Richardderus 2013 thread 2

NOT ONE WORD. It's been 10 days, and that's about how long my threads last. So NOT ONE WORD!!

“Maybe Heaven will be a library and then I might get to finish my ‘to-read’ list.”
― Kellie Elmore

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:




Book 1...thread one.

Books are reviewed in post:

2. The Casual Vacancy...#109.

3. Down the Rabbit Hole...#269.

You are just so popular 8)

Hi Cindy! You're first in!!

Hope I can keep up on this tread.

Is the word "LOL" allowed?? ;)

Barely. Just BARELY allowed. *smooch*

Un-freaking-believable! You are certainly loved Richard:-)

Hi Richard! I think I'll just give up on that first thread of yours and start here for the new year. :) Looking forward to your reading!

Gosh I just posted on the other thread. .LOL ;)

Mmphmmm...

>9 brenzi: It's all about the posts!

>10 wookiebender: Hi Tania! I would, in your shoes. 305 posts behind = naaah, never mind.

>11 MonicaLynn: Heh!

>12 Donna828: Oh dear, did that silly 50 Shades boy leave the gag in again? Here, let me take it off for you.

Oh dear.

Day 2: Caught up. Well, never mind; it seemed as though I could do it this year.

>14 Matke: Keep tellin' y'all, this "caught up" is a fantasy! No such thing is possible. It's like "all the laundry's done." Unless you're saying it while you and everyone else in your house is nekkid as a picked bird in whistlin' time, no it isn't.

I gotta say that I'm feeling right at home here with phrases like "nekked as a picked bird in whistlin' time" being batted around! It's like being back home in Missouri. Nice new thread, Richard!

>16 porch_reader: Hi Amy! Welcome home.

It's not the size of your post count that matters, Richard, but the...ummmmm, errrrrrrr, hmmmmmm, no, I can't think of anything clever. I guess I'm just going accept your giant post count with abject resignation.

Ha. Like we could keep quiet. NOT A CHANCE.

You are amazing.

xo

Wow! You go boy!! Oops, I wasn't supposed to say anything! Hugs!

Well, your opening post quashed my first comment so I will just say I love the library picture and quote in your second message.

Ok I am going to de-lurk here because two things really caught my fancy: (1) The Kellie Elmore quote up at the top is EXACTLY how I feel; and (2) the 50 Shades quip made me laugh out loud - poor Donna - to get caught up with the likes of him...

Hi Richard. I lurked ALL last year but am finally ready to introduce myself. And I'm really looking forward to knowing what two books you've had to Pearl Rule so early on in the year!

Happy Wednesday to you. How are you feeling today?

Not one word ? so that means i can have several then ? ..... seriously WOW on the book porn picture

15> WORD .....

.

*sigh* ....I'm just going to resign myself to always playing catch up on your thread ..... nope, not even going to lie to myself that I have enough time in the day to keep up with the party here.

Hi Richard. My name is Mamie, and it has been 88 posts and 1 thread since my last confession posting...

Okay. I just put the thumbscrews to a horribly disappointing mystery, Books Can Be Deceiving, in that thread...post #8.

I can forgive BAD before I can forgive forgettable.

>18 Ape: Hey, two years ago you had the most posts of anyone, so boo hoo about something else!

Like fizzy death-water addiction.

>19 EBT1002: *smooch* So are you.

>20 msf59: *sigh* I never really expected y'all to keep quiet. I was born at night, but it wasn't last night.

>21 phebj: Isn't that library just the bee's knees? The quote makes me long to believe in an afterlife!

>22 katiekrug: Hi Katie, thanks for delurking! Yeah, might've run Donna off with that one, not that that was my reason. It just lent itself to the occasion. See below, one was a HUGELY disappointing mystery set in a small-town library.

>23 Whisper1: Awful. Hi Linda, BTW! *smooch*

>24 roundballnz: You are not too far away to get a spanking, you know.

Yeah, that one's a beaut!

>25 mckait: HA! Love it! *smooch*

>26 cameling: Just remember that there's always, by post 3, a listing of all the reviews on that thread with links, and also links to my other threads.

>27 Crazymamie: ...Mamie, Mamie...hmmm...have I heard of a "Mamie"?
*smooch*

*sighs deeply and goes to fetch the gingerbread pancakes and bourbon laced whipped cream*

Dearest Richard of the Many Threads,

I really have nothing constructive to add, beyond cheekily defying the instructions from your first post in the thread above. I suppose it's a little like playing "ding-dong doorbell" from the comfort of my couch... so...

DING-DONG!!!

*runs away giggling*

>33 dk_phoenix: Heh! Good one, Faith! Cute.

...Mamie? Dearest? Are those Mamie's Famies Gingerbread Scrumptious with the infamous cream-kissed bourbon sauce?! Come in dear, been waitin' on you! Here, have my chair! No, I insist!

So sorry to hear you feel awful. Wish I had a magic wand to wave away the pain.

*Walks in with bowl of popcorn and a ginger ale and gets cozy in the corner comfy chair*

Happy New Year, Richard!

>35 Whisper1: Thanks, dear Linda. I'd let you. But it's not like I'm dying, so I remind myself not to get all down-at-the-mouth about it.

>36 scaifea: Happy happy, Amber! Ginger up that ginger ale for ya?

Rumple-Annie-Stiltskin here

*smooch*

Important Update: I've now abandoned the popcorn for the lovely box of Godiva Truffles, which my Handsome Husband gave me for christmas. Care for one?

30: It takes more than that to run me off. Besides, ignorance is bliss!

>40 scaifea: Oh no thanks, sweetie, I'm not a chocolate kinda guy. Unless there's a hazelnut one? I like hazelnuts!

>41 Donna828: *whew* Glad to hear it, Donna.

TWO WORDS, THREE WORDS, FOUR WORDS, a quarter! If only you'd wait and start this year's threads with the new year. It doesn't help, you know--even though you have avoided one more thread in last year's group, you've already indebted yourself here.

But who cares. It would be just as hard to keep up with you in either case. A rose is a rose...

*smooches*

>43 ronincats: Precisely my point. So do we really need all the tutting? No! Howzabout we all give the "your threads move too fast" commentary a nice, long rest! After all, it's my wonderful visitors who drive the post count! *smooch*

RD - Congratulations on your 2nd thread of 2013. I won't say anything about how many days between threads as I am a little too punch-drunk myself.
75ers 2012/2013 = 9,426 posts on the group home page!!
Challenge group is next = 1,332 posts = 707% the most active group. As posted on the thread of its most active member.

Well, now you just can see how many people enjoy your company, despite the fact that you always emphazise that "you are just a grumpy old man" haha.

grumpy - maybe sometimes - tick
always says what he thinks - tick
extremely funny - tick
very kind-hearted also, he tries to hide it - tick
very good and interesting book reviews - tick
loves animals, especially Stella - tick
and - tick, and - tick, and - tick, and - tick

Hm, anything missing? Please, let me know. However *grin* I think that's already enough to show why people storm your thread and like you soo much.
Ha, you see I didn't mention that you are already on your ............

Have a great day Richard *smooch*

Richard people just like talking to you. Not your fault:)

*smooch* and hoping that you can get away from the pain and get lost in a really good book:)

Good morning, RD!

Hugs and smooches and wishes for a good day.

Horrible

>42 richardderus:: Well, there *were* a few hazelnut ones, but alas, those are my favorites, too...

Whatever, whatever.... If you have a new thread each day what difference? I will get here as I can and try to be attentive and witty. Or not. xo

Since my last post (#7), you added an AWESOME thread topping picture / quote! Yay you!!

Sure wish I didn't have to work so I could keep up with Richard's threads ;0)

Good morning, RichardDear. I am slowly coming out from under a sore-throat-and-sneezing cloud to see the sunshine of a new year. Good to see you so lively on the boards, and I hope your knees give you peace today.

*languidly waving my tail as I slowly disappear leaving only a smile*

Good Morning, dear! What's the plan for today? Is there a plan?

Can we have an edited highlights version???

*waves, and runs off*

54. Yes, please.

>45 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! Good gravy, that's a lot of chatting. It doesn't surprise me, since this group, more than others here on LT, is deeply involved in the AFK lives of its peeps. It's what makes this so much fun!

>46 drachenbraut23: *blush* Now Bianca, when I promised you a check to say some nice things about me, I didn't mean for you to go nuclear. You're much much too kind.

>47 calm: It was too short to get lost in, but I read a good'un. Review here later. The pain isn't going away, though, despite the well-wishes. Poor Stella only got a half-walk this morning.

>48 karenmarie: Hi Horrible! *smooch* It's bright and sunshiney, the wind's down, and it's cold as anything. Recipe for a great reading day.

>49 scaifea: *deflates* OIC *sigh*

>50 mckait: Hello sweetness! You don't have to be anything but here to make my day brighter.

>51 TinaV95: Isn't that a great image/quote combo? I was so pleased! Yeah, that whole "work" thing rots on ice, unless it's one's dream job.

>52 MerryMary: Oh look everyone! It's Cheshire M'Lou! Quick sticks she's...oh dear, just the smile, too late.

>53 Crazymamie: The Plan
.
.
errrmmm
.
.
welllll maybe not so much.

>54 Mercury57:, 56 The Edited Highlights Version
.
.
errrmmm
.
.
welllll uhhh I got nothin'

>55 maggie1944: *wave* Speedy isn't she?

Good to hear you had one good book today. Starting the year with dull or bad books is annoying.

>61 wilkiec: It is! It completely ruins my balance for a day or so. *grumble* Well, this next one is looking good too.

Love, love, love your quote and photo at the top. My idea of heaven includes lots and lots of books and time to read them.

This is creepy...looks like someone is following me and taking my picture as I read on the sunporch!

>63 markon: So completely agree! If heaven exists, I'll be there in the library with a reclining wing chair, a perfect over-the-shoulder reading light, a never-empty gin and tonic, and all my dogs around me.

Oh, and able to read books in their original languages easily instead of laboriously.

*64 if this is how I end up looking if I indulge in too much reading, better stop now...

Now, if only I could learn not to share the knowledge I accumulate so as not to make people mad.

>66 Mercury57: Since I already look like that, I'm no help.

65. If I can exchange the gin and tonic for a cup of steaming hot cup of tea and the dogs for cats, I'm completely down with your vision of heaven.

Also, a variation on your pic above:



(Yes, that is a photo of me next to a few of my TBR piles.)

Heh! I love Gorey's work.

Cats and tea are two things that will never appear in my heaven, but as it's yours there's no issue.

70. Ha, well, gin and dogs would never show up in my heaven so I guess it's a good things we can have our separate ones.

LOVE # 65 I will be in a recliner nearby with all my furkids around me too. :)

Hola Ricardo! Just popping in to ask if you have any more boysenberry syrup for the pancakes. I seem to have run out on my thread. : )

>71 PawsforThought: That's why it's heaven! It's personal.

>72 MonicaLynn: It's about perfect, ain't it? *happy sigh*

>73 Berly: Of course, Kimmers, always ready to help a pal. I found my favorite brand, too:

Oh, thank you kind sir. Mmmmmm!!

*waves* during dash past

>75 Berly: Of course, me lurve.

>76 maggie1944: *waves* at the airspace that once held Karen44

OMIGOSH I had a crisis!

SOOOOO pretty. *drools*

RD- How's Weinerdog Man doing? That sounds vaguely pornographic! Hope you are staying warm and snuggly.

Hi, Honeybuns.

Just my daily check-in.

And a sad word of advice: Govt.-funded health care, while it has its marvelous points, can also be a royal pain the nether regions, mostly because of timing issues. Never mind; it beats the alternative. Particularly from the price point of view.

ETA: Wing chair for you, sofa for me, okay?

> 56 There, there *pat shoulder*, no reason to blush - to go nuclear from time to time is just part of my - otherwise - very shy nature.

I love 78 :)

>79 PawsforThought: I so agree. Yum!

>80 msf59: I have to take Stella out again in about an hour. I'm steeling myself. *sigh*

>81 Matke: Oh ain't it the truth? One pays for everything in this life, either with time or money. Since I don't work, I pay with time.

I love the chairs! But not a word about coffeetabling. (Of feet, that is.)

>82 drachenbraut23: *smooch* Yeah, it's grand ain't it?

I found the perfect fabric to make that quilt you were requesting earlier...

http://www.nancysnotions.com/product/fireman+guys+fabric.do

>84 scaifea: *beepboopbeepbeepblattblatt*

Hello Nancy's Notions? Hi there, fine thanks, I need to order 10 miles of a fabric...yes dear, ten miles...no, no, not meters, miles...sure I'll hold....

84. Hahaha! I know people who'd LOVE to have a quilt made of that. Imagine: having firemen (plural!) wrap their arms around you!

>86 PawsforThought: *drifts away on a cloud of firemen*

Speaking of clouds...



Your first picture really gets me. I have a thang for spirals... one day I'm going to have a spiral staircase. It'll be in my castle. I WILL HAVE A CASTLE.

cloud of firemen
Sounds like a Georgette Heyer regency title, no?

>88 ErisofDiscord: I like that GIF!

>89 cameling: That'd be the NEW GeorgeEtta Higher Drag Queen romance line. And I will totally read it when it's published.

88. Of course you will have a castle!
I will have a mansion with a library and windows large enough to sit and read in.

>78 richardderus: yup. That's it. My utterly all time super duper uber favourite reading room. It is the dark (all the way to the top) shelves and sink into your heaven soft couches.
If I was on pinterest, Id pin that sucker, and then get one installed :)

>1 richardderus: not one word, I promise. Just three: Holy guacamole batman!
:)

Everywhere! All the time!

^^^^ :)

93. Surely it's book o'clock everywhere all the time!?

I was born at night, but it wasn't last night.
Perhaps my favorite saying of all time.

>91 PawsforThought: A worthy dream! Windows big enough to read in. Yes.

>92 LovingLit: That one's about perfect.

>94 curlysue: I know, right?

>95 PawsforThought: If we're using my clock it is.

>96 EBT1002: Lawsy me, I've said that since who whupped the cat. I don't even hear it as funny anymore.

But...but...but...if I don't say anything, it might hurt your feelings!

>98 tloeffler: And yet you've managed to cause me irreparable psychic harm in only 12 words, TLo.

*faints in mental anguish*

Terri

I think you need to apologize to Richard in person. Come on back, stop and grab Stasia along the way, take a plane to Easton and we will hop a magic bus and rent a car and harass Richard in person.

Perhaps we can do a tour of all ugly churches on Long Island before we get to Richard's house.

Oh, all right. You can have ONE dancing boy.

*smooch*

>100 Whisper1: I'm down with that plan! Ooops...*resumes huddled posture of misery*

>101 tloeffler: Listen to Linda...I'll let you keep the dancing boy! Unless it's Lars. Or Osvaldo.

Stasia is NOT on the way by any stretch of the imagination! But never fear. I have no solid vacation plans this year outside of Joplin, so who knows what wild ideas might attack before the month is out? Stranger things have happened (like that first time...)!

How to Come Uncomfortably Close to Burning Up Your Kitchen, by Little Richie D., age 53 1/4.

1) Put 8 cups of water in your stockpot.
2) Throw in a palmful of salt.
3) Immerse ham bone plus miscellaneous orts in salty water.
4) Turn burner on medium low (3).
5) Forget all about it. For four hours.
6) Assume dog wants to go out early when she nose-touches elbow, paces, and sits in the hall instead of all snuggly warm in her bed.
7) Suddenly smell acrid smoke.
8) Hurry down stairs barefoot because you got no time to put the shoes on!
9) Push ruined stock pot off burner, crank hood vent to high, open kitchen and front doors to let in balmy 24-degree breezes.
10) Notice you're not wearing trousers because all Southern Regions are doing their dead-level best to crawl inside.

11) Breathe huge sigh of relief that a) smoke alarm didn't go off and 2) nothing important caught fire!

The end.

ROFLMAO.....#104....been there.....done that, although I think I skipped step #10! Breathing sigh of relief with you that we did not have to be treated to Little Richie D's assessment of the quality of 1st responders in your area.

Holy Moly, Richard! Glad you et al. are okay!

Oh! and Oh! Don't do that again, please.

>105 tututhefirst:, 106, 107 It was so stupid simply to forget it was on the burner! Sheesh. What a maroon, as Bugs Bunny used to say. Simply glad nothing hideous or irreparable happened.

I am also a little surprised at myself. I'm not usually inattentive! Just slow upstairs today, I guess, since I also forgot it was trash day tomorrow until this happened.

Review: 2 of seventy-five

Title: THE CASUAL VACANCY

Author: J.K. ROWLING

Rating: 3* of five

The Book Description: When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils ... Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

My Review: This was going to be a nastygram to billionairess Rowling, all about setting up expectations and not meeting them, blah blah blah. What cheek. Some little man, well littler than I used to be for sure, sitting with his netbook perched on his lap pillow querulously tapping out a chastisement of one of the world's richest, and most deserving of it, writers.

Plus, I was wrong.

This is in no way an inferior book, it's not badly crafted, it's got some snarky sparkly characters, and it's telling a story quite akin to the one in Peyton Place. And that book's been in print since long before I was born. (Well, maybe not long exactly, but before.) (It was TOO before! Quit muttering.)

What it isn't is the problem. No, not Harry Potter, of course it's not; but it's also not groundbreaking and amazing. It's a solid, middle of the pack read, and we expect Rowling to bowl us over with imaginative flights and eternal verities expressed pithily by wildly romantically named characters. She tells us a right good story. She hits on all imaginable human foibles. She puts some amusing and cutting lines in the mouths of her ladies. I finished the book because I kept thinking about Pagford and its peeps. Now that is an achievement that most writers don't manage, making me think about their characters after I've put a book down.

So why the mingy three stars? Because in the end, I was wrong to be snarky and dismissive of a well-made book, but I wasn't wrong to want a writer with Rowling's track record to wow me again. She's done it seven times before. Why not this time? It's what I'm craving. So please Ms. Rowling, please, tell me another story when, and only when, you feel The Tingle and have the goods to deliver.

And thanks for silently teaching me to get over myself. It's a valuable lesson. Every time I learn it, it gets more valuable.

>104 richardderus: close call RD! Funny, we are on the lookout for a cheap stock pot at present, I guess you are too now :)

Im glad you liked her new book- I have heard a few radio reviews saying in a similarly surprised way, that they liked it too, against all hope. Ill await its arrival in the 2nd hand stores and grab one eventually :)

love the library shot at the top... I'd just have to hope my books were on the lower stacks! LOL

R dear...as always a terrific review of a so-so book. I've not yet decided whether to put it on the list, but at least now I have some intelligent assessment to aid in the decision.

>110 LovingLit: Heh. Yes. A nice HEAVY one.

By the time it's a year old, there'll be copies for a buck all over the place. This ain't keep-to-reread stuff.

>111 suslyn: But the elevator! All glass and stuff, with that lovely view down six stories and a glass roof to make it almost invisible!

>112 tututhefirst: Thanks, Tina. It's not one I think you'd hate, but unless you're a-hankerin' after a sudsy Brit-soap, don't sprain anything getting it.

Exactly... that's my problem! I don't do heights well at all :) Took me forever to get comfortable on the balcony of our 6th floor apt. And then I think it was only possible because it was actually the "roof" of part of the apartment below....

Oh dear, Richard...I've come close to burning pots myself. It's very scary.

Was it the Rowling book that was such a distraction? :)

Hello Richard! >64 richardderus: something is amiss! Where's Stella? Going straight to thumb up your review of the Casual Vacancy. I've got it on my queue at the library. It'll be a while but that is fine with me.

Janey is the name of the book with the tart tongued broad. I was scouring your 2012 posts looking for it but it was your first posted review of 2013. Boo my library does not carry it.

Sending feel good thoughts your way.

>114 suslyn: *big innocent doe eyes* Oh really? Goodness, I must not have known about your crippling fear of heights when I wrote that. Tsk! I should pay more attention, he chortled. I mean, said with remorse.

>115 Copperskye: Alas, yes. Had it been a comely young prince, I'd've let the fire burn.

>116 luvamystery65: Oh good heavens, of course it was! Janey will be a tough find in the library. Amazon Marketplace, used.

If I had one dollar for every post I am behind in your thread(s!) already, I could pay off the national debt! (N.B. That is "NOT ONE WORD". It is multiple words. Not guilty by reason of technicality)

Happy New Year good sir, and thank you for the holiday tidings on my 2012 thread. Trying to keep my head above water and stop by more often!

TOM!! *smoochiesmoochsmooch* Happy to see you! Have you made a thread yet? I'm on overload looking through the main page, and the threadbook, well, the threadbook makes me sob in fatigue.

Now it's time for your spanking, for flouting the rules and attempting to technicality your way out of it.

Good grief can you not impose on somebody to do all your cooking and cleaning for you? Oh I forgot marriage didn't agree with you!
Seriously be careful I don't want anything to happen to you dear fellow - at least until we get to meeting up hahaha.
Acted quickly on your advise - bought Woe to Live On at lunch time.

Nice review! Heading to thumb it now.

Richard - soooo pleased that you managed to survive the stockpot saga. I'm pretty expert at burning pots.

Enjoyed your review. I'll end up reading Rowling's book but probably later in the year. Sounds like one I'll quite like, not having any high expectations.

109 > Nice review there - don't we all want Rowling to wow us everytime !

60 > "Oh, and able to read books in their original languages easily instead of laboriously." add me to that list sadly languages are not my forte unless you count mathematics ....

You know, I didn't really have any desire to read Rowling's new book, even though I'm a healthy-sized Potter fan (Tomm and I listened to the last book again on this most recent holiday drive), until I saw her on The Daily Show. She, very matter-of-factly, essentially told Stewart that conservatives are dumb for thinking that people on government aid are not worth it and a burden - she was one of them in the UK and she was able to do amazing things because of it. She also stated that as a now very rich woman she is happy to pay her fair share of taxes, knowing that some of that money may go on to help others like her. What a cool lady. So now I want to read it just to support her endeavors and because I admire the woman behind the words.

I'd like to be able to say that I don't make my own stock because I'm adorably scatterbrained and would likely repeat your accident every time I attempted it, but the reality is that I'm just too lazy to fool with it.

Amber, that same interview sparked my interest as well, but in the end I think I'll leave it (confirmed by Padre's review).

104> oops! I hate when that happens... sorry about the soup :P

The Casual Vacancy... I have been avoiding it for fear of what you describe. I want her books to bowl me over. I have no doubt that I will try reading it, but I am not in any rush.. and will leave it for *someday*...

>109 richardderus: That's a beautiful review, Richard.

>120 PaulCranswick: It assuredly did not. At all. Didn't like much of anything about it. Woe to Live On? Oooh. *awaits news of Paul's sobbing, miserable breakdown from the shocked Hani*

>121 TinaV95: Thank you, Tina! I appreciate that you said so.

>122 avatiakh: I burned a roasting pan once, a big glass one full of yams in sludge (I hate yams). That was my first, and to last night only, experience with it, and it was scary!

I concur, I think you'll like the new Rowling, and hope it's so!

>123 roundballnz: Thanks Alex! *shudder* at the mere notion of having to read mathematics...my very worst nightmare. I tried reading The Monty Hall Problem and felt as stupid as a fourth-grader trying to read Ulysses.

>124 scaifea: I was a fan long before that interview, but I edged into new fanboy heights after it. What a right-thinking woman. What an example to the greedy of how societies SHOULD work.

Stock isn't hard. But the cubes work fine, too.

>125 London_StJ: I suspect you'd loathe it, Crypto, I can hear your lip curling all the way from Long Island.

>126 mckait: When it comes in to the liberry with no holds on it, that'll be a good time to tackle it. Just go in with no expectations to speak of, and it'll go much easier. *smooch*

>127 norabelle414: Nora! How doubly nice to see you here and get a compliment! Thanks.

>104 richardderus:: Oh, really, Rdear. You *must* stop doing these things. I'm so glad no serious damage was done to house or person.

>109 richardderus:: Really good review, and a fantastic last line. Love it.

Happy Friday!

>130 Matke: Me too! It was scary.

Thanks, loveycuddles! It was so chastening to write that instead of a nastygram...and happy Friday to you too!

I added my thumb to the heap of them for your review of A Casual Vacancy, Richard, and what a weird image that was.

Your review exactly matched my thoughts about Rowling's new book without my ever having read it. Remarkable.

Loved that Edward Gorey poster you were given. I passed it on to my bibliophile god-daughter.

>132 jnwelch: Thank you Joe, for that off-kilter and mildly repulsive image of a pile of thumbs. *shiver* Well anyway, vote of confidence appreciated.

I'm still torn on The Casual Vacancy, though I may be the perfect audience for it since I haven't read any of her other books. Gasp! I know, I know.....

katiekrug ----- what?????? ;)

Richard -- *drive by smooch*

>134 katiekrug: I don't think it should be your highest priority by any means. I do think that, as one who has never rung the till for JK Rowling, you owe her one book purchase as a form of "literary lioness tax."

>135 TinaV95: *smooch*

Little Richie,
Sheesh!!! NO MORE FIRES.

Stella. Smart dog.

Katie, I've only read the first of the Harry Potters and they still let me hang around on LT.
I have no idea why this dispensation has been provided.

>137 EBT1002: Stella is very smart, and I am a fool for not paying attention to her. Won't make that mistake again.

Dispensation is provided because "dum spiro, spero." Y'all can't see the error of your ways unless you're among The Elect.

By the way, sorry I "yelled" at you (as it may have looked with the all caps thing). I have a tender spot when it comes to house fires (or potential house fires).
I heart Stella even more than I already did.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss..... xo

Have not read Potter and still on LT. Is there a glitch on the site somewhere? yikes!

Stay outta trouble today would ya?

>129 richardderus: I'm trying to be less lurk-y in the new year :-)

What Nora said!

Hi Richard, great review on The Casual Vacancy, also I can't see myself reading it. I think I enjoyed Harry Potter too much and still can't my head round that she wrote something completely different. :)

I wish you and Stella a great and comfortable weekend without any house fires :) *smile*

*echos compliments on review of Casual Vacancy*

>139 EBT1002: I don't perceive it quite that way, so I wasn't all bent out of shape. Emphasis, was what I saw. *smooch*

>140 mckait: I'm sorry, we can no longer be friends. Cats *and* Potterlessness? No. Insupportable. Hie thee hence, Philistine.

>141 norabelle414: Goody!

>142 Ape: Which time?

>143 drachenbraut23: Thanks, Bianca, and I am so completely in accord with the weekend wishes it's like my thoughts came out of your keyboard.

>144 drneutron: Thank you, Jim! It's nice to see you here.

WTH?I read all the Potters.. someone up there didn't (Katie?)

Don't be silly. I have read them all at least once and seen all the movies at least 3 times...

And I adore cats

>147 mckait: OIC

I misinterpreted your post 140 as a confession, not a chastisement! I'm sorry, I was completely off base.

But the cats thing...really...toxic spit and all. *tsk*

Book porn!

I am so glad you, Stella and the apartment survived!! It's not nice to scare your friends like that. Bad man!! Ambivalent on reading Rowling's latest and your review was right in line with that position. Maybe later...Have a safe day.

Cross-posted and missed the latest book porn--nice!

Heh, me too Berly-boo, me too! I won't dismiss Stella's abnormal behavior again for sure. Thanks for the compliment on the review, I'd say that should be the standard behavior.

And yeah, ain't that some luscious book porn?

I also thought Kath was confessing and felt better. Now I just feel worse... I have a copy of the first Potter book, I just haven't ever actually, you know, read it.

I, too, wish to confess my almost pathological lurkifying. You have been my primary form of entertainment, Richard, while I scarf down my wretched lunch at work and on numerous other occasions. Many thanks. Especially for the book porn. And the reviews - yours are probably the best reviews on LT.

OK - back to lurking...

Oh gosh that stock story is scary. Pleased it was no worse.

Still haven't got around to The Casual Vacancy though it is on my maybe list and I liked your review.

>152 katiekrug: *there there, pat pat* Now, we all know these little things happen in life. We won't judge you harshly. Persist in this turpitudinousness, however, and Paradise shall ever be closed to thee. *significant glare over glasses*

>153 Fourpawz2: Gosh 4P2, what lovely compliments! Thank you.

>154 calm: Thanks, calm, I don't think it's All That but I do think it's worth reading.

Errm, once you get to know me better, you will realize Paradise was closed to me eons ago!

Paradise...the Celestial Library with all extant books and unlimited reading time and food and drink brought to you by your most desired fantasy object on demand...all for the price of a few Pottery hours....

Well in that case...

*smug little smirk* Job well done.

You're only jealous .. you can't have a cat and I can. Neener neener

>160 mckait: Why, exactly, would I want to share my home with an evil, disgusting, toxic spit-having, poop-in-the-house little bundle of nasty meanness? Yuck.

Shall I tell you about my week-long visit to my MIL's home where she has 8 cats? And my SIL brought her cat, too, and then adopted ANOTHER one while we were there? And they are allowed everywhere including the kitchen counters. Where food is prepared! And there is hair everywhere, including in my dinner sometimes. And God forbid you move one off a chair so that you can sit down, because "the cat was there first." Every Christmas I want to run screaming back to my own house where there are only two cats (they came with the husband, I'm afraid, but he was worth it) and both cats are forbidden from walking on flat surfaces other than the floor.

/rant

Wow, I really come out of my shell once I de-lurk. Sorry for the wordiness.

So glad that all is well there, Richard, and that your mishap ended well. *leaves bone with big red bow for Stella* LOVED your review of the new Rowling book which I have on my shelves but have yet to read. Well, said, as usual. Thumb for you, as usual.

Hi! New to the 75 group -- thanks for the review of Casual Vacancy. It's still on my list but I will keep expectations low.

You can probably get a new stock pot cheap at IKEA. I love that your dog is named Stella. Do you get to be all Marlon Brando when you call her?

#162 Now that's a nightmare!! Hair in my food. Yuck!

>162 katiekrug: Heh, no joke Katie! That shell's but a distant memory! I don't mind a bit. Ranting is allowed here.

>163 Crazymamie: Thank you, Mamie me lurve, it's nice of you to say so!

>164 banjo123: Welcome Rhonda, glad to have another Portlandian visiting me. You know Berly, of course, so you're all prepared for the shenanigans around here. Much calmer than that nutso Berly's madhouse!

>165 Berly: Oh ummm hiya Berly! So, well, read any good books lately?

"The Mind's Library" from a deviantart page

ok, that's a little creepy ....

#104 you made me laugh out loud when I reached #10 and I scared the crap out of my dogs! They are used to a quite home when I am home alone and the crazy lady at the table laughing shocked them!

#109 Curious, would you have given it more or less stars if it was by a different author?
It definitely wasn't a new Harry Potter quality book, and I agree with your statement of it being an enjoyable middle of the pack type book but I wonder if an author can keep up the amazing-ness over time?

#109 Curious, would you have given it more or less stars if it was by a different author?

Good question!

As for cats.. mine have rules too.. I work hard to keep a clean house.
And my cats do live here for a reason. They are nicer than most people.
Just like my dog.

>168 cameling: Creepy?! This from a woman who has a Chucky doll on her filing cabinet? :-P

>170 ChelleBearss: Glad you were laughing! Well now, when I went back and re-thought the whole enterprise of reading the book, I rated it as if I had never heard of the writer before. As close as was possible, anyway. When I asked myself, what would I give this if it was by Kathleen McStay, I came up with three stars and so that's what it got.

>171 mckait: I grant you that a cat would be nicer than Mao, or Stalin, or Pol Pot. But MOST people? Now Dunkers, yes of course, nicer than the huge majority of the non-LT population. No question!

>142 Ape: Which time?

Both times, and all times apparently.

OIC!

Well rdear, you have it almost right...LOL

>175 mckait: *sigh* Someday I will right the brain chemistry imbalance the Minions of Satan have inflicted on you, and you shall revert to the canids.

.

Ha! I haven't seen that one in a while! Still cute.

Stella is an amazing pooch to be sure. Glad your stove mishap turned out ok.

Adding my adulations to your review of The Casual Vacancy. I think it's the most fair review I've seen of it so far.

Glad that The Adventure of the Forgotten Crockpot had a happy ending. Hug that wonderful pooch.

>179 Cobscook: Thanks a bunch! I'm pleased it's getting so many compliments. Stella, of course, deserves her adulatory comments.

>180 jadebird: Heh, STOCKpot Ren. If I had a crockpot, this wouldn't have happened.

Okay, that slip reveals that I rarely use either. *hangs head in shame*

Not everyone can be a Domestic God/dess, no worries. And it looks like my card is in danger of being revoked!

Demoted to just a demi-god, then? Or imp? :)

Katie, I love cats but that is tooooo much!!

Hi RD! Good review of A Casual Vacancy. You actually upped my chances of reading it someday. Hope you are keeping warm & snug.

was that pre pea soup that you destroyed?

*psst* Katie, I haven't read any Rowling's either :)
plan to
but not in a rush

scrolling through the baglog quickly....until my eye stopped on #167.....this old lady saw it as a commode with the seat up!!!! Sorry..........................

I have nothing to say. But stopping by anyway!

RD - your fingers must be blistered mate from all the typing today! I am with fellow magpie Katie in never having bought or read anything resembling Potty Harry, no intention to either.
Have a great pain and accident free weekend.

>184 jadebird: I'll go with demigod, instead of imp, thenkewveddymahch.

>185 EBT1002: *studiously ignores Ellen's admission of poor judgment and moral turpitude*

>186 msf59: We're all cuddly warm inside the house! We will venture outside for ONE more walk. *dreads*

>187 curlysue: Your awesomeness quotient (A.Q.) gives you leeway, Kara.

>188 tututhefirst: ROFL! I love it! I appear to be the image's booster around these parts.

>189 tloeffler: *smooch*

>190 PaulCranswick: I'll do my best, you terrible excuse for a human being. Don't let the Forces of Light cause you any severe, disabling accidents on the drive south!

167 > Now that is the best book porn yet ...... pinching it now

It's thee and me, Alex, so feel free!

creepy book porn.
i like it

And Kathy makes three! I think it's so evocative of what it *really* feels like to have a well-furnished head.

Oh dear no way to cancel the book order it has already been despatched!

btw 500 posts up already for 2013 (503 to be exact).

> 167 creepy and COOL!

Ooh, I love the book porn. *drools*

Have a good weekend, Richard.

That latest book porn looks a little dusty, much like how my own brian feels most of the time...

All of the un-Pottered folk are giving me a headache...srsly

What I got from this thread: "Lalala... RICHARD IS NOT NIGELLA... Lalala... DOCTOR WHO!... Lalala... PRETTY PICTURES TO STEAL... Lalala... THE CASUAL VACANCY IS WORTH READING... Lalala... PARTLY COS JKR IS AN AWESOME LADY... Lalala... CAT HAIR." Did I miss anything important?

To go back to the JKR thing, I read all about her when I was about twelve or thirteen in an 'unauthorised biography' and fell in love. That hasn't changed. The woman tells a great story (especially when it has magic in it, OBVIOUSLY) and she is SUCH a good role model. A rags to riches story that comes from intelligence and imagination (rather than getting her boobs out for magazines or becoming a reality TV star, ugh), and a lady who pours a lot back to help people from abusive and destitute backgrounds. AND in interviews and things she seems just like she always did, pleasant and funny and polite. LOVE.

P.S. Richard, Richard, did you see, did you see? I managed to leave a post on TWO SUCCESSIVE THREADS without missing them altogether! *pats self on back and goes in search of a celebratory cookie*

Love the spiral library in the beginning, and the 'brown leather' one around the middle.

Oh I'm just too behind to catch up . Smoochies. Hope you're feeling betetr and reading an awesome book :)

>167 richardderus:: I do wish people would stop making unauthorized use of that picture of the inside of my head...you, Rdear, are of course allowed to use it as you see fit.

I read the first three Potters quite some little time ago. If time and volumes ever permits, I'll read the whole series. As if.

Hope the pain level is low, Honeychile.

~~~~Waves Dear Richard~~~~ Okay instead of playing catch up how about I am trying to keep close to being caught up on your thread.. LOL.. Love the book porn, Love the descriptor on burning down your kitchen and Love the firemen material.. And of course Smooches and Love to you Richard..

Just stopping in to wish you a lovely weekend, dear.

>197 PaulCranswick: Heh. Poor Paul, hoist by his own generosity petard. Over 500! Wow. Busy New Year!

>198 drachenbraut23: Hey Bianca, I so agree! It's beautimus.

>199 wilkiec: Diana, I know! Right? Cool and lovely! Thanks, you do the same.

>200 scaifea: I am so so so NOT housework oriented that it didn't cause me an eyelash bat. *smooch* for a dusty ol' Amber.

I just go limp at the number of posts on your threads, dear Richardo, so I'm afraid I often just hang my head and limp away.
>78 richardderus: is awfully good, isn't it.
A belated Happy New Year, with all the best wishes for a good 2013, particularly in matters of health and luck!

>201 mckait: Just remember to feel sorry for them, it's your christian duty.

>202 elliepotten: I'd say that's a fair summary. Who says skimming stuff isn't a good way of absorbing the gist? Rowling is an amazing human being, for all that she appears also to be controlling. I'd say her giving back to the society that gave to her negates anything questionable about her short of animal abuse.

Gold star for posting in every thread of mine for 2013!

>203 sibylline: Cousin Lucy! So happy to see you! I, of course, attribute your excellent taste to our family connection.

>204 BekkaJo: Yep, that what I hope too. *smooch*

>205 Matke: Oh dear Gail, I forgot to ask you first. I am so sorry. Pain level is high, drat the luck, because my beloved poochie decided she needed to kill a squirrel *RIGHT NOW* and forgot I was on the other end of the leash. Well, she *is* a predator. Can't act all surprised and offended.

>206 MonicaLynn: Sounds like a plan, Monica! It's really and truly the only way to stay sane in this chatty group of the gently mad.

Hugs, smooches, and love right back!

>207 Crazymamie: Hiya Mamie! I'm starting a little late today because of dog-related shoulder problems, but I'll get over there to return your lovely wishes.

>209 tiffin: Heh, well Tui you know I'm a chatty person under normal circs, and so are a lot of others, so it's only necessary that you find a way to feel comfortable. I'm always happy to see you when you're here.

Now THAT ship would know all about that iceberg ahead.

>214 tiffin: Heh, indeed. The Ship of No-Fools!

That's my kind of ship!

Mine too, Diana. Soooo beautiful!

Whoa, that ship is too cool!

>134 katiekrug: I'm still torn on The Casual Vacancy, though I may be the perfect audience for it since I haven't read any of her other books. Gasp! I know, I know.....
*GASP*
(me too)

>177 mckait: LOL - I havent seen that before, and I like it.

>210 richardderus: Gold star for posting in every thread of mine for 2013!

And (da da da daaa da daaa) for multiple postings in every thread of 2013 and 2012.....Maude/Marigold/Maggie (wassmy name again!?) gets.....the titanic bookship! Unsunk please.

>218 jadebird: Ain't it, Ren?

>219 LovingLit: Myrt! How lovely to see you. Now trot right out and ring the till for that nice Ms. Rowling. Maybe some movie DVDs.

That titanic bookship...woooowwww

ship book = good.
tired,cold and whiney :P

Rugs in washer.. dishes in sink.. :(
I am off to finish off my day so I can put my feet up and relax.
AND my *(&^%$^&*()&^%&*()*&^%&*(&^%&*(&^%&%$##@$%^&*()_ nspace bar is giving me fits.

Space bar? Whaaa...? That sounds like a weird problem. Hope that clears up soon.

But, those poor books will get wet and be ruined! Couldn't they just be on the inside like insulation?

You can't see the force field, TLo. Never would I consent to a book's willful destruction! (Unless it stank. Like some I could name *cough Fifty Shades cough*

I haven't read Fifty Shades, and won't. I am astonished at the insanity over that one..
oh well..each to their own!

I'm with you, Kath. Nothing I've heard has tempted me to even consider it. But it has obviously appealed to quite a few people, so they don't need us!

I'm relieved, Richard. I guess the nature of force fields means they can't be seen. I'm glad to know it's there!

Terri: Ha! I had the exact same thought at first - those poor wet books!

Hi, Richard - hope your Saturday evening is pain-free (or at least pain-lessened) and book-ful.

checking in to see if you are feeling better

I have The Casual Vacancy on my shelves and so skipped reading your review.

I started it and put it down.... just couldn't get my mind around JK saying "fuck" in a book.

But perhaps it is time to revisit the non-Harry-Potter world of JK.

But we also watched John Carter and now I'm interested in reading the Mars series by ER Burroughs..... they're on my shelves too.... lurking.... waiting to be read.

Anyway, happy weekend!

*smooch*

Oooo; a Book Boat. Now *there's* a cruise ship I'd like to be on right about now.

Sending positive, pain-chasing energy, my Dear man.

>225 mckait: Sweetienubbins and I read it together. Unimpressed.

>226 tloeffler: Now really...what would induce *me* to destroy books? (Except the stink-o ones.)

>227 scaifea: Not pain-free, I fear, but quite bookful indeed. *slobber* A wonderful book to review.

>228 Whisper1: Hi Linda, not physically but psychically. *smooch*

>229 karenmarie: Well, if you already own The Casual Vacancy, yeah why not?

Heh. Be prepared...A Princess of Mars is free on Kindle, so no money is at risk.

>230 Matke: Thanks, Gail! *smooch*

Richard.... Skimming sitting in the hospital... I have TCV on my shelf but maybe not anytime soon now!

Love the book "ark"!

Riiichaaard, I oops left a message on the 2nd thread and Im so delirious i keep starting this one and falling asleep. See you yhjjhKN:-)m
I mean look at thi. C u tommoorty mb

I like that ship too! And glad you didn't burn the house down. Good Stella!

Very nice Titanic bookship.
I hope you're having a good weekend, Richard.
xo

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

To all!!

>232 TinaV95: Hi Tina, isn't that ark somethin'? Trotting over to yours to check on hospital....

>233 mmignano11: Night night, Mary Beth. Sleep well.

>234 ronincats: No kidding, Good Stella! I too am relieved not to be in the 35-degree night without a house to care for me.

>235 EBT1002: Hiya Ellen, pretty mellow so far. Pork chops, rosemary roasted taters, and avocado cucumber salad for dinner made me a happy boy last night.

>236 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! *smooch*

237. Oh, lovely. Can I please live there?

Marking my place on the "new" thread before it becomes obsolete later today. Happy Sunday, Richard!

Happy Sunday to you as well, Richard!

Morning R.D.! We are sharing the same posters! Good taste, huh? I love that Book Liner! That represents my coming book year.
I hope you are warm & snug, with Stella at your side and a good book in hand.

Hi RD!

I got A Princess of Mars for 25 cents at one thrift store or another.....

I do admit that the 1963 Ballantine edition is yellowed and hard to read. Perhaps I'll re-kindle the Kindle with a more readable version. The cover art is cool, though.....

Have a Happy Sunday!

*smooches* from Horrible

>238 PawsforThought: Hmmm...I shall consider your application for inheritance upon my demise.

>239 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl, I'm going to 300 on new threads so mid-week. Happy indeed, I just ate buttermilk pancakes!

>240 drachenbraut23: Thanks, Bianca!

>241 msf59: Oh my yes, it's a beauty! Enjoy your reading day.

>242 karenmarie: Yeah, that's the problem with the old paperbacks. They're brittle and yellowing and not useful as reading copies. More than once, anyway.

*smooch*

Happy Sunday, Richard ..mmm...buttermilk pancakes are the ticket. I had a spam spread sandwich for brekkies .. *evil Mutley laugh*

I'm not one of the Spamophobes, though I admit the spread sounds *horrible* to me. When I lived in Austin, I went to Spamarama every year and tried the weird and wonderful creations the professional chefs came up with. I *liked* Spam Cordon Bleu a lot, but had no success reproducing the dish and the chef wasn't sharing his recipe.

Hi Richard! Your review of The Casual Vacancy is the first one I've seen and you have helped me decide that I will give the book a try.

I'm glad that major disaster was diverted in your kitchen and I hope Stella got a big hug and a treat.

>246 tjblue: Hi Tammy! Oh yes indeed, Miss Stella got a lot of pats and more treats than ever. I'm glad my review helped you make up your mind.



I know I do....

>247 richardderus:: It's really deadly when they are eating all the time, like those pesky Hobbits!

Huh! Now I know why reading cookbooks is so fattening!

When I read Charlie and The Chocolate Factory all I wanted to do is eat chocolate bars.

LOL --- I am thinking of all the times I look up from a book, saying to P (quite out of the blue from her perspective) something along the lines of "sometime soon I want Mexican tortilla soup" or "we need to go out for Pad Thai this week." The latter occurred more than once while reading Colin Cotterill.

>251 tjblue: I know the experience you mean, but I don't like chocolate.

>252 EBT1002: Heh! The adventures of living with a true biblioholic.

Book porn!

I got Mastering the Art of French Cooking by the incomparable Julia for Christmas and want to try EVERYTHING I've read about so far - admittedly this only includes sauces and eggs.....

Yum! When shall I be there for the practicum?

Wow, you are spoiling us today with beautiful book porn and brilliant quotes..... and did I hear someone mentioning buttermilk pancakes? That sounds absolutely delicious. I have never had this type of pancakes. Do you have a recipe for them Richard?

>257 drachenbraut23: Bianca, I use this one and oh my my is it wonderful.

#254 6th Jan and I already have drool stains on your thread. Sorry.

Thank you soo much Richard - they look - sorry *drool* LOL. I have to try them as soon as possible Alex and my little self both LOVE pancakes.

I also have to apologize for the drool stains *big smile*

*mopmopmop*

Good gracious, girls, didn't your mamas teach you to keep a hankie handy? I swaNEE, the mess around here...!

I also make buttermilk pancakes from scratch (1971 Joy of Cooking) - and I always use real maple syrup and real butter to drench them in.

Practicum, eh, Richard? I'll have to let you know. So far we're in the reading and drooling stage.

:)

OMG!! Book porn galore & a wonderful sounding pancake recipe???

My, my, my.... Is this thread heaven or what?!?!

lurking....may as well pile on to la-la-la pile...

lots of book porn...

and pancake porn..

xo

>244 cameling: Always with the Spam ;)

My tummy is growling.

119 > Smooches and spankings? I'm getting such mixed signals!

Thread created and threadbooked

Review: 3 of seventy-five

Title: DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Author: JUAN PABLO VILLALOBOS

Rating: 4* of five

The Book Description: “A brief and majestic debut.” —Matías Néspolo, El Mundo

Tochtli lives in a palace. He loves hats, samurai, guillotines, and dictionaries, and what he wants more than anything right now is a new pet for his private zoo: a pygmy hippopotamus from Liberia. But Tochtli is a child whose father is a drug baron on the verge of taking over a powerful cartel, and Tochtli is growing up in a luxury hideout that he shares with hit men, prostitutes, dealers, servants, and the odd corrupt politician or two. Long-listed for The Guardian First Book Award, Down the Rabbit Hole, a masterful and darkly comic first novel, is the chronicle of a delirious journey to grant a child’s wish.

My Review: First, I must get this off my chest: THIS IS NOT A NOVEL. At ~35,000 words, it could be called a novella, a work of 15,000 to 40,000 words (definitions vary on this point, but ALL definitions include 30,000-40,000 words in them and this is that length) that features fewer conflicts than a full novel and more complex ones than a short story. I don't think it's a novella because it's a first-person story and features only one fully developed character, Tochtli (“Rabbit” in Nahuatl, relax we'll get there). It's a récit , a form of narrative that has a simple through line, is told from one PoV and quite often in first-person present and past, and offers little in the way of contextualization, of “world-building,” as it's all in the narrator's PoV. I hate the publisher and the trade folk yip-yapping NOVELNOVELNOVEL about a 70-page (generous margins, several blank pages in the text) so as to get over the reading public's aversion to “lesser” forms. How about we review the piece as it is, and urge the reading public to read it without misleading them? Someone buying a novel expects that it will do what novels do, really explore one or two conflicts with results and resultant changes in characters' lives. Not happenin' here.

Well, okay, I'm all shouted out now.

Terrific story, this one of a drug king's kid and the many oddities paranoia and isolation have allowed to blossom in him. The names, all taken from Mexico's major native tongue of Nahuatl (the Aztecs spoke it), are all of animals...the narrator's name means Rabbit, his father's name means Rattlesnake, his tutor's name means Deer, and on. They're all like gang nicknames, playing on the culture of nicknames that describe some major thing about a person. Rattlesnake? How can you not perceive a drug lord as a cold-blooded, dangerous, venomous critter? Rabbit? Scared, small, needs to be hidden away—suits our narrator's life to a T.

Translator Rosalind Harvey has done a marvelous, if British, job of rendering a precocious kid's usages and crotchets into spottily adult language. I haven't read the original Spanish, so I don't know how faithfully she's reproduced Villalobos's original, but I suspect quite well. The language has that certain “feel” that good translations do, a kind of smoothness and polished gleam that speak of quality made from quality. That Tochtli is an odd kid is to be expected, that he uses (frequently!) words he's just learning is to be expected, and since those words...sordid, pathetic, devastating...are a little above his actual grasp, the author's use of them in the kid's mouth makes several very trenchant points.

Yolcaut (Rattlesnake) watched the news with me and when it was over he said some enigmatic things to me, First he said:
“Ah, they suicided her.”
And then, when he'd stopped laughing:
“Think the worst and you'll be right.”
Sometimes Yolcaut speaks in enigmatic and mysterious sentences. When he does that it's pointless to ask him what he means, because he never tells me. He wants me to solve the enigma.
Before I went to sleep I looked up the word prestige in the dictionary. I learned that prestige is about people having a good idea about you, and thinking you're the best. In that case you have prestige. Pathetic.

(p21, American softcover edition)

It's all part of building the reader's awareness of the twisted, strange, uncomfortably exaggerated natural parental protection of our kids. Other details include Tochtli's always painful stomach cramps that the doctor can't find a cause for, Tochtli's obsessive passions for things like being a Japanese samurai who's mute and therefore enigmatic (!), his endless list-making. The kid would've been strange no matter what, but Yolcaut (Nahuatl has no dipthongs, so say each letter as if it were a Spanish vowel or a Basque consonant) being what and who he is has made the problems giant-sized.

It's a disquieting little thing, and it's quite darkly amusing, and it's—Praise the Muses!—it's original. It's balm for a weary-of-~meh~ reader's soul. You'll love it, or you'll hate it, but you won't walk away wondering what it was that you just read.

>262 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I'll await patiently the "experiment, moan, and slobber" phase to which I expect I shall be invited.

>263 TinaV95: I like it, Tina. It's got some tacky visitors, but it's still home, :-P~~~~~

>264 tututhefirst: Come back, Tina! I've posted a review!

>265 mckait: That pancake porn is gettin' pretty durned hard to ignore, isn't it? *smooch*

>266 LovingLit: Spam ain't so bad. Spam SPREAD sounds like the Devil's Own.

>267 EBT1002: Mine too.

>268 ty1997: Visited, posted, starred. Spankings are averted.

For now.

269> Lovely review, but now *I* want a pygmy hippopotamus.

>272 ty1997: I *so* want to spoiler something here. So so so want to.

One big thumb for #269...and i agree with you about the "categorizing" of shorter works

*Smooch*, Sweetie...

Nice review, Richard! I just went to Amazon to look up the book, wondering if the 'novel' push had anything to do with price (it doesn't seem to) and laughed right out loud that the title there is "Down the Rabbit Hole: A Novel" *snork!* Then the sneaky thing jumped right onto my wishlist. Sigh.

Love the review. Down the Rabbit Hole goes into the Someday Swamp.

Love the shout even more.

I think pancake and book porn are the perfect combination! LOVED your review - going right now to thumb it! Hope you have a marvelous Monday.

Great review of the novel(la) by Villalobos RD. Love the ship of books by the way.

Good review, Richard! Thumber from me.

>274 jdthloue: Thanks, Jude! Isn't it maddening to see something slightly crooked going on and not be able to do one darn thing about it?

>275 scaifea: Thank you! Ya know, Amber, these little 'uns are a sneaky and untrustworthy lot. They'll pop past you quick sticks and there you are wondering how THAT happened.

>276 swynn: Hi Dr. W! Heh, thanks, I'm pretty good at shouting.

>277 Crazymamie: How dear of you, my buddy my pal! Thumb much appreciated. It's still up near 40 so I can't fail to have a very nice day.

>278 PaulCranswick: I appreciate that, Paul, and yeah--the Titanic of Tomes is somethin'.

>279 jnwelch: Thank you most kindly, Joe!

Went to thumb your review; touchstone led to somethng completely different, some sort of mystery novel. Just sayin'.

And a good week to you, Dear Man.

Never mind. It was the link in >276 swynn:, not your link. Duly upgethumbed.

hi :)
it's a small word... not a big one, not a long one, and it will not be just one word by the end of the post :D ...you said "not one word"...hmm, so I am keeping with the rules.

Sooo, few points beforehand:
- you stolen my dream room, the one you post it on msg 78, shame on you :P
- I am giving up to read all the posts before me
- yes, I will write here from now on, so there :P

I liked your Rawling's review, made me curious to read it. You are right mostly, although is so easy to fall in the modern fad of writing so people don't forget you or just so your editor stops ringing :P

>281 Matke:, 282 *clutches chest, reels backwards in horror*

*reads next post, becomes calm again*

Gail...the stress...that Peter Abrahams book drove me completely spare as I was putting up my notices to The Assembled of the review's existence.

Nice review of Down the Rabbit Hole; you liked it a bit better than I did, and I was miffed that I spent £10 on a 70 page book two years ago. Hopefully you paid much less for it.

>285 kidzdoc: It's only $12 here, but I don't buy any of the books I review, I get 'em from the liberry. No way in heck could I afford to buy any books!

Thanks, yeah I liked it, and I think there's something to be said for the way the author gets the feel of the kid's world from the narrative form. But in the end, it's a slight entertainment compared to the expectation raised by calling the little thing a novel.

*lurks* *skims* *drools over book porn* *lurks **skims* *drools* *skims* *lurks* *drools* *reads review* *skims* THERE! I'm caught up. Jeebus.

Next thread tomorrow, so you can start all over again, Linda3rd! Your exercise central is always open.

ye gods... tomorrow?!

Lookin' like it, yep. Almost to 300!

I get 'em from the liberry
I absolutely LOVE our libraries. I could easily spend a day in any one of them, especially this one.

Its a crap photo, but the view from there is so cool, straight past the pier out to sea.

Good review of the Villalobos. Fabulous book porn, the ship and the globe......

Stunning photo, Megan... *green with envy*

Helping out with your post count.....LOL

Great review of Down the Rabbit Hole!

Adding Down the Rabbit Hole, the not novel, to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review, RD.

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx for today

Great review! Thumbs for you!!

>291 LovingLit: Oh my goodness, that is an amazing view! That it's from a liberry makes me so jealous!

>292 sibylline: Thank you, Cousin Lucy!

>293 mckait: Don't you just want to smack her?

>294 Cobscook: Thanks! The post count was languishing for a minute. Not! I appreciate the compliment about the review, too.

>295 alcottacre: Oh yes, yes, I think you'll like this book, and thanks for your kind words.

>296 TinaV95: Oooh, even a thumb! You're a sweetie, Tina, and are you and Lisa still at the hospital, I hope not?

Just stopping in to see what's up here. I hate being back at work and not keeping up...

Well, just making sure you hit 300 before tomorrow. There you are welcome. Smooch.

>299 katiekrug: Welcome, and I remember the times when I was chained in a cube with severely limited social time. So glad that bit's over!

>300 Berly: *smoochiesmoochsmooch* Oh boy oh joy, time for a new thread. Yippee.

Just as I got here...

I love my library, but it's dangerous that there a branch right across the street from my condo. Too easy to acquire books and ignore the ones on my shelves. (Such a burden, I know!)

My heart is bleeding for you!!

>302 tiffin: Ain't it always the way, Tui?

>303 ty1997: Boo hoo. My liberry is about a mile away, and that's close enough!

>304 Berly: I know, right?

#254 - Oh la la, look at that book porn! I'd take that if I can't get my castle. Maybe I should just take that instead of the castle. I'm sure castles are a pain in the arse to heat.

I am so glad you didn't burn your house down. Reading about things like that is scary, let alone experiencing it. I've had a few kitchen accidents myself, despite my tender years. The grandest one was burning plastic in my parents pressure cooker. Two hundred bucks all for naught. I'm a genius.

Heat, and CLEAN! And polish and dust. Any big house takes a boatload of time, effort, and money to run.

*smooch* but I have to ask...whatinahell were you doing putting plastic in a pressure cooker?!?

It wasn't like that, I swear! Here's what happened: I was putting the kettle on to heat up some water for a cup of tea, only I accidentally turned on the wrong burner to high. I turned on the element to the pressure cooker, which wasn't being used but had its lid on upside down on the stove. The lid has this plastic thing on top of it (which I'm sure has a better name than "thing" but I'm not very good when it comes to keeping track) and well... it got melted in the cooker.

Sigh. So embarrasing. *blushes and runs to Tumblr to find a suitable pretty gif to make self feel better*



Souffle Girl makes everything better.

Ah. Well, that makes sense. Thank goodness it wasn't some errrmmm ill-advised science experiment or something.

And Clara does indeed make all things better.