drneutron's 2013 Challenge - First Lap

I'm Jim, 50, husband of 27 years, father of a son getting out of college soon, who reads pretty much anything. We're in central Maryland with roots in Louisiana. I like to read (obviously), cook, want to learn to fly fish, and trail bike riding with the wife. Of course, LT is a big time sink, but the wife seems to have come to terms with my LT addiction...8^}

Welcome to my thread! Stop by, let me know what you think, dip into a review, whatever you like.

Hi Jim!! I have you starred for the upcoming year!

Jim as always thanks for starting this wonderful group. Have a wonderful Christmas mate and I will see you here in the New Year.

Hi Jim, thanks for starting our new and shiny group. Looking forward to another great year of reading.

Hi there Jim, happy Yule and a wonderful 2013! Thanks for starting us up.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for setting up and hosting this wonderful group!

Welcome all!

Just saying hello, Jim, and many thanks for setting up all our fun.

Starring you in the hopes I do better at keeping up with your thread and others in 2013. Many thanks for continuing to host this extremely addictive group.

Stopping by to say thanks for the new group and to wish you happy holidays!

Merry Christmas, and I hope Santa brings you lots of books! Thanks once again for starting this madness...

Starred you! Thanks for setting up the group. When I saw all the new threads laid out at once I could see how much work it must be to set up the group.

Thanks Jim for setting up the new group. I've got you starred and will try to keep up better in 2013!

Thanks for all you do and have a great holiday!

Hi Jim, thank you for setting up this group!

Welcome all! Thanks for visiting and all the good wishes. It's gonna be a good sixth year at the Challenge for me. :)

Hey Jim, I know it's not like you're the only one who can do this, but I noticed not the 2013 equivalent of this thread yet!

Thanks for all your hard work in getting us set up again - can't wait to see what the new year brings!

Jim, thanks for getting us set us up again for 2013. Happy holidays!!

Richard - yeah, that one takes a bit longer to set up, so I haven't done it yet. Ive linked to last year's thread on the wiki, but will get a fresh one going soon.

Merry Christmas Jim! Thanks for getting the new group set up!

Hi, Jim. Maybe the Orioles will be more successful in 2013 but they did surprise us this year, right?
Thanks for your efforts in the setup for the group.

Starring you! My eldest will be starting college this fall...Yikes!

Thanks for getting the group started. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a new year filled with great books!

Thanks for all of your work to set this up, Jim. best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to you and yours.

Welcome everyone!

Thanks for the welcome. Thought I'd stop over and say hi!

Hi Jim, thank you soo much for this wonderful group :) .

Stopping by to add my thanks for the group, have a great year of reading!

Starring you for the new year...hope the books are ready to go

Oh yeah, the books are ready to go for the start of 2013. I went by the library with mrsdrneutron the other day. Boy, was that a mistake. I've now got 10 books to be read, plus two more from Mark's Santa swap, so I should be good until at least February. :) Fortunately I have a trip to LA coming up in about a week and a half, so I'll get some airplane reading time in!

Yaaaaaaay Airplane reading!

Hello Jim! And thanks for setting up the group! :D

Hope you had a Merry Christmas, Jim, and hope you have a Happy New Year! Thanks for all your work!

Stopping by to say hi and to star your thread!

Hi Jim, thanks for the welcome message, glad to be a 75er for 2013.

Stopping in to star your thread and thank you personally for the welcome on my thread! Looking forward to following your thread this year!

Hi Jim! Happy New Year and thanks for setting up all this stuff!

Hi Jim! Stopping by to star your thread and to say thanks for setting up the group again!

Hi Jim! I just wanted to add my thanks for setting up the new group! I hope you have a great reading year!

Happy New Year!

Hey, Jim! Thanks for getting us off to a good start once again.

Hi Jim, adding my thanks for starting up our wonderful group once again - where would we be without it? Wishing you lots of good books in 2013!

A starcat placekeeper so I can find you again...

And as the others have said... Thank you for being the groupmeister :)

Hello Jim, just wanting to wish you and your family a happy and wonderful New Year!

Thanks for setting up the group once again. I'll be following your thread this coming year.

Hi Jim, one of my goals for this year is to be more active on the boards, so i'm starring as many threads as I can now :)

Thanks for getting us set up

Happy New Year Jim!

What's up Doc? (always wanted to use that one)

and Happy New Year!

Good evening, Dr. Neutron! I will hopefully do a much better job of keeping up with your thread this year! :)

Welcome to the thread, everyone! I'm hoping to have the first book here on Tuesday - wanna start the year right! :)

Happy New Year, Dr. N! I confess that I'm holding back on finishing one so that I can post tomorrow. I hated it when I had nothing done and had to wait for days to post.

Happy New Year, and thanks for all you do to keep us organized!

Um, and I just noticed when trying to locate Lori (thornton37814) that the link on the thread page goes to kkunker's thread instead. Not sure how to fix that.

HAPPY NEW YEAR JIM!

Happy new year... and thanks for the welcome!.... I'm totally excited for this next year of reading and thread stalking....

Happy New Year Jim!! Hope 2013 is a great year, full of great books!! Thanks for getting us all started!!

Happy new year Jim and thanks for the welcome to the 75ers.

Happy New Year, Jim!

Happy New Year, Dr N! I'm back for year 5 (or is it 4?) and I'm kicking up a notch to 100 for this year.

Happy reading!

Maryann

Mwahaha, the library will get you every time!!! Looking forward to hearing about your airplane reading. That's more important than telling us about LA. ;)

Thank you for adding to my quality of life by starting 75ers -- I love it! Hope you have a great 2013.

Happy New Year everyone!

Jim, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the time and work you put into the group. It's awesome. You're awesome.
Thanks to your wife, too. :-)

Wishing you ALL THE BEST IN 2013!!!

Best Wishes for the New Year--and a hearty thanks for all your work in setting up and maintaining this group!

Jim - Happy New Year - I know this is a busy time for you with people flocking in droves to your group.
What Ellen said.

Happy New Year Jim!! You are an amazing fellow. My heartfelt thanks for making this one of the best places on earth. Wishing you and yours the best in 2013!!

Thanks for getting us all set up ... again! Bless you and yours -- Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Jim!

ooooooo fancy! cool fireworks display :)

。☆ 。☆。☆
★。＼｜／。★
Happy New Year!
★。／｜＼。★

Happy New Year Jim.

Thanks for all you do to make this the best group on LT:)

Bright blessings for a new year!

Thank you for organising the 75 group for another year, Jim. A very Happy New Year to you and yours.

A happy 2013 to you! Hope you don't get personal greetings from everyone or you'll be impossible to follow.

Happy New Year to you and MrsDrNeutron!

I keep forgetting to ask you (which is really embarrassing considering the number of times we have met in person) if your user name is related to Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, which is the greatest cartoon TV show of all time.

Happy New Year, Jim. Thanks for all the extra work you do to make the 75 group a great place to be.

Nora - yeah, I've used Jimmy Neutron in a couple of other places, plus folks at work tease me a bit with it. Somewhat randomly, I decided to be different here, but not that different! :)

Happy New Year, everyone!

1. Adrenaline - by Jeff Abbott

My first completion for the new year! This one's a fairly standard spy/thriller novel with a few well placed twists and turns. Abbott, to his credit, doesn't make his hero perform impossible feats of strength and endurance, and the plot's plausible. All in all, a pretty good way to kill a few hours!

Happy New Year, Jim. Thanks for setting us up.

Happy New Year Jim! It looks like 2013 is off to a roaring start for the 75ers.

Happy New Year, Jim! I hope you have a great reading year. And thank you for all you do around here. You are invaluable, sir.

Posted a book already...showoff!! ; )

Happy 2013, Jim! I'm looking forward to following your reading adventures in the new year.

Happy New Year, Jim! Espionage thriller as a first book for 2013 - great way to start the year! Looking forward to following your reading - and will be making special note of any Steampunk or adventure reading that may find its way into your threads this year!

Thanks for getting us started, Jim. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Jim!

Well, got some interesting steampunk lined up for next week's plane ride to Pasadena - Portlandtown, The Inexplicables, Map of the Sky, and The Rise of Ransom City. The hard part will be picking what to take!

mmmmm. steamy....

I saw on the NF thread that you were concerned you might not like the Caro LBJ books because you don't like LBJ particularly. That was my feeling too before reading the first volume. But the books are about so much more--I got a much better feel for the Great Depression, for example, than I did from even a book like The Worst Hard Time. And the parts about the inner workings of Congress, the role of money in politics etc. were fascinating! I'm on to Volume II.

> 88 - Nice set of books to choose from! Sadly, I won't be much help in the choosing department as I haven't read any of them yet, but you have added to my future reading list, right off the bat! Priest's Clockwork Century series is one I need to get back to, but I have to say, Palma's books look really good - mainly because I am a sucker for the idea of time travel and HG Wells wrapped up in a Steampunk story!

Looking forward to finding out which book you choose for your trip, and what you think of it!

#90 - Caro's writing is good enough to keep going, no matter what I think of Johnson. One of the things I've gotten from the first 200 pages or so of this one is a clearer picture of what life was like for people living in the Hill Country in the first few decades of the 20th century. My family was in rural Louisiana at that time, and I suspect that they had much the same kind of life.

#91 - Here are my comments from last year when I read The Map of Time, Palma's first one:

First of all, I'm not telling you what this book is about. That would spoil everything. I will say it's one of the better time travel books I've read. But time travel doesn't begin to describe it. There's mystery, love stories, and H. G. Wells. Just when you think you've figured out what Palma's doing with the story - I guarantee he'll fool you. Palma tells his story in three interlinked parts. Whatever you do, read at least through the first part. By then, you'll be hooked.

This is a Victorian story, and it's translated in a style to match. There's lots of descriptive text, and the paragraphs can go over a page. But the language is gorgeous and the characters are great. If you don't read this sort of thing, consider giving it a try anyway. It's just a beautiful book!

Obviously, I liked it. :)

92: I, not so much. :-)

Looking forward to your reads swelling my wishlist again this year, Jim!

Whee-oo, Happy New Year!!! Yes, I'm a day late, but I don't care... :P

Happy New Year, Jim! Thanks again for organizing the 75's! You do a great job!

Hi Jim, I am curious what you think about your steampunk books. I have tried a couple for the first time last year and thought they were quite good.

I'm a fan of steampunk, time travel, weird fiction, all those sorts of things. If you're interested in reading more, Wikipedia has a pretty good discussion of steampunk and a good list of books, movies and graphic works through the years since the 1970s when the genre first began.

I received an ER of The Iron Wyrm Affair in 2012 which was great fun. I'm eager to get to the second one of that series.

I do love me some good steampunk!

Thanks Jim, will check that out and off she goes to check the wiki tralalala!

I'm not a steampunk fan, but your description of The map of time makes me curious. Trying to remember which ones I've tried and didn't like now . . .

Can you give a brief description to us 'unknowing' types what exactly steampunk is??

Hmmm, not short, but here goes... From Wikipedia

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century. Therefore, steampunk works are often set in an alternate history of the 19th century's British Victorian era or American "Wild West", in a post-apocalyptic future during which steam power has regained mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power. Steampunk perhaps most recognizably features anachronistic technologies or retro-futuristic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them, and is likewise rooted in the era's perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art.

Steampunk may also, though not necessarily, incorporate additional elements from the genres of fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history, or other branches of speculative fiction, making it often a hybrid genre. The term steampunk's first known appearance was in 1987, though it now retroactively refers to many works of fiction created even as far back as the 1950's or 1960's.

Now, just because something's got airships or steam powered computers doesn't make it steampunk - in spite of the efforts of publishers to make it so. Steampunk should have significant dyptopia elements and an atmosphere of a lone hero fighting a system, even if that system is hidden behind the scenes. After all, the genre came out of the punk culture of the 1970s by way of cyberpunk!

And for some examples. Note: This isn't a complete list, just my culling of the important stuff. LT shows 3500 titles tagged with some form of "steampunk". I've divided things arbitrarily into the original classics, the late 90s and early 2000s, and more current stuff out since 2007 or so. There are books in the intervening years, but the gaps represent a lull in the genre, at least IMO.

The Classics
K. W. Jeter - Morlock Nights (1979)
Tim Powers - The Anubis Gates (1983) , one of my all-time favorite books!
James Blaylock - Homonculus (1986)
William Gibson and Bruce Sterling - The DIfference Engine (1990)
James Blaylock - Lord Kelvin's Machine (1992)

Second Wave
China Mieville - Perdido Street Station (2000). Folks tend to have a love-it or hate-it reaction to Mieville. YMMV!
Philip Reeve - Mortal Engines Quartet (2001)
S. M. Stirling - The Peshawar Lancers (2001). Haven't actually read this one yet, but it's on my list.

More Current:
Jay Lake - Mainspring. Technically clockpunk, but gets a pass for being really good!
Gordon Dahlquist - The Glass Book of the Dream Eaters. Another one that gets strong reactions both ways. YMMV.
Stephen Hunt - The Court of the Air. Personally, this series doesn't do much for me. It's a complicated mess, IMO and I only read the first one. They seem popular, though, so I put 'em on the list.
George Mann - The Affinity Bridge.
Chris Wooding - Retribution Falls
Scott Westerfeld - Leviathan
Cherie Priest - Boneshaker, another all-time fave.
Cassandra Claire - Clockwork Angel
Mark Hodder - The Strange Affair of Spring-heeled Jack
Devon Monk - Dead Iron
Felix Gilman- The Half-made World

Related Books
Gail Carriger - Soulless.
Chris Wooding - The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray
Tim Lebbon - The Island
Teresa Edgerton - Goblin Moon

Thanks for the information Jim, also I am a bit buffled now to find Perdido Street Station falls under Steampunk. I sort of filed it more under sci-fi, fantasy-noir. However, I usually just put everything under rough categories anyway, there are nowadays too many subgenre's of a genre!

Yeah, I tend to agree that Perdido is misplaced, but it's generally considered steampunk by those who decide these things. :) But then, I've always been a bit stricter on these things that others.

The Peshawar Lancers is outstanding. My favorite steampunk to date.

Happy New Year, Jim! Thanks for setting up the new group.

>103 drneutron: - I just became acquainted with Cassandra Clare with the Mortal Instruments series. I'll have to check out Clockwork Angel. And your post also reminded me that I need to read some more Gail Carriger books.

Happy New Year! Starred and ready to go!

Wow! That was a comprehensive explanation! Thank you!

Embarrassed to say I've not read anything on this list! :(

>107 bunkie68: Clockwork Angel is the first of the three books in The Infernal Devices series, which is a prequel story to The Mortal Instruments series. If you enjoyed Mortal Instruments, you should definitely give The Infernal Devices a go.

Jim

I'm stopping by to thank you for all your dedication and hard work with the 75 group. Thanks for getting this started again this year and for all your welcome posts throughout the threads.

I appreciate you!

Hi Jim. Happy New Year! Thanks for welcoming me to the group. I second post #111!

88/92 > Some good looking books there - think they may get added to my TBR as well will be interested to hear what you read.

110 - I really did enjoy the first one in the Mortal Instruments (the only one I've read thus far). I almost bought book #2 at Kroger last night then talked myself out of it because I have so many unread books sitting on my shelves.

Clockwork Angel being added to my wish list at once!

I'm on the hate it side of Perdido Street Station, adored Soulless, and was meh about Leviathan. I have one of Clare's books, City of Ashes, from the library. That's the second in the Mortal Instrument series, right?

Yup. I haven't gotten to them yet, but I'm trying to clean up some series so I can get to that one and a few others.

Hi, Jim! Happy New Year! I'm just stopping by to add my thanks here for all you do organizing this group. Thanks for getting us rolling again in 2013! I have you starred.

Love the Steampunk discussion and all the great books mentioned. I am one of those readers that loved Perdido Street Station,Leviathan and Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl. Sedia's The Alchemy of Stone was quite good too and Wooding's Retribution Falls was just plain fun reading. I have yet to venture into Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series, but it is already on the 'to read' list.

hmmm The Map of Time looks good!

Technically clockpunk. Right. Of course. :-)

Actually, thank you for the info about steampunk. I'm tempted to try one. Perhaps Cherie Priest?

#79: Adding Adrenaline to the BlackHole because everyone knows I am just an adrenaline junkie. Yeah right ;)

#120 - Cherie Priest would be a great choice! Tim Powers would be a good one too.

Happy New Year and thanks for all you do for the group.

Dr Dr Happy7 New Year - we have you to thank for so many pleasures!

SOOOOO, Jim.... if you had to recommend one "steampunk" for me to read, what would it be?

Boneshaker or The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack.

By the way, spent some time on a plane yesterday - finished The Inexplicables, latest follow-on to Boneshaker. It's very good, more detailed comments to follow.

Thanks Jim! I've wish listed both! :)

Hmm. . . I have not gotten into much steampunk. TinaV95 and I have many of the same interests, so maybe I'll pick one of the ones you recommended for her!

Blah - Time to get ready and get the boys ready too!

They do look interesting, i'll be looking into them too :)

Thanks Jim

hi :)

just figure it out how to find some of the threads I want to follow this year, getting more active on LT after 2 years of lurking and reading you guys from the shadows :P

I enjoyed your steampunk explanation, did not know the qualification.

I read a lot of sci-fi, it is one of my favorite genre but as one of my predecessors here, I do not believe in splitting a genre in so many sub-genre... And for me alternate history set up on earth would still fall under fiction or fantasy.

Hi tiger! Welcome to the thread.

I'm not big on the seemingly infinite subdivision into subgenres either. But since the marketers have latched onto steampunk as the Next Big Thing, I thought it'd be good to help folks figure out what's meant. Mostly, I judge books independently, not by categories. On the other hand, I *am* attracted to books with common elements. :)

So now that I'm back in town, I need to catch up with my thread...

Looks like you might have a few new pupils of steam punk Jim!

Hi Jim, happy weekend!

#126: I have already read Boneshaker, but I still need to get to The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack. Thanks for the reminder, Jim.

It's been a bit since I updated my reading - mainly because I've been working my way through a chunkster of a biography of Lyndon Johnson for the US Presidents Challenge. Its a good book , but at 800 pages has been a while finishing given I "lost" three days while on travel.

And while on travel, I spent a few hours on airplanes, so was able to finish two more. These are related, so I'm doing a double update with comments on both...

2. The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest

3. Portlandtown by Rob DeBorde

On the surface, these two books look quite a bit alike - both set in the Old West (one Seattle, the other Portland, Oregon) in the late 19th century, both Westerns with supernatural features, both feature zombies. And what's not to like about some steampunky, horror-y, gunslinger-y Western tales? :) It turns out, though, that these are quite different books.

The Inexplicables is the fourth in Cherie Priest's series beginning with Boneshaker, one I've advertised heavily earlier on the thread. It's got the same characters and setting, of course, and is a nice extension of the story arc. This is steampunk, plain and simple. There are all the cool gadgets, airships, a bit of the unexplained in the decay of Seattle around which the story is based. I've loved them from the beginning, and it's nice to see Priest is continuing to write good stuff around these characters.

Portlandtown, though advertised as steampunk, isn't. The common elements aren't there, and it just doesn't have that dystopic flavor I expect from a *-punk book. Instead it reminds me of the old Western horror comics - Ghostrider or Jonah Hex, but also older EC Comics stories. And it has some of the same flavor as the recent comic/graphic novel series The Sixth Gun, only without the artwork.

Portlandtown centers around a retired Marshal and his daughter's family who all have, um, extra abilities. It turns out that some time ago, the Marshal brought down an outlaw known as The Hanged Man who managed to avoid more than one brush with extreme justice. But it appears this outlaw is coming back from the dead and he's looking for the Marshal to get back the gun that keeps him from dying.

Both are good stuff, and definitely recommended. The Inexplicables is the fourth in a series, so start with Boneshaker for best effect. Portlandtown is the first, so start there. :)

I've had the Boneshaker series on my list for awhile. Portlandtown is new to me, though, and also sounds up my alley. Into the Someday Swamp with it!

Thanks for the rec, Jim.

Doggone it, Jim! Now you've gone and made me add two more books to my wishlist!

I just put Boneshaker on hold at the Seattle Public Library, Jim. :-)

Oh, that's good!

Nice reviews for The Inexplicables and Portlandtown, Jim. I will dodge Portlandtown and remind myself - if I forget, again - that I am way behind on the Priest books.

Hi, Jim. Belated happy new year! I'm still making my initial rounds of the new group. I'd like to echo the thanks of everyone else for setting us up, once again, and thank you for coming by to welcome me to the new group.

I seem to remember you got me the first time with The Map of Time, and that is an intriguing steampunk list; I shall have to investigate. I've steered around it, but you and a few others make me think I should have a look.

Are there going to be any more travels you'll share with us? It was nice seeing Italy last year.

I look forward to your thoughts on the Johnson book. I find that I read or hear things that make me hate him.. and now and then something creeps in to make me think he had a redeeming quality or two.. Dislike generally wins out..

#141 - Nina, no plans for international travel this year yet! But if we go somewhere, I'll post about it. :)

#142 - Karen, I know what you mean. I just finished up Caro's discussion of the rural electrification program in the Hill Country, and it's a prime example of Johnson doing really good things for reasons of personal political gain. I'm trying to decide if a man like that deserves respect or not. On the one hand, good results matter - and this pattern continued throughout his political life - but on the other, he was generally an awful person.

And on a general note, some may know about the petition that's been circulating for the US to build a Death Star. The White House sent out a press release as a tongue-in-cheek response saying that while "we don't have a ship that can do the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs", the US is still doing some cool things in space. One of the examples he used was Solar Probe, the mission I'm leading. :)

you lead such an exciting life :)... I imagine you like the guys from The Big Bang theory ;)

what a great press release! always happy to see humor and geekery from our leaders!

Well, that press release response just made my weekend. I guess there is some humor left in the system at upper levels of government after all... :)

>143 drneutron:: So cool! Also, I'm happy to report that so far this year you haven't fattened my wishlist (which is usually an every-time-Jim-reads-something-new occurrence), as I haven't caught the steampunk bug yet - I've only read one and that was a bit of a disaster...

I agree with the comments re LBJ. He was ruthless, power-seeking and hypocritical (hey--is that the definition of a politician?). However, he always had a passion for helping the underdog. The preface to Volume 2 describes how he undertook the civil rights issue, and his zeal in this regard had not been anticipated by any of the leaders of the movement. (Volume 2 does not cover this period of time, and I think Caro was only using this example to illustrate the dichotomy in LBJ's character, which existed in him from childhood on).

Carry on with the book Jim--I think you will be well-rewarded.

To anyone who hasn't read it, even if you don't like LBJ, this book is eminently readable, and more like a political history of 20th century America than a biography. I found that the descriptions of the Depression (and the Rural Electrification Program) drove home for me, more than anything else I've read, what it was like to live through the Depression (at least in East Texas).

I really need to read the Caro books about LBJ. I've heard so many good things about them from LTers.

Dang it... I'd already added Boneshaker. Now I've added Portlandtown to my languishing wish list too!

I just wanted to stop by tonight to say thank you for all the work you do to keep the Threadbook up to date, Jim. I must have used it a dozen times in the past couple of days to track down the threads of people I hadn't found yet. We are lucky to have you as our benevolent overlord. :-)

I'd also like to throw in my thanks. It makes the group so much easier and friendlier. Thanks :)

benevolent overlord

Heh. I like that! :)

I really loved Boneshaker. I also read Dreadnought, but I haven't read any others. I need to check them out. Thanks for the reminder.

And, I'm adding my thanks too! I've used it multiple times ;)

hi :)
how is science treating you this days... love the fact that you work on SF stuff while we are reading about it :P.
feel cool by association ;)

I'm having a blast working on the project, but we're getting very busy. We have a major design review in just about a year and I'm already starting to panic! :)

Hi Dr. N! I am finally making my way over to your thread after your very nice welcome of me to the group. I've enjoyed the steampunk discussion immensely although I have stalled in the middle of Boneshaker and I'm not quite sure why. I did absolutely love the Gail Carriger series with its sense of humor and comedy of manners. I loved the way it combined scifi elements with the Regency...so much fun.

I can't wait to get to LBJ in my presidential reading. The Caro books sound really great!

Hi Jim, just been told Boneshaker is waiting for me to pick up from the Library, I'm excited to read it. Thanks for the recommendation :)

The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 1 by Robert A. Caro

Caro has produced 4 volumes of a planned 5-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson, one of the most interesting US Presidents of the 20th century. The Path to Power is the first, covering Johnson's early years up until his first failed Senate run at age 31 in 1941.

This is a fantastic biography. Caro excels at putting the reader in the time he's writing about. His descriptions of life in rural Hill Country of Texas during the Great Depression, for example, are some of the most moving passages I've read. I can't recommend this biography highly enough!

On the other hand, I just don't like Lyndon Johnson. He was, from early childhood, manipulative and needing to be the center of attention in every situation. He seemed to have an innate ability to read people and tell them what they needed to hear to get in their favor. He abused people who owed him or followed him. And he had the quid pro quo down to a science.

He also did some really great things. His efforts during the Depression led to many public works projects in Texas employing thousands - especially young men who had little opportunity otherwise. He pushed the electrification of that part of Texas, easing the life of everyone there. He sponsored hydroelectric projects that, besides producing electricity, controlled flooding along the local rivers and kept the soil from washing away.

But he did these things for power, plain and simple. Not because they were good, but because he was able to trade these things for votes. And he was deeply in the pockets of big businesses to get the money he needed to get the votes.

Still highly recommended, even if I'm waffling on what to think of the man.

Jim, do you feel that the life of LBJ is large and complex enough to warrant a 5-volume biography? Does it feel like there's much filler, or is it all pretty interesting?

Well, the first volume was pretty detailed, and I think it could have been tightened up a bit. But yeah, I think it'll be large and complex enough.

5. A Sickness in the Family by Denise Mina

Recommended by another 75er - and I can't remember who. A Sickness in the Family is the story of the decay of a very dysfunctional family. The mystery's not bad for the form, the artwork's good, and the touches of horror are well done. I'll look for more by Mina.

Nice review of The Path to Power, Jim. I own Master of the Senate and The Passage of Power, and I'm eager to read them, but I wonder if I'd be better off starting with the first book first.

Interesting question. I haven't looked at the next yet, so can't give an opinion. maggie had read them, so maybe she could help. At any rate, I'll tackle the next one in the next few weeks, so I'll let you know.

OOOOOOhhh, A Sickness in the Family looks really good! Added to my Wish List! Thanks Jim :)

I just bought a copy of The Path to Power after hearing so many good things about it. Good to know you liked it too.

The only thing I've read by Denise Mina is Deception: A Novel (for some reason there's no touchstone) and I loved it. A real page turner and more a pyschological thriller than horror.

It turns out my public library has a bunch of her longer fiction, so I'll be dipping in over the next few months. The reviews look pretty good!

Thanks for the welcome, sir! I'm glad to be part of this group for the first time.

Hello! Finally re-emerging into threading to rediscover friends. Say, steampunk expert, what do you have to recommend (as visuals) for my daughter and her fiance--for the wedding, she wants Midsummer Night type of fairies and he wants something more mechanical (he is, after all, a welding artist), both of them in the 1900-1920's era (but NOT Gatsby). I recently discovered jukeboxes were patented in this period, and that R.U.R. was first performed, but there is also Pollyanna, Gigi, and lots of Wharton. *sigh* Will be soooooooo glad when the honeymoon is started!

Hi! and thanks for this group and the kind welcome - this is my first year doing the 75 Book Challenge - looks like a lot of fun.

I'm a Marylander also.

JoLynn - cool! We mid-Atlantic people do a couple of meet-ups a year, and you're welcome to join us. The spring one is in Philadelphia on May 18, and we'll likely be planning something for either the DC or Baltimore book festivals (maybe both)!

Prop - have you thought about electrical stuff like those old glass insulators that used to be used with outside wiring? This would also have been the era of dirigibles and biplanes and Model T cars, so maybe something with that. Also Bakelite plastic and neon lights.

I read The Path to Power but that is as far as I got with the Caro books. I really need to return to the series, but I do not think it will be during the school year!

even if I'm waffling on what to think of the man.

I haven't read the Caro series.. and I won't.. but I waffle on Johnson, too.

eta

Adding my thanks for your upkeep of the threadbook...much appreciated :)

>170 Prop2gether:: For some reason, Art Nouveau / Tiffany lamps and Art Deco robots came to mind.

>171 JoLynnsbooks:: Have a look at the Location Wiki for more people near you.

Oh, lots of thanks for suggestions to pass on. This could be very interesting. Yes, indeed, thanks!

6. The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma

Sequel to The Map of Time, and just as good! H. G. Wells and several other characters from the first are back in a mashup of Wells' work and Edgar Allan Poe's. No plot details - don't want to spoil things. Like the first, the story is somewhat nonlinear and a bunch of disparate threads tie together in the end to a fine conclusion.

Recommended, but read the first - um - first!

Mashing up Poe and Wells sounds like a delightful thing to do. ;)

I just added Map of Time to le ol' wish list a few nights ago based on another comment about The Map of the Sky I saw on someone's thread. Must be good!!! :)

Well, I've already got The Map of Time on the wishlist due to apachecat's review. Looks like a series I need to get to, Jim.

>172 drneutron: When is the DC book festival?... I'm in southern VA and there are no groups to meet up with around me that I have seen but a book festival sounds fun and is only 4 hours away....

The date of the National Book Festival hasn't been announced officially yet, but the unofficial date is September 22-23. It's held on the Mall in DC, and we've had meetup plans for both days in years past. There will be a planning thread later in the year.

Speaking of which . . . . Do we want to have a spring DC meet-up this year, or are we doing the Philly meetup instead?

It doesn't cost me much of anything to get to DC, so I'll go with whatever fellow travelers think!

A DC meetup would presumably be after the Philadelphia meetup? I'll definitely be at the Philadelphia meetup, and I'd like to be at the National Book Festival because I skipped last year, so I kind of doubt I'd get to a meetup in between too. But you folks are much closer and I'd happily live vicariously through photos.

>184 SqueakyChu: Even if we don't have a big meetup, you and Jim and I could still get together for lunch & book shopping :-)

>185 qebo: More likely before the Philly meetup. Early-mid April.

> 186

As long as it's not April 13th or April 20-21st, I'd be up for a mini-meet-up. That might also be a nice time to invite other DC/MD/VA residents/LTers to come to meet us.

By the way, April 21st is the Kensington Book Festival (Kensington, Maryland, USA) this year...and it's free! All are invited. I'll be chairing the BookCrossing booth. Come to select free gently used books to take home or donate used books of your own. We'll be happy to register them for you to re-release if you don't have time to register them. I just hope and pray that it does not rain again.

Truthfully, April is a little "iffy" because it always tends to rain that month and is a bit chilly here in Maryland.

First: I just added The Map of Time to my wishlist because it sounds awesome. Thanks for the recommendation.

Second: What's this about a Philly meetup? I live in Reading, and it's not that far, but at this point I haven't really made any "friends" in the challenge. I mean, I've been poking and commenting on others' threads, but my thread itself has no comments except the one welcoming one from you. I don't know how to rectify that. It seems like everyone knows everyone else already.

Third: I wanted to do my threads by month, but I'm not going to be able to do the continuation thing since I'm not getting any other feedback on my thread and certainly won't get to 100 posts by the end of the month. If I just start a new one for February without the "continuation" thing, will it still count for the wiki as a new thread?

I'm new here... so I'm awfully inquisitive :)

-Esquiress/ kcrisell

Inquisitive is good! Here's the thread about the meetup. Darryl (kidzdoc) is visiting Philly and a bunch of us are assembling to get together!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/145077

Oh, and I can add anything to the Threadbook you like. It's really quite easy to edit and you can't mess anything up permanently, so feel free to edit your entry to anything you like!

By he way, I'm up for a meetup, mini or otherwise!

*waving* at Jim - and wishing I could attend any meet up this spring!

So I'm reading some non-Sherlock stories by Arthur Conan Doyle in my spare minutes between meetings, etc. The Brazilian Cat starts with a line that I decided I love!

It is hard luck on a young fellow to have expensive tastes, great expectations, aristocratic connections, but no actual money in his pocket, and no profession by which he may earn any."

Oh I really enjoyed some of his science fiction works, and the Mystery of Cloomber, which is a little bit "witchy" as well.

Edit to fix the novella's name!

Hey, Jim -
If I start a new thread for February tomorrow, even though it's not a continuation (b/c I doubt I'll get to the ability to do a continuation by tonight or tomorrow), do I add it to the Threadbook wiki myself? I don't think I'm going to do month-by-month anymore, but there's no way to change the title of my thread, which now also has my old username in it :)
Thanks for all you do!

I've read The Refugees and The Lost World by Sir Conan Doyle, but I've not read The Brazilian Cat. I will look for that. Thanks.

That is a fabulous line Jim. I really should get around to reading some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle' works. I hope you enjoy the rest of the book :)

Esquiress - I'll take care of it. I'll also change your user name in the Threadbook.

Eta - I see you've already changed your name in the Threadbook. Excellent!

> 197
Yeah, I was confusing the heck out of my small band of followers, so I went in and did it myself. I'll let you post my second thread, though :)

The Philly meet-up sounds excellent! I hope you have fun.

Thanks for the link to the Philly meet-up, Jim!

*drive by hug*

*hug back*

Heading down to the DC Auto Show today - it's time to look at new vehicles to replace my truck. Actually, I think I'm keeping the truck as a beater truck for yard work and hauling and getting something with a bit better gas mileage for commuting, etc.

Primary candidates right now are Ford Escape with the new EcoBoost system and a Subaru Outback. I wish I could find a hybrid version of my previous Dodge pickup, but no such luck. :)

Unfortunately, mrsdrneutron gets to try out the Audis and Volvos, especially the convertibles... :)

Oh, car shopping - fun! We'll be in the market for a new one in the next year, I think; Tomm wants an Outback, but I'd like a Nissan Maxima. We'll see what happens.

I've only been to one auto show years ago in NYC but it was tons of fun being able to get in all the cars without a lot of high pressure salesmen. Have fun! (A convertible sounds like alot of fun.)

Yup, as predicted, we tried out the convertible Volvo C70 for a ton o' money. Maybe someday... :)

In the meantime, the Outback is a winner, the Escape was meh, and the Tiguan is a surprise dark horse candidate.

So I'll think on it a bit, then do some test driving.

The outback is my dream car. It really is. I have a clunky Rogue... I dream of Outback. .. le sigh.

Outbacks are pretty rockin'. Everyone I know who has one lives it.

Love my Outback.

Oh - a Subaru (had to Google all of those. I'm appallingly car illiterate - don't tell my kids).

How about an X-Trail? (but - obviously - I have no idea how it stacks up against those others)

The X-Trail isn't sold in the US, but is very similar to the Rogue, I think. That one's a bit smaller than I wanted. I'm an engineer, so I tend to over-analyze this sort of thing. I've laid out a trade study of the available options, and the Outback plus the few others on my list are in the sweet spot where MPG is still pretty good, the space available is decent, and the utility is still there.

I have to confess though - I've been a truck guy for a while, and this is a bit of a culture shock for me. My last truck was a Ram 1500, so was big and capable - I could do pretty much anything with it except parallel park in the city. :) The options I'm looking at are car-based SUVs or wagons, so get *much* better fuel economy, but I can't put a sheet of plywood in the back or go get a truckload of mulch for the yard. What I *really* want is a hybrid 1500, but such things only exist in my dreams. :)

The X-Trail is bigger than the Rogue (Murrano), and Xterra and Pathfinder are bigger yet. Apparently (according to Wikipedia), the X-Trail is available in Mexico ;0)

I'm also on the lookout for a hybrid; but there isn't much choice. But maybe not a truck.

Oh, and for those not familiar with the Outback, here's what the 2013 version look like - and I even like the color!

Given that it's February and I have a book to list, I think it's time for a new thread...