Richardderus thread 24 for 2012

“I was dead until you found me, though I breathed. I was sightless, though I could see. And then you came...and I was awakened.”
― J.R. Ward


“I remember awakening one morning and finding everything smeared with the color of forgotten love.”
― Charles Bukowski


“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
― Eckhart Tolle

Tommaso Minardi, Self Portrait (1807)

I think I was him in a past life.

Book porn!

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.
Books 69-71...thread 18.
Books 72-74...thread 19.
Books 75-77...thread 20.
Books 78 & 79...thread 21.
Books 80 & 81...thread 22.
Books 82 & 83...thread 23.

My 2012 ORPHANED books ticker:




Pearl Ruled:



14. Beautiful Ruins...thread 18.

15. The Lies of Locke Lamora
16. The Hunger Games...in my Orphans thread.
18. Keeper of Light and Dust...Orphans thread, #196.

17. Equal of the Sun...thread 21.
19. Superclass...thread 23.

20. Narcopolis...#297.

Books are reviewed in post:

84. The White City...#142.

85. The Ten-Cent Plague...#175.

86. The Yellow Birds...#288.

Oh, look, Richard has a loadable thread again, I better post on it quick. Hmmm, what to say....ummmm, mmmm, errrr...HI RICHARD!

Hi Stephen! It'll be unloadable by tomorrow, never you fear.

#3...........so elegant, so gorgeous, so covetable......and Jana Bibi is perhaps a tad more than pleasant, but your description is definitely a good one.

Hi Richard.

Love the book porn. Can just imagine sitting on the stairs getting lost in a good book:)

>7 tututhefirst: Hi Tina...I don't know how much space there is in that curve, but wouldn't a chair in there be heavenly?

>8 calm: Hi calm!

Congrats on thread #24! Love that Minardi self-portrait!

Morning RD!
The sun is shining, the book shelves are heaving, its going to be a great day.
(you can tell I got a full nights sleep cant you?)
Happy new thread celebrations to you.

Nice new thread, Rdear.

I'm in a really bad mood right this very second, so will just say, "Hi!" to mark my spot.

Book porn!

>10 msf59: Thanks, Mark. That self portrait's really something special, isn't it?

>11 LovingLit: Goodness! Haven't seen this much vim out of you in ages! *smooch*

>12 Matke: I'm so sorry about the mood...still, I'm glad you're here.

Nice new thread, Richard! I thought that you might like this:

Aah, Brando...how lovely he was...thanks, Darryl!

Good Evening!

Where do you find all these lovely book porn images?

Yes, agree, Brando was a beaut! And looks almost innocent here.

Hi, Richard, congrats on #24!

>2 richardderus: is just perfection! I hope you have a great weekend Richard.

Nice digs. :-*

Piles of fake cut-off limbs for Chuck Palahniuk, famously unafraid of gore, to sign and give as promos for his new book.

Is it just me, or is this idea distasteful?

distasteful

thought you'd like to know: I found a small, but significant, stash of money I'd forgotten I'd hidden away for a rainy day

hehehehe

I'm going to go read a book now

>17 mckait: Cutest GIF yet!

>18 Whisper1: It's amazing what Facebook has. Hi Linda! *smooch*

>19 maggie1944: Innocent *bwaaahaaahaaa* innocent *snort*

Thanks, Tea Lady!

>20 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta, glad to see you here! Thanks, and you too.

>21 London_StJ: *smooch* for Crypto...wasn't that little deerstalker and ulster set cute on FB?

>23 maggie1944: PERFECTION!

Quite distasteful.

>25 Matke: Ah, glad I'm not alone.

Definitely distasteful.

More than distasteful. Is there seriously someone out there who would WANT something like THAT?

Wish you a very happy weekend Richard :D

>27 kidzdoc: The source unimpeachable! As a doctor, no doubt you have amputated many many limbs when patients' parents could not pay a bill.

>28 drachenbraut23: I will never understand how bleccch became cool, Bianca. Just...no.

Thank you dear, you do the same!

Hanging out with the grandbabies for the weekend.

Snow in the panhandle, cold winds chasing me down I-80, meager sun from time to time.

Guess I can pack away the shorts and the flip-flops for awhile.

Love the book porn as always.

Hope whatever fall weather you're receiving makes you feel better.

grossly distasteful.

Men. I stop by here to see pictures of men. Not pieces of men!

Hi Richard!

Have a great weekend RD irrespective of whether it is book porn or the real McCoy.
Congrats on 24 threads already.

>29 richardderus: As a doctor, no doubt you have amputated many many limbs when patients' parents could not pay a bill.

No, but I've wished many a time that I could perform parentectomies on the children of abusive, neglectful or incompetent parents.

Waves to you Richard Dear Love the Book porn once again and the Men of course. ;) Ick on the amputated parts.. Very distasteful.

Richard, I use facebook sparingly. Actually, I was very upset when I had to testify at a deposition regarding for a law suit one of my previous employees requested. Basically, she is suing her auto insurance company for coverage they should have given.

Imagine my surprise when the insurance lawyer pulled photos from my face book account when she and I attended a conference three-four years ago. Her health has plummeted as a result of an accident. This guy pulled the facebook photos to say she looked just fine!

Creep! Facebook is public domain and that experience taught me that even an innocent photo of attendance at a conference could be used against her.

He also researched that I had two divorces (which had nothing to do with my testimony) and started the deposition by asking me my name, my education and then how many divorces I had!!!!!! My guess is it was an attack early in the game to throw me off course.

Silly guy didn't know me. It simply made me angry and thus all the more stubborn.

Brando - yum.

#22 - totally disgusting. Blech. Creepy. Weird.

Oh.

Good morning RD! Have a super day.

*smooches* from your own Horrible

>36 Whisper1:: What a fool that lawyer was.

Good mornin' Rdear. Foggy in the extreme here, but cool.

I've just discovered the delights of mystery writer Colin Watson, sadly now deceased. What fun!

*waving at you over a cup of wonderful cafe au lait, home made, as it should be*

>30 MerryMary: I would say so! *brrr* Snow. Too soon for me! *smooch*

>31 tututhefirst: Amen!

>32 Copperskye: HA! Priceless one, Joanne! Ha.

>33 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul! The Real McCoy would cause LT's servers to melt and the entire 75er community to take up torches and pitchforks, so I shall steer clear.

But only just.

>34 kidzdoc: I would *love* to see a parenting test instituted. Not so much for intelligence as for common sense and problem-solving skills. Some very smart people are crap parents (my father for one).

>35 MonicaLynn: Hidy ho there, Monica! Very icksome. I'm pleased to note there hasn't been a dissenting voice. I thought I was being oversensitive.

>36 Whisper1: I hear so many stories like that, Linda...I don't post photos of myself anyway, since the gargoyle of the year people rejected my last pic as too ugly to have in public.

I'm actually glad that stupid lawyer made that particular mistake. Anything to stiffen the sinews in service of a good cause!

*smooch*

>37 karenmarie: The Brando of that era is like RObert Mitchum circa 1944...turn on the bubble machine, get out the fan, and don't bother me for the next half hour.

*smoochings*

>38 Matke: Heh. Ain't that the truth, Danvers? What a maroon, as Bugs used to say.

Colin Watson? I read Coffin Scarcely Used way back in the day, and remember it because Feltborough was so cozy I almost suffocated. One gets the feeling the streets are paved with floral chintz.

Do keep me posted...love to rediscover something once abandoned.

>39 maggie1944: *smooch* I'm sipping down the last of mine, too, Tea Lady.

> 25 srsly ICKsome .. so why? :P~~~~~~

>43 mckait: I don't know why he did that, sweetness, which is one reason I threw it open to debate. And so far the response is "ewww" just like mine was so I'm as in-the-dark as I was before.

Any ideas?

*smooch*

internal agonies of the worstest kind

>45 mckait: That was cryptic to the point of being sibylline. Elucidate for us mere mortals, O Pythoness.

COOLEST BOOK PORN EVER.

The severed limbs are seriously distasteful, and I love the picture in >47 richardderus:--hidden bookcase door, no space wasted! Good morning, Richard! (It still is here.)

>47 richardderus:: Secret stairway hidden behind a bookshelf? Skip the "Like" button, I want a "WANT!" button.

I don't even care where the stairway goes, though I'd vote for more books on the landing.

Hey RD! Hope your day is going well! Love the hidden bookcases! They are very cool.

>48 ronincats: Good morning, Roni dearest!

>49 swynn: Know exactly what you mean, o Wynnbrarian.

>50 msf59: Don'cha LOVE it? Wonder if I can find a place to put one.

> 46 The severed limb artist apparently suffers from.....etc
>47 richardderus: Want

>52a OIC
>52b Oh yyyeeeaaahhh

Beautiful image, and I agree with the sentiment.

>36 Whisper1: that is one scary story Linda! How awful. Lawyers huh.

Hi RD,
Im getting right into Just My Type, it is fascinating. Now my next mission is to design a new type! Ill call it...serif seeker, or something.
*whispers* I dont find the legs too distasteful, but can see why people would.

"A one-night stand that becomes something more - an unconventional love story between two young men trying to make sense of their lives."

I saw this British film last night. It was very good and I thought I would pass it on to you. Are you familiar with it?

Oohoooh ..... I love that new book porn picture, RD. I could be held prisoner in there willingly.

>55 LovingLit: Oh that's great! Isn't the book fascinating? I was surprised at how readable it was. I would have read it anyway, but the author was good at conveying the sense of obsessiveness the subject inspires without making the book drag.

>56 msf59: Have never heard of it, but it sounds terrific! Thanks Mark!

>57 cameling: I know exactly what you mean, Caro.

Yup, #47 is the coolest book porn yet!

Hi Richard!

>54 richardderus:: may I live there, please?
Thenkyewveddymuch.

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx times 7, RD. I am far behind. . .

>59 lkernagh: Hi Lori! I still drool when I see it.

>60 Matke: Oh well, I dunno...okay, okay.

>61 alcottacre: *smoochiesmoochsmooch* Stasia! Final projects success *whammy*

#62: I appreciate the whammy (and the smooch), RD!

>63 alcottacre: No problemo, angelpunkin.



Good pun.

LOL! Love that

Hello Richard dear.
I like the iceberg pun.
Agreeing with the distasteful sentiment, big time.
47 is one of my favorite book porn images you've posted. But it needs a comfy chair.
xo

47 > want ! - though suspect it will be highly desired especially by anyone who finds the need to smuggle books home .....

LOL at the pun..

Hope you feel well today... so.. are there guests, or just family?
Are you enjoying the chill in the air :)

*waving* as I sail through. Big reading day ahead for me! Woo hoo

So last night the Gruesome Twosome brought a bottle of cava for us to toast my first round of victory over the bureaucracy (being declared disabled). As a result of drinking a glass and a half, I've had a gout attack!

I hate being thin.

That's when we know we're getting older--when the celebration brings us down! Although, sometimes it's worth it...

The Lello bookstore in Porto, Portugal - considered to be one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world.

No lie. They have, and they continue to do so.

NO lie, indeed. Same here.

Love the photo of the bookstore!

ditto.. alive and relatively uncrazy... relatively

>74 drachenbraut23: I suspect a lot of us in the 75ers can say this, Bianca. It makes for such a strong bond among us!

>75 mckait: "Relatively" as in "they haven't found me at home when the butterfly-net brigade comes to take me to Shady Pines Rest Home for the Elderly and Demented"

xo

xo back at ya.......

>70 richardderus: Sorry to hear that.

Yeah, what the doc said! (78)

Absolutley loved the iceberg.

I'm sorry about the evil gout.

What a beautiful bookstore; it almost seems unreal. Portugal has a colorful and sometimes unhappy history...

I'm with Kath on the "relatively"; as long as I don't talk too much, no ones how utterly mad I'm becoming.

So I'll just say goodbye now, and send a Sunday *smooch*.

Are you having evil gout trouble Again, or should I say Still? Grrrr. At least you are officially disabled! Yay!? Still feeling under myself, but thinking of you. : )

>78 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl...it's getting harder to know where the limits are. *grumble*

>79 maggie1944: *smooch* Tea Lady

>80 Matke: I still chortle over it too, Gail. Portugal's isn't the cheeriest of histories, but there appear to be consolations.

>81 Berly: *smooch* Oh no, Berly-boo, still not doing tip-top? Is the prednisone at least helping?

I just watched the latest episode of Call the Midwife and, while it's not the least smallest bit jolly, it is fantastic.

Pam Ferris, who played Laura Thyme in the dreadful show Rosemary and Thyme, plays a character that I'm herewith nicknaming "Sister Crabby Habit," after Mark's yclepture of me as "Mister Crabby Pants." She is a pill of the first water!

*blowing kisses, sashaying on through, climbing the stairs to bed, with book under arm* Night night, all.

>83 maggie1944: *smooch*

"Happy" Columbus Day.

If I entered that lovely book store in Portugal, I have a feeling I would not leave the building!

And, I love the image above regarding Columbus day!!!! Before reading Howard Zinn's book A People's History of the United States, I had no idea what Columbus did to the Arawack Indians.

The fact that we actually honor him is appalling to me.

Makes me a little queasy too, Linda. Appalling.

>84 richardderus:. Happy??

That's a great one Richard. It captures so much of the celebratory spirit of the day;-)

Happy Columbus Day, officially, Richard!

>87 brenzi: Thrilled. Can't you tell? I'm getting the confetti ready to toss at the parade.

>88 ronincats: Why thank you. And the shades of the Arawaks would like a word with you, if it's not too much trouble.

Richard: I ordered chili cheese fries for the first time this weekend, enjoyed every single bite, and thought of you the whole time. Hope you had a great weekend!

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx and hopes that you have a terrific, pain-free week, RD. . .

Morning Mr. Crabby Pants! I love the Columbus poster. I hope you have a good day today and your pain-levels are at a minimum.

*smooch*

Happy Native American Holocaust Day back to you.

Hah! Loving >84 richardderus:. We celebrated by having our furnace break down and trying to get someone else to live in our icy house. But we want it back.

Stopping in to say hello. In total agreement with the uncellbrating of Columbus.

>90 scaifea: Aren't they delish? So glad to have made a new convert!

>91 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia! *smooch*

>92 msf59: I wish more people would pay attention to what this Monday holiday means. I think most would be pretty repulsed. Enjoy your day off!

>93 karenmarie: Thanks, Horrible! *smooch*

>94 jnwelch: Heh. Nice try, white man.

>95 mckait: Good morning, sort of, my dear!

Indeed they do.

Love the Columbus Day sentiment......

That bookstore in Portugal is too much.

>99 sibylline: Heh...too much indeed, and in the best possible way!

Hi Lucy!

Hi back -- Richard I noticed you read Island of Vice (when I was over at Mark's thread). I just read it and had kind of a big surprise, you might want to read the review for the fun factor.

But...but...but Richard! You started it by wantonly coming onto my thread and wishing ME a happy c. day. It's not a holiday that I am much in agreement with, but I was just being reciprocal.

>101 sibylline: Will head over there soonest.

>102 ronincats: It's a nasty piece of work, this holiday in "honor" of a horrible person, isn't it? *sigh*

*smoochiesmoochsmooch*

EVERY. DAMN. DAY.

hi, happy to see your feisty self!

I'm having a RA flare so not typing much

Bliss. Just...bliss.

>105 maggie1944: Hi! Oh so so so sorry about the flare-up. *smooch*

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no. Too cluttery. Couldn't deal... I like the glowy gold of the room, but canna do the clutter.

I suspected not...well, don't woman up the place on my account, I detest tidytidy.

:P~~~

Perhaps we could find a middle position between tidytidy and utterchaos.

Sure is pretty, though.

A mention of today in our local paper:

"Don't forget it's Columbus Day, marking the trasit of ideas, plants, animals, slaves, and disesases of the Columbian exchage initiated by the expedition leader for whom this city's named. {Editorial note: I do NOT live in Columbus.} As is customary in today's culture--which over the centuries here in the South became a mix of English, Spanish, African, American Indian {sic} and French--we celebrate by not having prison inmates collect your garbage."

And so it goes.

I know!! Take the stupid "decorative" objects off the bookshelves and put some books there! That should do it.

Oh, of course, why did I not see that immediately; and perhaps put the pictures away from the sofa...just sayin'

Hurrah. Let's celebrate what amounts to genocide.

Not anyone nowadays' fault, but it still strikes me as grossly distasteful.

But then......we Brits celebrate Guy Fawkes Day and that's when a man was caught and eventually hung, drawn and quartered. That's distasteful too, though not quite on the same scale as an estimated death rate of 80% by the end of the 17th century and down to who knows what today.

>113 Matke: Indeed. Plenty of room in the basement for that kind of stuff. I myownself think there are waaaay too many yellow pillows on the sofa, but they're such a pretty color I hate to take them off.

>114 lunacat: It's kind of grisly, but he *was* just one Catholic.

>106 richardderus: Looks like one corner of my bedroom....complete with easy chair...except there's a floor lamp behind My chair.....I love the "clutter"

;-)

Too much laughter! Love the latest quotes, and the film that Mark drew your attention to looks good. from the poster anyway, which is all I have to go on.

Might have to steal the lovely woman reading in the library quote, it is fantastic!

>116 jdthloue: A proper use of bedroom space!

>117 LovingLit: I adore that image. Feel free to appropriate!

You could read 1492: The Year the World Began in which the author travels around the whole wide world and looks into history to see what was "up" in differing parts. He tells a lot of good stuff about why the Chinese were not the "discoverers of America"; what was going on along the east coast of Africa and the brisk trade happening between India and Europe; and who was in America and why the Spanish were able to dominate. Most of what we think of the history of that time is pretty much not true, according to Fernandez-Armesto.

Not for people who think history is boring.

It's the other junk on the couch that offends me--picture frames and the like--taking up the spot that is obviously meant for me to stretch out and read!

>119 maggie1944: One day...

>120 ronincats: We agree completely on that, Roni!

106: Ohmygosh, must...organize...those...books... Just think how much fun it would be to (sigh!) alphabetize those!

120: Amen, sister!

checking in to see what is happening here....

>106 richardderus:: Where did they find that photo of my first apartment, circa mid-80's?

No, wait. Too many art objects. And you can still see the carpet in spots.

Mrs. Ninja would never allow such disorder in her nest, for which I'm usually grateful. But .... ah, memories.

#104 Today's count is in the hundreds...

>122 scaifea: "Organizing" sounds like code for "tidying" to me.

>123 mckait: Nothin'.

>124 swynn: Ah, memories. Indeed. Not to be nagged and hounded about mess/dirt/untidyness....

>125 BekkaJo: Just today?! *checks internet to see if Jersey suddenly depopulated by rampageous booklover*

*waving* with magically less inflamed right hand.

>127 maggie1944: YAY for less inflammation!!!

*grunt* Bad day.

oh, sorry to hear "bad day"; mine is just not as good as I wish

{{{hugs}}} heat compress, RD?

No one in this "Great Country" of ours should be without medical care. At least kids are being taken care of.. but what happens when they age out? And have pre-existing conditions? And what about people like you , who suffer for years with no care. Terrible terrible terrible. GGGRRRRrrr

>129 maggie1944: I aspire to that kind of day. But the jeeeeeeeeezus-gawd is clearly in control so it's Biblically bad.

>130 cameling: Thanks loveycuddles. No, a heat compress isn't the solution this time, more's the pity.

>131 mckait: Indignation appreciated, Kath, but today it's other life stuff.

I just fucking hate the closedmindedness and greedy selfishness of the christian rightwing culture we are forced to endure.

me, too! All over the place and twice!

Hallo, RD! Just passing through - waiting for husband to call so we can meet in town in for prime rib dinner.

*smooch* from Horrible

I smiled for the first time today when I saw this.

Oh, I know that feeling. I remember that I had to wait - what - *scratch head* - I think 6 years for the next book in one of my series to finally be published. Actually, I thought it was the last one - but NO - there are two more to come. But when? When I am old and grey (well not grey, I am grey already)? *Sigh*

>136 drachenbraut23: And I think it's agony to wait until next August for Louise Penny to finish the next Gamache book!

My other is reading the Communist Manifesto at the moment (*ding ding* hubby points!), and I was able to stop reading for nearly half an hour last night in bed and have a lengthy discussion on the economy and right vs left wing models.

It was a great discussion, even if we are each trying to preach to the converted on the topic. One of us (read: me) has to be devils advocate and say things like "oh, but this is what the capitalist fat-cats cruel and heartless business owner would say about raising minimum wages....."

Actually, I do believe if the authors would really, really care about us, they could hurry up with their writing and don't let us wait for "ages" on their new books!

>138 LovingLit: Good healthy discussions! I applaud y'all!

>139 drachenbraut23: I won't be happy until they make me sandwiches and bring them to me in bed, too.

And, at my house, that will be with a pot of hot tea. (Sorry RD, I know you'll want something a bit more alcoholic)

I, unusually for this crowd, am OK with waiting for the next book in a series. I'm even willing to die before a series is done. I figure if the Universe wants me to know the very last thought an author has on the topic, it will keep me able to read until the series is finished.

Review: 84 of seventy-five

Title: THE WHITE CITY

Author: ELIZABETH BEAR

Rating: 4* of five

The Book Description: For centuries, the White City has graced the banks of the Moskva River. But in the early years of a twentieth century not quite analogous to our own, a creature even more ancient than Moscow’s fortress heart has entered its medieval walls.

In the wake of political success and personal loss, the immortal detective Don Sebastien de Ulloa has come to Moscow to choose his path amid the embers of war between England and her American colonies. Accompanied by his court—the forensic sorcerer Lady Abigail Irene and the authoress Phoebe Smith—he seeks nothing but healing and rest.

But Moscow is both jeweled and corrupt, and when you are old there is no place free of ghosts, and Sebastien is far from the most ancient thing in Russia....

My Review: Longer is not, in my world, automatically better. In this case, however, it makes me quite happy to have more to work with, more to savor, more to carefully and slowly bring into my aching-with-desire storyplace.

Oh my, I think I need to get laid.

Well, never mind all that, this almost-novel (nigh on 200pp!) is another enjoyable installment in Bear's wampyr-alternative-history series begun with New Amsterdam. It's set after the first story collection, and tells alternating yet connected tales of Sebastien de Ulloa's adventures in the Moscow of 1897 and 1903. I suspect, in fact, that it's actually two oversized short stories that were asked to marry by their progenitor. In alternating chapters, Bear shows us Sebastien alone with Jack, his dead love, and then with his court, the two women who loved Jack with him, Abby Irene and Phoebe, as they pursue a very oddly similar set of killings connected to a wampyr older than Sebastian's thousand-plus years.

The alternative Moscow is alternative even to Bear's built world. In this Russia, the tsaritsa, a practicing sorceress, was rebelled against and assassinated in the 18th century, so sorcery is Frowned Upon. This makes forensic sorceress Abby Irene surprisingly unfree to use her skills to solve the 1903 crime she's charged with assisting to investigate. In the end, of course, all comes out on the side of Justice.

But isn't it surprising how often justice and happiness are mutually exclusive?

I keep reading these books, despite so many warning signs of tropes I dislike intensely, because I am both moved and oddly comforted by Justice (even absent happiness). I am also, in these stories, treated to a profoundly unnerving and instructive experience of alienness. Sebastien is over a thousand years old. He lives on human blood. He is Other in Capital Letters. And I feel, on a gut level, that Otherness. It's quite a trick that Bear pulls. She's as human as I am, and a good deal younger than me, too. (Bitch.) Somehow her imagination has led her into such a dark and isolated part of the woods that she can make me, a not-inexperienced reader, fully buy in to her creation of this wildly different being, Don Sebastien.

And in this story, millennium-old Sebastien meets his future in an even more ancient wampyr called Starkad. How odd for one used to being the oldest thing in the room to meet someone who views one in the same light as humans view kittens. It adds another level to a character whose agelessness could become changelessness and therefore stasis...death in series fiction.

Bear, to my complete lack of surprise, is up to the challenge of layering even the most difficult characters. I hope you'll work these books onto your TBR lists. It's like giving yourself a pearl necklace...a sign you've decided to take yourself seriously as a grown-up.

Pardon me, must go kill my (single) self.

ETA if anyone fails to see the horror of this, the woman in question is:


Honey Boo Boo is the little one.

Oh heavy sigh

Great idea!

>145 cdyankeefan: Which one?

I was hooked when I read Bear's New Amsterdam. Sebastien and Abigail are such a great team. ;-) Sadly, my local library doesn't have The White City so I have placed a hold on Ad Eternum to appease me for now, but it won't be the same. :-(

>147 lkernagh: No, no it won't...I am sad for you.

anyone who thinks it's ok for health insurance companies not to accept someone because of pre-existing conditions is just plain selfish. *steps off soap box*

I got a nice surprise just now...a knock on the kitchen door has produced a new, unexpected book. Crown Publishing sent me a copy of Learning to Swim...not an ER request, and in fact I don't think something I'd've asked for, but what the hey. I like surprise books!

lucky!

RD- Good review of The White City. I'm not sure I'm familiar with that series. I like brief running time.
Honey Boo Boo scares the crap out of me....flees the area!

Oh surprise books are always fun!!

Intriguing review, Richard!
Is your Elizabeth Bear the same Elizabeth Bear that Roni was reading a few weeks back?

>151 maggie1944: Ain't I?

>152 msf59: Thanks, Mark. *evil Muttley laugh* Now I know how to make you suffer: Honey Boo Boo!

>153 ChelleBearss: I love gift-books even when they sound like something I'd rather drink bleach than read. *smooch* for dear Chelle

>154 jolerie: Thanks, Valerie. Same Elizabeth Bear indeed. She's a prolific lassie.

Richard, you have not only added to my TBR pile over the months, but now you have me wanting to visit Porto, Portugal! I mean, I already would like to go there with the idea of imbibing in some wonderful port, but now that bookstore!.... sigh.

Very intriguing review of The White City. I love: "I am both moved and oddly comforted by Justice (even absent happiness)." Duly bethumbed as you might say. :-)

And I have to get into that series, having finished off the Promethean Era books. What's the best one to start with, Richard dear?

Oh, and congrats on step one (I swear it seems like step twenty-seven) of getting through and past the infamous bureaucracy!

>156 EBT1002: My work here is done, let the Grim Reaperess do her worst and take me to Pinelawn Cemetery's "pre-need savings" plots! (still rankles that was my *only* mail)

Porto calling to you, eh? You may have all my port wine if I may drink your allotted portion of Madeira.

>157 ronincats: Definitely New Amsterdam, Roni dearest, and then this book, followed by Seven for a Secret and then the last one, which is set in 1962.

>158 EBT1002: Thanks! Many miles to go, but it's a start and a good one.

Port for me, Madeira for you. It's a deal. I even made my way over to Joe's cafe to see if he has any good port wine left. ;-)

Hmmm.... New Amsterdam. Must investigate.

Hi Roni! Good to see you!

Okay, the library has it, but the Kindle edition is only $2.99 so I can't resist!! (This is happening just too much lately...)

No Elizabeth Bear at my library:(

I guess I better look in the shops next time I'm in town. She sounds like a writer I would like.

Hope you are having a better day Richard - surprise books certainly help:)

Hope you feel good today rd....

The White City sounds teriffic, RD.

Have you ever poked a nose into the Randall Garret Lord Darcy books? Lord Darcy Investigates

Darcy is not nosferatu, but he also has a forensic sorcerer and some of the plots and the sneaky little asides are delightful.

>142 richardderus:: I've added New Amsterdam to the Someday Swamp, but for the record I refuse to take myself seriously as a grown-up.

> 143: Of all the places I might have expected to stumble across a pic of Honey Boo Boo your thread wasn't one, oh ever-surprising Richard. Of course, to know whether her mother's having a boyfriend is cause for grief, we might want to include a pic of the man.

I suspect the reason we didn't get one is that he is no cause for grief.

New Amsterdam now on hold at the spl.
I hope you're having a relatively pain-free Wednesday, Richard.

Good review of White City, Richard. Thumb from moi. Not sure when, but I'll keep an eye out for New Amsterdam.

...almost done with this chapter...

Ler Devagar Bookstore, Lisbon.

Clearly Portugal must be a port of call for all good 75ers!

Not that I'm so great at it anytime.

I'll second the recommendation for Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy books, Richard.

ETA I'll also second that last situation in message 170!

>160 EBT1002: And thus a diplomatic crisis is averted. See? We could work for the UN!

>161 ronincats: I am the near occasion of book-sin. Oh dearie me. The guilt, the guilt.

>162 calm: So sorry to whet an unfulfillable appetite, calm. :-(

>163 mckait: I'm a lot better than you are, O Outlet Shopper. *there there, pat pat*

>164 magicians_nephew:, 171 Oh I loved Lord Darcy and the never-fallen Plantagenet Empire! I was hugely amused as a feral yoof by "Sir Androu Duglasse" from Scotland. And a medical doctor saying all humble-like to a sorceror, "I'm only a lowly chirurgeon..."

HA! I should find those books again.

>165 swynn: That someone, anyone, exists who looks at that lardy load of lipstick and says "okay you'll do" while **I** am unattached is cause for grief.

>166 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen!

>167 jnwelch: It's worth it, Joe.

Sunshine lollipops and rainbows, everyone!

Review: 85 of seventy-five

Title: THE TEN-CENT PLAGUE

Author: DAVID HAJDU

Rating: 4* of five

The Book Description: In the years between World War II and the emergence of television as a mass medium, American popular culture as we know it was first created--in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. No sooner had this new culture emerged than it was beaten down by church groups, community bluestockings, and a McCarthyish Congress--only to resurface with a crooked smile on its face in Mad magazine.

The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told--until The Ten-Cent Plague. David Hajdu's remarkable new book vividly opens up the lost world of comic books, its creativity, irreverence, and suspicion of authority.
When we picture the 1950s, we hear the sound of early rock and roll. The Ten-Cent Plague "shows how--years before music--comics brought on a clash between children and their parents, between prewar and postwar standards. Created by outsiders from the tenements, garish, shameless, and often shocking, comics spoke to young people and provided the guardians of mainstream culture with a big target. Parents, teachers, and complicit kids burned comics in public bonfires. Cities passed laws to outlaw comics. Congress took action with televised hearings that nearly destroyed the careers of hundreds of artists and writers.

The Ten-Cent Plague "radically revises common notions of popular culture, the generation gap, and the divide between "high" and "low" art. As he did with the lives of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (in "Lush Life") and Bob Dylan and his circle (in "Positively 4th Street"), Hajdu brings a place, a time, and a milieu unforgettably back to life.

My Review:


Just read it. It's sixteen kinds of fascinating and a few more kinds of awesome.

Seriously. Just go get one and read it! Quit looking at reviews! Too much good stuff in here that anyone alive in this horrifying over-religioned right wing fucking nightmare country we've allowed to develop in our beloved USA should know about! Censorship and fear-mongering and lying sack-of-shit conservatives are not new developments...just more common than ever.

Does your enjoyment of this book mean you'll be reading comic books and graphic novels?

I think Hadju is a pedestrian writer at best but he is hell's own good researcher and he has done the research on this one.

The youth revolt of the 60's had its genesis in the youth repression of the '50's

>176 jnwelch: Not a damn chance.

>177 magicians_nephew: Completely agreed...not scintillating prose so much as scintillating synthesis and superb support for his arguments.



I know it's ridiculous and pointless. I want it anyway.

>143 richardderus: You can't fix stupid Richard dear. So just get very, very far away! Mejor solo que mal acompañado! Better to be alone, than in bad company! ;)

>179 luvamystery65: I think what galls me is the *fact* of it, not the specific person, you see.

Since I always have my head in a book....

>170 richardderus: me too.

I do hurt all over. Then I came home and sorted out my shoes, getting some ready to give to the soup kitchen, and of course I ended up pulling my storage things out from under there and vacuuming and blah blah. I have lost my mind.

But I suspect that even though I hurt, you are in the same fix more often.. so hugs for that ..

OK, I think The Ten Cent Plague will have to be on my book group's list for next year. It is just the kind of history I love, love, love. And I did live through it. My brother who was 8 years older than I, and that would make him 75 now (had he lived), brought home comic books, the Bop dance, the music (Rock Around the Clock), and Mad magazine (right from the start). My parents were too wrapped up in their own version of dysfunction and illness to fight it. But I do remember the thunder and lightening from the churches.

BTW, the youth rebellion of the 60s certainly had something to do with the repressive atmosphere of the 50s, but it also related to the fact that we were taught from elementary school on just how wonderful our country was, patriotism to the max! (anti-Communist) And then, we saw what the South was doing to the black students trying to eat at lunch counters and black kids trying to go to decent schools. So - we'd been lied to, hadn't we? Not such an almghty cool perfect place to live after all. And then the McCarthyism. It all contributed.

Ok, I'm finsihed. Going to go read my new book: Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan.

It's always hopping on RD's thread! Great review of THE TEN-CENT PLAGUE. I remember hearing about this one a couple years ago and then completely forgot about it. I did read his bio on Strayhorn and it was fantastic. Need to add this one to the LIST.

I can't Thumb your review of The Ten Cent Plague....because it doesn't show on LT

I grew up in the 1950s....and read the Comic Books that my brother bought...before he did....and, i thought they were pretty simplistic

Me, I love Graphic Novels.......and, sometimes i love you, Sweetie..

>182 mckait: Obsessive, yes. Crazy, weeelll...I plead the Fifth. And the Fourteenth.

>183 maggie1944: Fulminations from the pulpit are nothing new. We need to de-Jesus the world. I'm thinkin' good old-fashioned Cossack pogrom.

>184 msf59: I agree with Jim that Hajdu isn't top-flight in the prose department here. But the subject is fascinating.

>185 jdthloue: *oops* forgot to put it there! Thanks for reminding me.

One book group member has already asked if there are pictures! I am sure the book will be a big hit!

Have a good day, relatively better than the last.

Hello Richard,
I never read anything by Elizabeth Bear, but your review sounds like I should. So, I definately will keep an eye out for her books when I stroll through the second hand book stores.
Hope you have a *feel better* day today.

Decaf: Proof positive that Puritans had sex. Their descendants leach the joy out of everything to this day.

Book porn! Castle Groussay, in France.

Wow, I really do like THAT library. Wonderful - Ah, and they do have this lovely ladders you can push around the shelves. Hm, the only thing missing is a nice comfy sofa, to stretch out with a lovely book.

lovely

I want one

right out back

have a great day, RD!

>187 maggie1944: It will, I expect, because it's such an interesting topic!

>188 drachenbraut23: Thanks, Bianca! I hope so too.

>191 drachenbraut23:, 192 Ain't it gorgeous?!

Isn't amazing how good books look in so many different contexts? The gleaming dark woods, the bright white painted shelves, the comfy cushions, the rumpled sheets. Gotta say, though, the cold industrial look in #169 is terribly unappealing, even with all those books.

Book porn, non-industrial division!

Wherever it is, I wanna go there!

I'll have you know, suh, that Honey Boo Boo is the pride of central Georgia. I reckon that gul could run for guv'nor when she done growed up in a minnit, 'n she might could become Prez'dent after she finish at da Unnaversitee uh Georgia (sic 'em Dawgs, woof woof woof).

OMFG. I knew nothing about Honey Boo Boo Child, her extremely dysfunctional family and the brain melting TV reality show that features these, um, people until this week at work. One of my colleagues showed me that e-card on his smartphone at work, and I was completely confused (Honey Boo Boo... the mother of Yogi Bear's sidekick???). I received a valuable education about this girl and what her mother gives her to cause her to act like a clown in front of the camera (I think it's called Go Go Juice, a mixture of Red Bull, Mountain Dew and Pixie Stix, which contains enough sugar and caffeine to make an adult, nonetheless a 6 year old girl, manic for hours). A couple of my colleagues forwarded that e-card to their single women friends, who were last reported to be tearing their hair out and sobbing in despair.

It's one thing to live in Georgia (raises hand reluctantly), and another to be from Georgia (cuts off raised hand with a machete). And, as many Atlanta transplants (those who move here from other states) often say, "The worst thing about Atlanta is that it's in Georgia."

Those are the people, Darryl, who *actually* decide who is President of the United States of America. Because those are the people who are the majority.

Deliverance meets Breaking Bad.

>196 richardderus: It must be Texas! Come on back.

Yeah, I think 196 is Texas or Arizona or Eastern Washington. Maybe Idaho. We live in such a lovely large country.

>200 maggie1944: Karen is Eastern Washington the badlands of the Pacific Northwest? We do live in a lovely large country. How nice that LT brings us together.

Yes, it kinda is. It is the arid, flatter, sometimes pretty barren part of the state. There are some acres in the far eastern part which make for wonderful wheat fields, and there are some areas which also grow grand orchards, but there's some parts that are poor like West Texas, and then there's the Handford "reservation" where nuclear power was developed during the 1950s, now greatly contaminated with nuclear waste, threatening to leach off into the Columbia River. Federal Government has been dragging feet for decades about cleaning it up.

That is my vision of Eastern Washington, but I do not live there, and never have so it may be somewhat misinformed.

There is a story on the internet that BooBoo's niece Kaitlyn was born with an extra thumb, and that there are no plans at present to intervene. This may or may not be true...
http://hollywoodlife.com/2012/09/25/honey-boo-boo-kaitlyn-thumb-surgery-wont-ope...

I find the whole BooBoo thing to be ...sad and scary.

Rdear.. Danielle Trussoni who wrote Angelology and promised Angelopolis is very uncommunicative. Her twitter and FB are silent. There is no mention of the sequel on Amazon, although there is this..
http://angelologist.wix.com/excerpt

Have you any idea where I might look next for some info?

LOL! If you weren't going to post the books & guns poster, I was! I would love more info on that one.

#196 Seems perfectly logical to me. Powerful weapons/useful tools, both.

Love the owls, RD. And the book whatchamacallit without a head.

>199 luvamystery65:, 200, 205 According to an acquaintance of mine, it's in Laurens, SC...home to the world's only KKK museum.

He lives there. He proved to me there *is* a KKK museum, so he has no further reason to prevaricate!

>201 luvamystery65:, 202 uh huh mmmm ooh?

>203 mckait: YICK 204 No, sorry...I have no creative insight to offer.

>206 laytonwoman3rd: ...never thought of that...

>207 ffortsa: Heh the owls make me grin. That bookend should be LT standard issue, shouldn't it?

RD : I love that usb typewriter conversion kit... and I love surprise book gifts in the mail. Oh happy day!

Re: Honey Boo boo- I am now as educated as I wish to be about her, thank you very much.

>197 kidzdoc: btw, Darryl, I love your southern accent!

>189 richardderus: classic, those owls really played their parts well!

>195 richardderus: too dusty *aaaaah CHOO*

Yes!

>209 cameling: I thought that was really clever, too, Caro.

>210 LovingLit: *hands Mary Sue a tissue* I'll let you know what *I* find this time, Maude. xo

>211 richardderus:: yes, Lordie.

The chateau library is the best find yet, Richard.

On the other hand, honey boo boo might be the scariest thing you've ever posted.

>213 maggie1944: I know, right?

>214 sibylline: It's simply perfect, I agree, Lucy. And Honey Boo Boo is revolting...her mama is horrifying!

I hope you have a super fabulous and good day filled with positivenesses

168> LOVE it! I wonder if one has to be beyond a certain age to really get this one?.....

Used books and guns. Excellent. If only they would sell the one more than the other.

And I will happily read The Ten Cent Plague with Karen and our book group.

Do you know where to get those bookends?

Hello RD! Love the book porn pictures.

Just breezing through.... darn work for getting in the way of life!

*smooch*

Hi just want to wish you a great weekend. :)
I found the first book of Elizabeth Bear Amsterdam trilogy in a charity shop and I hope I will be able to fit it in into my next month reads. :)

#218 Head-in-a-book bookends

The liberry had four waiting for me, picked up on the way home from a day spent sitting in bureaucrats' waiting rooms. I got home tired and in pain, watched Doctor Who shows, and ate rum raisin ice cream.

Doctor Who......................................................................... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>sucked in.

Amen

Damned bureaucrats' waiting rooms, I bet they didnt even have a copy of Adbusters magazine for you to leaf through ;)
Sorry for your crappy day, and yay (?) for a Dr Who antidote! Or was it the ice cream that saved the day?
Rum and Raisin *errch* (I think I just spewed a little bit even at the thought)

>225 LovingLit: Poor, poor Maude. Is so isolated there in the Antarctic Ocean that she doesn't know of the Goddess's Ambrosial Manna, rum-raisin ice cream. Next to pecan praline and pumpkin spice and wedding cake ice creams, rum raisin is the tippy-tippy-top bestest flavor ever in the whole of the created universe.

*smooch* (to quote a friend of mine)

Did I miss something? A new thread somewhere that no one told me about?

wait. it's been more than 11 minutes since I last posted. oh. maybe not.

Gotta admit that rum-raisin ice cream sounds gag-a-riffic to me, too... but to each his/her own.

*waves* *jumps up and down* Pecan Praline would be my choice for bestest in the whole entire Universe!

I prefer vanilla... but coffee or cinnamon would be good, too.

Not a rum and raisin fan. My fave ice cream flavour is pistachio but I will take Pecan Praline in a pinch!

Serious serious serious book lust.

I'll join Karen on some Pecan Praliine, too. Wouldn't mind some caramel thrown in.

Bookstore porn! "The Book Market" bookstore in Tournai, Belgium.

Blue Bell makes it with the praline soft swirl, Joe, you might die of sugar overload if you add caramel!

That (sugar overload) crossed my mind, RD. But what a great way to go, right?

I ain't so sure I wanna go at all....

Oh, to die of envy for the sliding bookcases in >233 richardderus:--what an efficient use of space! And I love rum-raisin ice cream, but jamocha almond fudge is my favorite.

>239 ronincats: OOOO YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Jamocha almond fudge is okay to me, but without the fudge I'd be all over it like stupid on a politician.

I am still processing The Yellow Birds...but it is most definitely worthy of a National Book Award mention, maybe even a win.

Yowza.

That one's on my read-it-soon tbr (The Yellow Birds). Sounds great.

Hey RD- It looks like we may have agreed on a book! Hooray! And I fictional piece too! I LOVED the Yellow Birds! Just when you were about to write me off! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Strong stuff.

Loving rum raisin ice cream and the sliding bookshelves.

Still laughing helplessly over "stupid on a politician."

Ice cream. Yum. Hope today was good rd... mine was :)

rum raisin is the tippy-tippy-top bestest flavor ever in the whole of the created universe.

That's funny, RD, as NZs biggest and bestest ice cream producer is called Tip Top, and they dont even DO a rum and raisin flavour. Cos they know it would be commercial suicide, or gag-alicious, as Kath so kindly said. Oh yea, she also said each to their own, but I maintain my position:Down With R&R ice cream
;)

*considering what the point is of arguing about ice cream*

discussing, ice cream you mean? LOL

>241 jnwelch:, 242 It's really amazing...I can't believe you liked it, Mark, it's not Murakamiesque blitherblather or Dickenslike bloviation! Joe, beware...it's powerful stuff...keep the tranqs handy.

>243 MerryMary: Those shelves...! And, of course, it is so obvious that rum raisin is slurpsome that we can ignore silly little girls from Bounty Island or somewhere and their "ewww gross" bleatings, can't we?

Glad you liked my sally.

>244 mckait:, 246 What did Chuckles the Dick have to say? Is he saddened that he didn't live long enough to taste the self-evident glories of rum raisin ice cream?

>245 LovingLit: Why hello there Mildred! Heavens, the seagulls have improved their travel time from the Southern Ocean to civilization to deliver your penguin-hide scrolls! Is it tough to get someone to type your internet responses for you? Since you can only offer bribes of seal blubber ice cream down there and all, that is.

*de-lurk* to waves big smoochies. Oh and rum+raisin + Dr Who - sounds like my hubby's idea of heaven.

Morning RD- "I can't believe you liked it, Mark," I come through every once in awhile! LOL.

*waving from dreary, deprived, primitive island north of Seattle, where I am suffering the lack of freeways, etc.*

Waves to you Richard Dear.. Oh your thread so appeals to my eyes.. Sigh.... :) Have a wonderful Sunday. XOXO

'Morning RD. Happy fall day to you! It's 42F here, ramping up to 78F later. Blue skies with lazy puffy white clouds floating through. I hope your weather is as gorgeous.

*smooch*

Hello cousin Richard. Mint chip with occasional maple walnut detours -- nobody makes it the way I like it, sadly.

Cold enough here to have woodstove going for a second day, but after this it'll be warmer, they say.

The bookcase on runners. Oh my, that is a bit extreme.

>248 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka! *smooch* Hubby is clearly a man of discernment and superb taste. After all, he's Mr. Bekka...case made.

>249 msf59: It's still astonishing to me. Imagine...you *liked* it, no pictures and no run-on sentences and all!

>250 maggie1944: Oh poor darling, boo hoo.

Better you than me, cuddlepunkin.

>251 MonicaLynn: Hi Monica! Glad you're here and enjoying yourself.

>252 karenmarie: Partly cloudy, breezy, about 65-67 tops...I'd call it heaven!

>253 sibylline: Cousin Lucy! How nice...I'm about 3 weeks away from heat-all-the-time based on present trends. I was thinking about Hepzibah Starkweather this morning, how nice that you dropped in!

Butter pecan is my favorite ice cream, and I prefer it in milkshake form...

Butter pecan, oddly enough, is what's in the fridge right now. Waiting. Exuding smexy come-hither-little-boy vibes.

1. Pink Peppermint Stick Ice Cream
2. Sea Salt Caramel
3. Lemon sorbet
4. Rum Raisin

Had an opportunity to have #4 in Frozen Custard form in Maine and almost moved there...

Happy Sunday

All four are lovely choices! I haven't had sea salt caramel, but I'm drooling a little just imagining it!

Truth be told, I'd rather have pie. Pecan or apple would do nicely.

>259 jnwelch: with vanilla bean ice cream on the side?

Pie's good too. I like pecan and also apple. Not quite so much on the meringues though. Always reminds me of calf slobber, does meringue.

Spiffy book porn!

Cool!

She's yr. cousin too.

Sea Salt Caramel ice cream? Oh Gail! When I come and visit you, can we have some of that? I never heard of it, but it sounds yum!

Hi rd... hope your day has been relatively ouch free...

>264 sibylline: *smooch* Such an illustrious family we have!

>265 mckait: Too pretty to complain. I love autumn days with sunshine and cool breezes!



I fear my leftward bias is on display again. Those whose views are incorrect rightward leaning might wish to unview this.

Hi RD- If I was a bachelor, I'm sure my shelves would look something like #262.
Love the cartoon. Those awful brain-eaters!

>266 richardderus: I get that! I feel chuffed that I do, given the spatial separation and my lack of ability in keeping up with international American media.

Ice cream flavours.....
-1- French Vanilla (yes, I am that classy)
-2- Chocolate (who can beat the old classics)
-3- boysenberry swirl (come to NZ and try your heart out)
-4- orange or peppermint chip
-5- goody gum drop (its got lollies in it!)
-6- cookies and cream
-7- butterscotch
-8- any other flavour on gods green earth
-last- rum and raisin

And from what Ive just seen, butter pecan sounds delish (never seen it here), and the custard form? Well now, maybe I need to move, as that sounds fantastic in the extreme.

>267 msf59: Awful, awful indeed.

>268 LovingLit: Oh, Mildgytha, how silly of you to invert your rankings! OBVIOUSLY you intended rum raisin to be tippy-tippy-top. Vanilla *yawn* is the world's favorite flavor. The world has no taste. Chocolate *shudder* is ickuccchhhbleargh, but that's obvious to the meanest intelligence so needs to further discussion.

Boysenberry swirl sounds ***divine*** and I would like some now, please. Goody gum drop sounds intriguing....

French Vanilla.....
*swanky*

>259 jnwelch: Joe: Tomm was at a business dinner a few night ago, and when dessert orders were taken, he asked for his (some sort of brownie concoction) without ice cream (his system can't handle the stuff). The other guys at the dinner teased him about it, until the desserts came, and they all saw that Tomm had been given a double portion of brownie to make up for the lack of ice cream! Ha! I told him that we ned to frequent that establishment!

When I was a kid (and for many years after I stopped being that, in fact) my aunt and uncle had a general store in the country, with bulk ice cream for dipping into cones, or into quart containers to take home. From those days I have very fond memories of maple walnut, butter pecan and peach ice cream. Nothing I've had from a box or a shoppe since has duplicated the wonderfulness of any of those flavors. When I indulge in ice cream now (rarely, as I'm a responsible silly grown-up with Concerns) it's either Cherry Garcia straight from the carton, or French vanilla doctored up by me with a) orange marmalade b) peanut butter or c) apple pie.

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx to RD

Real peach ice cream! = heaven

Real fruit ice cream! = more heaven

Ice cream with blackberries (frozen from previous summer) ! Yummy! (-:

I was not going to get dragged, kicking and smiling, into a conversation about ice cream; but, here I am!

Count me out of the ice cream discussion; I'm fatally lactose intolerant.

*sobs quietly*

I wonder if it's working, somewhere in the world that I just don't know about.

>271 scaifea: Double brownie for Tomm, Amber - love it! It pays to be different sometimes. I'd go back there in a blink.

Loving the zombie cartoon, RD! I'm passing it on to others who'll appreciate it.

#276 Right here...it's working right here. WE are the last bastion of civilization. (Didn't you know?)

>270 LovingLit: Don't blame the French for that blandness! Although, come to think of it, blancmange (lit. "white food" shuudderrr) is French....

>271 scaifea: Double brownie and no ice cream! Classy folks.

>272 laytonwoman3rd: Oh maple walnut *dripdripdrool* is so outstandingly nummers! What a great memory to have, he glowered jealously.

>273 alcottacre: *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

>274 maggie1944: Fruit ice creams are just fine by me, too, Tea Lady!

>275 kidzdoc: Oh Darryl...no wonder you read such misery-filled and grim books! No wonder no laughter or joy is permitted in your world! There is no ice cream in it!

*sob* I never knew...so sad...

>277 jnwelch: It's a good one, Joe. I hope it spreads its smiling, sly anti-Faux News propaganda far and wide!

>278 laytonwoman3rd: I sure hope you're right, Linda3rd.

Oh yeah.

>281 richardderus: indeed! I like rum raisin flavor too. I'm classy and sassy.

>275 kidzdoc: Darryl are you a fan of coconut? Coconut milk ice cream is so delish!

checking in and keeping up... ditto what you said in 276. I see no signs of it.

>282 luvamystery65: you found a solution for Darryl!I am going to tell my son, too ... thanks!

eta link for Coconut milk ice cream

http://www.librarything.com/topic/143119#3644288

Hi Richard - hope you are having a good day.

My favourite place for ice cream is The Hive on the Quay in Aberaeron - honey ice cream is absolutely delicious:)

Yes Darryl -- coconut ice cream is a STAPLE around here as spousal unit and child are both fatally lactose intolerant. The two that we especially love -- SO DELICIOUS and COCONUT BLISS. I KNOW 'Whole Paycheck' has them. You are now in big big big trouble.

I like ice cream with pieces of coconut in them. Absolutely delish! hmmm...... haven't had that since I was in Thailand ... grrr.....

Thanks for the info about coconut ice cream, y'all! I hadn't heard of it before, but, thanks to Kath's link, I now know where to find it locally. I may try some as early as tonight.

>279 richardderus: Being lactose intolerant isn't the worst thing in the world. I'd be far sadder if I was allergic to seafood, nuts, eggs etc., or if I had celiac disease, as several of my friends do.

Review: 86 of seventy-five

Title: THE YELLOW BIRDS

Author: KEVIN POWERS

Rating: 4.75* of five

The Book Description: "The war tried to kill us in the spring," begins this breathtaking account of friendship and loss. In Al Tafar, Iraq, twenty-one-year old Private Bartle and eighteen-year-old Private Murphy cling to life as their platoon launches a bloody battle for the city. In the endless days that follow, the two young soldiers do everything to protect each other from the forces that press in on every side: the insurgents, physical fatigue, and the mental stress that comes from constant danger.

Bound together since basic training when their tough-as-nails Sergeant ordered Bartle to watch over Murphy, the two have been dropped into a war neither is prepared for. As reality begins to blur into a hazy nightmare, Murphy becomes increasingly unmoored from the world around him and Bartle takes impossible actions.

With profound emotional insight, especially into the effects of a hidden war on mothers and families at home, THE YELLOW BIRDS is a groundbreaking novel about the costs of war that is destined to become a classic.

My Review: I do so wish publishers would stop using the phrase “destined to become a classic” because, even if I agree with them (in this case I do), it's so obviously a sales pitch that it's a turn off.

No one knows for sure what the future will consider a classic. No one in 1955 would've given The Lord of the Rings future-classic status. No one in 1851 would've known about Moby-Dick, it was such a flop! The Great Gatsby? Please! Out of print by 1940!

This book, fragmented like PTSD memories, written in deceptively simple sentences by a *shudder* poet of all things, earns my admiration for its beauty, its simplicity, its sheer raw emotional up-front-ness. It has these, and many other, things in common with books that have stood the test of time and become classics. It is a first novel; it is about a young man's journey into a unique hell of memory and the maze he travels even to imagine daylight guiding him out; it is, one strongly suspects based on the author's CV, a roman à clef. So far, so good, for the oddsmakers' guess it will become a classic; so did The Naked and the Dead, so did The Sun Also Rises, and so on. I think it will be a classic. I hope it will, and I offer this passage as support for my hope and conviction:

When we neared the orchard a flock of birds lit from its outer rows. They hadn't been there long. The branches shook with their absent weight and the birds circled above in the ruddy mackerel sky, where they made an artless semaphore. I was afraid. I smelled copper and cheap wine. The sun was up, but a half-moon hung low on the opposite horizon, cutting through the morning sky like a figure from a child's pull-tab book.

We were lined along the ditch up to our ankles in a soupy muck. It all seemed in that moment to be the conclusion of a poorly designed experiment in inevitability. Everything was in its proper place, waiting for a pause in time, for the source of all momentum to be stilled, so that what remained would be nothing more than detritus to be tallied up. The world was paper-thin as far as I could tell. And the world was the orchard, and the orchard was what came next. But none of that was true. I was only afraid of dying.

(p115, US hardcover edition)

That, for me, is a lovely moment of mortal fear's hyperreality-inducing sensory twist. Never having been in war, I can't say it's what a soldier would feel, but having been afraid for my life from external causes, I can say that is the kind of sharp-edged seemingly odd clarity of perception that happened to me. The author was a soldier in Iraq. I suspect he saw and felt these exact things, and because he's *gag* an MFA-havin' poet, he remembered them with extreme precision.

Kevin Powers is One To Watch. If his book wins a National Book Award, which I strongly suspect it will, this could be the best novel we see from him. I hope it does, and I pray it doesn't, and I most urgently petition the Muses for his beautiful, beautiful talent to survive intact the horrors of commerce, where the agonies of war built a palace for him.

Great review of the Yellow Birds! Huge Thumb! I hope you get many readers on board with this one! Sic 'em boy!

Oh! Heh...I just got back from your thread where I told you about the review! Thanks, glad you liked it.

Drat, drat and another drat ... here I thought I'd take a quick peek in your thread before I log off LT and prep for my upcoming conference call, and what do I find, but another ensnaring review! No fair .. have you no compassion? My baseball team has crumbled, my darling Jeter has a broken ankle, I have to work tonight ... and you're adding to my obese wish list? Cruel ....too cruel ....*breaks off sobbing*

I do so wish publishers would stop using the phrase “destined to become a classic”
Me too, RD. But i admit, it does make me look more seriously at it!
I got a random from the library today solely for the fact the first words I read on the back were: "A small miracle" *sold*
(it is A Kid for Two Farthings btw)

So I kept reading your review, against all my instincts...and *sigh*....it sounds so good I just have to read it. I knew there was a reason I was showing off about how disciplined i have been lately sticking to my "must read asap" list.
Pride came before a fall. I have fallen mightily. And for that I thank you.

eta: there are 9 holds on the one copy that the library has. hmph. How are the 400 000 people who live in Chch supposed to all share one copy!?

>291 mckait: I hope that means "thumbs-up" and not "up yours, boring boy."

>292 cameling: The world is a harsh place, innit? *evil Muttley laugh*

But honest and truly, Caro, this is one of those books that deserves a place on the table next to your bed. It's that good.

>293 LovingLit: See comments to Caro, Muriel, it's so so worth your wait!

Fabulous review of The Yellow Birds, Richard. It was already on my wish list, after Mark's review and after it was chosen as a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction; I'll probably read it in November or December.

ETA: I completely agree with you; a phrase such as "destined to become a classic" makes me hesitant to read a book.

Indeed it does mean thumbs up...

I HATE it when they say For Harry Potter ( insert any book title)
OR the next Hunger Games ( insert any book title)
OR the “destined to become a classic” or the next Jasper FForde etc. It chases me right away...
If it isays coming of age novel, it colors my opinion, too..... :PPP

20. Pearl Ruled: NARCOPOLIS by JEET THAYIL

Rating: 3* of five (p129)

The Book Description: Jeet Thayil’s luminous debut novel completely subverts and challenges the literary traditions for which the Indian novel is celebrated. This is a book about drugs, sex, death, perversion, addiction, love, and god, and has more in common in its subject matter with the work of William S. Burroughs or Baudelaire than with the subcontinent’s familiar literary lights. Above all, it is a fantastical portrait of a beautiful and damned generation in a nation about to sell its soul. Written in Thayil’s poetic and affecting prose, Narcopolis charts the evolution of a great and broken metropolis.

Narcopolis opens in Bombay in the late 1970s, as its narrator first arrives from New York to find himself entranced with the city’s underworld, in particular an opium den and attached brothel. A cast of unforgettably degenerate and magnetic characters works and patronizes the venue, including Dimple, the eunuch who makes pipes in the den; Rumi, the salaryman and husband whose addiction is violence; Newton Xavier, the celebrated painter who both rejects and craves adulation; Mr. Lee, the Chinese refugee and businessman; and a cast of poets, prostitutes, pimps, and gangsters.

Decades pass to reveal a changing Bombay, where opium has given way to heroin from Pakistan and the city’s underbelly has become ever rawer. Those in their circle still use sex for their primary release and recreation, but the violence of the city on the nod and its purveyors have moved from the fringes to the center of their lives. Yet Dimple, despite the bleakness of her surroundings, continues to search for beauty—at the movies, in pulp magazines, at church, and in a new burka-wearing identity.

After a long absence, the narrator returns in 2004 to find a very different Bombay. Those he knew are almost all gone, but the passion he feels for them and for the city is revealed.

My Review: I am really sorry I read this book immediately after The Yellow Birds wrung me out, shook me wrinkle-free, and threw me in the dryer on the “Sahara in the Summer” setting. I didn't have it to give. There's a weird and wonderful book in here. I am too tired to go look for it.

I lost the will to live in the book's world at the end of book two, “The Story of the Pipe.” Actually, I lost it on p125:

Dimple made Rashid's pipe the way she always did, calm and silent, her hands steady, while the tai drank her tea, made her speech, and left. That afternoon, Rashid took Dimple to a room on a half landing between the khana and the first floor, where his family lived. There was a wooden cot, a chair and washstand, a window with a soiled curtain. She knew what he wanted. She took off her salvaar and folded it on the back of the chair. She lay on the cot and puller her kameez up to her shoulders to show him her breasts. Her legs were open, the ridged skin stretched like a ghost vagina.

He said, you're like a woman. She said, I am a woman, see for yourself.

(p125, US hardcover edition)

*ping The tolerance timer went off. Dimple, you see, is a eunuch, not a woman, and I am sorry if it offends, but mens is mens and gurlz is gurlz in my universe, no matter they say they're not.

Transphobic of me, I suppose. I'd remind those who coined that term for us'ns who don't like to make that particular leap of the fact that there is no obvious link between same-sex sexual attraction and gender dysphoria. I am not unhappy I am a man, I am delighted by it; and having experienced the very meager joys of heterosexuality (out of bed, in bed's perfectly adequate if predictable and unexciting), I am rapturously homosexual. I don't see how this in any conceivable (!) way aligns me with some poor person who knows with every fiber of his/her being that the genitals on the body they're in aren't the correct ones for his/her inner truth.

No one seems prepared to do more than snort angrily at me when I say this. Explanations aren't forthcoming. So I steam along like the QEII, big and old-fashioned and terribly behind the times.

C'est ma vie.

So these factors combine to make this well-written and most interesting story a non-starter for me. In another mood, perhaps I would've gone with it and found its unique beauties more positively interesting and less snort-and-eyeroll inducing. Considering how very many books there are awaiting my attention, I suspect I won't be coming back to this one.

Very nice, Rdear!

Adding the Yellow Birds to my wanted list.... great review Richard!

>295 kidzdoc: Thank you, Darryl. It's a book you'll adore, being deeply sad and terribly withers-wringingly emotional.

>296 mckait: "A coming-of-age novel destined to become a classic of American literature," aka how to make Kath run shrieking from the room.

>298 Matke: Thanks! I assume you're referring to The Yellow Birds review...?

>299 momom248: Thanks, Maureen! How lovely to see you around my thread! *smooch*

>300 richardderus:: Why, yes, Rebecca, that's precisely what I meant, plus of course your own sweet self.

>288 richardderus: Oh yes, Richard, you've certainly convinced me. Thumb! And re: this--- The Great Gatsby? Please! Out of print by 1940!

It was only because Gatsby was included in a pack of paperbacks sent to servicemen overseas during WWII that it experienced the resurgence that catapulted it to classic status.

*smooch* I love you for being so militantly yourself! Keep it up, brother!

Hello! My favorite ice cream is the tried and true chocolate chip. I love the bookstand "My Head is Always in a Book" and, of course, the plethora of good book porn. : )

Great review of The Yellow Birds, Richard!

Thanks, Tania! It's a wonderful read.

#300

Not so sure you are Transphobic - its just you are not attracted to gender variant bodies - which is fine - but different from Gender variant don't have the right to exist ....

Before you ask there is personal experience written between the lines ......

>307 roundballnz: See, that's what I assumed to be the case...I'm not saying "don't make me think about you, better yet don't exist" just "I don't see how I am supposed to relate to you as a gay man."

*shrug* People. Go know from their crazy.