richardderus's third 2020 thread

Please Don't Eat the Daisies was the ninth-highest-grossing film of 1960

It was a weird year, 1960. Ike...General Dwight D. Eisenhower...was ending his presidency, and his successor was widely presumed to be Dick Nixon. That didn't quite work out...Tricky Dick got ghosted by John F. Kennedy in November. The Sixties started with a rejection of the past. That kept right on going all decade long. The year's biggest films were primarily based on books; the difference between this year and previous ones is that the books weren't all fluff or silliness. Yes, of course there was Jean Kerr's tales of an exurbanite's adjustment to life in the wilds of Connecticut, Please Don't Eat the Daisies; Doris Day was as blonde and as blindingly sweet as ever as Mama Kerr. But there was also the blonde ambiguity of Janet Leigh in the monster hit Psycho, based (pretty loosely it must be said) on Robert Bloch's novel. And it made a LOT more money than Doris's dimple-drenched sunshine-lollipops-and-rainbows comedy. Can any of the many of you come up with a single memory of Daisies? I ***KNOW*** you can remember at least one scene from Psycho.


Psycho was the second-highest-grossing film of 1960

Also adapted in 1960 were Leon Uris's Israeli founding myth Exodus...memorable moment in that film was Sal Mineo's character wailing a confession that he'd been raped by Nazi soldiers...BUtterfield 8, a 1935 realist novel by John O'Hara about a murdered young woman, that starred Elizabeth Taylor in a very very intensely performed role as The Other Woman...and a late-career novel by O'Hara, From the Terrace, filmed with real-life spouses Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman as a well-off couple trying their best to claw defeat from the jaws of victory. These were top-grossing films! Hotly debated for their social realism *snort* and their Seriousness.

Weird how little has changed in sixty years.

So what else...well, lots. It was the first-year anniversary of Communist Cuba's existence; it was the year Francis Gary Powers was shot down by the Soviets in his U2 spy plane; construction began on the Aswan Dam; the Greensboro Four staged a sit-in protesting racism in North Carolina; multiple African colonies gained independence; New Zealand joined the television age. Like any year you care to name, Life hurtled on; we're still paying the price for some things, others are forgotten but shouldn't be, still others are unknown to us but will float to the top one day. History is buoyant, and not even stuff that's at the bottom of Memory's Challenger Deep is buried forever.

People in power today would do well to remember that.

In 2020, I will post 10 book reviews a month on my blog. I already read a book every other day, as this year's total of 155 (a lot of individual stories don't have entries in the LT database so I didn't post them here; guess I should do more to sync the data this year) reads shows; so it's doable, and I've done better than that in the past.

I will Pearl Rule books I'm not enjoying with notes on Goodreads & LibraryThing about why I'm abandoning the read.







My Last Thread of 2018 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

My Last Thread of 2019 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

Reviews 1 through 3 are thataway.

Reviews 4 through 8 reside thitherward.

THIS THREAD'S REVIEW LINKS

9 What Have I Done? is a surprisingly modern story for one published in 1952, post 32.

10 The Memory Police was aggravatingly unfocused, post 140.

11 Jacks and Queens at the Green Mill earned my approbatory warbles, post 276.

12 Manuscript Tradition has Turtledove's beats all over it, post 281.

2019 was a *stellar* reading year! For the first time ever, I had two six-stars-of-five reads: Black Light: Stories, a debut story collection that gave me so much pleasure I read it twice (ever rarer occurence that), and the wrenching, gutting agony of Heart Berries, a memoir of such honesty and such vulnerability that I was a wreck after I finished it. I went back and forth a dozen times, first Author Parsons was the sixer, then Author Mailhot; neither book could possibly "win" for long because I couldn't get either book out of my mind.

I handed out 34 5- or damn-near-5-star reviews out of 155 reviewed books; that's 22% and that is a LOT. Many, even most of these (10+) were for short stories, for end-of-beloved-series novels, or for story collections. But hold on to something heavy: TWO, yes that's t-w-o dos due deux zwei два were...POETRY COLLECTIONS. Sarah Tolmie's The Art of Dying and the late Frank Stanford's collected poems, What About This: Collected Poems of Frank Stanford. Both were peak reading experiences. Another was cultural monadnock George Takei's graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy, which could not be more important for young people today to absorb.

What a beautiful year it was, to bring so many delights to my door. I hope, greedy thing that I am, that 2020 will repeat this performance. For all of us, really...honest! I didn't just add that on the end of this summing-up to make it sound less solipsistic.

In 2020, I wanted to post 10 book reviews a month on my blog. As of 21 February, I haven't posted a-one! There are a few mitigating factors, but I need to get this train rollin' or the deficit will become daunting quickly. Even so, I still read a story every other day, as this year's total of 155 (a lot of individual stories don't have entries in the LT database so I didn't post them here; guess I should do more to sync the data this year) reads shows; so it's doable, and I've done better than that in the past.

I will Pearl Rule books I'm not enjoying with notes on Goodreads & LibraryThing about why I'm abandoning the read.

...and that's me done. My reports will continue to be quarterly, the day after the end of the quarter.

Okay. Go to it.

*waves* to Richard. I'm slow to post on threads this year. Hope all is well.

Hi Kerry! You're first!

I can't resist...it's the florist I always used in Austin when I lived there.

It's a perfectly adequate Saturday, thanks for asking.

I'm in!

Happy new thread, RD!

Love your first post about 1960. Psycho is a favorite movie of mine...

>7 SomeGuyInVirginia: *smooch* Bring the jubilee!

>8 katiekrug: I am so not surprised to learn this, Katie...it makes perfect sense it would be! There's not a single beat of that film that isn't gloriously exquisitely FRAUGHT. An unforgettable experience.

Happy new thread!

>1 richardderus: Ah, yes, the good old days. I remember the ambiguous feelings of Kennedy's victory and the anxious dreams of a heated up cold war spilling out over my neighborhood. You assume, correctly that PDEtD is forgotten, while the chocolate sauce still swirls down the drain in a movie I've never seen. I turned 12 at the end of the year and actually do have memories. It was probably the next year that Kennedy visited our naval base in the middle of the dessert and afforded me a glimpse of his well groomed head.

>10 quondame: History won't judge JFK to be one of the best presidents; but damn if he wasn't a deeply necessary one, a full and complete break from the stodge and sludge of the Swamp's dank denizens like Tricky Dick. Of course that wasn't how it ended up being at all...but no one knew that for a while, and a lot of what was accomplished in the 1960s owes its genesis to him. Most likely to his assassination, though....

Welcome!

Happy new thread, RD. ((Hugs))

>12 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! Happy weekend to you.

>13 richardderus: Thanks, RD. I am hoping to get some reading in. I have not read a word all week long.

>14 alcottacre: It is a wretched experience to not be *able* to read, isn't it. I'm so sorry!

Happy new thread Richard and great thread toppers mate. Sending love and hugs from both of us.

>15 richardderus: Thank you and Karen both, John! Please hug sweet little Hannah from me as well.

>17 richardderus:, I will do when I see her next my friend, she is nine at the end of February and has asked Grandma for a birthday cake and what she actually wants.

Happy New Thread, Richard! Love seeing Psycho up there in the topper. I am big Hitchcock fan. I have had a good afternoon with the books. I hope you are doing the same.

ETA- I still need to get my mitts on Black Light: Stories.

>18 johnsimpson: Nonsense! She can't be more than three at most...I refuse to believe it's been almost a DECADE! *broken sobbing*

>19 msf59: Psycho is a vivid, intense memory for most of us in our age bracket. I was impacted by most of Hitchcock's films, such lush and lovely wrapping paper on those bitter pills!

This afternoon's been okay. Not a lot of reading, and I'm going out in an hour or so, but in general just fine.

I really encourage you to procure Black Light: Stories ASAP! The library? Any of y'all's branches have one?

Happy new one, Richard!

Happy new thread!

Re: The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America - That one has been on my wish list for years. I'm glad to see you liked it so well. I don't think I'll get to it too until after the conference for which I'm speaking in May, but maybe I can get to it in the second half of the year.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Richard. I only turned 7 at the end of 1960 so my actual memories are sketchy. But I can tell you that years later, I made the mistake of (attempting to) watch Psycho while babysitting. Mistake.

Happy new thread, Richard. I have memories of 1960 but wouldn't have seen Psycho until much later. It was a film that stayed with me when I did see it. I never did see the appeal in Miss Day even at the time.

Happy new one, RD.

>1 richardderus: I loved that superbly written precis of 1960.

Have a great weekend, dear fellow

>21 figsfromthistle: Hiya Anita, happy weekend!

>22 thornton37814: Hello Lori, when you do get to it, I expect the graphics will appeal to you...facsimile documents and the like...but your genealogist's fingers might get itchy to dig deeper!

>23 drneutron: Thanks, Jim, I sure hope so.

>24 jessibud2: Hey there Shelley, that was a singularly ill-advised moment to attempt to make Psycho's acquaintance! *shiver* It still gets to me.

>25 Familyhistorian: Doris had a beautiful voice, and she was a better actress than crapola like Please Don't Eat the Daisies fooled people into thinking she was. But really, what chance did a pretty blonde lady with a dream of a voice have in that day and time of establishing Serious Acting Chops?

>26 PaulCranswick: Thank you for the kind words, Paul, and you do the same. To the maximum extent you can.

>28 richardderus: Thanks RD. Going to take Belle out for brunch - if I can get her sorry arse out of bed. Hani is being her usual wonderful DIL in the UK running between the Sheffield apartment, my mum's home and the hospice to try and bring cheer to an old lady's dying days and enable her son to speak to her via video call. What the f@#k I ever did to deserve such a splendid helpmeet I'll never know.

Have never seen Psycho but I do remember seeing Please Don't Eat the Daisies. Given I was a pre-teen when they came out, that's probably natural, but I don't do horror/slasher even when done by a master like Hitchcock.

Happy New Thread, Richard!

Happy Saturday, Richard! I made it to the post office today to send out a pair of BookPages that should be due to arrive Tuesdayish.

9 What Have I Done? by Mark Clifton

Rating: 3.75* of five

SF blogging monadnock James W. Harris did this to me. Go read his review. It really is necessary to do that so you'll get what I mean.

Maybe I'm a bit more generous than I would otherwise be because this is the forty-six-year-old author's first published story, maybe because he wrote it in 1952, or just maybe because the ending is one of the few really ideal endings I've ever read. This isn't a highly original plot...aliens want Earth as a second home and have no qualms about evicting the current occupants, ever read House of Sand and Fog?...and it has, um, attitudes towards psychology that have evolved shall we say, as well as sexism and racism so bred in the bone that they remind me forcefully of time travel's real obstacles. But it is unique because the way the hero goes about his business is so very wish-fulfillment-y that I was lured into the alley and mugged by its story logic before I could even try to resist. Stop reading now, follow the link of your choice to the free read, and then read what's under the spoiler tag.

"Now just a moment," I interrupted. "I don't want our race to die off." The way he looked at me I felt like a spoiled brat who didn't want to go beddie time.

"Why not?" he asked.

I was stumped. That's a good question when it is put logi­cally. Just try to think of a logical reason why the human race should survive.

First-time writer, theydies and gentlethem. Round of applause!

So as events unfold over the next ten pages, my amused investment was leading me in a calculated misdirection, and *smack* here's Doctor Mark Clifton with his story-shiv glistening with my ichor of snobbery, grinning at me as I get to where he decided to take me instead.

I like that in a writer.

>29 PaulCranswick: Not a useful question, PC, better to make your purpose to be the same to her.

>30 ronincats: I don't blame you, Roni, I felt the same way when I gave in to peer pressure and saw Jaws in 1975.

I still won't go into the ocean above my ankles.

>31 bell7: Yay! Thanks, Mary.

Morning Richard - happy new thread :)

I'm another who can't stand horror. It took me ages to get over Jaws - which was very awkward when I was part of a sea swimming club! Bonus points to my teacher who finally got me to get over it - a long-ish swim during which she kept diving and swimming under me, partly to make me laugh, partly to show me there was nothing there to be afraid of. It worked on 11 year old me.

>33 richardderus: Wasn't it the music that made Jaws so gut-clenchingly frightening? I don't enjoy horror or scary movies much either but that was a superior version of the genre.

Your advice in response to >29 PaulCranswick: is typically wise.

Happy new thread, RD!

I’ve never seen Please Don’t Eat the Daisies or Psycho. I know, shock. I was 7 in 1960, finishing up first grade in June and entering second grade in September. I don’t remember how my parents reacted to Kennedy’s election but I absolutely know they voted for Nixon. Your précis of the year is admirable.

>32 richardderus: You made it easy to go read that story, so that’s what I did. And then you made it easy to read Harris’s review, so that’s what I did. And I agree with the relevance of what you put in the spoiler. Well done, Clifton, well done RD.

"I was impacted by most of Hitchcock's films, such lush and lovely wrapping paper on those bitter pills!" Beautifully put. I think Vertigo will always be my favorite. What a dark, twisted film.

Morning, Richard. Happy Sunday. You will be glad to hear, that I finally requested Black Light: Stories. The intense warbling got to me.

Stopping by to check out the new thread, Richard and wish you a happy Sunday!

Happy Sunday

Hiya, I'm late to the party (having had a tummy flu)....

♡♡♡ the topper photos. David Niven was brilliant. I saw so many of his films because my mother was such a fan. Many black & whites that never appeared in VHS or DVD. I was pretty lukewarm about Doris Day, though. She was an iconic 1960's star however, wasn't she?

I could not go to see Psycho when it came to the theatres. My friends went and declaimed nightmares, screaming and so forth. How is that fun? Hitchcock was superb at the thrillers, though.

Nice summary at >3 richardderus:. I've stored a link to remind myself.

>34 BekkaJo: Hiya Bekka! Gladdened to see you here. I'm afraid (!) that swimming and I weren't ever besties, I'm claustrophobic. My seaside frolics were always splash'n'paddle affairs, with sand castle building and book-reading as my favorite activities. Those are unaffected.

>35 PaulCranswick: That was a big part of it, yes; but for me the Gaping Void With Toothy Things aspect of the ocean was always...uncomfortable...until Jaws codified my unease with ineradicable visuals.

All part of the service.

>36 karenmarie: *chuckle* Thanks, Horrible. I hope you enjoyed it enough to make the time well spent. *smooch*

Mam had a legend made up about my personal responsibility for Nixon losing in 1960, but I think she just liked making me feel guilty. That one backfired, so ha ha!

>37 msf59: And not a minute too soon! Heh. I'm eager to hear what you think of it.

>38 lkernagh: Hi Lori! Welcome.

>39 BBGirl55: To you as well, Bryony.

>40 SandyAMcPherson: Ew! That's wretched, Sandy, I'm so sorry to hear it.

Doris was a big star in the later 40s through the 50s as a singer; she turned to acting in the mid-50s and stayed busy through the mid-70s. She was a lot better than the knocks on her suggest, though not exactly Bergmanesque.

Psycho still, sixty (!) years on, gives people nightmares. It's a classic for that, among other, reasons; but it's not to every taste!

Happy New Thread, RIchard!

Wow, Please Don't Eat the Daisies. I haven't thought about that one for many an age. You're right - I know I saw it, but remember nothing from it. Whereas Psycho haunts us all.

>43 jnwelch: Thank you, Joe, and welcome. We're expecting a crowd:

Don't stand on ceremony, dig in.

Psycho was a better film, qua film, than the modestly entertaining Kerr stories could ever have yielded. I remember one scene from it: Doris does a musical number in the course of her purloined play. "Up, down, in, out, anyway the wind blows, anyway the wind blows, goes love" was the chorus, and my mother and father busted out laughing when they saw the scene. A rare (in my childhood) moment of shared fun, which made it memorable. We saw the stupid thing at a drive-in on a double bill with The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.

I loved Please Don't eat the Daisies, and you reminded me of The Ghost and Mrs Muir. Thinking of that makes me wonder why I don't like Hallmark movies. I guess I've become jaded and worse.

Happy new thread, Richard!

'Morning, RD!

Our book club choices for the coming year have left me curiously flat, but I may surprise myself and actually enjoy some of them. At least I'll start them all.

*smooch*

I am late to your newest thread - my apologies. I loved the first kulcher topper - most excellent! I am a huge Hitchcock fan, and Psycho is so well done. For some reason, I can't get the girls to watch that movie with me. Heh.

It's Monday, so remember not to look it directly in the eye.

>45 mckait: It's not "worse" to find the world as it is less appealing than it once was. Yes, it's a dark time for people like us; for others, it's the jubilee. It wasn't a worsening in you to recognize that.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir the 1947 movie, the 1968 TV show, or The Ghost and Mrs. Muir from 1945? It was a charming story in each case.

>46 harrygbutler: Thank you, Harry!

>47 karenmarie: I'll coddiwomple thitherward to goggle at them. Happy Monday!

>48 Crazymamie: Mamie darling, you're farther out from the lair than is strictly speaking safe...IT might catch you out here! Flying visits only.

Both the movie and the show~

>50 mckait: They're not equally charming to me; Gene Tierney has it all over Hope Lange in my estimation as an actor. But the way the story was told, in each case, was pretty faithful to the book's central charming premise.

>44 richardderus: YUM, don't mind if I do!

I do not watch horror at all, after a particularly memorable Halloween where I saw most of the original The Haunting (1963) and buried my face in my knees with my arms over my ears for the ending. I then spent a very restless night trying not to have nightmares and went into work the next day exhausted. Done. Never watched anything horror again.

Mind you, fairly bland amusement park rides like the swings give me as much of an adrenaline rush as I'll ever need, so I think I'm just not cut out for it.

>48 Crazymamie: I am a fan of Pyscho too, Mamie. If the Pecan Paradisio was a tad closer, I'd watch it with you - from behind the sofa.

>51 richardderus: Gene Tierney was scrumptious back in the day and had a quite sad life. Agatha Christie made use of her lifestory in the plot for her book The Mirror Crack'd.

>52 bell7: It's the essence of wisdom to know where your limits are, and to respect them. Others then have no defensible choice but to do the same.
*orders the entire Saw franchise delivered to Mary*

>53 PaulCranswick: That's one of the saddest of Christie's stories, simply heartbreaking, and really well done indeed. It makes me all the more impressed and appreciative to learn that it's based on Tierney's life!
***
So the usual round of email buybuybuy messages landed in my inboxes. I saw that University of California Press was bringing out a new edition of Essays on Literature by Thomas Carlyle and was all excited to get one with my new-book money!

Then I saw the price: $OMG.NO

So I've recommended it to the library as a purchase.

Truly crap Monday. Started bad, stayed bad, got worse.

>55 richardderus: Hmmmm doesn't get much worse than that Richard. Hope tomorrow is better for you.

>55 richardderus: Sorry to hear that, Richard. Monday was a good day here, sunny but cold and I got some stuff done. Hope your Tuesday is better. We have snow forecast so I think tomorrow won't be that good here.

May Tuesday be better. xo

Monday is done and dusted. Bring on Tuesday and may it only be better!

Morning popped in with hugs and to let you know there is a vote going on over on my thread. I hope you have a good Tuesday.

Only on your thread would I find a blond psycho as the header. ; ) Smooches.

Morning, Richard. I hope you are waking up to a much better day than yesterday. Fingers crossed. After a few milder days, we are back to winter-like temps, with snow a possibility, later in the week. Ugh!

>56 brenzi: Thanks, Bonnie, it's grey and rainy today so permaybehaps that means I can feel all sunshiney.

>57 Familyhistorian: Snow! I've barely seen the darn stuff. That, at least, is a Good Thing for my outdoors walking.

>58 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie...you've seen the gloom out there, so I'm going on the theory that day ≠ weather for now.

>59 jessibud2: Yeup! That's how I'll approach it, Shelley.

>60 BBGirl55: Thanks, Bryony! Hugs happily accepted.

>61 Berly: You hang out with the weirdest, expect the unexpected, Berly-boo. *smooch*

>62 msf59: The unstable weather scares me witless. I have barely seen a flake yet and it's February. Let's hope we're in for a mild summer too.

Sneaking in to add yet more books to the BlackHole and give out ((hugs)).

Hi Stasia! Happy work week!

>67 richardderus: No, not really, but I am dealing. When I retire at 80, I am going to enjoy it!

>68 alcottacre: EIGHTY! You slacker! Back to work until you die. *sigh*

>69 richardderus: It is going to take me that long, at my current rate of pay, to pay off my student loans. I REALLY need a new job - maybe even one that actually uses my degree, lol.

Hi RD. I'm wandering the threads. Yikes! Yours was 30-message unread for me.
Hope the sunshine peeked through for you. It is brilliant cerulean blue here and, ummm, (*tiny voice*) -12°C which is pretty good for us.

'Afternoon, RD! I thought I posted here yesterday but alas! no. Sorry. And sorry your day was crap. I hope today is less crap.

*smooch*

>70 alcottacre: Lottery-winning *whammy* for Stasia

>71 SandyAMcPherson: It was 9C and squooshy here, Sandy, just damp enough to be moldy-feeling but not a decent rain. The plants are seriously confused.

>72 karenmarie: Hey Horrible! *smooch*

Well, I got that one wrong: the Ursula K. LeGuin Reread on Tor.com is doing The Left Hand of Darkness as their first title. I'd thought it was The Dispossessed.

Go visit the essay if you're curious.

Tentative plans for SWMBO and I to hop stateside for three weeks in Autumn.

New York - Boston - Philadelphia - Chicago - Portland - Frisco

She will definitely expect a meeting with her pal. She forgets who bloody introduced 'em.

>75 PaulCranswick: *chuckle* Bear in mind that the town I live in is all of 20min from JFK.

>74 richardderus: So weird - you didn't get it wrong. The original article said, "We’ll start with The Dispossessed, Le Guin’s “ambiguous utopia” about Shevek and his navigation of life in an anarchist, and then capitalist, society." Left Hand of Darkness was supposed to be second.

>77 Crazymamie: Whew! Well, whatever order they're in I love the fact he's doing this and will do it bi-weekly. I'm glad it's not me that's careless, however. *smooch*

Hi Richard, mate, I am starting to visit my LT friends finally. I hope that this finds you well, I am so far behind on everyone's threads and may have missed some things. I hope the year has been treating you well so far as it has with us apart from minor illness blips.

We are enjoying our new family addition, Felix, our rescue cat and he is settling in well with us. Tomorrow Felix goes to the Vets for neutering and micro-chipping and then he has his final injections in a couple of weeks and then he will be able to go outside for the first time.

My reading is slow and steady at the moment but is picking up, I am halfway through my third book of the year and when finished will be my second 1,000 page behemoth of the year.

Sending love and hugs from both of us and darling Hannah, dear friend.

>79 johnsimpson: Hi John! Glad y'all're doing well. Sadly things are stressful here, my drunken ass of a roommate has finally tipped me over the edge, yadda yadda yadda.

Be well, enjoy life, read good books.

Hoping the week gets better :( Hugs.

Sorry to hear things are rough there, RD. If there is anything I can do to help, you know where to find me. ((Gentle Hugs))

'Morning, RD! Sorry Old Stuff has tipped you ove the edge.

Did you get a chance to peruse some of Dr. Seuss's WWII political cartoons?

*smooches* from HTduTV Horrible

Morning, RD. I assume you have the same craptacular weather we do... Bleh.

Sorry Old Stuff is making life difficult. No chance of switching roommates?

*smooches and hugs*

>81 BekkaJo: Thanks, Bekka.

>82 alcottacre: So, you paint houses too, Stasia? ;-)

>83 karenmarie: Drunkula is nasty when he's in his cups and I'm sick of it.

>84 katiekrug: I'll have to catch him doing something illegal, it seems; or they'll offer Yet Again to move me out of this (ground floor, large) room, to which my response is "Not while I'm breathing."

>85 richardderus: Sweet Thursday, Mr. D. Sorry Old Stuff is getting out of his coffin as Drunkula. I can well imagine that you're sick of it. Is there a wormhole nearby?

We watched the charming Ghost and Mrs. Muir on New Year's Eve. Neither of us had seen it before. A young Rex Harrison! What a powerhouse he was.

RD, Do you have any options regarding your drunken-ass roommate? I'm sorry Richard. The worst living experience I ever had was when I was sharing a house with 2 women, a really great house, and they begin fighting with each other and then, by extension, fighting with me.
It was miserable. I am so sorry. If you can get out, or get him out, do so. Peace at home is balm of Gilead.
"
I don't recommend the following for anyone because it's immoral, illegal, and really kind of icky. That being said, I have a cousin who is a heroin addict and has been for the past 40 years. He was incredibly cruel to my aunt, my father's sister. One day my dad came to me and said, "Larry I just don't know what I'm going to do about Billy. He'll kill his mother and live on her social security. Billy's going to kill my sister.

I thought about it for several weeks. Finally, I tAmmt myold my father to send Billy $10000 cash in a shoe box. Considering his habits, his associates, and his revenue stream I figured he'd be dead within 10 days."

Dad didn't do it , he just cut Billy off. It worked for my great aunt mbecause she was in a facility that she'd already qualified for. Nothing was going to get

This gorgeous dog can be yours ! TODAY! EASE SEE A TECH ,
ASAP. nteresting side note, the dog is available for adoption. In fact is eager for adoption. Please contact your shelter to adopt this very special dog.

>86 jnwelch: Hi Joe, it's in the hands of case management now.

Sexy Rexy got his nickname for a reason! What a performer.

>87 SomeGuyInVirginia: Your cousin sounds like a shabby human being, and your solution was the superior one. It's too bad Pa didn't listen.

LitHub is in its fourth year of "The Book Oscars" which often mentions stuff other awards ignore. What are your Book Oscar votes?

Best Novel (Best Picture)

Sally Rooney, Normal People

Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys

Lucy Ellmann, Ducks, Newburyport

Elizabeth Strout, Olive, Again

Susan Choi, Trust Exercise

Ben Lerner, The Topeka School

Téa Obreht, Inland

Miriam Toews, Women Talking

Best YA Novel (Animated Feature Film)

Elizabeth Acevedo, With the Fire on High

Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of Nothing

Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry, Hello Girls

Akwaeke Emezi, Pet

Courtney Summers, Sadie

Tehlor Kay Mejia, We Set the Dark on Fire

Justin A. Reynolds, The Opposite of Always

Evelyn Skye, Circle of Shadows

Rory Powers, Wilder Girls

Best Setting (Cinematography)

Miriam Toews, Women Talking (the Molotscha Colony, Bolivia)

Julia Phillips, Disappearing Earth (the Kamchatka Peninsula)

Lara Prior-Palmer, Rough Magic (the Mongolian steppe)

Ben Lerner, The Topeka School (Kansas)

Marlon James, Black Leopard Red Wolf (maybe the opposite of Kansas) Heh. +1

Best Work of Nonfiction (Documentary—Feature)

Sarah M. Broom, The Yellow House

Patrick Radden Keefe, Say Nothing

Lisa Taddeo, Three Women

Robert Macfarlane, Underland

Chanel Miller, Know My Name

Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing

Best Work of Experimental Literature (Film Editing)—how perfect a description is this equivalence!

Lucy Ellmann, Ducks, Newburyport

Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other

Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House

Best Book in Translation (Foreign Language Film)

Maria Gainza, tr. Thomas Bunstead, Optic Nerve

Yūko Tsushima, tr. Geraldine Harcourt, Territory of Light

Philippe Lançon, tr. Steven Rendall, Disturbance

Olga Tokarczuk, tr. Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Niklas Natt och Dag, tr. Ebba Segerberg, The Wolf and the Watchman—a disturbing, revolting, unforgettable-in-a-surprising-way read

Rudolph Herzog, tr. Emma Rault, Ghosts of Berlin

Naja Marie Aidt, tr. Denise Newman, When Death Takes Something From You, Give it Back

Yoko Ogawa, tr. Stephen Snyder, The Memory Police—seriously close to winning, but the story isn't as intensely told or as memorable as The Wolf and the Watchman

Best Short Story Collection (Short Film—Live Action)

Bryan Washington, Lot: Stories—sooooo close...soooooooooooo close....

Zadie Smith, Grand Union

Amy Hempel, Sing to It

Ted Chiang, Exhalation

Karen Russell, Orange World and Other Stories

Kimberly King Parsons, Black Light: Stories—perfection.

Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Sabrina & Corina

Best Work of SF/Fantasy/Speculative Fiction (Makeup and Hairstyling)—feels dismissive to me; better suited to Romance, which they left out entirely *flees bricks hurled by fellow readers of same*

Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House

Sandra Newman, The Heavens

Claire North, The Gameshouse

Marlon James, Black Leopard Red Wolf

Yoko Ogawa, tr. Stephen Snyder, The Memory Police—bitter, biting, beautiful

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Gods of Jade and Shadow
***
I've left out categories where I have no opinion. But Best Book of Poetry = Sound Editing and Sound Mixing struck me as both funny and accurate!

Thank you, RD, darling. It would have been an end to sorrows.

TBF, most people don't listen to me until the stakes reach high sums.

If you're ok being a bad person I can help.

I hope, RD, that the case manager rules in your favor whatever that it.

I'll tell you a story because we're friends. In high school I had major hots for my best friend, let's call him Kevin. Kevin was everything I ever wanted in a boyfriend. He was tall, he was attractive in a thin faced way, he had a very lovely angular body, and he had a patch of fur all around his belly button. Oh my God to this day that's kind of my definition of hot.

He was estranged from his family so one night I drove to his apartment just to visit and get high. He had a cold and was only drinking bourbon to drown it. I took a couple of the hits of pot, and was just sitting there wondering when it would be OK for me to get up and leave. Then Kevin turned to me, and he said, "Larry, I want to suck your dick. Don't freak out. But after we're done I'm going to bite it off." That was problematicic. What I should have done, I should have said, "Kevin, I would love for you to s*** m* d***. I've wanted that since last summer. But I don't want you to bite it off. And I won't bite off your d*** when I suck yours. Which I've also wanted to do since last summer. So are we good to have a good time?" Then flashed in my mind that Kevin, whom I'd loved since 10th grade, had probably been sexually assaulted at home. And I just couldn't do it. First, Kevin was mmt friend, my best friend. Then it got complicated.

Why did I tell you this??!! OH YES, KICK THOSE BITCHES OUT!"

Instead, I made light of the entire situation and said Kevin you complete freak, what the fuck are you even talking about you silly bitch. I went back to his place as few days later and he was fully recovered. He apologized for offering to su CV k my dick, and I told him not to worry about it because I knew that he was sick and drunk off his ass and wasn't himself. But in my heart I knew it could have happened, and that I very much wanted it to happen, and we could have been lovers. May be very day. May be for longer than the day. But I'd been in love with Kevin for a long time and would have enjoyed it.

So. Ricardo. You wanna bang this pendejo on hid way out?!

Happy Thursday, Richard! ( Best part of Thursday is that it's one day away from Friday!)

Sorry to hear that you are continuing to have problems with Old Stuff. Hopefully, things will get better.

>89 richardderus: I haven't read a single one of these... but awarding books "as Oscars" is a splendid concept and so much faster than 4-hours of boring TV (I didn't see any movies either).
I'm being reclusive ~ it's Winter.
;D

>82 alcottacre: Yes, actually.

>89 richardderus: I do not think I have read any of those either.

>90 SomeGuyInVirginia: With a hammer? Sure!

>91 figsfromthistle: Oh well, Anita, it's all part and parcel of losing control of one's life for the crime of being impoverished and disabled.

>92 SandyAMcPherson: Doesn't that sound lovely, Sandy? Here the National Book Awards are given out at a long-dresses formal event, and that's pretty much the same thing as Book Oscars because the NBAs are quite prestigious and an NBA nomination, still more a win, upticks sales in the US.

Recluse away. It's not worth going out when it hurts to breathe.

>93 alcottacre: So...how much to paint the walls dark red with white decorative flecks?

:-P

It's an *excellent* list. You could do worse than adventure down it.

Sorry to hear that your roommate continues to be a problem. :(

Tough situation.

Focus on beach walks in the sun?

>95 mckait: He's a nasty drunk. I don't like it and I don't want to deal with him. It's not like I ask much out of here, just to leave me in peace and quiet...he's the opposite of that.

It's raining. Clouds and grimness outside, clouds and grimness inside, well after all this too shall pass.

Sweet Thursday, Richard. I stopped at my favorite watering hole, for a couple of brews, to warm up the blood and shake off the wintry blues. It is working. Have you read Cruddy? A dark, twisted little book, that might appeal to you. I am not sure if I have ever seen this author mentioned before on LT.

Boo, to the nasty-ass roommate!

>97 msf59: Good news, Mark, stay comfy and healthy. And thanks for the boos!

I've actually read a few of those nominated for the Oscar, Richard and I have to agree with you about The Wolf and the Watchman. I am still thinking about almost a year later.

Have you been on this Octopus Adventure yet?

>99 brenzi: Hey there, Bonnie...I can certainly see that the book would do that to a person. It's intense and powerfully affective as well as effective.

>100 quondame: Heh, yes indeed Susan, but it's been years. Thanks! I love the fact that the octopus just wants the darn camera, then the speargun.

OMW to ophthamologist for dilation and examination.

'Morning, RD! I hope the opthamologist visit goes well.

I'm so sorry your roommate is so vile.

*smooch*

Morning, BigDaddy! Happy Fridaying to you! Hoping that the eye doctor went well.

Well, that was interesting...I had vasovagal syncope from my extended exam with the uber-bright lights. Luckily I was seated in a safe place! Unpleasant, but not problematic from a medical PoV. Eyes are not getting worse! Hoo blinkin rah on that!

>103 karenmarie: *smooch* I'm sorry he is, as well. But honestly I can put up with most everything he can throw at me, but I won't tolerate threats. I hope the management's day-long intervention works.

>104 Crazymamie: It did, from the eye point of view, and that makes me very happy. My eyes are still all wonky so I'm off to nap some more, but I don't need new lenses, I don't show worsening macular degeneration, and the left cataract's progress was noted but no surgical intervention needed yet. *smooch*

Hi Richard, stopping by to get caught up. Sorry to learn your roommate continues to be a problem but at least it sounds like good news about your eye doctor appointment.

>106 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori, I've been napping my day away and trying to recover from that scary passing-out.

>94 richardderus: For you, RD, I would do it for free.

My biggest problem with the list is getting hold of the books!

Good news on the doctor front. And that's better than the *other* stuff so take it and celebrate. Yay!

>108 alcottacre: You're a genuine pal, thanks...but not just yet!

Heh. Ever and always.

>109 jessibud2: Indeed, Shelley, and as soon as I wake up...tomorrow, at this rate...I shall clog a merry measure.

Morning, RD! Happy Saturday. I hope you are feeling good and getting plenty of reading in.

*sits down to wait for the clogging of a merry measure*

>111 msf59: I'm much better, thanks Mark, and getting into The Memory Police. Hope yours is good too.

>112 Crazymamie:

Happy Saturday, RDear.

I, too, hope management's day-long intervention works. Sheesh.

Good news on the eyes and bad news on the roommate. Wishing you a wonderful weekend filled with books!!

>114 karenmarie: "Sheesh" is about right, Horrible. *smooch* for a brighter, happier day all around.

>115 Berly: The doc telling me, "your eyes are doing great, I can't see any difference between this visit and the last one" was happy-making. Passing out was not!

Happy new thread and happy Saturday!

>117 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle!

Wish you a better day today, Richard, without roommate bother.

>113 richardderus: Glad to hear that you are feeling better, RD. Looking forward to your thoughts on The Memory Police.

>119 FAMeulstee: We'll see, Anita, he's off drinking again....

>120 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! It's a weird, weird ride...not always in a good way.

>121 richardderus: Hmmm. . .

Happy new thread Richard!

Sorry, I’m a bit distracted; I had to take some detours to check out Gene Tierney, Agatha Christie, octopi ... oh, I wanted to look up the Irish famine too ...

>122 alcottacre: Mm hmm

>123 humouress: ...but not the beetle penes at the American Museum of Natural History...? How curiously incurious of you.

>1 richardderus: I can definitely remember one, and perhaps just one scene from Psycho. I accidentally saw it when I was about 11 years old, also 11 years after it was produced, and I would not take a shower at home alone until I was in my 20s.

>105 richardderus: Good news that the eyes are holding steady. One of the many things that suck about aging is the loss of one's (mine, anyway) youthful ability to read anything anywhere anytime in any kind of light.

>89 richardderus: I love LitHub and I love that post.
I've not heard of Kimberly King Parsons' Black Light: Stories but I'm adding it to my wish list.
I almost purchased a copy of Black Leopard Red Wolf on my Friday bookstore excursion but it would have nudged me into purchase or acceptance of another bag for my haul, and that would have led to, well, to a legitimate book haul (since the two books I purchased do not qualify as a "haul").
Oh, I won't go through the whole list, but I'm "favorite"ing the post so I can refer back to it.

And I am also so sorry that your roommate is such a sodding pain in the a**. Ugh ugh ugh. I do like SomeGuyInVirginia's idea.... well, maybe not a good idea, but fun to think about!

>68 alcottacre: and >69 richardderus: I am NOT working until I'm eight. But that is just me.

>125 EBT1002: I'm quite sure Psycho did dirt to many people's showering habits. It didn't have that effect on me, though I confess that drag queens make me *hugely* uncomfortable, as do Monty Python's men in dresses.

Aging vision isn't the issue for me that others are afflicted with. My vision was always very bad what with this awful astigmatism.

Old Stuff is tedious when sober, Drunkula when inebriated. His awful, towering rage at Life erupts and spews. I haven't got the empathy to give, he used up my limited supply by being utterly oblivious to the consequences for others of his behavior. I'll be supportive of any battle to improve; I decline to participate in a bloodbath of self-pitying anger.

Morning, Richard. Happy Sunday. I was supposed to meet Joe in the city today, but he is under the weather. I guess, there will be more time for the books then. Nearly done with the wonderfully, disturbed Cruddy and I just picked up Black Light: Stories, so I may start that one.

BOO & HISS to Old Stuff!!

Good morning, RD, happy Sunday, and happy reading.

I hope The Roommate's drinking didn't become a problem last night.

>127 msf59: Ooo, Black Light: Stories! Pick up, hopefully be unable to put down, and no better company for a winter's afternoon.

Yes, boos and hisses are appropriate.

>128 karenmarie: Thanks, Horrible, I'm giving it the old college try. He's hunkered down on his bed playing solitaire and, so far, reasonably quiet. Reeks of cigarettes, of course, that nauseating cloud of filth is perpetual.

I just dislike him and all things associated with him at this point.

Good morning, Rdear. I hope it's a good one. Send lots of sunny snow greetings over the big pond as long as it is still here. The weather forecast indicates a violent storm and snow for the next three days. Send lots of sunny snow greetings over the big pond as long as it is still here. The weather forecast indicates a violent storm and snow for the next three days. But what?!? it comes to us from your side. Have you been naughty the last few days ;-)? *smooch*

Heh, no indeed Barbara, it's from North of here and blowing like a lion's roar over to y'all. We are, as a point of reference, on the same line of latitude as Madrid.

That depends entirely on the curves of the jet stream and not necessarily on the latitudes. But I immediately believe that you were a good boy.

What fascinates me is how easy it was to pull the wool over your eyes. Me, a good boy! ::boggle::

>133 richardderus: LOL, always believing on the good side of you. *smooch*

>126 richardderus:. Morning RD. I think I read somewhere that Janet Leigh never took a shower again after filming that movie. Also did you know that the blood in the shower was chocolate syrup? That would have been interesting to see being filmed

Happy Sunday, BigDaddy! Sorry about the roommate woes - I am sending you ousting mojo in the hopes that they move him.

You are reading The Memory Police? I will be interested in you final thoughts - I really didn't like that one, but I seem to be in the minority. It surprised me, actually, that I didn't like it. The premise was good, IMO, just poorly executed. And the writing was beautiful but left me cold. Ah, well...

Hoping that your afternoon is full of peace.

>136 Crazymamie: I felt The Memory Police suffered from not deciding what it was. More mood/imagery than substance.

>113 richardderus: hey! He stole my move! (cos I only have one move)
:)

>136 Crazymamie:, >137 quondame: This is the problem that I'm having. It's a great idea, it's a very moody and atmospheric book, and it doesn't have an identity: does it want to be a horror novel, a dystopian oppression-is-bad tract, or a metaphorically rich fable/take-down of Western culture?

It, and therefore I, do not know.

>138 LovingLit: *smooch*

10 The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Rating: 2.5* of five

This book is indicative of a problem that I'm having. It's a great idea, it's a very moody and atmospheric book, and it doesn't have an identity: does it want to be a horror novel, a dystopian oppression-is-bad tract, or a metaphorically rich fable/take-down of Western culture?

It, and therefore I, do not know.

It seems to me that a significant number of books published at this moment either are, or perceived to be, similarly multifocal. (That white lady's dirt book, for example, had thriller elements but also social-message novel elements so it was savaged by people who would have ignored a "lesser" work like a thriller.) It does no one any good to fail to find a focus. Plenty of works can combine genres. It must, in those case, feel natural and like it was done that way on purpose, to make the grade as a story.

This book doesn't feel like that. It feels instead like a pretty meditation on how deeply nasty humans are that more or less accidentally ended up making a sociopolitical point. I don't have any way to know if that was a feature or a bug; I only know it kept me from getting absorbed in the story and that, my friends, is annoying as hell.

>140 richardderus: Too bad it was a bad read. I was almost going to buy the book. Luckily, you saved me from spending my money and being disappointed.

>141 figsfromthistle: I recommend checking it out of the library. Don't not read it because it might be perfect for you, one never knows!

>89 richardderus: Great idea, RD. I just wish that I had read enough from last year's releases to make a contribution.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

I was only able to bookhorn in the first story of Black Light, but by the end of it, I was smitten. I can't believe I started this, after just finishing the delightfully twisted Cruddy. There are eerie similarities, between the books.

Sorry, The Memory Police fell short for you. It sure sounded promising.

>143 PaulCranswick: The wonderful thing is that the list is a great shopping list.

It's getting middling marks from me, is this Sunday. I just found out three packages are at the desk waiting for me and no one bothered to let me know. *grumble*

>144 msf59: It's such pretty prose, and such a crummy payoff! Muddled and murky while sweet and spicy, like glühwein.

I hate glühwein.

I'm glad the collection is working for you!

Morning, BigDaddy! I completely agree with your review of The Memory Police - thumb from me.

Boo to packages that are not immediately announced.

I'm leaving you maple bacon doughnuts because Monday.

'Morning, RD! I hope the three packages contained marvelous things.

I got an ER package in Thursday's mail, The Cold Last Swim by Junior Burke and started it on Friday.

>145 richardderus: Glue wine? Sounds delicious.

>146 Crazymamie: Well-timed indeed, Mamie darling. See below.

>147 karenmarie: Food, plus The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. It's been forever since I read it so I bought a paper Mariner edition. The Kindle edition is $10 and that's $5 more than I will spend except in cases where I know/like the author and want them to profit from the sale. As I don't know Isa or Christopher or his other daughter, I won't be making royalty-able purchases of PKD's work.

>148 humouress: Scrummy. *smothered retch*
***
So yesterday Old Stuff, in his Drunkula incarnation, got so squiffed that he fell and broke two fingers and cut his left eyebrow badly enough to need stitches. The ambulance attendant chirped, "I guess you'll need to help him in the bathroom."

Cue appalled silence all around.

"I'll be dead underneath a ditch before I touch him," I replied in what apparently was my most Arctic tone as the ambulancier shivered.

Yet here he still is.

I despise the critter.

>149 richardderus: - I'd offer you my voodoo doll but it doesn't really work. It looks like a damned porcupine but my mother's husband is still here, too.
:-(

So all I can offer are my commiserations and perhaps send some more ice down your way... ;-)

If he keeps that up Richard won't need a voodoo doll... 🙄 He's doing a fine job removing himself from the picture.

>150 jessibud2: No, thanks, ice would be bad for me while offering no guarantees of Old Stuff suffering a serious enough injury to require full-time care.

>151 drneutron: Not yet...

'Morning, RichardDear.

Books, coffee, food, ignore OS, books, coffee, food, ignore OS...

>153 karenmarie: That's a mantra I can really get behind, Horrible! *smooch*

>140 richardderus: Well rats about that. I loved The Professor and the Housekeeper and Revenge and liked The Diving Pool. I'll probably check out The Memory Police at some time, but my expectations are adjusted.

>155 swynn: You might adore it! I am fussy about dropped connections in a way most readers aren't. And goodness knows the translation is *excellent* and, were I to judge only on the prose, this'd be a fiver for sure.

It pays to tell the whole world when you really like a book. I reviewed Vintage 1954 with gusto, and the publisher noticed; they decided to send me The Road to Urbino by Roma Tearne unsolicited!

I love the sound of its twisty-turny obsession-gone-awry tale.

Yay for unsolicited book mail!

>157 richardderus: - Great cover! Congrats! And I like the sound of the other one, too. I love time travel, if it's well done, especially if there is fun involved!

>158 katiekrug: I know, right?!

>159 jessibud2: I really recommend it, Shelley, it's a lovely little valentine to Paris in 1954.

>157 richardderus: Nice score! That sounds interesting!

Hey, RD. Thanks for the heads-up on the birdsong book. I snagged it. I only have 50 pages left in Black Light: Stories. I am savoring the last 2 stories. This is an impressive collection. Of course, it will not be for everyone but it sure is ringing all my bells. What a talent.

>161 ChelleBearss: Ain't it great! And yeah, I'd've been interested in it even had it not just showed up.

>162 msf59: Good-oh! And yeah, it's kinda strong meat for many, but it is damn near perfect for me.

>157 richardderus: You'll soon find out whether it is a gift or a punishment, I guess!

How-de-doo, RD. Free, unsolicited books are the Cat's Pajamas, aren't they? Congrats.

*smooch* from your own Horrible

>164 PaulCranswick: Heh, both are possible. The continuum is long.

>165 karenmarie: I do so love the surprise of getting the book, possibly though hopefully not more than reading it.

>166 richardderus: I actually got 2 copies of my last ER book Sudden Traveler (sent one to Jim for Christmas), plus an unsolicited one called The Day I Died

Love unexpected books.

>167 mahsdad: Puts a boy in a great mood, no?

>140 richardderus: I have now erased that one from the BlackHole.

>157 richardderus: Congrats! Cool beans!

>169 alcottacre: I think, knowing a weentsy oochkin of a scoche of a bit about your reading tastes, that you can feel completely okay with that.

Thanks!

Good morning, Rdear. I'm soon on the slopes. It's a beautiful day here.

Morning, Richard. Not-So-Sweet Thursday! Waking up to snow and falling temps. Could be up to 4 inches of fresh stuff out there. UGH! I loved Black Light: Stories. Just the right amount of lyrical grittiness, that I admire. She will be an author to watch. I really appreciate the nudge.

'Morning, RD!

A few errands later on this afternoon and dinner out with Bill, but this morning is reading and coffee-ing.

*smooch*

>171 Ameise1: Excellent! Have a lovely ski.

>172 msf59: Boo hiss on snow and cold for the rest of your day...but

about Black Light: Stories! I'm delighted you enjoyed it.

>173 karenmarie: How do, Horrible, enjoy the dezombification Rx and y'all have a lovely dinner out.

Milkman by Anna Burns is nominated for a Christopher Ewart-Biggs Literary Prize, named for a British Ambassador to Ireland whose 1976 murder by the IRA inspired this £7,500 annual award for literary works...including, this year, nominations for a #Brexit-analyzing Twitter account and the TV show Derry Girls...promoting cultural understanding between Ireland and England. (Yes yes yes, it's officially "the UK" but Wales and Scotland don't present historical problems to Ireland and Ulster's been fightin' 'em since Tara was the capital.)

Anyway. If you haven't read this wonderful book by now, what's stopping you from doing it now?

Two Thingaversary books arrived of the fifteen (!) that custom demands I purchase to mark the occasion:
Juliana and the Medicine Fish, a Canadian YA novel that I suspect Micky FORCED me to buy
Bearskin, which I've been coveting for a while now
Thirteen paper copies to go!

>176 richardderus: Celebrating 13½, Richard, or a very early 14th ?

Happy 14th Thingaversary! You've got a good start on your mandatory 15 books to mark the occasion. Turns out, you and I joined 3 days apart (you are my senior in this). We should plan a meetup in August to celebrate.

ET correct a typo

>177 FAMeulstee: Neither...spreading the acquisitions out so I can afford to get all fifteen! (And also have an excuse to buy books.)

>178 Storeetllr: Thanks! Ooo yeah, come visit in August because boardwalk. *smooch*

>179 richardderus: I like that, Richard.
The Bookweek starts at my Thingaversary, so if I count previous puchased books this year I only need 6 more.

>175 richardderus: Milkman will get its turn for me this year and possibly next month. The Derry Girls is funny - especially the relationship between the husband and father-in-law.

>176 richardderus: 15 Thingaversary books gadzooks, I didn't think the internet had been invented that long!

>180 FAMeulstee: Well then! You're all set. Budgets don't need to mean no fun can be had.

>181 PaulCranswick: I hope you'll enjoy Milkman, it would actually surprise me a little if you didn't.

Wanna hear somethin' scary? I've had my same two yahoo.com emails for 21 years...and got my first email account 25 years ago!

>175 richardderus: My local library has that one. I have now placed it on hold. Thanks for the recommendation, RD!

>183 alcottacre: Excellent! I really hope you'll like it. The narrative strategy is weird at first but I think you'll hit your stride with it quickly.

>182 richardderus: Haha, me too - not sure exactly the year I got my AOL account (which I still have), but it was when my daughter (who's in her mid-30s) was in elementary school and the internet was dial-up.

>185 Storeetllr: It's stunning how central to my life the internet is, and how long it's been that way. I'm gobsmacked when I think back on what I used to have to do to accomplish what googling has rendered in 0.002746 seconds.
***
Natasha Pulley, she of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, has a new book coming out next week!

Ain't that cover a dandy?

>182 richardderus: Yes, I think my yahoo.co.uk email is at least two decades old too.

>186 richardderus: The octopus robot was one of the great delights of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street!

Good morning, Rdear. Some coffee and croissant for a starter?

Happy Thursday, RD!

>179 richardderus: Based on that logic I’ve already purchased 10 of my 14. Therefore, I won’t use that logic. However, I don’t usually buy Thingaversary books specifically since the FoL book sales make a joke of any kind of self-regulation with regard to buying books. I do have a goal of acquiring 20% less than the 341 acquired last year. We'll see.

*smooch* from Madame TVT Horrible

>187 PaulCranswick: I don't know why I cling to the email addresses, since I haven't sent a personal email in ages; companies don't care what address I use; but it's become as important to my sense of solidity as my physical address.

>188 quondame: Absolutely agreed.

>189 Ameise1: Oooohhhhh yes please! Thanks, Barbara, and that cafè au lait looks gorgeous.

>190 karenmarie: ...I...GUESS it makes sense to set a goal of bringing home fewer books...in some freaky-deaky parallel universe it might even be desirable...but, well, not here.

*smooch*

I won't begin purchasing Thingaversary haul books until a couple weeks before the Thingaversary, but I'll begin planning for it soon.

Three more paper books to count against my total of fifteen Thingaversary books:
The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet a French friend of mine *strongly* recommended this book to me, I hear and I obey
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia I hated, hated giving the library back its copy, so this one I don't have to; I need to re-read it, I don't feel it's revealed its full self to my foggy eyes yet
In the Deep by Pierre Guyotat because, I think, I saw his obituary recently and thought, "don't I have one of his books?" and I didn't.

Ten to go! The Goodwill is denuded of things I want ATM.

>192 thornton37814: Budgeting is much more stringent for me, Lori, as my monthly spending money is a measly $200 and that's after Rob kicks in a few bucks to pay for my phone and Netflix.

I ordered two books from Ammy vendors that might arrive by the end of the month...watch this space....

>191 richardderus: I still have helm@yahoo.com. I probably got it right when Yahoo started. I think it was my first real email address that wasn't from Compuserve or AOL. I don't use it, and it is just pretty much a pit of spam, but I'll never get rid of it. You couldn't get helm @ anything anymore.

My main email is still my gmail account, plus I have a few other "junk" gmail accounts.

>195 mahsdad: It's just...part of us now, isn't it. I wouldn't get a cell phone for *years* because I didn't want a 917 area code, I wanted my 212 area code...now I live in Nassau, it's all 516 and that's fine by me.

Weird, how unnecessarily attached to unimportant stuff humans get.
***
Look.
At.
These.
Bookends.

LOVE those!

I've learned that email addresses live forever, even after they don't function. My first internet provider was a dial-up: fast.net. Leap forward 20 years. Fast.net is long defunct. But AT&T has that email associated with an account and won't let me change it. Even the AT&T tech couldn't circumvent that addy. WTF? She made it my user ID and somehow-dot-way AT&T(dot)system was mollified and allowed her to introduce the gmail address I've used for the last 12-15 years.

>197 mahsdad: Me too!

>198 weird_O: My antique email was numbersnumbersnumbers at delphi.com, which thank GOODNESS I never used for anything except my first Ammy purchases.

Morning, BigDaddy! This conversation is taking me back to the days of dial up. Thank goodness that's over.

'Morning, RD!

Wishing you a lovely Pantone 2190 C-ish sky color sort of day.

>200 Crazymamie: How glad I am that the dial-up era is dead and gone. 9600-baud external modems! Yeesh.

Happy Saturday, Mamie.

>201 karenmarie: That's pretty much exactly the color the sky is!

HEY EVERYBODY!! THE WEATHER GODDESS READS AMONG US!!

*smooch* Stop this climate-change thing, k? You can have Cheeto Jeebus's blood in exchange!

*smug smile* - I spent about 5 minutes getting close to what looked like mine, even going so far as to take a cell phone pic through my window and holding it up to Pantone colors on my computer monitor. Glad it matches yours, RD!

Re climate change:

I would
If I could
But I can't
So I won't

Unfortunately. I'd love to snap my fingers and change whole bunches of things. Sigh.

>157 richardderus: Congratulations! (NotjealousNotjealousNotjealous)

>203 karenmarie: Start snappin' there, never know but what it might work!

>204 humouress: *chuckle* Unless it's flat-out awful, I bet your mantra won't work all that well.

Episode 2 of Locke & Key on Netflix is a giant snore. Episode 1 was a giant snore. Episode 3, so far, is sapping my will to live.

Uncle.

Brrrr! I went out this morning - I do not recommend it. Hope you can stay in, especially as I imagine it's a bit breezier where you are.

The sun is nice, though :)

Morning, Richard. Happy Saturday. Still cold and breezy out here but better than the last couple of days. Looking forward to the next couple of days off. Hope you stay warm and snug with the books.

>206 richardderus: Really? That’s disappointing...

>186 richardderus: That cover IS a dandy!

>196 richardderus: I love that blue and I am not normally a 'blue' person.

>207 katiekrug: Thank goodness I don't need anything enough to have to brave the freeze. The sunshine is glorious, though!

>208 msf59: Hey Mark, I'm glad it's not as digit-droppingly cold there. I'm tucked up and contented, so that's how I'll stay.

>209 drneutron: It is...I was chatting with a fan of the books on Twitter and he said he watched the whole series but mainly out of loyalty. We agreed that the show's people are really TSTL and therefore not very appealing.

>210 alcottacre: I agree! And I agree. *smooch*

Remember when I mentioned that earthquakes weren't so bad? Well, I might have been wrong. Clearly bad has levels.

>212 quondame: - Holy crap! Where and when was this? Sounds like the people were speaking Japanese but I could be wrong. I can't think of anything more terrifying!

>213 jessibud2: 2011. Actually fire. I think fire would be worse. We have those, too. I'm not surprised by the earth shaking 10-15 seconds, but that is almost 3 minutes. And the energy in the water! Fortunately there are both long flatlands and at least to rows of hills between me at 150' and the ocean miles away.

>206 richardderus: I was wondering about that new release on Netflix.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Our area has been rattled by lots of tiny earthquakes the last couple of weeks. They are so small that most people don't feel them, but it's more the "quantity" than anything. It makes me wonder if we have a "big one" coming. A couple years ago we all felt one while in church. It was loud too.

It was eons ago but >126 richardderus: "...as do Monty Python's men in dresses" CRACKED ME UP.

>196 richardderus: Yeah, I want those. I mean, really badly.

>186 richardderus: Unfamiliar to me but my brief exploration has added The Watchmaker of Filigree Street to my wish list.

My wish list is out of control. And there are worse things (like, you know, earthquakes!!).

xo

‘Morning, RD!

>212 quondame: Small earthquakes aren’t bad are are actually good in a relieve-the-pressure-way, but I was in the 1971 6.6 SoCal Sylmar earthquake when I was 17. Admittedly I was 50 miles away, but the house shook, things fell off shelves, and a crack developed in the dining room wall. We didn’t have phone service for days and Dad was out of state at the time. Very, very scary.

>212 quondame:, >213 jessibud2:, >214 quondame: In the earlyish 1960s, while I was living in Los Gatos, there was a small quake...our house was really close to Loma Prieta Peak...and honestly? No. Just NO.

>215 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita, thanks for the well wishes!

>216 thornton37814: There's nothing fun about the earthquake phenomenon, Lori, and there's nothing that'll ever make me want to live near an active fault ever again.

>217 EBT1002:, >218 EBT1002: Heh. I'm glad that you appreciate my humor, Ellen!

I predict Natasha Pulley will be a hit du côté de chez vous.

>219 karenmarie: Hey Horrible, happy Sunday. It's cold and clear here, but I don't need anything enough to leave my warmth to get.

Library stained glass, Syracuse, Indiana; from the CallHerBlessed blog.

Beautiful.

>221 richardderus: - Wowza! Gorgeous

>221 richardderus: I love that! So lovely.

Happy Sunday, BigDaddy!

Ooh, love that window!

>222 jessibud2:, >223 Crazymamie:, >224 ronincats: It just about knocked me over, it's so lushly colored and so evocative of the joy of reading...seeing bright and vibrant light coming from one's books isn't an uncommon experience, I'll bet.

>221 richardderus: ❤️❤️❤️

I'd love to have a window like that in my place!

>226 Storeetllr: Oh my heck, yes! Me too.

>221 richardderus: A real enhancement to a true house of worship!

Oh man, I love that stained glass, too, RD. Thanks for posting it.

I hope you’ve been having a good weekend. We’re enjoying the cute little ones in PA.

>228 quondame: Agreed, Susan, it is indeed that.

>229 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe, it's been okay I guess. Drunkula, my nasty roommate, doesn't make things pleasant. His ragey nonsense seems to get more and more frequent. More's the pity.

Nice stained glass!

>231 thornton37814: Agreed! Very cheerful, quite lovely, and heaven only knows the subject's appealing to this crowd.

>221 richardderus: Yes, please!

>233 PaulCranswick: Ha! You should commission stained glass like this for your retirement library. How cheerful would that be?

>221 richardderus: That is beautiful!

Hope you have a great Monday!

>235 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle, it's a gorgeous day, a lot warmer than the few preceding it, and about perfect for a venture out of doors. Maybe later.

Beautiful window ~

>186 richardderus: Hi RD, Glad to be back.
AND,
I requested this "Pepperharrow" book last year, after reading her other two. I didn't know it wasn't published yet! :D
Yeah ~ I love the Octopus vibe Natasha has going for her books. I always think of Lovecraft's Cthulhu for some reason...

Here's an article you might be interested in, in honor of Andre Norton's 108th birthday anniversary, Richard.

https://theportalist.com/andre-norton?src=port-nl&utm_source=Sailthru&ut...

>239 ronincats: Thank you, Roni, that was a heartening visit to a long-time favorite author's life. Even after all this time, I'm still gleaning information about Grand Master Norton...I'd no idea her mother proofread her books!

>221 richardderus: Gorgeous Richard!

Morning, Richard. Happy Tuesday! I hope you are feeling well. I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon today, so I am taking the day off. I could get used to this...

>241 brenzi: Ain't it? I love the colors and the way the regular book shapes are tilted to make it more interesting as a composition.

>242 msf59: Hey Mark! You'd better get used to it...the days get more and more packed. With...this, that, the other thing...just not all involuntary.

Hoping this is a positive meeting.

>196 richardderus:

we have half a dozen of those blue geode book ends on our shelves

they're weighty and they hold our tallest books firmly and they dont fall over

>244 magicians_nephew: I really don't *need* bookends, but I might get a set of these onto a gift-giving list just because they're so gorgeous.

I really hadn't considered doing this until today...tracking my Pulitzer Prize in Fiction winners read, and Booker Prize winners read might actually prove useful to me in planning my reading.

1918 HIS FAMILY - Ernest Poole **
1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington *
1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton *
1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington **
1923 ONE OF OURS - Willa Cather **
1924 THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS - Margaret Wilson
1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber *
1926 ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined) *
1927 EARLY AUTUMN - Louis Bromfield
1928 THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder *
1929 SCARLET SISTER MARY - Julia Peterkin
1930 LAUGHING BOY - Oliver Lafarge
1931 YEARS OF GRACE - Margaret Ayer Barnes
1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck *
1933 THE STORE - Thomas Sigismund Stribling
1934 LAMB IN HIS BOSOM - Caroline Miller
1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson
1936 HONEY IN THE HORN - Harold L Davis
1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell *
1938 THE LATE GEORGE APLEY - John Phillips Marquand
1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings *
1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck *
1942 IN THIS OUR LIFE - Ellen Glasgow *
1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
1944 JOURNEY IN THE DARK - Martin Flavin
1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey *
1947 ALL THE KING'S MEN - Robert Penn Warren *
1948 TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - James Michener
1949 GUARD OF HONOR - James Gould Cozzens
1950 THE WAY WEST - A.B. Guthrie
1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
1952 THE CAINE MUTINY - Herman Wouk
1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway *
1955 A FABLE - William Faulkner *
1956 ANDERSONVILLE - McKinlay Kantor *
1958 A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee *
1959 THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS - Robert Lewis Taylor
1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury *
1961 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee *
1962 THE EDGE OF SADNESS - Edwin O'Connor
1963 THE REIVERS - William Faulkner *
1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau
1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter
1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
1968 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER - William Styron *
1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday
1970 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD - Jean Stafford
1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner *
1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty *
1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara *
1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow *
1978 ELBOW ROOM - James Alan McPherson
1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever *
1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer *
1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole *
1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike *
1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker *
1984 IRONWEED - William Kennedy *
1985 FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Alison Lurie
1986 LONESOME DOVE - Larry McMurtry *
1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison *
1989 BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler
1990 THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE - Oscar Hijuelos *
1991 RABBIT AT REST - John Updike *
1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley *
1993 A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN - Robert Olen Butler *
1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx *
1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields
1996 INDEPENDENCE DAY - Richard Ford
1997 MARTIN DRESSLER - Steven Millhauser
1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth
1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham
2000 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES - Jumpha Lahiri
2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon
2002 EMPIRE FALLS - Richard Russo
2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides *
2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones
2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson
2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz *
2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout
2010 TINKERS - Paul Harding
2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan
2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson
2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt
2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr **
2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen **
2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead **
2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer *
2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers *

Links are to my reviews
* Read, but not reviewed
** Owned, but not read

>240 richardderus: Do you agree with the ten books they recommend as Andre Norton's best, RD?

>246 richardderus: I counted 40 read which is unsurprisingly impressive. Which would you rate as best and worst of those?

Every winner of the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969

1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For
1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member
1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles ** (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize) -
1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
1972: John Berger, G.
1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur
1974: Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist ... and Stanley Middleton, Holiday
1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust
1976: David Storey, Saville
1977: Paul Scott, Staying On
1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea *
1979: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore
1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage
1981: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children *
1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark
1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K
1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac *
1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People **
1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils
1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger *
1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda *
1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day *
1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance *
1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient * ... and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger
1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late
1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road *
1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders
1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam
1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace
2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin *
2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang *
2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi
2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little **
2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty *
2005: John Banville, The Sea
2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss
2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering
2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger
2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question *
2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending **
2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies
2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North
2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings *
2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout
2017: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo *
2018: Anna Burns, Milkman
2019: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, and Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other

Links are to my reviews
* Read, but not reviewed
** Owned, but not read

>248 richardderus: I make it 15 read - best and worst, dear fellow?

>247 PaulCranswick: Oh HELL no! Those are just the ones that website's proprietors, Open Road Media, have on sale! I'll recommend the Murdoc Jern and Eet stories, The Zero Stone and Uncharted Stars, and Forerunner Foray, as good starting points for the Nortonverse.

Eeurgh. Rankings. Hard on a list so incredibly varied and books read at such widely separated by time me-s. Lamb in His Bosom, Advise and Consent, Angle of Repose, the Porter and Cheever collections, Beloved, The Hours, all stand out as must-reads.

>249 PaulCranswick: Life of Pi was the all-time nastiest, most worthless of the reads. Awful. The White Tiger was merely amateurish and clunky in comparison to the manipulative cynical cash-grab of Pi. The God of Small Things is, one notes, the only novel that Roy has published. There is a reason for it. She shoved ten pounds of shit in a five-pound bag and couldn't even pretend to do it again.

I loved The Remains of the Day and Midnight's Children.

>250 richardderus: I figured that you would have a different take on the Norton list.

Angle of Repose, The Collected Stories of John Cheever, Beloved and The Hours are all possibilities for a read soonest. I spent the other night organising books that I plan to read in the near future and all of those got fondled.

>251 richardderus: The God of Small Things comment made me laugh out loud and I shouldn't do so being on a tea break in work! Agree completely though - it was dire.

I will read Remains of the Day next month.

>252 PaulCranswick: Any one of those is a worthy reading experience, but The Hours has the virtue of brevity.

>253 PaulCranswick: Oh, how I envy you experiencing it for the first time!

>252 PaulCranswick: That certainly cannot be levied against John Cheever. It runs to 892 pages and I might start digesting it in bite sized pieces.

>248 richardderus: I've read more than I thought. I didn't count them, but it is somewhere around a dozen.

>251 richardderus: as much as I agree with you Richard about The God of Small Things it's not her only novel. She also wrote The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. I can't say if it was any good as I swore her off after the first novel.

Love your thoughts on the Pulitzer's you've read, loved, and hated :) I never thought to track what I've read of that list but maybe I should... there are more than a few that I have no interest in reading, however, so I won't be completist. How is your apnea treating you lately?

>257 brenzi: Yes that is correct Bonnie. It was released last year or the year before wasn't it? I was actually stupid enough to buy it and now think it may be put to good use levelling up a wonky table on the balcony.

>250 richardderus: Thank the deity (of choice), I am not the only one who found Life of Pi utterly impenetrable as well as a complete waste of my reading time.
However !!, the movie was awesome.

And, I do NOT at all understand why folks claimed there were biblical/religious messages in ANY of the writing...

I am so glad that I am not the only one who disliked Roy's books! I was not impressed with The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness. As for Martel, Life of Pie is the only novel of his that I have not read. It didn't seem to grab my attention. I enjoyed his other novels ( except Beatrice and Virgil).

>250 richardderus: I've had a lot of more unpleasant, more useless reads than Life of Pi.

Good morning to you, RDear!

>248 richardderus: 2 read, 10 on my shelves tbr, 11 authors represented with other books on my shelves. A fun exercise.

>256 thornton37814: That's a gracious plenty, Lori, and probably well above average even among readers.

>257 brenzi:, >259 PaulCranswick: I'd completely blanked that out, Bonnie. I think I probably saw its title, thought "oh no you don't," and immediately forgot its existence.

At least I, being too poor to toss money down ratholes, didn't fatten anyone's coffers by procuring it.

>258 bell7: Hi Mary! Apnea is still waking me up, but I'm adjusting to this as the new normal. My pulmo appointment is in March.

Pulitzers:

24 read
17 Owned but not read
2 DNFed

>260 SandyAMcPherson: Yes, Antinöus be blessed, there are a few of us immune to the "charms" of that read. I'm still puzzled about how that tiger managed to write Altered Carbon. It was called Richard K. Morgan, wasn't it?

>261 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! That's the only Yann Martel book I tried, and it would take a massive cash bribe to convince me to take a stab at any other he's written. As to Roy, well...I'm not a fan.

>262 quondame: I have as well, Susan; Sons and Lovers leaps forcefully to mind. But *on*that*list* the most unpleasant read of the ones I've read.

>263 karenmarie: Hey Horrible, happy Humpday! *smooch*

I find that it's a good exercise indeed, forcing me to think carefully about what I've got around me in terms of what I'll actually read. Plus I found several more Pulitzer oldies among my stuff!

>265 katiekrug: Hiya Katie, glad to see you here. Which two Pulitzers did you DNF?

>267 richardderus: - The Goldfinch and The Good Earth.

>268 katiekrug: I very much empathize with the inability to finish The Good Earth, though I liked The Goldfinch and wasn't a Tarttian prior to reading it.

It was a grind to read many of Pearl Buck's books about China. She knew her onions, but she didn't hesitate to slice 'em in the living room.

>269 richardderus: - I mostly found The Good Earth kind of boring. I think I got about halfway through it and just couldn't make myself finish it.

I read about 25 pages in The Goldfinch and don't really remember why I stopped. It might have been a case of bad timing. It's on my Kindle and I might give it another chance someday.

>270 katiekrug: I think The Goldfinch would repay your renewed attention. As it's not a purchase to be made, it seems especially likely. Maybe on the flight to Argentina?

>271 richardderus: - I'm hoping to sleep on the flight, as it's an overnighter :) But I'll keep the book in mind for when I'm wanting a chunkster!

>272 katiekrug: Sleep is good on international flights. Back in the day, when computer seating wasn't as efficient as it is now, there were often half-full flights and thus empty middle rows...perfect for a stretch-out-and-sleep. The waitstaff would do their damnedest to make me uncomfortable about it but never won. "You aren't *entitled* to that seat," said one chirpy lad. I laughed at him. He went away.

>273 richardderus: - I've been on a few flights like that. I'm usually just pleased if the seat next to me is empty, but a whole row is lovely. I had a flight from Dallas to Qatar with the whole row to myself :)

We splurged on business class seats for next month's trip, so I'll be stretched out and tucked under my comforter for a nice snoozle.

>274 katiekrug: That's exactly the ticket, please pardon the pun. Perfect! Enjoy that space.

And isn't it thrilling and amazing that we can go to sleep over North Carolina and awake, refreshed and ready for the day, over the Río Plata?

11 Jacks and Queens at the Green Mill by Marie Rutkoski

Rating: 4* of five

Zephyr felt the weight of her flesh settle on the branch-and-twig network of bones.
***
His body was long, rangy, his stance somehow naturally dishonest, alive with the energy of someone who couldn’t be trusted, but also couldn’t be blamed for it, because it was easy to guess from the way he constantly shifted his weight that he couldn’t quite trust himself either.

This is how Author Rutkoski limns her two characters in this shortest-possible taste of a story. It's lovely. I like her work in general, though I'm not usually a YA consumer. It's not easy to beguile me into accepting majgickq or the supernatural, my eyebrows are helium-powered lifters when someone tries to splodge it all over my alternate history. But this story, and the series of books that follow it in The Shadow Society series, make the Shades (Zephyr's people) into an oppressed minority of differently abled people.

I got time for that.

Anyway. The series deals with an alternate, evil Chicago where humans, in our accustomed vile way, persecute the Others among us. It's all in this story, the basic reality that Author Rutkoski wants us to experience; and it's done with a deft and delightful touch, making words pirouette in place, so you think you see what you don't in fact see. It's lovely to watch.

AND it's free: https://www.tor.com/2012/10/17/jacks-and-queens-at-the-green-mill/

>275 richardderus: - I do love the alternate universe-feeling of air travel... time disappears, or is elongated, you get out somewhere entirely different....

Good to see that you now have a pulmo appointment, Richard. Has Old Stuff settled down. It is no picnic living in close proximity to someone who regularly gets out of it.

We are seeing signs of spring here. Hope yours aren't too far behind.

>275 richardderus: Oh, that was simply delightful! Thanks for introducing the series to me. I'm also not much one for YA, but, if the rest of the books in the series is like this short short story, I'm in.

>277 katiekrug: Yeah, it's a magical interlude between realities, and for that reason to be savored.

>278 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg, but no to settling down...Old Stuff just isn't built along pleasant lines. I do my best to ignore him.

I'm thrilled to have a date at last! Of course, I've forgotten what it is, but....

>279 Storeetllr: Yay! I book-bulleted Mary!!
***
If anyone's wondering, the Ursula K. Le Guin Reread on Tor.com is finishing The Left Hand of Darkness today; on March 4th, The Dispossessed's first half will come up for discussion.

12 Manuscript Tradition by Harry Turtledove

Rating: 4.75* of five

A wonderful story by a famous writer of alternate history fantasies (UFOs in WWII = fantasy, don't @ me) about what the Voynich manuscript really means....

a hadadband from p66 of the Voynich manuscript, via Wikipedia
Suppose...just suppose...that intelligent life on other planets is as effed up as humanity is. Also suppose that intelligent life on a planet circling a red dwarf star, one of those very long-lived things, say for example TRAPPIST-1 (just to pull a name out of a hat!) has a lifespan commensurate with its star's huge lifespan. And now, in a final leap of the imagination, let's assume that the intelligence of these beings is similar to humanity's intelligence: Brutal, vicious, violent, and self-destructive.

Got the picture set in your head? Good!

Now assume that the sole survivor of a TRAPPIST-1 expedition to the recently detected life-bearing planet circling a middle-distance yellow dwarf star, one of the few in the galaxy that has no binary companion, got homesick after crashing in Renaissance Italy, wrote and illustrated a book of homely comforts, and somehow lost it in the course of living out his long, long life among the mayflies. He wouldn't worry about it much, no one could read it and there's no way to compare it to anything around so as to learn things they shouldn't know yet. But the mayflies get smarter...and the manuscript turns up to torment them with its inscrutability...and so our man from the stars gets a job cleaning the building where the manuscript lives.

For three hundred years.

Yep, you're in Turtledoveland! Read it free on Tor.com. Delightful.

I liked The Good Earth, just sayin', but I liked her book about Korea, The Living Reed more. Have to say though, I have no idea how she won the Nobel Prize considering others overlooked in her favour.

>281 richardderus: Turtledove has written a number of the books I keep on my re-read special shelf, though not his Civil War of WWII re-treads. Oh, except WWII with dragons, which, I note is not on anyone's top fantasy series lists, but then neither is Saberhagen or Zelazny. Thanks for the link!

>276 richardderus: >281 richardderus: Now you’re talking!

‘Morning, RD!

>264 richardderus: Glad for the pulmo appt.

>273 richardderus: I was on a flight from Milan to NYC in … whatever year… 2015?... and I’d been upgraded to Business and of the dozens of seats in the section only about 4 had passengers – I stretched out across three seats at one point. Didn’t get badgered once. What a luxury.

>281 richardderus: Perhaps later today… sounds like a lot of fun. Right now I must make a cheese cake for Bill’s 64th birthday. Definitely a labor of love…

*smooch* from your own Horrible

>282 PaulCranswick: It's an eternal mystery to me how one chooses the person whose career was and is of Greatest and Highest Merit.

>283 quondame: Napoleonic or World Wars with dragons and/or magjicqk are, by definition, fantasies. Anything with magjicqk is fantasy. Physics is physics, not malleable to ?minds? I don't really know...anyway, until I see undisprovable evidence of it, I'm plumpin' for fantasy as the proper category.

Lists be hanged.

>284 humouress: Hi Nina! I do very little else but talk while I'm here.

>285 karenmarie: Horrible dear! So lovely of you to celebrate Billhoney's sixty-*mumble*th birthday with a delicious cheesecake. Yummers. I like baked cheeesecakes fine, but the refrigerator-pie ones are good too...actually, who am I kidding, who cares how the darn thing's made, it is always lovely to tuck in to the creamy, rich silky-smooth...
...
...um, I need a minute...

A big part of my sleep/snoring issue getting so bad lately might be down to thyroid med change! I can't believe it could be this simple. We'll know pretty soon, I've got the old med back and should know if it's going to help by a week from now. YAY!

>287 richardderus: - Oh, interesting! And great if that's the cause.

I may have to change my thyroid med soon, so I'll have to see if I notice any similar effect...

>288 katiekrug: I'm more hopeful than I've been in weeks. We shall see what's what quite soon. Good luck with your med chang not upsetting any applecarts. I hope for your sake that it's a dosage adjustment, like Anita in Lelystad has to do every so often.

>289 richardderus: - No, probably just moving from name brand to generic because my insurance won't cover the name brand any more. My dr. in Dallas was adamant that she wanted me on the name brand but I have a feeling my dr. here won't have a problem with the change. I always suspected Dallas dr was getting drug company kickbacks or something ;-)

The only time it matters, I believe, is when the patents still apply and the name brand is the only one available.

If you can believe it, the only gout med I am ALLOWED TO TAKE is a synthetic mimic of colchicine. The natural product it is *identical*to* is not acceptable because insurance will not pay for it, won't cover your gout-related expenses or doctors' visits unless you're on the (patented) fake colchicine.

Cost: $600 a month for my dosage. The natural stuff? About $35.

My doctor in Dallas just didn't think the generic worked as well. *shrug* We'll see what current doc says... The name brand stuff is $50/month, so really not terrible if I have to pay out of pocket... But I'd rather pay the $10 for generic.

>291 richardderus: nothing makes sense anymore.

>292 katiekrug: Considering that's 25% of my monthly money, it sounds like A Lot to me!

>293 mckait: Hasn't in years, methinks.

>294 richardderus: Warren in the White House might help with that RD, no?

>281 richardderus: Hey RD. Thanks for the Turtledove recommendation. I don't like reading longish stories directly off the computer, so I wanted to get it into the Kindle app. It took a bit of time, but I was able to print the story to PDF and use the Send to Kindle functionality to get it into my iPad que of stories. I think I'll read it tonight.

I've also got a bunch of stories from Prime Reading Warmer Collection.(like the Forward Collection) This set is about climate change. I've read 2 so far, one by Jess Walter (The Way the World Ends) and Jane Smiley (The Hillside)