Jim's (drneutron's) 2023 Reading, Chapter 1

I'm Jim, 60, husband of 37 years, father of a son gainfully employed creating our robot overlords, who reads pretty much anything. We're in central Maryland with roots in Louisiana. I like to read (obviously), cook, trail bike riding/kayaking with mrsdrneutron, and want to learn to fly fish. Of course, LT is a big time sink, but mrsdrneutron seems to have come to terms with my LT addiction...

2022 Summary



Total books read has been falling for the last several years. My goal this year is to get back over 100.



My ebook consumption continues to grow, though there may be a bit of a slowing of the growth. I still enjoy paper books the most, but the iPad is so convenient...

Reading nonmale authors is holding around 40%. I'd like to push it higher yet this year.

Open for business!

I've dropped a star, and look forward to another year of following your threads.

Thanks again for getting us all set up!! You da best! Happy Holidays. : )

PS -- I love the graphs. Go for 100! I am going to make it this year. Hurray!

Happy New Thread and New Year! I'll gather my belongings from 2022 and make my way over soon!

Merry Christmas, Jim and once again, thank you for keeping the 75 going. I am sure it is satisfying, to know that we are still going strong. 🍻

Happy new beginnings. How wonderful of you to have created a home for us ahead of the New Year :)

>4 ArlieS: Happy to see you too, Arlie!

>5 Berly: My pleasure, Kim. I've been keeping stats since 2015, figured I'd post them this year.

>6 mahsdad: Great, Jeff! See you soon.

>7 msf59: My pleasure, Mark! It's my favorite hangout.

>8 figsfromthistle: It's a little early this year - usually, I make the new group on Boxing Day, but this year we're going to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert, then off to The Son's place for the rest of the year. So I knew I'd be making the group sometime this weekend, and it's dead quiet at work today... 😀

Merry happy blessèd etc.

Thanks for doing the heavy lifting, as always...I know I'd be floundering if it was left up to me!

Happy Holidays and congrats on your new thread!

>10 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! I’m sure you’d manage - it’s not that hard. 😀

>11 kaida46: Happy holidays to you, Deb! Glad you’re joining us again.

Thanks as always for setting this up for all of us, Jim! Wishing you a comfortable reading year in 2023!

Comfortable sounds great!

Thanks for all you do, the best of reading and life in 23.

And to you, Kristel!

Thanks for setting up the group again for 2023, Jim. Have a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas and happy new year, Jim! Ooooh, hope you have a great time at the TSO concert! They're usually around our area the day after Thanksgiving, though it's been a few years since we've gone and I was just telling my brother I was starting to think it was about time we went again.

Love your graphs, too, and hope you're able to meet your 2023 reading goals :)

>18 bell7: Although I’m a fan and have binged them every Christmas season for a while, this will be our first live performance. I’m really looking forward to it!

Happy new thread, Jim!

Thanks for the new group! Have a wonderful trip, enjoy the concert have a great time with your son!

I also slipped below 100 books this year, so getting back above that number sounds like a plan for me, too

>20 DianaNL: You, too, Diana!

>21 streamsong: My pleasure! Sounds like we both have a plan. 😀

Thank you for all your hard work in setting up the new group Jim!

My pleasure, Rhian!

Thanks for setting this up, Jim. You are a star.

Yippee!

Starred, looking forward to another successful 75+ challenge in 2023!

>25 BLBera: Thanks, Beth! It's really the whole group that are the stars. 😀

>26 fuzzi: Glad you're back!

Happy new thread for the new year Jim! Thanks for setting this all up and good luck with hitting 100 this year!

Thanks so much for setting us up again, Jim. I absolutely love the graphs. I'm hoping the New Year is full of fabulous for all of us.

>28 WhiteRaven.17: Hiyah, Kro! Welcome back!

>29 Crazymamie: Mamie! You’re back!

Happy almost New Year, Jim! Thankful for your organizational skills as usual.
>1 drneutron: Wonderful graphs! They make me want to make my own but I think the steepness of my reading decline would be too hazardous for public consumption.

Thank you!! Hoping 2023 is a better year for all of us!!

Hi Jim mate, thanks once again for setting the group up again and i am dropping off my star so that i can keep up with what you are up to.

>31 norabelle414: 😀 I was really surprised at the decline through Covid. One would think I’d have more time to read while working from home. But it just didn’t work out that way. Goal for next year is to be more deliberate about making time.

>32 hredwards: Me too, Harold!

>33 johnsimpson: Glad you’re joining us again, John!

Hi Jim! I didn't keep up with your thread last year but hopefully I will be able to this year.

Kriti! Glad you’re joining us!

Hey Jim. Lots happening in the 75-ers already!
I was abysmally absent most of the time, but the LT-sabbatical was good for me.
Whether I have the mental energy to actually babysit my own Talk thread efficiently is a BIG question, but I finally got my thread started tonight, bang on midnight even.

>37 SandyAMcPherson: welcome back, Sandy! Nothing in the rule book about requiring a thread to join in. 😀

Looking forward to a happy, healthy new year full of good books and good friends. Thanks for facilitating all of this, Jim!

My pleasure, Reba!

>2 drneutron: Look at you with your fancy graphs, Jim! I don't suppose you have templates you can share or a link to instructions on how to create them? I hardly ever use Excel and have no idea how to create such magic as you've shown us. :-)

I’d be happy to send you my spreadsheet, just PM an address. I keep a sheet for the list of each year’s reading. For each book, I check off the different categories that apply, then just sum of and make the percentages. Then just plot by year!

>42 drneutron: Oh, is that all? Piece of cake! :-)

Thanks, Jim. I'll PM you my email.

There, I have found you. The system works very well!

Just adding my thanks to the pile for all you do for the group, Jim!

I hope you and mrs. drneutron have a great new year.

>44 CDVicarage: Glad it’s working, Kerry! Things get a bit harried in setting up the new group. 😀

.45 Katie! Glad you made it over.

Thanks, as always, for your work on this group!

And I will also be messaging you about that spreadsheet.

>47 witchyrichy: Sounds good - I’m happy to share. Like I mentioned to Mary, we’re away for the next couple of days visiting The Son abs Daughter-In-Law. Once I get back to my computer on Monday, I can send it on.

Thanks Jim, you are the BEST!

Looking forward to all kinds of recommendations from you in 2023, Jim. The BlackHole has not been growing enough recently and needs some help!

Happy 2023!

>49 mdoris: my pleasure!

>50 alcottacre: happy New Year, Stasia!

Happy new thread, and happy New Year, Jim!

Thanks for setting all this up for us.

Great stats, love the graphics. Wishing you a good reading year.

Happy new year and new thread, Jim. I could swear I posted here already but I don't see it so likely forgot to hit *post*!

Thanks as always for all your hard work here.

happy new year and thanks, Jim, for all you do here.

Happy New Year

>52 EllaTim: Happy New Year, Ella!

>53 jessibud2: No worries, Shelley, you made it this time!

>54 banjo123:, >55 johnsimpson: Happy New Year, Rhonda and John!

Happy new year Jim!

Thank you for setting up this forum for us!

>57 quondame: My pleasure! Good to see you’ve made it over here!

>38 drneutron: I made the leap and started a thread (https://www.librarything.com/topic/347081#n8016971), though it's very unpolished so far.

Happy New Year, Jim! I hope you're having a nice family visit. Thanks for all you do to keep this group running so smoothly!

Happy new year, Jim!

Happy New Year and happy new thread Jim!

Thanks for creating the new digs for us all. I've moved in and am making myself comfortable.

Happy New Year, Jim!!

Wishing you a 2023 full of great reads!

>59 SandyAMcPherson: Great! I’ll stop by and mark my space!

>60 lauralkeet: Hey, Laura! Today was the drive back from South Bend - got caught in a two-hour backup on thePennsylvania Turnpike. Other than that, we had a great visit.

>61 DianaNL:, >62 humouress: Thanks, Diana and Nina! Happy new Year to you both!

>63 Carmenere:, >64 thornton37814: thanks, Lynda and Lori! I hope both have great reading years too.

Happy New Year, Jim!

Happy New Year, Jim! Thanks for getting the group going again!

I stumbled over here to 2023, Jim. Don't expect anything splashy or dazzling. But I will open a kiosk this week.

>66 ronincats:, >67 Storeetllr: Happy new year!

>68 weird_O: I’ll keep an eye out!

>69 Berly: Happy new year!

First of the year!



1. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

Took a trip to spend New Year’s with The Son and Daughter-in-law - many hours in a car means many hours to listen to a book. I finally convinced Mrsdrneutron to listen to The Hobbit. And she really liked it! And noticed a bunch of differences from the movies… 😀

Oh, and this one was narrated by Andy Serkis. Riddles In The Dark was awesome!

That's a great way to start the year.

Happy new year, and thanks for doing this again Jim!

>1 drneutron: thanks for setting up and running this group, friend.

>71 drneutron: Reading a classic is always a great way to start the new year. I played it safe with a short story in a favorite series, but I'm working on a few others now.

>71 drneutron: I may have to look for that specifically on audio!

How did you like the TSO concert?

The Hobbit on audio would be a lovely experience and I'm glad your wife enjoyed it!

Excellent start to the year, Jim! We have that one on audio narrated by Andy Serkis, too. I snapped up that and the Lord of the Rings books he did as soon as Audible released them.

>72 kgodey: I thought so - apparently haven’t read it since 2009, so it was time!

>73 swynn:, >74 fuzzi: My pleasure!

>75 thornton37814: I’ve got a couple going too, seem to be on a crime kick right now. Hopefully, I’ll have the next set done in a day or two.

>76 bell7: you definitely should get this version -Andy Serkis is amazing! And TSOnwas so over the top, 80s hair band Christmas goodness! 😀

>77 MickyFine: It was! Serkis does amazing voices and really made the story come alive.

>78 Crazymamie: I’m definitely interested in his LOTR on Audible. I’m not much for audio books, but for that, I’ll make an exception. 😀

Cannot go wrong with The Hobbit and happy crime reading!!

>71 drneutron: The Classic I've been listening to,
hosted by the man with the splendid French accent,
is The Count of Monte Crisco...
after 2-3 hours, it's now up to the Abbe disclosing the source of his treasure to Edmond Dantes.

Thank you for letting folks without a thread join in!

>81 Berly: 😀

>82 m.belljackson: A reread of that one’s been on my list for a few years. Maybe this year!

You’re always welcome on my thread and in the group!

Hi Jim,
Dropped by to reply re I can edit your thread title ...
I would very much like if you could delete "Chatterbox" from the thread title. How about simply substituting the title with "Sandy's Books Read in 2023" = that's pretty straightforward and fits on one line (which I prefer to do).

So sorry to bother you with this niggle when it is a lot of organizational work at the beginning of the year. As many have said, thank you for shouldering this volunteer admin position.

>83 drneutron: Jim - give AUDIBLE a try - at least for the early chapters!

>71 drneutron: One of my earliest "book" memories is of listening to The Hobbit as told on the BBC by the late Bernard Cribbins on a wonderful TV Programme ostensibly for kids called Jackanory. That was back in the days when television helped by being a proper public service educationally.

>71 drneutron: I grew up listening to Nichol Williamson's Hobbit - it is _wonderful_ (and very slightly abridged - I read along with it one time and it's missing maybe half a chapter throughout). Found a copy online - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggm7XM-3dF8

I don't do audiobooks any more, but I loved that as a kid.

>87 jjmcgaffey: This is the first episode of the Jackanory from the 1970s - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n221gNQSUgk

Thanks for stirring those memories, Jim.

Hi Jim, thought it was about time I followed along with your thread.

>71 drneutron: I have been meaning to read this for years, maybe this year...

>84 SandyAMcPherson: All done, took about 30 seconds, no bother at all.

>85 m.belljackson: Good idea! Mrsdrneutron has Audible, I can share it with her.

>86 PaulCranswick:, >88 PaulCranswick: oh, that sounds great! Will check out the link.

>87 jjmcgaffey: and that one too!

>i9 great! Glad to have you along on the journey. I hope you enjoy The Hobbit if you get to it.

Happy New Year, Jim! I will have to give The Hobbit another try sometime. I loved TLOTR trilogy but just could not get into The Hobbit and ended up abandoning it. That was about 20 years ago.

Happy New Year, Carrie!

Hiya Jim! Happy new year and thread! Hope you and Mrs drneutron are doing well! Starring for future

>93 vikzen: Happy new year!

Happy New Thread! Happy New Year!!

Thanks, Harold! Happy new year to you!

>1 drneutron: Happy New Reading Year!!

And to you!

Happy New Year and Happy New Thread, Jim!
And thank you for all what you are doing here...

Happy new year, Thomas!

Saw folks mentioning Audible and it is a favorite of mine for audio books. But, as I head into retirement, I'm looking for budget savers and my library system has subscribed to Hoopla. Similar to Libby except the books/movies/other media are all available immediately for check out. You do have to use their interface and I don't like it for ebooks. However, it works great for audio books.

Yep, we've used hoopla too. I use it mostly for graphic novels - the interface (with which I also have issues) works better for that than for e-books. Mrsdrneutron uses Hoopla and Overdrive for audiobooks along with Audible.

I add my thank you to those above. What you do for this group takes a lot of time. You are appreciated!!!

Looks like you used your travel time wisely to fit in your first read of the year, Jim. I've never listened to a whole book by ear. Maybe I should try it sometime.

>2 drneutron: *love* the charts :) I made myself a wee one this year too, to account for my 2022 reading (by gender of author, fiction/non fiction, and audio/print book). I do love a good visual representation of information.

Hi Jim, and happy new year. I am just dropping my star here.

>2 drneutron: Happy New Year! I hope you get lots of good reading in this year.

>103 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda! I do enjoy getting the group going and seeing all the excitement as people make their threads and such.

>104 Familyhistorian: Yep. Nothing like being stuck 10 hours in a car to give you time to listen to a book! 😀

>105 LovingLit: Engineer, so I *love* data!

>106 sirfurboy:, >107 leperdbunny: Happy new year, Stephen and Tamara

Update Time!



2. The Black Hand: The Epic War Between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History by Stephan Talty

The Black Hand was a loosely connected group of Italian gangs operating first in New York, then eventually all over the country, in the late 19th, early 20th century. These pre-Mafia groups were mostly immigrants from southern Italy and Sicily, usually associated with Mafia-type groups in Italy, that specialized in protection, intimidation, and kidnapping schemes, raising tons of money and causing national furor. And nobody could stop them in a time when the police weren't Italian, didn't speak the language, and weren't trusted by immigrants.

Until Joe Petrosino, the first Italian American NYPD detective, came along with his Italian squad. Inventing methods of investigation, and frankly, stepping way over the line of police abuse, Petrosino put a big dent in the Black Hand's reach, though never able to end their activities. Talty's book is a fine retelling of Joe's story, with a style that's engaging and informative. My only complaint is that Talty tends to paint Joe's picture with a pretty favorable brush - while definitely one of the good guys, Petrosino had flaws, and Talty doesn't get honest about that until later in the book. Recommended!



3. Sugar Street by Jonathan Dee

Cormac McCarthy (except that Dee uses punctuation!) in style, Sugar Street is the story of an unnamed narrator trying to escape his former self and the trappings of privilege. It's a gritty, darkly funny story with prose that'll keep you fascinated.

Thanks to Mark for passing on his copy!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/347456

Thanks, Silver!

>109 drneutron: Pretty good readin' there Doc. Glad the books are cooperating.

>109 drneutron: The Black Hand sounds very interesting, Jim. I've read some of that author's fiction, primarily his police procedural series set in Buffalo.

Have I somehow not said hello here? I guess I haven't. Hello! Looks like a couple of interesting books starting off the year, nice.

Hi Jim! Belated Happy New Year!

Thanks for all you do for our group. I like your graphs, and once again thank you for being the inspiration for me to start keeping reading stats however many years ago. *smile*

>112 richardderus: Yeah, Bird Dude knows my taste in crime fiction pretty well, and when he offered, I snapped it up. Interested in it? I'm happy to send it on.

>113 rosalita: I've thought about trying some of his fiction. I'll look for that series.

>114 ursula: Hello! Welcome to the madness!

>115 karenmarie: No problem. I'm an engineer, so always looking at things from a data perspective. I'm glad it's meaningful to someone else!

Happy Friday, Jim. I am so glad you enjoyed Sugar Street.

You are zipping through the books so far this year, Jim. And they sound like solid reads.

I'm among the admirers of your charts. Do you use BookRiot's Reading Log to help track the data or do you have a system of your own?

>119 MickyFine: I use Excel, which means I have to hand enter the data, but since I read books across the year, it's not a burden. I'm happy to send you the spreadsheet if you like.

>120 drneutron: That's a kind offer but I'm ok. I've been using the BookRiot template in Google Sheets for a few years now and really like it. Minimal fiddling with formulas and the like since it's all pre-built. Although if I wanted to do a year over year chart like yours I'd have to compile data from multiple sheets (which is within my Sheets/Excel abilities, it just hadn't occurred to me as an option until I saw yours). :)

>119 MickyFine: >120 drneutron: I am using the BookRiot Reading Log. At least one that I got several years ago that I've modified a little bit to suit my habits.

I personally keep track of my reading in probably TOO many places.

I have a paper journal, Google Sheet, LT - in my collections, on my talk thread and in the Books Read 2023 List, Storygraph and (when I get around to it), GoodReads.

LOL.

>121 MickyFine: Sounds good - I should check out the BookRiot template sometime to see if there's anything else I want to incorporate.

>122 mahsdad: Yeah, I've been trying to keep it to a minimum. My master list is a collection in LT for each year, making sure I get finish dates right so that the list sorts in reading order. I then synch up (manually, ie, I hand copy titles and authors) to my Excel workbook (each year gets a separate sheet there) and add the extra data. Excel takes care of the tabulating and plotting of the data. Funnily enough, because it's easier to manipulate, I copy my title and author lists from Excel back into my threads when I make a new one.

I do it similarly. LT is my system of record. But I use tags instead of collections for my reading year. I try to update everything at once in LT and my spreadsheet when I finish a book, so they pretty much stay in sync.

This whole endeavor started MANY years ago when I was interviewing with Oracle. The guy I was interviewing with asked me what the last book I read was. He said he had an Excel sheet that he used, and the light bulb went off for me. Started with Excel, then started cataloging on a site called Reader2. It went stagnant and ultimately went under. Then I found my home away from home :)

>110 SilverWolf28: I was so hoping for a readathon! Thanks for doing this.

>116 drneutron: Thanks, Doc, but I've got a DRC of the Talty on the Kindle.

What a miracle it is to have the entire world's cultural output somewhere on this silicon lump on my chest. I see so many people here who have NO idea what the internet has, or why they should care...not even possible to conceive of a life like that, to me.

>102 drneutron: Thanks for the tip on graphic novels. I would like to include more of them in my reading repertoire and, as I said, am trying to be a bit budget minded. Plus, I like to encourage my very small library system to keep up these kinds of subscriptions.

>125 witchyrichy: Me too!

>126 richardderus: Yup.

>127 witchyrichy: Glad to help! I'm also a big supporter of library services. Planning to volunteer too, once I retire someday.

>127 witchyrichy: As someone who works in libraries, I will say that Libby/Overdrive is more friendly to your library's budget than Hoopla. There's a lot of nitty gritty I won't get into but the basics is that the price for instant access is that your library pays for each checkout made by their patrons. Prices range from as little as 99 cents up to $5 or more, which can add up quickly. This is why you often run into checkout limits in Hoopla.

>109 drneutron: Great review Jim. Tempting...
>129 MickyFine: Micky, a couple years back, I remember your telling me how costly was Hoopla.
I always use Overdrive (actually it seems to be associate with "Library2Go"). It's seamless with my Kobo. Guess that's an Overdrive arrangement via the SK Consortium (?) I've never figured out what use Hoopla is. The selection of books is poor compared to logging into Overdrive.

>130 SandyAMcPherson: Kobo and Overdrive were owned by the same conglomerate for a while, which is why they integrate (relatively) smoothly.

As for selection in Hoopla, libraries can set a cap on the price they're willing to pay per item which can really change the selection of titles you see as a patron (things above the price cap won't display for you as a user).

Also, hi Jim. Sorry to hijack your thread!

Hoopla, for me, has a lot more graphic novels and such...but they're more awkward to read than the ones I can get through Overdrive (I'm ignoring Libby, for now...it won't last, but I use Overdrive.com not an app anyway).

I track primarily in Excel, because I have a spreadsheet (gotten, originally, from...someone on LT, name is escaping me at the moment, and heavily modified year over year) which not only tracks everything but formats my posts so it's just copy-and-paste to put them in my thread. After I've entered title, author, pages, rating, and a few other things, and a short review and a link to my (longer) LT review in the spreadsheet.

I also track and review in Google Keep, for quick access (since most of my reading is ebooks on my phone). That lets me keep track of what I read when and write a review quickly, without having to get on the computer. Then I copy that review (and reading dates) to LT.

So ideally I read, review in Keep, copy to LT, update my spreadsheet and copy-paste to my thread in CR. Actually I look at Keep, Calibre (after I've synced my phone and all the other devices I read on sometimes), LT, my spreadsheet...update reading dates, say "Oh, yeah, and I read this book...now when was that...?", combined everything, put my reviews into LT or say "I'll review it later", update the spreadsheet and post. And then usually correct something - numbers or a missed book or something. But at least all the tracking means I don't miss many books, for long...

>129 MickyFine:, >130 SandyAMcPherson:, >131 MickyFine: No worries - not a hijack, but a really interesting discussion. I’m fascinated by behind-the-scenes looks and libraries are black boxes to me. 😀

>132 jjmcgaffey: sounds like a good system!

Hi Jim, and many thanks for the work you do setting things up and overseeing this wonderful group. You began the year with a classy classic. I would imagine The Hobbit to be great company on a long road trip.

>134 Donna828: Hiyah, Donna! It was definitely a good choice. Made the time fly.

Dropping by to wish you a great Sunday, Jim.

Thanks, Paul! Happy day to you, too!

Hope you have a wonderful 2023, Jim!

>109 drneutron: Well, you've hit this household with a BB...The Black Hand goes onto the list.

>138 ChelleBearss: Hey, Chelle's back! Great!

>139 laytonwoman3rd: 😀

Happy reading in 2023, Jim!

Thanks, Anita!

Wow. you excel-Keep-GR-etc folks work a lot harder than I do. LT is my home base, although I keep recommendations on a spreadsheet so people don't get confused about what I've read and what I might or might not be jones-ing for. Of course that means that the books I read in the before-times might be registered in LT (if I owned them when I joined) but not reviewed, and without dates, but I haven't perfected the Wayback machine to check on them yet. Once in a while I read someone else's post about a book I'm sure I've read, but I don't want to fill in any faulty memories.

And I thought we could export from LT if we wanted to, yes?

Yep, we can export to a CSV, but since I update the spreadsheet as I go, I’m never entering more than a couple of books at a time. I’m a data nerd, so I kinda enjoy it. 😀

>131 MickyFine: Really appreciate all these wonderful insights into the world of running a library! Thank you. Now if only I know what the Libby thingy will be like once Overdrive has vacated...

Thanks Jim for loaning your thread *grin*
Mickey and others are brilliant to have onboard for these behind-the-scene arcane facts, no?

>145 SandyAMcPherson: I love having librarians hanging out here!

I'm another spread sheet user, but I'm using Numbers, which comes free with my Mac.

I started with a spread sheet tracking which books I had checked out from which local library, with due dates and number of remaining renewals. And there it stayed until I joined the 75 books challenge, and observed people tracking all kinds of interesting details about their reading; I then developed a spreadsheet that would tabulate cumulative data for the year given a line of data for each book read. That became too much work for me to keep up on, and I've got the basic answers I wanted, so I'll probably drop it this year, or drastically simplify it.

I also use text files in a kind of pseudo-sgml, maintained with a text editor, as a backup method of keeping track of books I own, previously owned, or have read. Those text files were used to provide initial data for my book collections in Library Thing when I switched to it from my previous primary method of recording such data. (That's why and how my total books in LibraryThing jumped from 0 to 1100 within a week of joining LibraryThing, and then to 1500 within another month, but then took 7 more years to reach 3300.)

>145 SandyAMcPherson: I was talking with Chelle about Libby v. OverDrive on my thread. You may want to take a look.

*waves at Jim*

*waves back*

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/347663

Thanks, Silver!

>148 MickyFine: I better scurry over... thanks for the nudge, Micky

Hi Jim. I was looking to see if AuntieClio had a thread (aka Stephanie) was somewhere in the LT universe.
Roni twigged who (whom?) I couldn't find, and I went back on the 2022 threadbook to connect.
I found Stephanie's thread very interesting. She read a number of books I've since valued enough to go out and buy.

Is there a way to search if "AuntieClio" is in a different group? I only found her by doing a member search (as suggested by Roni), but I guess if Stephanie's profile doesn't list an update for where she's active, there's no other place to see her posts, right?

So if you do a site search on a user name, then in the search results page, click on 'Talk" (over on the left side under "Social"), it'll show all the Talk posts with that user name. I did that on Stephanie's name and didn't see anything since 2022. It also looks like her last book entry was last July. So I think she's been inactive since then, or at least only looking at LT.

Have you tried leaving her a message? If she's got her LT account linked to an email address, that may trigger an email to her.

>154 drneutron: Thanks, Jim.
I didn't realize the uses of "Social", so that's a very handy link.

The LT website made a lot of upgrades in 2022 and I didn't keep up at all with the changes. I guess there's a Talk thread somewhere for "how do I", maybe in the wiki.

Update time!



4. Desperate Remedies: Psychiatry’s Turbulent Quest to Cure Mental Illness by Andrew Scull

Scull is a sociologist, not a psychiatrist, so his history of psychiatry is no defense. Starting with the origins of psychiatry in asylum keeping, the competing ideas of biological vs psychoanalytical sources of mental illness drove differing approaches to treatment through the decades. Ending with today’s pharmacopeia, Scull reports a mostly negative history and a failure of psychiatry to develop an understanding of the basic mechanisms behind mental illness and effective treatments.

This one’s not a happy history, for sure, but one that’s important. And given my experience with a member of my extended family, I’ve seen how ineffective psychiatric treatment can be. But there’s hope in recent research, and Desperate Remedies ends on that note.



5. The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

A thriller mixing cloning and murder with a taste of Frankenstein, this one’s also a study in what it means to be human, and how we can hurt each other, sometimes accidentally, sometimes intentionally. Galley’s able to take some pretty ugly characters and make us care about them. Fair warning, though, there’s abuse and domestic violence and bodies.

So… about a quarter of the way through Babel. Oxford translators doing magic! Awesome!

>156 drneutron: A couple of books there that caught my eye, Jim, like I have nothing else to read!

The book by Sarah Gailey in particular looks interesting.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Thanks, Paul! I hope yours is good too.

Morning, Jim! I have The Echo Wife in the stacks - glad it worked for you.

Morning, Mamie!

Morning Jim. When you get chance, I noticed that you missed Amanda from the threadbook. Was looking for her to comment something on the BAC this morning and noticed that she isn't there for some reason.

Thanks for the heads up! All fixed now.

Hi Jim!! Just keeping up here. : )

>163 drneutron: Thank you, Jim.

>164 Berly: Hiyah, Kim! Thanks for stopping by.

>165 PaulCranswick: My pleasure!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/347873

Hi Jim! Hope you are doing well! Thanks for making the group again this year!

Book #4 looks very interesting. Just the type of book I'd read.

>167 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Silver!

>168 The_Hibernator: I think you’d like it!

Quite over here, Jim. Hoping that your weekend is going swimmingly.

Yeah, last week was a long, tough one at work. But I spent most of yesterday reading, so will have an update soon!

I am 120+ posts behind, without a prayer of catching up, but looking forward to the latest update!

Well, it was posted an hour ago, or so I thought, but looks like it got eaten... So... Update Time, Take 2!



6. Babel, Or, The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R. F. Kuang

This one's fantastic - a 5-star for me! Kuang was a student of Chinese literature at Oxford, so who better to come up with a fantastic story of Oxford translators inventing a magic based on differences between word meanings in differing languages? It's steampunk a la Tim Powers in The Anubis Gates, but from the perspective of those taken advantage of by colonialism and British empire. It's how marginalized people react to marginalization. It's how to fight back against injustice. And it's a damn good story.

Yeah, I'm gushing.



7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Re-read after a few decades. Still great!



8. The Greatest Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts by Silvia Ferrara

I'm fascinated by ancient languages and scripts, and this one would have been a great pairing with Babel. But no. Just no. It's an attempt to be poetic, I think? Or musings?

And that's the problem. There's very little information about the subject given, just wandering thoughts about language and scripts with bits and pieces of content. Even the pictures of tablets, etc, were unreadable - couldn't even see examples of the scripts she was musing over.

Don't bother.

>172 alcottacre: Some good reading here Jim. Tempted by the Babel: An Arcane History.

I've pondered on a reread of P&P recently. I think Middlemarch will be my next reread though, for the fifth time I think.

>173 drneutron: I got Babel for my mom's husband for Christmas; glad to hear you liked it! I'll definitely read it .... someday ....

Babel sounds intriguing!

>174 Caroline_McElwee: Don't be tempted! Do it! 😀

>175 norabelle414: It was fantastic. I think you'd like it.

>176 katiekrug: Yup! I think you'd like it too.

>177 drneutron: I ordered a Kindle copy Jim! May get to it next week.

>173 drneutron: I'm not a fan of R.F. Kuang based on the Poppy War books, but I am tempted to try Babel.

>179 quondame: Interesting. This is my only exposure to her work. What didn’t you like about Poppy War?

>173 drneutron: You have been reading!

You got me with that one, Jim. I will definitely look for Babel.

>180 drneutron: The first book declines after a promising start and the main character persists in idiot choices into the second volume, which is as far as I went.

>181 PaulCranswick: Excellent!

>182 quondame: Hmm, will probably still give it a go, but with lower expectations.

I just got the notice that Babel is waiting for me at the library. It had better be good...

Saying Hi! but not babbling. ; )

>184 BLBera: Oh, great, no pressure... 😀

>185 Berly: Hi!

I’ve had my eye on Babel. Looks like I should move it to a wishlist/TBR.

>187 Kristelh: Great! I hope you enjoy it.

Hi, Jim! I need to get to Babel at some point. And that's too bad about the scripts book. Ugh.

I think you’ll like it. There be classicists here!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/348078

>190 drneutron: Woot!

>181 PaulCranswick: I found it, Jim, but it is only available here in hardback and I will wait for the paperback version of Babel to arrive first.

Have a great weekend.

Just poking my head in to say hi! Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

>193 PaulCranswick: Great! I got mine from the library, so a bit of lugging around, but at least it was cheap. 😀

>194 figsfromthistle: Hi, Anita! We did - finally got all the Christmas decorations put away (I’ve been waiting for a nice weekend to get on the roof to take down lights…) and had a nice time with friends yesterday evening. Tomorrow starts another mad work scramble!

>195 drneutron: I'm not keeping up very well... skimming through and all that, looking for potential BBs. I lost interest in my reading plans (which were way too ambitious for my pandemic-mind). I can't seem to yoink myself out of comfort reading.

So what's the " mad work scramble" all about?

We've had a series of project reviews lately. NASA sets reviews at particular points in the design and build of missions, and in the second half of January/beginning of February, four projects had reviews. These are usually multi-day events with lots of people involved, and as Chief Engineer, I "get" to participate in all of them. Adding these to my normal work schedule has resulted in calendar collisions and jumping from meeting to meeting, etc.

>197 drneutron: I had to have a nap after reading that project reviews event.
Yes, familiar with that dog and pony show, except I had 'only' my own to discuss as PI. Thankfully retired from the circus now.

I, for one, am happy that Doc Neutron is keeping a watchful eye over things.

>198 SandyAMcPherson: Just a few more years and then I get to retire!

>199 blackdogbooks: Thanks, Mac. I do enjoy my job, except when things run on top of each other like this.

>200 drneutron: I wish it would come sooner rather than later.

>201 thornton37814: 😀

Good luck with all your reviews, Jim!!

>197 drneutron: as Chief Engineer, I "get" to participate in all of them.

Jim, am I remembering correctly that last year this job was up for grabs and you did a stint as interim chief (or something) as part of the selection process? I guess they liked you eh? I feel like you've been far too modest about this! Or maybe I missed a wild LT thread party ...

>204 lauralkeet: Nah, still acting Chief Engineer. I had my last interview last week, am hoping to hear soon whether I got it or not. Nice thing is that if I do, it'll be a fun new challenge, but if I don't, I'll be leading some cool new mission. So win-win!

>205 drneutron: I like your outlook, Jim!

>205 drneutron: Win-win is always nice :) May the gods make the best selection on your behalf.