it was written by an outsider. She suggested I write a book. Yeah, I know how I'd write it but I'm not going to write it.
Her Majesty said Laura King was handling The Big Dummy in Kansas this weekend. Laura was featured in Dogland by Tommy Tomlinson, a story of her and Striker, her Samoyed and their Westminster quest in 2021.
HM was not familiar with it. I told her it was better than most but still not satisfactory because it was written by an outsider. She suggested I write a book. Yeah, I know how I'd write it but I'm not going to write it.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2026 10:52 AM (HdYcL)
210
O.K. I’ll try again. I’m generally OT, Willowed, several unknown slang terms, and too late to last book thread.
I liked an early 20th century humor author in our public library (mid 1960s). He was an immigrant from eastern Europe in a big U.S. city.
He told a tale about applying for a scholarship reserved for veterans of World War One. His application seemed to be well received until the committee realized that he was in the wrong army during the war. His ancestral home was in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Does anybody recognize this guy?
I liked an early 20th century humor author in our public library (mid 1960s). He was an immigrant from eastern Europe in a big U.S. city.
He told a tale about applying for a scholarship reserved for veterans of World War One. His application seemed to be well received until the committee realized that he was in the wrong army during the war. His ancestral home was in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Does anybody recognize this guy?
Posted by: Fenderbender at May 10, 2026 10:53 AM (1FEc1)
211
Posted by: Dr_No
=====
I got around to to throwing away old Air Force technical manuals. Downsizing my mom's house as she went into assisted living cured me of wanting to dump that duty on future generations.
She was a hoarder.
=====
I got around to to throwing away old Air Force technical manuals. Downsizing my mom's house as she went into assisted living cured me of wanting to dump that duty on future generations.
She was a hoarder.
Posted by: whig at May 10, 2026 10:54 AM (E4rtv)
212
Since I don't trust my local public library to keep them, and the college library has the material already, I've recently checked the online catalog of the college where I was an undergrad and sent them some Borges, I B Singer, and John O'Hara volumes. May have some more to pass their way at some point but haven't decided to cull those particular volumes yet.
If everything goes according to plan, when I kick the bucket the only things on my shelves will be books the offspring will want, or books they can donate or sell without inadvertently unloading something that's worth a decent amount of coin.
If everything goes according to plan, when I kick the bucket the only things on my shelves will be books the offspring will want, or books they can donate or sell without inadvertently unloading something that's worth a decent amount of coin.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 10:56 AM (q3u5l)
Posted by: Marcus T at May 10, 2026 10:59 AM (JW6Az)
214
If I had kept all the books I've bought and read, I wouldn't be able to get into my house or even open the door. About 90% of the books I still have are DIY instruction books.
Posted by: Toad-0 at May 10, 2026 11:01 AM (z8j2X)
215
His application seemed to be well received until the committee realized that he was in the wrong army during the war. His ancestral home was in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Does anybody recognize this guy?
Posted by: Fenderbender at May 10, 2026 10:53 AM (1FEc1)
Miklos!
Does anybody recognize this guy?
Posted by: Fenderbender at May 10, 2026 10:53 AM (1FEc1)
Miklos!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 10, 2026 11:02 AM (kpS4V)
216
With no pants-requirement this week, a lot of you are taking advantage of letting it all hang out.
Posted by: Bob from NSA at May 10, 2026 11:03 AM (0sNs1)
217
His application seemed to be well received until the committee realized that he was in the wrong army during the war. His ancestral home was in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Does anybody recognize this guy?
Posted by: Fenderbender at May 10, 2026
***
At first I thought you might be talking about George Papashvily, the Georgian (SSR) immigrant who with his American wife Helen raised German shepherd dogs. They wrote about it in Thanks to Noah, which I read as a boy.
Does anybody recognize this guy?
Posted by: Fenderbender at May 10, 2026
***
At first I thought you might be talking about George Papashvily, the Georgian (SSR) immigrant who with his American wife Helen raised German shepherd dogs. They wrote about it in Thanks to Noah, which I read as a boy.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 11:06 AM (wzUl9)
218
“ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Psalm 139:13
Posted by: Marcus T at May 10, 2026 10:59 AM (JW6Az)
Thank you, Marcus.
Happy Mother's Day to all the Horde moms.
Psalm 139:13
Posted by: Marcus T at May 10, 2026 10:59 AM (JW6Az)
Thank you, Marcus.
Happy Mother's Day to all the Horde moms.
Posted by: Count de Monet at May 10, 2026 11:06 AM (wVcYX)
219
Fenderbender: Are you maybe thinking of the "Hyman Kaplan" stories by Leo Rosten (aka Leonard Ross)?
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 10, 2026 11:08 AM (78a2H)
220
My last move (2016) I gave probably 100+ books away, it was a hard decision on what was in the giveaway boxes. I swore I would take it easy on my book buying. LOL! I now have bought at least 150 books to go with the 100+ I kept. i have at least 25 TBR and at least the same number on my TBRA list.
Posted by: dave at May 10, 2026 11:10 AM (2ZUrQ)
221
The audiobooks of P.G.Wodehouse are so funny, they are worth listening to. My favorite narrator of those is Jonathan Cecil.
Posted by: microcosme at May 10, 2026 11:10 AM (tIOA7)
222
Well he was a annapolis trained engineer and a keen observer but was still addicted to the kultursmog that was rising in the 50s and began to smothet us in the 60s
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at May 10, 2026 11:10 AM (bXbFr)
223
Mehdi Hasan: AOC’s Superpower in 2028 Is Convincing Republicans She’s Dumb and Extreme
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And she does it very, very well.
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And she does it very, very well.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fat, Dumb, and Happy at May 10, 2026 11:12 AM (ndZc7)
224
What causes most problems in Greek mythology:
https://shorturl.at/Ph7wR
https://shorturl.at/Ph7wR
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at May 10, 2026 11:12 AM (O/6DU)
225
Yes, Heinlein was always at odds with the bluenoses and holy rollers of the 1920s and 1930s, and never really got past that.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 10, 2026 11:14 AM (78a2H)
226
>>I should be able to get all ten books banged out by the weekend. I will make BILLION
Lol!
Given Correia's writing skill, he really could do this and make bank. Heck, he could feed his creative outlines into AI and still succeed.
Lol!
Given Correia's writing skill, he really could do this and make bank. Heck, he could feed his creative outlines into AI and still succeed.
Posted by: Lizzy at May 10, 2026 11:15 AM (8Fxbo)
227
167 I maintain that Decatur's mission in Tripoli would make a great movie.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 10:16 AM (p/isN)
---
Modern Hollywood would make the pirates gay people of color who suffer unjustly from MAGA haters.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:18 AM (ZOv7s)
It was , sorta kinda, in The Wind and the Lion with Sean Connery. A very good movie.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 10, 2026 10:16 AM (p/isN)
---
Modern Hollywood would make the pirates gay people of color who suffer unjustly from MAGA haters.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 10, 2026 10:18 AM (ZOv7s)
It was , sorta kinda, in The Wind and the Lion with Sean Connery. A very good movie.
Posted by: Eromero at May 10, 2026 11:15 AM (LHPAg)
228
There's a nifty story by Ray Bradbury called 'The Exiles.' The spirits of long dead fantasists (Poe, Bierce, etc) live on, on Mars. The future has no use for such nonsense. When the last copy of their work is destroyed, the writer is truly dead and his spirit fades out forever.
Read that one (it's in The Illustrated Man IIRC) at the beginning of my decade-long sf-only binge. To this day, when I get rid of a book I can't help feeling a little chill of 'what if...'
Read that one (it's in The Illustrated Man IIRC) at the beginning of my decade-long sf-only binge. To this day, when I get rid of a book I can't help feeling a little chill of 'what if...'
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 11:16 AM (q3u5l)
229
I too have been reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and eagerly await the next installment which is due to be released on Kindle this coming Tuesday.
Is it great literature? Oh, hell no. But it meets Heinlein's advice for Aspiring Writers: "Remember, you're competing for Joe's beer money. And Joe likes his beer."
Is it great literature? Oh, hell no. But it meets Heinlein's advice for Aspiring Writers: "Remember, you're competing for Joe's beer money. And Joe likes his beer."
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at May 10, 2026 11:18 AM (2xF0u)
230
Finished Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner. He's one of my only favorites from the twentieth century. Years back, Angle of Repose and Crossing to Safety were great as well. Even Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs was lovely and interesting. It's nice to read some ecological writing from before the climate change scam. I have All the Little Live Things on my shelves too. Maybe some day!
I also read The Whole Counsel of God: An Introduction to Your Bible by Fr. Stephen De Young. Wow, it is so good! And it's barely over 100 pages. I want my teenagers to read it. I was very impressed by the lack of motivated reasoning, which you can always feel in apologetic works. He is very honest reporting what modern scholars understand about the Bible. At the same time he doesn't spend long on discredited but popular scholars who try to undermine its authority.
I also appreciated how he could articulate an Orthodox way of reading the Bible that is distinct from Protestant and Catholic ideas, without saying, "The East doesn't believe in reason," as I hear so often from other Orthodox faithful (and even theologians).
I also read The Whole Counsel of God: An Introduction to Your Bible by Fr. Stephen De Young. Wow, it is so good! And it's barely over 100 pages. I want my teenagers to read it. I was very impressed by the lack of motivated reasoning, which you can always feel in apologetic works. He is very honest reporting what modern scholars understand about the Bible. At the same time he doesn't spend long on discredited but popular scholars who try to undermine its authority.
I also appreciated how he could articulate an Orthodox way of reading the Bible that is distinct from Protestant and Catholic ideas, without saying, "The East doesn't believe in reason," as I hear so often from other Orthodox faithful (and even theologians).
Posted by: frammish at May 10, 2026 11:18 AM (8TbJ+)
231
>>Modern Hollywood would make the pirates gay people of color who suffer unjustly from MAGA haters.
There was pirate series on HBO or Showtime a few years ago. Made them gay, or simps, with gay girlbosses being the real leaders. Just horrid!
There was pirate series on HBO or Showtime a few years ago. Made them gay, or simps, with gay girlbosses being the real leaders. Just horrid!
Posted by: Lizzy at May 10, 2026 11:18 AM (8Fxbo)
232
He was an immigrant from eastern Europe in a big U.S. city.
He told a tale about applying for a scholarship reserved for veterans of World War One. His application seemed to be well received until the committee realized that he was in the wrong army during the war.
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I watched an OK syfy movie yesterday, The Thirteenth Floor. In one scene set in 1937, a character speaks of his experience in "World War One." Since WWII hadn't happened yet, there was no WWI in 1937.
He told a tale about applying for a scholarship reserved for veterans of World War One. His application seemed to be well received until the committee realized that he was in the wrong army during the war.
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I watched an OK syfy movie yesterday, The Thirteenth Floor. In one scene set in 1937, a character speaks of his experience in "World War One." Since WWII hadn't happened yet, there was no WWI in 1937.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fat, Dumb, and Happy at May 10, 2026 11:20 AM (ndZc7)
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026 11:20 AM (1Ff7Z)
234
I drive up to Ohio a couple of times a year. It's a 1000-mile drive, and I usually listen to audiobooks on the road. Last year, I was driving and listening to one of the Dortmunder novels. I started feeling nervous about being stopped by the police. It was a while before it dawned on me that I had become so engrossed in the story that it felt like I was a part of the criminal conspiracy.
Posted by: Toad-0 at May 10, 2026 11:22 AM (z8j2X)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fat, Dumb, and Happy at May 10, 2026 11:27 AM (ndZc7)
236
Last month I finished on my TBRA pile Ellis Peters' (Edith Pargeter) Chronicles of Brother Cadfael series, 20 novels plus a short story collection. I have all the series in paperback with teeny tiny print, but this rereading I purchased them on Kindle. Made for a wonderful and relaxing reading experience and I could refer to the physical copies when needed (they have maps that the Kindle editions don't have).
Now I am rereading all of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series. Or maybe I should call it, his Archie Goodwin series. Like Lily Rowan, I love me some Escamillo!
Those I have entirely on Kindle in a series of 46 books. I am on Book 8 now, Where There's a Will. Still pre-WWII.
Now I am rereading all of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series. Or maybe I should call it, his Archie Goodwin series. Like Lily Rowan, I love me some Escamillo!
Those I have entirely on Kindle in a series of 46 books. I am on Book 8 now, Where There's a Will. Still pre-WWII.
Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at May 10, 2026 11:27 AM (TPFQA)
237
Wolfus, here's a Buick for you:
https://tinyurl.com/2s3tteu2
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026
***
A beauty -- something like what the Batmobile should have looked like! That clear roof would have been a problem for sure with heat building up in the passenger compartment. Otherwise, 325 hp is the kind of power we see today; this car could keep up with traffic on a modern interstate (though everybody would be slowing down to take a look at it).
I wonder why AMT or Revell didn't do a scale model assembly kit of it. Or maybe they did and I just never saw it.
https://tinyurl.com/2s3tteu2
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 10, 2026
***
A beauty -- something like what the Batmobile should have looked like! That clear roof would have been a problem for sure with heat building up in the passenger compartment. Otherwise, 325 hp is the kind of power we see today; this car could keep up with traffic on a modern interstate (though everybody would be slowing down to take a look at it).
I wonder why AMT or Revell didn't do a scale model assembly kit of it. Or maybe they did and I just never saw it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 11:28 AM (wzUl9)
238
231 >>
There was pirate series on HBO or Showtime a few years ago. Made them gay, or simps, with gay girlbosses being the real leaders. Just horrid!
Posted by: Lizzy at May 10, 2026 11:18 AM (8Fxbo)
Black Sails? I tried watching that, but bailed after the first episode. It turned out to be a Treasure Island prequel (can't risk having an original story, don't you know), plus it was going to include some lesbian tavern wenches as point-of-view characters. Between all that and the vulgarity, I lost interest.
I think there was also something called 'Our Flag Means Death,' but that was so obviously foppish and parody-seeming that I didn't even bother checking it out.
There was pirate series on HBO or Showtime a few years ago. Made them gay, or simps, with gay girlbosses being the real leaders. Just horrid!
Posted by: Lizzy at May 10, 2026 11:18 AM (8Fxbo)
Black Sails? I tried watching that, but bailed after the first episode. It turned out to be a Treasure Island prequel (can't risk having an original story, don't you know), plus it was going to include some lesbian tavern wenches as point-of-view characters. Between all that and the vulgarity, I lost interest.
I think there was also something called 'Our Flag Means Death,' but that was so obviously foppish and parody-seeming that I didn't even bother checking it out.
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 10, 2026 11:28 AM (3v7ra)
239
Thank you for the book threat. I read it every week. But rarely comment so really interesting book that are bad a year or so ago was called the club maker. Involves a history of Utah and the Mormon church. I found it very interesting and the storyline was awesome.
This summer I plan to read Moby Dick. I’m older and it’s time.
This summer I plan to read Moby Dick. I’m older and it’s time.
Posted by: BarcelonaCarmen at May 10, 2026 11:31 AM (S3aD9)
240
Wow. That was all jumbled up. My apologies. The book was the Glove Maker. Highly recommend for those who like historical fiction and well-written books.
Posted by: BarcelonaCarmen at May 10, 2026 11:33 AM (S3aD9)
241
. . . Now I am rereading all of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series. Or maybe I should call it, his Archie Goodwin series. Like Lily Rowan, I love me some Escamillo!
Those I have entirely on Kindle in a series of 46 books. I am on Book 8 now, Where There's a Will. Still pre-WWII.
Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at May 10, 2026
***
You'll notice that Stout gets more assured after the war. He shifted to a new publisher, Viking, and Wolfe becomes much less talkative and Archie even smarter and a bit more polished. Murder By the Book, Might As Well Be Dead, and The Mother Hunt are special favorites of mine, along with the clever novellas "Die Like a Dog," "Double for Death," and "The Gun With Wings."
Those I have entirely on Kindle in a series of 46 books. I am on Book 8 now, Where There's a Will. Still pre-WWII.
Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at May 10, 2026
***
You'll notice that Stout gets more assured after the war. He shifted to a new publisher, Viking, and Wolfe becomes much less talkative and Archie even smarter and a bit more polished. Murder By the Book, Might As Well Be Dead, and The Mother Hunt are special favorites of mine, along with the clever novellas "Die Like a Dog," "Double for Death," and "The Gun With Wings."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2026 11:33 AM (wzUl9)
242
Russia’s Putin Claims Ukraine War “Coming to an End”
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Victory is beyond his capacity but he may snatch defeat from the debacle and lie it into victory.
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Victory is beyond his capacity but he may snatch defeat from the debacle and lie it into victory.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fat, Dumb, and Happy at May 10, 2026 11:33 AM (ndZc7)
243
Toad-o at 234
Westlake will do that to you.
If memory serves, Dortmunder was born from the Parker series -- Westlake was toying with a Parker novel in which a job goes far enough south that he has to steal the same thing over and over again. Every time he tried to make it work it came out funny rather than the usual lean mean Parker story. The book became The Hot Rock.
Westlake will do that to you.
If memory serves, Dortmunder was born from the Parker series -- Westlake was toying with a Parker novel in which a job goes far enough south that he has to steal the same thing over and over again. Every time he tried to make it work it came out funny rather than the usual lean mean Parker story. The book became The Hot Rock.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 10, 2026 11:34 AM (q3u5l)
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