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Book Thread: 04/12/2026 [MP4]
(and no, not the song by the Coasters)
Arrival in India and varied experiences there. Gama arrives in India. Ludicrous mistake of the Portuguese when they see images of Hindoo deities. Gama makes a big bluff in talking to the Indian king and is treated with great contempt.”Now, doesn’t that make you want to find out just what Gama said and what happened to him? And as for Van Doren, he was a master storyteller; his view of Lincoln’s assassination and escape, told through Booth’s eyes, was just the sort of thing to appeal to a young child fascinated by history. But there was another thing, too. ‘There is no frigate like a book,’ Emily Dickinson wrote. That’s the power of a great book: it can lift you out of your own world and immerse you in another, whether it be the Shire, Wonderland or even a 1920s summer house in England. I keep returning to Discoverers and Lincoln because they transform me. I’m not the sour, unhappy man looking at the world through the bottom of a glass; I’m at Columbus’ side when he hears the glad cry of ‘Land!’ I’m shivering as I watch Booth climb to the Presidential box, derringer in hand. I am, for a moment, that child curled up in a chair eagerly turning pages. What about you? Did you have any books you loved, lost and found? Or ones that you’ve lost and never found again? What is it about some books (and tell me your faves) that makes them timeless?
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
Tolle Lege
Posted by: Skip at April 12, 2026 09:00 AM (Ia/+0)
2
Booken morgen horden!
Yay mp4!
Yay mp4!
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 12, 2026 09:01 AM (LmPA0)
3
Morning, Book Folken!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:02 AM (wzUl9)
4
Morning, all. It's a sunny day shining outside the window. I hope it's sunny where you are.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:03 AM (qRla/)
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 12, 2026 09:03 AM (RIvkX)
6
And thanks for letting me host, CBD.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:03 AM (qRla/)
7
I read a very fun book by my fave writing team Ilona Andrews : This Kingdom Not Kill Me
Really enjoyed this. The basic premise is that 26 year old Maggie wakes up in the world of her favorite fantasy book series. She's a fantasy fan, she's very aware of the tropes, but she has no idea why she's there.
One annoying thing, and I am guessing Tor made them shoehorn this in, they have a very minor character appear who is basically intersex and when introduced, said he can be referred to as he/him. 🙄
However, joke's on Transmafia in Tor, as this type of nongender seems cleary inborn, and there was no concept of magically turning a man into a woman or vice versa, which in fantasy would be possible. In a fantasy world with rideable flying dinosaurs, a nongender birth defect is trivial, imo.
Really enjoyed this. The basic premise is that 26 year old Maggie wakes up in the world of her favorite fantasy book series. She's a fantasy fan, she's very aware of the tropes, but she has no idea why she's there.
One annoying thing, and I am guessing Tor made them shoehorn this in, they have a very minor character appear who is basically intersex and when introduced, said he can be referred to as he/him. 🙄
However, joke's on Transmafia in Tor, as this type of nongender seems cleary inborn, and there was no concept of magically turning a man into a woman or vice versa, which in fantasy would be possible. In a fantasy world with rideable flying dinosaurs, a nongender birth defect is trivial, imo.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 12, 2026 09:03 AM (LmPA0)
8
already spilt the coffee this AM. quality learing, here.
Posted by: gKWVE at April 12, 2026 09:04 AM (NVRsf)
Posted by: dantesed at April 12, 2026 09:04 AM (Oy/m2)
10
Very pretty outfit in the photo
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 12, 2026 09:04 AM (LmPA0)
11
I would like that titled book on Discovers
But now still reading Reasoned Examination of the Properties of the Three Arms Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery by Gen Nicolai Okunev. A Russian Napoleonic era officer.
A note his name is spelled many different ways
But now still reading Reasoned Examination of the Properties of the Three Arms Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery by Gen Nicolai Okunev. A Russian Napoleonic era officer.
A note his name is spelled many different ways
Posted by: Skip at April 12, 2026 09:04 AM (Ia/+0)
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 09:05 AM (q3u5l)
13
g'mornin' again, 'rons
g'mornin' again, 'rons
Posted by: AltonJackson at April 12, 2026 09:05 AM (2/MrR)
14
I've almost finished Richard Blum's American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood and the Crime of the Century. It's about the 1910 bombing of the LA Times and the search for the bombers.
The book weaves three stories - the search for the killers, Clarence Darrow's defense and DW Griffith's move to Hollywood. Very nicely written, if you like this sort of thing.
The book weaves three stories - the search for the killers, Clarence Darrow's defense and DW Griffith's move to Hollywood. Very nicely written, if you like this sort of thing.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:06 AM (qRla/)
15
Good to see MP4 at the helm again! (See what I did there . . . frigates/books . . .)
This week I've been finishing an Elmore Leonard, one of his last Westerns I think (1979, when he'd already shifted mostly to crime stories): Gunsights. Set in the late 1880s, it focuses on two men, Dana Moon and Bren Early, their partnership and friendship, and -- even when they are nominally on opposite sides in a land war -- they band together to stop a murderous gunman who is out to revenge himself on them. Solid stuff.
This week I've been finishing an Elmore Leonard, one of his last Westerns I think (1979, when he'd already shifted mostly to crime stories): Gunsights. Set in the late 1880s, it focuses on two men, Dana Moon and Bren Early, their partnership and friendship, and -- even when they are nominally on opposite sides in a land war -- they band together to stop a murderous gunman who is out to revenge himself on them. Solid stuff.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:06 AM (wzUl9)
16
I think the first book that really took me out of this world was Emphyrio by Jack Vance. He is a good world-builder.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 12, 2026 09:06 AM (RIvkX)
17
I have recently found it's much harder to write a book than it is to read one.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 09:06 AM (1Ff7Z)
18
When I was a child, my grandmother bought me a hardback copy of The Ship by Bjorn Lanstrom. It is full of detailed color drawings of ships through history. I still have it, which is fortunate, as a used copy would not be cheap.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 09:07 AM (0U5gm)
19
gKWVE - your hash is different. Either we have a doppelgänger, folks, or a router has been reset.
Posted by: PabloD at April 12, 2026 09:07 AM (8sD0/)
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 09:08 AM (bXbFr)
21
They wouldnt blow up a news paper now what would be the ooint
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 09:08 AM (bXbFr)
22
Morning, Horde....
Thanks for the Sunday Morning Book Thread, MP4!
You always ask great questions...
Thanks for the Sunday Morning Book Thread, MP4!
You always ask great questions...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 12, 2026 09:08 AM (gnNyN)
23
Good Sunday morning, horde.
Thanks, MP4. Now I will always be looking for The World's Discoverers.
Thanks, MP4. Now I will always be looking for The World's Discoverers.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 09:09 AM (h7ZuX)
24
“Bigger Bombs For a Brighter Tomorrow”, have been on a Cold War and general CIA spook deep dive of the seemingly placid or boring 1950s Eisenhower years, and the later Bay of Pigs debacle leading up to JFK in Dallas. Context, as they say, is everything.
I’m really starting to get a mancrush on James Angleton (no homo!). All the right people hated him. He is sometimes derided as “paranoid”, convinced there was a mole at CIA, but he wasn’t wrong. The question whether Nosenko was a double agent is interesting. He’s since been declared as a bona fide defector, but I tend to believe Angleton was right. They fired him, naturally.
I’m really starting to get a mancrush on James Angleton (no homo!). All the right people hated him. He is sometimes derided as “paranoid”, convinced there was a mole at CIA, but he wasn’t wrong. The question whether Nosenko was a double agent is interesting. He’s since been declared as a bona fide defector, but I tend to believe Angleton was right. They fired him, naturally.
Posted by: Common Tater at April 12, 2026 09:10 AM (P6llz)
25
Thanks, MP4. Now I will always be looking for The World's Discoverers.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 09:09 AM (h7ZuX)
You won't be sorry. It's also a good book for kids - a nice antidote to the slop fed them in 'social studies.'
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 09:09 AM (h7ZuX)
You won't be sorry. It's also a good book for kids - a nice antidote to the slop fed them in 'social studies.'
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:11 AM (qRla/)
26
no, I'm in a coffee shop. they gave me a fresh one rather than making me lick it up the floor.
Posted by: gKWVE at April 12, 2026 09:11 AM (NVRsf)
27
Favorites . . .? Well, as a kid many of my favorites were from the Whitman line of Authorized TV Adventures for Young Readers: Roy Rogers, Bat Masterson, Bret Maverick, and Gene Autry. ONe in particular, The Ghost of Mystery Rancho, really caught my imagination. Roy, a Texas Ranger in this one, battles a murderous bandit chief on the Mexican border, the Ghost, who wears a skeleton mask and costume, so that not even his own men know who he really is. I found it again as an adult on eBay.
Yes, the plot has holes you could ride Trigger through . . . but the narrative drive is amazing. It's a "closed mystery," in that you do not know the identity of the Ghost until the last chapter (as opposed to all those Cannon episodes where you watch the crime committed, and the suspense becomes how will Frank trap the criminal). Ghost fired up my youthful interest in the classic detective story, and is still readable for a grownup.
Yes, the plot has holes you could ride Trigger through . . . but the narrative drive is amazing. It's a "closed mystery," in that you do not know the identity of the Ghost until the last chapter (as opposed to all those Cannon episodes where you watch the crime committed, and the suspense becomes how will Frank trap the criminal). Ghost fired up my youthful interest in the classic detective story, and is still readable for a grownup.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:11 AM (wzUl9)
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at April 12, 2026 09:11 AM (eiAiG)
29
The books I remember most from childhood were things like Roy Chapman Andrews' books on dinosaurs, a couple of Roy Gallant's kids books on astronomy (with those Chesley Bonestell pictures), a few book club children's classics (All the Mowgli Stories, etc), and a book of b&w photos called Around the World in 2000 Pictures. And Classics Illustrated Comics.
Haven't seen any of those editions in a LONG time.
Haven't seen any of those editions in a LONG time.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 09:12 AM (q3u5l)
30
He was a brilliant fellow maybe he waa unnerved by philbys discovery but i doubt it, golitsyn was more right than wrong but the 7th floor didnt want to admit it
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 09:12 AM (bXbFr)
31
I read and reread "The Mad Scientists' Club" constantly during grade school. I bought a collection of that book and its sequel online about 15 years ago but have yet to crack it, probably because I have the original stories firmly in memory. I can still list the members.
Why did that book have such appeal? Because of the way they pulled off their stunts, using current (1960s) technology. A modern MSC would probably be all hackers, and I'd want them locked up. If not worse.
Why did that book have such appeal? Because of the way they pulled off their stunts, using current (1960s) technology. A modern MSC would probably be all hackers, and I'd want them locked up. If not worse.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (ckmbv)
32
He was pro israel unlike much of the company whose roots were very pro arab
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (bXbFr)
33
“Bigger Bombs For a Brighter Tomorrow”, have been on a Cold War and general CIA spook deep dive of the seemingly placid or boring 1950s Eisenhower years, and the later Bay of Pigs debacle leading up to JFK in Dallas. Context, as they say, is everything.
If you're doing the Ike years, let me recommend K Blows Top by Peter Carlson, which looks (very humorously) at Khrushchev's 1959 tour of the US.
If you're doing the Ike years, let me recommend K Blows Top by Peter Carlson, which looks (very humorously) at Khrushchev's 1959 tour of the US.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (qRla/)
34
Yay book thread! I'm working my way through Tolkien's letters, which (in the case of Tom Bombadil) answer some of the "lore" questions but also fill out the man as a whole.
There's a great one he wrote to his son Michael about the differences between men and women, the purpose of marriage, the dangers of friendship between the sexes and the purpose of life that is about the most based thing imaginable.
Guy just dishes out truth with a shovel, and it's clear that while I kept the romance in his stories mostly off-camera, he did so not out of naivete but as part of the style, though in his unpublished works he goes into relationship dysfunction, which he probably saw plenty of throughout his life.
There's a great one he wrote to his son Michael about the differences between men and women, the purpose of marriage, the dangers of friendship between the sexes and the purpose of life that is about the most based thing imaginable.
Guy just dishes out truth with a shovel, and it's clear that while I kept the romance in his stories mostly off-camera, he did so not out of naivete but as part of the style, though in his unpublished works he goes into relationship dysfunction, which he probably saw plenty of throughout his life.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (ZOv7s)
35
While most people first encounter Narnia in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, my personal favorite story in the series is The Magician's Nephew. This is the origin story of the series, though written much later by Lewis.
Digory Kirke and his new friend Polly sneak into his Uncle Andrew's locked study and discover some magic rings. Polly touches a red one and disappears, and Digory must follow with a green one if he is to rescue her. They are transported to a transit zone between worlds, and instead of returning home, they jump to a different world. When Digory rings a bell there in a ruined tower, he awakens Jadis, an evil witch. They try to escape home, but end up in a new world called Narnia.
This is an allegory of the Adam and Eve story; in this one Digory awakens evil and brings it into this new world. Along the way, foreshadowing of events to come are left for the reader that tie into the main series storyline. I especially like that a portion of a London street lamp is dropped on the ground in Narnia, and it grows into the lamp that Lucy finds in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Digory Kirke and his new friend Polly sneak into his Uncle Andrew's locked study and discover some magic rings. Polly touches a red one and disappears, and Digory must follow with a green one if he is to rescue her. They are transported to a transit zone between worlds, and instead of returning home, they jump to a different world. When Digory rings a bell there in a ruined tower, he awakens Jadis, an evil witch. They try to escape home, but end up in a new world called Narnia.
This is an allegory of the Adam and Eve story; in this one Digory awakens evil and brings it into this new world. Along the way, foreshadowing of events to come are left for the reader that tie into the main series storyline. I especially like that a portion of a London street lamp is dropped on the ground in Narnia, and it grows into the lamp that Lucy finds in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (0U5gm)
36
17 I have recently found it's much harder to write a book than it is to read one.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 09:06 AM (1Ff7Z)
Indeed! I would not even try, so good on ya!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 09:06 AM (1Ff7Z)
Indeed! I would not even try, so good on ya!
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (h7ZuX)
37
Hey dere MP4!
just in here quickly to thank whoever (sometime early last week) linked First Contact over at Royal Road ... lol, what fun reading! and what, 500 chapters? even if they are short.
okay, off to run errands, bbl ...
just in here quickly to thank whoever (sometime early last week) linked First Contact over at Royal Road ... lol, what fun reading! and what, 500 chapters? even if they are short.
okay, off to run errands, bbl ...
Posted by: sock_rat_eez at April 12, 2026 09:14 AM (MIIRH)
38
Good morning MP4 and Horde.
As a kid my favorite escapes were giant art and history books like "Discovery and Exploration", "The Ship", "Matthew Brady: Historian With a Camera", "Pictorial History of the World", and of course collections of Wyeth, Dylan, Rackham, and other greats of the golden age of illustration.
As a kid my favorite escapes were giant art and history books like "Discovery and Exploration", "The Ship", "Matthew Brady: Historian With a Camera", "Pictorial History of the World", and of course collections of Wyeth, Dylan, Rackham, and other greats of the golden age of illustration.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 09:14 AM (kpS4V)
39
Another favorite only became a favorite when I reread it as an adult. Roy Rogers and the Enchanted Canyon, also from Whitman, kind of bored me for some reason when I was nine or so. When I found it again on AbeBooks, I was amazed to see that it features *atmosphere* as well as a certain amount of action. The viewpoint character is a young boy on a ranch in the Four Corners area, and as a kid I identified with adult characters like Roy; and atmosphere did not mean much to me then. I think it's a fine book now.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:14 AM (wzUl9)
40
I should add that the retreat center near here hosted a weekend discussion a while back and it focused on three of Tolkien's letters, and I bet that was one of them.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:14 AM (ZOv7s)
41
I'm still working through F. Paul Wilson's Secret History of the World in chronological order of when the events take place.
Currently on a hiatus from the Repairman Jack stories and reading The Touch, which is part of the Adversary Cycle that concludes with Nightworld.
I'll have more to say about my reading in next Sunday's Book Thread.
Currently on a hiatus from the Repairman Jack stories and reading The Touch, which is part of the Adversary Cycle that concludes with Nightworld.
I'll have more to say about my reading in next Sunday's Book Thread.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 12, 2026 09:15 AM (gnNyN)
42
As for my own writing -
The IRA is an important plot point in the new book, but I had been having trouble weaving them in without the reader guessing it chapters ahead of time. I've done that (mostly) and am now sketching out a scene where the lead LA investigator is dropping the case entirely, but Theda Bara decides to go on despite being warned off.
I'm getting so close to the end, though I have several chapters to go, that I wish I were able to go away for a week to some isolated cabin with no TV or internet so that I could finish the book in one long burst of writing.
The IRA is an important plot point in the new book, but I had been having trouble weaving them in without the reader guessing it chapters ahead of time. I've done that (mostly) and am now sketching out a scene where the lead LA investigator is dropping the case entirely, but Theda Bara decides to go on despite being warned off.
I'm getting so close to the end, though I have several chapters to go, that I wish I were able to go away for a week to some isolated cabin with no TV or internet so that I could finish the book in one long burst of writing.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:16 AM (qRla/)
43
How many of you think your kids/grandkids would recognize the names John and Lorena Bobbitt? S.H. Kress? Zenith?
That's how I'm feeling with "The IPCRESS File," the 1962 debut novel of the recently deceased Len Deighton. This introduced his "nameless spy," a British agent who went on to appear in four more books. Three of the books were adapted for movies that starred Michael Caine.
Our Hero is investigating the disappearances of several boffins. He relates the story in first-person past, tossing in contemporary references, and those are throwing me.
Dang, I just realized that this came out before the Profumo affair. That's the only name from that era that I recognize.
That's how I'm feeling with "The IPCRESS File," the 1962 debut novel of the recently deceased Len Deighton. This introduced his "nameless spy," a British agent who went on to appear in four more books. Three of the books were adapted for movies that starred Michael Caine.
Our Hero is investigating the disappearances of several boffins. He relates the story in first-person past, tossing in contemporary references, and those are throwing me.
Dang, I just realized that this came out before the Profumo affair. That's the only name from that era that I recognize.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 12, 2026 09:17 AM (ckmbv)
44
best Royal Road story I've read was Hard Luck Hermit. Trigger warning for the antireligion bias. The main character was brought up in a cult before being abducted into a space opera.
I reckon Insomniac should read it.
I reckon Insomniac should read it.
Posted by: gKWVE at April 12, 2026 09:17 AM (NVRsf)
45
Yeah, that’s the impression I got. Just a little too cute by half - convenient. Right after JFK whacked, here comes this guy, as predicted, who just happens to be “the guy” in charge of the Oswald file.
I doubt the Soviets were stupid enough to try and whack JFK, but Castro certainly was crazy enough. And he had good reason, they we’re definitely trying to kill him, and said so.
“A cruel and shocking act” dives into the so-called “Warren Commission” members and staffers, and gets into the details of how and why Johnson, FBI and CIA both wanted all this stuff to go away.
I doubt the Soviets were stupid enough to try and whack JFK, but Castro certainly was crazy enough. And he had good reason, they we’re definitely trying to kill him, and said so.
“A cruel and shocking act” dives into the so-called “Warren Commission” members and staffers, and gets into the details of how and why Johnson, FBI and CIA both wanted all this stuff to go away.
Posted by: Common Tater at April 12, 2026 09:18 AM (P6llz)
46
My youthful reading went from Dr. Seuss to The Flying Tigers pretty quickly. Times being what they were, my mother abhorred the idea of me studying military history, much less enlisting, but my father and grandparents were more lenient.
I liked the Bantam books because I could imagine life as a tank commander or fighter pilot, which seemed a lot more meaningful and interesting than being moved all over the place due to parental divorces, remarriages, and career changes.
I liked the Bantam books because I could imagine life as a tank commander or fighter pilot, which seemed a lot more meaningful and interesting than being moved all over the place due to parental divorces, remarriages, and career changes.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:18 AM (ZOv7s)
47
Magician's Nephew proves that Lewis can write postapocalyptic dark fantasy with the best of 'em. Charn scared the shit out of me
Posted by: gKWVE at April 12, 2026 09:19 AM (NVRsf)
48
I reckon Insomniac should read it.
There's a name from the past. I wonder whatever happened to him?
There's a name from the past. I wonder whatever happened to him?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:19 AM (qRla/)
49
This week I also finished Mary Beard's Emperor of Rome, which as she says is about the *position* and job of the emperor, not specifically about the men who held it -- though there are plenty of anecdotes about them. She deals with the first thirty emperors, from Augustus through Alexander Severus in the 200s. After that, she says, the way the Romans thought of their emperor was different; and then Diocletian, when he finally won out, changed the role and the relationship the emperor had with his people. Good stuff, though.
Current book is The Spartans by Paul Cartledge, an examination of how Spartan society worked and why. Should be intriguing.
Current book is The Spartans by Paul Cartledge, an examination of how Spartan society worked and why. Should be intriguing.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:20 AM (wzUl9)
50
One nice thing about having kids is you get to re-read all your childhood favorites. I made sure to track down a copy of _Carry On, Mr. Bowditch_ for my kids to read. American history, astronomy, voyages to exotic lands -- that book's got it all!
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 09:20 AM (78a2H)
51
I doubt the Soviets were stupid enough to try and whack JFK, but Castro certainly was crazy enough. And he had good reason, they we’re definitely trying to kill him, and said so.
IIRC, Castro was hot and horny to launch the missiles the Soviets had placed in Cuba, and Khrushchev had to forbid it.
IIRC, Castro was hot and horny to launch the missiles the Soviets had placed in Cuba, and Khrushchev had to forbid it.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:21 AM (qRla/)
Posted by: dantesed at April 12, 2026 09:21 AM (Oy/m2)
53
I especially like that a portion of a London street lamp is dropped on the ground in Narnia, and it grows into the lamp that Lucy finds in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (0U5gm)
----
I loved when a bag of toffees is dropped and a tree laden with juicy toffee fruits grows.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (0U5gm)
----
I loved when a bag of toffees is dropped and a tree laden with juicy toffee fruits grows.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 09:22 AM (kpS4V)
54
I don't know. "Six Frigates" is a great book.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at April 12, 2026 09:22 AM (qFwJc)
55
I read The Flying Tigers and Pursuit about the hunt for the Bismarck as a child, and plenty of other WWII books. There was a great one on American submarine warfare in the Pacific, but I cannot remember the title.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 09:22 AM (0U5gm)
56
Other bookish news: as part of a massive household-wide spring cleaning, the books are getting moved around, and I'm purging the library of stuff I read and thought "meh" or stuff I've not bothered to read and never will. The DVDs are also getting worked over hard. My wife has decided to purge all of Stephen King's books, which makes me very happy. More shelf space for good stuff!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:23 AM (ZOv7s)
57
Thanks! I just downloaded the Carlson book on Kruschev
Posted by: Common Tater at April 12, 2026 09:24 AM (P6llz)
58
Also on the TBR pile, an alternate-history SF novel by S.M. Stirling, The Sky People, first in a trilogy, I think. His 1980s solar system is more like Burroughs' vision of it: Venus is habitable, a jungle planet like the world we saw in Heinlein's "Logic of Empire," but with, get this, sabertooths and dinosaurs as well as native *human* life. And the scientists are puzzled as to why Venus's fauna are not only similar to Earth's, but in some cases identical to it.
High adventure, I'm hoping!
High adventure, I'm hoping!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:24 AM (wzUl9)
59
>>I reckon Insomniac should read it.
There's a name from the past. I wonder whatever happened to him?
Think he said that he was taking a break from the blog. This was over a year ago.
There's a name from the past. I wonder whatever happened to him?
Think he said that he was taking a break from the blog. This was over a year ago.
Posted by: Mons Veneris at April 12, 2026 09:24 AM (NcvvS)
60
"Tape a piece of paper over the warning light and proceed." -- Soviet ground control instruction to Cosmonaut Volkov aboard Soyuz when the hatch wouldn't pressurize
From "The Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned" by John Strausbaugh
Our Germans may have been better than their Germans, but the Russkies kept beating us to the punch, helped by their casual attitude about safety. Khrushchev heard we were sending up two men into space, so Mother Russia had to send up three! In the Voskhod I mission, three (short) cosmonauts were crammed into a capsule designed for one person. This was strictly a propaganda move to surpass the US Gemini program. The crew flew without spacesuits because there was no room for them. No spacesuits!
There were several incidents of the cosmonauts overshooting the landing mark by hundreds of kilometers due to "ballistic re-entry", landing in the woods (filled with hungry wolves and bears) or scarier still, in a frozen lake.
Thank goodness for helpful peasants.
From "The Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned" by John Strausbaugh
Our Germans may have been better than their Germans, but the Russkies kept beating us to the punch, helped by their casual attitude about safety. Khrushchev heard we were sending up two men into space, so Mother Russia had to send up three! In the Voskhod I mission, three (short) cosmonauts were crammed into a capsule designed for one person. This was strictly a propaganda move to surpass the US Gemini program. The crew flew without spacesuits because there was no room for them. No spacesuits!
There were several incidents of the cosmonauts overshooting the landing mark by hundreds of kilometers due to "ballistic re-entry", landing in the woods (filled with hungry wolves and bears) or scarier still, in a frozen lake.
Thank goodness for helpful peasants.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 09:24 AM (kpS4V)
61
Did you have any books you loved, lost and found?
Pretty much only one. It's been discussed on these very book thread pages: Fun Fare.
A collection of older jokes and stories from the early 20th century collected by Reader's Digest mid-century. Found people and writers I'd never heard of before. Grandparents had a copy and it disappeared decades ago. A neighbor was getting rid of all her books in preparation for a move and she let me go through them. Imagine my joy when I found she had a copy. Picked some other books, but that one was the most important to me.
Pretty much only one. It's been discussed on these very book thread pages: Fun Fare.
A collection of older jokes and stories from the early 20th century collected by Reader's Digest mid-century. Found people and writers I'd never heard of before. Grandparents had a copy and it disappeared decades ago. A neighbor was getting rid of all her books in preparation for a move and she let me go through them. Imagine my joy when I found she had a copy. Picked some other books, but that one was the most important to me.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 09:24 AM (1Ff7Z)
62
Let us raise a glass of Stoly to the engineers who were pushed to perform miracles by their Commie bosses, and to those brave pilots who punched the face of a nonexistent god in kludged together space vehicles.
Za zdorovye!
Za zdorovye!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 09:24 AM (kpS4V)
63
Am revisiting a couple of novels and short stories by Thomas Tessier, who passed away at the end of March. Valancourt Books reissued three of his novels over the last couple of years (The Nightwalker, Rapture, and Finishing Touches).
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 09:24 AM (q3u5l)
64
Thanks for the Book Thread, MP4!
Great sprint outfit featured here. Very 1920s looking, yet timeless.
One of my favorite books was Charlotte's Web. Must have read that book too many times to count. It was a regular feature in my stack of library books.
Great sprint outfit featured here. Very 1920s looking, yet timeless.
One of my favorite books was Charlotte's Web. Must have read that book too many times to count. It was a regular feature in my stack of library books.
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 12, 2026 09:24 AM (vrNzf)
65
I love that book cover on top! I had to look it ip immediately to find the year, and not surprised at all to find it was 1900. There was a golden age of design in the Beaux Arts era (late 19th century til WW1) that is instantly recognizable, and that cover reflects it.
My most loved book at an early age was Richard Halliburton’s Book of Marvels (1937). He was an early travel adventurer, in that book he visited the sites of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World and visited the sites of each one. Alas, only the great Pyramid still exists. He also journeyed into places like Petra, with photos, long before anyone else in the west knew they existed. He had a wonderful breezy writing style, very informative yet conversational, and died mysteriously on an adventure near China in 1939.
I read that book over and over, dreaming of the past and also of what it would be to travel there now, as he did.
My most loved book at an early age was Richard Halliburton’s Book of Marvels (1937). He was an early travel adventurer, in that book he visited the sites of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World and visited the sites of each one. Alas, only the great Pyramid still exists. He also journeyed into places like Petra, with photos, long before anyone else in the west knew they existed. He had a wonderful breezy writing style, very informative yet conversational, and died mysteriously on an adventure near China in 1939.
I read that book over and over, dreaming of the past and also of what it would be to travel there now, as he did.
Posted by: Tom Servo at April 12, 2026 09:25 AM (tgZLi)
66
But there was another thing, too. ‘There is no frigate like a book,’ Emily Dickinson wrote. That’s the power of a great book: it can lift you out of your own world and immerse you in another
I'm going to have to stop you right there. A book makes a terrible watercraft. Sure, it's made of wood, but it gets all soggy, and then the pages start to fall out. Furthermore, it's way too small to support you, never mind any cargo or cannons. Think of its tiny displacement. There are much better choices.
I'm going to have to stop you right there. A book makes a terrible watercraft. Sure, it's made of wood, but it gets all soggy, and then the pages start to fall out. Furthermore, it's way too small to support you, never mind any cargo or cannons. Think of its tiny displacement. There are much better choices.
Posted by: Archimedes, taking things way too literally at April 12, 2026 09:25 AM (Riz8t)
67
Two other books I picked up this week were The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak and England in the Age of Dickens by Jeremy Black.
The first is a look into the legend and reality of Elisabeth Bathory: specifically, was she really a crazed killer who tortured and murdered over 600 women and girls or was it all a political frame-up?
The second is what it says - a look at London from 1812-1870 through Dickens' writing. This might be one I'll offer up to the Horde when I am finished.
The first is a look into the legend and reality of Elisabeth Bathory: specifically, was she really a crazed killer who tortured and murdered over 600 women and girls or was it all a political frame-up?
The second is what it says - a look at London from 1812-1870 through Dickens' writing. This might be one I'll offer up to the Horde when I am finished.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:25 AM (qRla/)
68
Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.
A bit late to the thread this morning. The coffee maker (me) was moving a bit slow.
A bit late to the thread this morning. The coffee maker (me) was moving a bit slow.
Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2026 09:26 AM (yTvNw)
69
The ruler of France has placed a relative on the throne of Spain. Great Brittain has taken exception to this abuse of power, and has sent an army to rectify the situation. Operating out of bases in allied Portugal, the English army makes a series of sorties into Spain.
Is that the Peninsular War during the Napoleonic Era? The setting for a Richard Sharpe novel? Yes. But it's also a major theater in The War of Spanish Succession from 1701-1715 (ish). Obviously the names of the generals were different, but there were a few places that saw major battle in both wars.
Infuriatingly, the English made it to Madrid twice during the WoSS, but failed both times to unseat the King. The grandson of Louis XIV was a much more popular King than the brother of Napoleon, and both the Spanish people and nobles kept rallying back to support him.
Is that the Peninsular War during the Napoleonic Era? The setting for a Richard Sharpe novel? Yes. But it's also a major theater in The War of Spanish Succession from 1701-1715 (ish). Obviously the names of the generals were different, but there were a few places that saw major battle in both wars.
Infuriatingly, the English made it to Madrid twice during the WoSS, but failed both times to unseat the King. The grandson of Louis XIV was a much more popular King than the brother of Napoleon, and both the Spanish people and nobles kept rallying back to support him.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 12, 2026 09:26 AM (Lhaco)
70
Several years ago I purchased The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. That was one of my favorite series of books when I was a child.
Still holds up surprisingly well, reading them as an adult.
Still holds up surprisingly well, reading them as an adult.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 12, 2026 09:26 AM (gnNyN)
71
>>There was a great one on American submarine warfare in the Pacific, but I cannot remember the title.
Remember reading Up Periscope around age ten. Saw the James Garner movie adaptation and, while Garner was perfect in the lead, the changes were just wrong.
Remember reading Up Periscope around age ten. Saw the James Garner movie adaptation and, while Garner was perfect in the lead, the changes were just wrong.
Posted by: Mons Veneris at April 12, 2026 09:27 AM (NcvvS)
72
/off, salacious sock.
Posted by: Nazdar at April 12, 2026 09:27 AM (NcvvS)
73
Our Germans may have been better than their Germans, but the Russkies kept beating us to the punch, helped by their casual attitude about safety.
Hence all the (urban legend?) stories about cosmonauts being lost in space, orbiting endlessly around the planet.
Hence all the (urban legend?) stories about cosmonauts being lost in space, orbiting endlessly around the planet.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:28 AM (qRla/)
74
I dosed off a bit this morning and woke up thinking about Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living. My husband bought me a replacement copy as my original fell apart. The original was memographed pages. Carla started writing and would mail new chapters as they were finished. She took some of her kids with her, to sell the book at local fairs. She was raised on a farm and knewwhat she was talking about. It all eventually lead to tv interviews and the book being published as a regular edition. She and her husband started a school for homesteaders, but the marriage finally fell apart.
There was so much knowledge of old ways that people tried to recover and save in the 60s and 70s. Yet here we are, with young homesteaders throwing it away for Instragram influencers. It's a shame.
There was so much knowledge of old ways that people tried to recover and save in the 60s and 70s. Yet here we are, with young homesteaders throwing it away for Instragram influencers. It's a shame.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 12, 2026 09:28 AM (gQ15S)
75
I'm on the last story in a collection of horror stories titled The Atlas of Hell (also put out by another publisher under the title of Wounds) by Nathan Ballingrud. All the stories in some way relate to deviltry or diabolism. The standout being The Visible Filth, I think. He has a fairly unique set of worldbuilding myths throughout that I'd like to see expanded more. He writes well too. Recommended if you like supernatural horror.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at April 12, 2026 09:28 AM (lZt8q)
76
I actually have writings news. I'm 5,000 words into Battle Officer Wolf 2: Electric Boogaloo. The plot is taking more effort, since I have 50 years to fill (the poem just skips it), so that means creating more characters and situations to fill the void, which was why I stopped the first book after the situation at Heorot (Hard Station) had been resolved.
Progress is also slow because I haven't done any fiction since The Vampires of Michigan, way back in 2019. Very rusty. I used to count a successful session as at least 1,000 words, but I'm lucky to get 500 in right now.
Still, I seem to be picking up speed, though I deliberately did not even try to write tomorrow. Sometimes one needs a pause for the brain to do its work.
Progress is also slow because I haven't done any fiction since The Vampires of Michigan, way back in 2019. Very rusty. I used to count a successful session as at least 1,000 words, but I'm lucky to get 500 in right now.
Still, I seem to be picking up speed, though I deliberately did not even try to write tomorrow. Sometimes one needs a pause for the brain to do its work.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:28 AM (ZOv7s)
77
It's been discussed on these very book thread pages: Fun Fare.
I have that!
If you like that sort of thing, look for a copy of Bennett Cerf's Bumper Crop, which is an omnibus collection of several of his joke books.
I have that!
If you like that sort of thing, look for a copy of Bennett Cerf's Bumper Crop, which is an omnibus collection of several of his joke books.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:29 AM (qRla/)
78
>>Did you have any books you loved, lost and found?
Irritating are the books lent and never returned. Lost 2 copies of The Straight Dope that way, and 1 of The Book of Stupid Questions - which was much funnier than it should have been.
Irritating are the books lent and never returned. Lost 2 copies of The Straight Dope that way, and 1 of The Book of Stupid Questions - which was much funnier than it should have been.
Posted by: Nazdar at April 12, 2026 09:30 AM (NcvvS)
79
My dad had both “The Occident” and “The Orient” Halliburton books and I enjoyed them. I think he wrote “Seven League Boots” as well. I was crestfallen when I later learned Halliburton was homosexual. One of those jet-setting types back in the day.
Posted by: Common Tater at April 12, 2026 09:31 AM (P6llz)
80
I finished reading "The War of the Spanish Succession" by James Falkner. It started out pretty dry, but got better as it went. Although that might have just been because I finally got used to the style. Or because more interesting things happened later in the book. Or I finally started to recognize some of the generals as recurring 'characters' rather than just names thrown on the page. Or, maybe it was simply because I just forced myself to push through, and thus stopped caring about how dry the account was...
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 12, 2026 09:31 AM (Lhaco)
81
I don't know. "Six Frigates" is a great book.
Posted by: no one of any consequence
If you liked that, you may enjoy Knights of the Sea. It is the story of the battle between the HMS Boxer and the Enterprise in the war of 1813. It covers the lead up to the war as well as the battle, and was a turning point in the prestige of the fledgling US navy.
Posted by: no one of any consequence
If you liked that, you may enjoy Knights of the Sea. It is the story of the battle between the HMS Boxer and the Enterprise in the war of 1813. It covers the lead up to the war as well as the battle, and was a turning point in the prestige of the fledgling US navy.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 09:31 AM (0U5gm)
82
I tried a couple of Len Deighton's novels -- Funeral in Berlin I think was one. They left me adrift, wondering at various times what exactly was going on. I suppose that is how the nameless spy in the stories feels too, but somehow he seemed to understand all the plot machinations around him, while I didn't.
It was like the movie version of McCarthy's The Group, or the book of Faulkner's Sanctuary: All the characters had some unspoken, central assumption they shared, never talked about or explained, but acted on in their various ways. I was lost.
It was like the movie version of McCarthy's The Group, or the book of Faulkner's Sanctuary: All the characters had some unspoken, central assumption they shared, never talked about or explained, but acted on in their various ways. I was lost.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:31 AM (wzUl9)
83
Or perhaps the war of 1812.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 09:32 AM (0U5gm)
84
One book I recall from childhood and would like to recover: Worlds Beyond the Horizon. Like MP4's fave The World's Discoverers, it was a history of exploration. Translation from German, I think -- the author's name was Joachim Leithauser or Leythauser. In retrospect, I suspect he just cribbed a lot from Hakluyt but he had a nice vivid style. Unsurprisingly, he gave a lot of attention to people like Humboldt and Carl Peters, but also lots about Byrd and Amundsen. That book was the one that made me understand how suicidally optimistic Scott was.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 09:32 AM (78a2H)
85
Indeed! I would not even try, so good on ya!
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (h7ZuX)
It's not even so much the writing of it - although there are times you have figure out where you're going with the story - but, as an Indie author, you have to make all the decisions as to everything involved in getting it into print. So many things to keep track of, and once you notice you did something wrong....
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (h7ZuX)
It's not even so much the writing of it - although there are times you have figure out where you're going with the story - but, as an Indie author, you have to make all the decisions as to everything involved in getting it into print. So many things to keep track of, and once you notice you did something wrong....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 09:33 AM (1Ff7Z)
86
I reckon Insomniac should read it.
There's a name from the past. I wonder whatever happened to him?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:19 AM (qRla/)
---
I'm in touch with him. He's okay. He lurks from time to time.
There's a name from the past. I wonder whatever happened to him?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:19 AM (qRla/)
---
I'm in touch with him. He's okay. He lurks from time to time.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:33 AM (ZOv7s)
87
Very rusty. I used to count a successful session as at least 1,000 words, but I'm lucky to get 500 in right now.
I give myself a goal of at least one handwritten page a day. If I go over, that's fine, but I need to have one page.
Still, I seem to be picking up speed, though I deliberately did not even try to write tomorrow. Sometimes one needs a pause for the brain to do its work.
I know that feeling. I had to stop editing the other day because I was forcing myself to go on and my mind was locked down.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:28 AM (ZOv7s)
I give myself a goal of at least one handwritten page a day. If I go over, that's fine, but I need to have one page.
Still, I seem to be picking up speed, though I deliberately did not even try to write tomorrow. Sometimes one needs a pause for the brain to do its work.
I know that feeling. I had to stop editing the other day because I was forcing myself to go on and my mind was locked down.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:28 AM (ZOv7s)
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:33 AM (qRla/)
88
Walked by the TV my wife watches to see NBC'c Kristen Welker fellating Cuban Prez Diaz.
Throwing nerf ball questions and smiling rapturously.
Find someone who loves you this much.
Walked by the TV my wife watches to see NBC'c Kristen Welker fellating Cuban Prez Diaz.
Throwing nerf ball questions and smiling rapturously.
Find someone who loves you this much.
Posted by: Auspex at April 12, 2026 09:33 AM (Y8DZL)
89
"The Magician's Nephew" has a deliciously sinister vibe and displays a tonal shift from the rest of the series, I think. It's why I wouldn't recommend reading the series in chronological order if it's your first time in Narnia; it's more impactful to encounter the worlds later on. The dead city of Charn under a dying red sun was so unsettling to me as a young reader, and Uncle Digory was such a Dickensian villain, vicious and cowardly.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 09:34 AM (kpS4V)
90
Today is Ft Sumter Day and Lincoln’s Assassination Day only a few days away. April a bad month or a good month for Civil War. And what will the enemies of our State come up with this year?
Posted by: epador at April 12, 2026 09:34 AM (Xm3XH)
91
>>There was a great one on American submarine warfare in the Pacific, but I cannot remember the title.
***
Run Silent, Run Deep?
***
Run Silent, Run Deep?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:34 AM (wzUl9)
92
This week read The Sea-Wolf by Jack London. The first half of the book is grim and disturbing, the second half a Robinson Crusoe fairy story.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1074
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1074
Posted by: 13times at April 12, 2026 09:34 AM (uB2D/)
93
Books from my childhood which I adored ... and fortunately, still have, although in somewhat battered condition: The Little House series. The hardback version with illustrations, which are all inscribed on the flyleaf by my mother, with the date that they were a birthday or Christmas present to me. (I recall sitting down with most of them and reading from cover to cover within a day or so after receipt.)
I did a long day with my own books for sale at Folkfest yesterday, on the grounds of the Heritage Village in New Braunfels. I was part of the children's scavenger hunt as "The Author" - with other stops for kids at the broom-making, woodcraft, tatting-lace, classic yard games, sausage-stuffing, and German-language stops. (Collect a check on the list for taking a lesson, practicing a craft, or listening to a talk about books - complete the round and get a souvenir pin or a candy)
Most of the kids were enthralled with my own novel series about a pioneer family in the wild west, and their parents were thrilled to hear that I had modeled the Kettering Family series after the Little House books. There was a very real concern about what their kids are reading now.
I did a long day with my own books for sale at Folkfest yesterday, on the grounds of the Heritage Village in New Braunfels. I was part of the children's scavenger hunt as "The Author" - with other stops for kids at the broom-making, woodcraft, tatting-lace, classic yard games, sausage-stuffing, and German-language stops. (Collect a check on the list for taking a lesson, practicing a craft, or listening to a talk about books - complete the round and get a souvenir pin or a candy)
Most of the kids were enthralled with my own novel series about a pioneer family in the wild west, and their parents were thrilled to hear that I had modeled the Kettering Family series after the Little House books. There was a very real concern about what their kids are reading now.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 12, 2026 09:35 AM (Ew3fm)
94
Lost 2 copies of The Straight Dope that way
I have all the Straight Dope books. IMO, only the first one is worth having. The last two were filled out with excerpts from the "Straight Dope Message Board," which was very irritating. The first one catches the spirit of "Cecil Adams" better than any of the others.
I have all the Straight Dope books. IMO, only the first one is worth having. The last two were filled out with excerpts from the "Straight Dope Message Board," which was very irritating. The first one catches the spirit of "Cecil Adams" better than any of the others.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:36 AM (qRla/)
95
“A cruel and shocking act” dives into the so-called “Warren Commission” members and staffers, and gets into the details of how and why Johnson, FBI and CIA both wanted all this stuff to go away.
Posted by: Common Tater at April 12, 2026 09:18 AM (P6llz)
Johnson wanted his job, and Onassis wanted his wife.
Posted by: Common Tater at April 12, 2026 09:18 AM (P6llz)
Johnson wanted his job, and Onassis wanted his wife.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 09:37 AM (1Ff7Z)
96
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:33 AM (ZOv7s)
Glad to hear Insomniac's OK. He was my brother in depression. Let him know I said hello.
Glad to hear Insomniac's OK. He was my brother in depression. Let him know I said hello.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (qRla/)
97
For all my reading on Russian history, haven't gotten past anything after Stalin.
Seems to me that was the hight of Communism, everything kind of rotted to the core and it showed.
Seems to me that was the hight of Communism, everything kind of rotted to the core and it showed.
Posted by: Skip at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (Ia/+0)
98
I can't say I had any childhood books that I 'lost' and then tried to search for. There was a movie based on a book that I had vague memories of and then later sought out (Secret of NIMH/Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH), but I never lost track of a book.
Granted, I no longer have my childhood collection of Pern, Redwall, or Jim Kjellgard novels, but those were sold/given away when I left for college (or before), and I never forgot them and I know just what they ware if I ever choose to revisit them...
...I guess I did spend a lot of time with an atlas-book as child, and I'm sure that's been lost to time. But I don't have any burning desire to find that particular (now horribly-out-of-date) publication.
Granted, I no longer have my childhood collection of Pern, Redwall, or Jim Kjellgard novels, but those were sold/given away when I left for college (or before), and I never forgot them and I know just what they ware if I ever choose to revisit them...
...I guess I did spend a lot of time with an atlas-book as child, and I'm sure that's been lost to time. But I don't have any burning desire to find that particular (now horribly-out-of-date) publication.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (Lhaco)
99
I've never read any Agatha Christie. In fact, I'm not even sure I know how to spell Agatha Christie.
But at the prompting of some here on this illustrious literary book thread and Smart Military Blog™ I decided to stick my toe into unknown waters with "Passenger To Frankfurt" via audiobook.
I guess it's an acquired taste. I've stuck it out until about the 3/4 mark and do plan to finish. But I've found much of it tedious and tiresome. So much fluffy filler and British idiosyncrasies. Perhaps she writes for a female audience, and it has its place like Harlequin romances, Hallmark movies and Downton Abbey.
But no, I shant consume another. I simply shannot.
But at the prompting of some here on this illustrious literary book thread and Smart Military Blog™ I decided to stick my toe into unknown waters with "Passenger To Frankfurt" via audiobook.
I guess it's an acquired taste. I've stuck it out until about the 3/4 mark and do plan to finish. But I've found much of it tedious and tiresome. So much fluffy filler and British idiosyncrasies. Perhaps she writes for a female audience, and it has its place like Harlequin romances, Hallmark movies and Downton Abbey.
But no, I shant consume another. I simply shannot.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (2Ez/1)
100
“Smoky” by Will James. Sometimes titled “Smoky The Cowhorse”, I looked at this book a lot when visiting my Grandparents as a very young kid being more interested in the pictures than the text.
Wish I could find a hard copy of this.
Wish I could find a hard copy of this.
Posted by: Buzzy Krumhunger at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (Fwvoq)
101
Ok, gotta question for the horde writers. Do you publish as your own name, or have you made yourself an imprint? If so, does your jurisdiction require you to create a fictitious business statement, and do you need to get a business license to publish under the imprint?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 09:39 AM (1Ff7Z)
102
When I think back about early reading, I usually focus on the reading I did after discovering mass market paperback science fiction. Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury, etc. And a lot of the Hitchcock anthologies which were sorta kinda sf-adjacent, including stories by Bradbury, Matheson, and others.
And I remember all the stuff on the racks that I ignored for a decade or more because I was reading only sf. Singer, Simenon, William Goldman, Irwin Shaw, Don Robertson, Westlake, MacDonald (Ross and John D.), and a bunch more. Annoying.
And I remember all the stuff on the racks that I ignored for a decade or more because I was reading only sf. Singer, Simenon, William Goldman, Irwin Shaw, Don Robertson, Westlake, MacDonald (Ross and John D.), and a bunch more. Annoying.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 09:39 AM (q3u5l)
103
There are many books I reread and they can sometimes make me remember what I felt the first time I read them. But three fit MP4's qualifications.
- Treasure Island - I've mentioned many times about how it influenced me and that young wonder has never gone away.
- Hound of the Baskervilles - First read it in 4th grade and, as it happens, on a dark stormy night. I still prefer to read it during a thunder storm.
- LOTR - Even after six decades I can still feel some of the excitement of that first reading where every new page promised wonder and excitement.
There are many others, of course, but those are the big three.
- Treasure Island - I've mentioned many times about how it influenced me and that young wonder has never gone away.
- Hound of the Baskervilles - First read it in 4th grade and, as it happens, on a dark stormy night. I still prefer to read it during a thunder storm.
- LOTR - Even after six decades I can still feel some of the excitement of that first reading where every new page promised wonder and excitement.
There are many others, of course, but those are the big three.
Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2026 09:40 AM (yTvNw)
104
But no, I shant consume another. I simply shannot.
That reminds me of something that always attracted me to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - the way Carroll spelled "shan't" as "sha'n't." That Victorian quirk has stayed with me.
That reminds me of something that always attracted me to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - the way Carroll spelled "shan't" as "sha'n't." That Victorian quirk has stayed with me.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:41 AM (qRla/)
105
(cont. from above) It's been one thing to read various things on-line about kid-lit, and how much of what is available is unsuitably sexual, woke and unappealing ... it was quite another for me to hear it over and over again, from the parents who stopped at my table. Many of them absolutely lit up when I told them that I had modeled my series about the Kettering family after the Ingallses in the Little House series. They want wholesome, engaging reads for their school-age children and who can blame them, looking at the dreck that the current mainstream publishing world shovels out for consumption. As an aside, there were lots of families at Folkfest yesterday - young families with many children and babies.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 12, 2026 09:41 AM (Ew3fm)
106
Khrushchev heard we were sending up two men into space, so Mother Russia had to send up three! ... No spacesuits!
------
Hindsight is 20/20, but this is a great example of why the Space Race, to me, was a key indicator of the USSR's core weakness, and should have made it obvious to us that something was very, very wrong behind the facade.
That's exemplary of Soviet psychology - "whatever they do in space, we must do bigger and better, period! Even if it kills our best and brightest!"
And yet, once we launched the Apollo program, they made some efforts to launch unmanned probes beyond LEO, and then... just gave up. Never sent a man into "real space," even as a desultory status signal.
If they didn't pursue their premier propaganda goal, which was also directly tied to their absolutely crucial military deterrence, it wasn't from lack of desire, or because we'd already beaten them to the proximate goal - they lacked the wherewithal.
I like to think if I'd been a leader then, I'd have turned to the others and said "guys, I think they've been having us on. I think they're full of shit. They don't really have what it takes to play in our league."
------
Hindsight is 20/20, but this is a great example of why the Space Race, to me, was a key indicator of the USSR's core weakness, and should have made it obvious to us that something was very, very wrong behind the facade.
That's exemplary of Soviet psychology - "whatever they do in space, we must do bigger and better, period! Even if it kills our best and brightest!"
And yet, once we launched the Apollo program, they made some efforts to launch unmanned probes beyond LEO, and then... just gave up. Never sent a man into "real space," even as a desultory status signal.
If they didn't pursue their premier propaganda goal, which was also directly tied to their absolutely crucial military deterrence, it wasn't from lack of desire, or because we'd already beaten them to the proximate goal - they lacked the wherewithal.
I like to think if I'd been a leader then, I'd have turned to the others and said "guys, I think they've been having us on. I think they're full of shit. They don't really have what it takes to play in our league."
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 12, 2026 09:41 AM (BI5O2)
107
But no, I shant consume another. I simply shannot.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (2Ez/1)
I've read one Agatha Christie, a couple of years ago, and I don't even remember what it was. Not a fan.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (2Ez/1)
I've read one Agatha Christie, a couple of years ago, and I don't even remember what it was. Not a fan.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 09:42 AM (h7ZuX)
108
dosed off a bit this morning and woke up thinking about Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living
_-_
I just dug that book out for my wife yesterday afternoon. She remembered that it had useful instruction on sprouting broccoli, which she was about to do. We have a whole section of that type of book, but I am embarrassed to say there was a big chair in front of that section of books. Not a big house for a big family, and many of our walls are bookcase-covered.
_-_
I just dug that book out for my wife yesterday afternoon. She remembered that it had useful instruction on sprouting broccoli, which she was about to do. We have a whole section of that type of book, but I am embarrassed to say there was a big chair in front of that section of books. Not a big house for a big family, and many of our walls are bookcase-covered.
Posted by: Don in SoCo at April 12, 2026 09:42 AM (2TPZH)
109
I know that feeling. I had to stop editing the other day because I was forcing myself to go on and my mind was locked down.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:33 AM (qRla/)
---
Fiction is just so different from non-fiction in how one approaches writing, and that is what is throwing me off. With non-fiction, you do the research, lots of it, make notes, build your outline, figure out how the information fits together and then it's off to the races. Long Live Men shattered every record I had for speed with ease. I think I wrote the first draft in three weeks, which is nuts. Now editing was a serious pain, but that's history for ya.
You can force nonfiction, but can't really do it with a novel. (I've tried, and result is always slop that I end up deleting.)
I find a quick walk helps, so the weather improving will facilitate this. That's also going to cause me to switch from whiskey to gin, and the original book was in fact fueled by gin, so that's appropriate.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:33 AM (qRla/)
---
Fiction is just so different from non-fiction in how one approaches writing, and that is what is throwing me off. With non-fiction, you do the research, lots of it, make notes, build your outline, figure out how the information fits together and then it's off to the races. Long Live Men shattered every record I had for speed with ease. I think I wrote the first draft in three weeks, which is nuts. Now editing was a serious pain, but that's history for ya.
You can force nonfiction, but can't really do it with a novel. (I've tried, and result is always slop that I end up deleting.)
I find a quick walk helps, so the weather improving will facilitate this. That's also going to cause me to switch from whiskey to gin, and the original book was in fact fueled by gin, so that's appropriate.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:42 AM (ZOv7s)
110
The whole matter with the mines reminded of mask of dimitrious which was loosely based on the life of real life scoundrel zahiroffs early days dimitrious was a smuggler assassin middlemen for spies
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 09:43 AM (bXbFr)
111
It shouldn't really be a surprise that the Spanish rallied to King Phillip V. The whole war started as a gigantic FU by King Charles II to the other powers of Europe because they wanted to carve up Spain's empire to preserve the balance of power, no matter what Charles thought of the idea.
That's not how you talk to Spaniards, kings or otherwise. I expect one reason the nobles and peasants rallied to Phillip, even if he was a Bourbon, was that he was willing to fight. Back in those days, anyway, they preferred to go down swinging.
That's not how you talk to Spaniards, kings or otherwise. I expect one reason the nobles and peasants rallied to Phillip, even if he was a Bourbon, was that he was willing to fight. Back in those days, anyway, they preferred to go down swinging.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 09:43 AM (78a2H)
112
But at the prompting of some here on this illustrious literary book thread and Smart Military Blog™ I decided to stick my toe into unknown waters with "Passenger To Frankfurt" via audiobook.
I guess it's an acquired taste. I've stuck it out until about the 3/4 mark and do plan to finish. But I've found much of it tedious and tiresome. So much fluffy filler and British idiosyncrasies. Perhaps she writes for a female audience, and it has its place like Harlequin romances, Hallmark movies and Downton Abbey.
But no, I shant consume another. I simply shannot.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026
***
You can blame me. I mentioned PtF a couple of weeks ago. It's a spy story, an international conspiracy story -- very different from her usual puzzle mysteries. If you're still willing to try again, look for any of the ones with Miss Marple as the detective, or Hercule Poirot.
Ellery Queen was a far better plot builder and mystery dazzler. He/they have been almost forgotten except for the magazine, while you can still find Christie's stuff in print.
She was better at characterization than I thought when I was younger , though.
I guess it's an acquired taste. I've stuck it out until about the 3/4 mark and do plan to finish. But I've found much of it tedious and tiresome. So much fluffy filler and British idiosyncrasies. Perhaps she writes for a female audience, and it has its place like Harlequin romances, Hallmark movies and Downton Abbey.
But no, I shant consume another. I simply shannot.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026
***
You can blame me. I mentioned PtF a couple of weeks ago. It's a spy story, an international conspiracy story -- very different from her usual puzzle mysteries. If you're still willing to try again, look for any of the ones with Miss Marple as the detective, or Hercule Poirot.
Ellery Queen was a far better plot builder and mystery dazzler. He/they have been almost forgotten except for the magazine, while you can still find Christie's stuff in print.
She was better at characterization than I thought when I was younger , though.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:43 AM (wzUl9)
113
Finished A.H. Lloyd's Man of Destiny series. Definitely better than the Star Wars prequels, although it's easy to see the source material in the story.
Started the Bound and Broken fantasy series recommended by Linduh last week. First part of the first book felt like a retread of Wheel of Time and Eragon, but by the end of it stuff was happening that I hadn't expected. I just started the second novel last night, so no opinion on that yet.
Started the Bound and Broken fantasy series recommended by Linduh last week. First part of the first book felt like a retread of Wheel of Time and Eragon, but by the end of it stuff was happening that I hadn't expected. I just started the second novel last night, so no opinion on that yet.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2026 09:44 AM (lFFaq)
114
The darker tone of The Magician’s Nephew is in part from the autobiographical elements that Lewis included in the story. The young protagonist is driven in part by a desire to find a cure for his dying mother; CS Lewis lost his own mother to cancer when he was 9 years old, the most traumatic event in his young life.
I believe parts of the story stem from a fantasy of what he wished he could have done.
I believe parts of the story stem from a fantasy of what he wished he could have done.
Posted by: Tom Servo at April 12, 2026 09:44 AM (tgZLi)
115
Glad to hear Insomniac's OK. He was my brother in depression. Let him know I said hello.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (qRla/)
---
I will.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (qRla/)
---
I will.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:44 AM (ZOv7s)
116
This week I finished Nostromo and I think it is a great book. Highly recommended. If you read Conrad’s introduction you can see how he took a rather pedestrian Caribbean pirate story and turned into art. I started Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. 3 short chapters in and I will say I’m not impressed, but it’s early. I remember when he was a big deal but he seems to be an unknown these days. I don’t think I’ve ever seen his name on the book thread. I’m also reading The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Eagan. This is a quick depressing read about what we’ve done to the lakes.
Posted by: Who Knew at April 12, 2026 09:44 AM (0QMbS)
117
Dad had a thick copy of a Reader's Digest treasury of humor. Jokes and funny essays. I revisited that tome many more times than Dad did. I always went for the humor sections first in RD.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 12, 2026 09:44 AM (ckmbv)
118
Who in the 30 was working for the italian goverment through s greek cut out
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 09:45 AM (bXbFr)
119
One nice thing about having kids is you get to re-read all your childhood favorites. I made sure to track down a copy of _Carry On, Mr. Bowditch_ for my kids to read. American history, astronomy, voyages to exotic lands -- that book's got it all!
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 09:20 AM (78a2H)
---
Reading them to grandkids is a hoot.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 09:20 AM (78a2H)
---
Reading them to grandkids is a hoot.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:45 AM (ZOv7s)
120
I am sorry to report that an audit of recent pant-wearing logs for the consumers of this Thread shows an alarming rise in non-compliance. Results have been forwarded to the Executives of this blog for further action, up to, and including, notations in Permanent Records.
#BeBetter
#BeBetter
Posted by: Bob from NSA at April 12, 2026 09:45 AM (0sNs1)
121
I read a recently-published Solomon Kane novella: "The Lair of the Mari Lwyd" by Shawn Hamil. I purchased three such stories, by various authors, but wanted to read this one first, to get it out of the way. Hamil had also written a full-length Solomon Kane novel, and the youtuber Razorfist had some very unkind things to say about it, so I wanted to read this story while my expectations were properly lowered.
The plot was that Solomon Kane (a puritan swordsman of the early 1600's) encounters a Welsh fold-tale that has come true, but turned out evil. The adventure aspect is okay, but the author has a few ticks that would send up red flags. He seemed to have a very modern take on backstories, and what makes characters tick. This felt only slight odd in this story (like a Welshmen needing an explanation of what a Puritan was/felt/believed) but I could easily see this completely ruining a longer/more character-focused story.
The plot was that Solomon Kane (a puritan swordsman of the early 1600's) encounters a Welsh fold-tale that has come true, but turned out evil. The adventure aspect is okay, but the author has a few ticks that would send up red flags. He seemed to have a very modern take on backstories, and what makes characters tick. This felt only slight odd in this story (like a Welshmen needing an explanation of what a Puritan was/felt/believed) but I could easily see this completely ruining a longer/more character-focused story.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 12, 2026 09:46 AM (Lhaco)
122
I read and reread "The Mad Scientists' Club" constantly during grade school. I bought a collection of that book and its sequel online about 15 years ago but have yet to crack it, probably because I have the original stories firmly in memory. I can still list the members.
Why did that book have such appeal? Because of the way they pulled off their stunts, using current (1960s) technology. A modern MSC would probably be all hackers, and I'd want them locked up. If not worse.
I loved the Mad Scientists as a kid. Back when boys could be boys and society didn't medicate them.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (ckmbv
Why did that book have such appeal? Because of the way they pulled off their stunts, using current (1960s) technology. A modern MSC would probably be all hackers, and I'd want them locked up. If not worse.
I loved the Mad Scientists as a kid. Back when boys could be boys and society didn't medicate them.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 12, 2026 09:13 AM (ckmbv
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at April 12, 2026 09:46 AM (eiAiG)
123
There was a great one on American submarine warfare in the Pacific, but I cannot remember the title.
***
Run Silent, Run Deep?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
I keep looking in vain. It may have been Sink 'Em All.
***
Run Silent, Run Deep?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
I keep looking in vain. It may have been Sink 'Em All.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 09:46 AM (0U5gm)
124
I've read one Agatha Christie, a couple of years ago, and I don't even remember what it was. Not a fan.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026
***
Ellery Queen, as I said, and John Dickson Carr were far better at constructing puzzles and providing baffling clues. They've been forgotten by all but true mystery fans, while Christie's work keeps getting filmed and reprinted.
The novels she wrote as "Mary Westmacott" are not Harlequin-type romances; they are real dramas. Look for those.
I've read one Agatha Christie, a couple of years ago, and I don't even remember what it was. Not a fan.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026
***
Ellery Queen, as I said, and John Dickson Carr were far better at constructing puzzles and providing baffling clues. They've been forgotten by all but true mystery fans, while Christie's work keeps getting filmed and reprinted.
The novels she wrote as "Mary Westmacott" are not Harlequin-type romances; they are real dramas. Look for those.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:46 AM (wzUl9)
125
Well...that was an odd post. More covfefe needed.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at April 12, 2026 09:47 AM (eiAiG)
126
MP4,
The cover of that book at the top looks very familiar. If so, I'm remembering it as a library book I read maybe 1960. Don't ask what I had for lunch yesterday but some book covers have stayed in mind for over sixty years.
BTW, The World's Discoverers has been republished at least twice in the last 20 years and they aren't cheap.
The cover of that book at the top looks very familiar. If so, I'm remembering it as a library book I read maybe 1960. Don't ask what I had for lunch yesterday but some book covers have stayed in mind for over sixty years.
BTW, The World's Discoverers has been republished at least twice in the last 20 years and they aren't cheap.
Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2026 09:47 AM (yTvNw)
127
Only lost then found book I read then bought decades later was Hell in a Very Small Place about Dien Bien Phu. Read it in Jr High from library, so 8th or 9th grade. Maybe 5 years ago actually bought a copy and read it again. Was quite surprised how much of it I remembered.
Maybe another not so.long missing is V. Clauswitz On War, owned it when around 20yo but no idea what happened to it.
I have History of 2nd World War periodicals from when I started collecting at 13yo still.
Maybe another not so.long missing is V. Clauswitz On War, owned it when around 20yo but no idea what happened to it.
I have History of 2nd World War periodicals from when I started collecting at 13yo still.
Posted by: Skip at April 12, 2026 09:48 AM (Ia/+0)
128
#BeBetter
Posted by: Bob from NSA at April 12, 2026 09:45 AM (0sNs1)
====
What about sweatpants?
Asking for a friend.
Posted by: Bob from NSA at April 12, 2026 09:45 AM (0sNs1)
====
What about sweatpants?
Asking for a friend.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 12, 2026 09:48 AM (RIvkX)
129
I enjoyed this audio collection of short stories, The Mysterious Mr. Quin - Agatha Christie, twice.
Posted by: Berwyn Mutt - Home of Svengoolie at April 12, 2026 09:49 AM (HcbZb)
130
. . . I started Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. 3 short chapters in and I will say I’m not impressed, but it’s early. I remember when he was a big deal but he seems to be an unknown these days. I don’t think I’ve ever seen his name on the book thread. . . .
Posted by: Who Knew at April 12, 2026
***
I really like Maugham's work. Bondage is okay, though I love the portrait of Mildred, the sociopathic waitress. But his The Razor's Edge, The Moon and Sixpence, and Cakes and Ale are very good, and he wrote some solid short stories like "The Letter" and "Rain." He'd been a playwright before turning to serious novels -- so he knew how to construct a story.
Posted by: Who Knew at April 12, 2026
***
I really like Maugham's work. Bondage is okay, though I love the portrait of Mildred, the sociopathic waitress. But his The Razor's Edge, The Moon and Sixpence, and Cakes and Ale are very good, and he wrote some solid short stories like "The Letter" and "Rain." He'd been a playwright before turning to serious novels -- so he knew how to construct a story.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:50 AM (wzUl9)
131
Quarter Twenty--
"Passenger to Frankfurt" is not representative of Agatha Christie's work. Like several other books written later in her life, it's murky and very repetitive. It's also one of her attempts at thrillers which, most Christie fans acknowledge, are not very good.
A better choice for a first Christie would be "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd," the book that really put her on the map.
"Passenger to Frankfurt" is not representative of Agatha Christie's work. Like several other books written later in her life, it's murky and very repetitive. It's also one of her attempts at thrillers which, most Christie fans acknowledge, are not very good.
A better choice for a first Christie would be "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd," the book that really put her on the map.
Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at April 12, 2026 09:50 AM (FEVMW)
132
110 The whole matter with the mines reminded of mask of dimitrious which was loosely based on the life of real life scoundrel zahiroffs early days dimitrious was a smuggler assassin middlemen for spies
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 09:43 AM (bXbFr)
Although this more properly belongs in a movie thread, the Mask of Dimitrios is a marvelous film to look up, one that I think few remember now. A Sidney Greenstreet/Peter Lorre masterpiece.
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 09:43 AM (bXbFr)
Although this more properly belongs in a movie thread, the Mask of Dimitrios is a marvelous film to look up, one that I think few remember now. A Sidney Greenstreet/Peter Lorre masterpiece.
Posted by: Tom Servo at April 12, 2026 09:50 AM (tgZLi)
133
Speaking of stories about Russian leaders I've always thought Yeltsin and the grocery store is really interesting:
https://tinyurl.com/3avkww2x
https://tinyurl.com/3avkww2x
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 09:50 AM (2Ez/1)
134
7 I read a very fun book by my fave writing team Ilona Andrews : This Kingdom Not Kill Me
Really enjoyed this. The basic premise is that 26 year old Maggie wakes up in the world of her favorite fantasy book series. She's a fantasy fan, she's very aware of the tropes, but she has no idea why she's there.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 12, 2026 09:03 AM (LmPA0)
Knowing about anime has ruined me. I read that and immediately thought 'oh, she got isekie-ed.' But I suppose that is quicker than thinking 'oh, she got a-Connecticut-Yankee-in-King-Arthur's-court-ed.' Although 'she got Wizard-of-Oz-ed' also rolls off the tongue fairly quickly...
Really enjoyed this. The basic premise is that 26 year old Maggie wakes up in the world of her favorite fantasy book series. She's a fantasy fan, she's very aware of the tropes, but she has no idea why she's there.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 12, 2026 09:03 AM (LmPA0)
Knowing about anime has ruined me. I read that and immediately thought 'oh, she got isekie-ed.' But I suppose that is quicker than thinking 'oh, she got a-Connecticut-Yankee-in-King-Arthur's-court-ed.' Although 'she got Wizard-of-Oz-ed' also rolls off the tongue fairly quickly...
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 12, 2026 09:50 AM (Lhaco)
135
I think it's better to watch Agatha Christie on TV/film rather than reading but that's just me.
Posted by: dantesed at April 12, 2026 09:50 AM (Oy/m2)
136
BTW, The World's Discoverers has been republished at least twice in the last 20 years and they aren't cheap.
Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2026 09:47 AM (yTvNw)
---
Fortunately, it's in the public domain, so there are alternatives...
Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2026 09:47 AM (yTvNw)
---
Fortunately, it's in the public domain, so there are alternatives...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 12, 2026 09:50 AM (gnNyN)
137
But no, I shant consume another. I simply shannot.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (2Ez/1)
I've read one Agatha Christie, a couple of years ago, and I don't even remember what it was. Not a fan.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!
Maybe give Dorothy Sayers' mysteries with Peter Wimsey a try.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 09:38 AM (2Ez/1)
I've read one Agatha Christie, a couple of years ago, and I don't even remember what it was. Not a fan.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!
Maybe give Dorothy Sayers' mysteries with Peter Wimsey a try.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 09:51 AM (0U5gm)
138
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 12, 2026 09:35 AM (Ew3fm)
The Laura Ingalls Wilder series was required reading. And I loved the Garth Williams illustrations. He also illustrated "The Gingerbread Rabbit" and Margery Sharpe's wonderful Miss Bianca series. Truly one of the greats.
The Laura Ingalls Wilder series was required reading. And I loved the Garth Williams illustrations. He also illustrated "The Gingerbread Rabbit" and Margery Sharpe's wonderful Miss Bianca series. Truly one of the greats.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 09:51 AM (kpS4V)
139
If you like that sort of thing, look for a copy of Bennett Cerf's Bumper Crop, which is an omnibus collection of several of his joke books.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:29 AM (qRla/)
Definitely like that sort of thing. If anyone ever asked me to do a book thread, I'd fill it with Bennett Cerf! He wrote at least one children's book himself that we had, and I've read some of his other stuff. YT has the Bennett Cerf Archives that has a lot of videos of interviews with him.
He may have been a liberal type, but he gets points for publishing Rand to the horror of his friends.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:29 AM (qRla/)
Definitely like that sort of thing. If anyone ever asked me to do a book thread, I'd fill it with Bennett Cerf! He wrote at least one children's book himself that we had, and I've read some of his other stuff. YT has the Bennett Cerf Archives that has a lot of videos of interviews with him.
He may have been a liberal type, but he gets points for publishing Rand to the horror of his friends.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 09:51 AM (1Ff7Z)
140
The darker tone of The Magician’s Nephew is in part from the autobiographical elements that Lewis included in the story. The young protagonist is driven in part by a desire to find a cure for his dying mother; CS Lewis lost his own mother to cancer when he was 9 years old, the most traumatic event in his young life.
I believe parts of the story stem from a fantasy of what he wished he could have done.
Posted by: Tom Servo at April 12, 2026
***
I'm going to look for that one. My copy of The Screwtape Letters, annotated, is still waiting for me to dip into it, too.
I believe parts of the story stem from a fantasy of what he wished he could have done.
Posted by: Tom Servo at April 12, 2026
***
I'm going to look for that one. My copy of The Screwtape Letters, annotated, is still waiting for me to dip into it, too.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:52 AM (wzUl9)
141
Drug-out an old (out-of-ptint, I think) copy of Lorenzo the Magnificent for the new guy at work. Had to re-read it myself first, though...
Posted by: Don in SoCo at April 12, 2026 09:52 AM (2TPZH)
142
I'm just throwing this out there for anyone:
McTeague: A Story of San Francisco by Frank Norris. From 1899, it's the story of McTeague (we never learn his first name), a SF dentist who marries his best friend's cousin and how the marriage ends in poverty and violence as a result of greed, jealousy and anger. Erich von Stroheim adapted it into his butchered masterpiece movie Greed in 1924.*
It's not a happy read, though there are funny and touching moments in it, but if you like Conrad, London or other writers of the era, you might like Norris.
*I might set a Theda Bara novel during the filming, perhaps, some day.
McTeague: A Story of San Francisco by Frank Norris. From 1899, it's the story of McTeague (we never learn his first name), a SF dentist who marries his best friend's cousin and how the marriage ends in poverty and violence as a result of greed, jealousy and anger. Erich von Stroheim adapted it into his butchered masterpiece movie Greed in 1924.*
It's not a happy read, though there are funny and touching moments in it, but if you like Conrad, London or other writers of the era, you might like Norris.
*I might set a Theda Bara novel during the filming, perhaps, some day.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:52 AM (qRla/)
143
Favorite books of childhood - two pop up to the top of the list.
"The Phantom Brakeman and Other Railroad Stories" by Freeman Hubbard. Being enamored with all things trains, I read this book till it fell apart.
"The Sea Chest: Stories of Adventure at Sea" by Frank Knight. A mix of sea stories of the past and present, featuring young midshipmen and officers in a variety of perils and situations. Another one I read and re-read many times.
"The Phantom Brakeman and Other Railroad Stories" by Freeman Hubbard. Being enamored with all things trains, I read this book till it fell apart.
"The Sea Chest: Stories of Adventure at Sea" by Frank Knight. A mix of sea stories of the past and present, featuring young midshipmen and officers in a variety of perils and situations. Another one I read and re-read many times.
Posted by: George V at April 12, 2026 09:52 AM (HUbHH)
144
>>I have all the Straight Dope books. IMO, only the first one is worth having.
Not sure why I never got around to replacing the first one; have 3 of the others and haven't re-read them in a long time - probably for the same reason as you.
Not sure why I never got around to replacing the first one; have 3 of the others and haven't re-read them in a long time - probably for the same reason as you.
Posted by: Nazdar at April 12, 2026 09:53 AM (NcvvS)
Posted by: P. J. Ama at April 12, 2026 09:54 AM (2TPZH)
146
I'd never heard of Passenger to Frankfurt. If you're going to sample Christie, go for her best. The stuff that made her reputation: And Then There Were None (or whatever the hell we're calling it this week), or Murder on the Orient Express, or The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, etc.
At her peak she had a perfect understanding of how mystery story readers approached a mystery story, and she ruthlessly exploited their assumptions and expectations. Sayers's mysteries are better novels, but Christie was the queen of beating the reader at the "figure it out" game.
Meanwhile Raymond Chandler thought the whole genre was ridiculous, and said so.
At her peak she had a perfect understanding of how mystery story readers approached a mystery story, and she ruthlessly exploited their assumptions and expectations. Sayers's mysteries are better novels, but Christie was the queen of beating the reader at the "figure it out" game.
Meanwhile Raymond Chandler thought the whole genre was ridiculous, and said so.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 09:54 AM (78a2H)
147
Maybe give Dorothy Sayers' mysteries with Peter Wimsey a try.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026
***
They were contemporary with Christie. Strong Poison is quite good, and her first, Whose Body? Sayers tried hard to infuse elements of the "real" novel with the detective story, and sometimes it worked.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026
***
They were contemporary with Christie. Strong Poison is quite good, and her first, Whose Body? Sayers tried hard to infuse elements of the "real" novel with the detective story, and sometimes it worked.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 09:54 AM (wzUl9)
148
The Russians still use the R-7 booster as a Soyuz launcher, almost the same as Yuri's Vostok, a military ICBM in origin.
When Korolev died the whole program went to shit.
It was always propaganda.
The Russians still use the R-7 booster as a Soyuz launcher, almost the same as Yuri's Vostok, a military ICBM in origin.
When Korolev died the whole program went to shit.
It was always propaganda.
Posted by: Auspex at April 12, 2026 09:54 AM (Y8DZL)
149
Speaking of stories about Russian leaders I've always thought Yeltsin and the grocery store is really interesting:
https://tinyurl.com/3avkww2x
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 09:50 AM (2Ez/1)
=====
The irony is that Vice President Nixon and Kruschev had a very similar encounter called the Kitchen Debate years prior to that in 1959. But that is somehow lost to history.
https://tinyurl.com/3avkww2x
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 09:50 AM (2Ez/1)
=====
The irony is that Vice President Nixon and Kruschev had a very similar encounter called the Kitchen Debate years prior to that in 1959. But that is somehow lost to history.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 12, 2026 09:55 AM (RIvkX)
150
I know that feeling. I had to stop editing the other day because I was forcing myself to go on and my mind was locked down.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:28 AM (ZOv7s)
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:33 AM (qRla/)
I know a good editor - and Wolfus can back me up on it - if any horde writers need a pro. She's not very expensive either.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:28 AM (ZOv7s)
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:33 AM (qRla/)
I know a good editor - and Wolfus can back me up on it - if any horde writers need a pro. She's not very expensive either.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 09:56 AM (1Ff7Z)
151
I find Maugham at his best at short length, and Everyman's Library has a nice one-volume selection of his stories. A lot of the essays aren't too dusty either.
A Traveller in Romance gathers a bunch of uncollected writings, one of which was a piece he wrote on turning 90 and deciding that he was done with everything. He notes that he has written everything that was in him to write and put aside his pen. He closes:
"And so, when my obituary notice at last appears in The Times and they say: 'What! I thought he died years ago', my ghost will gently chuckle."
Gotta admit, I like that guy.
A Traveller in Romance gathers a bunch of uncollected writings, one of which was a piece he wrote on turning 90 and deciding that he was done with everything. He notes that he has written everything that was in him to write and put aside his pen. He closes:
"And so, when my obituary notice at last appears in The Times and they say: 'What! I thought he died years ago', my ghost will gently chuckle."
Gotta admit, I like that guy.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 09:57 AM (q3u5l)
152
"The Sea Chest: Stories of Adventure at Sea" by Frank Knight. A mix of sea stories of the past and present, featuring young midshipmen and officers in a variety of perils and situations. Another one I read and re-read many times.
Don't know where you could find it, but I would recommend 1980s Fifty True Mysteries of The Sea, edited by John Canning. I get seasick flushing a toilet, but I do love to read about lost ships.
Don't know where you could find it, but I would recommend 1980s Fifty True Mysteries of The Sea, edited by John Canning. I get seasick flushing a toilet, but I do love to read about lost ships.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:58 AM (qRla/)
153
I read a book called “We Were There at the Battle of Gettysburg” when I was in junior high. I’ve since lost it… but in retrospect that book was the start of my fascination with the civil war.
Two young kids who happen to live in Gettysburg provide an account of those three days through their innocent eyes. They just happen to run into some of the famous characters from the battle, like RE Lee
Two young kids who happen to live in Gettysburg provide an account of those three days through their innocent eyes. They just happen to run into some of the famous characters from the battle, like RE Lee
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at April 12, 2026 09:58 AM (xT8gx)
154
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 12, 2026 09:35 AM (Ew3fm)
Thanks for responding to my call for help with Sarah last week!
Thanks for responding to my call for help with Sarah last week!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 09:59 AM (1Ff7Z)
155
Finished A.H. Lloyd's Man of Destiny series. Definitely better than the Star Wars prequels, although it's easy to see the source material in the story.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2026 09:44 AM (lFFaq)
---
One of the guys in my unit read it and when asked, his review was simply: "Lloyd fixed Star Wars."
The plot summary was written over a single weekend, around 20,000 words. I'd been thinking about it for years, and when my wife convinced me to write it in a slightly different setting, it all came out at once.
Of course, that got modified a lot in the years that came after, and I waited until the last book's draft was finished before publishing the first book. I didn't want to run out of gas and leave people hanging like some authors.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 12, 2026 09:44 AM (lFFaq)
---
One of the guys in my unit read it and when asked, his review was simply: "Lloyd fixed Star Wars."
The plot summary was written over a single weekend, around 20,000 words. I'd been thinking about it for years, and when my wife convinced me to write it in a slightly different setting, it all came out at once.
Of course, that got modified a lot in the years that came after, and I waited until the last book's draft was finished before publishing the first book. I didn't want to run out of gas and leave people hanging like some authors.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 09:59 AM (ZOv7s)
156
What John Dickson Carr did better than anyone else in the "puzzle mystery" was to give us atmosphere. By which I mean: His stories were frequently "impossible crimes," locked rooms or crimes that seemed almost supernatural, and so a creepy atmosphere -- dispelled quite logically, mind you -- was almost required. Dorothy Sayers herself said that "Mr. Carr can *write*," and added that he could spin up an atmosphere with just one adjective.
He also has surprising bits of humor here and there, as when he describes his Chestertonian detective, Dr.Fell, who walks with two canes, as standing and "swaying like a tethered elephant."
He also has surprising bits of humor here and there, as when he describes his Chestertonian detective, Dr.Fell, who walks with two canes, as standing and "swaying like a tethered elephant."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:00 AM (wzUl9)
157
Christie was the queen of beating the reader at the "figure it out" game.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 09:54 AM (78a2H)
Well, yeah...because what reader would actually figure out that the killer rigged a shotgun with a string through a hole in the window, that he then pulled from outside, making it appear that a man shot himself in a locked room?
It was so preposterous that I couldn't pick up another. Life is short.
I do have a Lord Peter Wimsey in one of my bedside stacks. One day...
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 09:54 AM (78a2H)
Well, yeah...because what reader would actually figure out that the killer rigged a shotgun with a string through a hole in the window, that he then pulled from outside, making it appear that a man shot himself in a locked room?
It was so preposterous that I couldn't pick up another. Life is short.
I do have a Lord Peter Wimsey in one of my bedside stacks. One day...
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 10:01 AM (h7ZuX)
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 10:01 AM (2Ez/1)
159
70 Several years ago I purchased The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. That was one of my favorite series of books when I was a child.
Still holds up surprisingly well, reading them as an adult.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 12, 2026 09:26 AM (gnNyN)
Never read those as a kid, but I knew of them because of The Black Caldron movie (infamous at the time as the only Disney animated movie to have never (yet) been released from the vault). Read the series ten-ish years ago. I was shocked at how book-accurate movie-Gurgi was. And I wished more of the movie was book-accurate. Like making Gurgi develop into a ranger/archer, including a giant war-cat into the crew...
Still holds up surprisingly well, reading them as an adult.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 12, 2026 09:26 AM (gnNyN)
Never read those as a kid, but I knew of them because of The Black Caldron movie (infamous at the time as the only Disney animated movie to have never (yet) been released from the vault). Read the series ten-ish years ago. I was shocked at how book-accurate movie-Gurgi was. And I wished more of the movie was book-accurate. Like making Gurgi develop into a ranger/archer, including a giant war-cat into the crew...
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 12, 2026 10:02 AM (Lhaco)
160
>>I read a book called “We Were There at the Battle of Gettysburg” when I was in junior high.
There were a bunch of 'We Were There' books. Remember reading the Normandy invasion & the Battle of the Bulge ones from 4th-5th grade, or thereabouts.
There were a bunch of 'We Were There' books. Remember reading the Normandy invasion & the Battle of the Bulge ones from 4th-5th grade, or thereabouts.
Posted by: Nazdar at April 12, 2026 10:02 AM (NcvvS)
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 10:03 AM (kpS4V)
162
He also has surprising bits of humor here and there, as when he describes his Chestertonian detective, Dr.Fell, who walks with two canes, as standing and "swaying like a tethered elephant."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
I think one of the keys to a successful book series is to have idiosyncracies in the recurring characters. Most of those we keep mentioning feature this. It lends a familiarity to the readers without impeding the plots.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
I think one of the keys to a successful book series is to have idiosyncracies in the recurring characters. Most of those we keep mentioning feature this. It lends a familiarity to the readers without impeding the plots.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 10:04 AM (0U5gm)
163
Read (Listen) of the week was 'Napoleon' by Andrew Roberts. A very good "definitive bio" and good intro for later reading.
The unexpected tangents include a desire to read one of Voltaire's histories. Charles of Sweden or Peter of Russia??
Surprisingly I don't believe any English translations in over 100 years, but Project Gutenberg has both.
The unexpected tangents include a desire to read one of Voltaire's histories. Charles of Sweden or Peter of Russia??
Surprisingly I don't believe any English translations in over 100 years, but Project Gutenberg has both.
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at April 12, 2026 10:04 AM (KaHlS)
164
The story goes that Somerset Maugham wa seated next to Dorothy Parker at a dinner party. Dottie was no fan of queer guys, and WSM was known, quietly, to be one of them. So when he asked her to write a poem for him, she whipped out with:
"Higgledy-piggledy, my white hen,
She lays eggs for gentlemen."
Maugham said, "I've always liked those lines." Dottie gave a thin cool smile and added, "You cannot persuade her with gun or lariat/ To come across for the proletariat."
"Higgledy-piggledy, my white hen,
She lays eggs for gentlemen."
Maugham said, "I've always liked those lines." Dottie gave a thin cool smile and added, "You cannot persuade her with gun or lariat/ To come across for the proletariat."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:04 AM (wzUl9)
165
Did you have any books you loved, lost and found?
--
A book I remembered parts of as a kid, then hunted down as an adult: Vance's Marune: Alastor 933.
--
A book I remembered parts of as a kid, then hunted down as an adult: Vance's Marune: Alastor 933.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 12, 2026 10:05 AM (fE6HJ)
166
I think one of the keys to a successful book series is to have idiosyncracies in the recurring characters. Most of those we keep mentioning feature this. It lends a familiarity to the readers without impeding the plots.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 10:04 AM (0U5gm)
---
That goes for both heroes and villains.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 10:04 AM (0U5gm)
---
That goes for both heroes and villains.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 12, 2026 10:05 AM (gnNyN)
167
Khrushchev heard we were sending up two men into space, so Mother Russia had to send up three!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 09:24 AM (kpS4V)
---
The same dynamic is in play with China. People look at stuff like ship production, missile inventories, claimed test results but don't understand that it's all for show. Xi says "Built a ship every month," and so they do, but they use garbage materials and cut corners.
Training is all about marching and looking competent, not actually performing in battlefield conditions. It's telling that when China sent a frigate and a cutter against a Filipino motorboat, they came out on the losing side.
And of course all the fancy hypersonic missiles they sold Iran have yet to scratch the paint of a single US warship.
The conclusion of Walls of Men just keeps looking better and better.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 09:24 AM (kpS4V)
---
The same dynamic is in play with China. People look at stuff like ship production, missile inventories, claimed test results but don't understand that it's all for show. Xi says "Built a ship every month," and so they do, but they use garbage materials and cut corners.
Training is all about marching and looking competent, not actually performing in battlefield conditions. It's telling that when China sent a frigate and a cutter against a Filipino motorboat, they came out on the losing side.
And of course all the fancy hypersonic missiles they sold Iran have yet to scratch the paint of a single US warship.
The conclusion of Walls of Men just keeps looking better and better.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 10:05 AM (ZOv7s)
168
It's been a busy week for chores so not as much reading. But one I have trouble putting down, except to make a LOT of notes, is Martin Shaw's "Liturgies of the Wild". It is, put way too simply, an examination of the importance of myth in culture and to the individual, its creation and the ongoing need for myths. Along the way Shaw makes me see resonances with Tolkien, Lewis, Homer, the Romantic poets and others. Not always a direct connection but a world outlook that they all touched on.
However, the book is a struggle. I want to race through it getting to each new page. But I also want to reflect on the writing, on many levels, and make notes on the ideas Shaw is generating. It's a delicious but annoying dilemma.
However, the book is a struggle. I want to race through it getting to each new page. But I also want to reflect on the writing, on many levels, and make notes on the ideas Shaw is generating. It's a delicious but annoying dilemma.
Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2026 10:06 AM (yTvNw)
169
That goes for both heroes and villains.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 12, 2026 10:05 AM (gnNyN)
---
It helps if you use real people as the model. That's why I always say "write what you know," because that's how the best one did it. Go out and live, THEN write.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 12, 2026 10:05 AM (gnNyN)
---
It helps if you use real people as the model. That's why I always say "write what you know," because that's how the best one did it. Go out and live, THEN write.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 10:07 AM (ZOv7s)
170
My Side Of The Mountain...
Fun book.
Somerset Maugham was seated next to Dorothy Parker at a dinner party"
Not at the Somerset Maugham suite?
/
Fun book.
Somerset Maugham was seated next to Dorothy Parker at a dinner party"
Not at the Somerset Maugham suite?
/
Posted by: man at April 12, 2026 10:07 AM (XuXeR)
171
Well, yeah...because what reader would actually figure out that the killer rigged a shotgun with a string through a hole in the window, that he then pulled from outside, making it appear that a man shot himself in a locked room?
It would take me most of the day to track it down, but I believe a variation of that was an actual crime in late 19th or early 20th century America (NYC, if my memory serves). I'll have to look around my shelves this week and see if I can find it.
It would take me most of the day to track it down, but I believe a variation of that was an actual crime in late 19th or early 20th century America (NYC, if my memory serves). I'll have to look around my shelves this week and see if I can find it.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 10:07 AM (qRla/)
172
It's telling that when China sent a frigate and a cutter against a Filipino motorboat, they came out on the losing side.
--
👍🏼
--
👍🏼
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 12, 2026 10:07 AM (fE6HJ)
173
Well, yeah...because what reader would actually figure out that the killer rigged a shotgun with a string through a hole in the window, that he then pulled from outside, making it appear that a man shot himself in a locked room?
It was so preposterous that I couldn't pick up another. Life is short.
I do have a Lord Peter Wimsey in one of my bedside stacks. One day...
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026
***
It's supposed to be somewhat preposterous -- a grand game between reader and writer, not "realistic." Carr the locked-room champ himself, when he was critiquing books, mentioned that. "For me to complain about unrealistic elements in someone else's book is like St. Vitus complaining about the Twist."
Chandler and Hammett and their disciples, those are the "realistic" guys.
It was so preposterous that I couldn't pick up another. Life is short.
I do have a Lord Peter Wimsey in one of my bedside stacks. One day...
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026
***
It's supposed to be somewhat preposterous -- a grand game between reader and writer, not "realistic." Carr the locked-room champ himself, when he was critiquing books, mentioned that. "For me to complain about unrealistic elements in someone else's book is like St. Vitus complaining about the Twist."
Chandler and Hammett and their disciples, those are the "realistic" guys.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:08 AM (wzUl9)
174
For me the defining trait of the Chinese army is white gloves. Their soldiers wear white gloves.
That's a parade army, not a fighting army. For the past several centuries the only enemies the Chinese army has managed to defeat has been Chinese civilians.
I'm not saying we shouldn't take them seriously as a rival, but there's a lot of ridiculous doomer talk which reminds me very strongly of how we were told the Soviets were invincible back in 1982. In many cases it's the same people saying it, too.
That's a parade army, not a fighting army. For the past several centuries the only enemies the Chinese army has managed to defeat has been Chinese civilians.
I'm not saying we shouldn't take them seriously as a rival, but there's a lot of ridiculous doomer talk which reminds me very strongly of how we were told the Soviets were invincible back in 1982. In many cases it's the same people saying it, too.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 10:08 AM (78a2H)
175
"My Side Of The Mountain" by Jean Craighead George.
Read it many times as a youngster.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 10:01 AM (2Ez/1)
---
People of a certain age will recall when The Education of Little Tree was all the rage.
Read it many times as a youngster.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 10:01 AM (2Ez/1)
---
People of a certain age will recall when The Education of Little Tree was all the rage.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 10:09 AM (ZOv7s)
176
I hate to leave, folks, but the day awaits. Thanks for dropping by and thanks to CBD for letting me host yet again. Unless some other topic grabs my attention, my next thread will be about the TBR pile and the problems associated with it.
Hope you all have a lovely day.
Hope you all have a lovely day.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 10:09 AM (qRla/)
177
Speaking of childhood books. I’m pretty sure Andre Norton’s The Time Traders was the first science fiction I ever read. I’m rereading now and amazed that I had no idea how immersed in the Cold War the plot was
Posted by: Who Knew at April 12, 2026 10:09 AM (0QMbS)
Posted by: Just the punchline at April 12, 2026 10:09 AM (2Ez/1)
179
Reading Shots Fired in Anger: A Rifleman's View of the Battle of Guadalcanal. Tried reading it on one of bezos' e-readers, but just now ordered the book. Paper is the way to go. Oddly, they changed the subtitle on the electronic version, replacing the word 'Battle' with 'Activities'. Weird.
Posted by: Don in SoCo at April 12, 2026 10:10 AM (2TPZH)
180
In before the Tolkien nerds...Damn it!
Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at April 12, 2026 10:11 AM (Fbc0I)
181
but there's a lot of ridiculous doomer talk"
This. "Japan Inc. will crush us", "beware the Emerald Tiger" (yeah, Ireland was gonna be it), "the EU will dominate world trade"
How did those work out again?
This. "Japan Inc. will crush us", "beware the Emerald Tiger" (yeah, Ireland was gonna be it), "the EU will dominate world trade"
How did those work out again?
Posted by: man at April 12, 2026 10:11 AM (XuXeR)
182
It's supposed to be somewhat preposterous -- a grand game between reader and writer, not "realistic."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:08 AM (wzUl9)
I get that; I just don't enjoy it much.
I am much more a fan of more realistic detective fiction.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:08 AM (wzUl9)
I get that; I just don't enjoy it much.
I am much more a fan of more realistic detective fiction.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 10:12 AM (h7ZuX)
183
For me the defining trait of the Chinese army is white gloves. Their soldiers wear white gloves.
That's a parade army, not a fighting army. For the past several centuries the only enemies the Chinese army has managed to defeat has been Chinese civilians.
I'm not saying we shouldn't take them seriously as a rival, but there's a lot of ridiculous doomer talk which reminds me very strongly of how we were told the Soviets were invincible back in 1982. In many cases it's the same people saying it, too.
Posted by: Trimegistus
And for the same reasons. My view is that they wear gloves so as not to cause rust on the pot metal weapons.
That's a parade army, not a fighting army. For the past several centuries the only enemies the Chinese army has managed to defeat has been Chinese civilians.
I'm not saying we shouldn't take them seriously as a rival, but there's a lot of ridiculous doomer talk which reminds me very strongly of how we were told the Soviets were invincible back in 1982. In many cases it's the same people saying it, too.
Posted by: Trimegistus
And for the same reasons. My view is that they wear gloves so as not to cause rust on the pot metal weapons.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 10:13 AM (0U5gm)
184
"Chandler and Hammett and their disciples, those are the "realistic" guys.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius"
###
Speaking of that, I have a shiny new grandson whose first name is Dashiell.
Kinda badass.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius"
###
Speaking of that, I have a shiny new grandson whose first name is Dashiell.
Kinda badass.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 10:13 AM (2Ez/1)
185
In the early days of the Ellery stories, two things the Queen cousins did that nobody else was trying were the surreal murder scene, and murder in an unusual locale.
See the bodies with heads chopped off and fastened to signposts, to form a kind of "T," in The Egyptian Cross Mystery. Or the body found with all its clothing reversed (well, not the shoes) and all the furnishings in the room reversed as well, in Chinese Orange.
And their early books moved out of the Christie library to a Broadway theater, a department store, a hospital, and an indoor rodeo in Manhattan. Suspects by the carload!
See the bodies with heads chopped off and fastened to signposts, to form a kind of "T," in The Egyptian Cross Mystery. Or the body found with all its clothing reversed (well, not the shoes) and all the furnishings in the room reversed as well, in Chinese Orange.
And their early books moved out of the Christie library to a Broadway theater, a department store, a hospital, and an indoor rodeo in Manhattan. Suspects by the carload!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:14 AM (wzUl9)
186
MP4- Would love to read the "Discoverers" book.
I am sure it is a straightforward account of the explorers, and is not laced with Western civilization guilt.
Continuing to read Ron Chernow's excellent biography on U.S. Grant, as recommended by a few of the readers here.
I am sure it is a straightforward account of the explorers, and is not laced with Western civilization guilt.
Continuing to read Ron Chernow's excellent biography on U.S. Grant, as recommended by a few of the readers here.
Posted by: Joemarine at April 12, 2026 10:14 AM (y171U)
187
Tolkien is always in the chamber...
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 10:14 AM (kpS4V)
Posted by: man at April 12, 2026 10:14 AM (XuXeR)
189
I'm not saying we shouldn't take them seriously as a rival, but there's a lot of ridiculous doomer talk which reminds me very strongly of how we were told the Soviets were invincible back in 1982. In many cases it's the same people saying it, too.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 10:08 AM (78a2H)
---
Netizens in China are a great source of inside information. After the big WW II parade in September, they filmed the troops going home on the trains and they all had sunburns or tan lines. In China. In September.
Did they practice indoors? Some folks threw shade at our US Army anniversary parade, but those were actual troops, not a drill team (the actual Old Guard guys are awesome, because that's what they do).
Oh, and one of their new nuclear submarines sank at the dock and its reactor melted down. We know because we caught it on a satellite picture and the radiation plume showed up in the South China Sea. Top men.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 10:08 AM (78a2H)
---
Netizens in China are a great source of inside information. After the big WW II parade in September, they filmed the troops going home on the trains and they all had sunburns or tan lines. In China. In September.
Did they practice indoors? Some folks threw shade at our US Army anniversary parade, but those were actual troops, not a drill team (the actual Old Guard guys are awesome, because that's what they do).
Oh, and one of their new nuclear submarines sank at the dock and its reactor melted down. We know because we caught it on a satellite picture and the radiation plume showed up in the South China Sea. Top men.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 10:15 AM (ZOv7s)
190
*I am much more a fan of more realistic detective fiction.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 10:12 AM*
Hello, sweetheart.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 10:12 AM*
Hello, sweetheart.
Posted by: Yours truly, Johnny Dollar at April 12, 2026 10:16 AM (2Ez/1)
191
Plus one of the best of the early Ellerys is The Siamese Twin Mystery, which turns the "suspects snowed in" trope on its head. Ellery and his father are trapped by a forest fire that is working its way up the mountain toward the home where the murders happen. There is built-in suspense, not only about the twists and turns of the puzzle -- dying message clues and several false solutions before the true one -- but as to how they are going to survive this!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:16 AM (wzUl9)
192
Aesop's Fables; a new translation by Aesop. It's a 5MB .mobi ebook file which means there are a lot of images to enjoy along the way.
Project Gutenberg. Standard Ebooks is another source.
"The truth is, of course, that Aesop's Fables are not Aesop's fables, any more than Grimm's Fairy Tales were ever Grimm's fairy tales. But the fable and the fairy tale are things utterly distinct. There are many elements of difference; but the plainest is plain enough. There can be no good fable with human beings in it. There can be no good fairy tale without them." - G. K. Chesterton
Project Gutenberg. Standard Ebooks is another source.
"The truth is, of course, that Aesop's Fables are not Aesop's fables, any more than Grimm's Fairy Tales were ever Grimm's fairy tales. But the fable and the fairy tale are things utterly distinct. There are many elements of difference; but the plainest is plain enough. There can be no good fable with human beings in it. There can be no good fairy tale without them." - G. K. Chesterton
Posted by: 13times at April 12, 2026 10:17 AM (uB2D/)
193
I enjoy the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries as well. My personal favorite is "Murder Must Advertise." Not the best of her mysteries; one of the subplots is tedious and pretty unbelievable. The reason I like it so much is that it captures the atmosphere at an advertising agency in 1920s England.
That's not surprising since Sayers herself worked at an ad agency for several years. She's credited with some of the most enduring Guinness campaigns and reputedly created the Guinness toucan.
That's not surprising since Sayers herself worked at an ad agency for several years. She's credited with some of the most enduring Guinness campaigns and reputedly created the Guinness toucan.
Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at April 12, 2026 10:17 AM (FEVMW)
194
About the time I read We Were There at the Battle of Gettysburg, my parents had Bruce Catton’s Potomac trilogy on the book shelf. I didn’t read it as a lad, but the titles stuck in my mind. I still think to this day that A Stillness at Appomattox is probably the best title to any history book ever…. I think that title is why I circled back and eventually read the trilogy as a young adult. Titles are underrated…. Gotta have a good title
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at April 12, 2026 10:17 AM (xT8gx)
195
Many of Carr's mysteries, and also Christie's, were written as part of a trend of the time where the goal was to provide some clues, but to make the story so that it was nearly impossible to solve the mystery prior to the last chapter. It is an interesting pursuit, but sometimes it sacrifices credulity.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026 10:17 AM (0U5gm)
196
Fair lady in rich setting with diaphanous Spring dress, white shoes, white gloves, white purse, white parasol, and upside-down flower pot for a hat. Must be a Poppins book thread.😏
Hey, MP4, maybe think about subbing for Piper some evening?😏😏
Hello and happy Bookday, everydobby.
Hey, MP4, maybe think about subbing for Piper some evening?😏😏
Hello and happy Bookday, everydobby.
Posted by: mindful webworker - here we are as a species with bright shining... um... at April 12, 2026 10:17 AM (C2uPD)
197
This. "Japan Inc. will crush us",
Posted by: man at April 12, 2026 10:11 AM (XuXeR)
---
Though the conclusion was flawed, Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers was a really good book. His summary of global politics from 1500 into the 20th Century was masterful. Really fired my imagination.
Posted by: man at April 12, 2026 10:11 AM (XuXeR)
---
Though the conclusion was flawed, Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers was a really good book. His summary of global politics from 1500 into the 20th Century was masterful. Really fired my imagination.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 10:17 AM (ZOv7s)
198
Speaking of that, I have a shiny new grandson whose first name is Dashiell.
Kinda badass.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 10:13 AM (2Ez/1)
I love that! There won't be a dozen of those in his class full of Graysons, Wyatts, and Jaxxs.
Kinda badass.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 12, 2026 10:13 AM (2Ez/1)
I love that! There won't be a dozen of those in his class full of Graysons, Wyatts, and Jaxxs.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at April 12, 2026 10:18 AM (h7ZuX)
199
After three I'm under the table,
after four I'm under my host.
Posted by: Just the punchline at April 12, 2026
***
Part of the reason Dottie is still read and still in print today.
Many of her short stories are incomparable, too -- the kind of thing Hemingway and Lardner did, but always with her trademark cynicism.
after four I'm under my host.
Posted by: Just the punchline at April 12, 2026
***
Part of the reason Dottie is still read and still in print today.
Many of her short stories are incomparable, too -- the kind of thing Hemingway and Lardner did, but always with her trademark cynicism.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:19 AM (wzUl9)
200
Almost done with the fourth book in Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children of . . ." series, which is called "Children of Strife." Pretty good, but honestly books 2 through 4 haven't captured the drama or creativity that the first book did (Children of Time), with this final book being hindered by the fact that almost all the human characters are reprehensible assholes.
I think I definitely like his "Final Architecture" trilogy much more. YMMV, of course.
Hey, Book Nerdz!!
I think I definitely like his "Final Architecture" trilogy much more. YMMV, of course.
Hey, Book Nerdz!!
Posted by: Sharkman at April 12, 2026 10:19 AM (/RHNq)
201
>>Speaking of childhood books. I’m pretty sure Andre Norton’s The Time Traders was the first science fiction I ever read.
One of her's, Victory on Janus, was the first SF I remember reading (7th grade), but there's a story I saw a lot earlier (2nd grade, I think) set in kind of a post-apocalyptic Quebec. Pretty sure it was originally in French (realised this a lot later) because I caught references to Mount Royal and I thought it was silly to change the name.
One of her's, Victory on Janus, was the first SF I remember reading (7th grade), but there's a story I saw a lot earlier (2nd grade, I think) set in kind of a post-apocalyptic Quebec. Pretty sure it was originally in French (realised this a lot later) because I caught references to Mount Royal and I thought it was silly to change the name.
Posted by: Nazdar at April 12, 2026 10:20 AM (NcvvS)
202
I'll say this now. The first volume of Malcolm Guite's Arthuriad epic poem comes out on the 20th. The title is "Galahad and the Grail" and I've been waiting for over two years for it to be published, following his progress. When it is FINALLY in my hands, all my other reading will stop until I finish it. If it is only half as good as the brief parts I've heard it will be magnificent, on a par with Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" and other epic poems.
This feels a bit like a little kid the week before Christmas: impatience and anticipation.
This feels a bit like a little kid the week before Christmas: impatience and anticipation.
Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2026 10:23 AM (yTvNw)
203
Our Germans may have been better than their Germans, but the Russkies kept beating us to the punch, helped by their casual attitude about safety.
Hence all the (urban legend?) stories about cosmonauts being lost in space, orbiting endlessly around the planet.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:28 AM (qRla/)
======
I think of the Cold War space programs as forms of military campaigns - military (or former) officers, both programs evolved from ballistic missile research. Flag-planting on the lunar surface.
Add to that each country's military philosophies and doctrines, and for me, how things panned out was a simple progression from the moment the last German soldat marched into a POW pen.
Hence all the (urban legend?) stories about cosmonauts being lost in space, orbiting endlessly around the planet.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at April 12, 2026 09:28 AM (qRla/)
======
I think of the Cold War space programs as forms of military campaigns - military (or former) officers, both programs evolved from ballistic missile research. Flag-planting on the lunar surface.
Add to that each country's military philosophies and doctrines, and for me, how things panned out was a simple progression from the moment the last German soldat marched into a POW pen.
Posted by: mrp at April 12, 2026 10:25 AM (rj6Yv)
204
The problem at the time, Russia or USSR was a huge country, like 9 time zones or whatever. Completely closed society.
Intelligence was scant on what they were up to. There was no way to know, for sure. The “missile gap” turned out to be nonsense - but they didn’t know at the time. And politicians who knew better, didn’t fail to paint Republicans as weak and in effectual against the Red Menace. That’s why the U-2 and later, satellites loomed large.
When Sputnik launched, American scientists thought somebody dropped a decimal in the translation. 18.4 pounds maybe. 184 pounds? Uh-oh. That means they have heavy lift capability.
Maybe they can’t make toasters or washing machines, but they can make rockets that could drop nukes on the USA. America hadn’t felt so vulnerable to attack since 1812
Intelligence was scant on what they were up to. There was no way to know, for sure. The “missile gap” turned out to be nonsense - but they didn’t know at the time. And politicians who knew better, didn’t fail to paint Republicans as weak and in effectual against the Red Menace. That’s why the U-2 and later, satellites loomed large.
When Sputnik launched, American scientists thought somebody dropped a decimal in the translation. 18.4 pounds maybe. 184 pounds? Uh-oh. That means they have heavy lift capability.
Maybe they can’t make toasters or washing machines, but they can make rockets that could drop nukes on the USA. America hadn’t felt so vulnerable to attack since 1812
Posted by: Common Tater at April 12, 2026 10:25 AM (o55mS)
205
In before the Tolkien nerds...Damn it!"
I'm here... Finished all 4 books and am now starting Silmarillion
I'm here... Finished all 4 books and am now starting Silmarillion
Posted by: It's me donna at April 12, 2026 10:26 AM (YFxAC)
206
I read and reread "The Mad Scientists' Club" constantly during grade school
The Mad Scientists Club and The Three Investigators were my childhood favorites. Those kids did things!
The Mad Scientists Club and The Three Investigators were my childhood favorites. Those kids did things!
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at April 12, 2026 10:26 AM (7zz0n)
207
The book weaves three stories - the search for the killers, Clarence Darrow's defense and DW Griffith's move to Hollywood.
-
Speaking of three intertwined story, over Easter weekend PBS (first clue) had a new interpretation of the passion that was, get this, heretical. The basic theory is that Jesus, Herod, and Tiberius' right hand man Sejanus were jockeying for power. But then Sejanus fell from power and Jesus became a liability to Herod so whereas he had earlier ignored Jesus attacking the money changers, now he is a threat. Pirate also feared Tiberius' revenge on Sejanus' friends so plays along. Also, Jesus didn't enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday but six months earlier and was imprisoned for that time as Herod and Pilate waited to see how the Sejanus debacle fell out.
It was interesting but reduces Jesus and religion itself to mere political skulduggery. I was disappointed by the Naked Archaeologist, Simcha Jacobovici, whom I always liked, participation in this and he has written a book explaining this theory.
-
Speaking of three intertwined story, over Easter weekend PBS (first clue) had a new interpretation of the passion that was, get this, heretical. The basic theory is that Jesus, Herod, and Tiberius' right hand man Sejanus were jockeying for power. But then Sejanus fell from power and Jesus became a liability to Herod so whereas he had earlier ignored Jesus attacking the money changers, now he is a threat. Pirate also feared Tiberius' revenge on Sejanus' friends so plays along. Also, Jesus didn't enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday but six months earlier and was imprisoned for that time as Herod and Pilate waited to see how the Sejanus debacle fell out.
It was interesting but reduces Jesus and religion itself to mere political skulduggery. I was disappointed by the Naked Archaeologist, Simcha Jacobovici, whom I always liked, participation in this and he has written a book explaining this theory.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026 10:27 AM (ndZc7)
208
Reading Shots Fired in Anger: A Rifleman's View of the Battle of Guadalcanal. Tried reading it on one of bezos' e-readers, but just now ordered the book. Paper is the way to go. Oddly, they changed the subtitle on the electronic version, replacing the word 'Battle' with 'Activities'. Weird.
Posted by: Don in SoCo at April 12, 2026 10:10 AM (2TPZH)
=====
A must read. Does your copy include George's service in Burma with Merrill's Marauders?
Posted by: Don in SoCo at April 12, 2026 10:10 AM (2TPZH)
=====
A must read. Does your copy include George's service in Burma with Merrill's Marauders?
Posted by: mrp at April 12, 2026 10:28 AM (rj6Yv)
209
I think I definitely like his "Final Architecture" trilogy much more. YMMV, of course.
Hey, Book Nerdz!!
Posted by: Sharkman at April 12, 2026 10:19 AM (/RHNq)
Children of Ruin is my favorite. All of his 'series' books explore how we communicate with alien intelligences and the attendant pitfalls.
Hey, Book Nerdz!!
Posted by: Sharkman at April 12, 2026 10:19 AM (/RHNq)
Children of Ruin is my favorite. All of his 'series' books explore how we communicate with alien intelligences and the attendant pitfalls.
Posted by: 13times at April 12, 2026 10:28 AM (uB2D/)
210
First Maugham I can remember reading was The Razor's Edge. I was in high school and it was required for some class or other; as it wasn't sf I raced through it as quickly as I could and didn't give it the attention I should have. It was at least 20 years before I picked up Maugham again, probably after running across recommendations from other writers.
Robert Silverberg did a collection of stories called First Person Singular, spinning off Maugham's Six Stories in the First Person Singular, and he discussed some of Maugham's techniques in the intro to that collection. Worth a look.
Robert Silverberg did a collection of stories called First Person Singular, spinning off Maugham's Six Stories in the First Person Singular, and he discussed some of Maugham's techniques in the intro to that collection. Worth a look.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 10:28 AM (q3u5l)
211
The best of the great puzzle mysteries always feature a motivation for the murderer to do what he did. In the EQ case of the corpse with the reversed clothing, it was to conceal the corpse's identity, which if known would have led right to his killer. And in the best of Carr's stories, the murderer did not *set out* to create an impossible crime; nobody would do that. Circumstances changed as he was in the middle of the murder, and the "impossible" appearance came about by chance.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:31 AM (wzUl9)
Posted by: no one of any consequence at April 12, 2026 10:33 AM (qFwJc)
213
maugham reappears in one of the latter bernard gunther tales, when the former is living in the south of france,
the backstory is about the supposed mole in MI 5, Roger Hollis, who had dodgy ties,
the backstory is about the supposed mole in MI 5, Roger Hollis, who had dodgy ties,
Posted by: miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 10:33 AM (bXbFr)
214
I would read Andrew Robert's Napoleon have number of bolks on him. Yet probably won't ever get to it as looking more like a microscope into the period.
And for a Napoleonic era buff, I am not a Francophile
And for a Napoleonic era buff, I am not a Francophile
Posted by: Skip at April 12, 2026 10:34 AM (Ia/+0)
215
actually the U2 showed us, there was no missile gap, but the deep state, wanted a play against eisenhower, and nixon,
Posted by: miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 10:35 AM (bXbFr)
216
205
I'm here... Finished all 4 books and am now starting Silmarillion
Posted by: It's me donna at April 12, 2026 10:26 AM (YFxAC)
That's been sitting on my shelf for ages, unread. (Shame on me. How can call myself a nerd?) Since I just finished my current prose read, which was a history book...The Silmarillion should probably jump to the top of my reading list.
I'm here... Finished all 4 books and am now starting Silmarillion
Posted by: It's me donna at April 12, 2026 10:26 AM (YFxAC)
That's been sitting on my shelf for ages, unread. (Shame on me. How can call myself a nerd?) Since I just finished my current prose read, which was a history book...The Silmarillion should probably jump to the top of my reading list.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 12, 2026 10:35 AM (Lhaco)
217
The basic theory is that Jesus, Herod, and Tiberius' right hand man Sejanus were jockeying for power. But then Sejanus fell from power and Jesus became a liability to Herod so whereas he had earlier ignored Jesus attacking the money changers, now he is a threat. Pirate also feared Tiberius' revenge on Sejanus' friends so plays along. Also, Jesus didn't enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday but six months earlier and was imprisoned for that time as Herod and Pilate waited to see how the Sejanus debacle fell out. . .
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026
***
It doesn't really fit as far as timeline. Jesus was probably born in what we call 4 BC, so he'd have been 33 in AD 29; and Sejanus did not fall from power and die until AD 31. But I gotta admit, the theory is ingenious.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026
***
It doesn't really fit as far as timeline. Jesus was probably born in what we call 4 BC, so he'd have been 33 in AD 29; and Sejanus did not fall from power and die until AD 31. But I gotta admit, the theory is ingenious.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:36 AM (wzUl9)
218
A must read. Does your copy include George's service in Burma with Merrill's Marauders?
_-_
Don't know how much, there is a brief mention later in the book (only read to page 52 so far). Good writer, though, so I will seek that out. Thanks for the tip.
_-_
Don't know how much, there is a brief mention later in the book (only read to page 52 so far). Good writer, though, so I will seek that out. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by: Don in SoCo at April 12, 2026 10:36 AM (2TPZH)
219
the twist about Poirot, was not so much who did it, but why and how he discerned the motive
that is the draw of a drawing room mystery, that was satirized in the movie clue,
that is the draw of a drawing room mystery, that was satirized in the movie clue,
Posted by: miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 10:36 AM (bXbFr)
220
does sejanus fall come later, that is what we saw in I Claudius, which was influenced by Tacitus account,
Posted by: miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 10:38 AM (bXbFr)
221
One of the amazing things about the early space race era is satellite reconaissance. Specifically, how the Russians -- the most spy-crazy nation in history, which literally invented putting satellites in orbit -- didn't even think of the idea until the Americans were photographing their whole country acre by acre from space.
That points up a really key element of the Soviet space program, and a lot of Communist projects in general: the focus is entirely on doing a thing so you can brag about having done the thing. Nobody seems to ask "what can we do with this thing now?"
Imagine if they'd been the first ones to build weather satellites, so that people all over the world would look to Glorious Russia for warnings of hurricanes and such. Or if they -- as Clarke even warned us about! -- had built the first comsats, giving them a way to Sovietize global culture.
Nope. They put the trophy in the case and that was that.
The most astonishing example is Gagarin bailing out of his Vostok capsule because they hadn't developed a landing system -- and then the Soviet state kept that a secret for 40 years because they were afraid it might not qualify for the official record books!
That points up a really key element of the Soviet space program, and a lot of Communist projects in general: the focus is entirely on doing a thing so you can brag about having done the thing. Nobody seems to ask "what can we do with this thing now?"
Imagine if they'd been the first ones to build weather satellites, so that people all over the world would look to Glorious Russia for warnings of hurricanes and such. Or if they -- as Clarke even warned us about! -- had built the first comsats, giving them a way to Sovietize global culture.
Nope. They put the trophy in the case and that was that.
The most astonishing example is Gagarin bailing out of his Vostok capsule because they hadn't developed a landing system -- and then the Soviet state kept that a secret for 40 years because they were afraid it might not qualify for the official record books!
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 10:38 AM (78a2H)
222
The Bee: Here's What Each Of The 73 Letters In Canada's New LGBT Acronym Stands For
https://tinyurl.com/4n7de47c
JOU: James O'Keefe Undercover 😆
https://tinyurl.com/4n7de47c
JOU: James O'Keefe Undercover 😆
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 10:39 AM (kpS4V)
223
Read Asquith, by Roy Jenkins, a biography of H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of Britain between 1906 and 1916.
We think of Edwardian Britain as palaces. idyllic garden parties and discrete adultery. But the country was in ferment. Labor turmoil, women's suffrage (quite violent), naval rearmament, budgets, conflicts with the House of Lords, Ireland and, ridiculously, Welsh disestablishment caused great difficulty for the ruling Liberals.
Asquith's prewar strengths - solidity, patience and a willingness to wait events out - served him well in this time. At war, these became weaknesses. He was pushed first into coalition government then out of office altogether. Neither he nor the Liberal Party ever recovered.
Read Asquith, by Roy Jenkins, a biography of H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of Britain between 1906 and 1916.
We think of Edwardian Britain as palaces. idyllic garden parties and discrete adultery. But the country was in ferment. Labor turmoil, women's suffrage (quite violent), naval rearmament, budgets, conflicts with the House of Lords, Ireland and, ridiculously, Welsh disestablishment caused great difficulty for the ruling Liberals.
Asquith's prewar strengths - solidity, patience and a willingness to wait events out - served him well in this time. At war, these became weaknesses. He was pushed first into coalition government then out of office altogether. Neither he nor the Liberal Party ever recovered.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 10:39 AM (tgvbd)
224
Speaking of Roy Chapman Andrews, he had Indiana Jones league adventures that I wouldn't believe except he brought back dinosaur eggs. Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expedition is a *great* book. Finding dinosaurs is amazing enough but he also did it in the middle of the collapse of China. Great stories about how one deals with bandit warlords, policemen performing summary decapitations on his car bumper, and knowing he *had* to get as many specimens out as possible because civil war would make it impossible to go back.
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 12, 2026 10:40 AM (riU3n)
225
Many of Carr's mysteries, and also Christie's, were written as part of a trend of the time where the goal was to provide some clues, but to make the story so that it was nearly impossible to solve the mystery prior to the last chapter. It is an interesting pursuit, but sometimes it sacrifices credulity.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026
***
The Queen cousins prided themselves on always providing all the clues. (Didn't mean they didn't conceal them in some fashion, putting up blinds so you didn't realize they *were* clues.) The logic of the best Ellery stories is excellent and allows only one solution. Of course, as the cousins themselves said, "We are fair to the reader only if he is a genius."
Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 12, 2026
***
The Queen cousins prided themselves on always providing all the clues. (Didn't mean they didn't conceal them in some fashion, putting up blinds so you didn't realize they *were* clues.) The logic of the best Ellery stories is excellent and allows only one solution. Of course, as the cousins themselves said, "We are fair to the reader only if he is a genius."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:40 AM (wzUl9)
226
Clearly I was wrong about Maugham being a forgotten man. I’ll take some of those recommendations to heart and try some more (eventually) after finishing Of Human Bondage
Posted by: Who Knew at April 12, 2026 10:40 AM (0QMbS)
227
gKWVE: I spilt my coffee too, but I was at home and had to clean it up myself!
There was a series of books I liked a lot as a kid by William (I think) Altsheler. Didn't discover until late in adulthood that my twin brother loved them too and collected them. His widow was kind enough to send them on to me.
They cover the French and Indian war. I was young enough not to realize that was an actual event and not made up by the author.
There was a series of books I liked a lot as a kid by William (I think) Altsheler. Didn't discover until late in adulthood that my twin brother loved them too and collected them. His widow was kind enough to send them on to me.
They cover the French and Indian war. I was young enough not to realize that was an actual event and not made up by the author.
Posted by: Wenda at April 12, 2026 10:41 AM (JhlRS)
228
I didn't come up with a favorite childhood book, then thought of the great, fat Webster's Unabridged Dictionary that resided in the upstairs hallway on its own stand. Referenced that, and sometimes just thumbed through it, so many times.
Like so much else, it disappeared after the folks divorced and the old house was sold while I was sent away, miserably, to summer camp. (That experience was like a bad SF story where I was transported from my happy childhood home to an alternate and crappier dimension.) Often wondered what became of all the books we had, like the nearly complete original Hardy Boys set, or Dad's hardbound collections of cartoons by Addams, VIP, Mauldin, et al.
Like so much else, it disappeared after the folks divorced and the old house was sold while I was sent away, miserably, to summer camp. (That experience was like a bad SF story where I was transported from my happy childhood home to an alternate and crappier dimension.) Often wondered what became of all the books we had, like the nearly complete original Hardy Boys set, or Dad's hardbound collections of cartoons by Addams, VIP, Mauldin, et al.
Posted by: mindful webworker - books in another world at April 12, 2026 10:41 AM (C2uPD)
229
My other favorite reading was a collection of Vogue magazines from the 1940's, given me by a woman in our church, I've no idea why, she had daughters of her own.
They used to print the menus of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's dinner parties.
They used to print the menus of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's dinner parties.
Posted by: Wenda at April 12, 2026 10:43 AM (JhlRS)
230
My parent's library had "50 True Tales of Terror" and "50 True Ghost Stories", also edited by John Canning. I remember those well. Lots of fairly goofy stuff, but some tales absolutely chilling.
As far as childhood favorites, two stand out: 1) "Mystery of the Witch's Bridge" by Barbee Oliver Carlton. I got this in IIRC 3rd grade, from Scholastic Book Services. Young orphan Dan Pride is sent to live with his rather remote uncle at the family estate in York, Maine. Decades-old mysteries, a reputed mad hermit who lives on an island in the marsh, and a menacing dog named Caliban all fit into the story. I always found it incredibly evocative of the setting. It vanished long ago and I found an apparently never-read copy in the original printing on Amazon about 20 years ago. Enjoyed reading it just as much the 2nd time.
2) "Quest For the Snow Leopard" by Roy Chapman Andrews. A fictionalized account of some of his travels in China and Tibet. My evil twin absconded with it, so I got a copy of the original. To this day, I can't see a cardinal in winter without thinking of "The Great Gorge of the Yangtze River", one of chapters in the book.
As far as childhood favorites, two stand out: 1) "Mystery of the Witch's Bridge" by Barbee Oliver Carlton. I got this in IIRC 3rd grade, from Scholastic Book Services. Young orphan Dan Pride is sent to live with his rather remote uncle at the family estate in York, Maine. Decades-old mysteries, a reputed mad hermit who lives on an island in the marsh, and a menacing dog named Caliban all fit into the story. I always found it incredibly evocative of the setting. It vanished long ago and I found an apparently never-read copy in the original printing on Amazon about 20 years ago. Enjoyed reading it just as much the 2nd time.
2) "Quest For the Snow Leopard" by Roy Chapman Andrews. A fictionalized account of some of his travels in China and Tibet. My evil twin absconded with it, so I got a copy of the original. To this day, I can't see a cardinal in winter without thinking of "The Great Gorge of the Yangtze River", one of chapters in the book.
Posted by: Disillusionist at April 12, 2026 10:43 AM (VZ4lb)
231
the twist about Poirot, was not so much who did it, but why and how he discerned the motive
that is the draw of a drawing room mystery, that was satirized in the movie clue,
Posted by: miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026
***
And viewers/readers still love a good puzzle, if it's not too complicated. See the Knives Out films. At least the first one qualifies as a Queen/Christie-level mystery.
that is the draw of a drawing room mystery, that was satirized in the movie clue,
Posted by: miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026
***
And viewers/readers still love a good puzzle, if it's not too complicated. See the Knives Out films. At least the first one qualifies as a Queen/Christie-level mystery.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:43 AM (wzUl9)
232
Don't know how much, there is a brief mention later in the book (only read to page 52 so far). Good writer, though, so I will seek that out. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by: Don in SoCo at April 12, 2026 10:36 AM (2TPZH)
======
My copy is the NRA 2nd edition that appends his account of his service in Burma. It's like a second book. It provides an insight into the US's first RCT-level campaign with indigenous forces (the Kachins) in the 20th century. The Brits, of course, had a lot of experience in the practice (including Burma, of course). A sort of a passing of the baton.
Posted by: Don in SoCo at April 12, 2026 10:36 AM (2TPZH)
======
My copy is the NRA 2nd edition that appends his account of his service in Burma. It's like a second book. It provides an insight into the US's first RCT-level campaign with indigenous forces (the Kachins) in the 20th century. The Brits, of course, had a lot of experience in the practice (including Burma, of course). A sort of a passing of the baton.
Posted by: mrp at April 12, 2026 10:44 AM (rj6Yv)
233
Gotta have a good title
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at April 12, 2026 10:17 AM (xT8gx)
---
Absolutely. My worst selling book (Scorpion's Pass) has a crappy title and one of my goals this year is to do an audio book/revision and retitle it.
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at April 12, 2026 10:17 AM (xT8gx)
---
Absolutely. My worst selling book (Scorpion's Pass) has a crappy title and one of my goals this year is to do an audio book/revision and retitle it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 10:45 AM (ZOv7s)
234
Roy Chapman Andrews originally went to Asia to study marine life. In particular he was investigating a Japanese account of something described as a giant whale, or kujira.
That's right. He was looking for Godzilla. Then risked his life to get into China to recover dinosaur eggs.
Hmm . . .
That's right. He was looking for Godzilla. Then risked his life to get into China to recover dinosaur eggs.
Hmm . . .
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 10:45 AM (78a2H)
235
What a beautiful dress pron photo!
It says Easter in New Orleans to me.
Somewhere in a box I have a beautiful hat from Yvonne LaFleur, and somewhere in the back of the closet is the dress it was made for.
And maybe in ten years or so, grandgirl will wear both and look lovely <3
It says Easter in New Orleans to me.
Somewhere in a box I have a beautiful hat from Yvonne LaFleur, and somewhere in the back of the closet is the dress it was made for.
And maybe in ten years or so, grandgirl will wear both and look lovely <3
Posted by: barbarausa at April 12, 2026 10:46 AM (enw9G)
236
Good luck Donna. It was all I could do to finish that one.
Read the other 4 twice in my lifetime
Read the other 4 twice in my lifetime
Posted by: Skip at April 12, 2026 10:47 AM (Ia/+0)
237
Speaking of three intertwined story, over Easter weekend PBS (first clue) had a new interpretation of the passion that was, get this, heretical.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026 10:27 AM (ndZc7)
---
"Oh look, it's Easter, so let blaspheme and insult people who will generally ignore us."
"Oh, it's Eid, everyone remember to say nice things about Muslims!"
Do they get that insulting Jesus also insults Muslims? Anyone remember when some school (Oberlin?) was going to do a production of "Corpus Christi" with the gay Jesus and got threatened with fatal diversity, upon which they decided cultural sensitivity was better than transgression? That was a hoot.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026 10:27 AM (ndZc7)
---
"Oh look, it's Easter, so let blaspheme and insult people who will generally ignore us."
"Oh, it's Eid, everyone remember to say nice things about Muslims!"
Do they get that insulting Jesus also insults Muslims? Anyone remember when some school (Oberlin?) was going to do a production of "Corpus Christi" with the gay Jesus and got threatened with fatal diversity, upon which they decided cultural sensitivity was better than transgression? That was a hoot.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 10:48 AM (ZOv7s)
238
Well, time for Mass. Thanks to MPPP and everyone. Happy reading!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 12, 2026 10:48 AM (ZOv7s)
239
My aunt found a set of books by Albert Payson Terhine, who wrote books about heroic collies. He was really a hack writer but I loved those books as a child. My own dog was a mutt, but she spent many hours lying next to me while I was reading about Lad or Lochinvar Bobby rescuing theit owners.
Posted by: Donna&&&&&&v at April 12, 2026 10:50 AM (Ecjv8)
240
Wow, Iran totally punked Trump! lol Iran stands for the world.
Posted by: Sid at April 12, 2026 10:50 AM (Be2jp)
241
My aunt found a set of books by Albert Payson Terhine, who wrote books about heroic collies. He was really a hack writer but I loved those books as a child. My own dog was a mutt, but she spent many hours lying next to me while I was reading about Lad or Lochinvar Bobby rescuing theit owners.
Posted by: Donna&&&&&&v at April 12, 2026
***
I remember his Lochinvar Luck as a boy. And there were the Whitman Authorized TV novels about Lassie, at least two with Jeff Miller and one or two with Timmy. (No wells were ever involved.)
Posted by: Donna&&&&&&v at April 12, 2026
***
I remember his Lochinvar Luck as a boy. And there were the Whitman Authorized TV novels about Lassie, at least two with Jeff Miller and one or two with Timmy. (No wells were ever involved.)
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:52 AM (wzUl9)
242
"What a beautiful dress pron photo!
It says Easter in New Orleans to me."
Yes. It brought back fond memories of Oregon Muse.
It says Easter in New Orleans to me."
Yes. It brought back fond memories of Oregon Muse.
Posted by: Tuna at April 12, 2026 10:52 AM (lJ0H4)
243
With the Lassie Whitman books, I see three or four were written by Western writer Steve Frazee. I never read those. They might be fun.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 10:54 AM (wzUl9)
244
It doesn't really fit as far as timeline. Jesus was probably born in what we call 4 BC, so he'd have been 33 in AD 29; and Sejanus did not fall from power and die until AD 31. But I gotta admit, the theory is ingenious.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
does sejanus fall come later, that is what we saw in I Claudius, which was influenced by Tacitus account,
Posted by: miguel cervantes
Details, mere details. They developed a theory based upon pure speculation.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
does sejanus fall come later, that is what we saw in I Claudius, which was influenced by Tacitus account,
Posted by: miguel cervantes
Details, mere details. They developed a theory based upon pure speculation.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026 10:54 AM (ndZc7)
245
This is funny.
Out of the blue, the lovely and artistic Mrs naturalfake, used her AI programs to make a cover for my upcoming novel.
She did a great job! Very professional looking.
Anywho, she said the cover was to be a spur for me to get off my butt, and finish the novel....
Yes, ma'am!!!
This is funny.
Out of the blue, the lovely and artistic Mrs naturalfake, used her AI programs to make a cover for my upcoming novel.
She did a great job! Very professional looking.
Anywho, she said the cover was to be a spur for me to get off my butt, and finish the novel....
Yes, ma'am!!!
Posted by: naturalfake at April 12, 2026 10:55 AM (iJfKG)
246
Looking through the second volume of my old 1930's dictionary set.
Dumb me, I just learned that "yokel" is Northern English for "plow boy", duh, thence a country bumpkin.
I love dictionary surfing, which is why, as much as I use on-line lookups, I still have dead trees versions.
Dumb me, I just learned that "yokel" is Northern English for "plow boy", duh, thence a country bumpkin.
I love dictionary surfing, which is why, as much as I use on-line lookups, I still have dead trees versions.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 10:56 AM (kpS4V)
247
Nope. They put the trophy in the case and that was that.
The most astonishing example is Gagarin bailing out of his Vostok capsule because they hadn't developed a landing system -- and then the Soviet state kept that a secret for 40 years because they were afraid it might not qualify for the official record books!
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 10:38 AM (78a2H)
====
The Bolsheviks persecuted their most brilliant engineers and physicists. They imprisoned most of them, men like Sakharov, and fed and sheltered them like radioactive lab rats.
Solzhenitsyn spells it out in his novel "The First Circle".
My parents visited Kazakhstan and Pavlodar as part of a IESC program in the 90s. Dad had spent some years working at the Redstone Arsenal in the 50s. His description of the Soviet-era factories left in Kazakhstan was one of slap-dash and make-do in response to a doomed central command-and-control economy.
The most astonishing example is Gagarin bailing out of his Vostok capsule because they hadn't developed a landing system -- and then the Soviet state kept that a secret for 40 years because they were afraid it might not qualify for the official record books!
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 10:38 AM (78a2H)
====
The Bolsheviks persecuted their most brilliant engineers and physicists. They imprisoned most of them, men like Sakharov, and fed and sheltered them like radioactive lab rats.
Solzhenitsyn spells it out in his novel "The First Circle".
My parents visited Kazakhstan and Pavlodar as part of a IESC program in the 90s. Dad had spent some years working at the Redstone Arsenal in the 50s. His description of the Soviet-era factories left in Kazakhstan was one of slap-dash and make-do in response to a doomed central command-and-control economy.
Posted by: mrp at April 12, 2026 10:56 AM (rj6Yv)
248
37 just in here quickly to thank whoever (sometime early last week) linked First Contact over at Royal Road ... lol, what fun reading! and what, 500 chapters? even if they are short.
Posted by: sock_rat_eez at April 12, 2026 09:14 AM (MIIRH)
You're welcome! I mostly read LitRPG on Royal Road, but they also gave asylum to some sci-fi refugees from the HFY subreddit when there was some e-drama. I forget the details, just a vague recollection of Reddit changing the terms of service to arguably own the rights to everything posted. This, naturally, rustled many jimmies, especially on such a writer-focused sub.
Posted by: sock_rat_eez at April 12, 2026 09:14 AM (MIIRH)
You're welcome! I mostly read LitRPG on Royal Road, but they also gave asylum to some sci-fi refugees from the HFY subreddit when there was some e-drama. I forget the details, just a vague recollection of Reddit changing the terms of service to arguably own the rights to everything posted. This, naturally, rustled many jimmies, especially on such a writer-focused sub.
Posted by: SciVo at April 12, 2026 10:57 AM (Sy6m/)
249
no they are pretty stupid on that score,
although the though of issa and jesus are not remotely alike
although the though of issa and jesus are not remotely alike
Posted by: miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 10:58 AM (bXbFr)
250
I was thinking of Oregon Muse the other day.
I bet he'd be glad how the book thread goes on welll
I bet he'd be glad how the book thread goes on welll
Posted by: barbarausa at April 12, 2026 10:58 AM (enw9G)
251
"The conclusion of Walls of Men just keeps looking better and better."
Just added to my TBR pile.
Just added to my TBR pile.
Posted by: Disillusionist at April 12, 2026 10:58 AM (VZ4lb)
252
Speaking of Judas . . .
Swalwell’s congressional & campaign senior staff are out with a new stmt
“We’re horrified by the recent reporting in the San Francisco Chronicle and by CNN”
“The behavior detailed in these reports is abhorrent, beneath the dignity of those serving in public office and betrays the trust of all Californians,” they write.
Swalwell’s congressional & campaign senior staff are out with a new stmt
“We’re horrified by the recent reporting in the San Francisco Chronicle and by CNN”
“The behavior detailed in these reports is abhorrent, beneath the dignity of those serving in public office and betrays the trust of all Californians,” they write.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026 11:00 AM (ndZc7)
253
yes cosmonauts were disposable,
one recalls that CNN series where they painted Jesus like the sicari, who he was at odds with,
this was ehrman foolishness,
one recalls that CNN series where they painted Jesus like the sicari, who he was at odds with,
this was ehrman foolishness,
Posted by: miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 11:02 AM (bXbFr)
254
"The World's Discoverers" by William Henry Johnson is on archive.org.
Posted by: microcosme at April 12, 2026 11:03 AM (tIOA7)
255
The Bolsheviks persecuted their most brilliant engineers and physicists.
___________
I always say the Catholic Church should apologize for Galileo when the commies apologize for killing Vavilov for challenging the dogmas of Lysenko.
The Bolsheviks persecuted their most brilliant engineers and physicists.
___________
I always say the Catholic Church should apologize for Galileo when the commies apologize for killing Vavilov for challenging the dogmas of Lysenko.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 11:03 AM (tgvbd)
256
Like so much else, it disappeared after the folks divorced and the old house was sold while I was sent away, miserably, to summer camp. (That experience was like a bad SF story where I was transported from my happy childhood home to an alternate and crappier dimension.) Often wondered what became of all the books we had, like the nearly complete original Hardy Boys set, or Dad's hardbound collections of cartoons by Addams, VIP, Mauldin, et al.
Posted by: mindful webworker - books in another world at April 12, 2026 10:41 AM (C2uPD)
Am I reading this right?
Posted by: mindful webworker - books in another world at April 12, 2026 10:41 AM (C2uPD)
Am I reading this right?
Posted by: Reforger at April 12, 2026 11:04 AM (emWLT)
257
I love dictionary surfing, which is why, as much as I use on-line lookups, I still have dead trees versions.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 10:56 AM (kpS4V)
Use old ones. We have a two-volume set of The Century Dictionary. It shows a plate of world flags and Germany is red with some funny icon in the middle.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 10:56 AM (kpS4V)
Use old ones. We have a two-volume set of The Century Dictionary. It shows a plate of world flags and Germany is red with some funny icon in the middle.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 11:04 AM (1Ff7Z)
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 11:05 AM (tgvbd)
259
Who would have sent dick pics back in the day?
Tycho Brahe
Rousseau
Marquis de Sade
William S. Burroughs
Charles Bukowski for sure
Tycho Brahe
Rousseau
Marquis de Sade
William S. Burroughs
Charles Bukowski for sure
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 11:05 AM (kpS4V)
260
...Century Dictionary. It shows a plate of world flags and Germany is red with some funny icon in the middle.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 11:04 AM (1Ff7Z)
----
That's the set I have! I love it. Got it at a library sale.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 11:04 AM (1Ff7Z)
----
That's the set I have! I love it. Got it at a library sale.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 11:06 AM (kpS4V)
261
Like so much else, it disappeared after the folks divorced and the old house was sold while I was sent away, miserably, to summer camp. (That experience was like a bad SF story where I was transported from my happy childhood home to an alternate and crappier dimension.)
____________
Kids are resilient, he said dismissively.
Like so much else, it disappeared after the folks divorced and the old house was sold while I was sent away, miserably, to summer camp. (That experience was like a bad SF story where I was transported from my happy childhood home to an alternate and crappier dimension.)
____________
Kids are resilient, he said dismissively.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 11:08 AM (tgvbd)
262
Grandgirl is going to be 8 soon, and reads and writes very well (learning cursive, she proudly told me last month!), and I found a gorgeous hardback Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, with a bookmark ribbon in the spine, and all the original Tenniel illustrations, for one of her gifts from Granny.
That was and remains one of my favorite books from way back when (along with all A A Milne, whose When We Were Very Young/Now We are Six introduced me to poetry--"What IS the matter with Mary Jane?").
I hope she enjoys it, and plan to reread with her if she likes.
I feel like she needs to be challenged a bit, in order to start mastering complex reading, which it seems almost no one can do anymore.
There's a delicate balance in introducing things at the right time (hence all the Dickens wars, etc that crop up), and I hope this is the right time for her to start loving what's down that rabbit hole.
That was and remains one of my favorite books from way back when (along with all A A Milne, whose When We Were Very Young/Now We are Six introduced me to poetry--"What IS the matter with Mary Jane?").
I hope she enjoys it, and plan to reread with her if she likes.
I feel like she needs to be challenged a bit, in order to start mastering complex reading, which it seems almost no one can do anymore.
There's a delicate balance in introducing things at the right time (hence all the Dickens wars, etc that crop up), and I hope this is the right time for her to start loving what's down that rabbit hole.
Posted by: barbarausa at April 12, 2026 11:10 AM (enw9G)
263
That's the set I have! I love it. Got it at a library sale.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 11:06 AM (kpS4V)
They were always used as booster seats....
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 11:06 AM (kpS4V)
They were always used as booster seats....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 11:10 AM (1Ff7Z)
264
p.s. to mindful web, re Addams cartoons: Just passed to grandgirl my husband's hardback Addams book--she has discovered Wednesday Addams, and lately every Wednesday she wears braids and black jeans and tee to school. "On Wednesday we wear black", she grins!
Posted by: barbarausa at April 12, 2026 11:12 AM (enw9G)
265
Good morning all.
Stopping by briefly as I am completely immersed in the news this morning.
I love the dress up top MP4 but the gloves would have to go. The handbag too. Shoes are good.
I finished First Sign of Danger, Kelley Armstrong's ewes Haven Rock book. This is a terrific series placing a small community of people escaping the law but for good reason set in the Yukon wilderness. Murder, intrigue follows them and it is up to the wilderness raised sheriff and his former detective wife to figure out what is going on. Men are men and women are women. Well done.
Stopping by briefly as I am completely immersed in the news this morning.
I love the dress up top MP4 but the gloves would have to go. The handbag too. Shoes are good.
I finished First Sign of Danger, Kelley Armstrong's ewes Haven Rock book. This is a terrific series placing a small community of people escaping the law but for good reason set in the Yukon wilderness. Murder, intrigue follows them and it is up to the wilderness raised sheriff and his former detective wife to figure out what is going on. Men are men and women are women. Well done.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 12, 2026 11:14 AM (t/2Uw)
266
NRA 2nd edition
interesting...might have to actually stop in the visitors center next time at the Whittington Center ..bet they have quite a few books of interest there.
interesting...might have to actually stop in the visitors center next time at the Whittington Center ..bet they have quite a few books of interest there.
Posted by: Don in SoCo at April 12, 2026 11:17 AM (2TPZH)
267
Barbarausa, I loved the old Addams Family cartoons as a kid too.
(Mortician and Gomez looking through the window at a bleak stormy sky)
Gomez: "Are you unhappy, my dear?"
Morticia: "Oh yes, Darling, yes!"
Or the neighborhood doing spring cleaning up and down the block and there's Uncle Fester sharpening the spikes on the iron fence.
(Mortician and Gomez looking through the window at a bleak stormy sky)
Gomez: "Are you unhappy, my dear?"
Morticia: "Oh yes, Darling, yes!"
Or the neighborhood doing spring cleaning up and down the block and there's Uncle Fester sharpening the spikes on the iron fence.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 11:18 AM (kpS4V)
268
10 minute YT about 10 books you should never read.
https://tinyurl.com/2rnj5tm2
I couldn't tell if this was a put on or not.
https://tinyurl.com/2rnj5tm2
I couldn't tell if this was a put on or not.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026 11:18 AM (ndZc7)
269
And small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri are real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri!
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 12, 2026 11:19 AM (78a2H)
270
Suddenly, I was soaring, high above the clouds. The sun warmed my back and the wind was water for me to swim through. I shrugged my wings and lifted up higher, higher, to where the air was thin and the sun didn't warm so much. More of a strain to get more altitude.
I turned my gaze to the ground. Below the thinning clouds, I saw their world. Clearly, I saw civilization overlaid on a vast landscape. Mountains and forests, rivers and lakes, and near the horizon an ocean, all familiar, all utterly strange. No mountains on Earth look like those peaks. And no human city looks like the wide-spread crystalline structures that were scattered near the mountaintops.
I folded my wings behind my back and fell, like a meteor, toward a mountaintop. The roar of air! The brush of wind against my eyes and breastfeathers! The incredible rush of gravity's acceleration!
The mountaintop city rushed up at me. Details I could see before more clearly than my normal vision but now I began to pick out individuals, what appeared to be vehicles gliding through the air, shimmering, gossamer ribbons connecting the cities and surrounding developments. …
I turned my gaze to the ground. Below the thinning clouds, I saw their world. Clearly, I saw civilization overlaid on a vast landscape. Mountains and forests, rivers and lakes, and near the horizon an ocean, all familiar, all utterly strange. No mountains on Earth look like those peaks. And no human city looks like the wide-spread crystalline structures that were scattered near the mountaintops.
I folded my wings behind my back and fell, like a meteor, toward a mountaintop. The roar of air! The brush of wind against my eyes and breastfeathers! The incredible rush of gravity's acceleration!
The mountaintop city rushed up at me. Details I could see before more clearly than my normal vision but now I began to pick out individuals, what appeared to be vehicles gliding through the air, shimmering, gossamer ribbons connecting the cities and surrounding developments. …
Posted by: mindful webworker - Invulnerable at April 12, 2026 11:20 AM (C2uPD)
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at April 12, 2026 11:22 AM (IG3/x)
272
And getting back to MP4's topic question, collections of cartoons were a BIG part of my immersive reading growing up, especially Charles Addams and Gahan Wilson.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026 11:22 AM (kpS4V)
273
Encyclopedia Brown doesn't get any love around here... Is that series just too simple, for super young people? because I always thought the stories were clever....
Posted by: SSBN 656 (G) at April 12, 2026 11:23 AM (dmDsy)
274
Eris, we all ran home from the school bus to catch the beginning of Dark Shadows, followed by Addams Family.
John Astin remains such a great Gomez! Raul Julia pretty much owns it now, but I always see John Astin in my mind--I thought Morticia was so lucky! One of the thrills of my teenage life was when a guy I had a huge crush on kissed my hand, and then up my arm. (He got to the shoulder and stopped, and we both laughed because we were embarrassed. I kind of wish we hadn't been, lol!)
John Astin remains such a great Gomez! Raul Julia pretty much owns it now, but I always see John Astin in my mind--I thought Morticia was so lucky! One of the thrills of my teenage life was when a guy I had a huge crush on kissed my hand, and then up my arm. (He got to the shoulder and stopped, and we both laughed because we were embarrassed. I kind of wish we hadn't been, lol!)
Posted by: barbarausa at April 12, 2026 11:24 AM (enw9G)
275
How's your Latin?
Hakeem Jeffries Claims DEI Is Explicitly Written Into Constitution
“Let’s just check the record. The motto of this great country, ‘E pluribus unum,’ that’s the motto of this great country, ‘Out of many, one.’ That’s diversity,” Jeffries continued.
Hakeem Jeffries Claims DEI Is Explicitly Written Into Constitution
“Let’s just check the record. The motto of this great country, ‘E pluribus unum,’ that’s the motto of this great country, ‘Out of many, one.’ That’s diversity,” Jeffries continued.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026 11:24 AM (ndZc7)
276
(Mortician and Gomez looking through the window at a bleak stormy sky)
Gomez: "Are you unhappy, my dear?"
Morticia: "Oh yes, Darling, yes!"
Or the neighborhood doing spring cleaning up and down the block and there's Uncle Fester sharpening the spikes on the iron fence.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026
***
The first movie in the 1990s really captured the spirit of all that.
Morticia to Gomez: "Last night, you were unhinged. You were like some desperate howling demon. You frightened me. . . . Do it again."
Gomez: "Are you unhappy, my dear?"
Morticia: "Oh yes, Darling, yes!"
Or the neighborhood doing spring cleaning up and down the block and there's Uncle Fester sharpening the spikes on the iron fence.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes. at April 12, 2026
***
The first movie in the 1990s really captured the spirit of all that.
Morticia to Gomez: "Last night, you were unhinged. You were like some desperate howling demon. You frightened me. . . . Do it again."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:26 AM (wzUl9)
277
Upthread a bit Sabrina Chase suggested the book Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expedition.
It's under copyright, but I've a sneaking suspicion that that book is a compilation of his original books:
Project Gutenberg.
"Camps and Trails in China" by Roy Chapman Andrews and Yvette Borup Andrews is an adventure narrative written in the early 20th century. The work chronicles the Asiatic Zoölogical Expedition conducted by the American Museum of Natural History in China between 1916 and 1917."
"Across Mongolian Plains" by Roy Chapman Andrews is a naturalist's account written in the early 20th century. The narrative follows Andrews and his companions on their Second Asiatic Expedition, where they embark on a journey across Mongolia and Northern China."
It's under copyright, but I've a sneaking suspicion that that book is a compilation of his original books:
Project Gutenberg.
"Camps and Trails in China" by Roy Chapman Andrews and Yvette Borup Andrews is an adventure narrative written in the early 20th century. The work chronicles the Asiatic Zoölogical Expedition conducted by the American Museum of Natural History in China between 1916 and 1917."
"Across Mongolian Plains" by Roy Chapman Andrews is a naturalist's account written in the early 20th century. The narrative follows Andrews and his companions on their Second Asiatic Expedition, where they embark on a journey across Mongolia and Northern China."
Posted by: 13times at April 12, 2026 11:26 AM (uB2D/)
278
Good morning from a soggy Left Coast, where we were teased by Spring through the month of March and early April and are now back to rain and winter.
Off topic from MP4's suggestion. Hubs and I have been watching "Dark Winds," AMC's adaptation of the novels by Tony Hillerman. I've only read one novel in the series, but I noticed some radical changes in the characters and their arcs. Since I'm not invested in the novels' characters, I don't mind the changes in the series. In fact, the writers have done a good job writing compelling stories and the actors are outstanding. But would I feel this way if I had invested more time in the novels before watching the series?
I'm not sure. I notice I am often able to separate novels from their adaptations and appreciate the story (if well done) in their respective media even if they don't "match" exactly. And sometimes the adaptation ruins the story AND the characters.
How about the rest of y'all?
Off topic from MP4's suggestion. Hubs and I have been watching "Dark Winds," AMC's adaptation of the novels by Tony Hillerman. I've only read one novel in the series, but I noticed some radical changes in the characters and their arcs. Since I'm not invested in the novels' characters, I don't mind the changes in the series. In fact, the writers have done a good job writing compelling stories and the actors are outstanding. But would I feel this way if I had invested more time in the novels before watching the series?
I'm not sure. I notice I am often able to separate novels from their adaptations and appreciate the story (if well done) in their respective media even if they don't "match" exactly. And sometimes the adaptation ruins the story AND the characters.
How about the rest of y'all?
Posted by: March Hare at April 12, 2026 11:27 AM (O/GSq)
279
Weird crossover:
Rudd Weatherwax, the trainer of the various TV and movie "Lassies", was the uncle of Ken Weatherwax, who played Pugsley in the old Addams Family TV series.
Mmm... Carolyn Jones...Mmmmmm...
Rudd Weatherwax, the trainer of the various TV and movie "Lassies", was the uncle of Ken Weatherwax, who played Pugsley in the old Addams Family TV series.
Mmm... Carolyn Jones...Mmmmmm...
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at April 12, 2026 11:27 AM (IG3/x)
280
Way back when, you could find mass market paperbacks of Charles Addams and Gahan Wilson on most of the racks in my neighborhood. Wilson had a cartoon in nearly every issue of the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction for a while and even if the issue had a story by one of my favorites, it was Wilson's cartoon I went to first. Wilson also had a lot of cartoons in Playboy for some years; if I ran across an issue I looked for Wilson's cartoon before anything else -- which should tell you just how much I liked Gahan Wilson's stuff.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 11:30 AM (q3u5l)
281
I have the Penguin edition of Hayklut's Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques & Discoveries of the English Nation which excerpts into one volume the 10 volume series.
I had the chance to buy the whole series in a used bookstore, but it would have been about a thousand dollars . I regret missing that less than missing the Hoover translation of Agricola's De Re Metalica[i/]
I had the chance to buy the whole series in a used bookstore, but it would have been about a thousand dollars . I regret missing that less than missing the Hoover translation of Agricola's De Re Metalica[i/]
Posted by: Kindltot at April 12, 2026 11:30 AM (rbvCR)
282
I'm not sure. I notice I am often able to separate novels from their adaptations and appreciate the story (if well done) in their respective media even if they don't "match" exactly. And sometimes the adaptation ruins the story AND the characters.
How about the rest of y'all?
Posted by: March Hare at April 12, 2026
***
I'm a big Man From U.N.C.L.E. fan and have been since the show was new. Yet I liked the 2015 movie quite a bit. It was true to the *spirit* of the show's best episodes -- real danger, with brave heroes dealing with it and displaying insouciant courage at the right moments. Henry Cavill's Solo was exactly like Robert Vaughn's, and Armie Hammer was quite a bit different from David McCallum. But it all worked.
I'd have felt differently if Guy Ritchie had made fun of the original material and made it a goofy comedy. Or if they'd cast a blond actor as Solo and a dark one as Illya. But I was quite pleased with it.
How about the rest of y'all?
Posted by: March Hare at April 12, 2026
***
I'm a big Man From U.N.C.L.E. fan and have been since the show was new. Yet I liked the 2015 movie quite a bit. It was true to the *spirit* of the show's best episodes -- real danger, with brave heroes dealing with it and displaying insouciant courage at the right moments. Henry Cavill's Solo was exactly like Robert Vaughn's, and Armie Hammer was quite a bit different from David McCallum. But it all worked.
I'd have felt differently if Guy Ritchie had made fun of the original material and made it a goofy comedy. Or if they'd cast a blond actor as Solo and a dark one as Illya. But I was quite pleased with it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:32 AM (wzUl9)
283
273 Encyclopedia Brown doesn't get any love around here... Is that series just too simple, for super young people? because I always thought the stories were clever....
Posted by: SSBN 656 (G) at April 12, 2026 11:23 AM (dmDsy)
I read 'em. I even remember a few moments from them. (A fake witness mentioned a squirrel backing down a tree in shock/fear, proving he was lying because squirrels don't climb backwards. A witness unwilling to admit to being a witness answered all test questions in palindrome, suggesting that the culprit was Bob.) But they were all really short, so there just isn't much to discuss.
Posted by: SSBN 656 (G) at April 12, 2026 11:23 AM (dmDsy)
I read 'em. I even remember a few moments from them. (A fake witness mentioned a squirrel backing down a tree in shock/fear, proving he was lying because squirrels don't climb backwards. A witness unwilling to admit to being a witness answered all test questions in palindrome, suggesting that the culprit was Bob.) But they were all really short, so there just isn't much to discuss.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 12, 2026 11:33 AM (Lhaco)
284
re #16, yes Jack Vance was a great world builder. He could do more and better world building in three paragraphs and a footnote than many current authors can do in a seven volume epic.
If you have not already read it, I strongly recommend his autobiography "This Is Me, Jack Vance!: Or, More Properly, This Is "I"" Among other interesting details it reveals why aunts in Vance's stories are so often sinister figures.
If you have not already read it, I strongly recommend his autobiography "This Is Me, Jack Vance!: Or, More Properly, This Is "I"" Among other interesting details it reveals why aunts in Vance's stories are so often sinister figures.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at April 12, 2026 11:33 AM (aYnHS)
Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little at April 12, 2026 11:34 AM (Kt19C)
286
Jimmy Kimmel is like the Amazing Kreskin!
Jimmy Kimmel Claims Melania Trump “Must Really Hate” Donald
Jimmy Kimmel Claims Melania Trump “Must Really Hate” Donald
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026 11:34 AM (ndZc7)
287
I'm not sure. I notice I am often able to separate novels from their adaptations and appreciate the story (if well done) in their respective media even if they don't "match" exactly. And sometimes the adaptation ruins the story AND the characters.
How about the rest of y'all?
Posted by: March Hare at April 12, 2026
***
The 1975 TV Ellery Queen came close to doing up the original stories quite well. Jim Hutton and David Wayne were excellent, and each story was a real puzzle. (Yeah, they relied on dying message clues too much.) So much better it was than that 1971 adaptation with Peer Lawford as Ellery!
How about the rest of y'all?
Posted by: March Hare at April 12, 2026
***
The 1975 TV Ellery Queen came close to doing up the original stories quite well. Jim Hutton and David Wayne were excellent, and each story was a real puzzle. (Yeah, they relied on dying message clues too much.) So much better it was than that 1971 adaptation with Peer Lawford as Ellery!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:34 AM (wzUl9)
288
*Peter* Lawford. Sheesh.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:35 AM (wzUl9)
289
Want to see an adaptation of an old series that basically wads up the original like wastepaper and tosses it into the dumpster? Check out the Eddie Murphy/Owen Wilson butchery of I Spy.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 11:35 AM (q3u5l)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026 11:36 AM (ndZc7)
291
Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little at April 12, 2026 11:34 AM (Kt19C)
Commissar, you're missing a noun!
Commissar, you're missing a noun!
Posted by: Nazdar at April 12, 2026 11:37 AM (NcvvS)
292
As for books from childhood that I keep returning to: the "Alice" stories by Lewis Carroll. I have several editions, both electronic and printed. I don't often re-read the stories, but I do refer to them. I'm annoyed when the adaptation puts the characters into the wrong story, e.g., the Red Queen is NOT the same as the Queen of Hearts. The Red Queen and the White Queen are chess pieces. Tweedledee and Tweedledum appear in "Through the Looking Glass," not "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
My mother had a 1930's edition of "Peter Pan" with illustrations by Roy Best that she loved and the six of us kids read until it fell apart. I found a copy online that I bought for her many, many years later. I now own it and plan to share it with my grandkids. The illustrations are Maxfield Parish-ish. Tinkerbell looks more like Disney's Blue Fairy than Marilyn Monroe. Peter looks more like an innocent young boy.
I also wish I had her third-grade reader which had wonderful short stories, poems, and illustrations, but that disappeared many, many years ago! (Probably also read to its demise.)
My mother had a 1930's edition of "Peter Pan" with illustrations by Roy Best that she loved and the six of us kids read until it fell apart. I found a copy online that I bought for her many, many years later. I now own it and plan to share it with my grandkids. The illustrations are Maxfield Parish-ish. Tinkerbell looks more like Disney's Blue Fairy than Marilyn Monroe. Peter looks more like an innocent young boy.
I also wish I had her third-grade reader which had wonderful short stories, poems, and illustrations, but that disappeared many, many years ago! (Probably also read to its demise.)
Posted by: March Hare at April 12, 2026 11:39 AM (O/GSq)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 12, 2026 11:39 AM (ndZc7)
294
Want to see an adaptation of an old series that basically wads up the original like wastepaper and tosses it into the dumpster? Check out the Eddie Murphy/Owen Wilson butchery of I Spy.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026
***
Exactly why I was afraid that the U.N.C.L.E. film would be the same. It wasn't.
I don't think I even finished watching that so-called I Spy movie.
Most big-screen adaptations of beloved TV series fail to get it right. I don't get it. If you love the original material enough to mount a major film version of it, why change everything that we loved? Though I suppose the producers are in there fiddling. We've had good luck with Addams Family and U.N.C.L.E.; I guess we can forget Wild, Wild West and 21 Jump Street.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026
***
Exactly why I was afraid that the U.N.C.L.E. film would be the same. It wasn't.
I don't think I even finished watching that so-called I Spy movie.
Most big-screen adaptations of beloved TV series fail to get it right. I don't get it. If you love the original material enough to mount a major film version of it, why change everything that we loved? Though I suppose the producers are in there fiddling. We've had good luck with Addams Family and U.N.C.L.E.; I guess we can forget Wild, Wild West and 21 Jump Street.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:40 AM (wzUl9)
295
It's interesting to hear praise for Jack Vance. I'm only familiar with his Dying Earth books. The original collection of short stories, I liked. The novels, I hated them. Haven't read anything by him since.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at April 12, 2026 11:42 AM (28AwC)
296
Soon I shall need to do some chores. A Stolen Life w/ Bette Davis is on Movies at 1:30 my time, and I want to sit down and watch it without having to deal with household matters.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:43 AM (wzUl9)
297
I think it was William Goldman who said the best you can hope for in adaptations of books to movies is that the film will be faithful in spirit to the original. To squeeze a novel into two hours of screen time requires that things be cut or events be put into different sequences. Sam Raimi's film of Scott Smith's A Simple Plan is a nice example -- some major plot changes there, but the film is faithful in spirit to the book. Scorsese's film of Walter Tevis's The Color of Money throws out a LOT of the book, and IIRC the Tom Cruise character does not exist in Tevis's novel, but it begins with Eddie Felson out of the pool game for years and getting back into it at the finish -- so, sorta faithful in spirit to the character.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 11:43 AM (q3u5l)
298
It's interesting to hear praise for Jack Vance. I'm only familiar with his Dying Earth books. The original collection of short stories, I liked. The novels, I hated them. Haven't read anything by him since.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at April 12, 2026
***
I think it was Vance who had a Hugo-winning novella in the '50s called "The Dragonmasters." I no longer have the Hugo Awards paperback volume it was in. I should look for a copy.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at April 12, 2026
***
I think it was Vance who had a Hugo-winning novella in the '50s called "The Dragonmasters." I no longer have the Hugo Awards paperback volume it was in. I should look for a copy.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:44 AM (wzUl9)
299
Posted by: SSBN 656 (G) at April 12, 2026 11:23 AM (dmDsy)
I read 'em. I even remember a few moments from them. (A fake witness mentioned a squirrel backing down a tree in shock/fear, proving he was lying because squirrels don't climb backwards.]/b] A witness unwilling to admit to being a witness answered all test questions in palindrome, suggesting that the culprit was Bob.) But they were all really short, so there just isn't much to discuss.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 12, 2026 11:33 AM (Lhaco)
That's amazing! That's one of the clues I remember! It was Spike, (or whoever the main antagonist was) testified the squirrel "got scared so quickly backed down the tree"...
So random!
I read 'em. I even remember a few moments from them. (A fake witness mentioned a squirrel backing down a tree in shock/fear, proving he was lying because squirrels don't climb backwards.]/b] A witness unwilling to admit to being a witness answered all test questions in palindrome, suggesting that the culprit was Bob.) But they were all really short, so there just isn't much to discuss.
Posted by: Castle Guy at April 12, 2026 11:33 AM (Lhaco)
That's amazing! That's one of the clues I remember! It was Spike, (or whoever the main antagonist was) testified the squirrel "got scared so quickly backed down the tree"...
So random!
Posted by: SSBN 656 (G) at April 12, 2026 11:45 AM (dmDsy)
300
When I was much younger, I read a lot of Martin Caidin books. He was an aviation writer. One of his books was turned in to The Six Million Dollar Man. The book was more believable. Another book spawned the movie Marooned.
There are two books of his that I owned in paperback but I can no longer find.
Almost Midnight was a thriller about stolen nuclear weapons. The ending of the book always gave me chills when I read it.
Everything but the Flak was a non fiction book. When they made the movie The War Lover, they needed B-17s in flying condition. The book is about the man who located the planes, restored them and then flew them from the US to the UK. Several times when they landed at airports in the US, things came to a stop as veterans had very emotional reactions to the planes. The story about landing in Portugal after crossing the Atlantic was funny.
There are two books of his that I owned in paperback but I can no longer find.
Almost Midnight was a thriller about stolen nuclear weapons. The ending of the book always gave me chills when I read it.
Everything but the Flak was a non fiction book. When they made the movie The War Lover, they needed B-17s in flying condition. The book is about the man who located the planes, restored them and then flew them from the US to the UK. Several times when they landed at airports in the US, things came to a stop as veterans had very emotional reactions to the planes. The story about landing in Portugal after crossing the Atlantic was funny.
Posted by: David from Oklahoma at April 12, 2026 11:45 AM (q+tdq)
301
Such great text manipulation!
Posted by: SSBN 656 (G) at April 12, 2026 11:46 AM (dmDsy)
302
Maybe it's a sign I'm in my second childhood, but I enjoyed Hugh Lofting's Doctor Doolittle books. I don't know if I could find the same ones again.
Maybe it's a sign I'm in my second childhood, but I enjoyed Hugh Lofting's Doctor Doolittle books. I don't know if I could find the same ones again.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 11:46 AM (tgvbd)
Posted by: SSBN 656 (G) at April 12, 2026 11:48 AM (dmDsy)
304
I think it was William Goldman who said the best you can hope for in adaptations of books to movies is that the film will be faithful in spirit to the original. To squeeze a novel into two hours of screen time requires that things be cut or events be put into different sequences. . . .
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026
***
And Goldman knew what he was talking about, having adapted others' books -- and his own -- to film.
Then you have somebody like Ira Levin, whose stuff is set up so that, if you take one card out of the house, the whole thing falls down. We got good adaptations of Rosemary's Baby and the original of The Stepford Wives (script by Goldman). And Levin's Deathtrap had been a play, so that was well-constructed from the get-go.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026
***
And Goldman knew what he was talking about, having adapted others' books -- and his own -- to film.
Then you have somebody like Ira Levin, whose stuff is set up so that, if you take one card out of the house, the whole thing falls down. We got good adaptations of Rosemary's Baby and the original of The Stepford Wives (script by Goldman). And Levin's Deathtrap had been a play, so that was well-constructed from the get-go.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:48 AM (wzUl9)
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 11:49 AM (tgvbd)
306
Think I read somewhere that the film of Rosemary's Baby was Polanski's first Hollywood project and he didn't realize that he could, like so many directors, fiddle with the scripts and "make the movie his own." So he did what other directors had told Bradbury they wanted to do with his adaptations -- tear the pages out of the book and stuff them into the camera. It's one of the more faithful adaptations we'll ever see.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 11:51 AM (q3u5l)
307
And on that happy note, I'm off to create more chaos here at Casa Some Guy.
MP4, thanks for the thread.
Have a good one, gang.
MP4, thanks for the thread.
Have a good one, gang.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026 11:55 AM (q3u5l)
308
I think it was William Goldman who said the best you can hope for in adaptations of books to movies is that the film will be faithful in spirit to the original.
___________
I think that happens one time in a hundred. Authors are somewhere below Best Boy in the Hollywood hierarchy.
I think it was William Goldman who said the best you can hope for in adaptations of books to movies is that the film will be faithful in spirit to the original.
___________
I think that happens one time in a hundred. Authors are somewhere below Best Boy in the Hollywood hierarchy.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 11:55 AM (tgvbd)
309
Thanks, MP4 & Horde, for a delightful Book Thread. Got to go help nephew & his wife with their taxes. Again sometime!
Posted by: Nazdar at April 12, 2026 11:57 AM (NcvvS)
310
Another book spawned the movie Marooned.
Can't find a copy anywhere.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 11:49 AM (tgvbd)
Lost somewhere, is it?
Can't find a copy anywhere.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 11:49 AM (tgvbd)
Lost somewhere, is it?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 11:57 AM (1Ff7Z)
311
I think that happens one time in a hundred. Authors are somewhere below Best Boy in the Hollywood hierarchy.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 11:55 AM (tgvbd)
I think Rita Mae Brown said something like, "In publishing, the writer is a god ( lower case g ); in the theater, the writer is a king or queen; in Hollywood, the writer is the hired help."
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 12, 2026 11:55 AM (tgvbd)
I think Rita Mae Brown said something like, "In publishing, the writer is a god ( lower case g ); in the theater, the writer is a king or queen; in Hollywood, the writer is the hired help."
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 12, 2026 11:57 AM (Ucgf4)
312
Think I read somewhere that the film of Rosemary's Baby was Polanski's first Hollywood project and he didn't realize that he could, like so many directors, fiddle with the scripts and "make the movie his own." So he did what other directors had told Bradbury they wanted to do with his adaptations -- tear the pages out of the book and stuff them into the camera. It's one of the more faithful adaptations we'll ever see.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026
***
Yes; Stephen King tells that story in Danse Macabre.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 12, 2026
***
Yes; Stephen King tells that story in Danse Macabre.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:58 AM (wzUl9)
313
522 moves
Spider solitaire is evil
Spider solitaire is evil
Posted by: Skip at April 12, 2026 11:58 AM (Ia/+0)
314
@66 "No Frigate like A Book" --Dickinson
I'm going to have to stop you right there. A book makes a terrible watercraft. --Archimedes.
Right there's your problem: wrong class of book. Try these:
https://tinyurl.com/2v2avswt
I'm going to have to stop you right there. A book makes a terrible watercraft. --Archimedes.
Right there's your problem: wrong class of book. Try these:
https://tinyurl.com/2v2avswt
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at April 12, 2026 11:59 AM (zdLoL)
315
A tip of the chapeau to MP4 for a good Book Thread discussion topic, and to all of you for making Sunday morning sing!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:59 AM (wzUl9)
316
A tip of the chapeau to MP4 for a good Book Thread discussion topic, and to all of you for making Sunday morning sing!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:59 AM (wzUl9)
Oh, so now it's a music thread.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 12, 2026 11:59 AM (wzUl9)
Oh, so now it's a music thread.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 12:00 PM (1Ff7Z)
317
Hakeem Jeffries Claims DEI Is Explicitly Written Into Constitution
“Let’s just check the record. The motto of this great country, ‘E pluribus unum,’ that’s the motto of this great country, ‘Out of many, one.’ That’s diversity,” Jeffries continued.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn
That's the opposite, it's about assimilation.
What a dumb shit Jeffries is.
“Let’s just check the record. The motto of this great country, ‘E pluribus unum,’ that’s the motto of this great country, ‘Out of many, one.’ That’s diversity,” Jeffries continued.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn
That's the opposite, it's about assimilation.
What a dumb shit Jeffries is.
Posted by: From about That Time at April 12, 2026 12:01 PM (sl73Y)
318
yes I thought it was quite on point,
Guy Ritchies has a talent for that,
see rules of war, with Jason Stathem,
Guy Ritchies has a talent for that,
see rules of war, with Jason Stathem,
Posted by: miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 12:01 PM (bXbFr)
Posted by: Skip at April 12, 2026 12:01 PM (Ia/+0)
320
NOOD
Posted by: Skip at April 12, 2026 12:01 PM (Ia/+0)
(wipes away tear)
So long, Book Thread.
(insert crying emoji here)
Posted by: Skip at April 12, 2026 12:01 PM (Ia/+0)
(wipes away tear)
So long, Book Thread.
(insert crying emoji here)
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 12, 2026 12:02 PM (1Ff7Z)
321
I was watching deathtrap, a levin play, that was pretty well adapted by sidney lumet
Posted by: miguel cervantes at April 12, 2026 12:06 PM (bXbFr)
322
294 ..."Most big-screen adaptations of beloved TV series fail to get it right. I don't get it. If you love the original material enough to mount a major film version of it, why change everything that we loved?"
The best description of movie people screwing up the original material was "They like the taste better after they pissed in the soup."
The best description of movie people screwing up the original material was "They like the taste better after they pissed in the soup."
Posted by: JTB at April 12, 2026 12:12 PM (yTvNw)
323
I loved the Wizard of Oz books as a kid though they were out of print, but I think I saw them on archive.org so I could return to them some day, though I have so much to read it’s just stupid. At least Brandon Sanderson’s off my list since he signaled his agreement w/ wokeness, so that leaves a lot of time.
Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at April 12, 2026 12:16 PM (eHQKA)
324
[323] I also have an intention of looking at the Oz books on archive.org, I read all of them but remember nothing.
Posted by: microcosme at April 12, 2026 12:25 PM (tIOA7)
325
re #295, Jack Vance wrote a lot more than his Dying Earth stories. Myself I think his original series of stories (collected in "The Dying Earth
are the best. I dislike the Cugel the Clever books. Which really should be the "Cugel Not As Clever As He Thinks He Is" stories. The Rhialto the Marvelous stories I found enjoyable but they lack the fairy tale charm of the original stories,
I would recommend Vance's Tschai (AKA The Planet of Adventure) series. Also his Demon Princes series.
are the best. I dislike the Cugel the Clever books. Which really should be the "Cugel Not As Clever As He Thinks He Is" stories. The Rhialto the Marvelous stories I found enjoyable but they lack the fairy tale charm of the original stories,
I would recommend Vance's Tschai (AKA The Planet of Adventure) series. Also his Demon Princes series.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at April 12, 2026 01:25 PM (aYnHS)
326
Jack Vance's Alastor books have good worldbuilding
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 12, 2026 01:34 PM (fE6HJ)
327
Wolfus; Vance's "The Dragon Masters" was first published in Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine (with a Gaughan cover illustration) in 1962 (I still have my copy somewhere in the basement) before its book publication in 1963. Pretty much a complete run of Galaxy through, at least, the 1980s is available on the Internet Archive.
Norrin Radd & microcosme; I'm normally a big fan of the Internet Archive, Gutenberg, etc as a source of free books, but as Baum is both somewhat popular & now out of copyright, complete collections of his books are available for very cheap as kindles-I got a complete Oz collection the other day for @ $.50.
Norrin Radd & microcosme; I'm normally a big fan of the Internet Archive, Gutenberg, etc as a source of free books, but as Baum is both somewhat popular & now out of copyright, complete collections of his books are available for very cheap as kindles-I got a complete Oz collection the other day for @ $.50.
Posted by: Pope John 20th at April 12, 2026 01:57 PM (7ZRgl)
328
@273 --
I enjoyed Encyclopedia Brown stories, but so many of them were adaptations of the author's Two-Minute Mysteries series, I already knew the EB solutions.
I loved the Two-Minute Mysteries. Dr. Haledjian was the first unusual name I came across in fiction.
I enjoyed Encyclopedia Brown stories, but so many of them were adaptations of the author's Two-Minute Mysteries series, I already knew the EB solutions.
I loved the Two-Minute Mysteries. Dr. Haledjian was the first unusual name I came across in fiction.
Posted by: Weak Geek at April 12, 2026 02:00 PM (p/isN)
329
I am reading Spirit House by Chroistopher G. Moore....very good detective novel ....takes place in Bangkok....book one in a series ....so I have a bit of good future reading.... Yay !!
I am reading Spirit House by Chroistopher G. Moore....very good detective novel ....takes place in Bangkok....book one in a series ....so I have a bit of good future reading.... Yay !!
Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at April 12, 2026 02:03 PM (OfrY1)
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