mstrust #4- The BBC bobs its hair

Welcome to The BBC's fourth property this year. Funny how many landlords haven't gotten the word about us yet.
It's Spring, so we've moved to an airy, plant filled space. The staff hates it right now, but I think they'll begin to enjoy the sense of optimism all this sunlight brings. Either that or they'll just burst into flames.


Here's our fully staffed tiki bar. Some people spend all day here.


And you must stop by our patisserie, managed by Marjorie. In the kitchen we have Shirley, Mrs. Patmore and the dogsbody, Daisy. Looks like eclairs are the thing for Spring.


2018 Reads

1. Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails- 5 stars
2. Backstrom: He Who Kills The Dragon- 3 stars- Nordic Mysteries Group
3. What Does This Button Do?- 4 stars
4. The Man in the Picture- 4.5 stars- Gothic Mysteries Group
5. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles- 4 stars
6. Once Upon A Dreadful Time- 4.5 stars
7. Addicted to Americana- 5 stars
8. The Hidden Art of Disney's Late Golden Age- 4 stars
9. Mrs. Harris Goes to New York- 3 stars
10. Thanks For The Money- 4.2 stars
11. Fairest Of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen- 3 stars
12. The Subway Chronicles- 3.5 stars
13. It's In The Book- 3 stars
14. Grifter's Game- 4 stars
15. iZombie: Six Feet Under and Rising- 4.2 stars
16. Hottest Heads Of State- 4 stars
17. Henry VIII- 4 stars
18. They Do It With Mirrors- 3.5 stars Female Sleuth Group
19. Piracy, Turtles and Flying Foxes-3.5 stars- ScaredyKit-Survival/Disasters
20. iZombie: Repossession- 4.5 stars
21. Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling- 4.2 stars
22. The Martian-3.5 stars- Survival/Disaster Group
23. Pink Ladies and Crimson Gents- 4.5 stars
24. More Stories from The Twilight Zone- 4 stars- Scaredy-Kit Weird Fiction Group
25. Fodor's Seattle- 5 stars
26. The Road to Little Dribbling- 4.5 stars
27. Let Us All Eat Cake-4 stars
28. Faceless Killers-2.5 stars- Global Mysteries Group
29. Howard's End is on the Landing-4.5 stars
30. So I'm A Heel- 3 stars
31. Stories from The Twilight Zone- 4.5 stars Scaredy-Kit Weird Fiction Group
32. Matilda- 5 stars
33. Bettyville- 4.5 stars
34. Rendezvous in Black- 4.2 stars Classic and Golden Age Mystery Group
35. Motorhead: Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers- 4 stars
36. Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes- 5 stars
37. We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone-4.2 stars ScaredyKit- Supernatural
38. A Penknife in My Heart- 3.5 stars Golden Age Mystery Group
39. I Love Everybody- 4 stars
40. Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead House- 3.5 stars
41. Slightly Chipped- 4.2 stars
42. The Bad Beginning-4 stars
43. The Sociopath Next Door- 4.5 stars ScaredyKit- Close To Home

Of course you know our store manager Bernard. He's pointing out the rules of conduct, not for the employees, for the customers.


Looks like we're open. Come in, spend money!

32. Matilda by Roald Dahl. At four years old, Matilda Woormwood has taught herself to read, by five years old, she can do multiplications. She's smarter than any other child in her class and way smarter than her parents, who insist on balancing their dinner on their laps in front of the tv, and who believe their daughter has no value. It isn't until Matilda meets her first teacher that she finds someone who realizes she's special, and at the same time, she meets an enemy in Miss Trunchbull, who deserves Matilda's revenge. 5 stars
I was directed towards this by Howard's End is on The Landing, and what a fun, funny book.

I'm in!

I'm like an eclair and a boilermaker, please.

Love the new digs that the BBC has moved into. In honor of TWD I'd like the bar staff to whip me up a Zombie, and I would also like to munch on one of those eclairs with the nuts on top.

Actually I am a little pissed at TWD for getting rid of yet another regular! I liked the episode but was sorry to see the end of Tobin. I think Tara is safe as I expect Dwight shot her with an un-contaminated arrow in order to prevent Simon from infecting her with his weapon.

Wow! What a shop! Those multilayered thingamajigs in glasses look good. I'll take one of those, pleeeease! The eclairs with yellow frosting look good, but I hesitate as I'm not sure how the coloring came to be.

Happy new thread! I'll stick with an Old Fashioned, I think, but I'll take a couple eclairs.

Nice new place. You seem to expand with every move. I like the fish tank in the Tiki Bar, but it does make me worry about leaks and all those books. Oh well, mix me something brightly colored and highly alcoholic and put it in a martini glass, so it looks classy.

>4 SomeGuyInVirginia: I knew you'd make it!
>5 SomeGuyInVirginia: So the "Monday Special"? It's on the way, Sir.

>6 DeltaQueen50: Hello, Judy! A Zombie and an Eclair, got it. I believe that's a maple pecan eclair and it looks delicious.
Spoilers, Judy, spoilers! I couldn't believe Dwight did that! And I'm very sorry for Tobin too, he was a good guy.

>7 Carmenere: Hi, Lynda! I do believe those multi-layered thingies are mango pannacotte. Dee-licious! And I believe the yellow eclair is banana rum and spice.

>8 harrygbutler: Thanks, Harry! Our staff makes great classic cocktails, and the eclair on the right looks like a raspberry and dulce de leche filled!

>9 RidgewayGirl: Thanks! We takes what we can gets, but when you carry every book anyone is looking for, bigger is better. A "spiked Windex and Kool-Aid", coming right up! Would you like that with an onion or olive?

TWD Report- Spoilers!

1. Finally, finally! Rick's people finally booby trap the road to Hilltop so The Saviors can't just roll on up to the door.

2. Daryl is the cavalry coming just in time. Look how much can be accomplished when our group is all together. It's an organized ambush.

3. Carol and Tobin- or, "The tragic love story I'd been waiting over a whole season to continue even though I knew in my heart that it was over." First clue- if Carol was in love, she wouldn't have left Tobin to Siddiq's care. She never would have run away from a hurt Daryl.
So we finally have the talk between Carol and a very injured Tobin. In the scheme of things, their romance was very, very brief and we didn't see much of it, but it was Carol's little time of normalcy, even if she was faking it. He's one of the very few Alexandrians who she was comfortable with.
Then, dang it, Tobin dies! And turns walker! And goes on a killing spree! He's lurching around like Frankenstein, biting necks and leading his minions into the house. And yep, you knew Carol would have to be the one to put him down.

4. Poor Rick still says "the kids" when he means "Judith". Just Judith.

5. Simon leads his group to stand directly in front of a multi-story house lined with windows. Idiot.

6. Little Henry keeps wanting to "help", which is a euphemism for "impale". "I can help!" wink wink.

7. Morgan is being haunted by Gavin, who now wears off-white hippie clothes.

Happy Thingaversary--a day or two late. Mine comes up in a few days. I ordered my books, but they have not all arrived. Some are coming from England.

Whoops, sorry for not marking my post with "Spoilers"! I guess the "haunting" of Morgan is to give him another reason for hitting the road and joining the other show. :(

BTW that was quite the entrance for Daryl - riding his bike with a mounted machine gun blazing away!

I am looking forward to next week as I saw a preview that showed Negan and the garbage lady (I can never remember her name). And how come we see so little of Jesus these days? With Maggie front and center I would expect to see more of him as well.

>12 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori, and Happy Thingaversary to you! Enjoy your presents!

>13 DeltaQueen50: So what do you think Gavin's ghost means when he keeps berating Morgan with "You know..."? Of course it's Morgan's guilt, but I think it may mean something like, "You know you have to kill that little psycho Henry!" But it may mean, "You know you have to run across the country and find new people to argue with!" The FTWD trailer shows that not only have they added Morgan, they also have Garrett Dillahunt and Jenna Elfman. I like Dillahunt, so I might watch again. Look how easy I am to persuade.
Yes, Daryl had a great entrance this week! And then suddenly, there was Rick in the mix!
The garbage lady is Jadis, but she'll be dead soon so don't bother to learn her name. I noticed how little of Jesus we saw in the fight too. I don't know, maybe he has the respiratory infection that going 'round.

Mike called me to tell me that he'd gone over to the car dealership and put a down payment on the LaCrosse.

Happy new thread, Jennifer, and belated happy thingaversary!

>1 mstrust: I love the new place!
Don't care what the staff thinks about it, I grab a chair and feel good with all these books around :-D

>3 mstrust: Happy to see you love Matilda.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Jennifer.

Serious book porn to start off proceedings.

Happy new thread! I'm with Harry - an Old Fashioned sounds great!

Make mine an Old Fashioned, too! Old fashioned bourbon in an old fashioned glass. Eclair in the side.

>15 FAMeulstee: Hi, Anita, glad you made it. I enjoyed Matilda a lot, especially when she glued her father's hat to his head. And here's a coincidence- I've never seen the movie before either, so I checked both Prime and Netflix streaming and neither had it, but the day after I finished the book, the movie came on regular cable.
Glad you found a comfortable chair in the atrium, it is a nice view.

>16 figsfromthistle: Thanks,fig!

>17 PaulCranswick: Hi, Paul, you made it! Yes, so many book shelves and book rooms to see here. Eclair?

>18 drneutron: Thanks, Jim! I see a trend starting. Would you be willing to try a maple bacon Old Fashioned?



>19 SomeGuyInVirginia: Is it wise to go from boilermakers to an old fashioned? Are you wanting to experience your eclairs twice? Please sit near the men's room.

Here's the lemon tart I made a few nights ago:


Sorry the pic is so huge. And last night I experimented an ended up with a fantastic blueberry lemon ice cream. I'm still working on this pile of lemons.

Went and got the car today! I know it's an old man car, but it's so pristine with just 23,000 miles on it. Then I drove it home and discovered that it's a bit longer than the Rodeo, too long to fit in the garage without us having to move stuff around, as in moving an entire drum kit out of the way. I feel like I've worked today. ;-)

>20 mstrust: Oh *heck* yeah!

>21 mstrust: Lemon Stoli!

Yeah, if you've worked in the garage, then you've worked.

>23 drneutron: Have you been here all night?

>24 SomeGuyInVirginia: That's a good idea, I like lemon cocktails. Wish I had some maraschino cherries on hand.
I know, doesn't cleaning the garage seem like the most grunt work?

Happy new thread!

Thanks, Chelle! Hope you visit The BBC often!

>21 mstrust: The tart looks very good!

>22 mstrust: Congrats on the new wheels — even if it is an old man car.

>25 mstrust: If we're having lemon-based drinks, I'd like a Scotch sour, please.

>14 mstrust: I am leaning towards the theory that Gavin's ghost is giving Morgan the excuse to leave Rick and the gang and head out to new places and people. I will probably watch Fear the Walking Dead just to follow Morgan and I like Jenna Elfman even though I can't quite picture her fighting zombies.

Congrats on the new car, I also drive an old man car but at least they are very comfortable!

>28 harrygbutler: Thanks Harry, for both the tart and the car. I'm pleased with both. :-D I don't think I've ever heard of a Scotch sour. I'll have to ask the guys in the bar if they know it.
>29 DeltaQueen50: I think that's what will happen too. Especially as Lennie James will still be playing Morgan on FTWD (I saw the extra long trailer for the show), so somehow Morgan is going to find a way to get from the East coast to the West coast, alive.
It's true, my old man car is very comfortable, with every feature possible. It's going to take weeks to figure all this stuff out. My old car had one feature, the A/C. Even the CD player had broken years ago.

I woke up this morning with the first actual migraine in my life. My head felt like it was being squeezed all the way round, nauseous, couldn't stand sound or light. It took about an hour to get over it, but I feel a lot better now. Bernard opened the store for me.

Esh. I'm sorry, that stinks. If it happens again, ask your doc for a Relpax prescription. Migraine miracle medicine.

Congrats on your new vehicle! Sounds large enough to get us all into for the next field trip.
Ugh! sorry to read of your first actual migraine. My husband used to get them often so I know how debilitating they can be. *Migraines be gone and do not rest your pain upon Jennifer's head again*

>31 SomeGuyInVirginia: Thanks for the information, I've never heard of that prescription. Since this was my first migraine with all the classic symptoms, I'm hoping whatever triggered it doesn't happen again. I didn't eat anything out of the ordinary the day before, though I was aggravated all day long, so I don't know if that could be it. In which case, it'll happen again. ;-)

>32 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda! It does have a roomy trunk, so I'm sure a few daytrippers could be comfortable there.
I have faith that your chant will work. My mom doesn't normally get migraines or headaches at all, but she told me that she once had a migraine so bad that she was seeing double. My MIL gets them a lot, from everything she eats, breathes, sees in a magazine, and takes to her bed for the day and calls Mike at work to come bring her food and bottled water and to pick up her medicine. I'm not going to turn into that. I laid in the dark with ear plugs and the fan on high and massaged my head for an hour, then got up and went about my business.

The BBC wishes you an epic Easter.

>34 mstrust: I would have the same reaction! Arrrgh!

Jennifer, I hope the Easter Bunny is good to you!

Sorry to hear about the migraine, Jennifer! I hope you're able to avoid the trigger in the future.

I hope you're having a good Friday!

>35 VivienneR: Thank you for the very cute cupcakes, Vivienne, they were delicious!
I love that she's just a blur. She may be little but she's fierce.

>36 harrygbutler: Ha, we're posting at the same time. Thanks, Harry, I hope to never experience a migraine again, as it turns out that they are every bit as awful as I'd heard. Who knew? Have a great weekend!

33. Bettyville by George Hodgman. The title is Hodgman's term for Paris, Missouri, his small hometown and the place his mother has lived for most of her 90 years. In this memoir, Hodgman, a freelance editor, mid-fifties, gay and an only child, leaves New York City to return home and take care of his mother for what he hopes will be a brief bout of illness. It turns out that Betty has the beginnings of dementia. This is Hodgman's story of growing up with a loving, extroverted father and a distant, sharp-tongued mother in the 60's and 70's, when being gay made a person the subject of ridicule or pity. Hodgman was a young man in NYC right when the AIDS epidemic arrived, and he reached enormous success working at Vanity Fair. His past life and his current one, of caring for his difficult elderly mother, switch off, showing how much of his childhood created the man he now sees himself as, a man too damaged to be happy.

This is the author's personal history, and also his family's. At times very funny, much more of sadness, and very introspective. 4.5 stars

Happy Easter, Jennifer! I hope you've been having a great weekend.

Hi Jennifer! I am a bit behind with threads and posts (like two months behind!). Loved the field trip and always lovely to see Bernard's smiling face greet me when I walk into the BBC. ;-)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, Jennifer!

>11 mstrust: I love your episode summaries! LOL!

#5 Yes! Simon, whistle a little louder so they can pinpoint your location!

#6 Henry, don't get too stabby or Carol may ask you to look at the flowers...

>40 harrygbutler: Thank you, Harry, and I hope you had a good Easter too!

>41 lkernagh: Hi, Lori, glad you made it, and Happy Easter to you, from both me and Bernard!

>42 RidgewayGirl: Awww, thank you! It's both cute and creepy! Happy Easter!

>43 PaperbackPirate: Ha, thanks! Yes indeed, someone needs to clue little Henry in on what happens to children who cross paths with Carol. I do believe his days are numbered...

We were at a barbecue last night and the host was an amazing cook. He smoked the biggest cut of prime rib I've ever seen and it was perfect, along with the diced potatoes and onions he also smoked. He made his own salad dressing and his girlfriend made a very large layered chocolate cake decorated with Cadbury eggs. We brought some cookies I made, dark chocolate wafers sandwiched with a mixture of raspberry and wild blueberry preserves and chocolate ganache. And a bottle of Three Olives cherry vodka. We waddled out at midnight, had Coral at the park this morning at 10 and we were having our breakfast about a quarter after 11.
And this is all the Easter candy I have left:

A single lonely packet of pink Peeps bunnies.

I didn't know you could smoke prime rib but I'll try anything once. Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!
I've never even thought to attempt prime rib at home, but this guy is a pro with his smoker and it turned out exactly right, as did the diced potatoes. Which I also wouldn't have thought to try in a smoker.

Now I'm going to brag that I got all 22 eggs in the LT Egg Hunt.

>34 mstrust: That sounds about right! There was an Easter Bunny walking around visiting at the kids Easter egg hunt on Saturday and Chloe wanted nothing to do with it! I kept asking her if she wanted to go say hello or thanks for the eggs and she gave me several very stern No. Thank. You. 😝

She may have suspected that giant bunny of wanting to take its delicious candy eggs back. The girl was right to be wary.

TWD Report- Spoilers!

1. Seeing Negan tied up to a mechanic's rolling backrest had great potential. I was hoping he'd scoot around by his heels for a bit because that would be a laugh. Still, he didn't stop talking, and somehow got his hands on both a gun and a flare. All while tied down. Jadis is even dumber than I gave her credit for. Instead of begging him not to burn her photos, why didn't she shoot him so he couldn't? I would have been a better leader of the garbage people. Rick in a coma would have been a better leader.
Also how did she have 1.electricity and 2. pure white sheets in her little container apartment?
Negan goes for sincerity and humility while manipulating Jadis.

2. Why is Tara so willing to forgive Dwight for shooting her with an untainted arrow when so many of her people were killed with tainted ones? Surely she doesn't believe she's so important that her life being spared is worth so many others who weren't. Doesn't she know that she's a second tier character?

3. Michonne reads Carl's letter to her and tries to get Rick to read his letter. He'd rather chase Saviors through the woods and take a shot at dying than read it.

4. Rick and Morgan turning on the Saviors who were going to join them was a surprise. Well, at least the second most annoying Savior (behind Simon) is dead. And then Rick demands to know why Morgan had saved him at the beginning, and the answer of "Because my son was there." is our answer to why Rick wiped out the Savior men just seconds before. And Morgan's mantra of "I don't die" is explained.

5. Helicopter! We'll be meeting new survivors soon!

6. Looks like Hilltop has gained a Savior.

7. I think Negan picks up Dwight at the side of the road.

Belated happy new one, Jennifer. I love the topper.

Lalalalala. I saw the word 'ghost'. Please tell me TWD hasn't discredited the zombie apocalypse by introducing ghosts!

>50 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara.

>51 SomeGuyInVirginia: You must have been reading last week's report, though there was a similar type of sighting this past episode. No, there are no ghosts on TWD, but Morgan is once again having a breakdown. His season 8 breakdown, as apposed to his season 4 breakdown or his season 6 breakdown. Guilt, Morgan has immense guilt and regret. Watching Sunday's episode, with Morgan talking in the woods with Carol, I was waiting for him to sprint away yelling out, "I'm running away from my prah-blemmmmmsss!" And then he'd been running into the scene on the first episode of FTWD.

The Walking Dead - ""SPOILERS""

I can't believe that we are only a couple of episodes away from the season ending of TWD! That long haired annoying Savior got a great death scene - with zombies chomping off his face! It looks like Jadis is going to be around for awhile longer so I decided I'd better learn her name. I suspect this upcoming issue may bring about the end of Simon. I agree with you that Dwight was who Negan picked up, poor Dwight was probably trying to slip away to join Rick's group and once again Negan drew him back. So that helicopter, do you think that Jadis was expecting it? She had packed her bags and tried to draw it's attention so I'm thinking there is some sort of connection. I have my fingers crossed that we will see the end of Negan's rule (if not Negan himself) during the finale of the season. I guess we won't get to see much of Morgan's trip across a zombie infested America, he will probably leave Rick's group in the season finale and then show up in the first show of Fear The Walking Dead. I hope he packs a couple of extra pointed sticks for his trip!

*Spoilers*
I too think this season has gone by too quickly. I don't know how many episodes we've had, but past seasons have been around 16-18.
Yeah, that long haired guy was named Jared, something I didn't pick up on until he was on "Talking Dead" after he died. Good for him. And it's nice to see these horrible characters are played by nice people, as he was laughing at what a creep he'd played.
It looks like Jadis must have seen the helicopter before as she wasn't standing there stunned to see it. She had a plan for when she'd see it again, which explains why she dove onto Negan trying to get the flare. I didn't get that at first, that she was trying to pull it from him to signal.
Though I'll miss Morgan on TWD, I'm waiting to see how he departs from the show, if there will be a plan or just him disappearing. Or being kicked out, like Rick did to Carol once.

Friday's "Wwwhat?":

Whiskey River Candle and Soap Co. makes some unusual scents, like "Introvert" and "Broke Ass Musician".


Here's the site: https://whiskeyriversoap.com/

34. Rendezvous in Black by Cornell Woolrich. The night before their wedding, Johnny Marr goes to meet his girl at the drugstore, but finds she got there first, and she's been killed in a freak accident. Johnny starts hanging around the site, unable to get over his loss. Then he suddenly disappears, and on every anniversary of his fiance's death, another woman is killed.
A really engaging story of revenge, Woolrich takes the reader into the lives of several different families and the one detective trying his best.4.2 stars

Read for the Classic and Golden Age Mystery Group

>56 mstrust: I've been a fan of Cornell Woolrich's work since way back, but this one sounds unfamiliar, so I'll have to look out for it.

This is just the third I've read from him and I've liked them all. I wish he had as long a catalog as Stephen King. The others I've read are The Bride Wore Black and I Married A Dead Man.

>56 mstrust: Oooh, yeah. I haven't read that but I've heard about it, supposed to be one of his best.

>56 mstrust: I have Rendezvous in Black on my Kindle and I am looking forward to it. I love Cornell Woolrich. There have been two movies made out of Rendezvous in Black, Barbara Stanwyck starred in a 1950's version called "No Man of Her Own" which I have seen and recommend. It was also made into Mrs. Winterbourne starring Ricki Lake in 1996, which I haven't seen.

>59 SomeGuyInVirginia: It's excellent, so I think you'll like it. I have maybe two more Woolrich's on the shelf.
>60 DeltaQueen50: If you already love Woolrich, you're going to be very happy with this one. I had no idea there were movie versions of this book, and certainly wouldn't have known it from those titles, so thanks! I'll see if Netflix has the Stanwyck version, though I won't hold my breath. I've looked for so many classics there and they rarely have them.

Btw, for Netflix streamers, both "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and "The Santa Clarita Diet" have just released their second seasons.

I know about "The Santa Clarita Diet' - I love me some Timothy Oliphant!

>61 mstrust: Nate and I already binged Santa Clarita Diet and I'm sad we are finished again. I'm not usually a fan of zombie type shows but that one was pretty funny/awesome.

>62 DeltaQueen50: I haven't been able to watch yet because Mike likes it too and wants to watch, but he spent all week staying late at work so he could relax at the drag races in Vegas this weekend. It's a priority when he gets back.
>63 ChelleBearss: That's the thing with Netflix releasing a whole season at a time, ha! Those of us who can't wait end up gobbling them all in three days then have to wait soooo many months for the next batch. But Santa Clarita is a really funny show and I like everything about it. :-)

The BBC employees are so happy to be open for business again.

35. Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers: The Rise of Motorhead by Martin Popoff. A biography of the formation and career of the original band with a focus on the business side. This is the only bio I've ever read that consisted almost entirely of interview quotes, which make up about 90% of the book with the author simply putting in connecting sentences. Still, this book has a lot of value to fans as there are, finally, explanations for the departures of both Fast Eddie and Phil Taylor, and the book is recent enough that the deaths of Lemmy and Phil are covered. I wish I could give it a higher rating, but there's so little writing on the author's part and the few photos included are black and white crowd photos. 4 stars

TWD Report- Spoilers

1. So as soon as Gregory's out of the pen, he's back to making deals, but this time with Simon at the table. Simon is claiming to be the man, and Gregory is more than willing to go along with it. He isn't afraid of Simon at all, and this makes him get quite lippy, which Simon fixes real fast. Yet Gregory keeps bouncing back.

2. It's been weeks since we've seen Eugene, and he's a boss who loves the sound of his own voice. And poor Gabriel is alive, but still sick and blind. Eugene throwing him off the line was a kindness.

3. Yes, Daryl and Rosita! Note that the last time these two were on a mission together Denise died, but no bother. And who can blame Daryl for wanting to cut out Eugene's tongue.

4. Negan is back, dammit. And Dwight looks worse than usual, like he hadn't slept in days.

5. When Simon was asking Negan for forgiveness, it looked like a Godfather situation, didn't it? And we found out that Simon was responsible for all the men of Oceanside being massacred, so the garbage people weren't just the victims of Simon's lunacy, they were more victims.

6. Eugene has a whole arsenal of unexpected ways to evade capture. He bit Dwight's junk, now he threw up on Rosita. Ha, that was gross! And it made her fire at him, so she hates him enough that she's willing to kill him to keep him from getting back.

7. Aaron sits up and gives a speech about how the Saviors have hurt the women of Oceanside, conveniently leaving out that Enid very recently killed their matriarch.

8. What a fight! There was no one for the viewer to root for as they're both sociopaths, but what a fight. And what Negan does with Walker Simon is cold as ice.

9. I was wrong about who Negan found at the side of the road. It was a shock, wasn't it? You knew it would come back at the worst time for Dwight though.

10. As if Carl's words would affect Negan.

This was an excellent episode!

>65 mstrust: And so are we! :-)

>65 mstrust: Aren't we all.

>68 FAMeulstee: >69 harrygbutler: Hi Anita and Harry! Yup, it was a strange weekend, being unable to pop in LT.
>69 harrygbutler: So very disapproving.

36. Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl. A very slim book, but one of Dahl's off-kilter sense of humor. Cinderella wishes for pantyhose and silver slippers so she can attend the disco at the palace, Snow White steals the magic mirror to get predictions for betting on the horse races, and Goldilocks is guilty of breaking and entering:

But Goldilocks, like many freaks,
Does not appreciate antiques.
She doesn't care, she doesn't mind,
And now she plonks her fat behind
Upon this dainty precious chair,
And crunch! It busts beyond repair.
A nice girl would at once exclaim,
"Oh dear! Oh heavens! What a shame!"
Not Goldie. She begins to swear.
She bellows, "What a lousy chair!"

5 stars

I've been picking at a couple of books over the weekend, and also read a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle called "The Leather Funnel". In it, one character conjectures to another that if one were to sleep with a historical object nearby, it will impart its history in dreams. And that turns out to be the most interesting funnel ever. It's a decent story with a chilling almost-torture scene.
And you might want to pick up the current issue of the travel magazine Lonely Planet, as there are a couple of pages of photos of famous libraries.

We're going to hit 98-99F today. I went out to do some gardening and came back in after maybe seven minutes. Our six months of Summer has started.

Hey Jennifer! I finally got the chance to mosey on over to your thread. It's been crazy cold here! snow flurries, gray skies, wind from Canada. I'm about to toss my self from, I don't know where, but I've had enough! It's spring for tulips sake!
Aaaah, I see it's unbearable by you as well. *sigh* If you find perfect please let me know.

Roald Dahl's stuff is great. My kids loved the one about the alligator who specialized in eating children and the one about the pig who figured out what the farmer had planned for him. I loved Esio Trot and The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me.

We are still waiting for spring to get started for real. Every few days, it feels like it's maybe happening and I throw open all the windows and then have to close them a few hours later when I can no longer feel my toes.

>72 Carmenere: Hi Lynda, glad you made it over. Send me a box of cold winds and gray skies! I know, it must get old fast, but yesterday we went ahead and hit our first 100 for the year. A month ahead of the regular schedule. I shake my fist at the sky.

>73 RidgewayGirl: Matilda was so much fun, and I was happy to find Revolting Rhymes on my shelf like it had just materialized. Thanks for the other titles, I'll need more from him.
This change in the weather always means sleepless nights for me. I was awake until sometime after 1:30 this morning. Our Spring lasts about two weeks, and we get lots of wildflowers and the orange blossoms are wonderful. Then the sun says, "Ha, Phoenix, I'm gonna burn your face off!"


I read issue 30 of Haunted Horror comics. It's a re-issue of various monster and supernatural stories from the 50's, and it's pretty entertaining. The monsters and witches are horribly lurid, and stories include a deadbeat who goes to a swamp witch for voodoo to get rid of his hardworking brother and his family and inherit the property, and another story of a doctor at a Nazi camp who experiments on the prisoners. Bad guys get their come-comeuppance in spades.

I'm pretty sure all of the McDonald's around here are still selling hot chocolate.

OK

Sure, Larry, rub it in. I have every fan in the house going full blast and I won't see Mike in full pants until December. Good thing I like iced coffee ;-)
Btw, are you enjoying iZombie?

Aaah! I forgot! I'll have to start writing this stuff down.

I was a huge fan of Roald Dahl when I was a kid, read them all several times over and now my nieces and nephews are nuts for him too. However you have reminded me that I have never read all of Revolting Rhymes. At school we had a relief teacher who would bring in the book and read ONE story from it and it was so funny and hilarious and of course I wanted to read the book but it was impossible to get hold of. My local library wouldn't stock that one for the kids to read - it was banned I think - certainly not at the book shop either. I remember it being so maddening lol.

>77 SomeGuyInVirginia: Oops! You were probably perfectly happy before I reminded you that you were missing something. Also, The Terror, have you been watching that?

>78 kiwiflowa: Oh no, it's the one that got away! I remember back before you could order anything you ever wanted. What a shame that a library would ban a book that kids would enjoy so much. It may have even got some to recite poetry!

I watched the pilot for iZombie last night, and realized I'd seen it before. It's probably not my thing, it seems very WB. I haven't watched any of The Terror.

Speaking of WB, I've watched a few episodes of The Magicians and liked them. Edgy, but sooooo a rip off of Hogwarts.

Oh, I thought you had been waiting for iZombie to start the new season. I'm getting so confused ;-)
The Terror is set on two Royal Navy ships that are stuck in the ice, so nothing but snow and icebergs and shivering actors. Oh, and something on the ice that kills about a man a day.

Z Nation! It's pretty crap, but I like it. More humor than in most zombie apocalypse movies.

For Friday, The BBC is doing something useful (for once). Remembering that, oh yeah, one of the Bs in BBC stands for booze, we're crowding into the tiki bar to make Citrus Cocktails. You'll want to try all of these recipes as they're perfect for Spring and Summer.

Here's one of the most popular of lemon drinks:


The popular British cocktail:

I know, so many of you are dealing with snow. A citrus cocktail and a heat lamp, maybe Herb Alpert in the background...

A very old cocktail that has never fallen out of fashion:


10 Citrus Cocktail recipes, and they are mostly easy classics like the Harvey Wallbanger and the Gimlet: https://www.alcoholprofessor.com/blog/2015/01/27/10-citrus-cocktails-to-keep-you...

At the da Paolino Restaurant in Capri, you dine in a lemon grove, which must be the most amazing scent-


Meh, sometimes recipes are too much trouble-


Happy Friday

Oh, nice drinks! I'm gonna need something like that the weekend. 😀

>83 mstrust: >84 mstrust: A good array. I might try a Planters Punch, but after that I'll probably stick to Scotch sours.

I think it's time to Kiss the Sun! Oh yes!

>85 drneutron: I knew a doctor would approve these. So many vitamins, it's almost like drinking a salad.

>86 harrygbutler: Hope you like it. I think the Planter's Punch looks great, and it's nice to have a single serving recipe for it as it's traditionally made in a big punch bowl.

>87 SomeGuyInVirginia: Ha! I know, how simple is that? Breakfast is served.

I gave up on Maisie Dobbs at 54 pages in. I just didn't care.

>84 mstrust: Have you made the Planter's Punch before? I have a recipe for Planter's Punch handed down from my grandfather that I made regularly. It differs a fair bit from this one. It has pineapple juice, orange juice, grenadine, bitters and white rum in it. It is a go to staple for me.

>88 mstrust: Re Maisie Dobbs: I find I have next to no interest in historical mysteries, and especially those set in the twentieth century. There are just too many mysteries available written and published then for me to be tempted by someone's recreation of the milieu. And for older periods, intrusive modernity usually ends up marring my enjoyment.

>88 mstrust: I've found that a lot of books that are lauded on NPR just kind of flatline for me. I worked at NPR back in the 90s, however, and I dearly loved those people. I had to collect carriage reports, lists of shows that stations broadcast. I'd call and they'd give me the list. I called a tiny station in the Alaskan wilderness and asked what they'd run. The station manager said 'Well, nothing for a while, the last storm knocked the tower down. Billie's got it on a rope and is going to try and get it back up with his truck. If that doesn't work we're going to go fishing instead.'

And that's why I considered moving to Alaska.

The lemon drop sounds delicious. I'm heading to Florida for the weekend and am excited to be able to pack short-sleeved tops.

>89 Oberon: I've inadvertently made it plenty of times, just because a cocktail of rum and fruit juices are tikis, so I've seen a lot of different recipes for it. Planter's Punch follows the rhyming recipe for old punches, "one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak (ice or fruit)". Some people add on "a little spice to make it nice", which would be cinnamon or nutmeg. According to wonderful Smuggler's Cove, there has been a written version of Planter's Punch floating around since the late 1600's, and it's a recipe that is meant to be tinkered with, as the type of rum it called for and the types of fruit used have changed with the times. Pineapple would be delicious, and your grandfather's version sounds great!

>90 harrygbutler: That's exactly the problem I was having, modern ways and speech. This story is set in 1929, and I rolled my eyes as the title character handed out therapy to her client, but when she told someone "Good for you," in congratulations, it seemed too modern and un-British. I don't know if I'm correct or not, but that was enough for me. Yet it's a popular series so plenty of people have liked it.

>91 SomeGuyInVirginia: I can't even remember where I heard about the Maisie Dobbs series, but likely right here. There are too many books I enjoy to waste time on a stinker.
That's hilarious! I wonder if they caught anything. When I worked for a tiny station in Prescott, 90 minutes north of Phoenix, I did Saturdays and Sundays, six p.m. to midnight, all by myself. When it snowed, I'd have to put an extra long song on the air, race down the hall and out the back door with a big push broom, run up a hill and knock the snow off the satellite. If it snowed hard, I was doing that all night long.

>92 RidgewayGirl: Have a great time! I think you'll be there in great weather, not too hot and not monsoon season.

Love all the lemon stuff, Jennifer. I drooled over the pics of your lemon bars on the last thread but I didn't see that recipe on the kitchen thread. I am going to attempt them for the very first time.

Yeah, lemon bars are so good that it seems like everyone already has a favorite recipe. Here's the one I use:

Lemon Bars

crust-
1 1/4 c. flour
1/4 c powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 tsp. lemon zest

filling-
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. lemon juice
1 tbs. lemon zest
2 tbs flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350F. For crust, combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut butter into tbs. pieces and add to flour, along with the zest. Blend with your fingers or a pastry blender until the dough holds together when pressed. Press into an 8 inch square pan (although I always use a 8x12 pan and they turn out perfectly). Bake about 20 min., until edges are golden. Cool 5 minutes and reduce the oven to 325.

For filling, whisk eggs in a bowl. Whisk in sugar, juice and zest. Stir in flour and baking powder. Pour over the crust and bake about 25 minutes, until the top it set when pressed. Cool and dust with powdered sugar.

Good luck! I'm making lime coolers today. I'm using a lemon cookie recipe but I'll switch out for lime zest and roll them in powdered sugar when they cool.

We heard last night that Mike's friend and employee Tom died last night. He'd been fighting pancreatic cancer for nearly two years, and I can't keep track of all the different types of chemo they tried. Some would shrink the cancer a little but make him too sick to do anything, tumors grew in other organs, he'd show up for work when he shouldn't because he missed his friends and wanted to work. We'd been expecting to hear the news for a few weeks, but still.

Oh lord, I'm sorry. Death is always a shock.

>96 mstrust: Lemon bars are quite yummy. Sorry about Mike's friend/employee.

>96 mstrust: I'm sorry to hear about Mike's friend. Even when you're expecting that news, it's never easy when it does arrive. Thinking of you.

>97 SomeGuyInVirginia: Thanks, Larry. I think he held out for that long because he was young, but I understand that pancreatic is one of the toughest to beat. And I found out the next day that my sister had attended her friend's funeral that same day.

>98 thornton37814: Yep, even people who normally don't like lemon often like lemon bars. Mike loves them.

>99 rabbitprincess: Thanks, princess. Mike is doing okay and we're still waiting to hear about funeral plans. Unfortunately, just that afternoon I'd been telling Mike that he needed to get over to Tom's house and see him because we knew there wasn't much time left.

I made the lime coolers yesterday. Here's an internet pic just in case you're unfamiliar:


And tonight is the season finale of TWD. What will happen? *sigh* I predict we have another season of Negan. I think all the groups are going into another big battle, and I think Morgan is simply going to run away.

Hi, Jennifer!

My condolences regarding Mike's friend.

>100 mstrust: Those lime coolers look like Pfeffernüsse.

Hi Harry! Thanks. It seems like Friday the 13th came down like a hammer this year.
All that delicious powdered sugar covers it, but underneath, the cookie has flecks of lime zest going through it. Without the lime, the dough is a simple butter cookie, very light, and you could switch in lemon, orange, spice, pretty much anything you wanted.
Also, I tried something my mom told me about, which is taking the used citrus rinds, popping them inside out, and covering them with granulated sugar. You let it sit for at least five hours (I left it all day), and the sugar liquidizes and mixes with the citrus juice to make a flavored simple syrup for cocktails. It worked. I tasted it and it was delicious lime sugar.

>102 mstrust: Those cookies do sound tasty. And the citrus syrup technique could certainly come in handy. I may try that with orange peel and see what impact it makes on an Old Fashioned.

Ooh, Revolting Rhymes was one of my favourites as a kid - along with pretty much every Roald Dahl book to be honest. I was slightly startled to discover just how rude some of it was though, when reading my original version (acquired aged 6) to my son.

>103 harrygbutler: It's a lot easier than making simple syrup on the stove. Just put it in a tupperware and wait.

>104 evilmoose: It seems like that would be a book that kids love, because it is very rude, ha!

Just dropping by to wish you a wonderful week :)

TWD Season Finale *Spoilers*

1. Rick has Siddiq tell him how Carl had been bitten, so the loss is still fresh, yet he also disagrees with Morgan when Morgan says they've lost everything. Rick answers with "We haven't lost everything yet." Which says a lot about Rick's resilience, or maybe about him having Michonne and Judith. Or it's possible that he's planning a summer of team building exercises.

2. Dwight has survived betraying Negan, somehow.

3. Note that after Negan test fires Eugene's bullets, he intentionally hands the gun back with the barrel facing Eugene, which normally would have gotten him cussed out, but Eugene gives him a battle plan instead. And then later, Eugene is ready to shoot Gabriel, of all people. Which makes us start to really despise Eugene, right?

4. Then, sweet! We love Eugene again.

5. We see Aaron for all of half a second, and he actually talked Oceanside into fighting. That was a surprise.

6. Rick begging Negan to listen? That was an effective fake-out. But how can Negan be the only person in this apocalypse who survives a slashed throat? Siddiq was just a medical student, how could he repair that, dammit? And I still don't buy that Rick would want Negan around, even if he is trying to live by Carl's dying words. The rest of the Saviors, sure, but Negan's a sociopath and he watched Negan beat Glenn to death. Plus, he promised Negan that he would kill him. Make a promise, keep a promise.

7. Did they set up Maggie and Daryl to be Rick's enemies for next season?

8. I had trouble hearing the dialogue in Negan's car. The background music was too loud.

That's it til October.

>106 figsfromthistle: Thanks! I wish you a good week too.

La la la! I didn't do jack this weekend, I should have caught up on TWD.

>105 mstrust: Easy is good. :-) I don't make simple syrup, though I do make shrubs (vinegar + juice from berries or such + sugar) that are like it. Even here, though, I sometimes take a short cut and get the juice + sugar syrups available at a local store and just blend that with the vinegar.

>109 SomeGuyInVirginia: Yes, you should have. Don't shirk your duty to come here and read my rants.
>110 SomeGuyInVirginia: Oh, you. ;-)

>111 harrygbutler: I've heard of shrubs but never looked into them. What do you use them in? I can't decide if it's for cocktails or salad dressing.

>112 mstrust: Yes! :-) They can be used in cocktails or simply to make refreshing drinks. I first had a shrub as a nonalcoholic drink at the City Tavern in Philadelphia a few years ago and liked it so much that I decided to make some of my own. I don't usually use it as a mixer myself, but people definitely do. Since then, I've made strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, cherry, and peach (and possibly one or two more that have slipped my mind). In the summer I simply combine the syrup with club soda (though one could use seltzer or even just water) on a glass-by-glass basis to get a really thirst-quenching drink, but I've also used the shrub undiluted on salad as a dressing. Peach shrub, which I didn't really like that much as a drink base, made an excellent salad dressing.

(There are other shrubs that are more like cordials, but I've not made them.)

I might try one of those out, if you'll give me a recipe. That sounds really good, as both a drink and a salad dressing. I like all the flavors you listed.

37. We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone by Ronald Malfi. A collection of really well done and disturbing short stories that came to me through the Nocturnal Reader's Box. In "Learned Children", the new teacher in a rural school finds that his classroom of dim-witted students excel at sinister behavior. In "Under the Tutelage of Mr. Truehart", a bullied Cub Scout is paired with an old man who claims to want to help the child get revenge, and in "The Housewarming", the new couple in the neighborhood find that their party is too successful and their neighbors too welcoming. In a collection well-written, creepy stories, stand-outs for me were "Pembroke", about a strange special order book that is mistakenly delivered to Pembroke's used bookstore with dire consequences, and "The House on Cottage Lane", a Halloween story of the local haunted house. 4.2 stars

>102 mstrust: Oooo, thanks for the simple, simple syrup recipe!
My condolences regarding Mike's friend/coworker.

You're welcome! It couldn't get any easier, could it? I used a tsp. of the lime sugar in a smoothie this morning.
Thanks; we found out the memorial is scheduled for next Monday.

>114 mstrust: Here you go!

Fruit: raspberries, blackberries, blueberries; strawberries; or peaches or similar fruit (peel and remove pit)
Apple cider or similar vinegar: enough to cover the fruit
Sugar: to match the amount of juice-infused vinegar
(Ratio approximately 1:1:1)

Start with a couple cups of fruit in a ceramic or glass bowl, or in a bean jar. For berries, consider crushing them slightly to break the skins.

Cover with vinegar. Loosely cover the bowl (e.g., with a towel).

Allow to steep for at least a few days, and preferably a week (especially if doing this in the refrigerator. Stir twice a day. (Note: This is safer if done in the refrigerator; I’ve lost a batch or two I didn’t refrigerate because I neglected to stir, and I had some fruit above the surface of the vinegar that got moldy.)

Next, strain the fruit and vinegar through cheesecloth or a Foley mill or otherwise so as to remove seeds, skin, and pulp.

Combine the fruity vinegar and an equal amount of sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool and bottle and keep in the refrigerator — good for at least a couple months. You can bottle it for real, but I’ve never done so.

There are other approaches, including ones that have you coat the fruit in sugar and then combine with vinegar, but that hasn’t worked as well for me.

Here are a couple online recipes:
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-a-fruit-shrub-syrup-174072
https://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/06/cocktail-101-how-to-make-shrub-syrups.htm...
https://food52.com/blog/13831-how-to-make-shrubs-aka-drinking-vinegars-without-a...

Thanks so much, Harry! And for the links too. So it looks a lot like making a cordial, but replacing the vodka with vinegar. Nice way to use up an excess of fruit. I'll be trying this out in the summer.

I haven't made it to many threads this year, but I had to wander in to see what you thought of TWD finale. Do you watch The Talking Dead? An interesting fan question was do you think Rick would had let Negan live if it had been Michonne killed instead of Glenn.

I had stopped watching FTWD after the first season, but with Morgan crossing over I watched the new episode. Not sure if I'll go on.

I did watch The Talking Dead and saw Andrew Lincoln answer that question, and I think he was right. Rick would have killed Negan if it had been Michonne, even a long time later. And he would have killed Negan, if he'd been able to, for Glenn's death if it was still fresh. I also don't think it was Rick's decision to not kill Negan. It should have been Maggie's or Maggie and Rosita's, or the whole group's, not just Rick's.
I have FTWD recorded but haven't watched it yet. I'm hoping the addition of both Morgan and Garrett Dillahunt makes it more interesting. I didn't watch the last season.

>119 mstrust: You're quite welcome, Jennifer! Shrubs have become my go-to refreshing summer drinks after working outside, as the tartness of the vinegar is a big plus. (I just mix the syrup with club soda, about 1:5 or 1:6 proportions.) I forgot to mention that of course you can vary the quantity of sugar if you want it a bit tarter or a bit sweeter.

ETA: I also forgot to mention that there's also a book on them: Shrubs: An Old-Fashioned Drink for Modern Times. I have it but haven't made anything with it yet.

>121 mstrust: I thought Andrew Lincoln's response was true that Rick would have killed Negan. But I didn't like his logic that if Michonne had been killed, then Carl would still be alive.

Interesting point that it's not a good way to start a more democratic society.

>122 harrygbutler: It seems like a good way to cut down on sugary sodas during the summer. I drink a lot of Perrier, but that can get boring and a lot of the flavored bubbly waters are full of sugar.

>123 streamsong: It seemed to me that Rick's decision to not kill Negan, after spending two seasons with everyone agreeing that the goal was to kill Negan, was so selfish. He just willy-nilly changed the plans because he wanted to honor his son's wishes, which would have been understandable, and misguided, if not for the fact that Maggie and Rosita have dibs on Negan's life. And Sasha died because of Negan. So it seems that Rick needs to be reminded that he isn't the only leader among his people now.

38. A Penknife in My Heart by Nicholas Blake. Smooth-talking Stuart Hammer meets Ned Stowe and immediately recognizes him for unhappy and desperate. Ned loves his mistress but is married to sharp tongued Helena, who has the money that keeps Ned from divorcing her. Stuart is an employee of his uncle's thriving business but wants to be the boss himself. When Stuart presents his plan to fix both his and Ned's problems, Ned jumps at the chance, as his unhappiness keeps him from considering the fact that he isn't a killer and that he really can't keep his mouth shut.

Does this plot sound familiar? Published in 1958, the author (Cecil Day-Lewis) includes a note explaining that it wasn't until after publication that he heard of Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train, published eight years earlier. I have yet to read the other, though it's on my shelf and hope to get to it soon. I suppose I'll see how much they have in common. This was an engaging tale of double murder, with one man so comfortable with murder, and the other being his polar opposite. 3.5 stars

>115 mstrust: We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone sounds fantastic. I'll keep an eye out for a copy.

I'm happy to be trumpeting about that book. Hope you find yourself a copy and like it too!

Nicholas Blake is great, I love his stuff. The resurrection presses have done a good job of bringing older, forgotten books back. I just bought a Blake Kindle book that I've never heard of before, The Deadly Joker.

You may be interested in another Brit mystery writer whose books are slowly bring released, Colin Watson. If you buy them as they become available, they're .99 cents each. Woot!

This was the first I've read from Blake, and I'd like to read The Beast Must Die. To be honest, I was hoping he'd written a monster book, but it's another murder mystery that gets good reviews. Never heard of Watson, but I'm willing to check him out.
I'm kind of struggling with Cold Moon Over Babylon. I'm maybe 50 pages in and waiting for a character who isn't annoying to show up.

I hear you with the McDowell books. He's almost a cult figure, and the one short story I read by him was excellent, but I read The Elementals and though it was just OK. He's probably worth a shot, though.

Have you read any scary books that you can recommend? I seem to be on a horror kick lately.

I'll keep trying with Cold Moon Over Babylon, but I hope it picks up the pace soon. I demand my murders.
Well, I looked through the books you and I share, and there are a couple hundred. So you've read Heart Shaped Box, The Other, The Other Side, (which reminds me that I need more R. Chetwynd-Hayes in my life) and you have everything from King. I think that the only ones I can think of for now that you don't have already are Horrorstor, which was a very scary haunted house story, The Haunting of Hill House, Bleed by Ed Kurtz, which is a monster book, and another Chetwynd-Hayes, The Monster Club, which is short stories. And then there's >115 mstrust:. Sorry I couldn't be more help, but I have been looking over my intended reads for Halloween and there are a lot, so maybe there will be something good there.

It's Friday, so consider this. On Etsy you can buy lovely, handmade cross stitch and embroidery samplers that say all kinds of interesting things. The vast majority are so very colorful that this was one of the few I could post:


If this inspires you to create your own, Amazon sells patterns too. Or come up with your own foul mouthed pattern that will be passed down for generations!

>132 mstrust: Now that deserves a toast! Maybe one of these:



>125 mstrust: It's interesting that he hadn't heard of Strangers on a Train. I don't know too much about (and have never read) the book, but I'm pretty sure the Hitchcock movie was successful.

Is Heart Shaped Box any good? It's got good press but that doesn't really mean much. I like the premise but it's so long that I've always been put off.

Have you ever read anything by George Baxt? He's pretty good and he's not your typical mystery writer. He wrote a bunch off books with movie stars in the lead.

I love mysteries with high body counts, it must come from watching all those slashers when I was a teen.

Nice place you got here! I love both the Lemon Drop and the Lemon Bars -- thanks!

Very sorry to hear about Mike's friend passing.

>133 harrygbutler: Ha! Thanks for that. The bartender deserves a raise. I thought it was strange that Blake was unaware of Strangers on a Train too, but pre-internet, pre-Smart phone, it was a lot easier to have something slip by. That's all I can figure. You would think that being in the literary circles Blake was in, he would have had someone say, "Have you seen the latest Hitchcock?"

>134 SomeGuyInVirginia: Heart Shaped Box is very good and very creepy. When I read the phrase "haunted suit", I thought I was in for something really dumb, but Hill pulled it off so well.
I haven't read or heard of Baxt, and that's why your the champ of finding forgotten writers. You excel at finding the out-of-print horror and mystery.
I'm interested in reading more from W.H. Hodgson, He seems to have written weird fiction, creepy stories, but never got a movement behind him like Lovecraft did.

>135 Berly: Thank you, and glad you found The BBC! It's great to have lemon connections, there's so much to do with them, especially lemon bars.
And thanks, we're missing Tom.

Pass the lemon doughnuts around:

No! They are mine, all mine! : )

>130 SomeGuyInVirginia: >133 harrygbutler: Dan Simmons works, The Terror specifically. Also Clive Barker is a creep!
I really enjoyed Heart Shaped Box and NOS4A2. I just bought The Fireman and hope to read it near Halloween.

>132 mstrust: That's great! I made this one a couple years ago and it hangs in my front hallway beside a picture of Ellie :)

Swooping in to sneak a lemon donut! Happy Sunday!

>137 Berly: I don't blame you for being selfish, they look so good. During the summer, our doughnut place, La Mars, makes citrus donuts. It tastes like a vanilla/lemon cake doughnut covered in a grapefruit glaze that has little flecks of zest in it.

>138 ChelleBearss: I just found out that The Terror is 800 pages long! At the rate I read, if I started now it would last me til July. I can second Barker for being scary, as in scared me away from him for years and years, ha!
:-D You did a great job! I think I'd like the pattern that says "Please Don't Do Coke In Our Bathroom".
For about a dozen years I've had a framed hand-made block print in my library. I bought it from the artist, and it's a drawing of a big conversation heart, like they sell at Valentine's, but mine reads "Piss Off".

>139 Carmenere: Did you have to fight Berly for it? Happy Sunday, Lynda!

It's right on the edge of being too warm to take Coral to the park. We got there just before 9am and had both fields to ourselves, the place was deserted. Later, one of our stops was to Half Price Books, where I picked up:
Flashman in the Great Game
Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead House
Phoenix Noir by Akashic
The Austere Academy
The Reptile Room
Diary of a Provincial Lady
and a three disc set of French music, with Edith Piaf, Josephine Baker, Georges Brassens...

39. I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies by Laurie Notaro. Notaro was a humor columnist at The Arizona Republic for ten years before her column suddenly disappeared from the paper, something I'd always put down to the popularity of her first book. Nope, all the sordid details are in this book of essays, published in 2004. Here are the hilarious essays about the management changes at work and the cast of idiots that cost Notaro her job, the story of wearing a pair of favorite pants for so long that they exploded into fibers while on vacation, the drunken tree trimmer who began knocking on her door at all hours to ask for money and cigarettes, and an essay regarding something that still happens in Phoenix, where the City sends out threatening letters to an entire street about their yards. These subjects may not seem a likely source of humor, but Notaro has a remarkable ability to see the worst in everything. 4 stars

I was at ASU at the same time as Notaro (we even took the same statistics class, although I sat near the front because I needed to pass and she sat in back of the huge lecture hall with the other cool kids) and I loved her column in the university paper. Her essay on the ten stages of drunkeness was something my roommate and I would quote from far more often than was humorous (to others, we always found it hilarious.)

I loved her column in The Republic, but I knew something was going on when they began burying it deep in the paper and moving it around so it became so hard to find. She explains in this book that the problem started when the paper was sold to a corporation that brought in their own management team. Too bad, because she was one of the best things about the paper, probably too good for it.

Yes, I was surprised when she stayed in AZ, rather than go and write for a national paper or magazine. But she has explained that her life is in Phoenix and she didn't want to leave.

Hi Jennifer, I was away and didn't get a change to see the season finale of TWD until last night and I have very mixed feelings about Rick not finishing Negan off. I toitally agree that it wasn't a decision that Rick should have made all on his own. If he wants to act civilized then they should have put Negan on trial and have a jury decide his fate. I am a huge Daryl and Maggie fan so I am not looking forward to seeing them turn on Rick. At the same time, I wasn't totally surprised at Rick's decision as that is the way the graphic novels went with the storyline. I did love Eugene's storyline and was happy to see him become a hero - I also loved it when Rosita gave him a punch for vomiting on her! And how about Jadis (or should I say Anne) joining Rick - I wonder if we will learn more about that helicopter next year.

I haven't watched Fear The Walking Dead yet, but I have the first two shows recorded and will watch them soon.

>144 RidgewayGirl: Well, she stayed in Phoenix for a very long time after her career really took off, no doubt because her family is here, but she moved to Oregon many years ago. I'll bet she and her husband looked at each other one roasting Phoenix summer and said, "Let's go!"

>145 DeltaQueen50: Oh, you've just seen it! You're right, a trial would have been the most civilized. Too good for Negan, but it was disappointing to see Rick behave with such arrogance. So, if they follow the comics, Negan gets put in a little cell for years, right?
I was very happy to see that Eugene had done the right thing. It's always a surprise to see Eugene stick his neck out that it's thrilling when he does, like when he told Negan he was the bullet maker.
I watched the first episode of FTWD and liked it alot. I have the second waiting.

I've jettisoned two books. Shame in the Blood,a book from 1961 by Tetsuo Miura, was just too stilted for me, and that could have been from both the age and translation.
And I couldn't take any more of Cold Moon Over Babylon. I tried and tried over nearly two weeks but I couldn't stand the weepy grandmother who has to be led around my her teenage grandson because he's smarter than she is, or the sweet as pie cheerleader who says things like, "I declare,", and then eyes every male around. I got to Chapter 8 and hated nearly everything about it. Enough.

Pearl Ruled! Well, I dee-clair. Yeah, I've read the first few pages of The Amulet and Gilded Needles and didn't feel compelled to keep reading.

And what's surprising is that the guy who wrote such fantastic screenplays turned out very outdated, dumb female book characters. Maybe Tim Burton forced him to write more interesting females?
Btw, have you seen Ash vs Evil Dead, the tv series? We started it last night and it's so great. And I'm halfway through The Santa Clarita Diet.

I haven't started, but it's one of those shows that are on my watchlist. I also want to watch Santa Clarita Diet, but I haven't had much tee-bee time lately. Booooo!

Well whenever you get to them, I think you'll be happy. How lucky for us to be alive in a time of so many zombie viewing choices. Is this a Golden Age?

A palate cleanser:


40. Goosebumps: Welcome To Dead House by R.L. Stine. Twelve year old Amanda and her younger brother Josh are unhappy when they have to move to the house in Dark Falls that their father inherited. Amanda immediately sees that she and her brother aren't the only kids in the house, but her parents encourage them to go out an make friends.
A menacing little story, easy to see what's coming, but, *spoilers*, the family dog doesn't make it, which is kind of alarming. 3.5 stars

Ermahgerd! Gersberms!

I don't do well with harm coming to kids or aminules. Chased by ghosts, yes. Caught by ghosts, no.

Last night Parker did that thing where he sits in front of a wall, stares up at the point where the ceiling meets the wall and does that weird low cat roooowwrrr. But that's not the unnerving part.

The unnerving part is where I shout 'Stop that! You're just trying to freak me out!'

Chased by ghosts, yes. Caught by ghosts, no.

:-D That should be on a Halloween t-shirt.
I was surprised about the dog because I thought a scary story for this age group would be what I call "scary lite", where nothing too awful can happen. The dog's demise isn't on the page, but his afterlife is, which still might upset a kid reading the story.
I've heard of other cats doing that same thing and they may be doing it just to make their people freak. And I once saw three cats on the sidewalk sitting in a triangle formation facing each other. No doubt discussing the right time to summon Satan.

Eh, kids can just suck it up. I made it through Bambi AND Old Yeller. And I'm fine. I am perfectly fine!

>152 mstrust: I remember in grade 6 I really loved the Goosebumps books! I had almost forgotten about them-brings back great memories :)

>155 SomeGuyInVirginia: I agree, children these days are too soft, what with their "vaccinations" and "I don't want a haunted closet." Spoiled babies.
>156 figsfromthistle: Goosebumps came along about six or seven years too late for me, so I'm grabbing R.L. Stine books up now and having fun with them. I have a few more on the shelf. I think I'll have a few for Halloween too.

what with their "vaccinations" and "I don't want a haunted closet." Spoiled babies.

I laughed a long time over that.

Open Road Media has a lot of eBooks on sale today. They reprint a ton of lesser known thrillers.

Thanks, I'll check it out! Hope you having a good start to your weekend, Larry.

Friday's "Whhhaaat?!":


A 6' tall Benedict Cumberbatch carved out of solid chocolate. I suspect it was licked into oblivion.

>162 mstrust: So he's not hollow, like so many of the bunnies and such at Easter?

A cheap, hollow Cumberbatch? Never! He'd probably show up to kick a hole in it himself. The woman pictured is the carver, which is done with solid chocolate while hollow chocolate is molded.
Now, we wait for a David Tennant made from a block of maple sugar. It's gonna happen.

>162 mstrust: >163 harrygbutler: And then there's the Cumberbunnies... http://www.chocolatician.com/shop/cumber-bunny

:-D As soon as I make a pronouncement, something that seems impossible to be true, someone pops up with proof to the contrary. My God, those things are creepy! Yet I'm kinda thrilled that somebody made them. They belong in a horror-themed Easter basket.

>160 SomeGuyInVirginia: That's a lot of choices! I got Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye by Horace McCoy.

41. Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in Booklore by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone. The second book in the Goldstone's ventures through book collecting. In this, they attend the Edgar Awards ceremony, visit numerous rare book dealers, discuss the burgeoning online book trade, including baby Amazon, and attend the Windsor auction at Sotheby's.
Fun and surprisingly honest about money, whether discussing the price of a first edition or how much they paid to valet a car, I'll be looking for the other books from the Goldstones. 4.2 stars

>162 mstrust: I'd like to dip a piece of that in a jar of peanut butter ;0)

You'd have some competition!

>165 rabbitprincess: >166 mstrust: Creepy, indeed. It reminds me of Sarah Jessica Parker's head on her dog's body in Mars Attacks!

>169 mstrust: I especially like her 1000 yard stare. Her eyes are about to roll up like a shark's biting into a fat seal.

>169 mstrust: ROFL I'll work on the other arm.

Wouldn't it be more practical to just snap of a finger or two?

>170 harrygbutler: Ha! I had forgotten that. It's a disturbingly lifelike candy and I'd expect it to call out if you bit into it.

>171 SomeGuyInVirginia: :-D That blank stare had me wondering if it was the chocolate or the Cumberbatch she was most interested in. And if, between her grip and the licking, the arm came away with her.

>172 Carmenere: Ha, or the extremely realistic hand? The perfectly coiffed hair? The carver even got his weird little eyes right.

>173 RidgewayGirl: It would, or to bite off the nose and keep walking. I'll bet the smell within six feet of him was amazing.

42. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket. Their parents killed when the family home burns to the ground, the three Baudelaire children are placed in the care of their geographically closest relative, Count Olaf. The children were unaware of being related to the Count, and they hate being in his house, where they are forced to work all day and cook for the Count's acting troupe at night. The children know the Count is trying to get their family fortune, but the adults they turn to for help don't believe them.
It's hard to believe this series is nearly 20 years old now. I read this first book soon after it came out but didn't continue. I've got a few more in the series and hope to get through them all eventually. 4 stars

>162 mstrust: >169 mstrust: As much as a 6foot chocolate Cumberbatch does appeal to me, licking something that many others have already licked does not. Ick.

>175 mstrust: I listened to this one recently. I thought I had read it before but it wasn't marked down so perhaps not. Enjoyable audio

They're just softening it for you ;-)
Was it read by Tim Curry? I heard him narrate The Ersatz Elevator, and one other from the series. He did a tremendous job, just the perfect voice for these stories. I finished the Netflix series a few days ago. It's so awesome that I stretched it out as long as possible.

Yes! Tim Curry is an AMAZING reader!

I'd like to hear more of the series from him, or just about any other books that he's narrated. You know what his voice would be perfect for? Poe. Or The Woman in Black, stuff like that.

I had to go check. Curry has narrated Dracula (perfectly, I'm sure, and now I want it), Stephen King, Ruth Rendell and Anne Rice.

I've been scheduled for my first day of training as a library volunteer! The lead volunteer, the person who will be training me, was very enthusiastic about having help, especially as the other volunteers leave during the summer so she would have been doing everything on her own. At one point she asked, "Do you mind if I ask you why you want to volunteer?" and was thrilled when I admitted that I love re-arranging books. See, it's not weird.

>181 mstrust: Congrats! Hope it goes well. :)

I'd be a terrible volunteer. "You want to check these out? Why? What happened to the books you just checked out? What collateral do you have? I'm going to run a credit report on you, I'll be right back."

...oh my gawd, I'm turning into my mother...

>182 MickyFine: Thanks, and me too! I'm doing about a two hour shift next Thursday. The woman I spoke to today did tell me that she spent a couple of weeks training a volunteer, and as soon as the person was ready to work on her own, she said," Well, I'm going to Australia so you'll probably never see me again." Now that's how to quit a job.
>183 SomeGuyInVirginia: Ha! Should I call myself Keeper of the Books? I already have an urge to part a shelf of books and watch someone until they can feel my creepy eyes on them. ;-)

>181 mstrust: Sounds like it will be fun! Enjoy!

>181 mstrust: Congratulations, Jennifer! I hope you enjoy it. Is there a sale shelf that you can visit at the end of every shift to augment your own library?

>181 mstrust: Congrats future library volunteer! I really need to check my branch and see if they have a volunteer program. Sounds like a nice way to get involved.
Oh yeah, Have a great weekend :0)

>181 mstrust: How exciting!! Re-arranging books is a lot of fun. So is seeing what others are checking out of the library :) Have fun!

"Hi, I'm Jennifer hi hi hi hi I like coffee I'm gonna move books!"

>185 rabbitprincess: Thanks, princess!

>186 harrygbutler: Thanks, Harry! And yes, the Friends Book Corner is in each library, I believe, and that's a section of sale books. I'll be eyeing them each time.

>187 Carmenere: Thank you, Lynda! For how quickly this came together, from the time I applied online to the emails with the citywide coordinator, the interview, the background check, to setting up my first day, was about 10 days. They need help.
You have a great weekend too!

>188 figsfromthistle: Thanks! I hope it it's fun, because the lead volunteer in that branch already told me that it will be just the two of us all summer, ha!

43. The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout. Published in 2005, Stout is a clinical psychologist who spent 25 years on the psychiatric faculty at Harvard. This is her book for laymen about what defines a sociopath, their behavior, how you can spot one and how to protect yourself from them. And yes, it's right up there with The Exorcist for a terrifying read, because you will absolutely recognize the behavior of someone you've known. Early on, Dr. Stout informs us that about one in twenty-five Americans is a sociopath and the numbers are rising, and that it's untreatable, possibly because the sociopath doesn't want to be cured.
This is such an interesting subject and the author does a very good job with putting it in terms the general public can understand. And now I'll have to stop myself from analyzing whether or not everyone I meet is a sociopath. 4.5 stars

I read this for the ScaredyKit- Close To Home group.

>189 mstrust: Yeah, it's going to be a while before I can get that image out of my head.

I voted for the guy, but I've always thought Bill Clinton was a straight up sociopath.

:-D I love that chicken!
But, Sir, you have violated The BBC's strict no politics policy. You must suffer the consequences. Normally I'd throw someone in the piranha tank in the basement, but hmmm, you're one of our best customers, your comment was absolutely correct... prepare yourself!


Dodge, Larry, dodge!

>189 mstrust: A few years ago, I volunteered with a local thrift store helping to keep their book section in order, and I very seldom came home empty-handed. I didn't do so well when I worked for a public library back in the mid-80s while in my first year of graduate school, but I definitely did enjoy being able to take a look at the book sale area.

>192 mstrust: I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am SO GLAD that I drink here a lot.

Oh my dear lord, check out the Necro NomNomNomicon.

Happy weekend, Jennifer.

Congrats on your new library position. Hope you have a great weekend!

>192 mstrust: *sighs* over Mark McKinney :D

>190 mstrust: Whoa, that cover reminds me of the cover of The Killer Inside Me. It was so scary I had to put the book face-down on the table when I was reading it.

>194 SomeGuyInVirginia: oh, the NomNomNomicon is great! Gonna make that a regular stop.

>193 harrygbutler: When I told my mom, her reaction was an excited, "You'll get first crack at the new books!"

>194 SomeGuyInVirginia: Immunity is definitely a perk of being a regular here. And I admit to being wary of that site name, but I went and it's amazing. Devil's food blackberry cake! Toffee that looks like hot coal! I need to peruse, but I'm sure this site will show up again at Halloween.

>195 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara, you too.

>196 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle, and you have a great weekend too!

>197 rabbitprincess: Fancy McKinney? It's hard to resist a man who crushes heads.
You're right, the covers have a similar look which I hadn't noticed before. The guy on Thompson's book looks evil, but he also looks an awful lot like my grandpa. :-D My grandpa was a Texan, like Lou Ford, but he was wonderful, and never murdered or framed anyone. As far as we know.

>198 drneutron: A place for creepy cakes, cookies, dog treats and DIY shower gel that looks like blood. Fun!

Congratulations on volunteering at the library! (Is that enabling? Should we be discouraging you?!)

I never thought of that, but you will get to read the new books.

Write about your experiences! I love reading books by librarians.

>199 mstrust: I admit to being wary of that site name

I would never pass on a link that was...in bad taste! Hehe

>200 PaperbackPirate: Thanks, Nicole!
Is that enabling? Should we be discouraging you?! Yes, I should probably have someone slapping my hands at the end of a shift, but if I run fast enough, I'll get to my car anyway.

>201 SomeGuyInVirginia: Oh, for sure. I expect that after a month or so, I'll end up with something like "Bloody Murders, Rampant Sex and Unpaid Fines at the Library". Non-fiction, of course.

Come see The BBC's new location!