Richardderus 2013 thread 22

Artist: Jacek Yerka

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 2 & 3...thread two.
Book 4...thread three.
Book 5...thread five.
Books 6 & 7...thread seven.
Books 8-11...thread eight.
Books 12-19...thread nine.
Books 20 & 21...thread 10.
Books 22-25...thread 11.
Books 26 & 27...thread 12.
Book 28...thread 13.
Books 29-31...thread 14.
Book 32...thread 15.
Books 33 & 34...thread 16.
Books 35-38...thread 17.
Books 39-42...thread 18.
Books 43-45...thread 19.
Books 46 & 47...thread 20.
Book 48...thread 21.

Books are reviewed in post:

49. No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics...#121.

50. Christian Nation: A Novel...#245.

51. The Transparent Society...#269.

52. Lolita...#282.

I got my birthday present a little early: Jeremy saw my disgruntled bellow and, instead of surprising me on Saturday, came today and spent time with me. Lovely man.

Ooh, love me that picture up at the top, Richard! And hurrah for Jeremy, disrupting your gruntles.

Wonderful!

Happyhappy happy dear man!

Yummy!
Love the grid in the background :)
Personally, I prefer my books little tidier, but when you have so many....I guess it could happen!

LOL -- yes, that is how I expect to die, buried under a blizzard of books. It's only a matter of time.

Hi Richard, it's about time I visited your thread again. I love the new pic, an avalanche of books sounds about right...

Sorry to read about unwelcome house guest for your birthday weekend. I like the suggestion someone made to treat the whole week as your birthday, that way you get to have several good days where you can mark the occasion in the easy you want with whom you want and without intrusions.

I've got a b'day coming up next week too, same day as Linda - I recall from past years that ours are close together.

RD - My weekend is about to start - wishing you a great one yourself; you'll be only a day older not a full year and it is only the number that changes. Enjoy, dear fellow and congrats on #22.

Wonderful opening image Richard.

Your Jeremy does sound like a lovely man.

Hope that your weekend goes as well as possible.

*smooches* for you and Stella

Good morning, Rdear. Hope this weekend is as peaceful as possible.

I wonder when that artist painted my den. He's a quiet, unobtrusive fellow; I didn't notice him at all.

Morning, dear! What a lovely surprise from Jeremy! And happy new thread! Wishing for you a day full of fabulous!

Happy Day Before Your Birthday, RD!

smooches from Horrible

>4 ronincats: Isn't it lovely? I was so pleased to find it!

>5 maggie1944: Thanks, Karen44. Much happier.

>6 LovingLit: Heh, I suspect that's not entirely a design decision, that grid...but to me, it added a layer of meaning, setting the chaos of story against the order of the world.

>7 Chatterbox: I suspect I will too, Suz. I will most certainly not complain to Cerberus should that eventuate...what a way to go...though I'm not lookin' to hurry up the day's arrival.

Great thread topper, Richard. Happy new thread!

>8 gennyt: Hi Genny! So good to see you, fellow birthdayite! I hope you're settling in nicely. Sending hugs!

>9 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, merry my-birthday to you! I'm not among those fussed up by growing older, since I compare it to the only other possibility and find that older-vs-deader resolves in favor of older every time.

>10 calm: Thank you, calm...I was charmed by the image, the naive joy of it. He certainly is. The best thing I've ever picked up in the library!

>11 Matke: Heh...I suspect he has his own piles and piles, like all of us here. The weekend will pass as they normally do now, I'll stay in my bedroom to avoid being belittled or insulted. I've learned better than to complain, no apology is EVER forthcoming. They are, you see, always Right.

How two people can be such spoiled, stupid adolescents when they're both closer to 100 than to 30 is a mystery to me.

>12 Crazymamie: Hiya Mamie! I'm amazed. He was going to come on my actual birthday and was a little bummed that he didn't in favor of making me feel better. I was able to convince him that using his unexpected time off from school to come and see me *at all* was a gigantic and welcome surprise.

>13 karenmarie: Horrible darling! *smooch* So happy to see you amid the sea of 12-hour days. Next week is your comp day, right? Have you lined up something to read?

...what a silly question...

>15 wilkiec: I love it, too, Diana! I'm glad to see you here. Are you well and happy these days?

RD - my comp day is today, now!!! I'm home, finished up the newest Jack Reacher, cleaned up the kitchen, started laundry, and am going to get my nails done!!!! Major excitement.

I might start reading Shanghai Station by Bartle Bull, or, for bookclub although I'm not looking forward to it, The Orphan Master's Son.

Or maybe something else. The joy is being able to choose, right?

*smooch*

I'm battling an optic neuritis and a couple of inflammatons, caused by the MS, these days, but that apart I'm happy. Counting my blessings :-)

>19 karenmarie: Oh boy!! Friday the 13th off is excellent. Any Friday off is excellent. And so agreed, the joy is being able to choose. The Orphan Master's Son sounds pretty effin' bleak. On a comp day, something jollier is called for!

*smooch*

>20 wilkiec: Optic neuritis is terrifying to me. I hope yours runs typical to MS patients' in general and spontaneously improves, and soon. There are still blessings to be counted, and wise to count them!

I agree....no Orphan Master's Son for you on your birthday or week, something brain candyish would be much more fun. Love the thread topper but darling, did you have to go and show everyone my junk piled office/library? Kisses, hugs, and birthday fun.

>22 tututhefirst: Mea culpa, me lurve, I should've posted a disclaimer reminding everyone that this is NOT Tina's typical housekeeping. That'd throw 'em off the scent!

I'm enjoying The Moon Hoax...it's hilarious reading, 175 years on.

No The Orphan Master's Son for me today. One woman in our bookclub is fascinated by "The Orient" - most of her books take place in China, Japan, or SE Asia. Blech as a rule.

Mrs. God by Peter Straub came in today's mail (Bookmooch), so I think I'll give it a whirl.

I've never heard of that Peter Straub book. In fact, I've *still* never heard of that Peter Straub book. *walks firmly away from keyboard*

I am not caught up at all.

I did find you though.. pity points for that?

Straube hugh? I like him...

I'm never caught up. I now don't even think of it as an option. *smooch*

Who or what is this "Straub" of which you speak? *walks firmly away from keyboard again*

I agree witheveryone else, and having just recently read The Orphan Masters Son, would not recommend anyone read it on their birthday or a glorious Friday day off from work.

Howdy Richard!

So I've never read any Peter Straub before and it sounded good. So far it's interesting.

It is a glorious day here in central NC.

*smooch*

Mr D, wishing you a happy birthday from over the pond, love the picture that opens your new thread.

>28 Cobscook: *smooch* Heidi!

>29 karenmarie: ...what was...I can't...quite...hmmm well, whatever you said, Hi Horrible!

>30 johnsimpson: Many thanks, John! I'm so pleased that everyone seems to like the picture as much as I do. I found it blissful and evocative to look at.

ATD, RD! So far it's good. It's a ..... gasp! .....novella..... something I don't usually read.

Almost time to wish you an official Happy Birthday.

:)

Am I first???

Singing loudly (& mostly in tune)

Happy birthday to you!!! Happy birthday to you!!! Happy birthday, dear Reeeeecharddddddd!!! Happy birthday to you!!!!

Oh, and screw the nasty beeocth. ;)

Happy b-day to you!

(That's the unofficial second verse!)

Lang zal hij leven
Lang zal hij leven
Lang zal hij leven in de gloria
In de gloria
In de gloria
Hieperdepiep
Hoera!!!

Original Dutch birthday song

Smooches!

Good morning, Birthday Boy! Your maple bacon cronuts and coffee are ready.

   

A very Happy Birthday to you rdear xoxoxo

Have a great day, my friend. Enjoy this cooler weather!

Have a great Birthday Week, dear sir! Remember the Entire Universe shook on the Day You were Born. (the original sez the Univese Danced, but I thought Shook might suit you more).

Good Morning Richard Dear :) Wishing you a wonderfully Happy Birthday full of Fun, Books and more books. Oh and Smooches from Angel and I to you and Stella.

>32 karenmarie: It's time now, so I'll say thanks for the birthday wishes, dear OLD Horrible. *smooch*

>33 TinaV95:, 34 Aww! Thank you, Mrs. Lisa, for the kind thoughts and encouragement. Much appreciated.

>35 wilkiec: Thanks, Diana! It certainly *feels* lang, this leven of mine, on some days. Today's a perfect, perfect fall day, cool and sunshiney, and that's the sort of thing that makes me think leven lang makes sense.

>36 kidzdoc: ...maple...bacon...cronuts...*swoon*

I'll be okay as soon as I get that coffee in me. Thanks, Darryl! Perfect birthday surprise.

>37 mckait: Thank you, Kath, I suppose being born wasn't the mistake I've suspected it was. *smooch*

>38 msf59: Ha! You were watching Stella and me walking this morning, I see. I love that sign, Mark. I shall reserve and deploy on a certain OLDER THAN I AM postal worker.

>39 maggie1944: Shaken, not stirred...I suspect that's correct, Karen44. I think the Universe did the Watusi the day I was born.

>40 MonicaLynn: Thanks, Monica, from Stella and me to you and to Angel. We're so thrilled that it's cool and pleasant! *smoochings*

What a wonderful image this is.

It would be, indeed.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie. Hope the weekend flies by quickly for you.

#49 made me smile right out loud.

B day smoochings.

>51 Matke: Thank you, my dear Danvers. I know what you mean about that image! It's haunting, isn't it, and so moody and evocative.

Happy Birthday love. XX

>53 BekkaJo: Thank you, dear Bekka! All the way from Jersey, no less. *smooches*

Ain't this cool-lookin'?

Happy Birthday, BigDaddy!

>56 Crazymamie: YUM! Thank you, Mamie, what a lovely birthday tipple.

Happy Official Birthday, Youngster.

From Your Dear OLD Horrible

harrumph

>58 karenmarie: Heh. *smooch* Thanks, Your Venerability!

I've been shamefully neglectful of the Short Story group and my reviewing of collections. Bad me.

The most recent collection I've read and reviewed is Full Frontal: to make a long story short by the former Doctor, Tom Baker. It's here in my thread.

Happy, happy Birthday, Richard!

Happy birthday, Richard

>61 ronincats: Coffee art! Thanks, Roni, that's lovely.

>62 cameling: OOOOOOOO Key lime pie! Slurpsome! Thank you, Caro.

I've realized I never reviewed The Merry Misogynist, so must get to it before you leave me entirely behind in the series.

I just received a copy of Slash and Burn today and I am soooo tempted to drop everything else and just dive right into it.

I can see why! A pitcher of something intoxicating, a plate of something tempting, and a book guaranteed to be addicting...what bliss.

Happiest of Happy Birthdays to you dear Richard! Thanks for being the wonderful person you are and thanks for making me feel so welcome in the 75ers group. You are appreciated!

Happy Birthday!

>67 Cobscook: Thank you, Heidi! Praise beyond my deserts, I'm sure, you fit right in here the minute you came in. Sending hugs Mainewards!

Thanks, Jim! It's a good day when one wakes up...everything after that is gravy.

Okay, whichever one of y'all klonked The Dread Rudemeister and read her the riot act, thank you.

I wasn't expecting much. I made my usually delicious pineapple upside down cake, shut up Darryl and Caro, because the last time I made it there was an incredible disaster and it all spilled over the sides of the pan. This time, not that...I yanked a bottle of extract out of the cupboard and dropped some into the batter. It wasn't vanilla. It was LEMON.

Hmmm. We shall see if that's okay when it's cut later.

But the Dread Rudemeister gave me, and this is as sweet as I can imagine, a peanut butter swirl ice cream AND bought next weekend's napoleon cake for me! It was an unexpected and welcome surprise to have any sort of gift from her.

Then the Gruesome Twosome *extended*themselves* to be charming to me, and gave me a lovely Williams-Sonoma cookbook! There are three recipes I want to try already, one for spoon bread made with butter (!) and one for a yum-sounding sole Rockport; and I've always wanted to make a Kugelhof, and there's a recipe for an orange-flavored one in here.

So how lovely, compared to the rather grim evening I was expecting. I suspect the half-bottle of Dewar's I've had might make some difference, but what the hell, booze is distilled to be drunk in emergencies and THIS QUALIFIES!

Happy happy birthday!
So glad to hear it turned out to be a great day after all.
I say keep it going XD

Okay, whichever one of y'all klonked The Dread Rudemeister and read her the riot act, thank you.
The super psychic powers of the Librarything connection maybe?

>72 avidmom: I dunno, but frankly don't care! It works for me. Plus I had mozzarella and prosciutto and chips and onion dip for cocktail snacks. I'm skipping dinner because my knee is killing me. But honestagawd, I don't need it after the snicky-snacky. Then cake. Not too shabby!

good

Amen.

Yay for whatever magic occurred that made the day less gruesome than you envisioned! Long live LT's mojo! :)

We all love you Richard!

^This may only be virtual, but I hope you can have a tumbler! It's on me!

>76 TinaV95: Awww! Mrs. Lisa, you say such sweet things! *smooch* It was one helluva mojo-ing. I'm so pleased.

>77 msf59: OOO Yes, please!



Start at the front and keep a-goin'!

I missed your birthday! :-(
I hope you celebrated in high style. Good bourbon?

>80 EBT1002: ELLEN!! P *didn't* send you to sleep with the geoducks! It was full of better-than-expected surprises. That will do very nicely.

So now you can enjoy the rest of the weekend and carry on with that good feeling!

I'm glad!

So pleased to hear about the unexpectedly good day. Hope that today is just as good, or better.

Often--so often that I the Clueless Woman saw a pattern--things we expect to be dreadful turn out to be at least acceptable, even splendid; things we joyfully anticipate arrive as complete disasters.

Glad this one went well for you.

Happy Birthday Richard - I was traveling from Florida to Vermont yesterday, lousy excuse, but true. Sorry to have missed the festivities.

That gigantic coffee cup is so great.

And I also love that gryphon/warrior scene.

>82 mckait: Oh no no no. One couldn't allow THAT. Sigh.

>83 calm: It was better than expected, and that's a plus! Today we're back to usual. Well, okay.

>84 Matke: I suppose the answer to Life's Mystery is, based on that, to expect the darkest and grimmest in all situations. I can do that.

>85 sibylline: Thanks, cuz! No need to apologize, no one *must* wish me a happy birthday, it's purely optional and nice whenever it happens.

Hope for the best, expect the worst.

You'll never be gobsmacked.

Happy Sunday, dear R!

How'd the pineapple upside down cake come out? It doesn't sound unreasonable with lemon extract, actually..... coconut, maple, or licorice, on the other hand, would have been a no-starter.

>87 karenmarie: Actually not bad at all. I prefer the vanilla version, but this isn't bad at all. It's 65° and sunshiney, so it's beautiful, and that's enough right there to keep me happy.

Sunshine here, too, in central NC. Temp is 70F, going up to 81F.

Simple pleasures, eh?

Simple ones usually last longer, I'm noticing. Poochie here beside me, coffee steaming next to me, a good Kindle read to dip in and out of...simple. Nice.

Happy Belated Birthday, Richard!

My goodness, you've been entertaining a lot of folks. Poochie, steaming coffee, a good Kindle read .. . you've got the good life going, my friend.

A little something for when you're feeling snackish:

I made a nice tasty pineapple zucchini bread yesterday... I was happy with it. Not many things are as good as pineapple upside down cake through.

>91 jnwelch: Thank you, Joe, and that looks like *perfection* to me! Yummmmmm

Poor Stella just had a bath. I expect she'll sulk most of the rest of the day.

>92 mckait: Pineapple zucchini bread! That sounds quite good. But no, not much beats pineapple upside down cake. Even with lemon in the cake it's good. I like pear upside down cake with maple in the cake, but I admit I'm glad I grabbed lemon extract and not maple for the pineapple one. Maple and pineapple, like Horrible says, sounds nastified.

The celebratory week is just beginning, right, so the fact that I missed sending wishes on the Very Day isn't grievous? I'm glad the universe conspired to make it a decent one, despite your fears. And I think pineapple upside down cake would improve any day at all, as long as it didn't have nasty little bleedingred maraschino cherries tucked into the middle of the pineapple rings. Even coconut flavoring wouldn't have been a spoiler, IMO. Here's hoping for a good year ahead. Salud!

Hi RD- I hope you've recovered after those multiple tumblers! I am being a lazy-bones today but I did start Volt. Wow! I remember you being the first to shout it's merits! This is right in Mark the Dark's wheelhouse.

>94 laytonwoman3rd: There is no time limit on greetings, Linda3rd, especially given your recent, ummm, scare I guess is the right word. I'm happy to have good wishes whenever and whyever they're delivered!

Those plasticene cherries are not to be found in my living quarters. They are urpsome and not a little scary.

Oh goody good good, a Volt: Stories convert! He's definitely one the bleak scale, so I guess it's no surprise he appeals to your Grim Reapery side.

Well, it looks like the Birthday Boy Train is back on the right track! Whoooooooo Whooooooooo, Whooooooo Whoooooooooooooooooooooooo

I'm so glad the lemon didn't wreck the Pineapple Upside Down Cake! Good on you! New cookbook is great good gifting. I'll be waiting to hear of the new recipe trials.

Great Birthday Week to go.....

>98 maggie1944: I hope to report some good trials...one I really want to try requires fresh sole. Might try it with farmed tilapia instead. Or basa!

Perfect timing to resurface on LT. Happy Birthday Sir!! Smooches galore for you!! : )

Argh, harumph. I missed the party, and the chance to say happy birthday on the day. Belated is good too though, yes? Anyway, since you featured in my dream last night, RD, it must have been the universe telling me to visit and touch base. (you must always listen to the universe when she speaks!).
I hope you had a grand day befitting of your legendary status.

>100 Berly: Hiya Berly-boo! Happy to see you back around. Crazy busy as you are, I'll consider this my sighting and thanks for the birthday wishes. *smooch*

>101 LovingLit: Belated isn't a concept we define re: birthdays, at least not 54th ones. I'm happy to have good wishes any time at all! Sending hugs for what must have been a nightmare. What on earth was I doing in your dream?!

Happy Monday, everyone.

>102 richardderus:: You young whippersnapper.

>103 richardderus:....Ah Heaven....

>104 Matke: Thass me, ever yout'full! *ow darn this arthuritis* and spry as ever! *yeeooowwwch my lumbago*

>105 tututhefirst: It is, it is.

Here's wishing you a post birthday Monday that is wonderful in the extreme!!

Pineapple Yuckside Down Cake causes gout! For the sake of your health, give it up already! Replace said loathsome cake with something more palatable ... like Rum Babas.

>107 TinaV95: I'm a good deal fatter than I was on Friday last...does that make it a wonderful day? I suspect it might.

>108 cameling: Sllly Caro! You typed "rum babas" in place of the ever-delcious pinapple upside down cake! Now no one would know what you *really* meant just reading that comment.

Oooh... dang it, I'm late.

Happy belated birthday!

>110 bell7: Thanks, Mary! There is no "late" when it comes to birthday wishes, though, there's only good and welcome wishes. *smooch*

Allow me to pile onto that teetering bandwagon of birthday week wishes, sir, while the youngsters waiting across the street for the new version of Grand Theft Auto sing hossanahs in your praise.

I'm sure that's what they are doing.

>112 ffortsa: I should certainly HOPE that's what they're doing. Thanks, Judy!

Hi "man in my dreams" (haha), sorry to say it was a last-legs situation on your part. But behind all that was the joy with which you received all the guests lining up to visit you, so it felt like a nice rather than scary dream. :)

Now that the cake is surely gone, what's from breakfast today?

46F here this morning.. and I have mixed feelings. I don't like being cold. But I don't like being hot.

>114 LovingLit: Hiya Maude! Oh dear. I don't feel like dying! No thanks, that can wait. Still, it's nice to think there'd be a good turn-out.

>115 mckait: It's fiftyish today, on the way to mid-sixties. I am *reveling* in it!!! I'd rather put on a sweater and wear shoes than lie in bed naked, AC blasting, as my body dehydrates one bucket at a time.

I am with you on that. It is cool and rainy here today. Lovely reading weather.

One thing I really love about the Pacific Northwest is the cloud cover. The less I see of that damned sun the better I like it. That's why they put vitamin D in milk.

Olympia awaits your eminence.

Review: 49 of seventy-five

Title: NO STRAIGHT LINES: Four Decades of Queer Comics

Author: JUSTIN HALL

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: No Straight Lines showcases major names such as Alison Bechdel, Howard Cruse, and Ralf Koenig (one of Europe's most popular cartoonists), as well as high-profile, crossover creators who have dabbled in LGBT cartooning, like legendary NYC artist David Wojnarowicz and media darling and advice columnist Dan Savage.

No Straight Lines also spotlights many talented creators who never made it out of the queer comics ghetto, but produced amazing work that deserves wider attention. Queer cartooning encompasses some of the best and most interesting comics of the last four decades, with creators tackling complex issues of identity and a changing society with intelligence, humor, and imagination.

This book celebrates this vibrant artistic underground by gathering together a collection of excellent stories that can be enjoyed by all. Until recently, queer cartooning existed in a parallel universe to the rest of comics, appearing only in gay newspapers and gay bookstores and not in comic book stores, mainstream bookstores or newspapers. The insular nature of the world of queer cartooning, however, created a fascinating artistic scene. LGBT comics have been an uncensored, internal conversation within the queer community, and thus provide a unique window into the hopes, fears, and fantasies of queer people for the last four decades.

These comics have forged their aesthetics from the influences of underground comix, gay erotic art, punk zines, and the biting commentaries of drag queens, bull dykes, and other marginalized queers. They have analyzed their own communities, and their relationship with the broader society. They are smart, funny, and profound. No Straight Lines has been heralded by people interested in comics history, and people invested in LGBT culture will embrace it as a unique and invaluable collection.

My Review: I don't like comics, comix, graphic novels, or whatever the hell you call them. It's too much work for too little story to my text-adapted eyes. But, in a quest not to ossify into one of Those People, I continue to expose myself to stuff I hate to see if I hate it, or merely don't understand it.

Nope. Hate it.

At least there were no superheroes. Those just grate on my last nerve with a fine-toothed wood rasp.

So why three stars in the ratings, since I hate the damn stuff? Because this is My People talking! I would give an identical collection featuring straight people doing straight people stuff *pause for bad memories to pass* negative stars.

As an aside to the squeamishly homophobic (read: normal heterosexual male), the amount of gay-male sex in here will make you *intensely* uncomfortable, but there's a goodly dose of lesbian sex to make it better.

As this is a history of LGBTQ subjects treated graphically, it is very very interesting when considered in that light, and shows the increasing sophistication of the audience as material becomes available in greater quantity. The subject matter is, well, pretty much what you'd expect it to be, and pretty much what all fiction is about: Ourselves.

At $35, it's a big investment that I don't see making if you're not GLBTQ or very interested in the history of social-issue artistry.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Those just grate on my last nerve with a fine-toothed wood rasp. All hail the master of the finely tuned phrase. I love this one and will be using it in conversation as soon as possible! Great review of a book and a great description of why I don't like graphic novels too! Maybe you should come write my reviews too?!?!?

>122 Cobscook: Thanks, Heidi, I think...maybe I'll give that whole writing your English paper thing a pass. It used to get me into trouble. *smooch*

Richard, my friend, I am happy to report that I have never slept with a geoduck. I never even let one buy me a drink.

*smooches* from the land of works-too-hard

...Ellen...? ELLEN?! HEY EVERYBODY!! LOOKEE HERE IT'S ELLEN!!

...or maybe it's still P, pretending to be Ellen, whom she has...disposed of...

Hiya!

That is all.

Morning RD! Big hearty waves! Nearly finished with Volt. OMG! It will probably be 5 stars. You and Joe put me on to this one and I owe you a bundle. This dude can write.

>126 Emrayfo: Good HEAVENS it's Aussie Charles!! First Ellen, now the Aussie...I'd best clear up a spot so Amelia Earhart will have room next to Jimmy Hoffa when they show up, too! So how've your travels been?

>127 msf59: Morning Mark! It's a terrific collection and I'm glad it's made a ht with you, as well.

OK OK....I'm get it....Volt goes onto the wish list... mainly because I'm always on the look out for short stories.

Bliss.

Afternoon, Dumplin' Pie.

I really liked your review in >121 richardderus:, but I think I'll give it a pass.

What?!?! Ellen was here? I wasn't going to panic until Saturday.
*pause for breathing to slow to normal*

So, anyway, resting up briefly from ancient tomes, I've been doing record-keeping (yaghhh) getting some reviews lined up, and reading by chance. More like my normal self, whoever she may be.

>129 tututhefirst: I doubt you'll find the quite grim world of the book agreeable, Tina, it's got a good strong dose of violent hopelessness. Be forewarned!

>131 Matke: Howdy do, Mrs. Danvers. I think that's an excellent idea, and one you will not regret. Record-keeping, while dreary, is necessary. I sigh with you.

Darn it .. I thought I could escape from Volt but it pops up here as well. Will my obese wish list ever get smaller? Can you assure me that it's not going to be a set of depressing short stories?

Changed my mind.....I've delisted Volt I've had more than enough grim with this latest batch for the fiction prize in Maine, that I'm resolving to spend about 5 months next year reading cozies, fluffies, southern fiction, and re-reads of all my true reading friends.

Volt! Volt! Volt! You know me, Mr. Subtle.

130... Amen!!! :)

>133 cameling: Caro my dove, Volt: Stories is precisely and exactly that: a set of depressing short stories. It's about people you don't know, from places you fly over, and living lives you have nothing at all in common with. Don't go there.

>134 tututhefirst: I think that's a very, very wise decision.

>135 msf59: Listen, I agree with you, but the book's better served by being in the hands of them as can love it. Apart from Sherrif Helen, there's not one character in the entire collection that wouldn't make Caro's hair stand on end and cause barely sub-lethal collywobbles.

>136 TinaV95: Hi sweetiedarling! How's Mrs. Tina holding up?

Hi RD- Of course, I did not find Volt depressing at all. Just my cuppa. I did find it exceptionally well-written and beautifully crafted.
I saw you mention watching and enjoying Spies of Warsaw. I can't find it anywhere. I think it was broadcast in April. If you see it somewhere, give me a holler. I did love the book.

Amazon, $2 an episode. They also sell the DVD for $15. Rent ep 1 and see if you like the mood of it...the eps are all very consistent in tone.

Note to self: Buy chalk

>140 richardderus: Brilliant
>128 richardderus: Doing well! It's exhausting I tell you, all this not having to work for your crust. Had a great visit in the USA (unfortunately way too busy and didn't get to do so many things I wanted to) but now we find ourselves in London. This Autumn weather is TERRIBLE! New York Autumn is much more amenable to me at this stage. Just as well there are plenty of pubs with flowing ale around and new bookshops to explore!

I didn't find Volt: Stories excessively depressing for some reason, and as you know, I thought it was a terrific story collection. I gave it to my BIL, who liked it, but said, "I don't think of you as being that dark." So maybe it's darker than I thought.

>141 Emrayfo: Ha! Well, it's nice work if you can get it. New York's fall is nigh on perfection, nyah nyah: 23° today, 21° yesterday, sunshine and breezes both days. Take THAT!

>142 jnwelch: It's a great deal darker than the ordinary person would feel cheered by, Joe, which says something for the effects of proximity to Mark on you. But it is perfectly beautiful. And Sheriff Helen needs a TV show a la Longmire.

Oo, I like that idea - Sheriff Helen in Longnightmare. Hmm, maybe you're right. Beers with Mark, the lights start dimming.

The story about the young man taking the girl for a walk...you know...that would make a good Sheriff Helen TV-show plot!

>140 richardderus:: Getting the chalk ready for those who somehow imagine the barred space next to a handicap space would be a good spot for their cars. Something a bit milder for the usually pleasant ancient woman with a handicap tag; she's decided that those spaces are too large and always invites others to share one with her. Life in...well, you know.

#130 - I went to the Friends of the Library Sale in the small town I work in on the way home tonight.... slim pickings. Next Thursday, however, is MY town's FOTLS, which usually nets $20K or so..... tons of books..... bliss.

Oh. Er. Hey, RD! Happy Thursday evening.

*smooch*

I swear, I thought about a Sheriff Helen spin-off too! LOL. What a wonderful character. I hope Heathcock brings her back at some point.

Love the chalk idea! I'd like to use the chalk on some cars that I've seen parking in handicapped spots with obviously NON handicapped persons in them. That just burns me up!!!!!

*Smooches*

We are holding up. I think I have scared Mrs. Tina a bit, as she didn't know there was an ugly side to me, but I'm doing better now so she's less worried. :)

>149 TinaV95:, please remember, some types of handicapping conditions are completely not obvious. Chronic pain, especially in a back, can be completely debilitating. When I first got Rheumatoid Arthritis there was no visible sign of how much pain I had except for swollen joints which are completely subtle. There were times when I could barely walk, or carry groceries. The Handicapped Permits were a life saver.

But I too would love to let people know when they use two parking spaces they are being very inconsiderate.

Oh - that parking photo has made my day!

>146 Matke: A-heh! Life in I-Know has some charms. Not enough to make up for the horrors, but charms and real ones.

>147 karenmarie: Hiya Karen44! *smooch*

>148 msf59: She seems like a good novel candidate, doesn't she? Sheriff Helen made a hit with us'ns, didn't she?

>149 TinaV95: Poor lassie, thinks she's marrying Cinderella and gets the Wicked Stepmother instead... :-P

>150 maggie1944: Having a hanger is enough proof for me!

>151 sibylline: Didn't it? It made mine, too!

Watching latest AusNTM and thinking of you :) Muah!

Happy Birthday Richard every single day of the year! xoxo to you and Stella.

It was only 83 degrees here today. Yay autumn in Houston is here. It will only take another six weeks before we can wear a long sleeve.

I use the handicap spot for Mom when she is in the wheelchair and there is no great spot to drop her off in. When she can walk we park close or when there is a covered drop off I drop her and go park far so the folks that need the spot have it.

Well, Goodreads has just gone batshit crazy again. The site governors have deleted people's reviews and entire collections over some authors' hurt feelings.

It's been a barrel of laughs there today! I am havin' a BALL following the arguments! And I've even been unfriended by a few people!

Good times.

Well then they weren't very good friends now were they? Glad you are enjoying the controversy! Smooch.

Proof that Ellen lives:



Or not.....

>157 Berly: Ha! Well, Berly-boo, I've got something like 1100 "friends" there and about 500 more following my reviews, and most of them I couldn't pick out in a police line-up, so I ain't too crushed.

>158 EBT1002: "How long" is really what you should be wondering.

^ ah yes, but I know you love me deep down.

And I'm hoping you'll forgive me....

Nothing to forgive! One kitten = one eye surgery. Thus is it written and so mote it be.

That is one adorable puppy!! I want to schmoozle its widdle earses!!

^ I know. And I bet it has a schnubabble tummy!! (but don't tell Stella).

But that look.... what is that puppy contemplating? I am sure he is sneaking up on something or someone....

Happy Weekend, dear sir, and I hope the fuss and bother over at Goodreads gives you many good laughs. Autumn has arrived. We have about 5 solid days of rainy, gray days predicted. It feels like we've return to normal. And here's hoping you have likewise comfortable weather and a lovely weekend of reading.

'Morning, RD!

On my first cup of coffee..... nothing major to do this weekend except relax.

Hope your weekend is a good one.

Happy weekend, Richard. Hope you and Stella have a good, relaxing one.

>163 EBT1002: Stella isn't affectionate in that way. She thinks being scratched is the bee's knees, but can't *abide* being stroked or patted. So I resort to the internet to get my schmoozling and schnubbling needs met.

Is that so wrong?

>164 maggie1944: Oh the kerfuffle is amusing! It's nothing that anyone paying the least, slightest bit of attention couldn't, wouldn't, and didn't expect. But the hullabaloo from the inattentive is most amusant.

>165 karenmarie: Yay! A real weekend for Horrible. Increasingly a rare event. *smooch*

>166 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe!

The book circle meets here in about three hours to discuss I, CLAUDIUS, and to eat a celebratory lunch in honor of last week's birthday. *I* will have a napoleon cake, basically a 12-inch napoleon...what *they* will have for dessert ain't my problem.

heeheehee

Pic of Napoleon cake? I need to drool over some sweets.

Hope you have a good discussion at book circle Richard. Enjoy your cake:)

It tastes even better than it looks! *drool*

Ah, Mille-Fueille cake. Did I get that right? I'll bet it's tasty. Never tried it. Hope you have a fun book circle meeting and celebratory lunch. Enjoy the cake!

Napoleon cake, where have you been all my life?!?!

Have a happy B-Day/book day celebration!

Yum! I am crashing your book circle.

I hope book discussion lived up to the bar set by the yummies provided.

Oh yum!!!!!

Sounds wonderful. I may try to make it next weekend - the friends who got married at our house a year ago are coming over the weekend before their anniversary and this is much preferred to the 1-year-old frozen slab of wedding cake in our freezer.

Thanks so much, Darling RD!

Books, puppies and cake is divine. *runs to go find Richard some coffee with spirits in it*

#170 Darn you, taunting my diet so!

Also, hope your weekend is good. *Muah*

Hi RD- I saw some of the hub-bub over on G.R. but wasn't really following it. Stirring up the natives? Hope you are enjoying a very nice Saturday.

Oh, I haven't had a decent Napoleon/Vanilla slice in a long, long time - That is what we are talking about here, right? Most of the local bakeries make these but they are way too sweet for my tastes. I will just sit in front of the computer and drool over the image at #170.

Missed your birthday because I was driving through the tail end of a storm battering the east side of the continent, in what might loosely be termed a vacation. Better late than never, however, so many happy returns, Ricardo, and a splendid year ahead!

Just to certify that the cake was way, way better than it looked... yum yum.

ETA: meant to clarify that it was EVEN better than it looked, exponentially.

Happy Saturday, dear. I have been found.

>169 calm: Oh my heck, calm, that was some YUMMERS napoleon cake! Simply amazing to me that every single person on the surface of the earth doesn't have one of these a year.

>171 jnwelch: Mille-feuille cake is correct indeed. The pastry layers are crispy and crumbly; the pastry cream, unlike many napoleons, is lightened with a strong presence of whipped cream, about half-and-half. Makes the pastry's crispiness stand out even more.

>172 avidmom: Thank you! It was a lovely party. We had pasta marinara with ricotta cheese, insalata caprese, and green salad in addition to the napoleon cake. There were snackings of grapes and strawberries too. I drank myself stupid(er) because my knee hurt so very much. Ice pack, elevation, and a half-bottle of cheap scotch got me through four hours. I will spend Sunday entirely in bed.

>173 Berly: I'd've loved for you to be here. We had a wonderfully satisfying discussion of I, CLAUDIUS in all of its glory.

>174 EBT1002: Oh my, yes! It was delightful. I ate a ton, and so did everyone else. It's so wonderful to see people eating heartily. Makes the work and effort of a party completely worth it. Plus the book was, even to those who didn't adore it, very interesting.

>175 karenmarie: Making mille-feuille is the hard part, and there are packages of it ready-to-bake in the freezer section nowadays. I cannot begin to describe the impact of the yumminess on the mood of the assembled company.

>176 luvamystery65: Coffee, as in espresso, was served; I drank about a half-bottle of scotch; a good time was had by all. *smooch*

>177 BekkaJo: Heh. Did I mention how extremely satisfying the pastry's crunch was, in contradistinction to the filling's rich, creamy deliciousness? *smooch*

>178 msf59: It was a lovely Saturday, thanks! Yep, the natives are restless indeed at GR. Terms of Service were changed to suit authors and commercial interests better. This went down badly, as one might expect, with the unpaid laborers.

>179 lkernagh: Hi Lori! Yeah, the usual way the stuff is made is with plain pastry cream...it's too heavy and it's too sweet for me, too. The local Italian bakery does this much, much better than is usual. Oh my heck.

Cool! You had a great party, and book discussion (and food eating session). Sounds brilliant. And potentially occurring in the same time-period as our little party here, for a certain 5 year old boy.

I saw in the paper here this weekend that the new owner of a well established but many-times-moved cafe is serving cronuts- is that what they are called? A cross between a donut and a croissant? I believe I first heard of them here on your thread! I might have to go have one and eat it whilst thinking of you (and my future cardiovascular surgery).

>180 tiffin: Hi Tui! Thanks for the good wishes! *smooch* and pleased you're home and dry now.

>181 Chatterbox: It ain't a pretty cake, is it? But the fact that it's so perfectly balanced between sweet, rich, and crispy...*drool* So glad you were here!!

>182 Crazymamie: MAMIE!!! You *aren't* dead! I'm so relieved. *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

>186 LovingLit: Ohhhhhhhh cronuts *dripdrool* yyyyyyyuuuuuuuuuummmmmm

My little celebration was a wonderful time, Maudie, but would be even better if you had been here. With the boys. Not, of course, that you would have had any reason to worry about them being spirited away or anything. No no, perish forbid.

*evil Muttley laugh*

Maudie: Hey boys, wanna go to summer camp at Uncy RD's house?

Boys: Ok mum! Sounds fantasmagorical. But hang on, does he like books enough though??

Maudie: *fist pump* (thanks RD!!)

Ice pack, elevation, and a half-bottle of cheap scotch got me through four hours. I will spend Sunday entirely in bed.
Bummer. I hope the pain eases, Richard. You could watch the Seahawks game on telly. I'll be there. I'll be the one in the Kam Chancellor (#31) jersey. ;-)

>189 LovingLit: They'll never lack for bookishness even after I kidnap them! I mean, I mean, even after they come stay with their indulgent elderly hemidemisemi relative. A-heh, of course, that's what I *meant* to say.

>190 EBT1002: Thanks, dear heart. It's never easy being in pain, but it's never entirely about the pain...until the next day. Blech!

^ Uh huh. I know this to be true.
Hang in there.

Damned knee. Glad the rest was lovely, though.
Feel better!
xo

RD - Have spent the weekend struggling to keep up but cakes and cats and dodgy knees are still the order of the day over at yours. The first I love and I agree with you on the distress caused by the other two. My three cats hate me with a passion and my knees make me feel ever day of my 47 years every morning.

Have a great Sunday dear fellow.

>192 EBT1002: As predicted...bed-bound! I even got an unsolicited bedside coffee delivery out of sympathy! Hobbling to the bathroom was a uniquely horrible experience. Ow.

>193 mckait: It was a lovely, lovely day. I had a good time. And I surely hope I'll feel better! *smooch*

>194 PaulCranswick: Cats are tiny little hate-generating black-hole-souled Limbs of Satan. And beware, I understand that knees are a favorite target of their maleficent energy. Ridding your home environment of them is urgent!

I hope your day improves, RD!

Ow, indeed - I am so sorry.

*smooches and gentle hugs*

Horrible

>196 karenmarie: Thanks, Horrible! I expect things will take their usual course and I'll be back to limited mobility by tomorrow. Sad, isn't it, that this is now something I hope for?

*smooch*

Yes, do have a relaxing day today Richard. Hopefully with some TLC the knee pain will retreat at least some. I know how exhausing continuous pain can be, so I know you need to take care of yourself! And I'll send some Relief Mojo to you.

*smooch* You're an angelflower, Karen44.

Sounds like a wonderful bookish party. Sorry you are paying for it today. Hugs and smooches from me in hopes you will be feeling better soon!

Pops in to fluff bed pillows. Refills scotch. Replaces ice pack and delivers smooch.

I've finished and reviewed the second John Ceepak mystery, MAD MOUSE, at my blog. I can't wait to dive into the next one in the series.

It's Banned Books Week, and I blogged about a related Censorship issue today: http://tinyurl.com/kpmuf8w

I worry a lot about literacy's survival anyway...and then someone comes along taking actions that stifle the ability even to discuss books! How long before they succeed in making it too risky to read anything not Officially Approved?

>195 richardderus: Cats are tiny little hate-generating black-hole-souled Limbs of Satan
lol- I know a guy who would say exactly the same thing! He is actually allergic to them so has a little bit of an excuse.....
I have to say that it does break my heart a little bit to see little Lenny hopelessly calling out to our elusive cat. He talks and talks about the one time the cat sat on his lap, and kindly forgets about the times he has been scratched by him. Lovely Lenny.

Hi RD- Just swinging through! Hope your Monday went well. I have the 1st Ceepak book, on audio and it will be my next listen after visiting Dr. Siri, my favorite Lao in the whole world.

Maggie
>149 TinaV95:, please remember, some types of handicapping conditions are completely not obvious. Chronic pain, especially in a back, can be completely debilitating. When I first got Rheumatoid Arthritis there was no visible sign of how much pain I had except for swollen joints which are completely subtle. There were times when I could barely walk, or carry groceries. The Handicapped Permits were a life saver.

I totally didn't mean invisible conditions. My wife has RA and I work with disabled every day. It's one of my passions. I'm talking folks with NO permits (permanent or temporary) OR that use their loved ones' permit for convenience causing someone that actually needs the space to have nowhere close. You know the type of person I mean. Please know I meant no offense. It's just one of those things that I'm passionate about (my degree is in Rehab Counseling and I tend to get a bit worked up over these things). :)

**Smoochie-poo** Richard. Love, the Wicked Stepmother. I'll now answer to Wicked, thank you. ;)

>204 LovingLit: Poor Lenny! You must train him, Maude! Train him in the unvarnished realities of Life: Dickens sucks, and cats are evil.

>205 msf59: Counting the hours until Petoskey, eh Mark? Go on, gloat. *sulk*

>206 TinaV95: Wicked daaaaarrrrrrllllllliiiiiiinnnnnnng! *smooch*

Just a morning read-through to let you know I haven't forgotten you.
That is some ruckus over at GR. What I found funny is the number of people saying LT doesn't provide enough social interaction. Really? Obviously they haven't made much of an effort to get known here. This site is, imo, so much better in every way.
And a better Tuesday to you from Danvers.

Hi there Danny me lurve! I've been shouting at the Forces of Evil most of the morning. Goodreads is a very very different place from LT, with a LOT more social stuff going on. The 75ers wouldn't make the top 100 groups in posts or members over there, and we're the tippy-tippy-top over here.

So it's radically different. As I'm a member of both, I don't think either is Better; I like each for its strengths.

I guess the fact that I although I have a GR account, I never joined any groups, so I seem to be totally clueless about what the current brouhaha is. Need I be enlightened? I have no intention of doing anything with GR other than posting reviews (cut/pasted from here and the blog).

What, if anything, am I missing? Will my life be so diminished that I'll need a beer in which to cry? I can't even find what you're braying about!!!

>210 tututhefirst: Follow the links in my blog post to find what I'm so exercised about, Tina. I don't know that anything about the fuss will impact you personally, but the issue might be of some interest to you as a librarian.

My personal blog post about the importance of free speech for all, in honor of Banned Books Week.

It's Banned Books Week, and I blogged about a related Censorship issue on Shelf Inflicted.

Most of us who read more than one or two books a year rely on some social media or another to find our next book. We talk about books, us readers, and we shouldn't have to worry about what we say or how we say it UNLESS we threaten harm on someone's person. When a social media outlet takes it upon itself to censor what we are allowed to say, the conversation is headed to oblivion and eventually there won't be room for any opinion that isn't GLOWING.

That's a horrible thought. And it won't stop there, either. Happy-clappy fivestarland is also known as the Big Brother is Watching kind of totalitarian state that Orwell railed against. It's a truism that Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, expressed best: "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." When all that's available are second-rate crappy books that get praised to the skies, how does a culture hook readers? Classics?

I don't know about your experiences with English class, but my teachers almost made a TV watcher out of me by teaching to the curriculum and compelling me to read, for example, The Scarlet Letter, and discuss it with the mouth-breathing trogs I went to school with. The curriculum was aimed at the trogs. I was asleep in my corner. Unlike most people, I was hugely lucky in that my mother was a voracious reader who liked to talk about books, and my much older sister owned a bookstore. I watched a few other natural readers who didn't have my advantages sink into indifference.

So I suspect classic books aren't likely to lead folks to reading. In fact, it's my observation that most readers of more than a book or two a year found classics after getting hooked on chick lit, or science fiction, or mysteries, and finding the literary world was chock-a-block with amazing stuff! And quite a lot of them...20 million on Goodreads, at least 2 million on LibraryThing, and the smaller sites are growing...turn to social media for help navigating the *stunning* amount of material available.

So when a big player in the field, like Goodreads, starts a ham-fisted campaign to make opinions nicey-nice, and then makes that error worse with a tin-eared social non-response to the original screw-up, well it's cause for worry. Whether or not you belong to Goodreads, it's going to affect you sooner or later. The chilling effect of censorship is insidious. It's actually not the formal, overt, clearly (or vaguely) articulated censorship that is most harmful.

It is the erosion of your internal sense of freedom. Censorship kills free thought, slowly, quietly, and indirectly. This rule today breeds that habit of avoidance that stifles that thought tomorrow. Who knows what the consequences of that stifled thought will be? A genius stifled, a mass murderer stopped, an invention unrealized...there is no way to know.

But I do know this. The risk of stifled thought depriving the world of good, important things outweighs the cost of hurt feelings and offended sensibilities. Even mine. I don't lobby for the banning of religion or the wholesale execution of gun nuts. I'd like to. I think those things should happen. But the precedent I set by advocating such draconian action EXTENDS TO ME.

Likewise censoring opinions about books, authors, publishers, etc. The precedent set extends to the censors, and those advocating the censorship.

Think about that carefully before advocating that a Rule be Established.

*waves flag*

Wholehearted agreement from someone who sometimes(often) disagrees on book likes. Big love X.

But the precedent I set by advocating such draconian action EXTENDS TO ME. This is what so many people fail to grasp...and Part B is Who makes the Rules?. I wouldn't like all of yours, and you might not like all of mine (note I said "might not"---naturally I would be an extremely benevolent dictator and most people would have no problem with my world-rectifying regulations whatsoever. Ahem)

>213 BekkaJo: Disagrees with MY SACRED OPINION?! Ban her! Ban her!

It's precisely that point that I fear gets lost in the nicey-nicey world of happyclappyland.

>214 laytonwoman3rd: It's the Group, the Community, the Hive Mind! All of us are smarter than one of us! (Forgetting little details like general public opposition to heliocentrism, universal suffrage, et alii.)

You're right, of course, darn it. Each of us thinks as Emperor of the World we could fix it all (and getting rid of religion and gun nuts sure seems like a positive to me), but history, and knowledge of our shortcomings, say nothing but otherwise.

>216 jnwelch: That's the sad, god's-honest truth, Joe.

So well said, RD! You're so eloquent in your passions.

You should run for President next election! :)

*Claps Madly*

I agree wholeheartedly!

>218 TinaV95: Thank you, Wicked my dear. I'm inflamed about censorship always. It is unspeakably vile to stifle people's free thought by gagging their mouths. Even *shudder* Ann Coulter deserves protection from censorship. Though not from excoriation and vituperation!

>219 Cobscook: Thank you, Heidi! Pass the word on.

Just finished reading your censorship column. All I have to say is YES and AMEN!!!

>220 richardderus: Even *shudder* Ann Coulter deserves protection from censorship. Though not from excoriation and vituperation!
Yep. Even if she does gives me the chills on so many, many levels.

#207 - YES!!

And Dubs wanted to stop by to share his melancholy feelings about summer's departure:

>221 avidmom: Thank you! I am always disheartened by the shouts for censorship, even when I want to shout them myself.

>222 EBT1002: Awwwwwwwwwwww poooochie!! So sweet! Thanks, Ellen.

What a great picture of Dubs! I am sad to see our type of summer leave the stage. We did have a super good summer, not too hot, not too long. But soon the leaves will be pretty and I'll be OK with Autumn, too.

Thank you, dear sir, for being so passionate about reading, and freedom to read what you want, and say what you want about what you read. If the issues is "hurt feelings", I'll say "pull up your big boy pants, folks, and just get on with your life".

Hi Richard,

I've followed you over on some other threads and thought it was time I "starred" your threads. I've weighed in on the fiasco over at Goodreads and appreciate your attitude. I started over there a couple of years back, even before finding LT, but I'm thinking of bailing out of GR in protest. What alarms me is that there is a lot of knee-jerk vitriol over there from people who seem to live online and must inflame every discussion, and the level of intellectualism is often wanting. How much Amazon has to do with the decisions that are being made is anyone's guess, but I'm guessing they are behind the hasty, poorly thought-out censorship under the guise of "guidelines." LT, at least among my starred friends, is much more civilized and thoughtful. I guess that can be expected from the original base of librarians. Carry on.

Morning RD- Just a mid-week check in! Hope you doing well and you immersed in some fine reading. The fall weather here has been gorgeous.

Karen Russell, she of Swamplandia! ill-repute (well, with me anyhow), has won a MacArthur "genius grant." $625,000.

Wow.

I am so glad you speak up and out about these things, Richard. Some of us--and I include myself in this--get huffy and snorty about these things but don't actually do anything much. I am so grateful for those, like yourself, who take the time to stand up against this kind of Draconian keerap. Not a member of GoodReads so wouldn't have known about any of this if you hadn't said.

I've made a blog post about why it's easy to see why Goodreads must change its old, open culture of discussion and opinionated debate to suit Amazon's horrendous, untrustworthy Land of the Five-star Review Or Else sales sales sales or bust ethos. It's disheartening still, but it's clear why it had to happen.

>225 maggie1944: Thanks, Karen44, for the support. I'm always hikin' up my big-boy pants. A day doesn't go by but what someone, here or on Twitter or Facebook or somewhere, doesn't say or post something that offends or hurts me. It's called (by me) "not everyone is you" syndrome: others are mere wraiths, pixels in the home movie of the shouter's life.

I don't ever advocate silencing yourself. Say what you want, shout it if you must, but expect the consequences. Those include people not caring, not liking what you said, not liking how you said it, not liking you or even hating you for what you said/did/didn't say/didn't do...the list is almost infinte.

Suck it up, Buttercup, it ain't the first time it's happened.

>226 mldavis2: Thank you for your message of support. It's a lovely gift, and I appreciate it.

>227 msf59: Hi Mark! It's been beautiful here, too.

>229 tiffin: Thanks, Tui. It's not because it's Goodreads that I'm all stirred up about this. It's because someone, in this case the market leader in social networks centered around books, is imposing a gag order on opinions about books. So long as the opinion doesn't contain libelous or other actionable material, it should stay right where it is, in the marketplace of ideas to be voted up or cast out.

Censorship is wrong, even censorship of speech I detest. Creationism is the stupidest, most nonsensical thing I've ever heard tell of in my life. It's not science. It shouldn't be taught in science classes as science, because it's NOT. But the museums dedicated to it, and the teaching of it to those poor innocent kids with the bad fortune to be born to stupid parents in a religious setting, is sacrosanct.

Much as I'd like it not to be.

I've posted my review of ELLA MINNOW PEA today.

Rating: 3.9* of five



This novel is about the unintended bad, and ridiculous, consequences of a very good idea. Nollop, an island off the American mainland, is a society rational and reasonable in its organization and actions. Its usage of the English language rests on the existence of the pangram, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." The founder of Nollop invested the pangram with great significance.

And now, in Ella's time, the letters of the pangram start falling off the founder's statue! And the leaders say, "It's a sign! A sign! Whatever letters have fallen may no longer be used, in writing or in speech! An omen, a sign!"

And the people nodded, smiled, and did nothing to stop the madness. After all, it's the leaders' job to lead, right? And why would the leaders want bad things for us? After all, we all want the best and the brightest to flourish, right?

Of course! Now, take your Soma. Dr. Orwell will be along soon.

As you can see, I'm still hollering.

Book abuse is never OK.

Of course! Now, take your Soma. Dr. Orwell will be along soon.
:)

I've heard of that book before. It sounds like a good one.
*off to read your review*

>233 avidmom: I hope you'll like the book! I love that JPEG.

Our book club is reading Ella Minnow Pea for its October selection. I found it to be a brilliant wee tome with a big and deep message. Never even thought about associating it with BBW until you, most perspicacious one, led me to that wisdom. I bow to your whatever it is.

>235 tututhefirst: These days, it's my "outraged civil libertarian nature." *smooch* It's a whole new look at the book, no? I do so love it.

>228 richardderus: 600 grand! I could use that to further my own genius....

>237 LovingLit: And you'll need an assistant, won't you Megan, say an older, wiser gentleman who is small-boy-tolerant? *batbatbat*

Really must read Ella Minnow Pea... I've heard such great things ~ and now another wonderful plug from our favorite RD!

>238 richardderus: remote-assistant....OK . You're hired, just as soon as I get the 600K :)

You'll be pleased to hear that with my new found apostrophising, I was able to do a first edit of my dads new book, and was able to pick out some mistakes that the publisher/author hadn't noticed yet. And here you were thinking that my thread-talk was evidence of slack use of the English language- gotcha!

We read Ella Minnow Pea for our RL book group and I think the consensus was everyone liked it. Clever book.

>239 TinaV95: I'm a big booster, Tina, it's always (unfortunately) a timely read.

>240 LovingLit: Heh! I'll overlook the one missing in that post...I hope to get hired, after all.

>241 maggie1944: It's clever indeed, Karen44.

>242 richardderus: re #240 Thank you. I wasn't going to mention it either. We can split the 600 grand, ok?

Smooches O' Read and Speak Your Truth Sir!

Review: 50 of seventy-five

Title: CHRISTIAN NATION: A Novel

Author: Frederic C. Rich

Rating: 4.5 appalled, terrified stars of five

The Publisher Says: “They said what they would do, and we did not listen. Then they did what they said they would do.”

So ends the first chapter of this brilliantly readable counterfactual novel, reminding us that America’s Christian fundamentalists have been consistently clear about their vision for a “Christian Nation” and dead serious about acquiring the political power to achieve it. When President McCain dies and Sarah Palin becomes president, the reader, along with the nation, stumbles down a terrifyingly credible path toward theocracy, realizing too late that the Christian right meant precisely what it said.

In the spirit of Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America, one of America’s foremost lawyers lays out in chilling detail what such a future might look like: constitutional protections dismantled; all aspects of life dominated by an authoritarian law called “The Blessing,” enforced by a reconfigured Internet known as the “Purity Web.” Those who defy this system, among them the narrator, live on the edges of society, sustained by the belief that democracy will rise to triumph over such tyrannical oppression.

My Review: It's Banned Books Week, so we are well advised to think about what the ability to ban a book really means. In Rich's novel, banning a book is no longer a concern. The apparatus of theocracy has taken over the libraries. Nothing so trivial as banning A book is necessary, slate entire areas of human knowledge for destruction. Pulp those books that don't tell the story you want told. Knowledge dies, after all. We saw that after the fall of the Roman Empire. The only libraries were in monasteries, and the only works supposed to be preserved were dogmatic, didactic christian texts. Fortunately, some subversives hid works by Lucretius, Epicurus, Juvenal, Suetonius, in their stacks. As theocracy self-destructed, as all -ocracies (including dem-) inevitably do, sharp-eyed secularists found these works and brought them out into the public gaze for the first time in as much as a millennium. (For more about this, see my review of The Swerve.)

Think about that. For a millennium, a thousand years, knowledge that might have led the world out of pervasive hunger, away from destructive hatred and war over trivia, was hidden away so it would at least survive as words on paper. It couldn't be discussed, because it couldn't be read. It was banned. Very effectively and efficiently banned. When the ban was lifted, the world's best brains went into overdrive and they've never slowed down since.

Yet we still, after this excellent example of the benefits of freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom from the fear that censorship breeds, we still have to fight the well-meaning, well-intentioned, and always wrong "moral protectors" and "nicey-nice police." It doesn't have to start big, and in fact, that is author Rich's point in this novel. His story, of a subversive in the Christian Nation, a convert to the Church of God in America from the losing side in the Seige of Manhattan, starts with the run-up to the 2008 election. In Rich's horrifying nightmare, McCain and Palin won, and then they did what they said they would do: They "restored American to a Christian Nation." They used your smartphone with its eternal connection to communication satellites to track you. It's the law that you must have it on you. It's the law that every device you use must be connected to the Purity Web (which we call universal wi-fi connectivity, and long for!) that your every utterance or interface with another person be monitorable.

Imagine how many gigaflops of information this state collects. And sifts. And uses against its citizens, but only in the kindest of spirits and in the expectation of their draconian rules and totalitarian controls bringing all souls to the Rapture as pure as is possible.

This kind of nightmare is all too possible. Look at the Taliban in Afghanistan. Look at the rhetoric coming out of the Tea Party. No, no, says the complacent and lazy citizen, who can't be bothered to vote for school board members or participate in electioneering, no way can that happen here.

“The biggest mistake that we can make is that we don’t believe that they believe what they say. And for many of them, they do mean exactly what they say," says author Rich in his Politico.com interview from this past July. Look at the Texas school textbook adoption wars over presenting creationism as a scientific theory. All of those folks are elected...by the few who bother to show up, and those are usually the wingnuts from the religious right with an agenda to impose.

This novel is set in a world that didn't happen, where the battle against censorship costs lives. Those lives are lost because, in that world like this one we live in, so very many of us can't be bothered, don't want to, are too tired or bored or stressed or lazy to, stand up and say NO MORE when censorship is proposed or imposed. And Rich, a high-powered financial industry lawyer, works with the kind of people whose money-making and self-interest are tightly bound up with the trends in thought and speech around the world. In short, if he doesn't know from the inside whereof he speaks when he speaks about the consequences voicelessness, of stifled freedom to speak and think as one desires, no one alive does.

Start where you are. Do what you can, what you're capable of doing. Fight the small battles and, win or lose, the war's course will change. Maybe you'll even live long enough to be glad that you did. I only hope you won't live long enough to regret that you didn't.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

>243 laytonwoman3rd: Sure! 85% me, 10% you. Megan can have 5%.

>244 Berly: I don't think, at this age, I could stop. *smooch*

One cannot help but wonder where have the silent majority gone. Or is there a silent majority? Dunno.

What concerns me, Richard, is that with our emphasis on vocational training today, we have lost the broad, well-rounded education that is so crucial to the increasingly rarefied art of critical thinking. I'll avoid stepping on a soapbox here (you and I should spend a week together sometime) but I see little difference between the well-meaning Islamic fundamentalists and the Christian and Jewish fundamentalists, all thinking they have the absolute answer and the moral/ethical imperative to convert the rest of the world to their bias, all running scared of the others. Someone once said that fundamentalists all think that other religious people think exactly as they do, and if not, they are heathens or infidels or worse. Sadly, none of them have bothered to read and follow their own "scriptures" in decades, most of which are hidden under a veneer of interpretive misinformation, perpetuated by centuries of power and control-seeking proponents. They seek to attract the lemmings of the world.

From your review, I guess I must, reluctantly, read this book. One cannot hope to understand an elephant from holding on to it's tail.

BTW, if you haven't done so, I can recommend the book The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby.

Morning RD! Excellent review of Christian Nation. Sounds like a truly horrifying novel. Hope your week is going well.

.245: That is the most terrifying book I've read about in a long time. It scares me the way Margaret Atwood's vision of America did in The Handmaid's Tale. Stuff like this makes my very bones rattle because it's so damnably possible.

Yep, you've done a good job of terrifying the choir this morning, RD. I can't immerse myself in that kind of horror long enough to read the book, I just know it. But I do promise to keep voting, keep reading, and speak up from time to time, even if my voice shakes.

How Many Loads Have U Taken 2nite?
You're open 24/7 if ya know what I mean
You taken so many loads damn you're a machine...

Think that's dirty and should be reported? Watch the video. See what you think after that.

All censorship starts with that "no, no that's clearly BAD!" impulse to control. Things go very badly when that rules the day. No one knows enough to censor what another person says because of what they think the other person means.

>247 mldavis2: They are where they ever were, and always will be: On their butts at the end of a hard day's labor.

The lemmings far, far outnumber the goats and cats, and the declining appeal of religion-based assholishness isn't due to some uptick in the IQ of the body politic. It's due to superior distraction and titillation value offered, without the painful and restrictive eternal punishment side, by secular society.

So they've limited their market to dimwitted masochists. Still plenty o' those.

I'll look out for that book. Thanks for the rec.

>248 msf59: Thank you, Mark! It's a horrifying vision of a possible future. That makes my flesh crawl.

>249 tiffin: It is a lot like Atwood's book in the vision it paints of America, only less positive and upbeat. *smooch*

>250 laytonwoman3rd: The quavery voices matter SO MUCH MORE than shouty-louts like me do. It costs me more to be quiet than to holler. It costs you more to speak up, and so your speaking is exponentially more important and valuable.

Do what you can, the way that you can do it. Sign things on the internet. Post memes. Leave the room if someone says something horrendous, or even speak to them about it if you can.

Just don't despair. Don't fall silent inside, where it counts, saying "oh what can I do, I can't do anything." EVeryone can do something, no matter how small or lame they think that thing is.

Reasons I fear one-click, numbers one and two.

'Morning, RD! Blowout at the Friends of the Library Sale and the booty is on my thread.

*smooches from Horrible*

>254 karenmarie: I saw. I commented. I loathe you. *smooch*



In the middle of my censorship fantods, I have not forgotten that I'm an old Socialist who believes in people before profits.

In the middle of my censorship fantods, I have not forgotten that I'm an old Socialist who believes in people before profits.

And that's exactly why we love ya!

#245 Since Halloween is right around the corner it seems appropriate that I should read this scary book soon. Fantastic review and very thought-provoking commentary here on your thread about censorship.

Also, *amen* to #255....my friends keep saying I'm a socialist, so maybe I am! LOL

>256 tututhefirst: Awww! *smooch*

>257 Cobscook: Thank you, Heidi. Have a barf bag ready for the read...the viciousness of The Pledge will unsettle your tummy, I predict. I'm remiss in not mentioning that the author's not a perfect writer, being a bit on the dry side and leaving some holes in his plot. Overall, I felt the read was solid, and the story outstanding.

My mother used to shout at me, "You're nothing but a damned socialist! Nothing but a lousy atheist socialist!"

It nonplussed her every time when my response was, "That's all I wanted to be."

Aaaah, I've missed your rants while I've been off the computer! *smooches*

Really takes the wind out of their sails when you are proud of what they condemn, doesn't it?

>245 richardderus: I was already scared to death with "Sarah Palin as president." I am a Christian, and a fundamentalist one at that, I suppose, but the stupidity that is spouted from the far flung right wing Tea Partiers and such gives me the shivers. Christian Nation is going on the wishlist. Excellent review and I loved what you said at the end!

>259 ronincats: Rants? Moi? I merely discourse in a mild and even-toned manner upon the passing scene.

>260 karenmarie: It does. I so love that.

>261 avidmom: One needn't be an anti-christian socialist atheist to appreciate how horrific the idea of a theocracy is. Just *sentient* will work! Glad the review spoke to you.

"Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important." T.S. Eliot

My library has a few copies of Christian Nation: A Novel. They're all checked out.

>264 avidmom: I find that very heartening.

Good grief..... The stellar review of Christian Nation has now earned a HUGE thumbs up from me and has moved to the top of a towering wish list. What a super, scary sounding book!!!!!

>265 richardderus: I'm glad it did, Wicked Mrs. Lisa. It is a super, super scary book.

*smooch*

smoochipus maximumus, sweetiepieus. have missed visiting you and others. life's little vicissitudes, about which you know a great sufficiency.

great review. shall be watching for it on audible.com. this is why i support the ACLU!

Review: 51 of seventy-five

Title: THE TRANSPARENT SOCIETY

Author: DAVID BRIN

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: �In New York and Baltimore, police cameras scan public areas twenty-four hours a day.
�Huge commercial databases track you finances and sell that information to anyone willing to pay.
�Host sites on the World Wide Web record every page you view, and "smart” toll roads know where you drive.

Every day, new technology nibbles at our privacy.Does that make you nervous? David Brin is worried, but not just about privacy. He fears that society will overreact to these technologies by restricting the flow of information, frantically enforcing a reign of secrecy. Such measures, he warns, won’t really preserve our privacy. Governments, the wealthy, criminals, and the techno-elite will still find ways to watch us.

But we’ll have fewer ways to watch them. We’ll lose the key to a free society: accountability. The Transparent Society is a call for "reciprocal transparency.” If police cameras watch us, shouldn’t we be able to watch police stations? If credit bureaus sell our data, shouldn't we know who buys it? Rather than cling to an illusion of anonymity-a historical anomaly, given our origins in close-knit villages-we should focus on guarding the most important forms of privacy and preserving mutual accountability. The biggest threat to our freedom, Brin warns, is that surveillance technology will be used by too few people, not by too many.

A society of glass houses may seem too fragile. Fearing technology-aided crime, governments seek to restrict online anonymity; fearing technology-aided tyranny, citizens call for encrypting all data. Brin shows how, contrary to both approaches, windows offer us much better protection than walls; after all, the strongest deterrent against snooping has always been the fear of being spotted. Furthermore, Brin argues, Western culture now encourages eccentricity-we’re programmed to rebel! That gives our society a natural protection against error and wrong-doing, like a body’s immune system.

But "social T-cells” need openness to spot trouble and get the word out. The Transparent Society is full of such provocative and far-reaching analysis.The inescapable rush of technology is forcing us to make new choices about how we want to live. This daring book reminds us that an open society is more robust and flexible than one where secrecy reigns. In an era of gnat-sized cameras, universal databases, and clothes-penetrating radar, it will be more vital than ever for us to be able to watch the watchers.

With reciprocal transparency we can detect dangers early and expose wrong-doers. We can gauge the credibility of pundits and politicians. We can share technological advances and news. But all of these benefits depend on the free, two-way flow of information.

My Review: In his blog, Contrary Brin, the author posted a wonderful article today, called A Transparency Tsunami!, treating the latest advance in malefactor detection--and not coincidentally, social control. It's face recognition technology, using public database images and traffic cameras and surveillance videos from all imaginable public places to build a file of your very own physog. For, of course, your comfort and convenience. After all, you're safer when Big Brother knows where you are, who you're with, what you're getting up to. Right? And, since *you* aren't doing anything wrong, nothing criminal, what's the problem?

Tell that to the cops who come haul you to court for feeding the meter. Tell that to the IRS agent who demands to know where the money for that bracelet you bought at the mall came from when you're behind on your taxes. (And best hope your wife doesn't overhear.) Look (!), they already know what kind of porn you watch via your ISP and even how long it takes you to...get there...since no one watches past the, uh, crisis point. You want them to know you chiseled a Girl Scout out of an extra box of Thin Mints, too?

Brin's point, in this book and in that blog post, is that they know it and they ain't gonna un-know it. He wants our surveillance state, so heartily endorsed by the best Republican president we've had since 1956 by the name of Obama via his reauthorization of the USA-PATRIOT Act, to be looked BACK at: Sousveillance, the only practical protection against surveillance:

The article in the New York Times spirals downward into a list of begged-for impossibilities, never once considering the real issue…which is not how to blind elites (a utopian notion never achieved by any society in history and impossible today, as cameras proliferate faster than Moore's Law.) Rather, the solution is to limit what authorities can do to us with such systems. And to accomplish that, we need only get into the habit of looking back. Of embracing the tech waves and ensuring that no cop, no public official, goes un-recognized, unwatched.

What could be more obvious? To work with tech trends instead of (futilely) against them? But the well-meaning activists, though properly worried, never stretch their minds in a new direction. The only direction that can work.

Contrary Brin 26 September 2013, "Face Recognition Has Arrived...Smile!"
What Brin advocates is NOT LYING STILL, not shutting up or shutting down or shutting out reality, but engaging in the business of being a citizen and calling the Powers That Be to task by doin' unto them others what them others is doin' to you.

I expect that has a familiar ring to it. It's always been good advice. It's never been more crucial to follow.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

rd... I have merely skimmed. I hear the washer beeping away to make me come and put stuff in the dryer and another load in the wash. I am tired to the marrow.

I hope that you are feeling as good as can be? Are you taking meds? How are your knees. TGIF for me.. I hope your day is a lovely one....

eta

xo

There is a paranoia that pervades societies when political candidates and/or parties lose to the opponent. It happens on both (all) sides of the equation. I am perhaps less inclined to get upset because of two factors: the overwhelming mass of irrelevant information that is not worth sifting or knowing (i.e. what porn sites you frequent or where you buy your iPhones), and the fact that "the government," at least in the U.S. is us (to paraphrase Pogo). Just as we complain about Orwellian oversight, so also is there an overwhelming majority of common citizens who work in government positions of internal oversight and public trust. I worked in state government (law enforcement) for 25 years, and I can assure anyone that any "unfair" practices would never have been tolerated by any of us.

Right or wrong, the information tsunami is a combined result of the ability to obtain it, and the permanent effect of the threat of terrorism that makes it worth keeping and sifting. The terrorists have won, and their continued massacres and threats have justified the use of mass surveillance techniques. The real question is whether or not the prophylactic effect of information gathering is sufficient to justify the offset of civil liberties, and if public safety is important enough to continue - or should we sacrifice perhaps thousands of human lives for the sake of personal anonymity? It's not a matter of what is right, but rather a question of where the balance should be.

>270 mckait: Not wonderful but thank you for checking. Sigh. Chronic conditions are wearing.

>271 mldavis2: The real question is whether or not the prophylactic effect of information gathering is sufficient to justify the offset of civil liberties, and if public safety is important enough to continue - or should we sacrifice perhaps thousands of human lives for the sake of personal anonymity? It's not a matter of what is right, but rather a question of where the balance should be.

That's why "sousveillance" makes such sense. Watch me? I watch you back.

Yes, chronic conditions are wearing. My RA is kicking up its nature and making me deal with sore hands, swollen and sore wrists, and achy shoulders. The hands and wrist mean they are weak, too. Blah blah blah I am also feeling tired, and down in the dumps, a bit.

But I usually pick myself up and go do what I say I'm going to do, and then sleep when I get home. I am sure this is a temporary and hopefully brief episode.

Meanwhile, hi, Richard. Thanks for the thoughtful review. Food for thought.

Sending good weekend mojo at you>>>

Two of my least favourite topics ~ organised religion and censorship or they one and the same thing?

You still make your thread damned interesting despite such unpromising material. Have a great weekend dear fellow.

What Paul said.

Good morning, BigDaddy! Hoping that your Saturday is full of fabulous! It IS Saturday, isn't it? I need to get back home so I know what actual day it is!

>268 mirrordrum: Hi Ellie! I'm so sorry I missed your post before. Yeah, these vicissitudes are a bugger.

>273 maggie1944: I think chronic conditions count as vicissitudes, eh what Karen44?

>274 mckait: Unpromising start. Improvements possible, one supposes.

>275 PaulCranswick: Religion, organized or not, is the root of all censorship. "Interesting" is better than anodyne, at least to me it is.

>276 Crazymamie: *smooch* Yep, Saturday, and home is the only place the calendar functions properly, it's true.

Good Morning Richard! xoxo to you and Stella

Excellent reviews, RD. Hope the weekend is off to a good start for you.

>278 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta! *smooch* and slurp from Stella

>279 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe...not so's you'd notice, but things can always get better. They usually don't, but they can.

Review: 52 of seventy-five

Title: LOLITA

Author: VLADIMIR NABOKOV

Rating: 5* of five



Piss Christ, Andres Serrano

Like Lolita, reviewed on my blog, this work of art is one of the most challenged and banned and censored of all time. The religious are horrfied and offended that he artist submerged a representation of their tortured-to-death "savior" on his deathbed in a vat of urine.

But there's nothing in the least offensive about showing a man's death-agony. Not a bit of it.

Lolita is challenged because it presents a pedophile's adoration of a little girl. It promotes awareness of pedophilia!

And not in a positive way, goofballs. Awareness of something is a precondition to avoiding that something.

LIKE ALL CENSORS, those calling for the censorship of this book, and of Piss Christ, just don't want to be bothered by things that are uncomfortable.

Too fuckin' bad. The world does not run on your itty fee-fees. Pull up your big-kid pants and walk away from things you don't like.

Us grown-ups will be out here with real world. Ignore that laughter. It can't be at you.

There must be some value in being aware of things we don't like or with which we do not agree. How can anyone think critically with only their own selectively-filtered information?

On the other hand, I think there are levels of maturity which must be taken into account and I wouldn't recommend Lolita to my 10-year old granddaughter. But as you say, Richard, there comes a time to pull up your big-kid pants and deal with reality. How can one learn if one is always retreating from ghosts? We tend to fear what we don't understand and we tend to want to destroy what we fear.

And what do we make of the fact that the urine is real and the rest is a graven image? I guess I should read the book for banned book week.

Just dropping in, rdear, before the next thread is up! *smooches*

You are on a roll with the interesting reviews of books dealing with uncomfortable subject matter. The information technology question is very timely.....since the powers that be already know so much about us all, I think it just makes sense to watch them back. That horse ain't never goin' back in that barn!

>282 mldavis2: Good heavens NO I wouldn't recommend Lolita to almost any 10-year-old, and not that many 14-year-olds. Likewise I wouldn't recommend The Yellow Birds to them, or In Search of Lost Time, or As I Lay Dying for many of the same reasons.

Intellectual development is a key factor in allowing a kid access to art, and that's a parent-by-parent decision.

>283 LauraBrook: Hi Laura!

>284 Cobscook: No indeed, the powers that the elites have aren't going away. They never do. They can be reassigned, or regulated, but they never go away. The issue of censorship makes me very, very angry.

It's National Coffee Day!

Let us raise our mugs and shout Hooray!

HUZZAH!!

Happy Coffee Day, Richard!

Hi Richard,
Oh dear, I am hopelessly behind, but I wanted to come visit to tell you how much I enjoyed/was thoroughly unnerved by your review of Christian Nation. Thanks for writing it (and reading the book). I'm not sure I'm made of strong enough stuff to read it myself.

I love your artwork here, too!

Happy Sunday to you.

>289 ronincats: Thanks, Roni! What a GREAT surprise mug that is.

>290 AMQS: Thank you, Anne. It wasn't easy reading for me. The author uses his rhetorical skills to make life hot mostly for gay men. It was very unpleasant reading for me in many ways, but I am quite pleased to have done the task.

Stopping by to say hello as the weekend pulls to a close. Thank goodness for National Coffee Day! I love it. Hope all is well, and that reading continues to provide you joy and interesting things to consider. Have a great week!

Seriously - national coffee day? I will be back with a Nespresso latte in a few minutes...

Judging from the picture-ads I saw on Facebook, "National Coffee Day" is little more than collusion between Starbucks (Charbucks as I call them) and the Ethiopian government cooperatives. For me, every day is coffee day. But I buy my coffee in small lots of unroasted beans, roast them at home and brew my coffee properly. You would be amazed at how few people have tasted really good coffee.

Morning RD- Just checking in, after a long weekend of Book-Lover Bliss! The only thing lacking, was a few of my LT pals, were not in attendance. The atmosphere was electric.
Hope all is well with you and you had a nice weekend.
BTW- Peter Heller says hi!

Octopus and coffee, your cup creepeth over Richard.

National Coffee Day? I had some good Intelligentsia yesterday, but didn't know I was celebrating. They should make a bigger deal out of it, shouldn't they? Now I'm going to keep an eye out for National Cake Day.

>292 maggie1944: Thank goodness for coffee! National, international, day, night...coffee!

>293 cushlareads: Hi Cushla! Yeah, it's a complete publicity cook-up, but I'll take any chance I can to have another cup.

>294 mldavis2: Yep, that's what it is alrighty all right. I still celebrate it with verve and enthusiasm.

>295 msf59: I'm happy you had a good time, Mark, and the events sound like such amazing fun. *sigh* Peter Heller *sigh*

>296 sibylline: Ha! Creepeth indeed. Heh.

>297 jnwelch: Like Coffee Day, every day is national cake day. There is never a bad time to have cake. Or cookies. Or pie.