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Sunday Morning Book Thread - 05-14-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
PIC NOTE
My cat Hexie distinguished herself recently by being the only one of my five kitties to jump to the top of my gaming library bookshelves. It's a quite significant jump, even if she had a bit of assist from another bookshelf off to the right of the shelves featured above. Also, I don't dust my bookshelves.
MOMS IN LITERATURE Since today is Mother's Day, why not discuss moms in literature? Perhaps one of the most famous moms who isn't actually in the story is Harry Potter's mother, Lily Potter. She died shortly after Harry was born, but her sacrifice defending Harry gave her son the protection he needed against Voldemort's magic later in life. Molly Weasley then becomes Harry's surrogate mother when Harry goes to Hogwarts, as Molly has raised seven children of her own and sees Harry as just another son. In many ways, Molly Weasley is the paragon of motherhood. She'll feed you till you pop, make sure you are snug in bed, sing you bedtime stories, and then kick the ass of anyone who threatens you. The "dead mom" trope is pretty common in a lot of the stories I read. Many characters are orphans or raised by a single father, so they don't have a proper relationship with their birth mother. Though they often find a suitable replacement, who gives them the love and care they need. For example in Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn the main character is raised by a group of women, as he was orphaned early in life and then raised by the chambermaids, with one standing out more than the others. Known as "Rachel the Dragon" because she is a stern taskmistress, she does love Simon as though he were her own son, even though she's frequently frustrated by his seeming laziness (his nickname is "Simon Mooncalf"). Some mothers spend their lives preparing their children for the hardships they will face. A great example of this is Lady Jessica from Dune. She was commanded to bear a daughter by her Bene Gesserit superiors, but defied them to bear a son because she loved her Duke more than she loved the Sisterhood. She bestowed upon Paul Atreides all of the skills and wisdom of the Bene Gesserit, again in defiance of the Sisterhood because she knew that he would face trials and tribulations beyond comprehension. This training allows Paul to conquer Arrakis and later become Emperor of the Known Universe. We can also talk about "stepmoms" in literature. Fairy tales like "Cinderella," "Snow White," and "Hansel & Gretel" all have a wicked stepmom who sees their stepchildren as a burden or a threat that needs to be removed. They go to great lengths to destroy their stepchildren, though they usually get their just reward in the end, depending on which version of the story you are reading. I'm trying to think of a good stepmom in literature, but I'm drawing a bit of a blank... Finally, some women can serve as a surrogate mother to entire nations. Queen Galadriel from Lord of the Rings exhibits many motherly traits towards those under her protection. The Elves revere her not only as their Queen but as a mother of sorts to their entire race, even though I don't think she had many true children of her own. In the Wheel of Time, the leader of the all-female Aes Sedai is addressed as "Mother" and is seen as the spiritual/political mother of the organization. The aforementioned Lady Jessica from Dune becomes the "Reverend Mother" of the Fremen tribe that captures her and Paul after the old Reverend Mother dies. It's notable that the leader of the Bene Gesserit is also addressed as "Reverend Mother" foreshadowing a close tie between the Bene Gesserit guild and the Fremen religion on Arrakis. Who are some of YOUR favorite mothers in literature and why?
(from ace's mom's private library...)
Hans G. Schantz has a kickstarter project for y'all:
How is your knowledge of history? Any idea what was happening around the world in 1853? While this is not a history lesson by any stretch, current events of the time are interspersed with fictional characters and happenings throughout the book, and will hopefully enlighten as well as entertain. And there's a professor! Not as smart as our perfessor, but he tries. And a cat! The year is 1853 in a steampunk Boston, Mass, and Professor Augustus Goodsteam has a problem. To win a contract to supply the government with airship engines, Professor Goodsteam must prove the engine works by circumnavigating the globe. His competitor managed to do it in 61 days. Can the professor complete the voyage in less time? Stormy weather is just the beginning of his troubles! Pirates, earthquakes, and even wars interfere with the trip. But with help from his loyal crew of three people and a cat, the professor just might make it. Might. Get it on Amazon, ebook or softcover!
Just wanted to let you and the Moron Horde know that the Kickstarter for The Wise of Heart is live. Thrown in jail for defying transgenderism, a biology teacher faces a show trial amid a media circus in this illustrated novel. My illustrated novel is a retelling of the Scopes Monkey Trial set amid today's transgender mania. A substantial preview is already available on Substack. Readers can back today to help fund the art and be first in line to read the entire story in ebook or print editions. Thanks! Hans
Privilege Of Being A Woman by Alice Von Hildebrand is the antidote to woke nonsense about women, and also to the evils of free love and sex without consequence. I recommend it to everyone, but particularly to girls who seem to be leaning toward the bullshit that popular culture tells them. It will prevent any girl from devaluing herself and falling from grace. Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at May 07, 2023 02:31 PM (LOVUx)
Comment:
Convict Conditioning is a fantastic book. Six body weight exercises to exercise all major muscle groups. Each exercise is broken down into 10 different exercises. You slowly progress through each until you are doing one armed push-ups, one armed pull-ups, handstands, etc. These were the same exercises done for 1000s of years creating the strongest warriors and strongmen before the ad people sold us on weights and machines. I'm on step 2 for the first 4 exercises and am feeling more ripped than I ever did with weights. The movements are all how the body moves naturally, no weights means no damage to the joints. Great book. I got rid of all of my free weights. I'm pissed we weren't taught all of these exercises in school but no government wants an entire population of people that can lift their own body weight one armed. Every person could be a potential weapon. Posted by: Stateless at May 05, 2023 04:53 PM (jvJvP)
Comment: Somehow, we in the modern Western society have decided that we need high tech machinery and gadgets to help us get into shape, when really we just need our own body. When I studied kung fu many, many years ago, the first thing our teacher told us to do was to get into a proper "horse stance." Then hold it for 5 minutes. That may have been the most agony I've ever suffered in my life. It was incredibly difficult to force my body to hold that one position. There were no weights, no machines, just my own body working against gravity. It's the foundation from which all kung for springs, more or less. To progress to the next level of training we had to hold the stance for 5 minutes straight. To progress to the level beyond that required holding the horse stance for *30* minutes.
Check out Susan Wise Bauer's history books. They cover not only Western Civ, but (as the series title suggests) world history. https://is.gd/agFH6e She also has a homeschool curriculum. Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 07, 2023 09:17 AM (PiwSw)
Comment: It looks like these books would be good for a homeschool curriculum. I do like how the books incorporate primary sources. The books come with study guides as well. These are *not* small books--even the study guides are around 800 pages each--so be prepared for you and your kids to spend a lot of time learning and reading!
I recently finished Adrian Goldsworthy's Antony and Cleopatra, which while it is not my favorite work of his, seems germane given the uproar over the Netflix "documentary" Queen Cleopatra. Whereas the "documentary" seems to be built solely around scanning Wikipedia and the insistence of one showrunner's grandmother that Cleopatra was from sub-Saharan Africa, Goldsworthy engages in actual research. He explains in great detail how Cleopatra was the final Greek/Macedonian monarch in the Ptolemy line, which ruled Egypt from roughly 305 B.C. until 30 B.C. The Ptolemies, including Cleopatra, were indeed caucasian "colonizers" from mainland Europe who ruled Egypt more or less as a personal possession with very little thought given to the overall welfare of native Egyptians beyond what would keep them in power. Nothing unusual for the day. Cleopatra was, in fact, the only one of the Ptolemies who ever even bothered to learn the Egyptian language. Much of what most people think they know of Cleopatra comes from modern dramatizations of her life. She was extremely cunning, clever, and determined, however she was also totally beholden to the most powerful Roman men of the day. Egypt existed as an "independent" kingdom in name only and was well-established as a de facto Roman vassal state by the time she claimed the throne (through Roman aid). Cleopatra recognized and accepted the world in which she had to operate and did so masterfully, even if it was not in the girl-boss manner modern activists would like to pretend. There is a reason Cleopatra remains one of, if not the only, women from the ancient world most people recognize. She is a compelling enough figure without social justice embellishment from Hollywood half-wits. Goldsworthy does an admirable job of weaving Marc Antony's biography along with Cleopatra's, deftly dispelling cliches and modern inventions while painting a compelling portrait of arguably history's most famous doomed romance. Thank you! brasidas
Comment: This is an excellent recommendation, pointing out the flaws in our modern age where we simply accept a common idea, regardless of what relation is has to the facts. Good historians (like John C. McManus or Victor Davis Hanson) will scour the earth to find primary sources that paint an accurate picture of history. I recently had an experience where I was trying to find the original source of a digital artifact in my field and it turned out that the image that most people were using was, in fact, NOT created by the original theorist, but had been cobbled together by someone else and then presented as the original theorist's idea. The source document was very different than the accepted "theory" that people have been using for decades to support their argument.
More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (771 Moron-recommended books so far!)
WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK
- Gromnoir Chronicles Book 3 - Warbound by Larry Correia -- Wasn't expecting it to arrive until next week, but I am not sorry that it arrived earlier...
WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:
- Daybreak Book 3 - The Last President by John Barnes -- Daybreak is finally revealed and it's about 100% of what I expected it to be. The question still remains: Will some form of the United States of America emerge from the ashes of the New World Order as enforced by Daybreak?
- Phule's Paradise by Robert Asprin -- Captain Willard "Jester" Phule and his motley crew of misfits in the Space Legion are assigned to guard a casino against organized crime. It's a weird mixture of M*A*S*H, The A-Team, and Leverage.
- A Phule and His Money by Robert Asprin and Peter J. Heck
- Grimnoir Chronicles Book 1 - Hard Magic by Larry Correia -- Hardboiled detective Jake Sullivan gets caught up in a magical conflict where the feds are the bad guys...
(ht: Hans G. Schantz)
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
Tolle Lege
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023 09:00 AM (xhxe8)
2
BOING!
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at May 14, 2023 09:00 AM (odVni)
3
First
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 09:00 AM (K9Eal)
4
Only read online this week.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023 09:00 AM (Angsy)
5
First?
Posted by: Reforger at May 14, 2023 09:01 AM (B705c)
6
I've gotta lotsa reading to cats up on, too!
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at May 14, 2023 09:01 AM (odVni)
7
Slowly working on David Walder's Nelson, now if stopped making Napoleonic era hats might get to read more of Napoleonic era history
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023 09:03 AM (xhxe8)
8
Good morning fellow Book Threadists and happy Mothers Day as it applies. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. Mine was delightful and much needed.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 09:03 AM (7EjX1)
9
Morning, folken! Did I make the top 10?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:03 AM (omVj0)
10
Currently doing a re-read of the Elemental Masters series.
Posted by: vic at May 14, 2023 09:03 AM (mMi2k)
11
Every library ought to have a cat
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023 09:03 AM (xhxe8)
12
If I'm this early here, my day is on the road to perdition. I'm good with that.
Posted by: From about That Time at May 14, 2023 09:03 AM (4780s)
13
That's a lot of gaming hard copy.
Posted by: davidt at May 14, 2023 09:04 AM (SYTee)
14
Good morning, fellow bibliophiliacs!
Now that is a proper library, with a house lion guarding it.
Now that is a proper library, with a house lion guarding it.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 14, 2023 09:05 AM (+RQPJ)
15
Happy Mother's Day, Book Nerdzzz!
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 14, 2023 09:05 AM (twjRB)
16
hiya
Posted by: JT at May 14, 2023 09:06 AM (T4tVD)
17
Well, I did make the first 10, if just barely!
I'm reading Robertson Davies' Murther and Walking Spirits, a neat ghost story/fantasy in which the dead man (murdered by his wife's lover) is required to spend a big portion of his afterlife sitting next to his murderer at a film festival. But what he is watching is a detailed and colorful history of his own ancestors -- Revolutionary War era New York state on his mother's side, and Wales on his father's.
At the library this week I picked up a couple of non-series Agatha Christies, a
Ruth Rendell I haven't read, and a collection of early short stories, The Wind's Twelve Quarters, by Ursula K. LeGuin. I know, woke before the term was coined, etc. But her Left Hand of Darkness remains a fine SF novel and adventure. I'm curious to see how her early stories were crafted.
I'm reading Robertson Davies' Murther and Walking Spirits, a neat ghost story/fantasy in which the dead man (murdered by his wife's lover) is required to spend a big portion of his afterlife sitting next to his murderer at a film festival. But what he is watching is a detailed and colorful history of his own ancestors -- Revolutionary War era New York state on his mother's side, and Wales on his father's.
At the library this week I picked up a couple of non-series Agatha Christies, a
Ruth Rendell I haven't read, and a collection of early short stories, The Wind's Twelve Quarters, by Ursula K. LeGuin. I know, woke before the term was coined, etc. But her Left Hand of Darkness remains a fine SF novel and adventure. I'm curious to see how her early stories were crafted.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:07 AM (omVj0)
18
"A George Gershwin Novelette"?! Are you f***ing kidding me?! Oh, for the Love of Life Orchestra ... I'll never listen to The Great American Songbook the same way ever again ....
Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at May 14, 2023 09:08 AM (SPNTN)
19
The Convict Conditioning books are useless. I know this because all three have been on my book shelf for varying amounts of time, and I still don't look like an enforcer in D Block.
Oh, you have to actually DO the exercises? Well, hell... my bad.
Back when I was working out on a regular basis, I did find the progressions very useful. I'll have to go back to the very beginning, since I'm in probably the worst shape (pear) of my life right now.
Oh, you have to actually DO the exercises? Well, hell... my bad.
Back when I was working out on a regular basis, I did find the progressions very useful. I'll have to go back to the very beginning, since I'm in probably the worst shape (pear) of my life right now.
Posted by: PabloD at May 14, 2023 09:08 AM (A04R3)
20
I don't think that the Pants guy owns a weedwhacker. (if you catch my drift....)
Posted by: JT at May 14, 2023 09:08 AM (T4tVD)
21
Nothing good can come of sexually tantalizing hobos.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 14, 2023 09:08 AM (up/3i)
22
I'm currently reading Niven and Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye. Robert Heinlein said it was "possibly the finest science-fiction novel I have ever read." I'm not that enamored with it (I'm about 20% into it), but I can see why he would like it -- it's very "Heinleinesque."
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 14, 2023 09:09 AM (PiwSw)
23
This is OT, but I don't have time to wait.
WOLFUS - per your retirement decision - Southern section of the Appalachians. Western North Carolina & East Tennessee, specifically. From the Cumberland to the Smokies to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Joe Mannix, my parents, and I did a research project to decide where they should retire. Started with data analytics and satellite images to pick out a group of contender-regions, then did a big road trip around America to personally visit them, scope out local real estate markets, etc.
Our immediate, undebated consensus was that this was the best place for conservative oldsters like them to bug the fuck out of Blue Hell.
But we loved it so much, we picked up and moved there, too. Probably would've eventually anyway, because they're here and they're old, and need family around. But it wasn't a hard sell, because it's incredibly awesome here.
This is OT, but I don't have time to wait.
WOLFUS - per your retirement decision - Southern section of the Appalachians. Western North Carolina & East Tennessee, specifically. From the Cumberland to the Smokies to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Joe Mannix, my parents, and I did a research project to decide where they should retire. Started with data analytics and satellite images to pick out a group of contender-regions, then did a big road trip around America to personally visit them, scope out local real estate markets, etc.
Our immediate, undebated consensus was that this was the best place for conservative oldsters like them to bug the fuck out of Blue Hell.
But we loved it so much, we picked up and moved there, too. Probably would've eventually anyway, because they're here and they're old, and need family around. But it wasn't a hard sell, because it's incredibly awesome here.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 14, 2023 09:10 AM (oINRc)
Posted by: Tonypete at May 14, 2023 09:10 AM (qoGsy)
25
So George Gershwin wrote sick sexual potboilers as well as Porgy and Bess?
Boy, the things you learn here.
Boy, the things you learn here.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 09:10 AM (AW0uW)
26
Thanks to the recommendations of the Perfessor and others, I read Directive 51 by John Barnes. The story concerns the Constitutional continuation of the U. S. government after a catastrophic attack. Eco-terrorists provide a worldwide attack which threatens modern civilization. Ethical considerations are raised when the Constitutional next in line to the Presidency is a bumbling jackass who thinks a few public works projects will bring back civilization from the brink. How far should the law be stretched, corners cut, to save the country and and tens of thousands of lives? An interesting, thought provoking book.
Posted by: Zoltan at May 14, 2023 09:12 AM (62Hpd)
27
Good morning, all! I love there is some focus today on moving your bodies. We don’t need high tech gadgets, but if that is your thing, and it keeps you motivated to do something daily, then do it! I think peloton’s are crazy expensive, but I also think their instructors are hilarious so I get it!
One more quick thing, feather dusters are great! Cat toys and….dusters! 😂
One more quick thing, feather dusters are great! Cat toys and….dusters! 😂
Posted by: Piper at May 14, 2023 09:13 AM (ZdaMQ)
28
The news this week and the complicity of the Mainstream F'ing Media, has made me both sick to my stomach and enraged. My reading and hobbies are a refuge, a beneficial distraction, not escapism.
- The latest issue of Muzzleloader Magazine arrived offering history, 18th century how-to articles, and beautiful artwork and photography.
- "One Man's Wilderness" is taken from the journals of Richard Proenneke as he built his cabin and lived off the land, mostly, in Alaska. Proenneke was a master mechanic and Sea Bee during WW II. In 1968, at 50 years old, he moved to Alaska to live on his own terms. His description of building the cabin is accurate and his observations of nature around him are realistic, not idealized, and rather poetic. The book covers his first two years there. I don't know if he intended the journals to be public but he had a skill for bringing a reader along on his journey. His attitude toward his new home and of his self-sufficiency is positive and, frankly, invigorating. (No, I'm not moving to Alaska.) It is delightful reading. And any book that quotes and alludes to the poetry of Robert Service would appeal to me.
to be continued ...
- The latest issue of Muzzleloader Magazine arrived offering history, 18th century how-to articles, and beautiful artwork and photography.
- "One Man's Wilderness" is taken from the journals of Richard Proenneke as he built his cabin and lived off the land, mostly, in Alaska. Proenneke was a master mechanic and Sea Bee during WW II. In 1968, at 50 years old, he moved to Alaska to live on his own terms. His description of building the cabin is accurate and his observations of nature around him are realistic, not idealized, and rather poetic. The book covers his first two years there. I don't know if he intended the journals to be public but he had a skill for bringing a reader along on his journey. His attitude toward his new home and of his self-sufficiency is positive and, frankly, invigorating. (No, I'm not moving to Alaska.) It is delightful reading. And any book that quotes and alludes to the poetry of Robert Service would appeal to me.
to be continued ...
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 09:13 AM (7EjX1)
29
Thanks to whomever recommended Jan Morris' Manhattan '45 the other week. It's an entertaining and sad read - entertaining in Morris' quirky style and sad in realizing how far both NYC and American society / culture have fallen in the intervening years.
I'll probably give the book away once I finish it, since I don't think I'll have the heart to read it again.
I'll probably give the book away once I finish it, since I don't think I'll have the heart to read it again.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 09:13 AM (AW0uW)
30
Why does David French use George Gershwin as his nom de plume? Some weird part of the cuck fetish, I guess?
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 14, 2023 09:14 AM (oINRc)
31
You need to dust yer shelves....the cat is fine though.😜
Posted by: lin-duh at May 14, 2023 09:14 AM (UUBmN)
32
Speaking of moms, 5 1/2 minute video of blue collar philosopher on why we have so many mass shootings these days.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vtnO1mfymXc
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vtnO1mfymXc
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 09:14 AM (FVME7)
33
I am currently mostly reading The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen. Highly recommended. On one level a memoir of his brilliant best friend’s struggle with schizophrenia, on another level a meditation on the effects of postmodernism on academia and medicine. How can you help someone who can’t distinguish between false and real when the pillars of thought for an entire society don’t (won’t) do that?
Secondarily reading The Shipping News by Annie Proulx (prose is unique and original; plot is a little draggy) and The Rule of Saint Benedict (not exactly a page turned but short and important to one’s education to have read.
Literary mothers: Marmee from Little Women, of course. I have selected this as my future grandma name in tribute.
Secondarily reading The Shipping News by Annie Proulx (prose is unique and original; plot is a little draggy) and The Rule of Saint Benedict (not exactly a page turned but short and important to one’s education to have read.
Literary mothers: Marmee from Little Women, of course. I have selected this as my future grandma name in tribute.
Posted by: Erika at May 14, 2023 09:15 AM (pkhQp)
34
Read Mary Doria Russell's "Children of God" which is the sequel to her excellent "The Sparrow." Jesuits vs. Aliens in a first contact situation. Sequel very good but not quite as good as The Sparrow.
Reading the third book in the Hyperion Cantos, "Endymion." So far, so good. The Shrike continues to murder everyone it encounters, as usual. Interesting story that continues the adventure put together in the first two books in creative ways.
Still giddy at the prospect of obtaining a book in a silent auction at the end of the month at my public library: "Porter's Journal". Written in 1822 by the Captain of the USS Essex, which was one of the US's original six frigates, this is a two year log of that ship's adventures during the War of 1812 in devastating the British whaling fleet in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile. The Essex was finally captured by the Brits at the Battle of Valparaiso in 1814. A capture that occurred because Essex was armed with very short range 32 pounder carronades, rather than the much longer range 18 to 24 pounders naval guns of her sister ships.
This book is worth its weight in gold. I'll probably pick it up for less than $20. Can't wait.
Reading the third book in the Hyperion Cantos, "Endymion." So far, so good. The Shrike continues to murder everyone it encounters, as usual. Interesting story that continues the adventure put together in the first two books in creative ways.
Still giddy at the prospect of obtaining a book in a silent auction at the end of the month at my public library: "Porter's Journal". Written in 1822 by the Captain of the USS Essex, which was one of the US's original six frigates, this is a two year log of that ship's adventures during the War of 1812 in devastating the British whaling fleet in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile. The Essex was finally captured by the Brits at the Battle of Valparaiso in 1814. A capture that occurred because Essex was armed with very short range 32 pounder carronades, rather than the much longer range 18 to 24 pounders naval guns of her sister ships.
This book is worth its weight in gold. I'll probably pick it up for less than $20. Can't wait.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 09:16 AM (K9Eal)
35
“Dilettante: True Tales of Excess, Triumph, and Disaster” by Dana Brown is coke-and-booze-filled look back at the NYC magazine world in its last gasp of greatness.
Dana Brown was a broke college dropout working as a busboy and barback at a swanky hotel restaurant frequented by New York’s publishing and entertainment elite. He had interactions with Graydon Carter, co-founder of the late great Spy Magazine and in the 90's chief editor of Vanity Fair. Carter took a shine to Brown and on a whim offered him a job as a lowly assistant and general dogsbody.
Between partying and playing in his punk band at night and working long hours at the magazine, Brown somehow rose in the ranks by being assigned every task under the sun with the advice "Don't fuck up, kid!" Lots of opportunities afforded to rub shoulders with the elite.
For a barely literate brat, Brown turned into a really good writer. The book is funny as hell. Definitely worth checking out from the library.
Dana Brown was a broke college dropout working as a busboy and barback at a swanky hotel restaurant frequented by New York’s publishing and entertainment elite. He had interactions with Graydon Carter, co-founder of the late great Spy Magazine and in the 90's chief editor of Vanity Fair. Carter took a shine to Brown and on a whim offered him a job as a lowly assistant and general dogsbody.
Between partying and playing in his punk band at night and working long hours at the magazine, Brown somehow rose in the ranks by being assigned every task under the sun with the advice "Don't fuck up, kid!" Lots of opportunities afforded to rub shoulders with the elite.
For a barely literate brat, Brown turned into a really good writer. The book is funny as hell. Definitely worth checking out from the library.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 14, 2023 09:19 AM (+RQPJ)
36
I'm currently reading Niven and Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye. Robert Heinlein said it was "possibly the finest science-fiction novel I have ever read." I'm not that enamored with it (I'm about 20% into it), but I can see why he would like it -- it's very "Heinleinesque."
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes
Hopefully you will wind up loving it by the end. I first read it in Jr. High and it became one of my favorite books of all time. I credit it with waking my brain to the joys of Sci-Fi. Excellent story.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes
Hopefully you will wind up loving it by the end. I first read it in Jr. High and it became one of my favorite books of all time. I credit it with waking my brain to the joys of Sci-Fi. Excellent story.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 09:22 AM (K9Eal)
37
Happy Mothers Day
Posted by: rhennigantx at May 14, 2023 09:24 AM (BRHaw)
38
continued from 28 ...
I re-read Book III of LOTR, my favorite overall in the Trilogy. Riders of Rohan, Ents, Gandalf's reappearence, Helm's Deep, destruction of Isengard, pipe weed, songs and poetry. I love many parts of LOTR, of course.
Although I have several copies of LOTR, I read from my hardcover three volume edition, bought in 1967. The books are still in pretty good condition although the dust jackets show the years and many moves. But the maps, bound in place at the rear of each volume, are still clean and crisp. As a bonus, it was easy to remember my junior high school hands turning those pages for the first time. The pages' slight softness from age and handling just makes the book more a part of me.
One thing I noticed this time is Gimli's description of the Glittering Caves of Aglarond bear a resemblance to some parts of Phantastes. Not a surprise as Tolkien, along with CS Lewis, was influenced by George MacDonald's writings. (They are a delight.) I wonder if Tolkien thought about doing something with the Caves because his description is so rich and lovingly detailed.
I re-read Book III of LOTR, my favorite overall in the Trilogy. Riders of Rohan, Ents, Gandalf's reappearence, Helm's Deep, destruction of Isengard, pipe weed, songs and poetry. I love many parts of LOTR, of course.
Although I have several copies of LOTR, I read from my hardcover three volume edition, bought in 1967. The books are still in pretty good condition although the dust jackets show the years and many moves. But the maps, bound in place at the rear of each volume, are still clean and crisp. As a bonus, it was easy to remember my junior high school hands turning those pages for the first time. The pages' slight softness from age and handling just makes the book more a part of me.
One thing I noticed this time is Gimli's description of the Glittering Caves of Aglarond bear a resemblance to some parts of Phantastes. Not a surprise as Tolkien, along with CS Lewis, was influenced by George MacDonald's writings. (They are a delight.) I wonder if Tolkien thought about doing something with the Caves because his description is so rich and lovingly detailed.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 09:25 AM (7EjX1)
39
Working hard on Mark Helprin's Freddie and Fredericka. It shouldn't be work. It's a comic novel about a fictional Prince and Princess of Wales who apparently (I'm only on chapter 6 approx) have to achieve some kind of mission cross-country America. Freddie is some kind of savant, on the spectrum, who is mercilessly dissed by nearly everyone. Fredericka is a golden-haired airhead adored and idolized by everyone (excepting Freddie). Many slapstick set-ups, metaphorical slipping on banana peels.
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. Helprin is brilliant, but ...
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. Helprin is brilliant, but ...
Posted by: sinmi at May 14, 2023 09:25 AM (DhR3s)
40
Any idea what's happening around the world in 1853?
Have I got the app for that!!!!
Bought it in mid nineties when kids were young, on an outdoor sale books table at B&N if I recall. Oversized Harper Collins Atlas of World History..Starts at the end of prehistory (duh) and carries through to later 20th century. Doesn't make the fall of the USSR though.
At same time got HC Atlas of The World. Go back to both regularly, to clarify or just to browse.
I love facts. If I want opinions, I'll come to one.
Have I got the app for that!!!!
Bought it in mid nineties when kids were young, on an outdoor sale books table at B&N if I recall. Oversized Harper Collins Atlas of World History..Starts at the end of prehistory (duh) and carries through to later 20th century. Doesn't make the fall of the USSR though.
At same time got HC Atlas of The World. Go back to both regularly, to clarify or just to browse.
I love facts. If I want opinions, I'll come to one.
Posted by: From about That Time at May 14, 2023 09:25 AM (4780s)
41
“Dilettante: True Tales of Excess, Triumph, and Disaster” by Dana Brown is coke-and-booze-filled look back at the NYC magazine world in its last gasp of greatness.
Sounds like a version of Toby Young's How to Lose Friends and Alientate People.
Sounds like a version of Toby Young's How to Lose Friends and Alientate People.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 09:27 AM (AW0uW)
42
I'm also rereading Ringo's first novel in his zombiad, "Under a Graveyard Sky", just for kicks. I do love Faith's enthusiasm in clearing out zombies. I first read it when it was released in 2014, but it takes on new meaning after the plandemic. Might have to reread "Centurion" too.
I do wish Ringo would stop writing the future into being.
I do wish Ringo would stop writing the future into being.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 14, 2023 09:27 AM (+RQPJ)
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 14, 2023 09:28 AM (q9iRt)
44
...I'm reading Robertson Davies' Murther and Walking Spirits, a neat ghost story/fantasy in which the dead man (murdered by his wife's lover) is required to spend a big portion of his afterlife sitting next to his murderer at a film festival. But what he is watching is a detailed and colorful history of his own ancestors -- Revolutionary War era New York state on his mother's side, and Wales on his father's...
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:07 AM (omVj0)
Poor old Robertson Davies went to his reward after writing "Murther and the Walking Spirits".
It was meant to be the first book of another one of his "trilogies".
Never fear though, MatWS is a complete novel.
Davies' trilogies tend to be linked by common characters and have an overall thematic concern, but aren't usually tightly linked plot wise at all.
Speaking of Ruth Rendell, has anyone read her "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me"?
I thought that was a pretty nifty, little thriller. It's from back in the 90s, I think.
Give it a whirl.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:07 AM (omVj0)
Poor old Robertson Davies went to his reward after writing "Murther and the Walking Spirits".
It was meant to be the first book of another one of his "trilogies".
Never fear though, MatWS is a complete novel.
Davies' trilogies tend to be linked by common characters and have an overall thematic concern, but aren't usually tightly linked plot wise at all.
Speaking of Ruth Rendell, has anyone read her "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me"?
I thought that was a pretty nifty, little thriller. It's from back in the 90s, I think.
Give it a whirl.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 14, 2023 09:28 AM (RJQ8g)
45
By request last thread, for Mother's Day
Mom Through the Years - an encomium
As a baby you get breast milk."Yum, yum!"
Age 5 you learn your ABC's and sums
When you're 8 - "Clean underwear!!!"
And at 13 - "Comb your hair!!"
Now you're 18 - "Get a job you lazy bum!"
Mom Through the Years - an encomium
As a baby you get breast milk."Yum, yum!"
Age 5 you learn your ABC's and sums
When you're 8 - "Clean underwear!!!"
And at 13 - "Comb your hair!!"
Now you're 18 - "Get a job you lazy bum!"
Posted by: Muldoon at May 14, 2023 09:28 AM (kXYt5)
46
Love the graduation cap, Prof.
Saw the real thing yesterday when daughter crossed the stage.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 14, 2023 09:28 AM (q9iRt)
--
That's not my idea...the pic came to me that way! Somehow appropriate since it's commencement weekend where I work.
Saw the real thing yesterday when daughter crossed the stage.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 14, 2023 09:28 AM (q9iRt)
--
That's not my idea...the pic came to me that way! Somehow appropriate since it's commencement weekend where I work.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 09:29 AM (BpYfr)
47
Still have "Guys & Dolls," but now that my latest order from the library has come in, it's a toss-up as to whether I finish it. Haven't touched it for most of the week.
Also doubtful as to whether I pop in on the thread later today. It is Mother's Day. Family activities take priority.
Here's a salute to all of you women who reared children!
Also doubtful as to whether I pop in on the thread later today. It is Mother's Day. Family activities take priority.
Here's a salute to all of you women who reared children!
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 14, 2023 09:29 AM (q9iRt)
48
Two of my favorite fictional moms are Peter Wimsey's mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, and Inspector Alleyn's mother, Lady Alleyn. Both are highly perceptive allies of the sons, who they both prefer to their dull first borns. The Duchess's cover is a bunch of chatty scattiness but she's a clever darling underneath.
Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at May 14, 2023 09:29 AM (fTtFy)
49
Any idea what's happening around the world in 1853?
Uhhh, Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo? Yokohama? to open Japan to the West....may have been a mistake.
Uhhh, Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo? Yokohama? to open Japan to the West....may have been a mistake.
Posted by: BignJames at May 14, 2023 09:29 AM (AwYPR)
50
Physical book question - I have a number of very old volumes that have some mold on the edges and covers. Any suggestions how to remove gently? These are not rare or valuable books, I just want to clean them up a bit.
Posted by: Tonypete at May 14, 2023 09:31 AM (qoGsy)
51
I've been reading A Village in the Third Reich: How Ordinary Lives Were Transformed By the Rise of Fascism by Julia Boyd. So far, it's still the Weimar Republic and things are falling apart. (Any similarity to the current US is purely coincidental.) Two passages particularly caught my eye. The first is on the economy.
"That autumn two factory workers, Fridolin and Eugenie Thomma, noted that their simple wedding had, at 380 billion Marks, cost more than the current Shah of Persia’s three weddings put together. The council even considered closing the village reading room as the heating bill had by October risen to 14 billion Marks a day."
"That autumn two factory workers, Fridolin and Eugenie Thomma, noted that their simple wedding had, at 380 billion Marks, cost more than the current Shah of Persia’s three weddings put together. The council even considered closing the village reading room as the heating bill had by October risen to 14 billion Marks a day."
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 09:31 AM (FVME7)
52
Does anybody here know whether Tolkien ever wrote about his mother?
Posted by: Muldoon at May 14, 2023 09:31 AM (kXYt5)
53
The second is an excerpt from the prosecutor's (!) closing argument during Hitler's trial for high treason resulting from the Beer Hall Putsch.
"A man of humble background, Hitler has shown himself to be a true German and a brave soldier. Driven by his burning faith in the noble German Fatherland, he has created from nothing a great party – the National Socialist Workers’ Party, which aims to fight international Marxism and Jewry, to reckon with the November criminals of 1918… and to spread patriotic German thinking at all levels of society."
"A man of humble background, Hitler has shown himself to be a true German and a brave soldier. Driven by his burning faith in the noble German Fatherland, he has created from nothing a great party – the National Socialist Workers’ Party, which aims to fight international Marxism and Jewry, to reckon with the November criminals of 1918… and to spread patriotic German thinking at all levels of society."
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 09:31 AM (FVME7)
54
Love the bobby sox and penny loafers on the girl Beatnik, along with the long tight skirt. Sure signs of a wanton disposition.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 09:33 AM (7EjX1)
55
I suppose the title character of Sarah, Plain and Tall would be an example of a good stepmother. I think I've come across others, but they're definitely in the minority.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at May 14, 2023 09:34 AM (nC+QA)
56
27 feather dusters are great! Cat toys and….dusters! 😂
Posted by: Piper at May 14, 2023 09:13 AM (ZdaMQ)
They just put the dust into the air!
Posted by: Piper at May 14, 2023 09:13 AM (ZdaMQ)
They just put the dust into the air!
Posted by: m at May 14, 2023 09:34 AM (1rQ1e)
57
Awesome gaming library. I hope you have it insured form what I can see you have several thousand dollars in value there.
Posted by: Dread0 at May 14, 2023 09:35 AM (VXHcO)
58
Stacy Schiff's book on Cleopatra is also quite good - the author did her research. Focuses on documented facts about the Greek ruler of Egypt, and dismisses a lot of Hollywood "facts." If you want to learn about Cleo, this is a good book as well.
My current book is Circe by Madeleine Miller. I haven't decided if I like it or not, yet, which tells me this isn't a hard recommend.
My current book is Circe by Madeleine Miller. I haven't decided if I like it or not, yet, which tells me this isn't a hard recommend.
Posted by: Moki at May 14, 2023 09:35 AM (JrN/x)
59
I love the subtitle - "A George Gershwin Novelette"
From "Rhapsody in Blue" to "I Want the Hobo to Watch".
That's quite a stretch for polymath George Gershwin.
And, now you know the rest of the story...
From "Rhapsody in Blue" to "I Want the Hobo to Watch".
That's quite a stretch for polymath George Gershwin.
And, now you know the rest of the story...
Posted by: naturalfake at May 14, 2023 09:37 AM (RJQ8g)
60
I've been reading A Village in the Third Reich: How Ordinary Lives Were Transformed By the Rise of Fascism by Julia Boyd.
I'll have to get that. I liked her Travelers in the Third Reich. I just have so many unread books clogging up the rooms in Stately Poppins Manor that I'm loath to add any more.
I'll have to get that. I liked her Travelers in the Third Reich. I just have so many unread books clogging up the rooms in Stately Poppins Manor that I'm loath to add any more.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 09:39 AM (AW0uW)
61
Physical book question - I have a number of very old volumes that have some mold on the edges and covers. Any suggestions how to remove gently? These are not rare or valuable books, I just want to clean them up a bit.
Posted by: Tonypete
Get the cat to lick them !
Posted by: Tonypete
Get the cat to lick them !
Posted by: JT at May 14, 2023 09:39 AM (T4tVD)
62
27 the apostrophe s was autocorrect gone awry. Not even sure why since it is a plural and not an ownership. Smart technology at work!
Posted by: Piper at May 14, 2023 09:39 AM (ZdaMQ)
63
I’ll have to show this to my mother in
law. George Gershwin was her uncle. Maybe I’ll buy her that novelette for her upcoming 90th birthday. Maybe not.
law. George Gershwin was her uncle. Maybe I’ll buy her that novelette for her upcoming 90th birthday. Maybe not.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at May 14, 2023 09:39 AM (u73oe)
64
I just have so many unread books clogging up the rooms in Stately Poppins Manor that I'm loath to add any more.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 09:39 AM (AW0uW)
----
I know how you feel...My TBR pile is 300+
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 09:39 AM (AW0uW)
----
I know how you feel...My TBR pile is 300+
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 09:40 AM (BpYfr)
65
Was Ira her father?
Posted by: From about That Time at May 14, 2023 09:40 AM (4780s)
66
32 Speaking of moms, 5 1/2 minute video of blue collar philosopher on why we have so many mass shootings these days.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vtnO1mfymXc
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 09:14 AM (FVME7)
Good one!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vtnO1mfymXc
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 09:14 AM (FVME7)
Good one!
Posted by: m at May 14, 2023 09:41 AM (1rQ1e)
67
My recent move, and the packing, unpacking, and storage of boxes and boxes of books has put a (no doubt temporary) stop to buying new books. It's the library for me, both the municipal and my own. My TBR pile is now on shelves, staring me in my face and shaming me.
Shut up and let me live my life, Thackeray!!!
Shut up and let me live my life, Thackeray!!!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 14, 2023 09:41 AM (+RQPJ)
68
Physical book question - I have a number of very old volumes that have some mold on the edges and covers. Any suggestions how to remove gently? These are not rare or valuable books, I just want to clean them up a bit.
Posted by: Tonypete
A spray bottle of vinegar set to a light mist, then exposure to sunlight for a couple of days would be my suggestion.
Physical book question - I have a number of very old volumes that have some mold on the edges and covers. Any suggestions how to remove gently? These are not rare or valuable books, I just want to clean them up a bit.
Posted by: Tonypete
A spray bottle of vinegar set to a light mist, then exposure to sunlight for a couple of days would be my suggestion.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at May 14, 2023 09:42 AM (enJYY)
69
So, Perfessor, I gotta ask...which edition of DDG is that...?
Posted by: Brother Tim sez at May 14, 2023 09:43 AM (tjZop)
70
Does anybody here know whether Tolkien ever wrote about his mother?
Posted by: Muldoon at May 14, 2023 09:31 AM (kXYt5)
---
I don't think so. He was of a generation that held such things close. His father died when he was young, they returned to England and he was basically a charity case, being raised in Catholic boarding schools. I know that his mother's stubborn adherence to her faith - and keeping her children within it, made a profound impression on him.
Posted by: Muldoon at May 14, 2023 09:31 AM (kXYt5)
---
I don't think so. He was of a generation that held such things close. His father died when he was young, they returned to England and he was basically a charity case, being raised in Catholic boarding schools. I know that his mother's stubborn adherence to her faith - and keeping her children within it, made a profound impression on him.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 09:43 AM (llXky)
71
Every library ought to have a cat
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023
***
With a few unusual intervals, I've always had one or two feline thugs in my library.
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023
***
With a few unusual intervals, I've always had one or two feline thugs in my library.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:44 AM (omVj0)
72
But we loved it so much, we picked up and moved there, too. Probably would've eventually anyway, because they're here and they're old, and need family around. But it wasn't a hard sell, because it's incredibly awesome here.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 14, 2023
***
Thanks, YD. I've thought about eastern TN, though I don't know much about it.
But we loved it so much, we picked up and moved there, too. Probably would've eventually anyway, because they're here and they're old, and need family around. But it wasn't a hard sell, because it's incredibly awesome here.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 14, 2023
***
Thanks, YD. I've thought about eastern TN, though I don't know much about it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:45 AM (omVj0)
73
I know how you feel...My TBR pile is 300+
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 09:40 AM
That TBR acronym better not stand for "To Be Returned," joy boy. The parties over. Before you ask what's my problem, I'll tell you, it's punks like all of you who don't return books to the library.
I know how you feel...My TBR pile is 300+
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 09:40 AM
That TBR acronym better not stand for "To Be Returned," joy boy. The parties over. Before you ask what's my problem, I'll tell you, it's punks like all of you who don't return books to the library.
Posted by: Lt Joe Bookman at May 14, 2023 09:45 AM (enJYY)
74
I never seem to get around to what I think should be my next read when I think I'll read it. So I probably won't get to this one soon either, but for Mother's Day perhaps I'll revisit Psycho by the late great Robert Bloch.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 14, 2023 09:46 AM (a/4+U)
75
A spray bottle of vinegar set to a light mist, then exposure to sunlight for a couple of days would be my suggestion.
Posted by: Divide by Zero
White, or Apple Cider ?
Posted by: Divide by Zero
White, or Apple Cider ?
Posted by: JT at May 14, 2023 09:46 AM (T4tVD)
76
So, Perfessor, I gotta ask...which edition of DDG is that...?
Posted by: Brother Tim sez at May 14, 2023 09:43 AM (tjZop)
---
DDG? Are you referring to Deities and Demigods? If so, it's the one that doesn't have the Cthulhu Mythos in it...
Posted by: Brother Tim sez at May 14, 2023 09:43 AM (tjZop)
---
DDG? Are you referring to Deities and Demigods? If so, it's the one that doesn't have the Cthulhu Mythos in it...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 09:46 AM (BpYfr)
77
With a few unusual intervals, I've always had one or two feline thugs in my library.
---
"It would be a shame if these books were to be shoved off the shelf..."
*puffs hand-rolled catnip cigarillo*
---
"It would be a shame if these books were to be shoved off the shelf..."
*puffs hand-rolled catnip cigarillo*
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 14, 2023 09:46 AM (+RQPJ)
78
Every library ought to have a cat
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023
***
With a few unusual intervals, I've always had one or two feline thugs in my library.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:44 AM (omVj0)
---
I've got one kitty permanently installed in my library because she doesn't really get along with the other kitties.
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023
***
With a few unusual intervals, I've always had one or two feline thugs in my library.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:44 AM (omVj0)
---
I've got one kitty permanently installed in my library because she doesn't really get along with the other kitties.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 09:47 AM (BpYfr)
79
Secondarily reading The Shipping News by Annie Proulx (prose is unique and original; plot is a little draggy) . . .
Posted by: Erika at May 14, 2023
***
There is a short "story" by Proulx in one of her collections that has only *three* sentences. It will make you jump.
Posted by: Erika at May 14, 2023
***
There is a short "story" by Proulx in one of her collections that has only *three* sentences. It will make you jump.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:47 AM (omVj0)
80
A very good and enlightening book on civilian life in the III Reich is Innocence Lost.
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023 09:47 AM (h2qM+)
81
And Happy Mother's Day!
Best literary mother, hmmmm. Scarlett's mother, in Gone with the Wind comes to mind. She isn't seen much, and dies early on, but she is a force that Scarlett can't seem to measure up to, try as she might.
Best literary mother, hmmmm. Scarlett's mother, in Gone with the Wind comes to mind. She isn't seen much, and dies early on, but she is a force that Scarlett can't seem to measure up to, try as she might.
Posted by: Moki at May 14, 2023 09:47 AM (JrN/x)
82
I've just started reading Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington. He seems to lack rage so I'm surprised the book hasn't been canceled.
Posted by: That Northern skulker at May 14, 2023 09:49 AM (eGTCV)
83
There is a short "story" by Proulx in one of her collections that has only *three* sentences. It will make you jump.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023
***
The short is called "55 Miles to the Gas Pump." Yeah, three sentences.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023
***
The short is called "55 Miles to the Gas Pump." Yeah, three sentences.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:49 AM (omVj0)
84
That TBR acronym better not stand for "To Be Returned," joy boy. The parties over. Before you ask what's my problem, I'll tell you, it's punks like all of you who don't return books to the library.
Posted by: Lt Joe Bookman at May 14, 2023 09:45 AM (enJYY)
That could be a fun noir book, just sayin
That TBR acronym better not stand for "To Be Returned," joy boy. The parties over. Before you ask what's my problem, I'll tell you, it's punks like all of you who don't return books to the library.
Posted by: Lt Joe Bookman at May 14, 2023 09:45 AM (enJYY)
That could be a fun noir book, just sayin
Posted by: Moki at May 14, 2023 09:49 AM (JrN/x)
85
My local library had their book sale yesterday, and I managed to find two prizes among the Clive Cusslers and Toni Morrisons.
The first was Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana. So many Morons have recommended this one I am looking forward to starting it.
The second is an odd book called Balzac's Mysteries, a compilation of three stories -- two novellas and a short story -- about crime and mysterious secrets by Honore de Balzac. Since he was writing before Poe got around to inventing the mystery genre, these aren't typical "detective solves a crime" stories. Which makes it weird that a mystery publisher decided to bring out this volume as part of a series of mystery anthologies. Well, I won't complain.
The first was Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana. So many Morons have recommended this one I am looking forward to starting it.
The second is an odd book called Balzac's Mysteries, a compilation of three stories -- two novellas and a short story -- about crime and mysterious secrets by Honore de Balzac. Since he was writing before Poe got around to inventing the mystery genre, these aren't typical "detective solves a crime" stories. Which makes it weird that a mystery publisher decided to bring out this volume as part of a series of mystery anthologies. Well, I won't complain.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 09:49 AM (QZxDR)
86
White, or Apple Cider ?
Posted by: JT at May 14, 2023 09:46 AM
Since Aldi's only carry White, that's what we use for all our general cleaning.
White, or Apple Cider ?
Posted by: JT at May 14, 2023 09:46 AM
Since Aldi's only carry White, that's what we use for all our general cleaning.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at May 14, 2023 09:50 AM (enJYY)
87
I'm currently reading Niven and Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye. Robert Heinlein said it was "possibly the finest science-fiction novel I have ever read." I'm not that enamored with it (I'm about 20% into it), but I can see why he would like it -- it's very "Heinleinesque."
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes
***
Niven has said that he and Pournelle swore they would write the SF novel they themselves wanted to read when they were 12. This does not mean that it's a young adult novel or is only for kids.
Heinlein reportedly volunteered to do a complete line-editing job on the manuscript.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes
***
Niven has said that he and Pournelle swore they would write the SF novel they themselves wanted to read when they were 12. This does not mean that it's a young adult novel or is only for kids.
Heinlein reportedly volunteered to do a complete line-editing job on the manuscript.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:51 AM (omVj0)
88
The short is called "55 Miles to the Gas Pump." Yeah, three sentences.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
Jackson Browne did it in three words. Running On Empty.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
Jackson Browne did it in three words. Running On Empty.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 09:51 AM (FVME7)
89
Happy Mother's Day to the Horde mamas, Meemaws, Nanas, etc.!
On the plane to and from LA I started rereading The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (first book of a trilogy set in medieval Rus, heavily influenced by Russian folklore and fairy tales). The first time I read this series I tore through it quickly to see what happened, now I'm savoring it a little more.
Other than that, I'm working through The 36 Hour Day. Highly recommended if you have a loved one with dementia.
On the plane to and from LA I started rereading The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (first book of a trilogy set in medieval Rus, heavily influenced by Russian folklore and fairy tales). The first time I read this series I tore through it quickly to see what happened, now I'm savoring it a little more.
Other than that, I'm working through The 36 Hour Day. Highly recommended if you have a loved one with dementia.
Posted by: screaming in digital at May 14, 2023 09:52 AM (aBJcM)
90
Piper
I gave a virgin lamb's wool duster to two friends of mine at their wedding.
She used it to clean the blinds. Sacra-bleu!!
I gave a virgin lamb's wool duster to two friends of mine at their wedding.
She used it to clean the blinds. Sacra-bleu!!
Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at May 14, 2023 09:52 AM (u82oZ)
91
"A Mencken Chrestomathy" ($0.25 public library discard paperback; 625pp) HLM is regarded as a humorist, and maybe he is, or was, funny to a lot of people. Comedy is hard, and some of it does not age well. I can get a laff out of a Bennett Cerf, but a prick like Algonquin Round Table Alexander Wolcott leaves me cold. From a PJ O'Rourke, we could get savagery, but many truths too. From HLM, we get black bile, few truths, and no real wit. The guy clearly hates both God and Man, and loves Official Science, we get that. (Think David Cross, but with a circa 1920s vocabulary and cultural references.)
There's a place in my heart for cynicism and skepticism, but this is mere repulsive snobbery. Maybe it's all just shtick; EK Hornbeck - ooops I meant HL Mencken - wrote a lot of these essays for "Smart Set" Magazine, so maybe he knew his audience was wowed by down-the-nose Universal Sneering. OTOH, I heard tell that his turn of the century beat reporting WAS valuable; if it ever shows up in the public library trash bin, maybe I'll fish it out.
There's a place in my heart for cynicism and skepticism, but this is mere repulsive snobbery. Maybe it's all just shtick; EK Hornbeck - ooops I meant HL Mencken - wrote a lot of these essays for "Smart Set" Magazine, so maybe he knew his audience was wowed by down-the-nose Universal Sneering. OTOH, I heard tell that his turn of the century beat reporting WAS valuable; if it ever shows up in the public library trash bin, maybe I'll fish it out.
Posted by: gp at May 14, 2023 09:52 AM (MvF+J)
92
Add me to the list of those with a long TBR list that continues to grow.
I went online to buy ONE book whose cover I saw on the bookscans site. (Thank you, whoever recommended that!) Wound up buying four -- and then ordered another from the library.
I nearly bought five but realized in time that I already owned that particular Perry Mason mystery.
I went online to buy ONE book whose cover I saw on the bookscans site. (Thank you, whoever recommended that!) Wound up buying four -- and then ordered another from the library.
I nearly bought five but realized in time that I already owned that particular Perry Mason mystery.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 14, 2023 09:53 AM (zONs0)
93
50 ... "Physical book question - I have a number of very old volumes that have some mold on the edges and covers. Any suggestions how to remove gently? These are not rare or valuable books, I just want to clean them up a bit."
Please check this for accuracy, but I have a dim memory to freeze the book in question then lightly wipe the moldy areas with hydrogen peroxide.
In earlier (better) days, I would refer you to your local library. They often had someone on staff to do book repairs. Alas, I fear those days are long behind us.
Please check this for accuracy, but I have a dim memory to freeze the book in question then lightly wipe the moldy areas with hydrogen peroxide.
In earlier (better) days, I would refer you to your local library. They often had someone on staff to do book repairs. Alas, I fear those days are long behind us.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 09:53 AM (7EjX1)
94
. . . Davies' trilogies tend to be linked by common characters and have an overall thematic concern, but aren't usually tightly linked plot wise at all.
Speaking of Ruth Rendell, has anyone read her "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me"?
I thought that was a pretty nifty, little thriller. It's from back in the 90s, I think.
Give it a whirl.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 14, 2023
***
I read Murther some years ago, but have forgotten how it works out. HIs storytelling keeps me coming back. Yes, I think I've read Rendell's Adam and Eve and Pinch Me -- she is another one of those people who are compulsively readable. When you bring home a bunch of interesting books from the library, you always want to start right in with hers first.
Speaking of Ruth Rendell, has anyone read her "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me"?
I thought that was a pretty nifty, little thriller. It's from back in the 90s, I think.
Give it a whirl.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 14, 2023
***
I read Murther some years ago, but have forgotten how it works out. HIs storytelling keeps me coming back. Yes, I think I've read Rendell's Adam and Eve and Pinch Me -- she is another one of those people who are compulsively readable. When you bring home a bunch of interesting books from the library, you always want to start right in with hers first.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:54 AM (omVj0)
95
Does anybody here know whether Tolkien ever wrote about his mother?
Posted by: Muldoon at May 14, 2023 09:31 AM (kXYt5)
Kind of.
JRR Tolkien loved his Mom
A small woman from Viet Nam
He never gave her a slighting
She even helped with his writing
When she said, "This guy, Tom Adil's, the Bomb!"
And now you know the rest of the story...
Posted by: Muldoon at May 14, 2023 09:31 AM (kXYt5)
Kind of.
JRR Tolkien loved his Mom
A small woman from Viet Nam
He never gave her a slighting
She even helped with his writing
When she said, "This guy, Tom Adil's, the Bomb!"
And now you know the rest of the story...
Posted by: naturalfake at May 14, 2023 09:54 AM (RJQ8g)
96
TN has Derek from the Vice Grip Garage YT channel.
WV has Summit Bechtel Scout Reservation (about to be absolutely swamped with youth in anfew months!)
Both are places I'd consider if I could find a good job there, or if the Dallas/Austin/Houston idiots succeed in ruining my Texas.
WV has Summit Bechtel Scout Reservation (about to be absolutely swamped with youth in anfew months!)
Both are places I'd consider if I could find a good job there, or if the Dallas/Austin/Houston idiots succeed in ruining my Texas.
Posted by: reason at May 14, 2023 09:55 AM (Fc++1)
97
Physical book question - I have a number of very old volumes that have some mold on the edges and covers. Any suggestions how to remove gently? These are not rare or valuable books, I just want to clean them up a bit.
Posted by: Tonypete
---
advice from a library preservation expert:
https://bit.ly/3Mnj5dY
https://bit.ly/3M0aoVz
Posted by: Tonypete
---
advice from a library preservation expert:
https://bit.ly/3Mnj5dY
https://bit.ly/3M0aoVz
Posted by: screaming in digital at May 14, 2023 09:56 AM (aBJcM)
98
Dust those shelves!
-Perfesser's mom
-Perfesser's mom
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 14, 2023 09:57 AM (EZebt)
99
I nearly bought five but realized in time that I already owned that particular Perry Mason mystery.
Posted by: Weak Geek
Hi. I'm Anonosaurus Wrecks and I'm a book buyer aholic.
Posted by: Weak Geek
Hi. I'm Anonosaurus Wrecks and I'm a book buyer aholic.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 09:59 AM (FVME7)
100
Comedy is hard, and some of it does not age well. I can get a laff out of a Bennett Cerf, but a prick like Algonquin Round Table Alexander Wolcott leaves me cold.
I have several Cerf collections and always enjoy them, although when he veers away from joke-telling to short bios of his friends and clients, his East coast snobbery shines through (the one about Heywood Broun is a particular example). To be fair, although one of his writers was Woolcott, Cerf does deconstruct him for the prissy, pissy, pompous popinjay he really was.
If you've never read any H. Allen Smith, you should. His humor is dated, but funny. Try Life in a Putty Knife Factory for a start.
I have several Cerf collections and always enjoy them, although when he veers away from joke-telling to short bios of his friends and clients, his East coast snobbery shines through (the one about Heywood Broun is a particular example). To be fair, although one of his writers was Woolcott, Cerf does deconstruct him for the prissy, pissy, pompous popinjay he really was.
If you've never read any H. Allen Smith, you should. His humor is dated, but funny. Try Life in a Putty Knife Factory for a start.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 10:00 AM (AW0uW)
101
I seem to remember a story about Lincoln as a boy. His stepmother had white washed the walls and he had put muddy footprints on the ceiling. She laughed instead of raising hell.
I may be hallucinating again.
I may be hallucinating again.
Posted by: weirdflunky at May 14, 2023 10:00 AM (cknjq)
102
If we will include non-positive portraits of mothers . . . there's Mrs. White, Carrie's mother, in Carrie. And Johnny Smith's mother, though she loves him, does lose her mind during the course of The Dead Zone, and that's a startling character portrait.
Heinlein's Hazel Stone, the grandmother to the Stone children in The Rolling Stones, is a wonderful character, though, and she pops up again in other places in his work.
Heinlein's Hazel Stone, the grandmother to the Stone children in The Rolling Stones, is a wonderful character, though, and she pops up again in other places in his work.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 10:00 AM (omVj0)
103
Reading Martin Cruz Smith's latest "Independence Square". It's his 10th novel with detective Arkady Renko.
I haven't finished it, but I expect to enjoy it as much as the the previous 9.
Renko has developed early symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Sadly, Smith has Parkinson's, so the book is semi-autobiographical.
I hope Smith continues to write his fine novels for many more years.
Reading Martin Cruz Smith's latest "Independence Square". It's his 10th novel with detective Arkady Renko.
I haven't finished it, but I expect to enjoy it as much as the the previous 9.
Renko has developed early symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Sadly, Smith has Parkinson's, so the book is semi-autobiographical.
I hope Smith continues to write his fine novels for many more years.
Posted by: Frankly at May 14, 2023 10:00 AM (Z+wfw)
104
I read two halves of two Ace Doubles books out of my library.
A. Bertram Chandler wrote The Ship from Outside (pretty good) and The Dark Dimensions (dreadful).
A. Bertram Chandler wrote The Ship from Outside (pretty good) and The Dark Dimensions (dreadful).
Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at May 14, 2023 10:01 AM (u82oZ)
105
I suppose the title character of Sarah, Plain and Tall would be an example of a good stepmother. I think I've come across others, but they're definitely in the minority.
=====
I immediately throught of Marilla from Anne of Green Gables.
=====
I immediately throught of Marilla from Anne of Green Gables.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 10:02 AM (MIKMs)
106
Mencken's chief value for me is his contrarianism. We get such hagiographies of the Roosevelts, of Wilson, of the "great thinkers" like Dewey and Vebelen, and Mencken's takedowns of all of them are funny and necessary.
Where he does indeed get grating is his disdain for business and the tastes of ordinary people.
At times he slides into the same sin I notice in Chesterton: assuming that all the people you disagree with must be In It Together somehow. Chesterton lumped Jews, occult nut-cults, fundamentalist Protestants, and Communists together. Mencken does the same with small-town boosterism, bossy Progressivism, fundamentalist bluenoses, and religion in general.
As a strong contrarian myself, I think I can understand the impulse, but yes, at times it gets tiresome.
Where he does indeed get grating is his disdain for business and the tastes of ordinary people.
At times he slides into the same sin I notice in Chesterton: assuming that all the people you disagree with must be In It Together somehow. Chesterton lumped Jews, occult nut-cults, fundamentalist Protestants, and Communists together. Mencken does the same with small-town boosterism, bossy Progressivism, fundamentalist bluenoses, and religion in general.
As a strong contrarian myself, I think I can understand the impulse, but yes, at times it gets tiresome.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 10:03 AM (QZxDR)
107
There is a short "story" by Proulx in one of her collections that has only *three* sentences. It will make you jump.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:47 AM (omVj0)
So, Proulx wasn't prolix?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 09:47 AM (omVj0)
So, Proulx wasn't prolix?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023 10:04 AM (Angsy)
108
To be fair, although one of his writers was Woolcott, Cerf does deconstruct him for the prissy, pissy, pompous popinjay he really was.
If you've never read any H. Allen Smith, you should. His humor is dated, but funny. Try Life in a Putty Knife Factory for a start.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023
***
One of Smith's lines has always stuck with me: ". . . the mustard seed that serves me for a conscience . . ." And he may have created the phrase "Low man on the totem pole" as the title of one of his essay collections. He also wrote a couple of novels, including Rhubarb, a story about a cat who inherits a baseball team.
As for Woollcott, yes, he was one of the longest-winded writers in history. But his affectionate portrait of Dorothy Parker in While Rome Burns made me feel as though I really knew her.
If you've never read any H. Allen Smith, you should. His humor is dated, but funny. Try Life in a Putty Knife Factory for a start.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023
***
One of Smith's lines has always stuck with me: ". . . the mustard seed that serves me for a conscience . . ." And he may have created the phrase "Low man on the totem pole" as the title of one of his essay collections. He also wrote a couple of novels, including Rhubarb, a story about a cat who inherits a baseball team.
As for Woollcott, yes, he was one of the longest-winded writers in history. But his affectionate portrait of Dorothy Parker in While Rome Burns made me feel as though I really knew her.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 10:04 AM (omVj0)
109
For SF Moms, it is tough to beat Cordelia Naismith from the Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Never go shopping with her.
Never go shopping with her.
Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at May 14, 2023 10:05 AM (u82oZ)
110
I finished reading Larry Niven's Ringworld Engineers, which I first read in high school. It is the follow up book to Ringworld, and attempts to "fix" the physics plot holes in that book. (The Ringworld is inherently unstable)
Luis Wu and the Kzin, Speaker to Animals (now earned a name, Chmee, from the Patriarch of Kzin) are kidnapped by the deposed Hindmost of the Pierson Puppeteers to return to the Ringworld to find the secret of transmutation to earn him reinstatement as leader of his species again. Luis and Chmee doubt that the ex-Hindmost will honor his promise to return them, and they split their time between conning the Hindmost, looking for escape and trying to save an orbital structure with the mass of a planetary system that has developed a fatal wobble. And worry about Pak Protectors.
I forget how much more fun Niven is than most of the modern writers. He is very much an Analog "puzzle piece" and technical solution writer, and how incredibly optimistic and GRAND his solutions are. Who but Niven would write about developing an orbital magnetic iinduction system to create and excite corona mass ejection flares into acting like a gas laser a million miles long?
Luis Wu and the Kzin, Speaker to Animals (now earned a name, Chmee, from the Patriarch of Kzin) are kidnapped by the deposed Hindmost of the Pierson Puppeteers to return to the Ringworld to find the secret of transmutation to earn him reinstatement as leader of his species again. Luis and Chmee doubt that the ex-Hindmost will honor his promise to return them, and they split their time between conning the Hindmost, looking for escape and trying to save an orbital structure with the mass of a planetary system that has developed a fatal wobble. And worry about Pak Protectors.
I forget how much more fun Niven is than most of the modern writers. He is very much an Analog "puzzle piece" and technical solution writer, and how incredibly optimistic and GRAND his solutions are. Who but Niven would write about developing an orbital magnetic iinduction system to create and excite corona mass ejection flares into acting like a gas laser a million miles long?
Posted by: Kindltot at May 14, 2023 10:05 AM (xhaym)
111
Wolfus, I believe it. I look forward to reading her story collections - several are on my TBR shelf. She is a genius with putting words together. I sent this clip from the Shipping News to my college kids because it tickled me so:
“The devil had long ago taken a shine to Tert Card, filled him like a cream horn with itch and irritation. Face like cottage cheese clawed with a fork.”
Don’t have it in front of me so it might not be a perfect rendering but the obvious wonderful phrases are just the way she wrote and I memorized them. And I love how the gossip column in the local newspaper is called Scruncheons. What a delightful word.
“The devil had long ago taken a shine to Tert Card, filled him like a cream horn with itch and irritation. Face like cottage cheese clawed with a fork.”
Don’t have it in front of me so it might not be a perfect rendering but the obvious wonderful phrases are just the way she wrote and I memorized them. And I love how the gossip column in the local newspaper is called Scruncheons. What a delightful word.
Posted by: Erika at May 14, 2023 10:06 AM (lcPKM)
112
So, Proulx wasn't prolix?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023
***
Not really! I can't recall if I read the novella of "Brokeback Mountain.". But if I did, it was not a long read or a slog.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023
***
Not really! I can't recall if I read the novella of "Brokeback Mountain.". But if I did, it was not a long read or a slog.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 10:06 AM (omVj0)
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at May 14, 2023 10:06 AM (jYCXf)
114
Don't forget Marmie from "Little Women"
Posted by: Tuna at May 14, 2023 10:07 AM (gLRfa)
115
Uhhh, Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo? Yokohama? to open Japan to the West....may have been a mistake.
Posted by: BignJames at May 14, 2023 09:29 AM (AwYPR)
---
His way lit at night by the Sailor Moon.
Posted by: BignJames at May 14, 2023 09:29 AM (AwYPR)
---
His way lit at night by the Sailor Moon.
Posted by: reason at May 14, 2023 10:07 AM (Fc++1)
116
Why does David French use George Gershwin as his nom de plume? Some weird part of the cuck fetish, I guess?
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 14, 2023 09:14 AM (oINRc)
---
If French was ever involved in a scenario like that, he would have been in the role of the hobo.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at May 14, 2023 09:14 AM (oINRc)
---
If French was ever involved in a scenario like that, he would have been in the role of the hobo.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:08 AM (llXky)
117
In honor of Mother's Day, an affirmation of one of my favorites:
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson.
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 10:08 AM (MIKMs)
118
Good morning book lovers.
I've been waiting for A.H. Lloyd to arrive so I can report on the very enjoyable time I had reading his The Vampires of Michigan. It is a fun read and does justice to the genre which I read a lot but I was left at the end wanting more. So, here is my suggestion. I think you need to write a sequel with Malcolm as the main character. I thought he was the sexiest vampire (leather clad, motorcycle riding, gun toting, mysterious)and needs a back story and more play. He could go after JJ who is still at large. Zip could also be resurrected. And the count is awake so we could get some history about how a French vampire ended up in Michigan.
As you can see, the book provoked a lot of thought. I would challenge other paranormal readers here to read and see if they agree.
I've been waiting for A.H. Lloyd to arrive so I can report on the very enjoyable time I had reading his The Vampires of Michigan. It is a fun read and does justice to the genre which I read a lot but I was left at the end wanting more. So, here is my suggestion. I think you need to write a sequel with Malcolm as the main character. I thought he was the sexiest vampire (leather clad, motorcycle riding, gun toting, mysterious)and needs a back story and more play. He could go after JJ who is still at large. Zip could also be resurrected. And the count is awake so we could get some history about how a French vampire ended up in Michigan.
As you can see, the book provoked a lot of thought. I would challenge other paranormal readers here to read and see if they agree.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 14, 2023 10:09 AM (Y+l9t)
119
>>> 77 With a few unusual intervals, I've always had one or two feline thugs in my library.
---
"It would be a shame if these books were to be shoved off the shelf..."
*puffs hand-rolled catnip cigarillo*
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 14, 2023 09:46 AM (+RQPJ)
Don't be silly, cats test gravity to make sure it's still working properly.
https://is.gd/mEMPFD
---
"It would be a shame if these books were to be shoved off the shelf..."
*puffs hand-rolled catnip cigarillo*
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 14, 2023 09:46 AM (+RQPJ)
Don't be silly, cats test gravity to make sure it's still working properly.
https://is.gd/mEMPFD
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at May 14, 2023 10:09 AM (llON8)
120
I get the impression that Alexander Woolcott was a lot more fun in person. His writing (what I've read, anyway) is kind of superficial. But he knew pretty much everybody and they liked him, and he did a one-man stage show which was basically just him jabbering about whatever he wanted to, and audiences kept coming.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 10:10 AM (QZxDR)
121
I'm rereading Terry Southern again.
His short novel, "The Magic Christian" is his best. A work of genius and surprisingly relevant today, even if somewhat dated.
Currently, rereading his short novel, "Candy", a much lesser book with some very funny scenes. It seems written mostly to "shock the squares".
Probably, "Blue Movie" will be next.
Southern's crisp, clever writing and short, episodic novels, have me thinking I may need to reread Richard Brautigan next.
I'm rereading Terry Southern again.
His short novel, "The Magic Christian" is his best. A work of genius and surprisingly relevant today, even if somewhat dated.
Currently, rereading his short novel, "Candy", a much lesser book with some very funny scenes. It seems written mostly to "shock the squares".
Probably, "Blue Movie" will be next.
Southern's crisp, clever writing and short, episodic novels, have me thinking I may need to reread Richard Brautigan next.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 14, 2023 10:10 AM (RJQ8g)
122
Somebody mentioned Balzac, above. Read some of his in high school (French class, cheated and read English translation), remembered liking, should revisit.
Bennett Cerf. During same high school period mentioned above, spent many hours cutting classes and hiding out in town library across the street reading Cerf humor anthologies. And old Punch magazines.
It's a beautiful day, and the chainsaw tune up parts kit came yesterday. Time to go play with that rather than do something more productive.
Bennett Cerf. During same high school period mentioned above, spent many hours cutting classes and hiding out in town library across the street reading Cerf humor anthologies. And old Punch magazines.
It's a beautiful day, and the chainsaw tune up parts kit came yesterday. Time to go play with that rather than do something more productive.
Posted by: From about That Time at May 14, 2023 10:10 AM (4780s)
123
In honor of Mother's Day, an affirmation of one of my favorites:
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023
***
Oh yes -- and its sequel, Raising Demons. There is one episode in one of the two books, involving everyone in the family one night changing beds or places to sleep, that is a marvel of storytelling.
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023
***
Oh yes -- and its sequel, Raising Demons. There is one episode in one of the two books, involving everyone in the family one night changing beds or places to sleep, that is a marvel of storytelling.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 10:11 AM (omVj0)
124
Where he does indeed get grating is his disdain for business and the tastes of ordinary people.
At times he slides into the same sin I notice in Chesterton: assuming that all the people you disagree with must be In It Together somehow. Chesterton lumped Jews, occult nut-cults, fundamentalist Protestants, and Communists together. Mencken does the same with small-town boosterism, bossy Progressivism, fundamentalist bluenoses, and religion in general.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 10:03 AM (QZxDR)
---
An interesting contrast is the way Chesterton and folks like Lewis and Tolkien valorize the common person and instead dump their scorn on the elites who would rule them while despising their ways.
Mencken has it both ways - he snipes at the upper crust, but also hates the hoi polloi. Hunter S. Thompson - who consciously emulated Mencken - did exactly the same thing.
At times he slides into the same sin I notice in Chesterton: assuming that all the people you disagree with must be In It Together somehow. Chesterton lumped Jews, occult nut-cults, fundamentalist Protestants, and Communists together. Mencken does the same with small-town boosterism, bossy Progressivism, fundamentalist bluenoses, and religion in general.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 10:03 AM (QZxDR)
---
An interesting contrast is the way Chesterton and folks like Lewis and Tolkien valorize the common person and instead dump their scorn on the elites who would rule them while despising their ways.
Mencken has it both ways - he snipes at the upper crust, but also hates the hoi polloi. Hunter S. Thompson - who consciously emulated Mencken - did exactly the same thing.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:12 AM (llXky)
125
I seem to remember a story about Lincoln as a boy. His stepmother had white washed the walls and he had put muddy footprints on the ceiling. She laughed instead of raising hell.
-
Lincoln referred to his stepmother as his Angel Mother. You're never going to get a good fairy tale out of that.
-
Lincoln referred to his stepmother as his Angel Mother. You're never going to get a good fairy tale out of that.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 10:14 AM (FVME7)
126
I get the impression that Alexander Woolcott was a lot more fun in person. His writing (what I've read, anyway) is kind of superficial. But he knew pretty much everybody and they liked him, and he did a one-man stage show which was basically just him jabbering about whatever he wanted to, and audiences kept coming.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023
***
He may not have been the first to do it, but he named his New York apartment "Wit's End," so he and others could say when they were there, "I was at Wit's End."
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023
***
He may not have been the first to do it, but he named his New York apartment "Wit's End," so he and others could say when they were there, "I was at Wit's End."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 10:14 AM (omVj0)
127
Finally, some women can serve as a surrogate mother to entire nations. Queen Galadriel from Lord of the Rings exhibits many motherly traits towards those under her protection. The Elves revere her not only as their Queen but as a mother of sorts to their entire race, even though I don't think she had many true children of her own.
---
For Tolkien, childlessness was the sign of decline, where as having many children showed a love of life. Thus, the first generation of the Elves all had many children, but as time passed, few continued to do so.
Galadriel's only child was Celebrian, who married Elrond and bore him twin boys (erased from Jackson's useless films) and Arwen.
---
For Tolkien, childlessness was the sign of decline, where as having many children showed a love of life. Thus, the first generation of the Elves all had many children, but as time passed, few continued to do so.
Galadriel's only child was Celebrian, who married Elrond and bore him twin boys (erased from Jackson's useless films) and Arwen.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:15 AM (llXky)
128
Gonna sit out on the porch with "Dilettante" and Kevin Wilson's "Now is Not the Time to Panic".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 14, 2023 10:15 AM (+RQPJ)
129
Oooh, the dust on that bookshelf is triggereing! At least wipe it down to the edge of the books...
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 14, 2023 10:16 AM (Lhaco)
130
From my latter childhood with a rueful acknowledgement that modern Greenies don't have the warnings from Mom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDkiq5jD5Hc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDkiq5jD5Hc
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 10:16 AM (MIKMs)
131
Reading this week? Finally buckling down to read all three brick-thick volumes of Shelby Foote's Civil War history. Alternating with some on-line histories of Mary Bickerdyke's service as a hospital nurse and administrator. I do like how Foote draws wonderful brief biographies of the many people that he writes about. I am doing all this as part of the research for my own half-written novel about the Civil War. Which has been on the back-burner for several years, but never mind, I've had half-written stories before, and came back and finished them years after the first half was written.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at May 14, 2023 10:17 AM (xnmPy)
132
Niven has said that he and Pournelle swore they would write the SF novel they themselves wanted to read when they were 12. This does not mean that it's a young adult novel or is only for kids.
Heinlein reportedly volunteered to do a complete line-editing job on the manuscript.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
"Mote" is fantastic, as are the other two books they wrote together that I've read (there may be more they co-authored - I just haven't read them): "Lucifer's Hammer" (comet hits the Earth, ending civilization) and "Inferno" (sci-fi writer dies and goes to Hell and experiences it as Dante did in his version). I imagine Niven and Pournelle had the same purpose in mind: write an end of the world story that they'd like to read, as well as a mystical adventure through the underworld they'd enjoy. They succeeded with both.
Heinlein reportedly volunteered to do a complete line-editing job on the manuscript.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
"Mote" is fantastic, as are the other two books they wrote together that I've read (there may be more they co-authored - I just haven't read them): "Lucifer's Hammer" (comet hits the Earth, ending civilization) and "Inferno" (sci-fi writer dies and goes to Hell and experiences it as Dante did in his version). I imagine Niven and Pournelle had the same purpose in mind: write an end of the world story that they'd like to read, as well as a mystical adventure through the underworld they'd enjoy. They succeeded with both.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 10:17 AM (K9Eal)
133
The reading this week has consisted of revisiting some Dennis Lehane -- Mystic River, The Drop, and his short story collection Coronado; also read his new one, Small Mercies.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 14, 2023 10:19 AM (a/4+U)
134
I forget how much more fun Niven is than most of the modern writers. He is very much an Analog "puzzle piece" and technical solution writer, and how incredibly optimistic and GRAND his solutions are. Who but Niven would write about developing an orbital magnetic iinduction system to create and excite corona mass ejection flares into acting like a gas laser a million miles long?
Posted by: Kindltot at May 14, 2023
***
Plus, in his early work, there is considerable humor. Louis Wu twits Speaker more than a few times; there are planets called Jinx and We Made It; and his early hero, Beowulf Shaeffer, often makes smart remarks worthy of Rex Stout's Archie Goodwin. (I met Niven at a con once and asked, and yes, he did grow up reading the Nero Wolfe stories.)
Posted by: Kindltot at May 14, 2023
***
Plus, in his early work, there is considerable humor. Louis Wu twits Speaker more than a few times; there are planets called Jinx and We Made It; and his early hero, Beowulf Shaeffer, often makes smart remarks worthy of Rex Stout's Archie Goodwin. (I met Niven at a con once and asked, and yes, he did grow up reading the Nero Wolfe stories.)
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 10:19 AM (omVj0)
135
I think you need to write a sequel with Malcolm as the main character. I thought he was the sexiest vampire (leather clad, motorcycle riding, gun toting, mysterious)and needs a back story and more play. He could go after JJ who is still at large. Zip could also be resurrected. And the count is awake so we could get some history about how a French vampire ended up in Michigan.
As you can see, the book provoked a lot of thought. I would challenge other paranormal readers here to read and see if they agree.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 14, 2023 10:09 AM (Y+l9t)
---
Glad you liked it. I had a lot of fun writing it, and continuing the series is often on my mind. Yes, the Count offers some interesting opportunties, and the reason J.J. survived (I originally planned to kill him) was so that I could torment him further (he's based on a boss I used to have).
Zip's dead. I don't like it when characters come back from the dead, because I think it breaks the world.
(Note: Gandalf was not seen to have died, he just vanished from sight and was presumed dead, which is different.)
As you can see, the book provoked a lot of thought. I would challenge other paranormal readers here to read and see if they agree.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 14, 2023 10:09 AM (Y+l9t)
---
Glad you liked it. I had a lot of fun writing it, and continuing the series is often on my mind. Yes, the Count offers some interesting opportunties, and the reason J.J. survived (I originally planned to kill him) was so that I could torment him further (he's based on a boss I used to have).
Zip's dead. I don't like it when characters come back from the dead, because I think it breaks the world.
(Note: Gandalf was not seen to have died, he just vanished from sight and was presumed dead, which is different.)
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:20 AM (llXky)
136
I'm rereading Terry Southern again.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 14, 2023 10:10 AM (RJQ8g)
Found Red Dirt Marijuana in a pile of my grandfather's reads. He had a lot of time on shift, so spent time reading. I don't remember if I liked it. Might not have it anymore.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 14, 2023 10:10 AM (RJQ8g)
Found Red Dirt Marijuana in a pile of my grandfather's reads. He had a lot of time on shift, so spent time reading. I don't remember if I liked it. Might not have it anymore.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023 10:21 AM (Angsy)
137
101 ... "I seem to remember a story about Lincoln as a boy. His stepmother had white washed the walls and he had put muddy footprints on the ceiling. She laughed instead of raising hell."
You're not hallucinating, although the memory is dim. I remember that story as well. Might have been early grade school. Ike was still in the White House.
You're not hallucinating, although the memory is dim. I remember that story as well. Might have been early grade school. Ike was still in the White House.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 10:21 AM (7EjX1)
138
I am doing all this as part of the research for my own half-written novel about the Civil War. Which has been on the back-burner for several years, but never mind, I've had half-written stories before, and came back and finished them years after the first half was written.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at May 14, 2023 10:17 AM (xnmPy)
I've managed to type up the first four chapters of my new Theda Bara novel and have sketched out the next one. I should write it today, but I think I will just sit out in the garden and smoke (which is better than going out to the local and getting smashed).
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at May 14, 2023 10:17 AM (xnmPy)
I've managed to type up the first four chapters of my new Theda Bara novel and have sketched out the next one. I should write it today, but I think I will just sit out in the garden and smoke (which is better than going out to the local and getting smashed).
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 10:21 AM (AW0uW)
139
"Mote" is fantastic, as are the other two books they wrote together that I've read (there may be more they co-authored - I just haven't read them): "Lucifer's Hammer" (comet hits the Earth, ending civilization) and "Inferno" (sci-fi writer dies and goes to Hell and experiences it as Dante did in his version). I imagine Niven and Pournelle had the same purpose in mind: write an end of the world story that they'd like to read, as well as a mystical adventure through the underworld they'd enjoy. They succeeded with both.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023
***
There is also Footfall, an alien invasion story; and with Steven Barnes, The Legacy of Heorot, in which colonists on an Earthlike world discover a ferocious life form that threatens their survival. You'd think a novel w/ 3 co-authors would be a mess. It's not.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023
***
There is also Footfall, an alien invasion story; and with Steven Barnes, The Legacy of Heorot, in which colonists on an Earthlike world discover a ferocious life form that threatens their survival. You'd think a novel w/ 3 co-authors would be a mess. It's not.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 10:22 AM (omVj0)
140
Years ago, I ran across a cool looking coffee-table book at my local bookshop. I didn't buy it at the time, because back then I had a limited budget and an even more limited bookshelf. Pretty soon, the book went out of print, but it still stuck with me. Once I moved, and had more room for books, I thought about that book again, and looked on-line to see if I could get it. Used version can be found, but for quite inflated prices. But I think I'm worn down to the point where biting the bullet and buying the book is better than constantly checking to see if there is a reasonably priced version.
...Has anyone else found themselves in that situation?
Also, besides the dust, its striking how much the selves in the top photo are deflecting. Since my bookshelves are loaded up just as heavily, that's why I want solid-wood shelves (even if I have to build them in my Dad's garage) rather than store-bought particle-board cheap shelves...
...Has anyone else found themselves in that situation?
Also, besides the dust, its striking how much the selves in the top photo are deflecting. Since my bookshelves are loaded up just as heavily, that's why I want solid-wood shelves (even if I have to build them in my Dad's garage) rather than store-bought particle-board cheap shelves...
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 14, 2023 10:24 AM (Lhaco)
141
If remember from Ken Burn's Civil War series ( last I watched of his btw) of Mary Bickerdyke Gen Sherman said
" She ranks me"
" She ranks me"
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023 10:24 AM (h2qM+)
142
I started my seventh Gibson book this week, Count Zero, the second book in the Sprawl Trilogy. Gibson apparently likes to write in threes. Only a little ways in and don't see any connection to Neuromancer yet except it seems to set in the same universe.I still laugh every time he references plugging "microsofts" into sockets behind one's ears to gain instant knowledge on subjects.
I'll report next week after I finish it.
I'll report next week after I finish it.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 14, 2023 10:25 AM (Y+l9t)
143
“55 Miles to the Gas Pump” by Annie Proulx. Rancher Croom in handmade boots and filthy hat, that walleyed cattleman, stray hairs like the curling fiddle string ends, that warm-handed, quick-foot dancer on splintery boards or down the cellar stairs to a rack of bottles of his own strange beer, yeasty, cloudy, bursting out in garlands of foam, Rancher Coom at night galloping drunk over the dark plain, turning off at a place he knows to arrive at a canyon brink where he dismounts and looks down on tumbled rock, waits, then steps out, parting the air with his last roar, sleeves surging up, windmill arms, jeans riding over boot tops, but before he hits he rises again to the top of the cliff like a cork in a bucket of milk. Mrs. Croom on the roof with a saw cutting a hole into the attic where she has not been for twelve years thanks to old Croom’s padlocks and warnings, whets to her desire, and the sweat flies as she exchanges the saw for a chisel and hammer until a ragged slab peak is free and she can see inside: just as she thought: the corpses of Mr. Croom’s paramours – she recognizes them from their photographs in the paper: MISSING WOMAN
1/2
1/2
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 10:26 AM (K9Eal)
144
Perfessor,
From the comments above I get the feeling that you'd better get those shelves dusted and submit a new photo as proof there of next week.
From the comments above I get the feeling that you'd better get those shelves dusted and submit a new photo as proof there of next week.
Posted by: Tuna at May 14, 2023 10:26 AM (gLRfa)
145
I'm still reading volume I of Max Saunders' definitive biography of Ford Madox Ford.
Right now I'm up to 1904, and the author is analyzing the effects of his collaboration with Joseph Conrad. His take (which I agree with) is that it's hard to say definitively who got what from it because they hung out in the same social circles, and things like themes, style, etc. are constantly under discussion.
Saunders thinks that Ford carried on an affair with his wife's older sister (who wanted to marry him all along) and learning of this may have precipitated his father-in-law's suicide (attributed to "melancholia" but also prussic acid).
I'm coming to see Ford as sort of a nasty piece of work, and his later social isolation is less mysterious.
Right now I'm up to 1904, and the author is analyzing the effects of his collaboration with Joseph Conrad. His take (which I agree with) is that it's hard to say definitively who got what from it because they hung out in the same social circles, and things like themes, style, etc. are constantly under discussion.
Saunders thinks that Ford carried on an affair with his wife's older sister (who wanted to marry him all along) and learning of this may have precipitated his father-in-law's suicide (attributed to "melancholia" but also prussic acid).
I'm coming to see Ford as sort of a nasty piece of work, and his later social isolation is less mysterious.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:26 AM (llXky)
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 14, 2023 10:26 AM (twjRB)
147
some desiccated as jerky and much the same color, some moldy from lying beneath roof leaks, and, all of them used hard, covered with tarry handprints, the marks of boot heels, some bright blue with remnants of paint used on the shutters years ago, one wrapped in newspaper nipple to knee. When you live a long way out you make your own fun.
2/2
"Two sentences." Yeah, two run-on sentences.
Interesting story, though.
2/2
"Two sentences." Yeah, two run-on sentences.
Interesting story, though.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 10:27 AM (K9Eal)
148
Jerry Pournelle wrote King David's Spaceship, which was both set in the universe of The Mote in God's Eye, and H. Beam Piper's Empire phase, with the consolidation after the Sword Worlds' period. It is a McGuffin story, but the McGuffin is not the solution it was supposed to be.
I really liked that book and I had hoped he would continue with that universe, but we only got more Motie books which I found to be depressing
I really liked that book and I had hoped he would continue with that universe, but we only got more Motie books which I found to be depressing
Posted by: Kindltot at May 14, 2023 10:27 AM (xhaym)
149
117 ... "In honor of Mother's Day, an affirmation of one of my favorites:
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson."
Agreed. And don't forget the sequel, "Raising Demons". It has the same humor and affectionate take on raising kids.
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson."
Agreed. And don't forget the sequel, "Raising Demons". It has the same humor and affectionate take on raising kids.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 10:27 AM (7EjX1)
150
Also, besides the dust, its striking how much the selves in the top photo are deflecting. Since my bookshelves are loaded up just as heavily, that's why I want solid-wood shelves (even if I have to build them in my Dad's garage) rather than store-bought particle-board cheap shelves...
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 14, 2023 10:24 AM (Lhaco)
Order shelving from Ace.com. I hear they're great.
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 14, 2023 10:24 AM (Lhaco)
Order shelving from Ace.com. I hear they're great.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023 10:27 AM (Angsy)
151
Richard Brautigan
“If I Should Die Before You Do
When you wake up from death,
you will find yourself in my arms,
and I will be kissing you,
and I will be crying.”
“If I Should Die Before You Do
When you wake up from death,
you will find yourself in my arms,
and I will be kissing you,
and I will be crying.”
Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 14, 2023 10:28 AM (u7leW)
152
Perfessor,
From the comments above I get the feeling that you'd better get those shelves dusted and submit a new photo as proof there of next week.
Posted by: Tuna at May 14, 2023 10:26 AM (gLRfa)
----
Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
From the comments above I get the feeling that you'd better get those shelves dusted and submit a new photo as proof there of next week.
Posted by: Tuna at May 14, 2023 10:26 AM (gLRfa)
----
Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 10:28 AM (BpYfr)
153
Why is the hobo drinking a bottle of ketchup?
Posted by: That Northern skulker at May 14, 2023 10:28 AM (eGTCV)
154
I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned Erma Bombeck's books, where she provides a humorous look at motherhood.
My mom had a few of those and I read them when I was a kid. Some of them were laugh out loud funny.
My mom had a few of those and I read them when I was a kid. Some of them were laugh out loud funny.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 10:30 AM (BpYfr)
155
"Two sentences." Yeah, two run-on sentences.
Interesting story, though.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 10:27 AM (K9Eal)
Seems prolix to me, after all.
Interesting story, though.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 10:27 AM (K9Eal)
Seems prolix to me, after all.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023 10:30 AM (Angsy)
Posted by: Tuna at May 14, 2023 10:30 AM (gLRfa)
157
Today it's appropriate to remember the childhood classic from P.D. Eastman: Are You My Mother?
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at May 14, 2023 10:30 AM (DhOHl)
158
"Two sentences." Yeah, two run-on sentences.
Interesting story, though.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023
***
The final one about "make your own fun" I count as a third. Yes, they are run-on sentences, but the phrasing makes them quite readable.
Interesting story, though.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023
***
The final one about "make your own fun" I count as a third. Yes, they are run-on sentences, but the phrasing makes them quite readable.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 10:31 AM (omVj0)
159
Why is the hobo drinking a bottle of ketchup?
Posted by: That Northern skulker at May 14, 2023 10:28 AM (eGTCV)
---
He's hungry. BTW, I think the naughty beat chick is wearing capri pants, not a skirt.
Posted by: That Northern skulker at May 14, 2023 10:28 AM (eGTCV)
---
He's hungry. BTW, I think the naughty beat chick is wearing capri pants, not a skirt.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:31 AM (llXky)
160
I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned Erma Bombeck's books, where she provides a humorous look at motherhood.
My mom had a few of those and I read them when I was a kid. Some of them were laugh out loud funny.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 10:30 AM (BpYfr)
I read all of those.
My mom had a few of those and I read them when I was a kid. Some of them were laugh out loud funny.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 10:30 AM (BpYfr)
I read all of those.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023 10:31 AM (Angsy)
161
You'd think a novel w/ 3 co-authors would be a mess. It's not.
=====
Fallen Angels. (A global cooling story.)
=====
Fallen Angels. (A global cooling story.)
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 10:32 AM (MIKMs)
162
Today it's appropriate to remember the childhood classic from P.D. Eastman: Are You My Mother?
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at May 14, 2023 10:30 AM (DhOHl)
---
Alas, the sequel - Are You My Daddy? - was quite controversial.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at May 14, 2023 10:30 AM (DhOHl)
---
Alas, the sequel - Are You My Daddy? - was quite controversial.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:32 AM (llXky)
163
...Has anyone else found themselves in that situation?
[ . . . ]
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 14, 2023 10:24 AM (Lhaco)
Twice I have passed up buying the Herbert and Lou Hoover translation of Agricola's De Re Metalica
stupid, stupid, stupid
[ . . . ]
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 14, 2023 10:24 AM (Lhaco)
Twice I have passed up buying the Herbert and Lou Hoover translation of Agricola's De Re Metalica
stupid, stupid, stupid
Posted by: Kindltot at May 14, 2023 10:33 AM (xhaym)
164
My thought was that they only said Zip was dead so he could disappear. That he was turned using Michelle's blood which seemed appropriate. Okay, so I let my imagination run wild. He was not my favorite character anyways.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 14, 2023 10:33 AM (Y+l9t)
165
Because of financial challenges I haven't bought a lot of new books lately and have been pulling books off my own shelves mostly classics published by either Heritage classics or The Folio Society.
Posted by: That Northern skulker at May 14, 2023 10:33 AM (eGTCV)
166
Yes, I have bought books, especially out of print ones, where I questioned my sanity. It's had for me to pay $60 for a book. If this book has haunted you that long, it's time to buy it.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 14, 2023 10:34 AM (u7leW)
167
I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned Erma Bombeck's books, where she provides a humorous look at motherhood.
My mom had a few of those and I read them when I was a kid. Some of them were laugh out loud funny.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 10:30 AM (BpYfr)
She was funny, though, IMO, her humor is dated and she got less funny towards the end of her life. I think I Lost It All in The Post-Natal Depression is probably her best.
My mom had a few of those and I read them when I was a kid. Some of them were laugh out loud funny.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 10:30 AM (BpYfr)
She was funny, though, IMO, her humor is dated and she got less funny towards the end of her life. I think I Lost It All in The Post-Natal Depression is probably her best.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 10:35 AM (AW0uW)
168
I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned Erma Bombeck's books, where she provides a humorous look at motherhood.
=====
A lot of us over29s remember those very fondly. Not in the same class as Jackson, but fun.
=====
A lot of us over29s remember those very fondly. Not in the same class as Jackson, but fun.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 10:36 AM (MIKMs)
169
Years ago I read Mencken's memoirs. They were better than his other work, at least in my opinion. There ar three volumes and as I remember, Newspaper Days is the best of the three.
Posted by: who knew at May 14, 2023 10:36 AM (4I7VG)
170
Hexie looks like she's about to rape a dorky little squirrel in front of ace's mom. Don't ban me, I read that somewhere, I believe.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at May 14, 2023 10:36 AM (KVGVf)
171
My thought was that they only said Zip was dead so he could disappear. That he was turned using Michelle's blood which seemed appropriate. Okay, so I let my imagination run wild. He was not my favorite character anyways.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 14, 2023 10:33 AM (Y+l9t)
---
It's all good! I mean, we are dealing with vampires, so coming back from the dead is kind of a thing.
My conception of Zip always involved him getting whacked in the end.
...and I guess I just gave away a big spoiler. So there's that.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 14, 2023 10:33 AM (Y+l9t)
---
It's all good! I mean, we are dealing with vampires, so coming back from the dead is kind of a thing.
My conception of Zip always involved him getting whacked in the end.
...and I guess I just gave away a big spoiler. So there's that.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:36 AM (llXky)
172
131 ... "Finally buckling down to read all three brick-thick volumes of Shelby Foote's Civil War history."
Sgt. Mom,
I hope you enjoy the reading. I've read his Civil War trilogy at least twice in many times in parts. He tells a story that is historically accurate, but a story. He doesn't just 'recite' stuff. It is very effective. I value my hardcover edition and have given a few paperback versions as gifts.
Sgt. Mom,
I hope you enjoy the reading. I've read his Civil War trilogy at least twice in many times in parts. He tells a story that is historically accurate, but a story. He doesn't just 'recite' stuff. It is very effective. I value my hardcover edition and have given a few paperback versions as gifts.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 10:38 AM (7EjX1)
173
And Tolkien's mom died when he was young.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 14, 2023 10:38 AM (u7leW)
174
One thing I did find out was that there is at least one other writer out there doing silent film mysteries - a woman named Mary Miley, who has done at least 4, though they're subtitled "A Roaring Twenties Mystery." I've ordered one, Silent Murders, where the heroine becomes a script girl working for the Fairbanks / Pickford studio.
She seems to be self-published (or at least, her publisher, Theobald Press, doesn't seem to exist outside of her books) and I will be interested to see how this one reads. I'll let you know.
She seems to be self-published (or at least, her publisher, Theobald Press, doesn't seem to exist outside of her books) and I will be interested to see how this one reads. I'll let you know.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 10:39 AM (AW0uW)
175
Thanks for the comments on Niven & Pournelle -- haven't read Mote, etc since they first came out, and thought I should revisit; what do I find in the Kindle store but Another Step Farther Out by Pournelle, an essay collection containing pieces that weren't in his nifty earlier A Step Farther Out collection. Inexpensive too.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 14, 2023 10:39 AM (a/4+U)
176
and I guess I just gave away a big spoiler. So there's that.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
Well, it doesn't really affect the plot. It should just intrigue readers to buy the book and find out what happens.
(Did I rescue you?)
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
Well, it doesn't really affect the plot. It should just intrigue readers to buy the book and find out what happens.
(Did I rescue you?)
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 14, 2023 10:41 AM (Y+l9t)
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at May 14, 2023 10:41 AM (DhOHl)
Posted by: No! More! Wire! Hangers! EVER! at May 14, 2023 10:41 AM (FEapg)
179
Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there. And thank you Perfessor for another awesome Book Thread.
I read Vampires of Michigan a few months back and enjoyed it very much. I have a habit of rushing though certain stories because I just have to find out what happens next. This was one of them. I had every intention of going back and reading it at a more leisurely pace and then posting about it. Rereading it is definitely on my to do list. And I would look forward to any sequels or spin offs.
Based on recommendations from last week, I started looking into Ken Bruen's work - partly because I enjoy detective stories and partly because my grandfather came from Galway. The Guards arrived in the mail yesterday and, although I'm only a few pages in, the dialog has already grabbed me. I hope the story is as good.
I read Vampires of Michigan a few months back and enjoyed it very much. I have a habit of rushing though certain stories because I just have to find out what happens next. This was one of them. I had every intention of going back and reading it at a more leisurely pace and then posting about it. Rereading it is definitely on my to do list. And I would look forward to any sequels or spin offs.
Based on recommendations from last week, I started looking into Ken Bruen's work - partly because I enjoy detective stories and partly because my grandfather came from Galway. The Guards arrived in the mail yesterday and, although I'm only a few pages in, the dialog has already grabbed me. I hope the story is as good.
Posted by: KatieFloyd at May 14, 2023 10:43 AM (ob77J)
180
Mencken has it both ways - he snipes at the upper crust, but also hates the hoi polloi. Hunter S. Thompson - who consciously emulated Mencken - did exactly the same thing.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:12 AM (llXky)
They both embraced Sartre's "Hell is Other People" in a way that, on the surface, was humorous. Yet, in time it showed them to be sad and fearful people at their core.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:12 AM (llXky)
They both embraced Sartre's "Hell is Other People" in a way that, on the surface, was humorous. Yet, in time it showed them to be sad and fearful people at their core.
Posted by: Brewingfrog at May 14, 2023 10:45 AM (kamdj)
181
Medea.
Margaret White (Carrie's mom)
Margaret White (Carrie's mom)
Posted by: No! More! Dirty! Pillows! EVER! at May 14, 2023 10:45 AM (FEapg)
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at May 14, 2023 10:46 AM (AW0uW)
183
144 Perfessor,
From the comments above I get the feeling that you'd better get those shelves dusted and submit a new photo as proof there of next week.
Posted by: Tuna at May 14, 2023 10:26 AM (gLRfa)
This would be so cool! Two book columns outta one photo!
From the comments above I get the feeling that you'd better get those shelves dusted and submit a new photo as proof there of next week.
Posted by: Tuna at May 14, 2023 10:26 AM (gLRfa)
This would be so cool! Two book columns outta one photo!
Posted by: m at May 14, 2023 10:46 AM (1rQ1e)
184
Joan Crawford.
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Mildred Pierce -- the fantasy mom that every child says they want.
Carol Burnett did a lot of great moms.
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Mildred Pierce -- the fantasy mom that every child says they want.
Carol Burnett did a lot of great moms.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 10:47 AM (MIKMs)
185
I really like Cormac McCarthy, but his latest book, "Stella Maris," is a real slog. It's not that it is boring, it's that there is no movement or plot.
There is only so much self-absorbed clever banter I can read before my thoughts become..."And? So what?"
There is only so much self-absorbed clever banter I can read before my thoughts become..."And? So what?"
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 14, 2023 10:48 AM (ZCCyW)
186
The gaming collection looks great. Pre-woke, TSR prints.
Posted by: NR Pax at May 14, 2023 10:48 AM (+NYZt)
187
So I went to the local book store and asked them if they accepted used books. I'm downsizing my collection.
Gal there wanted to know my phone number so they could call me to haul off the books they don't want to the local dump.
That's fucked up. No books for you!
Gal there wanted to know my phone number so they could call me to haul off the books they don't want to the local dump.
That's fucked up. No books for you!
Posted by: Dr. Bone at May 14, 2023 10:48 AM (KVGVf)
188
I started my seventh Gibson book this week, Count Zero, the second book in the Sprawl Trilogy.
I'm curious to know your take on Neuromancer. It's one of those books that took me a couple of false starts before reading it all the way through but now it's one of my candidate for all-time best SF novel.
I'm curious to know your take on Neuromancer. It's one of those books that took me a couple of false starts before reading it all the way through but now it's one of my candidate for all-time best SF novel.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 14, 2023 10:49 AM (nfrXX)
189
You know who was a bad mother in literature. Peter Rabbit's mother. She knows that Mr. McGregor killed and ate the father yet she lets Peter disobey her and go to McGregor's farm. She should've beat his butt.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 10:50 AM (FVME7)
190
Fallen Angels. (A global cooling story.)
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 10:32 AM (MIKMs)
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A must-read, IMHO, and for me a must-reread.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 10:32 AM (MIKMs)
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A must-read, IMHO, and for me a must-reread.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 14, 2023 10:50 AM (48V7z)
191
My favorite Anne Proulx book is her masterpiece "Cider: Making, Using & Enjoying Sweet & Hard Cider." I picked up a copy at the local farm-supply store, amused by the author name. Turns out it is indeed the same person, which actually made me more interested in checking out her fiction. Nice to see someone who's done something between Creative Writing classes in college and writing about gay cowboys eating pudding.
If she's ever doing a book signing in my area I want to take the cider book to get it signed, and ask if she's ever going to write a sequel.
If she's ever doing a book signing in my area I want to take the cider book to get it signed, and ask if she's ever going to write a sequel.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 10:52 AM (QZxDR)
192
They both embraced Sartre's "Hell is Other People" in a way that, on the surface, was humorous. Yet, in time it showed them to be sad and fearful people at their core.
Posted by: Brewingfrog at May 14, 2023 10:45 AM (kamdj)
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I don't know much about Mencken, but Thompson absolutely had massive insecurities. He put on a brave front at first, and perhaps the fame was a tonic for a while, but there was zero artistic or thematic growth after the early 1970s. He basically wrote the same columns about creeping fascism and how stupid the common people were until he blew his brains out.
Posted by: Brewingfrog at May 14, 2023 10:45 AM (kamdj)
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I don't know much about Mencken, but Thompson absolutely had massive insecurities. He put on a brave front at first, and perhaps the fame was a tonic for a while, but there was zero artistic or thematic growth after the early 1970s. He basically wrote the same columns about creeping fascism and how stupid the common people were until he blew his brains out.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:53 AM (llXky)
193
I think I did read "Footfall." Not "Legacy," though.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 10:54 AM (K9Eal)
194
My hypothesis is that HST could have replaced his massive booze, cocaine, weed, and LSD habits with a daily antidepressant.
Wouldn't have fixed the narcissism, though.
Wouldn't have fixed the narcissism, though.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 10:55 AM (QZxDR)
195
They say this cat Shaft is a bad mutha
Posted by: Can you dig it? at May 14, 2023 10:56 AM (FEapg)
196
Mildred Pierce -- the fantasy mom that every child says they want.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 10:47 AM (MIKMs)
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I think that was the last film where Crawford could still pull off the wide-eyed look that got her into Hollywood. After that the hardness just grew and grew.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 10:47 AM (MIKMs)
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I think that was the last film where Crawford could still pull off the wide-eyed look that got her into Hollywood. After that the hardness just grew and grew.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:56 AM (llXky)
197
Oh yes - Mary Bickerdyke was quite a forceful presence, following WT Sherman's forces. Eventually, she was the boss of a whole mobile hospital; nursing staff, kitchen with a transportable bread oven, a herd of cows and chickens to provide milk and eggs for invalid cooking, a laundry - everything necessary.
It came to me, through another contemporary book (Mrs. Beeton's Cookery book) that the reason so many women were able to volunteer as nurses - was that women at the time spent a great deal of their lives nursing family members. They were already trained in the skills for tending the sick and injured! Mary Bickerdyke was a widow who had spent years caring for an invalid husband. When the war was over, she was part of the grand review of soldiers, marching through Washington DC.
It came to me, through another contemporary book (Mrs. Beeton's Cookery book) that the reason so many women were able to volunteer as nurses - was that women at the time spent a great deal of their lives nursing family members. They were already trained in the skills for tending the sick and injured! Mary Bickerdyke was a widow who had spent years caring for an invalid husband. When the war was over, she was part of the grand review of soldiers, marching through Washington DC.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at May 14, 2023 10:56 AM (xnmPy)
198
He basically wrote the same columns about creeping fascism and how stupid the common people were until he blew his brains out.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:53 AM (llXky)
So, he did one thing that's good?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:53 AM (llXky)
So, he did one thing that's good?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023 10:57 AM (Angsy)
199
I've been reading The Things We Make by Bill Hammack, PH.D.
Bill Hammack "The Engineer Guy" on YouTube explains "The engineering method" (as contrasted with "the scientific method") as the way that engineers deal with the fact that there's usually not enough available information to make the inventions that we're trying to make.
It's a short book and eminently readable. If you like reading about how things are actually done and especially if you think that an engineer is some sort of scientist variant, this book is for you.
Bill Hammack "The Engineer Guy" on YouTube explains "The engineering method" (as contrasted with "the scientific method") as the way that engineers deal with the fact that there's usually not enough available information to make the inventions that we're trying to make.
It's a short book and eminently readable. If you like reading about how things are actually done and especially if you think that an engineer is some sort of scientist variant, this book is for you.
Posted by: Cybersmythe at May 14, 2023 10:58 AM (iZEhM)
200
I've just started on a Leonardo Da Vinci biography by Walter Isaacson. Got the book for $15 at the 1/2 Priced Bookstore. That one and way too many other books.
Posted by: polynikes at May 14, 2023 10:59 AM (WmV84)
201
Oddbob, I read Neuromancer after having read The Peripheral and Agency his two newest books. I really liked those although the Peripheral was vey complex and don't think I fully understood it til I read Agency. I know Neuromancer is considered a great work, but I was unimpressed as I saw how much his writing had progressed from that first book. I'll finish the Sprawl trilogy and see if he pulls it together the way he did with the Bridge trilogy. I may have to reread Neuromancer.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 14, 2023 10:59 AM (Y+l9t)
202
Tolkien never wrote an autobiography but his attitude about mothers and families comes through in his writings. Hobbits typically have large families. Tolkien wrote and illustrated several books for his own children (The Father Christmas Letters, Roverandom, The early Bombadil poems, Mister Bliss). And let's not forget his wife and mother of his children. Edith was his Luthien, possibly the highest honor he could bestow.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 11:01 AM (7EjX1)
203
Nothing says "welcome home" like a .45 to the brain pan.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at May 14, 2023 11:01 AM (KVGVf)
204
My hypothesis is that HST could have replaced his massive booze, cocaine, weed, and LSD habits with a daily antidepressant.
Wouldn't have fixed the narcissism, though.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 10:55 AM (QZxDR)
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He didn't need an antidepressant, he needed God - or at least a sense of something more important than his own ego.
His suicide note actually lamented the end of *football season* and how boring things were going to be for the next few months.
Switching out which pills he took would not have filled that void.
Wouldn't have fixed the narcissism, though.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 10:55 AM (QZxDR)
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He didn't need an antidepressant, he needed God - or at least a sense of something more important than his own ego.
His suicide note actually lamented the end of *football season* and how boring things were going to be for the next few months.
Switching out which pills he took would not have filled that void.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:01 AM (llXky)
205
@191 Sequels to cider are hard.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at May 14, 2023 11:02 AM (jYCXf)
206
I poked around twitter on the Turkish election...and things leftwingers told me:
1) Erdogan is cheating!...which I thought was white supremacy to say...?
2) If Twitter complies with Turkish restrictions on information it means Twitter is working with Erdogan ...but I thought the media needed to coordinate with "non-partisan" figures in the government to suppress hate speech and election "lies"?!?
1) Erdogan is cheating!...which I thought was white supremacy to say...?
2) If Twitter complies with Turkish restrictions on information it means Twitter is working with Erdogan ...but I thought the media needed to coordinate with "non-partisan" figures in the government to suppress hate speech and election "lies"?!?
Posted by: 18-1 at May 14, 2023 11:02 AM (lc5cP)
207
Wendy Napoles. Desmond is Amazing's mother. Maybe not in literature now but hopefully will end up in a true crime book in the next few years after Desmond stabs her several dozen times in her sleep.
Posted by: Hope springs eternal at May 14, 2023 11:05 AM (FEapg)
208
I know Neuromancer is considered a great work, but I was unimpressed as I saw how much his writing had progressed from that first book.
I guess it's true that cyberpunk as a genre has a "best by" date. I feel the same way about Snow Crash. I read it probably 10 years after it was a big deal and it was thoroughly "meh" for me.
I guess it's true that cyberpunk as a genre has a "best by" date. I feel the same way about Snow Crash. I read it probably 10 years after it was a big deal and it was thoroughly "meh" for me.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 14, 2023 11:05 AM (nfrXX)
209
So, he did one thing that's good?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023 10:57 AM (Angsy)
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You know, people get all worked up about Adolf Hitler and all this crimes, but you have to give credit where it's due - he did in fact kill Hitler.
Silliness aside, Thompson had talent, and at times was very funny. But even in his early work, you could see his brash "gonzo" style was pure affectation, and that he was very fearful and insecure - as both a writer and a man.
His gun fetish embodied the liberal stereotype of them being used to comfort weak men. Thompson bragged about guns, wrote about them, waved them around and in every way showed he was unfit to own or use them responsibly. No gun owner I've ever met behaved as badly as he did, and yet he acted as if this was normal and accepted for gun owners.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023 10:57 AM (Angsy)
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You know, people get all worked up about Adolf Hitler and all this crimes, but you have to give credit where it's due - he did in fact kill Hitler.
Silliness aside, Thompson had talent, and at times was very funny. But even in his early work, you could see his brash "gonzo" style was pure affectation, and that he was very fearful and insecure - as both a writer and a man.
His gun fetish embodied the liberal stereotype of them being used to comfort weak men. Thompson bragged about guns, wrote about them, waved them around and in every way showed he was unfit to own or use them responsibly. No gun owner I've ever met behaved as badly as he did, and yet he acted as if this was normal and accepted for gun owners.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:06 AM (llXky)
210
He basically wrote the same columns about creeping fascism and how stupid the common people were until he blew his brains out.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:53 AM (llXky)
Concur. He was nuts, did too many drugs and drank heavily, then went crazy as a shit house rat nuts.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 10:53 AM (llXky)
Concur. He was nuts, did too many drugs and drank heavily, then went crazy as a shit house rat nuts.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 14, 2023 11:06 AM (R/m4+)
211
Happy Morhers' Day to all the mom 'ettes!
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at May 14, 2023 11:06 AM (b8uLc)
212
Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
Right on!
It's the cat's job to dust the top of the bookshelf, then rub the dust off your pant legs
Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
Right on!
It's the cat's job to dust the top of the bookshelf, then rub the dust off your pant legs
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 14, 2023 11:07 AM (twjRB)
213
Mothers'. Stupid fat fingers.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at May 14, 2023 11:07 AM (b8uLc)
214
I guess it's true that cyberpunk as a genre has a "best by" date. I feel the same way about Snow Crash. I read it probably 10 years after it was a big deal and it was thoroughly "meh" for me.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 14, 2023 11:05 AM (nfrXX)
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Snow Crash is a remarkable novel for its time, but now it's hilariously dated. Still enjoyable, though.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 14, 2023 11:05 AM (nfrXX)
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Snow Crash is a remarkable novel for its time, but now it's hilariously dated. Still enjoyable, though.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 14, 2023 11:08 AM (BpYfr)
215
Dust: small things fill small minds
Posted by: Next2Nothing at May 14, 2023 11:09 AM (tA1/w)
216
Mencken has it both ways - he snipes at the upper crust, but also hates the hoi polloi. Hunter S. Thompson - who consciously emulated Mencken - did exactly the same thing.
Wouldn't that just make them misanthropes?
Wouldn't that just make them misanthropes?
Posted by: Archimedes at May 14, 2023 11:09 AM (eOEVl)
217
For the SF crowd, a great mother is Heinlein's Mother-Thing from Have Spacesuit Will Travel. Full disclosure, I call my wonderful mom "Mother-thing" because the Mother-Thing is a great mom even if she is an alien.
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at May 14, 2023 11:10 AM (Puq9y)
218
194 My hypothesis is that HST could have replaced his massive booze, cocaine, weed, and LSD habits with a daily antidepressant.
Wouldn't have fixed the narcissism, though.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 10:55 AM (QZxDR)
I was thinking "Harry S. Truman?" until I scrolled back through the thread.
Wouldn't have fixed the narcissism, though.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 10:55 AM (QZxDR)
I was thinking "Harry S. Truman?" until I scrolled back through the thread.
Posted by: m at May 14, 2023 11:12 AM (1rQ1e)
219
Speaking of Joan Crawford, "Flamingo Road" is on TCM right now
Posted by: Tuna at May 14, 2023 11:12 AM (gLRfa)
220
What happened to Huggy Squirrel? Did he go to college and turn his life around?
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at May 14, 2023 11:12 AM (b8uLc)
221
I poked around twitter on the Turkish election...and things leftwingers told me:
-
If you like fantasy, here's a family squabble among the Donks where you'll learn such things as . . .
"Nothing has destroyed our healthcare system more than the right wing corporate ACA."
And many other faux facts.
https://bit.ly/3pDa87r
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If you like fantasy, here's a family squabble among the Donks where you'll learn such things as . . .
"Nothing has destroyed our healthcare system more than the right wing corporate ACA."
And many other faux facts.
https://bit.ly/3pDa87r
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 11:12 AM (FVME7)
222
"Left Hand of Darkness" - read that in AP English lit, 12th grade. Hippie teacher who raised rabbits for food. She was a good teach though. How i tested into AP English lit, i don't know. There were 2 levels of AP English (lit being) higher and i didn't want to take either. My 11th grade English teach prevailec upon me to take the test.
Posted by: SFGoth at May 14, 2023 11:13 AM (KAi1n)
223
Many congratulations to Hexie for making it to the top.
Posted by: m at May 14, 2023 11:14 AM (1rQ1e)
224
Tolkien never wrote an autobiography but his attitude about mothers and families comes through in his writings. Hobbits typically have large families. Tolkien wrote and illustrated several books for his own children (The Father Christmas Letters, Roverandom, The early Bombadil poems, Mister Bliss). And let's not forget his wife and mother of his children. Edith was his Luthien, possibly the highest honor he could bestow.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 11:01 AM (7EjX1)
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Don't ignore how many mothers in his writing experience great sorrow and loss. Remember, the mother of Boromir and Faramir is said to have "withered" in Minas Tirith and died when they were young.
Think also of the intense grief of Morwen, mother of Turin and Nienor keeping vigil at their grave, waiting for Hurin.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 11:01 AM (7EjX1)
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Don't ignore how many mothers in his writing experience great sorrow and loss. Remember, the mother of Boromir and Faramir is said to have "withered" in Minas Tirith and died when they were young.
Think also of the intense grief of Morwen, mother of Turin and Nienor keeping vigil at their grave, waiting for Hurin.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:15 AM (llXky)
225
My hypothesis is that HST could have replaced his massive booze, cocaine, weed, and LSD habits with a daily antidepressant.
-
My takeaway is never name your son Hunter.
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My takeaway is never name your son Hunter.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 11:15 AM (FVME7)
226
219 Speaking of Joan Crawford, "Flamingo Road" is on TCM right now
Posted by: Tuna at May 14, 2023 11:12 AM (gLRfa)
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That's a good one. I tuned in right when she slapped that corrupt sheriff. It's not a Crawford film if she's not slappin'.
Posted by: Tuna at May 14, 2023 11:12 AM (gLRfa)
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That's a good one. I tuned in right when she slapped that corrupt sheriff. It's not a Crawford film if she's not slappin'.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 14, 2023 11:16 AM (48V7z)
227
That cat is perched like a dragon, guarding its treasure horde of RPG books in the shelves below.
Two of Correia's books were mentioned in the list at the top. I just finished his recent non-fiction book - In Defense of the Second Amendment. It's a good read, and well-written, as one might expect of a former accountant, gun shop owner, and gun safety instructor, who now writes popular novels. The only real complaint I might have about it has nothing to do with the book itself. Instead, it would be the close-mindedness of many of those who probably would be best helped by the information found in it.
Two of Correia's books were mentioned in the list at the top. I just finished his recent non-fiction book - In Defense of the Second Amendment. It's a good read, and well-written, as one might expect of a former accountant, gun shop owner, and gun safety instructor, who now writes popular novels. The only real complaint I might have about it has nothing to do with the book itself. Instead, it would be the close-mindedness of many of those who probably would be best helped by the information found in it.
Posted by: junior at May 14, 2023 11:19 AM (PTw5h)
228
Wouldn't that just make them misanthropes?
Posted by: Archimedes at May 14, 2023 11:09 AM (eOEVl)
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Thompson didn't hate everyone, just working class white people. He valorized Democrats, adored McGovern and Carter (until they crapped the bed), and that's one of the reasons he's so pathetic.
He was always willing to lick the boots of Dem politicians, especially later in life when he was desperate for relevance.
Posted by: Archimedes at May 14, 2023 11:09 AM (eOEVl)
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Thompson didn't hate everyone, just working class white people. He valorized Democrats, adored McGovern and Carter (until they crapped the bed), and that's one of the reasons he's so pathetic.
He was always willing to lick the boots of Dem politicians, especially later in life when he was desperate for relevance.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:20 AM (llXky)
229
I don't have much respect for white trash and ghetto thugs and also think most of Wall Street are over compensating self important thieves.
I call that position 'middle class' .
I call that position 'middle class' .
Posted by: polynikes at May 14, 2023 11:20 AM (WmV84)
230
Happy Day to all you mothers!!!
Posted by: Diogenes at May 14, 2023 11:20 AM (anj39)
231
I received an Erma Bombeck book from my then sister-in-law shortly after the birth of my first child, it was called Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession.
Posted by: Debby Doberman Schultz at May 14, 2023 11:21 AM (a4EWo)
232
"A small man is made of small thoughts."
~ Victor Hugo
~ Victor Hugo
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at May 14, 2023 11:21 AM (DhOHl)
233
The cat is on the bookcase.
The cat is in the bookcase.
The cat is in the bookcase.
Posted by: Eromero at May 14, 2023 11:22 AM (DXbAa)
234
My takeaway is never name your son Hunter.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 11:15 AM (FVME7)
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No kidding.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 14, 2023 11:15 AM (FVME7)
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No kidding.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:22 AM (llXky)
Posted by: m at May 14, 2023 11:22 AM (1rQ1e)
236
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:20 AM (llXky)
He was always a Lefty. Most narcissists are.
He was always a Lefty. Most narcissists are.
Posted by: polynikes at May 14, 2023 11:22 AM (WmV84)
237
"Left Hand of Darkness" - read that in AP English lit, 12th grade. Hippie teacher who raised rabbits for food. She was a good teach though. How i tested into AP English lit, i don't know. There were 2 levels of AP English (lit being) higher and i didn't want to take either. My 11th grade English teach prevailec upon me to take the test.
Posted by: SFGoth at May 14, 2023
***
Larry Niven advised someone who wants to show a literary type what SF is all about to give him a copy of Left Hand. "It's good by their standards as well as our own."
Posted by: SFGoth at May 14, 2023
***
Larry Niven advised someone who wants to show a literary type what SF is all about to give him a copy of Left Hand. "It's good by their standards as well as our own."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 11:23 AM (omVj0)
238
@142 I started my seventh Gibson book this week, Count Zero, the second book in the Sprawl Trilogy. Gibson apparently likes to write in threes. Only a little ways in and don't see any connection to Neuromancer yet except it seems to set in the same universe.I still laugh every time he references plugging "microsofts" into sockets behind one's ears to gain instant knowledge on subjects.
----
There are links in Count Zero, but iirc (it's been a long time since I read it) they're pretty vague. Mona Lisa Overdrive - the final novel of the three - has much stronger connections, including the return of one of the characters from Neuromancer.
----
There are links in Count Zero, but iirc (it's been a long time since I read it) they're pretty vague. Mona Lisa Overdrive - the final novel of the three - has much stronger connections, including the return of one of the characters from Neuromancer.
Posted by: junior at May 14, 2023 11:24 AM (PTw5h)
239
Right on!
It's the cat's job to dust the top of the bookshelf, then rub the dust off your pant legs
Posted by: vmom
-------
Acquired Experience: No one who owns a cat should have any dark colored clothes, and, they should always have on hand a lint roller, with reserve supplies of sticky rollers.
Right on!
It's the cat's job to dust the top of the bookshelf, then rub the dust off your pant legs
Posted by: vmom
-------
Acquired Experience: No one who owns a cat should have any dark colored clothes, and, they should always have on hand a lint roller, with reserve supplies of sticky rollers.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 14, 2023 11:24 AM (LPLin)
240
I guess it's true that cyberpunk as a genre has a "best by" date. I feel the same way about Snow Crash. I read it probably 10 years after it was a big deal and it was thoroughly "meh" for me.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 14, 2023 11:05 AM (nfrXX)
For me the expiration date was when Wild Wild West was cancelled.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 14, 2023 11:05 AM (nfrXX)
For me the expiration date was when Wild Wild West was cancelled.
Posted by: polynikes at May 14, 2023 11:25 AM (WmV84)
241
Today's reading is the "Birds of North America" handbook. I'm trying to determine what the pair of birds are that insist on nesting on the molding above my front door. It turns out they are barn swallows. They are about to get an eviction notice.
Posted by: Indiana Lurker at May 14, 2023 11:25 AM (3ZVqj)
242
@208 I guess it's true that cyberpunk as a genre has a "best by" date. I feel the same way about Snow Crash. I read it probably 10 years after it was a big deal and it was thoroughly "meh" for me.
----
On the one hand, cyberpunk was very much an '80s genre. The term gets flung around these days to describe an awful lot of stuff (most of which doesn't really fit, imo). But the original nuts and bolts of the genre were straight out of the fears of the '80s.
On the other hand, an awful lot of people played the recent Cyberpunk 2077, and thought, "Some of this stuff seems creepily familiar these days..."
----
On the one hand, cyberpunk was very much an '80s genre. The term gets flung around these days to describe an awful lot of stuff (most of which doesn't really fit, imo). But the original nuts and bolts of the genre were straight out of the fears of the '80s.
On the other hand, an awful lot of people played the recent Cyberpunk 2077, and thought, "Some of this stuff seems creepily familiar these days..."
Posted by: junior at May 14, 2023 11:26 AM (PTw5h)
243
I guess it's true that cyberpunk as a genre has a "best by" date. I feel the same way about Snow Crash. I read it probably 10 years after it was a big deal and it was thoroughly "meh" for me.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 14, 2023 11:05 AM (nfrXX)
---
Related - I watched "Blade Runner" (OTC) with my daughters last night. They'd never seen it before, felt it was slow (well, by current standards, yes) but it was wild as they ticked off "future" dates that happened six years ago.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 14, 2023 11:05 AM (nfrXX)
---
Related - I watched "Blade Runner" (OTC) with my daughters last night. They'd never seen it before, felt it was slow (well, by current standards, yes) but it was wild as they ticked off "future" dates that happened six years ago.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:28 AM (llXky)
244
The Wild, Wild West had a great theme song.
Posted by: Just Sayin' at May 14, 2023 11:28 AM (DhOHl)
245
Tolkien inspiration for hobbits was rural Welsh folk. I know the Irish variety well.
Posted by: Ignoramus at May 14, 2023 11:28 AM (RqMSv)
246
"A small man is made of small thoughts."
~ Victor Hugo
Posted by: Quarter
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds..." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
~ Victor Hugo
Posted by: Quarter
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds..." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 14, 2023 11:30 AM (tUUeN)
247
Got to head off to the store for more feline thug chow and litter. Thanks, Perfessor, for another great Book Thread!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 14, 2023 11:30 AM (omVj0)
248
He was always a Lefty. Most narcissists are.
Posted by: polynikes at May 14, 2023 11:22 AM (WmV84)
---
I agree with that. While not all leftists are narcissists, all narcissists are leftists.
One cannot be conservative without believing in Original Sin in some form. The left believes in the perfectibility of man, which narcissists take to mean themselves.
Posted by: polynikes at May 14, 2023 11:22 AM (WmV84)
---
I agree with that. While not all leftists are narcissists, all narcissists are leftists.
One cannot be conservative without believing in Original Sin in some form. The left believes in the perfectibility of man, which narcissists take to mean themselves.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:31 AM (llXky)
249
Would it be wrong if I gave my mother a 'Bed Bath & Beyond' gift card for mother's day as a goof?
A little payback now and again ensures that her powder is dry and keeps her on her toes.
A little payback now and again ensures that her powder is dry and keeps her on her toes.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at May 14, 2023 11:32 AM (KVGVf)
250
On the other hand, an awful lot of people played the recent Cyberpunk 2077, and thought, "Some of this stuff seems creepily familiar these days..."
Posted by: junior at May 14, 2023 11:26 AM (PTw5h)
---
Here we see the wisdom of setting Star Wars "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."
Naturally, Disney's idiot children want to make it more "current," which is why it now sucks.
Posted by: junior at May 14, 2023 11:26 AM (PTw5h)
---
Here we see the wisdom of setting Star Wars "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."
Naturally, Disney's idiot children want to make it more "current," which is why it now sucks.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:33 AM (llXky)
251
Junior, that is just the way The Bridge trilogy is written. The second book, IDORU, hardly mentions book 1 Virtual Light. But the third book really requires you to have read the first two. This is not true of his newest as the second book clears up a whole lot of vagueness in the first book and would be incomprehensible if you had 't read the first one.
I am really loving his writing as I have no idea where he is going with the story. I've just started Count Zero and he is running 3 separate characters in 3 separate places and I can't wait to see how it all comes together. Because I know it will at some point.
I am really loving his writing as I have no idea where he is going with the story. I've just started Count Zero and he is running 3 separate characters in 3 separate places and I can't wait to see how it all comes together. Because I know it will at some point.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 14, 2023 11:34 AM (Y+l9t)
Posted by: zigzag at May 14, 2023 11:34 AM (ocZQd)
253
Would it be wrong if I gave my mother a 'Bed Bath & Beyond' gift card for mother's day as a goof?
A little payback now and again ensures that her powder is dry and keeps her on her toes.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at May 14, 2023 11:32 AM (KVGVf)
---
One of the advantages of my kids finally seeing "Blade Runner" is that they now fully grasp the humor of my saying "My mother? Let me tell you about my mother!"
A little payback now and again ensures that her powder is dry and keeps her on her toes.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at May 14, 2023 11:32 AM (KVGVf)
---
One of the advantages of my kids finally seeing "Blade Runner" is that they now fully grasp the humor of my saying "My mother? Let me tell you about my mother!"
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:35 AM (llXky)
254
Today's reading is the "Birds of North America" handbook. I'm trying to determine what the pair of birds are that insist on nesting on the molding above my front door. It turns out they are barn swallows. They are about to get an eviction notice.
Posted by: Indiana Lurker
------
The Southern Black Racer which has taken up residence in the brickwork of my side porch seems to have 'evicted' the House Wrens nesting up in the roof joists. He seems good natured, if rather cold-blooded.
Pic: https://tinyurl.com/2q9w53at
Posted by: Indiana Lurker
------
The Southern Black Racer which has taken up residence in the brickwork of my side porch seems to have 'evicted' the House Wrens nesting up in the roof joists. He seems good natured, if rather cold-blooded.
Pic: https://tinyurl.com/2q9w53at
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 14, 2023 11:35 AM (q5ARv)
255
Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry.
Mama's gonna make all your nightmares come true.
Mama's gonna put all her fears into you.
Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Mama's gonna keep baby cozy and warm.
Ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby,
Of course mama's gonna help build the wall.
Mama's gonna make all your nightmares come true.
Mama's gonna put all her fears into you.
Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Mama's gonna keep baby cozy and warm.
Ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby,
Of course mama's gonna help build the wall.
Posted by: Pink Floyd rockin' Mothers Day at May 14, 2023 11:35 AM (FEapg)
256
Judah Ben-Hur's mom was a solid gal.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 14, 2023 11:36 AM (5u1+1)
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 11:37 AM (K9Eal)
258
*199 I've been reading The Things We Make by Bill Hammack, PH.D.*. Posted by Cybersmyhe
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll give it a listen.
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll give it a listen.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty - will I see you at the MoMe? at May 14, 2023 11:37 AM (DhOHl)
259
Just another Mother's Day reminder from Waylon and Willie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i85ob2DackI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i85ob2DackI
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 11:38 AM (MIKMs)
260
Pournelle did write the John Christian Falkenberg stories, which are fantastic military sci-fi. I should reread them.
And I should read all of Keith Laumer's Retief and Bolo stories as well.
They are all excellent.
And I should read all of Keith Laumer's Retief and Bolo stories as well.
They are all excellent.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 14, 2023 11:38 AM (K9Eal)
261
Your daddy's rich, and your momma's good looking...
Posted by: Porgy and Bess at May 14, 2023 11:40 AM (DhOHl)
262
Read John Cheever's short story The Swimmer. It starts with a seemingly content, youthful, successful Ned Merrill relaxing at the pool of some friends where he gets the idea that he can make his way eight miles home by swimming in the pools along the way.
At first, he's greeted with drinks and cheer but as he goes on the story becomes increasingly surreal. The pools' owners become indifferent, then hostile. What was a midsummer day turns autumnal.
There are suggestions of financial catastrophe, his daughters in trouble with the law, amnesia and, when he gets to the pool of Shirley Adams, infidelity. Ned finally makes it, exhausted and cold, to his home, which he finds locked, derelict, abandoned and empty.
Read John Cheever's short story The Swimmer. It starts with a seemingly content, youthful, successful Ned Merrill relaxing at the pool of some friends where he gets the idea that he can make his way eight miles home by swimming in the pools along the way.
At first, he's greeted with drinks and cheer but as he goes on the story becomes increasingly surreal. The pools' owners become indifferent, then hostile. What was a midsummer day turns autumnal.
There are suggestions of financial catastrophe, his daughters in trouble with the law, amnesia and, when he gets to the pool of Shirley Adams, infidelity. Ned finally makes it, exhausted and cold, to his home, which he finds locked, derelict, abandoned and empty.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 14, 2023 11:40 AM (MoZTd)
263
Hadrian guessing you seen the movie, would love to read that too.
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023 11:42 AM (xhxe8)
264
Of course mama's gonna help build the wall.
Posted by: Pink Floyd rockin' Mothers Day at May 14, 2023 11:35 AM (FEapg)
---
Now do "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Posted by: Pink Floyd rockin' Mothers Day at May 14, 2023 11:35 AM (FEapg)
---
Now do "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:42 AM (llXky)
265
Thanks Perf. Now on to the content.
Posted by: 13times at May 14, 2023 11:43 AM (7Tb4o)
266
I get the money angle. But why does every new book have to be the First of Three! Or the beginning of a series. Don't authors write single stand alone stories anymore?
Posted by: Diogenes at May 14, 2023 11:44 AM (anj39)
267
From HLM, we get black bile, few truths, and no real wit. The guy clearly hates both God and Man, and loves Official Science, we get that.
I really have no use for Mencken. He would have made a good Prussian Junker and not much else.
From HLM, we get black bile, few truths, and no real wit. The guy clearly hates both God and Man, and loves Official Science, we get that.
I really have no use for Mencken. He would have made a good Prussian Junker and not much else.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 14, 2023 11:45 AM (MoZTd)
268
Gibsons Necromancer is set in the late 2100s. It works better if you retcon it to the 2030s or so.
I think that's why Gibson moved his later works closer to current times. He couldn't make his fiction far out enough.
I think that's why Gibson moved his later works closer to current times. He couldn't make his fiction far out enough.
Posted by: blaster at May 14, 2023 11:45 AM (pwExq)
269
I was drunk the day my momma got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got runned over by a damned old train!
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got runned over by a damned old train!
Posted by: Steve Goodman and John Prine at May 14, 2023 11:46 AM (DhOHl)
270
@269 the best country song ever written!
Posted by: blaster at May 14, 2023 11:47 AM (pwExq)
271
The cat on the bookcase looks exactly like our cat.
Posted by: Dr. Claw at May 14, 2023 11:50 AM (roH4R)
272
I Remember Mama
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at May 14, 2023 11:50 AM (63Dwl)
273
269 I was drunk the day my momma got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got runned over by a damned old train!
Posted by: Steve Goodman and John Prine at May 14, 2023 11:46 AM (DhOHl)
What a sweet song for mothers everywhere today!
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got runned over by a damned old train!
Posted by: Steve Goodman and John Prine at May 14, 2023 11:46 AM (DhOHl)
What a sweet song for mothers everywhere today!
Posted by: m at May 14, 2023 11:52 AM (1rQ1e)
274
Hadrian guessing you seen the movie, would love to read that too.
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023 11:42 AM (xhxe
Saw some clips, which did not impress me. The story is more chilling for the allusions to Ned's problems, which are made more explicit in the film. Like they had to fill out the story to fill a 95 minute movie.
Hadrian guessing you seen the movie, would love to read that too.
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023 11:42 AM (xhxe
Saw some clips, which did not impress me. The story is more chilling for the allusions to Ned's problems, which are made more explicit in the film. Like they had to fill out the story to fill a 95 minute movie.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 14, 2023 11:54 AM (1Nxff)
275
Okay, I forgot one of Western Civilization's greatest and most awesome mothers of all time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuBeBjqKSGQ
Damrau's Queen of the Night, Magic Flute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuBeBjqKSGQ
Damrau's Queen of the Night, Magic Flute.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 14, 2023 11:54 AM (MIKMs)
276
I get the money angle. But why does every new book have to be the First of Three! Or the beginning of a series. Don't authors write single stand alone stories anymore?
Posted by: Diogenes at May 14, 2023 11:44 AM (anj39)
---
Yes, but those don't reliably pay the bills. You can tell I have a day job because I only did one multi-volume book. If I was trying to make a living at it, I'd been on Book 6 of Battle Officer Wolf's exploits by now.
Posted by: Diogenes at May 14, 2023 11:44 AM (anj39)
---
Yes, but those don't reliably pay the bills. You can tell I have a day job because I only did one multi-volume book. If I was trying to make a living at it, I'd been on Book 6 of Battle Officer Wolf's exploits by now.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:54 AM (llXky)
277
Well, it's noon now, so I guess I have to put on my overalls and get to work.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 11:54 AM (QZxDR)
278
Sgt. Mom,
I hope you enjoy the reading. I've read his Civil War trilogy at least twice in many times in parts. He tells a story that is historically accurate, but a story. He doesn't just 'recite' stuff. It is very effective. I value my hardcover edition and have given a few paperback versions as gifts.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 10:38 AM (7EjX1)
I've tried reading other tomes, where it feels like climbing Mt. Doom. Barefoot.
Foote's books (heh), are enjoyable reads, from start to finish. That the subject matter is important and meaningful are what make me grateful that he was also a great writer.
I hope you enjoy the reading. I've read his Civil War trilogy at least twice in many times in parts. He tells a story that is historically accurate, but a story. He doesn't just 'recite' stuff. It is very effective. I value my hardcover edition and have given a few paperback versions as gifts.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 10:38 AM (7EjX1)
I've tried reading other tomes, where it feels like climbing Mt. Doom. Barefoot.
Foote's books (heh), are enjoyable reads, from start to finish. That the subject matter is important and meaningful are what make me grateful that he was also a great writer.
Posted by: BurtTC at May 14, 2023 11:54 AM (Vksce)
279
Mike Hammer, where is a black racer when you need one? The swallows are actually pretty birds and eat a lot of mosquito's, but I don't need a pile of guano on my door and front step. They need to move along.
Posted by: Indiana Lurker at May 14, 2023 11:55 AM (3ZVqj)
280
The cat on the bookcase looks exactly like our cat.
Posted by: Dr. Claw at May 14, 2023 11:50 AM (roH4R)
I have their triplet, arm's length away from me as I type!
Posted by: Dr. Claw at May 14, 2023 11:50 AM (roH4R)
I have their triplet, arm's length away from me as I type!
Posted by: BurtTC at May 14, 2023 11:56 AM (Vksce)
281
Well, it's noon now, so I guess I have to put on my overalls and get to work.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 11:54 AM (QZxDR)
Let's not go hog wild here.
Well, it's noon now, so I guess I have to put on my overalls and get to work.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 14, 2023 11:54 AM (QZxDR)
Let's not go hog wild here.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 14, 2023 11:56 AM (1Nxff)
282
I've tried reading other tomes, where it feels like climbing Mt. Doom. Barefoot.
Foote's books (heh), are enjoyable reads, from start to finish. That the subject matter is important and meaningful are what make me grateful that he was also a great writer.
Posted by: BurtTC at May 14, 2023 11:54 AM (Vksce)
---
Bruce Catton's books are quite good.
Foote's books (heh), are enjoyable reads, from start to finish. That the subject matter is important and meaningful are what make me grateful that he was also a great writer.
Posted by: BurtTC at May 14, 2023 11:54 AM (Vksce)
---
Bruce Catton's books are quite good.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:56 AM (llXky)
283
Thanks again, Perfesser and happy day to all the Moron Moms!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 14, 2023 11:57 AM (llXky)
284
249 Would it be wrong if I gave my mother a 'Bed Bath & Beyond' gift card for mother's day as a goof?
A little payback now and again ensures that her powder is dry and keeps her on her toes.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at
You could add a Tuesday Morning one, they are also going the way of the Dodo.
A little payback now and again ensures that her powder is dry and keeps her on her toes.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at
You could add a Tuesday Morning one, they are also going the way of the Dodo.
Posted by: Piper at May 14, 2023 11:58 AM (ZdaMQ)
Posted by: m at May 14, 2023 11:58 AM (1rQ1e)
286
262
Read John Cheever's short story The Swimmer.
***
Never heard of it before, and just now looked up the wiki entry.
It seems deep.
Read John Cheever's short story The Swimmer.
***
Never heard of it before, and just now looked up the wiki entry.
It seems deep.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 14, 2023 11:59 AM (twjRB)
287
What we Book Threadians need is some kind of lens that allows us to view the content of other people's book shelves without getting a crick in the neck.
What we Book Threadians need is some kind of lens that allows us to view the content of other people's book shelves without getting a crick in the neck.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 14, 2023 11:59 AM (1Nxff)
288
@ 244
The wild, wild west had that awesome story panel art - and as the story progressed- another panel updated. It always seemed 'storybook' in nature.
The wild, wild west had that awesome story panel art - and as the story progressed- another panel updated. It always seemed 'storybook' in nature.
Posted by: 13times at May 14, 2023 12:01 PM (7Tb4o)
289
We haz a NOOD
Posted by: Skip at May 14, 2023 12:01 PM (xhxe8)
290
*You could add a Tuesday Morning one, they are also going the way of the Dodo.*
Throw in a new ironing board cover and you're golden.
Throw in a new ironing board cover and you're golden.
Posted by: Just Sayin' at May 14, 2023 12:01 PM (DhOHl)
291
Saddest time of Sunday again. The end of the book thread. Thanks, Perfessor.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 14, 2023 12:02 PM (Angsy)
292
I have Foote's CW trilogy sittiing on the library table about 15 feet from me. Must reading for anyone interested in the Civil War. I saw an interview with him and he said he wrote by hand and was happy to get 200 words per day. I think it took him 20 years to complete the work.
Posted by: Indiana Lurker at May 14, 2023 12:02 PM (3ZVqj)
293
Steven Pressfield's novel that takes place in the near future , The Profession, was not as prescient as I thought it was when I first read it but it still seems pretty close.
Now there is an author I looked up to that disappointed me by going semi woke with his last couple of books. Maybe he always was but hid it in his earlier work.
Now there is an author I looked up to that disappointed me by going semi woke with his last couple of books. Maybe he always was but hid it in his earlier work.
Posted by: polynikes at May 14, 2023 12:03 PM (WmV84)
294
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 14, 2023 11:40 AM (MoZTd)
That sounds like an interesting story...just ordered the book from the library.
Thanks (I'm a sucker for short stories).
That sounds like an interesting story...just ordered the book from the library.
Thanks (I'm a sucker for short stories).
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 14, 2023 12:06 PM (ZCCyW)
295
292 ... "I saw an interview with him [Shelby Foote] and he said he wrote by hand and was happy to get 200 words per day. I think it took him 20 years to complete the work."
In fact he wrote the drafts with a dip pen and bottled ink. There is an extensive interview with Foote by Brian Lamb that ran on C-SPAN. It's a few hours long and it's available on YT.
In fact he wrote the drafts with a dip pen and bottled ink. There is an extensive interview with Foote by Brian Lamb that ran on C-SPAN. It's a few hours long and it's available on YT.
Posted by: JTB at May 14, 2023 12:23 PM (7EjX1)
296
@191 Sequels to cider are hard.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at May 14, 2023 11:02 AM (jYCXf)
Vinegar, my friend. Vinegar.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at May 14, 2023 11:02 AM (jYCXf)
Vinegar, my friend. Vinegar.
Posted by: Kindltot at May 14, 2023 12:44 PM (xhaym)
297
Reading “The Joys of National Review 1955-1980” ed. by Priscilla Buckley, on www.archive.org. Thank you to whoever on here mentioned that website.
Posted by: Norrin Radd at May 14, 2023 12:45 PM (WDC2u)
298
Mothers in literature ... what comes to mind are the mothers in Jane Austen, most of whom are either dead or are pretty awful. Mrs. Bennett in "Pride and Prejudice" is the very worst kind of mother, as is Lady Catherine DeBourgh. In "Mansfield Park", both Lady Bertram and her sister, Mrs. Price, are lazy and conceited, while the mother-substitute, Mrs Norris, is a horror. In "Persuasion", Anne Elliot's sister Mary is another lazy, conceited mother, and a hypochondriac, while Anne's mother-figure, Lady Russell, though well-intentioned, continually gives Anne terrible advice. The only halfway decent mother who isn't dead is Mrs. Dashwood in "Sense and Sensibility", who is kind and generous, but also weak and fairly helpless.
This is odd in light of the fact that Jane Austen got along well with her own mother, who, in fact, outlived her.
At the other end of the spectrum is "Marmee" in "Little Women", who is kind, generous, and strong: the ridgepole of the family. It reflects Alcott's own mother, who took care of her family in place of her hapless husband.
This is odd in light of the fact that Jane Austen got along well with her own mother, who, in fact, outlived her.
At the other end of the spectrum is "Marmee" in "Little Women", who is kind, generous, and strong: the ridgepole of the family. It reflects Alcott's own mother, who took care of her family in place of her hapless husband.
Posted by: Nemo at May 14, 2023 12:47 PM (S6ArX)
299
Speaking of short stories, I am looking for Gene Wolfe's Trip, Trap
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 14, 2023 12:57 PM (twjRB)
300
"..Has anyone else found themselves in that situation?
[ . . . ]
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 14, 2023 10:24 AM (Lhaco)"
When I was a poor young lawyer, still paying off the $10,000 student loan I took out to finish law school, I agonized for months trying to decide whether to buy Christopher Duffy's "The Army of Frederick the Great" and The Army of Maria Theresa" for a combined price of about $40. By the time I bit the bullet and decided to buy the books the store had closed, and I missed my chance to buy them.
The story has a happy ending though; years later I knew Chris Duffy and saw him yearly at the Seven Years War Convention so when I bought the new editions of the two books (I was a less poor lawyer then), I was able to get them personally autographed along with a dozen or so other books of his.
[ . . . ]
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 14, 2023 10:24 AM (Lhaco)"
When I was a poor young lawyer, still paying off the $10,000 student loan I took out to finish law school, I agonized for months trying to decide whether to buy Christopher Duffy's "The Army of Frederick the Great" and The Army of Maria Theresa" for a combined price of about $40. By the time I bit the bullet and decided to buy the books the store had closed, and I missed my chance to buy them.
The story has a happy ending though; years later I knew Chris Duffy and saw him yearly at the Seven Years War Convention so when I bought the new editions of the two books (I was a less poor lawyer then), I was able to get them personally autographed along with a dozen or so other books of his.
Posted by: Pope John 20th at May 14, 2023 12:59 PM (cYrkj)
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 14, 2023 01:11 PM (a/4+U)
302
Not sure if Ralph Moody's novels were mentioned (I have not read all the comments) - Mary Emma and Company is an excellent story about the author's mother taking care of her six children after her husband died. Little Britches and Man of the Family also include many scenes with Mary Emma.
Someone mentioned these "novels" on an older book thread and for that I am truly grateful.
My favorite of his so far is The Home Ranch -the author gets to spend a Summer in the Rockies learning how to be a cowboy. His adventures with a girl named Hazel are memorable.
Someone mentioned these "novels" on an older book thread and for that I am truly grateful.
My favorite of his so far is The Home Ranch -the author gets to spend a Summer in the Rockies learning how to be a cowboy. His adventures with a girl named Hazel are memorable.
Posted by: Glenn John at May 14, 2023 02:40 PM (HKku6)
303
Literary mothers: Marmee from Little Women, of course. I have selected this as my future grandma name in tribute.
Posted by: Erika at May 14, 2023 09:15 AM (pkhQ
Oh yay! I’ve been searching for a potential grandma name and this is perfect. I hope you don’t mind if I steal it!
Posted by: Erika at May 14, 2023 09:15 AM (pkhQ
Oh yay! I’ve been searching for a potential grandma name and this is perfect. I hope you don’t mind if I steal it!
Posted by: LASue at May 14, 2023 03:07 PM (Ed8Zd)
304
For Ursula K. LeGuin, everyone talks about LHoD, but I preferred her earlier work, "Rocannon's World", "Planet of Exile, and "City of Illusions", as well as "the Dispossessed".
Posted by: Grouchy's Brother at May 14, 2023 07:33 PM (99bFS)
305
Mothers in literature ... what comes to mind are the mothers in Jane Austen, most of whom are either dead or are pretty awful.
Mrs. Bennet's Sister in law Mrs. Gardiner is altogether a more sensible woman and a decent mother, what little we see of her. But sensible women and good mothers usually don't make for interesting literature.
Mrs. Bennet's Sister in law Mrs. Gardiner is altogether a more sensible woman and a decent mother, what little we see of her. But sensible women and good mothers usually don't make for interesting literature.
Posted by: Grouchy's Brother at May 14, 2023 07:59 PM (99bFS)
306
More than $15k can be earned online by performing straightforward tasks from home. In the previous month, I got $18376. Even a young child may do this job and make money because it is so simple to complete and has higher pay than typical office occupations. Everyone needs to try this task by using the information on this page. www.Richepay.com
More than $15k can be earned online by performing straightforward tasks from home. In the previous month, I got $18376. Even a young child may do this job and make money because it is so simple to complete and has higher pay than typical office occupations. Everyone needs to try this task by using the information on this page. www.Richepay.com
Posted by: Jacqueline Mccarthy at May 15, 2023 02:56 AM (Pt3IX)
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