Mahsdad's (Jeff) 2019 Thread - Q2

Welcome to thread #2 for 2019.

Its a new quarter, so might as well create a new thread, whether or not I really need it.

If you're new, my name is Jeff. I live in Southern California. I'm an avid reader. My wife might say I'm bordering on the obsessive. But then, I think that could apply to a lot of us in this group. I also enjoy photography, movies, hiking and playing games and hanging out with my family. Book-wise, I have a pretty eclectic taste in what I read and I hope to give you not so much reviews but my impressions about what I read.

What you will find here is mostly my rambling, way too many (according to some :) ) Wishlist and TBR pile temptations and a smattering of my photography. I don't really make a plan for what I'm going to read thru out the year. Its mostly what strikes my fancy from the TBR piles. Like last year, I received many wonderful books from our Christmas Swap and SantaThing, so I think that will provide me with a good list to start with.

This is my 7th year in the group, but my 6th after stepping out of the shadows and started being an active participant.

2013 Reading Thread
2014 Reading Thread
2015 Reading Thread
2016 Reading Thread
2017 Reading Thread
2018 Reading Thread

Come on in and sit a spell...

Welcome!

2018 Statistics - Q2

A - Audio
ER - Early Review
GN - Graphic Novel
LL - Life's Library

June
49. The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon (LL)
48. Heaven Part 4: Wasteland - Mur Lafferty (A)
47. Heaven Part 3 : Earth - Mur Lafferty (A)
46. Heaven Part 2 : Hell - Mur Lafferty (A)
45. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
44. Heaven : - Mur Lafferty (A)
43. The Kitchen - Ollie Masters (GN)
42. The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende (LL)
41. What Dreams May Come - Richard Matheson (A)
Favorite: Things Fall Apart


May
40. Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly (A)
39. The Magic Order, Vol 1 - Mark Millar (GN)
38. The Outsider - Stephen King (A)
37. Tipping: A Short Story - Gregor Xane
36. Confederates in the Attic - Tony Horwitz
35. Farewell My Lovely - Raymond Chandler (A)
Favorite: Confederates in the Attic


April
34. The Boys Vol 1 - Garth Ennis (GN)
33. Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi - John Scalzi
32. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins (A)
31. Eternals - Neil Gaiman (GN)
30. The Re-Births of Tao - Wesley Chu
29. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins (A)
28. Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (A)
27. We Crossed A Bridge And It Trembled - Wendy Pearlman (LL)
Favorite: We Crossed A Bridge And It Trembled

2018 Statistics - Q1

A - Audio
ER - Early Review
GN - Graphic Novel
LL - Life's Library

March
26. Sacred Stone - Clive Cussler (A)
25. Caliban's War - James S.A. Corey
24. Daily Show: An Oral History - Chris Smith (A)
23. Cinnamon and Gunpowder - Eli Brown
22. We Were Liars - E. Lockhart (A)
Favorite: Cinnamon and Gunpowder


February
21. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
20. Likely Stories - Neil Gaiman (GN)
19. Friday - Robert Heinlein (A)
18. Ex-Heroes - Peter Clines
17. A Field Guide to Getting Lost - Rebecca Solnit (LL)
16. A Gambler's Anatomy - Jonathan Lethem (A)
15. Friday Black - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
14. Umbrella Academy Vol 2 - Gerald Way (GN)
13. Johnstown Flood - David McCullough (A)
Favorite: Friday Black


January
12. Umbrella Academy Vol 1 - Gerald Way (GN)
11. The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie
10. Long Way Down - Jason Reyolds (A)
9. I'll Be Gone in the Dark - Michelle McNamara (A)
8. Uncommon Type - Tom Hanks (A)
7. Leviathan Wakes - James S.A. Corey
6. Paper Girls 5 - Brian K. Vaughan (GN)
5. Hillbilly Elegy - J.D. Vance (A)
4. Captain America - Vol 1 - Ed Brubaker (GN)
3. Star Wars - Darth Vader - Kieron Gillen (GN)
2. From a Certain Point of View - Elizabeth Schaefer (A)
1. If You Come Softly - Jacqueline Woodson (LL)
Favorite: Long Way Down

Audiobook Narrators

Jonathan Davis
Ashley Eckstein
Janina Gavankar
Jon Hamm
Neil Patrick Harris
January LaVoy
Saskia Maarleveld
Carol Monda
Daniel José Older
Marc Thompson - From A Certain Point of View
J.D. Vance - Hillbilly Elegy
Tom Hanks - Uncommon Type (plus a few others for 1 story)
Gabra Zackman - I'll Be Gone in the Dark
Jason Reyolds - Long Way Down
Edward Hermann - Johnstown Flood
Mark Deakins - A Gambler's Anatomy
Hillary Huber - Friday
Ariadne Meyers - We Were Liars
Oliver Wyman - Daily Show An Oral History (Plus MANY others to read all the correspondents and guests)
J Charles - Sacred Stone
Carolyn McCormick - Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay
Elliott Gould - Farewell My Lovely
Will Patton - The Outsider
Robin Miles - Hidden Figures
Robertson Dean - What Dreams May Come
Mur Lafferty - Heaven Parts 1 - 5

Early Review Books



Rating
- 4
- 18
- 1
- 4
- 1
- 2 (DNF)

Total Won - 34
TBR - 2
Total Read - 28
Didn't Receive - 2
DNF - 2

2013
Top Down - Jim Lehrer -

2014
Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere - Julie T. Lamana -
Acts of God- Ellen Gilchrist -
Invisible Beasts - Sharona Muir -
Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie (DNF) -
Dr. Mutter's Marvels - Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz -
The Future for Curious People - Gregory Sherl -
Furious Cool - David Henry -

2015
Get in Trouble - Kelly Link -
He Wanted the Moon - Mimi Baird -
All The Days and Nights - Niven Govinden (Never Received)
Among the Ten Thousand Things - Julia Pierpont -
Tenacity - J.S. Law -
Slade House - David Mitchell -

2016
God of Beer - Garret Keizer -
Dodgers - Bill Beverly -
The Invoice - Jonas Karlsson -
I Am No One - Patrick Flanery -
Souvenirs and Other Stories - Matt Tompkins -
The Sunlight Pilgrims - Jenni Fagan -
The Vegetarian - Han Kang -
Hag-Seed - Margaret Atwood -
Human Acts - Han Kang -
Things We Lost in the Fire - Mariana Enriquez -

2017
New Boy - Tracy Chevalier -
Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker - Gregory Maguire (Never Received)
Strange Weather - Joe Hill -
The Feed - Nick Clark Windo (DNF) -
The Parking Lot Attendant - Nafkote Tamirat -

2018
The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (And Their Muses) - Terri-Lynne DeFino -
Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything - Martin W. Sandler -
Agent of Utopia - Andy Duncan -
Amsterdam Noir - Rene Appel - TBR

2019
Berlin Noir - Thomas Wortche - TBR

Life's Library Book Club

Life’s Library was created by John Green and Rosianna Halse Rojas to celebrate two of their favourite things: good books and good communities. Every 6 weeks or so, they send out a new book. Hopefully, from authors that I've never heard of.

Season 1
1. If You Come Softly - Jacqueline Woodson -
2. A Field Guide to Getting Lost - Rebecca Solnit -
3. We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled - Wendy Pearlman -
4. The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende -
5. The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon - Read this already, before I started tracking in LT, I think I'll have to read this again.
6. Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang

Pulitzer's Read

Ongoing bucket list to read all the Pulitzer winning novels. Santa was very good to me this year on this front, so I got plenty to work with

Bold : On the Shelf
Strikeout : Completed

Total Read - 28

2019 - The Overstory
2018 - Less
2017 - Underground Railroad
2016 - The Sympathizer
2015 - All the Light We Cannot See
2014 - The Goldfinch
2013 - The Orphan Master's Son
2012 - NO AWARD
- Swamplandia - Nominee
2011 - A Visit from the Goon Squad
2010 - Tinkers
2009 - Olive Kitterridge
2008 - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
2007 - The Road
2006 - March
2005 - Gilead
2004 - The Known World
2003 - Middlesex
2002 - Empire Falls
2001 - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
2000 - The Interpreter of Maladies
1999 - The Hours
1998 - American Pastoral
1997 - Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer
1996 - Independence Day
1995 - The Stone Diaries
1994 - The Shipping News
1993 - A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
1992 - A Thousand Acres
- My Father Bleeds History (Maus) (Special Awards & Citations - Letters)
1991 - Rabbit at Rest
1990 - The Mambo Kings
1989 - Breathing Lessons
1988 - Beloved DNF
1987 - A Summons to Memphis
1986 - Lonesome Dove
1985 - Foreign Affairs
1984 - Ironweed
1983 - The Color Purple
1982 - Rabbit is Rich
1981 - A Confederacy of Dunces
1980 - The Executioner's Song
1979 - The Stories of John Cheever
1978 - Elbow Room
1977 - NO AWARD
1976 - Humboldt's Gift
1975 - The Killer Angels
1974 - NO AWARD
1973 - The Optimist's Daughter
1972 - Angle of Repose
1971 - NO AWARD
1970 - The collected Stories of Jean Stafford
1969 - House Made of Dawn : DNF
1968 - The Confessions of Nat Turner
1967 - The Fixer
1966 - The Collected Stories of katherine Anne Porter
1965 - The Keepers of the House
1964 - NO AWARD
1963 - The Reivers
1962 - The Edge of Sadness
1961 - To Kill a Mockingbird
1960 - Advise and Consent
1959 - The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
1958 - A Death in the Family
1957 - NO AWARD
1956 - Andersonville
1955 - A Fable
1954 - NO AWARD
1953 - The Old Man and the Sea
1952 - The Caine Mutiny
1951 - The Town
1950 - The Way West
1949 - Guard of Honor
1948 - Tales of the South Pacific
1947 - All the King's Men
1946 - NO AWARD
1945 - A Bell
1944 - Journey in the Dark
1943 - Dragon's Teeth
1942 - In This Our Life
1941 - NO AWARD
1940 - The Grapes of Wrath

Hugos Read

Ongoing bucket list to read all the Hugo winning novels.

Bold : On the Shelf
Strikeout : Completed

Total Read - 36

2018 - The Stone Sky
2018 - All Systems Red - Novella
2017 - The Obelisk Gate
2016 - The Fifth Season
2015 - The Three-Body Problem
2014 - Ancillary Justice (DNF)
2013 - Redshirts
2012 - Among Others
2011 - Blackout/All Clear
2010 - The Windup Girl
The City & the City
2009 - The Graveyard Book
2008 - The Yiddish Policemen's Union
2007 - Rainbows End
2006 - Spin
2005 - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
2004 - Paladin of Souls
2003 - Hominids
2003 - Coraline (novella)
2002 - American Gods
2001 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2000 - A Deepness in the Sky
1999 - To Say Nothing of the Dog
1998 - Forever Peace
1997 - Blue Mars
1996 - The Diamond Age
1995 - Mirror Dance
1994 - Green Mars
1993 - A Fire Upon the Deep
Doomsday Book
1992 - Barrayar
1991 - The Vor Game
1990 - Hyperion
1989 - Cyteen
1988 - The Uplift War
1988 - Watchmen - category : Other forms
1987 - Speaker for the Dead
1986 - Ender's Game
1985 - Neuromancer
1985 - The Crystal Spheres - David Brin - Short Story
1984 - Startide Rising
1983 - Foundation's Edge
1982 - Downbelow Station
1981 - The Snow Queen
1980 - The Fountains of Paradise
1979 - Dreamsnake
1978 - Gateway
1977 - Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang
1976 - The Forever War
1975 - The Dispossessed
1974 - Rendezvous with Rama
1973 - The Gods Themselves
1972 - To Your Scattered Bodies Go
1971 - Ringworld
1970 - Left Hand of Darkness
1969 - Stand on Zanzibar
1968 - Lord of Light
1967 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
1966 - Dune
This Immortal
1965 - The Wanderer
1964 - Way Station
1963 - The Man in the High Castle
1962 - Stranger in a Strange Land
1961 - A Canticle for Leibowitz
1960 - Starship Troopers
1959 - A Case of Conscience
1958 - The Big Time
1956 - Double Star
1955 - The Forever Machine
1953 - The Demolished Man

Retro Hugos - this are given for years when no award was given (more than 50 years ago). Of those...

1939 - The Sword in the Stone
1951 - Farmer in the Sky
1954 - Fahrenheit 451

National Book Award Winners

2015 - Fortune Smiles
2014 - Redeployment
2001 - The Corrections
1988 - Paris Trout
1985 - White Noise - Don Delillo
1983 - The Color Purple - hardback award
1981 - The Stories of John Cheever - paperback award
1980 - The World According to Garp - paperback award
1953 - Invisible Man

Man Booker Books
2002 - Life of Pi
2009 - Wolf Hall - sadly I never finished this, never hooked me.
2016 - The Sellout

2018 Recap

Total Read - 67

Didn't quite meet the goals for the year, but plenty of good reads were perused. The full list is still in my 2018 Thread (see above), but in no particular order, here are my 5 favorites from last year.



A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing - Hank Green
Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman
Moonglow - Michael Chabon

All done. Most frustrating thing about moving to a new thread, is getting all the touchstones to work. :)

Happy new thread!

Happy new one, Jeff.

>11 mahsdad: Have to agree with that and, sometimes, they don't want to play ball.

Happy New Thread, Jeff. I hope those books are treating you fine.

Congrats on a new thread!!

Happy new thread, Jeff! I completely agree with your sentiment in >11 mahsdad:.

Happy new thread! Yup, Touchstones are always interesting...

Thanks all for stopping by.

One trick with the touchstones (that might not have been an actual trick but a fluke) and the long posts (like my Hugo post). It churned for a number of seconds trying to generate the touchstones, but then got an HTML Gateway time-out error. I then deleted one of the brackets on one of the books and voila, all of the touchstones showed up for all of the books and authors. Weird.

Happy new thread, Jeff!

>18 mahsdad: I do the same when touchstones are not working and I get the time-out error.
When it doesn't work, I come back later to try again.

Happy New Thread!

I don't normally report on statistics, but this year I started keeping track of things on a big-ass spreadsheet that I got (from Book Riot, I think). It tapped into my inner data analytics geek. And in making the rounds today, I saw Bill (and others) post his Year-so-far in review. So I thought I would do mine...

2019 Reading Stats - so far

Books read: 26
Jan : 12
Feb : 9
Mar : 5

Authors read: 26

Author gender
Male: 22
Female: 5

First published
Before 1970s: 1
80's : 2
90's : 2
00's : 4
10's : 13 (doesn't include last 2 years)
2018 : 4
2019 : 0

Genre
Novel : 11
Non-fiction Prose : 4
Short Stories : 3
Graphic Novel : 6
Essays : 1
Poetry : 1

Format
Paper : 9
Digital : 6
Audio : 11

Book Length
-100 : 1
101-200 : 5
201-300 : 4
301-400 : 3
501-600 : 2

Audio Length
-5 hours : 1
7 - 8 hours : 2
9 - 10 hours : 3
11-12 hours : 1
+12 hours : 4

So you stopped by my thread? And you didn't leave a dime on the plate? Oh, you renegade.

I'm just Lurky McLurkenstien. My humble apologies. :)

Happy First Foto Friday of April!

I took today's image the other day on a run. One of the nice things about always having a camera in my pocket (and a not too bad one as well - thanks Apple :), is that I can get shots like this when I see 'em. I looked up as I was running and had to stop and take the shot. It was getting dark, but I think it turned out okay.

Have a great weekend everyone!



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Completed Books
>4 mahsdad: Audio Narrators

ReadingThe Rebirths of Tao by Wesley Chu. This is 3rd book in Chu's Tao series. An interesting scifi thriller with alien symbiots.
Listening I was listening to Plugged bty Eoin Colfer (author of the Artemis Fowl series). This is more of an adult crime thriller. It didn't really hold my attention on audio, so I'm putting it back on the shelf. Oh well, my audiobook habits come in waves and perhaps I'm just in a trough.

Here, however, are some podcasts that I'm hooked on right now...

Voyage to the Stars - an improvised scifi comedy about a eclectic group of humans stranded in another galaxy on the other side of a wormhole.
Wolverine: The Lost Trail - a radio drama type show about some police detectives inspecting crimes that might lead to eponymously named xman.
Mobituaries with Mo Rocca - CBS Sunday morning type stories about the lives of notable people
David Tennant Does a Podcast with ... - Tennant interviews his celebrity friends
Dear Hank and John - Hank and John Green answer questions

I've got plenty more, but that's a good list for now.

Happy Friday, Lurky McLurkenstien! That is a definite mouthful. I really enjoyed Aerialists: Stories. I know you like a solid story collection now and then and I think this qualifies. I have a delicious stack of these, that I am slowly trying to make my through.

Love the Foto Friday shot!

>24 mahsdad: - Wow, very atmospheric! Great photo!

>25 msf59: Hey it was the first thing that came to mind (a very twisted mind). Aerialists: Stories sounds pretty interesting. Speaking of short stories, the last 2 ER books I've won were Noir stories from the Akashic Books Noir Series. I already had Pittsburgh Noir, but now have Amsterdam and Berlin as well.

>26 jessibud2: Thanks Shelly!

Hey, Lurky McJeffenhookenlooper! Back in the previous century, the final vacation trip we took as a family was to DisneyWorld. We indulged in making up names for additional dwarves. Such as Sleazy and Gropey. I think Lurky would work.

>28 weird_O: Ha! That's too funny. You're right Lurky would make a good dwarf name. Ever since they named that British research ship; Boaty McBoatface, my goto weird name always ends up being Something McSomething. :)

>24 mahsdad: Reckon you captured the changeable weather as it was about to change.

Have a great Sunday, Jeff.

We have the Wesley Chu books in our library. I just haven't gotten to them yet.

Oh - and I found you and starred your thread. I haven't read A Absolutely Remarkable Thing yet, but have it on my TBR list as well. Right now I am about 100 pages from the end of Great Influenza and am enjoying every minute of reading in this book. It is for my real life book discussion group. The first 150 pages is about the state of medical research prior to 1918 and early reports from the group is that they found this section boring. I thought it interesting and now that the epidemic has started it turns out to be really important to the story of what happened and why it became a pandemic.

I should tell you that I don't have a thread of my own. I don't have time to monitor one, so I just hijack other book buddies threads from time-to-time.

>30 PaulCranswick: Hey Paul, now that we're mostly out of winter, weather is going to become more and more unchanged. Partly cloudy and mid to upper 70's until we get to August when we'll bake for a couple months. Oh the horror of leaving in Southern California. :)

>31 benitastrnad: Benita, how nice to see you around my neck of the woods. Chu is good clean scifi thriller fun. I enjoyed his stuff. The Great Influenza sounds very interesting. I think I'm going to have to add it to Mt. WL.

Now as far as not maintaining a thread, that's a perfectly fine way to go about your LT life. You are certainly not a stranger around LT (at least to me) and your hijacking tendencies seems to be working. Feel free to hijack my little world whenever you want. :)

>31 benitastrnad: I read The Great Influenza years back (it was published 15 years ago). Excellent book. One detail I remember is how the strongest individuals were compromised by their own immune systems.

>34 weird_O:
That is exactly what the book explains. The exploding immune system attacking everything in an effort to get rid of the virus. I am about 80 pages from the end of the book, and I also think that this book helps me to understand better how the flu virus works and why it is so hard to inoculate against it.

Lightning Round Update...

24. Daily Show: An Oral History by Chris Smith. An epic tome about the history of the Daily Show. They started right at the end of Craig Kilborn's tenure. Went thru the timeline of the show until Jon's retirement; discussed how Jon, the writers and all the correspondents were brought on. As well as stories from all, including many guests. The format was one main narrator telling the story of the show, with many side stories from each correspondent and guest. Very enjoyable, with the only downside being that they did not get the real people to record their own stories. It was jarring not to hear Lewis Black (to name 1) tell his own stories.

25. Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey. Book 2 of the Expanse series. It continues with the conflicts between Earth, Mars and the Belters. More character narratives, now with the entity created in the first book causing more grief to all.

26. Sacred Stone by Clive Cussler (well probably more written by his co-author Craig Dirgo). Typical techno-thriller fair, that I've come to expect from Cussler. Several world ending calamities arise that the crew of the Oregon (a private military/spy corporation) has to address.

Hey Jeff, eager for more Foto Friday soon.

>37 richardderus: Hang on Friday's Coming! :)

For those of you who very rarely head to the main LT page (My browser history always takes me to librarything.com/talk, I wonder why? :) ). They are doing another scavenger hunt this week for National Library Week.

This one was pretty challenging (at least for me), but the LT collective provided enough clues to the clues for me to get them all. Maybe this time, I'll win a shirt. :)

The 2nd prize of upgrading my account to a Lifetime membership holds no appeal. I am a paying member from way before they offered it as prize.

Happy Foto Friday Folks!

Here's some spring flowers for you. Hope all have a great weekend!



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Completed Books
>3 mahsdad: Narrators

Reading: The Re-Births of Tao - Wesley Chu
Listening: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins. Last weekend, I was looking for a new book and nothing struck my fancy, and Hunger Games kept popping up in the "What's Popular" list (I was getting desparate), and I hadn't read these for about 5 years, so I said, what the heck. They are nothing if not quick reads.

I love yellow flowers. Happiness for the eyes, thank you for sharing.

I'm a Tao fan, though it's hard for me not to scream at the books as Chu unfolds his stories!

>41 richardderus: Sometimes you just gotta suspend your disbelief and go with the flow. :)

Star Wars Episode IX Trailer.

For those of you so inclined. :)

https://youtu.be/adzYW5DZoWs

>40 mahsdad: 😫🤧 Thanks, Jeff. *sniff*

Forgot to reply... >44 kidzdoc: Yeah they're pretty but we're stocking up on Claratin around here. Tho nowhere near as bad as some of the pictures of the pollen hazes from somewhere back east.

>43 mahsdad: Very exciting! They can certainly make a good trailer. I hope they can bring the Skywalker story home in a fitting way.

Hi, Jeff. Just lurking through.

Glad to have you Bill!

Beautiful spring photo up there, Jeff. We're pretty sure we're finally through the snow season here; I hope you are, too!

>49 jnwelch: Hey Joe, given our need for water here in Southern California, I'd wish the snow season (at least in the Sierras) would last all year. :)

And thanks for the photo love!

Hello Jeff. Did you miss me in >46 brodiew2:? I hope all is well with you.

>51 brodiew2: Yes and no. I swear I replied to that comment about the trailer. But it disappeared. My apologies. And my fingers are crossed too, for a good ending to 40+ years of filmmaking.

Hey, Jeff. I am going to have to start doing a "Lighting Round Update" myself. I keep falling behind, so I may borrow your idea.

I am really enjoying The River: A novel. This is right in your wheelhouse.

>53 msf59: Feel free to borrow away. Sometimes you just got to knock out some quick thoughts on a book when its semi-fresh in your mind. Save the full reviews for the ones that are really impactful.

I definitely want to read The River. Thanks for the reminder to put it on the WL.

Yep, I borrowed it, Jeff. Thanks. A quick way to knock out 6 reviews. B.A.G.

Happy Foto Friday Folks!

Today's image departs from the usual outdoor fare, to an artsy shot of some curtains with some interesting shadows. It appealed to me. Hope it does to you.

Have a great weekend.



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Books Completed
>4 mahsdad: Audio Narrators

Reading: Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz. Much warbling about this lately. I had this on the shelf for many years, but brought it out and put it on the top of the TBR pile next to my desk. So LIFO - Last In First Out. (Just finished The Re-Births of Tao last night)
Listening: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Part 3 of the Hunger Games. Easy, quick, rereads.
Graphic Novel: Eternals by Neil Gaiman. Also downloaded, but haven't started The Boys by Preacher creator Garth Ennis. Its going to be a series on Prime this summer (great trailer).

Can't wait to hear what you have to say about Confederates in the Attic. It was a shocker and a confirmation of many things I had observed about the South. I read it soon after I arrived down here - back in 1993. I purchased the book after I saw Horwitz talk about it on BookTV when the book was first published.

>56 mahsdad: Nice photo!

>56 mahsdad: Light and texture in abstraction. Interesting indeed.

Happy Friday, Jeff. Love the Foto and I love the fact you started Confederates. It just takes the right nudge, right?

>57 benitastrnad: I'm looking forward to it as well. The Civil War has always been fascinating to me, perhaps that it is probably the first "media" war with the advent of photography.

>58 kidzdoc: >59 richardderus: >60 msf59: Thanks for the Foto love.

And Mark, yep, just a little nudge. I guess 5 years on the shelf is long enough. :)

27. We Crossed a Bridge and it Trembled - Wendy Pearlman : Book 3 of Life's Library (John Green's online communal book club). This is subtitled, "Voices from Syria".
Pearlman is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern, and as a part of her study of the Middle East she began interviewing refugees, survivors and participants in the Syrian uprising from 2012 thru 2017. Instead of writing a scholarly treatise or a narritive non-fiction work on the conflict, she put together a very powerful curated collection of the real experiences of the people that experienced it first hand. She groups this interviews very well in different somewhat chronological areas. Starting with the beginning of the Bashar regime, Authoritarianism, to the militarization of the revolt; Militarization to the struggle to escape; Flight. It was a very powerful book, there was a lot about this area and time that I didn't know.

When the revolution began in Egypt, we were on Facebook giving Egyptians advice and sharing revolutionary songs. We flt like we were in Tahrir Square along with them. And then the first demonstration occurred in Daraa. In Aleppo, I heard about it and wrote a Facebook status in support. I didn't hit "enter" to share it; I was too scared. My fingers were on the keyboard. I told myself that it was shameful that I was sharing things to support revolution in Egypt, but when the same things were happening in my own country, I was too afraid to do anything. So I finally hit "enter." I went to bed sure that the regime's people were going to arrest me the next morning.

There was a man called Jaber and his mission was to go around and find ice from other people in the city (to store the bodies) He had a motorcycle and sometimes would travel long distances, searching for ice. And then Jaber was killed, and we couldn't find any ice for him.

I'm not saying that the conscience of the international community is asleep. I'm saying that conscience doesn't exist at all.

My son spent the first years of his life in Homs stuck inside because of the curfew and the bombing. He had no contact with anyone but his parents and grandparents. He was two years old when he saw another child for the first time. He went up to him and touched his eyes, because he thought that he was a doll.

9/10

S: 3/24/19 - 4/3/19 (11 Days)

>62 mahsdad: - That sure does sound like a powerful read. There seems to be more and more of these eye-witness books these days and that can only be a good thing. It boggles my mind that the people who most need to hear their stories and the ones with the ultimate power to do something about them, are always the ones least likely to read them or heed them. We humans are a sad lot, aren't we?

>63 jessibud2: To true. TBH, as I was reading this, I couldn't help think that our current administration (tRump, 46-1, the no talent ass-clown, whatever you want to call him) and his love of despots, would see this book as a triumph and not a tragedy. :(

This is shameless, though well-meaning. Stop by my thread for a review of The Mueller Report. (See! It already has a touchstone.) No, it isn't my review; haven't read the whole thing yet.

Hopefully this link will work (not sure if LA Times has a paywall), but here is an interesting review of a book called; This Searing Light, the Sun and Everything Else: Joy Division: The Oral History by Jon Savage.

The review was written by Henry Rollins (formerly of the hard-core punk band Black Flag, but now more of a poet/spoken word performer). Loved it. I like the way he writes and its about a band (and its offshoot New Order) that was one of the ones I grew up on in high school and college. Enjoy, or don't, no big whoop...

https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-jon-savage-joy-division-henry-rollins-201...

Its World Book Day (apparently, I wasn't aware) and to celebrate it, I'm sharing a list that Neil Gaiman shared on Facebook from the NY Public Library. Its 23 books written by authors who are/were refugees or displaced persons. A very interesting list. Several I've read already, but plenty that I think I need to check out.

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2019/04/09/words-without-borders-23-books-world-book-d...

Update to my Virtual Free Library. Mostly took out a bunch, as I experimented with selling them at Book-Off (TBH, not really worth the effort).

If there's anything here you want, let me know and I'll be happy to send it to you...

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=mahsdad&collection=514691&s...

Wow, I'm being quite chatty, or at least sharey (if that's a word) today. ...

Posted this on FB: Okay my book nerds, this is the video for you. This guy goes on a quest to try to find the most beautiful bookstores in the world while trying to find out how to read more (he starts off only reading 1 book for pleasure a year. Ack). 12 minutes in and it is wonderful. Current nugget of information, if you spend 50 minutes a day reading news and social media, at the end of the year you conservatively have 27 books filled with stuff on your virtual bookshelf.

https://youtu.be/lIW5jBrrsS0

>67 mahsdad: Cool! Great list.

>68 mahsdad: Oo! Oo! May I please have Seven Wonders? I loves me some Adam Christopher!

>69 mahsdad: COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

>70 richardderus: Yes sir!. I'll put it in the mail this week.

>65 weird_O: Oh Bill my friend, I totally forgot to comment. Yes, I saw the "review", but I too am waiting for the full report, which we'll probably never get.

Really enjoying Confederates in the Attic.

Just started the chapter where Horwitz interviews Shelby Foote, the pre-eminent Civil War historian made famous by Ken Burns.

Foote said..."Its been a helluva century (the 20th). I was born during the First World War, spent my adolescence in the Depression and came of age in the Second World War. This is the bloodiest century there ever was." He paused, smiling into his pipe. "Now I'm living to see another terrible thing, the South joining the part of Lincoln" (This was written in 1998 when the Southern Republicans were coming to power; Thanks Newt Gingrich).

Love me some Shelby Foote.

I am starting to plan the Meetup in Washington, D. C. and was thinking that Poets and Busboys would be a good place to meet. Since you live there, what do you think?

Hey Benita, while I'd love to participate in an LT meetup, I sadly don't live in DC. I'm about as far away from DC and still be in the contiguous US. I'm in Los Angeles. :(

I was wondering if you moved and you didn't tell me, Jeff. LOL. I think Benita meant to comment on Jim's thread.

I am about to wrap up The Big Sleep. He is such a master of the form, despite the misogyny and homophobia. Grins...Have you started your Chandler?

Hooray for Confederates! Glad you got to it.

>74 mahsdad:
Sorry about that. I got mixed up. I was thinking I was typing on Dr. Neutron's thread. (See what late on a Thursday will do for you.) But it was fun to see your answer. And now I DO know where you live.

I watched the video on the bookstores and found it fascinating. What a great theme for a trip! Or a series of trips. I bet all my friends would think I was either crazy or would be green with envy if I told them I was taking trips inside and outside the U. S. to see the world's most beautiful bookstores. I hope that Daryl see this and puts all of those bookstores in Portugal on his list of places to visit when he is in that country.

I also wonder if the reason why Portugal has so many of those beautiful bookstores is that for so many years the fascist dictatorship of Salazar kept things like bookstores closed or under close surveillance and now they are reveling in the freedom? Maybe the same for Argentina?

I noted that one whole town in Portugal has 14 bookstores in it. It reminded me of the town in England that is full of bookstores -Hay-On-Wye. But most of those bookstores are secondhand bookstores. Those in Portugal didn't appear to be Used Bookstores.

>76 benitastrnad: Not a problem at all Benita, I know the feeling. I flit back and forth between so many threads sometimes I forget where I am.

Bookstore video - I agree, there were so many I want to go hang out in. Bucket List trips for sure.

And as far as Hay-On-Wye goes, I've heard you all warble about it for years. Its another place I need to get to someday.

Happy Foto Friday Folks!

Hope you all are having or plan to have a wonderful weekend. Its only 11am on Friday and I'm ready to shut down and go read a book. :) Today I thought I'd bring you some art from around my way. A local artist with some vision decided to take a 200 ft retaining wall and turn it into something spectacular. The 25th Street Mosaic tells the history of San Pedro and the people who live here. I'm proud to have this about a half block from my house.





Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Completed Reads
>4 mahsdad: Audiobook Narrators

Reading: Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz
Reading : Miniatures - John Scalzi. When you find yourself at lunch without a physical book, there's always a ebook waiting for you on your kindle app. This is a collection of some of his short fiction, including 2 stories that are featured in Netflix's Love, Death & Robots.
Listening: Farewell My Lovely - Raymond Chandler. At Mark's suggestion, I'm dipping my toe into classic LA Noir. Read by Elliott Gould
Graphic Novel: The Boys Vol 1 by Garth Ennis. HARD R Superhero stuff that is going to be a series this summer on Amazon Prime.

>78 mahsdad: That's GORGEOUS! I completely support using otherwise blank infrastructure walls as public art venues.

I have two Kindles...one had a screen divot taken out and is just waiting to die...so now there's one I carry around and one I leave inside. They sync automatically. I really do love this feature.

>79 richardderus: Thanks Mate. (Though I suppose I shouldn't be taking credit for it :) )

I still find I enjoy reading the dead tree edition, but I can recognize that my days of reading mass market paperbacks might soon be over. Rebirths of Tao was MM and while I didn't really have too much trouble reading it, I was missing the larger trade paperback version.

Kindle's ability to share between devices is pretty cool. I started reading this book on my phone, but then switched to the iPad, which has much more real estate. I also love being able to email books or documents to my kindle account and have them show up in the library. That's how I get the TOR ebook of the month club editions in.

I watched Love Death and Robots...pretty pictures, some stories were better than others, but I was most impressed by the varying lengths of the episodes. That fact, the trust of the audience that it shows, has loomed ever larger in my assessment and estimation of the series.

Yeah I know of your "enjoyment" of said series, and its catering to a baser form of the male gender. I, as a member of that demographic, did enjoy the show, but can certainly see your point of view and don't disagree with your arguments against said series.

That being said, my favorite episodes of the series were Scalzi's; When Yogurt Took Over, Alternate Histories and Three Robots.

Happy Weekend, my friend...

Three Robots was hilarious! Spend your Saturday attempting to amend that, shall we say, baseline consumerism. :-P

Jeff's Virtual Free Library is great. If you still have the Hugh Laurie and the Scott Momaday books, I'd be willing to give them a warm, dry spot to live, and even a reading. I just started Vinegar Girl today. And I've read a number of the others in the VFL.

Jeff Bezos sent me an email saying that he shipped my copy of The Mueller Report and that I should get it Saturday.

That there wall must have been a lot of work. All those little pieces.

>84 weird_O: They're yours, Bill. Unless you've moved since Christmas, I have your address. I'll send them out over the weekend or on Monday.

>78 mahsdad: - Wow, gorgeous!!

>85 mahsdad: Thanks!

Sometimes you just have to go get a new library card.

Gajin Fujita is a graffiti artist in LA and he teamed up with the LA Public Library to create a limited edition card. Very cool.

That's an AMAZING library card. Love the Dodgers logo on the warrior!

>89 richardderus: Yeah, its pretty cool. I almost used it as soon as I picked it up. But then the mental image of the large pile of TBR books setting next to my desk kept me from walking out with anything. :)

That is a totally cool library card. I had to get a new one back in January. Not because y library was issuing cool new ones, but because somebody thought they needed my purse worse than I did and took the doggone thing! Library card included.

They left the books that were piled in the car that belonged to the library.

>92 benitastrnad: Heathens! I've been a victim of thievery. And its never fun. Twice, our house has been broken into.

But speaking of Library cards, am I the only one who tries to collect cards from different libraries? I currently (well they might not be active) have cards from 3 different library districts. I aim for more.

Every once in a while I search around for what's up with one of my (and a few others around here) favorite authors; Jess Walter. His last book; Beautiful Ruins was published in 2012. Usually, I can't find anything, but today I found a short story called "Motif" that was published a year ago in the Inlander magazine. Its pretty good, short but good.

https://www.inlander.com/spokane/motif/Content?oid=9956076

That lead me to information that an excerpt from a forthcoming novel was published in Harper's last July. I found it, but since I'm not a subscriber, I couldn't read it.

But good news is that a new novel is being put out sometime late this year. Called... Nothing West of Dead.. Can't wait.

A new Jess Walter? Sweet. I can not believe Beautiful Ruins came out in 2012. Wow! We have been very patient.

How is the Chandler coming along? I am sure you are loving Confederates.

>95 msf59: BAG. Yeah, patience is a virtue.

I am totally loving Confederates. I finished the Chandler, and I liked it, I just didn't love it. Its probably just me. Elliott Gould did a really good job of narrating. Moving back to more familiar territory for my next audio. The library had Stephen King's The Outsider, so I grabbed that. (Interesting that the default Touchstone that came up was The Stranger by Camus)

>67 mahsdad: That's a great list. Thanks for posting it, Jeff.

>88 mahsdad: Sweet!

>97 kidzdoc: Thanks for stopping by Darryl

For all, when you just have to know how long an audio book is going to take when you speed it up, try this site. Quick and Dirty calculator...

https://asc.pixelofink.com/

Happy Foto Friday Folks.

Not much to report, hopefully going to go see Avengers this weekend. Hopefully, my bladder can take it (cause its a really long movie. :) ). I give you, today, just a pretty flower. Enjoy!



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobook Narrators

Reading : Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz. Still working thru this and still loving it.
Listening : The Outsider by Stephen King. Just started, and given that Stephen's a wordy man, I might be done by Christmas. (18hrs of audio. Tho at 1.3x, I'll shave 4 hours off the time.)
Graphic Novel :
The Boys Vol 2 by Garth Ennis. This series is not for the faint of heart, I might decide not to continue.

Ooo that COLOR!! How unbearably beautiful. Spring for the eyes.

>100 richardderus: Thank you kind sir!

>99 mahsdad: Love the flower!

Happy Friday, Jeff. Hooray for starting The Outsider. I really enjoyed that one, maybe even more than the Bill Hodges trilogy.

>102 msf59: Thanks Mark.

I'm only about an hour in, but your comparison to Bill Hodges I think is apt. Its interesting that in his later years he's stepping away from the stereotypical Stephen King genres. Anytime my wife hears me talk about Stephen King, she immediately thinks of the straight horror he wrote in his early days. Probably my favorite stories of his are the ones that are non-horror.

Have a good weekend, Jeff. Gonna be raining here near the Right Coast.

>93 mahsdad:
I had three library cards in the purse that was stolen. My Tuscaloosa Public Library card, my Manhattan, Kansas Pubic Library card, and my Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library Researcher pass. The last one will prove to be the hardest to replace because now I will have to prove I have some research project in order to use it.

>105 benitastrnad: I am so sad to hear that you lost your library cards. Especially the Eisenhower. We have the Reagan and Nixon libraries within driving distance of me. I never thought about trying to get library cards from them. That would be way cool.

>93 mahsdad:
I currently have 10 active public library cards. It's like Pokemon to me - gotta catch'em all!

>107 Deedledee: I aspire to that Dee!

Interesting. For the Netflix consumers out there, who are fans of Liu Cixin (of The Three-Body Problem fame), comes China's 3rd highest grossing film ever (it was 2nd until the juggernaut that is Endgame hit screens). Its based on one of Cixin's short stories. Its called The Wandering Earth. Basic premise (from the trailer) is somehow, Earth is pulled from its orbit by Jupiter, and Now What?

Its streaming now. Its, of course, in Chinese, with subtitles, but the trailer looks pretty interesting. TBH, tho, I'll definitely have to be in the mood for reading subtitles. For as much as I read, I do not immediately jump to subtitled movies. (Now, I strictly avoid dubbed movies if I can, but I have to be in the mood for subtitles)

https://youtu.be/0TDII5IkI3Y

I discovered a couple of books in my mailbox, Jeff. Thank you.

>110 weird_O: You are most welcome!

The last time that the ALA conference was in SoCal I went to the Nixon library. Next time I go I will visit the Reagan Library. I am trying to get to all the Presidential Libraries I can. But now I am in somewhat of a quandary. The new libraries are not U.S. Government libraries. They are owned by private Foundations. That means that they have different rules for collecting and storage. The Lincoln Library in Springfield, IL is one of these. It was started by some rich benefactor who had a thing for Old Abe. Abe’s official papers are in the U.S. archives outside of Washington, D. C. Lincoln had specified that his papers could not be opened for 100 years after his death. They weren’t.

The U.S. Presidential libraries are not open to the public. Only the museum part of the library is accessible. In order to get into the library, generally you have to have references from some kind of academic, academic institution, or publisher telling the library that you have a legitimate reason for looking at these materials. Then they do a background check, and then you get the card in the mail. Then you can go to the library part of the library. The reason for all of this, plus tightened security measures, is that the libraries were getting robbed blind of all kinds of historical materials. Maps, and anything that had a presidential signature.

The one exception to all these rules is the Harry S. Truman library. He wanted his library to be open to the public.

Did you know that U.S. Grants papers are at Mississippi State University? They ended up there because one of the foremost authorities on Grant is a professor at MSU, and nobody else wanted the expense of housing the materials.

Very interesting about the state of Presidential Libraries. I didn't know that, about the private foundations. That's both understandable, and a little disappointing. I don't suppose that the actual books and papers in a Presidential Library are things that you'd let a "civilian" get their hands on. :)

Didn't know, either about MSU and US Grant.

It is sad about the demise of the libraries, but understandable. It takes money to build them and to keep them open, and ex-presidents want them to house their "foundations" and other good works and it just goes on and on. With the Park Service and the National Archieves strapped for money and getting less each year it is not surprising that the Presidents resort to private funding. And then there is the question of ownership - who owns those papers? The courts have said that the person does so they can do with them what they want. Martha Washington burned all of George's.

It's after 0930 PDT and I see no Foto Friday.

This is a shocking lapse of compliance on your part. I was sure the judge included a specific-performance clause in our settlement over the absence of a calendar this year.

Hold your horses Buster Brown! :)

I have a meeting (yes I do occasionally have to work) in a few minutes. I'll post your damn Foto Friday when I'm good and ready.

Geesh, kids these days...

JK - all in good fun. But seriously, its coming...

*chuckle*

Just remember that I know where you live and I have wiseguys as relatives.

>116 mahsdad: Jeff said 'Buster Brown'! *grins*

Okay, Okay, your wait is over. Happy Foto Friday Folks!

To mitagate the disappointment, I'll give you a couple images today. The first is from the other day, when my loving wife and I celebrated our 24yr year of legal entanglement with a bit of Remy 1738 cognac. The second is an interesting cactus I took today when I was walking to lunch. (The kid got his driver's license finally and he immediately wanted to drive to school, so I'm without wheels during the day). Enjoy...





Book Update
2> Q2 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobook Narrators

Reading : The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. Book 4 of the Life's Library Book Club. Pretty interesting urban fantasy so far.
Listening : The Outsider by Stephen King. At first I thought this was going to be a "traditional" crime story, and I think I know where its going, but its King so I know I'm going to be wrong.

If you're a podcast listener and you don't listen to This American Life, I would recommend you try it out. One of my favorites.

One that I was just listening to (catching up on the back catalog) is from December. Its called The Room of Requirement and is 3 stories in, around and about libraries.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/664/the-room-of-requirement

>119 mahsdad: Happy anni! And the cactus is cool...the bloom has spines!! Amazing.

>121 richardderus: Yeah, I know. I'll have to walk by there again in a couple days to see what the actual flower looks like.

I liked the wine glasses photo. Oops - brandy glasses. It looked like a peaceful celebration. Very mellow. Congratulations.

>123 benitastrnad: When we got married, there were only 2 things on the registry that I really "cared" about. Brandy Snifters and a Tortilla press. Got 'em both. :)

>119 mahsdad: Happy belated anniversary. And good luck with the offspring driving. That's a lovely photo, and I especially like the unexplained stones. My desk is adorned with similar "finds".

>125 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks! We have lots of little natural knick-knacks all over the house.

Lightning Round!

28. Hunger Games
29. Catching Fire
32. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins : Got in a mood and listened to these again on audio. 4th or 5th time reading these (yeah, I know, sue me. They're like ice cream or a fine bourbon. Comfort food). They still hold up pretty good.

30. The Re-Births of Tao - Wesley Chu : Third book in the Tao trilogy. An intergalactic intelligent gaseous species has been on earth inhabiting the dominent creatures of the time; from dinosaurs to us. They've been steering our development for years. One faction for good and another for evil. Its coming to a head, and our survival hangs in the balance. Its a fun series.

31. Eternals - Neil Gaiman : Graphic novel by one of my favorite authors. Another group of superhuman beings sworn to protect the Universe. Originally created by Jack Kirby, and will probably be one of the movies in the next phase in the MCU we'll get in the next decade.

33. Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi - John Scalzi : As the title says, a collection of very short stories from another favorite of mine. If you like his stuff, or fun humorous sci-fi, you should seek this out.

34. The Boys Vol 1 - Garth Ennis : Very graphic novel series about a world with superheroes and the CIA team that tries to keep them in line. Its pretty crass and a bit homophobic (or at least uses homosexuality as a "bit" for humor), I'll probably not continue on with the rest of the series. Tried it out because its going to be a series this summer on Amazon Prime.

35. Farewell My Lovely - Raymond Chandler : Second of the Philip Marlowe books. I picked this up on audo. Classic Noir. I liked it, but TBH, I didn't love it. Hard core mysteries might not be my cup of tea. Though, I do think I'll snag some more of Chandler's stuff.

That's it for now. Got a couple others that I think I want to do a more "serious" review. Almost up to date.

Gott Sei Dank es ist Freitag (the only thing I remember from High School German :) ). Its Foto Friday Time.

Today's image comes to you from Home Depot. When my loving wife is scouting out which plants to get in the garden center, I'm generally wandering around looking for interesting shots. This is one of those...



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Completed Books
>4 mahsdad: Audio Narrators

Reading : The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Listening : The Outsider by Stephen King
eBook : Don't Panic by Neil Gaiman : Back in the 80's Neil was tasked to write the story of how the HGTTG came to be. :)

>127 mahsdad: Hardboiled noir is probably best experienced in tree book form. Ear-reading them leaves so much to the talent, suitability, and sensibility of the performer that it becomes more a movie than a book.

>128 mahsdad: How pretty!

>129 richardderus: Very good point RD, about noirs in tree-book form. You are probably right. In this particular case, it was being read by Elliott Gould, great voice, but not suited to Chandler in my ears.

Happy Saturday, Jeff. Love the fotos. How are you enjoying The House of Spirits? I read this one, many, many years ago. My only Allende.

Hey Mark, thanks for stopping by. I am liking Spirits. I'm about a third of the way thru. So far, I like how she plays with perspective (most in 3rd person, some in 1st person), and how she does a lot of foreshadowing. The main guy character; Esteban, is very unlikable at times, with his treatment of women, but I recognize that he is written of his time, not our time, and written by a woman, so I'm going to trust her.

I got this book thru John Green's Life's Library Book Club, and I'm glad that I'm doing it, because so far the first 4 books have been by authors or books I've never heard of and were certainly not ones that I would have searched for. But all have been worthy reads.

The only downside, is when they select books that I already have. Book 5 is The Yiddish Policemen's Union, which I've had for many years and read pre-LT. That's fine, the club (its a subscription that gets automatically charged every 6 weeks) donates their profit to a charity, and I'm sure I'll find someone to donate my new copy to.

To all that are reading this... Any one interested in a copy of The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon? I'll send it to you next month when I get it.

36. Confederates in the Attic - Tony Horwitz : Subtitled "Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War". I picked this up thinking it was just about Civil War reenactors and tourists, but its so much more. Horwitz goes on a tour of the Southern states to see how the Civil War and its aftermath are still affecting people. A lot of it exposes deep seated resentments and institutional racism. It also shows that we are still having the same battles today that we were having 20 years ago when it was written; should the Confederate flag still fly, should statues of Confederate heroes still be on display, what revisionist history is still being taught - do today's (then or now) truly know why the war was fought? Oh and he does go on a crash tour of the war's battle fields with a reenactor who takes reenacting to an extreme bordering on insane. Its well worth your time. I'll let these quotes speak for themselves...

We were raised Methodists, but we converted to the Confederacy. There wasn't time for both.

Mostly, though, the fort attracted ordinary tourists, many of whom possessed a muddled grasp of American history. Visitors often asked McGill why he didn't mention the "Star-Spangled Banner". He had to explain that the national anthem was composed during the shelling of a different fort in a different conflict. Others asked whether it was true that John Brown fired the first shot at the fort. "One guy even asked me why so many Civil War battles were fought on national parks." McGill said.

Guthrie exhaled the depleted air of a thousand other towns across the back-country South, bypassed by the interstate and drained of vitality by decades of migration to the city.

Everywhere, it seemed, I had to explore two pasts and two presents; one white, one black, separate and unreconcilable. The past had poisoned the present and the present, in turn, now poisoned remembrance of things past.

I was born in 1921 and was raised up with segregation and separate water fountains. It was stupid now that I think of it. All these signs saying 'white' and 'colored' when most people couldn't even read.

9/10

S: 4/18/19 - 5/8/19 (21 Days)

Yay for Confederates in the Attic! I really enjoyed that one, too, Jeff. It's surprising how little has changed since he wrote it. It was written way pre-Trump, but I felt like I understood that segment of his supporters better after having read it.

Nice review of and good reminder about Confederates in the Attic, Jeff. I'll have to get to it sometime soon.

>134 jnwelch: >135 kidzdoc: Thanks guys!

Even more than last week... Thank the flying spaghetti monster, its Friday!

Today's image, I'm going way back to one of my first "artsy" pictures taken with my current camera - 10 years ago. I'm shopping for a new one (don't tell my bank account), and I'm reminiscing. Hope all have a great weekend (and happy Memorial Day to the US folks). :)



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobook Narrators

Finished : The Magic Order - Mark Millar. Apparently Netflix is producing comic books and this was the first one I've read. Its pretty good. At a base level, its kinda like Umbrella Academy with magic. Netflix, of course, is making it into a series, so they are seeing the value of graphic novels and producing their own content early.
Reading : The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende. About half way thru. A slow read, but an enjoyable one.
Listening : Hidden Figures - Margo Lee Shetterly
eBook : Don't Panic - Neil Gaiman

>137 mahsdad: ...a bit queasy-making...*hic*

Happy long weekend!

Glad to engage your vertigo. :)

Happy Friday, Jeff. Hooray for Confederates in the Attic. I am finally getting to Gettysburg, later next month. I am really looking forward to it.

I hope you are enjoying Hidden Figures. I remember really enjoying that on audio.

Thanks buddy! I am enjoying Hidden Figures. I saw the movie long enough ago that I don't really remember too much, so I got that going for me. :)

Holy Crap. NPR just reported that Tony Horwitz just died. He was only 60.

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/28/727546155/tony-horwitz-pulitzer-winning-journalis...

Grim news, said the 59-3/4 year old.

Yea! Its that time again. Happy Foto Friday Folks. Gosh I love 4 days weeks. :)

If you follow me on FB or Instagram, you'll know that I got a new camera last weekend. My stalwart DSLR was getting a little long in the tooth and was due for an upgrade. And so I pulled the trigger on the one I was researching last week. The weather was a bit overcast last Sunday, but I took it out for a test drive to a local nature preserve. Here's one of the results, I'm very happy with it. Have a great weekend all!



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobook Narrators

Reading : The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. STILL reading this. Its not really a slog, in the traditional sense, but it just seems to be taking me a long time to get thru. Not that that's a bad thing. I should finish this by next week.
Listening : What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson. The basis for the Robin Williams movie from back in the day. Boy, Matheson is a very diverse author. This is completely different than I Am Legend and that is completely different than Journal of the Gun Years. The two other major works of his I've read (plus some short stories)
eBook : Don't Panic by Neil Gaiman. The companion/behind the scenes story of how Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy came to be.

>144 mahsdad: How lovely that is, especially the bee whose outfit coordinates so well with the blossoms. Happy Friday! Yay for a new camera!

Ha, you fell into my trap. :) Its so bee-ist to think that they're the only ones that can pollinate. Nope its a fly. Well, TBH, its probably not actually pollinating, I just got lucky when this fly landed on a flower.

I do, however have some fun bee pictures I'll post here later. Or on FB.

Thanks for stopping by!

>146 mahsdad: You GOT me, I'm a terrible old speciesist. Bees RULE!

>147 richardderus: Busted! (Me too.) The photo is delightful, nonetheless.

>145 richardderus: >148 laytonwoman3rd:. Okay, I couldn't leave you all hanging. Here's a cute little bumblebee going head first into a flower.

Happy Friday, Jeff. Great photos. It looks like you are going to have a very good time with this camera.

>149 mahsdad: How cool is that?!

>149 mahsdad: Love it!

>150 msf59: I think I found new inspiration with some new equipment. >151 richardderus: >152 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks!

Here's a slightly morbid thought experiment. It appears that my SIL is terminal, maybe only a couple months left. She's been battling colon cancer for about 8 years and it (or the chemo) has finally got the best of her.

It just hit me that if I had only 2 months left to live, besides wanting to spend my remaining time with my family, what books would I want to end my life with. Reading has been such an important staple in my life (especially since joining LT) and I wonder what the final act would be.

Given my current averages, I could read 5 books in 2 months. What would I want those books to be? Reread my favorites again, or find 5 masterworks that I've never read.

I'm not sure. What are your thoughts?

>154 mahsdad: To be honest Jeff, my first thoughts are for your sister. Please give her an extra hug from your LT buddy.

Assuming I had 2 months I would want to read these 10 at least:

Middlemarch
Bleak House
Love in the time of Cholera
The Three Musketeers
Angel Pavement
Titus Groan
The Bone People
Independent People
Cities of Salt
Auto-da-Fe

and re-read :

A Fine Balance
Return of the Native
The Moon and Sixpence
Lord of the Rings
all of
TS Eliot
Dylan Thomas
Ted Hughes
Seamus Heaney
WB Yeats
and
John Betjeman

I generally don't reread books. I prefer to explore new territory. It ain't over till its over and I would want my last book to be a new one. That title would be the one that screams at me the loudest from my shelves.

I also know that it would not be a book by Charles Dickens. David Copperfield soured me forever on that author.

When my Dad died the book he was reading last was Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. The bookmark was still in the book where he stopped.

That said - when Pope John Paul I died he was reading a book by Thomas Acquinas. My Dad happened to be reading the same book when the news was announced. My Father and I laughed about the coincidence. I don't recall the name of that book, but it was a book of meditations - I think.

I would read the top books that I had been meaning to get to but hadn't yet, whichever they may be. I would reread one book, Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.

My prayers go out to your SIL and her and your family, Jeff.

Sending warm wishes for your SIL in her last stretch, and to you and your family, Jeff.

I like Darryl's idea of re-reading Being Mortal, which helped my family so much when my dad was in his decline. Other than that, I don't have any special books that I want to get to that I haven't. I did have an LTer recently pique my interest in Kristin Lavransdatter, one I've wondered about, and I do think I'd read that one.

Eight years is one helluva fight! Go SiL! And then there's the sad bit, she is going. I think it's overall a blessing to have time to say a proper goodbye.

I'm with >156 benitastrnad:, I'll keep bringing in the new stuff until the devil pats me in the face with a spade. Will someone please make sure my library books get returned?

>155 PaulCranswick: >156 benitastrnad: >157 kidzdoc: >158 jnwelch: >159 richardderus: Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I appreciate everyone's kind words. Its a bittersweet situation.

Even if it wasn't my last 2 months, I need to get to Being Mortal. I just listened to What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson, a couple books ago. It provides a very nice image of what an afterlife could be.

I am hijacking your thread for a minute. Here is the link for the ALA Washington Meetup. Go there for news about the conference and the meetup plans.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/307549

Not a problem. Hijack away. If I lived anywhere close, I'd want to come hang out with you guys. :)

mi casa es tu casa

Happy Foto Friday Folks.

And a momentous one it is. Today marks an end (and a beginning of a new one) of a long road for my son. Today Michael graduates from High School. Where the hell did the time go. Seems like only yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. Today's image is one I took on a Hawai'i vacation over 10 years ago, now. Its one of my favorites of him.

Have a great weekend everyone.



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 reads
>4 mahsdad: Audiobook narrators

Reading : Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe. I decided to keep things international, after finishing the Allende. Really interesting read so far. The only "distracting" thing, is my struggle of keeping the people and place holder names straight. My own bias's and Anglo-centric thinking coming to bear, but its certainly not preventing me from losing myself in this story.
Listening : I was reading another Richard Matheson, a western called Shadow on the Sun, but it wasn't catching my attention, so I'm going to put it down for now. Perhaps the narration just wasn't right for my ear. So I'm now doing a re-read of an early podcasted novel by Mur Lafferty called Heaven. Its her take on the afterlife. Read it many years ago, but stumbled on it again.

>163 mahsdad: Happy Graduation, Michael!

I like that photo a lot. Enjoy old age!

>163 mahsdad: Congratulations, Michael! Oh, the places you'll go! (yes, I stole that) I love pictures of children taken from the back...one of my favorites of my daughter is of her walking away down a leafy path in her Oshkosh overalls.

Congratulations to Michael! What are his post-graduation plans?

I'm glad that you're enjoying Things Fall Apart so far, Jeff.

>164 richardderus: Thanks RD
>165 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks Linda. Thanks for the memory of Oshkosh overalls. He had some too, and was completely adorable. Plus they had the added benefit of being a built-in handle for picking your toddler up and out of whatever situation they got themselves into
>166 kidzdoc: Thanks Doc! He's going to UC Riverside to study computer engineering. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Its what both he's parents do. :)

>167 mahsdad: Well done!

>163 mahsdad: Great photo of, Michael. I wish him luck on his future.

Happy Sunday, Jeff. It sounds like you are enjoying those current reads.

Sorry, to hear about your SIL. I hope she can find some, pain-free solace in her remaining time.

Message from Abby regarding the passes to the exhibit hall at ALA.

Okay - passes are here! These are good for exhibit-hall only access to ALA on Saturday, Sunday, & Monday.

https://www.compusystems.com/servlet/ar?evt_uid=291&oi=IQruTjvKoFzHoIiGjo9vo....

The "code" is V134 but you shouldn't need to enter that - the URL above populates it for you in the form.

>169 msf59: Thanks Mark, for all the sentiments, both happy and sad.

>170 benitastrnad: Thanks for passing along the ALA information, someday, I hope its closer to me. I'd love to go sometime.

Ahem.

It's Friday.

SOMEthing is missing.

Poppa's gotta pay the bills. I had meetings all morning. FF is coming shortly.

And here it is. Its Foto Friday Folk!

Hope all are well in your neck of the woods. It continues to be June Gloom around here, which I love, cause that means mild temperatures. The warmest its been this year was a couple days ago, where it just about hit 79, currently, its a reasonable 66. Loving it.

Today's image is an weird one that hits me just right. The other afternoon, the light of the setting sun was hitting things just so and illuminated the power lines out front in an interesting way. At least interesting to me, so I thought I'd share it. Have a great weekend all!



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audobook Narrators

Reading : The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. A reread for me, read it originally about 10 years ago when it came out. Its the 5th Book in the Life's Library Book club. I was going to skip it, but decided what the hell, I always enjoy what Mr. Chabon put down on paper.
Listening : Heaven Part 3 : Earth by Mur Lafferty Another reread/listen. Lafferty put this series out as podcasts. Its the story of the Afterlife, Armageddon and friendship. Its pretty fun. There's five different parts. About 3 hours a piece.

>174 mahsdad: That's a wonderful image. Knowing what it is isn't taking away the mystery it builds in my mind. It was worth waiting for.

Agreed about Yiddish...worthy of a re-read. I'd love to see a mini-series based on it one day soon.

>174 mahsdad: I like that. A lot.

>175 richardderus: >176 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks so much!

LIGHTNING ROUND! (boy I'm lazy...)

37. Tipping : A Short Story - Gregor Xane : This was a very trippy short horror story that RD turned me on too. Very good, though not for the faint of heart.

38. The Outsider - Stephen King. Another crime story with a touch of the supernatural, in the same world as Mr. Mercedes, et al. Another King success. Narration by Will Patton (AUDIO)

39. The Magic Order - Mark Millar. A very graphic novel (in both senses of the word, its a comic book) about the battle of good vs evil in a world of magic.

40. Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly. An excellent NF story of the unsung math heroes of NASA. It was the basis for the movie. (AUDIO)

41. What Dreams May Come - Richard Matheson. Wow, Matheson is such an excellent and diverse writer (this is way different than I Am Legend and Journal of the Gun Years, the two other novels of his, I've read) This loving fantasy story about what the afterlife could be. One that I wholeheartedly hope is true. Excellent listen. (AUDIO)

43. The Kitchen - Ollie Masters. A graphic novel about crime in New York in the 70's. A group of women take over their husband's businesses when they are in jail. Pretty good. I read this after seeing the trailer for the Melissa McCarthy movie that is coming out soon.

44. Heaven
46. Heaven Part 2 : Hell
47. Heaven Part 3 : Earth - Mur Lafferty. A series of podcasted novels/novellas about two friends Kate and Daniel who die and find themselves in the afterlife dealing with Armageddon, demons and a multi-verse full of gods, demons and lost souls. Worth your time, search Mur Lafferty in your favorite podcast app.

42. The House of the Spirits and 45. Things Fall Apart require a bit more effort than a quick blurb. Gotta ponder them a little more.

>178 mahsdad: #37 I'm pleased that you enjoyed it!

"My favorite podcast app" is the one that's easiest to ignore. People talking at me! Horripilation! Cremastering!

Happy Weekend, Jeff. I love the Lightning Round and I avoided any BBs. Yahoo! I NEED to do my own LR, in the morning. It is amazing how the finished books, start piling up.

Happy Father of the Graduate's Day!

Ya got me with the Lafferty.

>179 richardderus: Well, if I recall correctly, you aren't much of an audiobook guy, so not digging on podcasts is understandable. Tho there are several good bookish ones, if you ever change your mind. Levar Burton's comes to mind immediately. Its like Reading Rainbow for adults, each episode is him reading a short story. But you're right, most are talking heads.

>180 msf59: Thank you sir. And I guess I'll have to try harder next time with the BBs. :)

>181 richardderus: Thanks RD!

>182 drneutron: You're welcome. :)

I'll bear those in mind if I ever need to make myself unhappy before falling asleep.

I like your Friday photo this week. Very interesting - for those with a certain twist.

Ha, I see what you did there. :)

Happy Foto Friday Folks.

Nothing new to report here, other than I am glad that its Friday again. This working thing is for the birds. If you follow me on FB or IG, you've probably seen some of these, but today's image comes from our Father's Day jaunt to the Getty Center in Los Angeles. A fabulous facility that houses a really interesting art collection. We went to see. Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World. Illuminated manuscripts from as early as the 13th century displaying what they thought animals looked like and how they related to religious texts. For instance, they thought that all lion cubs were born dead, and that their father breathed on them after 3 days to bring them to life (I wonder what that alludes to. :) ). Contrast that, with an exhibit about Bauhaus and early 20th century art. Imagine learning color theory from Kandinsky or Klee. Very cool. Besides the art, the facility is an architectural gem where I never get tired of taking pictures. Here's an example, enjoy...



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books

Reading : The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon. I just like the way this man writes. In this case its an alternate history world where the European Jewish refugees from WWII settled in Sitka Alaska instead of Jerusalem, oh that's only partly what the story's about. Its mostly a murder mystery/police drama. Good Stuff
Listening : Heaven Part 3 : Wasteland by Mur Lafferty. The 4th in her Afterlife series.

>187 mahsdad: I saw the group on FB but I agree with you that this one is the exemplar to share. So beautifully observed, simple shapes and subtle colors telling the story of the day.

Nice.

And YAY for Yiddish Policeman's Union! Successful re-reads like this are terrific fun.

>188 richardderus: Thanks RD. My photographic aethetic goes against the norm. I generally don't like straight lines that parallel the edge of the picture and this place lends itself to my twisted ways.

I think the problem with us all is that we have so many books we want to read, there never seems time for re-reads and when something like a book club "forces" you to revisit something like this, its worth the effort and worthy of pushing something new down the TBR queue.

Went to Barnes & Noble. Hey, don't judge, I was in the neighborhood. Its a good thing its not closer. And, of course, while there, I have to spend some coin...

Being Mortal - Atul Gawande. This is been on my list for years, and given my current situation with my SIL, it was a poignant selection
Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead. Pulitzer bucket list
Beartown - Fredrik Backman. Cause its Backman, why not.

They were on the buy 2 get 3rd for free table, so I couldn't resist

>190 mahsdad: Buy 2 get one is too good a deal to pass up, ever. Buns & Nubile didn't do anything that every single corporate entity didn't try to do, and I'm just sad that they're in the straits they're in ATM.

You chose two of my favorite recent books, Jeff, Being Mortal, the one book I would recommend to everyone, and Underground Railroad. Well done, sir.

>191 richardderus: >192 kidzdoc: Totally forgot to acknowledge, thank, respond to my humble visitors. Shoot, bad Jeff. Well, belatedly, thanks for swinging by.

By way of apology, for you guys and anyone who stops in, here's a very poignant tribute to Terry Pratchett from Neil and the Good Omens TV folks. (And NO, I haven't watched it yet. I love my wife too much to jump ahead)

And don't worry, the FF post is coming soon... :)

>193 mahsdad: ...patting foot...

Happy Foto Friday Folks!

Today's image is just some flowers from my back yard. I just liked the way the water was collecting on them. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books (Wow, I guess its time to start a new thread this weekend. Monday is JULY!)
>4 mahsdad: Audiobook Narrators

Reading : The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon. At my current rate, I'll finish this up next week.
eBook : Don't Panic - Neil Gaiman. This is my backup, "I forgot to bring a paper book" book. Still reading.
Listening : Heaven Part 5 : War - Mur Lafferty. This is the last installment of her Afterlife series. It finds our godly heroes battling other forces on a new Earth, a very steam-punky earth. I prefer the first two books better than these last 3, but its still a worthwhile read.

Pretty! The colors and the drops make a lovely image.

>196 richardderus: Thanks RD.

For All : If you ever bought ebooks from Microsoft, you better read them quick, cause you're about to lose them all. Microsoft is shuttering its ebook servers and your books will stop working.

https://boingboing.net/2019/06/28/jun-17-2004.html

Happy Friday, Jeff. I like the Foto! I also really enjoyed The Yiddish Policemen's Union. I am long overdue to revisit Chabon. I still NEED to get to Moonglow.

Hey Mark. Moonglow is definitely worth your time! Thanks for stopping by.

Great Friday Foto, Jeff!