Richardderus 2013 thread 1

Prosaic title, eh what?



Me, to the life.

“When the Day of Judgment dawns and people, great and small, come marching in to receive their heavenly rewards, the Almighty will gaze upon the mere bookworms and say to Peter, “Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them. They have loved reading.”

― Virginia Woolf (who had *clearly* seen this home liberry before she said it)

Here's how I want this to go in 2013. It's a structure that will, I think, make it easier for me to keep track of, and adjust the course of, my reading in various areas.

I'm way tired of investing more than the Pearl Rule, and often a lot more, number of pages read in books that prove to be ~meh~ reads at best for me. Expect to see more Pearl Rule reviews, no goal because my GOAL is not to have to write them!

The 75 challenge, next year, will be non-fiction and non-genre-fiction books published in 2012 and 2013, plus recommendations from other 75ers.

I want to treat the Short Story collection challenge as a ticker-to-itself thread, thinking 36 reviews as my goal. I'll keep the thread over in the Short Stories forum.

I'm going to keep a mystery-genre thread over in Crime, Thriller, and Mystery forum, with a goal of 50 reviews. Way way way too many of my reviews this year, in all forums, were mysteries and thrillers, and while I love them, I don't want to get too rut-ified and read only those books while keeping up my self-made review writing census.

Orphans will still catch all the other reading, over in the What Are You Reading Now? forum, like this year. Thinking 60 reviews as my target.

Altogether that's a target of ~250 reviews, and this year I'm on track for 220-plus. I think I can do it.

I have a category called Orphans, which will still catch all the other reading I do in 2013. Thinking 60 reviews as my target.

My 2013 ORPHANED books ticker:




I want to treat the Short Story collection challenge as a ticker-to-itself thread, thinking 48 reviews as my goal. I'll keep the thread over in the Short Stories forum.

My 2013 SHORT STORY collections ticker:




I'm going to keep a mystery-genre thread over in Crime, Thriller, and Mystery forum, with a goal of 50 reviews. Way way way too many of my reviews this year, in all forums, were mysteries and thrillers, and while I love them, I don't want to get too rut-ified and read only those books while keeping up my self-made review writing census.

My MYSTERY & THRILLER books ticker:




THIS THREAD is the 75 challenge for 2013, which will be non-fiction and non-genre-fiction books published in 2012 and 2013, plus recommendations from other 75ers.

My last thread of 2012.

My 2013 NEW books ticker:




Books are reviewed in post:

1. Janey...#96.

space hog. *smooch*

Welcome back! I'm sure this will be a happenin' place like last year.

>5 mirrordrum: It's just a dummy thread. Actually I'm not coming back in 2013.

>6 drneutron: Well, I dunno....

Hi Richard - you have to come back, I haven't given you my fruit cake recipe yet.

Yoohoooo Rdear .... starring you ...but probably won't be checking this out again until 2013 actually begins.

>8 avatiakh: oooh yeeaaahhh...*sigh*

>9 cameling: Well, it'll be here.

Hiya Richard!

Another year for me to --maybe-- catch 5% of your threads. As I probably won't be back to the new group til actual 2013 (and probably a few days in at that), I'm guessing I will be here in time for thread #3, LOL.

As usual you are off to a flyer in 2013 whilst 2012 is still busy wiping its feet. *He types whilst trying to get his un-stick like frame into a comfortable position.

Just stopping to say, "Why Rdear, how odd meeting you here..."

Back for more mayhem and madness!

>11 katelisim: Hi Katie!

>12 PaulCranswick: Wonder what my stats will be this year. *ponders inevitable loneliness and abandonment after 2012's apocalyptic busy-ness*

>13 Matke: *smooch* Coffee, please, Danvers. In the east sitting room.

>14 LauraBrook: Hi Laura! *popcorn bowl* So what time does the show start?

I'm guessing I will be here in time for thread #3, LOL.

Or later at the rate you go!

Yikes - 17 messages already.

I'm going to track down your crime reviews - I missed those threads this year (I missed most of your 75 ones too for that matter.)

>16 labfs39: I'm always happy and grateful that folks want to come and spend time with me, so I just make the new threads and smile contentedly. Hiya Lisa!

>17 cushlareads: It'll be this year for the Crime threads, Cushla, last year all the mysteries were lumped in with the other reads.

Well RD you are/were close to 9000 posts in 2012 - don't see you being allowed to be lonely.

Happily that would seem to be the case, Dr. 10K-in-sight. It's wonderful to have the kinds and depths of friendships we share around this place, isn't it?

Yep the idea of us all connecting via computers based on a tenuous shared interest in bookworminess doesn't seem such an encouraging format, but by God, it seems to work. Wouldn't swap so many of you for a gold pig.
btw your posts for 2012 stand at 8,666 to date - a week left to pass 9,000; I wouldn't bet against you mate that's for sure.

HA! Well, what with this new forum up, I don't think 334 posts over there are likely unless I start a flame war.

hmmmmm

Stared and ready for more semi-pro lurking in 2013. Yay!

>21 PaulCranswick:: Could not possibly agree with your first sentence more, Paul.

Good morning, Rdear. Coffee is ready for you.

>23 BekkaJo: "semi-pro lurking" ha! Cute one, Bekka. *smooch*

>24 Matke: Thank you, dear Danvers, and a happy happy Sunday! *smooch*

Hi Richard, I'm delurking to say "What a great picture!" *waves*

Just reserving a spot - what lovely goals you have! And where would I find your Crime thread?

>26 wilkiec: Hello Diana! Welcome, and welcome to LT!

>27 Crazymamie: Haven't made it yet, Mamie, I'll link to it in message #4 when I do. I want to keep mystery series from overwhelming all other reviews this coming year.

Yay I found your thread.. Phew :)

Hi Monica! Welcome to the new world.

Thanks for your help, Richard, I've got myself a pair of wooden shoes :-)

Cool, must go check them out.

Hiya, RD! Happy Sunday to you.

*smooch*

Hey Horrible! *smooch*

Dropping in to say hello now because I may not get another chance for a while - you'll probably be on thread no. 6 before long. I recognise that picture at the top - I think I've tried all those variations except the last...

Okay its only Xmas eve & you will be onto 2013 -2 before the year starts ......... think this year will be another pick up a book & read it - nothing too planned just like me.

haha.. I wonder if you'll be starting a new thread when January 1 actually comes around, Rdear.

Hi Richard! Love the pics. I so want a room like that library in my house! See you in the New Year.

>35 gennyt: Hi Genny! Have a wonderful Holiday season, and I'll see more of you next year.

>36 roundballnz: Probably so, Alex, on all counts! Cheers.

>37 cameling: Probably, if trends hold true. About ten days to two weeks a thread, but here at the beginning of the year, things move a little faster.

>38 crazy4reading: Hi Monica! Glad to see you, and more next year.

My goodness, Richard, less than 24 hours and you already have the longest thread.

Merry Christmas! I'm posting from my new laptop. :)

*holiday smooch*

It's just a dummy thread. Actually I'm not coming back in 2013. Nope, not acceptable. There is too much fun and interesting things happening on your threads. Merry Christmas again and I hope you and Stella have a great time *smile*

>40 cyderry: Funny how that works! People come around and post things, and it just gets longer and longer. Huh.

>41 karenmarie: OOO new laptop! How cool! *smooch* for my dear ol' Horrible.

>42 drachenbraut23: No Bianca, it's true...I'm leaving forever. *sniff* I am so underappreciated. *sniff*

Like I'd miss all this fun!

"look, look! I'm running away! You'll never hear from me again.... Running... running... ... ... bye bye. ..."

I think you left out "toodle-oo" from the litany, Judy, but I can't be sure.

>20 richardderus: It's wonderful to have the kinds and depths of friendships we share around this place, isn't it?
Hallelujah!
This may be the eggnog talking, but *slurs* I lurves youse guys *falls off chair*

hehe, I jest of course, I would hardly be drunk at 11am on Boxing Day, would I. Would I?

Loving the thought of another whole year of RD-stylee book-talk.

O.M.Goodness, Richard, when I read your entry in the Introductions thread, I thought it said you were a 53-year-old slut. ROFL!

Anyway, Hi! This is my attempt to play hooky from work for one day and see if I can get caught up on all the 2013 threads. For the last time. Heck, it might be the last time I can get caught up with yours!

Regardless, I hope 2013 is a delightful year for you. And remember, when you're whining that nobody likes you, everybody hates you, guess you'll eat some worms, it's the Quality and not the Quantity.

I'm here now, so you're covered.

Well that TOO, TLo. I am indeed, and an unrepentant (if mostly theoretical) slut. Too many things hurt these days to do anything about it.

xo

Right there with you, brother!

*sigh* Shame, isn't it...all this lovely experience going to waste.

That's why we have to focus on the young 'uns. They can do the work while we relax and accept the adulation.

*snort* Jeremy said something similar. It seems like a good trade to me. Guess to them too.

Youth is wasted on the young.

>53 karenmarie: Ain't it? It sure was on me!

I got an early start on reviewing story collections for my 2013 challenge, reading Better Living Through Plastic Explosives and posting my review of it too.

It got a cumulative 3.5 stars.

oh good grief....it;'s not even 2013 yet and you're already way too far ahead of me. I'm sure your reporting structure makes sense to you, and probably I'll be stopping by here and there, but 2013 is going to be a real back breaker in terms of big projects all setting up like jello at once, so I won't be a constant visitor. Have a happy New Year's toot.

>55 tututhefirst: *smooch* Always happy to see you when you can be here, Tina! Happy 2013 and I hope the projects are excellent.

Wow, 55 posts before I even get over here. You're so popular! I feel like I'm missing the party! Hope you had a great Christmas and are ready for an excellent 2013! I'm not even sure I will do 75 next year. I'm going to try, but 2013 will be a "setting up for the next few years" kind of year for me. I will be logging in to post a note here and there at least.

Hugs!

>57 bohemiangirl35: Hi Sacil! Well, you're always guaranteed a smile, a hug, and a place around here. Quantity has never been the test of belonging to the 75ers.

*smooch*xoxoxoxo

Awwww...*heart melting* and *feeling the love* sigh. Thank you. :)

OH HAI! *leaps in through the door eagerly, dumps a picnic basket on the table and reaches for the cocktails* Guess who's baaaack for the New Year! And I mean back in a 'going to use LT more and really try to keep up this year especially if you can make a thread last at least two days' way rather than a 'drive-by wave and blowing a kiss' way. :)

I am still caught up, and it's already the 27th day of December of the *old* year.

Oh yeah, this will last a while. Hah!

>59 bohemiangirl35: :-)

>60 elliepotten: Hi Ellie! *passes martini shaker* You're here now, that's what counts, and I'm happy to see you whenever that happens. It'll be lovely to read more of your reviews this year!

I follow so many blogs it's not funny. Anything not frequently updated submerges and I never see it again after a certain point. Sad but true.

>61 Matke: I revel in these few days a year of feeling that I can keep up with this crowd, and make meaningful visits to all the threads made by all the interesting folks.

Ha! Such naivete! In a week, I won't even know where *my* thread is without using the "started by you" sort.

*waves* Just lopin' through to say hey, Gomer. Wouldn't say no to a tipple from that shaker, if it's got anything left in it, though.

>63 laytonwoman3rd:



This set over here? This one's Linda3rd's! She gets to share if she feels like it, but this one's hers.

I've finally re-read and written a love letter to Dodie Smith's kid's classic The Hundred and One Dalmatians over in my thread...post #299.

#64 Ohh....lovely, that. But I'm still at the office...pack it up and have it waiting for me when I get home in about half an hour, please!

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx for the new year, RD.

>66 laytonwoman3rd: Your cocktails await, milady.

>67 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! Thank you, and happy New year to you too! *smooch*

It worked for me.

>69 richardderus: yes it does work. Mom would put them on the second shelf and say, "These are for when you are older." Then she would look at the books on the bottom shelves and say, "Everyone your age loves these books." She knew I had read THOSE books years before. She is a sneaky sneaky mommy.

-69 Richard, that is SO true.

69. LOVE that quote - it's so true (and love Philip Pullman).

I've seen the quote before (in The Times book section, I think), but never done in such a purty way... *steals it shamelessly*

>70 luvamystery65: Sneaky mommy with an agenda! Heh.

>71 wilkiec: It so is...I love that it's Philip Pullman, too, since his "His Dark Materials" books got so much flak here in the USA for being Bad For Kids.

>72 PawsforThought: It's a keeper. I think I'll port it to my next thread!

>73 elliepotten: Steal freely, sweetness.

74. I firmly believe it's great for kids and subsequently try to shove into the arms of almost any kid I meet (which is many).

>75 PawsforThought: So you're Janie Pullman-seed! Heh. Oh, I slay me.

Not sure whether it's the over-indulgence of Christmas food or if I'm just a bit slow, but I think I need that joke explained to me.

Johnny Appleseed, the one who went around the nascent USA planting apples apples apples...anticipating that settlers would want their hard cider, so would appreciate a harvest ready for them every 10mi or so.

Planting Pullman on the kiddies you find = planting apple seeds!

Ah, I see. Thanks for the explanation. Not something I've ever heard about before (learn something new every day!)

Love the quote in #69! It certainly worked for me with my mom's Clan of the Cave Bear books!!

Thanks for visiting my thread...

>79 PawsforThought: Education...it's a Good Thing.

>80 Cobscook: Amazing, isn't it, what we remember from our upbringings...happy to see you here, Heidi.

#69 Love the quote - and so so true. Me to Cassie at bed time... which book do you want to read to me? Her - 'This one.' Me - but that one looks hard...' Her - 'But this one, this one...".

Yay, reading!

Here to star your thread and say a personal thank you for the welcome on my new thread! I've enjoyed your 2012 when I can keep up with you :)

>82 BekkaJo: Yay indeed! And yay Cassie for wanting the big book. It's important to challenge a reader from the start.

>83 TinaV95: Hi Tina! Keeping up is an illusion, so don't let it fuss you. Be where you want to be when you want to be there. When that means you're here, you're a welcome addition to the denizens.

69: Most excellent.

RD- Congrats on your 2013 thread! I like your reading goals. Good luck with them. We should have another fantastic year on the 75.

>85 RosyLibrarian: I agree, Marie!

>86 msf59: Can't see any reason why not, we really all do have fun around here. Happy 2013!

87 messages already on your new thread. I'm ever so glad you are part of the group. It would not be the same if you were not here.

Well heck, Linda! Thread's a week old, how could it not have at least 80 or so posts? *smooch* Glad you're here, and thanks for saying such kind words.

Good morning, RD. Happy Saturday to you.

*smooch* from Horrible, aka Murakamikaze KP!

(Remember, I'm the one who doesn't like that strange Italian detective you love..... we just have to agree to disagree.)

Has the day already begun in your place? Good morning Richard.

>90 karenmarie: Murakamikaze KP! *smooch* and a lovely Saturday to you, too. We might get an inch or so of snow today, big whoop.

Silly lassie, we've always ATD'd on crummy books by bad writers!

>91 wilkiec: Hi Diana! Glad to see you this snow-filled day.

Hello Richard!

Hey Cindy! Glad to see you.

Book porn!

Review: 1 of seventy-five

Title: JANEY

Author: RICHARD MATTURRO

Rating: 4* of five

The Book Description: The Twelve Labors of Hercules might seem an easier task than warming up to someone as caustic and misanthropic as Janey. If you hate her at the beginning, though, be warned: by the end you may very well fall in love with her.

Richard Matturro (author of four previous novels: Leslie, Luna, Perseus, and Troy) is a native of Rye, New York. He holds a doctorate in English with a specialization in Shakespeare and Greek Mythology. After sixteen years at the Albany Times Union, he now teaches literature in the English Department at the University of Albany, and lives on an old farm in the foothills of the Berkshires.

My Review: Author Matturro wrote three previous novels that were takes on classical subjects, and now gives us misery-guts Janey Heracles, a sculptress (she'd smack me one for saying that) and a general all-around Pain In The Ass of a woman. For those Louise Penny fans out there, think Ruth Zardo before menopause calmed her caustic wit down.

No, no lie not kidding not exaggerating. Serious.

Janey's Twelve Labors are nothing short of reinventing herself in her late forties. She's got a great gallery show to prepare a piece for, but to navigate her way to that Promised Land, she must unload her literal and metaphorical baggage: Sell the empty hotel her dead parents left to her and her conventional, estrangedish sister Laura; empty the said hotel of its Augean Stables-level hoarded crap; cope with her husband divorcing her; cope with a new man, DJ Bugs Mudge, bringing his gray-ponytail-having gerontological tantric sex and laid-backness into her life; cope with Stanley the Evil Gay Imp in whose adjacent studio to hers he makes paintings of naked boys that bring him, well, something he wants...but not enough to keep him from renaming himself Stanislav. Which Janey, with her usual People Person attitude, ignores and calls him, at every opportunity, Stanley.

I found the author's breaking the book into twelve two-chapter segments named after the Twelve Labors of myth a wee bit forced, but I think for many it might be a useful way of calling attention to the point of the book: Janey is, like her namesake, laboring mightily (if in her case more than a little unwillingly and for no clearly defined purpose) to master and contain her own power, her self-transformation, her life.

In a “review” of Janey's sculpture Pillars, created for her big gallery show, author Matturro sums up Janey's journey, and a fundamental insight into human nature and life results:

The Ionic column is polished smooth and gleaming white. The Doric is discolored, stained, chipped, and pockmarked, the object of a thousand injuries and indignities. Worse, there's a diagonal crack that threatens at any moment to split it in two. ...these are the dual natures we all share after a certain age. That ideal, upright pillar we wish we were, and that damaged, blemished old post that we are. And yet one is as necessary as the other for our “life support.”

...Art indeed may not change anything, and yet on some very basic level, life is insupportable without it.

(p183, softcover edition)

A very nicely phrased way to say something that, as readers, I suspect we all agree with; and as good a summation of the reasons one would want to read this novel as any I can write. I recommend the book to your readerly mercies.

Yesyesyes, I know it's not 1.1.13 yet and I posted a review anyway! I have this little weirdness about not wanting a thread to go into three digits of posts without a review, and this book was slated to be the first review of the year anyway.

And in proof that I know it's still 2012, I've posted my review of a Yuletide gift, Howl: A Graphic Novel, in my 2012 thread...post #83.

Those with a passing familiarity with my highly negative opinion of comic books will want to know why I rated this one 4.5 stars.

>97 richardderus: yeah! Go RD, you rock that boat :)

And hello, and happy New Year. And, I over indulged in the fizzy wine and heat yesterday. But all that only goes to prove that day time drinking is a grand idea, as I was all fuzzy/snoozy and then back to normal by 8pm!

ok then...thumbs up for your excellent review.

Do I remember correctly that you will have health care benefits in 2013? Amen!!!!

>99 LovingLit: Hiya Maudie! Glad to see your hangover here! Oh that fizzy wine will knock your brain onto its kiester all righty all right. Next to tequila, the closest I've ever had to a lethal hangover was from a night of Veuve Cliquot. ooooomiiiigaaaaaawwwwwd that was so awful.

>100 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda! I think you would really like this book a lot.

Thumbed Richard! :)

>102 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta! Thanks for the thumb. I suspect Janey would appeal to you, too, since the protagonist is such a tart-tongued old broad.

I mean, an independent-thinking female person.

The former description sounds so much more interesting than the latter Richard.

"Tart-tongued" is a great word. If I didn't work in the public sector, I would be a lot more tart-tongued.

>104 luvamystery65: One doesn't wish to appear as Neanderthal as one is...but I got a huge chuckle out of her needling of pretentious little queen "Stanislav" and her genuine appreciation for Bugs's skills as a lover. Expressed, shall we say, without crudeness or coyness.

>105 PawsforThought: It's amazing to me how many people genuinely prefer the mealy-mouthed locutions of PC. *barf*

106. As someone who grew up in a household where phrases such as "like a fart in a nostril" where rife, I can only agree.

Heh, or "all up his ass like a cheap suit."

108. We don't have that expression, but "kiss my arse" (and it needs to be "arse", not "ass") is used almost daily and not view as bad as it is in English.

I suppose cheap suits are more prevalent here. Gawd knows it seems like there's one every few feet around my village.

Cheap suits are pretty prevalent here too, but no one really cares much. We're not a people know for dressing "business-like" (the only people who wear suits are lawyers and bank employees, and the odd CEO).

While we are on the subject of expressions, I'll never forget a feisty elderly Pennsylvania Dutch lady who was a friend of the family. I still laugh out loud when I think of her.

I remember that she once described someone as having "eyes like two piss holes in the snow!"

HA!! I want to remember that one. I know *just* who to describe that way, just need the opportunity to arise.

112. Haha! That reminds me... The most commonly used worm for "lukewarm" (at least in my world) would be best translated into English as "piss-warm".

Oh my my, that would SO not go over in the Land of the Squeamish!

#108 That is all kinds of awesome! I can't wait for an opportunity to use it!

115. We aren't squeamish over here. We are very PC, though. Just not when it comes to those types of words and expressions.

>116 Cobscook: Wow, I had no idea it wasn't more common than it appears to be. Huh! Well, use freely! It says something otherwise unsayable.

>117 PawsforThought: PC, but not prissy, it sounds like. *sigh* I think I need to be Dutch in my next life.

118. I'm not Dutch! Haha! I'm Swedish (you're really not doing anything to combat America's reputation of being crap at geography outside your own country).

I am going to have so much trouble keeping up with your threads. I lost them last year. Keeping up with you makes it hard for me to read any books. I love that quote in #69. I always try to give my nieces and nephew a book for Christmas. I can't say that my mom ever did anything with the books in our house to say we couldn't read them because they weren't appropriate for us.

>119 PawsforThought: Hmm. There's another Maria who's Dutch, I think...but where do you tell us all where you're from? I looked, it's not on your thread or your profile. What did I miss?

>120 crazy4reading: Hi Monica! Welcome to 2013, a few days early. "Keeping up" is an illusion, not to worry about it when you do lose track. I always link to my current thread on my profile, where it says "website."

121. I've mentioned it in a few threads. Can't remember which ones.

good grief. i haven't even managed to encompass 2012 yet and here you are time-stepping into 2013. you're too fast for me, ducks.

>86 msf59: since the only thing i liked about the 2 Three Pines mysteries i staggered through was Ruth Zardo, i'd probably like Janey, based on your review. alas, it's not accessible to people such as moiself. fun to read your take though.

Wowzer RD way into triple figures before 1-1-13 (as we term it in the commonwealth) and wooing the newbies nicely. Don't suppose it matters where we put the books we have read. Early lead in both leagues mate well done.
Trust that your weekend is going well and that the knee is not giving you too much gip. Doesn't stop you reading or posting anyways.

>122 PawsforThought: OIC

>123 mirrordrum: Hi Ellie! Not on NLS? I guess the small press aspect isn't conducive? I don't know how those decisions get made...publishers, NLS, patrons?

>124 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, well, you know what they say.

I don't, so will you please tell me?

#95: The only reason I come here is for the book porn :)

>126 alcottacre: Well, working full time and going to school means coming here AT ALL is a thrill and a compliment!

Welcome, and *smooch*

*Wavies* How are the knees? Up to anything nice for New Years?

Hi Richard, I'm supposed to be the Dutch one, Diana, the wooden shoes picture :)

Thanks for your excellent review.

so I can find you again...

>128 BekkaJo: Hi there Bekka! Happy to see you. Knees are still bending, so I'm grateful for that. New Year's is a holiday I avoid like it gots the cooties. Silliness and drunkenness are only fun for me when not institutionalized as A Holiday. So I stay in my Cave of Curmudgeonliness, bah-humbugging and eating sweets all the live-long day.

Suits me!

>129 wilkiec: Hi Diana, actually I had Maria-the-Swede and Monica-the-Fleming all mixed up in my mind. It's not so unusual for me, I have senior moments around names in the threads often. *sigh* Age.

>130 mckait: Howdy do, sweetness.

131. And you keep calling me Maria for some reason. That is not my name (I've never divulged my name on here, I just go by Paws.)

Well, I just have my people all confused and discombobbled! I give. Paws it is.

Love the Pullman quote -- and Pullman too!

HI Richard, I almost chocked on my coffee when I read the Pullman quote. That one is absolutely brilliant. I showed it to my son and he was also LOL. I am so glad that I have got a kid which loves to read!

And again I just want to wish you and your lovely Stella a wonderful, magical and happy 2013!

#131 Ha! Well to be honest that sounds like fun. We're not doing anything much anyway - too awkward with the kids. A big platter of dips and nibbles, a bottle of pink bubbles and some snuggly films on the sofa (with me trying frantically to finish at least one more book before the year end!).

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx for today. I need to get a lot in before I start school up again and fall ridiculously behind!

>134 lalbro: Hi there, Liz, glad you came to visit! Yep, ol' Pullman's The Man alright. I enjoyed his trilogy, but haven't read any of his other books.

>135 drachenbraut23: Heh...don't choke...it's funny but not THAT funny. Thanks for the wishes, my dear old, it is special to make friends with folks who live so far away and still feel we can have fun together.

>136 BekkaJo: The Younger Set can be quite style-cramping, but in this case, I have *always* felt this way about New Year's. Hope you get that last book read...I have four more reviews to write before tomorrow, so I can make my self-imposed goal of having 700 reviews up before 2013 starts.

>137 alcottacre: Hiya Stasia! *smooch*

Adding a star but slightly disconcerted to think that you may need to start your second 2013 thread before 2013 actually arrives.

139.... Thinking the same thing!!! :)
Trying to not let it scare me!

>139 EBT1002: Thanks for the star! But there ain't no way on earth I'll need a new thread before tomorrow, 11:59p! One hundred sixty-plus posts by then? Not likely to happen.

>140 TinaV95: Now really, scare you?! Gracious, do you need a Monster Patrol for bedtime, too? I think I still have the old miner's headlamp I used to look under my girl's bed. I could be there in time to tuck you up!

What a surprise, it's not even 2013 yet and your first 2013 thread already has 141 posts!! Geesh ;-)

Oliver says "it smells like witches in here" maybe some lavender spray is in order?

>142 ChelleBearss: Hiya Chelle! Heh. Well, what's a boy to do, say "oh no go away all y'all nice people who want to chat with me"? Not on your life. I like all my threadies!

>143 mckait: ...smells like witches...to me that conjures up patchouli and cinnamon. Lavender, while I like it as itself, doesn't go well with patchouli. Cinnamon and lavender, OTOH, is a lovely combo. I used to wear that when I was seeing a female acquaintance of mine. Drove her wild. Made saying "no" so much more fun!

Hi Richard! I didn't get a chance to follow your thread last year -between Paul's threads and the other twenty people I was following, it was quite a bit. Would you mind me being the token Catholic on your thread? After all, someone needs to keep those rosaries going for you! ;)

And I agree with the quote you posted by Phillip Pullman. This one teacher I had back in public school decided a book I wanted to read (it was quotes from Winnie-the-Pooh about life - the idea!) was far too above my reading level, and she refused to let me check it out. My mom never kept any books from me, fortunately, and I read some very hefty stuff when I was a crumbcruncher.

Oh, and thanks for the pictures of the lovely book porn! :D So prettyful... I wish my library looked like that.

I will keep my promise
Have not forgotten
see you on the flip side :P

Hello Eris, how surprising to see a Catholic in these resolutely anti-christian parts. Welcome on board! All the Whoviana you'd like to post, feel free. Although I found Who with the Sixth Doctor, my personal favorite will always be the Ninth:



For his hurt, offended, defensive "Lots of planets have a North!" riposte to Rose Tyler when they'd first met and she wanted to know why an alien sounded like a Geordie.

145. What an awful teacher. I've been very lucky in that department, and neither of my parents ever tried to turn me away from any book. I was allowed to roam completely free - which is why I read The World According to Garp at age 13. Among other things.

>146 curlysue: *smoochiesmoochsmooch* for dear Kara

#147 - Not that surprising, really. We Catholics have our beliefs, traditions, and things we don't compromise on, but the essence of our faith revolves around love. I show that as much as I can to everyone I meet because people are awesome and unique and I love them for that, whether or not they believe the same things I do. :)

Yay, I gets to post Doctor Who stuff! *demented grin*







Oh, Nine... that Time Lord will always be special to me. His interactions with the Daleks stop me dead, they're so intense. I wish he had more time to be the Doctor, so I'm hoping Christopher Eccleston will stop being so grumpy about his time as the Doctor and comes back for the 50th Anniversary. That man NEEDS to be there.

#148 - It wasn't the worst thing, fortunately, as my mom more than compensated, allowing me to check out as many books from the library as I wanted, and she didn't stop me from reading anything.

150. Still a terrible teacher.
It's nice to hear you talk about your faith that way. I come from a very religious town and being a non-believer here can be frustrating as not everyone seems to have grasped that "love thy neighbour" part...

And feel free to post DW stuff wherever (this isn't even my thread!)

Rose Tyler was and is my favorite Time Lord Companion bar none.

Had the pleasure of meeting Phill Pullman a few years back he was charming and kids just worshiped him

and welcome Richard the Lion Hearted to 2013

Well, well, well what a surprise to find you with 151 posts before we even hit the end of 2012 Richard. Duly starred and I will make an effort to keep up this year. Stop snickering...I am determined.

>150 ErisofDiscord: Heh! Great GIFs. And yes, I agree with Paws in #151...TERRIBLE teacher. Yay for mom! My mother and I had issues, but she was a stout defender of the freedom to read and the more widely the better!

>151 PawsforThought: Whoviana makes all threads better, don't you think?

>152 magicians_nephew: Dunno, the new one Clara is promising. I like the actress and she's more sparky than Amy and Rory (bless 'em though cause I love the pair).

But Rose...well. Rose.

Cheers!

>153 brenzi: Ah yes, the shibboleth of Keeping Up. I swanee, there is not now nor has there ever been a time when I could really, effectively keep up with this chatty gathering. I just smile and nod a lot.

154. Well, I'm not a converted Whovian yet (I've promised to watch a few episodes when I have time to see if it's for me) but I always encourage people to share their loves and obsessions. People who are excited about what they like (be it books or TV shows) bring joy.

It took only 10 minutes of dedicated watching for me to turn into a Doctor Who fan. All the years of clicking past the daleks never caused me to pause for even a moment ... but there you have it. I blame rdear.

#156: I really must get to Doctor Who - but I am afraid that if I do, I will never return to school work. Decisions, decisions ;)

>155 PawsforThought: I agree with that. I think the existence of places like LT where the huge majority of us are here to share our reading obsessions spreads a lot of joy indeed.

>156 mckait: Nicest thing I've ever done for you, then. Oh the pleasures of silliness!

>157 alcottacre: That's why Amazon Prime and Netflix are so wonderful! There is such a lot to catch up on, and those services allow it to be done at leisure.

<

For all who see this...may you have more lost to reality reading than ever!

***GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT***

BBC America, home of Doctor Who in the USA, is running...right now!...a Who Year's Eve marathon of good silly fun DW episodes.

159. That is a BRILLIANT image. I need to find a large version of it and print it out to put on my door.

Richard, dear, you are just too popular, I can't keep up.**shakes head**
If I see any eye candy or book porn, I'll be sure to stop in.

#159 I think my husband sees that fourth expression quite a bit! Heh.

Happy New Year!

I love that reading image! Of course, my version of the last is slightly different since a kitty-cat normally has my legs pinned...

#159 Love it.

Enjoy the Who marathon! Did you enjoy the Xmas special?

#154 - Oh, yes, Clara... I am enchanted by her, and she has the potential to become one of my favorite companions.



#159 - Yes. I love it when I get into the fourth posture, even if it's not nice for my family. I get very evil when someone tries to interrupt me. Hey, that reminds me of a song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuRuwR2JSXI

Hi Richard,

Stopping by to wish you a happy new year and to star your 2013 thread! Love reading your comments and reviews. P.S. - I grew up in your hometown! - Peg

Hey Ricardo!! Popping in to wish you the very best in 2013. And to say thank you for all your wonderfulness. From one coast to the other...Cheers!

Dr Who Marathons those are the best ...........

>161 PawsforThought: I'd buy a poster-sized version of it myownself. Love the explanations under the images!

>162 cyderry: *smooch* Happy New Year, dear!

>163 Cobscook: It would surprise me if he didn't, given where we are! Happy New Year indeed.

>164 whitewavedarling: Kath, aka mckait, calls that being lap-locked. Since my poochie, Stella, is almost 40lbs, she's not allowed to be a lap-sitter. I suspect she wouldn't be anyway, honestly.

>165 BekkaJo: I did enjoy it quite a bit! Snowmen with ice fangs...oh how I love the nonsense in this show.

>166 ErisofDiscord: She's off to a promising start, and no mistake. I hope they keep her at this level of irreverence for the Doctor.

>167 plt: Hi Peg! Happy to see you here. YOU DID?! That's weird!

>168 Berly: *smoochiesmoochsmooch* So glad to see you here!

>169 roundballnz: I'm sure sold. Next one I want to re-watch comes on in an hour, so I'd best get me skates on.

I celebrated the end of 2012 by posting my final review in the good ol' 2012 thread. It's of The Sea, the John Banville novel I read with Ellen and Megan...post #121.

I.

Could.

Try.

To.

Make.

You.

LOL

You're a demon! But even you don't have that kind of diabolical patience.

Yeah, you're right. (I should be used to it.)

#159: I love that! I can certainly relate, as I am sure everyone here can.

I do have Netflix, so I can watch when my children are not - both Beth and Catey watch videos on there all the time. I just did a Bones marathon there myself.

Happy New Year Richard!

>181 EBT1002: *quiet sigh of relief*

>182 alcottacre: It's a good image, isn't it? Smile and recognize one's self at the same time.

>183 luvamystery65: Thanks, Roberta, and to you too!

To the grumpy heart and soul of the group (and a good heart.soul it is) Happy New Year!

>185 crazy4reading: Happy New Year to you, too, Monica!

>186 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul, coming from one of the rival claimants to the throne, that's a high compliment. Happy 2013 and much good reading! Maybe we'll be able to meet this year.

I ate your okapi and look what it did to my complexion.

Looking forward to following your thread.

Hope so RD

Haooy New Year Dear Richard :)

>188 cammykitty: *bwaaaahaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaa* Priceless! Priceless! Love it...see you around then.

>189 PaulCranswick: *fingers crossed*

>190 suslyn: Haooy New Year Dear Richard :)
Oooh, someone's had a leetle too much to celebrate hasn't she? *smooch* Haooy New *hic* to yiuuuuuu toooooooo!

Happy New Year, Richard!

Well it is 2013 and I am finally starting to read 2013 threads.:)

I look forward to following you in another year of book porn, reviews and anything else that happens.

*smooch*

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

I read not a word yesterday... I blame you!LOL
xo

Hi Richard! Jan. 1st and I'm already trying to catch up!! Happy New Year!!! Happy Reading in 2013!!!

Happy New Year Richard!

Day One: Caught up here. Of course, it may the only day...

Oh, Rdear, do have a happy and healthier year, please.

Just in time for thread #1 as it seems, with 197 posts already on January 1st...

I wish you a very Happy and Healthy New Year, Richard.

Thanks for visiting my new thread, I'll do my best not get lost again in 2013.

Happy New Year Richard! Hope you have a happy and healthy 2013!

Richard what is the name of the book with the tart tongued broad? I want to wish list it. Your help por favor!

Happy New Year, old friend! I'm hoping you having a nice, pain-free, book-filled day. Hugs!

>192 wilkiec: Thanks, Diana! To you as well.

>193 calm: Hi calm, well nothing like taking your time, is there? It's such a busy group that I always do what I can ahead of time. I don't feel quite so overwhelmed that way.

>194 mckait: Thanks dearest, where did you learn ASC art?

>195 tjblue: Begin as you mean to go on, my nanny said (in a Japanese accent). We'll be at it all year, Tammy, so relax!

>196 norabelle414: Thanks, Nora! You too.

>197 Matke: Revel in the feeling, then, Gail. One time is still once more than you'll have again. *smooch* I shall try.

I didn't. I shamelessly stole it away from some stranger on FB
oops!

>198 Deern: Hi Nathalie! Good, send up flares every so often or something, this is one gabby bunch. Thanks for the heartily returned good wishes.

>199 ChelleBearss: Hiya Chelle, thanks, and you too.

>200 luvamystery65: Hmmm that was an entire thread ago, so it's not coming to mind. I'll look for it.

>201 msf59: Thanks Mark! I like the idea a lot.

Go R.D.! Go R.D.!

If I'm lucky, my thread will have this many posts by the end of March. A happy 2013 to you!

>206 msf59: It's nasty outside, so I ain't a-goin' nowhere! ;-)

>207 qebo: Thanks, Katherine!

Thanks RD I did go back and look for it but your threads are jungle!

Oh my word! This thread is like a runaway train!!

RD - Would be interesting to see how much of the 1 January traffic has been the result of a certain NYC resident pressing the enter button? I would have been disappointed if you hadn't flown past 200 posts and I am rarely disappointed.

Figured I better get over here before you move on to your second thread. Happy New Year, Richard! Looking forward to more book porn, sage words of wisdom, 'tell it like you see it' book reviews and everything else that your thread is notorious for!

See you on thread #2.... which at this rate will probably be later this afternoon!

>209 luvamystery65: I'll get there, promise.

>210 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Pretty much standard, really, my threads go to 300 posts in about two weeks. This one's nine days old, so it's got five left to be average.

>211 PaulCranswick: Ha! I've been largely absent since 12:45a until noontime. Not one of my busier days.

>212 lkernagh: Well Lori, at least this year I didn't go an entire thread without a review first thing. That made me itch all last year, it did.

*faints*

It's a good thing I'm not allergic to grammatical errors or I'd have died a long time ago reading some of the reports from a number of my coworkers.

Happy happy day, Richard.

#213 - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Make it stop... *sobs*

Oh, and Happy New Year to you, Richard!

Happy New Year Richard.....I'm sure your thread will always be one where I'll find deep, eclectic, energizing conversations, pictures and inspiration whenever I find time to stop by in 2013. Now if I can just keep track of your many, many exhausting numbers............................

tiptoes off to have a hot buttered rum on a snowy, cold New Year's afternoon in Maine

213 - LOLOLOLOLOLOL

OMG I needed that laugh!! Where do you find these things????

213. I think I need to get an epi pen.

>215 Crazymamie: MAMIE! Quick, Caro, fetch the sal volatile while I loosen her stays! Mamie darling, come back to us, you haven't even had any of my super-dee-duper sherried cheese puffs and shrimp all'aglio!

>216 cameling: Allegedly educated people who can't be bothered to use proper grammar and spelling should be smacked.

>217 ErisofDiscord:, 218 There there, dear, it only gets worse as you get older. And thanks!

>219 tututhefirst: Heh. Well, since I'm pretty much a shut-in, I think it's my job to make the Internet a bit busier. And where exactly do you imagine you're going with that jug of hot buttered rum?! Share!

>220 TinaV95: That one's from Facebook, but I see so many good ones it's hard to choose.

>221 PawsforThought: HA! Exactly right, and make sure to have a spare in case you see it again.

*blinks eyes rapidly* Super-dee-duper sherried cheese puffs and shrimp all'aglio! There's food?

Did someone mention cheese puffs? *drools, whimpers*

Well...ummm...following the directions strictly, I picked up Neverness. Here then is my resolution:

Bardo, as was his habit when he was nervous or afraid, farted loudly, and he asked, "Then you think there will be a quest for this...this, uh secret of the Ieldra?"

I don't particularly wish to emulate Bardo, and I have little interest in making 2013 about the Ieldra, who- or whatever that might prove to be.

>224 Crazymamie: Always.

>225 cameling: Indeed I did, LEMON BAR TAKER-BACKER.

De-lurking to wish you a Happy New Year, Richard!

Thanks, Brit, and to you, Whit and the Sprog too!

From New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani

Preceded by a rustle of starched cotton, he appeared before me, haloed in blue, and stayed there for a time, watching me carefully.

my resolution is to find a man...?

#226 - Oh, I like this idea. I'm going to steal it. And good luck with your resolution to find the secret of the Ieldra!

From The Big Sleep:

"I haven't noticed that you suffer from any inhibitions, Mr. Marlowe."

From The Elements of Style:

"They heard him singing in the shower."

So, I guess my new year's resolution is to find a guy and listen to him sing in the shower? I'm sure my dad will be pleased.

From Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them":

Either
Newt's masterpiece has been an approved textbook at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy ever since its publication and must take a substantial amount of credit for our students consistanly high results in Care of Magical Creatures examinations - yet it is not a book to be confined to the classroom. (page 13 of the foreword)

or
They are attracted by magic and may infest the fur and feathers of such creatures as Crups and Augureys. (page 13 of the book)

Yeah. That sounds...like a bit of a change from last year.

>230 calm: But he must be haloed in blue and good at standing still. Useful markers, I suppose.

>231 ErisofDiscord: Who- or whatever they are.

>232 Crazymamie: Heh! So your resolution is either 1) to become Lauren Bacall, or b) to lose your inhibitions. If b) is selected, I'd like to point out that you live in the wrong state to make that a good idea!

>233 ErisofDiscord: Oh yes, I can see his pleased smile now. NOT.

>234 PawsforThought: Well, we're about even, what with me needing to look for these bloody Ieldra.

Oh dear! The closest I could get to Lauren Bacall would be to take up smoking...um...NO! And you're right, I am in the wrong state to lose my inhibitions. Now what?

236. You could take the easy way out and get acquainted with a Mr. Marlowe...

Oh, I would love to be acquainted with Mr. Marlowe!

*fangirl sigh*

>226 richardderus:: From Star Rider: The Saddle Club #19 by Bonnie Bryant

"More than one chatty student had found herself ousted from Max's class until she was prepared to concentrate the way Max wanted her to."

Ouch. My resolution seems a direct chastisement for my scatterbrained, chatty habits.

>236 Crazymamie: Or you could turn into a snooty, rude bag. (I've met the woman. Not at all a good experience.)

>237 PawsforThought: That has promise!

>238 ErisofDiscord: Ummmmm different "Mr. Marlowe," love.

>239 alsvidur: FINALLY one that fits! Too bad it's no fun, Emilie.

238. Fangirl #2!

Somehow, I don't think I could pull that off, Richard. Takes too much energy to be nasty. I think I will take Paws' suggestion to get acquainted with Mr. Marlowe - guess I better reread The Big Sleep and then read the rest of the series (do I need to reread the ones I have already read?). *grin* It's a tough job, but...

>241 PawsforThought: My, what a big heart you have....

>242 Crazymamie: Plus your way is more fun, in the end.

True. So true.

Holy Guacamole, Richard, this thread is zipping along. Happy New Year! Looking forward to your further adventures, hijinks and capers, and about 9 zillion reviews this year.

243. When it comes to Christopher Marlowe, yes it is.

Hello Richard! Barely making it here before you move on to the next thread to thank you for the words of welcome and to wish you Happy New Year!

I Richard! I go to visit your thread and here you are ready for a 2nd one already, sheesh! Well, I'm here now, and I will try to visit more regularly even if my internet hampster doesn't like it.

>244 Crazymamie: Farewell, My Lovely comes next...what fun.

>245 jnwelch: It's been up for over a week, so it's about average pace for my threads. Just because SOME people have strange religious prohibitions against going with the flow....

>246 PawsforThought: I'm not an eager play-reader, so you get to have him all to yourself.

You have got to be kidding after my shitty 2012!

from bee season

"She imagines blisters from uncomfortable sandals."

going back to bed, wake me when it's 2014 :)

>247 portnova: Hi Elena! Thank you, and I hope to see you here again soon.

>248 Ape: Well, as I just said to Joe, if SOME people would stand down on their religious principles and go with the flow even before the "proper" date has arrived....

>250 curlysue: Night night, then Rumple-Annie-Stiltskin!

249. Eris and I share him. We each have him one week at a time.

>252 PawsforThought: Sounds like a plan. The commonsensical nature of it is breathtaking...no one goes into other-person-overload! Win-win-win.

Hmm. Not sure what to make of this for a resolution. An Insight pocket guide to Atlanta happened to be sitting next to me and the 2nd sentence on page 13 reads thus:

Mound C, to the north, has yielded up the Etowah's richest artifacts: 350 burials, which have served as an archeological textbook on the so-called Mississippian Culture.

If only there had been a wine guide sitting nearby.

meme

I have two books on my chair for consideration..
One a must read to review and one a possible want to read.
I picked up the one on top..

Sixpence House

I sometimes wonder whether century-old ruins look so beautiful to us because they were meant to ruin in a beautiful way.

Dunno about resolution.. but it's a great sentence..

>226 richardderus:: Yay! My first tea-spurted-on-keyboard moment of 2013!

Let's see: "In this book he describes the shock he felt on arriving New York and seeing first-hand the pace at which Americans were moving."

Oddly, that sort of works for me; I'm trying mightily to slow down. Kind of.

I was catching up, reading all the posts, really I was. Ten I realised I had read 50 and still had four hundred thousand gazillion to go. So I flagged it. But what I read was very entertaining, (Maria mixups, swedish dutch confusions, Dr Who gifs....) And here I am again at ground zero, for about a second anyway.
The good thing about busy threads is you can always come back and read what you missed! Just think of it, all these conversations, preserved for all eternity, on the big old internet. Hm. For EVER.

>226 richardderus: for me?
"In the engine room, the situation had deteriorated over the years and now appeared fairly dismal."
Oh dear.
And its from my lovely other's book which he rudely plonked on top of my *ahem* high-brow selection. *ahem*

Happy New Year, Richard!

>226 richardderus:: From the introduction to Euclid's Elements

With Pappus' account of Porisms must be compared the passages of Proclus on the same subject.

This would be a resolutionary non-starter for me, except that the author himself performs the comparison in the rest of the paragraph.

Resolution 2013 achieved! Bring on 2014!

I hope you haven't started another thread while I was skimming this one. I haven't got time for this nonsense.

From The Rescue of Miss Yaskell and Other Pipe Dreams:

"This would be totally misleading."

Sounds like the story of my life.....

Happy New Year! May it be happy and healthy.

Not sure -

"But what inspiration could anyone find in a naked light bulb dangling on a dangerously worn flex from a sagging, mould-spotted ceiling?" - Lunch with the generals

but better than -

"It's hard to tell." - Zhu Mao

>262 avatiakh: New Years Resolution: "It's hard to tell."
Classic!

"You don't eat, you can't work." From C.J. Cherryh's Rimrunners.

Happy New Year.

From my current read: Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain:

pg. 13 is part of the forward Many of our contemporaries of equal age, in spite of their differences of environment and inheritance, appear to resemble us more closely than we resemble ourselves two decades back in time, since the same prodigious happenings and the same profound changes of opinion which have molded us have also molded them.

DO NOT ASK ME WHAT THIS MEANS!!! P.S. the rest of the book DOES make sense.

Nope, not catching up on the 210 posts I've missed. Happy new year, Padre!

I finally gathered up enough courage to enter your thread. Whew! But now it is over. For the moment.

From How Reading Changed my Life:

"Of those of us who read because we love it more than anything, who feel about bookstores the way some people feel about jewelry."

Wow, day one and 268 plus posts??

The only close book is a copy of the Chinese translation of my own book, so even if I could read page 13, it's unlikely to do anything much for me... seriously, would have to get up and walk over to reach a pile of books and even then none of 'em would be "closest" than any other. So shall have to try that experiment.

Richard, one query/request: I dislike having to hare off to groups I normally don't visit (it's hard enough to find the time to keep track of everyone on here...) Would you be able/willing to cross-post your reviews or provide links to them here? Because odds are that I'll miss 90% of them otherwise... and I probably am not the only one. I'm only part of two groups, this and the categories challenge, so it's less problematic for me to cross-post, but all my 2013 Category Challenge books will get commented on in the single 75-post thread.

#265 -- it seems to me that she is talking about the firestorm of WW1, and how it brought together an entire generation, transcending differences of class, region, etc. That the sole significant formative experience wasn't one of background or upbringing but the war. Hence that their current lives bear more resemblance to each others' than their past lives.

Many thanks to Suzanne for making sense of #268. That is of course exactly the point she has been making throughout the book, which is an excellent one. I've been reading and savoring it very slowly over the past three weeks. It will take me another 3 weeks to finish it, but it's well worth it.

With my rather stark new year's resolution drawn from: The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft by Claire Tomalin, I think I'd like to draw a quick veil over 2013 and start again!

For her it meant a steady series of pregnancies, the deaths of almost all her children and the collapse of her health.

>254 EBT1002: Oh yes, a wine guide! I think I'll rearrange stuff and make it so. Still, a new career as a field archaeologist doesn't sound so bad.

>255 mckait: ...you resolve to grow old gracefully...? I am stumped, but yeah, that's a pretty sentence.

>256 Matke: I'm glad the Conundrum of the Ieldra amuses you. And that's another one that works! Yay!

>257 LovingLit: Mmm hmmm, it's HIS book, oooh I see, isn't that nice. o.O

>258 jadebird: REN!! How lovely to see you! I thought you'd abandoned me forever *chinwobble*

Must go hunt up your thread!

>259 swynn: ...I don't know what the hell any of that meant...

>260 tloeffler: No no, still doing ~300 a thread. I'll announce the shift in good order, I promise.

Huh. As a resolution, it is sibylline. To the point of incomprehensibility.

>261 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda, for you too!

>262 avatiakh: Heh. Neither one has much force of guidance, I agree, but option A has at least more words to interpret as one likes.

>263 LovingLit: Ha! Very fortune cookie.

>264 sibylline: Happy New Year, Cousin Lucy! And well, as resolutions go, that's not a bad one, to keep eating that is,

>265 tututhefirst: Yeah, that's not so much a sentence as a Zen koan.

>266 London_StJ: Well, it makes sense, it's my thread for the past ten days...still, I'd resist it as well. *smooch* dear Crypto!

>267 ronincats: Well, THAT worked! What a great resolution! More bookstores. Snap!

>268 Chatterbox: I will as a matter of course link to my reviews in my other threads, but cross-posting obviates the point for me...I don't have the tidy powers to separate categories, except physically.

Nice explication! I'm still not feelin' it as a resolution, I must say.

>269 tututhefirst: It's a bleak sentiment, of being completely cut off from their youth, but one I suppose is inevitable when a gigantic transformative event occurs in one's lifetime. Like the rise of the Internet, f/ex.

>270 gennyt: Yech! Quick, go find another book! I won't tell. *shudder*

Richard, stopping by to wave hello and find out how it was possible to have 273 posts already . . . now I know.

My resolution, taken from Homegoing by Frederic Pohl: "But they did the best they could."

Yep, works for me.

Hi Elizabeth! Yeah, ten days of posts add up. I moved early.

That's a very practical one, the Pohl is. I like it!

Oh Richard, I'm afraid to tell you what mine said. It's from Seven Reading Strategies which btw should not be read with someone who is allergic to grammatical errors.

"Change the motion of your guide every ten pages."

>279 cammykitty: o.O

Aaahhh mmm hmmmm isn't that nice

O.o

Just checking in to keep track of you... as I am sure that there will be a new thread by the time I can check in again... I dislike today already :( It feels like part of it has een stolen away.

Happy new year Richard!

I will not make a thread this year because it became obvious to me that I won't find the time and courage to update it properly. 2012 was an awful year and 2013 is expected to be even worse. I hope I can follow your threads during the following months

>281 mckait: Oh dear! Stolen away? That sounds horrible! What's going on?

>282 trandism: Hi Nick! Well, disappointing as that is, I can certainly understand if one's country unraveling before one's eyes takes precedence over socializing.

I hope against hope you're pessimistic, and that the world will right (actually left) itself before another New Year comes.

>226 richardderus:

Ready Player One The shots were followed by a few minutes of muffled shouting and screaming, then silence.
Sheesh!

168 Hours The image she created, of people looking at their watches to remind themselves what day it was, stuck.
Meh! So 2012 for me.

Book porn! It's the Belle-Ile Bookstore and Cafe, in Brittany. And it is *perfection*!

>285 richardderus: Post that over at Joe's Cafe! It would make a lovely corner. Joe's has more corners than any place I know.

>226 richardderus:

The Country of the Blind and Other Science Fiction Stories by H. G. Wells:
"Must you be led like a child? Can you not hear the path as you walk?"

Sounds ominous.

#285 I want to live there!

And from James Madison....."In 1775, as the Revolution began, the twenty-four-year-old Madison became colonel of the Orange County militia, serving as his father's highest-ranking subaltern, drilling and participating in rifle practice.". Holy run-on sentence Batman!! Not much of a resolution there I'm afraid.

#285 Can I have a room like that, please?

Me too!

"The Debauched Sloth" will have to have a real bar, and alternate the books with engravings of sailing sloops and sloths, methinks... combining the nautical with the literary, since we'll be opening in a seagoing town.

But yes, not a bad model!

What does 'sloth' mean?

291. Don't just hang up engravings.
Go the whole nine yards and decorate The Debauched Sloth like a fusion between a library and a ship?

Think


meets

>286 luvamystery65: I don't want to put too many images in Joe's thread...I take up a lot of his room as it is!

>287 norabelle414: Ummm yeah well, that is indeed omnibus and devoutly to be avoided. Pick another book quick!

>288 Cobscook: Me too me too! As for resolutions, it sounds to me like you are being exhorted to join a well-regulated militia!

>289 wilkiec:, 290 Me first!

>291 Chatterbox: Hmmm yeeeeeesss one must nod to the spirit of the place, and Fowey's barely not a marine reserve.

>292 wilkiec: A sloth:


>293 PawsforThought: The top one, yes; the bottom, not so much. I'd feel the need to swab the decks or empty the bilge or something yucky and nautical.

Diana, a sloth is the animal pictured, but it's also a synonym for laziness (possibly because sloths spend a lot of their time just hanging around...) (hence words like slothful, etc.) Sloth is usually given as one of the 7 deadly sins.

>285 richardderus: i have to say this looks very close to my parents' living room :)

Richard, I won't add more pictures to your nearly 300-post thread, but I will give you link to the promised book porn (aka, "my" new library) on my thread.

Oh wow Nick! I'm movin' in with your parents!

298. You have a lovely library! It looks really cosy - I like the dark wood (and the perfect armchairs for reading!)

You're welcome to visit me and/or my parents anytime Richard. I just hope I won't be forced to move with them due to financial problems.

The Sloth, my totem animal. Slow, cuddly and un-bothered by life. I love those little critters.

Hallo, RD! Major work busy - this is my 7th straight day with 2 more to go, I think. If I'm lucky I'll get the weekend off.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading in 2013.

Ah. The Black Box by Michael Connelly. Page 13, second sentence: "Her eyes had distance in them."

Well. Really. Pretty damned accurate, given events of the last 2 years or so. A wry smile appears on her face.

*smooches* Murakamikaze KP aka Horrible

>300 PawsforThought: I love the wing chairs, too. And that beautiful, serene white upholstery on them.

>301 trandism: Thanks, Nick, and I surely hope you don't have to move home, either. After 30, it's just horrible!

>302 LovingLit: I'd've thought the Slow Loris, Myrt. But sloths are about as cuddlesome as gremlins!

>303 karenmarie: Oh my, that's a prophecy not a resolution! *smooch* for Horri-kaze!

Phew Richard Dear.. I read your thread yesterday and I come back today 104 behind.. I think I am going to add your thread to my List of books read at the end of the year LOL.. ;)

>305 MonicaLynn: Heh, well whatever works for you, Monica.

New thread is up!

Rdear,
As always a pleasure meandering through your book porn...I love the cafe and Mary's bookshelves were wood-wonderful! I absopositutely looooved the drawing of trying to get settled reading. It was arfing adorable for starters, and soooo true, so true. In my case, add 6, yes 6 dogs trying to make some sort of contact with me. After a little while they will find a spot a bit further away, but man do my dogs love to sleep! So, I read, they sleep, then I do a few chores and they sleep and when I come back to read, they are... You got it, sleeping. My NY resolution is from my first book this year, Drowned-Behind it the grass is tall, and thegarden ends in a stone wall, which is falling down.- I read it to my husband and we agreed that it meant I needed to keep up with my gardening this coming summer. Yeah, I'll be doing LT. I'll pull weeds, though and Im going to plant lots of morning glories because mine provided multitudes of seeds. I'd be happy to send you some if you have a spot for them. They are hot pink and purple verging on blue trumpets. Just gorgeous!