richardderus first thread of 2018

Happy 2018! This painting of wintertime silver birches was painted by Canadian "Group of Seven" artist Tom Thomson in 1917.

My 2018 Reviewing Goals

I'll shoot for 180 reviews written again this year. It was a doable target, but the reviews could be more exciting....




BookRiot's 2018 Read Harder "Challenge"
This is ALL KATIE KRUG'S FAULT.

1. A book published posthumously
2. A book of true crime
3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance)
4. A comic written and illustrated by the same person
5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia,
India, China, or South Africa)
6. A book about nature
7. A western
8. A comic written or illustrated by a person of color
9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature
10. A romance novel by or about a person of color
11. A children’s classic published before 1980
12. A celebrity memoir
13. An Oprah Book Club selection
14. A book of social science
15. A one-sitting book
16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series
17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author
18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image
19. A book of genre fiction in translation
20. A book with a cover you hate
21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author
22. An essay anthology
23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished)

My Reviews Are Here:
1 2 Jan 2018 Artemis was unsuccessful, dammit, see post 139.

2 3 Jan 2018 The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu was a 4.5-star pleasure in post 178.

3 5 Jan 2018 Touched by an Angel returned me to the Whoverse in post 253.

4 6 Jan 2018 River of Teeth was a balls-out strangeoleum wild ride reviewed in post 297.

I forgot to do my 2017 ANzAC Challenge because I'm just like that when it comes to challenges. So here it is again, since I need to get these books off the TBR!
Oooh, I just found the 2017 ANZAC Reading Challenge! It's October, so I'm going with a 12-entry choice, but I'm starting out with a big advantage: Text sent me a dozen books to blog about that I need to review this year for sure.

ANZAC Bingo 1x12
1) Read a book about love--I'm going with The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong because the love/hate relationship of these brothers is riveting.
2) Read a coming of age novel--Came Back to Show You I Could Fly by Robin Sloan a Text Classics entry that I've never heard of, which is exciting.
3) Read a historical fiction--Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley from Text, set in 1950s Outback Oz.
4) Read a book set on a Pacific Island--Pitcairn Pending by Kenneth Bain which it seems I'm the first person on LT to own. Hm.
5) Read a children's classic--The Fire-Raiser by Maurice Gee which you gifted me with on my 50th birthday Kerry!
6) Read a refugee story--The Road to Winter by Mark Smith is post-apocalyptic but the female lead is a "Siley" or asylum-seeker, so I think it fits.
7) Read a scifi novel--Dark Space and Darker Space by Lisa Henry, two very good gay-male led novels by Aussie romance powerhouse-cum-legend in that niche Henry. Excellent, if a small bit grim; together about 100,000 words and directly sequential, so I count them as one novel.
8) Read a book with a place name in the title--Potiki by Patricia Grace, another 50th birthday gift from Kerry whose 5-star review is here.
9) Read a bestseller--Reckoning: A Memoir is, I'm assured, an Aussie bestseller by Magda Szubanski about her Polish WWII spy father's life and how it impacts her to this day.
10) Read a black comedy/noir--Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan combines comedy and suspense in approximately equal measure.
11) Read a debut novel--When the Sky Fell Apart by Caroline Lea is set on Jersey during WWII, written by a Jersey native who has, I gather, expatriated to Oz.
12) Read a book of short stories--Dead Americans by Ben Peek, these are thematically linked short stories and I really like Ben so I've *finally* reviewed this book! 4 stars

I'll edit this post to add links to reviews here on LT as they appear. Thanks to Kerry for making this challenge as I needed a spur to make me write the darned reviews already.

January 2018
Godstalk group read with Roni
The Odyssey translated by Robert Fitzgerald group read on Goodreads

February 2018
The Odyssey translated by Stanley Lombardo group read on Goodreads

March 2018
The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson group read on Goodreads

Welcome back! Glad you're with us in 2018.

Mine! Hope I'm not jumping your claim, pardner. Looking forward to 2018 in this fine company.

No, it's mine! Happy new thread, Richard. Love that you are here. : )

Edited to star your thread.

>4 drneutron: How do, Jim! You're my official first visitor.


>5 laytonwoman3rd: Hi Linda3rd!

>6 Berly: Hey there Berly-boo, welcome!

Beautiful opening. Happy reading 2018, Rdear. I dropped a

Happy New Year, Sir !.

>8 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! Happy to be starred.

>9 cindysprocket: Hi Cindy! Welcome.

Getting back out to an early start. Well done. Glad to have you back.

>11 mahsdad: Thanks, Jeff! Nice to be back.

Happy 2018 thread. Star dropped.

>4 drneutron: Aw, now how'd you do that? I think the admin has a trick or two up his sleeve...

I'm in!

Hi RD, I see you are locked in for 2018. Excellent. I shall see you there!!!

>13 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! Glad to have you here.

>14 laytonwoman3rd: Hey Linda3rd, yep...all he has to do is turn his notifications on to "Groups You Admin" and he's first to know aboout posts.

>15 SomeGuyInVirginia: Heya Larry, how goes it this chilly day?

>16 LovingLit: Hello Megan, happy Thursday to you! *smooch*

Hello Richard. I see you everywhere else so I thought I'd better drop a star here too and stay in the loop! Happy new thread.

>18 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! Thank you for coming by. Yeah, I'm fairly ubiquitous since I don't have a job or a family to tend to. The advantages of disability include time to use how I please. I have to say I like that one.

As far as I am concerned, 2018 is already off to a better start than its predecessor because you are here! I am so very happy to have you back, BigDaddy. *smooch*

>14 laytonwoman3rd:, >17 richardderus: Heh. Just lucky enough to slightly beat your post. I'd rather be lucky than good any day! 😁

>20 Crazymamie: *smooch* you flatterer you.

>21 drneutron: Yep that's it luck mmm hmm no not in any way magical admin stuff. Yup.

*creeps rather embarrassedly back into the warmth of the LT fold, flinging a star up top as she goes*... Always a joy to see your name, Richard. Hoping to be around here a whole lot more in 2018, and at least attempting to keep up with all your threads! :)

Happy New Year, you lovely man.

>17 richardderus: Well, as Shelley said I see you everywhere so I figured I might as well follow along and be in the know. (Or something to that effect.)

Locked and loaded for 2018, I see. So glad to see you Richard!

Hi Richard, I have dropped my star off dear friend, looking forward to some lovely chat in 2018.

Hi Richard! Found you :)

>17 richardderus: It's freaking cold, bud! The start of the New Year is going to be even worse! I hope we have at least one blizzard. I love, love, love snow.

>23 elliepotten: Miss Eleanor Potten! As I live and breathe! I too am a returnee from the wilds. Hope to see you around this year.

>24 Familyhistorian: Ha! Well, happy to see you around Meg.

>25 michigantrumpet: Hello there Marianne! Yep, back among the 75ers again. Happy to be seen.

>26 EBT1002: Hey Ellen!

>27 johnsimpson: Hello there, John!

>28 katiekrug: Hey Katie, how goes it?

>29 SomeGuyInVirginia: Cold! Cold!! Ice, ick ptui, ice all over the damn place. A snowstorm would be okay. I **hate** ice.

Just stopping in to drop a star and wish you a happy new year! I usually lurk on your thread, but I thought I should say a proper hello this year!

>33 tapestry100: Hi there, David! Glad to see you delurking for a bit. Feel free to make it a habit, fellow Whovian.
****

My roommate is back from rehab, oh joy, carrying his anxiety with him. Makes me crazy by talkingtalkingtalking to fill up my beautiful silence. Such are the trials of living in close quarters.

Sorry about the roommate... I am used to a lot of silence, so it was a bit difficult at my SIL's with so many people, none of whom seem comfortable without constant nattering, either their own or of the TV variety. Ah, well. Home now *happy sigh*

>30 richardderus: Just try and keep me away... :)

>35 katiekrug: *jealous loathing*

At LEAST I have the TV thing under control. He doesn't turn it on because I flip out when mine goes on accidentally, so at least that's okay. So far.

>36 elliepotten: *smooch*

>1 richardderus: - Richard, who is the artist? The style is familiar to me, reminiscent of Canada's *Group of Seven*, though I couldn't say which, exactly

May 2018 be filled with good reads!

>38 jessibud2: Unerring eye, Shelley, it's Tom Thomson! I love the Group of Seven's art so I use it a lot. I've amended the post to give his name, and thanks for noticing that I hadn't.

>39 thornton37814: Hi there, Lori! Good to see you out and about already.

>40 richardderus: - Thanks, Richard. I thought Thomson, but wasn't sure. He died before the Group of Seven officially was named but he was part of their group and I am quite sure that, had he lived, it would have been The Group of Eight. He is often considered one of the group anyhow, but who's counting...

>41 jessibud2: I think he counts...but being a ghostly presence he wasn't enumerated.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Northern Lights—Canoe Lake by Lawren Harris

>42 richardderus: Ohhh wow, that picture is so very beautiful... *googly heart eyes*

>43 elliepotten: I know, right?! Gorgeous!

>42 richardderus: Oooh! I like this one even better than the topper!

>44 richardderus: So, so gorgeous. It captures them so... perfectly, somehow. I go out looking for the Northern Lights sometimes, when we get a red alert for the UK, but I haven't seen them yet. And I can't travel anywhere else because of the old agoraphobia - again, YET (she says, optimistically). Seeing them is the one and only lifelong item on my bucket list - and they make me so emotional for some reason. We went for a spa day for my 30th birthday and in one of the relaxation areas they had a sky projector that unexpectedly shifted into an Aurora, as if we were looking up through a glass dome and it was right overhead - I had to leave the room, I was sobbing so hard. It was like I'd been given a preview for my birthday. One day I'll see the real thing, and it will be worth every minute I've waited. :)

Yup, that painting's really got to me. In the way only the best ones can! Sorry for getting all sappy - and thanks for sharing it, Richard, I'd never have stumbled across it otherwise!

>2 richardderus: finally looks complete ;-)

I love the idea of reading three different versions of The Odyssey in a row.

>42 richardderus: - Um, I am not sure that one is a Thomson It is signed *Harris* and I don't think that's Lawren Harris (another group of 7er). It looks like it says B.C. Harris. Not to get nit-picky. Although I do believe that Canoe Lake is where Thomson died

>45 Berly: It's a gorgeous painting, though it seems I've misattributed it...

>46 elliepotten: I saw the Northern Lights once from a plane flying in to Stevens Point, Wisconsin. It was spectacular! Then we had a weak-kneed little aurora event in Texas in 2003 during that horrific solar storm. It was still gorgeous.

>47 katiekrug: Heh. Well, it would, since your' featured "prominently" as GUILTY AS SIN.

>48 SomeGuyInVirginia: Come join the fun then, Larry!

>49 jessibud2: I've fixed it, Eagle-Eyes, I appreciate you for keeping me honest.

My first review of 2018 will be Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith. On pp59-65, "Octopolis" most fascinating thing I've ever read about my beloved Tentacled Americans, though Tentacled Australians in this case.

I just discovered the Group of Seven in recent weeks. I bought a calendar for my office and had been thinking I would use their art to grace my threads this year. I hadn't realized they were favorites of yours! Tom Thomson really was the artist I had been exploring, trying to find a print to top my first thread.

And here is a thing -- my MacBook was acting weird, would not take me upon one click to the image I was choosing. Now that seems to be working again and this image will soon grace my own 2018 thread:

There's a vitality to Thomson's spectacular vision...the dynamism of the palette knife strokes...the precise geometry of his compositions and the alchemy of his color choices! I just love his stuff.

Yep, part of my pleasure in being Murrikin is how close we are to Canada and how few of our countryclods know anything about the place. Gives one a (probably spurious) feeling of being In The Know to mention oh-so-casually how many wonderful Canadian ____s there are.

Of course I feel the same way about Australia and New Zealand and Nigeria's authors. Can't give Canada all the glory.

Oh there you are. Have a *. I'm going to go bake muffins.

>53 EBT1002: - Ellen, I think Mark used this picture as one of his (many) toppers earlier this year. And, when I visited the McMichael Gallery this past summer (a museum/gallery devoted to the Group of Seven and other Canadian artists), I saw this image on a pillow! It was actually beautiful. And a bit pricy, but of course it would be. I can upload a pic of it to my gallery here later on, to show you. :-)

>54 richardderus: - Why, thank you, Sir! ;-)

>55 BBGirl55: Hodja dew. I am most pleased to receive a *.

>56 jessibud2: ...on a pillow...wow...I remember the 1970s Monet craze when I got my mother a set of waterlilies sheets and pillowcases.

De rien, ma amie.

>57 richardderus: - Hmm. Ok, I just uploaded the pillow pic to my profile gallery. But it's not the one I thought, the one in >53 EBT1002:. Although I am sure that one was on a pillow, as well. It's just not the one I chose to photograph. And I can't find the name of the one in >53 EBT1002:.

Here is the link to the gift shop at the McMichael, if you care to browse...

https://shop.mcmichael.com/collections/home-decor?view=all

>58 jessibud2: It's called Round Lake, Mud Bay and was painted in 1915. Nothing in the McMichael gallery for that image, sadly.

Hi, Richard! 180 reviews is a laudable target. I'll be dropping by to take a look.

>60 harrygbutler: Hi Larry! Happy to have you visiting.

Hi Richard! I don't think I ever got around to saying: Welcome back! I hope to be more socially engaged on LT this year, and look forward to your always-insightful reviews!

I am so glad you'll be joining us in 2018, RD. It has been really nice having you around, these past few months.

I love the Thomson topper! He has been a favorite.

>62 swynn: Steve! How great to see you. I'll go hunt up your 2018 thread soonest.
I'm pleased to be back, and sounds like you're refreshing your involvement too. Great timing, we have.

>63 msf59: Thanks, Mark, it's nice to be home again. I'm quite the Group of Seven fancier. Their take on Canada is so different from the US-centric one I'm accustomed to.

My brother was visiting his in-laws in rural Canada and they followed a logging trail (or fire break, I don't remember) waaay out into the forest. They were hiking around and my brother asked what happens if you broke your leg this far out, how did you get rescued? They said you didn't, there was not even any cell service outside of an eight hour ride, and you would probably die.

I agree with Fran Lebowitz, nature is what you pass through to get from the cab to the lobby.

>42 richardderus: wow- I love that picture! I have never seen the Northern lights but have seen the Southern ones...most recently about 30 years ago :)

>65 SomeGuyInVirginia: wouldn't someone go for help, and then come back and rescue the broken-legged walker? Or is it the cold that would kill you?

Happy New Year, Richard! Gotcha starred so I won't be losing your thread in 2018.

>65 SomeGuyInVirginia: Oh no no no. Nuh uh. I do not have the mental strength to contemplate suchlike goins-on. Taxi! Thirty-first and Third, please. The Continental Bakery.

>66 LovingLit: It's so heart-stopping to see The Lights, isn't it, Megan? I'd love to see the Australis before I shuffle off this mortal coil.

>67 Carmenere: Hiya Lynda! *hugs*

>66 LovingLit: I think the idea was what would happen to someone alone. You can't really get that far away from other people in the lower 48 states, and that's probably what they were trying to impress on my brother.

That, and that no cops would be by to bust them for getting high.

>42 richardderus: Thats quite a beauty ..... Would love to see the Northern Lights or for that matter Southern lights in person one day

Hi Richard, just stopping by to wish you a Very Happy New Year and hope that 2018 is a really good year dear friend. Sending love and hugs from both of us.

Happy New Year! I wish you to read many good books in 2018.

>69 SomeGuyInVirginia: "You can't really get that far away from other people in the lower 48 states"
Thank GOODNESS.

>70 roundballnz: It is a worthy life goal. It's unearthly beautiful.

>71 johnsimpson: Thank you John! Your good wishes heartily returned.

>72 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! Happy to see you and hope to see more of you in 2018.

It's perfect weather for comfort food, BigDaddy, so I brought you some.

>74 Crazymamie: Oh GAWD YES, it's 15° and I'm still sleepy as hell. Can not make myself do anything at all.

***OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT***

It's done. I'm not 2017ing anything else. No visiting no goodbye-all-that-hello-oblivion. Starting anew in a new year, so if you said anything you wanted me to know in the 2017 threads, come tell it to me here.

Happy new year, Richard!

>77 cushlareads: Happy 2018, Cushla!

>42 richardderus: - Hi Richard. I come begging forgiveness for being so nit-picky. Blame it on the teacher in me. That gorgeous Northern Lights painting is not by Lawren Harris, rather, by B.C Harris. I had never heard of this Harris before so I did a little digging. I just instinctively felt it did not look like Lawren's style.

Here is what I found and although I can't find this specific painting in the website's offerings, I can at least verify that the signature matches the one in >42 richardderus:.

http://www.cgscommunications.com/bcharris.htm

The up side is that I have now *discovered* a new Canadian artist (new to me)

This is Lawren Harris's work. See what I mean?

https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2015/the-idea-of-north-the-paintings-of-lawr...

Happy New Year fabulous people ....

Happy reading in 2018, Richard!

So happy you are back with us! Although keeping up isn't easy, as it never is at the start of a new year ;-)

Happy new year, Rdear.

Oh my, Mamie's loaded fries is giving me a serious case of craving. Grrr....

Happy New Year🎉

view from Zürich's landmark mountain Üetliberg

Happy New Year, Richard! In about an hour and a half, anyway. I'm just sitting here and eating mini pizzas - no point going to bed with a bajillion fireworks about to go off - so I thought I'd come wish all my favourite people a healthy, happy and hopeful 2018. :)

Happy New Year my friend!

Dropping off a
And wishing you

Happy New Year, Richard!

Happy New Year, Richard! We finally caught up with the rest of the world and I can hear the fireworks going off.

Happy New Year
Happy New Group here
This place is full of friends
I hope it never ends
It brew of erudition and good cheer.

Happy New Year Richard - here's holding out for an awesome one.

Good morning, RD, and happy January 1 to you! *smooches* from TVT Horrible

So I guess you won't be joining us for our group read of NN by Chuckles the Dick?

^Looking forward to following our favorite curmudgeon in the new year. Great to have you around again.

Happy New Year Richard, wishing you a peaceful, book filled 2018.

>79 jessibud2: BC is new to me as well, and very worthy of exploration!

>80 roundballnz: Right back at'cha, Alex, and a terrific string of good reads to boot.

>81 FAMeulstee: I wish you the same, dearest Anita, and boy howdy do I know what you mean about keeping up!

>82 cameling: Thank you, my dearest Caro, and may 2018 be filled with loaded fries and excellent reading discoveries.

>83 BBGirl55: Thank you, Bryony!

>84 Ameise1: Thank you, dear Barbara, for the envy-inducing view of your beautiful home town. No. Really. :)

>85 elliepotten: Happy, healthy, and hopeful right back to you, Miss Eleanor Potten, and a side helping of amazing reading.

>86 mahsdad: Happy 2018 to you and yours, as well, my friend, and a better 2018 than even your hopes conjure.

>87 ronincats: Thank you, Roni! Has the group-read thread for God Stalk gone up yet?! Huh?! Huh?!

>88 harrygbutler: Thanks, Harry! What a great tradition we've lost by no longer sending New Year's cards.

>89 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg! I wish you the same.

>90 PaulCranswick: Heh. You clever clogs, making me read poetry whether I want to or not.

>91 BekkaJo: Thank you, Bekka, I'll be holding out for the same all 2018 long.

>92 Carmenere: What a great card, Lynda! Thanks. I wish you the same.

>93 karenmarie: Hello Horrible dear, Happy 2018 to you as well. I'm pressed for time, you know, what with all the hair-washing and dust-busting I need to do this month...I suspect I'll have to groom my eyebrows as well...so I'm super sad to say that I won't be reading any Chuckles the Dick this month. I know, I know, it's a huge loss, but there it is, can't be helped.

>94 msf59: Heh, yep thass me, the curmudgeonliest. Have a happy 2018 and may the reading hits never stop coming!

>95 calm: Thank you, calm, I wish the same for you.

Morning, Richard! Here's hoping that your New Year is full of happy! The GR of God Stalk is here: Roni's GR

We are venturing out for a late lunch and to see the new Star Wars movie. Please send warm thoughts!

>104 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie darling. I appreciate you lookin' out for me already in 2018!

>105 katiekrug: tropical heat *whammy* for KAK & The Wayne

>99 richardderus: I did post the link for you on your 2017 thread when it went up, dear. But I see you found it anyway! ;-)

Happy 2018!! So glad you are BACK!

Happy 2018, Richard!

>107 ronincats: Oh well...that thread was so immense it's no wonder I lost it. Anyway, I'm there now and happy.

>108 Berly: Thank you, Berly-boo! Now to convince you to share the bookish delights of Portland with me in person...so how's that whole inventing-teleportation thing coming along?

>109 jnwelch: I am delighted that 2017 is over and done with. Now 2018 needs to step up its game and deliver a Trumpless year.

I have you starred now Richard although I won’t possibly be able to keep up. It’s all coming back to me now

>111 brenzi: "Keeping up" is a personally defined goal, remember? It's how *you* want to work it. The group boogies on at its own pace and we do our own pace.

It's always great to see you here, you're a boon and a blessing to my threads and my life. *smooch*

Here's to good books, good conversation and good friends!

>113 SuziQoregon: Amen to all three, Juli.

Happy New Year, and happy reading, Richard!

>115 tymfos: *smooch* Thanks, TLo, same back at'cha.

I hope the new year is off to a good start, Rdear.

>117 Ameise1: Ooohh aaahhh! It's even better now, Barbara. Sending hugs!

>99 richardderus: Indeed, Richard. But then cards scarcely wing there way these days for any reason, whatever the flurry of social media posts and emails. There are so many boxes of all-occasion cards languishing unused.

Starting your thread am hoping to start somewhat caught up with you!

Happy New Year, you old curmudgeon, you!

>119 harrygbutler: I'm not all the way sure that's a bad thing, given the environmental cost of paper manufacture. Though I miss the tactile nature of writing versus typing.

>120 bell7: Don't stress about it, Mary dear, "caught up" is a oving target after all.

>121 alcottacre: Stasia! How delightful. *smooch*

>76 richardderus: Yes, good riddance to 2017. Happy 2018, Richard!

Do you still want those books I promised to send you? If so, please PM me if your address has changed.

>123 Storeetllr: Oh my, yes please! No changes to addy.

I am *so*glad* to see the backside of 2017 I can't even tell you. Nothing makes 45's tenancy at 1600 okay, but at least I'm confident this will be the last year we'll have to endure it.

>124 richardderus: I wish I was as confident as you are about this being his last year at 1600. Blech.

>125 alcottacre: No sane person would want a lying, chiseling grifter in the White House. It won't be long before Watergate repeats itself...firing the Special Counsel will only hasten 45's demise. I still expect the fool will do it.

>124 richardderus: Good. They're in a box and ready to be labeled and taken to the post office. Hope to get that done this week.

From last year, two reviews of a series of gay-male Aussie SFnal delights.

Dark Space by Lisa Henry
Rating: 4* of five

Grimdark fantasy only set on a space station where the only thing to do to wile away your mandatory ten-year hitch is wait for the Faceless to decide to kill you and everyone else on every other station then destroy earth's population.

Add in some rape, some torture, oh yeah and the aliens have one of us they've held for four years! But now he's back! Funny thing how he's less popular now than when he was enduring...whatever it was he was enduring at the hands of an enemy so little understood our name for them is "the Faceless".

Humanity is, as always, irredeemable. The Faceless are right to exterminate us.

The world-building is excellent, but the sex scenes...*serious* non-con, very explicit rough play...will send the straight boys screaming. Too bad, too, because there's good space opera in here. I'll read the second one for sure, especially after the ending of this one.

Darker Space by Lisa Henry
Rating: 4* of five

Pretty much all for the last 40% of the book. It isn't necessary to grind us into Brady's deeply boring late-adolescent angst for half the book. And now we need to read DARKEST SPACE so Author Henry needs to write it!

Brady and Cam are hilarious together. Cam's so patient with Brady's annoying-as-fuck oppositional disorder! What he has to put up with...

“Crewman Garrett,” Stockade Sam said when the MPs dumped me in his custody again. “Your usual room?”

Both hilarious, spot-on, and deeply telling. But I guess when a man has kept you alive by sharing his literal heartbeat with you, allowances get made.

>126 richardderus: yeah! That's the attitude I like to hear. Get that guy gone.
I had to misfortune to trump-spot twice in one day yesterday. He featured as an extra in two childrens' TV movies.
*cringe*
*barf*
(etc.)

>128 richardderus: very explicit rough play huh? Oh my word! *blushes*

Finally made it into the new group and will book a seat here. Happy New Year, Richard! :)

Good morning, RD! Brrr!!

Stay warm, drink lots of coffee, read many books.

*smooches* from TVT Horrible

>129 LovingLit: Eeewww. Yuck on the orange shitgibbon sighting, even by proxy.

Yeah, thinkin' the Henry books permaybehaps outside the Megan wheelhouse. Just a wee tidge on the outer edges.

>130 Deern: Hi Nathalie! Happy New Year!

>131 karenmarie: It's a balmy 20° today. I still can't make myself move much!

That year is over, and now we can embrace a new beginning. Glad your reads are off to a good start!

Something to keep you warm. Big waves from over the pond, Rdear.

>133 London_StJ: Thank you, dear faux child. *smooch*

>134 Ameise1: Oh my yes, yes ideed! Thank you most kindly, my dear Barbara.

Morning, Richard. I'm one of those straight boys, darn it. The rest for the Lisa Henry books isn't quite enough to entice me.

Did you do a review of Artemis? If I missed it, just chalk it up to my usual doltishness.

>124 richardderus: hope you're right. The sooner the better.

>136 jnwelch: I would discourage you from seeking out anything Lisa Henry writes, Joe, I don't wish to be held responsible for your apoplectic fit and subsequent aphasia and locked-in syndrome.

I did not review Artemis as I really, really disliked Jazz and felt it was pointless to say anything public about it.

>137 SuziQoregon: Hi Juli! I am sure of it.

>138 richardderus: OK - too bad re Artemis. I would've enjoyed reading your take on it, sans Jazz. Of course, sans Jazz isn't really possible, hence the no review.

I do try to avoid all those bad things you mention, so I won't seek out Ms. Henry's work.

In response to >139 jnwelch:
1 Artemis by Andy Weir

Rating: 2.5* of five

In a nutshell, it felt like Mark Watney on the Moon. Jazz could be him, he could be Jazz...the whole effort wasn't successful at differentiating the main character's wisecracking git-'er-done attitude despite the difference in law-abidingness.

Anyway. It's all down to "I don't buy into Jazz as a character." And I really hate that since I was all the way down for a good Moon-based crime novel (and even in my heart of hearts wanted it to be a series).

>140 richardderus: Got it. I was okay with revisiting Mark in his female form.

Completely understandable! I would've been as well, I am sure, if I hadn't been so entranced with the novelty of Mark Watney in The Martian. Now I'm sad because it feels like Andy Weir is a one-hit wonder.

It was a huge hit, thank goodness. Memorable in all the best ways. And I suspect others will make sure Artemis will succeed on its merits.

Happy New Year, Richard Dearest! So happy to be back amongst y'all again, and to know that I'm not the only one who seems to be returning this year. I'm looking forward to your adventures here, versus just your blog and goodreads. Health, wealth, and hot men for us all!

I was totally shocked (and still am) that you saw the northern lights flying into my cheesy state. I'm endlessly curious as to what in tarnation you were doing here, as I often find myself wondering why I'm here as well. I'm meant for an East coast life, I'm convinced, and was somehow dropped off here due to a clerical error in the Stork Office. (Though my girth certainly seems fit for the Midwest. Much to my chagrin.)

>143 LauraBrook: Laura!! So so happy to see you. I hope to see you often around here...now to search up your thread.

In another life, I was the children's book production manager for Delacorte BFYR. Worzalla was my printer for a beautiful book on Columbus and I went to their plant in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, to watch them print it...and it was a disaster because of my error! The one *good* thing that happened was my aerial view of the Aurora.

The Stork Office makes those errors with depressing frequency. I was, I am *certain*, meant to be born into the Italian royal family.

Today's Thought for the Day via Anu Garg:
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (2 Jan 1920-1992)

I take a seat. You'll probably find me somewhere in this gorgeozs place.

>145 richardderus: - Love it!

>144 richardderus: - I also subscribe to Anu Garg's newsletter and occasionally post his Thoughts for the Day on my thread, as well. I considered today's, but in the end, didn't post it. It's one thing for Americans to say such things about themselves (or anyone, about their own compatriots), but as a polite Canadian, I felt it just wasn't my place to do so. Besides, the Americans I hang out with (here and elsewhere) don't fall into that category! :-)

>144 richardderus: - I've seen that quote before and boy-o, does it ring true.

I was at a conference last summer for staff of engineering and scientific societies and attended a session on the challenges for government relations and public affairs staff with the new Administration. My organization doesn't do any lobbying - I just went because I'm still a DC nerd. I asked a question at the end about what I had heard termed "the death of expertise" and if the panelists felt it was a temporary thing, or if the attitude would have long-term, lasting damage. It sparked a great discussion, with most people very pessimistic.

>146 Ameise1: Happy sitting, Barbara!

>147 jessibud2: It's a slice of heaven, isn't it? *happy sigh*

It's worth saying, Shelley, but might not come right from a Canadian, a bit like moose-and-igloo jokes don't go down well from the US.

>148 katiekrug: I fear they're correct, those pessimists, because it's likely that the 40-plus percent that voted for 45 aren't in the least bit ready to accept that their ignorance and stupidity are anything but simon-pure perfection. Despite MILLENNIA of evidence to the contrary, small-c conservatives refuse to accept that they can not hold back progress without making people wretchedly miserable (including themselves).

Large-C conservatives are plain old evil and will rot in the hell they claim to believe in.

>149 richardderus: - Exactly. That's why I didn't post it in my thread.

>150 jessibud2: Wise. Prudent. Polite.

Oh gawd I feel a moose-and-igloo moment coming on!

LOL! Don't hold it in, it will give you a tummy ache...

>152 jessibud2: Youuuu said it was okay!




*whew* Got that outta my system.

>153 richardderus: - Love them !! LOL

A moose! My favorite.

>149 richardderus: - Indeed. What everyone (including me) seems to often forget is that even if Cheeto Benito gets ousted, there is still a large, ugly, ignorant, and racist group among our citizenry. And it feels like no one is really talking about what to do about that in terms of engagement, education, etc.

>154 jessibud2: *cautious smile* I, uh, I'm pleased they weren't too...too...you know.

>155 katiekrug: I love meese as well.

The problem is, and this is something neuroscience has shown, these yahoos aren't susceptible to education because they simply perceive any efforts to crack their ignorance as attacks on Revealed Truths. They Already Know The Truth. Our efforts to show, patiently and kindly, where their reasoning (to be polite) goes off track are rejected because The Truth Is Already Revealed and It Is True. Because The Truth Said It Was.

Clearly I am not the correct person to do outreach.

>153 richardderus: LOL

"Clearly I am not the correct person to do outreach."? I am now wearing my beverage. Thanks.

>157 Ameise1: I know, right Barbara? Made me guffaw.

>158 Crazymamie: It is best to know and acknowledge one's character defects. I admit that I am impatient and judgmental of those who willfully remain ignorant. The stupid ones can't help it, so they escape my contemptuous snarls.

>159 richardderus: :-D

>156 richardderus: - This reminds me of a documentary film I saw not long ago, about Bill Nye, the science guy. It was a really interesting insight into the man himself, but also focussed on his current crusade to debunk the anti-science movement. He visited and agreed to debate some guys in the south, one of whom (I'm sorry, I can't remember names at the moment. I will edit them in if I can find my link to the film), who actually established a museum called (I think) The Ark, or something like that, to *prove* creationism over evolution. I sat in that theatre struck numb at precisely what you said above, about their being not susceptible to education because they simply perceive any efforts to crack their ignorance as attacks on Revealed Truths. They Already Know The Truth. Our efforts to show, patiently and kindly, where their reasoning (to be polite) goes off track are rejected because The Truth Is Already Revealed and It Is True. Because The Truth Said It Was.

Very. Scary.

edited to add the link: Bill Nye

>161 jessibud2: The goofball you're referring to, the founder of The Ark, is an inbred moron by the name of Ken Ham. No, not joking, that's his for-real given name! It's the name that makes fun of itself with the pig/pork/hambone jokes. Blessedly for my sense of the rightness and order of the Universe, he's Australian.

>144 richardderus: I subscribe to AWAD too and posted this quote on my FB page today. And may I say that, as an American, I'm fine with folks from Canada, France, Mexico, Great Britain, or any other country posting it. Because it's true.

Happy 2018 thread and New Year dear!

Hi Richard. Happy New Year! I'm Brodie. Dropping a star to keep posted on your thoughts. Have a good one.

>163 Storeetllr: I agree with you, Mary, but I think we're the exceptions to the rule vis-a-vis our countrypersons. Jingoistic "patriotism" recrudesces in the most unexpected quarters.

>164 luvamystery65: *smooch* Glad you came by, Roberta!

>165 brodiew2: Hello Brodie, welcome to the mishegas. Pull up a chair and help yourself to whatever comes around that strikes your fancy.

>158 Crazymamie: - Same. And it was good wine, too!

Hi Richard. No frickin' way I'm trying to follow your thread as it goes zipping along. But still, a warm a hello. Wish you a great year.

... and a moment of awe at post 145.

Hi, RD. Thanks for the hot bricks and warm thoughts, over on my thread. They helped. I have been enjoying the discussion, here and elsewhere on Artemis. I hope to get to it soon.

>168 dchaikin: Isn't that gorgeous, Daniel? I mean drool-inducing fantod-having gorgeous?

I'm happy to see you here whenever you're in the mood.

>169 msf59: I've decided to count Artemis as my first review of 2018. I'll wait to hear what your take is before going on more about it.

>159 richardderus: The stupid ones can't help it, so they escape my contemptuous snarls. Would they understand your snarls?

>153 richardderus: Love the mouse igloo entrances.

>171 Familyhistorian: Probably not the words, but certainly the contemptuous tone would clue them in.

I love those! And they're made by Canadians!

>153 richardderus: They obviously don't have a polar cat!

Just dropping a line to say Hi!. Love the igloo cartoon. And the moose licking lips.

>156 richardderus: Saw the 'wearing beverage' comment at 157 before I read through 156. I'm glad because spitting water over work computers is frowned upon.

SnarF!

Sending hugs :)

>145 richardderus: What a nice spot for a loooooong vacation!

Good morning, Richard Dear!

>131 karenmarie: I love it.

Have a warm, safe, book-filled, and coffee-infused day.

*smooches* from TVT Horrible

>173 thornton37814: Heh. Or it's a lazy and overfed cat, all that seal blubber and polar bear cub meat that They eat.

>174 Berly: Aren't they a hoot? *smooch*

>175 BekkaJo: Ah yes, the latest in wearable beverages being modeled in my thread. Classics abound.

>176 Carmenere: The nicest I can imagine. Such a lovely way to spend a vacation, reading one's way through a library/bookstore.

>177 karenmarie: Hey Horrible, happy to see you! *smooch* I'm infusing coffee rapidly ATM, while bingeing on Doctor Who. Books later.

I'm a little disappointed in the reviews I've seen of Artemis since it's one of the books I got Aaron for Christmas. Luckily, he picked up Borne first - which he really enjoyed. So at least he'll like one of the books I got him. :) People's reviews of Artemis will probably make me procrastinate in reading it...why pick it up when there are others that I'm more likely to enjoy?

>180 The_Hibernator: IIRC you're not a major SF reader, Rachel, so you can't be expected to get it right every time...but in fairness, everyone I know who liked The Martian was champing at the bit to get hold of this book. It might suit Aaron down to the ground, remember, human variability being what it is.

As for my take on this and other books, remember that I am a curmudgeonly old man who thinks what he thinks about things based on his own pernickety standards and demands what he demands based on his own life's trajectory, so listen to the take with that boulder of Himalayan sea salt ever at hand.

Morning, BigDaddy!

>182 Crazymamie: Ohhh yesss, thank you Mamie dear, that is exactly what the Doctor ordered! *smooch*

Happy Wednesday Richard ;-)

Did you know that Rod Duncan has a new book out featuring Elizabeth Barnabus (The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter)? I didn't until I read it here:
https://www.tor.com/2018/01/03/all-the-science-fiction-books-coming-out-in-janua...

It's The Queen of all Crows, came out yesterday.

I've got The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter at home. I'm assuming that it's worth picking up sooner than later?

2 The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer

Rating: 4.5* of five

#ReadingIsResistance to ignoring the rest of the world's issues

THE BAD-ASS LIBRARIANS OF TIMBUKTU reviewed at my blog:
https://tinyurl.com/yabscspl

Ignorance imposed from above is a global problem. #Resist with all your might! Read read read!!

>184 SuziQoregon: Thanks, Juli! Same back at'cha.

>185 ronincats: Yep, Roni, I am friendly with Rod so I've been expecting it. Will review next week.

>186 tapestry100: YES. LIKE, RIGHT NOW. Quick sticks, Possum!

Just got Touched by an Angel, the Doctor Who novel, from some anonymous benefactor. You, perchance? Someone fess up, now.

Can you show us on this doll just where the angel touched you?

>189 richardderus: Not me. I actually took your plea for no new books seriously (more the fool me!). ;-)

>190 SomeGuyInVirginia: It...it was...here, Doctor. *sniff* On the back of my head. *sniff*

>191 ronincats: GOOD!! Yay for not sending me books! Thank you for listening when I spoke.

Loved your post on The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu. A review and the world in a nutshell.

>187 richardderus: I have a T-shirt that says "Reading Trumps Ignorance." I bought it from the Book Riot store. It has an eagle and is red, white, and blue.

I'm not even going to try to catch up on the rest of this thread. I'll just try to do better going forward. Happy reading in 2018!

>187 richardderus: I've been able to put that one off for awhile now. No longer. Sounds like the shot of hope I need for 2018.

1-2" of snow tonight and 7-11" possible tomorrow?

Hang in there, RD! *smooches*

>187 richardderus: Glad to hear you loved The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu. I have had this on my radar for quite awhile. Just waiting for the right LT warble or two. You have delivered.

Snowstorm coming your way? Good luck, my friend.

>197 msf59: I've got it on the pile beside my reading chair (along with 30 or so other books). Gonna get to it soon, I hope.

>193 dchaikin: Thanks, Daniel. It was a good read, though not the deftest prose I've ever read, and the story is too important to ignore.

>194 libraryperilous: It's a fast-flowing tributary of the River Mamie, the Joe, and the Mark. But you're here, so it's all okay now. *smooch*

>195 swynn: Hey Steve, thanks! It's not that hopeful in its outlines but the underlying message...that words change worlds...is a turbocharger.

>196 karenmarie: It's the wind that concerns me. The snow I can ignore since I have food and heat. The wind...well, these windows aren't great at keeping the breeze out.

>197 msf59: I hope you'll bookhorn this bad boy in soon, Mark. It's no skin off mine if it snows since I get to play Queen Slug-for-a-butt until it gets nicer. Heh!

>198 drneutron: Float it up, Jim, float it up. It needs to be part of your armory.

Morning RD - just checking in whilst sipping my coffee :)

>153 richardderus: Mice! Ha! Too funny!

>187 richardderus: off now to check your review of The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu. Is there a second book to that? My dad was looking for a copy of one when he was here last, and I recall calling out that title, and he said, no- it's the next one.

Eta: no, it sounds like this was the one he was looking for!

we need to be told about the awful and hideous actions of the hate-filled anti-intellectuals who are, even as we speak, eviscerating an entire world's millennium of progress so their imaginary friend won't be mad at them.

And this sounds like the reason we all need to read it!! Nice rev, RD.

Happy Thursday and *smooches* from TVT Horrible.

>201 BekkaJo: Hodja dew, Bekka, lovely to see La Belle de Jersey so early.

>202 LovingLit: That's what I keep hoping, Megan, that it'll reach the eyes of those most in need of its encouragement. You and Father Apse enjoy it.

>203 karenmarie: *smooch* Hey, Horrible. Cold and snowy. Not near the wind I was threatened with. An *excellent* result all the way around.

Yes, you're right. I'm more of a fantasy reader than a science fiction reader. And even then, fantasy isn't the majority of what I read. Aaron is probably not as picky of a reader as I am, though, so he may like the book just fine. :)

>205 The_Hibernator: Here's to hoping. And as for you, just skip that baby altogether. Too many GOOD books to read.

Morning, BigDaddy! I've brought pumpkin pecan pancakes for today:

*slobber*drool*gobble*

translation: bless you sweetness pull up a chair and I'll be with you when I'm full

Sweet Thursday, Rdear. I suppose you need some coffee to go with Mamie's pancakes.

>209 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! It's time for a little snackage:

>58 jessibud2: Adding the McMichael Museum to my bucket list.

Sorry about the terrible weather, Richard. A warm fire, good books, perhaps a slug of Irish Whiskey in a mug of tea.....?

>207 Crazymamie: Those look delicious! (I love pumpkin. I love pecans. I love maple syrup.)

I'll take the pancakes to go please!

I was early... well, earlier, as I had just got in to work (about 7.15) and the system I needed wasn't working. Ergo LT time and coffee.

>211 EBT1002: I'm not sure who *doesn't* love all, or almost all, of those things. I myownself dote on them. Though I confess I'm partial to cinnamon syrup on pumpkin pancakes.

Luckily I am not required to do much of anything, Ellen, so I can laze and lounge and munch and read.

...wait...I can do that every day! *happy sigh*

>212 BekkaJo: Pincooks for Jersey, to go! Isn't it great when you're there and no one can complain that you're slacking because the thing you need to do your job isn't available? Loved that when I was working.

>211 EBT1002: - If you ever make it out here let me know. I would be happy to be your guide. It's a beautiful gallery and setting

I know I'll never keep up with you, RDear, but I'll drop off a star all the same. *smooch*

>214 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! *sigh* So wish I could still travel. Even 20min in a seated position is torture to me.

>215 MickyFine: Heh, Micky, that whole "keep up" idea is a myth. Dip in, zoom out, just be here when it suits. There's no other way to stay sane in this chatty room.

Just checking to be sure you haven't blown out to sea. Durned wicked, that wind.

Heh, nope I'm safe inside the building listening to that gale-force nonsense. The drifts are pretty impressive, I must say.

Hope you have had a wonderful start to 2018! Hope the big winter storm doesn't affect you too much

>219 ChelleBearss: Hi Chelle! I'm snug as a bug in a rug...the joys of not having to work anymore are terrific. Have great reads in 2018!

the joys of not having to work anymore are terrific.

Agree totally. The worst day of NOT working is better than the best day of working.

>221 karenmarie: The worst day of NOT working is better than the best day of working.

Amen!

>220 richardderus: yes, isn't it wonderful to stay inside and not have to go to work! (sometimes) I especially enjoy my mat leaves during the winter when I don't have to leave the house!

Dang that wind! Stay warm!

Sweet Thursday, Queen Slug-for-a-butt! Glad you don't have to go out in the weather. The one thing we have avoided is deep snow, so far. I hope this continues.

I am sure you are kicking back with a warm drink and a good book.

>221 karenmarie: Double Amen!

>221 karenmarie:, >222 jnwelch:, >223 ChelleBearss:, >226 Storeetllr: TRIPLE amen and can I get a witness!

>224 Berly: Ha! Lurvely! I loved the book, the 1956 one, but the 'toon has a special place in my hearts. (I've decided to be Doctor Who.)

>225 msf59: Yup. Perzackly. You know me well. I loved Earthworm Jim cartoons on Fox Kids lo these many years ago.

>187 richardderus: Glad to see you've had such a high-rated book so early in the year!

Stopping by to say Happy New Year before you start a new thread, Richard. It’s great seeing you making the rounds here again.

>228 thornton37814: I am always thrilled to have high-rated books, but it does bode well for the reading year. *smooch*

>229 Donna828: Hi Donna! So glad to see you here. Good gravy, it's almost time for a new thread, though I'm going to 300 posts these days. Still and all things move fast around here. Some things never change.

Wind is my least favourite weather. Our house is very old, it rattles the windows in their panes when the wind is strong. And trying to push trollies at work I can forget about that. The joys of living in a valley & river town.

Keep safe, keep warm & well feed.

(Your thread got a bit busy. It took me a while to catch up.)

>220 richardderus: >221 karenmarie: >222 jnwelch: just shows how chaotic my house is, as I *love* going to work. BUT...if I had to go every day, 5 days in a row, for (like) ever...I might change my tune ;)
That coffee up there made me thing about how much ai am looking forward to tomorrow's one. Srsly, the highlight of my day....mmmmmmmmm. Coffee.

Breaking News: Richard seen as curmudgeon.

In other news: Moon perceived as being round, Sun perceived as being hot.

Happy New Year Richard and Happy reading.

Good morning, Richard. I've not read the book, but I've always liked Disney's cartoon of 101 Dalmatians.

Good morning, RD! Stay warm and be safe.

I got the chance to watch Disney movies when daughter was little. Quite a few of them were ridiculous, but I do love 101 Dalmations. One of my favorite parts is the Twilight Bark.

Morning, Richard. Are you reading God Stalk? Have you read God Stalk? I'm just starting it for the group read.

Morning, BigDaddy! I also have BIG love for both the book and the movie The 101 Dalmatians. I'm thinking today is definitely a coffee and doughnuts kind of day:

>231 BBGirl55: Good morning, Bryony, welcome to the edge of the North Atlantic Ocean literally 200 meters from where I sit typing. Current wind chill -28C, not going to get a lot warmer.

It's always okay to skip over massive numbers of posts and just say, "sorry, couldn't," and start afresh with a firm purpose of amendment.

>232 LovingLit: Coffee...*slurp* I loves me my dezombification juice. *smooch*

>233 magicians_nephew: Ha! Hello Jim, glad to see you here. Did you enjoy Go Tell It on the Mountain?

>234 harrygbutler: I recommend Dodie Smith's original novel, The Hundred and One Dalmatians, in a non-Disney version. It is a different animal entirely than the movie or the bowdlerized bastard books Disney hath wrought.

>235 karenmarie: One of mine as well, Horrible dear. Although in the novel when Pongo tries to bark out "the puppies are in Suffolk" and Smith renders it as "wuff, wuff, Wuffolk" I about had an attack! *smooch*

>236 jnwelch: I'm starting chapter 4 as I type this. Well, sort of. Well, it's next to me and the bookmark's at chapter 4.

Quite a lot of c-words in this book. I get itchy. A lot.

>237 Crazymamie:, >238 Crazymamie: Perfection! Thank you, Mamie darling! *smooch* I need some fuel to keep my core temperature above room temperature, which is today at 60° or so from the wind! Poor DeLonghi is cranking his hardest but they's only so much he can do against 40mph winds and 10° air temps. *smooch*

Happy Friday Richard! I'm another fan of the The bad-ass librarians of Timbuktu review and caught a fat BB. TA is up soon, that might be the occasion to get it.

>240 richardderus: I read that one not too long ago and loved it, but I believe I never saw the Disney version, so I can't compare. I love some of the older Disneys I grew up with (going to the movies to see a Disney twice a year was a special treat for good marks), but the gaps between the films and the original can be shocking. Pinocchio is such a great but rough and often dark story, not a bit cute and pastel-colored.

Definitely adding The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu to my libarry wish list.

Yikes on that wind chill. Stay warm!

>234 harrygbutler: >240 richardderus: Absolutely agree wtih the recommendation of the original novel of The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

>242 Deern: Hallo Nathalie! Happy to see you here. I'm thinking of the 1961 animated version of the story when I refer to the film. They made a live-action version starring Glenn Close in 1996. Neither is in any way as nuanced as the novel, of course, though each has its charms.

At all events, I'm happy you're here so yay! *smooch*

>243 SuziQoregon: That novel saved my life as a tween. I read it so many times that the librarians refused to check it out to me anymore! My older sister gave me a copy in the end.

I'm bundled in my amazingly warm bathrobe and huddled under covers with the DeLonghi blasting. I'm as warm as I can get! *smooch*

>244 richardderus: Excellent!! I read it as a tween too. Loved it.

>245 SuziQoregon: I suspect all tweens have a rescue fantasy or two. I know I did!

R--Glad you are all warm and snuggled in bed. With donuts and coffee from Crazy. Thanks for posting the Piglet cartoon. Watch the Disney 101 Dalmations with the kids lots of times and I have also read the book. Loved them both.

>247 Berly: *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

Good morning, Richard!

>249 richardderus: Something to ponder, indeed.

Good day, Brodie! It's a conundrum indeed. I scratch my head over it all the time.

>187 richardderus: Very nice review Richard. I really want to get my hands on a copy of that one but you have managed to move it further up the list.

3 Touched by an Angel by Jonathan Morris

Rating: 4* of five

I still don't know who sent this book to me, but whoever you are, thanks.

I was gutted by the events on p223, really gutted; I remembered the event on p158 though and suddenly I got it, I understood what this book was about: Grieving, the process of losing your life when someone you're in love with dies and/or leaves you behind. The processes that take years to work themselves out, the lost time of happiness forfeited and the cruel hand of time stamping you with the stigmata of all that loss, which is to say aging.

It's a middle-grade book, and I'm quite impressed that these concepts are presented without either overexplaining or underplaying them and their importance to growing up. It's a book I'd give, as my friend Dan Schwent said, to a newbie to the Whoverse and let them get the lie of the land. (That wordplay will make sense after you've watched the tenth season of Doctor Who, I promise.) A worthy way to spend a few hours. I'm still scared of the Weeping Angels as I am not scared of the Daleks or the Cybermen...silly things...but the Angels scare me because they steal your life, not take it from you, and that difference is deeply unsettling.

One touch from a Weeping Angel and you're not dead. You're gone. Where? When? No way to know until you get there. The past is the one certainty, you're in the past, but what does that mean?

Think about it.

You've never lived. You know no one. The tech is low, lower, lowest, and you have no idea how or why you got there or what to do, how to live or make a living, maybe not even understand the language. And all so some creature can have dinner, which of course you never know but just suffer for it. Weeping Angels = great white sharks of time. So yeah, they scare me. This book makes me appreciate the Doctor's role as a real doctor more than I did before.

Go on, push the boat out, get yourself a Happy 2018 treat! Or else wake up in 1993, dazed and confused.

*hides under blanket from weeping angels*

They freak me out too. I walked home a while back after a work client meal. About midnight and short cut through a grave yard with some angel statues. Uncanny waist high mist and moonlight. Creepy!

>252 Oberon: Thank you, Erik, I expect you'll get a lot out of the read when it finally makes it to the nightstand.

>254 BekkaJo: Ooo! I'd've fallen dead from fright, I think, had that been me. I don't think I'll ever mess around in a cemetery ever again thanks to the Weeping Angels. Just like, after watching Jaws, I've never done more than dabble my toes in the ocean and have no plans ever to do so. Marylee, the local great white, just Knows when I'm in the water and comes swimming around so she can Eat Me. I'm utterly convinced of this. Just like a trip for me to a cemetery would coincide with the first recorded instance of a Weeping Angel snatching an old and unattractive man instead of a pretty young thing.

There's just no sense in pushing it, you know?

>253 richardderus: Dangit, Richard! How am I supposed to resist that kind of review?

P.S. Watched the crash of the Byzantium episodes of DW with The Boyfriend last night (it's his first go-through on the show). It was great fun.

>256 MickyFine: Pobrecita! And whadda ya know, you're NOT supposed to resist that kind of review! You're supposed to rush out and buy the book in a white-hot frenzy of tsundoku!

Since you work in a major city's library system, I suspect you can just whomp up a copy from the municipal holdings, though. Shame on you for not fattening the coffers of Chapters Indigo! *smooch*

PS OOO those were some slippery Angel moments...poor Amy. She learns so much during those episodes and none of it easy or cheerful.

>253 richardderus: 'Blink' is such a great episode and 11's encounter with them in series 6 was pretty good too. The weeping angels are creepy for sure. I'm glad the book was worth the read. I have never read a DW book. Perhaps, I'll give this one a look.

Given 12's recent swan song, I was reminded that 11 has is my Doctor and his farewell speech is still my favorite. 'I will always remember when the Doctor was me.' Just saying.

Happy Friday, Rdear. I hope all is well at your place. Stay safe and warm.

>258 brodiew2: Well, as it's my first Doctor Who book, and seeing as I enjoyed it four stars' worth, I'd say it's a good way to test the waters.

Yeah, 11's farewell speech is amazing, and I speak as one who is a total Ninth Doctor fanboy. "Lots of planets have a North!" says Ecclestone's Doctor to Rose, defensively...and there went my heart.

I will NOT miss 12. He's my least favorite Doctor since 6!

>259 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara, it's warm in my space and I have no need or desire to go outside so safe as houses (as the saying goes)! *smooch*

Sorry, Tennant forever remains my favourite Doctor and his final line STILL makes me cry.

He was a fine, fine Doctor, and many of his shows are among my all-time favo(u)rites. And yes, yes, that was a supremely wrenching Regeneration. What a way to torture us, this whole trope of Regenerations.

But we love it so. Yes we does my preciousssssessssss.

>253 richardderus: That wasn't what I thought it was. I thought it was perhaps a book about Della Reese or Roma Downey when I spotted the title.

>263 thornton37814: Ha! Well I can see how that error crept in. No indeed, though, a completely other animal, and a very interesting one indeed.

At least now I know I can talk Doctor Who on Richard's thread.

Now, how about the Christmas Carol episode! My first episode of New Who.

"Not all who wander are lost." I'm pretty sure the Doctor was in Middle Earth. ;-P

>265 brodiew2: Yep...I suspect the Doctor's the one who started Tolkien on the whole lark in the first place. Now THERE's an episode idea! They've done it with Dame Agatha, so why not him? Hmmm anyone I know connected to a Whovian decision-maker? Anyone? At all?

I second that -- reading the Dodie Smith original 101 Dalmations. It's a revelation. Another novel of hers I Capture the Castle is one of the few books I periodically reread.

Enjoying your reviews -- I have to scroll fast by a lot of stuff as I have a weird aversion to close-ups of food, any food, so I probably missed something. I (Coffee is just barely ok.) Anyway, I was/am worried that Artemis would be a rerun. I'll read it though, hope springs eternal. Lisa Henry sounds like fun.

Happy New Year!

>249 richardderus: LIKE!

>253 richardderus: Good review of Touched by an Angel. Not familiar with this title, but it sounds good.

Happy Friday, RD. I hope you are staying warm & snug.

>267 sibylline: Good heavens, Lucy! I had no idea such an aversion was present. It must make the Big Threads torture for you. But now I know not to bring by any snacks to your threads. I'm sorry for the aversion but totally understand the desire not to see stuff you don't like. The first three posts of each of my threads always are food-free and contain links to my reviews, also food-free, so you can navigate there without nausea.

>268 msf59: Heh, that's a good'un ain't it. I liked my first-ever Doctor Who book read, and might even pick up one for myself now.

I'm warm and snug in my enormous bathrobe, with the wind howling outside, my DeLonghi blasting, my computer balanced on my belly. The picture of modern contentment.

>240 richardderus: etc - I love the novel of 101 Dalmations. But it was somewhat amusing - I saw the Disney movie (the original animated one) first, then read the book and didn't see the movie for...12-15 years (while reading the book over and over). I could see all the important scenes in the book in Disney animation - including the ones that aren't in the movie, like the Scotty and the toast, or the collie at the fire. I finally saw the movie again and was seriously startled at how little of the story was in there. I still enjoy it, it's fun, but it's definitely a condensed/abridged/modified version (no Perdita? or rather, Missus called Perdita? sheesh). And I'll reread that book any day. The sequels are cute but not as good, and I have tried and failed to read I Capture the Castle at least twice - just doesn't work for me.

Wahh, none of the libraries I have access to have Touched by an Angel - well, OK, one does, but it's an audiobook. Won't work for me, I can't focus on oral information (I've tried). Only one has the ebook listed and it's "license expired" and maybe they'll get it back someday...bah. Oh well, I'll have to look for a _paper_ copy (which means going to the (a) library, physically, _twice_. Oh the agony).

I've never seen an episode of Dr. Who, is it any good?

I haven't seen any of the new Doctors - Tom Baker is mine, though I think I've seen all the older Doctors at least once (if only in the Five Doctors-type episodes). With that qualifier - weird, quirky, very British humo(u)r, SF-ish (lots of handwavey for explanations), if you like that sort of thing you'll like it very much. If not, you'll probably hate it. Honestly, watch a couple episodes (new and old, by preference), maybe read a book, see if you like it.

How about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - do you know that? That's a bit sillier than most of Dr Who, but the same (broadly) type of quirky.

>267 sibylline: I like the closing lines of I Capture the Castle. (Who doesn't?) But I struggled with the rest of the novel. I'd like to try Dodie Smith again.

Sheesh. There is more food on this thread than at the Eat like a Hobbit Club's annual weekend retreat.

re: Dr. Who, I've not seen the show, but I've enjoyed the novelizations I've read.

>253 richardderus: I have that book on a list some where. I have about 20 pysical Doctor Who books to fead befor I get there. The Weeping Angles freak me out the most. But they are my most favourite.

>271 SomeGuyInVirginia: It is the best! It's always Doctor Who never Dr Who. He is The Doctor not a Doctor.

>270 jjmcgaffey: Not remotely a faithful adaptation, is it? Ya know it's not gonna be when the Disney castle shows up.

I can not ear read. I fall asleep or just wander away physically and/or mentally. Not worth it to try again, IMO. And very glad to see you here, JJ!

>271 SomeGuyInVirginia: Start here: https://smile.amazon.com/Rose/dp/B003LQ3YXU/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UT...

Unless you don't have Prime, in which case I got nothin' cuz I can't even conceptualize such a thing.

>272 jjmcgaffey: I haven't re-watched any of the early Doctors. The most recent one I re-watched was the Eighth Doctor, Paul McGann, a few months ago.

>273 libraryperilous: The Hundred and One Dalmatians is a great way to ease into Dodie Smith's world, Diana. Try it out!

I enjoy the TV show a lot. It would be a fun addition to your Whovian reading if you can find it.

>274 BBGirl55: We'll indoctrinate Larry slowly, Bryony, the nuances are often hard to grasp without a solid grounding in the mythos.

But the Weeping Angels...whee dawggie. They scare me bad. Still, I'd encourage anyone to read this particular story even "out of order" because heckfire ain't no such thing as order in the Whoverse! He lives his life radically out of order.

The only Dr story line that absolutely creeped me out was the Weeping Angels. mrsdrneutron couldn't watch... 😁

>276 richardderus: Sorry I will hold my tounge. It just bugs me so.

I read the books out of order anyway, the only reason I am not readding this book now is I don't own it. And my Thingaversry is still 10 days away. :p

>277 drneutron: Was that "Blink", which on a recent rewatch I found quite touching though still creepy, or the wreck of the Byzantium two-parter? THAT one I can't watch again! Scares me silly. Poor Amy!

>278 BBGirl55: I know it's hard to imagine, Bryony, but Murrikinz didn't know from the Doctor until 10 years ago! And us oldsters like Larry and me were over, errrmmm, 30 or more at that point. Let's see of we can't lure him down the primrose path into Whovian groves.

"Blink", I think. 😁

>280 drneutron: *delicate shiver* A really good story. Still, one empathizes with mrsdrneutron deeply. First time I saw it I was so unsettled I slept badly! (A major oddness for me. Normally I sleep perfectly and easily, to the disgust of every insomniac I know.)

I doubt I’ll read Artemis Richard. I wasnt even that crazy about The Martian. No science genes.

The irony of 'Blink' is that it is a Doctor light episode. Sally Sparrow is the lead.

It's time!! You can post.

'Blink' is my favourite new who story.

Morning, Richard! Finally getting round to your place.

Ooof, yes, Blink is so creepy and wonderful. I miss David as the doctor.

>282 brenzi: It's not as sciencey as The Martian is, Bonnie, it's just that the caper is obscured for me by Jasmine's tone-deaf voice. I'm not going to encourage you, but don't rule it out of consideration. Maybe a library borrow later this year.

>283 brodiew2: It was, and a clever, clever light episode indeed. I was as impressed by the sheer creative verve of making a light episode as I was by the power of the episode itself. Getting double use out of expensive talent before and behind the camera! Making a story that the fan base will enjoy, that will make a new menace all too real at the same time...! The Moff deserves points all over the scale.

>284 ronincats: *exhales* Okay!

>285 BBGirl55: It's at the top of my lists, too. I think that a certain kind of Whovian loves puzzles and this was a fun puzzle-solving episode. *smooch*

>286 scaifea: Tennant as Tenth Doctor had something no other Doctor has had: Vale Decem, his very own requiem. It was Matt Smith as 11 who made the show blow up in the US. Then they killed it with 12's horrible mug. Now 13 is a woman, so it's a really open question whether the franchise will recover lost ground here.

Good morning RichardDear! I hope the DeLonghi is still cranking out the BTUs and you're staying caffeinated!

Bill and I loved David Tennant, the 10th Doctor, watched a bit of the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, then stopped. We watched one of the original episodes with the 1st Doctor, one time, and it was as hokey as Lost in Space and early Star Trek episodes so didn't continue. I am thrilled that there's a woman Doctor, even if we haven't watched her yet.

>289 karenmarie: The DeLonghi is busy as a squirrel on a bird feeder, and I am more grateful for it than I can express. My french press is empty, my bladder full, so full caffeination is achieved.

Early Who episodes are campy fun. But I don't think I'd want to watch them again. I don't think I want to watch ST:TOS again either, and I *never* wanted to watch Lost in Space. Boo. Hiss.

Happy Saturday, Rdear. Is it still cold and nasty at your place? Here some Glühwein:

>291 Ameise1: Thank you, dear Barbara! It's chilly in here, but I'm huddled up and ready for anything after that.

God Stalk: Quite a lot of c-words in this book. I get itchy. A lot.

Ha! I hadn't thought about that aspect. I'm about a 1/3 of the way in, and it seems like there've been fewer cats wandering into the story.

Those Whovian angels creep me out, too.

>293 jnwelch: It's the sheer viciousness of killing a person's future but ejecting them into the past where they simply don't exist, have never existed, probably can't exist, that's so very stone-cold evil. heh "stone-cold" ha ha

Good morning Richard I hope all is going well with you. This will be my last doctor comment for a while because I don't want to dominate your thread with such talk.

One of my favorite episodes for the 10th Doctor was Midnight. It was an excellent performance by tenant as well as the rest of the mob on the subway car. For a bottle episode that didn't involve much special effects the acting and drama was fantastic.

I am 2 stories into What it Means When a Man Falls. She is awesome. I love that smooth, razor-sharp style. Onto story 3...

4 River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

Okay, there's this little-known weirdness about the Congress actually considering the importation of hippos for real in the early 20th century...see my four-year-old review of the Kindle Single for my take on that...but it went nowhere, thankfully.

Also thankfully Sarah Gailey got wind of this deliciously loopy piece of fucked-up thinking. This novella is a terrific playful use of reality's undercooked braining. I can't be any more pleased about that.

I could be a bit more pleased about the novella. No. WINKING! Not at all, not ever, not even the three times in this book. *ahem*

But the main source of my discontent is the slightness of the characterization of Winslow, our "British"-or-maybe-not hero. He's very intriguing which is the source of my mild disgruntlement. Just as we're getting to know him, *whiz* offstage he goes with Archie the stout and stout-hearted confidence trickster...and just as *she* is getting interesting, what with her tendresse for U.S. Marshal Gran! Who barely registers before his search for the evil Adelia fails and he has to get our non-binary fascinator Hero to medical help...

...am I making myself clear? There is a LOT going on in these pages, all of it fun, much of it necessary, and some of it far too glossed over. More room for Mama's goodness, please. Yes, there's a sequel and I will be reading it soonest, but this is literary coitus interruptus.

I was delighted by the comeuppance delivered to the very appropriate party at the end; I was hugely relieved that the author provided us with a timeline at the end of the book; but really, there's only one thing that I can't explain away or make better with rationalizations: Handwaving away the Civil War. This wasn't a fixable slip-up. The fact is that hippos in the Civil War would've changed things drastically given the location of the Harriet (our lawless, feral hippo-infested stretch of Mississippi marsh). Its construction in Louisiana would've made the economy of the state radically different; its slave or free labor demands would've changed the military calculus of the region in extremely significant ways.

So I'll accept a gayish hero, I'll go along with a non-binary person passing unchallenged, yup yup okey dokey mm hmm, but not the unchanged Civil War. That by itself would've cost a less gung-ho gonzo nuts author with a blah little idea all but one star. You, Sarah Gailey, disappointed me where a less talented writer would've made me snort derisively, roll my eyes, and Pearl Rule this bad boy. You're capable of better thinking than this elision of a central fact of US history.

Tsk.

>295 brodiew2: Hi Brodie! Don't worry about monopolizing the conversation, I'll smack you down if I don't like it.

"Midnight" was a terrific bottle show, I like the Twelve Angry Men feel of it. Tennant played the best bits of his Doctor in that story!

>296 msf59: I am SO pleased, Mark, that collection was a revelation to me. She's a talented writer with terrific ideas.

Richard, what's the last book that astonished you? For me it was The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. It gave me the same kind of awed pleasure I used to get with almost every book I read as a kidster.

So dish!

Happy Saturday! Glad to see the storm hasn't blown you away!

I caught the Doctor Who discussion. I have never watched it and am wondering if there is a good place to jump in without going back to the 1960's episodes?

ETA
My new thread is here if you wanted to visit :)

>299 SomeGuyInVirginia: Missionary. Utah ruled as a North Korean-style theocracy. Many awful facts about the place never said directly, shown by the effects of the horrors on the characters. The ending was a gut-punch. I am still tender from the beating it delivered to my sensibilities. On Kindle for $6.99, I think, and I'd say pay it.

>300 ChelleBearss: Hi Chelle! I'm frozen to the spot by wind chills that have never made it to positive numbers today. I'll be here some while yet.

Start here. It's got Rose Tyler! She's the Companion of all Companions.

>127 Storeetllr: Um, make it this coming week. (I am so organized. Not.) And, Kittenpaws?