Weird_O Bill Frolics in 2025

Weird? Sure, but now a tradition. A Weird Tradition. The Stack...for 2024.

Books Read in 2024

January 2024 (10 read)
1. About Alice, Calvin Trillin. Finished 1/1/24.  
2. Egon Schiele: 1890-1918: Desire and Decay, Wolfgang Georg Fischer. Finished 1/1/24.  
3. Time and Again, Jack Finney. Finished 1/7/24.  
4. Finna, Nino Cipri. Finished 1/15/24.  
5. Oranges, John McPhee. Finished 1/17/24.  
  The Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain.
6. The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, Elif Batuman. Finished 1/19/23.  
7. The Color of Magic, Terry Pratchett. Finished 1/26/24. 
8. Make Russia Great Again, Christopher Buckley. Finished 1/27/24.  
  Snark, David Denby.
9. The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett. Finished 1/30/24. 
10. The Discworld Graphic Novels: The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett. Finished 1/31/24. 

Pick o' the Month: 

February 2024 (9 read)
11. The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb, R. Crumb. Finished 2/4/24. 
12. Gun, with Occasional Music, Jonathan Lethem. Finished 2/8/24. 
13. Doisneau, Peter Hamilton. Finished 2/14/24. 
14. H. P. Lovecraft Tales of Horror*, H. P. Lovecraft. Finished 2/16/24. 
15. The Biggest Bear, Lynd Ward. Finished 2/18/24.  
16. Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!, Art Spiegelman. Finished 2/19/24. 
17. Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, John Scalzi. Finished 2/23/24. 
18. The Iron Man, Ted Hughes; illustrations by Chris Mould. Finished 2/24/24.  
19. Lethal White, Jo-Bob Rowlbraith. Finished 2/29/24. Doorstop @ 647 pgs. 

* The Touchstone for this book is kinda sorta beyond normal (yes, and even abnormal) access. It won't supply you with any useful info, so why bother? Just one of LT's quirks.

Pick o' the Month: (a tie?!)  &

March 2024 (12 read)
20. Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer, Steven Millhauser. Finished 3/5/24. 
21. Answered Prayers, Truman Capote. Finished 3/11/24. not rated
22. A Commonplace Book of Pie, Kate Lebo; illustrations, Jessica Lynn Bonin. Finished 3/14/24. Tasty
23. Kafka, R. Crumb and David Zane Mairowitz. Finished 3/16/24. 
24. The Canary Trainer, Nicholas Meyer. Finished 3/17/24. 
25. More: A Memoir of Open Marriage, Molly Roden Winter. Finished 3/20/24. 
26. Judge This., Chip Kidd. Finished 3/21/24. 
27. Hench, Natalie Zina Walschots. Finished 3/25/2024. 
28. The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead. Finished 3/27/24. 
29. Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller, the Man Who Created Nancy, Bill Griffith. Finished 3/28/24. 
30. Greenwich Village: A Guide to America's Legendary Left Bank, Judith Stonehill. Finished 3/29/24. SnackBook. 
31. The Muses Are Heard, Truman Capote. Finished 3/31/24. 

Pick o' the Month: 

April 2024 (9 read)
32. Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring, Brad Gooch. Finished 4/5/24. April AAC 
33. The Singing Sands, Josephine Tey. Finished 4/9/24. 
34. Shtum, Jem Lester. Finished 4/15/24. 
35. How to Win an Information War, Peter Pomerantsev. Finished 4/16/24. April AAC 
36. Eileen Gray: A House Under the Sun, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes & Zosia Dzierzawska. Finished 4/16/24. 
37. Life: Classic Photographs: A Personal Interpretation, John Loengard. Finished 4/20/24. April AAC 
38. Something Fresh, P. G. Wodehouse. Finished 4/22/24. 
  The Arrest, Jonathan Lethem.
39. Death From a Top Hat, Clayton Rawson. Finished 4/28/24. 
40. This Is Water, David Wallace Foster. Finished 4/29/24. Damp

Pick o' the Month: 

May 2024 (6 read)
41. A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict, John Baxter. Finished 5/4/24. 
42. The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars, Anthony Boucher. Finished 5/10/24. 
43. Keith Haring, Jeffrey Deitch, Suzanne Geiss, and Julia Gruen. Finished 5/18/24. Doorstop @ 528 pgs. 
44. I Must Be Dreaming, Roz Chast. Finished 5/19/24. 
45. Our America: A Photographic History, Ken Burns. Finished 5/28/24. 
46. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones. Finished 5/29/24. 

Pick o' the Month: 

June 2024 (5 read)
47. Amphigorey Also, Edward Gorey. Finished 6/1/24. 
48. Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers, Deborah Heiligman. Finished 6/8/24. 
49. Burn Book: A Tech Love Story, Kara Swisher. Finished 6/15/24. 
50. Clear, Carys Davies. Finished 6/19/24. 
51. The Known World, Edward P. Jones. Finished 6/30/24. 

Pick o' the Month: 

July 2024 (6 read)
52. And Be a Villain, Rex Stout. First book of Triple Zeck. Finished 7/3/24. 
53. The Second Confession, Rex Stout. Second book of Triple Zeck. Finished 7/5/24. 
54. In the Best Families, Rex Stout. Final book of Triple Zeck. Finished 7/6/24. 
55. Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, Salman Rushdie. Finished 7/11/24. 
56. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami. Finished 7/26/24. Doorstop @ 607 pgs.  
57. The Night Country, Stewart O'Nan. Finished 7/30/24. 

Pick o' the Month: 

August 2024 (7 read)
58. My Favorite Thing Is MONSTERS, Book One, Emil Ferris. Finished 8/7/24. 
59. Faces: The Creative Process Behind Great Portraits, Jane Bown. Finished 8/15/24. 
60. Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum, Antonia Hylton. Finished 8/17/24. 
61. Masterpieces in the Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh Museum. Finished 8/21/24. 
62. A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond As Told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid, Percival Everett & James Kincaid. Finished 8/28/24. 
63. Tenth of December, George Saunders. Finished 8/29/24. 
64. Good Girls Don't Make History, Elizabeth Kiehner. Finished 8/30/24. 

Pick o' the Month: 

September 2024 (7 read)
65. Bad Monkey, Carl Hiaasen. Finished 9/15/24. 
66. Crows: Encounters with the Wise Guys of the Avian World, Candace Savage. Finished 9/19/24. 
67. On Juneteenth, Annette Gordon-Reed. Finished 9/23/24. 
68. The Return of the Pharaoh, Nicholas Meyer. Finished 9/27/24. 
69. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, vol. 1, Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. Finished 9/28/24. 
70. Mary Ellen Mark: American Odyssey: 1963-1999, Mary Ellen Mark. Finished 9/29/24. 
71. Eileen Gray: Design and Architecture, 1878–1976 (Big at series), Philippe Garner. Finished 9/30/24. 

Pick o' the Month: 

October 2024 (3 read)
72. Bookstores, Horst Friedrichs and Stuart Husband. Finished 10/24. 
73. A Dog's Life, Peter Mayle. Finished 10/24. 
74. Oh, the Things I Know!, Al Franken. Finished 10/24. 

Pick o' the Month: 

November 2024 (4 read)
75. Murder Your Employer, Rupert Holmes. Finished 11/15/24. 
76. The Painted Word, Tom Wolfe. Finished 11/18/24. 
77. The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil, George Saunders. Finished 11/23/24. 
78. American Children, Susan Kismaric. Finished 11/23/24. 

Pick o' the Month: 

December 2024 (3 read)
79. Post Office, Charles Bukowski. Finished 12/3/24. 
80. The Painted Veil, W. Somerset Maugham. Finished 12/20/24. 
81. A Rage in Harlem, Chester Himes. Finished 12/29/24. 
82. The New! Improved! Bob and Ray Book, Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding. Finished 12/29/24. 
83. The Wood at Midwinter, Susanna Clarke, Finished 12/29/24. 
84. Heart of a Dog, Mikhail Bulgakov. Finished 12/31/24. 

Pick o' the Month: 

             

See? The Stack for 2025 is started. Okay, okay. It will be as soon as I finish William Maxwell's So Long, See You Tomorrow and place it in the designated spot on the floor of the library. There will be just about eight feet of space for more books to be stacked atop Mr. Maxwell's novel. It'll take just 12 months for this pile o' books to grow and mature. Okay? Happy Feet!

Books Read in 2025

January
1. So Long, See You Tomorrow, William Maxwell. Finished 1/4/25. 
2. Literary Feuds, Anthony Arthur. Finished 1/5/25. 
3. The Toughest Indian in the World, Sherman Alexie (AAC). Finished 1/9/25. 
4. Oh Skin-Nay: The Days of Real Sport, verse by Wilbur Nesbit, drawings by Clare Briggs. Finished 1/12/25. 
5. The Late Monsieur Gallet, Georges Simenon. Finished 1/15/25. 
6. Hotel Splendide, Ludwig Bemelmans. Finished 1/16/25. 
7. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, David Sedaris. Finished 1/23/25. 
8. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Matthew Desmond (Nonfiction Challenge). Finished 1/24/25. 
9. The Violent Bear It Away, Flannery O'Connor. Finished 1/28/25. 
10. Dorothea Lange: Seeing People, Philip Brookman. Finished 1/31/25 (at 11:59 p.m.). 

February
11. The Rock Snob*s Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Rockological Knowledge, David Kamp and Steven Daly. Finished 2/1/25. 
12. Glorious Exploits, Ferdia Lennon. Finished 2/3/25. 
13. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy. Finished 2/4/25. 
14. Annie Leibovitz, Photographs, 1970-1990 : Including a Conversation with Ingrid Siscny, Annie Leibovitz. Finish 2/4/25. 
15. Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury, Drew Gilpin Faust. Finished 2/7/25. 
16. Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Reza Aslan (for February AAC). Finished 2/17/25. 
17. The Map Thief, Michael Blanding (for February Non-Fiction challenge) Finished 2/22/25. 
18. My Lobotomy, Howard Dully. Finished 2/26/25. 
19. The White Album: A Collection of Images Inspired by the Songs of the Beatles, compiled and introduced by Russell Walks. Finished 2/26/25. 
20. Missing Person, Patrick Modiano. Finished 2/27/25. 
21. Stop Project 2025: A Comics Guide to the Republican Plan to End Democracy, an e-book. Finished 2/28/25. 

March
22. Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World, Henry Grabar. Finished 3/6/25. 
23. Horrorstör, Grady Hendrix. Finished 3/9/25. 
24. In Praise of Idleness, Bertrand Russell and Bradley Trevor Greive. Finished 3/15/25. 
25. Everyday People, Stewart O'Nan (March AAC). Finished 3/16/25. 
26. Fink on Warhol: New York Photographs of the 1960s, Larry Fink. Finished 3/17/25. 
27. The Spy in Moscow Station, Eric Haseltine. Finished 3/21/25. 
28. How About Never--Is Never Good for You, Bob Mankoff. Finished 3/24/25. 

April
29. Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams. Finished 4/4/25. 
30. All the Beauty in the World, Patrick Bringley. Finished 4/8/25. 
31. When the Moon Hits Your Eye, John Scalzi. Finished 4/13/25. 
32. How to Read a Book, Monica Wood. Finished 4/18/25. 
33. Grandma Gatewood's Walk, Ben Montgomery. Finished 4/26/25. 

May
34. Warlight, Michael Ondaatje. Finished 5/2/25. 
35. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess. Finished 5/31/25. 

June
36. The Public Library: A Photographic Essay, Robert Dawson. Finished 6/2/25. Interesting.
37. Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life, Dan Nadel. Finished 6/7/25. Most Excellent.
38. The Carter of La Providence, Georges Simenon. Finished 6/11/25. 
39. The Night at the Crossroads, Georges Simenon. Finished 6/18/25. 
40. Lies My Teacher Told Me: A Graphic Adaptation, James Loewen and Nate Powell. Finished 6/20/25. 
41. Humans, Mike Dowdall & Pat Welch. Finished 6/21/25.
42. The New Shoe, Jeff MacNelly. Finished 6/23/25.
43. The Machine Stops, E. M. Forster. Finished 6/27/25.
44. The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television, Koren Shadmi. Finished 6/29/25.
45. Reduced Shakespeare: The Complete Guide for the Attention-Impaired (abridged), Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor. Finished 6/30/25.

July
46. The Sellout, Paul Beatty. Finished 7/1/25.
47. Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead, Olga Tokarczuk. Finished 7/6/25.
48. The Yellow Dog, Georges Simenon. Finished 7/6/25.

Currently Reading as of 7/7/25

The Praise of Folly, Desiderius Erasmus.
The Work of Art, Adam Moss
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, Amanda Montell.
The Rape of Nanking, Iris Chang
Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin, Sue Prideaux.

*peeps in*
All clear?

Happy New Year! Happy reading and conversing in 2025 :)

Happy 2025, Bill.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, new thread. Looking forward to all things weird ;)

Happy New Year, Oh Weird One!

Happy New Year, Bill!

Hoping for this in 2025 for us all.

Happy new reading year, Bill.

Lovely embroidery in >1 weird_O:, Bill. You are a man of many talents! (wink, wink)

Happy new thread and new year.

Welcome back, Bill!

Happy New Year Bill.

>6 LovingLit:; >7 PaulCranswick:; >8 SandDune:; >9 figsfromthistle:; >10 Crazymamie:; >11 lauralkeet:; >12 richardderus:; >13 katiekrug:; >14 jessibud2:; >15 drneutron:; >16 Oberon:.

Thank you all for dropping in. Happy New Year to you all. I'm enjoying the new year. Tomorrow I'll start worrying about 2025, the full and actual years. Until tomorrow then, FROLIC!!

>14 jessibud2: I didn't answer your question, Shelley. My daughter Becky is the embroiderer. The Haring frolic was my Christmas gift.

Happy New Year, Bill. Great stack o’ books in >2 weird_O:.

I’m happy to see the love up above for Time and Again, Gun with Occasional Music and Hench. Off the beaten path, but awfully good. I have Knife in my soonish future, but first is Orbital, a sci-fi-er that improbably won the Booker.

Happy New Year, Bill. Happy New Thread. We love the Weird Tradition. What happened to post #1?

Hope you have a great reading year!

Happy New Year, Bill. I hope 2025 is good to you.

>20 msf59: I assume your question about #1 means you can't see it. Shelley can see it. Anyone else not seeing it?

A few more thank yous, these to Joe, Mark, Lori, and Beth.

>23 weird_O: The picture in your post #1 is coming through loud and clear for me—I love it!

Mark’s problem was maybe a glitchy LT thing?

Karen O

Happy reading from the Weird Stack in >2 weird_O:!!

>1 weird_O:, >18 weird_O: I can see it, I love it, and kudos to Becky for her fine work!

Hiya, Bill! Happy New Year, and happy first thread of 2025.

>1 weird_O: Way cool. Yay Becky. Sadly, I am missing the embroidering/stitching/knitting/crocheting/tatting gene. I can, however, braid things.

>2 weird_O: Impressive and cool.

>4 weird_O: Good start, although it shouldn’t take too long to read.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. My granddaughter Helen has been pursuing various back-stage non-union theater work in NYC. A recent gig was to build bookcases (yes, bookcases!) for a children's library stage set. She and a frequent work partner have access to a basement woodworking shop in Manhattan. (She tells me that most stage sets are built well outside the city and trucked in.)

 

                

Cool, ain't.

Very cool, indeed, Oh Weird One! How full of fabulous.

Happy new thread, and

Happy New Year, Bill!

>1 weird_O: What fun!

>29 weird_O: Cool is exactly what it is!

Happy new year, Bill!

The work in >1 weird_O: and bookcases in >29 weird_O: are impressive!

Happy New Year and new Thread.

Happy Noon! Thanks for the visits, Susan, Mary, and Robyn. I've got some wonderfully talented children, if I do say so myself.

>29 weird_O: Super neat! Looks like she learned how to build beautiful shelves from the best!

Happy New Year, Bill!

>1 weird_O: >23 weird_O: I can see the embroidery just fine, and it looks great too! Speaking of which, >29 weird_O: that stage set looks fabulous! I'd love to have some of those shelves in my own house.

Happy Saturday, Bill. I can see the #1 post now. Hooray for Helen. Very cool news.

We saw "Eureka Day" on Friday, and I greatly admired the bookshelves. It's an interesting play, satirizing political correctness while posing deep questions about community responsibilities. Fine acting by Bill Erwin and Jessica Hecht among others.

*sits down to await the thoughts on the book that you have FINISHED (happy squeal)*

>35 figsfromthistle:, >36 atozgrl:, >37 msf59: Belated but still enthusiastic reply to your comments. Glad to see you here. Happy you can see the photos now, Mark.

>38 ffortsa: It's only now that I know what play the shelves were built for. Thanks for telling me, Judy. I do remember Bill Erwin's name being mentioned, and there was talk of the books on those shelves being bought new, and how the intent is to dole them out to public school libraries when the production closes.

>39 Crazymamie: I like to think I'll being getting thoughts on So Long, See You Tomorrow, Mamie. But now I also have to formulate thoughts on Literary Feuds: A Century of Celebrated Quarrels--From Mark Twain to Tom Wolfe, which I had started in December and completed last night. I spent a couple hours this morning collecting candidates for January's ACC, fairly quickly narrowing down the field to three: Chuck Palahniuk, Sherman Alexie, and Jess Walter. While their work is curated, I may settle into Evicted for the nonfiction apparatus or Dorothea Lange: Seeing People, a Christmas gift.

I read a bit of Dorothea Lange. Then Sherman Alexie's The Toughest Indian in the World, a collection of stories. Going to surf, I hope for only a short time. Then nightie night.

Happy New Thread! I finally made it over. Glad you're here

Hello, weird_O! Hope you are having a very nice day. And I’ll join in the “happy new thread!” chorus.

Karen O

>2 weird_O: you're gonna need a higher ceiling.

Happy new year, Bill. Your thread is filled with fun things!

>42 mahsdad:. Yippee. Glad you found me, Jeff. Hope you and yours are having a good week.

>43 klobrien2: Music to my ears. The New Thread Singers.

>44 LovingLit: 2025's Stack will be based on the floor, so it can rise almost eight feet before encountering the ceiling. I had a stack of oversize art and photos books in the spot, but as I moved books around, it disappeared. Perfect. Now all I need to do is READ a lot of books in 2025.

>45 EllaTim: Thanks, Ella.

I did some fun things yesterday. In the morning, I avoided eating a breakfast or drinking coffee so my body would be pure. (Today, in contrast, I'm almost done with my first cuppa.) I allowed blood to be tapped and I peed in a cup. Before exiting the facility, I requested and got both a flu shot (a super-duty mix 'cause I'm an Old) and a COVID shot. Both of my shoulders are a bit achy this morning.

Got some groceries. At home, I ate breakfast and drank coffee. Oh! Whatta day!

Worked on installing baseboards to the bookcase.

Reading several books, I am. More than halfway through The Toughest Indian in the World for the AAC. Making headway in Evicted for the NFC (Nonfiction Challenge). Picked The Haunted Bookstore by Christopher Morley off a bedside bookcase; I'd started it a year or so ago, but set it aside. It's dated—the earliest copyright date is 1919. At this very moment, I'm waffling but leaning toward finishing it. I have several other books on pause from 2024 and those I do want to get back to (and finish):

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell
Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper by Nicholson Baker
Snark by David Denby

Don't blow it all up, I'm warning myself, by making the list too daunting.

Fool!!

>47 weird_O: You are being quite productive (that’s the holy grail I seek for myself). And you’re tying up loose ends. And hopefully having some fun whilst you do that.

Have a very nice Thor’s Day!

Karen O

>29 weird_O: That is really cool! If I was still a kid, I would definitely be feeling at home there.

Have a fantastic Friday, Bill!

Finished reading The Toughest Indian in the World, a collection of stories by Sherman Alexie.

Hey there, Bill! Love the embroidered topper! Your daughter did a fine job and a great Christmas present.

>29 weird_O: Great job your granddaughter did with the library set too.

Well, I am nearly finished my third book of the year, maybe late this evening, or tomorrow ? Thanks re my husband's hearing. He's no spring chicken either, nor am I. He turned 68 in December and I will be 64 later this month. His hearing problems began after his car accident though. So, I guess will wait and see what the ENT doc says . That is not until mid May! At least if he needs a hearing aid as a result of the accident, our car insurance should pay for that. And I know the hearing aids are pricey, as my mom wears them and has a severe hearing loss, as a result of age, plus it runs in her family.

Wishing you a Happy Year ahead and Happy Read. I soon soon need to fast and and get stabbed and yes, pee in a cup. I'll try to get to it later this month. Our young newly adopted dog is keeping me and Dave quite busy.

Have a great Sunday, Oh Weird One!

Yesterday, I went on a tear! Not only did I get my head hair and face hair trimmed and tidied, I stopped in at a Barnes & Noble and purchased three books. Yes, I know: I have way more books than shelves. Look at it this way: I finished one of them today. Can the rest be far behind?

The Argonauts, Maggie Nelson
The Violent Bear It Away, Flannery O'Connor
The Late Monsieur Gallet, Georges Simenon

   

I read Simenon's novel—one of 75— featuring Detective Chief Inspector Maigret.

Switch back to Ludwig Bemelmans' Hotel Splendide, a Christmas gift. Evicted is not taking its pause quietly. Eh, but that's the way it goes. Still 16 days left in January.

>50 weird_O: I have not yet read that one. I will see if I can track down a copy. I very much enjoyed Alexie's The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian.

>52 weird_O: Look at it this way: I finished one of them today. Can the rest be far behind? I love your reasoning, Bill!

Sweet Thursday, Bill. Just checking in. I hope those current reads are treating you fine. You really can't go wrong with Alexie and Evicted.

>48 klobrien2: Productive, Karen, is NOT how I see myself. I'd like to be polishing off Hotel Splendide and seguing into another book. And here I am scrolling through threads in which others casually toss off the names of books they just finished. I think I am whining; forgive me.

>49 alcottacre: I like that set too, Stasia. It is just so colorful.

>51 vancouverdeb: My habits are anti-productive, Deborah. I can't multitask, so I'm forever catching up. Ergo, I'm replying to you a half-week after your message was posted. I have medical gripes similar to yours. I'm supposed to have an annual checkup, and although it's been a full year since my last one, my doctor's routine-visits schedule is booked until August. I just have to keep breathing until then. :-)

You are allowed to whine on your own thread, Bill, and I give you permission to also whine on mine. Sometimes when I feel stuck in my reading, I will reread an old favorite, and that will get things moving again.

August is ridiculous. And yes, keep breathing until then, Oh Weird One. *bear hug*

Sometimes when I feel stuck in my reading, I will reread an old favorite. I did something like that, Mamie. I bought a mystery by Georges Simenon, The Late Monsieur Gallet, and read it. Simenon was enormously prolific (he published something like 400 novels) and created about 75 mystery novels featurlng Detective Chief Inspector Jules Maigret. The Maigret stories are hard to find (new or used) on book shelves, so I grab whatever is available (assuming it's one I don't have, and I have only 4).

That seems to have dislodged whatever the blockage was. Finished the Maigret, then Hotel Splendide, and I've established toeholds in an "about Blandings" book and a Flannery O'Connor novel. I've had more than a toehold in Evicted, but it isn't exactly "entertaining".

Hooray for dislodging the blockage!! I have been making my way through those Maigret books - I had read several here and there in the series. Last year decided to tackle reading them in order and read the first four. LT and Amazon disagree about which title is book five in the series, but Fantastic Fiction agrees with LT, so I'm going with that one - A Man's Head.

>58 weird_O: I hate book funks so I am glad to hear that yours is gone!

Have a fantastic Friday, Bill!

>58 weird_O: The Late Monsieur Gallet is a favorite of mine. The restless mind the lovely writing. Characters that stick with you. Glad it helped you get over the hump.

"About Blandings" =- could this be a P. G. Wodhouse book? Good on ya!

and Hi! Bill.

I grew up in Montreal, where we were supposed to learn and know French. The one and only book IN FRENCH that I ever attempted to read in its original form (it was assigned; I did not come to it willingly), was an Inspector Maigret story. Not only was I not successful, I can't even remember the title (blocked it out/deleted it from my memory cells?). All I remember is the author's name and Maigret's name.

Ask me if I care.

>61 magicians_nephew: Being too coy, I was. The book "about Blandings" was suggested to me, as a devotee of P. G. Wodehouse, by Laura's husband Chris. The title is In Search of Blandings, researched and written by N. T. P. Murphy. According to flap copy, "Behind Wodehouse's rich language and marvelously precise imagery, there lies a background of reality. People, places, names, incidents, institutions, appear in different guises...Murphy has taken on the task of tracking down the sources of Wodehouse's inspiration."

>59 Crazymamie: Ehhh, a Maigret fan. I knew I liked you, Mamie. My tendency is to stretch some of these series, rather than "streaming" all the books in succession. So I keep eyes out (one eye isn't enough for this critical task) for Wodehouse stories, Walter Mosley books (mostly but not exclusively Easy Rawlins), Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe), Donald Westlake (Dortmunder), John Burdett (Sonchai Jitpleecheep), Carl Hiaasen. I acknowledge I have unread entries in several of these series. Just in case I stall again, or more accurately, WHEN I stall again.

>60 alcottacre: Yes, I think it is safe to say that I am out of the funk, Stasia. But now I'm surfing LT instead of reading. Ahh, get this bull by the horns (eek).

>62 jessibud2: I experienced the pain of having to learn French. I can commiserate. I can see that would destroy any interest you'd have in Maigret. But don't deny yourself. In high school French, we were assigned the reading of Ionesco's absurdist play Rhinoceros, of course in French. I struggled, we all struggled. A few years ago, at a book sale, I found a copy of the play in English. Yes, I bought it, and yes, I read it (08-30-2019). I enjoyed it too. In translation.

Aw! I like you, too, Bill. Good thinking to use both eyes! I am not powering through them, just reading them in order as the mood strikes. I have them on Kindle, though, so I am waiting for book 5 to be cheaper than $11.99. I am also reading through the Nero Wolfe books in order. I have read several of the Walter Mosley books, but none of the others you mention - sounds like I have my work cut out for me, so thanks for mentioning them.

I am glad you are surfing the threads instead of reading - your fans need you to be present, Oh Weird One. I love seeing hour posts which always make me smile.

Hi Bill!

I visited on the 3rd and haven’t made it back since. But you missed me up there.

Snow, books, and etc. It’s all good, right?

Ah, those classic mysteries. Maigret, Nero Wolfe, Matthew Scudder all reward rereading, like putting on old comfy slippers and sitting by the fire. I finally wore out the Scudders and gave them away, but now and then I borrow a Nero Wolfe from Jim or a Maigret from the library. Bliss.

>63 weird_O: David A. Jasen one of my professors at college wrote a lovingly crafted book about Wodehouse's life, including a lot of the places he lived that became places where his characters lived.

P. G. Wodehouse: Portrait of a master Still in print, amazingly.

At this very moment, I'm scrolling through some news and not looking at this here LT site. It's early afternoon, and I'd had some coffee, but no breakfast yet. So first things not too far removed from first. Be back shortly. I think. If I have to.

>64 Crazymamie: Ah. Kindle. To each his own, Mamie. TBH, I haven't made a list of Maigret's mysteries, so I just read them in the order in which I find them. Same is true with Wodehouse books I just learned from the book about Wodehouse I am reading, that he wrote 90+ books. An insert in the latest Maigret showed 75 covers, stating it was Simenon's complete Maigret output. Wiki credits the author for 300 books total.

>65 karenmarie: You could argue, Karen, that I missed you this time too. But it's only been a weekend. One could argue (if you're being argumentative) that I squandered weekend hours in front of the TV watching American football. We got a goodly amount of snow, certainly the first plowable snowfall in two or three years. (By "plowable" I mean the amount that exceeds my Sube's ability to push through it. (And I didn't get to "measure" because my neighbor plowed the driveway as a Good Samaritan. I am grateful.)

>66 ffortsa: Have you ever visited The Mysterious Bookstore? I would like to prowl its aisles. I don't expect bargains, but I'd just like to see what all they have. I uncovered about a half-dozen titles they published, just hiding in the only Little Free Library in my quarter of the county. Fun mysteries. Have to admit I've not heard of Matthew Scudder. A new-to-me author to keep in mind.

>67 magicians_nephew: I've added it to The WANT! List™. Thanks for the recom, Jim.

An acquaintance of mine, a "mostly" retired elementary school librarian, sent me a link to an article in the Independent UK. Someone challenged someone else to assemble a list of the 30 best children's books. I've stripped the article, saving only titles and authors. It's very Euro-centrist in my opinion. What say you?

1. The Alice books by Lewis Carroll (19th century)
2. Grimm's Complete Fairy by The Brothers Grimm (19th century)
3. Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen (19th century)
4. The One Thousand and One Nights by Anon. (Folk tales)
5. Peter and Wendy by J M Barrie (1911)
6. The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan (1678)
7. The Narnia series by CS Lewis (mid-20th century)
8. Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (1995)
9. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (1937)
10. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908)
11. The Once and Future King by TH White (1958)
12. Five Children and It by E Nesbit (1902)
13. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (1894)
14. Matilda by Roald Dahl (1988)
15. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1963)
16. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf (1936)
17. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (1962)
18. The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin (1968)
19. Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (1958)
20. The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively (1973)
21. The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling (late 20th century)
22. The Scarecrows by Robert Westall (1981)
23. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (2001)
24. Down with Skool! A Guide to School Life for Tiny Pupils and their Parents by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle (1953)
25. The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban (1967)
26. Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman (2001)
27. The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (2015)
28. How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (2003)
29. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (1902)
30. Tom Brown’s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes (1857)

Here's the link: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/best-kids-books-...

>70 weird_O: What, no Charlotte's Web? It does look pretty Euro-centric to me. Also, they are calling The Once and Future King a children's book? I finally got around to reading it a few months ago, and I found it to be something of a slog. And I'm well past childhood. I have a hard time seeing that as a children's book.

>70 weird_O: That does look Euro-centric, to me Bill. As Irene noted , no Charlotte's Web and I as noted , no The Secret World of Og a favourite of mine is grade 1 or 2 that is Canadian. And no Anne of Green Gables another favourite of mine, also Canadian.

>70 weird_O: Where's The 101 Dalmatians and The Secret Garden? I have read about half of those, and some of them I have not heard of before, but it is an interesting list.

>70 weird_O: Bill, I found the original article online (here), and having read the introduction I think some context is useful in evaluating the list.

We all have cherished memories of the books we read and shared as children. ... Like totems, we pass them on to our own children, each book a spell in itself. ... This isn’t intended as a definitive ranking; but as an overview, and a guide. ... Each one, whenever it was published, can be read and enjoyed by a child today as much as it was by the children of the past.

Many of those books/authors aren't familiar to me, but that's because the list was created by a British person for a British audience. Some of those books (Narnia, Northern Lights) are nearly as well-known as Harry Potter over there, less so here.

I agree those of us who grew up in North America would have a different list but it's fun to compare.

>69 weird_O: I don't think I've been to the Mysterious Bookstore (or bookshop, as it was when I looked it up). It's down on Warren Street, which for this New Yorker is ALL THE WAY TO SOHO. But I'm not eager to buy physical mysteries unless there is one I can't find anywhere else. Space here is at a premium. If I had the space you have, yeah, I'd have more physical books.

>70 weird_O: As a British person I can say that I'm familiar with all the books in the list, and have read all but two (Noughts and Crosses and How to Train your Dragon). I read The Sword and the Stone, the first part of A Once and Future King as a child, but I think children these days might find the language difficult.

I did a course on children literature when I did my English literature degree and there seemed to be far less crossover across the Atlantic than for adult books.

>76 SandDune: there seemed to be far less crossover across the Atlantic than for adult books.
Thanks for weighing in, Rhian. When we lived in the UK in the early 2000s, my daughters were in primary school and read some of the books on the list (but were too young for others, I think). But there were many other, new-to-us authors. My oldest especially liked Jacqueline Wilson's books and the Alex Rider series, neither of which I'd ever heard of before then.

To be honest, I had a similar experience on my early visits to bookshops. Who are all these authors? I asked myself. Where is Oprah's Book Club?! (yes, really. sigh). But on the plus side, this confusion led me to the Booker Prize and so many wonderful new-to-me authors that I still follow today.

>70 weird_O: Interesting list. I love Philip Pullman's Northern Lights trilogy but wonder if is really qualified as children literature.

OTOH, I heard him at an author event pre-COVID and instead of reading from his book, he invited a couple of kids in the audience to come up and read a passage for him. The kids were delighted - and delightful.

No OZ Books? No Shel Silverstein? Chacon a son gout i suppose

Specially sorry to see no Edward Eager on the list. He's the American counterpoint to Evelyn Nesbit and his books are top notch. Half Magic is a gem, and Seven Day Magic and many other too.

But a good list. Thanks for posting it.

>75 ffortsa: Reminds me that there was a lovely bookstore called "Partners in Crime" in the village not fr from us, that we went to now and then to ehar authors reading and suchlike. But they closed their doors a few years ago. Lovely shop for crime and mysteries to browse in and just chat with the two proprietors

Wow! That was fun. I don't think I've elicited 9 replies to anything I've stored. Nice to read the responses, and the suggestions for appropriate inclusions by Americans. TBH, I haven't invested the time to rummage through the brain cells, seeking out American candidates. Just thought I'd pass along the list.

FWIW, I think I have about 27 of the books (including all 7 Potter books, all 7 Narnias, 2 Alices, and multiple Peter Rabbit books). Sixteen I don't possess, but at least I've heard of two or three of them.

So thanks Irene, Deborah, Mamie, Laura, Judy, Rhian, Laura again, Jim, and Jim.

>63 weird_O: I understand all about surfing LT instead of reading since here I am surfing rather than reading. . .

>70 weird_O: Definitely Euro-centric if you ask me, but what do I know? Thanks for posting the link, Bill! I am curious to read the article 'in situ' as it were.

Definitely an interesting list. What I have seen from Canadian students of mine a lot of their favourite authors are on here.

I agree that Once and future king is an odd choice for a children's book. I had to read it in first year comparative literature course......

Anyhow, happy weekend ahead.

>70 weird_O: >71 atozgrl: >82 figsfromthistle: The Sword in the Stone is much more of a children's book that the whole Once and Future King - even if not quite so much as the Disney movie version of it. But the whole works for 11 and up really, at least that's about when I read it.

Hiya, Bill. How nice to see Walter Mosley and Simenon in the discussions. I enjoyed the Maigret books as a lad (my folks had some) but I haven’t revisited in ages.

Children’s books: yeah, charlotte’s Web and Anne of Green Gables need to be in there. My first thought was L.Frank Baum’s Oz books, which I see Jim mentioned. I think Lewis Carroll’s Alice books belong at the top of the list; they remain amazing to this day. They boggled my mind with excitement as a kid - books can be like this?!

I finished a David Sedaris book yesterday. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls. Quite a mix: Sedaris chats about his family, his boyfriend, about human foibles that irk him. A few are gross. In many of the pieces, he reminds me of Andy Rooney. There are several short stories (fiction) scattered in the collection that took me aback until I recognized he was making it up. Overall, an entertaining read.

           

Wow! That was fun. But oops! I dismissed the topic too soon 'cause the fun continues. Thanks to Stasia, Anita, Susan, and Joe for your thoughts.

I finally, finally finished Evicted, a Pulitzer winner for general nonfiction. The burden has been lifted. I made an attempt to read it several years ago; I was going to read it at the same time that Paul Cranswick did, but I muffed it. The Nonfiction Collective for this year challenged participants to read a nonfiction book that won a prize. For that, I tried again, and with a bit of whine, I did it.

I am now focused on The Violent Bear It Away, Flannery O'Connor's second and final novel. I started that book about a week ago and realized that I wasn't paying attention to it. I've started from page 1.

Yesterday Jeremy asked me if I wanted to read Glorious Exploits, a book I gave him for Christmas. Googly eyes on a Roman head. I did want to read it. I wanted it for Christmas, but...this will do.

        

The Violent Bear it away is a good read. Lots of lovely writing and striking characters.

But maybe there's a reason she only wrote two novels.

Be curious to hear when you finish it

Finished Ms. O'Connor's second novel.

>88 magicians_nephew: ...maybe there's a reason she only wrote two novels. I think the reason is that she died at age 39. Per Wiki: "O'Connor completed more than two dozen short stories and two novels, while living with lupus. She died on August 3, 1964, at the age of 39 in Baldwin County GA Hospital. Her death was caused by complications from a new attack of lupus, following surgery for a uterine fibroid."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannery_O%27Connor

Howdy, Bill. Congrats on finishing Evicted. It is such an important book. It should be required reading. Glorious Exploits sounds really interesting. Keep us posted...

Previously unreported stuff. I did the laundry on Monday, getting it washed, dried, folded or hung up. Tuesday I laundered sheet and duvet cover. Yay for clean bedding!

Read more of Glorious Exploits. Jotted down names of books I might read in February. Might read, since listing book titles in any way suggestive of reading them post haste drains any enthusiasm I have for reading them.

Have a good day, all. It's sunny here today, temp rising toward 50° F.

‘Morning, Bill!

>70 weird_O: and etc. BBC 100 Greatest Childrens Books of All Time

>85 weird_O: I just love that title. Read it, gave it 3.5 stars.

>91 weird_O: Oooh. Laundry. Washing is just getting started, so glad you did all the subsequent things.

Yay for getting to 50F later. We’re slated to get to 64F.

Here are the books I was able to save at yesterday's book sale. Fun factors are high. Couple of upgrades (hardcovers to replace paperbacks): Joseph Anton, Salman Rushdie's memoir of living under some Iranian Ayatollah's fatwah, and An American Childhood by Annie Dillard. Quite a few books I never heard of that pounded on the ol' INTERESTED! button. A sticker book

A most impressive haul!

>93 weird_O: Nice!!

>93 weird_O: I loved All the Beauty in the World Bill. Hope you enjoy that one.

Here are the books I was able to save at yesterday's book sale. Fun factors are high. Couple of upgrades (hardcovers to replace paperbacks): Joseph Anton, Salman Rushdie's memoir of living under some Iranian Ayatollah's fatwah, and An American Childhood by Annie Dillard. Quite a few books I never heard of that pounded on the ol' INTERESTED! button. A sticker book



...And here is the list!

Conjurers, Cranks, Provincials, and Antediluvians: The Off-Modern in American History, Jackson Lears (hc)
An American Childhood, Annie Dillard (hc) upgrade
All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me, Patrick Bringley (hc)
Joseph Anton: A Memoir, Salman Rushdie (hc) upgrade
Bibliophile Diverse Spines, Jamise Harper & Jane Mount (hc)
The Book of Charlie: Wisdom From the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man, David Von Drehle (hc)
Portrait of Dr. Gachet: The Story of a Van Gogh Masterpiece, Cynthia Saltzman (hc)
Greek Myths: A New Retelling, Charlotte Higgins (hc)
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy (hc)
Man's Search for Meaning: The Classic Tribute to Hope From the Holocaust, Victor E. Frankl (hc)
The Noblest Invention: An Illustrated History of the Bicycle, editors of Bicycling Magazine (hc)
The White Album, Russell Walks (hc)
Better Type, Betty Binns (hc, A⸱D⸱P)
Death: A Graveside Companion, Joanna Ebenstein, ed. (hc, A⸱D⸱P)
Post Secret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives, compiled by Frank Warren (hc, A⸱D⸱P)
Annie Leibovitz: Photographs 1970-1990, Annie Leibovitz (hc, A⸱D⸱P)
Fink on Warhol: New York Photographs of the 1960s, Larry Fink (hc, A⸱D⸱P)
The Wonder, Emma Donoghue (pbk)
500 Great Books by Women: A Reader's Guide, Erica Bauermeister, Jesse Larsenn, and Holly Smith (pbk)
Missing Person, Patrick Modiano (pbk)
The First Rumpole Omnibus, John Mortimer (pbk)
Horrorstör: A Novel, Grady Hendrix (pbk)
In Waves, A. J. Dungo (graphic pbk)
Interpreting Art: Reflecting, Wondering, and Responding, Terry Barrett (pbk)
John Lennon: Summer of 1980. Yoko Ono with eight photographers (pbk)
Lumberjanes 1: Beware the Kitten Holy, Grace Ellis, illus. By Brooke Allen (graphic pbk)
Art & Beauty magazine, number 2, R. Crumb (graphic pbk)
Frank Lloyd Wright Designs, A sticker book, Frank Lloyd Wright (pbk)
Recollections in Black and White, Eric Sloan (pbk)

>97 weird_O: What an impressive group!
And, I just ordered Joseph Anton on Thrift.

We have The Boy, The Mole, the Fox, and the Horse > fun reading.

>97 weird_O: Wow! What a treasure-trove of books that you “saved”! And so eclectic—the only way to go! Congratulations!

Karen O

>97 weird_O: Love me a haul - especially of such impressive proportions, Bill.
Of those you added - I simply love the Rumpole books and I hope you enjoy them. That is where She Who Must Be Obeyed comes from.

If that is a book of Annie Leibowitzs photographs you're in for a treat

>94 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks, Linda. I was somewhat unthrilled with my toteful until the next day when I had a chance to really look at the books. I'm thrilled now.

>95 Crazymamie: Isn't it?

>96 Oberon: I saw the title on a list about a week before the sale and made a mental note. I even remembered that note and snatched the book when I saw it. I'm sure I will like it. Thanks for your endorsement.

>101 magicians_nephew: It's a collection of her work from 1970 and 1990, Jim. It is a treat; I've flipped through the pages. Incidentally, I looked on Amazon for a decent cover image and noted that the book is OOP. A good used copy priced at $150+.

>100 PaulCranswick: I do have several Rumpole collections, but I don't yet know if this omnibus includes any of those I've read. SWMBO.

>99 klobrien2: Serendipity is operative, Karen. Most of the rules I follow are unwritten. I want to read every one of them, but most will be eyecandy on my shelves.

>98 m.belljackson: I liked Joseph Anton, Marianne. Getting a clean, unbruised hardcover copy for a buck: priceless. The Annie Dillard book is also an upgrade. Boy Mole Fox Horse was a hard pass at $23 retail, but for a dollar...One Dollar...it's a tasty SnackBook.

Happy Sunday, Bill. Another mighty big book haul. You may need an intervention, my friend. I have read a couple of the GNs but nothing else.

Came across this message today on tumblr.com. I followed the link to the "comic book" version of project 2025. If you like GNs...

         

Here's the all important link: https://stopproject2025comic.org/

Follow it to the website; at the end, there's a link to download a .pdf. It's important.

>93 weird_O: Such a great haul! How exciting.

>105 weird_O: Thanks, Bill. Did it.

>107 ffortsa: Glad you checked it out. I am going to "read" the e-book, probably this week.

I read a couple of fluff books, finished Glorious Exploits, and after sampling several new-to-me books, I've settled into reading Drew Gilpin Faust's Necessary Trouble, a memoir; it is both entertaining me and informing me.

What's new in your realm? Anything you want to share?

>93 weird_O: Oh, nice! I hope you did not throw out your back hauling them all home :)

>109 alcottacre: I got 'em home without injury, Stasia. The challenge is getting the cargo from sale room to auto.

>106 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita. I've already raced through a couple of these new-to-me books, and I sampled a few others.

I have a home improvement/home maintenance project in progress; yes, it's going well. It is, of course, stealing time from other weird pursuits. Finding time to adequately tour these LT threads is a challenge. Getting books read I can do, but composing comments...well, sumthin's gotta give.

I hope to get to the end of Prof. Faust's memoir before lights out tonight. It is engaging; I can relate to many of her experiences and I marvel at her persistence. What a role model!

For the February AAC, I'm going to read Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan. The assignment is to read a book written by an American author "with a Muslim background," and Zealot meets the definition AND has been on the shelf for years. Aslan was born in Iran, but his family escaped to the U. S. when the mullahs gained control of the Iranian government. I read his introduction last night. He's a scholar of religions and considers himself a Christian. In the book, it seems, he'll sort through the historical record and the biblical record to define Jesus of Nazareth.

I do kinda want to follow along with the Non-Fiction Challenge, and for February, the assignment is mapmaking and/or map-using. I must muse on this. I want to read "off the shelves," so I'll see what suits me and fits the challenge.

I do have several other books started, but those currently are simmering on back burners.

The Praise of Folly, Desiderius Erasmus.
The Work of Art, Adam Moss
In Search of Blandings, N. T. P. Murphy

So...Tally Ho!

I think I should—if only for my own sake—catch up with my doings.

The overriding work is a home improvement project. I've been trundling building materials up and down the stairs, tools and finishing materials likewise. Vacuuming is necessary because someone is tracking sawdust through the place, grinding it into the carpets. But the vacuuming is NOT being done (darned house elf).

I'm experimenting with AirPods. Last year, my older son directed me to a newspaper article reporting that Apple had gotten government approval to tout AirPods as hearing aids. Yes, limited, but of some value. So I bought a pair, then waffled and dithered and fretted about activating them. So my pre-kickoff warmup Sunday involved getting that elder son to coach me through the AirPod setup. And I watched (and thoroughly enjoyed) the Super Bowl with the pods in my ears. I've breached the line. We'll see how it goes.

I am actually getting in reading time. I hope I'll be able to keep it advancing in the coming months. I'd also be pleased if I could comment on at least some of the books I've read this year. Need a punch list for that.

Current reading is Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. The author's name is Reza Aslan, born in Iran and forced out of the country (with his family) when the mullahs seized control. (His last name always makes me think of the Narnia Chronicles.) It's a good read.

Another scattered weekend is winding down. My home improvement project is progressing, and I got some reading in.

My primary read is Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. I was muddled Saturday and seemed to read and re-read a two or three page passage. I had chores distracting me, so I buckled down and read to the end of the chapter, which also was the end of Part II.

That evening, I switched books, and commenced to begin The Map Thief. Read several chapters. There isn't any mystery to the basic story. E. Forbes Smiley III was a prosperous dealer of rare and collectible maps. Preparing for a transatlantic trip to to the annual London Map Fair, where hundreds of map collectors would be gathering, Smiley drove to New Haven,CT. He wanted to examine several ancient books at Yale University's Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library. After a morning spent poring over the rare books, he returned the books to the desk and went out for lunch. While he was gone, a librarian spotted an X-Acto knife blade on the floor where he had been sitting. The library's security director was called and soon after the New Haven Police. By day's end Smiley was in the pokey.

The mystery is why and how a respected dealer could learn about maps and the (usually wealthy) collectors of them. After years in the business, he's discovered to have sliced maps from dozens—most probably hundreds—of ancient and rare books in public and private libraries. I guess this will be a character study.

BUT...

After I post this, I'll retire to the bed in the reading room and delve into Part III of Zealot.

Y'all have a good night, and awake cheery and exuberant to grapple with Monday. It's your job.

>112 weird_O: I've been using the AirBuds as hearing aids on and off. Useful, but they sure could be more comfortable.

Happy Monday, Bill. I hope you had a good weekend and have been enjoying those current reads. I should finish up The Woman in White today. This will be 2 big classics, that I tackled this year, so far and both are 5 star reads. It doesn't get better than that, right?

>105 weird_O: Wow! Just Wow! LOL.

>114 quondame: >112 weird_O: My daughter had me try on her Apple AirPods - they are clearly designed for bigger ear entries!
& so not comfortable
enough to see if they would work.

I watched a segment on the news the other day about air pods and how they can help those who have minor hearing loss. Theres also an app you can download and take a hearing test. When set up correctly, the air pods adjust the volume based on your hearing needs. I am not sure how effective it is. My dad has hearing aides ( the best and nicest you can buy) and he refuses to wear them but perhaps I will be able to convince him to wear the air pods while watching tv or when on the phone.

I should put some words here. Just like that. Words. Here! Dayam.

That said...

>114 quondame: I don't know about comfort, Susan. I DO know one drops out now and then. I might be using the incorrect tip size, but when I started with the smallest size, the set program insisted they were a bad fit.

>115 msf59: I am pottering along, Mark. I'm nearly finished with The Map Thief. I am also working through an e-book, that one touted in >105 weird_O:. On my laptop, which isn't to me the ideal platform. Kudos to you for methodically boring through those gargantuan novels.

>116 m.belljackson: There should be some adjustment, changing the size of the tips. But I feel uncomfortable with the tenacity of the fit. I've had one or the other drop out of my ear. They feel loose somehow, and I find myself pushing on them. Like a nervous tic.

>117 figsfromthistle: You have to have the correct model of AirPods to get the hearing aid capability. One of my shortcomings is a lack of iPhone fluency. The fact that I live alone undercuts at any hearing aid will do for me. It's always something, Rosanadana.

I went to the local used/new bookstore and came away with two boxes of Girl Scout cookies. No books though. I'm content.

>119 weird_O: Last night one dropped into my pasta (Peruvian Tallarin verde), so yeah, I'm familiar with that problem.

Howdy, Bill. Just checking in. I hope all is well in PA. How are those current reads treating you?

>121 quondame: Cripes. Hope you didn't eat it! (The AirPod, I mean.)

>122 msf59: My part of PA seems to be getting by. The highs yesterday and today were sufficient to melt some of the ice that's slickened quite a stretch of my driveway. I am clunking along with the reading.

Gotta try out this new reviewing magic.

Hmmmm... That didn't work. Let's see. Try this.

#11. Finished 2/1/25

Today's different, somehow. Here it is 3 pm, and I'm sipping my 3rd cup of my coffee. I'm putting my home improvement project aside, say, until next month (which of course roars in here on Saturday. I kinda sorta want to muse about the books I've read so far, the books I am currently reading, and to write...hmmm...entries or squibs about these less than two dozen books. I'm nearly finished reading My Lobotomy and I am surprised by the level of engagement I feel. I think I'll complete it tonight, and then shamelessly trot through one or two SnackBooks to run up my reading tally. (I scarf 'em at book sales. Each one is mindless, sure, so you can power through, and bolster the monthly tally.)

Yesterday I pocketed a list of nine titles copied from The WANT! List™ because I'd be driving by a B&N store and had a white hot gift card for the place. I went in and after sneering at the best-sellers piled high, I unproductively scanned the shelves. And then *gasp!* I found one! Holy Moses! Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World.

As noted in post #125, I was close to finishing My Lobotomy, and now I have. Number 18. It's a story built on man's inhumanity to man. A wicked stepmother focuses on one boy, a 12-year-old, in a mixed family (mixed in the sense of his-hers-theirs), stirs up anger and fears, and railroads the lad through a lobotomy, then gets him declared a ward of the state, thus robbing him of freedom, life skills, and an education.

Also last night, I finished perusing a little art book called The White Album. Got it at a book sale—ah, it was a buck. I read more of Stop Project 2025: A Comics Guide to the Republican Plan to End Democracy, a freebie downloaded from a politically partisan website. It is a pdf of 96 pages that I've been reading on my laptop, a few pages a day. Read more of Missing Person by Nobelist Patrick Modiano. That I expect to finish today.

      

19. Finished 2/27/25.

Hey Bill, Happy Friday.

You reminded me of this art installation I heard about, where this guy collects White Albums and then displays them to see how what started out as completely white cardboard has changed over the years. People will collect anything.

https://www.rutherfordchang.com/white.html

https://www.instagram.com/webuywhitealbums/

ETA - just was looking at the instagram page and it seems that Chang past away last month. That must have been why I saw articles about the collection recently. :(

Well, I understand that it's March now. I've completed reading 21 books—10 in January, 11 in February. I'm halfway through #22, Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar.

So far this year, I've been building my reading around two monthly commitments: the American Author Challenge and the Non-Fiction Challenge. For the former, I'll be reading Stewart O'Nan's Everyday People. For the latter, I expect to acquire Eric Haseltine's Spy in Moscow Station and read that. Haseltine, I just learned over the weekend, is Susan/Quandame's brother.

What other books would I like to read? I've already cited Paved Paradise. I'm already "sampling" four other books:

A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess (a re-read)
The Praise of Folly, Desiderius Erasmus
The Work of Art, Adam Moss
In Search of Blandings, N. T. P. Murphy

If my target is, say, 12 books a month, and I DO complete the four books I've sampled plus the three I'm committed to, then I have five open slots in March. (Oh, and I have 3,100+ books in the "Shelved But Unread" collection; more arriving every month. Yikes!)

I'm excited.

And Oh Yeah! I've got a short stack of worthy titles that I started/sampled in 2024, but set aside.
Here are those titles:

Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Sellout, Paul Beatty
John Barleycorn, Jack London
Snark, David Denby
A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James
The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee

Ho ho. A wealth of reads right before my eyes. Aren't you excited? Too.

>112 weird_O: I will be curious to see what you think of Zealot, Bill. I read it a couple of years ago and ended up giving it 4 stars.

>131 weird_O: Ho ho. A wealth of reads right before my eyes. Aren't you excited? Too. Absolutely!

Have a marvelous Monday, Bill!

>131 weird_O: The fellow who invented Parking Meters - OR taught Britain to love them - died recently, His name was Donald Shoup.

Dont know if you can see this link.

https://www.economist.com/obituary/2025/02/13/donald-shoup-knew-how-to-get-citie...

Like a lot of Economist readers, the last page obit is usually what I like to read first.

>132 alcottacre: I have been wrasslin' with Zealot (actually, with most my 2025 reads thus far). My view of the terrain is too superficial. I should have left it at that, but nooo, I had to scan the book page. Seems to be an insider's discussion, a picky bunch have their say. Well, I'll come up with something. :-)

>133 magicians_nephew: Oh, I've been introduced to Donald Shoup by Paved Paradise. It doesn't credit him as the parking meter's inventor but as the person who figured out how best to use them. According to PP, the parking meter was invented in the 1930s by Carlton C. McGee, a newspaper editor in Oklahoma City. His device was called the Park-O-Meter. The book asserts: "By 1938, there were meters in eighty-five US cities."

I'm nearing the end of a chapter titled "The Professor of Parking Starts a Cult." I am going to have to fill out the paperwork to gain access to that obit. (Maybe if I drive around the block, access will open for me.)

All right, all right, all right. I've parked Paved Paradise atop the slowly rising 2025 stack o' reads. First read of March. I'm turning now to Everyday People for the AAC's Stewart O'Nan fest. For spy time at Nonfiction Challenge, I've got Spy in Moscow Station on order.

I have The Spy in Moscow Station in hand; delivered in the forenoon, a day ahead of the promise. Making headway into Mr. O'Nan's book. Saw a mention of Isaly's; still in business?

Trying to reduce the amount of dirt (clean sawdust, actually) from the shop.

Got word, via an obit in the NY Times, that my cousin, Juan Hamilton died. Juan was Georgia O'Keeffe's assistant from 1973 until her death in 1986. Controversy, of course, because of a substantial age gap. But the obit referred to him as "the son she never had." He died in Santa Fe, perhaps in the home she had there, which he inherited.

>136 weird_O: Interesting connection, Bill. Not even six degrees! Did you know your cousin at all?

Today the Guardian ran an article about the utter silence of the living former presidents. Not one has anything to say about the current president. The piece quoted a Democratic strategist named Kurt Bardella:

Stop playing the ‘I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes or prematurely step out of line’. We don’t have time for that crap. Get in the game or don’t ever talk again. If you don’t have anything to say now, while this is going before our very eyes, I don’t want to hear from you ever again.”

To which I say: AMEN!

>137 ffortsa: I have to say no, Judy. The last time I saw him was the summer of '63 (I think), when he drove away from his parents' home in Glen Rock, NJ, bound for Hastings College in Nebraska. I don't think he returned to the East Coast for more than a visit. Juan's parents worked for the Presbyterian Church, sometimes in the US, sometimes in Ecuador and Venezuela. After retiring, they lived in El Salvador. All were fluent in Spanish (and his sister Beth taught it at the high school where she lived). It was during the family's sojourns in South America that he picked up the name Juan; we always called him Bruce. My mother, of course, stayed in touch with her sister, and my sister stayed in touch with Beth.

>138 weird_O: Is it fear that he will find a way to get even - to punish them by hurting their families - that has caused this reaction?

Why can't All the Good People Unite to bring down this monstrosity?

Al Green, Jasmine Crockett, AOC...etc. can't do it alone

17. The Map Thief, Michael Blanding (for February Non-Fiction challenge) Finished 2/22/25. 

       

There isn't any mystery to the basic story. E. Forbes Smiley III was a prosperous dealer of rare and collectible maps. Preparing for a transatlantic trip to the annual London Map Fair, where hundreds of map collectors would be gathering, Smiley drove to New Haven, CT. He wanted to examine several ancient books at Yale University's Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library. After a morning spent poring over the rare books, he returned the books to the desk and went out for lunch. While he was gone, a librarian spotted an X-Acto knife blade on the floor where he had been sitting. The library's security director was called and soon after the New Haven Police. By day's end Smiley was in the pokey.

Beyond this basic event, there is befuddlement and mystery. Why would a respected and very knowledgeable dealer— an expert, serving well-heeled clients, cutting deals with other dealers, a generous man—turn to astonishing destructiveness and dishonesty? Why would he betray everyone in this business, one built on trust. The book's author, Michael Blanding, thoroughly researched all aspects of the conundrum. He talked to dealers and collectors and librarians, security officials, police, FBI. He elicited Smiley's cooperation, for a time.

The Map Thief is absorbing, well written. I recommend it for its inside view of the world of collectibles. And for its insightful story of a trusted man gone rogue.

1. So Long, See You Tomorrow, William Maxwell. Finished 1/4/25. 

       

Set in a small town in Illinois, this novella tells a story about a murder that, among other things derails a budding friendship between the narrator and the son of the murder suspect. The narrator has physically moved on from the incident, which happened in 1921, but he can't get it out of his mind. Years later, he searches newspaper accounts and government records and chats with folks who lived in the town and had recollections of the ties and tensions among tenant farm families involved.

It's a marvelous piece of writing. The story is sad. The narrator never is able to right what he believes is his wrong.

1. So Long, See You Tomorrow, William Maxwell. Finished 1/4/25. 

       

Set in a small town in Illinois, this novella tells a story about a murder that, among other things derails a budding friendship between the narrator and the son of the murder suspect. The narrator has physically moved on from the incident, which happened in 1921, but he can't get it out of his mind. Years later, he searches newspaper accounts and government records and chats with folks who lived in the town and had recollections of the ties and tensions among tenant farm families involved.

It's a marvelous piece of writing. The story is sad. The narrator never is able to right what he believes is his wrong.

>143 weird_O: I loved that book too, Bill. Have you read anything else by Maxwell? I always intended to, but haven't done so.

The Map Thief fell out of my bookcase a few days ago and i have been on and off re-reading it.

Good writing lots of things i never knew about the world of maps.

>138 weird_O: True!!! >: (

The Map Thief sounds interesting. Thanks for the BB. ; P

Happy Wednesday!

>93 weird_O: Ah, An American Childhood by Annie Dillard. I took a chance on a *really ugly* second hand copy of that over 10 years ago and boy, did it knock my socks off. I loved it :)
And the bibliophile one looks...relevant.

I've been entangled in idleness for about a week. I don't know how it got control of me. Perhaps I wasn't doing anything. But at each day's end, I had no evidence of having accomplished anything. No books finished, no boxes checked on a To-Do list. In fact, no list. Yikes.

Yesterday I went to one of the vaunted (by me) Bethlehem Area Public Library book sales, and extracted (eventually) a somewhat deflated me. You can't score big every sale, I consoled myself. Sure, I did get a copy of James, a pristine paperback of A Bell for Adano to replace my deteriorating, 50 to 60-year-old mass-market paperback. Oh yeah, and that book about Bob Mankoff's career as The New Yorker's cartoonist-in-chief and that cute little edition (3 3/4" by 5 7/8") of Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem (apt title given the locale of the sale). Not bad, after all.

The List:

46. A Bell for Adano, John Hersey (pbk) upgrade
47. Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner (pbk)
48. Fatherland, Burkhard Bilger (pbk)
49. Righteous, Joe Ide (pbk)
50. A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki (pbk)
51. Flash Fiction America: 73 Very Short Stories, James Thomas, Sherrie Flick, and John Dufresne (pbk)
52. Delta of Venus: Erotica, Anais Nin (hc)
53. On the Road, Jack Kerouac. (hc) upgrade
54. Newsroom Confidential: Lessons (and Worries) From an Ink-Stained Life, Margaret Sullivan (hc)
55. James, Percival Everett (hc)
56. Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community: Eight Essays, Wendell Berry (hc)
57. Becoming Canada, Ken Dryden (hc)
58. Havana: Tales of the City, edited by John Miller and Susannah Clark (hc)
59. Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays, John Didion (pocket-size hc)
60. How About Never. Is Never Good for You? My Life in Cartoons, Bob Mankoff (hc, oversize)
61. Always Looking: Essays on Art, John Updike (hc, oversize)

I loved that Mankoff book! I own it and read it a few years ago. I am now going to actively seek out the title by Ken Dryden (who has quite a life resume himself. Just saying)

>148 weird_O: That’s a fine list! I think you did really well!

Karen O

>148 weird_O: Wow, I agree with >150 klobrien2:. Not bad at all!

excellent haul!

You made me go order a pb copy of A Bell for Adano...I think I read that back in my yout'. Probably a book club edition from my mother's shelves. I'd like to revisit, and my library can only provide it through ILL, which sometimes takes months. The impulse could have passed by then.

I think you had an excellent haul at the booksale. Crying in H Mart and a Joe Ide book - along with James, Newsroom Confidential ... You did GREAT! at this booksale.

Thank you all, Shelley, Karen, Laura, Judy, Linda, and Benita. I'd be remiss if I didn't post a stack shot.

            

I got a neat and clean paperback of Joan Didion's essay collection titled Slouching Towards Bethlehem at the Manheim (PA) Community Library sale back in '21. Read it about 6 months later. IN Bethlehem on Wednesday, I was taken by a pint-sized hardcover of the same book. The pair seem to get along well.

 

Scanning the shelves of trade paperbacks, I picked a copy of A Bell for Adano, John Hersey's Pulitzer-winning novel. The MMP edition I bought new for 50¢ in the early '60s is falling apart; I can shelve them together.

>155 weird_O: I see a few I would like to read in that stack.

>148 weird_O: I saw A Bell for Adano as a TV drama when I was a kid. (Starring John Forsythe, IIRC) Turned out the book of this story was even better than the play.

The Joan Didion Essays really opened my eyes to what a terrific writer and observer she was. If it's you first time meeting her you're in for a treat.

And On The Road !!

And Crying in H Mart!! They just opened Another! H Mart in the city and they are always busy

I'd say you got a pretty good haul, Bill.

I'll be looking forward to hearing what you make of James

Another weekend of idleness, but that's okay with me. I did finish my reading of A Spy in Moscow Station on Friday. Picked up, then put down A Clockwork Orange. Read a little of One Man's Meat by E. B. White. Then settled on Bob Mankoff's How About Never? Is Never Good for You?. And he's...OFF!

>148 weird_O: Excellent haul!

>155 weird_O: Ooh I love the stack shot. Lots of great reading ahead.

Just driftin' and driftin'. Actually, I did get to see my PCP yesterday. Quality time. One direct result is a pair of appointments next week, flanking an appointment set up a year ago for an eye exam. (Wednesday-Thursday-Friday).

Because I was a good boy at the doctor's office and because I didn't cry at the drug store when I got an Rsv shot, I allowed myself to stop in at the Firefly Book Store to see if there were any specials. Left with a used copy of Masterworks of American Painting and Sculpture from the Smith College Museum of Art and a new copy of Careless People. I had to grab the art book 'cause The Grand Gracie is a student at Smith, and I've never been to the campus, much less the school's art museum. I need to page through the book, then pay a visit. That second buy is an insider's memoir of Facebook that Facebook has tried to suppress.

Because I had just finished Bob Mankoff's memoir of his time as a cartoonist then the cartoon editor for The New Yorker, I jumped right into the "cautionary tale of power, greed, and lost idealism" at Facebook. What a start! The author, Sarah Wynn-Williams, was attacked by a shark when she was 13. She not only fought off the shark, but survived the negligent parental and medical care she got. You just gotta read it.

So here I am, trying to seize control of this voyage.

NOTE, please: I am grateful for your kind responses to last week's book haul, Robyn, Jim, and Anita.

@lycomayflower is currently reading Careless People, and she agrees, "you just gotta read it."

>134 weird_O: Well, I see that you managed to finish Zealot and gave it a very good rating!

>135 weird_O: I need to get to the Haseltine book, which I own. I hope you enjoy it, Bill.

>138 weird_O: Amen! and A-Women too!

>141 weird_O: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation!

>142 weird_O: Already in the BlackHole or I would be adding it again.

>148 weird_O: Great haul, Bill. I am very jealous!

>162 laytonwoman3rd: Already read Careless People so I can safely dodge that BB in any case.

March IS going out like a lamb here. Lots of cloud cover, but the sun breaks through now and again. Temp (at the front door) is * goes to check * is 74°. Lovely.

I've passed the halfway mark in Careless People. Won't get through it today, but this week surely.

Just realised that as of the 12th of this month (March), I've been sinking considerable time in LT for 10 years (since 2015). And the horror is that I haven't deliberately make a list of book to buy myself for this Thingaversary. I get 10—one for each year—plus one "to grow on." Right? Am I right right right? Mmmmm. Fun.

To Weird - I also started with LT in 2015 with Reviews of DOGLAND and Spider Woman's Daughter!

For now, I've joined the "NoBuy" Club, so will catch up later with 10-11 books from Holiday Gifts and Thrift.

Hi Bill. I am glad you are joing Stasia, Linda (Laytonwoman) and me in June when Stasia make the trek from Texas to PA. I sent you a PM. Please let me know if make message was clear enough.

>164 weird_O: And one for good luck! Duh. : )

Enjoy purchasing your 10 books for your Thingaversary, Bill. I'm coming up to my 15 year of sinking time on LT, but I won't buy 15 books . I am trying to purchase less books , and I buy books throughout the year. But I know lot of people buy for the their Thingaversay. Good for you, getting an RSV shot. My granddaughter got RSV when she just turned 3, or maybe 2 . Anyway, she ended up in the hospital for 3 or 4 days, on oxygen until she recovered fully. Just the nasal cannula, so not too bad, but one would just as well not have it.

>168 vancouverdeb: I, on the other hand, fully intend to buy all 20 books for my upcoming May Thingaversary, lol. I already have 4 in hand with another 10 on the way.

Looking forward to meeting you in June, Bill!

>168 vancouverdeb: Ouch! Sorry to hear about your grandddaughter's encounter with RVS. Hospitals are no fun, especially for one so young.

On advice from my PCP, I've been avoiding the RVS vaccine based on statistics he quoted, and his assessment of my general health. Of course, my endocrinologist was pushing for it last year, and I see her again this week, so she will probably push it again, based on my age.

Thanks all—Judy, Linda, Kim, Stasia, Deborah—for your visits. Not buying books or definitely buying books, I'll be there with you. Vaccines: Get 'em, irregardless (sic) of what wormbrain says.

This is being my medical care week: pumping out blood for the vampires medical technicians (Monday), another opinion on my ambulatory skills (Tuesday), annual eye exam (today), and an echocardiogram (tomorrow). I'm still O.K. (Kudos or shucks, ymmv.)

I'm near the conclusion of Careless People. * Holy person * boom! Zuckerberg and his minions are disgusting people. Just scum.

>171 weird_O:
regarding Zuckerberg - I learned that when I read Accidental Billionaires. Nothing good can come from something that was stolen and then developed only to get back at a woman who spurned Suckerberg's advances.

I finished it. Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams. A memoir of Sarah's work for Facebook. Yuck.

All the Beauty in the World is the book I finished reading today. Got it at the last book sale I hit. A nice read.

Current reading is When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi. One day at dusk, the moon, as well as all the moon rocks on display or in research facilities throughout the world, turn into cheese. What this means is that Scalzi has written another sci-fi winner. I'm only 30 pages into this 323-page book, but I am encouraged.

I visited a B&N store yesterday with a list of five book titles. Came away with two: the Scalzi book and How to Read a Book by Monica Wood. The store didn't have copies of Walkin' the Dog by Walter Mosley, Warlight by Michael Ondaatje, or The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television, a graphic bio by Koren Shadmi. I knew that seeking the Mosley book or the graphic one were fool's errands. Until I learned that the Ondaatje was published several years ago, I was surprised the store didn't have it.

Looking forward to Friday—you know, TGIF. Dentist. I'll say no more.

Edited to Add: I guess I should do my income taxes soon.

Sweet Thursday, Bill. Finally catching up. Happy recent Thingaversary and the book haul. I enjoyed the Rod Serling GN bio.

>174 weird_O: I have heard good things about that one. I believe Caroline recommended it once upon a time and I purchased a copy. I just need to find where I put it. Thanks for the reminder, Bill!

>175 weird_O: I have How to Read a Book but have not had a chance to read it yet. I will be curious to see what you think of it. I know the book has quite a few fans here in the group.

>175 weird_O:
take my advice and don't do your taxes. I am sure that they will send you a bill for what you owe.

Hiya, Bill. You read such an interesting variety of books! I’m curious about All the Beauty in the World when you get to it. Thanks for reviewing the William Maxwell book; you’ve piqued my interest.

On your most recent list, I loved Crying in H Mart and A Tale for the Time Being. In the latter, it took me a while to totally warm up to it, but once she met her grandmother, it was Katie bar the door.

Hope you’re set up for a good weekend, Bill. Enjoy the reads.

P.S. There were a number of others on that recent list that I loved, including James (my 2024 Book of the Year) and On the Road (which had a profound effect on my young life).

>175 weird_O: Hey Bill, Happy Friday. Looking forward to when I get around to the new Scalzi.

Regarding The Twilight Man, I read this a couple years ago, I quite enjoyed it. I got it from my library and read it on my iPad using Hoopla. If you are digitally inclined and your library does Hoopla, I'd recommend it. Its pretty good for reading comics. Either way, good luck finding it.

>178 benitastrnad: That idea has crossed my mind, Benita. I saw a headline just the other day (perhaps it was in The Guardian), the gist of which was that, with its dramatically reduced work force, the IRS may not notice. Are you taking your own advice?

>179 jnwelch: When I posted that books list (end-of-January sale), Erik encouraged me to read it, having enjoyed it himself. So I did read it. I'll get something posted, I hope. I do try to keep my reading horizons wide open, Joe. On your recommendations I'll move both Crying in H-Mart and A Tale for the Time Being onto the "read this soon" stack, where they can rub spines with James. I've read On the Road two or three times over the years, and writings about Kerouac and his driver and about the notables and events that Kerouac fictionalized.

>180 mahsdad: The cheese-moon story is excellent, Jeff. Scalzi views the event from a lot of viewpoints. One chapter presents a movie executive listening to dozens of pitches for projects birthed from the lunatic event, and going nuts. The pitch she greenlights has nothing, nothing to do with the moon or cheese. She chokes on her coffee when told the writer of it is Vanessa Colby.

>181 weird_O:
No. I am not. However, I am paying part of my owed taxes on Monday (April 14). It will be the latest I have ever mailed anything to the IRS. I am sure they will send me a bill for the rest.

Long time no visit, Bill!

>93 weird_O: I’m envious of the Fink and Leibovitz books, among others. I’m so glad you love rescuing books. I consider it one of my late-life missions, too.

>129 weird_O: I have one or the original ones, with a real serial number, bought with babysitting money in 1968 or 1969.

>131 weird_O: Tinker to Evers to Chance – from you to quondame to Eric Haseltine. I just acquired a copy of The Spy in Moscow Station, due next week sometime.

>136 weird_O: I’m sorry about your cousin’s death, and see that I’m three degrees from Georgia O’Keeffe.

>138 weird_O: The corollary of “If you didn’t vote, shut the hell up for the next 4 years”.

>164 weird_O: I buy so many books each year – Kindle, Audible, paper – that I don’t officially buy anything for my Thingaversary any more. But you do you. Fondle! Acquire! Catalog!

>175 weird_O: I’ve already noted How to Read a Book as a potential choice for my RL book club.

>181 weird_O: and >182 benitastrnad: Our net return - what we get back from the state minus what we owed the feds minus our CPA’s fee – makes it worthwhile to do our taxes. And regardless of how many or few IRS employees there are, we absolutely and categorically do not wish to get on any kind of automated bad-guy or RL agent list.

Hi Bill, reading your messages, I note you are quite a busy man. I hope things slow down for you soon.

All good wishes to you emotionally andphysically.

>182 benitastrnad: I'm expecting to get both federal and state returns and payments in the mail tomorrow. I did have a stopped-heart hour or two Saturday evening when the several envelopes bearing 1099s were not where I thought they were. But I found them (as usual, in the last place I looked). Just checking over the forms on last time, then off to the P.O.

Finished When the Moon Hits Your Eye tonight. Turning to How to Read a Book; I may read a few pages before outtening the light.

ETA: I'll reply to you, Karen, and you, Linda, in the morning.

The library annex is shaping up. There's still room for a bed.

>187 weird_O: The shelves are strickingly elegant. All the empty wall above them is concerning, though.

>187 weird_O:- Gorgeous, Bill. As are your floors. I bet you are itching to fill those empty spots! Will you eventually be adding height?

>185 weird_O: But I found them (as usual, in the last place I looked).
You know that's how it works, right? Because once you find the thing, you stop looking?
Anyway, I'm glad you found those pesky 1099s.

>187 weird_O: Also, your shelves are lovely.

>187 weird_O: The shelving is beautiful! Very nice work. I sure wish I had the space to add shelving like that.

>188 quondame: Gosh. What should I do about that wall? Susan. Do you think "books" would work?

Bwahhahahahaha...

>189 jessibud2: Oh, the floors. When Judi and I were collecting ideas for the house we wanted to build, we had three kids, each with some allergy or other. Judi asked their allergist for some guidance, and he strongly advised avoiding wall-to-wall carpeting and any sort of forced air heat/cooling. So. Hardwood floors and area rugs. Glad you like them.

>190 lauralkeet: You know that's how it works, right? Because once you find the thing, you stop looking?

Jeepers. Is that it? I guess you are right. Huh. Thanks for letting me know.



>191 atozgrl: Aw, thanks. I'm getting to the end of wall space myself.

Here it is: the last week or two of April, and I haven't pick an "Appalachian" book of this month's AAC.

Several books I considered, all on my shelves:

Born Fighting by James Webb. Scots-Irish culture clashes, set to roiling and boiling in the home countries, then drained into the colonies of America, where many many settled in the Appalachian regions. This would be a re-read for me.

My Land Is Dying by Harry Caudill. An old book (published in 1971) by a Whitesburg Kentucky attorney is a plea for reform of coal mining in his hme region. Also a re-read.

Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands by Allen Eaton. First published in 1937 by the Russell Sage Foundation, republished by Dover in 1973, which is when I acquired my copy. NOT a re-read.

Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery. This is the story of Emma Gatewood's walk along the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine. Having birthed and raised 11 children and many grandchildren, having divorced her abusive husband, she tried something new. It was 1955 and she was 67. She flew from Ohio to Atlanta, hired a cab to transport her to into the mountains, then started to walk. Having reached the end of the trail, she repeated the walk. Several times. And then she walked the Pacific Coast Trail.

   

>193 weird_O: Is Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands from Scotland?

>193 weird_O: My Father set himself the goal of walking all the way on the Appalachian Trail. He got a heck of a lot of it done. I learned a lot about the trail from him but this Grandma Gatewood book is news for me. Thanks for the heads up.

>194 m.belljackson: The book is American, Marianne, reporting on craft practices in the 1930s in the southern Appalachians—northern Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky. Berea College and the John Campbell Folk School are cited frequently. But as the cover copy notes, "many of these craft practices can be traced back to roots in England, Scotland, and Ireland."

>195 magicians_nephew: You are welcome, Jim. My own experience of walking the trail ranged over a half-dozen or so miles, ending at the Lehigh Gap. I think the Pennsylvania leg of the trail is particularly ankle-punishing. It's all rocks. I learned of Grandma Gatewood from my wife, whose grandfather devoted time and sweat maintaining the trail and shelters between Lehigh Gap and the Delaware Water Gap. I don't know how Papa Leh actually met Emma Gatewood, but she would leave the trail at Lehigh Gap to restock at stores in Palmerton and to spend a night in a bed at the Leh house.

>196 weird_O: Thank you - with the mention of Highlands, I thought of Scotland - not aware of American ones!

>196 weird_O: I once did about 2 miles on the Appalachian Trail. The path was fine where we were (somewhere in Virginia), very pretty scenery, but I was not impressed with the maps. Other countries may do other things better, but I'd put money on British Ordnance Survey maps being some of the best in the world if you are hiking.

>187 weird_O: Looks great, but what is up with all the bare shelves! I can help fill them. . .

>193 weird_O: I really want to read Grandma Gatewood's Walk as I walk quite a bit and take part in virtual walking challenges. I have done the Pacific Crest Trail and am 90%+ through with the Appalachian Trail.

Have a marvelous Monday, Bill!

I was invited to dinner on Easter, just my older son, his wife, and me. Lovely time. The restaurant, a favorite of theirs, was strangely empty, but quiet. Got an update on their daughters' shenanigans as well as their own. While we talked, Helen sent us some photos from her trip with friends. Like...

Enjoying the sunset...

     

in Morocco.

>200 weird_O:- Wow!!!!!

>198 SandDune: Two miles is good, Rhian. And Virginia is lovely. I've driven on the Skyline Drive, but no hiking took place.

>201 jessibud2: That's what I said, Shelley.

---------------------

I've been trapped in rigamarole limbo for close to a week. On several fronts, no less. A week ago my CPAP puffed its last. Next morning (Good Friday) I contacted the vendor, hoping for a quick repair, and learned I should be eligible for a replacement, and learned what my doctor needed to say on a script. And the number to fax it to. But it was the weekend. So whilst waiting on that, I had a visit with a cardiologist about concerning results of an echocardiogram. I get to experience a cardiac catheterization in about a week. (Oh, I'm a lucky boy.) In the meantime I have to get the cardio doc to send a script to a local pharmacy for a drug that the insurance company's provider doesn't provide. (Bah!)

Yesterday, I appeared in person at the PCP's office to sign with ink pen on paper a permission slip of something to expedite the CPAP adventure. In return, I got a call from the CPAP vendor's Director of Paper Forms, who was not empathic about having to do without that silly machine that blows air up my nose so I can sleep. A silly machine I've been using nightly for 30 or more years. And now have been without for a week.

I did successfully trade a new microwave that I bought Saturday for a more commodious model. Oh, and I collected new eyeglasses that fit right out of the case and lend to me a sort of Harry Potter look.

      

>202 weird_O: We did the Skyline Drive too. And Virginia is lovely. It's the only part of the U.S. I've ever been to, back in 1998 I think.

I hate that sort of medical rigamarole, Bill. Sorry you're dealing with it, and hope it's all sorted soon. I really like the new specs!

What I've read so far in 2025, all in one stack.

Hi Bill

I apologize for any confusion I've caused. I've been in a tremendous amount of pain. Today's surgery was awful. I should have been put to sleep.

Linda sent a message tonight. I will be healing for quite a few days. May I ask that you please do the following:

Send a PM to Linda telling her the exact date we will meet and the time best for all?

Am I understanding that you are offering to drive Stasia and me to the place where we will be meeting Linda?

Linda noted that to drive to her house would be a lot of driving for us and we should meet a a place she mentioned previously. Can you please obtain directions from her to the place where she suggests we meet?

I deeply appreciate your assistance.

I had no idea this surgery would be this wicked.

Sincerely,

Linda

>206 Whisper1: Believe this meetup has been settled between you, Linda, and that other Linda. I am no longer involved. So have a safe drive and a pleasant get together.

I sure do hope you get some pain relief. If anyone one deserves pain relief, it's you.

I finished Grandma Gatewood's Walk before turning out the light last night. This morning, and now into the afternoon, I'm surfing the webs and Google Maps. I think earlier (>193 weird_O:) I asserted that Grandma hiked the Pacific Coast Trail. I was incorrect; she hiked the Oregon Trail, from Independence, MO to Portland, OR. I don't even know if there IS a Pacific Coast Trail.

Using Google Maps, I ascertained that from 1975 to l990, we lived 2.4 miles from the trail. Three doors from our house was a street that ran north, straight up the Blue Mountain, crossing the trail at the crest. At least once we were dropped off there so we could hike east to Route 309, where we were picked up. I found photos taken by hikers at the Lehigh Gap, where the Lehigh River cut through the mountain. Rugged terrain and pretty spectacular views!

   

>208 weird_O: Not so much Pacific Coast Trail, but Pacific Crest Trail!

>205 weird_O: I have only read two of those Bill.

>208 weird_O: That looks like quite a walk up.

I loaned my copy of Grandma Gatewood's Walk to a cousin last week, and she just e-mailed me to say how much she loved it. That was one tough lady.

>208 weird_O: Yeah, I really need to read that one! At this point, I am 95% of the way through my virtual walk of the Appalachian Trail. I want to read about someone who has actually done it! Thanks for the reminder, Bill.

Last day of April. Time goes where it goes. I have about 100 pages to read in Warlight, which is quite mystifying (that is, the story is mystifying). In ordinary times, I'd have raced through those 100 pages lickety-split, but I've allowed dithering to take over my scheduling.

Having to acquire a couple of sheets of plywood, I chose the lumberyard that's closest to a bookstore. Yes, that bookstore I have (now had) a birthday gift card from. The card I've been bogarting since last July. Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life by Dan Nadel. That's the book. Motivation to wrap up Warlight.

             

Happy Wednesday, Bill. Love that 2025 book stack. I will add Grandma Gatewood's Walk to my obese TBR. I love reading about trail walks. I hope all is well with you.

I'm close to HATING Touchstones because they demand such coddling. You can chose the Touchstone—the correct one for your book—and the damned program will revert to an incorrect Touchstone if you need/want to edit the post in which the referent book appears.

>214 msf59: Get after it, Mark. It's worth your time.

Hiya, Bill! Happy April month end to you.

>187 weird_O: *drool* Absolutely gorgeous, spacious, and with space for More Books.

>188 quondame: I agree, Susan.

>202 weird_O: Well, drat about the concerning results of the echo. And the CPAP dying, and the drug runaround. As my PCP would say, you've been medicalized.

Love the pic, which includes books, of course.

>205 weird_O: Excellent books read stack.

>213 weird_O: Time goes where it goes. It does, indeed.

>215 weird_O: That shouldn't be happening, Bill. It happened in the early days of LT, and then they fixed something to preserve your selection when you edit a post. I'm not disputing your version of events, just saying it might be a bug that's suddenly reared its head.

>215 weird_O: I hadn't run across that particular problem, but it doesn't surprise me. I have been extremely annoyed to discover that if you edit a post (usually one that contains lots of Touchstones) that it will sometimes reload all the Touchstones, and not knowing this you can save the post and the Touchstone highlighting is now all gone because the Touchstones didn't finish reloading. To fix it, you have to reopen the post for editing and wait again for all the Touchstones to reload. I don't know why the heck the Touchstones need to reload after they had already been found the first time.

Didn't adhere to my own schedule, but I have finally completed Warlight by Michael Ondaatje. Was supposed to complete it April 30, but made it happen May 2.

It's a very striking story, set mostly in greater London during World War II and its aftermath. The baffling separation of two teens, a girl Rachel and her younger brother Nathaniel, from their parents is recounted by Nathaniel. The father and mother pack their bags and leave without explanation. Won't say where they are going, what they'll be doing, or when they'll return. In the meantime, a lodger, a single man known to the children as "The Moth", is keeping an eye on them.

An obviously strange arrangement. Rachel's discovery of their mother's jam-packed streamer trunk in the basement...!? Can it get any stranger? Of course. The Moth knows but refuses to tell. Ondaatje is a superlative writer. He wrote the Booker-winning novel The English Patient. Great stuff.

       Ⓒ Don Usner

I'm alive! I'm alive!

All I have to do now is read all those books I should have read instead of fretting about doctors spelunking in my blood vessels. The doctors did find a blockage. Unfortunately for me, it was more than they could clear with the tools at hand. So I must return to the hospital soon (the medical booking agent is finding a spot just for me in the next few days).

Plus, I got calls yesterday from the medical machinery dealer seeking a meetup with me. A new CPAP awaits.

So I am pooped, but much encouraged.

>221 weird_O: Yes, a Grand Reprieve - with only a short wait to wind it up!

>221 weird_O:, glad you survived. Such a creative description of your adventure. Humor is the best medicine.

>223 Kristelh:
I also found the humor enchanting. It proves you are in good spirits. Or at least in normal spirits.

>221 weird_O: I agree with others about your sense of humor, Bill. I'm also glad they'll be able to fit you in pretty soon.

Good for you for getting all of this done and taking care of yourself! No small feat.

I feel pretty good right now. Took possession of a new CPAP yesterday and slept well overnight. To get the CPAP, of course, I had to drive, which I was advised not to do yesterday and today. I swopped Friday for Wednesday, meaning I'll eschew driving Friday. I really needed to get that there machine.

The hospital maintains a website for its patients, with a private "room" for each patient. Spent time this morning scanning the case notes of the doctors and nurses from my day in their care. I have a sense of what's up with me. A sense but not knowledge of or understanding of.

I carried my copy of A Clockwork Orange from spot to spot during my field trip yesterday, and elicited comments from quite a few workers. Didn't really get any reading done. I'll do the reading today and tomorrow. (Not supposed to drive, remember.)

Sorry to hear you have a blockage, Bill, but very glad it will be taken care of soonish. Been there. Take it from me, you will feel better for it---even if you didn't realize it was slowing you down. In combination with a properly functioning CPAP, you'll be unstoppable!

>228 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks, Linda. I've got ahead of myself. Getting the new CPAP was such a boost that I expected relaxing slumber to resolve more trouble than it alone could. Now I want to press ahead with this blockage busting.

In the "It's Always Something" razzmatazz, the weather cooperated so I could mow. Until the belt broke. I'll get on line at the Deere store Monday. I'm going to need a hire a BushMaster before too long.

Thanks to all. Marianne, Kristel, Benita, Laurel, and Shelley.

I love the new glasses, Bill. They look great . Fabulous library annex too

Just stopping by to make sure that stack is still growing.

       

       Smile! Be happy. It's Friday.

>233 weird_O: LOVE this photo! That's a good one for cheering people up!

Happy weekend, Weird One!

Karen O

>205 weird_O:. I love looking at the stacks you post, Bill, so thanks for doing that. As you know, I get enthusiastic, and the one in that stack that has me jumping up and down is Evicted. What a remarkable book. I hope to be reading soon about changes that have come about because of it.

I just can’t get myself to read that Scalzi moon-really-is-cheese book. I’ve read a lot of his books, including that excellent poking-fun one Red Shirt, but to me this moon is cheese one sounds like a fun exercise for the author that would have me rolling my eyes as a reader. (Obviously, eye-rolling makes reading that much more difficult).

Hope you’re having a good weekend, buddy.

>233 weird_O: Well I was a few days late, but it did make me smile, Bill.

I am trying to regain some control of my life. April and May have been challenging months, not because an alarming decline in reading, but because every good event is accompanied by a stinker.

Case in point: I got up some gumption and started laundering my clothes. I've got about six heaps/washer-loads on the bedroom floor, and the first load's been washed and is in the dryer. Second load has been washed, and the third load is in a basket at the laundry room door. But the first load hasn't been dried. Checked the vent, and it's clear. Dryer's cold. No heat. It's past 5 p.m. on a Friday. So I'm going to check with family and friends, see if can use their laundry facilities.

Instead of a selfie back-pat, the chore continues. Bah.

It's supper time, and I'll abandon this post here to cook over there. Maybe I'll get back here this evening to talk about my blocked arteries.

          

>237 weird_O:. Oh, sounds like a lot of frustration. My dryer didn't heat when the dryer was pushed to far back on the vent. It heated fine when I pulled it away a little.

>237 weird_O: That's so annoying, Bill! And on a holiday weekend at that. I hope you're able to borrow a dryer, at least, so you don't have heaps of wet clothes.

>239 Kristelh: >240 lauralkeet: Thanks for commiserating. It all worked out. But the ice beneath my laundry apparatus is thin. Both washer and dryer have mechanical controls rather than electronic, and those old controls aren't made anymore. Planned obsolescence.

Unintended benefit: The floor beneath both washer and dryer is now (close to) spotless. The clutter is gone (though now it's blocking the door to the garage). (Maybe it's time to build wall cabinets to replace the wire shelving the builder foisted on us. Hmmm.)

BIG NEWS! I finished reading A Clockwork Orange this afternoon. It is a mighty accomplishment, being the second book read in May. I cheated, relying upon Wiki-Dictionary for translations of the "nadsat" slang scattered throughout the text.

I'm now focused on Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life by Dan Nadel. Crumb has been creating cartoons, comics, and illustrations since the mid-1950s, which is astonishing since he is still drawing today. I'm being drawn to videos of him captured over the years. Don't know whether to curse or praise YouTube.

MODEST NEWS! I'm still reading Crumb. By posting this simple sentence—"I'm still reading [Crumb]"—I get a gazillion book titles with "R. Crumb" in them as possible Touchstones. "Crumb [1994 film] by Terry Zwigoff" is listed first, but the book I'm reading isn't even an option. After all, its title shown on the jacket is

        

NOT simply CRUMB, but CRUMB: A Cartoonist's Life.

Silly me.

Also. What a tedious whiner!!

>242 weird_O: Don't have any CRUMBs, but plenty of Pastis and Calvin and Hobbes!

Sweet Thursday, Bill. Sorry to hear about the health issues. How are you feeling? I'm also sorry to hear about your dryer woes. Did you get that taken care of?

Love Buster Keaton!!❤️

>243 m.belljackson: I just love Calvin and Hobbes. My older son got the complete series in one huge volume. I gave my granddaughter Lia the series in four paperbacks. I shoulda got that paperback package for myself too. While I'm aware of the Pearls Before Swine strip, I don't have any of the books. Hmmm, maybe a library sale is the remedy.

>244 msf59: I don't really feel bad, Mark. But I've been assured that I'll be surprised at how energetic I'll feel, post-procedure. I underwent the exploration of my arteries just two-three weeks ago and emerged tired and bruised (my right arm where the catheter was inserted) but otherwise ok. I slept a reeeeally long time. Tomorrow the same medic does pretty much the same job. I'm optimistic it will go well; the doc is very competent. Besides, I gots lots of stuff to do yet. You know: thousands of TBRs.

As for the washer 'n' dryer, they're analog machines, and Maytag (its successor, really) isn't making replacement parts.

>245 weird_O: So good to read that your health is going a lot better and that tomorrow will bring more relief!

My favorite Stephan Pastis are Floundering Fathers, Pearls Before Swine, and I'm only in this for me - with a few unfortunate ones, Like the Lemmings,
all are great -
and the last one was written in 2016 so has a very familiar RAT FOR PRESIDENT ring.

We love Calvin and Hobbes, and Pearls Before Swine in our house. And of course, we must not forget the G.O.A.T. of the comic strips, Pogo The complete syndicated strips from 1949 onward are being published in large format volumes, at an agonizingly slow pace. Volumes 1 through 8 are out, and I believe 4 more are anticipated. I may not live long enough to acquire the complete set... The publication date for Volume 9 is currently May of 2026, but it has been extended several times already.

>245 weird_O: I'm sending best wishes that everything goes well for you tomorrow! I'm sure you will feel better after the procedure. Take care of yourself!

>247 laytonwoman3rd: Oh, I hadn't heard that they were publishing Pogo. I'm glad you mentioned that. I must go out and find the volumes! My parents had a few books of Pogo strips that we used to read when I was a kid. Lots of fun!

Best wishes for tomorrow, Bill. I had trouble with our dryer not heating up some years ago, of course when Dave was in hospital for couple of days because he had fallen and broken some bones. I think I took my wet laundry to my mom's , and Dave was able to get a new part for the dryer. It's analogue too, so that our dryer is old. Still working for now.

Hope all goes well today, Bill!

All the best for today. Bill. Are they keeping you there for a few days or are you out and home same day?

Sending strong positive thoughts your way, Bill. Better days ahead.

Waiting with bated breath for a post from our resident weirdo…hope you’re feeling great and will feel even better, sooner! Best wishes, buddy!

Karen O

Thank you all. Especially Irene, Deborah, Laurel, Shelley, Linda, and KarenO. I went, followed directions, submitted to all indignities, and now sport two stents and all vessels open. Was out the hospital door before five. Now ensconced with coffee and nibbles on a sofa at the Easton, where I'll spend the night.

I do feel fine, thank you. Glad it's mostly over.

Less than 30 pages to read in Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life. Tucked beside it in my bag are The Sellout, a Booker winner by Paul Beatty, and The Free by Willy Vlautin.

Have a good weekend, y'all.

So glad your procedure went well Bill. Now you'll soon be running circles around everyone. I've read The Sellout and hope to read something by Willy Vlautin this month.

>254 weird_O: Hurray!

>254 weird_O: That’s wonderful news! Thanks be to modern medicine. You have a terrific recovery weekend (and good reading). 😊

Karen O

>254 weird_O: I am very glad to hear this news, Bill! I hope you sleep well, get plenty of rest, and that all subsequent recovery goes smoothly.

Thanks for checking in, Bill. I'm glad the surgery went well and hope you had a good night's sleep.

>254 weird_O: I'm glad that the procedures went well, Bill. Hopefully you're feeling even better today.

>254 weird_O: Glad to hear your procedure went well. Here's to feeling better soon.

Glad to hear all went well, Bill!

Heading home from Easton shortly. I'll be able to drive myself Monday. For the weekend, I've got to be driven. Below, father and son leaving the hospital, post-procedure, about 5 p.m. Saturday.

       

>263 weird_O: Wow...good thing you're wearing that crumb-catcher, Bill. Otherwise you and your son would be hard to tell apart!

>263 weird_O: The matching laughing eyes are the best! Best wishes for continued good health!

>265 quondame: I agree. So glad he was able to help you out. Your affection for him shows.

I'm scheduled for a follow-up session to that cardio-catheterization procedure of a week ago. The medical maven I'll be conferring with is currently unidentified. I'll be shoving off soon. It's been a nutzy week so far. Why would today be any different?

>267 weird_O: Bill -Trust this visit will bring you More Good News!

>268 m.belljackson: The follow-up to the cardio follies of last Friday didn't reward me with any particular good news other than a reduction in one of the medications I was put on, Marianne. I'll take it.

>255 Kristelh: The procedure did go well, and for that I owe the cardiologist and his team of techs and nurses. I've actually finished the prologue to The Sellout, then stymied my progress with a two-day spree in bookstores, a thrift shop, and a library sale. I apologize.

>256 laytonwoman3rd: Yes, I agree, Linda.

>257 klobrien2: Thank yus, KarenO

>258 atozgrl: I'm trying to be good, Irene.

>259 lauralkeet:, >260 kidzdoc:, >261 elorin:, >262 katiekrug: I am glad it's done, folks. It'll be some time before I recognize the improvement.

Happy Flag Day, Bill. Thanks for keeping us updated. Good luck with everything. We are rootin' for you.

>269 weird_O:, Alls well if it ends with a spree of bookstores, thrift shops, and library sale. Hope you found some treasures.

The guy who wrote the CRUMB book spoke her at the local Y but we missed it.

It's true that the collected Pogo books have been appearing at a glacial pace but the production values are brilliant sharp reproductions are worth waiting for.

Bill, sorry to hear of your medical troubles and happy you seem to be back on the path to righteousness . All good wishes.

Reeling is what I've been doing since last week. It's supposed to be getting better. Or is it calmer? I don't know.

I mentioned a few posts above that I treated myself to a two-day spree last week. Celebrating modern medicine. Oh, you know. At my first stop, I got three used books and two new ones.

Charcoal Joe, Walter Mosley (pbk) (used)
Human, Mike Dowdall & Pat Welch (pbk) (used)
Ex Libris, a comic by Matt Madden (hc) (used)
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, Amanda Montell (pbk) (new)
Lies my Teacher Told Me, James W. Loewen and Nate Powell (hc) (new)

Scooting to the other end of town (in my car, in my car, not a scooter) to an independent thrift store, I found several books worthy of rescue:

The American Girl's Handy Book, Lina Beard and Adelia B. Beard
The Boy Mechanic Makes Toys, editors of Popular Mechanics.
The Fifth Column and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War, Ernest Hemingway.
An Artist of the Floating World, Kazuo Ishiguro.
Life Hacks: Any Procedure or Action That Solves a Problem, Simplifies a Task, Reduces Frustration, Etc. in One's Everyday Life , Keith Bradford.
Chasing Cezanne, Peter Mayle.
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading, Mortimer J. Adler and
Charles Van Doren.
Notes from Underground/The Grand Inquisitor, Fyodor Dostoevsky.
John Ford: The Man and his Films, Tag Gallagher.
Thinkertoys: Second Edition, Michael Michalko

Brought groceries, then home.

Well, that sounds pretty much like the old Bill, to me. Old, as in, before the procedure, you understand, not old, as in age. Just want to make that clear! ;-)

>263 weird_O: glad everything went well!

>273 weird_O: after all that it is good to be rewarded with books! An excellent book haul!

I hope things are calmer, Bill. Great book haul!

A week ago, Tuesday, June 10, I ambled to my old hometown to get some hairs cut and to shed some self-control in the library and a chain bookstore. Just a continuation of Monday's toil (>273 weird_O:). At the library, there's a mezzanine with four floor-to-ceiling, double sided bookcases with used/donated books for sale. For the last several years, the price has been $5-a-bag. This trip the price changed to $1 a bag. The point is that many, many of those books have been taking up space. No one wants 'em. Not even for 5¢ or 10¢. Nevertheless (I had time to kill), I scoured the stock and and came away with a dollar's worth.

Granta: Crime, Bill Buford, ed. (pbk)
Pardonable Lies: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, Jacqueline Winspear. (pbk) DUPE!!!
A Pale View of Hills, Kazuo Ishiguro. (pbk)
Southeastern Berks County: Postcard History Series, Patricia Wanger Smith. (pbk)
Why Buildings Fall Down, Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori (pbk)
The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old , Hendrik Groen (hc)
The Vintage Caper, Peter Mayles (hc)
Killing Johnny Fry, Walter Mosley (hc)
Double Vision, Pat Barker (hc) DUPE!!!
Tales of O. Henry, William Sidney Porter (hc)
The Amateurs, David Halberstam (hc)
Consequences, Penelope Lively (hc)
The Shape Shifter, Tony Hillerman (hc)
The Fords, Peter Collier and David Horowitz (hc)
At Canaan's Edge, Taylor Branch (hc)
Radios, Philip Collins (hc)
Creative Ideas That Transform the Way We Live and Work, Stephanie Mehta (hc)

As you can see, I bought a couple of dupes. I just HATE having wasted almost 12¢ on them. I'll foist them on the Little Free Library.

But I did get my ears lowered and my face trimmed back. And! I still had a B&N to skulk through.

I wrapped up my Tuesday wilding at B&N, but you can see that I was running on an excess of fatigue. Oh oh. Just 4 books.

The Carter of La Providence, Georges Simenon
The Night at the Crossroads, Georges Simenon
The Yellow Dog, Georges Simenon
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, Svetlana Alexievich

David Halberstrum wrote a bunch of good books - I would have picked that one up too.

When i was a young one my Connecticut uncle died and left me a start of his old "Poplar Mechanics" magazines (and other books)

1940's era so thing like mechanical television (spinning disks) and other clever nesses that could - it was said - be build in the home workshop by enterprising boy mechanics.

Nice day. High heat. Suppertime cloudburst.

Spent a surprising amount of time recording a list of books read. I completed the second of three Inspector Maigret books that I bought last Tuesday. I've got two books well underway: a graphic edition of Lies My Teacher Told Me and The Sellout. The former book was first published in 1995 by James Loewen, then revised in 2007. In 2020, Loewen approached Nate Powell about producing a graphic version, which Powell completed in 2024. The Sellout won the Man Booker Prize in 2016.

Hi all. It's that grease blob on the sidewalk. The one formerly known as Weird_O. Is it hot where you are?

I have finished a few books, graphic things with a lot of pictures and not a lot of words. Still trying to progress in The Sellout, but I keep falling asleep. The heat, not the text, at fault.

Sweet Thursday, Bill. HOT here, as well. Lots of time spent indoors. You keep cool, my friend and I hope you can make it through a book without falling asleep. 🤞🤞

>280 weird_O: Haven't seen the GN of Lies my Teacher Told me - bet its a good one.

It is, Jim. I've had a print edition on the shelf (as if I have only one shelf) for more than a year, and I spotted the graphic edition. Read it within the month. Learned a lot. Loewen, the author, approached graphic artist Nate Powell asking him to develop the graphic edition. Powell agreed, than tackled the project alone when Loewen died.

Happy I am to be reading. After completing only two books in May, I jacked up my throughput and completed ten in June. Let's just say I was overly distracted in May.

May's tally included a helping of SnackBooks: two Maigret mysteries by Georges Simenon (each under 200 pages), an album of library photos, a collection of comic strips, two graphic editions of non-fiction books, even a sci-fi story published in 1909 by E. M. Forster (author of Room with a View, Howard's End, and A Passage to India). Favorite of the month: Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life, written by Dan Nadel with the cooperation—but no hindrance—from the subject.

Hassle of the month was a four-day internet outage. Service went out Friday morning last and didn't return until latish Monday. The provider here is Verizon. Servicing their network is anathema to them; weekend work is out (I'm sure because the company doesn't want to pay union wages for overtime work). They have this nifty trick. Call the service number and get a robot asking for the telephone number or account number. The caller gets six or seven digits spoken, and the robot says it doesn't understand. I tried calling a couple of numbers, at different times Saturday and Sunday, always with the same result.

So...Let's see if I can build a new thread before July 4.

Started reading Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. I didn't realize that Tokarczuk won the Nobel Prize, but a "medallion" on the book's cover revealed to me the truth. I can stand the truth. Fifty pages in and I'm impressed.

>286 weird_O: sorry to read about your internet outage, Bill. It's nice to have you back!

>286 weird_O:. I really liked this one, Bill.

Survived July 4. Finished the Tokarczuk, though I'm still thinking about it. A lot to digest.

Going to read another Maigret, the last on my shelf but nowhere near the end of the series. I have a bio of Paul Gauguin, The Rape of Nanking, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, The Work of Art and some others scuffling in the dugout.

Stay cool.

>289 weird_O: Hi Bill. I just read Tokarczuk recently too. I gave it 3.5. It was a very interesting read.

Rape of Nanking is an intense read.