Sunday Morning Book (and FWP) Thread - 4-27-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (DON'T PANIC!). 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?

Today's FWP is that my home internet has been down since Wednesday. I contact my ISP and it's a problem with the cable at the node that services my street/neighborhood. The could not give me an estimate on when they expect to have it fixed. If it's not fixed within a week, then it's time to shop around for a new ISP, I think. A new one in my area is offering 3x the speed at the same price, which is very tempting, even though I really don't need 1Gb internet.

Thus, today's Sunday Morning Book Thread will be an abbreviated version. Less calories, but hopefully still filling in some way.

PIC NOTE

California Girl (NOT CaliGirl) sent me the pic above. It's of a library in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, supposedly the oldest library in the state. Although the chairs don't look very comfortable, I still find the space to be cozy and warm. I could camp out there for a few hours if I could find a comfortable seat.

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MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Since I was forced to slow down this past week, I decided to dig into the TBR pile. I started on "Room 39: A Study in Naval Intelligence" by Donald McLachlan. Published in 1968, it's the story of the naval war, mostly in the North Atlantic thus far, from the perspective of the British naval intelligence services. I'm sure there are more modern books on the subject, but I'm really enjoying this. Not only is it well-written, but the book itself is printed on paper that is impossibly thick by modern standards. It also has that "old book" scent that smells like some long-undisturbed section of an archive just waiting to be rediscovered.
Posted by: PabloD at April 20, 2025 09:12 AM (57fkQ)

Comment: I love that "old book" smell. One of the books I bought this past week (see below) has that smell, as it was published around 80 years ago.

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I am slowly whittling away the stack of to-be-read books on the bedside table. I finished Chamberlain's Clementine in the Kitchen (which was a recommend from this book thread), but started on a new book, bought because of a comment on another book discussion: Jack Couffer's memoir "Bat Bomb" - which reads more like a comic romp than a memoir. But it is a bit of real WWII history - a wholly insane-sounding plan to drop bombs on Japan's cities - bombs containing live bats fitted with tiny incendiary bomblets. The plan was that the bats would fly off, nest in various roofs and crannies, the incendiary bombs would go off and Japan's wood and paper buildings would burn ... It was a top-secret plan, and the author was one of the youngest persons involved. The writing is very good, lively and funny. A heck of a movie could be made of their efforts, that is, if anyone in Hollywierd had any sense at all.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 20, 2025 09:38 AM (Ew3fm)

Comment: I vaguely recall a madcap plan to do this to Japan's highly flammable cities. Didn't think they actually tried to follow through with it. Also, won't somebody think of the poor bats? They didn't sign up to be suicide squad.

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

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WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:

Commonwealth Saga Book 1 - Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton -- Another 1,100+ page doorstopper.

The university library in which I work, but do not work for, held it's annual spring book sale this past week. Naturally, I picked up a few books for a low, low price:

The Original Hitchhiker Radio Script by Douglas Adams

Bookburners by Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Mur Lafferty, and Brian Francis Slattery

Blood of the Martyrs by Naomi Mitchison -- mmmm...that old book smell!

Infernal Devices by K.W. Jeter

Science Fiction: What It's All About by Sam Lunwall (translated from Swedish into English by the author)

Galilee by Clive Barker

King of Ashes by Raymond E. Feist

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas Book 3 - The Broken Blade by Simon Hawke

The Faded Sun: Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh

Chung Kuo: The Middle Kingdom by David Wingrove

Isle of Destiny by Kenneth C. Flint

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.

Guardians of the Flame Book 3 - The Silver Crown by Joel Rosenberg

Guardians of the Flame Book 4 - The Heir Apparent by Joel Rosenberg

Commonwealth Saga Book 1 - Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 4-20-2025 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

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

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. It's all fun and games until your internet goes away...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Started reading the Levon Cade series of books by Chuck Dixon, thanks to a comment in a thread here at AoSHQ on April 21 by Christopher R Taylor.

The "Reacher" books were being discussed, and Christopher wrote: {{ Reacher books are okay one every few years or so, he's a ridiculous Marty Stu who is always smarter, stronger, bigger, more knowing, and better than everyone everywhere. He's like a pulp character, Doc Savage type who is never seriously in danger or challenged. Its a fun read but you cannot string too many together.

For me, the better version of "badass dude tears through villains" type of stories is the Levon Cade books by Chuck Dixon" }}

That piqued my curiosity and I found the whole series of twelve books on sale at Amazon, and bought the entire lot for my Kindle. I've already ripped through the first four books and am enjoying the fifth.

Christopher: That was an excellent recommendation. Thank you.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at April 27, 2025 08:53 AM (O7YUW)

2 And I've summoned the others.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at April 27, 2025 08:53 AM (O7YUW)

3 205 Mornin' all. Please let this be the last day with this head and chest cold. It's been over two weeks now.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at April 27, 2025 08:52 AM (O7YUW)

Get well soon!

Posted by: m at April 27, 2025 08:55 AM (CQE5S)

4 Morning, Perfessor.

Howdy, Horde.

May have to bail early (as in almost immediately) today. So in advance -- Thanks for the thread, Perfessor, and have a good one, gang.

Not much reading this week. Under the weather.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 27, 2025 08:55 AM (q3u5l)

5 I didn't read any... wait. I did read a piece in an e-mail from Raconteur Press. "In Self Defense," by W.C. Tuttle, published in 1917. The poster said he had a difficult time reading this little western because of the excessive use of slang dialog. I also found it hard going. I can understand the use of slang dialog to set up a character, but it can get wearying trying to make out what the person is saying.

I use it myself, but only to intro the person, then I'll revert to standard dialog.

What do others think? Does dialect put you off reading, or not? I assume this would only apply to old works, as it doesn't seem to be used anymore.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 08:59 AM (0eaVi)

6 Good Sunday morning, horde!

Mr. Dmlw! laughs at me when he catches me opening a book and taking a deep whiff. I love the ones that smell like they did when I was a kid. I can't really describe it.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 27, 2025 09:00 AM (h7ZuX)

7 Nothing wrong with those pants if you're going to a 60s or 70s party. Or hanging with Timothy Leary, I guess.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:01 AM (0eaVi)

8 Snuck in early
Tolle Lege
Though have no new book, for years get a daily barrage of emails to read academic history PDFs. Sometimes see one and open it. It can be a disappointment as it's only some pages but not all. But often it's the whole PDF. Have one 3/4 the way explaining Napoleonic era army maneuver of a Regiment.

Posted by: Skip at April 27, 2025 09:01 AM (ypFCm)

9 Oh, those book carrells! I remember ones like that. Not too comfortable to read in to say the least.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:02 AM (0eaVi)

10 This week I read Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey. This is a different sort of murder mystery in that the murder occurs in the last 1/4th of the book. Great characters, tightly written, and a joy to read. Tey is now one of my top ten favorite authors.

Posted by: Zoltan at April 27, 2025 09:03 AM (SQp7G)

11
This would be better for the anti-Book Thread, but I spent last week downsizing my book collection. Made four trips to Half Price Books to see if I could claw something back.

Trip 1: $0.00
Trip 2: $2.41
Trip 3. $8.14
Trip 4: $27.00

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 27, 2025 09:04 AM (QnmlO)

12 Still slowly reading Jack Posobiec's "Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them)."

https://tinyurl.com/ya3ub8th

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at April 27, 2025 09:04 AM (DT0BZ)

13 Morning, Book Folken! My reads this week have been varied. First:

Rat Pack Confidential by one Shawn Levy, an analysis and recounting of the years leading up to, and following, the famous "Rat Pack" phenomenon where Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop were the epitome of class and cool. He features capsule biographies of each of the five and theorizes how their backgrounds and personalities led up to and fit into the group. A fun read.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:04 AM (omVj0)

14 @3/m: "Get well soon!"

Thank you. I hope I do, because I'm really sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at April 27, 2025 09:05 AM (O7YUW)

15 What do others think? Does dialect put you off reading, or not? I assume this would only apply to old works, as it doesn't seem to be used anymore.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 08:59 AM (0eaVi)

Funny you should mention it. This week, I took Wuthering Heights" off the decades-old TBR pile. The stable hand's dialogue is written in a very thick accent that's difficult for me to get through. Maybe it's supposed to be Scottish? If I read it like he's Willie from The Simpsons, it makes more sense to me.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 27, 2025 09:05 AM (h7ZuX)

16 Morning Perfesser, et al,

I have started getting into the self-published market recently. Started with reading John Van Stryvant. Now I'm starting to get recommendations on my kindle for other authors (primarily SciFi since that's my preferred genre).

Picked up the "Too Old to Die" series by John Walker yesterday while the storms were blowing through. So far book 1 is pretty good. Retired Space Navy Lt Cdr Gareth witnesses first hand the invasion of Earth and has to escape with the recluse Doctor who was his neighbor. I'll leave it at that so no spoilers. Whole series of 9 books was only $0.99 on Amazon.

Wish there was more advertising/recommendations for these authors. I'm trying to do my best to leave (positive) reviews.

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at April 27, 2025 09:05 AM (e/Osv)

17 Perf, I just looked at my selections on the moron recs. Didn't I have more than that? I thought I also did Around the World in Eighty Days, but I don't see it. I read Maltese Falcon recently, too. Did I review that, or not?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:07 AM (0eaVi)

18 Yay Book Thread!

I finally finished Graham Greene's A Burnt-Out Case, which is about a famous Catholic architect who is the titular case. He has lost his faith and on an impulse hops a plane to the Congo, and finds his way to a Catholic leper colony, where he finds meaning helping out and eventually offers to design a hospital for them.

The actual "burnt-out case" is a leper who is cured but has lost all fingers and toes, and such individuals cannot go back out in the world, but linger at the colony, doing menial tasks.

It seems like a treacly redemption story, but this is Greene, so it is much, much darker and more complicated. As I've come to expect, Greene knows how to throw in a radical plot twist while making it fully authentic. I will continue to acquire is books as they were easy reads and well done.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:07 AM (ZOv7s)

19 @16/SLV: You've conflated two names. John Van Stry is his actual name, and "Jan Stryvant" is the secondary pen name he writes the more racier books under.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at April 27, 2025 09:08 AM (O7YUW)

20 Second: The Hollow Places, a fantasy/horror novel by one T. Kingfisher. This is a 2020 novel, and it's remarkable for the mix of humor and horror -- as if Rex Stout's Archie Goodwin, if he were a 34-year-old young woman, were to tell a Stephen King story. It's funny and fast-moving, and the fantasy elements and the horror are solid as well. The narrator, "Carrot" (for "Kara"), is recently divorced and working in her uncle's Museum of Natural Wonders and Taxidermy -- where she grew up, in the little NC town of Hog Chapel. She, and her gay buddy Simon the barista next door, discover a doorway into a different world . . . and it's one you don't want to stay in for long. Good stuff.

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

21 "Spacewalk," hell! More like "space wrestle," according to Gene Cernan's account of his difficulties on the Gemini 9 flight in "The Last Man on the Moon."

In zero gravity, he constantly tumbled and struggled with the cord that fed air to him and was his only link to the spacecraft. In addition, his spacesuit became as hard as rock because its only air pressure was on the inside. This made it nearly impossible for him to get back inside the capsule. He was exhausted by the ordeal. (The first spacewalker, a Soviet, had similar problems; neither side in the space race publicly disclosed them at the time.)

Space travel isn't for weaklings. Got that, Blue Origin tourists?

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 27, 2025 09:10 AM (p/isN)

22 Perfessor: Thank you again for another book thread. Afraid I have to bail early...

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at April 27, 2025 09:10 AM (O7YUW)

23 19 @16/SLV: You've conflated two names. John Van Stry is his actual name, and "Jan Stryvant" is the secondary pen name he writes the more racier books under.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at April 27, 2025 09:08 AM (O7YUW)

Apologies, still on first cup of coffee....

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at April 27, 2025 09:10 AM (e/Osv)

24 I also read The God of the Wood by Liz Moore. Barbara, the 13-year old daughter of a rich family, goes missing from a summer camp that her family owns. This is eerily familiar to her brother's disappearance from the same location fourteen years previously. The book bounces back and forth between the two cases. Family secrets and finally the truth to what happened to both are revealed. A well-written mystery.

Posted by: Zoltan at April 27, 2025 09:11 AM (SQp7G)

25 Picked up and read the first volume in Iain M. Banks' "Culture" series, "Consider Phlebas." I enjoyed it a lot, and am about to start the second volume: "The Player of Games."

Also started Declan Finn's first book in his Saint Tommy series, about a Catholic police detective in NYC, called "Hell Spawn." Demon serial killer, etc. Pretty good so far.

And just picked up a Peter F. Hamilton standalone novel called: "Fallen Dragon," which is supposed to be very good, as, I submit, all of his novels have been so far.

Good morning, Good People.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 27, 2025 09:12 AM (/RHNq)

26 Rat Pack Confidential by one Shawn Levy, an analysis and recounting of the years leading up to, and following, the famous "Rat Pack" phenomenon where Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop were the epitome of class and cool. He features capsule biographies of each of the five and theorizes how their backgrounds and personalities led up to and fit into the group. A fun read.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:04 AM (omVj0)

Thought that might be an interesting subject to look into. Did they author say who the original leader of the Rat Pack was, Wolfus?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:13 AM (0eaVi)

27 At present I'm dipping into Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller. This consists of snippets of interviews with cast members, producers, and writers of the show, starting in '74 when Lorne Michaels began to get the idea off the ground, and steaming on through the years up to about 2000 (it's a 2002 book). I may not stick with it, but it is sort of fun.

I don't remember the early days of SNL for some reason -- I guess my Saturday nights were taken up with something else -- and I'd forgotten, or never knew, that Bill Murray was not on the show in Season One. He replaced Chevy Chase. Chase had an unusual one-year contract -- he began as a writer -- and he left to make movies in '76. (We know how that worked out.) It was then that Murray came in.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:15 AM (omVj0)

28 Good morning, fellow booksniffians!

There was a lot of dialect in those olde books, which is distracting to us Moderns, but I think back in the day books were read aloud more, so it's like a script.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 27, 2025 09:16 AM (kpS4V)

29 In a sea battle early in World War II deep in the south Atlantic and not well known today, a hunting party of three British cruisers found the German pocket battleship Graf Spee and put up such a valiant fight against the powerful ship that the Germans took refuge in neutral Uruguay. The Battle of the River Plate by Dudley Pope details the German raider's short but colorful career.

Interestingly, the Graf Spee was named for a German Admiral who lost his life and his fleet in the same waters near the Falklands in World War I. His namesake, a ship with the speed of a cruiser and the guns of a battleship, was commerce raiding along the west coast of Africa and the sea lanes from South America.

This book details the career of the Graf Spee and the many ships that fell victim to her, as well as the search by the British to anticipate and trap her. Not a single sailor on the many merchant ships she sank was killed, a tribute to her captain's insistence on following prize rules, and her last battle would also be the last sea battle ever fought without air support or radar.

Pope's story about war in distant waters recalls the days when seamanship and honor were paramount.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 27, 2025 09:17 AM (lTGtQ)

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

Posted by: JTB at April 27, 2025 09:17 AM (yTvNw)

31 Maybe it's supposed to be Scottish? If I read it like he's Willie from The Simpsons, it makes more sense to me.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 27, 2025 09:05 AM (h7ZuX)

English book. Never read it. Wouldn't be surprised if it's an Irish stablehand. (checks wiki) Oh, story's set in Yorkshire. Maybe that's what it is. Parents used to watch a Britcom set in Yorkshire. They had thick accents.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:19 AM (0eaVi)

32 You know, Perfesser, at some point you need to sit down and take on the Man of Destiny series. It is right up your alley.

Space Opera
Four-Book Story Arc
Reversals of Fortune
Star Wars Adjacent
E-book and Paperback

Perhaps most importantly, it follow the "write what you know" directive. Yes, I know Star Wars, but it centers on high politics, and various legislative strategies were things I learned first-hand working as a staffer. The military part is also something I know a bit about, and the pilots in my unit absolutely loved how I handled training and tactics.

I think that's why book 2 has the highest ratings because it focuses on character development as the plot starts to mature. The idea of putting an Anakin Skywalker character through Officer Candidate School was also amusing to me (and yes, I actually did that, too, but did not finish).

Oh, and if you pay attention, there are Christians as well.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:19 AM (ZOv7s)

33 I'm glad to see that Chuck Dixon is still writing after his departure (ejection?) from DC.

He created and populated a whole new city in his Nihtwing series, and some clucks later wrote a Batman story in which somebody nuked the entire place. Goodbye, Bludhaven.

I'm sure it was aimed at him.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 27, 2025 09:19 AM (p/isN)

34 Today's FWP is that my home internet has been down since Wednesday. I contact my ISP and it's a problem with the cable at the node that services my street/neighborhood. The could not give me an estimate on when they expect to have it fixed. If it's not fixed within a week, then it's time to shop around for a new ISP, I think. A new one in my area is offering 3x the speed at the same price, which is very tempting, even though I really don't need 1Gb internet.

No excuse from your ISP unless there are extenuating circumstances, ie wide spread weather damage. Sounds like they don't have the contractors or maintenance. Techs to handle this. They should have plenty of employees that can splice either coax or fiber.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at April 27, 2025 09:20 AM (NRF0d)

35 Good Sunday Morning, literate Morons. I finished the above-mentioned "Room 39" and started on "The 48 Laws of Power" by Robert Greene. Think of it as a modern study into Machiavellian ways of manipulating people or avoiding such manipulation by others. It's very readable, and each "law" is illustrated both in its successful and unsuccessful application with some historical examples. I'm only about 1/8 through the book; I'll try to remember to give a full review (or at least a final thumbs-up or -down) when I'm done.

Posted by: PabloD at April 27, 2025 09:21 AM (65gtf)

36 Did a lot of hobby related reading this week. Pen and ink sketching materials and methods, chalk pastel techniques, and whittling how-to articles. It was pleasant reading and I jotted down ideas for future projects.

Posted by: JTB at April 27, 2025 09:21 AM (yTvNw)

37 Perf, I just looked at my selections on the moron recs. Didn't I have more than that? I thought I also did Around the World in Eighty Days, but I don't see it. I read Maltese Falcon recently, too. Did I review that, or not?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:07 AM (0eaVi)
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Now you made me look. I did not see Long Live Death among he Moron books. I'm fine with others of my catalog being ignored (I mean, the sales prove it!) but that one is special.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:21 AM (ZOv7s)

38 Dialect in stories: Yes, it's considered old-fashioned and troublesome now. A little of it is fine. In a 1940s novelette, Rex Stout has Archie and Wolfe encounter a woman from the Deep South. Archie gives us the dialect spelling of her accent in one early paragraph, and then says, "That's the last time I try to reproduce it." But we can "hear" her accent in subsequent speeches just as well as if we got the dialect spellings.

I've seen modern stories where the narrator will hint at a character's dialect by indicating how certain words come out, e.g., with a German character:

"You will tell me about this, yes?" It came out as "You vill tell me, ja?"

And after that we don't get dialect spellings at all, just the speech rhythm and word choices of the character.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:21 AM (omVj0)

39 Finished Sometimes in the Fall by John Van Stry. This was recommended to me by Grumpy and Recalcitrant, whom I hope gets over his cold soon.

This is the second of a presumed trilogy, following action from Summers End. I liked it. It was solid world building, and involves family in the future in a good way. Enough action, even stupid action, all happening to the main character, to satisfy the space opera credo.

Besides the emphasis on family, I liked the idealized portrait of trading and merchant activity. This depicts a universe I could be happy to live in, except not over Venus or on Earth.

I did see one howler on EMP (since I did real-world testing with a very large EMP simulator) but most people will miss it.

Recommended for small values of space opera and for family.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 27, 2025 09:22 AM (u82oZ)

40
Last week I was reading The Crown in Crisis by Alexander Larman about the abdication of Edward VIII.

Americans, if they think about it at all, imagine it was just some dust-up about the King and his cutie. But there were major implications in Edward insisting he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson. Had he pushed, or waited, Baldwin's government might have fallen and a "King's Party" take over. This at a time of foreign peril.

Wallis may have been a gold-digging shrew, but she had better sense than Edward, who was so love-besotten that he was willing to create chaos by abdicating if he couldn't get her as queen or even morganatically.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 27, 2025 09:23 AM (QnmlO)

41 Nightwing, dammit.

These phone keys are becoming too small for my fingers.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 27, 2025 09:24 AM (p/isN)

42 Morning, Horde.

Can't really participate in Sunday Morning Book Thread.

Still no internet at home, but a technician is coming out this afternoon to see what can be done to fix it. The root problem at the node has been fixed, but my downstream connection is still broken.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 27, 2025 09:24 AM (n/UDa)

43 Oh, and I also picked up all of The James Madison's novels, though I haven't started reading them yet:

Corstae
Colonial Nightmare
Crystal Embers
The Battle of Lake Erie
Sharp Kid.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 27, 2025 09:25 AM (/RHNq)

44 Funny thing about internet companies and how they differ. When we lived in the greater Dayton OH area we had horrible internet since we used Viasat due to Spectrum wanting to charge us $15,000 to run internet down our long driveway from a pole across the road and a 1/2 mile away. Moved to rural MT into a planned neighborhood and we have fiber optic. Screaming speeds, no, however they're pretty darn good.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 27, 2025 09:25 AM (2NHgQ)

45 Wolfus, I like a lot of T. Kingfisher's tales of horror. A favorite was "The Twisted Ones", about a woman who agrees to her father's request to clean out her nasty grandmother's hoarder house. There's a lot of weirdness afoot in the land surrounding the house, strange things from the elder days that crossed the ocean with the settlers.

The horror is levened by Bongo, the woman's dumb-as-a-fencepost hound dog.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 27, 2025 09:25 AM (kpS4V)

46 English book. Never read it. Wouldn't be surprised if it's an Irish stablehand. (checks wiki) Oh, story's set in Yorkshire. Maybe that's what it is. Parents used to watch a Britcom set in Yorkshire. They had thick accents.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025

***
The Yorkshire dialect is considered by many to be incomprehensible by Americans. It's soft-pedaled in the new All Creatures Great and Small BBC series set there. The characters will leave out the occasional "a" or "the," pronounce the "uh" sound as "oo," etc. ("Put kettle on.")

You get a little of it in Watership Down, when the humans say things like "Old woild rabbit, look!" But they are minor elements in the rabbits' story, so it doesn't bother you much.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:26 AM (omVj0)

47 I don't remember the early days of SNL for some reason -- I guess my Saturday nights were taken up with something else -- and I'd forgotten, or never knew, that Bill Murray was not on the show in Season One. He replaced Chevy Chase. Chase had an unusual one-year contract -- he began as a writer -- and he left to make movies in '76. (We know how that worked out.) It was then that Murray came in.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:15 AM (omVj0)
---
I have another book on SNL with the same title, but it's "A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live" and is from the 80s.

It did not hold my attention, with much of it being about famous skits, explaining the skits, etc. Lots of dirt about infighting among the cast, the stupendous amount of drugs being used, everyone hoping to get into movies as Chevy had done, etc.

One of the themes is Lorraine Newman's line about how one can only be avant garde for so long before becoming garde. I think that sums up the show quite nicely.

What started as counter-culture became the culture and then the cultural enforcer. It's now subversive to be an orthodox Christian.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:26 AM (ZOv7s)

48 Wolfus, I like a lot of T. Kingfisher's tales of horror. A favorite was "The Twisted Ones", about a woman who agrees to her father's request to clean out her nasty grandmother's hoarder house. There's a lot of weirdness afoot in the land surrounding the house, strange things from the elder days that crossed the ocean with the settlers.

The horror is levened by Bongo, the woman's dumb-as-a-fencepost hound dog.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 27, 2025

***
I've got to find that one, then.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:26 AM (omVj0)

49 After it was mentioned last week I got a copy of "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" from the library. Just started it but so far it is delightful. It's a series of letters among the various characters that gradually reveal their circumstances and thoughts. The characters have some humor, the kind that comes from comfortable familiarity. It reminds me of "84, Charing Cross Road", which I really enjoyed.

Posted by: JTB at April 27, 2025 09:27 AM (yTvNw)

50 Perf, I just looked at my selections on the moron recs. Didn't I have more than that? I thought I also did Around the World in Eighty Days, but I don't see it. I read Maltese Falcon recently, too. Did I review that, or not?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:07 AM (0eaVi)
---
Now you made me look. I did not see Long Live Death among he Moron books. I'm fine with others of my catalog being ignored (I mean, the sales prove it!) but that one is special.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:21 AM (ZOv7s)
---
I make no guarantees about capturing any and all Moron Recommendations, though I try to get Books by Morons *as they come in.* If Long Live Death wasn't promoted during my tenure as custodian of this thread (I can't remember), then it's probably not among those books. However, I can certainly accommodate special requests.

Posted by: "Perfesso" Squirrel at April 27, 2025 09:27 AM (n/UDa)

51 Now you made me look.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:21 AM (ZOv7s)

Oops. Sorry.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:28 AM (0eaVi)

52 Trip 1: $0.00
Trip 2: $2.41
Trip 3. $8.14
Trip 4: $27.00

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh

In which H⁷ demonstrates the exponential growth of the TBR pile.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 27, 2025 09:29 AM (/RHNq)

53 Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 27, 2025 09:17 AM

I am in possession of my grandparents scrap book that they collected early of WWII, one is of the hunt down of the Graf Spee.

Posted by: Skip at April 27, 2025 09:29 AM (ypFCm)

54 I don't remember the early days of SNL for some reason -- I guess my Saturday nights were taken up with something else -- and I'd forgotten, or never knew, that Bill Murray was not on the show in Season One. He replaced Chevy Chase. Chase had an unusual one-year contract -- he began as a writer -- and he left to make movies in '76. (We know how that worked out.) It was then that Murray came in.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:15 AM
====

Also, it wasn't broadcast every Saturday. Sometimes NBC would shown a magazine program called Weekend.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025 09:30 AM (RIvkX)

55 Thomas Paine - that book about the Graf Spee sounds interesting. I have a board game called "Atlantic Chase" which covers the 1939-42 era of the Kriegsmarine v the Home Fleet. Reading about this stuff makes me want to bust out the board, but (a) I'd have to relearn the game, and (b) I don't have a large enough table that won't be disturbed by a spouse, child, or house pet.

Posted by: PabloD at April 27, 2025 09:30 AM (65gtf)

56 good morning Perfessor, Horde

Posted by: callsign claymore at April 27, 2025 09:30 AM (Jwq9Q)

57 Dialect in stories: Yes, it's considered old-fashioned and troublesome now.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:21 AM (omVj0)

Probably because of who the dialect speakers were?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:31 AM (0eaVi)

58 Anyone read any of the westerns by George G. Gilman? While researching obits for a G. Gilman I stumbled on George G. and interestingly enough he's a prolific author of westerns and was born Terry Harknett in Essex UK. He novelized the movie A Fist Full of Dollars.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 27, 2025 09:32 AM (2NHgQ)

59 I make no guarantees about capturing any and all Moron Recommendations, though I try to get Books by Morons *as they come in.* If Long Live Death wasn't promoted during my tenure as custodian of this thread (I can't remember), then it's probably not among those books. However, I can certainly accommodate special requests.
Posted by: "Perfesso" Squirrel at April 27, 2025 09:27 AM (n/UDa)
---
It was published in the Oregon Muse era, a few months before his death. As I said, I'm not requesting the full catalog, but I think that one is pretty significant given where we are as a society.

Walls of Men is there, and that tracks on your time.

I'll send you review copies of Man of Destiny if you like. I'm pitching them because I think you'd like them. The rest of my stuff doesn't seem to mesh with your taste. Maybe Battle Officer Wolf, but you seem to like a series rather than a one-off.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:32 AM (ZOv7s)

60 I never understood why anyone thought Chevy Chase was funny. Still don't. He can't act, he. An't dance, he can't sing, he can't tell jokes.

He does a good fall-gag. That's his whole shtick.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025 09:33 AM (RIvkX)

61 I second the recommendation by PabloD for Room 39: A Study in Naval Intelligence by Donald McLachlan. It's the story of British naval intelligence services in WWII, with emphasis on the war against Germany. Ultra is not mention, but that is really unneeded.

This describes how to set up and run a highly efficient and effective intelligence service. It makes US efforts look futile and muscle-bound, even with todays technical sofistication.

The grading of intelligence received mentioned in this book should be used by every Moron to gauge what is actually happening. This alone is extremely valuable.
It shows how good people in the right spot can compensate for numerical inferiority. Plus, sound intelligence wisely used by the front-line commanders compensates for technical flaws and worn out ships and planes.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 27, 2025 09:33 AM (u82oZ)

62 And at a thrift store visit yesterday whie Miss Linda flicked tthrough every single item on every rack, I found two things worthy of actually buying. First was Candyland by Evan Hunter *and* Ed McBain. By which I mean, the first half is written as if it were a Hunter story, focusing on the drama; the second half is a McBain crime tale. I think I've read it at some point, but don't remember. It should be intriguing, as Hunter/McBain always is.

The second was S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, which I have never read and have never seen the 1980s movie. I figured at .95 for each, they were worth a try.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:33 AM (omVj0)

63 BTW, thank you to whomever suggested the Declan Finn "St. Tommy" series last week. 'Twas a good'n.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 27, 2025 09:33 AM (/RHNq)

64 I finished T.R. Napper's "Aliens: Bishop", which begins where the movie "Alien 3" ends. The damaged synthetic Bishop is retrieved by his creator Michael Bishop, who wants to pick his android brain for knowledge of the Xenomorph. A new and improved version of the android is constructed and downloaded, but Bishop has qualms about unlocking the compartmented secrets about the alien.

Interesting meditations on the differences of synthetic versus organic memory and consciousness, "programming", and free will.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 27, 2025 09:34 AM (kpS4V)

65 Guardians of the Flame

Can't go wrong with dragons, dwarves, swords and rippling sinews!

Posted by: muldoon at April 27, 2025 09:34 AM (uCfKO)

66 I've been reading Roger Zelazny's "On Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy" on the recommendation of someone here. It's a series of essays which I find ideal. Read a bite, think about it.

Some apply to writing in general, but others are specific to sf and/or genre fiction. He says this is the only fiction that still has the hero's journey. I hadn't thought about it, but I agree, and he helped me see something missing in a ms I'm struggling with.

He also describes the history of sf fandom and why it's so much broader and deeper than that for mysteries or westerns. Fascinating.

Posted by: Wenda at April 27, 2025 09:35 AM (K9w1p)

67 NaCly Dog said things that my brain wanted to about "Room 39", but the coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

Posted by: PabloD at April 27, 2025 09:36 AM (65gtf)

68 Also, [SNL] wasn't broadcast every Saturday. Sometimes NBC would shown a magazine program called Weekend.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025

***
That could be part of why I only dimly remember some of the Muppet "Land of Gorch" sketches, and something involving the Bees retiring to bunk beds and continuing to buzz as the scene faded out.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:36 AM (omVj0)

69 Wallis may have been a gold-digging shrew, but she had better sense than Edward, who was so love-besotten that he was willing to create chaos by abdicating if he couldn't get her as queen or even morganatically.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 27, 2025 09:23 AM (QnmlO)
---
There was a TV miniseries about this starring Edward Fox as the monarch that was quite good.

Churchill describes it as a disaster for England because it paralyzed the government just when Hitler was still vulnerable.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:37 AM (ZOv7s)

70 That could be part of why I only dimly remember some of the Muppet "Land of Gorch" sketches, and something involving the Bees retiring to bunk beds and continuing to buzz as the scene faded out.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:36 AM (omVj0)
====

The Bees went to summer camp and they accused one of "buzzing off" mocking him like teenage boys do, the punchline being when the lights when out in the cabin they were all "buzzing off"

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025 09:40 AM (RIvkX)

71 [Zelazny] also describes the history of sf fandom and why it's so much broader and deeper than that for mysteries or westerns. Fascinating.
Posted by: Wenda at April 27, 2025

***
I believe it was John Campbell, quoted by Asimov, who stated that SF is the only form of fiction that attempted "to describe the universe as it really is." That sounds odd, but I think he meant that SF at its best took into account things like the actual laws of physics, chemistry, et al. in our universe -- if a story bent them, they were still acknowledged, even if only in passing.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:40 AM (omVj0)

72 Got a copy of "Rembrandt 1606-1669: The Mystery of the Revealed Form" about the techniques Rembrandt used to achieve certain effects and some of the circumstances that influenced him. The paintings are nicely reproduced, suitable for my ever present magnifying glass. An unexpected bonus was the number of preliminary sketches used throughout the book. I didn't know those sketches existed and they are eye opening. It's amazing what he could do with the equivalent of a Ticonderoga pencil or a brush and ink.

I like these kinds of books as they let me better appreciate the work of artists I admire.

Posted by: JTB at April 27, 2025 09:40 AM (yTvNw)

73 Edward fox who played the jackal and the traitorous brit in patriot games

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 27, 2025 09:41 AM (bXbFr)

74 Posted by: "Perfesso" Squirrel at April 27, 2025 09:27 AM (n/UDa)

Perf, ATWIED I think I emailed to you. I know I read it before JTTCOTE. Maltese Falcon I might have just posted in the comments. Maybe I'll get around to write blurbs on those two and send them to you to add, if you have time.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:41 AM (0eaVi)

75 @55 --

You forgot weather.

A pal of mine in high school and I were playing the SPI game "Armada," which I got in an issue of Strategy & Tactics. Spain vs. England in those days.

It was spring, and I had the window open. A gust of wind ... end of game.

(The rules errata came out a few issues later. That was the longest column ...)

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 27, 2025 09:42 AM (p/isN)

76 I believe it was John Campbell, quoted by Asimov, who stated that SF is the only form of fiction that attempted "to describe the universe as it really is."
====

The real universe is about dilithium crystals, Spice, and the Force.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025 09:42 AM (RIvkX)

77 I barely did any reading this past week. Which gives me an excuse to talk about things I read months ago! "Weaver" was a digital comic book series that was part of a bundle I bought. Unfortunately, it's not the story of a medeval textile worker who got roped into a quest to slay a dragon. It is, instead, just a story about some modern guy whose last name happens to be Weaver.

Weaver has some superpowers, but instead of dressing in a bright costume and fighting crime, he uses his power to rip off rich criminals. When this lifestyle (inevitably) runs into problems, he driven into the company of other people with superpowers, and forced to help them with more ambitious criminal schemes. Eventually, he tries to thwart some of these schemes.

(Judgement in a second post)

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 27, 2025 09:43 AM (Lhaco)

78 Also in my library TBR pile: Daily Life in Elizabethan England by Jeffrey Singman; and a horror (?) novel called Strange Ink by Gary Kemble. No idea what it's like -- I think it's a first novel -- but the slug line on the cover is "Nightmares Can Get Under Your Skin."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:44 AM (omVj0)

79 This describes how to set up and run a highly efficient and effective intelligence service. It makes US efforts look futile and muscle-bound, even with todays technical sofistication.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 27, 2025 09:33 AM (u82oZ)
---
In WW II, there were immediate and permanent effects to getting things wrong. Today, repeated failure is fine, so long as you say the correct things.

I say we abolish all the three-letter agencies and go back to competing military intelligence cells with tiny staffs and minimal rank. Treat intel as a pathway, not an end point, which is what it used to be.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:44 AM (ZOv7s)

80 Got a copy of "Rembrandt 1606-1669: The Mystery of the Revealed Form" about the techniques Rembrandt used to achieve certain effects and some of the circumstances that influenced him. The paintings are nicely reproduced, suitable for my ever present magnifying glass. An unexpected bonus was the number of preliminary sketches used throughout the book. I didn't know those sketches existed and they are eye opening. It's amazing what he could do with the equivalent of a Ticonderoga pencil or a brush and ink.

I like these kinds of books as they let me better appreciate the work of artists I admire.

Posted by: JTB

He almost could have. The other day I followed a rabbit trail on the oldest US companies. Ticonderoga started making pencils in the 1820s.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 27, 2025 09:45 AM (lTGtQ)

81 As mentioned above, I've been reading Hamilton's Pandora's Star. Pretty wild world-building where life is cheap but still has a price as people can be "re-lifed" if they die. Rejuvenation allows people to live multiple centuries.

I'm at the point where the arrogant, curious humans are trying to break through an impenetrable energy shield erected around a star, without really stopping to think if it's a good idea or not. They even acknowledge that something might have done it to keep something else IN, rather than as a defensive measure. Idiots.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 27, 2025 09:45 AM (n/UDa)

82 I believe it was John Campbell, quoted by Asimov, who stated that SF is the only form of fiction that attempted "to describe the universe as it really is."
====

The real universe is about dilithium crystals, Spice, and the Force.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025

***
Campbell may have also meant that no matter how wild the environment in a story, SF must acknowledge human nature as it truly is. (Again, this is in SF at its best.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:46 AM (omVj0)

83 Recommended for small values of space opera and for family.

Posted by: NaCly Dog

Hope you are doing okay, Salty. You've been much in my thoughts and prayers this week.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 27, 2025 09:46 AM (/RHNq)

84 The Bees went to summer camp and they accused one of "buzzing off" mocking him like teenage boys do, the punchline being when the lights when out in the cabin they were all "buzzing off"
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025

***
That does sound oddly familiar.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:47 AM (omVj0)

85 In my younger days I used to have contemplative periods during which I would gaze at my belly button hoping to acquire Navel Intelligence.

Posted by: muldoon at April 27, 2025 09:47 AM (uCfKO)

86 I've been reading Roger Zelazny's "On Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy" on the recommendation of someone here.

Posted by: Wenda at April 27, 2025 09:35 AM (K9w1p)

Wenda, that was Just Some Guy. He posted a link first on A Literary Horde - which all Morons are invited to join, writers or not - and on the BT last week. I think he was in and out already today.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 09:48 AM (0eaVi)

87 I need a more comfortable reading spot.

And a longer attention span.

Good morning.

*pours coffee*

Posted by: mindful webworker - still waking up at April 27, 2025 09:48 AM (+bW3+)

88 Ah, yes - in the Bat Bomb, the poor little non-volunteer bats were on a silicide-mission. The project, which was helmed and mostly-funded by a fast-talking inventor with friends in high places, eventually was halted before it could ever be launched against Japan. There was another top-secret plan for a special, new sort of bomb, also in the works. The powers-that-be eventually decided that bomb showed more destructive promise...
The news about the terrorist attack in Kashmir last week reminded me of a book on my own shelves: MM Kaye's Death in Kashmir. It's a mystery set in that place in 1947, when the British (some of whom had spent careers in the place, and not a few whose families had worked there for generations) were getting ready to pack up and leave. Kaye wrote very evocatively about a place that she knew and loved very well - and created a memorable villain ... all the more memorable for being in plain sight all the way through the book!

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 27, 2025 09:48 AM (Ew3fm)

89 Wolfus, interesting point.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025 09:48 AM (RIvkX)

90 He also describes the history of sf fandom and why it's so much broader and deeper than that for mysteries or westerns. Fascinating.
Posted by: Wenda at April 27, 2025 09:35 AM (K9w1p)
---
I have no idea what he thinks, but the obvious answer as that society is becoming more juvenile, less sophisticated. We're proudly ignorant of everything that doesn't interest, disdain critical thinking, and demand endless reboots of the same material, over which people salivate like Pavlov's dogs.

"Oh boy! New Superman movie! new Batman movie!"

A society that regarded supehero and sci-fi as things for teenagers while adults read mysteries and westerns was a healthier society.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:50 AM (ZOv7s)

91 Edward Fox plays Gen Brian Horrocks in a Bridge Too Far, and from clips I seen of him, and read Horrocks was quite the carracter and Edward plays him well.

Posted by: Skip at April 27, 2025 09:50 AM (ypFCm)

92 Trevanian in the eiger sanction had a very acid take on the intelligence community

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 27, 2025 09:50 AM (bXbFr)

93 Good morning all.
Finally Range Day today. Get to test out the new eye sight. Still having trouble with really close up so haven't tried actual books. Computer and IPad excellent so did get some reading done. Read Parker's 32 Spenser novel titled Cold Serrvice. It is all about Hawk who is one of my favorite characters but there was way too much psychological meanderings and not enough action. It didn't tell me anything I didn't a,easy know about the characters. But there are Ukrainian bad guys which was interesting.
Won't deter me from keeping on.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 27, 2025 09:51 AM (t/2Uw)

94 (Continued, my opinions on the "Weaver" comic)

While "Weaver" was well written on a technical level (the story flowed well, it understood proper story structure, etc.) I didn't enjoy it. Morally, it's terrible. A bunch of bad guys verses a worse guy. The world would unironically be a better place if every named character in the story died. Dramatically, it was also dubious. It was mostly people with superpowers going up against thugs and henchmen who mostly didn't even know that superpowers even existed.

One other thing bothered me, and it took a little while to put my finger on it. This was the first time I had read a comic-book-as-netflix-pitch. The comic clearly was made to be adapted into tv/movie, and was budgeted accordingly. The superpowers were all mundane/required no special effects. All the action scenes were basic gunfights/car chases/punching guys in suits. At best, there were some exotic locations (okay, warehouses with palm trees in the background) or some military vehicles. There was nothing in the comic that couldn't have been re-created by the old Cannon Films or a good episode of "Burn Notice." ...Not inherently bad, but a missed opportunity...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 27, 2025 09:52 AM (Lhaco)

95 Edward Fox plays Gen Brian Horrocks in a Bridge Too Far, and from clips I seen of him, and read Horrocks was quite the carracter and Edward plays him well.
Posted by: Skip at April 27, 2025 09:50 AM (ypFCm)
---
The breakout sequence is one of the absolute best cinematic battles ever filmed.

Masterful use of perspective, showing the artillery crews doing their work, the rolling barrage moving forward, air support being pulled in, just amazing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 09:53 AM (ZOv7s)

96 Ticonderoga started making pencils in the 1820s.

**********

There ought to be a Jack Elam biography titled "Eye, Pencil.

Posted by: muldoon at April 27, 2025 09:53 AM (uCfKO)

97 Wolfus, interesting point.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025

***
Classic example of SF at its best taking human nature into account: The short stories in Bob Shaw's Other Days, Other Eyes. He postulates a device called "slow glass," which absorbs light falling on it on one side, and emits it over months or even years on the other. So we have well-to-do people installing a slow glass picture window in their homes, one which had absorbed ten years' worth of mountain vistas (on "slow glass farms"), which would then give them ten years' view of the Rockies even if they live in Indiana.

In one story, a piece of slow glass was present at a murder. Based on testimony, the judge sentenced the perp to prison. But as the deadline of the glass comes up, the question is, was the judge right? Will the glass show the guy was guilty, or innocent?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:55 AM (omVj0)

98 Wolfus, I just ordered Life in Elizabethan England on your recommendation. It will go on my Sick Stack.

Does anyone else have one of those? Books I turn to when I feel lousy. Usually with lots of detail, which ordinarily would make me impatient. Old, like The Queens and the Hive, by Dame Edith Sitwell, who liberally quotes Latin and French without translating either.

Books you can fall asleep reading, wake up, the book has fallen open at a new place, but you can just pick up and keep going.

Posted by: Wenda at April 27, 2025 09:57 AM (K9w1p)

99 Trevanian in the eiger sanction had a very acid take on the intelligence community
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 27, 2025

***
The lead agent's boss in the story is named "Yurasis Dragon." (Say it out loud to get the joke) Trevanian was satirizing the then-current spy fiction tropes a la Bond. I think I've read he was disappointed that many people took it as a straight adventure.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:58 AM (omVj0)

100 Oh, and I also picked up all of The James Madison's novels...

If we're specifically plugging Moron authors today, I'll recommend MP4's Theda Bara series (1 short + 2 novels).

https://is.gd/7wwFwM (link to Amazon author's page)

Posted by: Oddbob at April 27, 2025 09:58 AM (/y8xj)

101 Wolfus, I just ordered Life in Elizabethan England on your recommendation. It will go on my Sick Stack. . . .

Posted by: Wenda at April 27, 2025

***
I haven't read it yet; I hope it works out for both of us!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:59 AM (omVj0)

102 Hadrian. Just saw your comments on Fitz. My condolences.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 27, 2025 09:59 AM (2NHgQ)

103 It was a good week for acquisitions although I haven't started them yet.. First was a copy of Cardinal Robert Sarah's "The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise". The reviews are excellent and the topic seemed to resonate with me.

I'm acquiring paper editions of George MacDonald's writings whenever possible, even though I have most of them on a Kindle. Everything of his I've read has been enjoyable and profound. I can understand why he was such an influence, on many levels, on CS Lewis, Tolkien and GK Chesterton. A new series of some of MacDonald's Scottish dialect novels has begun, put together by David Jack who also translated the dialects used. These are independently published. The first was "What's Mine's Mine". (Lewis thought this was MacDonald's finest novel.) The second was "Sir Gibbie". I have confidence that I will enjoy both. BTW, they are printed in the USA, not China. The books themselves are beautifully bound, the paper is thick and comfortable to handle and the print size is larger than average these days. Like some of my better editions of LOTR (obligatory Tolkien reference), they are a pleasure to handle. These things increasingly matter to me.

Posted by: JTB at April 27, 2025 10:00 AM (yTvNw)

104 I just plucked Other Days, Other Eyes from my shelf. It's actually a novel, I see now, with the short "Light of Other Days" incorporated into it. So it's not a short story collection at all.

Okay, go on with what you were doing.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:02 AM (omVj0)

105 JTB, seems that book about Cardinal Sarah will be timely. I think he is the one that people are hoping will become the new Pope. Being Jewish, I know nothing about this so will be interested in your opinion of him.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 27, 2025 10:03 AM (t/2Uw)

106 ... time to shop around for a new ISP, I think. A new one in my area is offering 3x the speed at the same price, which is very tempting, even though I really don't need 1Gb internet.
===

They may offer a discount if you sign the service agreement to allow unfettered access to a IOT devices... To better serve you. Yeah, that's it - To Better Serve You!

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at April 27, 2025 10:05 AM (/lPRQ)

107 I read Dante's "Inferno" with great enthusiasm. All those souls in hell are murderers and traitors.

But when I started "Purgatorio," uh, it became hard. Perhaps it hits too close to home?

Anywho, I am picking it up soon and will try to repent of my stupid, stupid sins of the flesh.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at April 27, 2025 10:05 AM (ZmEVT)

108 Also, [SNL] wasn't broadcast every Saturday. Sometimes NBC would shown a magazine program called Weekend.

Am I the only one who crushed on Linda Ellerbee? By happy coincidence, her wikipedia page features a photo from that time period.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 27, 2025 10:06 AM (/y8xj)

109 Classic example of SF at its best taking human nature into account:

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:55 AM (omVj0)
---
One of the reasons I "outgrew" sci-fi was because as I got older, I realized this rarely happened. Sci-fi allows people wo be put in all manner of weird positions and this in turn helps make odd decisions more defensible.

Meanwhile, if you set a story in the real world, those decisions are actually under more scrutiny because you have many examples of how people behave.

I'm also much more sensitive to writing style, and sci-fi is not exactly famous for that. Dune is arguably some of the best sci-fi, right at the top of the canon and Herbert's writing style is atrocious. "Doon" mocks him mercilessly, and deservedly so.

Chesterton, Waugh, and Greene are now my scene.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025 10:06 AM (ZOv7s)

110 Speaking of Bob Shaw, he has a long short story called "Skirmish on a Summer Morning." It's a Western, but it also involves time travel -- and gun aficionados will love it. Very memorable, if you can find it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:06 AM (omVj0)

111 I finished Bernard Cornwall's Warlord series, and started right into his Saxon Tales.

Warlord is the only book I have read that describes a shield wall the way it was shown in 300. There was no grail and the round table was nothing much. Lancelot is a betrayer, and in fact Arthur is surrounded by snakes. Arthur is very naïve, and so is the narrator Derfal. People continuously get up to rotten things that takes them by surprise. Arthur, constantly backstabbed, never becomes king, even as he goes to his fate against Mordred. Merlin is very belligerent and I love him.

Saxon Tales has more English longbows and French crossbows than anything I have seen.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 27, 2025 10:06 AM (lhenN)

112 They might choose Sarah because he is almost 80. Yeah. Vatican politics.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at April 27, 2025 10:07 AM (ZmEVT)

113 @108 --

You are not alone. She was attractive.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 27, 2025 10:08 AM (p/isN)

114 Sharon. Cardinal Sarah would be a great pick for Pope. That said my only issue is his age, he's 79 and I'm hoping for someone that will be around for a couple decades to right the Vatican ship. I don't want to see the same thing we see with the presidency here in the US. 4 to 8 years of lunacy that takes a couple decades to correct when a reformer gets 8 years at most to settle things down. Hoping there's a conservative cardinal in his 60's that could ascend.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 27, 2025 10:10 AM (2NHgQ)

115 One of the reasons I "outgrew" sci-fi was because as I got older, I realized this rarely happened. Sci-fi allows people wo be put in all manner of weird positions and this in turn helps make odd decisions more defensible.

Meanwhile, if you set a story in the real world, those decisions are actually under more scrutiny because you have many examples of how people behave. . . .

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 27, 2025

***
True. But again, I'm talking about SF at its *best* -- stories which show how people react and adapt to new technology. No, not everybody who wrote the stuff was a good stylist or storyteller, either, which is why those who were, and are, stand out.

Funny: SF is almost the only genre which gets judged on its *worst* examples instead of its best. Westerns, too, I guess. (Don't know about romance, but I presume that's true there as well.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:10 AM (omVj0)

116 Joey Bishop was never the epitome of class and cool.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at April 27, 2025 10:11 AM (ZmEVT)

117 So I finished Bruce Catton's 'Grant Goes South' and 'Grant Takes Command', which were a hire-work where he was hired to finish the biography of U.S. Grant that was started by Lloyd Lewis (His book 'Captain Sam Grant' is excellent, BTW).

To put it mildly, it's a 'glaze job' to use current slang. Hagiography in older terms. "Grant can do no wrong, according to W. T. Sherman, "everything he does is correct." Which is Catton's position also. Every mistake Grant makes is explained away, everything Grant does well is fawned over.

And Catton is a catty bitch at times, putting in his own personal observations of people and events. I really, really dislike this in history and biography.

The good thing about the books is that it does contains anecdotes that I hadn't read elsewhere. I want to credit Lloyd Lewis' research but it's possible Catton did read some primary sources himself.

I wouldn't suggest it as the definitive Grant wartime biography, and it stops at the end of the war, not touching on Grant as President as afterwards. But if you are already well versed on U.S. Grant and want to glean some nibblets, and you can stomach a very partisan take on Grant, it's tolerable.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at April 27, 2025 10:12 AM (xcxpd)

118 Oh! This week I read Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One. He juxtaposes a human funeral parlor business with one that handles pets, and is unsparing as to how he portrays them and the Hollywood denizens who patronize, and work for, both. Good satire.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:15 AM (omVj0)

119 105 ... "seems that book about Cardinal Sarah will be timely. I think he is the one that people are hoping will become the new Pope."

Good morning, Sharon. After I ordered the book I heard Sarah was on the list for the next pope but he is considered too conservative (i. e., intelligent, traditional and faithful, not political) to have much of a chance. I don't have much confidence that the Cardinals will choose someone of benefit to the church and the faith. I'll start the book this week but, based on the comments I've seen, it should be right up my alley both for the writing and the philosophy.

Posted by: JTB at April 27, 2025 10:15 AM (yTvNw)

120 And another book report, I finished 'American Lion' by Jon Meecham. More proof that the Pulitzer Prize is political and not merit based.

It's baby's first biography of Andrew Jackson, which lightly covers who he is and what he did but it is very shallow.

I did learn things, as I didn't know much about Jackson. But all it really did was point me towards real biographies of Jackson which I purchased after reading Meecham.

Meecham is a lightweight. Not offensive but no literary or historical heft.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at April 27, 2025 10:16 AM (xcxpd)

121 Joey Bishop was never the epitome of class and cool.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at April 27, 2025

***
True, and the book makes it clear that he was sort of the odd man out of the group. Peter Lawford was even more of an outsider even when the Rat Pack was at its height.
(And Sammy Davis Jr. had to put up with a lot of racist jokes even from Sinatra.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:17 AM (omVj0)

122 Wolfus, that was made into a wild movie!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 27, 2025 10:17 AM (kpS4V)

123 Thanks for the Book Thread, Perfessor! Hope you get the internet problem resolved quickly. It's amazing how that service is taken for granted until it goes on the blink.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 27, 2025 10:17 AM (rxCpr)

124 ... In one story, a piece of slow glass was present at a murder. Based on testimony, the judge sentenced the perp to prison. But as the deadline of the glass comes up, the question is, was the judge right? Will the glass show the guy was guilty, or innocent?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
===

SciFi idea - High tech and stable society getting into space exploration. The twist is that it is run by Judges who, despite belief in a fair justice system based on facts and law, make increasingly ludicrious judgements (more akin to hallucinogen fueled edicts) that nobody dare disobey except maybe appealing them the judges personal friends who go even more bizarre....
TL

R - Everything turns out wonderful!

It's SciFi.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at April 27, 2025 10:19 AM (/lPRQ)

125 Wolfus, that was made into a wild movie!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 27, 2025

***
And I need to see it. The novel was published in 1948, and reissued in '64 around the time of the film. No doubt the film had to make some adjustments.

Looking on IMDb, I see it had a stellar cast.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:20 AM (omVj0)

126 SciFi idea - High tech and stable society getting into space exploration. The twist is that it is run by Judges who, despite belief in a fair justice system based on facts and law, make increasingly ludicrious judgements (more akin to hallucinogen fueled edicts) that nobody dare disobey except maybe appealing them the judges personal friends who go even more bizarre....
TLR - Everything turns out wonderful!

It's SciFi.
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at April 27, 2025

***
Sounds like a wonderful satire idea

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:21 AM (omVj0)

127 Speaking of Bob Shaw, he has a long short story called "Skirmish on a Summer Morning." It's a Western, but it also involves time travel -- and gun aficionados will love it. Very memorable, if you can find it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:06 AM (omVj0)

I thought I read that. Checked out the title on wiki... yeah, I guess not. Something similar about a rider who comes into a town and faces a gambler? who's from the future? Don't remember the title.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 10:22 AM (0eaVi)

128 The Yorkshire dialect is considered by many to be incomprehensible by Americans. It's soft-pedaled in the new All Creatures Great and Small BBC series set there. The characters will leave out the occasional "a" or "the," pronounce the "uh" sound as "oo," etc. ("Put kettle on.")

You get a little of it in Watership Down, when the humans say things like "Old woild rabbit, look!" But they are minor elements in the rabbits' story, so it doesn't bother you much.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 09:26 AM (omVj0)

Isn't the digging machine specialist, I've forgotten his name (Phil?), on Time Team from Yorkshire? I was struck by how unusual it still is in England to hear an academic with anything other than a posh accent.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 27, 2025 10:23 AM (phT8I)

129 Got the John Walker series and Man of Destiny.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 27, 2025 10:23 AM (phT8I)

130 "And just picked up a Peter F. Hamilton standalone novel called: "Fallen Dragon," which is supposed to be very good, as, I submit, all of his novels have been so far."

Read that some years ago. Really enjoyed it.

Posted by: Disillusionist at April 27, 2025 10:24 AM (x+uoN)

131 I finished "Alexander Hamilton, A Biography" by Forrest McDonald. It was eye-opening. Apparently, I was raised on a "white bread" version of American history in which our Founders were not only wise but worked collegially to move from the Compact (which did not work in practice) to drafting a Constitution and Bill of Rights. My history did not include political division, pushing amendments based on personal profitability, or an agrarian versus industrial view of how the nation should be established. The good news is that the heroes among our founders were even better than we knew, and they were able to plan for a new nation that became a world leader. Hamilton's part in this founding was intelligent and extensive, and we were blessed to have him as long as we did. Highly recommend this book. I will be reading others by the same author to expand my knowledge of our founding history.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 27, 2025 10:24 AM (rxCpr)

132 I finally got the second book in the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown, titled Golden Son. It starts out with an epic space battle so I was able to jump right back into the World he created. But, I find I am having trouble staying focused. It seems X has caused me to be impatient. Anyone else finding that the news of the day has cut into book time?

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 27, 2025 10:24 AM (t/2Uw)

133 *waves at Polliwog

Haven't seen you in a while. We may just pop in at different times. Hope all is well with you and the Inspector.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 27, 2025 10:25 AM (h7ZuX)

134 Joey Bishop was never the epitome of class and cool.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at April 27, 2025 10:11 AM (ZmEVT)

But, he wrote most of their material. I always felt sorry a bit for him and Peter Lawford. Thought Bishop never got much credit for what he contributed to the RP. The more I looked into him, the less I thought of him. Lawford got a raw deal from Frank, I think, but Bishop did it to himself.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 10:26 AM (0eaVi)

135 Morning Hordemartes.
I'm deep into The Fateful Dawn, by Bickers. It is the second book of a trio focused on the exploits of a pilot early in WW 1, flying with the Brits Royal Flying Corps. As I studied and helped to build old aircraft as a kid, I really enjoy the series. Well written and some well researched history.

Posted by: Diogenes at April 27, 2025 10:27 AM (W/lyH)

136 Morning Bibliophiles.
Nothing to report on the reading front.
Haven't been doing much. Working swing shift has me scrambling for time and opportunity. I go to bed around midnight now and it seems when my head hits the pillow I'm out. No complaints about that but between going to bed and going to sleep is when I usually read. That time is non-existent now.
My whole routine is out of tune and time right. Sort of hard to get used too.

I like it. I needed a shake up. A complete shake up of everything has also helped with not smoking. It's easier to avoid trigger times and places. I'm down from 2 packs a day to 4 or 5 pouches and a pipe load after work a day. Haven't had a cigarette in 6 months. Cigarettes are too convient. Pre-rolled smokes should be illegal.

Off to content.

Posted by: Reforger at April 27, 2025 10:28 AM (xcIvR)

137 I thought I read that. Checked out the title on wiki... yeah, I guess not. Something similar about a rider who comes into a town and faces a gambler? who's from the future? Don't remember the title.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025

***
No, nothing like that. It's an unusual Western: A partially-disabled, middle-aged small rancher (in AZ, I think) rescues a pregnant woman in teh desert who speaks English with an odd accent and is clearly not familiar with the area or the customs. But she *knows* she will have a boy. And they are both in danger: the rancher from some wild cowboys who have been bullying him, and she from . . . something much worse and much bigger.

Darn, now I need to read it again!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:28 AM (omVj0)

138 Anyone else finding that the news of the day has cut into book time?
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 27, 2025 10:24 AM (t/2Uw)

Yep! I have to make conscious decisions to put the computer and phone away and pick up a book. It's easier when the weather is nice, because I like to sit on the porch. If I'm inside competing with tv noise, X is easier.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 27, 2025 10:29 AM (h7ZuX)

139 Oh, and those pants...

John Daly (the golfer) would totally rock those pants. Can't think of anyone else who should even try to wear them.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 27, 2025 10:31 AM (rxCpr)

140 It barely counts as 'reading' but I looked through the second section of "Portfolio" by Mark Schultz. A big collection of pencil or pen and ink illustrations, all featuring classic pulp subject matter; Pretty girls, dinosaurs, apes, 50's style space opera, Conan the Barbarian...

About one fifth of the drawings are of Hannah Dundee, the female lead of Schultz's old "Xenozoic" comic. (Adapted for tv and video games as "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs') The drawings are always cool, Hannah is hot and has a distinctive costume, she's usually surrounded by dinosaurs or creepy monsters...But id kind of annoys me, because Mark just stopped his Xenozoic comic, without actually finishing the story. So now he's just drawing pinups while the story sits on a decade's old cliffhanger...

There is another art piece in the book, whose caption is simply 'Impractical Amazon.' It's a female warrior whose 'armor' is...well...the embodiment of every ridiculous trope of fantasy illustration. The succinctness of the caption made me chuckle.

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 27, 2025 10:31 AM (Lhaco)

141 Reforged, endeavor to persevere.

Posted by: pudinhead at April 27, 2025 10:31 AM (ne3+i)

142 Got the John Walker series and Man of Destiny.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 27, 2025 10:23 AM (phT8I)

John Walker? Which one, red or black??

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 10:31 AM (0eaVi)

143 Still reading through 'Conqueror' and Alexander is about to go into India. Very well written, and holds my attention. Of course, it has been busy at the Ranch and I am only good for a few pages each night instead of the 1/4 book I generally do. Oh, well...

Perfesser, may I humbly suggest you do not start on 'Chung Kuo' at all. While the first book is interesting, it goes nowhere. Matters do not improve. It functions far better as a doorstop than it does as storytelling.

Posted by: Brewingfrog at April 27, 2025 10:33 AM (9ZCZh)

144 I am again reading after many years- The Brothets Karamazov" . I am early in the book where it is talking about Anatoly, the brother who is thinking of becoming a monk. I am glad to be reading it again.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 27, 2025 10:35 AM (prwH8)

145 111 Warlord is the only book I have read that describes a shield wall the way it was shown in 300. There was no grail and the round table was nothing much. Lancelot is a betrayer, and in fact Arthur is surrounded by snakes. Arthur is very naïve, and so is the narrator Derfal. People continuously get up to rotten things that takes them by surprise. Arthur, constantly backstabbed, never becomes king, even as he goes to his fate against Mordred. Merlin is very belligerent and I love him.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 27, 2025 10:06 AM (lhenN)

Eh, you're not selling me on Warlord. I'm sure the series reads well (I mostly enjoyed Cornwell's 'Richard Sharpe' books) but the way you're describing it, it sounds like just another deconstructionist revision that revels in dragging a popular hero through the mud....

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 27, 2025 10:36 AM (Lhaco)

146 So...if Ive been keeping up, Ace is on vacation and the Professor has internet problems. Dang! This place is.gonna go crazy!

Posted by: Diogenes at April 27, 2025 10:39 AM (W/lyH)

147 6 ... "Mr. Dmlw! laughs at me when he catches me opening a book and taking a deep whiff. I love the ones that smell like they did when I was a kid. I can't really describe it."

I also love the aroma of old, well loved books. The library in our town when I was young was a Gothic granite structure from the mid 1800s. The scent of the old books and magazines (some went back to the 1800s) had permanently soaked into the building and shelves. Modern, antiseptic libraries don't have the same feel of accumulated knowledge.

Posted by: JTB at April 27, 2025 10:39 AM (yTvNw)

148 New ALH member, you're in. Feel free to post a bit about yourself and what you do.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 10:41 AM (0eaVi)

149 Darn, now I need to read it again!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:28 AM (omVj0)

Rereading. Is that bad?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 10:43 AM (0eaVi)

150 145 111 Warlord is the only book I have read that describes a shield wall the way it was shown in 300. There was no grail and the round table was nothing much. Lancelot is a betrayer, and in fact Arthur is surrounded by snakes. Arthur is very naïve, and so is the narrator Derfal. People continuously get up to rotten things that takes them by surprise. Arthur, constantly backstabbed, never becomes king, even as he goes to his fate against Mordred. Merlin is very belligerent and I love him.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 27, 2025 10:06 AM (lhenN)

Eh, you're not selling me on Warlord. I'm sure the series reads well (I mostly enjoyed Cornwell's 'Richard Sharpe' books) but the way you're describing it, it sounds like just another deconstructionist revision that revels in dragging a popular hero through the mud....
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 27, 2025 10:36 AM (Lhaco)

That is in fact what it is. I bailed on the series after the first book.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at April 27, 2025 10:45 AM (xcxpd)

151 A. H. Lloyd said "society is becoming more juvenile, less sophisticated. We're proudly ignorant of everything that doesn't interest, disdain critical thinking, and demand endless reboots of the same material, over which people salivate like Pavlov's dogs." On the slightly hopeful side, from what I've been reading, the demand for reboots resides mostly in the filmmakers eyes and most of them are no longer doing any box office.

Finished Pioneers of France in the New World and it ends when they are barely there. Just a few people at Quebec. The info of the French Indian alliances is quite interesting. I obtained what I thought was going to be a coffee table book, all pictures, very little text, written for the 100th anniversary of the National Geographic, that turns out to be mostly text about the surprisingly interesting history of the magazine (With a good number of photos. The only drawback is the lack of maps.

Posted by: who knew at April 27, 2025 10:45 AM (+ViXu)

152 Darn, now I need to read it again!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:28 AM (omVj0)

Rereading. Is that bad?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025

***
Nevair, mon cherie. (Or as my second mother-in-law liked to joke, "Aprez voose, mahn cherry"!)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:45 AM (omVj0)

153 Checking in
Sorry I'm late
Gonna read the thread now

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 27, 2025 10:47 AM (GhIJO)

154 43 Oh, and I also picked up all of The James Madison's novels, though I haven't started reading them yet:

Corstae
Colonial Nightmare
Crystal Embers
The Battle of Lake Erie
Sharp Kid.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 27, 2025 09:25 AM (/RHNq)
* * * *
I've read The Battle of Lake Erie and Colonial Nightmare. Both were quite good.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 27, 2025 10:47 AM (rxCpr)

155 141 Reforged, endeavor to persevere.
Posted by: pudinhead at April 27, 2025 10:31 AM (ne3+i)

Bill Hicks did a routine where he stated he would quit smoking except we was worried he would become an anti-smoker and he couldn't stand them. I used that joke for years only to actually have it happen to me.
I go to the smoking area and preach the virtues of a pipe ("such a PITA that you can't smoke to much"). Offer pouches to these young-uns that are just starting out on their journey to lung cookies worthy of study as the next superglue. Complete with examples, althought that has gotten way better and are harder to produce.
Essentially I've become an anti-cigarette nazi.
If it saves just one life...

Posted by: Reforger at April 27, 2025 10:47 AM (xcIvR)

156 Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 27, 2025 10:25 AM (h7ZuX)

All is well. Trying to make Real Life more productive and the HQ isn't very conducive to that. I do lurk sometimes though. Hope all is well with you as well.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 27, 2025 10:49 AM (phT8I)

157 If you sniff too many old books you might get booxoplasmosis. Very dangerous.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025 10:51 AM (RIvkX)

158 If you sniff too many old books you might get booxoplasmosis. Very dangerous.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 27, 2025

***
I read that as "botoxo-plasmosis"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:52 AM (omVj0)

159 Corstae
Colonial Nightmare
Crystal Embers
The Battle of Lake Erie
Sharp Kid.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 27, 2025 09:25 AM (/RHNq)
* * * *
I've read The Battle of Lake Erie and Colonial Nightmare. Both were quite good.
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 27, 2025 10:47 AM (rxCpr)

I just think it’s just impressive that he’s written five books.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 27, 2025 10:53 AM (VofaG)

160 John Walker? Which one, red or black??
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 10:31 AM (0eaVi)

The 9 book series for $.99.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 27, 2025 10:53 AM (phT8I)

161 ardinal Sarah would be a great pick for Pope. That said my only issue is his age, he's 79 and I'm hoping for someone that will be around for a couple decades to right the Vatican ship. I don't want to see the same thing we see with the presidency here in the US. 4 to 8 years of lunacy that takes a couple decades to correct when a reformer gets 8 years at most to settle things down. Hoping there's a conservative cardinal in his 60's that could ascend.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at April 27, 2025 10:10 AM (2NHgQ)

LOL. He's an open borders guy, who thinks white countries deserve to be invaded. He blames Salafism on the West. No thanks.

Posted by: night lifted at April 27, 2025 10:56 AM (FZn/N)

162 Dude!!! Winter Quarters by Alfred Duggan. Recommended by Chris Arnade on X. We have Gallic noblemen in conflict with either a local deity for which their mountains were named, Pyrene, or maybe THE Goddess. They aren't sure. But in their flight from a losing battle they end up in the Roman Army and rather than return to Gaul to help battle their rebellious countrymen they go East with Crassus. We know how that goes.
Written in 1956 it is mature without pornyness or needless ugly.

Highly recommended.

Posted by: Ronzoni at April 27, 2025 10:57 AM (tof4A)

163 Thought that might be an interesting subject to look into. Did they author say who the original leader of the Rat Pack was, Wolfus?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025

***
I only just now saw your comment, OE. Clearly the leader was Sinatra first and foremost. Dean didn't really *need* Frank or the others; Davis and Lawford did; and it provided a boost to Joey's career. But Sinatra was Da Man.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:58 AM (omVj0)

164 I finished Conn Iggulden’s The Field of Swords about Julius Caesar. It was okay but didn’t knock my socks off. I bought his other book about Ghengis Khan at the same time and will give that one a shot.

I think I’m going to go back to reading just non fiction for a while.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 27, 2025 10:58 AM (VofaG)

165 Booksoplasmosis is what compels me to go to library sales even though I haven't read everything from the last book sale. I'm just a host for the 'plasmo' now.

All praise the booksoplasmosis!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 27, 2025 10:59 AM (kpS4V)

166 Winter Quarters by Alfred Duggan. Recommended by Chris Arnade on X. We have Gallic noblemen in conflict with either a local deity for which their mountains were named, Pyrene, or maybe THE Goddess. They aren't sure. But in their flight from a losing battle they end up in the Roman Army and rather than return to Gaul to help battle their rebellious countrymen they go East with Crassus. We know how that goes.
Written in 1956 it is mature without pornyness or needless ugly.

Highly recommended.
Posted by: Ronzoni at April 27, 2025

***
Remind me a little of H. Warner Munn's The Lost Legion. A noble Roman general, hated by the Emperor Caligula, is tasked with exploring the far eastern edges of the then-new Empire. It's almost certainly a death sentence, but our general is an old-school Roman to whom honor and loyalty are important; and his legion is loyal to him in the way Captain Kirk's crew is. A solid high adventure is my recollection.

I read it in the '80s, but can't find a copy now to reread.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 11:02 AM (omVj0)

167 Started War Stories by Michael Kennedy MD that was recommended on a Book Thread long ago. It's the memoir of a surgeon's 50 years practicing and teaching medicine.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 27, 2025 11:02 AM (phT8I)

168 Welp, I need to head off to handle some chores. It's been a great Book Thread, as usual. When I get back I'll finish reading the comments.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 11:03 AM (omVj0)

169 I don't figure Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as "guilty pleasure" material. Sure, it's silly and fun, but it's not just junk food for the brain. It's also smart and intellectually stimulating. I enjoyed it as a little kid, but much more as an adult.

It's not like reading a bodice-ripper or a pulp book.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 27, 2025 11:04 AM (BI5O2)

170 About the Roman Empire . . .

https://shorturl.at/gsLp4

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 27, 2025 11:05 AM (L/fGl)

171 Invulnerable
Part I - Safe
Chapter 4 - A Time of Innocence

Andy Walsh:

And the Doc, he got to study happiness and healthy spirits. He finds that a head-scratcher.

Dr. Baker:

Inevitably, when people bring to the group all their old skills and abilities, they will also bring along their old beliefs and ideas, at least those which withstand the transformation of security.

This was not a religious conversion, but a straw poll suggests a swing toward faith, as might be expected with such a seemingly miraculous metamorphosis. Those who believed, believed more strongly, those on the fence tended more toward faith, some doubters admitted to rekindled interest in the possibility of theological realities.

Those who sought to apply the theological to the phenomenon engaged in a wide, ongoing conversation, sorting out their respective beliefs and ideas.
…

http://mindfulwebworks.com/invulnerable
😁

Posted by: mindful webworker - free snippet at April 27, 2025 11:05 AM (+bW3+)

172 Infernal Devices didn't really work for me. K.W. Jeter was the odd-man-out of the Three Musketeers of steampunk, because of the nihilistic streak in all his work, IMO. Tim Powers and James Blaylock write in hopeful, positive universes where ultimately, justice is done and love is offered. (Not coincidentally, both are Catholic believers. )

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at April 27, 2025 11:07 AM (5ayY3)

173 I only just now saw your comment, OE. Clearly the leader was Sinatra first and foremost. Dean didn't really *need* Frank or the others; Davis and Lawford did; and it provided a boost to Joey's career. But Sinatra was Da Man.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 10:58 AM (omVj0)

Bzzzzt! It was Bogie. Bacall named him and his pals the Rat Pack. Sorta. She said to him one morning after a late night that they looked like a pack of drowned rats. (apocryphal)

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 11:07 AM (0eaVi)

174 Rereading chapters of interest from various science fiction ebooks this week.

I was reading The Devil's Chessboard but flamed out on it - not interested in rehashing WWII and Nazi's for the nth time.

Posted by: 13times at April 27, 2025 11:08 AM (AQVyJ)

175
If you want a guilty pleasure, it doesn't come guiltier or more pleasurable than my new romance novel.

In this shocking and transgressive tale of forbidden love off the coast of Georgia, the stern but sensual skipper of a fishing vessel learns the only thing that burns hotter than his hatred of a white whale is his passion for a black one.

Get "Moby Dick II: Dick Harder" on presale today at Temu.com.

Posted by: Stacy Abrams at April 27, 2025 11:11 AM (BI5O2)

176 Willowed:
Another vulnerability from Microsoft with Win 11:

https://tinyurl.com/yjwncn4f

Posted by: Ciampino - fix a bug, create a new bug at April 27, 2025 11:14 AM (sPQoU)

177 Thank God for Axios!

ADORBS! WHCA Awards Axios' Alex Thompson for 'BREAKING' Biden Cognitive Decline Story and We Can't EVEN

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 27, 2025 11:14 AM (L/fGl)

178 Eh, you're not selling me on Warlord. I'm sure the series reads well (I mostly enjoyed Cornwell's 'Richard Sharpe' books) but the way you're describing it, it sounds like just another deconstructionist revision that revels in dragging a popular hero through the mud....
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 27, 2025 10:36 AM (Lhaco)

No you have it wrong. The French love triangle was the deconstruction, and this puts things right again.

Lancelot is a snake who dies ignobly and Guinever has a long repentance.

I love Arthur but he forgives too much and too quickly. The narrator is similar, near-invincible in battle but not a throne-room schemer. The kind of man that is too good for this world.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 27, 2025 11:14 AM (lhenN)

179 Hmmm. Just went down a rabbit hole on Bernard Cornwall books. I could have sworn I read some by him but don't recognize any of the titles except the Last Kingdom but that is from the TV series which was excellent.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 27, 2025 11:16 AM (t/2Uw)

180 That'll teach him!

This lefty woman who lives in her car says she quit her job after finding out her boss voted for Trump

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 27, 2025 11:19 AM (L/fGl)

181 I read that as "The Devil's Cheeseboard".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 27, 2025 11:20 AM (kpS4V)

182
Books in dialect. The Mr. Dooley books, by Finley Peter Dunne, including this famous passage, always misunderstood:

"Th newspaper does ivrything f'r us. It runs th' polis foorce an' th' banks, commands th' milishy, controls th' ligislachure, baptizes th' young, marries th' foolish, comforts th' afflicted, afflicts th' comfortable, buries th' dead an' roasts thim aftherward."

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 27, 2025 11:20 AM (QnmlO)

183 Another thing I've gone off on is Fatalism.
"We all gotta die somehow"
"well the human race is doomed anyway"
"according to science the erf is..." blah blah blah.

Do not take seriously any person who purports to know ANYTHING about the future. For without these nearly useless overblown babysitting services/insane assylums providing them with sustinence they would be hungry on a street corner with a sign reading "the end is nye". Only one group can claim 100% inaccuracy. Wrong ALL the time. The "end believers".
Being a victim of them, causing me to not take care of myself my whole life, I feel every one of them should be ridiculed and shunned. Pointed to and laughed at. The more serious they are the more they must be harped on.

In the immortal words of (victim) Gretta Van Sus-something "how dare you?"

Posted by: Reforger at April 27, 2025 11:22 AM (xcIvR)

184 He's an open borders guy, who thinks white countries deserve to be invaded. He blames Salafism on the West. No thanks.

Posted by: night lifted at April 27, 2025 10:56 AM (FZn/N)

Care to document these claims?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 27, 2025 11:22 AM (mWSu4)

185 There was a series of books my Mother got me reading many years ago.
The "detective" was a bon vivant foodie. Anyone recall the character or the series?
I thought Archie, but searches turn up nothing.

Posted by: MkY at April 27, 2025 11:24 AM (cPGH3)

186 Oh nooooos!

Kennedy Center Cancels Pride Month Events

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 27, 2025 11:25 AM (L/fGl)

187
Kennedy Center Cancels Pride Month Events
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence

_________

Oh noes! Now how will little children learn about fisting?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 27, 2025 11:30 AM (QnmlO)

188 I also re-read American Caesar again for the third time. Last read it ten years ago. It was as captivating as the first two times.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 27, 2025 11:31 AM (VofaG)

189 ...WHCA Awards Axios' Alex Thompson for 'BREAKING' Biden Cognitive Decline Story...

Wait, WUT??!!

Posted by: Oddbob at April 27, 2025 11:33 AM (/y8xj)

190 Kennedy Center Cancels Pride Month Events
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 27, 2025 11:25 AM (L/fGl)

Any group needing legal protection from being pointed at and laughed at should be.

Posted by: Reforger at April 27, 2025 11:35 AM (xcIvR)

191 Adam Schiff's terrible, horrible, rotten, no good evening in San Francisco! His luggage get stolen from his, he can't find a clerk to unlock the shampoo display, and then the check out.

Paul D. Thacker@thackerpd
GOLD STAR FOR THIS GENIUS!
She said, "Yeah, Democrats are assholes."
And I thought, if the cashier in South San Francisco at 10 at night believes that Democrats are assholes because the shampoo is locked up and my stuff got stolen out of the trunk, then we have a problem.

https://shorturl.at/D0vBa

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 27, 2025 11:35 AM (L/fGl)

192
I also re-read American Caesar again for the third time. Last read it ten years ago. It was as captivating as the first two times.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 27, 2025 11:31 AM (VofaG)

__________

Not a MacArthur fan myself. His many, many misjudgements and mistakes would have gotten a lesser general busted to latrine duty after the first two. He was eminently replaceable, but everyone was too scared to do it.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 27, 2025 11:35 AM (QnmlO)

193
Not a MacArthur fan myself. His many, many misjudgements and mistakes would have gotten a lesser general busted to latrine duty after the first two. He was eminently replaceable, but everyone was too scared to do it.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 27, 2025 11:35 AM (QnmlO)

That’s one opinion.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 27, 2025 11:38 AM (VofaG)

194 Jon Voight to Meet With Donald Trump to Discuss His Plan to Fix Hollywood

-
Cyanide in the drinking water?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 27, 2025 11:41 AM (L/fGl)

195 There was a series of books my Mother got me reading many years ago.
The "detective" was a bon vivant foodie. Anyone recall the character or the series?
I thought Archie, but searches turn up nothing.
Posted by: MkY

Nero Wolf?

Posted by: Tuna at April 27, 2025 11:44 AM (lJ0H4)

196 Mama always says, stupid is as stupid does.

Europe Taking Most Asylum Seekers Since 2017

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 27, 2025 11:46 AM (L/fGl)

197 Nero Wolf?
Posted by: Tuna at April 27, 2025 11:44 AM (lJ0H4)

I believe Wolf can be considered a foodie, but not sure he's a bon vivant. He's pretty much reclusive.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 11:47 AM (0eaVi)

198 Nero Wolf?
Posted by: Tuna
Found it. Lawrence Sanders. McNally series

Posted by: MkY at April 27, 2025 11:48 AM (cPGH3)

199 Bzzzzt! It was Bogie. Bacall named him and his pals the Rat Pack. Sorta. She said to him one morning after a late night that they looked like a pack of drowned rats. (apocryphal)
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025

***
Dropping back in again --

You're right, Bogart was the inspiration, and Sinatra's mentor before he passed away in '57 (?). I thought you meant the actual group as it was considered to be, 1960 to about '64.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 11:49 AM (omVj0)

200 About a third of the way through James Michener's "Chesapeake". The three families the book revolves around, Steed, Paxmore, and Turlock have just in their own way joined forces to oppose English rule in the colonies.

Posted by: Beartooth at April 27, 2025 11:53 AM (dJimA)

201 You're right, Bogart was the inspiration, and Sinatra's mentor before he passed away in '57 (?). I thought you meant the actual group as it was considered to be, 1960 to about '64.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 27, 2025 11:49 AM (omVj0)

Once I learned about them, I thought that too. Later I found out Bogart was the leader before Frank. Much of the ballyhoo about the pack was from the 60s. That's what you read about now, not Bogart's part in forming them. There were a lot of others floating in and out as well until it came to be just the five names.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 11:58 AM (0eaVi)

202 Anyway, thanks for the truncated thread, Perfessor. Gotta go.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 11:59 AM (0eaVi)

203 WE HAZ A NOOD

Posted by: Skip at April 27, 2025 12:00 PM (ypFCm)

204 Nero Wolfe was a gourmet. Archie could just as well stop at any lunch counter for a corn beef sandwich and cold glass of milk.

Ask about Marco's saucisse minuit recipe.

Posted by: 13times at April 27, 2025 12:07 PM (7WHNV)

205 5 I didn't read any... wait. I did read a piece in an e-mail from Raconteur Press. "In Self Defense," by W.C. Tuttle, published in 1917. The poster said he had a difficult time reading this little western because of the excessive use of slang dialog. I also found it hard going. I can understand the use of slang dialog to set up a character, but it can get wearying trying to make out what the person is saying.

Try reading the dialect out loud, as it’s usually written phonetically. I think one of the reasons modern readers have trouble with dialects is because many of them have been smoothed over or homogenized due to the media, especially TV shows and movies.

Posted by: March Hare at April 27, 2025 12:09 PM (O/GSq)

206 #90 A society that regarded superhero and sci-fi as things for teenagers while adults read mysteries and westerns was a healthier society.

Oh no! I’ve been reading those genres for over 60 years! 😂

Posted by: March Hare at April 27, 2025 01:18 PM (O/GSq)

207 Late, but yeah. I know most dialect is meant for out loud reading. It's easier to understand that way.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 27, 2025 02:07 PM (ttwcT)

208 Finished A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay yesterday. Very good, ranks up there with Sarantine Mosaic and Lions of Al-Rassan amongst the GGK works I've read.

Today or tomorrow I will probably finish Hunter's Run, a sci-fi collaboration between George RR Martin, Daniel Abraham, and Gardner Dozois. The main character is very unlikable, but the book is pretty good

Posted by: tintex at April 27, 2025 02:12 PM (6Cpgu)

209 I clicked "Random" on gutenberg.org and up came a book called, "After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819" by Major W.E. Frye (British), not published until 1908 after it was discovered in a cupboard.
Major Frye's reminiscences are extremely interesting because he visited the Waterloo Battlefield the next day (he was too old to have fought in the battle), then he traveled around Europe, meeting various people who either regretted the fall of Napoleon or were happy about it. The major admired Napoleon and his civil projects throughout his travels, such as the Simplon Pass. He spoke French, Italian and German so no one could get anything past him.
He loved theater and described the performances he saw, including famous people such as the actor Talma and the singer Grassini (one of Napoleon's ex-mistresses).
The Major has a gentle sardonic tone that is quite amusing. He fell in and traveled with people he met in coaches, so we also meet the people. It's like time travel.

Posted by: Karen at April 27, 2025 02:24 PM (Xx9uC)

210 @140 --

Back when I was a regular reader of John Kovalic's "Dork Tower" RPGers parody strip, he had the girlfriend of one player sit in on a session. Her assigned character was Femazonia, who is bustier than Red Sonja and dresses about the same. Girlfriend's first move was to go back to town and buy some clothes and armor. Femazonia proceeded to wipe the floor with every monster the adventurers encountered.

I miss that comic, but I'm done supporting known leftists.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 27, 2025 02:36 PM (p/isN)

211 "Speaking of Bob Shaw, he has a long short story called 'Skirmish on a Summer Morning.' It's a Western, but it also involves time travel -- and gun aficionados will love it. Very memorable, if you can find it."

"Skirmish on a Summer Morning" by Bob Shaw is the first story in his collection "Cosmic Kaleidoscope" available to borrow on the Internet Archive.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 27, 2025 02:42 PM (JZ/46)

212 "Funny: SF is almost the only genre which gets judged on its *worst* examples instead of its best. Westerns, too, I guess. (Don't know about romance, but I presume that's true there as well.)"

Raymond Chandler made a similar point about mysteries in his Atlantic essay "The Simple Art of Murder."

Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 27, 2025 02:49 PM (JZ/46)

213 "Remind me a little of H. Warner Munn's The Lost Legion.
"***
"I read it in the '80s, but can't find a copy now to reread."

Also available to borrow on the Internet Archive.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 27, 2025 03:32 PM (JZ/46)

214 I miss that comic, but I'm done supporting known leftists.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 27, 2025 02:36 PM (p/isN)

Same.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 27, 2025 06:02 PM (lFFaq)

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