Sunday Morning Book Thread - 6-29-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(HT: OrangeEnt)

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 (HT: sharon (willow's apprentice)). 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...(Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?)

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?

PIC VIDEO NOTE

OrangeEnt sent me the link to this video. It's a look at several beautiful private libraries. Some have a classical aesthetic, while other display a contemporary, modern design. All of them look cozy and comfy.

MID-YEAR REVIEW

Wow. It's the end of June already. I guess it's time for a brief look back at the past few months and explore notable reading experiences.

Watership Down by Richard Adams -- Numerous Morons have recommended this book and now I know why. It took a bit for me to get into it, but once I read past the first couple chapters, it was difficult to put down. All events take place within just a few square miles of English countryside, but it feels epic in scope. Just an amazing story about rabbits seeking a better life for themselves.

Hercule Poirot's Casebook by Dame Agatha Christie -- This was my first introduction to Agatha Christie's writing, which I enjoyed very much. Of course, having watched dozens of detective shows, I was already familiar with her storytelling style, as it's one of the most imitated styles in Hollywood.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton -- I just love his style of writing. Everyone in this book (except for the main protagonists) is an asshole and gets what they deserve.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- Like Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories, these were a joy to read. It's obvious why both Doyle and Christie are among the most beloved mystery writers of all time.

Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe -- Yet another great classic. He influenced the detective fiction genre as well as the eldritch horror genre. Truly a man who was unappreciated in his own time, but whose legend has grown over time.

Star Wars - New Jedi Order -- 375+ trillion dead. 19 books. 12 authors. 1 epic galactic invasion. Great literature? Nope. Awesome space opera? You betcha!

Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams -- The epic story of a young cat who leaves the comfort of his own surroundings to track down his best friend. He finds adventures beyond his imagining. Like Watership Down, just an incredible story. Highly recommended.

RESPONDING TO MORON COMMENTS

My duties at church sometimes prevent me from participating in the Sunday Morning Book Thread. But I do want to respond to a few comments from last week. BTW, last week I asked you folks to hold off on politics on the Sunday Morning Book Thread. We were all still reeling from President Trump's daring strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. You guys are the best commenters ever!

Greatly amused to see you feature the Pogo Peek a Book - my dad left behind a collection of those from the 50's. Funny, and some amazingly sharp political satire right in the heart of the Cold War. Too bad he's mostly forgotten now.
Posted by: Tom Servo at June 22, 2025 09:18 AM (EVFZ5)

My own dad had Pogo Peek-A-Book, which I read numerous times when I was a child. I loved it! I think it still holds up fine today. If anything, thanks to gaining knowledge and experience, I can enjoy the humor even more. Just a wonderfully entertaining book.

Probably the weirdest book story I have is that I came upon a book of strange mystery stories as a child. One of the stories was about a man who kidnapped a group of school children, and held them for ransom in a school bus that he had buried on his property to avoid their discovery.
A few years later, the Chowchilla kidnapping took place, and it was the biggest deja vu of my life.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 22, 2025 10:37 AM (Vfq+S)

There was an episode of Millennium where a man kidnaps a school bus driver and seventeen children. He's not holding them for ransom, though. He believes that a nuclear war is coming and wants to save the children from the apocalypse. Turns out that he *does* save the children from a natural disaster (tornado) that hits their school. Or something like that. I haven't watched that episode in many years.

The only thing I didn't like about dramatis personae was that it was easy to spoil surprises in a book. Just the existence of a particular entry could be a spoiler.
Posted by: Farquad at June 22, 2025 11:44 AM (YkGND)

I meant to point this out last week. I, too, have noticed that a Dramatis Personae can be a *spoiler* sometimes. This is especially true for a series of books, since you KNOW which characters will survive from book to book. That doesn't mean there can't be surprises though. You do have to be careful when constructing a Dramatis Personae page to make sure your readers don't find out anything you don't want them to know (such as a character revealed to be a traitor.

++++++++++

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WHY GREAT STORIES NEED GREAT VILLAINS

Greg Owens breaks villains down into the following categories:

Brick Wall Villains -- Those villains that are a near insurmountable challenge to the heroes. Straight brute force seldom works, so the protagonists have to use alternate methods to overcome the challenge. Man v. Nature stories often fall into this category.

Philosophical / Thematic Villains -- Here we have competing ideologies, both of which may be true or have validity from a certain point of view. Again, the protagonist will seldom overcome the villain through brute strength, but must establish that their ideology is correct in some way that defeats the villain.

Hateable Underlings -- Perhaps the villain is simply an underling of a greater power, but they are the main challenge for the heroes. Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter is cited as one of these. Someone the audience loves to hate and we cheer when she gets her just desserts.

Mirror Villains -- These can come in a couple of different varieties: Personal mirror villains and Societal mirror villains. A good example of the first type is Professor Moriarty, the criminal mastermind that's a foil for Sherlock Holmes' detective brilliance. A societal mirror villain shines a light on society or culture in general, being portrayed as the natural end of society's decay. Perhaps Roy Batty from Blade Runner is an example of this.

BOOKS BY MORONS

We have a couple of new releases from Moron Authors this week:

It's that time of year for another new release: INTERSTELLAR MEDIC: THE LONG WAY HOME will be released July 1st and is available for preorder now.
I first pitched this story to Toni Weisskopf at Baen three years ago. She loved the idea, but said it was actually two books. Which is what you want to hear from your publisher, but at the same time you're thinking "GAH! THAT'S ANOTHER 100,000 WORDS!"
Of course she was right. I had to establish Melanie Mooney's character and do some serious worldbuilding, which included inventing alien species and their physiology to give Mel a chance to do her medic thing. I also took full advantage of the chance to poke fun at the usual alien-abduction tropes.
THE LONG WAY HOME brings Mel's story full circle. She's figured out that all of her warp-speed EMS runs around the galaxy means Earth is now a good twenty years ahead of when she left, even though it's been barely five for her. Getting home before Earth becomes unrecognizable is going to be dangerous, and she has to rely on unproven technology and some unsavory characters to do it.
Hope you'll give it a plug on the AoS book thread next weekend. Here's the Amazon link: Amazon.com: The Long Way Home (2) (Interstellar Medic): 9781668072745: Chiles, Patrick: Books
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Everything is relative. Einstein said so.
After years of crisscrossing the galaxy as an emergency medic, Melanie Mooney is learning this in a personal way. Each run to a far-flung star system takes Melanie ever farther from her former life, and the incomprehensible distances are the least of her problems.
The penalty for zipping through space at light speed means time is moving slower for her than it is back home. If Melanie ever hopes to return, she must do so before the Earth she knew becomes as unrecognizable as the alien worlds of the Galactic Union.
Interstellar travel is far beyond anything she can afford on Medical Corps pay, and finding a ride home that avoids the merciless effects of relativity is risky. Melanie will have to place her trust in unproven technology and some unsavory characters, one of whom happens to be the last person in the galaxy she wants to be caught dead with.
The trick will be not getting hopelessly lost in dimensions of the universe where no human or alien belongs. That's a lot for someone who just wants to get back home.

--Pat Chiles

Comment: I've been looking forward to this one for a while, since I first saw a brief blurb for it somewhere (Amazon?). I really enjoy Patrick Chiles' worldbuilding and attention to detail. Frozen Orbit and Escape Orbit are both very good hard science fiction stories. Well worth your time.

+++++

We also have the following submission from The RedBalloon Labor Lawyer:

The League of Displaced Magical Individuals
By Zeppy Cheng
Sunflower Adams becomes a displaced magical individual, an individual with magical powers in a non-magical world. When the government--the Galactic Empire--is apathetic to the plight of Earth, only Sunflower is able to save it, through paperwork and a mission that only she and June, otherwise known as the hero Aquamarine, can complete.
Throughout their mission, there is a darkness brewing in the background, a darkness known as a man called Flash. When everything comes out in the open, a conflict ensues, one that will suck Sunflower into a world of power against power, of magic against magic, and of wit against training--in other words, the world of displaced magical individuals.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

After discussing one of Wilkie Collins' novels a few weeks back, it is probably apropos to discuss his magnum opus, The Moonstone. This is widely considered to be the prototype of the modern mystery novel, though it was published several years after Edgar Allan Poe had introduced his inspector Dupin.
The story is epistolary, told in sequence by three of the characters involved, a style Collins called multi-narration, which also adds to the depth (and length) of the novel. Interestingly, Collins wrote much of the novel while bedridden with gout, and under the influence of laudanum.
The moonstone is a highly valuable diamond which was stolen from an Indian temple many years previously, and Franklin Blake, as executor upon the death of his father, must give it to his cousin. Meanwhile, three Indian priests are dedicated to getting the stone back and returning it to its rightful place. When the stone disappears, both the location of the stone and the identity of the thief are in question. As the story progresses, more and more clues are revealed, and twists and turns abound. It is quite the story, although being written in the Victorian parlance, is not a fast read.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 22, 2025 09:13 AM (Vfq+S)

Comment: After reading both Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories and Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, it's obvious that mysteries about stolen jewelry have become a cliche of detective fiction. Doesn't mean they are bad stories, though. Sometimes the stones are ascribed to have mystical powers, adding to their mystique. Or they may have some unique attributes such as extraordinary brilliance or size. Or they have a tragic history, which adds to their reputation for being "cursed."

+++++

I read, probably what is PKD's best novel, The Three Stigmata of Eldritch Palmer last week.
What a fun read! It's a wild amalgam of PKD's big themes--what is reality, what does it mean to be human, love, life, what is God, all neatly wrapped up into an oddball mystery/thriller type construct that proceeds logically (within its world to the end).
The story concerns a competition between two drugs. One, Can-D allows people to live an alternate life for a short time. It's used by pioneers on Mars and elsewhere to relieve the boredom and smallness of their lives. The other drug, Chew-Z, allows you to "create your own world" for a short time, and was brought back from another planet by billionaire, Eldritch Palmer but seems to have side-effects.
One thing that PKD does that I love, and that I totally agree with as a writer, is that he wraps his ideas into the story. That is the philosophizing is wrapped into the action, characters, and story and never stated directly to the reader as a message as a lesser writer might do. To read the story is to see the ideas at play in "reality".
Definitely check it out.
Posted by: naturalfake at June 22, 2025 10:05 AM (iJfKG)

Comment: I looked on my own shelves to see if I had this novel buried in there somewhere. Alas, it was not to be. Off to Amazon! Fun fact, "Eldritch Palmer" is also the name of the billionaire villain in The Strain by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro. (Recommended! - better than the television series, which is also pretty good.)

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

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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

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

Night's Dawn Trilogy Book 2 - The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton

The dead have returned from beyond to reclaim human bodies. Now known as the possessed, they wreak havoc across the Confederacy, terrorizing the Adamist humans who have few defenses against the godlike powers of the possessed, who can warp reality to their demented desires. Killing the possessed just means TWO souls will return from beyond, both of whom are hellbent on inflicting vengeance on humanity. Turns out beyond is basically hell. However, not all of the possessed are murderous psychopaths, as a rare few individuals display genuine sympathy for humanity and strive to help us. Al Capone's Organization is waging interstellar war across the Confederacy, something the Confederacy considered impossible due to the logistical challenges involved (humanity hasn't invented faster-than-light communications yet). Meanwhile, Dr. Alkad Mzu has escaped her gilded cage on the Tranquility habitat and is searching for her Alchemist, the doomsday weapons that will change everything.

Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

This is a collection of very short stories where the narrative framing device is that a local pub in London--the titular White Hart--has an eclectic mix of regulars. Perhaps the most eccentric patron is Harry Purvis, a scientist with an unusual background who spins equally unusual yarns about his experiences. It's a fun, fast read.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 6-22-2025 (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. When minutes count, the Galactic Union Medical Corps is just lightyears away!

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 All right, everyone. Report your reading.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:00 AM (0eaVi)

2 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2025 09:01 AM (+qU29)

3 Good Sunday morning, horde!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 09:01 AM (h7ZuX)

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

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025 09:01 AM (yTvNw)

5 I work too much, didn't get any further in Rick Atkinson's The Day of the Battle this past week

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2025 09:02 AM (+qU29)

6 All right, everyone. Report your reading.
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*thumbs through Cliff's Notes*

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:03 AM (kpS4V)

7 Morning, Perfessor.

Howdy, Horde.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 09:03 AM (q3u5l)

8 Books.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at June 29, 2025 09:04 AM (dDmld)

9 Nowadays, you should be able to use AI to generate your book reports. There's no excuse for not getting it done.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 29, 2025 09:04 AM (IBQGV)

10 I think I linked Oregon Muse to that Guilty Pleasure book (pleasure?), except it might have been queer/lesbian bike fiction. If it's a series, our Horde writers should submit stories! Lesbians, fish, bicycles....

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:06 AM (kpS4V)

11 Booken morgen horden

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at June 29, 2025 09:06 AM (3kB0K)

12 Willowed from Teck Thread
229 220 when I was a kid, we went to quite a few Washington Senators games. Dad was an insurance salesman and I think his office gave out tickets as bonuses. 1st prize was a new Cadillac. 2nd prize was baseball tickets.

Some Redskins games too. The Sonny Jurgenson era.
Posted by: Don Black at June 29, 2025 08:52 AM (AOsQT)

Third prize was a set of steak knives.
Posted by: Eromero at June 29, 2025 09:02 AM (LHPAg)

Posted by: Eromero at June 29, 2025 09:06 AM (LHPAg)

13 Lookibg forward to the thread as I have been waking up annoyed at everything for no reason

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at June 29, 2025 09:06 AM (3kB0K)

14 Finished Joy Comes In The Morning.

Posted by: Accomack at June 29, 2025 09:07 AM (28cZF)

15 I'm Midway through the third volume of Ian Toll's war in the Pacific trilogy. (See what I did there?) My vague impressions of what went on in the Pacific as the Orcs were rampaging in Europe is much improved.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at June 29, 2025 09:08 AM (dDmld)

16 Hm. Wasn't AC Clark some kind of unsavory person? If so, I doubt I'd want to read him.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:08 AM (0eaVi)

17 Tailchaser's Song.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 29, 2025 09:09 AM (gRq6J)

18 *thumbs through Cliff's Notes*
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:03 AM (kpS4V)

Heh. And the only thing I read was a submission for A Literary Horde's epistolary. Well, that and blog posts. But, that's reading, right?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:10 AM (0eaVi)

19 The video of libraries showed a lot of truly beautiful rooms; places I would be content to spend a LOT of time. But...for most of them, I doubt the books on the shelves were ever read. I'm especially suspicious when the books are collections of identically bound volumes.

That isn't to say they aren't beautiful, but let's face it, there's an element of poserdom there.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 29, 2025 09:10 AM (Riz8t)

20 Dykes on bikes?
No thanks.

Posted by: Life's too short at June 29, 2025 09:11 AM (XQo4F)

21 BOOKS!

Posted by: Elrond Hubbard at June 29, 2025 09:12 AM (P0m9n)

22 Nowadays, you should be able to use AI to generate your book reports. There's no excuse for not getting it done.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 29, 2025 09:04 AM (IBQGV)

(gasp!)

A Perfessor! Endorsing cheating!

(fans self)

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:12 AM (0eaVi)

23 If you love 80's SF/Fantasy movies, I can't recommend Chris Nashawaty's "The Future Was Now" enough. It's such a fun read.

AH-nult and John Milius were a match made by Crom, but it was still a dangerous shoot. Schwarzenegger suffered serious falls, was mauled by part-wolf German shepherds, and was almost hit in the jugular by a prop war axe. Milius just grinned at him and said "Pain is temporary, film is forever". I imagine them laughing over kielbasa-sized cigars at the end of each day.

Schwarzenegger helped co-star James Earl Jones train and lift weights, and Jones coached Arnold on his acting and on-camera technique.

It was nice to enjoy movies in the pre-internet age, where I had no idea that my favorite films were considered box office bombs. And before VHS/DVDs and streaming, a movie could hang around the megaplex for a year if it was still pulling in viewers.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:12 AM (kpS4V)

24 OrangeEnt: You really hit it out of the park with that video. Wow!

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 29, 2025 09:13 AM (O7YUW)

25 Finished Joy Comes In The Morning.
Posted by: Accomack at June 29, 2025 09:07 AM (28cZF)

What do you have planned for the afternoon?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:13 AM (0eaVi)

26 The only thing I didn't like about dramatis personae was that it was easy to spoil surprises in a book. Just the existence of a particular entry could be a spoiler.
Posted by: Farquad at June 22, 2025 11:44 AM (YkGND)

That's a good point. I usually don't peruse the DP until I'm into the book and want to refer back to it, but even then, this could happen.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 09:14 AM (h7ZuX)

27 The Complete Sherlock Holmes is one of my oldest books, and an absolute treasure trove. Read it cover to cover in about a week as a lad, and about every 10 years since then. As a gift to a young person it is wonderful.

And Watership Down I loved as a kid. Need to pick it back up soon.

Almost at the end of the third book in his "Suneater" Series by Christopher Ruocchio, which is called: "Demon in White." The author has finally shed his propensity to mention very interesting things briefly and tangentially while writing in gruesome detail about substantially less interesting things. The aliens in the series are pure evil, and I'm pretty sure they're going to be annihilated in toto, as that's the only way to deal with them.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 29, 2025 09:16 AM (/RHNq)

28 Sandwiched amongst harsh autocrats, one of the greatest unsung reformers in Russian history is illuminated by Edvard Radzinsky in Alexander II, The Last Great Tsar.

Alexander became Tsar in 1855, and quickly signed the Treaty of Paris to end his father's Crimean War. His aim was to focus on reforming Russia domestically. In 1861 he ended 1,000 years of serfdom in the country, and began to modernize education, and to expand military service to everyone, not just the peasantry. In 1867, expecting a British invasion, he sold Alaska to his ally the US for $7.2 million. Interestingly, every six hours, the Alaska pipeline recoups that in oil delivered to the coast.

Alexander rebuilt the legal system, instituted local governing boards with elections and taxing authority, and began relaxing martial law in Poland and Finland. Despite his frenetic pace of reform, it was not enough for the radicals in Russia.

In 1881, an assassin threw a bomb at Alexander's coach. It detonated, killing guards and bystanders, but leaving him unscathed. As he stood by the road, a second man threw another bomb, which mortally wounded him. His son and successor would reverse the course of reform.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:17 AM (Vfq+S)

29 Long flight from Seattle to DC.
Started an old favorite: The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart.
A fun read!

Posted by: Diogenes at June 29, 2025 09:17 AM (1bdKO)

30 Not a lot of reading this week. Couple of Philip K. Dick's short stories, revisited Sophocles' Antigone and Oedipus Rex. Oedipus at Colonus some time later this week.

Last week was Mrs Some Guy's family reunion. One of her cousins told me he'd read the two ebooks I'd put up on Amazon some years ago; the novel had turned up in the list of 'customers also bought' or 'books you might like' or whatever. He emailed other members of the tribe, so I'll get four sales out of that. What surprised me was that the book turned up in such a list -- I don't market or advertise, the book's just out there, so apparently Amazon's algorithms may occasionally display an item that hasn't moved any copies in a couple of years. Weird.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 09:17 AM (q3u5l)

31 OrangeEnt: You really hit it out of the park with that video. Wow!
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 29, 2025 09:13 AM (O7YUW)

It just showed up on my feed a few days ago. Nice looking set ups.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:17 AM (0eaVi)

32 Thanks perf squirrel. Been an incredibly busy few weeks, just purchased Star Wars: The New Jedi Order book 1. Need something to read while trying to stay awake after my busy, busy days.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at June 29, 2025 09:17 AM (2NHgQ)

33 10 I think I linked Oregon Muse to that Guilty Pleasure book (pleasure?), except it might have been queer/lesbian bike fiction.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:06 AM (kpS4V)

I was surprised to see the h/t sharon and not you!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 09:17 AM (h7ZuX)

34 I'm continuing "Knight Life" by Peter David. Arthur has collected enough petition signatures to get on the NYC mayoral ballot. Meanwhile, the leading Democrat is lobbying Arthur to drop out, Morgan LeFay makes her first direct move against Arthur (it fails, thanks to some supernatural muscle brought in by Merlin), and, under duress, Merlin makes an admission that could destroy the whole campaign.

I hope to finish this by July 4, the anniversary that our forefathers decided that they were done with English kings.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 29, 2025 09:19 AM (p/isN)

35 A rare event has occurred. I have given up on a book.

I completely lost interest in Peter Hamilton's "Reality Dysfunction" at around the 3/4 mark. Just way too much stuff to keep track of for my tastes.

Too much of everything, I started self-editing by skipping whole paragraphs and then I was totally lost after less than a chapter.

Posted by: pawn at June 29, 2025 09:20 AM (QB+5g)

36 Since I'm fond of the commenters on this Thread, I thought I'd remind you that this is your last chance to write incisive and/or witty comments prior to the closing of your mid-year Commenter Evaluations by Ace and the CoBs.

Posted by: Bob from NSA at June 29, 2025 09:20 AM (0sNs1)

37 I've been reading L'Engle's "Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art". I am impressed both by the content and her skill as a writer. She reminds me of CS Lewis when he isn't in an academic mode. L'Engle would have been an interesting addition to the Inklings.

Later today I'll have a hardcover boxed set of her Wrinkle in Time books. I read the first one as a teen but don't remember it well. I'm curious to see how it goes umpty-ump decades later. If i don't care for it, I can pass it along to our niece or nephew.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025 09:20 AM (yTvNw)

38 What I remember of Alexander II is that the second bomb pretty much blew his legs clean off. Even so, he made it back to safety alive where he lingered in agony for some time as the doctors stood around helplessly.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at June 29, 2025 09:21 AM (dDmld)

39 Been trying to write down on paper books I read instead of using apps /phone.
Reading report
Started on:
Fulton Sheen's Peace of Soul
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
In queue-
The Kingdom of Cain by Andrew Klavan
The Sleeping Witness by Fiorella de Maria

returned to library because I wasn't in the mood rn
The Splinter Effect by Andrew Ludington

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at June 29, 2025 09:21 AM (3kB0K)

40 In 1881, an assassin threw a bomb at Alexander's coach. It detonated, killing guards and bystanders, but leaving him unscathed. As he stood by the road, a second man threw another bomb, which mortally wounded him. His son and successor would reverse the course of reform.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:17 AM (Vfq+S)

False flag by the Russian deep state?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:21 AM (0eaVi)

41 I'm continuing "Knight Life" by Peter David. Arthur has collected enough petition signatures to get on the NYC mayoral ballot. Meanwhile, the leading Democrat is lobbying Arthur to drop out, Morgan LeFay makes her first direct move against Arthur (it fails, thanks to some supernatural muscle brought in by Merlin), and, under duress, Merlin makes an admission that could destroy the whole campaign.

I hope to finish this by July 4, the anniversary that our forefathers decided that they were done with English kings.
Posted by: Weak Geek at June 29, 2025 09:19 AM (p/isN)
----
Does King Arthur's citizenship status ever come up as an issue? Is he a legal or illegal immigrant?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 29, 2025 09:22 AM (IBQGV)

42 Just wrapped up Eric Larson's The Splendid and the Vile. Was compelled to read it after the Demon of Unrest. I'm certain I don't share his politics, but he is a gifted storyteller.

Posted by: Heavy Meta at June 29, 2025 09:22 AM (GTqXr)

43 Finished Joy Comes In The Morning.
Posted by: Accomack at June 29, 2025 09:07 AM (28cZF)

What do you have planned for the afternoon?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:13 AM

* waves *

Posted by: Starlight Vocal Band at June 29, 2025 09:23 AM (0sNs1)

44 Nowadays, you should be able to use AI to generate your book reports. There's no excuse for not getting it done.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

That would be cheating. The proper answer is to get up an hour beforehand and write it in the tech thread, then copy and paste when this thread opens.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:23 AM (Vfq+S)

45 Good morning! I can now confirm another moron's observation that Robert Penn Warren could write some very very long sentences in the service of some very very long exposition. So I think I'll watch the two 'All the King's Men' movies, instead of finishing the book.

Posted by: gp at June 29, 2025 09:23 AM (aYR7w)

46 @35/pawn: "Just way too much stuff to keep track of for my tastes."

I sometimes think of this as "You ask someone the time, and they try to explain to you (in detail) how to build a clock."

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 29, 2025 09:23 AM (O7YUW)

47 Since I'm fond of the commenters on this Thread, I thought I'd remind you that this is your last chance to write incisive and/or witty comments prior to the closing of your mid-year Commenter Evaluations by Ace and the CoBs.
Posted by: Bob from NSA at June 29, 2025 09:20 AM (0sNs1)

Sorry... Bub, is it? My comments are of no value. Please pass on to the next on the list.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:24 AM (0eaVi)

48 If you want a cracking good military story, try P.T. Deutermann's "The Second Sun". It's March 1945, and a German U-Boat has surrendered and been escorted to the naval shipyard at Portsmouth NH. Captain Wolfe Bowen, who works for the CNO, is informed that this big, odd-looking submarine has two Japanese civilians on board and a hidden cargo hold that proves to have radioactive material. Bowen is vaguely aware of a hush-hush project out west, but if anyone so much as mentions uranium they are visited by federal agents. He's soon read into a briefing on the Manhattan Project. So much attention was on the Germans building a bomb that nobody was paying attention to the other Axis powers.

Tokyo has been firebombed to rubble, so if Japan is building their own bomb, where is it being assembled? Where is the uranium being refined?

This story is a what-if riff on the real U-234, which was brought to Portsmouth containing cargo bound for the Japanese Empire:

https://tinyurl.com/2w4danj9

Recommended.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:24 AM (kpS4V)

49 False flag by the Russian deep state?

Posted by: OrangeEnt

No, Russia had a history of radicals trying to unseat the Romanovs going back to the Decemberists in the 1820s. Russia really has a fascinating history.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:26 AM (Vfq+S)

50 Finished Joy Comes In The Morning.
Posted by: Accomack at June 29, 2025 09:07 AM (28cZF)

What do you have planned for the afternoon?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:13 AM

* waves *
Posted by: Starlight Vocal Band at June 29, 2025 09:23 AM (0sNs1)

And if you're up for it....

Posted by: Midnight At The Oasis at June 29, 2025 09:26 AM (0eaVi)

51 What I remember of Alexander II is that the second bomb pretty much blew his legs clean off. Even so, he made it back to safety alive where he lingered in agony for some time as the doctors stood around helplessly.

Posted by: Cicero

Yes, he stayed on the scene to see that the wounded were being taken care of. The second bomb shredded his legs, and worse yet, cut open his intestines. At that point in medical history, that type of wound was 100% fatal.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:28 AM (Vfq+S)

52 @41 --

Merlin faked an entire background for him. Even an Army record.

This has the top GOP candidate suspicious. Nobody can be that clean. Not even a parking ticket?

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 29, 2025 09:29 AM (p/isN)

53 Speaking of weird Sci Fi, I just now downloaded "The Best of Cordwainer Smith" (AKA Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger), which I've not read in decades, but which is some of the best science fiction writing in history.

I think I'm also going to download some of Keith Laumer's excellent Retief stories, and his incredible Bolo tales. All such great stuff.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 29, 2025 09:30 AM (/RHNq)

54 Clarke was gay, but I don't know how unsavory he might have been. Back when he got his knighthood one of the British tabloids tried to dig up some scandal about him cavorting with underage partners in Sri Lanka, but Clarke denied it pretty forthrightly and nobody actually found any candidates -- and I think that's significant because you'd think it wouldn't be hard to find some kid in a very poor country willing to make accusations for some hard currency.

Note that the British government did apparently do some quiet digging and decided to give him the knighthood anyway. That was under Blair, for what it's worth.

As far as I know, Clarke had a pretty stable relationship with a Sri Lankan dude about his own age.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 09:30 AM (78a2H)

55 I read "Heart of Darkness." I don't know why folks think it is great. The author must have really been influenced by Enlightenment loss of faith and morality.

I also read a Vince Flynn thriller "The Last Man." Great fun. I like Mitch much more than Jack Ryan or Reacher.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at June 29, 2025 09:31 AM (JVCkA)

56 I remember reading that Alexander II was a bear of a man who held up some of the wrecked train roof so people could escape.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:31 AM (kpS4V)

57 good morning Perfessor, Horde

Posted by: callsign claymore at June 29, 2025 09:31 AM (S+xxD)

58 I like the library thats 2 shelves high with the floor to ceiling windows with views of the woods. Unpretentious with a beautiful view.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at June 29, 2025 09:31 AM (dR6yv)

59 "I read "Heart of Darkness." I don't know why folks think it is great."

This.

Posted by: gp at June 29, 2025 09:32 AM (aYR7w)

60 I'm really glad you enjoyed Watership Down, Perfessor. The animated movie is very good, too ... just not for young kids.

Posted by: callsign claymore at June 29, 2025 09:33 AM (S+xxD)

61 This week I read Blasphemy by Douglas Preston. It is the second in the Wyman Ford series, though there is no need to read the first in the series to enjoy this--there's no significant cross-referencing.

In it, a group of scientists have built a supercollider in hopes of proving the big bang theory. A television evangelist proclaims it the anti-christ. American Indians are unhappy with the location of the project. Corrupt politicians (is there any other kind?) are stirring the pot.

An incredible clusterf**k of a collision of competing interests ensues.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 09:33 AM (h7ZuX)

62 This has the top GOP candidate suspicious. Nobody can be that clean. Not even a parking ticket?
Posted by: Weak Geek at June 29, 2025 09:29 AM (p/isN)

This is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: Completely Clean Trump. Take That Demoncrats at June 29, 2025 09:34 AM (0eaVi)

63 I'm skipping around in Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness & Tales of Unrest" (I'm reading the unrest-y bits). He can write beautifully layered prose but it's as dense and dark as a Malay jungle.

Conrad knew he'd made it as a public figure when his writing style was parodied by Max Beerbohm. Max was also one of the premier caricaturists of his day:

https://tinyurl.com/3kx75cnt

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:35 AM (kpS4V)

64 As far as I know, Clarke had a pretty stable relationship with a Sri Lankan dude about his own age.
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 09:30 AM (78a2H)

I guess it was just the rumors. Don't need to support diddlers.

Posted by: Completely Clean Trump. Take That Demoncrats at June 29, 2025 09:35 AM (0eaVi)

65 I remember reading that Alexander II was a bear of a man who held up some of the wrecked train roof so people could escape.

Posted by: All Hail Eris

That was his son, Alexander III, who spent most of his reign trying to undo the reforms his father instituted, and massively increasing the numbers of secret police. His train was bombed, and he bent open the roof to get his children out of the wreck.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:36 AM (Vfq+S)

66 Clarke was a Buddhist in that he rejected God and all God-based religions.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at June 29, 2025 09:36 AM (JVCkA)

67 Perhaps AI's greatest contribution to the welfare of mankind is that no student will ever again have to compose a ten-page essay on "Heart of Darkness."

Posted by: gp at June 29, 2025 09:37 AM (aYR7w)

68 One point of interest in the Ian Toll trilogy how the mindset of the Japanese so closely mirrored that of the Nazis. Each aggressor launched an attack on a target that dwarfed it. By all rights, the Soviet Union and The U.S. should have crushed their respective attackers in a fight on the merits, but Germany and Japan both believed they would achieve victory through their superior will to win and fighting spirit, which would trigger an early collapse of their much larger adversaries.

Germany's prediction almost came true as Russia tottered in October 1941, but Japan's never had a chance. To the dismay of the Japanese planners, America began pouring ships, submarines and entire carrier task groups into the Pacific on a scale that the world had never before witnessed. Japan was simply buried by America's unprecedented industrial might.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at June 29, 2025 09:37 AM (dDmld)

69 I re-read Heart of Darkness after I read King Leopold's Ghost, and it became much more significant. I imagine people who read it when it was first published had a different perspective, since so much was written at the time about how gruesome conditions in the Congo were.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:39 AM (Vfq+S)

70 Clark never advertised that he was gay and the pedo stuff didn't seem to circulate until he was dead. I don't recall anything in his books that I thought was objectionable. I do presume that he left Britain for reasons though.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at June 29, 2025 09:42 AM (KaHlS)

71 I sometimes think of this as "You ask someone the time, and they try to explain to you (in detail) how to build a clock."
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 29, 2025 09:23 AM (O7YUW)

Is that wrong? Because I use it to shut people up all the time.

"Ahh hey Reforger. What time do you think you'll be finished?"
I go deeper though as I feel nobody really understands time.
"Well you know time is an illusion created by cycles of gears and cogs and thingamagiggers and has no bearing on fixing your car. In fact asking "what time" is akin to asking a women what color and brand of bycycle that theoretical fish needs. I can only answer your question with... why are you looking at me like that?"
"Please hurry up"
"Um. Sure." Tightens last nut. "Done. I'd have been done 5 minutes ago but someone asked me a stupid question about fish and bycycles".

Posted by: Reforger at June 29, 2025 09:42 AM (LgDgc)

72 While Clarke may have rejected God-based religions, he left behind him a couple of really nifty stories that usually turn up in the occasional anthology of sf stories dealing with religious subjects. And they're two of his best -- "The Star" and "The Nine Billion Names of God."

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 09:42 AM (q3u5l)

73 Long thought to read Heart of Darkness someday

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2025 09:43 AM (+qU29)

74 and "The Nine Billion Names of God."
Posted by: Just Some Guy

Is that the one where there's a character who believes in fate and a character who believes in chance?
If so I hated the ending

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at June 29, 2025 09:44 AM (3kB0K)

75 "Long thought to read Heart of Darkness someday"

Best thing about it is its brevity.

Posted by: gp at June 29, 2025 09:44 AM (aYR7w)

76 What a great library video, OrangeEnt.

Wonder if I can fit a globe that opens up to reveal crystal carafe and snifters into my tiny library room.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:45 AM (kpS4V)

77 Thanks to OrangeEnt for sending in that YT video on home libraries and to Perfessor for posting it. Most of them are stunning and show the idea of a comfortable temple which is my idea of a proper library. The background music is also lovely.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025 09:45 AM (yTvNw)

78 We had our 2 day yard sale benefitting the church on Thursday and Friday. Someone had donated boxes and boxes of books and we were betting that only 10% of them would sell. To our delight they were our best seller item. Still have many left and this was our last year to do the sale, it's a lot of work for those of us who've seen 29 a couple of times . I'm currently looking for a used book dealer to take the balance since Goodwill won't take them.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at June 29, 2025 09:45 AM (2NHgQ)

79 I have preordered Interstellar Medic: The Long Way Home based on my positive experience reading the first book in the series.

I got a former EMT friend of mine, who does not normally like science fiction, to order both books.

Looking forward to that book's arrival.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 29, 2025 09:46 AM (u82oZ)

80 "Goodwill won't take them."

Cripes.

Posted by: gp at June 29, 2025 09:46 AM (aYR7w)

81 @48/All Hail Eris: "If you want a cracking good military story, try P.T. Deutermann's "The Second Sun"."

Thank you for the recommendation! My local library system has a copy of this book and I've placed a hold on it to get it delivered to the library just down the block from me.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 29, 2025 09:47 AM (O7YUW)

82 That was his son, Alexander III, who spent most of his reign trying to undo the reforms his father instituted, and massively increasing the numbers of secret police. His train was bombed, and he bent open the roof to get his children out of the wreck.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:36 AM (Vfq+S)
---
Oops, you're right. I'm getting Romanoverwhelmed.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:47 AM (kpS4V)

83 Since I'm fond of the commenters on this Thread, I thought I'd remind you that this is your last chance to write incisive and/or witty comments prior to the closing of your mid-year Commenter Evaluations by Ace and the CoBs.
Posted by: Bob from NSA at June 29, 2025 09:20 AM (0sNs1)

OMG! Is it that time already?

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at June 29, 2025 09:48 AM (g8Ew8)

84 I started vol 1 of Shelby Foote's Civil War books.

Posted by: Accomack at June 29, 2025 09:48 AM (RBD82)

85 "Nine Billion Names of God" deals with a couple of computer guys taking on a job for some monks who believe that once mankind has listed all the names of God, there will be no further purpose to man's existence. Absolutely lovely closing line.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 09:48 AM (q3u5l)

86 I wonder what kind of book is the worst in terms of resale popularity.

For me, I never touch inspirational books, and garage sales seem full of them.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 29, 2025 09:49 AM (p/isN)

87 Good morning dear morons and thanks perfessor.

Today I am committed to reading my email which I have not in about 4 months.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 29, 2025 09:50 AM (RIvkX)

88 Clarke _said_ he was an atheist, but I suspect he had some lingering doubts. As someone else pointed out, two of his best-known stories have religious themes. And while "The Star" can be taken as anti-theistic, "The Nine Billion Names of God" is a pretty solid jab at smug atheism.

And in several of his novels -- Childhood's End, obviously, but also lurking in the background in 2001 -- there's the notion that there's some near-omnipotent Greater Cosmic Intelligence that someday humanity will be fit to join.

To me that sounds like an atheist who misses God.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 09:51 AM (78a2H)

89 I would say books chewed by dogs would resell for less

Posted by: Accomack at June 29, 2025 09:51 AM (6HDsc)

90 @86/Weak Geek: "For me, I never touch inspirational books, and garage sales seem full of them."

Self help, inspirational books, woo woo "medicine", etc...

All tripe.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 29, 2025 09:51 AM (O7YUW)

91 "I wonder what kind of book is the worst in terms of resale popularity."

'Yearbook of Agriculture.'
'Windows 95 for Dummies.'
'Paris Travel Guide 1993'

Posted by: gp at June 29, 2025 09:51 AM (aYR7w)

92 What a great library video, OrangeEnt.

Wonder if I can fit a globe that opens up to reveal crystal carafe and snifters into my tiny library room.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:45 AM (kpS4V)

Thanks to OrangeEnt for sending in that YT video on home libraries and to Perfessor for posting it. Most of them are stunning and show the idea of a comfortable temple which is my idea of a proper library. The background music is also lovely.
Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025 09:45 AM (yTvNw)

There are a lot of different ones, that's for sure. I'd wager that they aren't all residential ones. A few looked like college libraries, reading rooms, and book stores. Quite a few were obviously show-braries. All I have is a couple of book shelves....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:52 AM (0eaVi)

93 I just started Hamilton's "The Naked God."

The possessed humans who have translated themselves into an alternate dimension are finding out that "Paradise" comes at a price. Namely, they are still bound by human needs and therefore have to figure out how to feed themselves and take care of sanitation. Whoops! Whoopsie!

That's what they get for being psychotic murdering bastards.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 29, 2025 09:52 AM (IBQGV)

94 The only thing that I've read by Joseph Conrad is 'Typhoon'.

Posted by: dantesed at June 29, 2025 09:52 AM (Oy/m2)

95 86 I wonder what kind of book is the worst in terms of resale popularity.
----

The quickie self-serving political memoir that's really a money-laundering scheme? Our library sales always have shelves full of them.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:52 AM (kpS4V)

96 Didn't finish anything this past week, just continued to plod through various long collections. Mostly the "Justice Lauge International Omnibus 2." It collects early 90's comics of the Justice League of America, Justice League of Europe, and the Justice League of Antartica one-shot. (A bunch of looser heroes are sent to Antartica, where they encounter a flock of genetically-modified penguin-piranha hybrids.) This is known as the silly era of the Justice League, for good reason. A few too many of the stories veer into farce or parody, where the heroes are a bigger threat to themselves than any villains. Still, there characters are great, and when they do face off against real villains....it fun to see goofballs rise to the occasion.

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 29, 2025 09:52 AM (Lhaco)

97 I wonder what kind of book is the worst in terms of resale popularity.

For me, I never touch inspirational books, and garage sales seem full of them.

Posted by: Weak Geek

I would think it has to be the ghostwritten books by political figures, or the books on current politics. The train passes by quickly - who wants to read a book now on the threat of Clinton or Bush?

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:53 AM (Vfq+S)

98 "Goodwill won't take them."

Cripes.
Posted by: gp at June 29, 2025 09:46 AM (aYR7w)

Nobody reads anymore? Probably price them too high. Maybe the wrong clientele?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:54 AM (0eaVi)

99 Gravity as god moves the act of faith from archeology to physics and its infinite past.

Posted by: Accomack at June 29, 2025 09:55 AM (6HDsc)

100 I don't just read genre fiction, you know. I also read cookbooks based on sci-fi horror franchises: "Alien: The Official Cookbook" has such hilarious delights as roasted weenie chestbursters and Facehugger Cheeseball.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 09:55 AM (kpS4V)

101 Interesting how tastes and priorities change over time. Going through my books to thin things out I realized that most of the Clive Cussler books can go. I have just about everything he wrote himself and same for the series that continued after he passed, all in hardcover. Much as I enjoyed them, I probably won't be rereading them. The exceptions are the Isaac Bell series, especially the ones written by Cussler or Jack Du Brul. (I enjoy all of Du Brul's books.) This will clear a lot of shelf space and I'll probably donate them to an old folks home or similar.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025 09:55 AM (yTvNw)

102 Good morning dear morons and thanks perfessor.

Today I am committed to reading my email which I have not in about 4 months.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 29, 2025 09:50 AM (RIvkX)

Dammit! That link I sent you to the million dollar giveaway expired last week!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 09:56 AM (0eaVi)

103 Today I am committed to reading my email which I have not in about 4 months.

Posted by: San Franpsycho

You might try reading War and Peace instead. In four months, I would have thousands of emails, just on my personal account. One busy day last week, I didn't look at my personal email all day, and that evening had nearly a hundred unread.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:56 AM (Vfq+S)

104 Our local goodwill had a huge book section all messed up. One day I walk in and it's almost library quality. I'm all damn I'd like to meet the person who did that. Bought a bunch of books and asked who did it. Tattooed face clerk... "This new guy ..... he's kind of weird."
Turns out it was a buddy of mine from high school who I hadn't seen in 30 years. He retired from the state and applied there specifically to do it. "It drove me nuts so I fixed it."

Posted by: Reforger at June 29, 2025 09:56 AM (LgDgc)

105 Since I'm fond of the commenters on this Thread, I thought I'd remind you that this is your last chance to write incisive and/or witty comments prior to the closing of your mid-year Commenter Evaluations by Ace and the CoBs.
Posted by: Bob from NSA at June 29, 2025 09:20 AM (0sNs1)
===

Huh. Bonus check already cleared, so...

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 29, 2025 09:58 AM (RIvkX)

106 Started and am 2/3 of the way through The Drive about Grand Prix racing in the 50's.Fascinating, very well written, with lots of surprising quotes and stories about the drivers (and Enzo Ferrari). The death toll back then was horrific. This was all before my tie so I was mostly just familiar with the names from various stories I'd read about t'the good old days' in Road and Track, I am surprised at how many of the drivers were Americans.

Posted by: who knew at June 29, 2025 09:58 AM (+ViXu)

107 86 I wonder what kind of book is the worst in terms of resale popularity.
----

Self-help, pop psychology. I skip right over.

I've been having fun looking for vintage paperbacks at the thrift stores. 1980 and earlier.*

I found a fantastic pulp paperback from 1951 last week, in good condition, with a great pulp-y cover. "Captain Barney." The cover proclaims that "he was everything to all women." This will be fun!

*I know, how did 1980 come to be "vintage?"

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 09:58 AM (h7ZuX)

108 The exceptions are the Isaac Bell series, especially the ones written by Cussler or Jack Du Brul. (I enjoy all of Du Brul's books.) This will clear a lot of shelf space and I'll probably donate them to an old folks home or similar.

Posted by: JTB

I hope that DuBrul gets back to writing his own books. He is a good writer.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:58 AM (Vfq+S)

109 Good morning fellow book enthusiasts.

I get a list of all the books the library has bought recently and when I saw that Biketopia book, I was just amazed. Not only are there twelve different stories about bike loving lesbians in space but it is the 4th book in the series. I can't even imagine a story line. ...

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at June 29, 2025 09:58 AM (t/2Uw)

110 I was in a used bookstore Friday, and saw a Farmer's Almanac for some year in the nineties. I can't really imagine a buyer is going to turn up.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:59 AM (Vfq+S)

111 This will clear a lot of shelf space and I'll probably donate them to an old folks home or similar.
Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025 09:55 AM (yTvNw)

Are they large print?

Posted by: The Presbyopia Home for Old Coots at June 29, 2025 10:00 AM (0eaVi)

112 I did notice that we had a lot of books to sell by Danielle Steele, I believe we also had a lot of those left over. Men were looking for books on nature and history and the history part is very true at the gift shop I volunteer at, of course it's a historic site so that makes sense. I was surprised at the number of teenagers that were thrilled at the books we had to offer. Some of the books were donated by a former elementary school teacher and one young girl with a very serious demeanor and big old reading glasses went through a box of books til she found one she wanted to buy. Cute kid.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at June 29, 2025 10:00 AM (2NHgQ)

113 Morning, Book Folken,

This week I finished the seventh in Lee Child's "Jack Reacher" series, Persuader. Like the previous entries I've read (nos. 1, 5, and 6), it is an addictive, fast-moving read with strong storytelling. This one, for some reason, is in first person like Book 1, though 5 and 6 were in third, and the next one up that I have, The Hard Way (no. 10), is also in third. Wonder why Child does that.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:00 AM (omVj0)

114 Mmm fresh cherry almond muffins

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 29, 2025 10:00 AM (RIvkX)

115 Eris at 100,

In the unlikely event you haven't seen it already, check out To Serve Man, by Karl Wurf. Originally came out in 1976; Wildside Press issued an ebook of it a few years ago and may also have a hardcover or paperback.

It's exactly what you think it is.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 10:01 AM (q3u5l)

116 Years ago, I picked up "How to Lose Everything in Politics (Except Massachusetts)" by a McGovern campaign worker. Never read it.

A skimming of our shelves doesn't show it. I must have admitted defeat and traded it.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 29, 2025 10:01 AM (p/isN)

117 Bike-loving lesbians in Spa-a-a-Ace!!!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 10:01 AM (kpS4V)

118 Oh, and I gave up on Lincoln Child's The Third Gate for the time being. I guess ancient Egypt doesn't interest me much, or its possible supernatural effect on the present. Child keeps hinting at various spooky things, but I waited for something to reveal itself, and it never did.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:02 AM (omVj0)

119 It's exactly what you think it is.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 10:01 AM (q3u5l)
----

😆
Does it suggest wine pairings?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 10:02 AM (kpS4V)

120 I 4ead all the Lee Child stuff. Seemed like he was occasionally knocking off 2 in the same year.

Posted by: Boss Moss at June 29, 2025 10:03 AM (gRq6J)

121 bike loving lesbians in space probably listen to that group in the video that pixy linked in the tech thread. warm puppy in my lap, typing one handed so no caps.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at June 29, 2025 10:04 AM (2NHgQ)

122 "Watership Down by Richard Adams -- Numerous Morons have recommended this book and now I know why. It took a bit for me to get into it, but once I read past the first couple chapters, it was difficult to put down. All events take place within just a few square miles of English countryside, but it feels epic in scope. Just an amazing story about rabbits seeking a better life for themselves."

Don't forget the thriller elements! The sheer tense excitement of Bigwig's undercover mission echoes James Bond at his best, and Gen. Woundwort is one of the great villains of literature.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:04 AM (omVj0)

123 I 4ead all the Lee Child stuff. Seemed like he was occasionally knocking off 2 in the same year.
Posted by: Boss Moss at June 29, 2025

***
Each book is long (though not tiring) and with multiple plot switches along the way, so that kind of productivity is amazing. Reacher himself is a thinker; he is not only a man of action. He picks up on clues and reasons from them.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:06 AM (omVj0)

124 Been a while since I was on the book thread. But I bought and enjoyed immensely two books by my favorite living science fiction author, Matthew Hughes, a Canadian author of science fiction and fantasy.

The One (sequel to The Other) is a highly satisfying conclusion to the Archonate series.
The Archonate series is set in the far-future, with some Jack Vance flavor that has stellar wordplay, good plotting, and memorable characters.

This series has lots of interconnections with sub-series focusing on characters such as:
- Luff Imbry (criminal extraordinaire),
- Henghis Hapthorn ( foremost freelance discriminator of Old Earth in its penultimate age),
-the Commons (Jungian archetypes as a universe to explore),
-Conn Labro and Jenore Mordene (the good guy from the outer limits of space), and
Filidor Vesh (ruling Archon of Old Earth).

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 29, 2025 10:06 AM (u82oZ)

125 Eris at 119,

Sorry -- can't recall if it does wine pairings for the dishes. I saw it in the 1976 edition and I've slept since then. Haven't looked at the new printing.

If it doesn't, maybe Dr Lecter can offer some helpful suggestions?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 10:07 AM (q3u5l)

126 Finishing up “Short stories in Japanese for Intermediate Learners” by Olly Richards. I enjoyed it. Was the right amount of challenge for me.

Posted by: H at June 29, 2025 10:07 AM (2gjbv)

127 Question for you book Morons, have you ever started reading a book/series and put it down shortly after because you couldn't stand the main character?

This happened to me with the first book of the Empire of Man series. The main character is so unlikable. I read several chapters and then put it down for months. Eventually I forgot how much I hated the main character and picked it up again and found things got much better.

It took me 2 books to get fed up with Holden in The Expanse. Just can't stand the character. The only reason I was able to get past the first book was because of Miller and the second book because of Bobbi. I still haven't been able to get myself to finish book 3. I go back, read a page or 2 and then remember I hate Holden and then switch to something else.

Posted by: Farquad at June 29, 2025 10:08 AM (YkGND)

128 Big Glass of Momosa!!! 1 depth charge of GreyGoose... favorite summer drink on the Ile de Re...

Posted by: qmark at June 29, 2025 10:08 AM (+t9Oi)

129 24 OrangeEnt: You really hit it out of the park with that video. Wow!
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 29, 2025 09:13 AM

II concur! The woodwork in some of the rooms is simply amazing! And the music is beautiful.

Posted by: Moonbeam at June 29, 2025 10:09 AM (rbKZ6)

130 For some reason, I got around to reading Watership Down a while back, and yeah, it was better than anticipated.

What _kind_ of book is Watership Down? I guess you could call it Lit'rerry Fuhiction or something. It's not genre.

Posted by: Bombadil at June 29, 2025 10:11 AM (MX0bI)

131 Clark never advertised that he was gay and the pedo stuff didn't seem to circulate until he was dead. I don't recall anything in his books that I thought was objectionable. I do presume that he left Britain for reasons though.
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at June 29, 2025

***
Taxes might have had something to do with it!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:11 AM (omVj0)

132

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:11 AM (omVj0)

133 YkGND)

128 Big Glass of Momosa!!! 1 depth charge of GreyGoose... favorite summer drink on the Ile de Re...
Posted by: qmark at June 29, 2025 10:08 AM (+t9Oi)
Mug of Community Coffee with a big spoon of KerryGold unsalted…and…a blueberry donut. I’m in Sunday School. Ssssshhh!

Posted by: Eromero at June 29, 2025 10:12 AM (DXbAa)

134 Matthew Hughes wrote an authorized novel set in the Jack Vance Five Demon Princes universe: Barbarians of the Beyond.

This was a very fun read, with a strong-willed female protagonist, a happy ending for some, and not a bit of woke in the book. I highly recommend this book.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 29, 2025 10:12 AM (u82oZ)

135 I just wrapped up reading Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons. It's a classic British comic novel from the 1920s, mocking the conventions of that era's novels about rural life.

It's very funny, with some wonderful comic lines both in the narration and from the characters. Read it yourself.

But . . . there is one very odd element which I don't understand. The novel explicitly states that it takes place "in the Near Future;" but the future elements are limited to more people owning private planes, a videophone (at the local Post Office), and a reference to the Anglo-Nicaraguan Wars.

So why did Stella Gibbons bother? Is she trying to mock Wellsian stories of future progress by showing it has no effect on the archaic and bizarre Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm? Was she trying to avoid nitpickers? It's a puzzler.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 10:12 AM (78a2H)

136 I wonder what the library in the barrel looks like.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 10:12 AM (Vfq+S)

137 For some reason, I got around to reading Watership Down a while back, and yeah, it was better than anticipated.

What _kind_ of book is Watership Down? I guess you could call it Lit'rerry Fuhiction or something. It's not genre.
Posted by: Bombadil at June 29, 2025

***
It's just A Great Story. Though I think of it as genre, as fantasy fiction.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:13 AM (omVj0)

138 Elmore Leonard's are my favorite crime novels.

He did a terrific job with "Up in Honey's Room," set in Detroit during WW2, the city at its height of beauty and power. I might re-read it.

I've read them all. Leonard has a great way of hooking you right on the first page. I can't think of a writer that does it better.

He wrote it all by hand on yellow legal pads, and because he had a day job, much was written in the pre-dawn hours before he had to go to work. He spent lots of time hanging around the justice center downtown to get the feel and flow of the speech of lawyers, criminals, and judges. He met and talked with a number of jailed crooks at the prison, so as to understand their worldview.

Posted by: Mr Gaga at June 29, 2025 10:13 AM (zeLd4)

139 OrangeEnt: You really hit it out of the park with that video. Wow!
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 29, 2025 09:13 AM

II concur! The woodwork in some of the rooms is simply amazing! And the music is beautiful.
Posted by: Moonbeam at June 29, 2025 10:09 AM (rbKZ6)

(mops brow, adjusts tie)

Uh, thanks for the likes, but you do know I didn't make that vid, right? It just showed up on my YT feed.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:13 AM (0eaVi)

140 Question for you book Morons, have you ever started reading a book/series and put it down shortly after because you couldn't stand the main character?
---

Yeah, Donaldson's "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 10:14 AM (kpS4V)

141 'Paris Travel Guide 1993'
Posted by: gp at June 29, 2025 09:51 AM (aYR7w)

There is a French internet series called Le Visiteur du Futur, which is about a time traveler trying to change the past to stop the zombies, acid rain and extinction of mankind through cunning changes. In the second season one of characters is a refugee from the future who idealizes Paris of the 1990's as the premier period of mankind

Posted by: Kindltot at June 29, 2025 10:14 AM (D7oie)

142 I have read Ada several times. The last time I started reading it, I remembered what awful people the protagonists are and put it down. I still enjoy Lolita because HH is not glorify himself.

Posted by: Accomack at June 29, 2025 10:14 AM (RBD82)

143 Taxes might have had something to do with it!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:11 AM (omVj0)

That was a pretty bold statement, Wolfus. Though, probably one reason he left. Just like the British Invasion groups.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:15 AM (0eaVi)

144 Tales from the White Hart is the kind of story that’s fun to read on its own, and also fun to spot the in-jokes that have long since lost their crowd. I think Clarke himself appears in at least two incarnations and possibly three.

Henry turned to me and said: “There’s an analogy I’d like to borrow from one of your books, Arthur, that puts across the point I’m trying to make. You know–comparing the fight against Earth’s gravity to climbing out of a deep pit.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, “I pinched it from Doc Richardson, anyway.”
“Oh,” replied Harry. “I thought it was too good to be original.”

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at June 29, 2025 10:16 AM (olroh)

145 ... set in the Jack Vance Five Demon Princes universe: Barbarians of the Beyond.

Posted by: NaCly Dog

Oh heck yeah.

Posted by: Bombadil at June 29, 2025 10:16 AM (MX0bI)

146
I've read them all. Leonard has a great way of hooking you right on the first page. I can't think of a writer that does it better.

He wrote it all by hand on yellow legal pads, and because he had a day job, much was written in the pre-dawn hours before he had to go to work. He spent lots of time hanging around the justice center downtown to get the feel and flow of the speech of lawyers, criminals, and judges. He met and talked with a number of jailed crooks at the prison, so as to understand their worldview.
Posted by: Mr Gaga at June 29, 2025

***
His Westerns, the genre he sold his first stories in, are every bit as good. Hombre and Valdez Is Coming, both made into movies, are his, and he wrote the original screenplay for the Clint Eastwood flick Joe Kidd. Once you know that, and watch it again, you'll get echoes of his written work.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:17 AM (omVj0)

147 Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

ACC was captivated by the coral reefs of Ceylon, and by willing younger partners. His physical problems were lessened by swimming in the ocean. Finding a treasure ship on the bottom of A REEF WAS A BIG HELP.

I got the idea he was more driven by ideas and writing than sex. His early. marriage to an American female fan fell apart for obvious reasons.

I enjoy all the stories of i]Tales of the White Hart, and now that I have more worldly experience, the last story is funny, not chilling. Very light-hearted and funny. All stories are driven by scientific ideas.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 29, 2025 10:17 AM (u82oZ)

148 I wonder what the library in the barrel looks like.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 10:12 AM (Vfq+S)

Couple of matchbooks and calls for help scribbled on toilet paper?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:17 AM (0eaVi)

149 Hunh.

Time to go when my tags are askew.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at June 29, 2025 10:18 AM (u82oZ)

150 136 I wonder what the library in the barrel looks like.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 10:12 AM (Vfq+S)

It's chock full of the afore-mentioned skipped-over rummage sale fare, but with more stains.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 10:19 AM (h7ZuX)

151 I wonder what the library in the barrel looks like.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 10:12 AM (Vfq+S)
=====

A tor, wet Fabulous Furry Freak Bros. comic.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 29, 2025 10:19 AM (RIvkX)

152 Question for you book Morons, have you ever started reading a book/series and put it down shortly after because you couldn't stand the main character?

I'm stubborn. If I start a book, I finish it. Don't usually read book series. If I did, I'd only get one book at a time so as to not get stuck with a bunch of books I don't want.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:20 AM (0eaVi)

153 I also just finished the final book in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Barsoom series (there are only ten, plus two short stories, I think). The penultimate Synthetic Men of Mars was probably the weakest, but Llana of Gathol returned to the winning formula of weirdness and action.

The Book Club editions are a nice way of reading these; including illustrations by Frazetta and Corben.

Now that I’ve acquired and read them all, I’m itching to go back and read them again in order and nearer to each other!

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at June 29, 2025 10:21 AM (olroh)

154 Question for you book Morons, have you ever started reading a book/series and put it down shortly after because you couldn't stand the main character?
---

Yeah, Donaldson's "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025

***
I gave up on that too, a long time ago. Though part of it might have been that Donaldson was taking too long to make anything exciting happen.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:22 AM (omVj0)

155 I started reading "Not by Chance: Shattering the Modern Theory of Evolution," by Lee M. Spetner, P.h.d.

I found this book left for the taking on a Jerusalem street. The book is the perfect antidote so far to Rabbi Natan Slifkin's "The Challenge of Creation," which I finished reading a few weeks ago.

Both authors are Torah observant Jews. Slifkin argues for compatibility of evolution with Judaism. Spetner argues that evolution doesn't get off the ground for anybody!

I must point out that Rabbi Slifkin thoroughly takes up the challenge of defending Jewish creationists who either shun evolution entirely or accept the possibility of some form of evolution.

Christians will also be interested in reading Slifkin's book for the challenges it presents and the potential answers he provides. No matter which way you go, Slifkin's book points out the difficulties in understanding the opening passages of the Book of Genesis.

I highly recommend reading Slfkin's book. And as far as I can tell so far, I recommend following up Slifkin's book with Spetner's.

"How manifold are Thy works, O LORD! In wisdom hast Thou made them all; the earth is full of Thy creatures!" - Psalms 104:24

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 29, 2025 10:22 AM (t11Bq)

156 I like to rewatch Valdez is Coming every year or so. It is such a 1970s movie, but there is something in his determination.

"You shot that man from 800 yards!"

"More like a thousand."

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 10:23 AM (Vfq+S)

157 A tor, wet Fabulous Furry Freak Bros. comic.

The Tor edition of the Freak Bros. swaps Freddy for Fredina. Fat Fredina’s Cat is race-swapped from orange to black.

(I was going to limit the joke to Fat Freddy’s Cat becoming a black female, but apparently… they already made half of that change.)

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at June 29, 2025 10:25 AM (olroh)

158 Also on my TBR pile: Stephen King's Billy Summers, a crime novel (though I suspect I've read it); Ken Follett's Hornet Flight about WWII Britain; Robert B. Parker's family saga All Our Yesterdays, a re-read. And a strange-looking slim fantasy, Lost in the Moment and Found, by one Seanan Mcguire. Tagline:

"Welcome to the shop where lost things go."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:26 AM (omVj0)

159 I finished the third book in Pierce Brown's Red Rising series Morning Star. Although there are more books in the series, he finishes this story arc in absolutely spectacular fashion with a twist that I did not see coming at all.
I have not been so enthused about an author since I read my first Sanderson. This is epic Sci Fi. Rebellion, space battles, triumphs and disasters.
He is a relatively new author but already has a significant fan base. Count me as one of them.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at June 29, 2025 10:26 AM (t/2Uw)

160 I'm sure I said it back when the Perfessor first read it, but it's always fun to see someone new discover Watership Down. It's such a....surprising book. It starts off as a tale about cute little bunnies, with the author subtly whining about human development destroying the natural environment...and then it takes a sudden turn and becomes a fantasy epic about war, and sieges, and destroying an evil totalitarian empire!

I really love the last half the book, and will occasionally speed-re-read it over a long weekend.

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 29, 2025 10:26 AM (Lhaco)

161 152 Yes. I dumped reading The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever because Covenant is a dirtbag.

Posted by: callsign claymore at June 29, 2025 10:26 AM (S+xxD)

162 When Perfessor mentioned Tailchaser's Song it caught my attention, especially when it compares with Watership Down. That's high praise. I'll have to check the local used book store. Good quality used editions online are almost as expensive as new. Even the ebook versions (which I'm cutting back on) cost nine bucks. Of course, the library doesn't have a copy.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025 10:27 AM (yTvNw)

163 I really enjoyed Burrough's Tarzan books when I was a teen. Plenty of action, and well written. A few years ago, I found the entire set of 24 books on ebay for around $100. I need to finish the series I started years ago.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 10:27 AM (Vfq+S)

164 I'm about 70% through the final book of the Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light. I switch back and forth between the written book and the audible version. The final battle is getting pretty crazy...

Posted by: lin-duh at June 29, 2025 10:28 AM (VCgbV)

165 Watership Down would feel epic when your eye level is no taller than a dandelion.

Embleer Frith you humans are dense.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 29, 2025 10:28 AM (a+y/U)

166 Has anyone here read any of Nick Harkway's stuff?

He has a new book out, a continuation of "Titanium Noir" but it isn't available on Kindle yet.

How long does it take for a book to get digitized and released? What kind kind of marketing strategy involved in releasing a new book and withholding the digital release.

Posted by: pawn at June 29, 2025 10:29 AM (QB+5g)

167 A tor, wet Fabulous Furry Freak Bros. comic.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 29, 2025 10:19 AM (RIvkX)
---

And issues of Fat Freddy's Cat by the litter box, which never seems to get sifted.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 10:29 AM (kpS4V)

168 Msrk jacobsens gojira a kaiju tale that was meh

Hes the one who made up the legend of frank lucas heroic drug smuggler

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 10:29 AM (bXbFr)

169 " I'm getting Romanoverwhelmed." All Hail Eris.

I'm stealing that even though I an opportunity to use it is pretty unlikely to arise.

Posted by: who knew at June 29, 2025 10:30 AM (+ViXu)

170 . . . it's always fun to see someone new discover Watership Down. It's such a....surprising book. It starts off as a tale about cute little bunnies, with the author subtly whining about human development destroying the natural environment...and then it takes a sudden turn and becomes a fantasy epic about war, and sieges, and destroying an evil totalitarian empire!

I really love the last half the book, and will occasionally speed-re-read it over a long weekend.
Posted by: Castle Guy at June 29, 2025

***
Someone above mentioned the animated film adaptation. The one from the late Seventies with John Hurt and Harry Andrews is great. The newer TV miniseries is a fail, does not make clear who the rabbits are (they are drawn too similarly), and moves far too slowly at the beginning.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:30 AM (omVj0)

171 153 I also just finished the final book in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Barsoom series (there are only ten, plus two short stories, I think). The penultimate Synthetic Men of Mars was probably the weakest, but Llana of Gathol returned to the winning formula of weirdness and action.

The Book Club editions are a nice way of reading these; including illustrations by Frazetta and Corben.

Now that I’ve acquired and read them all, I’m itching to go back and read them again in order and nearer to each other!
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at June 29, 2025 10:21 AM (olroh)

I picked up a trio of thick paperbacks of the entire Barsoom series, back when the Disney movie was released (and promptly bombed due to terrible marketing.) I really ought to get around to reading them sometime.

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 29, 2025 10:30 AM (Lhaco)

172 How long does it take for a book to get digitized and released? What kind kind of marketing strategy involved in releasing a new book and withholding the digital release.
Posted by: pawn at June 29, 2025 10:29 AM (QB+5g)

Is he self published? If so, he can do it at any time. If issued by a publishing house, I'd guess it's up to them.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:32 AM (0eaVi)

173 I liked all of Vince Flynn's novels. Never cared about Mitch Rapp's choice for a wife though. Was glad when she got zapped.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at June 29, 2025 10:32 AM (g8Ew8)

174 There was one that was a over long booker prize winner set in iraq thats what i remember about it

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 10:33 AM (bXbFr)

175 The newer TV miniseries is a fail, does not make clear who the rabbits are (they are drawn too similarly), and moves far too slowly at the beginning.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:30 AM (omVj0)

Lemme guess. The villain has golden colored fur.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:33 AM (0eaVi)

176 I really enjoyed Burrough's Tarzan books when I was a teen. Plenty of action, and well written. A few years ago, I found the entire set of 24 books on ebay for around $100. I need to finish the series I started years ago.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025

***
I read them as a pre-teen. Ballantine Books brought out all of them in paperback when I was in grade school, and my father grabbed each one as it came out to reread. Then I got into them.

The first, Tarzan of the Apes, No. 6 (Jungle Tales of Tarzan), and two later ones, Tarzan's Quest (which features Jane as a solid heroine) and Tarzan and the City of Gold, are the most memorable. Oh, and No. 8, Tarzan the Terrible.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:34 AM (omVj0)

177 The recent BBC adaptation of Watership Down even gender swapped one of the original rabbits. Which waters down the reason to topple Woundwort's evil empire.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 29, 2025 10:34 AM (a+y/U)

178 Re: Joseph Conrad. His first memoir :The Mirror of the Sea" is a great book. His second is on my kindle to be read ,,,eventually,

Posted by: who knew at June 29, 2025 10:35 AM (+ViXu)

179 Let me join the parade of people who hate Thomas Covenant. Not because he's a jerk but because he's a fool. He's in a magical otherworld called "The Land" but he's afraid it's all a vivid hallucination so he refuses to get involved in stuff. Okay, fine.

But if he doubts his senses, why is he even moving around, or eating? Shouldn't he be afraid of accidentally walking into traffic, or falling down the stairs?

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 10:35 AM (78a2H)

180 Slifkin's book points out the difficulties in understanding the opening passages of the Book of Genesis.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 29, 2025 10:22 AM (t11Bq)

Mr. Dmlw! and I have started reading the Bible together. Your statement reminds me of a huge question I have about Genesis--Adam and Eve were the first humans, and begat Cain and Abel. But then Cain married a woman, presumably not begat by Adam and Eve. So...now I kind of look at Genesis as the origin and history of Jewish people? And there were others, not Jewish? Is it heretical to even notice?

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 10:36 AM (h7ZuX)

181 The newer TV miniseries is a fail, does not make clear who the rabbits are (they are drawn too similarly), and moves far too slowly at the beginning.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025
*
Lemme guess. The villain has golden colored fur.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025

***
I didn't get that far with what I was able to see on YooToob. The "lighting," the coloration of the rabbits and their environment, was all too dim, like modern live-action movies, too. Though I suspect Ben Kingsley made a good General Woundwort.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:36 AM (omVj0)

182 To the dismay of the Japanese planners, America began pouring ships, submarines and entire carrier task groups into the Pacific on a scale that the world had never before witnessed. Japan was simply buried by America's unprecedented industrial might.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43)

At the end of the war, Japan had one undamaged aircraft carrier, and one 80% built.

The United States had 24 Essex class fleet carriers and 76 light and escort carriers.

One might say that Japan miscalculated somewhat in deciding to attack Pearl Harbor.

"Whoops!"

"WHOOPSIE!!!"

Posted by: Sharkman at June 29, 2025 10:37 AM (/RHNq)

183 Yeah, Donaldson's "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 10:14 AM (kpS4V)

Oh Lord yes, that was the other one I wanted to mention.

Posted by: Farquad at June 29, 2025 10:38 AM (YkGND)

184 The recent BBC adaptation of Watership Down even gender swapped one of the original rabbits. Which waters down the reason to topple Woundwort's evil empire.

Posted by: Anna Puma

It is pretty pathetic to gender swap a cartoon. Shows you that the push is based solely on destroying our culture.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 10:38 AM (Vfq+S)

185 Thomas Paine only books you don't want to read

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2025 10:38 AM (+qU29)

186 "It was a cartoon movie about bunnies! How the hell was I supposed to know they'd get freaked out by it?"

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 10:38 AM (78a2H)

187 >>> 109 Good morning fellow book enthusiasts.

I get a list of all the books the library has bought recently and when I saw that Biketopia book, I was just amazed. Not only are there twelve different stories about bike loving lesbians in space but it is the 4th book in the series. I can't even imagine a story line. ...
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at June 29, 2025 09:58 AM (t/2Uw)

I wonder if anyone has film or tv rights yet!!!

Posted by: Kathleen Kennedy at June 29, 2025 10:39 AM (ULPxl)

188 Someone above mentioned the animated film adaptation. The one from the late Seventies with John Hurt and Harry Andrews is great. The newer TV miniseries is a fail, does not make clear who the rabbits are (they are drawn too similarly), and moves far too slowly at the beginning.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:30 AM (omVj0)

I don't remember exactly why, but I remember not enjoying the 70s film. It probably cut out too much of the cool stuff. The Netflix series was terrible; the characters were indistinct, and Efrafa was in some human ditches, and not meticulously disguised....There was also a children's cartoon adaptation (by Canadian PBS, or something) that...went in its own direction. I had it on in the background while I did other things. Mostly I remember that Campion (one of the honorable captains of Efrafa) was given his own character arc, where he got a face scar, and feared he was becoming the next Woundwort...

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 29, 2025 10:40 AM (Lhaco)

189 I read The Pursuit of the Pankera this week, now I want to re-read & finish both the Barsoom & Lensmen books.
Pursuit is the posthumous published Heinlein 'alternate' version of Number of the Beast (which I've not yet read). Of his 3 posthumous titles (For Us, the Living & Variable Star are the others) I enjoyed this the most.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at June 29, 2025 10:40 AM (KaHlS)

190 I read all the Reacher books and loved them all the way up til he started writing with his brother. They are basically detective novels but the detective, Reacher, is a selfless hero willing to jump in on the side of right as he travels around the country with nothing but a toothbrush and no need of a paycheck for his work. The flashbacks to his upbringing in a military family and his military career give insight into how he is able to solve the mystery.
I'll be interested to hear what you think Wolfus when you get to the books written with Andrew Child.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at June 29, 2025 10:40 AM (t/2Uw)

191 The first 7 books of the Malazan Book of the Fallen Series are sitting on the already read shelf the next 2 arrive this week.

What a world!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2025 10:41 AM (CInEs)

192 I'm just finishing "Cold Vengeance", the third book in the Preston and Child "Helen Trilogy", which also includes "Cemetery Dance" and "Fever Dream". I think "Fever Dream" might be my favorite Pendergast novel so far. I tried to look it up, but I can't help wondering what the total number of people killed in the entire series is.

Separately, I'm nearly finished with "Five Days That Shocked the World: Eyewitness Accounts from Europe at the End of World War II". It covers the events of April 28 through May 2, 1945, including the deaths of Mussolini and Hitler, as well as the fall of Berlin and liberation of concentration camps. One of the most compelling aspects of the chaos of those days is that no one wanted to surrender to or be liberated by the Russians. It's quite interesting to read the recollections of notable persons such as Audrey Hepburn, Henry Kissinger and Leni Riefenstahl.

Lastly, I might have already mentioned "Two and Two: McSorley's, My Father and Me" by Rafe Bartholomew. His father was lead bartender there for 45 years and counting. It's an interesting read about the history of the bar.

Posted by: Moonbeam at June 29, 2025 10:42 AM (rbKZ6)

193 Haven't read Burroughs since high school. Ballantine was issuing the Tarzan and Barsoom books, and Ace was releasing the stand-alones and the Caspak novels and a bunch of others (almost all with nifty Frazetta covers). Yet another I should revisit one of these years.

Weird thing about the home library video above -- most of those rooms are just extra-lovely, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I wouldn't belong in those places. Worked almost fifteen years in libraries and almost ten at Kroch's & Brentano's bookstore in Chicago, and I was thinking that there was no place for me in those rooms.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 10:43 AM (q3u5l)

194 177 The recent BBC adaptation of Watership Down even gender swapped one of the original rabbits. Which waters down the reason to topple Woundwort's evil empire.
Posted by: Anna Puma at June 29, 2025 10:34 AM (a+y/U)

Yeah, I think it was Blackberry that got gender-swapped. The smart one, naturally.

Although, if they were willing to go really dark, they could have still made that work for the plot; "We need to get more does for our warren....so that I don't get gang-banged by everyone!"

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 29, 2025 10:43 AM (Lhaco)

195 152 Question for you book Morons, have you ever started reading a book/series and put it down shortly after because you couldn't stand the main character?

I'm stubborn. If I start a book, I finish it. Don't usually read book series. If I did, I'd only get one book at a time so as to not get stuck with a bunch of books I don't want.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:20 AM (0eaVi)

Yeah, I bought the Empire of Man omnibus so I was eventually going to finish the 4-book series, and am glad I did. As for the Expanse, maybe sometime before I die, maybe....

Posted by: Farquad at June 29, 2025 10:44 AM (YkGND)

196 But then Cain married a woman, presumably not begat by Adam and Eve. So...now I kind of look at Genesis as the origin and history of Jewish people? And there were others, not Jewish? Is it heretical to even notice?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!

Speaking of heresy, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were created by extracting DNA from mosquitoes trapped in amber. So how did they create the extinct plants? Did they get their DNA from mosquitoes trapped in amber too?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Well, This Is Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into at June 29, 2025 10:44 AM (L/fGl)

197 Books that don't age well? Travel guidebooks. I seldom bother with them any more. Instead I find a good weighty 19th-century Englishman's account of a journey to wherever it is for background, then use Google Maps on the ground.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 10:45 AM (78a2H)

198 I’m reading “Demon Copperhrad” right now. It’s very good so far, about 1/3 way through. It’s a coming of age novel and reminds me of “Hillbilly Elegy”.

I’ll let you know if it goes sideways, but so far so good.

Posted by: nurse ratched at June 29, 2025 10:46 AM (mT+6a)

199 Demon COPPERHEAD.

FERKING PHAT THUMBS

Posted by: nurse ratched at June 29, 2025 10:47 AM (mT+6a)

200 199 Demon COPPERHEAD.

FERKING PHAT THUMBS

Posted by: nurse ratched at June 29, 2025 10:47 AM (mT+6a)

I didn't even notice the typo until you pointed it out, lol.

Posted by: Farquad at June 29, 2025 10:48 AM (YkGND)

201 Instead I find a good weighty 19th-century Englishman's account of a journey to wherever it is for background, then use Google Maps on the ground.
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 10:45 AM (78a2H)

Like this:

https://tinyurl.com/5xyf44rt

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:50 AM (0eaVi)

202 Might be the dutch version like the bardugo magic heist

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 10:50 AM (bXbFr)

203 Its kingsolving so it will

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 10:51 AM (bXbFr)

204 She hates America as much as Joyce Carol Oates

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 10:52 AM (bXbFr)

205 This week's Kindle read was "Gangster", #12 in the "Arcane Casebook" series by Dan Willis. Think Sam Spade meets Harry Potter.
The series is set in an alternate-universe 1930s New York City, which looks a lot like ours, except magic is an available technology. The hero is Alex Lockerby, a slightly-down on his luck private investigator who is also a Runewright, a common form of minor magician who can use small spells to do mundane tasks like mend broken china or locate lost items.
The world-building is quite good, the mysteries are engaging, and the characters are well-fleshed out. I like it.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 29, 2025 10:52 AM (NPytu)

206 A while back, I may have mentioned a video that I couldn't re-locate. I relocated it.

How to Do Anything in Your Dreams (18:51)
Thoughty2
https://youtu.be/CiuMRq32JBk

Lucid Dreaming: can you control your dreams? Enhance your creativity! Or, not.

Scientific and artistic ideas have come from dreams. They could provide the basis for stories.

I've never been able to direct my dreams. Closest I came to anything useful was a complicated bit of coding I was struggling with, and seemingly kept working on in my sleep, because it was done (in my head) when I woke up. As I mentioned last week, mostly, any dream that I thought, this would make a good story, once I thought about it when fully awake was useless and absurd. No story, no plot. Lots of strange characters, though.

This video purports to suggest how to direct your dreams. Helpful or not, it's a bit informative and often amusing.

"Yes, fulfilling sexual fantasies is, unsurprisingly, one of the most popular lucid dreaming pasttimes. But, once the novelty of that wears off, which usually takes a year or two, most experienced lucid dreamers turn their attention to other goals."

A year or two. Heh.

Posted by: mindful webworker - dreaming my life away at June 29, 2025 10:53 AM (l5rRq)

207 Lastly, I might have already mentioned "Two and Two: McSorley's, My Father and Me" by Rafe Bartholomew. His father was lead bartender there for 45 years and counting. It's an interesting read about the history of the bar.
Posted by: Moonbeam at June 29, 2025 10:42 AM (rbKZ6)
====
The guy we were close to there was Brendan.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 29, 2025 10:53 AM (RIvkX)

208 I just found out that Nick Harkaway is the pen name of the son of Nicholas Cornwell who wrote as the famous British espionage writer, John le Carré.

Hardaway's latest book borrows his fathers famous character, George Smiley, for another round of intrigue.

I just added it to my TBR queue.

Posted by: pawn at June 29, 2025 10:53 AM (QB+5g)

209 152 Question for you book Morons, have you ever started reading a book/series and put it down shortly after because you couldn't stand the main character?

I'm stubborn. If I start a book, I finish it. Don't usually read book series.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:20 AM

Same for me, with the exception of the Preston & Child novels. So I haven't done it with books, but I've definitely done it with television shows. When I get to the point where I'm not rooting for anyone, I'm out. Grey's Anatomy was one that I watched for the first few seasons and then decided that I hated every single one of the main characters.

Posted by: Moonbeam at June 29, 2025 10:54 AM (rbKZ6)

210 The first, Tarzan of the Apes, No. 6 (Jungle Tales of Tarzan), and two later ones, Tarzan's Quest (which features Jane as a solid heroine) and Tarzan and the City of Gold, are the most memorable. Oh, and No. 8, Tarzan the Terrible.

The first four books are, in my opinion, outstanding. The sixth, Jungle Tales, being downright weird, covering Tarzan’s adolescence among the apes.

He wrote so many Tarzan books, some fell flat for me, but even well into the series some of them were outstanding again. He seemed to alternate between light adventure, dark vengeance, and a disdain for civilization, all of which provided great stories.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at June 29, 2025 10:55 AM (olroh)

211 It's funny -- I like the Barsoom books but I never got into Tarzan. Somehow it's easier for me to believe in John Carter than in Lord Greystoke.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 10:59 AM (78a2H)

212 The first, Tarzan of the Apes, No. 6 (Jungle Tales of Tarzan), and two later ones, Tarzan's Quest (which features Jane as a solid heroine) and Tarzan and the City of Gold, are the most memorable. Oh, and No. 8, Tarzan the Terrible.

The first four books are, in my opinion, outstanding. The sixth, Jungle Tales, being downright weird, covering Tarzan’s adolescence among the apes.

He wrote so many Tarzan books, some fell flat for me, but even well into the series some of them were outstanding again. He seemed to alternate between light adventure, dark vengeance, and a disdain for civilization, all of which provided great stories.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at June 29, 2025

***
Jungle Tales is a lot of fun, giving us more of his life with the great apes before the arrival of Prof. Porter and Jane, and other Europeans. We learn why Tarzan never killed and ate Tantor the elephant, for example.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 10:59 AM (omVj0)

213 Been a few mentions of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his Tarzan and Barsoom series. Between Burroughs, Verne, and Rider Haggard, they are what I consider ideal casual reading. Well written, fast paced, and bits of humor like grace notes. Add in Conan Doyle and Robert Howard. No rabbit holes to distract, no deeper meanings to contemplate, just fun and exciting stories. Above all, no obligatory 'gurl' bosses, no woke doctrines shoved down our throats and no presumed tolerance of perversion.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025 11:00 AM (yTvNw)

214 Yay book thread! A busy week finally took its toll this morning and I required a supplemental nap.

Still working on Graham Green's The Silent American. Quite the page turner.

News book purchases are two D&D Gazetteers for the new campaign. I skipped these back in the day but they are well done and quite useful. Our campaign is taking place in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. One neat detail is the discussion of coinage, and now the "D&D world" has rampant inflation in terms of gold being so common.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:03 AM (ZOv7s)

215 I've never been able to direct my dreams.

Doesn't work for me either. As soon as I go "Oh, I'm dreaming" and try to do something intentionally, I wake up.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 29, 2025 11:04 AM (/y8xj)

216 Been a few mentions of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his Tarzan and Barsoom series. Between Burroughs, Verne, and Rider Haggard, they are what I consider ideal casual reading. Well written, fast paced, and bits of humor like grace notes. Add in Conan Doyle and Robert Howard. No rabbit holes to distract, no deeper meanings to contemplate, just fun and exciting stories. Above all, no obligatory 'gurl' bosses, no woke doctrines shoved down our throats and no presumed tolerance of perversion.
Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025

***
Good stuff to grow up on. I went from Burroughs and Doyle to Ian Fleming, Rex Stout, and Ellery Queen -- which explains why I never read a lot of other "traditional" kids' lit like Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows, or Treasure Island.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:04 AM (omVj0)

217 209 152 Question for you book Morons, have you ever started reading a book/series and put it down shortly after because you couldn't stand the main character?

I got Cloud-Castles by Dave Freer after reading Sarah Hoyt's foot-stomping, lapel-grabbing review endorsing it. It started out promisingly enough, but after getting about 20% into it, it got kind of predictable and boring, but I stuck with it, and it just got better and better and better. Highly recommended ( I add my foot-stomping and lapel-grabbing endorsement to Sarah's ) .

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at June 29, 2025 11:04 AM (PiwSw)

218 I read Tailchaser's Song many years ago and I loved the cats' view that humans were once cats but under a perpetual curse of walking funny, not having enough fur and of course serving cats' every whim. That's why they're so ungrateful.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:04 AM (ZOv7s)

219 Long thought to read Heart of Darkness someday

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2025 09:43 AM (+qU29)

I initially read that as:

Long thought to read Heart of Darkness comedy.

And now I have questions.

“The horror! The horror!”

Twenty dollars. Same as in town.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 29, 2025 11:05 AM (iJfKG)

220 I'm stubborn. If I start a book, I finish it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:20 AM

I will abandon a book with no compunction if it's not interesting to me, for absolutely any reason. There are millions of books; why would I keep reading one that I dislike?

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 11:06 AM (h7ZuX)

221 What's especially maddening about Modern Audiences is that the very things they disparage older works for not having are actually there in abundance! Want a Strong Female Character? I give you Thuvia, Maid of Mars. When she first appears she comes into the room accompanied by her two tame giant lions, which obey her just because she's that awesome.

Nonwhite protagonists? I give you Umbopa, of King Solomon's Mines, who even the British characters in the book describe as one of the wisest, bravest, and physically impressive men in the world.

The only thing classic adventure writers didn't include was lesbian bicycles and butt stuff. Why has that become the standard of literary excellence?

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 11:06 AM (78a2H)

222 Long thought to read Heart of Darkness comedy.

And now I have questions.

“The horror! The horror!”

Twenty dollars. Same as in town.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 29, 2025

***
In one of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes, one which focuses on the dreams of the main characters, there is a parody of a scene from Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now. Xander is the narrator/Martin Sheen character, and their late HS principal, Snyder, is Col. Kurtz. Dark, but still funny.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:08 AM (omVj0)

223 Wasnt he armin shimerman quark from ds 9

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 11:09 AM (bXbFr)

224 Doesn't work for me either. As soon as I go "Oh, I'm dreaming" and try to do something intentionally, I wake up.
Posted by: Oddbob at June 29, 2025 11:04 AM (/y8xj)
---
Much of the time I don't recall having dreams at all, but when I do, I can usually impose some direction, but the degree varies, perhaps based on my mental load.

I first started doing this when I was in middle school and often had nightmares due to a disorder home life. Basically it was a self-defense mechanist to stop the nightmare and turn it into something else. I don't have nightmares much any more, but when I do, I can usually turn them off in favor of something more relaxing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:10 AM (ZOv7s)

225 I've begun reading Valley of Shaddows by Peter Knight, described as a A Psychological Christian Thriller, but I may put it aside for now. The setting is an asylum for criminally insane women and the plot concerns a psychologist investigating the suicides of several inmates apparently inspired by a particular manipulative inmate who convinces them their crimes are unforgivable and suicide their only option. Much of plot thus far concerns conversations between the psychologist and the manipulator are pretty deep. Right now, with western civilization hanging by a thread, may not be the time to read this philosophical examination of the nature of good and evil.

Speaking of good and evil, the short Melanie Phillips videos linked in the sidebar are enough to make you despair for the future. How we will be able to defeat brainwashed nihilists short of a devastating war remains unclear.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Well, This Is Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into at June 29, 2025 11:10 AM (L/fGl)

226 Wasnt he armin shimerman quark from ds 9
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025

***
He was indeed. Proving a character actor need not be handsome in order to be successful.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:11 AM (omVj0)

227 28 Sandwiched amongst harsh autocrats, one of the greatest unsung reformers in Russian history is illuminated by Edvard Radzinsky in Alexander II, The Last Great Tsar.

Alexander became Tsar in 1855, and quickly signed the Treaty of Paris to end his father's Crimean War. His aim was to focus on reforming Russia domestically. In 1861 he ended 1,000 years of serfdom in the country, and began to modernize education, and to expand military service to everyone, not just the peasantry. In 1867, expecting a British invasion, he sold Alaska to his ally the US for $7.2 million. Interestingly, every six hours, the Alaska pipeline recoups that in oil delivered to the coast.

Alexander rebuilt the legal system, instituted local governing boards with elections and taxing authority, and began relaxing martial law in Poland and Finland. Despite his frenetic pace of reform, it was not enough for the radicals in Russia.

In 1881, an assassin threw a bomb at Alexander's coach...

I read it and liked it. It is on my Russian history bookshelf.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:11 AM (vm8sq)

228 Still working on Graham Green's The Silent American. Quite the page turner.
====

My copy was furnished by the Young Communist League of the CPSU.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 29, 2025 11:12 AM (RIvkX)

229
Reading, more or less simultaneously, Victoria, A Life by A. N. Wilson and Victoria, The Queen by Julia Baird.

Victoria's long reign may be divided into several parts, but in all of them she sought to exert her powers to the extent that she was able. She famously didn't get along with Gladstone, whom she detested as a radical and who, in turn, detested her for her stubborness. He would read to the Cabinet her memoranda on various issues, then say dismissively, "And so, Gentlemen, to business."

She had many children and mismanaged their upbringing completely: "The Hanovers are like ducks, they trample their young." She criticized them relentlessly but expected them to drop everything when she needed them. She could be monstrously selfish and unconcerned with others.

Yet she formed all kinds of inappropriate attachments, to her first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne; to her Scottish servant John Brown ("the Queen's stallion"); to Disraeli, who flattered her shamelessly; and to her late secretary, the Munshi, an intriguing fraud.

A long and fascinating life over which Britain changed completely.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2025 11:12 AM (/HVsR)

230 I will never understand why it is fashionable to go out in public looking like a complete bum. I am, of course, talking about people going out wearing pajamas in public. Why?

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:13 AM (vm8sq)

231 Long thought to read Heart of Darkness comedy.

And now I have questions.

“The horror! The horror!”

Twenty dollars. Same as in town.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 29, 2025 11:05 AM (iJfKG)
---
There was a short film called "Porklips Now" that was a parody of "Apocalypse Now." Quite amusing. Usually on the same video tape as "Hardware Wars" and "Bambi vs Godzilla."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:13 AM (ZOv7s)

232 Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:11 AM (vm8sq)

And then some immoral commie criminals came and destroyed all the progress.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:14 AM (VofaG)

233 I will abandon a book with no compunction if it's not interesting to me, for absolutely any reason. There are millions of books; why would I keep reading one that I dislike?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 11:06 AM (h7ZuX)

This is exactly why I stopped reading that POS Great Expectations in school. Unfortunately that was for a grade and I got a 29 for that six weeks.

I had great expectations of there being a PLOT.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:15 AM (vm8sq)

234
I'm stubborn. If I start a book, I finish it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 10:20 AM

Finished one recently that I wish I'd stopped near the beginning. It was recommended as similar to a book I enjoyed, but it was so unpleasant I deleted it off my phone when I reached the end.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2025 11:15 AM (/HVsR)

235 Best thing about it is its brevity.
=====

Back on my hobbyhorse cheering for 'classics' required reading to be shorter. Easier to discuss modern interpretations as well.

Northanger Abbey Evolution to Scream Queens.

Posted by: mustbequantum at June 29, 2025 11:15 AM (RqH5H)

236 Grade school reading included Verne, Poe, some Wells, some Dickens, some Stevenson, some Dumas, some Kipling, and others I don't remember now -- few 'childhood' classics. In 8th grade and high school I lived close to places with good paperback selections, and at the time a lot of Burroughs was being reprinted along with Heinlein, Asimov, Bester, Clarke, Bradbury, et al. That was pretty much the stuff I grew up on. What annoys me now is that unless you're in a city with large bookstores, you can't easily find the variety of reading on the local racks any more that you could in the 60s and 70s. On the drugstore racks in Chicago Lawn, I could find the above writers as well as Isaac Singer, Vladimir Nabokov, Shakespeare, Anthony Powell, Cheever, Updike, Roth, Conrad... Mass-market paperbacks all available at a local pharmacy. Not any more.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:16 AM (q3u5l)

237 I will never understand why it is fashionable to go out in public looking like a complete bum. I am, of course, talking about people going out wearing pajamas in public. Why?
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025

***
I know. Even older Americans, who grew up with standards, are doing this. I wear jeans or slacks, boots, and a shirt with a collar when I go to the store or out to eat.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:16 AM (omVj0)

238 "Porklips Now" 👍

I loved the skateboard attack to "Disco Valkyrie".

I think it's on YouTube.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 11:18 AM (kpS4V)

239 233 I will abandon a book with no compunction if it's not interesting to me, for absolutely any reason. There are millions of books; why would I keep reading one that I dislike?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 11:06 AM (h7ZuX)

This is exactly why I stopped reading that POS Great Expectations in school. Unfortunately that was for a grade and I got a 29 for that six weeks.

I had great expectations of there being a PLOT.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:15 AM (vm8sq)

Hah, that was me and Moby Dick. I still got an A on the book report though

Posted by: Farquad at June 29, 2025 11:18 AM (YkGND)

240 My copy was furnished by the Young Communist League of the CPSU.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 29, 2025 11:12 AM (RIvkX)
---
That's fumy because so far I haven't seen anything particularly flattering about Communists or derogatory about Americans. Greene's description of Vietnam as being torn by competing factions and agendas seems on the nose.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:19 AM (ZOv7s)

241 I will never understand why it is fashionable to go out in public looking like a complete bum. I am, of course, talking about people going out wearing pajamas in public. Why?
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025

***
Miss Lindas asks if you mean pajamas or "lounge pants," which she says are different and that the latter are acceptable in public. (If they are what I think they are, they are for home wear only. Unless you look like the young Sean Cnnery or Claudia Schiffer, you're not gonna look good in those.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:20 AM (omVj0)

242
I will never understand why it is fashionable to go out in public looking like a complete bum. I am, of course, talking about people going out wearing pajamas in public. Why?
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025

It used to be that the lower classes sought to imitate the upper ones. Now it's the reverse. How can you expect people to aspire to anything better when their models dress like slobs?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2025 11:20 AM (/HVsR)

243 I will abandon a book with no compunction if it's not interesting to me, for absolutely any reason. There are millions of books; why would I keep reading one that I dislike?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 11:06 AM (h7ZuX)

Maybe it depends on the cost of getting, and how long it is. Easy to finish a shorter book, harder to toss one you paid a bit more than a few bucks.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 11:20 AM (0eaVi)

244 I have also been reading The Testament of Marcellus by Marius Gabriel. It is thus far about a noble Roman of uncertain purpose visiting Jerusalem and Pontius Pilate at Passover. So far he has met Jesus on the road, was present at Jesus' chastisement of the money changers, and at Judas' negotiations with Pilate to betray Jesus. It is interesting.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Well, This Is Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into at June 29, 2025 11:21 AM (L/fGl)

245 I know. Even older Americans, who grew up with standards, are doing this. I wear jeans or slacks, boots, and a shirt with a collar when I go to the store or out to eat.

My father would shower, shave, and put on a button-up shirt to go to the post office, even if he was just going to the drive-up box. I will go to the hardware store mid-project in dirty sweats and torn sneakers but anything else requires at least a shower and a clean t-shirt.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 29, 2025 11:22 AM (/y8xj)

246 85 "Nine Billion Names of God" deals with a couple of computer guys taking on a job for some monks who believe that once mankind has listed all the names of God, there will be no further purpose to man's existence. Absolutely lovely closing line.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 09:48 AM (q3u5l)

NOW REVEAL UNTO ME THE NAME OF GOD...

I KNOW THEE!!! I KNOW YOUR NAME!!! I KNOW THE WORD THAT CAN UNDO ALL YOU HAVE WROUGHT!!!

Posted by: Warlock at June 29, 2025 11:22 AM (vm8sq)

247 Well his successor alexander 3rd older brother reversed much of it the peoples will caused themselves to be devoured,

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 11:23 AM (bXbFr)

248 Back on my hobbyhorse cheering for 'classics' required reading to be shorter. Easier to discuss modern interpretations as well.

Northanger Abbey Evolution to Scream Queens.
Posted by: mustbequantum at June 29, 2025 11:15 AM (RqH5H)
---
The virtue of shorter works is that you get more authors over the school year. We read lots of great stuff when I was in school, much of which has been subsequently canceled. This is why my grandkids are in parochial school.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:23 AM (ZOv7s)

249 My grandfather would wear his overalls ( pronounced over-hauls ) to church, but he always wore a suit and tie to vote.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at June 29, 2025 11:23 AM (PiwSw)

250 Had to read Great Expectations in high school. Hated it. A few decades later decided to try Dickens again and spent an all-night Greyhound layover revisiting Great Expectations. It read a lot better the second time around, though maybe that was because I was stuck all night in the Joplin Greyhound station. I understand David Lean's film is supposed to be pretty good, but I've never seen it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:24 AM (q3u5l)

251 Moyar points out how Diem was the best possible choice greene was naive

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 11:24 AM (bXbFr)

252 Miss Lindas asks if you mean pajamas or "lounge pants," which she says are different and that the latter are acceptable in public. (If they are what I think they are, they are for home wear only. Unless you look like the young Sean Cnnery or Claudia Schiffer, you're not gonna look good in those.)
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:20 AM (omVj0)

They HAVE to be pajamas. Me, I at the most dressed down might, MIGHT appear in public in my running shorts (well, basketball shorts, really), t-shirt and running shoes. But typically in a t-shirt and jeans.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:24 AM (vm8sq)

253 Regarding clothes: I often go to the gym wearing my workout clothes -- sweatpants and a t-shirt. It's located in the same strip mall as the supermarket. A couple of times I needed to pick up something at the market after exercising, and I had to argue myself into it. Going into anyplace other than a gym in workout clothes just felt WRONG.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 11:26 AM (78a2H)

254 My father would shower, shave, and put on a button-up shirt to go to the post office, even if he was just going to the drive-up box. I will go to the hardware store mid-project in dirty sweats and torn sneakers but anything else requires at least a shower and a clean t-shirt.
Posted by: Oddbob at June 29, 2025

***
In mid-project, that's understandable. And I might wear a T-shirt while I'm driving on a long road trip. But, like Bret Maverick hitting Dodge City, when I get to my destination, I shower and put on grownup clothes before going out to ear.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:26 AM (omVj0)

255 My father would shower, shave, and put on a button-up shirt to go to the post office, even if he was just going to the drive-up box. I will go to the hardware store mid-project in dirty sweats and torn sneakers but anything else requires at least a shower and a clean t-shirt.
Posted by: Oddbob at June 29, 2025 11:22 AM (/y8xj)
---
I do not believe my father even owns a pair of jeans. Maybe he did in the 1970s, but I can't recall seeing him in them. He does not own a single T-shirt.

He is very much conscious of social class and so always wears button-down shirts.

My mother's side of the family was to the manor born, and so they can dress like slobs when slumming it, but have always had impeccable formal wear and a ferocious insistence on manners. Miss Manners and Gloria Vanderbilt were regular topics of conversation over meals.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:27 AM (ZOv7s)

256 Idealism is an expensive commodity in south east asia actually anywhere in the third world

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 11:27 AM (bXbFr)

257 know. Even older Americans, who grew up with standards, are doing this. I wear jeans or slacks, boots, and a shirt with a collar when I go to the store or out to eat.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:16 AM (omVj0)

I dress everyday after I retired like I’m prepared to play any sport. That’s my comfort zone.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:28 AM (VofaG)

258 Regarding clothes: I often go to the gym wearing my workout clothes -- sweatpants and a t-shirt. It's located in the same strip mall as the supermarket. A couple of times I needed to pick up something at the market after exercising, and I had to argue myself into it. Going into anyplace other than a gym in workout clothes just felt WRONG.
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025

***
Well, if you're right there, sure. My problem would be that after sweating considerably at the gym, I'd get pretty chilled in the A/C at the market. I'd dive in and out, fast.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:28 AM (omVj0)

259 I will never understand why it is fashionable to go out in public looking like a complete bum. I am, of course, talking about people going out wearing pajamas in public. Why?
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025

***
I know. Even older Americans, who grew up with standards, are doing this. I wear jeans or slacks, boots, and a shirt with a collar when I go to the store or out to eat.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:16 AM (omVj0)

As a now "older American," I seek comfort in my clothing. I wear things like Champion pants, or All in Motion. I've bought a few golf pants even though I don't play. I want something that looks casual, but lightweight. Can't stand wearing khakis, or denim. I'd never wear pajama bottoms to go anywhere. Heck, I even refuse to wear shorts outside except around the house. I wear either Polos or camp shirts.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 11:29 AM (0eaVi)

260 I will never understand why it is fashionable to go out in public looking like a complete bum. I am, of course, talking about people going out wearing pajamas in public. Why?
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025

Eagles Hat on Backwards...check.
Eagles Jersey...check.
Pajama Pants...check.
Yellow Crocs...check.

Honey, ready to go out to dinner?!

Posted by: 40 year old child who couldn't find Philly on a map at June 29, 2025 11:30 AM (R/m4+)

261 Hadrian's remarks about Queen Victoria made me think. As much as I love the literature that has come out of Britain for almost two thousand years, Its royalty may have peaked with Alfred the Great and has been in decline ever since.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025 11:31 AM (yTvNw)

262 243 I will abandon a book with no compunction if it's not interesting to me, for absolutely any reason. There are millions of books; why would I keep reading one that I dislike?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 11:06 AM (h7ZuX)

Maybe it depends on the cost of getting, and how long it is. Easy to finish a shorter book, harder to toss one you paid a bit more than a few bucks.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 11:20 AM (0eaVi)

eBooks also make it easier. Doesn't take up any shelf space and you can easily delete if you need more space on your reader/computer.

Posted by: Farquad at June 29, 2025 11:32 AM (YkGND)

263 Idealism is an expensive commodity in south east asia actually anywhere in the third world
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 11:27 AM (bXbFr)
---
Greene is alleged to skew left, but he always has a place for religion in his stories, which seems to get overlooked by the secular materialist types.

One of the American traits Greene clearly despises is our tendency to make otherwise distasteful policy positions "better" by sprinkling Christian pixie dust on it and claiming are motives are purely altruistic.

This has only gotten worse over time, to the extent that we have actual religious writers who twist Just War doctrine into "Russia must be dismantled for its sins" or "anything is permissible for a good cause."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:32 AM (ZOv7s)

264 Oh, I go for comfort, too. But part of it is psychological comfort, and I don't feel I look my best in T-shirts or ratty pants.

Since I retired three months ago, I've found myself wearing my Dan Post cowboy boots more often on excursions than I used to. They're not really that hot, not if you're in a cooled car or store or restaurant. When I was working, I wore them very little in the hot weather (read: March to November). Now, they seem okay to me.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:32 AM (omVj0)

265 Watched the Patriot last night and we had a discussion at aos on how accurate it was compared to how accurate Braveheart was.

I come down on the side that The Patriot had way less inaccuracies than Braveheart.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:34 AM (VofaG)

266 The closest I get to pajama pants outside the house is on trash pickup day -- bathrobe & sweat pants at 6:30 am to get the can to the curb and then back inside. PJs to WalMart, etc? Gotta be kidding.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:35 AM (q3u5l)

267 When I go to the store with my shirt untucked, it is because it covers my pistol, which might otherwise distress the fainthearted.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 29, 2025 11:37 AM (NPytu)

268 Speaking of clothing, or not, I came across this. Nude Christian Camping: A Journey of Faith, Freedom, and Fresh Air into Christ-Centered Outdoor Nudism Under the Open Sky (The Christian Nudist Book 61) by Justine Hudson.

https://is.gd/G4nZ37

Now, I don't know about you, but gathering firewood in the altogether does not seem appealing to me. While searching for this book just now, I came across this organization.

https://naturist-christians.org/

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Well, This Is Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into at June 29, 2025 11:37 AM (L/fGl)

269 I will abandon a book with no compunction if it's not interesting to me, for absolutely any reason. There are millions of books; why would I keep reading one that I dislike?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 11:06 AM (h7ZuX)

Same here and it seems I’ve been doing it a lot lately. I need to try Stephen Hunter again. He used to grab my attention quite easily.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:38 AM (VofaG)

270 There is a Mad magazine reprint of their classic movie takedowns on the impulse buy magazine rack at the store. MASH and Apocalypse nowland. All the ones I read as a kid. Almost plopped it in the cart until I saw the 18 dollar price tag.
Might still buy it.

Posted by: Reforger at June 29, 2025 11:38 AM (LgDgc)

271 Since I retired three months ago, I've found myself wearing my Dan Post cowboy boots more often on excursions than I used to. They're not really that hot, not if you're in a cooled car or store or restaurant. When I was working, I wore them very little in the hot weather (read: March to November). Now, they seem okay to me.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:32 AM (omVj0)
---
The look I usually aspire to in public is a disgruntled, shabby, potentially dangerous veteran. I usually wear at least one uniform part - more often in cool weather when a jacket is required, but yesterday I was rocking ABU pants with a Hawaiian shirt.

When I turned 40, I got a floppy brimmed hat because I feel baseball caps are not for grown, mature men. I wear them only on a functional basis - say while shooting.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:38 AM (ZOv7s)

272 268 --

Sounds like an ideal way to acquire insect bites in new and interesting places.

Who needs it?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:38 AM (q3u5l)

273 When I turned 40, I got a floppy brimmed hat because I feel baseball caps are not for grown, mature men. I wear them only on a functional basis - say while shooting.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:38 AM (ZOv7s)

This grown man wears a baseball cap all the time. But you may have a point about not being fully mature.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:40 AM (VofaG)

274 I come down on the side that The Patriot had way less inaccuracies than Braveheart.
Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:34 AM (VofaG)

That is truly scary.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:40 AM (vm8sq)

275 When I turned 40, I got a floppy brimmed hat because I feel baseball caps are not for grown, mature men. I wear them only on a functional basis - say while shooting.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:38 AM (ZOv7s)

WTH???

Posted by: MLB players at June 29, 2025 11:40 AM (vm8sq)

276 182
'One might say that Japan miscalculated somewhat in deciding to attack Pearl Harbor.'

The Japanese had no expectation of winning if they didn't an overwhelming advantage early on.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at June 29, 2025 11:40 AM (3wi/L)

277 This grown man wears a baseball cap all the time. But you may have a point about not being fully mature.
Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:40 AM (VofaG)
---
Another reason was that a full brim gives all-round sun protection, sparing my neck and ears from sunburn.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:41 AM (ZOv7s)

278 I wear a floppy brimmed hat because baseball caps are ineffective. They do not work very well on bald guys.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:41 AM (vm8sq)

279 come down on the side that The Patriot had way less inaccuracies than Braveheart.
Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:34 AM (VofaG)

That is truly scary.
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:40 AM (vm8sq)

Tells me you don’t know a lot about William Wallace.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:42 AM (VofaG)

280 Achieved "retirement age" (62) today. Have to work until 70 to actually get enough out of Social Security to be able to retire without having to also work to make ends meet.

Weird being this old and also having a Daughter who just graduated high school.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 29, 2025 11:42 AM (/RHNq)

281 The Japanese had no expectation of winning if they didn't an overwhelming advantage early on.
Posted by: Dr. Claw at June 29, 2025 11:40 AM (3wi/L)

After Pearl, the IJN (who exactly?) said "Now we can run wild for six months!" They almost nailed it.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:42 AM (vm8sq)

282
Tells me you don’t know a lot about William Wallace.
Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:42 AM (VofaG)

Nor did I see Braveheart. But I DID see The Patriot.

In one of my history classes at the uni, we had an assignment: "Find five historical inaccuracies in The Patriot". I was done in, what, five minutes?

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:44 AM (vm8sq)

283 I was in a used bookstore Friday, and saw a Farmer's Almanac for some year in the nineties. I can't really imagine a buyer is going to turn up.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 29, 2025 09:59 AM (Vfq+S)

Of course there is. When push comes to shove, some of it can be used as emergency toilet paper! Much safer than grabbing some poison ivy!

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at June 29, 2025 11:44 AM (S/Y4j)

284 After Pearl, the IJN (who exactly?) said "Now we can run wild for six months!" They almost nailed it.
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:42 AM (vm8sq)
---
In the Japanese telling, Gojira (Godzilla) was originally a demon created by the souls of all the soldiers, sailors and airmen who fought to the death in the South Pacific, only to see the homeland surrender and embrace American culture. Their rapid return to proximity called for divine vengeance.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:45 AM (ZOv7s)

285 I'm hitting something of a milestone tomorrow. I retired in 2010 (had the points required by the employer) but stayed on the books as part-time when needed to help with preparing reports to the state board of regents. At close of day tomorrow, I expect to be retired-retired. Guess I'll maybe catch up with some more reading...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:46 AM (q3u5l)

286 I wear a floppy brimmed hat because baseball caps are ineffective. They do not work very well on bald guys.
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025

***
Even straw fedoras and Open Road hats are pretty hot here for too much of the year. In rainy weather I'll wear a felt fedora or OR, to save having to tote an umbrella, but I know my head will get sweaty anyway.

I have one baseball cap: an U.N.C.L.E.-logo one which was part of the swag at the 50th anniversary convention in 2014. I'll wear it while working out if I fear I might get rain -- I hate rain in my eyes.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:46 AM (omVj0)

287 Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:44 AM (vm8sq)

Did you mean that it’s truly scary that Braveheart has more inaccuracies or are you doing the ‘ I didn’t see or read what you’re referring to but you’re wrong’ ?

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:47 AM (VofaG)

288
I sometimes think of this as "You ask someone the time, and they try to explain to you (in detail) how to build a clock."
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 29, 2025 09:23 AM (O7YUW)

Star Trek?

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:47 AM (vm8sq)

289 Pajama pants are still a thing?

One of the kiddos did that in high school. The "pants" were plaid flannel with no button opening in front, so not quite PJs. Then a t-shirt.

He wore that regularly through college.

The funny thing is that his (now) fiancé thought he was the biggest sloppiest idiot in the world when she first saw him, running into a final exam in his PJs, ten minutes late with no pencil, so he had to beg one.

Anyway, now a professional, no Pjs outside and a casual jeans and t-shirt guy outside of work.

See? It all works out.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 29, 2025 11:47 AM (iJfKG)

290 I'm noticing we have some very senior 29 year old Morons.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:48 AM (ZOv7s)

291 287 Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:44 AM (vm8sq)

Did you mean that it’s truly scary that Braveheart has more inaccuracies or are you doing the ‘ I didn’t see or read what you’re referring to but you’re wrong’ ?
Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:47 AM (VofaG)

Clarification is in order.

I have not seen Braveheart, but DID see The Patriot. SO, if you are saying that Braveheart is more historically inaccurate than The Patriot, that is truly scary.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:48 AM (vm8sq)

292 Another reason was that a full brim gives all-round sun protection, sparing my neck and ears from sunburn.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:41 AM (ZOv7s)

You could wear a shemagh, or a cheiche

I have broad brimmed hats, but they are a pain to manage in today's world. Baseball caps I can sweat in all day, and toss in a bucket of water and boraxo overnight to get the stink out

Posted by: Kindltot at June 29, 2025 11:49 AM (D7oie)

293 I have not seen Braveheart, but DID see The Patriot. SO, if you are saying that Braveheart is more historically inaccurate than The Patriot, that is truly scary.
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:48 AM (vm8sq)

👍

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:50 AM (VofaG)

294 I sometimes think of this as "You ask someone the time, and they try to explain to you (in detail) how to build a clock."
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 29, 2025 09:23 AM (O7YUW)

Star Trek?
Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025

***
Trek at its best was great at reducing complex, epic concepts to an understandable level. In Khan, for instance, we're told about the Genesis project, which can swiftly terraform planets. Then we see the beautiful second stage inside the asteroid, and Carol Marcus murmurs, "Can I cook, or can't I?"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:50 AM (omVj0)

295 Dumb question -- what age is '29' here in AoS Moron-land?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:50 AM (q3u5l)

296 Woot!

Back from church!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 29, 2025 11:51 AM (IBQGV)

297 In a way I think the Japanese entry into WWII was the greatest passive-aggressive bitch move in history.

Japanese Leadership: "If we play our cards right, we can expand our influence in the region until no outside power can challenge us in our home territory."

Japanese Junior Officers: "That is not the way of the samurai! We will assassinate you for talking like that! We want war with everybody!"

Japanese Leadership: "Look, that's a dumb idea. We're a middle-rank power. Maybe we can blackmail the British into giving us concessions or something."

Japanese Junior Officers: (machinegun and katana sounds)

Japanese Leadership: "Fine. Have it your way. Oh, and by the way, guess who's going to be leading the fight against powers we can't beat?"

Japanese Junior Officers: "BANZAI!"

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 11:51 AM (78a2H)

298 Whst was the key inaccuracy

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 11:51 AM (bXbFr)

299 Dumb question -- what age is '29' here in AoS Moron-land?
Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025

***
Old enough to say un-ironically, "Get off my lawn!"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:52 AM (omVj0)

300 You could wear a shemagh, or a cheiche

I have broad brimmed hats, but they are a pain to manage in today's world. Baseball caps I can sweat in all day, and toss in a bucket of water and boraxo overnight to get the stink out
Posted by: Kindltot at June 29, 2025 11:49 AM (D7oie)
---
The one I wear out and about is "crushable" and is probably due for replacement.

I have a larger one I used around the yard and a third one with a cord for biking. I do have some baseball caps for going shooting or Alumni Band and course a bunch of my old BDU/ABU covers. I like the ones with the fold-down flap for intermediate weather.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:52 AM (ZOv7s)

301 Braveheart's depiction of the Battle of Stirling Bridge contains no bridge, Stirling or otherwise.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Well, This Is Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into at June 29, 2025 11:52 AM (L/fGl)

302 Posted by: Trimegistus at June 29, 2025 11:51 AM (78a2H)

Tojo was a psychopath.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:53 AM (VofaG)

303 Another example of Trek dialog relating big concepts to the viewer: The M-5, the "Ultimate Computer," has gone dark in atonement. Kirk tells Scotty and Spock, "Get down to Engineering and yank out every hookup that makes M-5 run. Pull out the plug, Spock!"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:54 AM (omVj0)

304
I was stuck all night in the Joplin Greyhound station.

That sounds like a song.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at June 29, 2025 11:54 AM (63Dwl)

305 Whst was the key inaccuracy
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 11:51 AM (bXbFr)

If you’re talking about Braveheart, Wallace was the son of a nobleman and Robert the Bruce didn’t betray him.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:54 AM (VofaG)

306 Trek at its best was great at reducing complex, epic concepts to an understandable level. In Khan, for instance, we're told about the Genesis project, which can swiftly terraform planets. Then we see the beautiful second stage inside the asteroid, and Carol Marcus murmurs, "Can I cook, or can't I?"
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:50 AM (omVj0)
---
The best episodes are when they use a human trait to solve the problem rather than technobabble. Much of TNG was Geordie fixing the flasmaflinder, which is completely unsatisfying.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:54 AM (ZOv7s)

307 I also just finished the final book in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Barsoom series (there are only ten, plus two short stories, I think).

I read have the Kindle Fire set. I just couldn't get into the fourth one.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at June 29, 2025 11:55 AM (JVCkA)

308 Guess I'll maybe catch up with some more reading...
Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:46 AM (q3u5l)

And writing?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 11:55 AM (0eaVi)

309 I was stuck all night in the Joplin Greyhound station.

That sounds like a song.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at June 29, 2025

***
"Sittin' downtown in the railway station,
One toke over the line --"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:55 AM (omVj0)

310 Not too many kids in the neighborhood so I don't have much occasion to say "Get off my lawn," though I'd like to catch the clown who never picks up after his dog...

Just wondered if there was a numerical minimum age for 29 here.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:55 AM (q3u5l)

311 I liked it better in olden days when other countries, Japan, Germany, Russia et al., went crazy but we didn't.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Well, This Is Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into at June 29, 2025 11:56 AM (L/fGl)

312 The best episodes are when they use a human trait to solve the problem rather than technobabble. Much of TNG was Geordie fixing the flasmaflinder, which is completely unsatisfying.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:54 AM (ZOv7s)

They frequently convinced Spock that human reasoning was the solution to his dismay.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:57 AM (VofaG)

313 Dang, Dave Parker died. 74

The OG Big Pappy...

Posted by: jsg at June 29, 2025 11:57 AM (LWS+S)

314 If you’re talking about Braveheart, Wallace was the son of a nobleman and Robert the Bruce didn’t betray him.
Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:54 AM (VofaG)
---
Did it also include the Prima Noctum garbage?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:57 AM (ZOv7s)

315 Just wondered if there was a numerical minimum age for 29 here.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:55 AM (q3u5l)

We count in Martian years, friend.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 29, 2025 11:57 AM (NPytu)

316 I wear hats a lot these days just because they are comfortable and offer sun protection. They all have wide brims, three inches or more. It's not a fashion statement but practical. In a heavy rain they also protect my hearing aids.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2025 11:57 AM (yTvNw)

317 OrangeEnt at 308.

Yep, that too.

And on that happy note, it's time to wreak havoc and chaos here at Casa Some Guy.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:58 AM (q3u5l)

318 The best episodes are when they use a human trait to solve the problem rather than technobabble. Much of TNG was Geordie fixing the flasmaflinder, which is completely unsatisfying.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025

***
Or the human reaction *to* the technobabble. Told that her own thoughts may let her escape the steadily shrinking alternate universe she's in, Beverly murmurs:

"Click my heels together three times and I'm back in Kansas. Can it really be that simple . . .?"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 11:58 AM (omVj0)

319 So...now I kind of look at Genesis as the origin and history of Jewish people? And there were others, not Jewish? Is it heretical to even notice?

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 29, 2025 10:36 AM (h7ZuX)
-

Well, yes. Genesis traces the lineage of the Jewish people. But Genesis is about Israel's tribal origins. Exodus's covenant at Sinai is about the formation of Israel as a nation.

Was Jacob "Jewish"? He wouldn't have known of such a term. He didn't even know the term "Israel" until G-d changed his name to that. But Isaac, Jacob and the 12 tribes were the inheritors of the covenant given to Abraham.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 29, 2025 11:58 AM (t11Bq)

320 "Just wondered if there was a numerical minimum age for 29 here."

Not that I know of, but if you remember being amazed by the home version of "Pong," then you're probably 29 or just a skosh over.

Posted by: PabloD at June 29, 2025 11:58 AM (Dsfkc)

321 Did it also include the Prima Noctum garbage?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:57 AM (ZOv7s)

They used that as the trigger. Also wore kilts. And Wallace didn’t father the next king of England.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:59 AM (VofaG)

322 Posted by: Just Some Guy

Standing joke is that we're all 29.
Some are just more 29 than others.

Posted by: MkY at June 29, 2025 11:59 AM (dBjMw)

323 Well that was randall wallaces work right

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at June 29, 2025 11:59 AM (bXbFr)

324 (looks at clock)

Darn it. End of the book thread time. Thanks, Perfessor. Got things to do. Weird, for a retired person.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2025 12:00 PM (0eaVi)

325 I have a larger one I used around the yard and a third one with a cord for biking. I do have some baseball caps for going shooting or Alumni Band and course a bunch of my old BDU/ABU covers. I like the ones with the fold-down flap for intermediate weather.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 11:52 AM (ZOv7s)

One thing I miss from the BDU days: the Elmer Fudd cap. I might have looked ridiculous wearing it, but my ears were in a tropical environment when I wore it, even if I were in downtown Barrow in January, so who cared?

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 12:00 PM (vm8sq)

326 My summer wear is a tshirt, jeans, and nice leather sandals (would go barefoot if I could get away with it). No hat. The military made me hate any kind of head covering.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at June 29, 2025 12:01 PM (g8Ew8)

327 Yup, got to do some chores. Thanks, Perfessor and all of you for a fine Book Thread!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2025 12:01 PM (omVj0)

328 In TNG, I like it when the hold up *drum roll* The Prime Directive as absolutely sacrosanct, yet they keep breaking it.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at June 29, 2025 12:01 PM (PiwSw)

329 Thanks again, Perfesser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 29, 2025 12:01 PM (ZOv7s)

330 Nood.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 29, 2025 12:02 PM (NPytu)

331 Abraham and his family came from Ur which is located in what is now Iraq.

Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 12:02 PM (VofaG)

332 291 287 Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:44 AM (vm8sq)

Did you mean that it’s truly scary that Braveheart has more inaccuracies or are you doing the ‘ I didn’t see or read what you’re referring to but you’re wrong’ ?
Posted by: polynikes at June 29, 2025 11:47 AM (VofaG)

Clarification is in order.

I have not seen Braveheart, but DID see The Patriot. SO, if you are saying that Braveheart is more historically inaccurate than The Patriot, that is truly scary.

Posted by: Cow Demon at June 29, 2025 11:48 AM (vm8sq)

I've seen both. Deciding on which is more historically inaccurate is a pointless exercise. They're both historical fiction.

Then again, how much of our actual history is fiction? Think about all the things you learned in history/social studies growing up and all the things they didn't teach you or were just flat out wrong. There were many things I didn't learn about until college or even after that.

Posted by: Farquad at June 29, 2025 12:09 PM (YkGND)

333 Under the Beetle's Cellar by Mary Willis Walker came out about 30 years ago. It's about a busload of kids and their Vietnam vet driver who are kidnapped by a doomsday prophet and held underground on his compound as he awaits the end of the world. Meanwhile, the feds have his compound under siege. It won all kinds of mystery and suspense awards and then she quit writing or quite being published after only four books. I read them all and they were all excellent.

Posted by: huerfano at June 29, 2025 12:10 PM (n2swS)

334 I asked my librarian if they had the book "Living with an Extremely Small Penis?"

She checked her computer and said "It doesn't seem to be in yet."

I replied "Yeah, That's the title."

Posted by: Fritzty at June 29, 2025 12:17 PM (T5dpv)

335 I read have the Kindle Fire set. I just couldn't get into the fourth one.

If by the fourth one you mean Thuvia, Maid of Mars, I found it amazing. It really gets across just how ancient Martian civilization is.

This was also the book where I realized just how much Lucas had been influenced by this series. Jeds and Jeddaks as great warriors. Padwar as beginners. Banths as… banths.

The book also banked on the overweening backwardness of the intellectual class.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at June 29, 2025 12:17 PM (olroh)

336 Just wondered if there was a numerical minimum age for 29 here.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 29, 2025 11:55 AM (q3u5l)
---

It's less a specific age than a philosophical shaking of one's cane at Today's Youth and the sorry state of society, which needs to pull its pants up, dangit.

Some young people yearn for yesteryear. See: the Young Fogeys, the Chappies, and the Young Farts.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at June 29, 2025 12:26 PM (kpS4V)

337 Just back from church, so I missed the thread, but I have looked at A Gallery of Beautiful Home Libraries, and I do believe they are all generated by AI. Observe diligently: there’s something off about each one! Pretty, but not real! If there’s anyone checking this late: that’s what I saw.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at June 29, 2025 01:29 PM (WBi0X)

338 If you can say, without a qualm, “Get off my lawn!” you can claim the mantle of 29.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at June 29, 2025 01:39 PM (WBi0X)

339 What if I don't care if kids are on the lawn?

Our neighborhood has undergone a youth surge. I like seeing the little ones playing. They'll do until we have grandkids, if that ever happens.

When we moved here, we were the newlyweds on a block of grandparents. Now it's reversed.

How to fit this rambling in with books? I know! Some evenings, I sit 9n the front porch rocker and read while listening to the kids play.

Posted by: Weak Geek (the anti-Mr. Wilson) at June 29, 2025 03:18 PM (p/isN)

340 Last!

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at June 29, 2025 06:18 PM (Gmq6N)

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