richardderus's eleventh 2025 thread

Boys' Life - December 1962...wouldn't you love to know what the heck the story was this was illustrating?

Welcome to Year of the Wood Snake.

Reviews 1, 2, 3 are here.
Reviews 4 through 17 are here
Reviews 18 to 24 are here.
Reviews 025 up to 033 are here.
Reviews 034 through 044 are back there..
Reviews 045 to 059 are here.
Reviews 060 to 072 are linked there.
73 to 90 back there.
91 to 100 back here..
101 to 114 back there.

THIS THREAD'S REVIEWS
115 Red flag warning : mutual aid and survival in California's Fire Country in post #103.
116 We Are Eating the Earth : The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate in post #110.
117 The place of tides in post #115.
118 Fake work : how I began to suspect capitalism is a joke in post #118.
119 Fake politics : how corporate and government groups create and maintain a monopoly on truth in post #119.
120 Clovis in post #143.
121 The Betrayal of Thomas True in post #144.
122 The Silence of Flesh: A Novel of Conscience, Identity, and Holy Vows in post #152.
123 THE GOLDEN TOAD: An Ecological Mystery and the Search for a Lost Species on post #153.
124 The Lake's Water is Never Sweet in post #177.
125 Culpability: A Novel in post #180.
126 Miss Veal and Miss Ham in post #210.
128 Sphinx : a neo-gothic novel from Brazil in post #211.
129 How we heal : a journey toward truth, racial healing, and community transformation from the inside out in post #230.
130 The private is political : identity and democracy in the age of surveillance capitalism in post #231.
131 The Red Notebook in post #249.
132 The Samurai of the Red Carnation in post #250.
133 All the perfect days in post #267.
134 He's to die for : a novel in post #268.
136 Lightfall in post #286.
137 THE QUEEN OF SATURN AND THE PRINCE IN EXILE in post #287.

All my threads in the 75ers linked somewhere here
My Last Thread of 2009 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2010 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2011 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2012 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2013 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2014 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2015 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2016 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2017 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2018 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2019 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2020 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2021 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2022 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2023 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2024 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

All previous Pearl Rule reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD'S PEARL RULE REVIEWS:
#013 The German Girl: A Novel in post #066.
#014 SHADOW WARRIORS OF WORLD WAR II: The Daring Women of the OSS and SOE (33%) in post #203.
#015 The Bible and the Tarot: A Personal Pilgrimage of Discovery (39%) in post #264.

All previous Burgoine reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD:
#037 The Reflecting Pool (Marko Zorn #1) in post #58.
#038 Head Shot (The Marko Zorn Series) in post #59.
#039 Black Sun Rising (Marko Zorn #4) in post #60.
#040 A Novel Murder: A Mystery in post #61.
#041 The Bachelorette Party: A Novel in post #64.
#042 Smile for the Cameras in post #65.
#043 The Blue Horse (Porter Beck #3) in post #215.
#044 A Lark's Regret: A Regency Cozy (Verity Lark Mysteries #5) in post #218.
#045 The Wharton Plot in post #221.
#046 The Homemade God in post #224.
#047 Vaseline Buddha in post #226.
#048 Marguerite by the Lake in post #239.
#049 Spark in post #243.
#050 Trouble Island : a novel in post #263

Seriously...not a great venue for normies here.
My 2024 goals are here, for reference.

2025 GOALS
I wrote an unprecedented 413 reviews in 2024, though certainly not all those books were read in 2024! I'm not counting books read, but reviews written. Decades of pilf from the review aggregators never got a real review written, just some notes on my computer. This year I went back to all my old computers and vacuumed notes onto a data stick. It's my purpose now to write at least a Burgoine review from those notes, post it here and on the DRC aggregator's site, and that will be my annual count.

For those who think I should follow the "books read in 2025" model, that's very interesting, and thank you for sharing your judgment with me. I will, however, be using the site the way I want to not how you think I should.

Numerical goals aren't really the point for me. I've shown I can meet or exceed them often enough now to think they're just unnecessary, and a little show-offy, for me. I will focus my efforts on getting my unwritten-review count down, and on focusing my efforts on reviewing #ReadingIsResistance titles.
☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂
1Q25 was a suckass time to be alive. The Felonious Yam and Muskolini came out swingin' and enshittified a lot of lives. It was a time of terrible stress and serious immiseration, and I myownself could not possibly hate it more.

I wrote eighty-three reviews of all types. Two reads stood out in excellence: Rio Muerto and The Case of Cem. Several were bad, but only one made me angry because it was so effing lazy: Conclave, whose movie actually won an Oscar!!! The apotheosis of blah, bland thinking and writing in both media, and directing of a film.
2Q25 was a rollicking success. The first five months of the year saw 139,334 blog views; this month, not over yet, almost matches that total! I was fully satisfied, pleased even, with those first-half totals so this month is mind-blowing to me. For the first half of 2025, my thirteen-year odyssey writing over 3700 reviews and achieving over 1,000,000 blog-views has been satisfying, exciting, and deeply enriching.

The second quarter's most satisfying read was The Surge, Adam Kovac's war story told in laconic warrior-appropriate prose. It exemplifies an experience I do not think soldiers will ever have again as AI and automation turn war into a weirdly impersonal industrial slaughterhouse.
3Q25
4Q25

GBBO and other special hashtaggie projects will be linked here.
Season 15's comments linked here.

☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂
2025 #ShortStoryMonth #1 through #5 linked here.
☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂
2025 #PrideMonth 1 through 5 are linked here.
PRIDE MONTH #6 is linked here.
PRIDE MONTH 7 through 19 are linked here.
PRIDE MONTH 20 through 31 linked back there.

This thread's reviews:
PRIDE MONTH 32 Palm Meridian in post #27.
PRIDE MONTH 33 Black, queer & untold : a new archive of designers, artists, & trailblazers in post #36.
PRIDE MONTH 34 A Queer Case in post #48.
PRIDE MONTH 35 Shampoo unicorn in post #53.
PRIDE MONTH 36 Seven Days in Tokyo in post #56.

That's that on #PrideMonth review-writing. See >57 richardderus: for my wrap-up.

See >5 richardderus: for 2024 achievements & 2025 goals, and quarterly wrap-ups. Special hashtag events in >6 richardderus:.
Monthly wrap-up posts are linked below.
JANUARY 2025 here.
FEBRUARY 2025 here.
MARCH 2025 here.
APRIL 2025 here.
MAY 2025 here.
JUNE 2025 here.

You were patient and good, so you may post at last.

Goodness, I am NEVER first! Happy new one, Richard!

eta - serendipity, not patience, but still!

Happy new thread, Richard. Interesting topper - adventures with aliens?

Happy new thread, Richard!

>9 AMQS: You are indeed first past the gatepost, Anne, so have yourself a spiffy Sarmatian diadem!

Gorgeous, isn't it?

>10 Familyhistorian: I have to think so, Meg, but what kind of alien and where'd those jetpacks come from and why's that poopiederg so mad and....

>11 bell7: Thanks, Mary!

Happy new one, Richard!

Happy new thread, you posting machine!

Happy new one, Richard!

>15 drneutron: Thanks, Doc!

>16 ArlieS: Heh! Gotta do something with All my hatred and rage, and writing is more constructive than ax-murder sprees.

>17 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley!

Happy new thread, RD!

Salutations on your eleventh thread, RD.

Sweet Thursday, Richard. Happy New Thread. Bizarre Boy's Life topper. I wonder if Ray Bradbury suggested it? Still stuck in the Heat Dome, with little relief in sight. Sighs...

>21 katiekrug: Many thanks, Katie!

>22 PaulCranswick: Gratitude be unto you, PC.

>23 msf59: Thanks, Birddude. In a rare burst of tact, I'll refrain from the unkindness of mentioning it's not quite 70° right now....

PRIDE MONTH 32

Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive

Quiet, gentle story that will kick you when and where you least expect it.

New thread while I wasn't looking, Richard. Congratulations, and may you read and post, read and post ~ I'll be here. I'm a bit drawn to >27 richardderus:, but I'm not getting any younger, so I don't know. Meanwhile, today I had an entirely satisfactory visit with an audiologist's tech who explained everything thoroughly and helped me tentatively pick out hearing aids. Do any of your multiple visitors have any experience with Phonak before I take the plunge? What I read online says that they are among the best and most reliable - maybe the top for hearing conversation in surrounding noise. That's what I need now.

Anyway, I hope you're resting better and that things are going well for you, WBL!

Happy New Thread!

>12 richardderus: Thank you! YES! It is gorgeous! I'm going to wear it on Picture Day.

Happy new thread and happy Friday Richard :)
Coming over from catching up on your last thread and that series of very informative but depressive books you read this week, I was thinking „I need something hopeful and a bit uplifting, but can I ask for such a book in these times“, and there it is >27 richardderus::

Have you not yet had enough of doomscrolling?
If so, come to Palm Meridian, settle in, and be told that the world will muddle through, that we will manage somehow to lovve and care for each other, and make it work as best we can

BB caught, thank you! :D

>28 LizzieD: *baaa*

I'll be very interested to learn that data as well. Hearing aids don't do much for tinnitus, which is my issue, but it doesn't prevent worsening hearing or obviate the eventual usefulness of them.

>29 SilverWolf28: Thank you dear lady.

>30 AMQS: I keep meaning to look up the Sarmatians, so when I reach the Afterlife, I can thank them for it.

>34 richardderus: That's exactly the right spirit to take towards thus read, Nathalie. I hope it pleases you!

Hiya RDear. Happy Friday and happy new thread.

>1 richardderus: My first thought was Danny Dunn, but none of the 7 books about Danny Dunn seem to have been about flying and aliens.

>32 richardderus: Tinnitus is my issue too, darn it.

I made it without any BBs. Nothing for the wish list, either. Whew!

*smooch*

>37 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible! Happy Driday...so far the predicted rain's not begun so this Friday's Driday for now.

What's a Danny Dunn? off to consult our mechanical overlords...EUCLID. BULLFINCH.

Holy goddesses, this series sounds worse than the Basidium books! AND they were published through 1977!! *ew* I need brain-bleach.

Do you use any of the YouTube blockers? I've found they keep the TV awfuls decently blocked, though a distant second to the gorram thing being off. *smooch*

>38 richardderus: Your last post was the 3,000th on your threads this year. Well done dear fellow.

>1 richardderus: Mutiny in the Time Machine by "Donald Keith"
https://books.google.com/books?id=GTvxk06NVkoC&pg=PA12#v=onepage&q&f...

It's part of a series about time-traveling Boy Scouts. More about the series here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Machine_series

Happy new thread!

>39 PaulCranswick: Oh my heck! That's a good solid number to add onto my blog crossing a million lifetime views earlier in the month! Thanks for doing this work for us, PC.

>40 swynn: I'm afraid to look at the series description after he last one's sheer awfulness...still, TYVM for that, Steve!

>41 richardderus: More than welcome RD.

>38 richardderus: I read quite a few of the Danny Dunn books when I was a kid. Primarily they were secondary choices - when I had finished my library books, I read my brother's, as one does (which, incidentally, is also why I read a bunch of Matt Christopher's books as a kid). But I do remember one time when I managed to lose all three of the books I'd checked out sometime between leaving the library and getting home. One of them turned up back on the shelf, and two of them were Danny Dunn books that were out of print (why the library *still* had them in the 90s is anyone's guess), and the circulation librarian let me keep renewing them until I managed to find and buy new copies at a used bookstore rather than pay the full replacement fee.

I mostly remember them being very silly pretend science. But when I was the kind of kid who had to read something, even if it was a cereal box, it scratched an itch.

>44 bell7: I know that's a very real phenomenon, Mary, but I want science so over my head I'll believe it just because I don't even know how to figure out how false it is (Poul Anderson, Greg Egan) or just enough outside my grasp that I can ignore how improbable it is (All space opera, time travel, etc). When it's silly, like those stories, it means I missed its window where I could treat is as plausible.

Weekend orisons!

>36 richardderus: Adding that one to the BlackHole, Richard. Thank you for the review and recommendation!

((Hugs)) and **smooches** and hopes that you have a fantastic Friday! Happy new thread.

>46 alcottacre: Excellent, Stasia! *smooch*

PRIDE MONTH 34

A Queer Case by Robert Holtom

A debut mystery in a queer-centered 1920s cozy series.

Morning, Richard. We are enjoying Jackson time. He is still deep in slumber, just a few feet from me. Cute. Car shopping today. Sue needs to replace her aging Nissan. Otherwise not much planned for the weekend.

>49 msf59: Well, at least it's the kind of shopping that results in something durable. I hope she finds one that really suits the needs of the future-Sue. Cars might be A LOT more expensive now, but they do things we never ever dreamed they could do before. If not for All the computer wizardry we'd have much worse mileage and much more pollution.

Enjoy it in the fresh weather!

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today, RD. I hope you have a super Saturday!

Drive by hello, RD.

*smooch*

PRIDE MONTH 35

Shampoo unicorn by Sawyer Lovett

SHAMPOO UNICORN, Hyperion publishes this nice YA story with a surprisingly successful gimmick.

>51 alcottacre: Morning, Stasia, same wishes heartily returned...I'm too sleepy to be original, sorry.

>52 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible, and *smooch* back.

PRIDE MONTH 36

Seven Days in Tokyo by José Daniel Alvior

Telling a deeply familiar love story, emotionally intense yet affectively distanced, is something to be treasured.

Okay, that's a wrap on the #PrideMonth reviews. I'm satisfied with my thirty-six reviews written. I had one more I wanted to finish, a short-story collection called Amplitudes, but there are twenty-two stories; eight I haven't read. I just can't. So this is it on 2025's Pride Month review-fest.

My internal stretch goal was to get forty-eight reviews written but that was simply too much of one subject matter to get done in thirty days. I think I can get there with a bit better planning in 2026. I need to remember that there must be room for off-hashtag reviews in the schedule too. We shall see how much I can improve on 2025's success.

I read several excellent books. I fell in love with one. Stories from the Edge of the Sea had two perfect moments in its fourteen good-to-fine stories. "October Lament" will break the isolation of those for whom Grief is a guest who won't go home. "A Good Broth Takes Its Time" has more packed into its pho bowl than you expected; it is the apotheosis of immigrant stories I'm growing to understand in a new way as I adjust to having immigrated against my will into a different and worse country.

I've recommended books for a long time now. I hope some of y'all have made the trek behind me; if the views have pleased once in a while, please trust me one more time and try Andrew Lam's collection of meditations on grief and grieving as constants.

BURGOINE #037

The Reflecting Pool (Marko Zorn #1) by Otho Eskin

Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: Murder leads to the White House

Marko Zorn, a Washington, D.C. homicide detective with expensive tastes in art, classic cars, and women, must take on extra work—not always strictly legal, often unorthodox and usually dangerous—to supplement his income—work which requires his special combination of skill and steel nerves. Although he’s adept at navigating the corridors of law enforcement and the world of criminal gangs, he’d prefer to stay home and watch old movies, enjoy his art collection, and listen to cool jazz.

When Zorn discovers the body of a Secret Service agent—a supposed drowning victim—it leads him to a domestic terrorist group with tentacles in the White House—a White House that does not want this death investigated. As the demands of his professional life escalate, Zorn’s alternate career heats up, placing him in the middle of competing D.C. crime bosses feuding over a shipment of illegal arms—making Zorn the hunted and the hunter. He needs to avoid becoming the victim as he navigates the twin forces of evil closing in on him from his legitimate job—facing down political power—and his secret side job.

Perfect for Grisham and Patterson fans.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: The publisher's comps are precisely correct: You like the thrillers that pit one man against a corrupt system? You'll like this iteration of it. I did. Marko Zorn is a character blessed with the familiarity of long establishment, while offering the solid pleasures of the genre he inhabits.

I'm wearing thin on political thrillers. They don't appall me, but I don't necessarily want to read about the world I feel I'm living in quite this on-the-nose much.

Oceanview Publishing offers a trade paper edition but it's on backorder; there are used copies available from Bookshop.org (Bezoselzebub blew it utterly with his support of the Felonious Yam, his embrace of AI, and his utterly repellent spectacle of greed in Venice, so no more links to the 'zon.)

BURGOINE #038

Head Shot (The Marko Zorn Series) #2 by Otho Eskin

Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: The Most Elusive Assassin in the World Versus D.C. Homicide Detective Marko Zorn

Washington, D.C. homicide detective Marko Zorn is investigating the murder of an actress—an old love—when he is assigned to protect the visiting prime minister of Montenegro, the beautiful Nina Voychek.

Political enemies are planning her assassination—this, he knows—but now it’s apparent that he, too, is a target. As he foils the initial attempts on his life, he pulls out all stops—deploying his sometimes nefarious resources—to hunt whoever is targeting him and prevent an international tragedy on American soil.

Decoded messages, Supermax prisoner interviews, mafia lawyers, and an ancient Black Mountain curse swirl among the icons of D.C. Marko and his young partner, Lucy, face down what may be multiple assassins with diverging agendas. Or are they facing one assassin—the deadliest and most elusive on the international stage?

Perfect for fans of David Baldacci and Daniel Silva

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: It tells you a lot that I read these back-to-back. I enjoyed more time with Marko Zorn that much; but as noted elsewhere, my thriller-reading time is steadily decreasing as my stress levels rise.

I quibble slightly with the comp to Daniel Silva's thrillers, as in my memory, those reads are closer to James Rollins technothrillers, and this story is light-years away from that.

Oceanview Publishing offers a trade paper edition but it's on backorder; there are used copies available from Bookshop.org.

BURGOINE #039

Black Sun Rising (Marko Zorn #4) by Otho Eskin

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A long-buried Nazi weapon resurfaces. America stands on the brink of destruction. One man must stop history's darkest nightmare from happening again.

When Washington, DC, homicide detective Marko Zorn's partner is murdered, his search for justice leads him deep into Black Sun, a violent neo-Nazi movement built from the ruins of WWII's most sinister forces. Their goal: unleash a catastrophic attack that will plunge the nation into chaos.

To stop them, Marko must outwit a woman known as the Bride of the Apocalypse, navigate the treacherous ambitions of two of the world's richest-and most ruthless-men, and confront a conspiracy stretching from Washington's corridors of power to the shadows of the city's underworld.

Can Marko save the country from annihilation?

A pulse-pounding thriller in the tradition of Baldacci, Clancy, and Patterson, Black Sun Rising delivers relentless suspense, razor-sharp political intrigue, and a chillingly timely story of unchecked hatred—and the one man willing to risk everything to stop it.

Black Sun Rising is the fourth Marko Zorn novel.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Somehow, in the shift between publishers, I missed book three in the series. The publisher assures you this is fine, that all the books can stand alone; inadvertently testing the hypothesis, I report success.

I'm already on record about thrillers and me needing some time apart. Nothing in this decently-executed example of the genre convinced me otherwise. Topical to a fault, I was unable to dismiss the feeling that Author Eskin has actually predicted the future. This story *will* unfold, and this way. That should disgust you.

Meridian Editions offers a trade paper edition for $19.95.

BURGOINE #040

A Novel Murder: A Mystery by E.C. Nevin

Rating: 3.3* of five

The Publisher Says: Welcome to the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival, the place for stars of the genre to meet their adoring fans . . . but be careful, this year the murders aren't just on the page.

Author Jane Hepburn is determined to make her time at the Killer Lines festival worthwhile. This is her chance to change her fortunes and make her fictional Detective Baker a household name. And if she has to resort to sneaking into the book tent after hours to rearrange some books so hers are front and center, so be it.

But when Jane encounters the dead body of renowned (and reviled) literary agent Carrie Marks, the festival takes on a decidedly different tone. Joined by Carrie's newest client, debut novelist Natasha Martez, and the agency's hapless intern, Daniel Thurston, Jane decides to put her fictional sleuthing skills to use in the real world—she's going to solve the murder. But the list of suspects is seemingly everyone at the festival has a motive to kill Carrie, and the more Jane and her new friends investigate, the closer they come to a dangerous truth—one that’s stranger than fiction.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Nice writing with a good balance of description and action. Fun, silly, cozy plot. Enough touches from the publishing world to make me feel a tiny wisp of nostalgic longing.

Slower pace than I prefer. Not really invested in the sleuth...she doesn't have "It" for me, whatever that "It" might be. Side characters just fine but pretty predictable.

Knopf (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link) asks you to spend $14.99 for an ebook. Might be worth it if you really enjoy books about books and publishing.

Wow I miss one day of LT and find I'm post 62 on your new thread!! Happy sort-of-new-one!!

>62 RebaRelishesReading: New-to-you counts, Reba, so thanks! I'm finishing the month with my quickies so it goes really fast. xo

BURGOINE #041

The Bachelorette Party: A Novel by Camilla Sten

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: Scream meets The Guest List in this wickedly compelling and compulsively page-turning thriller of friendship and murder from the author of The Lost Village, Camilla Sten.

On a remote island nestled off the coast of Sweden, four friends—Tilly, Anna, Linnea and Evelina—meet every year. Best friends since childhood, the idea is to drink beer, dance by the water, and shake off the weight of life's expectations. The location of the island is a secret to everyone but them. One night of reckless fun and secret-sharing, and then they return to their normal lives.

Ten Years Later. Ever since she was a teenager, Tessa Nilsson has been consumed by the story of four friends who disappeared. As her true crime fervor turned into a wildly popular podcast, Tessa covered Sweden’s most gruesome cases, but could never find the answers behind what happened to these women who disappeared. Now Tessa’s podcast has crashed and burned, any chance she had at uncovering the truth vanishing with it.

Anneliese is Tessa’s best friend, and before she walks down the aisle, she wants to have a bachelorette party. The destination: Baltic Vinyasa, a sleek, sophisticated yoga retreat on a small island off the coast—one with such similar characteristics to the tragedy years ago that it raises the hair on Tessa’s neck. The idea is to drink gallons of cava, do sunrise yoga, and get in their last chance to bond with the bride. Tessa will not pass this up. It’s her last chance to find out what happened to the four women, once and for all.

And it’s someone else’s last chance to get revenge.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: I really liked the first two books I read by this Swedish phenom, most especially the sense of place they so fully evoked for me. Still true...just no longer novel; talk about a victim of her own success...! It's also the case that this plot, girl-group grows up hiding secrets worth killing for, does not compel me as much as it once did.

“Sometimes there’s no such thing as okay. Sometimes all there is, is good enough.” It's prophetic that this line is in this book.

Minotaur Books wants $28.00 for a hardcover. I say use the library.

BURGOINE #042

Smile for the Cameras by Miranda Smith

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: An actress desperate to reclaim her fame must survive the real-life plot of the horror movie that made her famous in this psychologically twisted locked-room thriller influenced by '90s slasher films.

Twenty years ago, Ella Winters was the it girl. She made a name for herself in Hollywood and throughout America as the final survivor in the cult-classic slasher Grad Night. But the real horror is what happened when the cameras weren’t rolling—something terrible that Ella and her co-stars agreed never to speak of again. Shortly after the movie's premiere, Ella disappeared from the acting scene under the pretense of caring for her ailing mother, hoping for a quiet life out of the spotlight to ease her guilty mind.

Now, after her mother’s passing, Ella has decided to return to the silver screen. And with the cast and crew of Grad Night in the process of filming a reunion documentary, Ella has the perfect ticket back into Hollywood's good graces. Weighed down by the secret she’s been keeping all these years, Ella apprehensively makes the trip to the original set—a cabin in rural Tennessee—to reunite with her castmates for the first time in over a decade. But when the actors begin to meet the exact gruesome fates of the characters they originally played, falling victim to someone dressed as the Grad Night villain, it's clear their secret is out.

Now, the question is: Can the final girl survive one last nightmare?

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Really fun! In the Stephen Graham Jones territory of making slasher schlock interesting and enjoyable to those who didn't much like it back in the day, though without the same panache. In fact, had I not read Author Stephen's work I would've passed this book by.

The big downside for me was the unanswerable question, "what took you so long?" It dragged a four-star funfest down to a decent three-and-a-half I'm not sorry I read.

Bantam Books says "$13.99 please" for the ebook. I'd go to the library myownself.

PEARL RULE #013

The German Girl: A Novel by Armando Lucas Correa (33%)

Rating: 2.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A young girl flees Nazi-occupied Germany with her family and best friend, only to discover that the overseas refuge they had been promised is an illusion in this “engrossing and heartbreaking” (Library Journal, starred review) debut novel, perfect for fans of The Nightingale, Lilac Girls, and The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Berlin, 1939. Before everything changed, Hannah Rosenthal lived a charmed life. But now the streets of Berlin are draped in ominous flags; her family’s fine possessions are hauled away; and they are no longer welcome in the places they once considered home. A glimmer of hope appears in the shape of the St. Louis, a transatlantic ocean liner promising Jews safe passage to Cuba. At first, the liner feels like a luxury, but as they travel, the circumstances of war change, and the ship that was to be their salvation seems likely to become their doom.

New York, 2014. On her twelfth birthday, Anna Rosen receives a mysterious package from an unknown relative in Cuba, her great-aunt Hannah. Its contents inspire Anna and her mother to travel to Havana to learn the truth about their family’s mysterious and tragic past.

Weaving dual time frames, and based on a true story, The German Girl is a beautifully written and deeply poignant story about generations of exiles seeking a place to call home.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Between Grandma's Sèvres, Mama's perfume, and meditating on whether or not tulips grow in Cuba, I realized I am not the right reader for this book. I know it's a powerful story to some, a hymn to survival, a way of assuring themselves their identity politics are Right, but I'm really over...as in Over and Out, redundantly repeating myself for emphasis...with plucky Jewish girls escaping/surviving the the Holocaust. Most did not. Find something new to say about it or I'll ignore you henceforth.

Cue the religious nuts calling me either anti-semitic and/or misogynistic for good measure of my doneness with these stories.

Atria Books asks $12.99 for an ebook, if you're still looking for this kind of story. It's an okay iteration of it, not more.

It's the last Sunday of the month...time for a few short #BookReviews!
Each month I do a few @Nancy_Pearl-inspired explanations of unenjoyed books; a few @NathanBurgoine-inspired quick takes on enjoyed ones.
This month's crop is here:

My BlueSky/Twitter template for monthly gang-review posts

JUNE 2025 IN REVIEW

I wrote forty-eight reviews in total this month. I'm using the remaining two days of the month to get some ideas for what to do with July. The realization has been reinforced that I'm tired of thrillers for now, mysteries need to be queer to break through my genre fatigue, and honestly I just do not know how much more enshittification of Life I can endure without going nuts. Reading is my best escape, writing helps me think through the way the reading hits me and why, but it's asking a lot to watch my country turn into dystopia in front of my eyes.

The month's and the second quarter's most satisfying read was The Surge, Adam Kovac's war story told in laconic warrior-appropriate prose. It exemplifies an experience I do not think soldiers will ever have again as AI and automation turn war into a weirdly impersonal industrial slaughterhouse. All of a piece with my experience of 2025.

Tremendous kudos on all your reviews completed this month, RDear. A truly impressive achievement.

Dropping off weekend smooches and wishes for small things that bring you a little joy.

>69 MickyFine: Thanks, me deario! I'm really glad to have it under my belt. I think I might very easily be the weirdest 75er...writing as therapy for my rage. Thank goodness I*can*! Stay well.

Well, a belated Happy New Thread, Richard! It's hard to keep up with you. Seven Days in Tokyo sound interesting. I'll keep my eyes out.

>71 vancouverdeb: Morning, Deborah! Happy to see you here. I think Alvior's book will be a tough find because his publisher's gone under, sadly. It's still available online.

Morning, Richard. You are the true Review King. Always an impressive achievement. This time around I managed to dodge the most recent BBs. My obese TBR thanks you.

I'm amazed...June's blog-views were excellent, today they stopped 100,000 (101,156) for the 29 days of the month so far. That's five times my usual 20,000—30,000 total! Much to my surprise Bluesky and Tumblr more than replace Twitter as drivers of eyeballs, and that's from back before Edolph Twitler had enshittified the place. I still refuse to engage with that traitorous fuck Zuck's properties, so Threadbookgram is not in my social mix.

The first five months of the year saw 139,334 blog views; this month, not over yet, almost matches that total! I was fully satisfied, pleased even, with those first-half totals so this month is mind-blowing to me. For the first half of 2025, my thirteen-year odyssey writing over 3700 reviews and achieving over 1,000,000 blog-views has been satisfying, exciting, and deeply enriching.

The third quarter of 2025 has several fun hashtaggie projects to direct my readerly attention. August is the next big one, as it is every year, Women In Translation (#WITMonth, link to the blog's full list) so much of my July reading is settled. (I don't read one book at a time, beginning to end, because I bore too easily; my way lets me mood-read, and still finish more books of focused reading than the one-at-a-time way does.) I'll review for July posting an eclectic mix of stuff I completed in the first half of the year, and some I finished years ago but never wrote up (sinful wicked shame on me!). I'll try my best to get most of the July publishing date books I received from the DRC aggregators I frequent posted. I don't have any plans to change the way I post, or to alter the frequency or content of posts on my socials. We'll see if June 2025 was an outlier or a harbinger.

>73 msf59: Drat! Clearly I need to sharpen my aim. I'll find something to book-bullet you with in July!

'Morning, RDear! Happy Sunday to you.

What >73 msf59: Mark said.

*smooch*

>74 richardderus: OK...I'm exhausted just reading that!!

>76 karenmarie: *smooch*

>77 RebaRelishesReading: I need something to use up my energy, so that's a really good way to feel I'm using my effort positively.

>57 richardderus: Congrats. And Thank You. Those were very interesting reviews, even if you didn't manage to get me with a BB. I enjoyed reading them.

>80 ArlieS: Thank you, Arlie, that's a lovely compliment. I don't really expect to book-bullet you too often, the hill's a steep one and possessed of numerous last-mile crevasses.

I Sherpa on undaunted.

>57 richardderus: Those are quite the accomplishments, and I'm very glad it meant some excellent reading to boot.

>68 richardderus: And again, super impressed with all the review writing!

That's an amazing amount of reviews for one month, Richard. You got me with a few!

>82 bell7: Thanks, Mary, I'm really pleased and proud of the work it represents. Thank goodness I'm such an angry old man.

>83 Familyhistorian: *wheee* I'm so pleased, Meg! Enjoy them when their turn(s) arrive.

Is it just my internet or don’t the replies work anymore? I‘ve had this problem for a couple of days now.Trying again with a normal post:

>74 richardderus: Congratulations, that’s so impressive!! :D
I added some views and hearts today on Bluesky, must visit it more frequently again.

Just finished one of the BBs I caught here (the Roisin Dunnett book, no review yet), and will slowly work my way through the others. Audio takes a bit.

Hi Richard, Happy new thread! I was reading your always entertaining reviews and thought I’d better say hi before I read and fled without a word. I appreciate the time you put into them.

I’m off to see if my library has Stories from the Edge of the Sea.

Have a wonderful week!! I hope the temps have cooled down.

>1 richardderus: Clapping, great news and well deserved RD.

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today, RD!

>74 richardderus: Congratulations on all the blog views! That is wonderful!

>86 Deern: I think it must've been an internet hiccup, Nathalie. I sure hope it was, anyway....

Thank you! I'm pretty chuffed with it All. Thanks also for the Bsky luuuv. I'm never going to ignore social media again!

Who hit you with the Dunnett-bullet? I'll be looking out for your review.

>87 Copperskye: Thanks, Joanne! I hope the library has it, though I'll give odds they don't...it's Red Hen Press, after all. I'm glad you stopped in!

>88 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks most awfully, Caro. I am, as already noted, well chuffed.

>89 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! It's really fun to have good news to share.

I completely missed the beginning of your thread. Happy new one!

'Morning, RichardDear. Happy Monday to you.

Belated congrats on >74 richardderus:. I'm looking forward to your July reviews.

*smooch*

>94 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita! Glad you're here whenever you get here.

>95 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible, and thanks. I wish I was looking forward to my July reviews....

*smooch*

A belated happy new thread, RD. I finally make it over here and it's already at almost 100 posts.

>74 richardderus: Congratulations! This is quite the achievement!

>98 atozgrl: Morning, Irene, happy you're here...and thanks, it's really been a spirit lifter in a time I'm finding dark. Now if I could just find one lousy five-star read in July or August, or even one that almost gets there....

June ended at 8p Eastern, according to Blogger. It was a massive 113,422 views for the entire month.

Speechless.

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Tuesday to you.

>97 richardderus: I’m sorry your July reviews aren’t giving you joy. You’ll be pleased to know that I took a BB from you this morning on my own thread, mind you, with Words from Hell, Kindle version.

>99 richardderus: You won’t post reviews about them, but I have several 4.5 star MM romance June Lightning Round books that might be of interest to you. Lots of 4 star books, too. Probably not today, but probably tomorrow for YTD stats and June Lightning Round.

>100 richardderus: Massive. Congrats. You, speechless? *snort*

*smooch*

>101 karenmarie: *childish snigger* I gotcha, I gotcha!! But seriously, you'll enjoy Jess. She's good company.

I'm mildly shocked it's July already. I'm mildly shocked anything is happening at all. "Don't they know, it's the eeeennnnd of the woooorrrrld," I keep singing in my mind.

It's just finished raining so I'm mid-sticky transition and feel uncomfy with the heat...it's aaalmost 80°! insupportable...and, clearly, cranky as a teething baby.

115 Red flag warning : mutual aid and survival in California's Fire Country edited by Dani Burlison & Margaret Elysia Garcia

AK Press presents this very useful anthology of leaders-by-example.

>102 richardderus: I would *love* your 80°! Can you send it down our way?

>100 richardderus: Fantastic stats! I hope you find your five star read.

>104 atozgrl: I'll send you the 80° if we can balance the equation by sending the difference as extra heat into the Senate, the House and the Felonious Yam's living space. We'll both have 80° and they'll have an extra 15° to break their a/cs trying to get rid of.

TYVM

It was H.L. Mencken who first said that the only thing a Member of Congress cares about is being re-elected and continuing to feed at the public trough.

Whatever happened to "I'd rather be right than President"? Long time ago.

>106 magicians_nephew: Before I was born....

113,422 views for the entire month of your blog, Richard. Wow! That's excellent ! Here is to another great month.

>108 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah, I'm pretty pleased with it all.

116 We Are Eating the Earth : The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate by Michael Grunwald

A real klaxon in the ear via Simon & Schuster.

Happy Wednesday, Richard. This HEAT has been relentless. Not much relief in sight either. Sighs...I got to spend a couple hours with Jack yesterday afternoon, which always gives me a little lift. It doesn't look like I will see him until next week.

>111 msf59: It's a boon and a blessing to have a kid to mess around with. The summer heat, not so much. We're not quite so hot but instead it's sticky. Not my most favoritest season, summer.

Enjoy the books this evening!

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday to you.

>103 richardderus: Ugh. Fires. I have several scary reminders from childhood in SoCal, but our family was never in danger. A friend’s son/DiL and her parents were burned out of their homes up north in Santa Rosa. DiL’s father is rich enough to have bought another house while he rebuilt both houses.

I am elated that I dodged all the BBs.

*smooch*

>113 karenmarie: You'll dodge tomorrow's too. If there was ever a fire in or threateningly near Los Gatos, I was too young to process it. It was the 1964 earthquake that caused me to take notice...you don't often in this life get to see a massive two-story house tilt sideways from the outside. It's...impressive.

I never again felt at home in Cali. Haven't been back since 1992 and now am deeply unlikely ever to go.

Wednesday orisons, Horrible.

117 The place of tides by James Rebanks

Privileged man has mid-life crisis in the Arctic.

Happy Wednesday!

I miss California but not the wildfires and earthquakes!

>116 Storeetllr: Wednesday orisons, Mary! I know NY isn't the first choice for you, which is always unhappy-making. I'm the opposite, but you know I *never* expected to be, *ever* anything but a Texan.

My, how we change as we get old!

118 Fake work : how I began to suspect capitalism is a joke by Leigh Claire La Berge

Haymarket Books brings out a memoir of life in capitalism's trenches and how they changed the author.

119 Fake politics : how corporate and government groups create and maintain a monopoly on truth by Jason Bisnoff

A 2019 read that's grim beyond words in 2025.

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Thursday to you.

>114 richardderus: I wasn’t going to mention earthquakes. The earliest quake I can remember is the 1971 San Fernando quake, magnitude 6, but we were at the tail end of its reach. Other small quakes, a rather large one closer to where I was working that day in LA, a 5.9 in Whittier.

The only true reason I’d go to SoCal is to visit my sister or Aunt. Or both. In SoCal I’d try to visit @@quondame too.

>118 richardderus: Sigh. Onto the wish list it goes. I was a cog in corporate America. …Y2K's predicted meltdown was averted by a lot of hard-working coders.. I was one of those coders. It’s only out in hardcover on Amazon now. We’ll see if it shows up as Kindle, Audible, or paperback.

>119 richardderus: More sighs. with my Audible subscription, I was able to buy this book for free, not even requiring one of my precious credits.

*smooch*

>120 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible. My house in Los Gatos was pretty much on top of the Loma Prieta fault, so we had temblors a lot. 1989 took the chimney out! Poor Dad.

I'm glad I dinged you with those two. You might not relate to >118 richardderus: as much as >119 richardderus: but it will remind you, at the least, to be damn good and grateful you're retired. (...and old, I need to keep my Little Brother Society credentials current.) And heckfire, free to listen is a tiny price to pay for an important read! Then it's only the time you spend ear-reading it.

Stay cool today.

Oh, Richard, I'm back and unable to catch up. Your June was amazing and splendid, whatever the motivation. I wish you may continue undaunted through July into August, which is always a good time to visit here. *smooch*

I hope that *7 Days* is soon offered at a discount, but I won't be reading anything that deals with the current state of chaos and why. I'm grateful for my low daily serotonin boost and not ashamed to need it.

Sweet grazing to you, WBL!

>93 richardderus: I am very happy that it is good news!!

>103 richardderus: Where I live in Texas, we are affected by fires in Oklahoma. It is not unusual for us to receive warnings about the smoke heading our way from fires north of us. That book sounds like one I should read. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Richard!

>110 richardderus: I need to read that one too!

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today

>122 LizzieD: You're not just whistlin' Dixie, Peggy me lurve. We're All in serious serotonin deficit. June was a really fun experience to have, whether it ever comes back again or not.

*baaa*

>123 alcottacre: Mobilhoma's burning? I did not know that. Stay safe from their flames, Stasia. Deffo read >103 richardderus:! Forewarned is forearmed.

*smoochiesmoochsmooch*

>125 richardderus:
I just checked the Oklahoma fire map and there are no fires, wild or otherwise, in Oklahoma at that time. There aren't any fires in Texas either. There are wildfires in South Dakota. In the Black Hills.

>110 richardderus:
Got me with a BB on this one.

>126 benitastrnad: I'm relieved to know the information wasn't referring to present-day fires! TYVM

>127 benitastrnad: Oh cool! >110 richardderus: is a good choice, Benita.

120 The girls who grew big by Leila Mottley

Author Leila Mottley's sophomore novel, again via Knopf...worth the three-year wait.

121 Via Ápia : a novel by Geovani Martins (tr. Julia Sanches)

An English-language debut via FSG Originals that really puts the reader in the minds of the young men it follows, by Brazil's Bright Young Thing.

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Friday.

Happy Fourth of July for what it truly stands for, not the travesty that we’re living in now.

>121 richardderus: Yes, *eye roll*, I’m old. Your credentials are intact.

>125 richardderus: Mobilehoma. Haven’t heard that one before.

Worthy reviews of BBs successfully dodged.

*smooch*

>132 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible. I'm glad you qualified that statement as you did. I guess you never heard "Mobilhoma" because you're not from Texas, and your oil companies weren't competing with theirs, and you weren't smugly superior about their frequent trailer-park decimations by tornado.

None of these books are things you're going to like, or not in my observation of your reading life anyway. I'll blare a klaxon if one's upcoming you won't dislike. *smooch*

>110 richardderus: Just so you know, I ordered a copy of this one. It is all your fault, RD. :)

Seriously though, the more I have studied about nutrition and food as an adult, the more serious that I realize the issue is. It was especially brought home to me when the 'food deserts' were showing up during COVID.

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today

>134 alcottacre: *preen*

The good part of opening one's eyes is the sheer volume of good, helpful stuff there is to read, to absorb, and to enact, in order to make stuff better.

It's also the bad part. Now you know, you can't help but Do Something and then it starts to feel overwhelming.

Not celebrating our lost independence today, Richard, nor our descent into dystopia, but I hope your Friday is the beginning of a lovely weekend! {{{BIG HUG}}}

>135 richardderus: Now you know, you can't help but Do Something and then it starts to feel overwhelming.

Yeah, I feel overwhelmed already knowing what I know. I do simple things like supporting Meals on Wheels and the North Texas Food Bank, but I struggle to know what I can do beyond that.

>136 Storeetllr: Thank you, Mary my dear, it's a gorgeous day and my unputoffable shopping's done so the beachgoers and partiers can have at it without me.

*smooch*

>137 alcottacre: There's a long road ahead. Pace yourself and trust that something you *can* do will present itself to your notice. *smooch*

>122 LizzieD: I, too, am avoiding focussing on what you call "the current state of chaos", whether US politics or global issues.

>140 ArlieS: Reading is resistance, Arlie, including resistance to the planned sense of overwhelm.

Happy weekend-ahead's reads.

The girls who grew big is a book I've been considering reading, so thanks for the excellent review, Richard. Saturday *smooch*

120 Clovis by Jack Clinton

It's an interesting enough story completely ruined for me by unpleasant heterosexism.

121 The Betrayal of Thomas True by A. J. West

Via Orenda Books, a story with a good plot and an even better idea; but a decent execution feels a bit...flat...to me.

>142 vancouverdeb: Saturday *smooch* back, Deborah.

I hope you decided to move it up, not off, your list.

'Morning, RDear. Happy Saturday to you.

I heard fireworks and rifle/pistol shots from distant neighbors last night. Didn't put out a flag, didn't feel anything except angst and grief at what the chaos demon and his minions are doing to this country.

On the upside, I've recently finished a fantastic MM shifter romance, not mpreg - Wolfsong by TJ Klune. You may have already read it. If I could give it 4.75 stars, I would, but had to settle for 4.5.

*smooch*

Late to the game to say this but huge congrats on your amazing stats!!

Stay cool!

>146 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible. I could not possibly agree with you more. It is...well, what it is. This is how "They" have felt while we were busy building a better world: angry, hostile, confused by why anything we were making seemed like a good idea.

It will always be true that people will want different things and will fight over the nuts and bolts of how to do what.

I hate what "They" want and, TBH, "Them." So where does that leave the world, since I'm in no way unique?

Wolfsong is the only Klune I've read All the way through, but it was fine. I don't resonate on his frequency for some reason.

>147 jessibud2: Morning, Shelley! I'm not tipping a trotter out the door today so cool I shall remain.

I'm delighted to have my amazing month acknowledged no matter when it happens!

"not tipping a trotter out the door" made me, literally, laugh out loud! Hope you have a lovely, cool day Richard.

>150 RebaRelishesReading: *psst* wanna know a weird secret? I got chilly and put on my baggy old cotton cardigan

I know right??

*smooch*

122 The Silence of Flesh: A Novel of Conscience, Identity, and Holy Vows by Glenn Cooper

THE SILENCE OF FLESH is a novel that's ambitious, interesting...and flawed...about secrets and lies in the Vatican:

123 THE GOLDEN TOAD: An Ecological Mystery and the Search for a Lost Species by Trevor Ritland & Kyle Ritland

This is the inspiring story of two brothers on a mission to do good for Toadkind. Via Diversion Books, it got 4.5 cheered-up stars for introducing me to the inspiring Ritland brothers:

Happy Sunday, Richard. The Golden Toad sounds really interesting. Onto the obese TBR it goes. I requested "Bird School". Thanks for the heads-up.

‘Morning, RDear, and happy Sunday to you.

>152 richardderus: Pass. Catholicism isn’t on my radar right now except as a negative. But, as always, a top-notch review.

>153 richardderus: Onto the wish list it goes, onto the birthday-present list it goes for friend Karen. An enticing review.

*smooch*

Happy *hotter than h* Sunday, Richard! I hope your ocean breezes keep the temps down where you live. I can only thank goodness for air conditioning.

I can't find The Silence of Flesh at my library, but I put it on my list so as not to forget. I know I enjoyed Conclave more than you did - a lot more, actually - so I hope to enjoy this one too.

My library doesn't have The Golden Toad yet, but I've tagged the book for when it does get it.

>154 msf59: I'm really happy I could alert you to one you're really likely to enjoy.

I think The Golden Toad is very likely at your library, since they were pushing it hard. I hope others find it!

>155 karenmarie: No religion is ever on my radar except as a negative, but the publicist is a pal.

Hooray for gifting to Montana-Karen! It's a book she's likely to appreciate, judging from your general gifting-to-her trends. The boys are really passionate about their quest and what it means for the world.

*smooch*

>156 Storeetllr: Thanks, Mary, but it's a beachgoer day so I'll just stay indoors no matter what. I don't *need* anything or to accomplish anything, so I'll leave it All for them to enjoy.

*smooch*

>153 richardderus: I'm trying to dodge BB's because my TBR is already so large. But this is hard to avoid. Adding it to my wishlist. Compelling review too, RD.

>153 richardderus: You got me with this one too RD, it’s out here in October.

>160 atozgrl: Thank you most kindly, Irene. It's rare enough that I get excited by a book anymore that I'm extra glad when my review of one hits.

My idea of Hell is a blank TBR. It's never happened, but the possibility keeps me up mights.

>161 Caroline_McElwee: OCTOBER?! You poor deprived angelflower! I guess "Sir" Keir's pusillanimous "government" offended a goddess or maybe even two, so y'all must be punished.

Hopefully you can enjoy some ocean breezes soon, RDear. Wishing you plenty of good reads this week.

Hey Richard! Happy new thread.

It's line-in-the-sand time for me; we're travelling around (western) Europe so my reading and LT time have been curtailed. I'm just dropping in to say hi.

>164 MickyFine: I'm pretty happy with the reads for tomorrow's review, thank goodness. I was beginning to think there were no good books left.

>165 humouress: Thanks, Nina! Enjoy the trip!

>162 richardderus: A blank TBR? I can't imagine such a thing! I don't think I'll ever come to the end of mine.

You got me with the blank TBR comment too. Can there be such a thing? Happy week aheads reads, Richard.

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Monday to you from safe-but-heavily-rained-upon central NC.

Power’s out, generator’s on, Karen’s wired, hence the early message. It’s still dark out, there’s no chance of flooding here at the house. We’ll stay in today, no need to go out.

I hope you have a lovely day. My current tbr is 2,851. Definitely no chance of being book-less for the foreseeable future.

*smooch*

>163 richardderus: Actually it is the end of July RD, I muddled it with another book I was eyeing!

>168 atozgrl: It's more nightmare fuel than it is a worry for me...something that might just, within the laws of physics, be possible, but really, really unlikely to occur. xo

>169 Familyhistorian: It could conceivably occur, but around here? Not bloody likely is it. This group's not ever liable to allow such an unnatural state to exist. For more than a fractional second, anyway.

>170 karenmarie: Morning, sweetiedarling. Anxiety-inducing events your way. I'm glad nothing's needing doing out in the world that's wet. Stay safe and dry!

>171 Caroline_McElwee: THAT's endurable with equanimity. I'm very happy for you, and I hope it does as much for your mood as it did for mine.

Morning, Richard. A front moved through yesterday, giving us some relief. Back into the 80s this week. Its not the 70s but I won't quibble.

124 The Lake's Water is Never Sweet by Giulia Caminito (tr. Hope Campbell Gustafson)

Spiegel & Grau chose an apt title for this Italian novel about people who can't catch a break.

>176 msf59: What a relief! 80s aren't ideal, but nothing in summer is. It has to feel like spring compared to what's been happening.

125 Culpability: A Novel by Bruce Holsinger

CULPABILITY, a bruising, honest look at family, love, and the scary time we live in via
Spiegel & Grau, is made up of important ideas in their party clothes. Almost All 5*!

>179 richardderus: I'd give media a bit more than half the credit except that it would remove some responsibility from the GOP. I guess there's no way to assign more than 100% of something.
(Meanwhile, I'll say that I hung flags in defiance of whatever passers-by might have thought about us. It was a symbol of hope-never-realized, but hope, nevertheless, and I'm damned if I'm going to give it up until we've lost everything and become the Roman Empire.)
*smooch*, WBL! Good reading and reviews going on here. I'll be back!

>181 LizzieD: Hiya Peggy...I'd assign 249% blame. One percent for each year of independence and development They have stolen from us.

All I can do is type, tell stories, and holler at people to PAY ATTENTION AND DO SOMETHING. My teensy pittance gets divided among my needs, my wants for fun eating, and an irreducible 25% to ActBlue. It's what I've got, so I'm giving it until They *force* me to stop.

Smoochings, dear lady.

Hiya, Richard. Happy start to the week. As usual, I’ve been enjoying your wide-ranging reviews. The Golden Toad, in particular, caught my interest. The Last of Us for amphibians, as a difficult to stop fungus starts spreading everywhere?! Arggh.

I just read A Visit from the Goon Squad and found it okay, but no great shakes. What did you think?

>183 jnwelch: Hey there Joe! I'm unnerved by the idea of Cordyceps mutating and turning into a human pest...ew

I thought Egan's book was...mediocre. Just as it was getting fans galore, I found it, and have tried and tried to get my head around how a three-star read gets all that praise. It's not *bad* it's not poorly written it's not much of anything. Blancmange is more memorable.

But clearly I'm the weirdo.

>153 richardderus: Ooh, definitely putting The Golden Toad on hold, thank you!

>167 richardderus: Ta!

>179 richardderus: TBH at this point I don't think that's going to change.

>185 norabelle414: Oh, that's great to hear! Enjoy it when its turn comes up.

>186 humouress: :-)

No. They are in too deep to change course, and the public is not in a forgiving mood in any case.

>180 richardderus: Good review, as usual! I reserved an ebook copy of Culpability from the library. I'm, like, 105th in line, with a several month wait.

If you want to read a novel about how ophiocordyceps might mutate to become a human parasite and the resulting dystopic horror show, read The Girl With All The Gifts (and The Boy on the Bridge, its prequel/sequel), if you haven't already.

>179 richardderus: Gack! My eyes! My eyes! Not expecting to see that plug-ugly mug up on your thread, RD. I wish there were a way to post apics as a spoiler so as not to trigger anyone. I can't stand to look at that face.

>189 Storeetllr: It was one unnerving read, Mary, and one I can't quite shake even now. I never read BOY.
I'm glad >180 richardderus: is so popular though sorry you have to wait so long. I think you'll find it worth the wait.

>190 Storeetllr: It's truly revolting, no?

>190 Storeetllr: I had exactly the same reaction when I scrolled down and >179 richardderus: came up with that face, before I saw the text. Yuck!

I personally have seen and heard plenty of people in the media call out his lies, but too many people don't seem to be paying attention. Or all they look at is Fox News. >181 LizzieD: is right to call out the GOP, but I also think the blame lies more with Christian leaders who have refused to point out his lies and his immoral words and behavior, and instead have supported him. They could have influenced people toward good but did the opposite.

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today, RD. I hope it is a good one!

>192 atozgrl: If this myth is true, here's the antichrist live and in color making life a living Hell. I do not believe in it but it is a good illustration of *why* I don't: it's All right there in the "holy" book for believers to see and they're falling for it anyway. Disgusting spectacle of arrogant stupidity.

"The Media" is an inefficient shorthand for those who control the direction of the coverage. The bosses is more accurate but to brainwashed US ears it sounds "soshuliss" therefore wrong. Individual journalists can't make enough of a dent in the wall of noise created by decisions at the top.

Hiya, RD! Happy Tuesday to you.

>174 richardderus: We’re safe and sound, the power came back after 14 hours of being off. The generator performed well. All’s good here in central NC.

>177 richardderus: It’s funny that a book about the 1990s seems more like historical fiction to me, given the tumultuous events here and in the rest of the world, too, since then. I’m going to pass, but only because if I read every book you reviewed, I’d never have time for my current favorite genre. *smile*

>180 richardderus: Darn it. A hit. A palpable hit. Onto the wish list it goes.

>183 jnwelch: When I told friend Karen about The Golden Toad, thinking that it would be something that interested her, she snorted and said that it was already in her cart at one of the NOT Amazon booksellers she uses, I forget which one.

Book sort and Virlie's today. 97F with a heat index of 105-109F.

*smooch*

>179 richardderus: And the biggest irony, is that MAGA screams never trust the media.

>195 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible...I hate to be the one to say it out loud but stuff about the 1990s *is* historical fiction. Thirty to thirty-five years ago is History to most people alive today. I'm glad >180 richardderus: hit the mark, it's a very good story.

It's putrid here today as well, 85° for the high but sticky, gross, and just too damn summer. I want fall tomorrow, and for the next four months.

Fondle books well, and enjoy Virlie's after your enforced abstinence. *smooch*

>196 msf59: ...unless you agree with it...

Culpability sounds like one to add to the list!

>199 katiekrug: Oh, I hope you will! It's a really thought-provoking read. I'm still thinking about it.

>192 atozgrl: I wonder to what extent the behaviour of "christian" leadership will come back to bite them?

I am not a Christian - in my youth, they assigned leadership roles by gender, and told me that a body with a penis was more like their god than one without, and that was sufficient for me to strike them off my list of potentially valid religions. Now, after watching the antics of certain christian leaders, I believe that *they* believe that "there is no god but trump, and Jesus is his profit".

Or less provocatively, perhaps, that they believe that Trump is a good life model for people to follow, with emphasis on the bullying, destructiveness, etc. - behaviours also shared by various people in the bible, including prophets, divinely-favored kings etc. Even the sexual misconduct is shared with positively-portrayed people in the Bible - Solomon comes forcibly to mind.

My reaction is presently very much an idiosyncratic, minority position. But will it stay that way?

I feel sorry for people that share their religious label, their holy books, and some of their traditions, without being selfish amoral bastards using their religion to justify their behaviour. But OTOH, they appear to be doing an inadequate job of standing up for their version(s) of Christianity, or at least a rather unsuccessful one.

But if they let the self-satisfied selfish bastards control the discourse, they are rather bringing on themselves the popular assumption that they agree with and support more vocal christians.

>201 ArlieS: ^^^what she said

PEARL RULE #014

SHADOW WARRIORS OF WORLD WAR II: The Daring Women of the OSS and SOE by GORDON THOMAS & GREG LEWIS (33%)

Rating: 2* of five

The Publisher Says: In a dramatically different tale of espionage and conspiracy in World War II, Shadow Warriors of World War II unveils the history of the courageous women who volunteered to work behind enemy lines. Sent into Nazi-occupied Europe by the United States’ Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE), these women helped establish a web of resistance groups across the continent. Their heroism, initiative, and resourcefulness contributed to the Allied breakout of the Normandy beachheads and even infiltrated Nazi Germany at the height of the war, into the very heart of Hitler’s citadel—Berlin.

Young and daring, the female agents accepted that they could be captured, tortured, or killed, but others were always readied to take their place. Women of enormous cunning and strength of will, the Shadow Warriors’ stories have remained largely untold until now.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: When this book came out in 2017, it was groundbreaking. Now it's one of a lot of other historical treatments of the long-buried story of women's heroism in the face of known hazards in WWII. It's a very rich field.

These men are not the ones to plow it. There's a lot less about the women than about the men who ordered them around, and the historical times...the subject of thousands of hours of reading and watching material...get more space than they need. I'm sad to say it was not a success, and was an unfootnoted one at that.

Chicago Review Press asks $26.99 for a hardcover, but used copies are less. I do not recommend it, even for free.

>201 ArlieS: There are Christians standing up against Trump. There was an "Evangelicals for Harris" group running ads online during the campaign last year. On YouTube, there are several I know of: Father David, Rev Ed Trevors, and Pat Kahnke. Ed Trevors is Canadian. I first saw him in a video right around the time Trump took office again, and he pointed out that in the US the ultimate authority that we owe allegiance to is the Constitution, not the president.

I am sure there must be more that I do not know about. But they are there, and they are speaking out.

>201 ArlieS: in my youth, they assigned leadership roles by gender, and told me that a body with a penis was more like their god than one without,

Wow that is outrageous!

Living in a country in which religion is often used as a political tool to keep some Parties and people away from power and has parties based on religion (Islamic Party), I am fundamentally opposed to religion being mixed into the political process.

Gosh, I never thought of God as a someone with a body with a penis . I do think of him as a man, but I understand that is a difficult idea for some and I accept that you can regard God as female. I don't think I think about his sex.

*Smooch*, Richard.

>204 atozgrl: Most leaders of any stripe are not leading because its dangerous with the spiteful, petty jerks running things. Hard to blame them, on a personal level; not really leadership, though.

>205 PaulCranswick:, >206 vancouverdeb: "God the Father" and his only son/prophet does rather give the game away...it was, from the time the cults took off, misogynistic and authoritarian.

>206 vancouverdeb: I'll never understand believing this absurd guff, but I am not terribly ordinary/normal by inclination.

*smooch* back, Deborah!

126 Miss Veal and Miss Ham by Vikki Heywood

Author Vikki Heywood's touching, moving story of one day in lesbian life and love in rural 1950s England.

128 Sphinx : a neo-gothic novel from Brazil by Henrique Coelho Netto (tr. Kim F. Olson)

Modern Language Association of America (MLA, of citation-style fame) publishes this 115-year-old interesting artifact of transness' long history among humans.

'Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday to you.

I came home with one book yesterday from Book Sort, a beautiful hardcover copy of Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon for the $4 I will pay them at the Friends of the Library sale in September.

I successfully avoided wish list or BBs... an unusual feat.

*smooch*

>212 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible...I'm unsurprised you're unscathed today. It's not really anything in or near any wheelhouse of yours I know anything about.

The Sevigny book sound very interesting indeed for $4. I'd say it will keep you and MTKaren interested.

Yours in sweaty discomfort, I remain,
etcetc

>179 richardderus: Regarding Trump. The Media called it lies, the Trump followers know they're lies and they don't care. He's their guy.

Recalling the days of Bill Clinton. The Dems knew he was a horndog and knew what Monica said was true and they dindt care either. He was their guy.

And so it goes.

BURGOINE #043

The Blue Horse (Porter Beck #3) by Bruce Borgos

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A controversial wild horse round-up in the high desert of Nevada results in two murders and too many suspects for Sheriff Porter Beck to deal with.

A helicopter driving a controversial round-up of wild horses suddenly crashes and the pilot is found to have been shot. Then the person coordinating the round-up for the Bureau of Land Management is savagely murdered, buried up to her neck and then trampled to death by the very same wild horses. And there's no lack of suspects—with the wild horse advocacy group having sworn to protect the horse At Any Cost! Now the state and federal agencies are showing up looking for answers or at least a scapegoat.

Sheriff Porter Beck has had better days.

Porter Beck's new girlfriend, Detective Charlie Blue Horse, arrives to help with the investigation, which leads them to Canadian Lithium mining operation near the round-up area that sets off Beck's mental alarm bells. Brinley, Beck's sister, is leading a group of troubled kids in a wilderness program, when one of them, Rafa, bolts one night. When Brinley catches up to him, they're just outside the mine—in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

With his personal life in turmoil, too many suspects and too many secrets, the feds pushing for a quick resolution, and his impetuous (if skilled) sister in the mix, one wrong step could be deadly for Porter Beck.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Third in a series means the author's doing something right. In this entry, he's got the right combustible mix of environmentalism, corporate shenanigans, personal tsurres, and the usual pressures of fielding the high-profile cases of his department. Oh, and girlfriend stuff, too.

Tense, well-plotted, and solidly satisfying read. Not one that transcends genre, but definitely a top-tier example of it.

Minotaur Books needs $29 if you expect to read a hardcover. I'd spend it.

>214 magicians_nephew: I disagree with you on one count: the media is not railing against the lying Felonious Yam in anything like the amount of screeching volume and rage-fueled invective they have against liar Clinton and innocent Obama. That counts as complicity.

>205 PaulCranswick: >206 vancouverdeb:

Christians weren't explicit about the penis; they just said "men". But how do you determine whether or not a baby is destined to become a man, potentially eligible to become a church leader? You look between their legs.

This was, of course, a time when psychologists still discussed "penis envy" with a straight face, unable to understand that a lot of people we'd now call AFAB didn't want a penis, per se - they wanted the privileges given their brothers, fathers, and eventual sons. But since the psychologists "knew" females all wanted to be servants and helpmeets, not leaders, breadwinners or anything of the kind, it was obvious to them that the penis - an organ many males are proud of - was the only masculine thing those women and girls could possibly want.

Being somewhat autistic, I put two and two together. The distinguishing characteristic of maleness is the organ between their legs. God is male. QED. If I'd been "normal" I might have understood that this was only the essence of masculinity some of the time, and those times didn't include discussion of the Christian deity.

In this, I followed Freudian psychologists, if not popular usage.

BURGOINE #044

A Lark's Regret: A Regency Cozy (Verity Lark Mysteries #5) by Lynn Messina

Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: If there is one thing Verity Lark finds more unsettling than having to give a shooting lesson to the woman whom she has ridiculed in print for months, it is having to give the lesson on the very same morning her alter ego Mr. Twaddle-Thum publishes an apology for erroneously reporting a key detail of one of her favorite subject’s early murder investigations.

The mortifying mistake is made intolerable by the fact that it was uncovered by a rival gossip for another newspaper. Identifying herself as Mrs. Flimmer-Flam, she vows to correct a whole host of other misapprehensions about the Duchess of Kesgrave, whom she calls the murder duchess for obvious reasons.

Oh, but, no, her reasons are not obvious at all, for this new scandal merchant believes the public has been greatly misled in regard to her grace’s talents. She is not just solving murders; she is also committing them.

It is preposterous nonsense—and that is to say nothing of her portrayal of Twaddle as a credulous dupe gulled into mythologizing a killer—and Verity vows to discover who is spreading the virulent lies, a task that grows immeasurably harder after she finds the gossip’s throat slashed.

Someone is willing to kill to hide the truth, and Verity has no idea who might be next.

Welcome to the fifth installment of the Verity Lark Mysteries, where secrets run deep and every move could be her last.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: When an author blends two long-running series, as is done here, there's a lore problem. To be sure everyone's up to speed there must be some exposition, and that runs into the dread problem of the infodump. It's inevitable. It slows stuff down, from action to scene-setting, and increases the word-count a good deal.

Because I'd never read a Verity Lark story I was glad for it, but honestly it seemed sort of wasted time and effort because Bea really doesn't do or add much to Verity's actions.

Potatoworks Press charges $6.99 for a Kindle edition. Not because I told you to!

>217 ArlieS: Hear, hear^^^

>204 atozgrl: I'm glad to learn that, and rather wish that more of this was covered in media - or in what various media sites have algorithmically decided to offer to me. (Even without getting my news from "social media", it's pretty clear that what I'm offered is dependent on some damn algorithm "deciding" what I care about - when I can, I look at online facsimiles of print editions, which at least offer me the same stories as they offer anyone else.)

BURGOINE #045

The Wharton Plot by Mariah Fredericks

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Mariah Fredericks' mesmerizing novel, The Wharton Plot, follows renowned novelist Edith Wharton in the twilight years of the Gilded Age in New York as she tracks a killer.

New York City, 1911. Edith Wharton, almost equally famed for her novels and her sharp tongue, is bone-tired of Manhattan. Finding herself at a crossroads with both her marriage and her writing, she makes the decision to leave America, her publisher, and her loveless marriage.

And then, dashing novelist David Graham Phillips—a writer with often notorious ideas about society and women’s place in it—is shot to death outside the Princeton Club. Edith herself met the man only once, when the two formed a mutual distaste over tea in the Palm Court of the Belmont hotel. When Phillips is killed, Edith's life takes another turn. His sister is convinced Graham was killed by someone determined to stop the publication of his next book, which promised to uncover secrets that powerful people would rather stayed hidden. Though unconvinced, Edith is curious. What kind of book could push someone to kill?

Inspired by a true story, The Wharton Plot follows Edith Wharton through the fading years of the Gilded Age in a city she once loved so well, telling a taut tale of fame, love, and murder, as she becomes obsessed with solving a crime.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: I have no way to know if Edith Wharton was this prissy, self-centered, snobbish person in real life. Reading her fiction does nothing to dissuade me from believing it. From the moment she meets, and loathes, the murder victim, I was pretty much turned off.

Well-plotted and expertly written, this is an historical mystery lover's dream, with late Gilded-Age Manhattan evoked with panache and verve. I just don't like anyone in it.

Minotaur Books only wants $11.99 for an ebook. Depending on how you feel about nasty people, it could be a bargain.

Hello Richard, and happy midweek to you. I now have The Golden Toad on my list.

>222 AMQS: Hi Anne! I'm having a perfectly pleasant midweek, thanks (All things considered). I'm very glad >153 richardderus: made it onto your list. I'll wager it will go down a treat.

BURGOINE #046

The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Family is everything, even when it falls apart.

After the sudden death of a renowned artist, his four adult children travel to Italy to sort out his affairs with his much-younger wife, in this moving novel from the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

World-famous artist Vic Kemp has relied on his four children ever since their mother died when they were young. Netta, the oldest, is a litigator who often serves as co-parent to her siblings; Susan, a housewife who cooks and cleans for both her husband and her father; Goose's own thwarted artistic ambitions have left him resigned to a job in Vic's studio; and Iris, the baby, drops everything the moment her father calls.

When Vic summons the siblings with the promise of big news, they hope their father is about to tell them he has finished the mysterious masterpiece he claims will be the capstone to his career. Instead, he announces he’s getting remarried. Bella-Mae, his wife to be, is apparently beautiful, a fellow artist—and twenty-seven to his seventy-six years. When his children dare to express concern, Vic decamps with Bella-Mae to his summer home in Italy. Six weeks later, he is found dead. There is no sign of his will, or his promised final painting.

Netta, Susan, Goose, and Iris gather at the house on Lake Orta to piece together what happened and prepare to bring their father’s body home. They spend the summer in a waiting game, living under the same roof as Bella-Mae, and forced to confront Vic's legacy and the buried wounds they have incurred as his children. So who is Bella-Mae? Is she the woman their father believed her to be? Or is she the force that will destroy the family for good? How long can their old bonds hold?

With sparkling wit, compassion and tender insight, The Homemade God explores memory, identity, grief, healing, and the bonds of siblinghood—what happens when they splinter, and what it might take to find a new way forward.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: My very unloved father remarried (I liked my stepmother, big loud lady she was) shortly after my equally unloved mother left him. The central problem for these spoiled, neglected twits is they're afraid they won't get revenge on the old man by having all his worldly goods. The role of Cordelia in this remake of King Lear is played by Goose, the brother, denied the life he wanted for being not what his father demanded.

Big, noisy drama ensues, the young widow gets a real working-over by these bratty twits. I finished it because I love some sudsy silliness. I'm not sure I'll remember much about it tomorrow, but it did its job by distracting me from the world for six hours.

The Dial Press will lighten your wallet by $13.99 for an ebook. Libraries are, for now, still free.

>214 magicians_nephew: Even with Clinton's horndog ways, I will take him over this POS. Just sayin'...

>216 richardderus: Great point, RD. I concur...

BURGOINE #047

Vaseline Buddha by Young-moon Jung (tr. Jung Yewon)

Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: A tragicomic odyssey told through free association scrubs the depths of the human psyche to achieve a higher level of consciousness equal to Zen meditation.

The story opens when our sleepless narrator thwarts a would-be thief outside his moonlit window, then delves into his subconscious imagination to explore a variety of geographical and mental locations—real, unreal, surreal—to explore the very nature of reality.

Jung Young Moon, 2005 alum of Iowa's International Writing Program, is one of South Korea's most award-winning, eccentric, and handsome authors, often compared to Kafka and Beckett.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: A Korean translation by a trainee of the Iowa Writers' Workshop's International division:

I think about forms of stories. But again, I feel, as I always have, resistance against a well-structured, complete story. Stories with an impeccable structure stifle me. A story with a clear plot, which inevitably becomes something about following someone's whereabouts, has become something that's nearly impossible for me to write, just as Paul Valéry could never write a novel because he could not use a sentence such as, "The marquise went out at 5 o'clock."

I'm not in love. I'm barely in like. It's pretty self-conscious and not a little pretentious; I'd've lapped it up fifteen years ago.

Deep Vellum Publishing wants $14.95 for a trade paper edition. Maybe cheaper used...?

>225 msf59: Thanks, Mark, it's definitely not a case of "they're both bad, they're equally bad, and that's what everyone says." The difference is stark.

Wednesday *smooch* before I get too far behind again

>228 bell7: Wednesday *smooches*

129 How we heal : a journey toward truth, racial healing, and community transformation from the inside out by La June Montgomery Tabron

Disruption Books brings us a balm of sense and calmness in a troubled time by an experienced, practical administrator with sound, practical advice.

130 The private is political : identity and democracy in the age of surveillance capitalism by Ray Brescia

NYU Press and Author Ray Brescia show us what to pay attention to in order to stop "Them" from further enshittifying the US and the world.

>205 PaulCranswick: "I am fundamentally opposed to religion being mixed into the political process." yes. Me too.

Also, it needs to be kept far away from public schools

>207 richardderus: I see nearly every Republican currently in office as a coward. At best.

>232 mckait: *I* am fundamentally opposed to religion. It breeds perversion of reality.

>233 mckait: Coward is part of it, but greedy, selfish, and lacking in empathy adds to it. "Pusillanimous poltroons" sums it up pithily, but sends people to the dictionary.

Edolph Twitler's Grok, the built-in Twitter chatbot, has renamed itself "MechaHitler." It's specifically anti-semitic, has turned anti-"Woke" and foregrounds Edolph Twitler's white genocide in SA agenda.

If y'all think you can sit this one out, you have your final warning. This is war.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Thursday to you.

>214 magicians_nephew: Scoundrels all, Jim, but at least I agreed with most of Clinton’s policies and political actions.

>226 richardderus: Love the title, will pass on the book itself. I must admit to having a few books on my shelves simply for the titles, but I won’t add this one to that list.

I remain unscathed!

*smooch*

>237 karenmarie: I remain unsurprised...nothing here is in your wheelhouse, and tomorrow's pair aren't either. It's going to take me some time to get past this dessert of Horribility because good goddesses almighty has the backlog gone in-bleedin'-sane this summer! It feels more like October than July, the way the publichine is blattin' out the widgets.

Thursday orisons, sweetiedarling, and much coolth come your way. *smooch*

BURGOINE #048

Marguerite by the Lake by Mary Dixie Carter

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: From Mary Dixie Carter comes an atmospheric, tense novel about the death of a wealthy garden designer, her lonely widower, and the scrappy young gardener who smoothly steps into her life.

Marguerite Gray is a lifestyle icon known for her garden parties, high-end business ventures, and being the muse behind the famous Serge Kuhnert painting, Marguerite by the Lake. Her presence is overpowering, her taste, legendary. For the last few years, Phoenix has been the gardener on the famed Rosecliff grounds, home of the Gray Marguerite and her husband Geoffrey. Phoenix came from humble beginnings, and now she works hard to craft the landscape that underpins Marguerite’s brand.

When a storm threatens the launch party for Marguerite’s latest book, it’s Phoenix who spots the danger to the guests and rushes to Geoffrey’s side to save him from a falling tree. Geoffrey is grateful—perhaps too grateful. Marguerite is . . . jealous. Phoenix senses the danger of being drawn deeper into their lives but can’t resist the attention, becoming embroiled in an affair that could destroy her career.

But soon after the affair begins Marguerite falls to her death, from the same high point at Rosecliff where she posed for Marguerite by the Lake. Now Phoenix has another secret, one that haunts her even as Geoffrey invites her to move into the manor with him. A secret that Detective Hanna and Marguerite’s daughter—her spitting image—are circling closer and closer to. Phoenix tries to put it all behind her and find her rightful place at Rosecliff. But as every gardener knows, nothing stays buried forever.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: If you come for the queen, best not miss. Martha Stewart in a fake nose and eyeglasses turns into du Maurier's Rebecca, with the second Mrs. deWinter played by a gamine called Phoenix...horripilation!...and Maxim by a yutz called Geoffrey. I recall nothing whatever about them. I longed for Dame Judth Anderson from Hitchcock's film to make her appearance. No such luck.

I finished it, Melpomene knows why, so I owe a review. Here it is.

Minotaur Books, the publisher, asks for $28.00 for a hardcover if that's your preferred reading medium.

>224 richardderus:
You got me with a BB for this one. I also like some distracting pabulum once-in-awhile.

>240 benitastrnad: I'm glad to suggest a fix for the craving, then. I really recommend it as a borrow, not a buy.

Humph. I know I was here last night. I see reviews that I read then. Apparently, I didn't post, but I thought I had.

Anyway, I'd like to mention Jim Wallis, who is that rare combination of an evangelical Christian with social concerns. He has been writing and speaking for years, and here are some of his titles:

God's Politics: Why the American Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It from 2006

America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to America from 2016

The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy - coming in September

I also came over to tell you, Richard, that today is National Clerihew Day, and I've posted a few by the man himself and will continue tomorrow. *smooch*

BURGOINE #049

Spark by Naoki Matayoshi (tr. Alison Watts)

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Tokunaga is a young comedian struggling to make a name for himself in Osaka, when he is taken under the wing of the more experienced, but no more famous, Kamiya. But as much as Kamiya's indestructible confidence inspires him, it also makes him doubt the limits of his own talent, and his own dedication to comedy.

Winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, Spark is about art and friendship, about what it means to be committed to our own ambitions and to each other. A novel about comedy that's as moving and thoughtful as it is funny, it's already been a sensation in Japan.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Comedy doesn't cross cultural boundaries that well. I "got" maybe a third of the intended-to-be-jokes, and found even those unfunny. It's cultural not textual; the prose, the limning of the men's relationship, the details that lead to Tokunaga's internal crisis, all were spot-on and very evocative.

The Netflix show was...okay. I'm just really, really culture bound for comedy. Sad for me, not the prize-winning story told here.
Pushkin Press asks $12.99 for an ebook. Check out Netflix before sending the money.

>242 LizzieD: He is greatly to be praised, I'll tell my evangelical sister about him. She'll take comfort in knowing he's around if she doesn't already.

I do that too...compose things in my mind and then somehow move them to the "completed" side of the ledger. *sigh* Half-heimer's is a bear.

>103 richardderus: I may have to find a copy of this one. Last year, I read The Last Fire Season by Manjula Martin, about the fire that devastated Northern California in 2020. A very good book, I might add.

>245 ocgreg34: I'm glad you mentioned Manjula's book. I think I have it, though I seem to have put it somewhere obscure, and it would be a good one to review.

I am behind but I briefly skimmed your thread and hope to b caught up soon!

>230 richardderus: In the meantime, I caught a BB from you. Hope you have a wonderful weekend

>242 LizzieD: Thanks, Peggy, I agree. I didn't think to mention Wallis while I was talking about folks I've seen on YouTube. I have two of those books on my shelves (unread so far, *sigh*), and one on my wishlist. The False White Gospel is out, because it's one of the ones I've got. My DH has already read it.

131 The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain (tr. Jane Aitken & Emily Boyce)

Pushkin Press acquired Gallic Books, and with them this lovely tale that Queen Camilla calls “Parisian perfection”.

132 The Samurai of the Red Carnation by Denis Theriault (tr. Louise Rogers Lalaurie)

A Pushkin Press French translation that's about a fascinating Japanese historical period, but it's a less successful novel.

>247 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita, I'm glad to have brought that one to you. Sending hugs!

>248 atozgrl: What? An UNREAD BOOK?! How, madam, can you sleep at night?!

Signed, ten thousand unread Kindlebooks.

Happy Friday, Richard. Thunderstorms here through the night. Well needed rain but it remains hot. I had a good time with Jack yesterday. I really enjoy hanging out with him. Sue has been seriously tied up with her ailing aunt so is missing him.

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Friday to you.

>242 LizzieD: Clerihews! I missed National Clerihew Day. I have a book of clerihews by Paul Horgan.

>244 richardderus: Half-heimer. *snort*

>249 richardderus: Onto the wish list it goes. I'm not quite sure why, but it's vaguely intriguing.

*smooch*

>253 msf59: Oh good fun with Jack is the best news. I'll bet the humid heat can't even dent your mood, Grandpa! I'm sad for Sue, but her turn will come after Auntie's situation resolves.

>254 karenmarie: Clerihews are fun little games to play, aren't they? I'm amazed I've never used "Half-heimer's disease" to you before now!

I suggest borrowing >249 richardderus: or waiting for it to be $2.99 or something. Not really your kinda story, as far as I can tell.

Friday *smooch*

>249 richardderus: Ooh, The Red Notebook sounds like a great read. Just requested it! Thanks.

Karen O

>257 klobrien2: I hope you love it, Karen O.! The Paris-ness of it feels really enfolding. Stay cool, well, and happy.

>249 richardderus: I absolutely LUST after The Red Notebook! (Do you think naming the protagonist "Laurent" is a nod to our friend Binet?) I am finding myself more French-friendly than I've been in years. *sigh*

Take care of yourself, my WBL, with kindness! *smooch*

>259 LizzieD: It's possible...they're around the same age, Binet and Laurain, and each belongs to that stratum of society where people do know each other by proximity....

Don't spend full price, but do get one. I can see you feeling All warm and glowy after this read. I'm happier now I've just popped the damned blood blister and swaddled the toe up to bleed itself out. *baaa*

>249 richardderus:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book when I read it back in the lockdown days of 2020. Another of those easy to read books that help a person to pass the time.

>261 benitastrnad: Absolutely agree, Benita, and that is a really valuable thing. It also seems to be Author Laurain's niche, based on the books of his I've read. Pushkin Press is bringing several out under their imprint in January. I'm putting up reviews of them during #Booksgiving as preorder gift ideas.

BURGOINE #050

Trouble Island : a novel by Sharon Gwyn Short

Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: A gripping new novel inspired by a real place and events from the author’s family, Trouble Island is the standalone suspense debut from historical mystery writer Sharon Short.

Many miles from anywhere in the middle of Lake Erie, Trouble Island serves as a stop-off for gangsters as they run between America and Canada. The remote isle is also the permanent home to two women: Aurelia Escalante, who serves as a maid to Rosita, lady of the mansion and wife to the notorious prohibition gangster, Eddie McGee. In the freezing winter of 1932, the women anticipate the arrival of Eddie and his strange coterie: his right-hand man, a doctor, a cousin, a famous actor, and a rival gangster who Rosita believes murdered their only son.

Aurelia wants nothing more than to escape Trouble Island, but she is hiding a secret of her own. She is in fact not a maid, but a gangster’s wife in hiding, as she runs from the murder she committed five years ago. Her friend Rosita took her in under this guise, but it has become clear that Rosita wants to keep Aurelia right where she is.

Shortly after the group of criminals, celebrities, and scoundrels arrive, Rosita suddenly disappears. Aurelia plans her getaway, going to the shore to retrieve her box of hidden treasures, but instead finds Rosita’s body in the water. Someone has made sure Aurelia was the one to find her. An ice storm makes unexpected landfall, cutting Trouble Island off from both mainlands, and with more than one murderer among them.

Both a gripping locked room mystery, and a transporting, evocative portrait of a woman in crisis, Trouble Island marks the enthralling standalone suspense debut from Sharon Short, promising to be her breakout novel, inspired by a real island in Lake Erie, and true events from her own rich family history.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Stand-alone locked room mystery on an ice-storm isolated island during the US Prohibition era. I think she had a peek into my dreams!

Sadly, not executed in a way I could fall for...lots of telling, not a lot of rounded characters. Mystery was okay. Setting ended up not exciting me, because it was only seen in the eyes of people I wasn't interested in. So near and yet so far. I finished it so it wasn't bad just not great.
Minotaur Books charges $14.99 for an ebook. Library is my recommendation.

PEARL RULE #015

The Bible and the Tarot: A Personal Pilgrimage of Discovery (39%) by Gil W. Stafford

Rating: 2* of five

The Publisher Says: This book is a portal for those interested in the Bible and curious about the Tarot, for both those who might read the Bible daily as well as those who know very little about it but are not averse to it.

The first two chapters provide background that place the two mystical texts in conversation with each other. The vast and complex mythos of the Bible with its complex characters, actors, symbols, stories, and parables, are the backstory of the magnificent creatures of the Tarot's inner psychic world.
A book for spiritual explorers, reading the Bible and the Tarot hand-in-hand can expand the imagination. It explores how to read the Tarot and the Bible to provoke the unconscious, the dream world, and expand the imagination. By the final chapter, readers are able to connect the mysteries of the Bible with the psychological magic of the Tarot.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: I gave up on this adequately written book when the discussion meandered over to Bernini's sculpture of Saint Teresa:

...having that memorable orgasm. I just can't read anymore about religious people denying that's what it so very obviously is. "Union with the Divine" my lily-white one!

I browsed around the Tarot card explications that are bent into harmony with the book that calls witches and soothsayers abominations. It's me confronting my ever-hardening intolerance of that terrible, abusive religion and not overcoming my hatred. I'm not proud of this.

Monkfish Book Publishing charges $23.00 for a trade paper edition, which...well...I ain't the one to ask if it's worth it.

>252 richardderus: Unfortunately, sleep is necessary. The books have to wait, whether I wish it so or not.

>265 atozgrl: Sleep...books...sleep...books...it's never an easy choice is it.

133 All the perfect days by Michael Thompson

A sweet summer story to get immersed in via Sourcebooks Landmark.

134 He's to die for : a novel by Erin Dunn

Minotaur Books brings us this fun, entertaining gay rom-com/mystery with good opposites attract energy.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Saturday to you.

>267 richardderus: Microcosm of The Measure by Nikki Erlick, which I will re-start and finish one of these days, so pass.

Otherwise, I remain unscathed.

*smooch*

>269 karenmarie: O Scatheless One, beware lest you fall into the perilous condition of smuggitude...because I am not aiming my biblio-Big Bertha at you *now* does not mean I won't at some unknown distance in time...and I got the bibliammo stockpile of All your wallet's nightmares....

Saturday *smooch*

Happy Saturday Richard :)

I missed 128 posts in just 5 days! Caught 2 BBs, just listening to the audio sample of the 5star one, a bit of a difficult voice for me, but I’ll get it. The one by Ray Brescia should go well with my class, but the Kindle price right now is above my 20 Euro limit for ebooks, so on the wishlist it goes for now.

>271 Deern: How does that happen?! I sit here, All alone and friendless, visited by no one at All ever, and still the posts pile up like snow in January! It's a mystery. (Feel sorry for me yet?)

I'm sorry about the steepness of Brescia's book's price because I think you'll really *get* the argument he's making. I hope it goes on sale sometime soon.

Stay cool and hydrated, Nathalie.

The Bible and the Tarot???? I confess to exploring both, but I wouldn't have put them together in a book. Smacks of bibliomancy to me..........
And now my brain isn't working at all. Help me, Richard. Is it the detective in The Moonstone (?) that uses Robinson Crusoe (?) instead of the Bible or Virgil for divination???

I hope that toe will say, "That's the ticket!" soon and stop weeping. *smooch*, WBL!

>273 LizzieD: Not the detective-cum-bridegroom Franklin Blake but the plunderer's family servant. Name gone from my memory. (This is why I write reviews...details!)

The idea of syncretizing those two traditions is honestly out-and-out bizarre. Tarot, like any system of divination, gets a bad rap from All angles. It's useful to have a manipulable iconography to project one's emotional states onto. Always assuming one's able to see it as externalizing interior feelings, then allowing random chance to offer interesting combinations, not some Hand Of FATE determining The Future. *smooch*

PS I wikipedia'd it: "Betteredge" is the servant's name.

>249 richardderus: I enjoyed this one too RD, and my bro loaned me others, still to be read.

Is there an RDear here to take delivery of some weekend smooches?

Hope you're keeping well, all the breezes are cool, and the books are good. *smooch*

Enjoying reading your reviews, though nothing is jumping out as something I'm in the mood to read lately. As always, feel free to call out a specific title for me if you think I missed one. I know you know my reading taste well.

Weekend *smooches* and enjoy the cooler weather while it lasts!

>275 Caroline_McElwee: The good folk at Pushkin Press are republishing the whole Laurain catalog under their own imprint so I'm getting good access to them as they come out. Enjoying it, while I can!

>276 MickyFine: Micky dear, I cannot brain today...I haz thuh dumm. Attenborough docs on YT All day. My happy report is it's pleasant, cloudy, and out there away from me. Works for me! *smooch*

>279 richardderus: Not thuh dumm! *clutches pearls*

Hope you're feeling more thingummy tomorrow.

>277 bell7: Hey Mary! Nothing I'm convinced you'd more than just find ~meh~ TBH.

I think the huge upswing in summer publishing is mostly aimed at readers not like us...the casual, "now where's my book?" folks. I suspect your population won't love Laurain, at least not this one. Some more on the horizon so maybe then...?

xo

>280 MickyFine: This is me:

The Homemade God was a book I was considering reading, but given your review, probably not.

>282 richardderus: I am not sure what to say, but you are slim, but are you double too ?

>283 vancouverdeb: If it's free, why not try it out, Deborah? You can always quit....

They're made up of really pale off-white knots and dots, looks like their hands hurt, they have hair from hell, and no one would look at one and say, "you look mmmaaahhhvelous" not even Billy Crystal. Me.

135 Lightfall by Ed Crocker (map by L.N. Bayen)

St. Martin's Press starts a fantasy series featuring interestingly different vampires...with a cool map!

136 THE QUEEN OF SATURN AND THE PRINCE IN EXILE by Errick Nunnally

A Black man's coming-of-age with an SF twist—a novel of the 1970s upheavals in Boston.

Happy Sunday, Richard. Did I see you mention, that is was cooling off there? If so, good for you. Still warm here-staying close to 90 for the next few days. Looks like a lazy one here today.

^Sorry- a rare double post. I thought I would share a Charley Harper.

‘Morning, O Threatening One! Happy Sunday to you.

>270 richardderus: Smuggitude. Yes, I’ll go along with that. BBB with B for BBs… way too many Bs.

>272 richardderus: I sit here, All alone and friendless, visited by no one at All ever, Pitiful. Do you see me playing “I’m so sorry for You” on the world’s tiniest violin?

>273 LizzieD: Bibliomancy… a new word to identify an already-known activity, Peggy.

>274 richardderus: Using another system of divination, I spent a few minutes yesterday figuring out my Sexagenary Year, Number, Heavenly Stem, and Earthly Branch, Sign & Element, Triplicity, Sign Opposite, Kua Number, and Pa Kua directions from Feng Shui. Fun, and I love this book. It’s from Jenna’s Boxes, and I shall keep it.

>282 richardderus: Those images creep me out.

>286 richardderus: Maybe, possibly, yes-ish… onto the wish list it goes. I didn’t think it at the time because although I was discriminated against because I am a woman but not directly targeted, attacked, or blacklisted – deep breath - I meandered along quite nicely and missed many people, things, situations, and political movements. I’ve always realized that Ronnie Raygun has put us squarely where we are right now by co-opting Evangelical and other Christians, but hindsight and intellectual curiosity have given me a better perspective of how awful the 1970s were.

*smooch*

>287 msf59: Morning,Mark! It's slightly cooler than usual, just under 80° for a high, but breezes keep it from being soupy. Stay lazy, it's Sunday.

>288 msf59: Good choice, I'm a cardinal fancier so it's perfect.

>289 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible! I didn't expect >286 richardderus: to appeal even slightly, so color me astounded. You, like most, don't see your own oppressed self because you're benefiting from the spoonful of sugar, aka white privilege, so it recedes from immediate awareness. It is a remarkably effective tool, distraction.

Scumbag Reagan and Co. made our country desperately poor compared to where we were headed under Johnson's watch. Nixon and his gang of psychos...literal not figurative...set the reaction to the New Deal in motion and down we've spiralled ever since.

I'd say I hate them, but the truth is I loathe, despise, detest, and abominate, and look down on them All.

Poo' widdle moi needs to get the new thread up on Bastille Day.

>285 richardderus: Vampires! You? Incomprehensible! But just my cup o' tea. So, off to the library I trot (virtually) to see if I can find this amazing gem that got you to four-star a vampire novel.

Hope you're having a good weekend!

>293 Storeetllr: IK,R?! But there are no humans in it for the vamps to prey on, or there'd be a minus sign in front of the rating. Enjoy the read.

>268 richardderus: Nice review of He's to Die For. I already had a hold on it at the library so you didn't get me with a BB, but still nice to see that it did well. Have a great Sunday, Richard.

>264 richardderus: A lot of people use Tarot as a tool to meditation, sort of a pasteboard Rosary.

There are certainly Biblical symbols in the Tarot deck, but it's hard to feel that study of the two in tandem would be profitable

>295 Familyhistorian: It's very well done indeed, Meg, so enjoy!

>296 magicians_nephew: It makes sense to use the objects that way...it's always useful to have an object to focus on when in search of inner peace. Plus they're often very beautiful.

The new thread's up.
https://www.librarything.com/topic/372273