Sunday Morning Book Thread - 04-21-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (April is National Poetry Month). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...

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

NOTE: I'm helping out at church again this morning, so the Saturday Morning Coffee Break comment rules are now in effect...Have a great day!

PIC NOTE

There's a bit of story behind today's pic. A departmental admin in our English department sent this out to everyone in the department because someone had found this ring and she wanted to know if we knew who might have lost it. At first it appears to be an ordinary plain gold ring. However, when you look at it closer, you can find a faint tracery of Elvish writing inscribed on the inside. One of our English professors is a Tolkien scholar and immediately recognized it as the Black Speech and suggested that the previous owner was Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor. I asked if anyone fancied a trip to Mt. Doom. The One Ring is very capable of slipping off of someone's finger without them noticing, of course.

Read-What-You-Own Challenge

Apparently "Read What You Own Month" is in November, but I'm throwing this out there in April. I figure most of you are too busy with National Novel Writing Month to actually read anything in November. I can truthfully say that the vast majority of my reading over the past few years has been books that I've read for the first time. Unfortunately, my TBR pile does have a tendency to grow back. At the moment, I only have around 340 books in my TBR pile. But I just ordered a couple more books this week...And the library in which I work (but do not work for) is scheduling a spring book sale next week as well. Thanks to my job, I do get a sneak peek at their offerings before they lay them out for the general public, and there's not a whole lot there that interests me this time around.

Nowadays, I have a different goal that is related to a "Read What I Own Challenge" but is not quite the same since it features books that I have read before. Technically, I own the books, but I consider "Read What I Own" to only include books that I own but have NEVER read before. So far for 2024, out of the 28 books or so I've completed, I have re-read about 4-5 of them, and the rest are completely new to me. Also, some of those books are contained in omnibus editions, so the total number of books I've read is around 40 or so (short books). It can get a little confusing at times. My overall goal is to try to read all of my books at least once, but I know there will be a few DNF's in there...

How are you doing on your own "Read What You Own Challenges" so far?

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(HT: Weak Geek)

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Best Free Writing Software For Writers

There are any number of tools out there that writers can use to help them create content. As for me, I tend to be an old-school Microsoft Word squirrel. Word has all of the formatting and organizing features that I need for writing projects. I suppose OpenOffice could also work. I use Google Docs a lot for work-related writing projects because it's easy to use and collaborate with other content creators. I use Google Docs a lot for the class I teach because it's easy for students to use. Supposedly, we are losing access to Google Drive for education soon, which makes me a bit sad. Yes, I know Google hoovers it all up into their panopticon to share with the world, but there's nothing there that I care about. Microsoft OneDrive, which we are switching to, does the same thing, but has better data classification level ratings (according to Microsoft).

Notepad can be used in a pinch, though, but you don't have the same formatting options. Just about any text editor will work. I use Atom for composing these blog posts because it color-codes my HTML and helps me keep my formatting consistent, except when I occasionally forget a closing tag, of course.

As with any tool, it's up to you to find the one that works best for your particular writing style. A basic typewriter can do the job, as can a quill pen and ink bottle. With the latter, you will at least develop awesome calligraphy skills to wow your friends and family when you send them personalized invitations to Bilbo's Birthday Bash (September 22!).

Oh, and lest we forget, now that AI is becoming the new hotness (it's all the rage in education right now), you will no doubt be able to find all sorts of AI-powered writing assistants to help you out...

BOOKS BY MORONS

We have an interesting item this week from a contributor to an ongoing educational series of historical resources aimed at the younger reader:

Salutations, Perfessor!
A couple of years ago, I'd sent OregonMuse (lux perpetua) some information about a series of middle-grades history textbooks from Classical Academic Press to which I've been contributing. After a host of delays, the volumes with my work are finally available for pre-order! The Curious Historian Level 3A: The Early Middle Ages, covering the period from the last years of the Roman Empire to the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Manzikert, is at the printer, and Level 3B: The Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, covering the period from the Norman Conquest to the first Thanksgiving, will be soon. (Level 1 starts with Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, and Level 2 focuses on Ancient Greece and Rome as well as their contemporaries in China and India.) This page offers a brief overview of Level 3, and the individual product pages (available here) offer sample chapters and more detailed info about the contents. It's a resource-rich series, not only covering names and dates but what life was like; articles on art, architecture, literature, etc. from the period covered in the chapter; recent archaeological discoveries; intriguing etymologies; fun trivia; "Recommended Reading" lists; and loads of pictures and maps, plus more detailed notes for teachers, an optional "Spotlight on Virtue" for each chapter, and a set of digital resources that go into even greater depth. I'm hoping it will provide parents and teachers with a powerful antidote to the "woke" approach to history!
Blessings,
Elisabeth G. Wolfe

The third book in the Exoproneurs series by Moron Author "moviegique" comes out TODAY!

Hi, Perf!
Book 3 in my Exopreneurs series, Wingless, comes out Sunday!
Exopreneurs Book 3 - Wingless
This time our hero, Jake, is the lone human on a world, Debrides, which is the hub of financial activity in the sector! But everything goes wrong both on Debrides, and on his home base, Station XEE--yet, only when Jake's around. Is it paranoia? Is he the most hated man in the galaxy?
Find out in Wingless!

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Longest book I've ever read, in one sitting.
Sum Of All Fears, by Clancy.
Fresh off of an Oct. '98 motorcycle wreck, with five brand new screws in my left ankle, where else would I have been, other than deep in my recliner?
More than twelve hours of reading though, to be sure.
Don't ask about the bathroom breaks. The lack of help in "getting there and back", were direct lead-ins to the '99 divorce.
Previously, an overnight read-through of Crighton's [sic] Jurrasic Park (long before it was a movie), made for a hellacious endurance test at the Regional Meeting at the Marriott, the next morning. Such is a book that you really couldn't put down.
Now then. Gotta go play in traffic!
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Posted by: Jim at April 14, 2024 09:21 AM (e6UQI)

Comment: I have read Sum of All Fears, but it's been so long I barely remember any of it. I don't even have the book anymore. I do remember the fuss that was made when the movie came out as the producers changed the villains from Arab terrorists to Neo-Nazis. The movie came out in 2002 (never saw it), just when the War on Terror was hitting its stride, so no one wanted to cast blame on the Arabs for anything (even though it was ARABS behind 9/11...). I have never read Jurassic Park, though I have seen the movie multiple times. I can see both books being excellent page-turners during a period of convalescence when there's not much else to do.

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The Key Trilogy (Key of Light, Key of Knowledge, and Key of Valor) by Nora Roberts is the story of three Celtic demigoddesses imprisoned in a glass box by an evil god and a quest by three mortals to find the keys that will release the locks. The evil spell that sent the innocents to their prison specifies that only mortals can find the hidden keys, the search is limited to the length of one phase of the moon, and only mortal hands may turn those keys to unlock the box. Three young ladies agree to the quest, driven by morals, empathy, and a sense of justice. Each lady has a convoluted clue to lead her to the key, and the limited assistance of two gods who serve as caretakers of the prisoners. The story is gripping, characters are richly developed and there are twists and turns along the way. An enjoyable read, a worthy quest, a compelling tale, and unforgettable characters.
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 14, 2024 09:46 AM (U3L4U)

Comment: I've never heard of this series, but I have heard of Nora Roberts. She is one of those names that I see all the time at Walmart, in airport bookstores, etc. She's a VERY prolific writer, penning over 200 novels and counting. Kind of like Jerry B. Jenkins, I suppose, or Stephen King (though he's more of "brand" these days.). According to Amazon, she has around 500 million (that's a half-billion, with a "b") books in print.

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In addition, I've been reading Eric J. Wittenberg's The Union Cavalry Comes of Age. He blames (surprise!) MacClellan for misusing, misunderstanding, and poorly organizing his cavalry arm in the early years of the war. Although I haven't gotten that far, I believe we are working our way to Brandy Station where the Union cavalry went toe to toe (hoof to hoof?) with the Confederates and proved their worth.
(I may be a bit emotionally confused on this point but while I'm perfectly willing to accept the death of cavalry troopers (what are the enlisted for, anyway?) but I find the death and abuse of the horses heartbreaking.)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at April 14, 2024 11:26 AM (FVME7)

Comment: It's a bit weird when we find ourselves touched by the death of animals over the death of humans, but it happens. In the Amber series by Roger Zelazny, the first couple of books feature quite literal disposable human cannon fodder as Corwin and his brothers recruit armies from among "Shadows" to fight their wars. No one sheds a tear when the armies are ground down to the last man (they are not viewed as "real people" by the Amberites), but Corwin is very sad when his faithful steed is shot out from under him later in the story.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

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

NOTE: Although I list out the books I've been reading individually, in truth they are packaged in an omnibus edition: The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber)

Chronicles of Amber Book 2 - The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny

Corwin's first attempt at seizing the throne of Amber was a dud. Blinded and imprisoned by his brother Eric, Corwin eventually breaks free with a new plan...one involving guns. Traditional firearms don't work in Amber, but Corwin stumbled across a different substance by accident that have the same effect. So now he teams up with a different brother to lay siege to Amber once again, in an attempt to defeat Eric and claim the Jewel of Judgment for himself.

Chronicles of Amber Book 3 - The Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny

Corwin's family of Amberites is supremely dysfunctional. Picture every movie or television show that features a bunch of rich ne'er-do-wells that can't stand each other, one of whom is a kinslayer, and then magnify it by a thousand. We get a glimpse of the true inner working's of Oberon's spawn as they scheme and plot against one another. However, we do finally find out who is in which faction, along with a *third* faction from outside of Amber that seeks to destroy the Pattern upon which Amber is based for its own purposes. Oh, and there's an actual unicorn which is important to Corwin's family in some way.

Chronicles of Amber Book 4 - The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny

Corwin pursues his brother Brand, who may be the one that has been plotting against Amber this entire time, having thrown in his lot with the Courts of Chaos. Mad with power, Brand is seeking the ultimate control over Amber. Can Corwin and his siblings stop Brand before he succeeds in his mad schemes?

Chronicles of Amber Book 5 - The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny

This is the endgame for the first half of the Chronicles of Amber. We now know the full extent of the players involved. We also know the stakes that are at risk (all of creation). In some sense this is a bit anticlimactic since we KNOW there is a second series after this one (books 6 - 10). Still, it's the exciting conclusion to the first part.

Chronicles of Amber Book 6 - Trumps of Doom by Roger Zelazny

This picks up some time after The Courts of Chaos and follows Merlin, Corwin's son, as he attempts to identify who is trying to kill him. Strangely, the attempted assassinations all occur on April 30.

Chronicles of Amber Book 7 - Blood of Amber by Roger Zelazny

Merlin now knows a few of the players in the game in which he's become involved, but he still doesn't know all of them, nor does he know the true stakes for which he's playing. The construct he created, a magic-based computer called Ghostwheel, seems to have developed sentience and a sense of self-preservation, which just adds complexity to an already complicated situation.

Chronicles of Amber Book 8 - Sign of Chaos by Roger Zelazny

Merlin attends a fancy dinner party. Oh, and there are a couple of magical duels at the end now that Merlin knows just a bit more about who he's facing. And there's a twist!

Chronicles of Amber Book 9 - Knight of Shadows by Roger Zelazny

Merlin goes on a spiritual acid trip while the forces of Chaos--represented by the Logrus--and the forces of Order--represented by the Pattern--tempt him to choose between them. Will Merlin succumb to temptation or will he find a third way?

Chronicles of Amber Book 10 - Prince of Chaos by Roger Zelazny

At last, we reach the finale of Zelazny's magnum opus. Now we have the ultimate showdown between Order and Chaos with Merlin standing between them both. I can definitely see a Moorcockian influence in Zelazny's story with its emphasis on the conflict between Order/Chaos, rather than the more conventional fantasy trope of Good v. Evil. He also draws upon Vancian magic in his representation of sorcery. Overall a decent series, but not one that I'm eager to re-read any time soon.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 04-14-24 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Disclaimer: No Morons were harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. The lost and found has been moved to Sammath Naur, the entrance of which is located on the slopes of Orodruin.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at April 21, 2024 09:00 AM (jhKkc)

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

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 09:01 AM (zudum)

3 Reading 2nd book on Vietnam War 1965-68 Triumph Regained
Very good, hardly can put it down

Posted by: Skip at April 21, 2024 09:01 AM (jhKkc)

4 And in the darkness bind them.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 21, 2024 09:02 AM (LkLld)

5 anyone nooded?

Posted by: Ciampino - Vitreous Humour is funny glass #32 at April 21, 2024 09:03 AM (qfLjt)

6 Love the top photo and the sense of humor of the professor who sent it to the department.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 09:03 AM (zudum)

7 Oh hey, I think that's actually my ring. Just a replica I had made a while back. You can hand it over anytime; the thing's totally harmless. Swear to Balrog....er, God, I mean.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 21, 2024 09:04 AM (g0Y4p)

8 It's ours! Ours!

Posted by: Gollum at April 21, 2024 09:06 AM (PiwSw)

9 Those pants are fine. I would wear them to fall in a volcano.

Posted by: Golem at April 21, 2024 09:06 AM (vFG9F)

10 About "The Sooner Spy": Don't bother.

I've gone back to comfort reading, in this case the second Perry Mason mystery, "The Case of the Sulky Girl." This story is 90 years old, but it holds together. The key clue is right there in plain sight, but it's camouflaged so well that you're likely to miss it.

However, a tale of this vintage has several bits that will make a modern reader blink: Paul Drake rolls cigarettes. Newspaper photographers use flash powder and ask attractive female subjects to "show some leg." And Mason keeps a bottle of hootch in his desk.

HR just fainted.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024 09:07 AM (p/isN)

11 Elemental, my dear Watson.

Posted by: Gallium at April 21, 2024 09:08 AM (86W+h)

12 Hey, it's not like I went to Harvard. Sue me.

Posted by: Golem at April 21, 2024 09:08 AM (vFG9F)

13 I'm hoping to complete my to be read stack before I die. That may be a challenge, as it is currently measured in the hundreds.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 09:13 AM (dQvWT)

14 >>> Paul Drake rolls cigarettes.

This detail is telling of the character. Ninety years ago it would have shown him as independent and a bit old-fashioned.

When the TV series was produced it would have portrayed him as quite the throwback.

Posted by: fluffy at April 21, 2024 09:13 AM (86W+h)

15 I would argue that when I first read the Chronicles of Amber, no one knew that there would be a second series written.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 21, 2024 09:13 AM (D7oie)

16 It didn't help that in the book version of "Sum of All Fears," the Arab terrorists are assisted by former East German Communists. Hollywood pretty much had to change it, if only out of professional courtesy.

There's also a scene where Jack Ryan's wife shreds a feminist harpy, which is extremely funny.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 21, 2024 09:13 AM (g0Y4p)

17 Ha! Prof gets a Tolkien ref in right from the top! Good show!

Coffee brewing, "The Lark Ascending" on KUSC.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:14 AM (3e3hy)

18 Did anyone ever read those Alfred Hitchcock mysteries? Little paperbacks with usually 3 or 4 shorts stories and then a longer mini-novel.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 21, 2024 09:15 AM (ENQN6)

19 HAH! The topic of accumulating books is right up my alley.

I'm working to collect all the Perry Mason books with the Ballantine covers. Don't care for the original Pocket Book covers and absolutely detest the photograph covers. Thanks to eBay and AbeBooks, plus raids on various bookstores, I have nearly all of them, with maybe 10 to 12 to go.

Meanwhile, I need to read them -- along with all of the other books that I have.

And then comes the Book Thread with its recommendations ...

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024 09:15 AM (p/isN)

20
The One Ring is very capable of slipping off of someone's finger without them noticing, of course.

I must've owned the One Ring a few times.

I've more than one ring disappear that way if my hands get wet.

Next time I get the One Ring....watch out!!!

Posted by: naturalfake at April 21, 2024 09:16 AM (eDfFs)

21 This week I read Night Soldiers by Alan Furst, which was recommended here awhile ago. This is the first of fifteen historical spy novels set between 1933 and 1945. Night Soldiers begins in 1934 in Bulgaria where Khristo Stoianev is recruited by the NKVD, the Russian intelligence service. After training in Moscow, he is sent to Spain to fight for the Republicans in their civil war. Tipped off, he escapes Stalin's purges escaping to Paris. Working with the resistance in Paris and in the mountains of southeast France, Khristo joins forces with the nascent OSS operations. I enjoyed the book very much and look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Posted by: Zoltan at April 21, 2024 09:16 AM (gyCYJ)

22 The cartoon about the TBR collection is too true to be funny. And I want to know who's been snooping in my house.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 09:17 AM (zudum)

23 Loren D. Estleman's "Vamp: A Valentino Mystery" is a fun accompaniment to our own MP4's Theda Bara tales. Val is a modern-day L.A. movie palace owner/restorer who, in this outing, in addition to helping a friend restore a drive-in, is also trying to save a long-lost print of the 1917 epic "Cleopatra".

It has a ton of great one-liners: "L.A. has no landmarks, only placeholders for the next Tim Horton's."

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:17 AM (3e3hy)

24 I just finished re-reading "Damnation Alley".

Just started re-reading "The Status Civilization".

I'm noticing a theme here in my subjects and it's kind of scary.

Posted by: pawn at April 21, 2024 09:17 AM (QB+5g)

25 There are rules for TBR vs. R books, and they must be followed scrupulously, or there will be consequences.
1) You must segregate your TBR books from your R books, otherwise you're a poseur.
2) TBR books may not be displayed prominently anywhere, as if you're suggesting they're R, otherwise you're a poseur.
3) Displaying R books prominently means you're a poseur.

I don't make the rules. Oh wait, I just did. I guess I'm a poseur.

Posted by: Archimedes at April 21, 2024 09:18 AM (CsUN+)

26 Yay book thread!

Those who visit the prayer/coffee thread (or is it "prayer FOR coffee" thread?) know that I have had a bit of family drama, which is why I decided to dig into A Family Guide to Spiritual Warfare: Strategies for Deliverance and Healing by Kathleen Beckman.

Like everyone else here, we buy books and then set them aside "for later." Strangely, I never let that pile get very high, so while I debated which purloined Nabokov book I should read, I suddenly recalled this was waiting for me. My wife quite enjoyed it. I've just started it, but it seems very much grounded in scripture and Church practice, and the author has assisted at excorcisms and has some case histories in an appendix.

This has an Imprimatur and is certified Nihil Obstat, so you're getting the straight dope. For those not versed in Catholic terms, this means it has been reviewed by Church officials and found theologically sound. Spiritual warriors may read with confidence.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:18 AM (llXky)

27 Reading Hampton Sides book “The Wide Wide Sea” about Captain James Cook’s fateful third voyage of exploration. Cook was an amazing figure who was not happy on land. He had to be at sea. I’m up to the part where he is preparing for his third voyage.
So far so good. Will have an update when I’m finished.

Posted by: RetSgtRN at April 21, 2024 09:18 AM (eTkTC)

28 I've been reading this week about the American who ruled Japan. Supreme Commander, by Seymour Morris details the fascinating story of how Douglas MacArthur became the supreme commander of Japan, and how he reconstructed and pacifed the nation that had seemingly abandoned all rules of civilization during world war two. For a man who had dedicated his life to warfare, he may have seemed an unusual choice, but as with everything he did, MacArthur formulated a plan and carried it out to the letter. He used a combination of strict rules and generosity to transform a militant culture into a peaceable nation that has been stable since his rule ended seven years later. Morris covers the tense entry of MacArthur and his army group, the war crimes investigations and trials, and the creation of a constitution for Japan. This bit of history is not well remembered, but his tenure was vital to restoring stability in the region, and turned a bitter enemy into an ally that remains so to this day. This book is full of anecdotes that show how he carefully considered policies and actions as his team transformed Japan.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 09:20 AM (dQvWT)

29 So far so good. Will have an update when I’m finished.
Posted by: RetSgtRN at April 21, 2024 09:18 AM (eTkTC)
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Let's Cook!

Posted by: Polynesian Meth Management Specialist at April 21, 2024 09:21 AM (3e3hy)

30 Cook was an amazing figure who was not happy on land. He had to be at sea. I’m up to the part where he is preparing for his third voyage.
So far so good. Will have an update when I’m finished.

Spoiler alert...

Posted by: Archimedes at April 21, 2024 09:21 AM (CsUN+)

31 Rumer Godden's first autobiographical book, "A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep," was a wonderful find for me this week. I've loved her novels and children's stories for decades. She had a varied life, being born in 1907 and going back and forth between India and England. Her stories of living alone with her children in India during WWII are amazing. I've ordered the second part of the autobiography, "House with Four Rooms." Looking forward to it.

Posted by: skywch at April 21, 2024 09:21 AM (uqhmb)

32 First reasonable take on macarthur ive read in 20 years

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 21, 2024 09:22 AM (PXvVL)

33 This week I read Night Soldiers by Alan Furst, which was recommended here awhile ago. This is the first of fifteen historical spy novels set between 1933 and 1945. Night Soldiers begins in 1934 in Bulgaria where Khristo Stoianev is recruited by the NKVD, the Russian intelligence service. After training in Moscow, he is sent to Spain to fight for the Republicans in their civil war. Tipped off, he escapes Stalin's purges escaping to Paris.

Posted by: Zoltan at April 21, 2024 09:16 AM (gyCYJ)
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Stalin was a real piece of work. He sent a bunch of advisors, technical experts and pilots to Spain, where they picked up priceless knowledge and combat experience against German aircraft and doctrine.

And he killed almost all of them out of paranoia. The Germans, on the other hand, used their veterans to rapidly train up their completely green air force and army units. If you think about, the Luftwaffe had no business being as good as it was in 1939. How did a service go from a few clandestine operators to a dominant air power?

Welllllll....if you read Long Live Death, you'll know.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:23 AM (llXky)

34 Currently reading the second of Barbara Hambly's 1920s movie mystery series "One Extra Corpse". I'm finding it rather entertaining for all the mention of local landmarks and establishments. I grew up in that area, and the church that my family attended in the 60s and 70s was in North Hollywood. One throwaway bit does have me wondering - a character mentions that at a party at Pickfair (the palatial home of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks - THE movie star power couple of the day) the food would be really good. The elderly mother of my mom's best friend had been the housekeeper and cook at Pickfair then - a stern Scot of unbending virtue, much treasured by her movie business clientele over the years. Alas, the next Kindle version of Ms Hambly's series is available on pre-order for the same price as in hardcover ... I'd love to read it, but no way in hell at that price.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 21, 2024 09:23 AM (xnmPy)

35 @23 --

Dorothy Parker is quoted as describing Los Angeles as "40 suburbs in search of a city."

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024 09:23 AM (p/isN)

36 I love a good Man vs Nature vs Man mystery in the Antarctic. "Dark Winter" by William Dietrich takes place at Amundsen-Scott Research Station at the South Pole, where geologist Jed Lewis is overwintering at the behest of a colleague. He is immediately sucked into a controversy over a meteorite that may be from the Moon or Mars and could be worth millions. When it disappears, the new guy geologist is the first suspect. Then people start dying. The last plane left weeks ago and there's no help coming. The tension exacerbates the division between the scientists and the maintenance crew.

There's a lot of black humor and funny character sketches of the kind of misanthrope who would be willing to endure the bleak darkness of an Antarctic winter.

Paranoia, manipulation, and finger-pointing as bodies start piling up.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:24 AM (3e3hy)

37 They completely destroyed TSOAF by "whitewashing" it for the movie. I loved the book and absolutely hated the movie.

Posted by: pawn at April 21, 2024 09:24 AM (QB+5g)

38 Also reading Dietrich's "Ice Reich", which has my favorite intersection: Antarctica and Nazis. No aliens for the trifecta (yet).

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:24 AM (3e3hy)

39
Started "The Attack".

Well-written in a very much "World War Z" format.

A less clever writer would've gone right for the horror, but Schlichter provides a slow introduction of some of the mechanics and people involved to make the Attack actually happen.

He drops in some foreshadowing, mostly in the form of some character saying something along the lines of "oh fuck, we didn't realize at all that the Americans wouldn't just roll over but came after us hammer and tongs." And his inference that both the wide open border and the humiliating bug-out in Afghanistan provided the fuel for the Attack is essentially correct. As we may find out soonish.

Seems very prescient and realistic, something you want in a thriller or horror novel and nothing you want in real life.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 21, 2024 09:24 AM (eDfFs)

40 Good day horde. Thanks Perfessor for the meaty content.

Posted by: TRex at April 21, 2024 09:25 AM (IQ6Gq)

41 >>Reading Hampton Sides book “The Wide Wide Sea” about Captain James Cook’s fateful third voyage of exploration. Cook was an amazing figure who was not happy on land. He had to be at sea. I’m up to the part where he is preparing for his third voyage.
So far so good. Will have an update when I’m finished.

Fun fact. After Cook's travels in the South Pacific his ship was returned to the British Navy and renamed the Lord Sandwich. It was then scuttled in Newport Harbor to try and block the pesky colonists from using the port.

The finally ID'ed the ship a couple years ago.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 21, 2024 09:26 AM (LkLld)

42 TRex, how can you read books with those tiny arms?

Posted by: pawn at April 21, 2024 09:27 AM (QB+5g)

43 I continued my enjoyable reading routine this week: Matt Helm, the first Liturgical mystery, and Wind In The Willows. Now I feel the need for something different. Probably some CS Lewis. I have a new hardcover of The Screwtape Letters and Screwtape Makes a Toast coming this week which would make a good start.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 09:27 AM (zudum)

44 Douglas MacArthur became the supreme commander of Japan, and how he reconstructed and pacifed the nation that had seemingly abandoned all rules of civilization during world war two.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 09:20 AM (dQvWT)
---
It's important to remember that Japan's behavior during WW II was a departure from how they had acted as late as the 1920s. Like Germany, Japan had previously believed that rules must be scrupulously followed to the letter and that it was right and proper to treat vanquished enemies with honor.

During both the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, the conduct of Japanese troops was very good. It was only the emergence of hypernationalism that (as in Germany) officially pushed bestial behavior. If one reads the memoirs of officers, there is deep unease on how the troops are being treated and pushed into this behavior. MacArthur did well to capitalize on that sense of shame.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:27 AM (llXky)

45 >>Did anyone ever read those Alfred Hitchcock mysteries? Little paperbacks with usually 3 or 4 shorts stories and then a longer mini-novel.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 21, 2024 09:15 AM

Oh, yes. I loved those things and used to buy them whenever I could find them. Chucked in a move or gone to a garage sale years ago.

Posted by: huerfano at April 21, 2024 09:27 AM (VGOMa)

46 As always, pants are required

so the Saturday Morning Coffee Break comment rules are now in effect...

The latter does not bode well for the former.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at April 21, 2024 09:28 AM (a3Q+t)

47 If you want to create a professional looking typeset version of your book, there's no better way than using Lyx. This free software acts almost like a word processor, but it creates output that goes to the typesetting program LaTeX. Then you can generate whatever. I use the default pdf output (great for peer reviewed papers, especially those with equations!!!), but it can generate epub and a host of others. Lyx has a bit of a learning curve, but I found that the help docs (written in Lyx format) are really useful. However, there are literally hundreds of LaTeX packages needed, so when you install TeX to support Lyx, do a complete install. It will save headaches later.

Lyx also can output LaTeX code that can be read by TeXStudio, another great program. If you get good at LaTeX, you can tweak things there for effects difficult to do in Lyx.

Lyx is as easy to use as Word or LibreOffice Writer and it produces output that looks like it came from a commercial book. To get graphics into is it's a good idea to also install Inkscape, which is needed in the Linux environment for support for svg graphics.

Posted by: MichiCanuck at April 21, 2024 09:28 AM (sH3/P)

48 Lord Sandwich!

*larfs*

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:28 AM (3e3hy)

49 I was at a garage sale yesterday where I came across some original Raggedy Ann books. Unfortunately, the books were more raggedy than she is, so at $10 a pop, I left them on the shelf.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024 09:29 AM (p/isN)

50 Thanks for the Book Thread, Perfessor!

Always a highlight of Sunday mornings. So far, I have read 32 books this year. These are all new-to-me books, mostly fiction and, so far, every one a delight.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 21, 2024 09:30 AM (U3L4U)

51 >>Lord Sandwich!

>>*larfs*

Could be worse. Could be the Earl of Panini.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 21, 2024 09:31 AM (LkLld)

52 Library had a book sale, and of course I went. Got a Kipling, a Simak collection, and some SF paperbacks.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:31 AM (3e3hy)

53 of the kind of misanthrope who would be willing to endure the bleak darkness of an Antarctic winter.

Paranoia, manipulation, and finger-pointing as bodies start piling up.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:24 AM (3e3hy)

Now, now.

The command I was in when stationed in Japan handled dentistry over the Antarctic winter. It was I believe a six month gig cuz believe it or not people can die from teeth issues.

Anyway, I thought it would be cool to do that because how many people get to live in Antarctica? Damn few.
A Dental Adventure par excellence was my attitude.

Buuuuuuut, the Navy wanted someone with more experience than a lowly lieutenant. So, I stayed in Japan, which was fine and a hell of a lot more fun.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 21, 2024 09:31 AM (eDfFs)

54 Lord Sandwich!

*larfs*

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:28 AM (3e3hy)
---
"The Duke and the Duchess of Douchebag!"

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:31 AM (llXky)

55 First reasonable take on macarthur ive read in 20 years
Posted by: Miguel cervantes

It's funny. MacArthur had a huge ego, but when he set his mind to something, he did it. The Inchon landing was complicated and brilliant at the same time. How was he to know that the US didn't want to win?

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 09:31 AM (dQvWT)

56 Fun fact. After Cook's travels in the South Pacific his ship was returned to the British Navy and renamed the Lord Sandwich. It was then scuttled in Newport Harbor to try and block the pesky colonists from using the port.

The finally ID'ed the ship a couple years ago.

Sandwich was a huge benefactor not of only Cook, but of many other scientific and scholarly works.

Posted by: RetSgtRN at April 21, 2024 09:32 AM (eTkTC)

57 Happy Sunday! One book I read in nearly one sitting was "Ender's Game." When I have a good book it's fun to 'binge' it, when possible. I may have called in sick so that I could finish Neal Stephenson's "REAMDE."

Posted by: Lizzy at April 21, 2024 09:32 AM (cCVOS)

58 Could be worse. Could be the Earl of Panini.
----

I was larfing because Cook was made into a Lunchable.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:32 AM (3e3hy)

59 They completely destroyed TSOAF by "whitewashing" it for the movie. I loved the book and absolutely hated the movie.

Posted by: pawn at April 21, 2024 09:24 AM (QB+5g)
---
The current rules for what stories can be told is far more restrictive to creativity than the Hayes Code ever was.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:32 AM (llXky)

60 27 ... "Reading Hampton Sides book “The Wide Wide Sea” about Captain James Cook’s fateful third voyage of exploration. Cook was an amazing figure who was not happy on land. He had to be at sea. I’m up to the part where he is preparing for his third voyage."

Thanks for mentioning this book and to JackStraw for the Newport connection update. Just put a reserve on it at the local library. I was seriously shocked they are getting it.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 09:35 AM (zudum)

61 It's funny. MacArthur had a huge ego, but when he set his mind to something, he did it. The Inchon landing was complicated and brilliant at the same time. How was he to know that the US didn't want to win?

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 09:31 AM (dQvWT)
---
He was a very complex man, highly capable with he had massive blind spots. He opposed the atomic bombing of Japan because he wanted to conqueror it inch by inch, and produced completely deluded staff estimates on how many lives it would cost.

Inchon was brilliant, but the subsequent defeat of is forces was one of the greatest intelligence failures in human history. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Chinese history (read my book) would know that the ChiComs were never going to allow Americans to occupy all of Korean. Not going to happen. They said they were coming, recon saw them coming, and Mac did nothing but further spread out his troops.

THEN he demands the nukes. A sad ending to a remarkable career.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:36 AM (llXky)

62 3 Reading 2nd book on Vietnam War 1965-68 Triumph Regained
Very good, hardly can put it down

Posted by: Skip at April 21, 2024 09:01 AM (jhKkc)
----
Skip, what's the name of the 1st one and who is the author?

Posted by: Ciampino - Vitreous Humour is funny glass #33 at April 21, 2024 09:36 AM (qfLjt)

63 Buuuuuuut, the Navy wanted someone with more experience than a lowly lieutenant. So, I stayed in Japan, which was fine and a hell of a lot more fun.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 21, 2024 09:31 AM (eDfFs)
---
Um, I think the proper term for that is R.H.I.P. Works for all sorts of neat gigs.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:37 AM (llXky)

64 @36 --

And the Read This Someday list grows by one more entry. My phone is going to rebel.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024 09:38 AM (p/isN)

65 Reading Hampton Sides book “The Wide Wide Sea” about Captain James Cook’s fateful third voyage of exploration. Cook was an amazing figure who was not happy on land. He had to be at sea. I’m up to the part where he is preparing for his third voyage.
So far so good. Will have an update when I’m finished.
Posted by: RetSgtRN

Which reminds me, on the big island of Hawaii, there is a monument to Cook at the place he died. If you are a diver, a replica has been built in the bay itself about 80 feet down.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 09:39 AM (dQvWT)

66 Tom Clancy is perfect convalescent reading. You read in bed, you fall asleep, the book may flip forward a hundred pages, you wake and continue reading unaware because the story will be told maaannny times.

Posted by: Wenda at April 21, 2024 09:41 AM (G1K9S)

67 Buuuuuuut, the Navy wanted someone with more experience than a lowly lieutenant. So, I stayed in Japan, which was fine and a hell of a lot more fun.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 21, 2024 09:31 AM (eDfFs)
---
Um, I think the proper term for that is R.H.I.P. Works for all sorts of neat gigs.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:37 AM (llXky)

True. Very true.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 21, 2024 09:41 AM (eDfFs)

68 I no longer have to use writing software, thank God. Retirement has many benefits and not having to stay up to date on latest software is one of them. But I remember fondly a program for the very early Mac computers (two 800K floppy disks, no hard drive) called Write Now. It took up almost no resources, did all the formatting needed for most documents and was utterly reliable.

Of course it no longer exists.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 09:42 AM (zudum)

69 >>Douglas MacArthur became the supreme commander of Japan, and how he reconstructed and pacifed the nation that had seemingly abandoned all rules of civilization during world war two.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 09:20 AM

My dad was drafted in late 1945 and spent a year in Japan guarding MacArthur's headquarters with an unloaded .45.

Posted by: huerfano at April 21, 2024 09:42 AM (VGOMa)

70 Mark moyar who started by reexamining the phoenix program narrative

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 21, 2024 09:43 AM (PXvVL)

71 That ring is the one my grandson lost from my Lord of the Rings Risk game. Which makes it Risk with a different gamebord.
Morning all. Sun is up. Better get back on the Spring weed wacking.
Wish the wife would let me get a goat or two.

Once again I hang my head in shame as this is my weekly reminder that I don't read nearly enough.

Off to attack Goatheads and Tumbleweeds. I should be done in about 12 hours.

Thank you Perfessor.

Posted by: Reforger at April 21, 2024 09:44 AM (B705c)

72 49 I was at a garage sale yesterday where I came across some original Raggedy Ann books. Unfortunately, the books were more raggedy than she is, so at $10 a pop, I left them on the shelf.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024 09:29 AM (p/isN)
----
You can visit the Raggedy Ann Museum in Arcola, IL (on I-57), south of Champaign.

Posted by: Ciampino - Vitreous Humour is funny glass #34 at April 21, 2024 09:47 AM (qfLjt)

73 A cousin gifted me with Athenry by Cahal Dunne, mainly because he met the author at a pub in Pittsburgh, but also because the novel is well written and tells the true story behind the Great Famine. The story is an homage to a song called The Fields of Athenry, which tells the tale of a young Irishman who is sentenced to the Australian penal colony for stealing a bag of grain to feed his starving family. Set in 1840s Ireland, the novel instructs the reader on the English penal code that enforced the English conquest of Ireland. Catholics were prohibited from practicing their religion, owning or leasing property, entering a profession, owning weapons, voting, living in a town, all in an attempt to render the Irish to the level of slaves. The story is gripping and the level of brutality of the English toward the Irish was stunning to me. (My knowledge of Irish history is not detailed.) The odyssey of Liam O'Donoghue as told in the novel is entertaining and I found it difficult to put the book down. Morality trumps inhumanity, and the love of family sustains Liam through his travails. The book has haunted me from the first page and I want to read it again later.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 21, 2024 09:49 AM (U3L4U)

74 It's important to remember that Japan's behavior during WW II was a departure from how they had acted as late as the 1920s. Like Germany, Japan had previously believed that rules must be scrupulously followed to the letter and that it was right and proper to treat vanquished enemies with honor.

During both the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, the conduct of Japanese troops was very good. It was only the emergence of hypernationalism that (as in Germany) officially pushed bestial behavior. If one reads the memoirs of officers, there is deep unease on how the troops are being treated and pushed into this behavior. MacArthur did well to capitalize on that sense of shame.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:27 AM (llXky)

In other words, World War I screwed everything up, *again*.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 21, 2024 09:50 AM (g0Y4p)

75 @72 --

Really! Thanks for the tip.

Amazing how many single-subject museums exist.

Drumright, Okla., has one devoted to Tom Mix. I found it interesting.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024 09:51 AM (p/isN)

76 I no longer have to use writing software, thank God. Retirement has many benefits and not having to stay up to date on latest software is one of them. But I remember fondly a program for the very early Mac computers (two 800K floppy disks, no hard drive) called Write Now. It took up almost no resources, did all the formatting needed for most documents and was utterly reliable.

Of course it no longer exists.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 09:42 AM (zudum)
---
Amazon provides a downloadable Word template and that's what I use to format my books.

I write them on standard pages with narrow margins, print and edit them that way, and when the copy is clean enough, I put them in the template.

At that point, I order the proof copy and read THAT one aloud, because sometimes there are minor formatting errors but I've also found that typos and odd bits stand out a lot more when you're holding a book. Not sure why, maybe its the expectation that everything is perfect once it has a cover and stuff.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:51 AM (llXky)

77 In other words, World War I screwed everything up, *again*.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 21, 2024 09:50 AM (g0Y4p)
---
World War I wasn't really experienced in the Far East. Some colonies changed hands, but European prestige remained intact - it was just one group of the White Overlords fighting with another group.

Japan was radicalized by the Great Kanto Earthquake, which shook the country to its core. It found further fuel for aggression in the disintegration of China. Japan went from being a partner of development with China to her devourer.

Chiang Kai-shek was trained in Japan and at one point, fled into exile there due to conflicts within the KMT.

It's complicated.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:56 AM (llXky)

78 Proofreading is a difficult task, as your brain will correct errors sometimes such that you don't even notice. Add in the ubiquitous spell check that has the vocabulary of a sixth grader, and it becomes even harder.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 09:56 AM (dQvWT)

79 Inchon was brilliant, but the subsequent defeat of is forces was one of the greatest intelligence failures in human history. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Chinese history (read my book) would know that the ChiComs were never going to allow Americans to occupy all of Korean. Not going to happen. They said they were coming, recon saw them coming, and Mac did nothing but further spread out his troops.

THEN he demands the nukes. A sad ending to a remarkable career.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:36 AM (llXky)

I've thought for a while that the thing to do after Inchon was to grab a sizable chunk of North Korea, but not all of it, leaving a significant buffer zone with China. Tactically, it would allow our forces to go on the defensive in preparation for a possible counterattack; strategically, it gives the Chinese less of a reason to go to war in the first place.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 21, 2024 09:56 AM (g0Y4p)

80 Taking a short break from Simenon by revisiting Traveler of Worlds, a book of interviews with sf great Robert Silverberg.

I should be diving into books that have been languishing forever in the Amazing Colossal To-Be-Read Pile, but...

If I didn't buy another book, I'd still have enough on the bookcase and Kindle to last me until I'm planted. But I still buy 'em, and I'm pretty sure I'll never finish the books on the Amazing Colossal etc. And why not? Once I'm planted the ACTBRP problem corrects itself.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 09:56 AM (q3u5l)

81 Naturalfake, when I was in the Navy a buddy and I tried to find a way to weasel our way to Antarctica, but our rating was too critical (but never to critical to be promoted).

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:57 AM (3e3hy)

82 The authoring software I really need is a solid proofreading tool. MS editor misses some of my bad writing habits like using the character name.

I've been using Chat GPT to help when I get stuck. "Give me a paragraph describing the sensual qualities of Oolong tea" gives me something I can work with when I can't bring the words myself

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at April 21, 2024 09:58 AM (ODfKf)

83 It's important to remember that Japan's behavior during WW II was a departure from how they had acted as late as the 1920s. Like Germany, Japan had previously believed that rules must be scrupulously followed to the letter and that it was right and proper to treat vanquished enemies with honor.

Street Without Joy describes the same thing during the French adventure in what would become Vietnam. Prior to the Viet Cong, the NVA fought with honor - including leaving prisoners, medically treated, for the French to find on trails after skirmishes.

I guess, at the end of the day, treating your enemy as human is a luxury you can't really afford in a fair fight.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 09:58 AM (wOYo1)

84 While jumping back and forth between various comic books, I decided to add some actual prose into my reading rotation. So, I jumped back into the saddle (so to speak) and cracked open "Swords of the Steppes," the last of the four collections of Cossack-themed short stories by Harold Lamb. Although 'short stories' is a misleading term, the first story stretched out for some 120 pages. Maybe just calling them 'pulp stories' would be more accurate.

Anyways, the first story was pretty wild. It would have felt even wilder if I hadn't had a bit of a refresher on early Russian history a few months back....The villain of the story is Gregory Otrepiev, a real-life historical figure who conned the Russian court into believing he was the long-lost-son of Ivan the Terrible, who had gone into hiding after a 'failed' assassination attempt. Otrepiev worked the ruse so well he actually ruled Russia for about a year! The story sensationalized his fall from power and subsequent 'death' turning it into a chase across Asia between him and a Cossack who had sworn his death. In this case, the truth in the story is just as strange as the fiction...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 10:00 AM (Lhaco)

85 It's complicated.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 09:56 AM (llXky)

I would also suggest the breakdown of the Anglo-Japanese alliance as a factor. Beyond the fact that it left Japan without a major ally in the Pacific, it also led the men in Tokyo to conclude that the white imperialists were conspiring against them, and they needed to start looking out for themselves.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 21, 2024 10:00 AM (g0Y4p)

86 I am reminded of times past by The Ring.

Dark Lord of the OS

Recently one of my friends, a computer wizard, paid me a visit. As we were talking I mentioned that I had recently installed Windows XP on my PC. I told him how happy I was with this operating system and showed him the Windows XP CD. To my surprise he threw it into my microwave oven and turned it on. Instantly I got very upset, because the CD had become precious to me, but he said: 'Do not worry, it is unharmed.' After a few minutes he took the CD out, gave it to me and said: 'Take a close look at it.' To my surprise the CD was quite cold to hold and it seemed to be heavier than before. At first I could not see anything, but on the inner edge of the central hole I saw an inscription, an inscription finer than anything I had ever seen before. The inscription shone piercingly bright, and yet remote, as if out of a great depth:

12413AEB2ED4FA5E6F7D78E78BEDE820945092OF923A40EElOE5 I OCC98D444AA08EI

I cannot understand the fiery letters,' I said in a timid voice.
No but I can, he said. The letters are Hex, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Microsoft, which I shall not utter here. But in common English this is

Posted by: Gmac - WTF did you think was going to happen? at April 21, 2024 10:02 AM (qZdIZ)

87 I've thought for a while that the thing to do after Inchon was to grab a sizable chunk of North Korea, but not all of it, leaving a significant buffer zone with China. Tactically, it would allow our forces to go on the defensive in preparation for a possible counterattack; strategically, it gives the Chinese less of a reason to go to war in the first place.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 21, 2024 09:56 AM (g0Y4p)
---
The smart play would l have been to take Pyongyang and Wonson, dig in and wait. Alternatively, halt at a slightly more defensible line north of the 38th Parallel. Advancing to the Yalu River was strategic malpractice.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:03 AM (llXky)

88 Naturalfake, when I was in the Navy a buddy and I tried to find a way to weasel our way to Antarctica, but our rating was too critical (but never to critical to be promoted).
Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 09:57 AM (3e3hy)

*fist bump*

Who knows what lurks in The Secret Lives of Morons and Ettes?

Posted by: naturalfake at April 21, 2024 10:03 AM (eDfFs)

89 this is what it says:

One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them,
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

It is only two lines from a verse long known in System-lore:

Three OS's from corporate-kings in their towers of glass,
Seven from valley-lords where orchards used to grow,
Nine from dotcoms doomed to die,
One from the Dark Lord Gates on his dark throne

In the Land of Redmond where the Shadows lie.
One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them,
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them,
In the Land of Redmond where the Shadows lie.

Posted by: Gmac - WTF did you think was going to happen? at April 21, 2024 10:04 AM (qZdIZ)

90 I guess, at the end of the day, treating your enemy as human is a luxury you can't really afford in a fair fight.
Posted by: Its Always Been This Way

Supreme Commander touches on the uncomfortable subject of what to do with the Japanese scientists of Unit 731 who conducted human experiments with biological and chemical weapons. The US decided to trade their lives for their research results.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 10:04 AM (dQvWT)

91 I'm running into a problem where -

I read a book by a new author. I liked the book (The Will of the Many). It wasn't the BEST I've read but it gradually turned into a page turner.

So I decided to read the author's first book and... well... even though its critically acclaimed - its a disaster. There are way too many characters - way too may unexplained fantasy historical references (aka callbacks to events, places, people that aren't real and are unexplained by the author) and I keep hoping to read more and get explanations of these events but instead, more new characters get introduced - each one being a secret superman character. Literally every character in this story has some kind of unique and special super-power that lets them be badass for a chapter.

Time travel, dimensional travel, body control, all of the lazy literary tools a fantasy writer could employ to shoehorn a convoluted story between two covers.

I bought the 2nd book in the series. Hope it gets better.

Posted by: Defenestratus at April 21, 2024 10:05 AM (RAIie)

92 Ciampino, - Mark Moyar, first volume is Triumph Forsaken, had to get a used book as seems not on Ebook, not that having a hard copy bothers me. Triumph Regained I have on Ebook, and I thought the 3rd volume was out but isn't finishing the 3 book series.
Also Mark Moyar is now at Hillsdale College

Posted by: Skip at April 21, 2024 10:05 AM (fwDg9)

93 Don't you just hate two part stories?

Posted by: Gmac - WTF did you think was going to happen? at April 21, 2024 10:06 AM (qZdIZ)

94 On the topic of accumulating books faster than you can read them: the Humble Bundle website is selling two book collections at the moment: one of Battletech novels, and another of Dune spin-off novels. (But not the original, nor original sequels, it would seem).

I also noticed a Avengeline comic book omnibus available on Kickstarter. It seems to have found an audience, but I'll probably pass on it. The last couple times I've tried to read a 90's bad-girl comic, the writing didn't live up to the artwork.

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 10:07 AM (Lhaco)

95 Hadn't heard of the Great Kanto Earthquake. Per Wiki:

"In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the Kantō Massacre began. Rumors emerged that ethnic Koreans in Japan had poisoned wells or were planning to attack cities. In response, the Japanese police and bands of armed vigilantes killed ethnic Korean civilians and anyone they suspected of being Korean. Estimates of the death toll from the massacre vary, with most third-party sources citing fatalities ranging from 6,000 to 10,000."

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 10:07 AM (3e3hy)

96 I've been too busy with packing, moving, and unpacking to crack a book for weeks. I'm now about a month behind on my Bible reading plan, and who knows when I'll have the new house looking like a functional human dwelling (and the old house cleared out). All my books are in boxes; we'll see how many remain there in perpetuity.

Posted by: PabloD at April 21, 2024 10:08 AM (m0FOZ)

97
I guess, at the end of the day, treating your enemy as human is a luxury you can't really afford in a fair fight.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 09:58 AM (wOYo1)
---
It depends. Initially, both sides in the Spanish Civil War executed prisoners as traitors. Franco (despite his reputation as Bad Evil Man), recognized that this was counterproductive. As the war dragged on, both sides relied on conscription, so it was hard to blame the footsloggers for merely following orders.

He therefore ordered prisoners to be treated well and offered a choice between labor details behind the lines or enlistment with his own forces. When he conquered the Basque country in 1937, he was able to add 70,000 ex-rebel troops to his armies.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:09 AM (llXky)

98 MacArthur's middle name was Vainglorious.

He was asleep when the Japanese attacked the Philipines. He abandoned his men, but got the Medal of Honor for it.
"Island hopping" was the already war-gamed playbook when he picked it up. By the time he returned to the Philipines it was an uncessary diversion. He didn't want to drop the Bomb. He was asleep when North Korea invaded the South. Lesser generals on the ground saved us from being totally overrun. Inchon was a lesser general's idea. He wanted to take over all of the North, when evertone told him the CHi-coms would retaliate. Then he wanted to use nukes. He defied Truman the whole time.

But he gave Japanese women the vote.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 21, 2024 10:10 AM (Gse2f)

99 My 'read what you own' project started with retirement. There were so many I hadn't had time for while working but that I wanted to. Most of Mark Twain, Moby Dick, Count of Monte Cristo, Montaigne's Essays, etc. And tons of history from Herodotus to Champlain. You get the idea.

I may never read all the books I own but trying to has been a worthy effort.

The new book pile would be a lot taller but many of the books I've bought the last few years have been hardcover editions of books I already had or only had as ebooks. Redundant paperbacks go to our nieces and nephews and friends.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 10:10 AM (zudum)

100 Never read any Zelazny, doubt I'll start now.

And I should get back to writing. Once I salvage all my projects from Scrivener which decided to disable my copy though I paid for it.

Scrivener delenda est.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 21, 2024 10:11 AM (3hJhH)

101 All my books are in boxes; we'll see how many remain there in perpetuity.
Posted by: PabloD

I still have a few boxes left to unpack from my move, but fortunately none of them books.

I moved house ten years ago.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 10:11 AM (dQvWT)

102 I would also suggest the breakdown of the Anglo-Japanese alliance as a factor. Beyond the fact that it left Japan without a major ally in the Pacific, it also led the men in Tokyo to conclude that the white imperialists were conspiring against them, and they needed to start looking out for themselves.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 21, 2024 10:00 AM (g0Y4p)
---
Yes, that was another factor. Very complicated.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:11 AM (llXky)

103 Hadn't heard of the Great Kanto Earthquake. Per Wiki:

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 10:07 AM (3e3hy)
---
Point of order! The proper formulation is: "The always reliable and completely neutral Wikipedia."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:13 AM (llXky)

104 "Amazing how many single-subject museums exist.

Drumright, Okla., has one devoted to Tom Mix. I found it interesting.
Posted by: Weak Geek"

The Uncle Remus Museum in Joel Chandler Harris' hometown of Eatonton GA still exists and they are pretty proud of it.

Posted by: fd at April 21, 2024 10:13 AM (vFG9F)

105 I've thought for a while that the thing to do after Inchon was to grab a sizable chunk of North Korea, but not all of it, leaving a significant buffer zone with China.

Agreed. As always, when talking these things ... how many people actually pull up a map ? I don't think many do. I'm sure of it.

What is the payoff once you go much past the line that extends from Sin-Ni to Hamhung ? Because at that point, as you and others have said, you've just bought into occupying China ... and your assets - by definition - must spread thinner as you try to occupy a longer and longer line. Why not make that line shorter - by staying somewhere within that box made by connecting Sin-Ni to Hamhung to Wonsan to Nampo ? Especially when that line, within that box, might not provoke a massive Chinese response ?

You cripple North Korea, you give China a buffer, and that's the end of the story. As others here have suggested as well.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 10:14 AM (wOYo1)

106 Season 3, Episode 17 of The Big Bang Theory involves one of the prop rings from LotR and its effect on the friends, which is about what you would expect.
Top-rated.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at April 21, 2024 10:14 AM (jN2/U)

107 I have to say that I get some of the very BEST book recommendations from this group.

Picked up book #1 of Preston and Child's Pendergast series "Relic" yesterday and haven't been able to put it down for more than a few minutes. Have less than 100 pages to go, so back to reading.

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at April 21, 2024 10:15 AM (e/Osv)

108 The Great Kanto Earthquake still resonates with the Japanese.

As a result of the quake, Akagi's sistership had to be scrapped because the hull warped. So the incomplete battleship Kaga was converted to an aircraft carrier.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 21, 2024 10:15 AM (3hJhH)

109 I'm going through massive decluttering on my way to becoming a minimalist. Watched someone carry out boxes of my few remaining books yesterday after being sold online via auction.

What you own owns you.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 21, 2024 10:15 AM (dg+HA)

110 But he gave Japanese women the vote.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 21, 2024 10:10 AM (Gse2f)
---
Hah! That's like Games Workshop deciding that the Imperium of Man is a fascist, theocratic dictatorship that literally requires human sacrifice, is willing to annihilate entire planets and exterminate alien species but that's okay because they promote gender equality.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:16 AM (llXky)

111 Quite a while back, I reached the point where I steered clear of series books. Something like McBain's 87th Precinct novels, where you didn't necessarily have to read all of 'em in order and could skip around in them, is okay. But the trend toward telling a single story in 3 or 4 or 5 or to-infinity-and-beyond volumes is a hard no for this septuagenarian kid. I'm probably missing out on some good stuff, but I no longer care.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 10:17 AM (q3u5l)

112 >>Naturalfake, when I was in the Navy a buddy and I tried to find a way to weasel our way to Antarctica, but our rating was too critical (but never to critical to be promoted).

My sister had a friend who spent 6 mos every year in Antarctica. His special skill? Firefighter. Apparently, the structures are built of wood. The other six months he lived in Vail.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 21, 2024 10:17 AM (cCVOS)

113 The Great Kanto Earthquake still resonates with the Japanese.

As a result of the quake, Akagi's sistership had to be scrapped because the hull warped. So the incomplete battleship Kaga was converted to an aircraft carrier.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 21, 2024 10:15 AM (3hJhH)
---
The arsenal system had to be completely rebuilt/reorganized as well.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:18 AM (llXky)

114 Love Big Bang Theory, Sal--am rewatching one or two every night (buying the used DVDs). Kind of a happy place to visit for awhile. Yes, that episode was a good one!

Posted by: skywch at April 21, 2024 10:18 AM (uqhmb)

115 Morning, Book Folk!

Since I'm watching Streets of Laredo, the six-hour miniseries based on that novel by Larry McMurtry, I picked up the book at the library to re-read. Since McMurtry co-wrote the teleplay, it follows the novel very closely, down to individual lines of dialogue. On this one I'm not noticing his quirk of shifting viewpoint from one character to another in the same scene, sometimes even in the same paragraph.

What LMcM does better than anybody I've read in the Western genre is to create (or use actual historical) villains. Serial killers, not to put too fine a point on it: savage creatures like Blue Duck the Comanche, Mox Mox the "man-burner," Ahumado the vicious Mexican who traps people in pits and cages, and Joey Garza the merciless, blond, blue-eyed Mexican gunman. His heroes are classics like Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, too, but his antagonists are pure evil and very memorable . . . as if Hannibal Lecter, Jame Gumb, and Francis Dolarhyde were transported to 1870s Texas.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 10:18 AM (omVj0)

116 There is always something nice about occupying an enemy capital, from Rome to Pyongyang.

Sends a nice message.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 21, 2024 10:19 AM (3hJhH)

117 The Fields of Athenry is now the #1 song for Irish rugby fans. Molly Malone is relegated to #2.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 21, 2024 10:19 AM (Gse2f)

118 36 ... ""Dark Winter" by William Dietrich takes place at Amundsen-Scott Research Station at the South Pole"

AHE,

Have you read any of Dietrich's Ethan Gage historical novels? Mrs. JTB and I really enjoyed them. Haven't read any of his modern stories.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 10:19 AM (zudum)

119 >>Picked up book #1 of Preston and Child's Pendergast series "Relic" yesterday and haven't been able to put it down for more than a few minutes. Have less than 100 pages to go, so back to reading.

Oh, that's a book? They made a movie of it.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 21, 2024 10:20 AM (cCVOS)

120 JTB, I have not. I'll check them out.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 21, 2024 10:21 AM (3e3hy)

121 I have to say that I get some of the very BEST book recommendations from this group.

Picked up book #1 of Preston and Child's Pendergast series "Relic" yesterday and haven't been able to put it down for more than a few minutes. Have less than 100 pages to go, so back to reading.

-SLV

They are. BTW, you have another two dozen books to go in that series, not to mention The Ice Limit, which is unrelated but excellent, plus several more spin off novels. I haven't been disappointed yet.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 10:21 AM (dQvWT)

122 I'm going through massive decluttering on my way to becoming a minimalist. Watched someone carry out boxes of my few remaining books yesterday after being sold online via auction.

What you own owns you.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 21, 2024 10:15 AM (dg+HA)
---
I'm very conscious of the fact that I "own" nothing, I'm just borrowing it for a while. My wife and I kept a strict limit on books, but we've decided to open it up a bit because it's simply not practical. When I do research, I don't want to rely on a library or online source if I want to go back and check something. I did sell off some of the books, but there's two full shelves of books pertaining to China and Spain that aren't going away any time soon. And if I get another bug to write more non-fiction, it's going to happen again.

The key for us is to have a plan, and go over things we aren't using. I hauled away a full row a few weeks ago, which helps.

The same applies with games and miniatures. I always check for space before I add anything. If something's not getting used/played, time to sell it off.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:22 AM (llXky)

123 GDW could have finessed things better with that Tweet.

Example -"Though rare there have been female Custades. And what happens in the Brotherhood stays in the Brotherhood. Hence female Custades are unknown to the public."

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 21, 2024 10:22 AM (3hJhH)

124 @106 --

One issue of Aaron Williams' late lamented series Nodwick, a D&D parody, posited that the Ring's true power was that everybody thinks the Ring confers power.

Nodwick: "It's just a ring!"

Nobody listens.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024 10:23 AM (p/isN)

125 Great content, Perfesser Squirrel! As to the rang ‘o pawr? I would not wear it.

Posted by: Eromero at April 21, 2024 10:24 AM (DXbAa)

126 GDW could have finessed things better with that Tweet.

Example -"Though rare there have been female Custades. And what happens in the Brotherhood stays in the Brotherhood. Hence female Custades are unknown to the public."

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 21, 2024 10:22 AM (3hJhH)
---
You mean GW. I believe GDW is defunct. Leaned too far into the Twilight: 2000 and Third World War franchises.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:24 AM (llXky)

127 MacArthur's middle name was Vainglorious. He was asleep when the Japanese attacked the Philipines. He abandoned his men, but got the Medal of Honor for it.

Thus is the story of staff level American Military operations from WW I up through Vietnam. Political Generals promoted up for their military failures.

The history of American armor and air forces in WW II is pretty much generals pushing flawed concepts, damn the consequences, until either they died (McNair), or enough pilots finally died (Hunter and Eaker) to make change unavoidable.

MacArthur was lucky to have evacuated his greatest failure, and also served in that period of decades where Americans simply weren't allowed to questions really, really shitty leadership.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 10:25 AM (wOYo1)

128 And the Read This Someday list grows by one more entry. My phone is going to rebel.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024 09:38 AM (p/isN)

If I were to bind just my handwritten lists into book form, it would be a doorstop.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 21, 2024 10:26 AM (OX9vb)

129 I should add: The oddest thing about it is that all of GW's previous retcons or additions to lore were backed by a miniatures release. The Tau, for example, are totally out of place, but hey, shiny new models.

The announcement was pure virtue signalling. They didn't roll out a new book, new codex or anything like that. It was just pledging allegiance to the new thing. Stupid.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:26 AM (llXky)

130 I'm going through massive decluttering on my way to becoming a minimalist.

In the process of finding new homes for quite a few classic wargames myself. Advanced Third Reich clones and such. Good games, but they just take too long. I get it.

Not decluttering the gun cabinet, though.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 10:27 AM (wOYo1)

131 I've written nine novels (published six, one in the pipeline) and never needed or wanted any software other than Word. If I could, I'd still use Word 5, which had all the most useful features and none of the money-grubbing cruft.

I'm not trying to be snarky here, but every description of what "writing software" does sounds deeply useless. I can make an outline in Word. I can write a summary in Word. I can keep two (or more!) windows open at the same time if I need to flip back and forth between them.

It always sounds like getting "the right software" serves the same purpose as Tom Wolfe buying another tailor-made white suit every time he started a book. It's a ritual to put you in the right frame of mind for the work. Whatever suits you, I guess.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 21, 2024 10:29 AM (78a2H)

132 119 >>Picked up book #1 of Preston and Child's Pendergast series "Relic" yesterday and haven't been able to put it down for more than a few minutes. Have less than 100 pages to go, so back to reading.

Oh, that's a book? They made a movie of it.
Posted by: Lizzy at April 21, 2024 10:20 AM (cCVOS)

Still remember reading that 30 years ago. Started their collaboration off (I was a going to say "with a bang" but ya'll are the Horde) with an excellent example of what their novels would be like.
Page-turners, for sure, but they can get a little dark for me...

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at April 21, 2024 10:30 AM (jN2/U)

133 What you own owns you.

Ain't that the truth. When we moved to our current digs, we shipped something like 110 boxes of books (along with assorted furnishings). For a long time there were books in every room (except kitchen and bathroom) as well as the basement. Mrs Some Guy and I are now down to one bookcase each (blessings on thee, Kindle store) and the books no longer own us. Other things do, but they're irrelevant in a book thread.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 10:30 AM (q3u5l)

134 bought the 2nd book in the series. Hope it gets better.
Posted by: Defenestratus

It does. I felt the same way, then the end of the book happens and you can't wait to get to book 2. Much gets explained especially because the author does a preface in the second book reminding the reader what happened in the first and makes things clearer.
These were Islington's first books inspired by Brandon Sanderson. The Will of the Many is the result of what he learned writing the first books and that it is why it is infinitely better. Just wish he'd get the second one written.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 10:31 AM (t/2Uw)

135 JTB, since you're here and I missed your comment about pipe tobacco on the Hobby Thread yesterday -- and also because this connects to writers --

From what I've read, Tolkien preferred Capstan Blue. I've seen on the 'Net a copy of a receipt from his tobacconist. The stuff was not cheap even in the '50s, and his was an academic's salary, so he must have liked it quite a bit.

C.S. Lewis is supposed to have preferred Bell's Three Nuns Blend. It's apparenlty fairly strong stuff; I haven't tried it yet.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 10:31 AM (omVj0)

136 Not decluttering the gun cabinet, though.

I'm getting to that age. This is a real problem that we should take up on the gun thread some day. Although ATF just made it a whole lot harder.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 21, 2024 10:33 AM (/y8xj)

137 111 Quite a while back, I reached the point where I steered clear of series books. Something like McBain's 87th Precinct novels, where you didn't necessarily have to read all of 'em in order and could skip around in them, is okay. But the trend toward telling a single story in 3 or 4 or 5 or to-infinity-and-beyond volumes is a hard no for this septuagenarian kid. I'm probably missing out on some good stuff, but I no longer care.
Posted by: Just Some Guy

A few years ago I read "The Keeper Chronicles" trilogy, and I liked them a lot more than I should have, just because all three were stand-along stories. I had just finished another 'trilogy' that barely had an ending, and was instead spiraling out of control into an ever-expanding greater-narrative with new characters I barely cared about.... Yeah, sometimes there is just something refreshing about a limited scope.

And to be clear, The Keeper Chronicles were genuinely good stories (especially book 2) but being stand-alone made me like them even more.

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 10:33 AM (Lhaco)

138 But the trend toward telling a single story in 3 or 4 or 5 or to-infinity-and-beyond volumes is a hard no for this septuagenarian kid. I'm probably missing out on some good stuff, but I no longer care.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 10:17 AM (q3u5l)

Yeah, that kind of bothers me, too. That's why I really have no plans to write continuing sagas. I have one character who has multiple short stories, and the recently completed sci-fi leaves open a sequel, but there's nothing wrong with one and done. It's probably just to sell books without much effort needed to get a new readership.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 21, 2024 10:34 AM (0eaVi)

139 Mrs Some Guy and I are now down to one bookcase each (blessings on thee, Kindle store) and the books no longer own us. Other things do, but they're irrelevant in a book thread.

For some time, I've kept myself to one small bookcase. The books that I think matter. I get your point.

We can't keep 'em all, and there are so many that are good. The whole process of "picking", at least for me, is a matter of self expression. On my shelf - not that anyone cares - you'll find Lord of the Rings next to Starship Troopers. Freedom and Capitalism next to Theory of Poker. The Bible is there, although I'm not religious. Dune is there, but none of the sequels.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 10:35 AM (wOYo1)

140 One issue of Aaron Williams' late lamented series Nodwick, a D&D parody, posited that the Ring's true power was that everybody thinks the Ring confers power.

Nodwick: "It's just a ring!"

Nobody listens.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024

***
A grand idea. Magic spells don't have to manipulate only objects; they can manipulate minds as well.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 10:35 AM (omVj0)

141 116 There is always something nice about occupying an enemy capital, from Rome to Pyongyang.

Sends a nice message.
Posted by: Anna Puma at April 21, 2024 10:19 AM (3hJhH)

Way back in the early 'Civilization' computer games, capturing an enemy capital could also throw our opponent into a civil war--making half their cities part of a whole new faction! I missed that aspect of the game when it was removed from the sequels...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 10:35 AM (Lhaco)

142 Good morning All and thank you Perfessor.
Saw Jurassic Park mentioned above. I*m a big Crichton fan. J Park and The Lost World are both super good reads. I*ve never been disappointed in the storytelling in any Crichton books I*ve read.

Currently about two-thirds through the second book (Eyes of the Void) of Adrian Tchaikovsky*s The Final Architecture Trilogy. I am doing the audiobooks, wonderfully performed by Sophie Allred. This big story is FUN; a rollicking great story with a fantastic cast of characters. The fate of the universe depends on the skills of ragtag crew of a space salvage ship; a very haunted veteran of the psychic wars, his Space Amazon protector/long ago love interest, a skilled Space Lawyer, an efficient crab-like species Tech Wizard, and a hilariously foul-mouthed Robotics Tech with a very bad attitude. And everybody wants them; the good guys, lots of bad guys, space religious cults, space gangsters, and more. I routinely am laughing out loud as I listen, the story is so much fun. Lots of action, fights, space battles, and zippy plot twists, and new characters appear as the story marches across Space, and Un-Space! I am loving this story.

Posted by: SuperMayorSuperRonNirenberg-Buffest Guy At Fiesta at April 21, 2024 10:35 AM (GLtKQ)

143 If you're new to Zelazny, read the first Amber series, then wait a bit, then try the first book of the second series. If you don't like it, stop because they don't get better.

For a lot of people (including my younger self) mediocre Zelazny is better than no Zelazny, but I gave up after one novel in which literally nothing happened. I believe Roger had kids in college at the time, and tuition may have been cheaper then, but it wasn't cheap.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 21, 2024 10:36 AM (78a2H)

144 I managed to find a copy of 9 Princes in Amber on Hoopla. I read the series a very long time ago but did not recognize a bunch of the titles in Perfesser Squirrel's list. I seem to remember reading 5 books?

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 10:37 AM (t/2Uw)

145 86 and 89 ... Gmac,
That was brilliant, especially considering what I think of Microsoft and Gates.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 10:37 AM (zudum)

146 126 GDW could have finessed things better with that Tweet.

Example -"Though rare there have been female Custades. And what happens in the Brotherhood stays in the Brotherhood. Hence female Custades are unknown to the public."

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 21, 2024 10:22 AM (3hJhH)

As many on-line have said, it's not about changing the lore, it's about signaling that adhering to The Message (tm) is more important than the lore.

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 10:38 AM (Lhaco)

147 Way back in the early 'Civilization' computer games, capturing an enemy capital could also throw our opponent into a civil war--making half their cities part of a whole new faction! I missed that aspect of the game when it was removed from the sequels...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 10:35 AM (Lhaco)

Have you tried Millennia ? I'm a big fan. It's Paradox - so it REALLY needs polish. But I like it a lot.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 10:38 AM (wOYo1)

148 Just Some Guy -

Thank you for putting into words what's been bugging me about some series: telling a single story in 3 or 4 or 5 or to-infinity-and-beyond volumes..." A couple of series I've gotten into started to feel like the soap operas that I got myself hooked into many years ago. The story never really moves, problems are rarely resolved. It makes me feel like I've wasted my time.

I do tend to like series where there are repeating characters and ties back to older stories so long as the story I'm reading has some type of conclusion. Otherwise, it's just annoying.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at April 21, 2024 10:39 AM (1HVjA)

149 OT: our NATO ally...

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/388819

Posted by: Oddbob at April 21, 2024 10:39 AM (/y8xj)

150 Guten morgen horden

Mass attended
Dog walked
Here I am at last

How's reads?

I just started The October Man, which is part of Aaronovitch's Rivers series, but set in Germany with an entirely different cast.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 21, 2024 10:40 AM (q2svT)

151 Well, time to get to Mass. Until next week!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:44 AM (llXky)

152 Have you tried Millennia ? I'm a big fan. It's Paradox - so it REALLY needs polish. But I like it a lot.
Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 10:38 AM (wOYo1)

Sadly, I haven't played a computer game in about a decade. I only have so much free time, and, well, since I'm posting on the book thread, you can guess where most of that time goes...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 10:45 AM (Lhaco)

153 I've been enjoying P.G. Wodehouse' Jeeves and Wooster stories so I looked Wodehouse up. He had been living in France during the Phony War of 1939-40. Then the war hotted up and he found his wife and himself behind enemy lines. The Nazis incarcerated all male civilian enemy citizens under 60, which he was, barely, so he found himself in a Gestapo prison. Soon, as a celebrity, he was transferred to the luxurious Adlon Hotel in Berlin. Politically naive, when the Nazis asked him to do radio broadcasts, he agreed. The content of the broadcasts was his style of humor making fun of his incarceration and poking gentle fun at his Nazi guards. Regardless, the effect in Britain was outrage. He remained a prisoner of the Nazis until liberated after D Day.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 10:46 AM (FVME7)

154 Just Some Guy -

Thank you for putting into words what's been bugging me about some series: telling a single story in 3 or 4 or 5 or to-infinity-and-beyond volumes..." A couple of series I've gotten into started to feel like the soap operas that I got myself hooked into many years ago. The story never really moves, problems are rarely resolved. It makes me feel like I've wasted my time.

I do tend to like series where there are repeating characters and ties back to older stories so long as the story I'm reading has some type of conclusion. Otherwise, it's just annoying.
Posted by: KatieFloyd

The Preston & Child books are that way for the most part. Recurring characters in a new adventure each time. A couple of books are tied together so the book isn't four inches thick, but for the most part, they each stand on their own.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 10:46 AM (dQvWT)

155 Sadly, I haven't played a computer game in about a decade. I only have so much free time, and, well, since I'm posting on the book thread, you can guess where most of that time goes...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 10:45 AM (Lhaco)

Oh - I get that as well. Everything I do is turn based - and since I travel a lot for work and also get screwed by the schedules a lot ending with down time - computer games. Pretty much board games in a box ... the same as people that read on a Kindle. Thank God for a laptop and a travel guitar.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 10:48 AM (wOYo1)

156 Thank you for putting into words what's been bugging me about some series: telling a single story in 3 or 4 or 5 or to-infinity-and-beyond volumes..." A couple of series I've gotten into started to feel like the soap operas that I got myself hooked into many years ago. The story never really moves, problems are rarely resolved. It makes me feel like I've wasted my time.

I do tend to like series where there are repeating characters and ties back to older stories so long as the story I'm reading has some type of conclusion. Otherwise, it's just annoying.
Posted by: KatieFloyd at April 21, 2024

***
Exactly. There may be more story to be told in the overall scheme, but each novel should give the reader some conclusion to the *current* conflict. Example, from movies, the first Star Wars. There's more story to come, the Empire is still strong, but the Death Star has been destroyed. At the end of Empire, the same thing holds. And while I've never been satisfied with the ending of Jedi, it does conclude.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 10:48 AM (omVj0)

157 Discovered that the local fancy antiques mall has an annex with enormous bookcases filled with history and other non-fiction. Lots of it is Texana, so my present shopping for Mr. S, is assured.

He got a history of Galveston and Billy Porterfield's memoir. Porterfield was a well-known columnist in Dallas and Austin before his death in 2014. Unlike many persons now writing for TX publications, he actually liked Texas, though he had few illusions about it.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at April 21, 2024 10:48 AM (jN2/U)

158 Zelazny:

A long-time favorite of mine. I don't think of his novels as the place to start, though. There's an early collection called Four for Tomorrow that included four of his short works (among them "A Rose for Ecclesiastes," and "The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth," which are among his best); there's a later collection called The Magic (available as an ebook; don't know about print) that includes those and other short works. Could be I think of the short pieces as the place to start because I started reading him before he'd gone into novels, but that'd be my recommendation.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 10:50 AM (q3u5l)

159 It's too bad we didn't use a nuke or two on the Red Chinese when they illegally entered Korea to spread their filth.

Find out where Mao's unwashed ass was and vaporize him and the whole Red China leadership and no one would have missed them.

The Soviets would have gotten the message too.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 21, 2024 10:50 AM (R/m4+)

160 135 ... "C.S. Lewis is supposed to have preferred Bell's Three Nuns Blend. It's apparenlty fairly strong stuff; I haven't tried it yet."

Hi Wolfus,
I've read the same thing about Lewis. I heard the blend in Lewis' day was a VaPer and the current version uses burley in place of the perique. The version I tried last year was fairly strong and seemed okay but not remarkable. I didn't go out to get more.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 10:50 AM (zudum)

161 Technically, I own the books,

-
First, the man owns a book, then the book owns the man.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 10:50 AM (FVME7)

162 The Preston & Child books are that way for the most part. Recurring characters in a new adventure each time. A couple of books are tied together so the book isn't four inches thick, but for the most part, they each stand on their own.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024

***
I grew up with series just like that: Nero Wolfe, Ellery Queen, James Bond, Matt Helm, Travis McGee. If you want, you can have your novels fit into a larger scheme, but each should be a complete story on its own.

Oddly, though, as I've gotten older (and, I hope, more mature), I find myself preferring some authors' stand-alone novels rather than their series books. Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford stories are fine, but I've read only a few. Her non-series crime fiction (with a literary bent, but never dull) is more to my taste now.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 10:52 AM (omVj0)

163 Re: Zelazny, he had a strong appreciation of the detective genre. Hints of that turn up in his novelette "Home Is the Hangman," for instance. And his lead character and narrator in that turns up in at least one other story of his; I can't recall it right now.

I think I've read Nine Princes; not sure. Have to look for it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 10:54 AM (omVj0)

164 JSG is right: Zelazny's short stories are excellent. He usually gives little "under the hood" notes in his collections, too, which are great writing advice.

I'd say his greatest novel is Lord of Light, with Jack of Shadows almost neck-and-neck.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 21, 2024 10:55 AM (78a2H)

165 It's too bad we didn't use a nuke or two on the Red Chinese when they illegally entered Korea to spread their filth.

Find out where Mao's unwashed ass was and vaporize him and the whole Red China leadership and no one would have missed them.

The Soviets would have gotten the message too.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 21, 2024 10:50 AM (R/m4+)

Too many commie symps in government then, as now. How much misery could have been avoided if our government cared about us.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 21, 2024 10:56 AM (0eaVi)

166 Speaking of series, I'm finishing up James Bartlett's Swamp Yankee Series.

In book 3, The Rainbow's End, the villain from the first book in the series, who left behind a large amount of cash, is back in town to reclaim it. It's good entertainment.

I just began the final book, Family Affairs. Again, it's a good, fun read. With all that is going on in these days, I like a diversion from real life.

Thank you Perfessor for the Book Thread. And thanks to all of you who makes this such a special place.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at April 21, 2024 10:57 AM (1HVjA)

167 I read two Reacher books this week. One was a reread, Personal and one I missed, Nothing to Lose. I then read a Robert
Parker Spenser book, Taming a Seahorse. The only thing that stands out from this forgettable week of reading, although entertaining and keeping me up til all hours was that the Parker book was more interesting than my previous reads. Does Hawk ever get his own books? He should get a etflix series just so I could see his wardrobe choices. I imagine him as wickedly handsome as well.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 10:58 AM (t/2Uw)

168 The detective/noir influence in Zelazny's work is strong. Think about the first chapters of Nine Princes in Amber: guy wakes up in a hospital, can't remember who he is or how he got there -- but through innate paranoia and cunning he gets away from his enemies. Could be a Chandler novel until magic happens.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 21, 2024 10:59 AM (78a2H)

169 I've not looked into numbers on some of these series (Wolfe, Bond, McGee, Matt Scudder, etc as opposed to the single story spread across half a dozen volumes), but it wouldn't surprise me if series with recurring-character in a complete story per volume tend to do better commercially over the long run than series in which you're left waiting to see how it comes out for yet another book.

Just a feeling with absolutely zip-a-de-nada in the way of data to justify it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 11:01 AM (q3u5l)

170 I feel the same way about indefinite series - the ones where you HAVE to read EVERY book in order, just to get the whole story. I've always thought that was just not a fair thing to do to a reader. My own historicals are all stand-alone stories, with a clear resolution at the conclusion of each - but there are some characters who appear variously, sometimes as the "lead", sometimes as a supporting character, and sometimes just briefly mentioned.
The Luna City series are all sort of free-standing, but there is a teaser at the end of each, leading to a situation in the next installment... and there are a couple of long story arcs carried through the entire series. Which is going to end #12.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 21, 2024 11:03 AM (xnmPy)

171 Ain't that the truth. When we moved to our current digs, we shipped something like 110 boxes of books (along with assorted furnishings). For a long time there were books in every room (except kitchen and bathroom) as well as the basement. Mrs Some Guy and I are now down to one bookcase each (blessings on thee, Kindle store) and the books no longer own us. Other things do, but they're irrelevant in a book thread.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 10:30 AM (q3u5l)

I moved from a nice sized house to a relatively small duplex. Space is very limited. Doesn't stop me from buying more books though. Or more movies. Sheesh.

Cluttered is a thing.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:04 AM (3jD8i)

172 I then read a Robert
Parker Spenser book, Taming a Seahorse. The only thing that stands out from this forgettable week of reading, although entertaining and keeping me up til all hours was that the Parker book was more interesting than my previous reads. Does Hawk ever get his own books? He should get a Netflix series just so I could see his wardrobe choices. I imagine him as wickedly handsome as well.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024

***
Sharon, Seahorse I think contains the line from Spenser about the "toughest guy in Lindell, Maine": "He was not only disliked, he was disliked widely." (I tell my cats that all the time. It's not true, but I like using the line.)

I don't think Parker ever wrote a story about Hawk without Spenser. One of the continuing authors might have. If you want to see the greatest image of him on film, the 1980s Spenser: For Hire series has it: Avery Brooks, later Capt. Sisko on Deep Space Nine, embodied Hawk perfectly. Nobody else has ever come close.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:04 AM (omVj0)

173 I'm a big believer in stand-alone episodes rather than an "unfolding narrative." Or at least, I want the work to tell me which it's going to be in advance. Nine volumes but it's all just one big novel . . . okay, I guess.

I quit reading the Foglios' _Girl Genius_ comic for that reason, when I realized that they were going to stretch out the narrative of Agatha's solving the mystery of her family and regaining her kingdom as long as people were willing to keep buying the books. I had signed on for a single narrative but felt cheated when it turned out to be just the excuse for a series of episodes. Except the episodes weren't self-contained enough to buy them out of order, either. I guess the model was a soap opera.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 21, 2024 11:05 AM (78a2H)

174 Parker:

Hawk never got his own series (at least nothing I ran across) of books, but after Spenser: For Hire went off the air there was a short series about the character (A Man Called Hawk if memory serves). In both, Hawk was played by Avery Brooks who was perfect in the part.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 11:06 AM (q3u5l)

175 I've been reading Eric J. Wittenberg's The Union Cavalry Comes of Age.

-
I'm continuing to read this book. In addition to being well written and informative, I like the balance this book has. One challenge military historians face is achieving the proper balance between the big picture and the experiences of the individuals. This book does that well. It is also well balanced between the individual experiences of the officers and those of the troopers. I'm now on a cavalry kick and have added to my TBR stack The Second Colorado Cavalry by Christopher Rein.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 11:06 AM (FVME7)

176 From Previous Thread...
322 That is not THE ring, but just a copy.
The inscription can only be read after being thrown in a fire.

Posted by: The Doctor at April 21, 2024 10:43 AM (qNzP3)

How do ya know it wasn't pulled out? Not enough red glow?
/sarc

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at April 21, 2024 11:07 AM (ynpvh)

177 I'm a big believer in stand-alone episodes rather than an "unfolding narrative." Or at least, I want the work to tell me which it's going to be in advance. Nine volumes but it's all just one big novel . . . okay, I guess.

I enjoyed Babylon 5 ... long form story telling that made sense. I do wonder, did they have a "story bible" in the beginning, or just happen to keep it tight along the way.

I did not enjoy Dune after about Dune Messiah. You'll never convince me that Herbert had a "story bible" ... or that he was sane. One or the other simply couldn't be true.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 11:08 AM (wOYo1)

178 151 Well, time to get to Mass. Until next week!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 21, 2024 10:44 AM (llXky)

A Mass-ive undertaking.

Have a good day, AH

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at April 21, 2024 11:10 AM (ynpvh)

179 I've not looked into numbers on some of these series (Wolfe, Bond, McGee, Matt Scudder, etc as opposed to the single story spread across half a dozen volumes), but it wouldn't surprise me if series with recurring-character in a complete story per volume tend to do better commercially over the long run than series in which you're left waiting to see how it comes out for yet another book.

Just a feeling with absolutely zip-a-de-nada in the way of data to justify it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024

***
I suspect you're right . . . and that the same was true of TV series in the Fifties through the Nineties, when every series started with that "If you haven't seen episodes 1-9, this will make no sense to you." (cont.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:10 AM (omVj0)

180 I guess the model was a soap opera.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 21, 2024 11:05 AM (78a2H)

The Walking Dead enters the chat.

It's funny how that teevee show was the last great cultural phenomenon, that managed to capture a massive audience... and the it kept going, but the audience didn't.

I think that series, the Game of Thrones debacle, and the horrors that are the Dinsey Star Wars/Marvell churn have effectively changed popular culture forever.

As for The Walking Dead, yeah, the comic was terrific. Until it wasn't. When it became clear it was just going to introduce new characters so it could kill off more regulars, I was done. Same thing happened to the show, of course. Just different characters sometimes.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:10 AM (3jD8i)

181 Watching the late Max Azarrello light himself on fire the other day, I was reminded of an excellent novel I read years ago called "The Gargoyle," by Andrew Davidson.

Davidson's only novel, "The Gargoyle" is about a fallen man who has a horrible car accident in which he is badly burned. He finds love and redemption with a very strange woman who is a sculptor and also claims to be reborn from a woman who lived in medieval Europe.

I highly recommend, and I'm reading it again.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 21, 2024 11:10 AM (XAvYc)

182 Did anyone ever read those Alfred Hitchcock mysteries? Little paperbacks with usually 3 or 4 shorts stories and then a longer mini-novel.
Posted by: rhennigantx

I loved those, much to my mother's disgust.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 11:11 AM (FVME7)

183 I just started The October Man, which is part of Aaronovitch's Rivers series, but set in Germany with an entirely different cast.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 21, 2024 10:40 AM (q2svT)

Good morning, vmom!

I just started Midnight Riot, the first in the series. You must have recommended it. I started listening to this one on audio yesterday while I was cooking, and I love the reader, and am enjoying the story so far.

I like it well enough that I want to stay in the kitchen.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 21, 2024 11:11 AM (OX9vb)

184 (cont.) The Fugitive, for example. It had a continuing story line, Kimble's hunt for the one-armed man and ongoing quest to prove his innocence of his wife's murder. But each episode, even those in which Lt. Gerard appeared, stood alone as a dramatic story, and there was a conclusion, not always happy for the people involved. Kimble got away, of course -- often aided by the people he'd tried to help during the episode -- but the conflict involving the principals was resolved in some way. So you could tune in at any point during Kimble's four-year saga and enjoy the current episode.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:12 AM (omVj0)

185 I just looked up Avery Brooks and I see what you mean. So far I've only read books written by Parker himself in the Spenser series. I really like the ones that have Hawk. More action. More detective work. I really don't care when he gets hung up in describing every street he uses to get where he's going and every restaurant meal he eats while detecting and Susan Silverman is okay in small doses.
After that explanation, I wonder why I read these books.
The Westerns wee great though but only a couple written by him.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 11:12 AM (t/2Uw)

186 I've not looked into numbers on some of these series (Wolfe, Bond, McGee, Matt Scudder, etc as opposed to the single story spread across half a dozen volumes), but it wouldn't surprise me if series with recurring-character in a complete story per volume tend to do better commercially over the long run than series in which you're left waiting to see how it comes out for yet another book.

Just a feeling with absolutely zip-a-de-nada in the way of data to justify it.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024

I have no data either but it would make sense. Though I do wonder how many books the "never ending series" types sell before the reader throws up her hands and says no more. I know I've bought more than I would have if I had known the conclusion (if one would ever happen) was many, many volumes off in the future.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at April 21, 2024 11:14 AM (oawfy)

187 I quit reading the Foglios' _Girl Genius_ comic for that reason, when I realized that they were going to stretch out the narrative... I guess the model was a soap opera.

Worse, it's a soap opera that only advances at about 5 minutes per week. I still read it but I've pretty much given up on ever resolving the "Big Story" arc.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 21, 2024 11:14 AM (/y8xj)

188 I blame all you Morons and tangentially the wonderful author John C. Wright for my blown monthly budget./s

I read "Dinosaur Beach" by Keith Laumer. What a fun and fast-paced read! I dislike time-travel stories because they're mostly retconning, and I HATE when protagonists are knocked out to move the story. But it works in this case.

Also, it's a manly romance (with only one sex scene) so there's longing without mush.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at April 21, 2024 11:14 AM (EOH/H)

189 I suspect you're right . . . and that the same was true of TV series in the Fifties through the Nineties, when every series started with that "If you haven't seen episodes 1-9, this will make no sense to you." (cont.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:10 AM (omVj0)

X-Files managed to do both stand-alone episodes, and the continuing under story. I watched them all, through the regular series, then haven't picked up any of the continuation crap, just because.

Then there was the Buffy series. After the show ended, comics kept being written that were supposed to be cannon. My daughter read some of those, ones where Dawn was 50 ft. tall and stuff like that.

No thanks.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:14 AM (3jD8i)

190 1) You must segregate your TBR books from your R books, otherwise you're a poseur.

-
Reminds me of a comedian I once heard (Seinfeld?). Everybody divides their underwear into two categories at least mentally, the operational and the reserves. My book stacks are mentally separated.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 11:15 AM (FVME7)

191 There were some Spenser movies made for TV after the series went off the air. Brooks was on deck for some of them. In one of the later flicks, Hawk was played by Ernie Hudson. He wasn't up to Brooks, but he wasn't bad.

Avoid at all costs the Netflix movie Spenser: Confidential. Really. Just trust me on this.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 11:16 AM (q3u5l)

192 Did anyone ever read those Alfred Hitchcock mysteries? Little paperbacks with usually 3 or 4 shorts stories and then a longer mini-novel.
Posted by: rhennigantx

***
Do you mean the anthologies like Stories My Mother Never Told Me, Bar the Doors, Stories for Late at Night, My Favorites in Suspense, Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV? I grew up on those too. They were edited by a writer named Robert Arthur (?), who had great taste and vision, and wrote the forewords in the same tongue-in-cheek style that they gave Hitch to do on his TV series. They were not just stories from the AH mystery magazine, but classics too like "The Damned Thing" by Ambrose Bierce.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:17 AM (omVj0)

193 Reminds me of a comedian I once heard (Seinfeld?). Everybody divides their underwear into two categories at least mentally, the operational and the reserves. My book stacks are mentally separated.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 11:15 AM (FVME7)

Hmmm, I guess that's true. Every podcaster wants to sell Sheath Underwear. I bought some. Meh.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:20 AM (3jD8i)

194 They are. BTW, you have another two dozen books to go in that series, not to mention The Ice Limit, which is unrelated but excellent, plus several more spin off novels. I haven't been disappointed yet.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 21, 2024 10:21 AM (dQvWT)

So just finished Relic. GREATLY enjoyed it. Going to add a couple more Pendergast novels to my Kindle and enjoy this dreary Sunday.

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at April 21, 2024 11:22 AM (e/Osv)

195 YAY BOOK THREAD!

Level 3 may or may not be the end of the Curious Historian series. If there's a Level 4 (the PTB haven't decided yet), it will probably focus on American history, since CAP has gotten a lot of requests for that. The Humanitas series has an "American Origins" level, but those are anthologies of primary sources rather than narratives like TCH. We'll see what happens.

Really hoping I can get back to writing fiction this summer. I've had a lot of fun with the textbooks, but I'm ready for a break!

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 21, 2024 11:22 AM (LLJRz)

196 When I started buying paperbacks, those Hitchcock anthologies were all over the racks, and they were a constant source of delight. Good stories in every one, mystery/suspense next to horror and borderline sf. My introductions to writers like Matheson, du Maurier, Evan Hunter, Stanley Ellin, and lots more. Great stuff, then and now.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 11:22 AM (q3u5l)

197 I just looked up Avery Brooks and I see what you mean. So far I've only read books written by Parker himself in the Spenser series. I really like the ones that have Hawk. More action. More detective work. I really don't care when he gets hung up in describing every street he uses to get where he's going and every restaurant meal he eats while detecting and Susan Silverman is okay in small doses.
After that explanation, I wonder why I read these books.
The Westerns wee great though but only a couple written by him.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024

***
The first ten or twelve Spensers, through Seahorse, were the best. Spenser and Susan were still finding out what their relationship was to be, for one thing, and Spenser was still refining his moral code. (In the third book, Mortal Stakes, he is badly disturbed that he had to kill two bad guys face-to face.) And the side characters like Paul from Early Autumn were still fascinating.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:22 AM (omVj0)

198 Speaking of series that never end, my daughter was collecting the Naruto books, until she stopped. They also had all the dvd collections up to a point.

I know they just continued. Did they ever end? The shows, I mean. My son watches them, but it's the same ones over and over, and he certainly has less interest in the later shows than the earlier ones. I guess you can separate them into Naruto as a kid, then Naruto as a teen, and now I think there are some where he's an adult.

Just wondering if it ever concluded.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:24 AM (3jD8i)

199 The Walking Dead enters the chat.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:10 AM (3jD8i)

When seeing the promo, and never seeing the comic, I wanted to like The Walking Dead. My wife thought I would love The Walking Dead.

Then, about two episodes in, everybody paying attention to Rick because, what ? He's wearing a sheriff's uniform ? I made about six episodes - maybe more. Also got tired of the chic whose sister got ate by the zombie, but kept having breakdowns and waving a gun in everyone's face.

I know, at some point from people at work, the Fonzi / Freddy Mercury guy shows up with a bat wrapped in barbed wire. Some seemed to like him.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 11:24 AM (wOYo1)

200 When I started buying paperbacks, those Hitchcock anthologies were all over the racks, and they were a constant source of delight. Good stories in every one, mystery/suspense next to horror and borderline sf. My introductions to writers like Matheson, du Maurier, Evan Hunter, Stanley Ellin, and lots more. Great stuff, then and now.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024

***
Exactly. 14 of my Favorites in Suspense was the first I bought at age eleven as I outgrew comic books, and I still have that paperback on my shelf.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:24 AM (omVj0)

201 I think I saw that movie on Netflix. Like Tom Cruise playing Reacher, Mark Wahlberg does not look like Spenser. I don't think he could imtimidate anyone and that is a big part of who Spenser is.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 11:26 AM (t/2Uw)

202 Avoid at all costs the Netflix movie Spenser: Confidential. Really. Just trust me on this.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 11:16 AM (q3u5l)

That's generally true of all Netflix adaptations of older properties.

With the exception of anything Mike Flanagan does. Which are mostly reworkings, when he uses older properties, not really remakes.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:26 AM (3jD8i)

203 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 21, 2024 11:26 AM (u82oZ)

204 I've been reading Eric J. Wittenberg's The Union Cavalry Comes of Age.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 11:06 AM (FVME7)

...Stoneman's Cavalry came, and tore up the tracks...again.

Posted by: BignJames at April 21, 2024 11:26 AM (AwYPR)

205 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:17 AM (omVj0)

We had "My Favorites in Suspense." I don't know what happened to it. But, then again, it was near fifty years ago since I read it.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 21, 2024 11:26 AM (0eaVi)

206 X-Files managed to do both stand-alone episodes, and the continuing under story. I watched them all, through the regular series, then haven't picked up any of the continuation crap, just because. . . .

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024

***
And I preferred the stand-alone, weird corners of the universe" X-Files episodes to the ongoing paranoia storyline.

(Personally, I was annoyed by everyone referring to and addressing Mulder and Scully as "Agent [Name]," as if "Agent" were his or her first name. What would be wrong with "Mr.," or "Dr." in Scully's case? Mr. Waverly addressed Solo and Illya as "Mr. [Name]," not "Agent.")

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:28 AM (omVj0)

207 Then, about two episodes in, everybody paying attention to Rick because, what ? He's wearing a sheriff's uniform ? I made about six episodes - maybe more. Also got tired of the chic whose sister got ate by the zombie, but kept having breakdowns and waving a gun in everyone's face.

I know, at some point from people at work, the Fonzi / Freddy Mercury guy shows up with a bat wrapped in barbed wire. Some seemed to like him.
Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 11:24 AM (wOYo1)

It would be interesting, seeing if anyone new ever gets into it. Yeah, the buy-in for the characters is either there, or it's not.

It is quite interesting, when comparing the books to the show, which characters die in either, and which ones do not. It's not always the same.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:28 AM (3jD8i)

208 if series with recurring-character in a complete story per volume tend to do better commercially over the long run than series in which you're left waiting to see how it comes out for yet another book.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 11:01 AM (q3u5l)

Thirty years later, Norah Roberts is still cranking out her Eve Dallas police procedurals. The key: a strong lead and a raft of supporting characters that you like and care about, plus something in their personal lives to look forward to.

Funny thing- things set in the future are always tricky.
But it looks more and more like we may achieve her world-wide Urban Wars, set to start in the next decade or so...

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at April 21, 2024 11:29 AM (jN2/U)

209 Wolfus,

I think 14 of My Favories in Suspense was the first Hitchcock anthology I bought as well. Not my first paperback, but the first of that particular set. Too bad you just don't see stuff like that on the mass market racks any more. Them was the days. (Rises to reheat the tea and tell the kids to get off the lawn...)

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 11:29 AM (q3u5l)

210 These were Islington's first books inspired by Brandon Sanderson. The Will of the Many is the result of what he learned writing the first books and that it is why it is infinitely better. Just wish he'd get the second one written.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 10:31 AM (t/2Uw)

Good. Will of the Many was, I felt - a real indictment of collectivism. It seems that Islington has a real thing for turning all of his stories into a "Harry Potter on steroids" type of thing

Posted by: Defenestratus at April 21, 2024 11:30 AM (IS2V7)

211 I think I saw that movie on Netflix. Like Tom Cruise playing Reacher, Mark Wahlberg does not look like Spenser. I don't think he could imtimidate anyone and that is a big part of who Spenser is.
Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024

***
I still picture Robert Urich as Spenser. Oddly, for an older Spenser, Joe Mantegna did a pretty good job. But Urich and Brooks remain the guys, to me.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:30 AM (omVj0)

212 >>> 165 It's too bad we didn't use a nuke or two on the Red Chinese when they illegally entered Korea to spread their filth.

Find out where Mao's unwashed ass was and vaporize him and the whole Red China leadership and no one would have missed them.

The Soviets would have gotten the message too.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 21, 2024 10:50 AM (R/m4+)

Too many commie symps in government then, as now. How much misery could have been avoided if our government cared about us.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 21, 2024 10:56 AM (0eaVi)

Here's one book about that:
https://shorturl.at/uyIKY

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 21, 2024 11:30 AM (llON8)

213
I have been executing a "read what you already have in this house" plan since early last year. It has been a slow process so far, but I have stuck with it.

Works that I thought were worth having read, I donate to the impromptu lending library at our community center. Works that do not make thAt cut get cut up and placed in the recycle bin.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 21, 2024 11:30 AM (xG4kz)

214 I enjoyed Babylon 5 ... long form story telling that made sense. I do wonder, did they have a "story bible" in the beginning, or just happen to keep it tight along the way.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 11:08 AM (wOYo1)

From everything I've heard, yes. Not only that, but they had pre-established back-up plans in case of emergency. Like, having to replace an actor...

It's kind of sad, as much as I enjoyed Babylon 5, I don't trust the creator (JMS) on anything else. The guy is responsible for two of the most infamous Spider-Man stories ever (Sins Past and One More Day), although the latter of the two could be blamed on editorial mandates...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 11:31 AM (Lhaco)

215 (Personally, I was annoyed by everyone referring to and addressing Mulder and Scully as "Agent [Name]," as if "Agent" were his or her first name. What would be wrong with "Mr.," or "Dr." in Scully's case? Mr. Waverly addressed Solo and Illya as "Mr. [Name]," not "Agent.")
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:28 AM (omVj0)

I just took it for granted that's an FBI thing, and they did that in real life.

I did start re-watching season 1 a while back, and got a few episodes in. I was struck by how much it was obvious at this point in my life, the real story is not the weird creatures, but the Deep State, doing its thing.

I mean, I knew it when watching them in the before time, but I didn't KNOW it, like I do now.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:31 AM (3jD8i)

216 I think 14 of My Favories in Suspense was the first Hitchcock anthology I bought as well. Not my first paperback, but the first of that particular set. Too bad you just don't see stuff like that on the mass market racks any more. Them was the days. (Rises to reheat the tea and tell the kids to get off the lawn...)
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024

***
A lot of the tales in those collections were fairly recent, less than twenty years old in some cases, though there were plenty of much older classics. An anthology with that same vision now would not have much to scrape up from the last two decades.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:32 AM (omVj0)

217 Talking about TV series....

It is really odd how much my day to day life has changed. There used to be a TV on during the day, probably on Fox news and avidly watched week after week the most ridiculous series like the Walking Dead and even The Curse of Oak Island.
Now, I talk to all of you. lol

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 11:32 AM (t/2Uw)

218 Hmmm, I guess that's true. Every podcaster wants to sell Sheath Underwear. I bought some. Meh.

I read that as "stealth" and, oddly, it made sense.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 21, 2024 11:34 AM (/y8xj)

219 From everything I've heard, yes. Not only that, but they had pre-established back-up plans in case of emergency. Like, having to replace an actor...

Babylon 5 passed the ultimate test for me in any book or movie ... watched it twice. I'm a Luddite when it comes to tech - but hoo boy, when I found streaming and binge watching once I got a Firestick ? The entire Babylon 5, anytime I want it ?

There were very few black hats and white hats in Babylon 5. Loved that as well.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 11:34 AM (wOYo1)

220 Finished the complication The Reluctant King, by L. Sprague DeCamp. This is a sword and sorcery tale, and is composed of The Goblin Tower, The Clocks of Iraz and The Unbeheaded King.

A romp of fun! For political fantasy lovers, it discusses all types of governments, and their strengths and failures. All interwoven into this tale.

The hero, King Jorian of Xylar, was king for 5 years, and his head, once severed, is thrown into the crow. The male that catches the head and attached crown is king for the next five years.

He escapes that fate, but there are complications. Which make for wry adventures, subverting most sword and sorcery tropes of the time.

From the same planet as the funny and telling book The Fallible Fiend.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 21, 2024 11:36 AM (u82oZ)

221 Thirty years later, Norah Roberts is still cranking out her Eve Dallas police procedurals. The key: a strong lead and a raft of supporting characters that you like and care about, plus something in their personal lives to look forward to.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at April 21, 2024 11:29 AM (jN2/U)

I got a few into the Bosch series, but after a few books, it got repetitive. Sure, it's interesting seeing the grittier version of how cops work, but after a while, it feels like job is my job.

My job would be boring for other people to watch me do, after a while. And my personal life sure would be... these days at least. While the ex was here, she sure kept things interesting.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:37 AM (lFCW3)

222 Really hoping I can get back to writing fiction this summer. I've had a lot of fun with the textbooks, but I'm ready for a break!
Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 21, 2024 11:22 AM (LLJRz)
=====

WELCOME BACK! Haven't 'seen' you in a while. Congrats on the textbooks and hope to see your knowledgeable and sensible input more often.

Posted by: mustbequantum at April 21, 2024 11:37 AM (MIKMs)

223 195 ... "Really hoping I can get back to writing fiction this summer. I've had a lot of fun with the textbooks, but I'm ready for a break!"

Hi Elisabeth,

Hope you can get back to fiction. I've enjoyed your novels. Fast reads and the characters and descriptions are vivid.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 11:38 AM (zudum)

224
Reading The Crown in Crisis by Alexander Larman, on the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936.

This was actually a bigger deal than just pussy making Edward stupid. Had he been a smarter or more determined monarch, he could have become a quasi-dictator like Mussolini he so admired.

Almost none of the political establishment - either in the UK or the Dominions - wanted Wallis as either Queen or a morganatic consort. If Edward had pushed hard enough, Baldwin's government would have to resign. Neither Labour nor the Liberals would have been able to form a government.

But no. Edward was basically a silly, selfish and irresponsible person who didn't really even want to be King. And so he abdicated.

Wallis Simpson was a nasty gold-digger but she was more sensible. When she saw or was told what her liaison with Edward was doing, she tried repeatedly to break the affair off. But Edward was determined to make her Queen and so destroyed himself.

A good read.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 21, 2024 11:38 AM (MoZTd)

225 198 Speaking of series that never end, my daughter was collecting the Naruto books, until she stopped. They also had all the dvd collections up to a point.

I know they just continued. Did they ever end? The shows, I mean. My son watches them, but it's the same ones over and over, and he certainly has less interest in the later shows than the earlier ones. I guess you can separate them into Naruto as a kid, then Naruto as a teen, and now I think there are some where he's an adult.

Just wondering if it ever concluded.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:24 AM (3jD8i)

This is all second-hand info, so take with a grain of salt. The Naruto cartoon did end: after several time-jumps, and after many seasons of 'filler,' episodes made with no relation to the source material, which do not advance the plot in any way. The series was followed by a sequel, Boruto, which follows the main character's son, and assumably is more of the same.

But that's just what I've learned via osmosis hanging around the comic/anime fandom. I only ever watched the show for a brief while in the early-going. And then, only when the focus was on the supporting cast...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 11:39 AM (Lhaco)

226 Got books on the Silk Road and three different takes on human development to today and empires of the past. These are all library books.

One is by Geoffrey Blaine, the author of the very insightful The Causes of War.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 21, 2024 11:39 AM (u82oZ)

227 I've been reading Eric J. Wittenberg's The Union Cavalry Comes of Age.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 11:06 AM (FVME7)

Shelby Foote wrote Phil Sheridan "looked like a Mongol."

fitting

Posted by: BignJames at April 21, 2024 11:39 AM (AwYPR)

228 Here's one book about that:
https://shorturl.at/uyIKY
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at April 21, 2024 11:30 AM (llON

Looks good. I will have to get.

Thanks Helena Handbasket!

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 21, 2024 11:40 AM (R/m4+)

229 Sharon, Parker's other two series (same universe, though) feature Sunny Randall, a woman PI who realizes her capabilities are different from those of men and is perfectly willing to use a gun to level the playing field; and his stories of Jesse Stone, a recovering alcoholic who becomes the police chief of a small town outside Boston. The latter have been done on TV, and very very well, with Tom Selleck; you can just hear his voice reading the dialogue of the novels.

In a tour de force, Parker even had Sunny and Jesse have a brief but serious affair; and in one of the other Sunnys, she goes to see a psychologist. Yep; it's Susan Silverman!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:40 AM (omVj0)

230 I read that as "stealth" and, oddly, it made sense.
Posted by: Oddbob at April 21, 2024 11:34 AM (/y8xj)

I could practically recite the ad spots from memory. The guy who started making them is an Iraqi war vet, who noticed over there how his balls would stick to his leg. So he invented underwear with a pouch, to keep your junk separated. And let me tell you, it's a game changer. When I first put them on, I was like, "whoa," but let me tell you they're the most comfortable pair of underwear you will own...

That's not me talking, that's the copy, and everybody who sells them as live reads, says the same damn thing.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:40 AM (lFCW3)

231 The guy who started making them is an Iraqi war vet, who noticed over there how his balls would stick to his leg.

Point of Order - I never served in the Iraq theatre ... yet, from the time I was in Middle School gym, I also noticed my balls tended to stick to my leg.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 11:42 AM (wOYo1)

232
Thirty years later, Norah Roberts is still cranking out her Eve Dallas police procedurals. The key: a strong lead and a raft of supporting characters that you like and care about, plus something in their personal lives to look forward to.

Funny thing- things set in the future are always tricky.
But it looks more and more like we may achieve her world-wide Urban Wars, set to start in the next decade or so...

Posted by: sal: tolle

Don't know why these books were never made into movies. I sometimes try and cast the movie as I'm reading it. The characters really take on a life of their own. You "see' them.
The futuristic aspects seem like they would be easy to do and NYC gritty aspects could be easy to produce on screen because NYC has alwasy been gritty.
Roberts Romance novels have gotten way too formulaic and I like her trilogies with soe magic but the Dallas books are still interesting even after almost 30 of them.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 11:43 AM (t/2Uw)

233
I've been reading Eric J. Wittenberg's The Union Cavalry Comes of Age.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better)

I have a great-great grandfather whose wife alluded to him having been in the military, specifically, the cavalry as a blacksmith. They resided / farmed in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska between 1845 and 1880. It sounded as though he served prior to the outbreak of the Civil War.

Has anyone here ideas and where I could look to see if he in fact did serve the pre-war cavalry in some capacity? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 21, 2024 11:43 AM (xG4kz)

234 "Not much to scrape up from the last two decades"

Being a dinosaur myself, I think there'd be $$$ to be made by reissuing those anthologies in mass market to a new audience than never saw them when they first came out. Of course, that new audience may not even exist now.

Can't recall who said "A book you haven't read is a new book." That new audience might like 'em if they read 'em, but I wonder if they'd even give them a second look these days.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 11:43 AM (q3u5l)

235 But that's just what I've learned via osmosis hanging around the comic/anime fandom. I only ever watched the show for a brief while in the early-going. And then, only when the focus was on the supporting cast...
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 11:39 AM (Lhaco)

That's helpful, thank you. I've mentioned my son around here many times, he's pretty severely intellectually disabled, but loves video games and watching movies/shows.

I always wondered if it was worth me trying to "complete" the series for him, but since he usually just rewatching the older ones anyway... well, maybe not.

I don't think he'd care that Naruto gets busy and has a son (I assume with Hinata, rather than Sakura).

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:45 AM (lFCW3)

236 Time to go.

Have a wonderful day.

The second movie I was in, filmed in 2000, has a premier opening at the local movie theater.

It is supposed to be Science Fiction, and it seemed lame and gay at the time I was in it.

So I have two IMBD listings after my name. Yeah.

The director is very left wing. In the first of his movies, I was asked to extemporize some conservative / fascist dialog on Justice and the Death Penalty. No problem. Gave him a line about standards of conduct for advanced humans.

He hated my lines, and had me deliver Leftist Cant. I did not see the finished film.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 21, 2024 11:45 AM (u82oZ)

237 Has anyone here ideas and where I could look to see if he in fact did serve the pre-war cavalry in some capacity? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 21, 2024 11:43 AM (xG4kz)

May have been militia?...Look in state archives for "muster rolls".

Posted by: BignJames at April 21, 2024 11:45 AM (AwYPR)

238 My job would be boring for other people to watch me do, after a while. And my personal life sure would be... these days at least. While the ex was here, she sure kept things interesting.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:37 AM (lFCW3)

I know, "I" could do her job by this point, if I weren't old and squeamish. The mysteries are well-crafted, for the most part.
And there was, in the beginning, a slow revelation of Dallas's backstory, so that kept readers in. She resolved that about halfway through, when it had outlived its usefulness.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at April 21, 2024 11:46 AM (jN2/U)

239 Book related - the parish is going to a book study of Child Back to the Church by Brandon Vogt

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 21, 2024 11:46 AM (q2svT)

240 Well, reality intrudes.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024 11:46 AM (q3u5l)

241 Point of Order - I never served in the Iraq theatre ... yet, from the time I was in Middle School gym, I also noticed my balls tended to stick to my leg.
Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 11:42 AM (wOYo1)

Well then, do I have some underwear to sell to you!

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:47 AM (lFCW3)

242 That's not me talking, that's the copy, and everybody who sells them as live reads, says the same damn thing.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:40 AM (lFCW3)

Probably very spiffy. At least on the sales target end.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 21, 2024 11:48 AM (D7oie)

243 And there was, in the beginning, a slow revelation of Dallas's backstory, so that kept readers in. She resolved that about halfway through, when it had outlived its usefulness.
Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at April 21, 2024 11:46 AM (jN2/U)

Yeah, for most of us our backstory gets a bit boring after a while.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:48 AM (lFCW3)

244 Wolfus, I read some of the Jesse Stone books. Too much dialog. I liked the movies but the books bored me. parker just gets carried away with the banter and the story gets lost. Have not read any of the Sunny Randall books but I really prefer strong alpha male leads as long as the female lead can stand along side him.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 11:49 AM (t/2Uw)

245 I read a book! I read a book!

Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen. Great read but the end is kind of a bummer.

Posted by: Weasel at April 21, 2024 11:49 AM (JwHpX)

246 May have been militia?...Look in state archives for "muster rolls".
Posted by: BignJames at April 21, 2024 11:45 AM (AwYPR)

Also perhaps check out Union Army pension rolls. They may have a date of enlistment.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at April 21, 2024 11:50 AM (jN2/U)

247 Point of Order - I never served in the Iraq theatre ... yet, from the time I was in Middle School gym, I also noticed my balls tended to stick to my leg.
Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 11:42 AM (wOYo1)

Well then, do I have some underwear to sell to you!
Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:47 AM (lFCW3)

I'm throwing money at the screen.

I noticed at least the AF is getting smarter, when sending son off to boot - compression underwear for PT. That's just smart. Wish we would have had that shit.

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 11:50 AM (wOYo1)

248 The most amusing part of The Walking Dead was Daryl Dixon. He was made for the show (he wasn't in the comics) and seemly created as a secondary 'villain' to be dealt with after his brother. He was every redneck-backwoods-hillbilly stereotype rolled into a single character....Which made him the perfect character to survive a zombie apocalypse. In his first 30 seconds of screentime, he established himself as more competent than anyone else on the show! He had a re-usable weapon, he had caught food (almost enough food for the whole tribe if the zombie hadn't gotten to the deer first), and was better at killing a zombie than the cops (who had just tried to bludgeon one to death).

I find it hilarious to think that the best character of the show was created (seemingly) by accident.

In any case, I stopped caring about show around season...5? And had stopped watching entirely before Neegan showed up. Unlike other franchises, Walking Dead didn't run off their fans with one spectacular disaster, but rather through slow, boring attrition...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 11:50 AM (Lhaco)

249 parker just gets carried away with the banter and the story gets lost.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 11:49 AM (t/2Uw)

He lost his way with all of his later books.

They are still fun as a casual read, but they are a shadow of his earlier work.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 21, 2024 11:50 AM (gSZYf)

250 Thanks, mustbequantum! I've still been lurking and de-lurked a few times on the ONT recently.

RL has just been so crazy lately that I haven't had the energy to do more than that.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 21, 2024 11:50 AM (LLJRz)

251 Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen. Great read but the end is kind of a bummer.

Posted by: Weasel at April 21, 2024 11:49 AM (JwHpX)

Ah...prokaryotes vs. eukaryotes.

It actually ends pretty well for us.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 21, 2024 11:52 AM (gSZYf)

252 In any case, I stopped caring about show around season...5?

I think I made it to the end of season 1 before deciding that it was basically the BBC series "Survivors" but with guns and gore. That was another show that, by the end, you just didn't care any more.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 21, 2024 11:53 AM (/y8xj)

253 In Historic First, Biden Admin to Announce First Sanctions Against an IDF Unit Over Actions in West Bank

-
Swell.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 11:53 AM (FVME7)

254 Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen. Great read but the end is kind of a bummer.
Posted by: Weasel at April 21, 2024 11:49 AM (JwHpX)

That one popped up on my recommendations. I didn't bother to check, is it fiction or non?

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:55 AM (YWhxe)

255 Wolfus, I read some of the Jesse Stone books. Too much dialog.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 11:49 AM (t/2Uw)

That thought is always in back of my mind as I write. How much dialog is too much?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 21, 2024 11:55 AM (0eaVi)

256 Swell.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 11:53 AM (FVME7)

The posturing to get the Muslim vote is getting ridiculous.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 21, 2024 11:55 AM (gSZYf)

257
May have been militia?...Look in state archives for "muster rolls".
Posted by: BignJames

Ooooh, good point. IIRC, they were residing in Minnesota at the time of Little Crow's War (1862) and they lived in the vicinity of the Minnesota Ricer valley (Mankato snd nearby settlements to the south of there). Thanks!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 21, 2024 11:56 AM (xG4kz)

258 So I have two IMBD listings after my name. Yeah.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 21, 2024 11:45 AM (u82oZ)

I love this. The Horde is full of surprises.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at April 21, 2024 11:56 AM (jN2/U)

259 They are still fun as a casual read, but they are a shadow of his earlier work.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo

Exactly. That's what I did this week. Casual reads. Like filler until something I really want to read is available. But i have to have a book.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 11:57 AM (t/2Uw)

260 I finished reading John Fogerty's autobio "Fortunate Son."

Louis Nizer, a celebrity lawyer way back when, once wrote his autobio, "My Life in Court."

"My Life in Court" would've been a good alternate title for Fogerty's book.

The man made awful misjudgments about his business affairs and about those he trusted to advise him.

Fogerty's still alive & he landed on his feet, thank God.

I also watched a short video documentary, available on TouTube, entitled, "The Tragedy of Creedence Clearwater Revival." I wanted a fact check on Fogerty's account. Everything checks out. The scumbuckets who stole all Fogerty's money & future royalties are still alive too, and very litigious. So the filmmaker had to tread very carefully.

Posted by: mnw at April 21, 2024 11:58 AM (NLIak)

261 I find it hilarious to think that the best character of the show was created (seemingly) by accident.

In any case, I stopped caring about show around season...5? And had stopped watching entirely before Neegan showed up. Unlike other franchises, Walking Dead didn't run off their fans with one spectacular disaster, but rather through slow, boring attrition...
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 11:50 AM (Lhaco)

Yup. And of course Darryl has a spin-off show now.

No thanks.

Negan appears and is resolved (I think) fairly quickly in the books. After he does what he does to a main character, his faction is confronted and defeated by some combined forces, and last I saw him, he was sitting in a jail cell.

Maybe he gets out later, I don't know, and I don't care.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:58 AM (YWhxe)

262 Being a dinosaur myself, I think there'd be $$$ to be made by reissuing those anthologies in mass market to a new audience than never saw them when they first came out. Of course, that new audience may not even exist now.

Can't recall who said "A book you haven't read is a new book." That new audience might like 'em if they read 'em, but I wonder if they'd even give them a second look these days.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 21, 2024

***
I guess there's still a sizable number of film buffs who would recognize the Hitchcock name. That was the selling point originally, though the quality was there too. Would it work now?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 11:59 AM (omVj0)

263 Swell.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 11:53 AM (FVME7)

The posturing to get the Muslim vote is getting ridiculous.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 21, 2024 11:55 AM (gSZYf)

Its not posture anymore, I'm pretty sure of that. This is how the State Department and the White House Staff sees things. If anything, they're modulating their response as to not piss off the rest of the country.

Why am I sure. Because they've said it for twenty years now. Ever since Obama took Valarie Jarrett along for the ride - or maybe the other way around. At some point, I just take them at their word. Like reading Mein Kampf. Why wade through all that just to say "nah, he don't mean it" ?

Posted by: Its Always Been This Way at April 21, 2024 11:59 AM (V5OGA)

264 Democrat Official: "Not a News Story" That Would-Be School Shooter Identifies As Trans

-
Yeah, now, dead naming and using the wrong pronouns, those are news stories.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 12:00 PM (FVME7)

265 Wow Salty. What is the name of the movie?

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 12:00 PM (t/2Uw)

266 WE HAZ A NOOD

Posted by: Skip at April 21, 2024 12:01 PM (fwDg9)

267 Posted by: Defenestratus at April 21, 2024 10:05 AM (RAIie)

I too love The Will of the Many

I tried his first series and it's a ..first book. Kinda YA ish. Good effort but , like you say, lacked focus.

We are lucky to have read his second series first. Looking forward to the sequel - hope it comes out soon.

This reminds me of something Larry Correia says a lot - Writing books is unique in that your whole career will be judged by your rookie year.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 21, 2024 12:01 PM (q2svT)

268 Thanks, JTB! Loyal Valley: Diversion is over the halfway point--it's just (!) a matter of getting back into it. My teaching load is supposed to be lighter this fall, so... here's hoping.

*waves to Mrs. JTB*

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 21, 2024 12:01 PM (LLJRz)

269
That thought is always in back of my mind as I write. How much dialog is too much?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 21, 2024

***
The modern line of thought in publishing is "the more the betterer." Look at Gregory McDonald's "Fletch" series, at least the first two. They must be 75% dialog. Yet the story moves, we always know what 's going on, and character is revealed as we go.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 12:01 PM (omVj0)

270 Very cool!
I look forward to reading The Curious Historian.

Posted by: Diogenes at April 21, 2024 12:02 PM (W/lyH)

271 My project to read my TBR is progressing. Last year I read 100 books and at least half were from my TBR. So far this year I've read 27 books from my TBR. It feels good to clear out my bookshelf.

Two of my TBR books I DNF'ed. Not finishing a book has always been hard for me, but I'm at a point in my life where I don't want to waste time doing something I'm not enjoying. And there's no test on the books I read. I'm not being graded on completing a book I don't like.

Some advice I got on decluttering is that the easiest and quickest way to finish a project is to abandon and toss it. That seems sacrilegious to me, but I'm trying to apply it to the few books that I'm not enjoying. The quickest way to get a bad book off my TBR is to acknowledge it's not for me and get rid of it. No shame in abandoning a book.

Posted by: Biancaneve at April 21, 2024 12:02 PM (paAxv)

272 A Nood There Is, or So They Say

Off to do some chores, folk! Enjoy your Sunday.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 12:03 PM (omVj0)

273 267 wait, I think he says "weird", rather than " unique "

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 21, 2024 12:03 PM (q2svT)

274 The modern line of thought in publishing is "the more the betterer." Look at Gregory McDonald's "Fletch" series, at least the first two. They must be 75% dialog. Yet the story moves, we always know what 's going on, and character is revealed as we go.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 21, 2024 12:01 PM (omVj0)

Well, you've read some of my stuff. Too much dialog?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 21, 2024 12:04 PM (0eaVi)

275 Books I couldn't finish:

Ulysses (twice)

The Byzantine Empire (I really tried!)

Posted by: mnw at April 21, 2024 12:05 PM (NLIak)

276 At the time, I was really geeked about a new Amber series from Zelazney. But, sadly, the series was really going nowhere, and the opening up of the hood and tinkering with the greasy innards of Amber itself sort of tarnished the magic. He was still a fine writer, and the jokes and settings were interesting, but... meh. And for such a tumultuous end he managed to cram it into about three pages. "That's all, folks!" Huh? He began sketches of a third series, but sadly died before completing anything. Perhaps the answers would have been found there, as he returned to Corwin narrating the tale. Alas...

Halfway through the final book of Peter Nealan's 'Pallas Group' books. Very engaging read so far, and I am looking forward to the conclusion. No magic, but a lot of gritty action and bad guys getting what they richly deserve.

Following that, I am eyeing my old hardback of 'Lonesome Dove' which probably needs soma dusting off and careful scrutiny of the pages. Again...

Posted by: Brewingfrog at April 21, 2024 12:06 PM (xZMnq)

277 Books I couldn't finish:

Ulysses (twice)

The Byzantine Empire (I really tried!)

Posted by: mnw at April 21, 2024 12:05 PM (NLIak)

The Neverending Story?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 21, 2024 12:07 PM (0eaVi)

278 Yup. And of course Darryl has a spin-off show now.

No thanks.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2024 11:58 AM (YWhxe)

Didn't I see/read/hear that his spin-off takes place in Europe? How does that happen? Why would that happen?

Then I remember when they had Daryl scrounge for self-help/therapy books, and all the other nonsense the show has pulled, and remembered why I stopped caring.

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 21, 2024 12:09 PM (Lhaco)

279
Also perhaps check out Union Army pension rolls. They may have a date of enlistment.
Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum

I think that I checked for him in those already. After my 2nd-great gFather died in1880, his widow married another veteran and this one had served in the Civil War. When he passed away, she sought his pension, only to learn that he was a bigamist, having been married before and having failed to secure a divorce from his first wife. So she was unable to secure his pension for her use.

The timing of that investigation, its final decision, and the conveyance of that decision to her has led me to believe that she was reading the decision in her bedroom at her sister's home (it having come in the day's mail) when she passed away from distress over the outcome (the sister said that she had a letter in her hands when she later found her body).

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 21, 2024 12:09 PM (xG4kz)

280 I guess there's still a sizable number of film buffs who would recognize the Hitchcock name. That was the selling point originally, though the quality was there too. Would it work now?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

There was a videogame released last year I think entitled Alfred Hitchcock: Vertigo which has nothing to do with the 1958 movie but does contain many Hitchcock like plot elements. It's rather similar to the Telltale narrative driven games and I quite enjoyed it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu69HrbP00E

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Eaten By Cannibals (I Got Better) at April 21, 2024 12:17 PM (FVME7)

281 I'm reading "Everyone on this Train is a Suspect" by Benjamin Stevenson. It's a sequel of sorts to "Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone." The author abides by "the unbreakable rules for writing a murder story" which he helpfully lists (eg: no surprise identical twins, the killer must be a character important enough to impact then plot, no supernatural interventions, etc.) and has a chatty, personable style that contrasts well to the subject matter. He gives overt clues throughout the story, but not enough (for me at least) to solve it early on. I recommend it for a light reading break..

Posted by: LASue at April 21, 2024 12:17 PM (Kcw7x)

282 Books I couldn't finish:

Ulysses (twice)

The Byzantine Empire (I really tried!)

Posted by: mnw at April 21, 2024 12:05 PM (NLIak)

The Lord of the Rings (last attempted in 4th grade). I think I'll give it another go.

Posted by: LASue at April 21, 2024 12:19 PM (Kcw7x)

283 "I quit reading the Foglios' _Girl Genius_ comic for that reason, when I realized that they were going to stretch out the narrative of Agatha's solving the mystery of her family and regaining her kingdom as long as people were willing to keep buying the books."

Well, you can read it for free online if you wish. Updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/

Posted by: Richard Cranium at April 21, 2024 12:22 PM (Rwiut)

284 I'm reading "Everyone on this Train is a Suspect" by Benjamin Stevenson. It's a sequel of sorts to "Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone." The author abides by "the unbreakable rules for writing a murder story" which he helpfully lists (eg: no surprise identical twins, the killer must be a character important enough to impact then plot, no supernatural interventions, etc.) and has a chatty, personable style that contrasts well to the subject matter. He gives overt clues throughout the story, but not enough (for me at least) to solve it early on. I recommend it for a light reading break..

Posted by: LASue at April 21, 2024 12:17 PM (Kcw7x)

I thought of doing a mystery. Need to know what works and what doesn't.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 21, 2024 12:25 PM (0eaVi)

285 On the subject of Screwtape: I don't know whether it's available in print or online anywhere, but Inklings scholar Louis Markos (author of Lewis Agonistes and On the Shoulders of Hobbits, among many others) wrote a piece called "Screwtape's Millennial Toast" as a sequel of sorts to "Screwtape Proposes a Toast." I wish I could remember the subject--he read it at a C. S. Lewis Foundation retreat I attended yonks ago--but it was really good.

(Fun fact: Dr. Markos' son Alex wrote the "Spotlight on Virtue" articles for TCH3A and some of the virtue content for TCH3B!)

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 21, 2024 12:32 PM (LLJRz)

286 Thank you for another Book Thread, Perfessor!

Regarding Zelazny: I could never really get into his Chronicles of Amber series. I remember being very excited to learn "Nine Princes in Amber" was coming. Then I read it and found it "Meh". I tried a couple more and still did not care for them. A few years ago I got the omnibus collection from the library and took another run at it. Gave up about 3/4s of the way through.

On the other hand, I still very much enjoy some of his earlier novels ("Lord of Light", "Creatures of Light and Darkness") and some of his short stories. My personal favorite would be "This Immortal". A bit of dialogue from that that I particularly enjoyed (a woman talking to the hero):

"You would fight your own weight in anything that moves, wouldn't you?"

"Not red ants or bumble bees."

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at April 21, 2024 12:35 PM (jjfDF)

287 Late to the thread, but I would argue that not being overly concerned about casualties in a necessity during a just war. Otherwise, commanders get overly attached to their troops and become risk-averse.

This is precisely the case of General MacClellan: after a battle (I seem to recall it being Antietam), he was seen walking among the Union dead weeping. MacClellan was a great organizer, but a poor battlefield commander.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at April 21, 2024 12:43 PM (pJWtt)

288 On the subject of Screwtape: I don't know whether it's available in print or online anywhere, but Inklings scholar Louis Markos (author of Lewis Agonistes and On the Shoulders of Hobbits, among many others) wrote a piece called "Screwtape's Millennial Toast" as a sequel of sorts to "Screwtape Proposes a Toast." I wish I could remember the subject--he read it at a C. S. Lewis Foundation retreat I attended yonks ago--but it was really good.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at April 21, 2024 12:32 PM (LLJRz)

My edition of Screwtape has an introductory essay by C.S. Lewis. He mentions that, even though requested to write a sequel, he had found the experience too disturbing, so he never would do so. Now that I'm more attuned to spiritual battle taking place around us, there's no doubt in my mind the Lewis was granted an insight into the nature of Hell.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at April 21, 2024 12:47 PM (pJWtt)

289 285 ... I didn't know about Markos' Screwtape essay. I'll have to look it up. Thanks, Elisabeth.

Posted by: JTB at April 21, 2024 01:48 PM (zudum)

290 I buy Girl Genius although I read it online. I think they do have an endpoint in sight. My worry is that Phil or Kaja will die before then.

Or that I will die before then. Hope the heirs will like it.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 21, 2024 02:12 PM (p/isN)

291 On a previous thread someone recommended the ‘Bad Times’ series by Chuck Dixon. It’s ex Army Rangers and time travel. I’m on the last book and enjoying it. He does a good job of making each Ranger very different characters with unique ‘voices’ when the narrative switches to their POV.

Posted by: Phat at April 21, 2024 02:24 PM (Azq47)

292 I managed to find a copy of 9 Princes in Amber on Hoopla. I read the series a very long time ago but did not recognize a bunch of the titles in Perfesser Squirrel's list. I seem to remember reading 5 books?
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 21, 2024 10:37 AM (t/2Uw)
----------------------------------------------------

There are five short novels in Zelazny's original Amber series, published from 1970 to 1978. Later, he wrote a sequel series (another five short novels) of markedly inferior quality, published from 1985 to 1991. Before he died in 1995, Zelazny also wrote a few sketches for a third series, which were published as five short stories. At some point after his death, his wife permitted someone else to write prequel Amber novels.

Posted by: My Ridiculously Circuitous Plan at April 21, 2024 02:42 PM (VIXJ1)

293 Question for the Book Thread: I'm trying to find a good book club for business books. I don't really trust the NYT list or any of the business colleges for their recommendations due to the insanity that has run through them. Same for news organizations. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good place to find a good list for business books?

Posted by: Capt Marvel - The Real One at April 21, 2024 04:41 PM (MIv0d)

294 Zelazny - I agree that Lord of Light and Jack of Shadows are most excellent. As to the Amber chronicles, for some reason I always liked Guns of Avalon the best. Contrary to some above, I enjoyed the entire series, some a little more, some a bit less, but all good. Like Princess Bride and Zoolander (the movies) eminently revisitable.

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