Karlstar's Reading in 2024 Pt. 1

I don't have an inspired name for this thread, maybe I'll be more inspired later in the year. I've started the year off well with my reading, thanks to my generous family, who gave me books for Christmas.

Here's a link back to the 2023 thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/355781#n8342044

January reading
My Effin' Life by Geddy Lee (still reading from December)
Ascendant: The Genesis Fleet (2) by Jack Campbell
Triumphant: The Genesis Fleet (3) by Jack Campbell
Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
The Tower at Stony Wood by Patricia McKillip
Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

February reading
David Copperfield
The Zimmerman Telegram by Barbara Tuchman
Thieves World by Robert Asprin

March reading
Accidental War by Walter Jon Williams
The Ends of the Circle by Paul Williams
Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip
Debt of Bones by Terry Goodkind (novella, re-read)
The Dome in the Forest by Paul O. Williams
Bloody Okinawa by Joseph Wheelan
In the King's Service by Katherine Kurtz

The usual explanation of my rating system.

I use a 1 to 10 rating system because I started rating books on the internet using a 10 point system and because I like the additional granularity. Checking my LT books, the 8 ratings stop right around book 500, so I'm consistent there, but I only have about 70 books rated 9 stars or higher, so either I'm being too tough or there just aren't that many 9 or 10 star books. I would guess my most common rating is 6, I like most of what I read. Here's my rating scale explained.

1 - So bad, I couldn't finish it. DO NOT READ!!!
2 - Could have finished, but didn't. Do not read. This one means I made a conscious choice not to finish, usually about halfway through the book. Something is seriously wrong here.
3 - Finished it, but had to force myself. Not recommended, unless it is part of a series you really need to finish.
4 - Finished it, but really didn't like it. Not recommended unless you really need something to read.
5 - Decent book, recommended if you have spare time and need something to read.
6 - Good book, I enjoyed it, and would recommend it.
7 - Good book, recommended for everyone. I may have read it more than once, and would consider buying the hardcover edition.
8 - Great book, I would put it in the Top 500 of all time. Read more than once, I probably have the hardcover.
9 - Great book, top 100 all time. Read more than once, if I don't have the hardcover edition, I want one!
10 - All-time great book, top 50 material. Read more than twice, I probably have more than one copy/edition.

My ratings also include the Slogging Through The Mud (STTM) rating/index. This goes back to one of Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion books where she spends WAY too much time actually describing how the army spent days slogging through the mud. If there is a lot of travel in the book and too much time describing the traveling, the STTM rating will be high.

>1 Karlstar: Happy New Thread! I'm going to have to be careful that I don't get my Jims jumbled.

Happy new year, Jim!

>3 clamairy: I've had worse experiences than being jumbled, especially with a congenial mate like Jim.

>3 clamairy: Even my mother still sometimes calls me by my brother's name. I'm used to it and I could do much worse than get mixed up with >4 Jim53:.

Thank you both!

Happy New Year to you! I hope it brings you lots of great books!

Happy New Year and great reading.

Happy New Year and have a great year of books!

Did I know your name was Jim? Did I forget? Do I still call you Karl? I'm so confused! LOL

AHA! Found your new thread and it's properly starred now. Looking forward to your recommendations in 2024!!

>6 Sakerfalcon: >7 majkia: >8 Alexandra_book_life: >10 jillmwo: Thank you!

>9 Bookmarque: Shh, its a secret! Either will do. :)

I started walkaway, which is a bit of different read for me. Not bad so far. The strange thing is, I would have said it ended up on my wishlist because of folks here, but I see that Doctorow hasn't even been mentioned in years, at least not based on the search I just did.

I started to post some of my year in review data yesterday, but my year in Review page was seriously messed up, it was showing me the code, not the result. It was fixed this morning, so here's some stats.

You read 64 books in 2023!
You read the most books in December. (yay for covid)
You read 16,901 pages; your average book was 352 pages.

Reviews and Ratings for 2023
You reviewed 72 books in 2023 (see your reviews) and rated 120 books with an average rating of 3.2 stars.

I'm not sure how I rated so many more books than I reviewed or read.

Happy New Year!

>12 Karlstar: I wondered if when one changes a rating it is logged as two separate ratings. I use a lot of ½ stars, so I have to click on the 4 first to get a 3½. But I just checked and it says I rated 112 books, which matches up pretty well with the 106 I read.

starred

>13 Narilka: >15 BookstoogeLT: Thank you!

>14 clamairy: I guess it is possible I gave ratings to some of the books on my TBR list, but I really didn't think that I'd done that with very many, I generally only give ratings after reading a book.

>17 Karlstar: Yes, it's a large discrepancy. Did you find a bunch of books that you'd thought you'd entered on LT but hadn't, and then added them with ratings?

>18 clamairy: Only a couple, like the Haakon books in December, plus a couple of other random missed books from my library. I did add a few books that I know I read in the past but do not own, but I would have written reviews for those. Is a mystery.

I changed the topic name to avoid confusion with Jim53.

>20 Karlstar: Oh, you didn't need to do that!

>21 clamairy: I don't mind, I didn't think it was fair to Jim53, plus it wasn't like the topic was all that original.

>22 Karlstar: Maybe next time you can use the title "The Other Jim's Reading" for those of us who aren't as sharp as we used to be.

Happy reading in 2024, Jim!

>24 libraryperilous: Thank you! Still working my way through both Walkaway and My Effin' Life. Both are good, but not really immersive. I'm actually enjoying Walkaway more than I thought I would when I started it.

I found a copy of the hardcover edition of Hiero's Journey for a somewhat reasonable price, but the cover is just as bad as it looked online. I mentioned back in https://www.librarything.com/topic/355781#8332120 that I had recently discovered this edition existed.



The book is in fantastic condition though, I'm happy.

Finally finished My Effin Life. As he admits, it is long, probably longer than it had to be, but I'm not sure what I would leave out. I'll write a review this week. I may abandon Walkaway, we'll see. I have lots of books on the TBR pile to get to.

Some older reviews.

The Gatewatch by Joshua Gillingham
STTM: 4 - a good amount of travel, some character growth
Rating: 7 out of 10

I stumbled across this book in a list of books similar to Norse sagas. The description fits this book very well. This is the first book in the Torin Ten-Trees Saga and Torin is the primary character.

Torin, along with two friends is headed to Gatewatch, the fortress village at the head of a mountain pass. The volunteers at Gatewatch are responsible for keeping the trolls and their goblin-ish allies in the mountains, away from humanity. Along the way they meet treacherous dwarves, troll spirits and some very combative other volunteers. One of the other volunteers, Wyla, is a great drinker and fighter, but she and her father clearly have issues.

After a brief meal at Gatewatch, Torin, his two friends and 4 other volunteers that they met at Gatewatch decide it would be a good idea to go take a stroll in the mountains - despite being due to report for duty the next day. They get lost, find trolls, get captured, escape, discover a conspiracy and lots more adventures.

This truly does mix in many of the elements of the Norse sagas. There are drinking contests and riddle contests and battles of wits, trolls, tricky (and honorable) dwarves, giants, everything you'd expect. I thought this was surprisingly good.

Was it immersive? Yes.
Was it memorable? The general plot and themes, yes. Character names, no.
Would I re-read it? Yes.
Would I recommend it? Yes, if you like Norse fantasy.

Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi
STTM: 0 - very short stories
Rating: 6 out of 10

The last two lines from the introduction probably says it best. "In any event: These pieces are meant to be short and sweet. Hope you enjoy them all. But if there's one you don't like, don't worry. It'll be over soon."

He did mention in the intro also that he has written a lot of human-alien interaction stories, so it is a theme.
Just a sample of the stories:

"Alien Animal Encounters" - stories of Earth pets and aliens or alien pets and humans.
"Missives from Possible Futures #1: Alternate History Search Results" - increasingly unlikely and bizarre scenarios of what might have been if Hitler was killed in 1908 in Vienna.
"Pluto Tells All" - an interview with Pluto after it was demoted.
"Denise Jones, Superbooker" - when you need to book a superhero, call Denise.
"When the Yogurt Took Over" - who needs robots to look after us, we have intelligent bacteria.
"New Directives for Employee-Maxtse Interactions" - aliens in the grocery store.
"Life on Earth: Human-Alien Relations" - workplace rules for working with aliens
"Your Smart Appliances Talk About You Behind Your Back" - you can guess where this one is going

Funny stuff.

>29 Karlstar: I enjoyed most of these. (My least favorite bring the Yogurt one. My favorite was the one where the cat makes friends with the household robot. I do not remember the title.)

>29 Karlstar: I remember enjoying Miniatures! Fun, lighthearted stuff.

>30 clamairy: I think that story was titled "Tuna". That one was amusing. Scary, though.

While debating on whether to continue with Walkaway, I started Murder on the Orient Express. Only $1.99 for the Nook edition, not bad.

Excellent bargain book buying! Have you never read it before?

>34 jillmwo: I went through a mystery reading phase in my teens, so it has been a long time.

>35 Karlstar:
a mystery reading phase

Jim, I read that and my immediate thought was, "Hmmm! So you spent time reading books and you did not know what you were reading. Is this something like going on a mystery tour?"

Sorry, but that sort of interpretation tickles me.

>36 pgmcc:. I think a mystery book phase *could* be defined as a period of exploration. Perhaps something on the order of Gee, I've never read accounts of Russian winters and the potential impact on the murder rate. There's probably an entire sub-genre of novels that could form a reading list.

>36 pgmcc: No apologies necessary, my phrasing is either too long or too brief, rarely quite right, so creative interpretations are expected! However, now I wonder if anyone has ever tried a 'mystery book of the month club' concept, where you get a book randomly selected from ANY genre every month.

>37 jillmwo: I certainly have never read anything in that sub-genre.

>33 Karlstar: I have not read that one by Christie. But after watching one movie version (I haven't a clue which), the story is spoiled for me and I don't really want to take time to read it. Plus, I despise Poirot ;-)

>38 Karlstar: >37 jillmwo:
One of our local independent bookshops (Books Upstairs, which I have mentioned fairly often in earlier dispatches.) has a scheme whereby they wrap up books in anonymous wrapping paper and people can either pick one at random in the shop or have a random one sent to them by post. They describe it as a blind date with a book.

>39 BookstoogeLT: I'm actually reading prior to seeing any of the movie versions. I think I'll look up the Branaugh version when I'm done. I'm enjoying it.

>40 pgmcc: Is that the same place where you have mentioned they do an excellent job curating their books? If so, I might sign up for that.

>41 Karlstar:
They have an interesting range of books. They do not stock the latest bestsellers. I have found the work of authors there that I would not have found in shops that push all the latest top sellers.

I'm just about caught up on reviews, here's the second to last one.

My Effin' Life by Geddy Lee
STTM: 5 - so many tours, but not too much detail
Rating: 8 out of 10

For an autobiography, I thought this was good, but then I'm a Rush fan. Naturally, he starts the story back when he was a Jewish boy growing up in Toronto, then takes a chapter to tell the story of his parents and other family members survival of the Holocaust. He felt strongly that people should read that part. His family was originally from Poland, but could not return after the war and emigrated to Canada. The rest of the book is likely typical of so many rockers in the 60's and 70's, he fell in love with the music and despite his Mother's objections, that's all he wanted to do.

I thought there was a good amount of detail, enough, but not too much. There may have been a bit too much talk about setting up for their shows, but I didn't really mind it. I enjoyed reading about what other bands he liked, what bands they got along with and the process of making the albums. He also explained the washing machines, which I always wondered about.

Was it immersive? Sort of, I did alternate reading this with another book, but not because I had to take a break.
Was it memorable? In a general way, yes.
Would I re-read it? Probably.
Would I recommend it? Yes, for every Rush fan, or fans of rock music.

I finished Murder on the Orient Express, which I enjoyed. On to The Tower at Stony Wood, another of the McKillip novels I hadn't read yet.

>44 Karlstar: Oooh, I have not read that one either, so I await your review of the McKillip. I hope you enjoy it.

>44 Karlstar: Your reading selections are excellent. I admit, however, that it's sometimes hard to get through the text of Murder on the Orient Express without the film adaptations interfering one way or another

>46 jillmwo: I made sure I have not seen the films before reading, I'm hoping to watch one of them this weekend.

>45 clamairy: The Tower at Stony Wood was good, of course, maybe not my favorite, I'll try to get to a review soon.

Taking some recommendations from folks here, I've started Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells. Haven't gotten too far into it yet, but I'm enjoying it so far.

>47 Karlstar: Okay, thank you for letting me know. Maybe I won't move that to the top of my list, then. (I think I've only read four of hers, so I have plenty to choose from.)

>49 clamairy: Thinking about it now, I would put it after the Riddle-Master series, and Od Magic and The Bards of Bone Plain and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. However, I have them all rated at 7 or higher, so they are all very good.

>48 Karlstar: Oh I hope you enjoy it!

>48 Karlstar: I hope you enjoy it, and I am looking forward to reading your thoughts. I've read a lot of books by Martha Wells, but mostly Murderbot, and just a couple of fantasy ones - not this one.

A strange thing I stumbled across today that likely is only interesting to me. The Eye of the World, (Wheel of Time book 1, publication order) edition currently on Amazon, is not the same as the original! Instead of the prologue being about Lews Therin, then chapter 1 starting with Rand's POV, the current edition on Amazon starts with a long scene from Egwene's POV, lifted from a later book. That's more in line with the TV show, but what the heck?

>53 Karlstar: The Eye of the World was a TOR freebie a while back, (3 or 4 years, I think?). I hadn't gotten around to reading it but just checked my kindle. It begins with a Prologue titled, "Dragonmount." Which version is it that I have?

>54 ScoLgo: That's where the first edition starts, so hopefully the original.

>55 Karlstar: Thanks!

>53 Karlstar: & >54 ScoLgo: Uh oh. I don't like hearing that! I have the TOR freebie as well, which I either side-loaded or emailed to myself, so that should remain untainted.

>54 ScoLgo: >57 clamairy: There's nothing wrong, so much, with the altered edition since it is a chapter taken from another book, but if that's where people are starting, it is pretty darn boring. A too long chapter about Egwene and chores and sheep-shearing.

>58 Karlstar: You're calling sheep-shearing boring? Are there any shepherds hanging around here in the Pub who might want to explain the whys and wherefores?

>59 jillmwo: Lots of Australian folklore about shearing! Back in the day (and I think still) shearers were itinerant labourers who moved from sheep station to sheep station during the shearing season. ("Station" = US "ranch".) Highly skilled itinerant labourers with a reputation for truculence in their relationships with the station owners, and for getting drunk at the end of a job. Highly skilled to get the maximum amount of wool off a sheep without cutting the animal. It must have been desperately hard work, heaving around a series of struggling, unwilling animals. Before the times of electric power in shearing sheds, the job was done with a razor-sharp pair of shears very like ordinary grass clippers. The record for shearing with blade shears was set in 1891 by Jacky Howe — 321 shorn in 7 hours and 40 minutes — still unbroken, apparently; all later records have been set with machine shears. There are still words in the Australian language from shearers' slang, like "darg" for the amount of work you should accomplish in a day, "gun" for an expert (as in "gun shearer") or "ringer" for the champion shearer in a shed. The blue singlet often worn by shearers is still sometimes called a "Jacky Howe".

Shepherds don't shear, in Australia anyway. The very occupation of shepherd is almost unknown here — sheep are not penned but range freely over a sheep station that might be hundreds of square miles in area. The sheep are rounded up at shearing time, taken to the shed and shorn, and then let free again. There are no wolves or other large carnivores, and the loss of a percentage of lambs to dingoes and (allegedly) eagles has to be accepted.

>59 jillmwo: lol. It isn't the sheep-shearing that's boring, but all the lead up. In typical Jordan fashion, there's complaining about clothes and chores and too many characters we never see again. It works a lot better once we get to know Egwene and care about her past, so it belongs later in that book or another.

>60 haydninvienna: At least you didn't try to pull the wool over our eyes. I think.

>61 Karlstar: Australia no longer rides on the sheep's back as it once did, but sheep and wool are deep in the national psyche.

>60 haydninvienna: >61 Karlstar: I can't recall specifically the television show or movie where I learned about competitive sheep-shearing, whether an educational documentary or whatever; I just knew that the competition was fierce and looked like a lot of hard wrangling of reluctant livestock. But I did know that the wool industry was important across the British Empire. (In Australia, particularly, where if you didn't do it yourself on the ground, you'd wait for months for the ships to arrive from other countries.)

>62 haydninvienna: I'd love to take a visit there someday, I'm just not sure it is ever going to happen.

While I still have Walkaway handy, I find myself with no interest in reading it, so I may just walkaway from that one.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
STTM: 2 - the train gets stuck
Rating: 7 out of 10

I enjoyed this quite a bit. Astute mystery readers may have figured this one out long before I did, but I enjoyed not knowing until near the end. I like the cast of characters and the setting, but I would liked to have had more description of the train and what it was like. Being a late 20th century person that's never been on a 'sleeper' train, much less a luxury one, some description of what it was like would have added to the book.

Without a lot of description of the scenes and almost no backstory of the people, this proceeds on quickly. The necessary backstory comes out as the case progresses. Short and to the point, but still engaging and interesting.

We watched the 2017 version of the movie this weekend and I thought it was quite good. Some character changes, but nothing that bothered me. I did think they kind of rushed the conclusion.

Was it immersive? Yes.
Was it memorable? I think so, though I doubt I'll remember character names.
Would I re-read it? Yes.
Would I recommend it? Yes, if you like this sort of mystery.

The Tower at Stony Wood by Patricia McKillip
STTM: 6 - a knight chases all over trying to find a tower
Rating: 6 out of 10

Apparently I fall into the category of people who were a little mystified by this book. It starts out in the court of the King, where the King of Yves is about to marry the Lady of Skye. A loyal knight of his court, Cyan Dag, (Green Day? Green Dog?) is sent by a bard on quest to find the true Queen - the one coming to marry the King is some sort of changeling. He drops everything, including leaving his lady love behind without a word, to travel the length of the kingdom to Skye, to find a lady trapped in a tower. Unfortunately, there are 3 (or 4, or 5?) ladies and 3 different towers. There is also Thayne Ysse, who is looking for the tower guarded by a dragon and the dragon's hoard, to free Ysse from Yves and get revenge for a lost battle years gone by.

The towers are not only hard to find but somehow seem to swap places and there's a woman in a mirror in one tower being watched by two other women in another tower, or is it the other way around? The commonality of the names was a bit of a bother too. The magic in this one ranges from small and subtle to huge and intense, in that way it reminded me of the Harpist series, especially since there is a bard with a harp who keeps appearing.

There's no such thing as a bad McKillip book and this wasn't, by any means. The characters are good, the story is good, it just felt at times that the story was confused about which story it was telling. I keep going back and forth on whether this is a 6 or a 7 rating for me, but for now I'll leave it as a 6. I could see myself reading this again someday.

>65 Karlstar: What a terrible/wonderful pun. :D

I enjoyed the recent movie version, too. The older one with Ingrid Bergman was also good, but I suspect it hasn't aged well.

>66 Karlstar: Thank you. I won't put this on the 'to be read soon' list, but I will get to it eventually.

>66 Karlstar: I need to revisit this one. I am not recalling it at all but I'm sure I did read it because I remember thinking the story drew from (or was intended to build on) The Lady of Shalott. Was there any of that?

>68 jillmwo: Just judging from the blurb on the Tennyson, I don't think so. Most of the characters are in no relationship at all, the others are in stable ones.

>66 Karlstar: Awwwww. This is one of my favorite of McKillip's.

>70 BookstoogeLT: I can't disagree with your opinion, all McKillip novels are good, so it is just degrees of good. What sets The Tower at Stony Wood over Od Magic, just for comparison?

I blame the time at night for the wrong reference.

Finally finished The Death of the Necromancer. Reading used paperbacks is slower than other formats, but it was good. Moving on to The Zimmerman Telegram.

>71 Karlstar: For me, I think it was because of the totally medieval setting. Most of her stuff is mainly medieval, but this felt like she'd taken that one extra step. It is really hard to quantify :-D

A list of 2023's most expensive sales on abebooks.com.

https://www.abebooks.com/books/rarebooks/most-expensive-sales-2023?ref_=pe_mksf_...

>74 Karlstar: Yowzer!

>75 clamairy: That was you that bought Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, wasn't it?

>76 Karlstar: Ha. No. But I thought some of the much older books looked very interesting. (I still would never spend thousands on them.)

>74 Karlstar: My most extravagant purchase is a first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz along with several other first or early edition Oz books. I bought the lot for $2,000.

>78 ChrisG1: That's very reasonable compared to some of those prices.

Still working on The Zimmerman Telegram, which is fascinating. There's a lot of diplomacy and diplomats, but still good.

I should have waited a couple of hours, I only had a few pages left in The Zimmerman Telegram, not counting notes and other references. Back to David Copperfield, which I started at some point when I needed a book on Kindle, but put it down for TZT.

Today is a bit of an awkward day. Today is my son-in-law's birthday. I spent last weekend out of town with my daughter and grand-daughter, mostly looking after my granddaughter, while the parents were in the hospital with his mother as she passed. It wasn't on his birthday, but still too close. I don't even know if I should mention his birthday today.

>82 Karlstar:
My mother passed away on my eldest brother's 60th birthday. It made subsequent birthdays painful. We had organised a big celebration for his 60th but that was abandoned. We organised a surprise party for his 70th worked out very well.

>83 pgmcc: There's never a good time, but some dates are worse. Thanks.

>82 Karlstar: I'm sorry to hear that. That's a rough situation.

>82 Karlstar: I suspect he would still appreciate having his birthday acknowledged somehow, without the usual "Happy Birthday" hoopla. Perhaps just a mention that you'd like to celebrate with him in a few weeks or even months.

>82 Karlstar: I like clamairy's suggestion, or even a "Thinking of you today, how are you doing?"

>86 clamairy: >87 MrsLee: Good suggestions, thanks.

>82 Karlstar: Very sorry to hear that.

>89 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you.

I've been working on reading David Copperfield, but unlike Master Copperfield, I had to take a break from the Micawbers. I've detoured to Thieves World for a long-overdue re-read.

Don't forget the Valentine's Treasure Hunt, runs until the 29th. I had completely missed it until the State of the Thing email came out.

>91 Karlstar:
I have read and enjoyed several books by Dickens. I did not enjoy David Copperfield as much and have not read any more Dickens since reading it in 2019.

>93 pgmcc: I was wondering, I thought you were one of the people who liked it, glad to know I remembered incorrectly.

>92 Karlstar: Thank you for that reminder. I don't see the banner on my phone, and the newsletter they send me is a bunch of gobbledygook symbols that mean nothing in spite of troubleshooting with the staff over a period of weeks, so I've stopped looking at it.

>95 MrsLee: Welcome! This one is a tough one, I have three hearts so far, all the easy ones, there are a couple I thought I knew what to search for, but the searches have not worked yet.

>96 Karlstar: I believe I got about halfway last week and gave up. I might go back and look at the hints thread to try to finish before it's over.

I was not successful with the Valentine's Treasure Hunt. As @jillmwo told me one day when I found it difficult to read a story by Marian Keyes, a person and author I admire, I am probably not the right demographic for this.

>96 Karlstar: Although not a romance fan, I found 8 hearts without too much difficulty. I used Google for two of them. Since that earns me my badge, I'm good with that. This was much easier to do on my laptop, navigating around the site.

>99 MrsLee: Well done! I have 4 and I think that's about as far as I'll get, even with hints I'm not getting #4.

>98 pgmcc: Same here.

>96 Karlstar: >97 clamairy: >98 pgmcc: >99 MrsLee: I think I only have two hearts thus far, but I admit I haven't worked at it very hard this time around. I think you have to get three to win the little badge for participation?

>101 jillmwo: Two gets a badge.

>94 Karlstar: You might have been thinking of me. Me and Dickens, we're like that, yo
~twists fingers

As for Thieves world, you reading just the first anthology or the whole series of them?

>103 BookstoogeLT: Ahhh, yes, maybe so. You didn't find the endless repetitive Micawber scenes irritating? I think for now just the first book, I have a good TBR pile to get to.

>104 Karlstar: I believe skimming is a necessary skill when reading any book from that era. It isn't that you always have to, it's that the authors get a bee in their bonnet and take off on rabbit trails. Very thorough rabbit trails. Have to be a little careful skimming Dickens though because he does sneak information into some of those types of dialog. Good luck!

>104 Karlstar: Nope, not for me :-) In another author I might have though.

>105 MrsLee: "necessary"? Really? I'm going to just leave it at that...

>106 BookstoogeLT: :) We each have our own patience levels. Mine are more limited as I age instead of better. I didn't think it would be that way, but there we are. In my 20s and 30s I reveled in the classics, however wordy. I still enjoy them, but get impatient now for the story to make progress.

>107 MrsLee: I'm in the same boat. I had a lot of trouble with the Trollope I read last year, while everyone else who was reading it was loving it. I've discovered I do a lot better if I'm listening to books like this, because then a good part of my brain happily flits off elsewhere and leaves just a few cells behind paying attention.

>106 BookstoogeLT: >107 MrsLee: >108 clamairy: I try not to skim, but for some books, it just becomes a choice between skim or DNF, for me.

For example, I picked up David Copperfield again this morning and there was another section about the Micawbers, this time a letter, not a speech, but the letter could have said what was necessary in 1/4 of the words used, so I mostly skimmed it and got the gist, I think.

We are now in the middle of a bathroom remodel. We knew this was coming, but given a choice we would have postponed it indefinitely. I knew the door on my shower didn't have much time left before it fell apart, but the shower is leaking... somewhere. Since they'd have to pull up the pan anyway to find the leak, and it is time to address the old, horrible linoleum floor, the badly beat up vanity and the baseboard that is really window trim - its a bathroom remodel.

The amount of flooring and tile involved is small, its a small bathroom. However, getting all of the other stuff on short notice is a pain. There's lots and lots of vanities available - but not for weeks or months. Ditto vanity tops and shower doors. A pedestal or wall mount sink isn't an option, I need a counter top for putting in and removing my contacts.

It is amazing how much you could potentially spend on this stuff. Why would anyone spend $9000 for a smart toilet?

>110 Karlstar: I feel your pain. Our leak in the bathroom which necessitates replacing the floor in the whole apartment is not as complicated as yours, we are going to reuse our cabinets and toilet and sink, but it isn't fun.

Hope you can find what you need in good time. Have you looked at Facebook local needs, marketplace and other sites that reuse things? Sometimes people get rid of perfectly good items.

>111 MrsLee: Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. Unfortunately due to the small size of the bathroom space, the shower enclosure is a bit of an unusual size. I could probably find a vanity that way though.

I'm about 20 pages from the end of David Copperfield and it is pretty much ending the way I expected. Not exactly a surprise. I'm also about 2/3 of the way through Thieves World, so I'll be moving on to something else soon, not sure what.

The bathroom remodel has started, which means the tearing apart of the bathroom is in progress. Ceiling is out, vanity is out, old shower enclosure and pan are out, and the small wall that was supporting the enclosure is out. Only had one small problem when the water got turned back on but the water line to the shower was still open... luckily I was close by and could hear it before too much water got out.

The boss tells me that the last thing they replace is the toilet, because his guys have 'flat surface syndrome' (his term) meaning they like to put their tools on any handy flat surface and have a history of scratching new toilets and seats, so the old one stays in place for a while.

>114 Karlstar:. You are a brave soul to embark on any kind of home remodeling project. Dealing with water being turned off and on. The last time we had a plumber in, he discovered that there was a valve that had gotten corroded and he had to replace the thing before he could even begin to do the other stuff. Honestly, home ownership is an absurd set of activities.

>115 jillmwo: It was much easier when we were living in caves!

(Too bad we didn't live as long or have hot & cold running water or flush toilets.)

>114 Karlstar: Our guys are almost finished with the new flooring. They helped me with the utmost patience rearranging furniture this afternoon. I directed, they lifted and carried. Everything looks great, except when I went to close the bedroom pocket door, I found it scrapes on the new flooring. Then I checked the bathroom pocket door. Closed great, no problem, but it won't open now. Sigh. Tomorrow is another day.

>115 jillmwo: Our plumber was out today to fix the leak in the kitchen with the new flooring. Old stuff, needs new stuff. This is the third sink he has fixed in one month. Why do they all choose to leak at the same time? One more sink and he will have done the set. I'm going to keep an eye on that sink.

>115 jillmwo: It was a bit of a chaotic day, I'll admit. I had just gotten finished telling the contractor that the vanity was supposed to arrive Monday... and I got an email an hour later saying it is now not showing up until Mar 13. We wouldn't have had the water problem with the shower if the lines to the bathrooms had shut off valves like they are supposed to, but they don't.

>117 MrsLee: Congrats on your new floor! Is it vinyl plank or engineered wood or ? Considering how small the bathroom is, I considered a pocket door to save space, but in the end I just didn't think it was worth it. Hopefully they get that cleared up.

>188 I think it is vinyl plank. It is supposed to be the best for waterproof and scratch resistance. I'll post a photo in my thread of my bathroom when it's finished if you post one in yours of your bathroom. ;)

We have pocket doors on the master bath and I love them. Can't take credit since we didn't build the house, but they do save space and are just so fun to open and close. There is one more at the bottom of the stairs to the basement which doesn't get as much use, but its equally fun.

>119 MrsLee: That's what I bought for the bathroom floor too. I will post a picture when it is done.

>120 Bookmarque: If not for the expense, I would have gone that way. We've never actually remodeled any room before and the cost was shocking.

Day three of renovation and I've been to Home Depot, which is luckily not far away, at least once if not twice every day. More tile, more accent tile, the transition piece for the flooring, etc. Unfortunately the water incident has caused more water damage to the library ceiling than I can cover with primer and paint, so it will have to be fixed somehow.

As far as progress, the wallboard is all up and mudded/spackled, and the tile is done on 2 out of the three walls in the shower. The original estimate to be finished was Tuesday, but I don't think they are going to make that, if they still have to finish tiling, then grouting, then putting in the shower door and flooring. The flooring will be quick.

>122 Karlstar: Were your books damaged too? Your fixing sounds more complicated than ours was. Hope they don't get too far off the schedule.

>123 MrsLee: Luckily very little of the water got through the ceiling. I had a large bowl under the original spot just in case.

>124 Karlstar: Glad to hear it!

In book reading news, I finished Thieves World and moved on to Accidental War a BB from majkia

>126 Karlstar: Thieves World! Man, I'm old - I was in college when that came out. Looks like the first 6 volumes of that are on Kindle Unlimited...

>127 ChrisG1: I was surprised how 'dark' it was, especially for when it came out, I guess that's part of what made it so unique, back in the day.

As I expected, the bathroom still isn't done. Tiling in the shower didn't get done until Monday, then it was still setting yesterday, so the grouting wasn't until today. Flooring and toilet are down now though. Still waiting for the vanity, so there's still no sink. I was able to put on a coat of primer after they left, so it will be ready for painting. Baseboard and the shower door are getting done tomorrow and hopefully the closet shelves will be put back up.

>129 Karlstar: Little by little! At least there is forward movement.

>129 Karlstar: One day at a time. It'll get there.

>130 MrsLee: >131 jillmwo: Thanks, the end is in sight. Grouting is done, shower door is in, braces for the shelves in the closet are up, light fixture is in, so is the new baseboard. Unfortunately, the toilet needs a new handle. Brand new! Ridiculous how flimsy those things are for the cost of the fixture. Tomorrow the bar goes in the shower, shelves go up, then we just have to wait for the vanity to show up next week.

I'll likely pick up paint tomorrow and paint this weekend.

>132 Karlstar: I haven't commented so far, but I've been following with interest. A P Herbert had a joke somewhere about the definition of a yacht: a hole in the water, surrounded by wood, into which one pours money. A house is a hole in the air, surrounded by bricks, into which ... etc.

>133 haydninvienna:
How true!

>133 haydninvienna: >134 pgmcc: Definitely. I could never have done this stuff on my own, I'm impressed by people who do their own work of this kind, like one of my brother-in-laws. My contribution to this effort so far was reproducing the install manual for the shower door from the internet and printing it for them, apparently the door was so complicated (it fit a range of sizes of shower openings) they actually had to have the instructions.

I think everything other than the vanity is done now, that's supposed to show up on the 13th. I'll paint this weekend. I already regret having them put the light fixture back up before painting, but I just wanted it all put back together, as much as possible.

I'm way behind on reviews, time to catch up.

The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells
STTM: 3 - very little travel
Rating: 7 out of 10

I enjoyed this quite a bit. Fairly standard-ish fantasy Sherlock Holmes kind of story with some horror elements. The two primary characters are Nicholas and Madeline. Nicholas is trying to take down one of the nobles of the city, in revenge for a past wrong. Madeline is a stage actress who is also part of Nicholas' criminal gang and revenge plot. These are 'good guy' type criminals, all of their crimes are part of the revenge plot and they only steal from the rich. Add in a couple of other interesting sidekicks and it is a good gang.

Along the way they run into the city's foremost investigator and his doctor assistant. When their plot goes awry and they become the targets of a mysterious necromancer and whoever in government is assisting him, the action and horror aspect go way up. There were parts that dragged a bit, but not too much.

Well written, good characters and a decent plot. Strong magical elements without going too far, in my opinion. I will likely read more Martha Wells after this one.

Was it immersive? Yes.
Was it memorable? I think so, though at this point I just remember the plot and not character names.
Would I re-read it? Maybe.
Would I recommend it? Yes, if you like this sort of fantasy/horror/mystery.

The Zimmerman Telegram by Barbara Tuchman
STTM: 0 - actual history without travel
Rating: 8 out of 10

I thought this was up to the standard of The Guns of August. While this does touch on what is going on in 1916-1917 in WWI in Europe, this is almost exclusively about how America entered into the war, one of which was the title telegram and plot that went with it. The telegram was actually intercepted and decoded by cryptographers working for the British Army and that is where the story starts, in the decoding office.

In order to document the plot and how it was uncovered, a lot of government employees from Germany, Britain and the US are mentioned, which at times gets a bit monotonous, but it is necessary. Otherwise this was well written, contains some of the amusing comments Tuchman is famous for and it is fascinating history.

The idea that Germany thought they could convince Mexico, with the possible (only possible) aid of Japan, to attack the United States to prevent them from entering the war is a bit shocking. It certainly would have made history very different if it happened.

Was it immersive? Yes.
Was it memorable? Yes, though I won't remember the names.
Would I re-read it? Most likely.
Would I recommend it? Yes, if you like this kind of history.

>136 Karlstar: My Martha Wells fantasy backlog is quite large, and it includes this book ;) Oh, well, some day, some day...

>137 Karlstar:

The idea that Germany thought they could convince Mexico, with the possible (only possible) aid of Japan, to attack the United States to prevent them from entering the war is a bit shocking. It certainly would have made history very different if it happened.

Sounds like the kind of alternate history that Harry Turtledove might have written.

>139 jillmwo: Very true, I'm surprised he hasn't.

I finished Accidental War and quite enjoyed it, I'll have to get some others in that series. Next up is the 2nd book in the Pelbar Cycle, The Ends of the Circle. I re-read book one last year, figured it was time to re-read book two.

I finished The Ends of the Circle yesterday on Kindle, it was just as good as I remembered. This is a good post-apocalyptic series for people who like that sort of thing. The ebook version I read had a bunch of obvious typos, including turning the name 'Ican' into 'I can', every single time.

Trouble in cheese land! This should be a free link, I tried to share it.

https://wapo.st/3PiKkXY "Will brie and Camembert cheeses go extinct? Here’s what scientists say."

Warning: contains graphic descriptions of cheese. May be unflattering or unappetizing.

>143 Karlstar: LOL What exactly did you find unappetizing?

I shared this article as a gift on Facebook a few days ago, and did not get much of a reaction to it. :o(

>144 clamairy: It is a little bit of fear mongering, they already know there's a potential problem and are working to resolve it before it happens, maybe your friends were smart enough to not be alarmed. Maybe they don't like camembert!

This part may not appeal to folks who aren't fans of camembert: "“Those molds are essentially doing what we call ‘delicious rot,’” Wolfe said. Like a fungus breaking down a log or those pesky blue splotches spreading through an old piece of bread, the molds in the cheese break down the milk. “And as they do that, they’re releasing all kinds of delicious things people love in Camembert: that sort of sulfury funk that I like to call ‘sweet buttery flatulence,’” he added."

>143 Karlstar:
Very interesting. Biodiversity appears to be the solution.

>145 Karlstar:
Heated Camembert is delicious. Often served as a starter.

>146 pgmcc: >147 pgmcc: Would you purchase orange or blue camembert or would you prefer 'traditional' white? Blue might be a bit much for me.

I like camembert but do not have it often, or brie for that matter.

>148 Karlstar: I almost always have some imported Brie in my house. It's harder to find imported Camembert without going to a cheese shop. The domestic stuff that is mass produced isn't my thing. (I have found some goats milk Camembert style cheese from upstate New York that is amazing.)

>148 Karlstar:
I love Munster which orange on the outside. Also I like blue cheese, which is not all blue, but I got over the idea of the blue veins so could probably get used to the blue Camembert if the taste was good.

The bathroom remodel is finally done, I finished painting last night and the vanity was put in today. I said I would post pictures. The walls aren't 2 different colors, that's just how it came out in the picture.



and the shower (behind the left wall in the picture above) Sorry for the reflections in the glass, there really isn't a window in the shower (or a ghost).

>148 Karlstar: Blue, orange and green delicious cheeses? Yes, please!

One of my favorite cheeses is Cambrazola, a camembert married to gorgonzola I believe.

>151 Karlstar: Hurray! Job well done.

>153 MrsLee: Thank you. I still have to paint the inside of the closet, but other than that I can start moving stuff back in.

>151 Karlstar: I love the marble pattern in the shower. Is it separate tiles, or wall-sized panels? We looked at one style that is an entire form, printed with different designs, but haven't decided how to install it.

>155 Darth-Heather: Thanks. It is separate tiles, 12"x24" large tiles and the 4"x12" accent tiles. Originally I had only planned on going up to 6', but we decided to take it all the way up to the ceiling. Wish I could get a better picture, that one does not do it justice.

>151 Karlstar: This looks nice, congratulations! I also like the marble patterns in the shower.

>151 Karlstar:
Excellent work. Enjoy your refurbished facilities.

>157 Alexandra_book_life: >158 pgmcc: Thank you. We're happy to have it finished.

>151 Karlstar: Very nice! You must be so relieved to have the job completed.

>152 MrsLee: Yes! Cambozolla is divine. And there are a bunch of cheeses that are orange on the outside and magnificent on the inside.

>160 clamairy: We are, thank you. Having people in the house every day, after years of not, was kind of disturbing.

In non-cheese and renovation news, I'm about halfway through Alphabet of Thorn.

Totally off the subject, SpaceX IFT-3 launch of Starship/Superheavy went really well today! I'm not even sure they'll need a 'crash' investigation and nothing went 'boom' this time, though the booster did land really hard.

Thieves World by Robert Asprin
STTM: 0 - they never leave Sanctuary
Rating: 6 out of 10

What to say about Thieves World? If you read it sometime in the last 44 years since it was published, you're already aware that this book is one of the first 'shared world' novels, written by some top writers - Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Joe Haldeman, Marion Bradley. According to the epilogue, once at a convention they got talking about the problems of creating a new world for new fantasy novels and what if they didn't have to do that and wouldn't it be great if they could write something in the tradition of the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories or Moorcock or Burroughs. Hence was born Sanctuary and the Thieves World shared world 'anthology'.

Re-reading this, I was struck by how 'dark' it was, for the time and also how ahead of its time. All the stories are set on the seedy side of Sanctuary, with thieves and fortune tellers and magicians. While there is no common plot, all of the stories share the same setting and the same characters, but each story is told from a different POV. Female characters are prominent and there's at least one character who isn't the same gender from from story to story and at least one trans. For mainstream fantasy in 1980, way ahead of its time.

The stories themselves aren't that remarkable, it is the settings and characters that always made this series memorable. I think we expect a bit more these days, but this was still good. Because this was the start of this shared world concept, the only plot here is the new ruler, I don't recall where they went with the plot in the series. I have the first five books in this series and I see that some of the characters even got their own novels later on, but the novelty wore off for me, originally, after five.

Was it immersive? Yes.
Was it memorable? Yes.
Would I re-read it? I probably won't read it a third time, but I will continue with the series, at least up to The Face of Chaos, maybe I'll read farther this time.
Would I recommend it? Yes, fantasy that's a little dark and not heavy on plot.

I've been avoiding the David Copperfield review long enough.

David Copperfield
STTM: 7 - a couple of journeys, but so many words.
Rating: 5 out of 10

If someone were to ask me which Dickens novel they should read if they haven't read any, I would not recommend this one as a place to start. It is far too long and far too long-winded in spots. There are a ton of funny and memorable characters, which is one of its strongest features. However, a couple of those characters are nearly buried under an avalanche of excessive words.

There's also a big problem with the convenience of the plot. Several times in the plot, situations resolve themselves far too neatly in David Copperfield's favor and it doesn't feel like fate, it feels like author intervention.

I'm glad I read this in ebook format, I might have had to put it down if I tried to read it in print. One more long speech by Mr. Micawber or equally long letter may have been too much.

>164 Karlstar: Oh, this was a very entertaining review! "A couple of journeys, but so many words" - nicely put.

Dickens' wordiness is quite lovely, but that's my personal preference. I know I have read David Copperfield, but it was very long ago. I tried to remember who Mr Micawber was and I had no idea. Is this good or bad?

>164 Karlstar:
I agree with your rating. The book did not engage me like the other Dickens books I have read.

Like you I would warn people away from starting their Dickens experience with David Copperfield.

I have no problem with the wordiness of Dickens’s books. To me his language and meandering tales are part of the attraction. While he was paid by the word I think the words he used were very entertaining.

My main problem with Copperfield was that I just did not care for young David. As you ststed, problems resolved themselves too easily.

>164 Karlstar: You get lots of points for sticking with it. I probably mentioned before that I read this in my early 20s when my patience for wordiness was very high. I don't want to know how I would fare with this today. (Although if my experience with Trollope last year is any indication I would have to guess about as well as you did.)

>164 Karlstar: I'm not a big Dickens fan and have never read the full text of David Copperfield. However, the Classic Comics Illustrated version that I read as a child gave me enough of the flavor that I can throw out character names as needed -- Dora, Mr. Micawber, Peggotty, Barkis (of 'Barkis is willin' fame) and of course, Uriah Heep.

I think your observation about Dickens parade of characters being sometimes subsumed in the length of his fiction is a valid one. Sometimes you just don't know who is important to follow and who will disappear within the space of the next chapter.

>165 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you. I can't blame you at all for not remembering Mr. Micawber, though he did turn out to be one of the more important side characters - just not memorable.

>166 pgmcc: In other cases with Dickens I don't mind the wordiness so much, but it just seemed excessive in Copperfield. I'm not done with Dickens yet, maybe Great Expectations next?

>167 clamairy: I might be getting less patient in my reading, something I'll have to watch out for.

>168 jillmwo: You're making me wish I'd read that version.

>169 Karlstar: I'm convinced there's a mathematical formula. One's tolerance for wordiness is inversely proportional to the amount of quality reading time that one (subconsciously) speculates one has left in one's life.

>170 clamairy: Also the amount of reading time in the day? I still don't typically have a lot of time in any given day, so that might be it. Not saying your theory isn't a factor also.

>170 clamairy: >171 Karlstar: I agree, life is short and books are many and we have to choose selectively how to spend our valuable time.

I think of it as the "Ain't Nobody Got Time For That" theorem.

Accidental War by Walter Jon Williams
STTM: 5 - a couple of long space flights, not dragged out
Rating: 6.5 out of 10

As this is my first reading of this book and anything by this author, I couldn't quite give it a 7. However, I really enjoyed this novel. This is part of the Praxis series, I think I started here based on a review by majkia. I could see there definitely were a lot of references to previous books, but I didn't feel like I had to run off and read them first - but I probably will.

There are a couple of major characters - Gareth Martinez and Lady Sula. The Praxis is some sort of inherited aristocracy with a ruling body called the Convocation. Spread across multiple star systems and spreading to more, the Praxis also consists of alien races and humans. Apparently in one of the previous books, there was a revolt by one of the alien races that was just recently stomped out. That has caused some economic and political instability and it starts to spiral out of control in Accidental War.

I liked all of the characters, they were well done. There's something strange about Lady Sula, but I don't want to give anything away. The politics in the book is a little bit simplistic, but there's still a lot of plotting and maneuvering going on. There is a little bit of combat action, though it isn't constant or prevalent and a little bit of romance, but not much. I think the strongest part about this book is the interactions between people and especially family.

Was it immersive? Yes.
Was it memorable? Yes.
Would I re-read it? Someday when I've read more in the series.
Would I recommend it? Yes, this is good scifi, but not heavy on the science.

2 reviews from the Pelbar cycle.

The Ends of the Circle
STTM: 8 - lots and lots of travel, lots of growth
Rating: 8 out of 10

This is the second book in the Pelbar cycle, I'm continuing my re-read of this series. I think I am actually appreciating it more this time around, I think the 3rd time. In this book the focus shifts to Stel and Ahroe, minor characters in the previous book. Stel will not comply with the rules (of strict obedience, he's not a criminal) of Pelbar society, so much so that he is forced to flee Pelbarigan. His wife, Ahroe, sets out after him. This is the beginning of a cross-country adventure that will take them from the middle of the USA to the far west. However, as the title implies it isn't just the physical journey here that is important, but the personal one, as Ahroe determinedly follows him the whole way and they both have harrowing adventures, showing the dis-function of this post-apocalyptic world.

The Dome in the Forest Book three of the Pelbar cycle
STTM: 3 - almost no travel
Rating: 8 out of 10

The plot is different in this one from the previous two, now that Williams has explored the boundaries of 'Urstadge'. Not far from Pelbarigan is a mysterious dome, where every year a metal rod rises out of the ground, then returns. The dome, mostly buried underground, is actually a biodome habitat that has survived 1100 years since 'the time of fire'. The locals don't know that, but they are starting to wonder. Within it are the small remains of a technological society, but one that is very messed up.

This book continues the theme that change is required and societies must adapt to change, or perish, but the pace is accelerated in this book. Appropriately for our times, the conservatives want to keep things in Pelbarigan the same, while the progressives see the need for change.

I enjoyed both of these again, particularly The Dome in the Forest. Short, immersive and memorable.

I think I mentioned in another thread that I have to stop taking recommendations from Amazon. I finished Bloody Okinawa, which was too detailed in some ways and not enough in others. Not terrible, but not that good either. On the other hand, I saw that the ebook version of Childe Morgan was available for $3.99, so I picked it up and that's what I'm reading while away this weekend. I've read it before but don't remember a darn thing.

>175 Karlstar: Enjoy the reread. I'm sure it will all come rushing back once you get into it.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate and happy Sunday to all.

We are spending the day with my inlaws and our granddaughter.

>177 Karlstar: To you and yours, the same.

>177 Karlstar: As @jillmwo said, the same back at you.

>177 Karlstar: The same to you :)

>178 jillmwo: >179 hfglen: >180 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you, hope you had a good weekend.

>181 Karlstar: I hope you had a good Easter weekend. I was incommunicado as I was travelling with limited time or access to post anywhere.

>182 pgmcc: Thank you, we had a good visit, returned home today. I hope your trip was good as well.