Richardderus thread 18 for 2012

Book porn!

“We read to know that we are not alone.”
― William Nicholson


“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.”
― Oscar Wilde


“Classic' - a book which people praise and don't read.”
― Mark Twain

My 2012 NEW books ticker:




Previous reviews:

Book 1...thread two.
Books 2 & 3...thread three.
Book 4...thread four.
Books 5 & 6...thread five.
Books 7-10...thread six.
Books 11-24...thread seven.
Books 25-31...thread eight.
Books 32-34...thread nine.
Books 35 & 36...thread ten.
Books 37-42...thread 11.
Books 43-53...thread 12.
Books 54 & 55...thread 13.
Books 56 & 57...thread 14.
Books 58-60...thread 15.
Books 61-64...thread 16.
Books 65-68...thread 17.

My 2012 ORPHANED books ticker:




Pearl Ruled:



Beautiful Ruins...#91.

Books are reviewed in post:

69. In One Person...#44.

70. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind...#150.

71. Gone Girl...#233.

one more

stopping by to say in reading your previous thread regarding difficult choices and also your physical pain, you remain one of my top people...and truly, as I get older it is more difficult to get on the list.. You are a brave, kind, sensitive, wonderful man.The world needs more of you!

>4 richardderus: Oh now, stop that, Linda! You have one more week to stop entirely or I'll give you that big, fat check we discussed!

oh, you're giving Linda a check, eh? Well, how 'bout the rest of us?

No. Forget it. Bad joke.

Have you read Black Diamond: a Mystery of the French Countryside? There is some fine French cooking discussed as well as a reasonably believable mystery. Truffles are involved. Don't know if you are a fan, but you might like the book.

>7 maggie1944: *smooch* I have Bruno, Chief of Police on the liberry list, and assuming I like it (which seems likely) I'll get to the others fairly quickly. Thanks!

1> Eek! All that sunlight is going to bleach the pretty book covers and spines! I'll save you, my darlings! *runs in with blackout curtains*

RD, missed most of your last thread due to:
a) the speed of your thread; and
b) far too much work intruding into the more serious matter of reading and gassing about it.

Congrats on thread number 18 mate and I'll try better to keep up this time around.
Btw if you went to a new thread at 250 posts like most normally do this would be your 20th thread already. Just sayin.

For the record and to indulge my geekdom:
4853 posts to date this year on your 18 threads including this one.
2309 posts in the first quarter
2022 posts in the second quarter
522 posts in the third quarter

Could be quite partial to the top library ........ if only!

omg, I love that day bed/book reading bay window in the top pic. That is seriously appetising.

Hi RD, hope the day is treating you kindly.

Hi Richard - still loving the book porn:) Must say the second picture is more to my taste.

From the last thread - You are a saint. Living with pain is never easy and still you are strong enough to know that true love is being able to know when it is best to let someone go. Hopefully with time he will realise that.

Oh joy! Richard's thread is loadable again! *Swoon*

I like the cozy second library...Good morning and happy day to you! Anything interesting on the agenda?
Library, right?

>9 ty1997: *rips down silly blackout curtains* Sunshine is Gawd, Tom, ask Akhenaten or any of the Incas! Pour in oh Gawdly essence and bless my abode!

>10 PaulCranswick: Good gravy! It doesn't seem to me to be moving that fast, but clearly things are slowing down as the year goes on. I think your stats are interesting, not geeky, Paul, and thanks!

>11 roundballnz: All of those banquettes or whatever would be pillow heavens and there'd be some serious table-adding for food and gin, but the place under my care would still be bright. *stares pointedly at Mole Boy Tom*

>12 LovingLit: I agree, Megan, doesn't that look inviting?

>13 calm: Thanks, calm, I appreciate that. You're right, he'll understand when it isn't so raw a hurt. It makes me sad and sorry for myself, but I couldn't live with the idea that I was so selfish that I ignored his best interests after he's been so good to me.

>14 Ape: I'm taking it you advocate a return to the old 250 rule?

>15 mckait: No, nothing, the Gruesome Twosome needed the car today in the city. and I'm forced, forced against my will!, to remain home and read. The cads. The bounders. Such an abuse.

I like soft, dim lights too...

sorry about the bounders...

Morning, Padre!

>17 mckait: I like soft, dim lights in places where I plan to be drunk...

Yes, rotten people, imagine confining me to my comfortable abode where I have food and booze and 81 books to read before my legal custody ends! UNHCR needs to hear about this.

>18 London_StJ: *smooch* for Crypto...move well today!

I rarely advocate anything other than good sense.* I'll simply state that in addition to your last thread Megan and Chelle's are not loadable right now either. :P

*Utter falsehood.

Nasty day of pain, so I spent it mostly doing nothing except being a youtuber. Thank goddesses below us the BBC hasn't noticed how many of their documentaries are on there.

Okay Apey, I'll go back to 250.

Well looking at those stats up there, provided by our official statistician, it now makes complete sense. It's not humanly possible to keep up with this thread no matter how hard I try Richard. But try I will.

So very, very true.

something to bring you a smile, RD. i was pulling for the Brits for a medal but they didn't make it. :(

Heh.

>22 brenzi: *I* have trouble, Bonnie, so I expect others will as well. Always happy to see you when you're here.

>23 tloeffler: Ain't it?

>24 mirrordrum: Oh yes please I'll have that one please and you can FedEx him directly after the Olympics. He'll arrive in time for my birthday!

Night y'all!

21 > Sign of a fantastic night

24 > I know he's 18 now, but he still looks so disturbingly young. He'll be aged perfectly for 2016 though, and since I don't age anymore, we'll be destined for each other.

21: You don't have to. In fact, it's a good way to repel me from your thread, something I suspect is very useful.

24: Isn't he something like 15 years old? :P

Maybe I'm thinking of someone else though... *Shrug*

~~~~Waves~~~~ Hope you have a better day today Richard. {{{{Hugs}}}}

Yep! me too... wishing you a much better day for today! Do you have the house to yourself again?

>28 ty1997: He's a little cutiebuns, fer sure. I think I've done my national service raising up the next generation's gayboys, though, and will graciously allow you to beat your head against that wall for so long as tight, sweet, and eyecandy appeal.

>29 Ape: I've noticed a drop-off in people visiting since I've gone to 300. I don't know that they're connected, but it's a harmless experiment to see what happens when I change back.

>30 MonicaLynn: *smooch* to flying Monica!

>31 mckait: To myself, indeed, and some ground beef to make myself a cheeseburger! I don't like to do that too often, but I've had a crave on. It's pleasantly cool, under 80 for the high, and cloudy, and I need to liberry it up this afternoon. Excited because they got in A Heart So White...BBC Radio Three has a program on him this September and I've got questions I want to submit for them to ask.

I'd usually finished the whole book before the second class.

Totally staged. Do I care? I do not.

Book porn!

Sigh. Nice. Very nice.

I know, Ellen! I'm still drooling.

*delurking*

Read all of the last thread at a single go. Feeling quite caught up on the important thoughts of the past few days. Glad for the progress on the insurance front. Sorry for the ongoing struggle with pain. Admiring the fortitude concerning sweet young things. Drooling over the book porn.

Hugs, Sweet Richard.

*slowly relurking, leaving a smile behind*
Cheshire Cat: You may have noticed that I'm not all there myself.

*smooch* for the vapor-trail of Lurker Lady

35 - Oh. Oh my. Yes, please. But can we go with a darker stain?...

It's in England, Crypto, if they'd gone with a darker stain it would've been invisible most of the time due to low, weak lighting levels.

mahvelous. simply mahvelous. hyoooge grin.

41>

Review: 69 of seventy-five

Title: IN ONE PERSON

Author: JOHN IRVING

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Book Report: The book description says:
A compelling novel of desire, secrecy, and sexual identity, In One Person is a story of unfulfilled love—tormented, funny, and affecting—and an impassioned embrace of our sexual differences. Billy, the bisexual narrator and main character of In One Person, tells the tragicomic story (lasting more than half a century) of his life as a “sexual suspect,” a phrase first used by John Irving in 1978 in his landmark novel of “terminal cases,” The World According to Garp. His most political novel since The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving’s In One Person is a poignant tribute to Billy’s friends and lovers—a theatrical cast of characters who defy category and convention. Not least, In One Person is an intimate and unforgettable portrait of the solitariness of a bisexual man who is dedicated to making himself “worthwhile.”

My Review: I'll start with the personal part: I don't “get” bisexuals. We're all bisexual, on a sliding scale developed by good ol' Doctor Kinsey. Sex feels good (if you're doing it right) and the plumbing isn't all that important. Or wouldn't be if the Longface Puritans League would quit getting all pantiwadulous over the subject.

So what, is then my response to the avowed bisexual. Big deal, says I. If I think the aforementioned bisexual is desirable, I will then proceed to ask him for a date. And he will say yes or no. And the world will continue to spin. But not one single thing will happen because he's bisexual.

All very simple, right? Oh so wrong. To know you're attracted to men is a defining thing for a man. Knowing that Davy Jones of the Monkees was the face I wanted to see when I woke up clarified things for me. I was, admittedly, seven at the time, and the clarity was limited to knowing that was what I wanted with no concept whatsoever of the other possibilities and requirements. But clear I was, and clear I've stayed: Men, please.

My wives knew they were marrying a gay man, and we had sex in our marriage beds. Remember the whole “sex feels good” passage above? It does! I promise! As much fun as it was, I would never have been faithful to those women, and would never have lied about it, and was clear from the get-go what my deal was...because I had An Identity. Other people didn't and don't like my identity (fuck 'em) but I had one. And bisexuals, in our binary public culture of Men Want Women and Women Want Men (unless their husbands want a three-way with another girl), don't rebel enough for the rebels or conform enough for the conformists.

That has got to suck wookie balls. Here your nature is absolutely in line with what evolution produced, you are the exemplar of the normal and ordinary human sexual response, and no one wants your ass in their camp! John Irving's novel deals with sexual awakening, romantic flowering, and relationship hell...TWICE! Billy, our narrator, knows something's wonky when he gets major wood for the town librarian AND his new stepfather. He careens through a hormonally hyperdriven adolescence, a love affair with a gay guy (such a bad bad bad idea) and on and on and on through fifty years of life as a hidden, unloved, unvalued majority member. I loved Irving's honesty about the deeply personal pain and scars he took, and dealt, through Billy's voice. I loved the honest self-appraisals scattered throughout the book, Irving stating clearly that he was a snob, that he had mixed feelings about AIDS (fear, pity, disgust) and its victims.

Because this is very much a roman à clef. It comes late in his career, but it is what it is. I love that he's written it. I love that he tells a man's story of not fitting his skin still less fitting in.

I don't love the writing. It's not memorable in any way. I can't think of one single line to quote, I can't remember where the lines I thought might do are located, and in a few days I won't remember much about this book except it's an amazement to me that I was so completely self-absorbed that I ever thought bisexuals were just tiresomely difficult to bed.

Irving changed my world-view a little bit. I hope for the better, and I expect for the long haul. I'm a lot more likely not to roll my eyes when some guy I'm hitting on tells me he's bisexual (in my age cohort, a surprisingly large number of men are “coming out” as bi). So three-plus stars. If this had been a story about heterosexuals, it would be one and only one star.

Because I need these eyeblinks to count. Time's not slowing down no matter how many kittens I sacrifice to the gods.

Liking the Shakesbear and the book porn #35. When do I get to move into the residence at #35???

ETA: Not so enamored of the idea you are sacrificing kittens.

Defend kittens I will.
Give a thumb to your review I also will.

I am lurking on by, sending warm fuzzes your way! Love you, Richarddear.

Oh, the dirty jokes I've deleted before posting this.

Thumb for you, sir.

>42 mirrordrum: Indeed, Ellie!

>43 EBT1002: Et tu, Ellen? I love that photo!

>45 Chatterbox: It's the Long Barn at Sissinghurst, so you let me know how you fare gettin' residency, ya hear?

As to sacrificing kittens, you mean you *don't*? It's the only proven way to prevent the End of the World on 12.21.12!

>46 EBT1002: Thanks for the thumb, Ellen. I must run...time for the 10pm sacrifice.

>47 maggie1944: *smooch* for dear Karen44

>48 London_StJ: Believe me, I had to exercise **massive** restraint not to load that review down with bad, bad jokes. I'm still sore from the clenching!

xo

RD- Terrific review of In One Person! I'll have to get to this one at some point. I heard him interviewed on Nancy Pearl's podcast and he talks a bit about this book and his overall career. Thumb!

Is that a new Irving? Great review... I will have to keep that one in mind..
Hope you have a nice big cup of coffee to hand by the time you read this :)

Hi Richard - hope you have a good day. Nice review of the Irving.

Thumb from me, too, Richard, for that terrific review of One Person. I've read Irving books I liked, like Garp and Owen Meaney, but I'll probably pass on this one. Your points about the non-memorable writing and "If this had been a story about heterosexuals, it would be one and only one star" stick out for me. The laudable roman a clef examination of sexuality isn't a big enough draw.

"hormonally hyperdriven adolescence" - isn't that true for us all?

>51 msf59: Thanks for the thumb, Mark! It's not a book I'd urge on you for quick action. It'll keep.

>52 mckait: Coffeed up and ready to go. *smooch*

>53 calm: Thank you, calm!

>54 jnwelch: Thanks for the thumb, Joe, but I think your decision is the right one. It's just a blah sort of book from a writing standpoint.

>55 ffortsa: Certainly it is. Now imagine it multiplied by two. A memorable new thought for me: being attracted to both genders = no rest for the libido.

The concept of eliminating half the human race as sexual/life partners is completely absurd to me. It's so...mmm, well, ineffecient.

That's what my rational, logical brain tells me. Unfortunately sexual attraction is not exactly logical or rational which is why I'm totally incapable of being attracted to men. It just doesn't work.

>57 Ape: And that's a personal decision framed for yourself only, which is exactly and precisely what the world should be about. It's your own sex life. You and only you should control what goes on in it. But your preferences shouldn't control others' decisions. Which, you've said clearly, they don't!

I think your example is the model.

As always I am loving the visuals here! mmmm pretty boys and book porn!

Hi Richard! :)

>60 ChelleBearss: Hiya Chelle! Glad to see you so close to wedding time.

Dropping by for my regular fill up of book porn. You always deliver and never disappoint! :)

Glad to be your pusher, Valerie!

Yeah, I should have you arrested for indulging my weakness.

#63 - My worst NIGHTMARE!

Follow advice above, V-lady

Saw this on FB...thought you might get a kick.....

Loving the visuals, too, RD, especially #59!

59 = LOL

59 = LOL right along with Kath

But I will never, ever be out of wine or books.

#59 - (-: (-: (-; love it!

>66 jdthloue: Oh, nice one, Jude!

I love the iPad/Etch-a-Sketch one too...it seems to strike a chord with everyone.

>59 richardderus: & 71 Yes, Sweetie!

I still have an old Etch-a-Sketch....and an iPad...no wine, however...Bummer, that!

Funny story, my not-so-technologically-inclined aunt bought a Kindle Fire and tried to shake like an Etch-a-Sketch to exit the screen she was on. The mind boggles...

Ah, the uses that the aged can find for technology...

Why, hello, Rdear. Nice review of the Irving. Last one I really liked was...um...the elephant book: it took place in India; some scenes had me in tears from laughing. But I never can remember the name of it.

>72 jdthloue:, 73 *light bulb* Apeski boy, you just said something genius. Jude, put Apeski here through computer programming school. Ape, develop an app that'll let people shake their Fires and iPads like Etch-a-Sketches. Y'all share the moolah that rolls in from each 99-cent download. You'll both be rich beyond dreams of avarice in a month.

>74 Matke: Heh. I have that problem with lots of his books, Gail. LOTS. It's like the MFA writers. I can't tell whose fat boring book I'm reading without peeking at the cover or spine.

>75 richardderus: Genius Idea, Sweetie....but Stephen (aka APESKI) is so shy...i don't know his email address....never mind his home address...never mind any info that would allow me to send him to school....hence, I be screwed on that front

Not to say I'm not willing.....unless you could cure him of his debilitating shyness...

Just sayin'

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Permaybehaps we lure him out of hiding with, hmmm, a hot librarian visit! Or a hot bookstore chick visit! Or just drive around waving plague-themed banners until he starts drooling and following the truck.

I'll think on it.

>77 richardderus: All that "hot" business would probably give the boy a coronary

I've tried to lure him with a serious offer...to help me organize my library, as a paying Job.....now, his car's crapped out

I've done all I can...aside from going to his house and scaring the hell out of him...and i don't know where that is..

Wot now???

This whole conversation is scaring me...

Clearly the Ape is a lurker...I like the idea.. or, maybe he could just move in with jude.. take classes online and carry on that way. Good company for each other, as they would likely stay at opposite ends of the house, and in return, Stephen could do the shopping for jude, and help cut wood. It would keep him in shape and help her.

Whaddya think?

Awkward.... I've stumbled into a conspiracy....

*grabs her skirts, lifts them up, and sprints (thinking of Olympic athletes) out, stage left, spilling coffee as she goes*

Ooo, Kath, I like your thinking! Get a fixed car under the boy and push him northeastward! Of course, we'd have to sedate them both for at least a year before they got used to human company. Well, mostly human.

Hi Karen44! *smooch* You're next. We're gonna fix that troglodytic conservative a-hole's little red wagon here pretty quick.

Cut wood? You mean I get to wield an axe? Oh goodie good good! *Cackles gleefully*

OK, I have to confess that I found Desolation Road unreadable. Am I still invited to book circle? If I bring the blueberry pies that I promised C I would bring? Or should I just send the Louise tome out with someone else??

>83 Ape: Okay, now I'm worried. He seems to have slipped a cog...

>84 Chatterbox: Of course you and the pies and the ARC of the latest Gamache are still invited! And I need to return your loaned Robertson.

You will be severely punished, of course, but I'm sure you expected that. *checks supply of salt for Suz's future wounds*

I shall sit in the corner and knit, a la Mme Defarge... and defend myself with the knitting needles.

Heh!

I want it! (Or at least to have it somewhere nearby).

85: You're not only just now realizing this, are you?

Pearl Ruled: BEAUTIFUL RUINS by Jess Walter (p88)

Rating: 2.5* of five

Story of romantic love at first sight ranging from 1962 to the present, and involving a staggering amount of cluttered narrative and facile, stereotypical characters.

The writing is perfectly serviceable, though without any distinguishing characteristics. It's like those MFA bores all are. I put this down three hours ago, and already I had to look up the main characters' names: Pasquale and Dee Moray.

In 10 minutes, I won't remember either one.

That is a big problem to have with a 337-page book.

Love that waterfall.

What a cool waterfall! Book group tonight? Have fun :)

Hi RD- First of all, I LOVE the book waterfall! Wow! I'm sorry to hear you disliked the Beautiful Ruins, that one has been very high on my WL. I've read and enjoyed one of Walter's books, so I'll probably still give it a try and hope that's just a title we disagree on. Hope your next choice is better.

Enjoy Book Group this p.m. I imagine you liven up the procedings considerably.

*smooch*

No, book circle is Saturday, so people can comfortably travel in from the city. It's been wretchedly sticky here all day, and Stella got overheated, so she's been sick. I've got water down her, but it worries me.

>97 richardderus: - Exactly! That's me, at least in the inside of my mind.

And that's where it counts!

>97 richardderus: love it = being a liquid that can do mysterious things to people is so much more fun !

Heh. So agree with you, Alex.

Well I'm late getting here but not too late to apply thumb to the review of the Irving book Richard even though you don't get bisexuals. Love all the book porn.

Never hesitate to stick her in the shower when that happens richard... it won't hurt her.. a nice tepid shower.. How is Stella today? How is rd?

>102 brenzi: It's my one and only character flaw, Bonnie.

Stop laughing.

>103 mckait: I did that as soon as she urped, and she's still deciding whether she wants to forgive me or not. She unswallowed in the car this morning because she got hot. She was in fine fettle once the a/c got cold. She's been happy as a clamette and bouncing around excited because the Gruesome Twosome are here.

I'm just hot and wretched. Cake baking this evening, coleslaw making this afternoon (I like second-day coleslaw), lots of whinging about how I hate summer...the usual.

*smoochings*

The Greek by Juliette Aristides, a South African artist.

Book porn!

If there is a heaven, and I get to go there, this is exactly what it will look like. Every book ever written will be there. And my credit card will have no limit.

And this will be the lawn ornament.

#107 - If there is a heaven, and I get to go there, this is exactly what it will look like. Every book ever written will be there. And my credit card will have no limit.

Seems easier just to stay there! :) love the book porn...

Nothing much to add. Can you sunburn your eyes? I think I did. Tomorrow, I'm doing nothing.
I am going to hide under the a/c unit and do nothing! Book club tomorrow? savor a bite of Suz's pie for me.

I am well and truly in love with #105. I want that picture on my bedroom wall. Although I suspect I would get a lot of head-shaking from Keith...

And if I had #108, I certainly wouldn't waste him as any kind of ornament.

http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/12216/1251375-53.stm

suitcase shot... #NotABomb

>108 richardderus: is that guy for real? Sunbathing in a park with that outfit on? haha. Now that would take balls, as it were.

As it were.

I just hope they don't get any smudges on those poor defenseless books...

Photobucket sucks. Can't post the image I want to post here.

Do NOT like "link to me" shit.

You have to fiddle with the code to link from photobucket. When I used photobucket (before it became inaccessible on dial-up) I'd just copy the 'link to me' code and delete the URL/link parts.

ETA: Assuming I'm thinking of the same thing. Does the 'link to me' just post the image that doubles as a link, or is it just text?

I do hate photobucket images that show up in google searches. You can't just load the image, it forces you to load the photobucket page and because the site doesn't load, I can't use them. -.-

I enjoy photobucket... and use it all the time.. no problems..

#108 Eye candy. Looks like he could be in my side yard.

'Morning, lovey. Wishes to you for a happy day.

*smooch* for all who stop in! The book circle will be here in an hour and a half, so see ya!

Well, I had a terrific time at book circle today! Much disagreement about the ultimate merits of Desolation Road and SF in general. I came down on the "pro" side in both those examples. I was really intrigued at how much energy people put into their discussions of a book many said they couldn't really connect to.

Most interesting.

Hope others enjoyed their Saturday as much.

I was really intrigued at how much energy people put into their discussions of a book many said they couldn't really connect to.

Odd, that i find it to be the case, here on LT...sometimes....or, is that just Me???

>122 jdthloue: is that just Me???
I suspect not, Jude. *smooch*

>123 richardderus: Glad you survived the Book Circle

**smooch**

I am loving my Saturday. A do nothing but read day, wonderful soft warmth outside, a bit of a breeze, quiet and finished reading Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir by Doris Kearns Goodwin. She describes the 1950s in Brooklyn in idyllic images and her dedication to the Brooklyn Dodgers in a way which could almost make a fan out of any one. I liked the book.

Glad it was good. I wanted to stop by and sy good night...off to read.
I finally started A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and I remember nothing so far, but
I do know where I got the image that remained in my head all these years :)

I saw this on Facebook and it made me laugh loudly.

This image is beautiful.

Book porn!

I'm stealing #127...just because!

pffft!

Snuggleblossom, it has "YOU" stamped all over it. Consider it shared.

I enjoy all these lovely photos regarding books and libraries!

Glad your book discussion went well..and I hope this means you had a respite from pain today.

> 129 - Now that is one i really do want ........
> 127 Love it .....

Yes am stealing in lieu of borrowing both

>132 Whisper1: No. Horrible. But one soldiers on.

*smoochiesmoochsmooch* So glad you came by to say hi!

>133 roundballnz: Welcome to them...pretty and funny must be free in this life.

drat...sorry for all this pain...I'm thinking of you and remembering that September brings another birthday to you. It was two years ago when we met and it was such a lovely time!

It was a lovely party! Since our next book circle is on the 13th, and the book is Lydia Davis's new translation of Madame Bovary, why don't you come and visit? The guest room's free.

Richard you were supposed to go upstairs and REST!

People who still think of science fiction as ray guns and rocket ships are missing a lot

#129 -- That tower book thing on the right? I now have one of those. But it still doesn't hold enough books....

>137 magicians_nephew: Slept a few hours, and now am slightly fuzzy-tired, so a LOT better than when I dropped y'all off.

Oh, I so agree. Some of the best writing being done happens in that area. I really like some of China Mieville's stuff, f/ex.

>138 Chatterbox: They all have limits, sadly. I want a quantum bookcase that allows me, in the corner by my bed, to keep 40,000-plus tree-books instantly accessible via transdimensional shelving.

Oh WOW!

People who still think of science fiction as ray guns and rocket ships are missing a lot agreed.
Sci fi and fantasy have always been enjoyable for me ... So many books, but this year, so far, not as compelled to read. I take days off at a time. The books wait for me though.

Feel better today :) please?

>141 mckait: I will do my best.

Next door house finally sold...to some tacky lower-class people who have, as of this afternoon, cut down every tree and removed every shrub from the property, are planning a deck in the front of the house, and putting up a white plastic fence.

Repulsively bad taste. Also not in keeping with the neighborhood. It's very disheartening.

Book porn!

More book porn!

Loving it! I really want a mansion with a large library and comfortable chairs. Looking at these photos helps, though.

Yet more book porn!

Getting caught up with your threads Richard - I cannot believe I how many threads I was behind in reading! - loving the book porn pics and have to say my favorite so far is the one in post #143 above..... I love the upper reading area and have one like that in mind for my dream home, although I envision a wrought iron spiral staircase leading to the upper area and wrought iron railing along the upper area.

Sorry to learn about the new neighbors. I am trying to imagine a white plastic fence and.... well.... I just ....can't. Whatever it is, its sounds questionable if anything.

Joe, I find the book porn is soothing...so delightful to imagine I could have something that perfectly "me" and so ideally soothingly stuffed with books.

Lori, white plastic fencing *shudder* will actually, IMO, be an improvement over the rusty chain link that is in place now...but note *shudder* above.

I'm enjoying the book porn too! Love the "book dam" but like Lori, I'm particularly drawn to the shelves and loft in #143. Gorgeous.
Beautiful day here. Low 80s, nice breeze, low humidity. Mmmmmmmm...

Review: 70 of seventy-five

Title: THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND

Author: WILLIAM KAMKWAMBA and BRYAN MEALER
Illustrator: ELIZABETH ZUNON

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Book Report: The book description says:
When fourteen-year-old William Kamkwamba's Malawi village was hit by a drought, everyone's crops began to fail. Without enough money for food, let alone school, William spent his days in the library . . . and figured out how to bring electricity to his village. Persevering against the odds, William built a functioning windmill out of junkyard scraps, and thus became the local hero who harnessed the wind.

Lyrically told and gloriously illustrated, this story will inspire many as it shows how - even in the worst of times - a great idea and a lot of hard work can still rock the world.

My Review: Four stars for the delightful story of a young man who does NOT allow cuts in education funding caused by economic crisis to interfere with his learning, for the clear benefit clearly ascribed to the public library donated by the US Government, for the tale of a vision pursued and a piece of the world changed because of it, and for a man telling his story so that no one can feel it can't be done.

The half star is all down to the lovely mixed-media illos by Elizabeth Zunon. The young man's face and his family's presence in soft pastels contrasted with the three-dimensionality of the maize, the sun, etc...how nice a counterpoint it made.

Friend Joe Welch praised this book, so I'm happy to credit him with the shove to read it. My mood improved markedly after reading the book and absorbing its implication that a person can indeed change his world by simply refusing to allow negativity to stall him. Mr. Kamkwamba, thank you for making an old man's day brighter.

add my vote for 143 as well ....... "white plastic fence" the mind boggles it sounds horrendous ..... perhaps plant more trees so you don't have to see it ?

White plastic fence:

Our handyman guy is here. We're putting up 40ft of wood fencing so as not to have to look at the botched job of landscaping removal they've perpetrated on the place. Which started out ugly.

This is the tacky place with trees and shrubs still in place:



*shudder* It's painted piss yellow and poo brown, and the roof isn't well-maintained. It's probable that our guy can get the job to re-roof the place, and the lady buying it for her son told us that she wants to have new siding put on. So long as it isn't piss yellow, or an equally ugly color, okay! Our mole is planted...the handyman will make his suggestions for a south-facing house.

Richard, can't say I'd want a plastic fence between me and my neighbours. Anyway, a little glimpse of book porn here, Bookman Beattie's office cum library, he's NZ's most prolific blogger of all things books.

Richard

Great review of John Irving's recent book. While waiting in the doctor's office Friday, I happened to find an article in Time or Newsweek (not sure which) regarding John Irving. His book A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my top three reads of all time.

Hugs to you in the hope that your day is a good one.

>154 avatiakh: Thanks, Kerry! Cool blog.

>155 Whisper1: I'm glad you liked the review, Linda. I read your news on FB...booo hissss...but anything to get the pain under control. ANYthing!!

I've had The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind on my wishlist since I saw Jon Stewart interview him on his show.

I'm curious about the 'lower-class people' remark. Do you think lower-class people simply have bad taste simply because they are poor or is it that they can't afford to pay other people to manicure their lawns? And do they still count as lower-class when they are moving into your neighborhood? When do they stop becoming lower-class, and if they have officially moved in or when their taste is more similar to your own?

Plastic fencing, mmmmmm, well, I dunno, it's not very pretty but fencing rarely is, in my opinion. Not that I wouldn't put plenty of it up if I lived in a place that would requier it (that being 'near other people.')

Ah, great! I'm so glad you liked The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. I can get a little "overly" about that one, like the guy at the party who keeps excitedly yakking at you when you're just trying to find the bean dip, for (goddess of your choice)'s sake. But what a story, and what a guy (and writer) that Kamkwamba is!

>157 Ape: Don't bother baiting me, love, I'm an elitist and an unrecalcitrant one.

>158 jnwelch: I thought you were right about the book! It's just not presented in a serious-book format, or it would be on the NYT bestseller list as a memoir. Most assuredly the story isn't only for kids!

(please feel free to skip reading the following, I am not baiting, but ....)

I think, for me, just for me: lower class are people who think all rich people are bastards, that all expensive stuff is a rip-off, and that all professionals charge too much money and take advantage of the poor working stiffs who hate them. I find it to be ultimately lower class to generalize about people you do not know, and with whom you've never had experience.

(not too opinionated for you, am I?)

Sorry, Richard, I really should resist barging in on your thread with my loud opinions.

>161 maggie1944: Why, did you say something offensive? Where was I when you did?

>160 maggie1944: day-um...that would make me lower class ;) That an the fact that we earn a pittance.

Plastic fencing= crappy but maybe you'll get lucky and it'll melt on a hot day (or if you put your BBQ too close accidentally)

Thumb for your review of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Whoops, I first spelled that "Harnassed". Autocorrect. Love your thread as always, but have to run back and find out why you are in pain and about raising gay boys. Hope you feel better soon.

Having been raised by a single mother with a part-time job and lots of monetary woes, even living off of food stamps for a few years between the ages of 9 and 13-ish, I am naturally defensive. Allow me to say that bad taste is not naturally inherint in someone simply becaue they don't have money but rather a result of not being able to afford anything better. It's the same reason we eat fatty shit-food and drive rusty shit-cars.

Thumbs up for your review of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Morning RD- Great review of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. I also have a copy at hand thanks to our good pal Joe. He can sure pick 'em.

Love the book porn! My sister has THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND
and was supposed to give to to me to read, but she can't find it. ( Heavy sigh)
It is a victime of the I will do it later syndrome... I refuse to buy it. I give her
many books, and I am determined to read that one for free! lol

People who cut down trees for no good reason should be beaten .

I am tacky and low class enough to think that there is nothing wrong with the fence...
I would love to have it surrounding my weirdly shaped yard. I would prefer a nice 6 ft wooden one, but
would be pleased to have the white one.

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx

BTW - I loved The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. It was one of my top reads for last(?) year.

Glad everyone approves of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind as much as I do! Find it, buy it, read it!

Lower class update: The shrieking virago of a mother arrived just as the tree guy was starting to top the 80-year-old oak in the back. Much, much screaming ensued. Virago wanted SOME trees and SOME shrubs removed. The shrubs ripped out were put back. Well, not the rhododendron with pretty purple flowers, and not a few pointless little ones.

My relief is immense.

The virago, who bought the house for her son, his wife, and their kids (2), is one of those screaming shouting belittling anti-man women. She said to me this morning, as I greeted them pleasantly from the street, "Oh hello. You're the one who doesn't work." Turning to her son, she said, "Just like you. I buy you a half-million dollar house, and you do nothing. I do it all." And then turning to me, she opened her mouth to say something, so I said, "Enjoy your day" and walked away.

That's some tacky shit, folks, and that's some lower-class crappy behavior. There goes the neighborhood.

Book porn!

I absolutely love all the book porn! I want some of these rooms in my house, really I do..... and if your version of heaven turns out to be the version of heaven, it's almost enough to make me clean up my act......
Of course, if your version of heaven is the version of heaven, I know I'll be welcomed with open arms just as I am. :-)

>143 richardderus:: the absolute best. I love that desk by the window, the reading loft, the beams and the inclusion of pottery (my other schwarm). *sigh*

>172 EBT1002: heh...I'm counting on it being THE version of heaven for that very reason, Ellen.

>173 tiffin: I could live in that room the rest of my days, changing the plastic cafeteria chair at the desk for a good one, and the armless pretty Eames chair in the loft for a scrunch-down-in recliner.

For me, though, all things not books out of the shelving. But that basic plan? Oh heck yeah!

*smooches* for all who visit!

NZ word of the day: Bogan

They are everywhere.

They are called "lugans" in these parts, Megan.

>174 richardderus:: I think that's a Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair? An Eames chair would be really comfy.

ETA: Eames chair: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eames_Lounge_Chair

Without the article, I'd've thought it was a shoe or something.

>176 tiffin: it is almost a prerequisite that they wear black jeans and sweatshirts (or black fishermans knit jerseys). They drink bourbon from a can, and rev cars loudly, swear and have agro dogs. Do your kind do that too, Tui?
:)

They wear mullets with baseball caps or that little spiked up ridge of hair like an angry chicken, drive half ton monster trucks with big tires, wear blue or black jeans and tee shirts with beer logos on them, swear, have base speakers in their trucks or cars which shake your car at a stop light (oompa whoompa oompa whoompa)--not sure about their dogs.

pit bulls or other muscular terrier mix

#171: I always love me some book porn!

hey... rise and shine already!

Fence measuring day. Laterz.

Posting here cuz more people will see it. Offline lately because I am in MN with my niece Ashley. Open heart surgery today. Send good thoughts her way! Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

**healing whammy for Ashley**

Fence measuring done, and it's not even 80 out there! Oh how I hope the summer is winding down.

I **must** get out and go to Wallyworld today, and I do NOT want to! The liberry has Gone Girl waiting for me, and it's in the direction I must use to go There, so...

But yuck.

Gone Girl is worth it!

...said the woman not facing a Walmart trip...

Trade Walmart for this waiting room! Another 5-6 hours to go.

On the whole, I'll do the waiting if you'll do the shopping. The waiting has a happy result at the end of it. Sad reason, but good resolution.

Well I'd rather shop for you than for me! I am not a big shopper.

Shopping = death.

More healing whammy for Ashley going out your way, Berly.

Shopping for books = life.

But that's not shopping, Joe, it's like opening the fridge and choosing the goody you're going to eat!

Positive and healing energy goint to Ashley and family>>>>>>

Walmart is best done before the dew dries on the gras, imo... good luck..

>193 richardderus: I like that! Although maybe that's why some think I'm a fathead.

Book shopping is too much fun! I need someone to pull me out of the store. Thanks for the good wishes!

Yep firmly applied my thumb to that review of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and have added it to my teetering tower Richard. Can't wait to see what you think of Gone Girl.

I'd go shopping for you, Richard. It's really quite fun when you shopping with someone else's money. :P

More health and healing energy sent to Ashley! For as long as it takes for all to be good again!

Shopping = Make a list + go early in the morning (parking issues)

hold your nose, while you are at it!

{I am assuming you have no reasonable alternative to Walmart)

I think it had to do with the Library stop?
Have to go during hours... and after fence thing..

I put off the evil moment of Wallyworlding until 9p by putting off the liberry until 8:30p. Upside: I have Gone Girl and the ingrediments for chili cheese fries, a half-full tank of gas from the Wallyworld savings (the cheapest gas in the county is a block from the store, wonder why), and the best parking ever.

Downside: Walmart. *shudder* My spirit quails at the knowledge that I'm giving those greedy horrible Waltons my money. Sadly, I can't afford morality.

In the meantime, I've been so miserable today that I've longed for death several times. The acetaminophen I got at...that place...will help a bit. I'm lying here waiting for them to do their holy work.

Stephen, I'll happily give you the money if you'll do the shopping. I don't enjoy crippling around the stores. As soon as the disability kicks in, I'll be in a better position to get the medications I need prescribed with the appropriate kidney-function tests, and should be a lot better off.

Tomorrow would not be too soon.

I am holding that picture in my heart for you, Richard, tomorrow! It, or something even more better, will be tomorrow, for sure!

OK... at least I'm pulling for it!

Glad everyone approves of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind as much as I do! Find it, buy it, read it!

Done.

Sorry to hear about your pain and commiserate with the crippling around the stores. I'm on crutches and pushing a cart with your body while crutching is a royal pain. I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow. Ugh.

I hate shopping for someone else! Without fail, they don't have the brand requested...
or the size or something. And even choosing fruit worries me... that it wouldn't be what
the person would choose.

Glad you had a successful trip though rd...

Hope today is better, pain wise.

Hi RD, just me passing through trying to catch up once again. :)

>202 maggie1944: Hi Karen44! Glad to have your good mojo. Thanks.

>203 labfs39: Lisa! Hi there! Crutches suck, esp. when shopping. SO sorry. xo

>204 mckait: Success in this case means fattening bad-for-me chili cheese fries, so yaywhoopeew00tw00t!! Got the Cuisinart down to chip up the onion and am gettin' the Tums ready. Partay!

>205 MonicaLynn: Hi Monica! Glad to see you!

Chili cheese fries may be my favorite wicked Ishouldnevereatthat indulgence. And they haven't made the antacid that can deal with my wrathful system when I do it anyway.

Poor you Richard - I'm sorry it's such a nightmare at the moment. I'm the flip side - I quite like food shopping (though only for the family - for others would be awful). This may be mainly because generally hubby has Will and I get to put Cass in the 'tot stop' which she loves and go and have a coffee in peace :) And read.

Okay... it's not the shopping I like is it!

Waffling aside - sending big albeit gentle hugs across the ocean.

>207 laytonwoman3rd: Oh but the fun of gettin' them puppies down into the protesting acids...oooo

BTW hi there Linda3rd!

>208 BekkaJo: No, sounds like a nice sit-down with no kiddie care and a chance to read for a half-hour is what you're after. Like any sensible person.

*smooch*

Richard, maybe you should try to talk them into these kinds of fences - vines or bookshelves - I love them both -- *****SMOOCH!*****

How do i say this??

Acquiring DISABILITY status...doesn't guarantee a life of leisure .....then you're in the hands of the "Gubmint"...which you so despise

I love you, Sweeite...but i can't pretend that you're in for some weird shit.....Disabiiity-Wise

;-?

210> Nice...very nice!

Did you survive the chili cheese fries?

At this point, all I'm fixated on is medical care. Bureaucrats never change, never give up their petty power, but the meds and the docs make it all bearable.

Certainly it isn't wealth I'm expecting. Just survival.

The vines make me drool a little....

Chili cheese fries were scrumdiddlyumptious and have, so far, left me in digestive peace.

It's just a matter of picking your damnation (damned if you do get it and damned if you don't). There is a lot to be said for survival. I'm rooting for you to get it.

'Morning, RD!

*smooch* from your own Horrible

>214 tiffin: Thank you, Tui. *smooch*

>215 karenmarie: Hiya Horrible!! *smooch smooch*



Bookman's Corner, Chicago

I am fixated on health care as well. Too many just don't give a damn.
I saw my mother reach her lifetime limit. I have friends and family
who can''t get it because of preexisting conditions or lack of funds. Seems though that
many who have it are only worried about themselves. I guess they either are, or feel that
they are impervious to the vagaries of life and any disaster or down turn. I know how close
the can be to any one of us. I can't help but hope that some of them find out as well.

A good job, a wonderful job.. in any field can, and sometimes will just vanish. So
imagine a factory worker who watched though and lose work, healthcare and homes ..
standing there being told it is happening again. But it's just a factory worker, not someone
who matters..

Imagine a mother with a child whose husband was put out of work by jobs going overseas..
and the child is diagnosed with a catastrophic illness. Too bad for them, huh? yep Humanity
at its finest.

Better stop

hope you hear soon.

Happy Holiday, all!

MAJOR book porn!

>217 mckait: It's a scandal that, in spite of clear evidence from other countries that there are better ways to handle this, Murrikins still think we have the best healthcare in the world.

>219 richardderus:: it's pretty but with my dislike of heights, I'd be hugging that pole all the way up the stairs and then hugging the books. Prefer my books a small step stool away at most.

*swooning from all the room porn*

>218 richardderus:: I knew there was a reason I was feeling sexy today...

>219 richardderus:: Not only shelves beyond shelves of books, but filigreed iron as well? I have died and gone to heaven. (To quote the Monkees: "I'm a Believer")

>221 tiffin: I fear I'd never cram them all in without multiple levels.

>222 cameling: I KNOW!!

>223 MerryMary: Ha! Of course you would be!!

Good book porn :)

Thanks!

> 219 - great book porn and LOVE the light fixtures! Those are awesome! I WANT!

I will stop drooling now.......

>227 lkernagh: Yeah, right, Lori...like I will...uh huh

219 Oh! I love it! I'll take any class I have to just so I can go study there.

I was having book sorting issues yesterday. I have tamed them for the moment.. it's temporary though.
It's always temporary.

219 *...stunned silence...*

Mine!

>230 mckait: All attempts at organization are, at best, temporary. It comforts me to remember this when I look at my mess.

>229 Berly:, 231 I keep collecting these to attract via sympathetic magic the funds to make the Tome Home a reality, and have a few of these as libraries.

Review: 71 of seventy-five

Title: GONE GIRL

Author: GILLIAN FLYNN

Rating: 0.5* of five

The Book Report: The book description says:
Marriage can be a real killer.
One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.”Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.

My Review: I HATED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK FROM ITS SNARKTASTIC SMUG SNOTTY STRAIGHT PEOPLE TO ITS PLOT THAT MADE ME HOMICIDALLY FURIOUS.

I wish only the worst commercial luck for it, its movie, its author, its publisher, its publicist, its director, its producer, its screenwriter, and its legion of woman and crypto-woman fans.

So what's the half a star for? I've been surprised at the positive reviews of this book from some readers whose judgment I respect, because from the description I would expect my reaction to be very similar to yours. If I were ever to read it. Which I had and have no intention of doing.

>233 richardderus: Not so much a Review...as a "Cranky Rant"....

Just stating the obvious....

>233 richardderus: Outstanding. That sounds slightly less enjoyable than reading Thus Spoke Zarathrustra in the original German. No, thank you.

>234 laytonwoman3rd: I did, after all, read the whole book, and that merits some acknowledgment. I couldn't make myself give it a whole star.

>235 jdthloue: I suppose it is.

>236 kidzdoc: When something makes me want to do a Stalinesque purge on it and its purveyors, I say staying away is but the healthy choice.

Please add my positive energy to Ashley and family. Please keep us posted Kim.

Richard, great review re. Gone Girl. 1/2 star? How I wish we could post negative stars...

Let's start that trend.

Oops. Sorry it (Gone Girl) was such a disaster for you!

>237 richardderus: Of course, I haven't read the damned thing yet....so must reserve judgement...I did like Sharp Objects...although I tend to avoid "sharps" in RL.....

>238 Whisper1: Negative stars would barely assuage my fury. It's one of those "man bad, woman good (if only by comparison)" books that make me want to vomit bile and swing an axe at the authoress. Because the people in it are vile, and venal, and I wanted all of them to die before uttering another sentence. Becuase at every turn, the easiest choice was the one the authoress made, and it resulted in a cheap, brummagem travesty of a thriller.

I didn't want to go shop for supporting examples so I just left that whole bit out. Going back through this latrine of a book would've made me too ill to continue writing.

>239 jnwelch: If the Christmas Tsunami was a disaster, this was a fender-bender...but I didn't like it.

>240 jdthloue: When you've read it, let me know what you think.

>241 richardderus: Will do, but don't hold your breath.......too much on my reading plate just now...

;-)

>219 richardderus: wow, where is that!? It must be a library....one Id like to sit quietly reading in all day long.

Love your review of Gone Girl. Kind of makes me want to read it though....perverse huh?

>242 jdthloue: :-)

>243 LovingLit: don't say I didn't warn you....

Oh Richard, I am that quixotic mix of highly amused and deeply sympathetic. I've read one or two of those in my time and your one line caps lock scream captured to perfection how they make you feel.

So.. you were not a fan, huh?

Sheeple???

Richard, I really hate the way you pussyfoot around things. It's so hard to tell how you feel about a book!

I did put Gone Girl on hold at the library but since I'm something like #1427 (not kidding) in the queue, I guess it will be a while before I get it.

>245 tiffin: I know that feeling well, Tui...the book evoked a response it'd be hard not to have that reaction to.

>246 mckait: Not so much...

>247 jdthloue: Sheeple infest the universe, eh what?

>248 EBT1002: I shall endeavor to express an actual opinion more clearly, then, Ellen. I don't like leaving others in the dark.

;-P

What started the buzz about this book anyway? Does anyone know? I'm astonished to see that LT recommends it for me based on the fact that I have Bring Up The Bodies, 11/22/63 and Faithful Place in my catalog. Of those three I've only read the Mantel, but I find it very hard to see any connection among these titles.

>250 laytonwoman3rd: Should you ever find out, please let me know, Linda3rd.

I always dress as if I was running out of a burning building... hahahah. Today went swimming with the toddlers and came out of pool, into shower, out to dress: No comb! No brush! Wild woman hair.....

Thanks for an always entertaining look at my book reading friends ideas.... and yours, too. It was awfully brave of you to read that whole damn book. Why didn't you just throw it in the trash?

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx, RD. I sincerely hoping your next read is much better for you!

>252 maggie1944: "Now to me, Edith looks like something that would eat her young." LOLOLOLOLOLOL

I love that line!

It's a liberry book, so I can't just heave-ho as it would otherwise deserve. But even though I was infuriated, I read the whole thing, sucked into the slipstream of its just-good-enough prose.

>253 alcottacre: Oh, me too, my dear, and *smooch* for the good wishes!

I told Ape I'd go back to 250-post threads. Nineteen's up.

:251 So much real pain in Dottie's writing

>256 magicians_nephew: I agree...to be THAT bitchy, you need to have been the butt of some real, vicious abuse yourownself.

But the art she transmuted it into...!