Sunday Morning Book Thread - 04-02-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material, even if it's nothing more than a hilarious April Fools' prank. As always, pants are required, especially if you are wearing these pants...(sharp eyes will note this is the exact same model from last week--pants are photoshopped in.)

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

PIC NOTE

Today's pic is from Handelingkamer Library, which is used by the Dutch Parliament in The Hague to store their verbatim proceedings and records. It's just an amazing picture. No open flames were allowed near these volumes, so they used skylighting to bring in natural sunlight. Of course, that probably made the library unusable at night, but who wants to review dusty government records by starlight anyway? Right?

BOOK COLLECTING

Any *serious* book collectors among the Moron Horde? I don't mean someone who just has to collect all the books of a particular author. I'm talking about those who have multiiple editions of books, one to read, and at least one to display. Maybe you collect old books, or books with an interesting provenance, or elaborate illustrated versions, etc. As for me, I'm a "casual collector" at best in that I enjoy picking up books, but I'm not all that picky about the edition, as long as it's in readable quality. I've thrown out a number of books in recent years because I decided the condition was too poor for me to even read them at all. I do have a few choice books in my meagre collection, such as first edition hardcovers of all of the Wheel of Time books, though not all of them are first printings. The dustcover quality also varies quite a bit from pristine to patchy (I'm using duct tape on one to hold the dustcover together). Lately, I've been going for completionism, which I've mentioned before, trying to acquire all the books in a given series, such as Stephen Baxter's Time's Tapestry or Kevin J. Anderson's Gamearth. I'm not quite as keen on acquiring new books these days or starting new series. I don't have time to read the books I have already acquired...

I found the video below in my YouTube video feed recommendations recently. He has some excellent tips for those of you who are *serious* about collecting. Or even if you just want to dabble in collecting and have a particular author/genre in mind.

10 tips to build the book collection you've always wanted:

Collect what you enjoy!

Have a clear scope and purpose for collecting

Don't buy new

Start collecting early (it's never too late to start!)

Be patient

Avoid professional sellers

Determine a reasonable price that fits your budget

Try to find the best deals

How do you find the best deals?

Condition is important, as it will often affect the price and long-term value

He has a pretty amazing collection of books. One of his videos shows a partial tour of his collection of 19th and 20th century children's classics. It's a bit long, but he does have some very interesting examples of collectible books.

You just never know when you will come across a good deal!

Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples is required reading imho for Anglophiles.
Posted by: gourmand du jour
A few months ago, I stumbled on a complete four book set of the third edition in hardback, excellent condition, for $15. I grabbed it and literally ran to the register.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 26, 2023 10:23 AM (hAmnt)

Given an unlimited budget and availability, what would YOU like to collect most and why?

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BOOKS BY MORONS

I'm a regular lurker on the Ace of Spades blog, and I've got a new novel out from Baen Books! It was supposed to be released in January but a shipping/distribution snafu means it's only just reaching stores and Amazon warehouses now. The book is called The Scarab Mission and it's a far-future thriller about a salvage team exploring a wrecked space colony. There are pirates, deathtraps, a mysterious stranger, and a horrible secret waiting to be revealed. It's a prequel of sorts to my last novel, The Godel Operation, although there isn't any plot connection between the books.
I think my fellow Morons will like this one.
Jim Cambias
Available at Baen Books: The Scarab Mission

Comment: Seems like we have a regular fan club at Baen Books! First Sarah A. Hoyt sent me a book to promote last year, then Patrick Chiles last week, and now Jim Cambias. I know we have a lot of Morons out there, far more than post comments on the Sunday Morning Book Thread. Hopefully, we can get more Moron Authors to emerge from the woodwork and become regular (or at least semi-regular) commenters about their own books!

Moron Author Celia Hayes (Sgt. Mom) has a new book available in Kindle that will also be available in print in a couple of weeks:

Lone Star Blood
Another Volume of the Entertaining and Mostly If Not Always True Adventures of Texas Ranger Jim Reade and his Blood-Brother Delaware Scout Toby Shaw)
The Continuing adventures of Texas Ranger Jim Reade and his blood-brother Toby Shaw in the days of the Republic of Texas! A pair of eccentric English explorers ask for a guide into a dangerous country, seeking not a fortune ... but something more! There is the mystery of a haunted house on Galveston Island to unravel, and the safety of a beneficiary to an unusual will -- and more! The old wild west rides again in this continuing set of adventures from the pen of historical novelist Celia Hayes!

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MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

I would like to recommend the Penderwick family series by Jeanne Birdsall as a good read for elementary + girls. They begin with a family of four daughters and their widowed father and follow them over the years and changes in their lives. The girls are all bright and very individual, but are not obnoxiously girl powered. The books are wholesome, funny and touching. They are a lovely break from the dire realism and dystopia found even in grade school works these days.
A search for The Penderwicks will bring up the whole 5 volume series.
Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum,

Comment: As always, I encourage recommendations for younger readers. To me, there are few gifts more precious than instilling a love for reading in your children and grandchildren. It will serve them their whole lives in ways they can scarcely imagine at their young age. The fact that so many kids today are reluctant to read or simply can't read is a crime against humanity. Start 'em young and you stand a much greater chance of inoculating them against the mind viruses of the Left. /soapbox

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I thought I'd try to write a SF story, so I looked up some early SF on pulpmags.org to see how they wrote in the early days. Just looked for a mag and picked out a short story. I paged through the site and chose The Mercurian Menace, by Nelson Bond from Dynamic Science Stories, February 1939. I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't expect this:
"One of the excited Rollies was bouncing up and down gleefully; joggling his tough, rubbery body against Carson's space suit in paroxysms of delighted anticipation...."
"You're a nice little guy, Rollie," he said, "even if you do look like a hot basketball. How's for a nice, cool shower?"
"Wow! Beat it! You're hot!" exclaimed Carson. He grinned again. "All right my spherical comrade, let's go sprinkle ourselves with some good Earth water." Together the Earthman and the creature from Mercury sought the luxury of the spaceship's shower-room.
Wut? This is classic early SF? Seemed a bit, you know. I closed the tab, planning to look elsewhere, but I decided to read it, figuring it can't all be like this, can it? And it wasn't, fortunately.
"Buzz" Carson works for Galactic Metals, Inc. as a scout on Mercury looking for various ores. He calls the only known inhabitants of Mercury "Rollies." They're basketball shaped creatures who don't talk, but seem to be able to understand human speech. The shower scene referenced above is interrupted by the appearance of an investigator from Galactic Metals, Jeryl Morrow, sent to check on his progress. She wonders why he's only working on the sunlit side of the planet. He indicates the dark side of Mercury is dangerous and refuses to go there because earlier scout ships had disappeared without a trace. Of course, she's headstrong and takes off for the dark side on her own. She mocks Buzz as she enters the dark zone. The Rollie with Buzz is agitated while she's doing this. Buzz thinks it's trying to tell him something. Buzz pulls a Captain Pike in the wheelchair bit to determine what the Rollie is agitated about - once bounce for yes, two for no. The Rollie convinces Buzz that Jeryl is in danger in the dark zone. He collects all the other Rollies in the area and blasts off, following her ship.
After Jeryl lands, she discovers there are malevolent beings on the dark side, and they attack her ship. Buzz and the Rollies land nearby her ship, under attack by green flame like creatures. Buzz lets the Rollies out of his ship as he tries to save the woman. The Rollies shed their appearance and, as red flames, battle the green flames. They defeat the green flames and Buzz takes Jeryl back into his ship. The Rollies reveal themselves as creatures of positive electrical energy, the green flames, negative energy. The Rollie indicates they used to travel the cosmos, but just stay on Mercury now. Jeryl thinks they are what Earth creation stories are based on. Anyway, apart from the weird beginning with Buzz and the Rollie, it does turn into an adventure story, The language was not filled with SF jargon, and it didn't seem archaic, or flowery. It seems to me, it could have been written later than the 30s. Oh, and he does want to kiss her at the end, so I guess it's only if you're underway. It wasn't difficult to read or off putting stylistically. Wasn't a bad story.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 26, 2023 09:08 AM (Angsy)

Comment: Nelson Bond seems to be among the "forgotten" science fiction authors of his era, though he was quite influential in his own way. He created "Meg the Priestess," who was a powerful female character in science fiction, revolutionary for his time. I'd never heard of him until now. I think it's worth noting that pulp fiction stories were largely dreck, though there were also numerous gems. Not sure where the story above fits in. Probably mid-tier, as this was written fairly early in Bond's career (he started in 1937). He mostly wrote short stories, many of which appear in collections from Arkham House publishing, which has been keeping science fiction authors "alive" for decades by reprinting their stories.

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After discussions about Seabury Quinn a couple of weeks ago, I found one of his short stories in anthology at the library.
I checked out Fighters of Fear: Occult Detective Stories, summarized as "A Retrospective Collection of Classic Occult and Supernatural Detective Stories by Some of the Field's Greatest and Best-Known Weird Fiction Authors."
It's been good bedtime reading; I don't have to remember the next night where I left off, and I'm getting exposure to authors I hadn't read before.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 26, 2023 09:15 AM (OX9vb)

Comment: This is another book in my own collection that I have not quite read in its entirety. The beauty of anthologies is that you can pick them up and set them down periodically. Read one or two stories, then come back to it later to read a few more. According to the introduction by editor Mike Ashley, occult detective stories have a fairly long pedigree, going back to 1830 or so. If you enjoy mystery stories with a hint of the strange, then this might be an anthology for you. Not all of the stories have a supernatural explanation...

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I am a big fan of Preston and Child, who have written 20 or so stories involving Special Agent Pendergast, a modern Sherlock Holmes. But the novel that introduced me to the authors was The Ice Limit. The ice limit refers to the region between Antarctica and South America where the annual ice pack can reach. The story revolves around a meteorite that landed near Tierra del Diego, composed of something far denser than any other earthly element, and which attracts lightning. A millionaire recruits a team to extract and bring the meteorite back to the US, a massive engineering feat. Chile was never informed, which leads one of their naval commanders to try and stop it. Given the immense weight of the object and its bizarre electrical properties, the work to retrieve it is intense, but nothing compared to the sea chase when a Chilean cruiser chooses to interdict the team's ship in some of the most dangerous waters on earth. This is a very creative and well written book, and I highly recommend it.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 26, 2023 09:45 AM (KXAsT)

Comment: Is the meteorite made of vibranium by chance? Who is ultimately behind the millionaire's quest? Sounds like a H.Y.D.R.A. operation to me. Oh, wait, I guess I'm getting this franchise confused with the MCU. Whoops! Actually, this sounds like an intriguing story, along the lines of an F. Paul Wilson-type adventure. I may have to check it out...

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (706 Moron-recommended books so far!)

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WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:

Frozen Orbit by Patrick Chiles -- This sounded like an interesting premise, so I figured I'd give it a shot. It's next in my TBR pile.

Weaver by Stephen Baxter -- The final novel in the Time's Tapestry series. I read the first one (Emperor) and enjoyed it, so I ordered the rest in the series. Naturally, the final book is the first one to show up. Have to wait until I get them all before I can finish the series.

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

Time's Tapestry Book 1 - Emperor by Stephen Baxter -- A mysterious prophecy guides a family through the turbulent conquest of Britain by the Roman Empire. Pretty decent historical fiction with a *very* thin veneer of science fiction.

The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter -- This is a sequel of sorts to H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. In this version, the Time Traveler makes additional trips in time only to discover that time travel is much more complicated than he originally imagined, thanks to causality, paradoxes, and quantum mechanics. We also find out the Time Traveler's first name is "Moses."

The Queen of Swords by R.S. Belcher -- This is the legend of pirate queen Anne Bonny and her descendent, Maude Stapleton, who seeks her kidnapped daughter.

Frozen Orbit by Patrick Chiles -- Excellent hard science fiction novel about an expedition to Pluto to retrieve a 40-year-old Russian spacecraft. If you enjoy Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, or Stephen Baxter, you might enjoy this as well. Lots of great little pop-culture references, as well as subtle Moronisms scattered throughout...

Forgotten Realms - The Harpers 6 - Crypt of the Shadowking by Mark Anthony -- A former Harper returns home to find his beloved city under the ruthless control of the evil Zhentarim.

That's about all I have for this week. Thank you for all of your kind words regarding the Sunday Morning Book Thread. This is a very special place. You are very special people (in all the best ways!). The kindness, generosity, and wisdom of the Moron Horde knows no bounds. Let's keep reading!

If you have any suggestions for improvement, reading recommendations, or discussion topics that you'd like to see on the Sunday Morning Book Thread, you can send them to perfessor dot squirrel at-sign gmail dot com. Your feedback is always appreciated! You can also take a virtual tour of OUR library at libib.com/u/perfessorsquirrel. Since I added sections for AoSHQ, I now consider it OUR library, rather than my own personal fiefdom...

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 03-26-23 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 hiya

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 08:59 AM (T4tVD)

2 no reading this week for me

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 02, 2023 08:59 AM (BRHaw)

3 "How can you tell if someone is a communist? They read Marx and Lenin. How can you tell if someone is an anti-communist? They understand marx and Lenin." -- Ronnie Raygun

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 09:01 AM (Dc2NZ)

4 Tolle Lege
Still working on Patrick O'Brian Yellow Admiral
If only found time to finish it

Posted by: Skip at April 02, 2023 09:01 AM (xhxe8)

5 Top ten. A rare and wondrous event.

Posted by: StewBurner at April 02, 2023 09:01 AM (Guh8+)

6 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at April 02, 2023 09:03 AM (+EodL)

7 I determined years ago that I was not a comics collector but an accumulator. I bought what I liked or thought would be interesting. If I was wrong, out it went.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 02, 2023 09:03 AM (Om/di)

8 I don't think the pants guy owns a weedwhacker (if you catch my drift.....)

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 09:04 AM (T4tVD)

9 I am reading, "Lies My Government Told Me." by Robert Malone. It is timely and heavily footnoted and a bit dense at times but a worthwhile read.

Posted by: StewBurner at April 02, 2023 09:04 AM (Guh8+)

10 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. Mine was varied, practical, and delightful.

Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 09:05 AM (7EjX1)

11 The Acrophobia books are shelved at the top left of the library picture.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 02, 2023 09:06 AM (PiwSw)

12 Of course, in my post auto correct changed Tierra del Fuego to Diego because, why not?

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 09:06 AM (I4Vsj)

13 From what I remember of the early pulps, it was a case of "publisher/press desperately in search of material", so you got a lot of chunked and formed processed crap.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 09:06 AM (Dc2NZ)

14 Thank you, Perfessor, for yet another outstanding Book Thread!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 02, 2023 09:07 AM (PiwSw)

15 "The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat, and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet," by Nina Teicholz provides, in Chapter 10, an interesting bit about "large," (good,) and "small," (bad,) LDL Clumpy McClumpFaces.

Posted by: Marooned at April 02, 2023 09:07 AM (kt8QE)

16 I finished "Walls Of Men" last week. I learned a lot from this quick run thru 5000 years of stagnation. Most interesting to me was the last couple hundred years. There is a lot packed in there if you want to better understand Chinese history and where they are now. God forbid the whole planet ends up like them.

Posted by: fd at April 02, 2023 09:07 AM (iayUP)

17 BOOOKKKKZZZZZX

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 02, 2023 09:08 AM (yu8eA)

18 15 "The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat, and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet," by Nina Teicholz provides, in Chapter 10, an interesting bit about "large," (good,) and "small," (bad,) LDL Clumpy McClumpFaces.
Posted by: Marooned at April 02, 2023 09:07 AM (kt8QE)

The doctors in the movie Sleeper were right!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 02, 2023 09:08 AM (PiwSw)

19 In regard to last week's discussion on aliens in fiction, the writer must keep in mind how they look. Example: the natives of the iceball planet in "Icerigger." They are felines with humanoid mammalian characteristics. (Read: They stand upright, and the king's daughter has tits.)

The author spends much time on the claws in their feet, using terms that I haven't bothered to look up. This assumes that those words are real. However, he's also mentioned that they have a membrane attached to the wrists and hips, yet the constant wind doesn't pull them over. Oops.

This strikes me as one advantage that comics have over prose: The artist had better get each appearance correct.

As for the plot, the kidnapped group that crashed on the planet has agreed to help the kingdom fight off a coming barbarian raid. The younger nobles are tired of paying tribute. However, internal skullduggery is afoot. Someone sent thugs to assassinate the king and frame the travelers. Fortunately, the main character came upon the attack and sounded the alarm.

We've had an unrelated adventure since, but now the raiders have been spotted. To arms!

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 02, 2023 09:08 AM (Om/di)

20 Now, these wrought iron railings, staircases, and platforms all need a thorough dusting . . . but don't scratch the paint!

Posted by: Dutch Parliament Library Docent at April 02, 2023 09:09 AM (4I/2K)

21 As for the Deadman omnibus, I decided to finish "Icerigger" first. Switching back and forth between the books wasn't working this time.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 02, 2023 09:09 AM (Om/di)

22 Morning Bookists! Thank you, professer!

Been on a John McManus kick lately, and have read a few of his. He is a WWII author and historian, who does massive research, and writes very well. Highly recommended.

Posted by: goatexchange at April 02, 2023 09:09 AM (APPN8)

23 Last week I featured "Escape Orbit" by Patrick Chiles.

I read the first book in this series, "Frozen Orbit" and I highly recommend it.

It's some truly outstanding hard science fiction about what it would take for us to explore the outer solar system in the not-too-distant future.

As a giant "FU" to the United States, it turns out the Russians did it first, though, back in the 1990s. They just didn't tell anyone about it because of the chaos of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Great stuff.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 02, 2023 09:09 AM (BpYfr)

24 An unfortunate coincidence in "Icerigger": The natives are known as trans, with a lowercase "t". What a difference 50 years(!) makes.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 02, 2023 09:10 AM (Om/di)

25 As to collecting, I have extra copies of books I think are exceptional, as I often lend them out, and as I became more financially secure I began the process of replacing my university days paperbacks with more durable hardbacks.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 09:11 AM (+PZyx)

26 Currently reading "The End of the World is Just the Beginning", Peter Zeihan, a work of geopolitical nonfiction analysis predicting the imminent collapse of...well, basically, everything: demographics, global trade, stability, peace, you name it.

Oddly satisfying in a sort of, "Well, that pretty much sums it up and I thought so," kind of way.

Posted by: MarkW at April 02, 2023 09:12 AM (rrEnw)

27 Good morning everyone. Thank you Professor.

Before the big move, I had a medium sized collection of works related to the Pennsylvania German culture and locale of Northern Berks Cnty, PA. My mom's side is from there (as is my wife's) Most of them from the 1800's. Most of the books regarding religion were in High German, many others regarding art, poetry, and culture in Pennsylvania Dutch.

Space being limited in the new house, I had to move a number of them to new owners and some others went to the kids.

To throw a book out is a sin, right?

Posted by: Tonypete at April 02, 2023 09:14 AM (qoGsy)

28 Thanks, Perfessor - the Book Thread is my go-to on Sunday mornings. It seems like just about every book that I have gone out and bought in the last three or four years (other than research materials) is a recommend from the Book Thread.
BTW, if there are any Texas 'Rons who want to check out my books in person, I will be at the New Braunfels Heritage Society Folkfest on the 15th and 16th of this months. Folkfest is held on the grounds of the Heritage Village, on Church Hill Drive - live music, demonstrations of crafts and weaponry, and a children's parade on Sunday.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 02, 2023 09:14 AM (xnmPy)

29 Any *serious* book collectors among the Moron Horde? I don't mean someone who just has to collect all the books of a particular author. I'm talking about those who have multiiple editions of books, one to read, and at least one to display.

I would class myself as semi sort of serious. For books that resonate with me I track down the first edition-first printing if it is affordable, which I is my primary read, and if its a book I am going to trash with notes and such I pick up a very inexpensive copy in good condition.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 09:15 AM (9e/0I)

30 Comment: As always, I encourage recommendations for younger readers. To me, there are few gifts more precious than instilling a love for reading in your children and grandchildren. It will serve them their whole lives in ways they can scarcely imagine at their young age. The fact that so many kids today are reluctant to read or simply can't read is a crime against humanity. Start 'em young and you stand a much greater chance of inoculating them against the mind viruses of the Left. /soapbox

I have my 6 yo grandson reading at a 4th grade level. I did it with Phonics. He loves it and reads to himself every night.

PaPa gave a gift that will last a lifetime. Sound it out buddy, sound it out. As he's trying to read along with my sitting in my lap.

I am constantly catching him in my library. "Have you read all those books Papa?" Nope but I intend to and you can read any of them you want.

The kids moved out last week so wife and I gots a big old empty house now. Miss those little guys in the mornings. There is no action around here anymore.

Posted by: Reforger at April 02, 2023 09:16 AM (xeKcB)

31 23 Last week I featured "Escape Orbit" by Patrick Chiles.

I read the first book in this series, "Frozen Orbit" and I highly recommend it.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 02, 2023 09:09 AM (BpYfr)

Perfessor, I loved "Frozen Orbit"! "Escape Orbit" arrives in two days. Can't wait.

I also enjoyed "Farside" and Perigee".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 09:17 AM (Dc2NZ)

32 Good Sunday morning, horde!

This week, I read The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I thought I was re-reading it--I was certain I had read it when I was a child, but I remembered absolutely nothing of it.

I was also thinking it had been written by Julie Andrews Edwards, so I got to searching. It turns out, the book I was remembering as The Secret Garden (which is a great children's book, by the way) was actually Mandy, by Julie Andrews Edwards.

I suspect JAE borrowed the concept from The Secret Garden, as Mandy is about an orphan girl who finds a secret cottage in the woods, and makes it her own special place.

Now I have to re-read Mandy.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 02, 2023 09:17 AM (OX9vb)

33 Re-read Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House so I could read the sequel Hell Bent.
Good stuff - Yale secret magical societies, dark secrets, etc.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 02, 2023 09:17 AM (yu8eA)

34 I'm reading "Red Star Over Hollywood: the Film Colony's Long Romance with the Left" by Ronald Radosh.

Razorfist: Hollywood Has Always Been Red - https://tinyurl.com/bdu597pr

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 09:18 AM (Dc2NZ)

35 As to book collecting, lately I've been trying to buy older hardcover books. I like the feel of a old book in my hands.

Posted by: dantesed at April 02, 2023 09:19 AM (88xKn)

36 I continue to enjoy the non-Conan stories of Robert Howard and the tales from Harold Lamb. Aside from being so well-written and exciting, they are brief enough for a quick read and you can come back to the books when the time and mood strike you.

Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 09:19 AM (7EjX1)

37 I distinctly remember my 4th grade teacher, Mrs Gardner (upon whom I had a crush) reading The Secret Garden to us, chapter by chapter, during the school year. I doubt today's crop of elementary teachers do that. Both my parents were readers.

Posted by: goatexchange at April 02, 2023 09:20 AM (APPN8)

38 I've been in the houses of acquaintances because I accompanied my kids in their pet-sitting activities. Some houses had no books in the front rooms. I cannot imagine not having books. They've been a part of my life since childhood.

Somewhere in my dad's house is the first book I read on my own. It's got to be!

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 02, 2023 09:20 AM (Om/di)

39 I have my 6 yo grandson reading at a 4th grade level. I did it with Phonics. He loves it and reads to himself every night. Posted by: Reforger

I started reading the my cash sink nearly everyday when he was about 6 months old. One day out of the blue when he was around 3 yo he just started reading. There are downsides to this: you do lose debates when they are 6 yo because their vocabulary is better than yours.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 09:21 AM (9e/0I)

40 I read about Seabury Quinn here, and checked him out. I find his stories entertaining. His Dr Grandin is somewhat like a Poirot crossed with Darrin McGavin's character in Nightstalker. Nightshade Books reprinted all of the stories in a five volume set a few years ago. Abe Books has them at reasonable prices, except the first volume, which for some reason is over $200.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 09:21 AM (egTDY)

41 Collecting? For quite a while, I was collecting Harlan Ellison and Fritz Leiber titles. I wasn't quite insane -- I restricted it to their own books and not magazine or anthology appearances, and what I was after was every US printing (though I was happy to snag British printings too if I turned 'em up). Got damned close too before I gave it up. Could have counted the missing Ellisons on my fingers, with fingers left over; ditto the Leibers. When Ellison's Stalking the Nightmare showed up in that lovely carved box, I was priced out on that one, and threw in the towel. Some years later I started selling them off so I wouldn't be tempted to use the mortgage money to fill in the remaining gaps. Never again...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 02, 2023 09:22 AM (a/4+U)

42 I finished The Other Side of Silence by Philip Kerr. It's 1956 and Bernie Gunter, ex-Berlin detective, is working under an assumed name as a concierge at the Grand Hotel on the French Riviera. He is hired by W. Somerset Maughn to deal with a blackmailer. When the blackmailer turns out to be someone Bernie dealt with during his time on the Eastern Front in Konigsberg, he tells this backstory to Maughn.

A tape made by Russian spy Guy Burgess brings British intelligence into the plot, and Bernie is framed as a Stasi agent. How he gets out of it is quite the tale.

Kerr always writes a good detective story and always sprinkles it with real people and events. In his Author's Notes at the end of the book he writes a paragraph or two about these events or what happened to these people in latter life. Reading this series, one can enjoy a good story as well as learn tidbits of history.

Posted by: Zoltan at April 02, 2023 09:23 AM (sDFJU)

43 PaPa gave a gift that will last a lifetime. Sound it out buddy, sound it out.
Posted by: Reforger at April 02, 2023 09:16 AM (xeKcB)

It's practically criminal that this isn't taught anymore. In fact, it wasn't always even with my generation. My own spouse never learned phonics, and has trouble figuring out how to say a word he doesn't recognize. This is so foreign to me.

*offers up the millionth-and-one prayer for my wonderful mother, who read to us and taught us to sound it out.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 02, 2023 09:23 AM (OX9vb)

44 34 I'm reading "Red Star Over Hollywood: the Film Colony's Long Romance with the Left" by Ronald Radosh.

--

And yet Hollywood only exists because of capitalism.
Whatta bunch of scorpions

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 02, 2023 09:24 AM (yu8eA)

45 yes phillip kerr's loss was a big one, the organs of the british state, were heavily compromised on he MI-5 like hollis, as well as MI 6 the usual suspects,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 09:26 AM (PXvVL)

46 "Tailgunner Joe" would be a great name for a coffee shop.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 09:27 AM (Dc2NZ)

47
I started reading the my cash sink nearly everyday when he was about 6 months old. One day out of the blue when he was around 3 yo he just started reading. There are downsides to this: you do lose debates when they are 6 yo because their vocabulary is better than yours.
Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 09:21 AM (9e/0I)

He is smarter than me. Some of his questions are out there and stump me a lot. Then we research. I never leave anything at "I don't know". We do "let's find out".

Being a grandpa is awesome. They'll be here for the day today in about 45 minutes.

Posted by: Reforger at April 02, 2023 09:28 AM (xeKcB)

48 Can you recommend books with an *impact* on your life? I want to quit Amazon Audible subscription, but have eight credits to use. I'd like to use them for lasting books rather than, say, the latest Jack Reacher.

Suggestions? Thanks

Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 09:29 AM (i0e4P)

49 The past few days I've been reading Jon Peterson's _Game Wizards_, about the early history of TSR and the various business/financial conflicts which accompanied its rise.

Peterson's the guy who wrote _Playing at the World_, which is a big fat history of roleplaying games in general. This book is, essentially, a deep dive into one topic covered in that book more generally. His research is amazingly thorough.

It's an interesting book, though I expect nerdery about nerdery may be a bridge too far for some people.

I was interested in the personal conflicts. Dave Arneson does not come off well -- the long-standing narrative in the hobby of Dave as the victim of Gary's greed and Machiavellian maneuvering doesn't seem to hold up. I think a lot of people who had conflicts with Gary (=pretty much everyone) wanted to believe Dave's version of events.

It's sad to realize that with decent management it could have survived as an independent company instead of becoming just another "brand" for Hasbro.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 09:29 AM (QZxDR)

50 My kindle read is Great Expectations which I haven't read since 9th grade which was 14 years ago because I am 29. It is a hoot.

My "serious" reads are All of Us, The Complete Poems by Raymond Carver and The Poetry of T.S. Eliot by well, duh!

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 09:29 AM (9e/0I)

51 I've been in the houses of acquaintances because I accompanied my kids in their pet-sitting activities. Some houses had no books in the front rooms. I cannot imagine not having books. They've been a part of my life since childhood.

This. I have grown up around books. Currently have a half wall of shelves maybe 8 feet long in the front room. 4 floor to ceiling shelving units in the office. And of course currently reading around on tables.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 09:30 AM (/0+YE)

52 I prefer paper to read but can't see having multiple copies in various formats

Posted by: Skip at April 02, 2023 09:30 AM (xhxe8)

53 I don't know when my youngest kid learned to read -- because he KEPT IT A SECRET from the rest of us. Apparently he was concerned that we'd stop reading to him if we knew he could do it himself.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 09:31 AM (QZxDR)

54 My grandmother taught me to read long before I was old enough to attend school, and it is something that has been a constant passion in my life ever since. Grandmother always planned to do nothing but read all day when she was old, but macular degeneration made it so she had to use a magnifying glass to do so.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 09:31 AM (XjZ9G)

55 Can you recommend books with an *impact* on your life? I want to quit Amazon Audible subscription, but have eight credits to use. I'd like to use them for lasting books rather than, say, the latest Jack Reacher.

Suggestions? Thanks
Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill

Robert Caro's LBJ biography (4 volumes completed and one on the way) is a masterpiece.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 09:31 AM (9e/0I)

56 This. I have grown up around books. Currently have a half wall of shelves maybe 8 feet long in the front room. 4 floor to ceiling shelving units in the office. And of course currently reading around on tables.
Posted by: Infide

How do ya find time and a place for wild, impromptu sex ?

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 09:32 AM (T4tVD)

57 This week I've started reading-

"High Spirits" by Robertson Davies.

These are ghost stories he wrote for the "High Table" Dinner given by his College over the Christmas Holiday Season.

The intent of the stories is not to frighten so much as it is to entertain in a humorous, witty fashion that helps keep the jovial mood of the dinner itself. RS is explicit about this intention in the forward.

Wholley Kau! I'd forgotten just what a pleasure it is to read his stories. With Robertson Davies you get the whole package: a master story teller and a masterful prose stylist. It's just plain fun to be taken in hand, so to speak, and led through one of his books.

If you're unfamiliar with Roberton Davies, I suggest you check out one of his trilogies. "The Deptford Trilogy" beginning with-

"The Fifth Business" is a great place to start.

It's was the book and the trilogy that first brought him fame.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 02, 2023 09:32 AM (mm6iK)

58 It's sad to realize that with decent management it could have survived as an independent company instead of becoming just another "brand" for Hasbro.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 09:29 AM (QZxDR)
---

I was surprised to see "Hasbro" in the opening credits of "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves". I thought it was still Wizards of the Coast (actually I still think of it as TSR!).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 09:33 AM (Dc2NZ)

59 I think I mentioned the joel dicker swiss whodunnit the mystery of room 622, its a little convuluted because it flashes between two 15 year intervals,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 09:34 AM (PXvVL)

60 Yay book thread!

Yesterday I finished C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planent, the first volume of his "Space" trilogy. It's definitely "hard" sci-fi, in a lot of ways better than Star Trek in accepting time/space limitations, dealing with differential gravity, etc.

That being said, it felt very allegorical, which maybe Lewis was aware of because the post script says the next volume will be different.

I should note that I've borrowed all three books from my local library, which speaks well of them. Given ongoing budget constraints and the confiscatory taxes I pay to support the thing, I shall make more use of it in the future.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 09:34 AM (llXky)

61 Good to see yer nic, Eris !

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 09:34 AM (T4tVD)

62 I was surprised to see "Hasbro" in the opening credits of "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves". I thought it was still Wizards of the Coast (actually I still think of it as TSR!).
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 09:33 AM (Dc2NZ)
---
Like a lot of corporations these days Wizards of the Coast is simply a division or subsidiary of a much larger corporation. Hasbro is the parent company for a number of smaller ones, I think.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with WoTC as they are collapsing like Disney, from what I can tell.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 02, 2023 09:36 AM (BpYfr)

63 Never really had the collector mentality. I certainly accumulate a lot of books, but the specific edition means nothing to me, and I read them until they fall apart and then get a new copy. I do have some autographed books, which I got signed by the authors myself, and so have personal significance to me. But I certainly don't care about their resale value.

English needs a new word: we need separate terms for "collectors" who keep a sort of personal museum of items in mint condition, never touched or used; and "collectors" who acquire things to make use of.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 09:37 AM (QZxDR)

64 I was surprised to see "Hasbro" in the opening credits of "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves". I thought it was still Wizards of the Coast (actually I still think of it as TSR!).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 09:33 AM (Dc2NZ)
---
Hasbro acquired WotC in the late 1990s, and of course George Lucas owns a big chunk of Hasbro.

That spelled the end of the brief flowering of Star Wars games through Decipher and West End Games, because once Hasbro owned WotC, they canceled the licensing agreements to bring the product "in house."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 09:37 AM (llXky)

65 I've mentioned several times that I no longer read books on current events or even recent history. And most recent fiction leaves me cold. But with Easter approaching, essays and poetry about the joy to be found in creation are especially appealing. They may involve the tiniest matters or cover the cosmos, in some ways it doesn't matter.

I recently found books by Luci Shaw, a writer and poet in her mid-nineties who is still going strong. (Gives me hope.) Her work blends nicely with Malcolm Guite's. They use their writing to celebrate the wonder of creation and how art can enhance that celebration. It makes us more human and shows our connection to God. This superb writing about the wonders of the world, especially themes of renewal, is lovely and life-affirming. So much better than living in constant rage at political and social matters.

Luci Shaw's books include "The Green Earth, Poems of Creation" and "Thumbprint In The Clay". This week's Guite reading was "In Every Corner Sing" and "Heaven In Ordinary".

Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 09:37 AM (7EjX1)

66 it was better than the one with jeremy irons, but not by much,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 09:38 AM (PXvVL)

67 I finished "Walls Of Men" last week. I learned a lot from this quick run thru 5000 years of stagnation. Most interesting to me was the last couple hundred years. There is a lot packed in there if you want to better understand Chinese history and where they are now. God forbid the whole planet ends up like them.

Posted by: fd at April 02, 2023 09:07 AM (iayUP)
---
Glad you liked it! I'm generally avoiding the news these days, but China's sudden seeming surge is largely a relative thing. The US has done such a rapid nose dive that merely standing still makes it look like you're sprinting ahead.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 09:39 AM (llXky)

68 Currently putting myself to sleep with the last of Weber's Honor Harrington books: Uncompromising Honor.

This book can kill a Corgi if dropped on him. There is a 200 page story inside this tome. I am skipping pages just to not throw this library book against the wall. The inner story is good, but a ruthless editor was greatly needed.

I am so glad I did not pay for this. But - puts me right out.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 09:40 AM (u82oZ)

69 it was better than the one with jeremy irons, but not by much,
Posted by: no 6

Is he a tailor ?

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 09:41 AM (T4tVD)

70 I'm reading James Grady - "Condor in the Stacks", a novel in the 'Six Days Of The Condor" series. None of the rest are anywhere as good as the original. The movie of the original was also very good, in spite of Redford playing the leading role.

Posted by: Ciampino - How does fried ROT!3 liver taste? at April 02, 2023 09:41 AM (qfLjt)

71 And yet Hollywood only exists because of capitalism.
Whatta bunch of scorpions - Vmom stabby stabby stabby
stabby stabamillion

That's because every film, even documentaries, weave filaments of lies, truth, half truths, and utter bullshit with the intention of feeding that pottage to naive viewers in exchange for filthy lucre. Just like communism!

Posted by: mrp at April 02, 2023 09:42 AM (rj6Yv)

72 It'll be interesting to see what happens with WoTC as they are collapsing like Disney, from what I can tell.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

Things got spicy at the beginning of the year when WoTC tried to screw over is fan base. I think Hasbro backed off but I was left with the impression they backed off like the Biden administration has done with the Ministry of Truth and Gas Stoves.

https://tinyurl.com/4cerhnpf

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 09:42 AM (9e/0I)

73 To have both arms with which to hold a book and read it, is quite unlike a stream of bat's piss.

Posted by: George Bernard Shaw at April 02, 2023 09:42 AM (lSWGl)

74 Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

The most surprising thing to me in Walls Of Men was that the Nationalists that surrendered to Mao were sent to Korea to be slaughtered. That blew my mind, but is so consistent with Communism.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 09:42 AM (u82oZ)

75 I am a collector. I have a nice collection of kids' books, and plenty of them are firsts. Most kids' books are not very valuable, but they are to me. A Wrinkle in Time was something I liked as a kid, so years ago a relative gave me a signed first as a gift. I also, being a forager, have found other well priced beautiful volumes. They don't have to be firsts, but I like pretty books. I think they helped get the grandsons more interested in owning and reading. They loved having me read from these, and the fact that some of these books are old, seems to help them connect with the story and the general history of books. The first one they really liked was The Cricket on the Hearth, a heavily illustrated, leather bound book with gold leaf and pretty gold lettering and Art Nouveau styling on the covers. It wasn't expensive, and it's a bit gaudy, but it's from the 1890s and they thought of it as a treasure.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 09:43 AM (Zzbjj)

76 Right now is an interesting time for acquiring books. Many, many high quality books can be had for obscenely low prices. Often, a very good quality hardback is available at $5-8. Then, certain books I would like are priced at ridiculous levels. There are a few books I have on my want list, and all are between $150-500. Strange.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 09:43 AM (bkAGf)

77 It's a shame that Lucasfilm pulled the Star Wars license from West End Games and thereby killed the company. Nerds should remember that from 1983 to 1988, WEG were the real keepers of the Star Wars flame. A lot of the current "Lore" of the SW universe came out of that company's game products. If you're watching "Andor" with the sinister ISB agents -- that began in a West End game supplement.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 09:44 AM (QZxDR)

78 Some months ago, this website had a great summarization of the podephiric books such as Gender Queer, Lawn Boy, etc. that are in the school libraries. My work had an article in the newsletter that was complaining against the "banning" of these books, so I am going to submit an anonymous ethics complaint about my company defending p-ic literature, but the internet (even through the brave search engine) has not made it easy. Does anyone remember which entry this was? (I combed through the archive titles and was unable to find it, I'm wondering if it was a morning rant)

Posted by: Crazy to be sane at April 02, 2023 09:44 AM (qnyv5)

79 Whoops: I meant 1998.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 09:44 AM (QZxDR)

80 I've been in the houses of acquaintances because I accompanied my kids in their pet-sitting activities. Some houses had no books in the front rooms. I cannot imagine not having books. They've been a part of my life since childhood.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 09:30 AM (/0+YE)
---
My parents represented an interesting contrast. My mother was a voracious reader, but did not keep the books around. She read cheap paperbacks and by high school I'd set up a basket separate from the trash so that I could resell them for 50 cents each and use the proceeds to buy MY books, which I tended to keep.

My father has an enormous library, and did even when they were still married. I take more after him, but I will from time to time go through and remove books I'm not using or (more often) ones that I have since learned are inaccurate. This has mostly hit books on tanks and guns, which seem to crib from each other a lot and thereby repeat the same mistakes.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 09:44 AM (llXky)

81 >>> 67 I finished "Walls Of Men" last week. I learned a lot from this quick run thru 5000 years of stagnation. Most interesting to me was the last couple hundred years. There is a lot packed in there if you want to better understand Chinese history and where they are now. God forbid the whole planet ends up like them.

Posted by: fd at April 02, 2023 09:07 AM (iayUP)
---
Glad you liked it! I'm generally avoiding the news these days, but China's sudden seeming surge is largely a relative thing. The US has done such a rapid nose dive that merely standing still makes it look like you're sprinting ahead.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 09:39 AM (llXky)

This is a great summary.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 02, 2023 09:46 AM (llON8)

82 *How do ya find time and a place for wild, impromptu sex?*

What other kind is there?

Posted by: Just Wondering at April 02, 2023 09:46 AM (DhOHl)

83 I'll second the recommendation for the Penderwicks books. I read them to my girls when they were young and I enjoyed them as much as the kids did.

Posted by: DIY Daddio at April 02, 2023 09:47 AM (64aAI)

84 I've no interest in the current D&D movie, but the one with Jeremy Irons was an absolute hoot. The guy was clearly enjoying himself, chewing on every piece of scenery within reach.

There's a certain category of movie where the star knows it's crap but is having a great time and you watch it just to see them push the limit of what the director will let them get away with.

Rutger Hauer was like that in the Buffy movie.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 09:48 AM (llXky)

85
Robert Caro's LBJ biography (4 volumes completed and one on the way) is a masterpiece.
Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 09:31 AM (9e/0I)

////

Great suggestion! I read Caro's "The Power Broker" in B-school.

Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 09:48 AM (K02LO)

86 I only have one book that I consider a true collectable, although some others might be. It is an 1872 biography of Bismark entitled The Life of Bismarck, given to my father 63 years ago. It has a leather cover, is in excellent condition, and has many illustrations. Bismarck died in 1898, so the book was written before he did many of the things for which he is famous.

Wiki: Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a Prussian and later German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of Junker landowners, Bismarck rose rapidly in Prussian politics, and from 1862 to 1890 he was the minister president and foreign minister of Prussia. Before his rise to the executive, he was the Prussian ambassador to Russia and France and served in both houses of the Prussian parliament. He masterminded the unification of Germany in 1871 and served as the first chancellor of the German Empire until 1890, in which capacity he dominated European affairs.

Posted by: Archimedes at April 02, 2023 09:48 AM (eOEVl)

87 Thomas Paine

The book Ignition is on my list. A real book was almost unobtainable. Prices over $1,400.

But it has been reissued, and prices are way down.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 09:49 AM (u82oZ)

88 how did they insure they would fight, I assume political officers,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 09:49 AM (PXvVL)

89 It's a shame that Lucasfilm pulled the Star Wars license from West End Games and thereby killed the company. Nerds should remember that from 1983 to 1988, WEG were the real keepers of the Star Wars flame. A lot of the current "Lore" of the SW universe came out of that company's game products. If you're watching "Andor" with the sinister ISB agents -- that began in a West End game supplement.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 09:44 AM (QZxDR)
---
They approached the topic with actual respect for the subject matter and used the clues they had to come up with the best and most compelling ways to explain things.

For whatever reason, Lucas felt that his vision had been compromised and I think he wanted to demonstrate that he was smarter than everyone else though. Nope.

And now everything is being wokeified. Sad.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 09:51 AM (llXky)

90 I've been in the houses of acquaintances because I accompanied my kids in their pet-sitting activities. Some houses had no books in the front rooms. I cannot imagine not having books. They've been a part of my life since childhood.
Posted by: Infidel

My Dad's last career was to be a high-school vocational instructor. He made a point of doing home visits to every student early in the school year. To no ones surprise, some of his students' homes had no reading material at all. Nothing. Learning this, he understood he'd have to make modifications to his teaching style and methods to reach these kids. It can be done, but wow - it shouldn't be that way.

Posted by: Tonypete at April 02, 2023 09:51 AM (qoGsy)

91 To have both arms with which to hold a book and read it, is quite unlike a stream of bat's piss.

Posted by: George Bernard Shaw at April 02, 2023 09:42 AM (lSWGl)

I hate you.

Posted by: Michelle Fields at April 02, 2023 09:51 AM (Angsy)

92 Right now is an interesting time for acquiring books. Many, many high quality books can be had for obscenely low prices. Often, a very good quality hardback is available at $5-8. Then, certain books I would like are priced at ridiculous levels. There are a few books I have on my want list, and all are between $150-500. Strange. Posted by: Thomas Paine

That has been my experience. One can pick up used hardbacks in excellent condition for the price of a new paperback, sometimes less. Collectible editions start in the $50 to $100 range with the more rare editions starting in $150-$250 range. After that all bets are off for the serious collectible versions. They are way more expensive than I am willing to spend - $500 is sort of the bargain basement starting price.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 09:51 AM (9e/0I)

93 I mean I Frankenstein, with Bill Nighy as the classically trained demon, apparently he won't work cheap see detective pikachu and other offerings,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 09:51 AM (PXvVL)

94 Tailgunner Joe" would be a great name for a coffee shop.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread)

-
I saw yesterday that they're building a new Starbucks just down the road from me. I'll no longer have to drive a couple of miles. It's in walking distance and is the closet commercial business to my house. Of course, I haven't bought Stabucks in I don't how long. My theory is that they were bought out by Pinky and the Brain and they're trying to take over the world.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 09:52 AM (FVME7)

95 The most surprising thing to me in Walls Of Men was that the Nationalists that surrendered to Mao were sent to Korea to be slaughtered. That blew my mind, but is so consistent with Communism.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 09:42 AM (u82oZ)
---
The Chinese feeding troops into meat-grinders wasn't just a Communist thing, though. Remember the emperor who annihilated two whole armies trying to take over Korea?

I will say that I personally have a *completely* different view on Korea and Vietnam now.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 09:53 AM (llXky)

96 In the past year or so I've been reading several of the Storey's Guide to Raising books. Some are more thorough than others and while I doubt a single book can tell you *everything* you need to know, they're definitely helpful.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 02, 2023 09:54 AM (llON8)

97 I'm in no way a book collector but I am an excellent book accumulator. Collecting implies some type of order or purpose. The closest I come to that is classic children's books with the original illustrations. They don't have to be old, but well made. Also, there are certain series where I want all the volumes. Off the top of my head that could include Nero Wolf, Matt Helm, the MASH books for when I'm in a silly mood, the Liturgical Mystery series, and a few others.

The latest collecting/accumulating effort is to own all the books by Malcolm Guite. I'm about half way there.

Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 09:55 AM (7EjX1)

98 ha, looks like pixy took as a tag

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 02, 2023 09:55 AM (llON8)

99 I've been in the houses of acquaintances because I accompanied my kids in their pet-sitting activities. Some houses had no books in the front rooms. I cannot imagine not having books. They've been a part of my life since childhood.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 09:30 AM (/0+YE)

I know people who take pride in throwing out all the "clutter" of books and exclusively read kindle or nook, or get recipes online. I have always said " feel free to give them to me", and some people have given me some nice things.

Not long after we moved into this house, in the early 80s, my husband took a sabbatical and used a good chunk of that time to finish the basement. He mimicked the first floor floor plan, and in the place of the kitchen is a second library and study room, that the kids were encouraged to use with their friends. He built in cases. The grandsons like and increasingly use this room. Eventually the shelves were inadequate and were expanded into the other rooms as well.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 09:55 AM (Zzbjj)

100 bad pixy!

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 02, 2023 09:55 AM (llON8)

101 One of my relatives by marriage is very well-educated, a professional married to another professional, and there are no books to be seen in their house.

It's not that they don't read -- they just don't keep them. They either get ebooks, or hardcopies from the library, or they buy and then discard when finished. It's definitely a foreign mind-set to me -- but it doesn't mean an illiterate or anti-intellectual household.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 09:56 AM (QZxDR)

102 Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes.

A couple of weeks ago I bought The Woman Who Dared, a bio of the silent serial star Pearl White. The thing is massive, though (who knew there was so much to write about White?) and so I haven't had the energy to start it. Instead, I've just been pottering about here and there, re-reading a bunch of different books I have. Nothing special, though - mostly pop histories and such like.

As far as 'collecting,' I do collect dictionaries, in a small way. I have the 2-volume reduction of the Oxford and a number of early 1910s - 30s dictionaries. I just like flipping through them to add to my vocabulary.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 02, 2023 09:56 AM (AW0uW)

103 Robert Caro's LBJ biography (4 volumes completed and one on the way) is a masterpiece.
Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 09:31 AM (9e/0I)

//

Got it. I selected the first two volumes

Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 09:57 AM (RTEcs)

104 He built in cases. The grandsons like and increasingly use this room. Eventually the shelves were inadequate and were expanded into the other rooms as well.
Posted by: CN

Nice.

And then I have a few cupboards in the kitchen with cooking and gardening books.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 09:58 AM (/0+YE)

105
I was surprised to see "Hasbro" in the opening credits of "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves". I thought it was still Wizards of the Coast (actually I still think of it as TSR!).
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 09:33 AM (Dc2NZ)

I want to see that movie but I hate movie theaters. Will wait for the dvd.
I lost all of my D&D books in an unfortunate storage unit theft. About 10 years ago I went looking to replace them and found them everywhere on the internets. Like $10 for the whole set of AD&D books. Didn't do it. Now the damn things are going for about $50 each book. Some way more than that. I have a first edition Chain Mail (original D&D) that goes for quite a chunk when you can find it.

As far as TSR I can say with a certain amount of insider knowlege that the biggset problem TSR faced was they were wargamers, not buisnessmen. I have an uncle that was close with those guys from the early Gencon days. He was amazed they even figured out how to market anything.

Posted by: Reforger at April 02, 2023 09:58 AM (kNXsU)

106 Past 100 - Off topic.

Everyone that wants to help FenelonSpoke can email me. They will be given her Church's address. Alas, this involves writing or creating a check, but I do not trust PayPal, Go Fund Me, or the Methodist
equivalent. This set-up assures I get no money meant for her, and there are no fees beyond a stamp.

My ROT-13 email: AnPyl_qbt@xfoebnqonaq.arg

from https://rot13.com/

My email is lightly encrypted to foil the bots.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 09:59 AM (u82oZ)

107 irons played the suave kgb general in the otherwise terribly casr (by my eye) red sparrow, which was the chapman ring recast as if she had become the double agent,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 09:59 AM (PXvVL)

108 Got it. I selected the first two volumes
Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill

The opening part of volume 1 where he describes the Hill Country and LBJ's family is breathtakingly great prose.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 09:59 AM (9e/0I)

109 I know people who take pride in throwing out all the "clutter" of books and exclusively read kindle or nook, or get recipes online. I have always said " feel free to give them to me", and some people have given me some nice things.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 09:55 AM (Zzbjj)
---
That's my mom. No wonder she divorced Dad.

She's now on the local library board, so she has them buy what she wants using taxpayer money.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 09:59 AM (llXky)

110 Not to get too political, but another issue affecting books is that publishers are either running scared, or are in league with the woke crowd. Dr Bruce Gilley wrote an essay on the benefits of British colonialism a few years ago, and a large proportion of the editorial board of the magazine it ran in resigned either in protest, or due to death threats. His publisher cancelled his contract for his book on the subject, The Last Imperialist. Regnery Gateway took up the project, so the book is now out. In the same manner, Nigel Biggar, who was an Oxford professor had his book, Colonialism A Moral Reckoing, cancelled by his publisher. Biggar ended up self-publishing.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 10:00 AM (2yIpD)

111 I suppose they cast jennifer lawrence because the director had been part of the hunger games,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 10:01 AM (PXvVL)

112 My theory is that they were bought out by Pinky and the Brain and they're trying to take over the world.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 09:52 AM (FVME7)
---
An oldie but goodie from The Onion: "New Starbucks Opens in Restroom of Existing Starbucks"

https://tinyurl.com/2pwck94d

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 10:01 AM (Dc2NZ)

113 As far as 'collecting,' I do collect dictionaries, in a small way. I have the 2-volume reduction of the Oxford and a number of early 1910s - 30s dictionaries. I just like flipping through them to add to my vocabulary.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 02, 2023 09:56 AM (AW0uW)

My husband loves these too. He hasn't added in a few years, except for gifts to the grandsons.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:02 AM (Zzbjj)

114 Hawaiian judge says child buggery is great and commands Tennesseeans to hand over the next generation to the deviant sodomites right away.

I hope they appeal it, but ya know, GOP legislators and conservative justices, so...

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:02 AM (oINRc)

115 As far as TSR I can say with a certain amount of insider knowlege that the biggset problem TSR faced was they were wargamers, not buisnessmen. I have an uncle that was close with those guys from the early Gencon days. He was amazed they even figured out how to market anything.

Posted by: Reforger at April 02, 2023 09:58 AM (kNXsU)
---
A lot of gamers were like that. Jim Dunnigan turned SPI into a powerhouse, created much of the wargaming world we know, but couldn't do enough math to know he was losing money on every sale.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 10:02 AM (llXky)

116 As far as TSR I can say with a certain amount of insider knowlege that the biggset problem TSR faced was they were wargamers, not buisnessmen. I have an uncle that was close with those guys from the early Gencon days. He was amazed they even figured out how to market anything.
Posted by: Reforger at April 02, 2023 09:58 AM (kNXsU)
---
This is a frequent problem in industry. I've heard from engineers that they tend to suffer the same fate when they try to set up their own companies. Most of them are engineers and have no idea how to run a business. You really do need BOTH businessmen/managers and subject matter experts to be successful, it seems.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 02, 2023 10:03 AM (BpYfr)

117 She's now on the local library board, so she has them buy what she wants using taxpayer money.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 09:59 AM (llXky)

I guess that's useful provided she likes good things.

I am currently wondering if the disdain for Western Culture is due in part to a lack of exposure. I saw some crazy videos last week that validated this.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:04 AM (Zzbjj)

118 Another Volume of the Entertaining and Mostly If Not Always True Adventures of Texas Ranger Jim Reade and his Blood-Brother Delaware Scout Toby Shaw)

I have read the first book and its a fun somewhat Y/A reimagining of The Lone Ranger. I enjoyed it.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:04 AM (0hOvj)

119 I've been in the houses of acquaintances because I accompanied my kids in their pet-sitting activities. Some houses had no books in the front rooms. I cannot imagine not having books. They've been a part of my life since childhood.

Posted by: Infidel

I have occasionally been in a house devoid of books. I try to not show what I am thinking.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 10:04 AM (rFp0F)

120 but it was a terrible choice, there was also a fantastical element they couldn't transfer from the books, this aura that dominika could detect about people, also there was a chapter about region specific cuisine,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 10:05 AM (PXvVL)

121 A lot of gamers were like that. Jim Dunnigan turned SPI into a powerhouse, created much of the wargaming world we know, but couldn't do enough math to know he was losing money on every sale.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Did he make it up in volume?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 10:05 AM (FVME7)

122 Mrs Just Some Guy and I switched most of our reading to the kindle some years back -- easier on the eyes (and hands in many cases), and takes up a lot less space. When we moved from Chicago to our current digs, we shipped more than 100 cartons of books (the large publishers' shipping cartons, not dinky little boxes). Most of those paper copies have gone to libraries and dealers and offspring, but they're still here on the kindles. And there are quite a few where we've picked up ebooks but kept the physical book too, just because.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 02, 2023 10:05 AM (a/4+U)

123 Since another Rubicon has been crossed with the mutilation of classic books by ignorant, lunatic, leftist hacks,

I've started attempting to collect a few of the novels I particularly like or admire in hardback if I don't have them already.

The problem mostly is trying to find a good hardcover volume printed on acid-free paper with excellent binding. Past printings of the old school up until, oh, I don't know 19...90?, or so were mostly printed that way for mainstream fiction.

These days looking for a well-printed volume, esp for genre fiction, often means looking at limited printings by boutique printers, which are very expensive.

So, the going is slow as one looks for a decent price.

F'rinstance, I found a beautiful printing of the the great Joyce Cary novel "The Horse's Mouth" printed back in 1969 for el cheapo that, except for the sun-fading on the spine, looks and feels like it was printed yesterday cuz acid-free paper, etc.

Some books like "Fahrenheit 451" seem impossible though. To get a well-printed volume costs upwards of $200.00 used, so no go there.

Anyway, that's my whining for today! 😬

Posted by: naturalfake at April 02, 2023 10:05 AM (mm6iK)

124 My email is lightly encrypted to foil the bots.
Posted by: NaCly Dog

Still didn't go thru. Emmie has my email.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 10:06 AM (/0+YE)

125 Fighters of Fear: Occult Detective Stories sounds fun and interesting but they want way too much for it. I'd pay 14 bucks for a print book, but a Kindle? Sorry. These publishing companies have got to get a grasp on modern economics. You cannot get away with charging roughly the same price for print and digital.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:07 AM (0hOvj)

126 One of today's headlines . . .

Cartoon Network celebrates "Trans Day of Visibility" with comics teaching kids to use preferred pronouns

-
Maybe they can't read but, gosh darn it!, they'll know their pronouns!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 10:07 AM (FVME7)

127 Our kids are totally disinterested in our "heirlooms." Whether it be furniture, china, silver, crystal, jewelry or anything else. Books of any sort are right out too. Thus we don't have books in the house and will begin selling off the other stuff in the near future. "Family history" doesn't exist in our lives anymore.

Sad, but it is what it is.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 02, 2023 10:08 AM (Q4IgG)

128 Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 09:59 AM (u82oZ)

I'm no longer on the HQ every day. What happened to Fen?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 02, 2023 10:08 AM (AW0uW)

129 I've started attempting to collect a few of the novels I particularly like or admire in hardback if I don't have them already.
++++++
I am too. Most recent acquisition is Annals of Imperial Rome. So I got that one before it becomes the Anals, by Harry Buttcracitus.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:08 AM (oINRc)

130 HYDRA? Those upstarts! All they know they learned from us!
(-- Thrush Supreme Council)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:08 AM (omVj0)

131 I know people who take pride in throwing out all the "clutter" of books and exclusively read kindle or nook, or get recipes online. I have always said " feel free to give them to me", and some people have given me some nice things. Posted by: CN

I get that perspective. Over that last few years I purged everything I didn't really value be that books, kitchen knives, or furniture. I have exactly the things I need to run my life and exactly the things that bring joy to my life. This approach has allowed me to own exactly what I without cutting corners (within reason). My handmade custom mission style bed done in quarter sawn white oak is a work of art and I will never part with it.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 10:09 AM (9e/0I)

132 I also like old dictionaries. I have an elephantine two-volume set from the turn of ye olde century.

As our contemporary dictionaries grant space to useless new wordoids and go soft on correct usage, it's important to have these treasures, which serve as bulwarks against modernism (and which can themselves be used as bulwarks).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 10:09 AM (Dc2NZ)

133 Our host wrote:

The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter -- This is a sequel of sorts to H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. In this version, the Time Traveler makes additional trips in time only to discover that time travel is much more complicated than he originally imagined, thanks to causality, paradoxes, and quantum mechanics. We also find out the Time Traveler's first name is "Moses."

...One of the odder things that stuck out when I read "the Time Machine" was that the time traveler was never named. That, and the odd framing device. I think it was someone relating the story of the traveler to friends during a party, or something like that. (It has been a while since I read it) It seems like a lot of older sci-fi stories have odd and unnecessary framing devices. I'm specifically thinking about E.R. Burroughs and his Venus and Moon books...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 02, 2023 10:09 AM (Lhaco)

134 'Morning all.
Got a copy of Agency by William Gibson this week. It is the sequel to The Peripheral. It is almost impossible to say anything about the story without spoilers. It is an easier read than the first book and it clears up a lot of the ambiguity in the first story by explaining what is going on. (What a novel idea).😉
I ended up looking up Gibson and read an article that was an eye opener. First surprise was that he was forged during the same time period as I was. Second, that he was an absolute genius.
I am sure an entire book thread could be devoted to his writing.
Do you know he invented the term cyberspace?

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 02, 2023 10:09 AM (Y+l9t)

135 The most surprising thing to me in Walls Of Men was that the Nationalists that surrendered to Mao were sent to Korea to be slaughtered. That blew my mind, but is so consistent with Communism.

Posted by: NaCly Dog

I met a man yesterday who had spent several years in China teaching English years ago. He was discussing the child trading that went on during the cultural revolution. It seems the Chinese didn't want to eat their own children.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 10:10 AM (+3wvS)

136 Sad, but it is what it is.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 02, 2023 10:08 AM (Q4IgG)

My kids were like that at one time. Fortunately they changed. I will have no problem rehoming books, china and silver, the disinterest in the old jewelry ended first.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:10 AM (Zzbjj)

137 As for collecting books; I collect books to read, not to display. On the other hand, I hate uncouth barbarians who carelessly damage books and have refused to loan books to friends who dog-ear pages rather than use a book mark. I do have a few picture books, however, that I take extra care with to maintain their original condition. For example, Paul Parker's "Formula 1 in Camera 1950-59" and "Formula 1 in
Camera 1960-69."-the series continues past 1969, but my interest in the topic ends in the 1960s. Parker's books are year by year histories of Formula 1 racing with details about the races, point standings and the like, and profusely illustrated with photos of the races, cars, drivers, owners and spectators. They are of particular interest to me as I have a friend who worked for Jaguar and Coventry Climax during the late 1950s and early 1960s and knows/knew many of the drivers.

cont...

Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 02, 2023 10:10 AM (cYrkj)

138 Somewhat related, I've been playing Hogwarts Legacy, and I recommend it to anyone. It has its flaws, but overall it is a lot of fun and filled with content to keep you busy a very long time.

The port over to PC is not great, some of the controls are poor (especially the flight controls) and you are basically on a railroad following their story line with some very long segments of narration and just following around. Its a huge world you can explore and do other stuff in, but the main story you are on a track. And the character you play is a somewhat dull Marty Stu/Mary Sue Chosen One type that is good at everything, beloved of everyone, and extra powerful compared to everyone else.

But it is a lot of fun, feels incredibly magical, the combat is surprisingly interesting and well done, the feel is really quite good. I am not even that big a Harry Potter fan, and I like the world they have created.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:10 AM (0hOvj)

139 This has been a week for hobby 'how-to' reading. Drawing and reloading. I have a bunch of articles from the internet, never published in books, that have proven interesting and helpful, especially about reloading ammunition for specific purposes. I print out two copies of these. Some are old enough they aren't around anymore and I have no confidence that the others will always be available due to government/leftist machinations.

Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 10:11 AM (7EjX1)

140 125 Fighters of Fear: Occult Detective Stories sounds fun and interesting but they want way too much for it. I'd pay 14 bucks for a print book, but a Kindle?
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:07 AM (0hOvj)

For sure. I got this one from the library, but I enjoy it enough that I would buy a paper copy. I don't care to read short story collections on kindle, anyway--too hard to get back and forth from table of contents to story.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 02, 2023 10:11 AM (OX9vb)

141 I have hundreds of books that I kept moving from place to place on the theory that I might read them again someday. Over a decade ago I decided to actually reread them. So every third book or so was one of the shelves. That allowed me to cull the library considerably. That's come to a pause because I've just accumulated too many books (40? ...more?) in the TBR pile. And, of course, thanks to the book thread I'm ordering a copy of High Spirits to add to the stack. Reading book 2 of Mantel's Cromwell trilogy, as good as Wolf Hall, The history of the Norman Conquest by Thiery, and Germinal by Zola and enjoying all of them.

Posted by: who knew at April 02, 2023 10:11 AM (4I7VG)

142 yes in the film, they made hg wells the character, in the remake in 2002, they called him alexander hardegen, the name of the traveller is not as important as that of the what he relays,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 10:14 AM (PXvVL)

143 ...One of the odder things that stuck out when I read "the Time Machine" was that the time traveler was never named. That, and the odd framing device. I think it was someone relating the story of the traveler to friends during a party, or something like that. (It has been a while since I read it) It seems like a lot of older sci-fi stories have odd and unnecessary framing devices. I'm specifically thinking about E.R. Burroughs and his Venus and Moon books...
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 02, 2023 10:09 AM (Lhaco)
---
It is a peculiar framing device. I think it's to portray the Narrator as simply an observer of events as they happen, though he does take an active hand later in the story.

The Writer is seen again in The Time Ships, but also is never named, though it's quite obviously supposed to be H.G. Wells himself. I think the only reason why Baxter had to give the Narrator a first name was so that he could be portrayed as two distinct people when he meets himself later. (Time travel stories are weird that way.)

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 02, 2023 10:14 AM (BpYfr)

144
As our contemporary dictionaries grant space to useless new wordoids and go soft on correct usage, it's important to have these treasures, which serve as bulwarks against modernism (and which can themselves be used as bulwarks).
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 10:09 AM (Dc2NZ)

Exactly! And this started a while back. Before my husband retired, he did some consulting which included a lot of case prep. He told a would be client that he would need some huge dictionary that he'd been interested in. It appeared, and the guy bought one for himself too.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:14 AM (Zzbjj)

145 MP4, they are threatening to close her church. They have already sold some property.

This is from my meager understanding.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 10:14 AM (/0+YE)

146 A few weeks ago, my mother picked up a few books from some neighbors who were selling off the collection of a recently deceased family member. They included several from the Easton Press collection of 100 Greatest Books of All Time (I think that was the title); leather bound, gilt-edged pages, high-quality paper. Mom grabbed The Last of the Mohicans, Wuthering Heights, and Alice in Wonderland (none of which I have read all the way through), paying like ten dollars for the three of them together.

I looked it up on Amazon, and the entire 100-collection is available for $8,000.00.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 02, 2023 10:14 AM (tp+tP)

147 since the last part is largely allegorical, as is one part of cloud atlas, what a mess, that was,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 10:14 AM (PXvVL)

148 As far as 'collecting,' I do collect dictionaries, in a small way. I have the 2-volume reduction of the Oxford and a number of early 1910s - 30s dictionaries. I just like flipping through them to add to my vocabulary.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 02, 2023

***
As the old saying goes, the dictionary is the best book. All the others are right in there!

I have a Webster's 3-volume Unabridged that came with my 1984 set of the Britannica, a hardbound and handsome 1-volume work from the late '70s that has a short history of the U.S. and some other reference elements in the back, and paperbound Latin and Spanish dictionaries.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:15 AM (omVj0)

149 I have to say that although my childhood houses were filled with books, Dad never seemed to read anything but Successful Farming and Farm Journal magazines.

By the time chores were done and he'd finished grading pupils' papers -- he taught elementary school -- it was time for bed.

Pretty much the same with Mom, although I once found a Joyce Brothers book in their room. So she must have read something at times.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 02, 2023 10:15 AM (Om/di)

150 Fighters of Fear: Occult Detective Stories sounds fun and interesting but they want way too much for it. I'd pay 14 bucks for a print book, but a Kindle? Sorry. These publishing companies have got to get a grasp on modern economics. You cannot get away with charging roughly the same price for print and digital.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor

See if Abe Books or Thrift Books has a hard copy.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 10:15 AM (o9TX1)

151 And the character you play is a somewhat dull Marty Stu/Mary Sue Chosen One type

-
Hello Mary Sue, goodbye plot.

Posted by: The Everley Brothers at April 02, 2023 10:16 AM (FVME7)

152 I mentioned a new series I had started reading a few weeks back. The writer is Robert Brightwell and its inspired by the Flashman books which I know some of you have read. I mistakenly identified him as Flashman's nephew but that was in error, its his Uncle, who was involved in adventures during the Napoleonic wars.

Its not as funny or engaging as the Flashman books, but has its moments. This guy isn't as much of a cad or a rake or even a coward as Flashy, but he's pretty much a rogue as well and is involved in many historical events and adventures, of which there are many at that time.

I liked book 1, but find book 2 a bit slower, so I don't know if I can fully recommend it. Worth a look if you liked the original Flashman series.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:16 AM (0hOvj)

153 Hello Mary Sue, goodbye plot.

And if this were a book or a movie, it would be actually obnoxious. But as a game it works okay, you can just ignore how great your character is at literally everything, because the stuff that matters you have to work out yourself. It would have been a lot more interesting if the character was just terrible at something, and had to struggle at it.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:18 AM (0hOvj)

154 I started collecting Larry McMurtry books when I found a signed first edition in a used book store. Over the years, I found all of his books in signed first editions, some with interesting inscriptions. My favorite is in his first book, "Horseman, Pass By" (which was filmed as Hud), inscribed to his professor at Rice University: "To Dr. Camden, who taught me more than I meant to let him." McMurtry's early books had great images of life in 60s and 70s Houston.

Posted by: jayhawkone at April 02, 2023 10:18 AM (9rPx3)

155 @101 --

You have a point.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 02, 2023 10:19 AM (Om/di)

156 Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing

She is in grave danger of having her church close in two months. The higher ups want to conserve money. FenelonSpoke has been forgoing her salary for three months to extend time. She would be unemployed, her loyal congregationalists would be bereft, and the lovely church building would be gone.

For much less than we gave grammie winger, all this would go away.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 10:19 AM (u82oZ)

157 Speaking of Sgt. Mom's new book, she has a spare kitten for a lucky Moron in Texas who needs a lap companion while reading. See yesterday's Pet Thread.

I'm afraid I'm not reading books right now. Into the topic of flood prevention, though.

Posted by: KT at April 02, 2023 10:19 AM (rrtZS)

158 It seems like a lot of older sci-fi stories have odd and unnecessary framing devices. I'm specifically thinking about E.R. Burroughs and his Venus and Moon books...
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 02, 2023

***
Not just SF; many adventure and horror (and maybe even mainstream) stuff from the 1800s and the first half of the 1900s relied on that rather than have the narrator experience the events himself. I guess the idea was that the solid, conservative narrator would give the whole thing an air of respectability and reliability to help the reader believe the wild events could really happen.

Stephen King used it to good effect in a 1980s novelette called "The Breathing Method."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:19 AM (omVj0)

159 I have occasionally been in a house devoid of books. I try to not show what I am thinking.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 10:04 AM (rFp0F)

I see that a lot in my circle. I used to think I was the only one who had them. Years ago when I was doing interior renovations it was stunning the amount of houses that didn't have any books, or at least some kind of book shelves. VCR tapes? Oh yeah, lots of those, people were proud of their VCR tape collections. Books? What are books?

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at April 02, 2023 10:20 AM (VwHCD)

160 Audible recommendation. The best thing about Audible now is that every book is available for one credit. Many great books from 20 to 50 hours long.

Peter the Great, His Life and World
by R Massie ( recently finished libby library loan, ~45 hours. Includes great details on not just Peter, but also his contemporary allies and adversaries).

Other really long titles:
Plutarch: Parrel Lives, read by Griffin
Complete Montaigne, read by Lane
Will Durant - story of civilization volumes
(these are by volume, but all are very long)

Of course everyone has different reading tastes, one of my 1st world problems is that search functions are systematically getting worse. Whether Google, Outlook 365, or many book and hobby sites I check, it seems results cluttered with trash. Doing focused searches on many websites is now impossible.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at April 02, 2023 10:20 AM (DWTz2)

161 Speaking of Sgt. Mom's new book, she has a spare kitten for a lucky Moron in Texas who needs a lap companion while reading. See yesterday's Pet Thread.

I'm afraid I'm not reading books right now. Into the topic of flood prevention, though.
Posted by: KT at April 02, 2023

***
I'm trying to talk Miss Linda into writing to her about the kitten. L. keeps saying she doesn't want a new cat (and why should she, she gets to play with my two feline thugs and skips the responsibility part).

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:21 AM (omVj0)

162 Years ago when I was doing interior renovations it was stunning the amount of houses that didn't have any books, or at least some kind of book shelves. VCR tapes? Oh yeah, lots of those, people were proud of their VCR tape collections. Books? What are books?
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at April 02, 2023

***
It's impossible to find bookshelves or bookcases in new furniture stores.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:22 AM (omVj0)

163 We are living in an age where people are extremely digital-focused. People will pay real money to buy decorations for their home in a game or new clothing for a character, but are utterly disinterested in real-world stuff.

I saw a social media bit from a young person who was utterly baffled by how anyone could have possibly lived in the 70s and 80s without the internet. Could not wrap their head around being a kid and having to stay indoors but have no internet. What could you possibly do??? Their whole world is centered around their phone and console games or, decreasingly, PC gaming.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:22 AM (0hOvj)

164 NaCly, email bounced back undelivered. Do I need to do something different with it?

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 02, 2023 10:23 AM (OX9vb)

165 News from Bass Ackwards World . . .

Manhattan DA Bragg Charges Garage Worker With Attempted Murder After Shooting Thief Who Shot Him First

https://bit.ly/40AAUeg

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 10:23 AM (FVME7)

166 164 same.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 10:24 AM (/0+YE)

167 Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 10:19 AM (u82oZ)

Oh, no!

I'm writing your e-mail down, Salty, and will be in touch. I can forego a day's drinking money for her.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 02, 2023 10:24 AM (AW0uW)

168 Dash my lace wigs!

Use ROT-13 at https://rot13.com to decode my encrypted email.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 10:25 AM (u82oZ)

169 I read as much as I can on my kindle and having no room to store books, use the library system to pretty much read anything I want. Sometimes have to wait but in the last couple of days got 3 notifications that books I want are either waiting at the library to be picked up or can be downloaded to my kindle.
Absence of books in bo,,es does not mean that people no longer read. My son who is an David reader and with whom I often trade suggestions, only reads ebooks.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 02, 2023 10:25 AM (Y+l9t)

170 Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at April 02, 2023 10:20 AM (VwHCD)

And there really are people who don't read anymore, except the occasional news item.

A friend from long ago used to be a voracious reader when we were in high school and college. Now nothing. I noted that her FB page had "no books read", so I asked if she just doesn't add these things or if she is part of a club or something (she was a great joiner). Nope. It's sad.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:26 AM (Zzbjj)

171 Most of my book collection came from the widows of friends who had passed on. "Come on over and take them" they asked. And I did. And my house looks like it, too. I've subsequently given away quite a few, but still have dozens of boxes of them in my garage.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 02, 2023 10:26 AM (jTmQV)

172 I hope I didn't come across as snobbish with regard to houses without books, but even when I was a dirt poor university student I had a pile of $1 paperback editions in my dorm room. Of course, kindles didn't exist then.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 10:26 AM (BRRLt)

173 As for collecting for reading, I am in the process of collecting mostly pdf or ebook copies of Golden Age Science Fiction-that's what I grew up reading in the 1950s, and I am trying to fill in the gaps of stuff I couldn't find to read back then. So far I've got an almost complete collection of Galaxy SF from its founding in October 1950 through 1970 (missing 2 issues)-I'll add more through maybe the 1980s; Astounding/Analog from 1930 through 1980 (after Campbell) missing a few issues; the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from its founding in the Fall of 1949 through 2007 albeit I'm missing lots of issues after the 1980s; Unknown from 1939 through 1943 mostly complete; Worlds of If SF from its founding in March 1952 through the late 1960s; and Amazing Stories from Gernsback through Ray Palmer and the Shaver Mystery. I've also been able to pick up pdfs of all the old Galaxy Novels, including some written by such well-known SF authors as Sam Merwin and S. Fowler Wright.
cont...

Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 02, 2023 10:27 AM (cYrkj)

174 Dash my lace wigs!

Use ROT-13 at https://rot13.com to decode my encrypted email.
Posted by: NaCly Dog

pulls hair, I have no idea what that means.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 10:27 AM (/0+YE)

175 you do have to credit well's imaginations, jules verne did a similar thing, setting his story some 80 years in the future, published after his death,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 10:27 AM (PXvVL)

176 Auto correct can make gobbledygook out of the clearest statements. How does the word avid become the proper name David?

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 02, 2023 10:28 AM (Y+l9t)

177 All this talk about houses without books is....hard to picture. Coming from a house with books, the opposite is almost unimaginable.

I often visit my parents for Christmas, and thus get to see them wrapping gifts for their grandkids, and its not uncommon for them to send out 20 books to a single household! That's spread over several kids, but still....

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 02, 2023 10:28 AM (Lhaco)

178 How does the word avid become the proper name David?

Its French! Je Suis d'avid reader!

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:29 AM (0hOvj)

179 Perfessor,
Thanks for the book thread, of course. It's one of the highlights of my weekends.

Also, thanks for mentioning Sgt. Mom's (Celia Hayes) newest "Lone Star" volume. The series is aimed at younger readers but it's fun for us old guys. Anyone who likes old style westerns will enjoy the series.

Now off to order it.

Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 10:29 AM (7EjX1)

180 It's impossible to find bookshelves or bookcases in new furniture stores.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

Fortunately I am also a woodworker. I built nine so far, and will probably need to do more.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 10:29 AM (BRRLt)

181 Did he make it up in volume?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 10:05 AM (FVME7)
---
LOL, that's what he tried to do - boosting sales without paying attention to the per-unit cost.

Crazy that SPI actually got the license to Lord of the Rings.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 10:29 AM (llXky)

182 Someone mentioned on the movie thread yesterday a theory that the novel and movie Gentleman's Agreement was in actuality not about anti-Semitism in 1947 America, but was code for prejudice against homosexuality. I can't see it. I mean, the basic concept could be applied to any "out" group. But the novel is unquestionably about the nearly-always-unspoken prejudice against Jews ("restricted" clubs, hotels, etc.).

Did the film with Gregory Peck never actually name the victim group? In that case it would be easier to read "anti-anyone" into it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:29 AM (omVj0)

183 Use ROT-13 at https://rot13.com to decode my encrypted email.
Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 10:25 AM (u82oZ)

Oh, OK, I get it now. I am slow.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 02, 2023 10:30 AM (OX9vb)

184 “To help new students adapt, some colleges are eliminating grades.“

The University of Pennsylvania is getting rid of its Dean’s List.

“With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word 'intellectual,' of course, became the swear word it deserved to be.”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 02, 2023 10:30 AM (BRHaw)

185 Will help out too, Salty!

Just learned that a woman took her two kids out in their electric car to hunt for petrified wood. Got stuck in the snow. Just enough of a cell signal for rescuers to figure out where they were. Car was low on charge so they weren't able to run the heater and weren't dressed for the weather. This was in Prineville OR area.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 02, 2023 10:30 AM (u7leW)

186 I 'collect' atlases. That is to say if I'm in a used bookstore or thrift shop and see one in good condition that I don't already have, I buy it. Love maps in general and also have a small pile of those.

Posted by: who knew at April 02, 2023 10:31 AM (4I7VG)

187 Crazy that SPI actually got the license to Lord of the Rings.

ICE was a fairly small company when they got rights to put out gaming material for it, but they did an astonishingly great job with the product, given the limitations of their game system. You can pretty well ignore the system and use their materials for any game and its beautifully done.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:31 AM (0hOvj)

188 Collecting books.....I generally only buy new stuff, so I doubt anything in my collection will be 'valuable' or 'worth collecting.' Except maybe the comic omnibus collection. I didn't buy Savage Sword of Conan volume 1 until it was out of print, and I ended up paying an arm and leg for it. But it is supposedly coming back into print this summer (from a new publisher) so even it might not be too important...

I do tend to keep books a long time, though. I still have all the original Calvin and Hobbes collections/treasuries that I read as a kid. Never bothered upgrading to the boxed set, as the originals are just so nostalgic.

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 02, 2023 10:31 AM (Lhaco)

189 Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 02, 2023 10:25 AM (Y+l9t)

It works well for some, for me, I have never found an e-reader that doesn't feel wrong or that I can look at for hours.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:32 AM (Zzbjj)

190 Infidel

1) Copy the listed email address.
2) Go to https://rot13.com
3) Paste in the top empty box
4) My real email will be shown in the bottom box.
5) Use that revealed email to contact me.
6) I will send you the address of her church.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 10:32 AM (u82oZ)

191 I read half on Kindle and half from the library. Real bought books are useless to me because I can't see the print. I can adjust font size on the Kindle, and I can get large print books from the library. If you came to my house, you would see very few books. But I read lots everyday. You just can't tell.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 10:32 AM (45fpk)

192 Infidel, go to the website, paste the email addy in the box, and it will give you the right address.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 02, 2023 10:32 AM (OX9vb)

193 Someone mentioned on the movie thread yesterday a theory that the novel and movie Gentleman's Agreement was in actuality not about anti-Semitism in 1947 America, but was code for prejudice against homosexuality.

I think that was probably in the back of the writer's head but the overt meaning was anti-Semitism. In other words, he and those "in the know" got what he was saying, but he hid it under the guise of anti-Semitism.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:33 AM (0hOvj)

194 Oh, I still buy tons of books for the grandkids. And I have kids books here in my condo for when they come by to visit. My grandson is only 18 months old. The last time I went to visit, when he saw me come through the door, went to the bookshelf and pulled out the last book I gave him. Trucks with big pop up pictures.
This is just thrilling for Grammy.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 02, 2023 10:34 AM (Y+l9t)

195 My latest acquisitions have been kids' books for the grandsons, including Brambly Hedge and some astronomy books. I also bought some Thomas Wolfe that I didn't have. He's being cancelled pretty hard.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:35 AM (Zzbjj)

196 Has anyone ever thought to fund an "enemy" while "waging war" on them, with the understanding that the "war" ends in total victory for that "enemy" when the sponsor country's last undesirable dies in battle?

Americans don't mind losing every war as long as they feel virtuous for supporting or opposing, so it's no skin off anyone's dumbassed back on our side of the pond.

I'm envisioning hundreds of divisions Strongenbrave Defenders of Sacred Democracy flooding into Ukraine with billions of Raytheon RC-126 rubber chicken launchers.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:36 AM (oINRc)

197 CN -- I've found that the kindle ereaders are quite easy on the eyes for a long session. Not the Fire tablets -- too much glare -- but the e-ink kindles. If you've been trying to use the Fire tablets, you might check out the e-ink devices (if you haven't already).

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 02, 2023 10:37 AM (a/4+U)

198 This is just thrilling for Grammy.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 02, 2023 10:34 AM (Y+l9t)

Me, too! It was a joy to "allow" the older one to take one of my old books to school. They had a dress like an author day, and he chose Mark Twain. I was delighted to send a pretty volume.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:37 AM (Zzbjj)

199 Ok kids books. I just started on an unusual one - I would say for at least middle grades or higher:
The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Iranian immigrant Daniel Ayeri.
it opens with the narrator, an orphan kid, running for his life from a group of angry monks pelting him with stones.
Lovely Arabian Nights tone in the narration.

Link to writer's site
https://www.danielnayeri.com/samir

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 02, 2023 10:37 AM (yu8eA)

200 I got a kindle as a gift a few years ago. Never liked it, so I gave it to my sister.

I simply prefer actual books. And as for legibility with my aging eyes, that's what reader glasses are for.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Lookin' for me wooden leg at April 02, 2023 10:37 AM (UQUAY)

201 I've neglected books this week in order to consume some recorded lectures in the Great Courses series.
The topic was the Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
I learned a new term "proto-Hebrew" which describes the written language found on the scrolls.
I enjoy the Great Courses series very much.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 02, 2023 10:38 AM (jTmQV)

202 I'm sick AF and high on cough medicine. Gross.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:38 AM (oINRc)

203 It works well for some, for me, I have never found an e-reader that doesn't feel wrong or that I can look at for hours.
Posted by: CN

I look at a computer screen for nine hours or so each work day, so I don't want to read on one when I am done. The screen image somehow strains my eyes, I don't know the mechanics of it. On top of that, a physical book cannot be censored ex post facto.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 02, 2023 10:38 AM (r2SS9)

204 We are living in an age where people are extremely digital-focused. People will pay real money to buy decorations for their home in a game or new clothing for a character, but are utterly disinterested in real-world stuff. Posted by: Christopher R Taylor

And why not? To a point. I have a highly digital life and the benefits of it is I have first class record keeping that takes minimal time, a digital media library that lives in NAS, and is available to me anywhere on the planet. It is kind of handy. But it is sterile and yields nothing more than its functionality. The value of the physical items I own have nothing to do with their cost. Rather I have them because their intrinsic value exceeds what ever I spent on them. It is tricky finding the balance between owning things and not being materialistic and now later in life I found that sweet spot. This wasn't always the case - their was a time when my life's garage and actual garage was to full to park there what I value or should be there like my car.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 10:38 AM (9e/0I)

205 CN, I read on my IPad which shows two pages so it reads more like a book.I do not like the single page versions. I keep wanting to page down and you can't do that. Lol

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 02, 2023 10:38 AM (Y+l9t)

206 yes peter the great illuminates the russian mindset, putin certainly sees himself as a czar, even though he's an oprichnik (policemen) that whole region was a proxy conflict wirh sweden and turkey, at various times,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 10:39 AM (PXvVL)

207 But I read lots everyday. You just can't tell.
Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 10:32 AM (45fpk)

////

Stealth! That may serve you well when "Fahrenheit 451" becomes part of America

Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 10:39 AM (iJy6Y)

208 I read on a Paperwhite with a cover like a book. I like it a lot.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 10:39 AM (45fpk)

209 48 ... "Can you recommend books with an *impact* on your life? I want to quit Amazon Audible subscription, but have eight credits to use. I'd like to use them for lasting books rather than, say, the latest Jack Reacher."

If you are even slightly a fan of LOTR, get "In The House of Tom Bombadil" by C. R. Wiley. It deals with LOTR, of course, Tolkien's world view, religion and philosophy, all in a charming and readable way.

Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 10:39 AM (7EjX1)

210 I like the Kindle Paperwhites. They do grey scale, no color. Very easy on the eyes and a comfortable size to hold. I love real books but want to be able to keep reading if my vision starts to go.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 02, 2023 10:39 AM (u7leW)

211 Back on topic... After I finish Annals, Epictetus' Discourses and Aurelius' Meditations are next up.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:40 AM (oINRc)

212 Crazy that SPI actually got the license to Lord of the Rings.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 10:29 AM (llXky)
---

I have their Middle Earth game!

https://tinyurl.com/ycy8hsrd

Tim Kirk's illustrations are still my favorite.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 02, 2023 10:40 AM (Dc2NZ)

213 It's impossible to find bookshelves or bookcases in new furniture stores.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:22 AM (omVj0)

very true, and if you did it would be crap. Actually, you reminded me of something I was going to write on the hobby thread, but maybe its better here since its a book thread. The biggest bang for the buck you can do for book shelves if you want something really nice without building it yourself is 12" deep kitchen pantry cabinets with NO doors. You can order them that way. Do 32" wide cabs with stained interiors. they will come with matching shelves, but you'll need to order some extra shelves, and you order them with what they call furniture sides on the exposed ends only. The doors are expensive part of a kitchen cab, and you don't need them. You order crown molding from the kitchen cab company and it comes finished and stained. Screw the cabs together, screw them to the wall, add the crown molding, and poof, epic book cases for not a real lot of cash.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at April 02, 2023 10:40 AM (VwHCD)

214 She is in grave danger of having her church close in two months. The higher ups want to conserve money. FenelonSpoke has been forgoing her salary for three months to extend time. She would be unemployed, her loyal congregationalists would be bereft, and the lovely church building would be gone.

For much less than we gave grammie winger, all this would go away.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 10:19 AM (u82oZ)
---
Do the funds pay off a debt or build an endowment? Just curious how a one-time infusion can have much of an impact. We had a few parishes that spent their last few years teetering on insolvency and for a while benefactors would appear, save it for a while, but eventually it was clear some sort of consolidation had to appear.

That being said, I do like the idea of their being a Moron Horde-subsidized religious establishment. Sort of a First Congregational Church of Kaboom.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 10:40 AM (llXky)

215 A rose by any other name . . .

Biden Visits Mississippi Town Devastated by Tornado, Calls Town by Wrong Name

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 10:41 AM (FVME7)

216 I 'collect' atlases. That is to say if I'm in a used bookstore or thrift shop and see one in good condition that I don't already have, I buy it. Love maps in general and also have a small pile of those.
Posted by: who knew at April 02, 2023

***
I have three: a 1980s world atlas, a 1968 Reader's Digest atlas, and a London Times atlas that weighs more than the other two combined. Unlike the American ones, which always have the United States and Canada first, the London one opens up with Australia and New Zealand and moves on through Asia.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:41 AM (omVj0)

217 naturalfake sat staring at his Covid test as the minutes counted down. Would he now finally be free of those hideous viroids of doom? Or, was he still ensnared in their particulate horror?

Two more minutes...

Suddenly, a luminous crack of sickly green light opened in the space before naturalfake. He gasped as he himself stepped out of the crevice of unholy light from the 6th dimension.
"I'm future naturalfake!" said Future naturalfake "Quickly, we must leave this cursed time moment and space patch."
"Wha-?", said naturalfake, his mouth gaping like that of a stunned codfish.
"Too late!!!" screamed Future naturalfake like a horrified baboon of the arid plains of the Sahara.

A hole of the deepest, unholiest pitch black opened before them and issued forth a slithering, slimy creature resembling a godless breeding between a spider and a melted Kit-Kat bar.

To describe it further, would drive you to madness itself!

The Spider-Kat Bar Horror gobbled up both naturalfake and Future naturalfake.

And promptly expired from Covid.

In this way, naturalfake got his revenge and saved the world.
That is what we call irony,,,or something like that.

FIN

Posted by: The Narrator at April 02, 2023 10:41 AM (mm6iK)

218 Dash my lace wigs, I think I finally got it. Will see.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 10:41 AM (/0+YE)

219 Can you recommend books with an *impact* on your life?

------

See my 211. Those two books have the impact you're looking for. Discourses, especially, formed my worldview as a kid.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:42 AM (oINRc)

220 FenelonSpoke has been forgoing her salary for three months to extend time. She would be unemployed, her loyal congregationalists would be bereft, and the lovely church building would be gone.

For much less than we gave grammie winger, all this would go away.

And to a much greater cause.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 10:42 AM (45fpk)

221 The other books I collect are those I think deserve wider distribution; I buy extras whenever I can get cheap but good copies in used book stories to give to people I think might appreciate them.

One such is John Myers Myers' "Silverlock." Silverlock is about a journey of growth and discovery made by a world-weary and depressed man who is shipwrecked in an imaginary land populated by familiar characters (and a few not-so-familiar) from history, mythology, and other works of literature. Silverlock (nickname of the central character) is accompanied on his journey by the prototypical bard who variously goes by the names Golias, Widsith, Talesin and so on. Very popular in the SF community during the 1950s and 60s with fans and authors such as Poul Anderson.
Another favorite is George McDonald Fraser's "Quartered Safe Out Here," the autobiography of a simple squaddie who relatively fresh out of school winds up in 14th Army fighting the Japanese in Burma. Extremely well written (hey, he wrote the Flashman series and several screenplays) description of war at the sharp end together with brief but well-drawn character studies of his fellow stories.
cont...

Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 02, 2023 10:42 AM (cYrkj)

222 ICE was a fairly small company when they got rights to put out gaming material for it, but they did an astonishingly great job with the product, given the limitations of their game system. You can pretty well ignore the system and use their materials for any game and its beautifully done.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:31 AM (0hOvj)
---
The critical hit system was just too much. Fun to read through, not worth playing.

But the supplements were indeed great. I've probably got a few tucked away somewhere.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 10:43 AM (llXky)

223 That being said, I do like the idea of their being a Moron Horde-subsidized religious establishment. Sort of a First Congregational Church of Kaboom.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 10:40 AM (llXky)

I like it too.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 10:43 AM (45fpk)

224 Screw the cabs together, screw them to the wall, add the crown molding, and poof, epic book cases for not a real lot of cash. Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division

Well, that is just dope.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 10:43 AM (9e/0I)

225 I forget who encouraged me to persist with The Dragon Bone Chair trilogy a few weeks ago. I think it was Perfesser. Anyway, thanks. I am about half-way done with the third book and it has been worth it. Enjoying it quite a bit and looking forward to my reading each day.

It's a strange mix of a lot of things happening on the granular scale and not very much on the large scale or even the medium scale. I suppose this is how it should be if one thinks in terms of Strategy/Operations/Tactics.

I'm also pleased that the version "Christianity" in the book hasn't been subverted into some caricature. I expected it would be. But it hasn't been. The opposite.

I wouldn't recommend this to everyone. As it is mammoth. And it does take a while to come to grips with the different pacing at the various levels. But it is really well done.

I guess I will have to finish and digest the whole thing before I can understand how it differs from Tolkein in re the "pacing" I mentioned above. In a way, it doesn't. But I do have a sense that it really does.

Before I forget, I was floored by the Camaris character. The author knows a surprising amount about Chivalry and Feudalism...

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 10:43 AM (1ais2)

226 Have to leave early today .
Have a great day all.
Whispers...William Gibson. Check him out.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 02, 2023 10:44 AM (Y+l9t)

227 They have someone that wants to buy some of yhe property but the church officials won't give them enough time for the deal to go through.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 02, 2023 10:44 AM (u7leW)

228 Stealth! That may serve you well when "Fahrenheit 451" becomes part of America
Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 10:39 AM (iJy6Y)

I quote f451 above. Remember Big Govt did not start the Firemen. They were started by people that THOUGHT other people knew something they did not know or did not understand.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 02, 2023 10:44 AM (BRHaw)

229 I collect signed first edition murder mysteries as they come out. I wish I'd started doing this when sue Grafton published "A is for Alibi" -- that's worth some money. Right now, the value of those books range from what your get for a used hard cover to the actual original purchase price (which is pretty good.) I do have a bunch of Sue Grafton, but I had issues after M. That's probably the most interesting of my collection.

Posted by: Lee Also at April 02, 2023 10:44 AM (92UVp)

230 They have someone that wants to buy some of yhe property but the church officials won't give them enough time for the deal to go through.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 02, 2023 10:44 AM (u7leW)

Talk about dumb. It's like they're taking tips from our former elders.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 10:45 AM (45fpk)

231 Yeah an e-reader is always inferior to a book and I very much prefer paper in my hands. But I have come to appreciate my reader because it has hundreds of books (maybe thousands if I include all the Gutenberg ones I grabbed). That means if I have to go somewhere I will need to wait (dr's office, post office, etc) I can just pack along a huge bookshelf with me and read away.

And, with the Kindle Unlimited program you have access to a staggeringly gigantic array of books you can take "on loan" to read. Its 10 bucks a month, so a bit of an investment, but That's what, one and a half coffees? With that you can "check out" books you might not ever buy, to see if you like them or not. I've found a lot of good books this way, and some real stinkers.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:45 AM (0hOvj)

232 Screw the cabs together, screw them to the wall, add the crown molding, and poof, epic book cases for not a real lot of cash. Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division

Well, that is just dope.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 10:43 AM (9e/0I)

It is, because you can order them standard 84 inches high, or 90" high. You can pick your choice of wood and color too.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at April 02, 2023 10:46 AM (VwHCD)

233 If you're using a kindle these days, you probably want to turn off that auto-update setting. I suppose the nook and kobo devices have an equivalent. But even that may be closing the barn door after the horses got out in some cases. From the stories on the Agatha Christie changes, it appears they started pumping out the 'sensitivity'-edited editions more than two years ago. Horsewhips are too good for some publishers these days...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 02, 2023 10:47 AM (a/4+U)

234 I like the kindle paper white types, but if you wish to read in bed, in the dark (as I often do) you need back lighting.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 02, 2023 10:47 AM (jTmQV)

235 Just finished a second book by Noah Hawley, one I had hopes for, but was disappointed again.

I started reading Hawley with Before the Fall, which begins with a crash of a private plane leaving Nantucket at 10 pm on a foggy summer night, and a miraculous survival of a 40 year old artist and a 4 year old boy.

The dead are the crew, the kid's mom and dad, his older sister, and a couple the mom invited to make the trip into Manhattan with them. The kid's dad is a fictional Roger Ailes, younger than Ailes, and the invitees, husband and wife, has the husband as a billionaire criminal laundering money via hedge funds for Libyans, Syrians, and Iranians.

With lots of potential, both dead guys having lots of potential for secret plots against them, the book dissolves into a much more ordinary finale. Meh.

Then I started another of Hawley's novels, quitting immediately when shorty into it, he exposed his Trump hate and leftist bona fides. It was some bullshit story about an epidemic of young people suicide.

And then picked up (I get them free via Libby) another Hawley novel, The Good Father, and went all the way to the end, hoping for more, but disappointed with the end.

Posted by: Mr Gaga at April 02, 2023 10:47 AM (KiBMU)

236 I've found a lot of good books this way, and some real stinkers.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:45 AM (0hOvj)

I found the Vivica Sten books on Kindle Unlimited. Enjoyable Scandinavian fiction writer.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 10:48 AM (45fpk)

237 ray bradbury was very prophetic, the shells, raises hands is why they didn't need book, the censorship wars are referenced in his usheresque martian chronicle entry,

Posted by: no 6 at April 02, 2023 10:48 AM (PXvVL)

238 197 CN -- I've found that the kindle ereaders are quite easy on the eyes for a long session. Not the Fire tablets -- too much glare -- but the e-ink kindles. If you've been trying to use the Fire tablets, you might check out the e-ink devices (if you haven't already).
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 02, 2023 10:37 AM (a/4+U)

I think it's just me. I tried a paperwhite for a trip and it just didn't work. Not the fault of the machine

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:48 AM (Zzbjj)

239 180 It's impossible to find bookshelves or bookcases in new furniture stores.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

Yeah, about all you can find are Ikea style build-them-yourself shelves with particle board shelves and cardboard backs. I'm not a woodworker, but I built a shelf last summer with my Dad (and plan to build another this summer) because I don't trust those cheap shelves to carry a full load of hardbacks...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 02, 2023 10:49 AM (Lhaco)

240 Thank you salty, $ will be sent tomorrow.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 10:49 AM (/0+YE)

241 Addendum re Dragon Bone Chair.

I can see why someone might really really really like this series.

It's a very powerful sophisticated take on Christianity. Specifically, on the Middle Ages or "Dark Ages".

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 10:49 AM (1ais2)

242 I kind of liked her but sayonara sweetheart.

Reba McEntire Blasts New Tennessee Law Banning Children From Drag Shows

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 10:49 AM (FVME7)

243 grammie winger

Our donations to you were, to me, one of the high points of the AoSHQ community.

FYI: Jordy Nelson will continue as assistant girls basketball coach with his sister as Head Coach. One of my students is on that team. "He is just a regular guy with great advice".

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 10:50 AM (u82oZ)

244 234 I like the kindle paper white types, but if you wish to read in bed, in the dark (as I often do) you need back lighting.
Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 02, 2023 10:47 AM (jTmQV)

I like dark background and white text.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 10:50 AM (1ais2)

245 The people who edit classic books deserve to be executed in whatever the cruelest manner possible may be. I hope I to live to see these criminals punished with extreme prejudice.

Lookin' at you, Silicon Valley.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:50 AM (oINRc)

246 Then I started another of Hawley's novels, quitting immediately when shorty into it, he exposed his Trump hate and leftist bona fides. It was some bullshit story about an epidemic of young people suicide.

Yeah that only happened during the Wuhan Flu panic.

Seriously though, its kind of depressing how real world politics can poison book series. There was about a 4 year period during the Bush administration in which nay writers told us all about how the EEEVIL Republicans were using the power of the Patriot Act to just black bag people and totally disregard the law, throwing people in prison without bail indefinitely, denying basic civil rights and due process -- or so we were told.

Then that suddenly stopped and was forgotten as a plot line because Obama was elected, and gosh darn it everything was wonderful even though none of the laws changed, and the only time that started happening was... under Biden.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:51 AM (0hOvj)

247 I'm half way through my first Brad Thor novel, Black List, which I believe I picked up from here. Wild stuff. Does anyone recommend his other novels?

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 02, 2023 10:52 AM (RqMSv)

248 Well, Reba should go snip her own tits off with a pruning shears and leave my fuckin' kids alone.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:52 AM (oINRc)

249 All the furniture in Hell is built of particle board.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 10:52 AM (QZxDR)

250 FYI: Jordy Nelson will continue as assistant girls basketball coach with his sister as Head Coach. One of my students is on that team. "He is just a regular guy with great advice".

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 10:50 AM (u82oZ)

This makes my heart happy. And thank you so much for your kind words. That gift kept us eating during the lean times of Covid and the elders who would not let our church stay open. You guys are angels.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 10:53 AM (45fpk)

251 Another favorite is George McDonald Fraser's "Quartered Safe Out Here," the autobiography of a simple squaddie who relatively fresh out of school winds up in 14th Army fighting the Japanese in Burma. Extremely well written (hey, he wrote the Flashman series and several screenplays) description of war at the sharp end together with brief but well-drawn character studies of his fellow stories.
cont...
Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 02, 2023 10:42 AM (cYrkj)

Absolutely. Hopkirk is really good too.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 10:53 AM (1ais2)

252 Time to go see Mama. Have a lovely day, horde.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 02, 2023 10:53 AM (OX9vb)

253 Yeah, about all you can find are Ikea style build-them-yourself shelves with particle board shelves and cardboard backs.

And they want eleventy billion dollars for shelving

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:53 AM (0hOvj)

254
If you are even slightly a fan of LOTR, get "In The House of Tom Bombadil" by C. R. Wiley. It deals with LOTR, of course, Tolkien's world view, religion and philosophy, all in a charming and readable way.
Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 10

////

It's been decades since I've read Tolkien, but I'll give this a read. Sounds good. Thanks!

Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 10:53 AM (o9Uo5)

255 If Reba loves trannies so much, she should sew her tongue to her stanky chaunch. Solves her problem and mine.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:54 AM (oINRc)

256 I'm about to finish A Noise of War, a history of the late Roman Republic from about 78 B.C. (Sulla) up to AD 30 (when Octavian took over), by A.J. Langguth. Quite good with the glimpses into the lives of the men whose ambitions spelled the end for the Republic.

At the library yesterday, I picked up a 1932 hardboiled crime story by Paul Cain, a 1937 Agatha Christie that does not appear to feature any of her regular detectives, a late '70s Clifford Simak, and Dan Simmons's The Crook Factory. The last features Hemingway and his "spy ring" set in Cuba during WWII.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:54 AM (omVj0)

257 OK, folks, going to head off for the day.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 02, 2023 10:54 AM (AW0uW)

258 Then that suddenly stopped and was forgotten as a plot line because Obama was elected, and gosh darn it everything was wonderful even though none of the laws changed, and the only time that started happening was... under Biden.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:51 AM (0hOvj)

Obama was the Luciferian in Chief. After watching that Wisconsin priest's videos, I looked into some of the things he said. He didn't mention Obama by name, but he didn't have to. I had never even heard of Luciferians, but the "men as gods" theme has never been this present in our lives and with so much acceptance.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:54 AM (Zzbjj)

259 I'm working on a book for a man, very close to me, who lost his only child in the recent earthquake in Turkey. He wants me to put together the story of his child, and the circumstances of the disaster and what happened.
We've been putting things together in video calls, some of them 2-3 hours long, which are by far the most difficult 'creative work' I've ever done. It's awful.
On the other hand, the efforts put forth by people on that day and immediate aftermath are incredible. It's compelling stuff, and I've told him apart from his need to commemorate his child the subject material is, well, great. First-hand narration of the earthquake and what people did. It's amazing stuff.

Posted by: LenNeal at April 02, 2023 10:55 AM (UKCk3)

260 I simply cannot stand the Bombadil character. Prob a personal defect on my part. But nails on a chalkboard to me.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 10:55 AM (1ais2)

261 Reba has looked like a drag queen for years.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 10:55 AM (45fpk)

262 248 Well, Reba should go snip her own tits off with a pruning shears and leave my fuckin' kids alone.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:52 AM (oINRc)

I hear you

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:55 AM (Zzbjj)

263 The biggest bang for the buck you can do for book shelves if you want something really nice without building it yourself is 12" deep kitchen pantry cabinets with NO doors. You can order them that way.

Where and how?

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:56 AM (0hOvj)

264 Salty, just sent you an email.

Posted by: olddog in mo at April 02, 2023 10:56 AM (ju2Fy)

265 Seriously though, its kind of depressing how real world politics can poison book series.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:51 AM (0hOvj)
---
It was one of the things that rendered the Battlestar Galactica "reimagining" unwatchable. There are few things that age worse than contemporary politics.

It's a particular problem for the left, though, because they keep swapping out their core beliefs. What was forbidden yesterday will be mandatory tomorrow.

The Commissar Vanishes and all that.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 10:56 AM (llXky)

266 If you like creepy mysteries, Don Chaon has some good ones. Don't be put off by the fact that he teaches at Oberlin.

His "Ill Will" is told by a therapist, describing the guy that comes to see him regularly, describing a string of murders.

It'll put a chill in your spine for sure.

His first novel, "Await Your Reply," gets its title from the closing of one of those emails you get from a Nigerian princess who wants you to help her get her inheritance. A scam from the early days of the internet.

The novel has identity theft at its heart, and whose identity is being stolen is the mystery you think you have solved, but you're gonna get fooled. It is creepy and extremely well-told.

Posted by: Mr Gaga at April 02, 2023 10:57 AM (KiBMU)

267 I simply cannot stand the Bombadil character.

Same. He's like a beatnik god with his hippie dippie flower child wife. Annoying as hell.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:57 AM (0hOvj)

268 Book collecting? Well perish the thought of such a revolutionary idea.

Went down that rabbit hole for P.C. Hodell and one of her publisher's - Hypatia Press. Which is why I have two different limited print run hardcover editions of Seeker's Mask by them; one binding the cover is a dark burgundy while the other is marble-veined. With two different ISBNs.

Then there is Hypatia Press' chap book editions of three of Hogell's short stories. Child of Darkness, Bones, and Stranger Blood. CoD is an alternate timeline Jamethiel. Bones gets referenced in later stories. But Stranger Blood and its implications have so far not been mentioned later. And there is not a single ISBN in this lot.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 10:57 AM (LBnvC)

269 201 I've neglected books this week in order to consume some recorded lectures in the Great Courses series.
The topic was the Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
I learned a new term "proto-Hebrew" which describes the written language found on the scrolls.
I enjoy the Great Courses series very much.
Posted by: gourmand du jour

Oooh, I think I have that lecture series!

I love The Great Courses. I load them on my iPod (I'm decidedly old-school) and listen to the lectures as I go on walks. At my old house, I had a perfect walking loop that took my almost exactly half an hour. It was perfect....

One of the best series was 'Ancient Empires Before Alexander.' It the only source I've ever had that gives detail on things like Third Dynast Ur. And the lecturer, while dry, does have a unique sense of humor.

"Destruction layers tell us when city was destroyed, but not why it was destroyed. For example, archeology can tell us that Chicago was burned to the ground in 1871. But it can't tell us whether that fire was started by an angry cow, or by hordes or rampaging Packers fans."

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 02, 2023 10:57 AM (Lhaco)

270 Thanks for the Book Thread Perfessor !

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 10:57 AM (T4tVD)

271 And they want eleventy billion dollars for shelving
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:53 AM (0hOvj)

Ours are homemade. No particleboard allowed

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:57 AM (Zzbjj)

272 Bookcases: get 'em used, look on Nextdoor. After the divorce, parts of my world have become chaos, but my brother helped me find good, attractive, and used bookcases ( and other things)

Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 10:57 AM (o9Uo5)

273 Hopium! It's what's for dinner!

Douglas Murray: Defy the Doom-Mongers and Believe in a Better Tomorrow for America and Ourselves

https://bit.ly/40yZE6J

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 10:58 AM (FVME7)

274 Tell your largely conservative audience about how you're a child groomer. Real smart, you bimbo shitstain.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:58 AM (oINRc)

275 Speaking of shelves, Sam's Club has Member's Mark 6-Tier NSF Steel Wire Shelving, 47.5"x18"x 72" for $120 (I got mine for $99). These shelving units are near commercial grade and if they fit your requirements it is hard not to use them. I went with them in garage because I couldn't build them for what I paid. Plus they roll around.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 10:58 AM (9e/0I)

276 It was one of the things that rendered the Battlestar Galactica "reimagining" unwatchable. There are few things that age worse than contemporary politics.

The biggest problem, other than being obnoxious at the time, is that it makes the stories very dated and lame later on. It sounds ridiculous, their Right Wing Doom fantasies, and it makes you able to put a finger on exactly when something was written, even if its a science fiction adventure set millions of lightyears away from Earth.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:59 AM (0hOvj)

277 Posted by: Castle Guy at April 02, 2023 10:57 AM (Lhaco)

Schutt is really good. His Dante series is mind-blowing.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 10:59 AM (1ais2)

278 Early 90's Reba was hot.

She's spent too much time in Hollyweird.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at April 02, 2023 10:59 AM (HeVIS)

279 I have 5 bookcases. Two were built for me by a small independent furniture store in Lakewood, CO, when I first moved there. They also did the headboard of my bed and the night stand next to it. One, half-sized, was from a big furniture store in the Denver area, and holds my set of Britannica.

The other two bookcases are half-sized ones from Target that I had to assemble (but they look really good and are solid).

The doorless cabinet idea is a good one!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:59 AM (omVj0)

280 If you like George McDonald Fraser try his Mr. American. His lead character struck it rich in silver mining and goes to his ancestral place in England where he falls in among the English upper crust. An elderly Flashman makes an appearance. The tone is more serious than the Flashman novels.

You'll see that as a Scot who fought in WWII, he has a deep admiration for Americans. And he despises English aristocrats, which is also a theme in the Flashman novels.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 02, 2023 10:59 AM (RqMSv)

281 Back in the day I remember a lot of fellas used to play "Star Fleet Battles" by Task Force Games.

It was like a cult but they really enjoyed it.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 02, 2023 10:59 AM (R/m4+)

282 Made a discovery when it comes to kids' books. I learned of "Dinotopia". I had never heard of it but it was listed in books similar to Brambly Hedge on the Amazon site. Another series for children written and illustrated by the author. The author 'discovered' a journal by a father and son shipwrecked on an isolated island where dinosaurs and humans coexist. (Shades of ERB.) It's a fun story and the illustrations are excellent. Not cutesy or whimsical but realistic.

Our grand-nephew just turned four and loves to read and be read to. He is also bonkers for dinosaurs. A good hardcover edition will be going to Indiana soon. Turns out his parents and our other nieces, all in their thirties, loved the book as kids but didn't keep their copies. We also learned that his one year old brother cries if they read to the older boy and don't include him on their laps. He's just old enough to want to do what his big brother does.

In a couple of years I'll be sending them a good hardcover edition of Treasure Island with the NC Wyeth paintings. I read it at that age and sent one to his older cousin a while back. I love being able to pass down love of books.

Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (7EjX1)

283 Obama was the Luciferian in Chief. After watching that Wisconsin priest's videos, I looked into some of the things he said. He didn't mention Obama by name, but he didn't have to. I had never even heard of Luciferians, but the "men as gods" theme has never been this present in our lives and with so much acceptance.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:54 AM (Zzbjj)
---
It's interesting how so much of the Satanist stuff is popping up in the "elites." Sometimes they use euphemisms, like "spirit cooking," which sounds innocuous until you dig into it.

My parish monthly magazine arrived yesterday. I remember not long ago it would be full of recipes and advice on dealing with relationship issues. Now? Spiritual warfare and the finer points of doctrine are center stage. Fascinating to watch.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (llXky)

284 Douglas Murray: Defy the Doom-Mongers and Believe in a Better Tomorrow for America and Ourselves

https://bit.ly/40yZE6J
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 10:58 AM (FVME7)

Trust the plan, huh? We're going to have to fight for our future, belief won't work. Saving literature is part of it, for me. We're under attack.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (Zzbjj)

285 Ours are homemade. No particleboard allowed

Yeah that's what I am looking at doing: some brackets and some boards with the edges sanded down. I am quite honestly astounded at how much businesses charge for shelving. Just wooden boxes with a bracket or two to move shelves around in. They want thousands.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (0hOvj)

286 If you're looking for a good bookcase at a great price, you can't beat the basic IKEA model. Easy to put together. It's solid.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (RqMSv)

287 Moore's version of Battlestar Galactica was ruined from the very beginning. When they removed the alien origin of the Cylons.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (LBnvC)

288 It must suck being a Tennessean and having to get lectured all the time by these goddamned dancing monkeys because they're so tied to the local culture. It would drive me up the wall. Reba should find Taylor and suck-start a 12ga. together.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:01 AM (oINRc)

289 At the library yesterday. Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

How quaint.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 11:01 AM (9e/0I)

290 >>> 193 Someone mentioned on the movie thread yesterday a theory that the novel and movie Gentleman's Agreement was in actuality not about anti-Semitism in 1947 America, but was code for prejudice against homosexuality.

I think that was probably in the back of the writer's head but the overt meaning was anti-Semitism. In other words, he and those "in the know" got what he was saying, but he hid it under the guise of anti-Semitism.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:33 AM (0hOvj)

Yeah, it's hard to *know* what an author was thinking unless it's explicitly stated in later memoirs or something. otoh I can see someone even in late 40's wacko Hollywood thinking along those lines.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 02, 2023 11:01 AM (llON8)

291 Seriously though, its kind of depressing how real world politics can poison book series.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor

Samuel L. Jackson Reveals Upcoming Disney+ “Secret Invasion” Series Has “A Political Aspect That Kind of Fits Into Where We Are Now”

-
Up Shit Creek without benefit of paddle?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 11:01 AM (FVME7)

292 My parish monthly magazine arrived yesterday. I remember not long ago it would be full of recipes and advice on dealing with relationship issues. Now? Spiritual warfare and the finer points of doctrine are center stage. Fascinating to watch.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (llXky)

Love this.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 11:01 AM (45fpk)

293 Here's Fenelon's post:

I have been reappointed to my church for another year for an appointment season that starts in July, yet my boss won't give us time to hear from the agency that said they would buy our land. He must hear from them within two weeks or we'll be shut down. It is not our polity to have a top heavy decision like this without consultation . I think we were on a list of small churches that needed to be closed because they need the money and it doesn't make any difference that other churches which are more in the hole on their denominational
Dues are allowed to stay open. I don't think the care about the dear people who will be impacted by this. They just want the money. I am livid.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 02, 2023 11:01 AM (u7leW)

294 I want to watch Dolly Parton beat Reba with a tire iron. At Dollywood.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:03 AM (oINRc)

295
My parish monthly magazine arrived yesterday. I remember not long ago it would be full of recipes and advice on dealing with relationship issues. Now? Spiritual warfare and the finer points of doctrine are center stage. Fascinating to watch.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (llXky)

I love this Chad Ripperger guy. I ordered his book. I'm very glad that I've long been a CS Lewis fan, getting sucked in with A Grief Observed. A lot of people don't like Screwtape Letters, but I do. I'm looking forward to my copy of Dominion, which is due this week

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:03 AM (Zzbjj)

296 I simply cannot stand the Bombadil character. Prob a personal defect on my part. But nails on a chalkboard to me.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 10:55 AM (1ais2)
---
One of my favorite chapters. Bombadil is outwardly harmless, a singing loon living in a modest cottage, but that is just for appearances.

He's the reason the Shire is protected, not the Rangers. The episode with the Barrow-weight is the scariest, creepiest thing in the whole book.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:04 AM (llXky)

297
Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 10:19 AM

Email on it's way to you... after Bob from NSA clears it.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 02, 2023 11:04 AM (enJYY)

298 When they removed the alien origin of the Cylons.

And made them look like people, and turned the entire series into a soap opera. I didn't mind the gender-swapped Starbuck because I had no allegiance to the main characters anyway. Maybe Adama. They were all lightweight nobodies that were interchangable. And at least they got rid of that obnoxious robotic dog.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:04 AM (0hOvj)

299 I love this Chad Ripperger guy. I ordered his book. I'm very glad that I've long been a CS Lewis fan, getting sucked in with A Grief Observed. A lot of people don't like Screwtape Letters, but I do. I'm looking forward to my copy of Dominion, which is due this week

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:03 AM (Zzbjj)
---
I loved the Screwtape Letters, in part because they were very uncharacteristic of Lewis. More like Waugh, who I of course adore.

I should clarify, that the magazine is put out by the diocese, not the parish. Right now we're doing a major push on importance of the Eucharist - who should receive and who *should not.*

Can't imagine who they could possibly be referring to...

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:06 AM (llXky)

300 Here's something to consider about Tom Bombadil:

He's J.R.R. Tolkein's self-portrait.

We think of JRRT as cerebral, dignified, devout. Very British, very staid.

But in his own mind he's Tom Bombadil. He's whimsical, eccentric, romantic, jovial, an outsider and nonconformist. That hippy-dippy flower child girlfriend is how he saw his wife Edith.

We're all still teenagers inside.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 11:06 AM (QZxDR)

301 Hey, don't blame the chimpanzee n the dog suit...

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:06 AM (LBnvC)

302 Which post number gives the Fenelon Fund address? I can't find it.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 11:06 AM (45fpk)

303 >>> 224 Screw the cabs together, screw them to the wall, add the crown molding, and poof, epic book cases for not a real lot of cash. Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division

Well, that is just dope.
Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 10:43 AM (9e/0I)

I may try this for non-book things too!

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 02, 2023 11:06 AM (llON8)

304 The Hawley novel, "The Good Father," has the white version of Barack Obama getting assassinated at a rally in L.A., shortly after winning Super Tuesday and having a clear path to the nom and the election. Same 2008 time frame, but Hawley doesn't date it. Uses the faked-up 20__
dating thing.

Halfway into it, it looked like it would get really cool and do a version of the Manchurian Candidate, but in the end, it was ordinary and kind of dull.

Hawley has been a disappointment for me, in his novels. He was the screenwriter for both (I think both) of the "Fargo" series done for TV. He let the Coen brothers set the landscape, and riffed off that.

Good TV, meh books.

Posted by: Mr Gaga at April 02, 2023 11:07 AM (KiBMU)

305 Obama was the Luciferian in Chief.
Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 10:54 AM (

////

I used to laugh and call Obama the SCOAMF, but he was far more successful than I knew. An already compromised DoJ was turned into a cesspool for a corrupt, elite leadership. Many toil there in good faith, but after Obama and Holder, and now Garland, Justice is corrupted.

Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 11:07 AM (uOGSL)

306 The doorless cabinet idea is a good one!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 10:59 AM (omVj0)

Yeah, because you are in control of the materials when you order them. The shelves, backs, and sides are furniture grade veneered plywood, and the frames are solid wood. Oak, cherry, maple, etc. You have to pick a good company though and ask for the wood line, not the particle board line, because usually they make both.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at April 02, 2023 11:07 AM (VwHCD)

307 pulls hair, I have no idea what that means.
Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 10:27 AM (/0+YE)

On a lined pad, write the first 13 letters of the alphabet in order.
On the next line write the second 13 letters in order.

Each letter is the cypher of the one directly above or below it. "n" is the cypher for "a", and "a' is the cypher for "n".

This isn't any deep dark secret; it's been all over the Internet for decades. Sort of the Pig latin of cyphers.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 02, 2023 11:07 AM (tkR6S)

308 I have started reading a new sea novel series, by Christopher C Tubbs (no relation). The book starts out with an 11 year old scrawny kid from Dorset who is involved in clay mining, down in a mine with poor ventilation that eventually kills the people involved. He's malnourished and weak and passive.

But once he gets onboard a ship as a captain's servant he demonstrates he's a quick learner, respectful, and has a very brave heart for such a little guy. I really like the series starting at the very smallest, lowest part of the ship and building up. Like many of these books, the guy advances a bit too quickly (wasting story opportunity) but not as bad as some and its quite enjoyable. Young people would probably like it as well.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:07 AM (0hOvj)

309 *How do ya find time and a place for wild, impromptu sex?*

What other kind is there?
Posted by: Just Wondering

Do they call you The Wonderer ?

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 11:07 AM (T4tVD)

310 Book collecting or book hoarder? One sounds sophisticated, the other obsessive . As for me, I'm trying to collect the entire Ballantine's History of the Violent Century. Trade paperbacks that sold for $1 in the late 60s, early 70s. Fist editions (not that means a lot with these, mainly the covers are different). It's difficult because I can't find a definitive list of titles. I have around 120 of them. Mostly WWII but also some post war subjects.

Posted by: Stacy0311 at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (VfLe7)

311 "well I'm a big shot singer and I bring a lot of money around here, so you dirty peasants better not interfere with the entertainment business's political will or our grooming racket.

Y'all come back now, ya heah

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (oINRc)

312 Gah, need a new laptop.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (/0+YE)

313 Finished "Masters of the Air" by Donald L Miller. High praise for the comprehensive history of the 8th Air Force during WW2. From the building of the bases to the final flights back home, this book covers it all. One final thing that struck me was how very young those pilots and airmen were. At the end of the war one pilot stated that though he was only 20 he felt ancient.

Posted by: Tuna at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (gLRfa)

314 "...Justice is corrupted"
aka "the death of any republic".

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (jTmQV)

315 I recently re-read The Martian, and enjoyed it even more than the first time around. There's nothing quite like it. That led me to watch the movie, which did a good job with the material, and then look into what else Andy Weir might have written. I saw that he wrote Artemis, which a lot of people found disappointing. I skipped it, not wanting to spoil my memories of The Martian. But a later book, Project Hail Mary, was getting much better reviews.

Wow. I just finished it yesterday, and loved it. I didn't think he could ever top The Martian, but this does. I expected it to be excellent, given the premise ("Man wakes up with amnesia and slowly realizes that he is the only one who can save humanity"), but I did not expect it to be so much fun. I won't spoil the wonderful thing that happens about 1/3 of the way in. I'll just say "wow" again. Highly recommended.

Posted by: Splunge at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (hQQLx)

316 Yeah, because you are in control of the materials when you order them.

From whom? I cannot find any manner of ordering cabinets like that.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (0hOvj)

317 Can't imagine who they could possibly be referring to...
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:06 AM (llXky)

Good for the diocese! It's time for all religions to kick the luciferians to the curb. Man needs to stop playing God, and killing the idea of God and morality. Yes, they want everything to be permitted, but Mephistophelean bargains need to be called out.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:09 AM (Zzbjj)

318 Moore's version of Battlestar Galactica was ruined from the very beginning. When they removed the alien origin of the Cylons.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (LBnvC)
---
I have a compilation page on my blog linking all the articles I've written about why the reboot sucked so badly.

I got a ton of flak from the wokes, but pointed out they were racist hypocrites because so many black roles were eliminated. Tigh became a white dude and Boomer was an Asian chick. Total white-washing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:10 AM (llXky)

319 Which post number gives the Fenelon Fund address? I can't find it.

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 11:06 AM

Go to:
https://rot13.com/
Cut and paste:
AnPyl_qbt@xfoebnqonaq.arg
into box then click
You'll get salties actual email address (you'll recognize the name)

Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 02, 2023 11:11 AM (enJYY)

320 Lookin' at you, Silicon Valley.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:50 AM (oINRc)

AI could do this in almost real time. Just feed the text thru AI and out pops the story revised to fit the current regime.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 02, 2023 11:11 AM (BRHaw)

321 286 If you're looking for a good bookcase at a great price, you can't beat the basic IKEA model. Easy to put together. It's solid.
Posted by: Ignoramus

Agree 100%! Especially if you cannot afford built ins or are a renter. When I had the house in the hill for me and the boys, I had four of them side by side with all my books. It was just lovely and warm. My best friend's husband loved coming over for dinner or a bbq and perusing my shelves. He'd always take a couple or three books, and bring a couple or four to share.

Weirdest thing, they didn't have a single bookshelf in their own home.

Posted by: nurse ratched at April 02, 2023 11:12 AM (U2p+3)

322 Do they call you The Wonderer ?

He roams around
around
around
around
around

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:12 AM (0hOvj)

323 grammie winger

Post 106 on this thread. And Post 190 to break the code.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 11:12 AM (u82oZ)

324 Yeah that's what I am looking at doing: some brackets and some boards with the edges sanded down. I am quite honestly astounded at how much businesses charge for shelving. Just wooden boxes with a bracket or two to move shelves around in. They want thousands.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (0hOvj)

I know, thats why I suggested the 12" deep kitchen pantry cabs with the matching crown molding. You end up with a pretty epic look for a comparable price to the shit they try to sell you out in the world.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at April 02, 2023 11:13 AM (VwHCD)

325 From whom? I cannot find any manner of ordering cabinets like that.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (0hOvj)

Custom stuff is pricey, to be sure. I ordered the grandsons cases from an "amish" craft group, which I doubt is at all related to the Amish, but makes nice things. YOu choose wood, color of stain, style and size.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:13 AM (Zzbjj)

326 >>> 294 I want to watch Dolly Parton beat Reba with a tire iron. At Dollywood.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:03 AM (oINRc)

Unfortunately I think Dolly is part of the borg also. Could be wrong but istr her saying something in support of some other stupid leftist BS.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 02, 2023 11:13 AM (llON8)

327 312 Gah, need a new laptop.
Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (/0+YE)

have you tried dell outlet

Inspiron 15” 3000 (3511)
$430.00$301.00

It s basic laptop

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 02, 2023 11:14 AM (BRHaw)

328 Singing voice preference:

Dental drill>wounded goat> Stevie Nicks> Reba

I'd rather listen to someone rubbing pieces of styrofoam together.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Lookin' for me wooden leg at April 02, 2023 11:14 AM (UQUAY)

329 I think that was probably in the back of the writer's head but the overt meaning was anti-Semitism. In other words, he and those "in the know" got what he was saying, but he hid it under the guise of anti-Semitism.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 10:33 AM (0hOvj)

Yeah, it's hard to *know* what an author was thinking unless it's explicitly stated in later memoirs or something. otoh I can see someone even in late 40's wacko Hollywood thinking along those lines.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 02, 2023

***
The author of the novel, Laura Z. Hobson, was of Jewish extraction herself. Her parents were Socialists, so she was exposed to noxious fumes from an early age. But she herself said that Agreement was inspired when a congressman referred to Walter Winchell as a "kike," and got applauded for it.

According to Wikipedia, she did publish a novel about parents who learn that their son is gay, based on her own experience. But that was much later, 1975. Her son was only 8 or 9 when she conceived and wrote Agreement, so she didn't have that in mind at that point.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 11:14 AM (omVj0)

330 Here's something to consider about Tom Bombadil:

He's J.R.R. Tolkein's self-portrait.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 11:06 AM (QZxDR)
---
Tolkien identified as Beren, and Edith was his Luthien.

In LotR, the character he felt the most affinity with was Faramir.

Bombadil was part of the transition from the world of the hobbits to a darker world, and a reminder that bad things weren't really that far from home. Far from being safe and secure, The Shire was literally next door to terrible evils that were somehow kept in check.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:14 AM (llXky)

331 If you're looking for a good bookcase at a great price, you can't beat the basic IKEA model. Easy to put together. It's solid.
Posted by: Ignoramus at April 02, 2023 11:00 AM (RqMSv)

Resale shops. I have two at the old house right now, just sitting there because they're not worth hauling 500 miles. When the time comes, I'll find some here. Solid wood. Some scratches or dings, I don't care.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 02, 2023 11:15 AM (5aiaB)

332 I like collecting old books. Especially the ones with ornate leather covers or cool art or just old. My oldest is from 1770. I also rescue old books that need just a little restoration to be good again.

Speaking of Golden Age SF and kids reading and things, I recommend James A. Schmitz. Very imaginative and quite good with the characters. He has a lot of female main characters but they are not "grrrl power" cardboard, just heroes that happen to be female and have foibles and weaknesses and have to grow and fight to defeat the bad guys. One of my favorites is Demon Breed which features a non-superhero researcher (but very knowledgeable) and her friends, a pair of uplifted otters

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 02, 2023 11:15 AM (NlVMd)

333 Post 106 on this thread. And Post 190 to break the code.

Posted by: NaCly Dog

That's what I did grammie. If I can do it, you can.

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 11:15 AM (/0+YE)

334 Do they call you The Wonderer ?

He roams around
around
around
around
around
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor

Dion and the Bellybuttons !

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 11:16 AM (T4tVD)

335 It's time for all religions to kick the luciferians to the curb. Man needs to stop playing God, and killing the idea of God and morality.

The new woke religion is developing very quickly and in bizarre ways. They are becoming fixated on the idea of "manifestation" in which they through will and system force the world to change to match what they want to be true. Women talk about manifesting their ideal mate by listing demands and insisting on them until "the universe" responds. Preachers talk about manifesting riches and comfort through the proper scheme. Dumb kids talk about manifesting money and goods and an easy life.

Between that and transhumanism, we're seeing a really bizarre, disturbing cult developing, an alien ideology of madness and irrationality supported by how people live so much in a digital world now. They're starting to think that's how the real world works: swipe right to get what you want.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:16 AM (0hOvj)

336 It makes me feel very old that someone has to explain what rot-13 means.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 11:16 AM (QZxDR)

337 Finished "Masters of the Air" by Donald L Miller. High praise for the comprehensive history of the 8th Air Force during WW2. From the building of the bases to the final flights back home, this book covers it all. One final thing that struck me was how very young those pilots and airmen weres . At the end of the war one pilot stated that though he was only 20 he felt ancient.
Posted by: Tuna

20 minute video of duel berween M-26 Pershing and Panther in the shadow of Cologne's famous double spire cathedral. Very good and also follows the survivors into the post war period. Remarkable camera work.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o_Uhx1YInQU

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 11:17 AM (FVME7)

338 Unfortunately I think Dolly is part of the borg also. Could be wrong but istr her saying something in support of some other stupid leftist BS.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 02, 2023 11:13 AM (llON

---
Part of the problem is that purposeful confusion about what the drag queens really are. People of a certain age assume it's Robin Williams as "Mrs. Doubtfire," not a perv waving his junk around.

That's on purpose, the same way that "book bans" are portrayed as free thought as opposed to distributing child porn.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:17 AM (llXky)

339
Post 106 on this thread. And Post 190 to break the code.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 02, 2023 11:12 AM

Broke the code and check will be in the mail tomorrow.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 02, 2023 11:17 AM (enJYY)

340 If I had it to do over again (doubtful) I would make all my bookcases with glass doors so I could still see the books but keep the dust under control.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 02, 2023 11:17 AM (jTmQV)

341 It makes me feel very old that someone has to explain what rot-13 means.
Posted by: Trimegistus

This new fangled high tech stuff frightens and confuses me.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 02, 2023 11:18 AM (FVME7)

342 Her son was only 8 or 9 when she conceived and wrote Agreement, so she didn't have that in mind at that point.

The screenwriter, though, who knows what he had in mind.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:18 AM (0hOvj)

343 282 Made a discovery when it comes to kids' books. I learned of "Dinotopia". I had never heard of it but it was listed in books similar to Brambly Hedge on the Amazon site. Another series for children written and illustrated by the author. The author 'discovered' a journal by a father and son shipwrecked on an isolated island where dinosaurs and humans coexist. (Shades of ERB.) It's a fun story and the illustrations are excellent. Not cutesy or whimsical but realistic.

Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 11

Another book I read as a teen, and still have my original copy! Glorious illustrations! Half the book is worthy of being stand-alone art prints. The world-building is a little bit hippy though. The enlightened society ditched money for barter. So I guess all the flower sellers on the street barter for flowers for food? ...Still, it's not offensively dumb, and the illustrations are good enough to carry the story.

The sequel, "The World Beneath" wasn't quite as good. At some point I also bought a third book, "Journey to Chandara," but I don't think I ever read it. Never bothered with any other prose or tv adaptations, though.

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 02, 2023 11:18 AM (Lhaco)

344 He's the reason the Shire is protected, not the Rangers. The episode with the Barrow-weight is the scariest, creepiest thing in the whole book.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:04 AM (llXky)

Right. I am fairly sure I got where Tolkein was going with it. And it was cool in theory. Still. It just sets my teeth on edge. Idk. *shrug*.

I'm a big Tolkein fan except for that f*cking Bambadil! Hahahah.

Prose writers inserting poems and songs into their works just sets me off. Admission: I skip them. I just don't care.

Like Charles Barkley trying to play golf.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:19 AM (1ais2)

345 From whom? I cannot find any manner of ordering cabinets like that.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (0hOvj)

Any kitchen dealer. You will have to shop around because prices can be all over the map. As a test, if you want, go to lowes and look at the Diamond brand. Tell the chucklehead sitting at the desk what you want and see what the prices are. Tell them NO particle board, NO doors, boxes only, furniture sides on what would be the exposed sides, and stained interiors. Tell them you will be using them as book cases. See what they say.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at April 02, 2023 11:19 AM (VwHCD)

346 Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:16 AM (0hOvj)

Yes. I am more concerned though over the power over life and death and the need to control and monitor. I was horrified when one of the UK MP's said Gates "owed him" for implanting all those chips. It might have been metaphorical, but who knows these days. The WEF crowd definitely see themselves as above us.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:19 AM (Zzbjj)

347 The final two books I collect and give to, possibly, appreciative recipients are Wilson Follett's "Modern American Usage (editing by Jacques Barzun)," and H.W. Fowler's "Dictionary of Modern English Usage" 2nd Ed.

Both books were published in the 1960s (Fowler's original was published in 1920s but the revised Gowers' 2nd edition about 1965) and are very much a product of their time-which is their main strength. Proper grammar and usage were still taught and standards were maintained, with most of the true anachronisms eliminated (which is why I prefer the 2nd edition to the first; I once got into a friendly argument with a Notre Dame Prof who preferred Fowler 1st ed). Not only do both books provide a solid guide for the writer who tries for correct and elegant prose (I particularly recommend Fowler's entry "preposition at end"), they also provide interesting reading on the authors various foibles and quirks-the entries in Fowler on elegant variation, or sociologese, or sobriquet all provide interesting discussions that also show the author's dry wit. BTW, I would avoid any edition of Follet after Barzun and Fowler after Gowers.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 02, 2023 11:20 AM (cYrkj)

348 Well, gotta go. See you all next Book Thread!

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 02, 2023 11:20 AM (QZxDR)

349 Gah, need a new laptop. Posted by: Infidel

have you tried dell outlet Inspiron 15” 3000 (3511) $430.00$301.00. It s basic laptop Posted by: rhennigantx

I have owned Inspiron's over the years and they did the job. The more current versions have a much improved build quality. And yes, the Dell Outlet is a great resource just be sure to stay away from the lower graded machines, they can be, um, interesting. Another plus for Dell boxes is the Service Tag systems ensures you can always get your mitts on the drivers and such if you find yourself needing to flatten the box and reinstall the OS.

Posted by: Lost in Space at April 02, 2023 11:20 AM (9e/0I)

350
Speaking of Golden Age SF and kids reading and things, I recommend James A. Schmitz. Very imaginative and quite good with the characters. He has a lot of female main characters but they are not "grrrl power" cardboard, just heroes that happen to be female and have foibles and weaknesses and have to grow and fight to defeat the bad guys. One of my favorites is Demon Breed which features a non-superhero researcher (but very knowledgeable) and her friends, a pair of uplifted otters
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 02, 2023

***
I read The Witches of Karres long ago on the first Mrs. Wolfus's recommendation. It was fun, but the main thing I recall is that the captain of the spaceship needs actual keys (!) to enter his ship and start up its functions.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 11:20 AM (omVj0)

351 Any kitchen dealer. You will have to shop around because prices can be all over the map. As a test, if you want, go to lowes and look at the Diamond brand.

OK thanks I'll go check that out. Its worth a look at least. Online is just not an option. And I'd like to use something better than boards and brackets, for my books at least. Although if I have to that's the route I will go because its super cheap and easy.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:21 AM (0hOvj)

352 Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 02, 2023 11:11 AM (enJYY)

Thank you!

Posted by: grammie winger at April 02, 2023 11:21 AM (45fpk)

353 Prose writers inserting poems and songs into their works just sets me off. Admission: I skip them. I just don't care.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:19 AM (1ais2)
---
Go back and read the Barrow-wight's incantation. Bone-chilling.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:21 AM (llXky)

354 "...Justice is corrupted"
aka "the death of any republic".
Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 02, 2023 11:08 AM (jTmQV)

Seems so.

I've stopped arguing any solutions. I've not given up, I just don't want to hear the options people think might work to fix this thing without acknowledging that the whole is lost.

It's either going to be a peaceful dissolution, or...

Posted by: BurtTC at April 02, 2023 11:22 AM (5aiaB)

355
That's on purpose, the same way that "book bans" are portrayed as free thought as opposed to distributing child porn.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:17 AM (llXky)

Yet the left has no issue with banning books, or editing them, when it suits their fancy.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:22 AM (Zzbjj)

356 I read The Witches of Karres long ago

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 11:20 AM (omVj0)
---
Sorry, I read that as "The Witches of Karen," and did a double-take.

Maybe that should be my next book!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:22 AM (llXky)

357 In June there will be a con in Jackson, MS.

Christopher Lloyd and Sean Astin will be there. Maybe I should get Sean to sign a Tolkien book?

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:24 AM (LBnvC)

358 Yet the left has no issue with banning books, or editing them, when it suits their fancy.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:22 AM (Zzbjj)
---
A liberal co-worker brought up "right-wingers" banning books and I looked at him with utter indifference. I said: "What else is new? People are always trying to ban books from the library. I remember when Huck Finn was getting pulled from the schools."

He changed the subject.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:24 AM (llXky)

359 From whom? I cannot find any manner of ordering cabinets like that.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor

Check out yard sales and estate sales.....

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 11:24 AM (T4tVD)

360 The screenwriter, though, who knows what he had in mind.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023

***
That was Broadway playwright Moss Hart. He was straight enough to marry and have 2 kids with actress Kitty Carlisle, whom some of us will remember from What's My Line? But he might have wanted to "open up" the point of the original story, true.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 11:24 AM (omVj0)

361 Prose writers inserting poems and songs into their works just sets me off.

It used to be very standard. Old books are full of songs and poems, people burst into song for apparently no reason. Of course, the reason is because people used to sing more, and they didn't have streaming or radios around, so they had to make their own music. It was pretty normal to tell tales and sing songs on journeys by foot going places, because you had hours of nothing and it helped pass the time.

Modern books, almost nobody sings, because we hire people to sing for us these days. Its like reading modern books about medieval Europe. Modern writers are so disconnected with religion they pretend it simply didn't exist back then, when the church was inextricably woven through all of culture and every day living.

If you want to write something about a low tech past, even a fantasy world, people are gonna sing.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:24 AM (0hOvj)

362 The Witches of Karen.

Witch Karen #1, "Hey Beezelbub I want to talk to your boss demon Sh1tstain about the horrible service you are giving my coven!"

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:25 AM (LBnvC)

363 He changed the subject.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:24 AM (llXky)

I bet. Some will argue that tranny shit is fine, but that Dr Seuss is evil. I don't understand, but I don't think they do either. They've abandoned critical thought, especially after Obama. They follow that leader without questions.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:26 AM (Zzbjj)

364 I read The Witches of Karres long ago

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023
---
Sorry, I read that as "The Witches of Karen," and did a double-take.

Maybe that should be my next book!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023

***
That would be a cool title!

The Schmitz novel, as I recall, was not about the supernatural, but about several young people with psionic powers that might as well be magic.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 11:26 AM (omVj0)

365 Go back and read the Barrow-wight's incantation. Bone-chilling.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:21 AM (llXky)

That's like what 8 lines in the book? I will read short things like that. But authors will insert 3-4 pages on their "poems" or "songs" dude.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:27 AM (1ais2)

366 If you want to write something about a low tech past, even a fantasy world, people are gonna sing.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:24 AM (0hOvj)

And they're going to houses of worship, too.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:27 AM (Zzbjj)

367 The thing is, courtrooms, attorneys, judges and juries are all there to peacefully resolve conflicts.
Elections also.
Take those away, and justice will still be served, but not peacefully.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 02, 2023 11:28 AM (jTmQV)

368 Part of the problem is that purposeful confusion about what the drag queens really are. People of a certain age assume it's Robin Williams as "Mrs. Doubtfire," not a perv waving his junk around.

That's on purpose, the same way that "book bans" are portrayed as free thought as opposed to distributing child porn.

-----

However they may personally view it, they know their fans by and large view it as pedophilia (because it is). They just don't give a shit. It's much more about rubbing their noses in it and declaring "We Are Your Betters and We Are Above Your Petty Bourgeois Morality.

Now do as we say, and fuck your political voice. The court is on our side. TN will do as it's told. Kneel."

Shorter version: they're assholes.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:28 AM (oINRc)

369
If you want to write something about a low tech past, even a fantasy world, people are gonna sing.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023

***
In one story I managed to create some doggerel for a scene where people dance. But I'm no poet or songwriter. If I ever need a longer poem or song in a story, I'll need to subcontract it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 11:28 AM (omVj0)

370 The new woke religion is developing very quickly and in bizarre ways. They are becoming fixated on the idea of "manifestation" in which they through will and system force the world to change to match what they want to be true. Women talk about manifesting their ideal mate by listing demands and insisting on them until "the universe" responds. Preachers talk about manifesting riches and comfort through the proper scheme. Dumb kids talk about manifesting money and goods and an easy life.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:16 AM (0hOvj)

What was that book from a few years ago? The Secret? Or The Code? Something simple like that. I knew some guys who really believed it (not that their lives were in order), so I looked into it.

What utter tripe. If you think it, it will come. That's basically it. I saw a video recently, some broad with over a million subscribers talking about if you're thinking of a person, it makes them think of you, or something like that. Sure. Whatever. The worst kind of bullship.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 02, 2023 11:28 AM (5aiaB)

371 OK thanks I'll go check that out. Its worth a look at least. Online is just not an option. And I'd like to use something better than boards and brackets, for my books at least. Although if I have to that's the route I will go because its super cheap and easy.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:21 AM (0hOvj)

I just called my brother. He is going to price out what something like that is as a guideline.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at April 02, 2023 11:28 AM (VwHCD)

372 I've stopped arguing any solutions. I've not given up, I just don't want to hear the options people think might work to fix this thing without acknowledging that the whole is lost.

We've tipped over the edge, its too late for solutions. The dollar is very soon going to crash because so many major economies are moving away from it as their base currency.

The world used to trust and rely on the USA for stability, safety, and leading the way. But the last four years have shown that the USA is not only incompetent, but willing to destroy the economy and lives for local political manipulation.

People are waking up to the lies and corruption about the Wuhan Flu. People are seeing the utter incompetence and even malice in the US leadership. People are seeing that the US is not only hopelessly in debt but utterly incapable of handling finances. The ridiculous corruption in Ukraine has shown them that the leadership of the US cannot be trusted to do anything but enrich its self.

Worse, the US showed how if they don't like you, this government is not only able but utterly willing to just steal everything from you

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:29 AM (0hOvj)

373 I've stopped arguing any solutions.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 02, 2023 11:22 AM (5aiaB)
---
Yes. I've said before that when I looked at the situation in terms of politics, I was always wrong. Blew just about every prediction I made. Why?

Because we are engaged in spiritual warfare, which is why things are so apparently irrational.

The Church gets this, why is why you see so much talk about it these days. Each parish is being converted into a fortress, hardened against the coming conflict.

Interesting to see how many traitors are also being unmasked at this time. It is not a coincidence.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:30 AM (llXky)

374 Modern books, almost nobody sings, because we hire people to sing for us these days.

------

Not for long.

When I'm in charge, professional entertainers will be committed to chattel slavery and reduced to a legal status lower than farm animals.

Nobody will go into those professions anymore, and the world will be a better place.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:31 AM (oINRc)

375 If the dollar stops being the world standard currency, then it can be allowed to crash down to its proper actual value, which is a fraction of what it is now considered to be. Nobody would allow that to happen while it was the coin of the realm because of what it would do to their economies. But once you get away from that... yeah. That 30+ trillion dollar debt comes crashing down. All those trillions printed without anything whatsoever to back it comes calling.

We're at a Babel Point, where like the tower of Babel in which God scattered the people through language, every nation is forming coalitions that use other currencies to do business with, and the world economy is going to be severely, horrendously damaged.

I'm trying to think of something I can put my money into that will be valuable through the crash, but can be handled online. I cannot come up with anything.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:31 AM (0hOvj)

376 If you want to write something about a low tech past, even a fantasy world, people are gonna sing.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:24 AM (0hOvj)
*
And they're going to houses of worship, too.
Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023

***
Far too often writers give us people who worship some snake-headed god or vicious goddess. My question is, "Why? What would the snake god or goddess do for its worshipers, or what do they *believe* it will do for them?"

Sure, humans in our history have worshiped some pretty bad characters as well as good ones. But they believed the deities would benefit them in some way.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 11:32 AM (omVj0)

377 I ran up against some book collectors during my time as a bookstore owner. I had one customer who bought two copies of whatever hardback -- one to actually read, one to stick in an acid free covering to be carefully laid flat while she hoped it became worth lots of money. Another guy got catalogues from a couple of rare book dealers, then had me order them for him -- usually from Amazon. For the most part, though, I didn't mess with the rare/used book trade. Too hard on my nervous system. A book worth $500 one day could be worth $.05 the next.

The single most important rule of the rare/used book trade is just because a book is old doesn't mean it's worth anything. Depends on condition, rarity, and a whole host of other little factors. Your friendly local bookseller isn't going to buy that sixty year old book you found in Aunt Mary's basement.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around at April 02, 2023 11:32 AM (k5jR3)

378 If you want to write something about a low tech past, even a fantasy world, people are gonna sing.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:24 AM (0hOvj)

Sure. But prose is absolutely not poetry. Poetry is really really hard. Really hard. The skill sets don't overlap. Like slide guitar and non-slide guitar.

Prose isn't easy either.

But poets write excellent prose but prose writers need to stop writing poetry.

Just say like "they sang songs of distant lands as they rode out of the village". Hahahahab

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:33 AM (1ais2)

379 In one story I managed to create some doggerel for a scene where people dance. But I'm no poet or songwriter. If I ever need a longer poem or song in a story, I'll need to subcontract it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

Here ya go....

Countin' flowers on the walls
scratched the hair right off my balls
playing solitaire til dawn
that's a game i've never won
smokin's cigarettes
and watchin Captain Kangaroo
don't tell me
I've nuthin' to do....

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 11:33 AM (T4tVD)

380 "We should have sang our own songs."

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:34 AM (oINRc)

381 Sure, humans in our history have worshiped some pretty bad characters as well as good ones. But they believed the deities would benefit them in some way.

Again, its a modern bias to misunderstand the past. They think that people in the past were irrationally and stupidly religious, that anyone smart (like the author) would have never been religious, because it only comes from ignorance.

Religious people were smart about why they were religious, they were only ignorant about how much of the world worked, and attributed it to direct influence of deities. Appeasing and gaining positive responses from those deities was the only reasonable way to handle the world.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:34 AM (0hOvj)

382 *checks eBay, Amazon, and Abe*

Talk about a rare book. Kiyoshi Nozaki's Kitsune: Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance & Humor is once again unavailable.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:34 AM (LBnvC)

383 When I'm in charge, professional entertainers will be committed to chattel slavery and reduced to a legal status lower than farm animals.

Nobody will go into those professions anymore, and the world will be a better place.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:31 AM (oINRc)

So basically the movie "This Is the End" as documentary.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 02, 2023 11:35 AM (5aiaB)

384
Sure. But prose is absolutely not poetry. Poetry is really really hard. Really hard. The skill sets don't overlap. Like slide guitar and non-slide guitar.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:33 AM (1ais2)
---
If you think Tolkien can't write excellent poetry, this conversation is over.

Good day to you, sir. I say GOOD DAY.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:35 AM (llXky)

385 Sure, humans in our history have worshiped some pretty bad characters as well as good ones. But they believed the deities would benefit them in some way.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 11:32 AM (omVj0)

Really good point. I'm glad Christianity won, but I also think "Winners write history".

Though there does seem to be truth to the idea that just prior to history the earlier religions had reached a point of almost complete degeneration.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:36 AM (1ais2)

386 Sure. But prose is absolutely not poetry.

I agree, and the best is borrowed from other better writers, like songs that others have written and you put them into your book. I have several very old books absolutely packed with now-ancient songs from like 1350. Not only are they utterly out of copyright but nobody even knows they exist any longer. You can throw those into your book and nobody will be the wiser.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:37 AM (0hOvj)

387 IE, the Left does not understand how a Cargo Cult works though they are living one.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:37 AM (gPjAY)

388 Good day to you, sir. I say GOOD DAY.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:35 AM (llXky)

MICK RONSON NEVER PLAYED SLIDE FOR A REASON AND THAT IS NOT A CRITICISM!!!!

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:38 AM (1ais2)

389 Modern people, not just the left, are in a technological cargo cult. They don't know how anything works, they don't even care if its useful or good. They just want it techy and digital. Connect my toilet to my watch through bluetooth! Put a touch screen in my car! Why? Because it LOOKS HIGH TECH DOOOD!!

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:39 AM (0hOvj)

390 I just called my brother. He is going to price out what something like that is as a guideline.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at April 02, 2023 11:28 AM (VwHCD)

Another suggestion: go to Habitat Re-Store (found in many major cities) and/or thrift shops. You may find old furniture there that could be repurposed as bookshelves for less money than buying the new wood.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 02, 2023 11:39 AM (tkR6S)

391 I'm trying to think of something I can put my money into that will be valuable through the crash, but can be handled online. I cannot come up with anything.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:31 AM (0hOvj)

Cardboard. I buy baseball cards.

I'm kidding... I think. Not about buying them, I spend way too much on them.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 02, 2023 11:39 AM (5aiaB)

392 You can throw those into your book and nobody will be the wiser.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:37 AM (0hOvj)

Yes. Precisely. "A man's got to know his own limitations".

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:40 AM (1ais2)

393 Sure, humans in our history have worshiped some pretty bad characters as well as good ones. But they believed the deities would benefit them in some way.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 02, 2023 11:32 AM (omVj0)
---
Who is to say they didn't? The ancients could build massive stone structures, surely they knew the relationship between cause and effect.

I think the pagan gods (really demons) are still out there and making a concerted push at the moment. The Enemy has managed to create an environment where literal Satan worship is about freedom but Christianity is a hate crime.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:40 AM (llXky)

394 Though there does seem to be truth to the idea that just prior to history the earlier religions had reached a point of almost complete degeneration.
Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:36 AM (1ais2)

Rome and Greece fell to Christianity because their vacuous civic religions could no longer provide meaning to anyone. It's why their gone, and why our current hegemons will soon fall to Islam.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:40 AM (oINRc)

395 *pauses*

Japan nuked enough or not enough?

On eBay - "Weekly Baseball Kitsune Dance Choreography Book Set" Only $182.45 and $20 shipping.

Hard pass.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:40 AM (gPjAY)

396
All those trillions printed without anything whatsoever to back it comes calling.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:31 AM

I've tried to explain to myself the politician mindset for years as to why they let that debt get so high. Imagine you owe $50,000 and your neighbor has a $50,000 car and likes to leave his keys in the ignition.

Now imagine the value of everyone's retirement savings, stocks, bonds, etc equals the $50 billion dollars you owe and you can access that wealth in mere seconds. That's the best explanation I have.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 02, 2023 11:41 AM (enJYY)

397 Another suggestion: go to Habitat Re-Store (found in many major cities) and/or thrift shops. You may find old furniture there that could be repurposed as bookshelves for less money than buying the new wood.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 02, 2023 11:39 AM (tkR6S)

That's what I said, but nobody listens to me.

Ok, some people do, but mostly just the trolls.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 02, 2023 11:41 AM (5aiaB)

398 Rome and Greece fell to Christianity because their vacuous civic religions could no longer provide meaning to anyone. It's why their gone, and why our current hegemons will soon fall to Islam.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:40 AM (oINRc)

Nah. Islam is less able to defend against globohomo.

Salazar is coming.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:42 AM (1ais2)

399 I'm trying to think of something I can put my money into that will be valuable through the crash, but can be handled online. I cannot come up with anything.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 02, 2023 11:31 AM (0hOvj)

What makes you think that it will be possible to do anything online after the Crash? When the grid goes, likewise does the Internet.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 02, 2023 11:43 AM (tkR6S)

400 Any recommendation for an abridged version of Churchill's "History of English Speaking Peoples"?...don't think 4 volumes would hold my interest.

Posted by: BignJames at April 02, 2023 11:43 AM (AwYPR)

401 202 I'm sick AF and high on cough medicine. Gross.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

Feel better soon

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 02, 2023 11:44 AM (yu8eA)

402 I think the pagan gods (really demons) are still out there and making a concerted push at the moment. The Enemy has managed to create an environment where literal Satan worship is about freedom but Christianity is a hate crime.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:40 AM (llXky)

Purifications of places and exorcisms are real and necessary.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:44 AM (1ais2)

403 I've tried to explain to myself the politician mindset for years as to why they let that debt get so high. Imagine you owe $50,000 and your neighbor has a $50,000 car and likes to leave his keys in the ignition.

Now imagine the value of everyone's retirement savings, stocks, bonds, etc equals the $50 billion dollars you owe and you can access that wealth in mere seconds. That's the best explanation I have.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 02, 2023 11:41 AM (enJYY)

It's Keynesian economics. We can roll up all the debt we want, the future will take care of it.

It's not just selfishness, but this weird, cult-like (there we go again) belief that since we don't know what the future holds, we can just assume it'll be fine. That they'll figure something out.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 02, 2023 11:44 AM (5aiaB)

404 Feel better soon
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 02, 2023

Thx

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:44 AM (oINRc)

405 Did it work, grammie?

Posted by: Infidel at April 02, 2023 11:45 AM (/0+YE)

406 I'm in the middle of reading a book called Powers & Thrones, a book about the Middle Ages by Dan Jones, an author who specializes in English history and while it's well-researched and fast paced, he does engage in what I think is an unfortunate tendency among modern authors.

He insists on inserting today's hot buzzwords and phrases into books of history where they are not welcome.

For instance, he tries to shoe-horn things like "killer apps", "head-hunting" (as in searching for the right person) and allusions to social media, gaming etc,
It's very annoying.

When I read history, I want to be enveloped by that time. I don't welcome intrusions from the present.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 02, 2023 11:45 AM (mR6Gs)

407 Any recommendation for an abridged version of Churchill's "History of English Speaking Peoples"?...don't think 4 volumes would hold my interest.

Posted by: BignJames at April 02, 2023 11:43 AM (AwYPR)
---
Buy it. It moves very quickly and is quite readable. Churchill enjoys the subject and offers amusing asides - it's like having him sit back with brandy and cigars and explain it all to you.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:47 AM (llXky)

408 What utter tripe. If you think it, it will come. That's basically it. I saw a video recently, some broad with over a million subscribers talking about if you're thinking of a person, it makes them think of you, or something like that. Sure. Whatever. The worst kind of bullship.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 02, 2023 11:28 AM (5aiaB)

Magical thinking. Very popular

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:47 AM (Zzbjj)

409 Thanks for the thread, Perfesser.

And bests to all.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 02, 2023 11:47 AM (a/4+U)

410 Feel better soon
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillio

Seconded !

Posted by: JT at April 02, 2023 11:47 AM (T4tVD)

411 I think the pagan gods (really demons) are still out there and making a concerted push at the moment. The Enemy has managed to create an environment where literal Satan worship is about freedom but Christianity is a hate crime.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:40 AM (llXky)

Yes, and very sad. But at the core is the worship of self, and a "noble" desire to "do what you want". It's textbook temptation.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:49 AM (Zzbjj)

412 Purifications of places and exorcisms are real and necessary.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:44 AM (1ais2)
---
Chateau Lloyd has its own holy water font. Very useful to have around.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:50 AM (llXky)

413 So the allegory from Aesop is some are grasshoppers. "oh sure I'll get to that. It will be fine. No worries. Oh my Gawd! Someone help me!"

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:50 AM (gPjAY)

414 @186 --

You are not alone. I love maps and atlases. I used to have a stock of city maps but eventually tossed them because those get outdated so quickly.

I have only three atlases, and one of those because it was only $2 at a garage sale. Beautiful Times of London product. I used its London map when I was reading "The War of the Worlds."

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 02, 2023 11:51 AM (vofbA)

415 Rome and Greece fell to Christianity because their vacuous civic religions could no longer provide meaning to anyone. It's why their gone, and why our current hegemons will soon fall to Islam.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:40 AM (oINRc)

Do you mean worldwide? Or here in the USA?

Islam has already had a crack at ruling large swaths of the world, when they conquered many parts of the (former) Roman and Persian Empires in the few generations after Mohammed, so they have already been defeated,

But here in the USA, yes I think it's possible because Islam is the new kid on the block, they breed like rabbits, they are culturally and spiritually confident and assertive, and they are great at making money

Posted by: JoeF. at April 02, 2023 11:51 AM (mR6Gs)

416
Purifications of places and exorcisms are real and necessary.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:44 AM (1ais2)

Ripperger is an exorcist, as it would happen.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:51 AM (Zzbjj)

417 "do what you want"

Paging Alistair Crowley...

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:52 AM (gPjAY)

418
See my 211. Those two books have the impact you're looking for. Discourses, especially, formed my worldview as a kid.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 10:42 AM (oINRc)

////

Thsnk you. I already have Aurelius and now Epictetus makes a good companion

Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 11:52 AM (Wu+am)

419 Yes, and very sad. But at the core is the worship of self, and a "noble" desire to "do what you want". It's textbook temptation.
Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:49 AM (Zzbjj)

Wish ppl realized "Do what thou wilt" just means "The strong do what they wish, the weak do as they must".

There's always somebody stronger out there even if you ain't met him yet.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:52 AM (1ais2)

420 Yes, and very sad. But at the core is the worship of self, and a "noble" desire to "do what you want". It's textbook temptation.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:49 AM (Zzbjj)
---
What was Crowley's first commandment? "Do what thou wilt?"

Social media is making it even worse. Kids think that because they can change their avatar every week, they can do the same thing to their bodies.

Demonic.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:53 AM (llXky)

421 Ripperger is an exorcist, as it would happen.
Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:51 AM (Zzbjj)

He's great. Found him through your recc. Thanks.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:53 AM (1ais2)

422 One good EMP blast and all the ones and zeroes go away.

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at April 02, 2023 11:53 AM (5u1+1)

423 But here in the USA, yes I think it's possible because Islam is the new kid on the block, they breed like rabbits, they are culturally and spiritually confident and assertive, and they are great at making money
Posted by: JoeF. at April 02, 2023 11:51

US, Europe and most of Asia. Southern hemisphere and India may carry the torch through the coming Dark Age, but the rest of are as good as in a mosque already. Just don't know it yet.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 02, 2023 11:54 AM (oINRc)

424 One good Carrignton Effect and 50 years of technological progress would be impacted.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 02, 2023 11:54 AM (gPjAY)

425 It's not the debt, it's the debt service that always gets you.

Esp when you spend on gadgets.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:55 AM (1ais2)

426 *Social media is making it even worse. Kids think that because they can change their avatar every week, they can do the same thing to their bodies.*

Now change your birth date.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 02, 2023 11:56 AM (DhOHl)

427 BTW, the US dollar having problems is the result of its dominance and being untethered from any kind of reserve like gold.

I don't think it will collapse entirely, and I think we're going to go back to the way things were 100 years ago, when currencies were based on tangibles rather than sentiment and prestige.

Since I'm heavily in debt, I don't find the situation terribly alarming, but if I had liquid assets I'd take a hard look at owning physical things.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:56 AM (llXky)

428 There's always somebody stronger out there even if you ain't met him yet.
Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:52 AM (1ais2)

Someone stronger, tougher, more tenacious, intelligent, resourceful, wealthier, more handsome, charismatic, funnier, more connected, more bloodthirsty, luckier, and with a nicer car and a bigger dick.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 02, 2023 11:57 AM (mR6Gs)

429 Well the book summary starts off interesting because it has Scarabs. Are they anything like the ones in Farscape?

Posted by: polynikes at April 02, 2023 11:58 AM (pBEqG)

430 Since I'm heavily in debt, I don't find the situation terribly alarming, but if I had liquid assets I'd take a hard look at owning physical things.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:56 AM (llXky)

By owning "things", do you mean items like books and compact discs?

Posted by: JoeF. at April 02, 2023 11:59 AM (mR6Gs)

431
He's great. Found him through your recc. Thanks.
Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 11:53 AM (1ais2)

Isn't he. I found him completely by accident. His book arrives on Tuesday.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 11:59 AM (Zzbjj)

432 What's next for us"

Operation Sneakity is next for me.

I think I'm being herded into something not good. I don't know why Stasi would care about me and I'm probably just being dramatic (3 out 4 watchers agree) but strange things are afoot. Like the police pull you over for a tail light, you have a dead hooker and a live horse in the back. And it's like they got a call from a Corleone or something. "Well everything looks in order. We'll take her off your plate. And the horse too. That 's it, just push her on over. Oh not at all, our pleasure, you have a nice day, Sir. Drive safe!"

Uh-huh.

Posted by: Fen at April 02, 2023 12:00 PM (+LcMo)

433 I don't think it will collapse entirely, and I think we're going to go back to the way things were 100 years ago, when currencies were based on tangibles rather than sentiment and prestige.

Since I'm heavily in debt, I don't find the situation terribly alarming, but if I had liquid assets I'd take a hard look at owning physical things.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 11:56 AM (llXky)

USD hegemony is based on our submarine fleet. And a small part of that fleet in reality.

But yeah, the Fed has stated they are ok with multiple reserve currencies.

If our basement crazies keep pushing though, RUS and CHN will create a resources backed currency. Or perhaps price oil in Gold.

Then the crazies will try and assert hegemony of USD via the submarines.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 02, 2023 12:00 PM (1ais2)

434 So I might as well take advantage, set some paperwork. Like all those frantic emails I've had with my cell leader over at Powerline. I figure if people are going to betray us, let's use the whole buffalo and not waste any parts. Stasi is going to want meat. Not my personal baggage, wouldn't be right. But the cucks and traitors, oh no that was a clever "roose", they're the brains behind Operation Mind Crime. Disloyal fcks? No worries I got a spot for you too. Not a single scrap of meat goes to waste. Did I blow up your Vichy deal? Relax, the boys in Gulag 13 can't wait to see you.

I'm with Team Stark. I don't know if we can save the Republic. But you can be damn sure we'll avenge it.

Posted by: Fen at April 02, 2023 12:01 PM (+LcMo)

435 WE HAZ NOOD

Posted by: Skip at April 02, 2023 12:01 PM (xhxe8)

436 Yes! To resale shops and antique stores, church thrift shops, estate sales - if you want bookcases.
Even try your local facebook marketplace. If you aren’t in a hurry, you can find great old barrister bookcases, the real ones that come apart in sections.

As for any kind of Ikea bookshelf…
True story: I went to Ikea to find sone book shelves and didn’t understand why they all had to be bolted to the wall ( my dad was in construction so I had built-ins my entire life). Ikea shelves are too narrow to support a lot of books and they’ll fall over if not bolted to the walls. The store employees counseled me to NOT buy Ikea bookshelves! They said, “We make a lot of great things, just not bookshelves!”

Posted by: RondinellaMamma Donald J. Trump is still our duly elected president at April 02, 2023 12:01 PM (l0Cy4)

437 By owning "things", do you mean items like books and compact discs?

Posted by: JoeF. at April 02, 2023 11:59 AM (mR6Gs)

My MIL, not a great genius, points to two of her uncles as illustrative. One hoarded all his money in the banks and markets, one bought, art, gold and silver coins and objects, nice things, but things that could be sold if needed. One was wiped out, the other wasn't when the crash came.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 12:02 PM (Zzbjj)

438
When I was in business a good deal, in fact too much, of what work I performed daily was collecting taxes and disbursing it to all the different federal, state, and local authorities. I think one time I counted twenty some different taxing authorities were in my accounting software. Nothing but sending money to governments for which I never once received a thank you, best wishes, or birthday card every year.

So during covid when the government sent me checks for doing absolutely nothing it felt like tainted money and I quickly donated almost all of it to local churches. So, check written, envelope addressed, will be in the mail tomorrow to Fen. Thanks to Salty for being the go-between.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 02, 2023 12:02 PM (enJYY)

439
By owning "things", do you mean items like books and compact discs?

Posted by: JoeF. at April 02, 2023 11:59 AM (mR6Gs)
---
DVDs, too. Also useful in the event of an internet outage.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 12:03 PM (llXky)

440 I need help upstairs

Posted by: Skip at April 02, 2023 12:04 PM (xhxe8)

441 Good Palm Sunday to all. I’m still waiting for my latest book order delivery, sigh. If only all the pizza outfits offered books also

Posted by: MIMI at April 02, 2023 12:05 PM (Z0EAI)

442 My MIL, not a great genius, points to two of her uncles as illustrative. One hoarded all his money in the banks and markets, one bought, art, gold and silver coins and objects, nice things, but things that could be sold if needed. One was wiped out, the other wasn't when the crash came.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 12:02 PM (Zzbjj)
---
Indeed. The other obvious thing to do is have stocks of things you need, which the pandemic should have taught us.

I mean, a 90-day supply of toilet paper is the absolute minimum.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 12:06 PM (llXky)

443 My MIL, not a great genius, points to two of her uncles as illustrative. One hoarded all his money in the banks and markets, one bought, art, gold and silver coins and objects, nice things, but things that could be sold if needed. One was wiped out, the other wasn't when the crash came.
Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 12:02 PM (Zzbjj

You need a little bit of everything because no one can predict what will fail and what won't. Those who guessed right are mostly just lucky.

Posted by: polynikes at April 02, 2023 12:06 PM (pBEqG)

444 Another great book thread! Thanks, Perfesser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 12:06 PM (llXky)

445
I mean, a 90-day supply of toilet paper is the absolute minimum.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 02, 2023 12:06 PM (llXky

Yep. And shelf stable food, and as Weasel says, buy ammo.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 12:07 PM (Zzbjj)

446 Thanks Skip for the NOOD alert

Posted by: MIMI at April 02, 2023 12:08 PM (Z0EAI)

447 I don't collect dictionaries, as such, but I have assembled several that I treasure: our old 2 volume one that came with the World Book Encyclopedia we got circa 1960 (surprised it survived me and my siblings), a 2 volume OED, a Mirriam Webster from the 1930s, Ambrose Bierce's Devils Dictionary, and a few historical ones. I can still get lost in the older definitions and usages and etymologies.

Posted by: JTB at April 02, 2023 12:10 PM (7EjX1)

448 Nobody wants to own - or buy - the big furniture formerly known as "entertainment centers." Big screen tvs don't fit. Consignment stores are full of them. Maybe repurpose as a bookcase. Often the furniture is high quality.

Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 12:11 PM (jT6TR)

449 82 *How do ya find time and a place for wild, impromptu sex?*

What other kind is there?
Posted by: Just Wondering at April 02, 2023 09:46 AM (DhOHl)

Grudging, passionless, obligation sex.

Posted by: Married guys know this at April 02, 2023 12:37 PM (0avLl)

450 448 Nobody wants to own - or buy - the big furniture formerly known as "entertainment centers." Big screen tvs don't fit. Consignment stores are full of them. Maybe repurpose as a bookcase. Often the furniture is high quality.
Posted by: JM in Fla/Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at April 02, 2023 12:11 PM (jT6TR)

I agree. Pretty easy to add extra shelves and you can get good named pieces for next to nothing.

Posted by: CN at April 02, 2023 12:41 PM (Zzbjj)

451 Among those who did not yet understand Peace, we had few friends. Those who came to know us joined us readily. Those few who knew of us only by reputation fell into three groups, roughly:

A few heard of us and appreciated what we were doing, even though they didn't fully understand yet.

Most were indifferent, if they heard of us. It was understandable; a subtle transformation, no fireworks, so average folks didn't care.

But politicians, crooked gangsters, and evil businessmen, we were noticed by them, because we cut deeply into their profits. And, as we found out, into their plans.…

Posted by: mindful webworker - html is not for the weak at April 02, 2023 12:57 PM (HfkOw)

452 A curiosity I jumped at a few years ago:

A hardbound complete collection of Integrity Magazine that a seminary was selling on Abebooks.
This was a small publication that existed from 1946 to the late '50s put out by Catholics of the Catholic Worker/Catholic Land Movement/Catholic Action ilk.

Trying to set up a good home for them when I'm gone.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at April 02, 2023 01:19 PM (wE246)

453 It is all well and good to feature authors on here, but given the amount of dreck published every day, I am not going to pay $7+ for a kindle book by an author I don't know. If you can bear to sell the introductory volume in a series at a reasonable price point, you don't get my business. Now if I like the first book, I am far more likely to pay more for subsequent volumes, and have.

Posted by: James Nelson at April 02, 2023 01:43 PM (lsQkm)

454 James: One way or another I've gotten on about 4 or 5 frequent email lists (some sent daily, some 3 or 4 times a week) of discount kindle books-one or more lists originate with Amazon. The discounts reduce the prices from free (an Amazon list of series books, frequently but not always the first of the series) to, at most $3.99 a book. I'm sure the point of the discount lists is to interest the potential series reader by hooking him, or her, through a free or heavily discounted first exposure to a particular author. Although I suspect the intent is to encourage purchases through the sale of a "loss-leader," by being patient I've been able to purchase all or most of a series at the discount price. I've bought 7 or 8 of John DeChancie's Castle Perilous series at $2 per, and 13 of Palmer's Hildegarde Withers mysteries at no more than $2 each. I'm not sure how I got on the email lists, but it would be worth your time to look into it.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 02, 2023 02:02 PM (cYrkj)

455 "Any recommendation for an abridged version of Churchill's "History of English Speaking Peoples"?...don't think 4 volumes would hold my interest."

BignJames, Early Bird Books has been offering a kindle version at a discounted price of less than $4. Get on their email list.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 02, 2023 02:10 PM (cYrkj)

456 I built shelves for comics longboxes with the seat and back from a broken futon. Plus concrete blocks for the supports. It's in the garage, but it does the job.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 02, 2023 02:40 PM (Om/di)

457 @216 --

Wolfus, my Times atlas is from 1967.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 02, 2023 02:47 PM (Om/di)

458 Above @221 there was a recommendation for George MacDonald Fraser's "Quartered Safe Out Here", his memoir of his WWII service as a young soldier in Burma. I heartily second this.

I would also strongly recommend the short stories he wrote based on his experiences as a new minted officer in the Gordon Highlanders just after the war. These were originally collected in three volumes: "The General Danced at Dawn" (1970), "McAuslan in the Rough" (1974) and "The Sheikh and the Dustbin" (198

. There is also an omnibus edition "The Complete McAuslan" (2000).

Originally known as the "Dand MacNeill" stories (the name Fraser gave the character based on himself) they are now usually known as the "McAuslan" stories for the unforgettable character of Pvt. John McAuslan, AKA "The Dirtiest Soldier In the World", "The Tartan Caliban" etc. An interesting example of a minor character who becomes a major one.

These stories are almost always very funny and often thought provoking and touching.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at April 02, 2023 04:18 PM (2SWLc)

459 Regarding Nelson Bond... one of my favorite books from childhood: "Lancelot Biggs, Spaceman"

Posted by: Richard Podos at April 02, 2023 04:22 PM (SNL4v)

460 In turn I'll second John MacMichael's recommendation of Fraser's "McAuslan" stories. Fraser originally served with the Border Regt with the 14th Army in Burma for the events of "Quartered Safe Out Here," but toward the end of the war he was sent for officer's training, and then commissioned in the 2nd Batt Gordon Highlanders. He served with that regiment mostly in North Africa, for the events in the McAuslan books. Anyway, in an afterward to "The Complete McAuslan" (and originally in "The Sheikh and the Dustbin") Fraser mentions meeting his regimental Colonel (of the 2nd Gordons) at a book signing, and later talking with him in a bar. In a summarized version of that conversation, Fraser admits the events of the McAuslan books are mostly true, which makes them even more interesting. The McAuslan stories are interesting stories of the post-war winding down of the British Empire. One of my favorite stories is "Night Run to Palestine," in "The General Danced at Dawn." In that story, Dand MacNeill (Fraser) was Officer Commanding a military/civilian train running from Cairo to Jerusalem when the British had to worry about attacks by the Stern Gang and Irgun.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 02, 2023 05:29 PM (cYrkj)

461 Fraser's story about meeting his former CO is a great one. Among other things his old Colonel correctly identified the actual two soldiers Fraser based the character of "McAuslan" on.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at April 02, 2023 06:07 PM (2SWLc)

462 Thanks for the mentions, Perfessor, and thanks to everyone who bought copies of Frozen Orbit and Escape Orbit! It really shot up in the 'Zon rankings today and attribute it to the Moron Horde. Hope y'all enjoy them; buy early and often!
I want to add my endorsement of The Ice Limit. It's a great story and I've enjoyed Preston & Child's work a great deal. Preston has a solo novel, Impact, which was also a great read. Really enjoyed his Wyman Ford series.
I'll have to check out the Baxter books you mentioned, as I stopped reading him after Titan and Moonseed. They were real downers, though Voyage was my kind of alt-history sci fi. It's still one of my favorites.

Posted by: PChiles at April 02, 2023 10:33 PM (zuYBw)

463 Last!

Posted by: March Hare at April 02, 2023 11:03 PM (WOU9P)

464 The 1947 film about antisemitism that originated as a story concerning anti-homosexual violence was not GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT, but CROSSFIRE, based on "The Brick Foxhole," a novel by none other than future film director Richard Brooks. As homosexuality was a tabu subject in Hollywood films at the time, the novel's murder victim is changed for the film from a homosexual to a man killed simply because he was a Jew. (At one point detective Robert Young, trying to crack the case, notes that one of his own ancestors had been killed in the U.S. simply for being an Irishman.)

Posted by: Bill the Butcher at April 02, 2023 11:59 PM (gDRaE)

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